forgiveness of enemies, and peaceableness toward all men, will be like ointment and perfume to rejoice his heart. The savor of our graces and good works will be more precious to him than ointment poured forth.

When the woman poured the rich oil on Christ's head, "the disciples, seeing what was done, had indignation." Mark says, "There were some who had indignation." John mentions only Judas as complaining of the waste. Judas probably was the first, who objected, and his brethren, some or all of them, soon fell in with him. Judas was a plausible creature, and by his art and address he had gained great influence among the disciples. His duplicity he covered with such a fair outside, that they all were carried away with his dissimulation. They trusted him with the stewardship of the family, and probably thought it unnecessary to reckon with him. They had full confidence of his virtue and fidelity. When Christ warned them that there was a traitor among them, none suspected Judas, each sooner suspected himself.

On the present occasion, his influence was sufficient to raise among his brethren a clamor against a good woman for the honor which she paid to the Savior.

There are many, besides this hypocritical disciple, who deem every thing wasted and lost, which is applied to the honor of Christ's name, and laid out in the support of his religion. It is in the Christian, as it was in the prophetic age; there are some who say, "When will the new moon be gone, that we may sell corn; and the sabbath that we may set forth wheat?" They call the worship of God contemptible, and they say, "What a weariness is it ?" They withhold the offerings of God's house, or bring the torn and the lame for sacrifice. They

either forsake the assembling of themselves together, or draw nigh to God with their mouth, and honor him with their lips, when their heart is far from him, What are these better than the disciple, who pro nounced it a waste to honor Christ with sweet ointment?

A very

But the man, it seems, had thought of a better way to dispose of the ointment. "It might have been sold for much, and given to the poor." plausible suggestion. The poor, besure, ought to be kindly remembered. What is bestowed on them in Christ's name, he accepts as given to himself. Beneficence to them he has injoined by his precepts, and recommended by his example. When he said to Judas, in reference to his intended treachery, "What thou dost, do quickly," the other disciples supposed, that he commanded Judas to buy something for the passover, or give something to the poor. It hence appears, that Christ often gave alms, and that Judas was usually his almoner. Our Lord, though he supplied not his own wants by miracles, yet sometimes wrought miracles to feed the hungry, The disciples, therefore, would naturally suppose, that alms given to the poor was property well bestowed. Now when Judas insinuated, that it had been better to sell this ointment for the benefit of the poor, than to waste it on Christ's head, no wonder if some of his honest brethren were deceived by the argument.

The truth is, the poor are intitled to our attention; and so is the honor of Christ's religion. Each is to have its place, and neither of them to exclude the other. Christ condemns the pharisees, because, when they tythed mint, anise and cummin, they neglected justice, mercy and the love of God, "These," says he, "ought ye to have done, and not to leave the other undone."

You sometimes excuse yourselves from this, and that known duty by alleging the superior importance of another. But before you rest satisfied with the excuse, ask yourselves whether you make it in sincerity, or only in pretence, To determine this question, inquire whether you are careful to perform this more important duty. If you neglect this, as well as the other, there is no honesty in your excuse, You You say, that God will have mercy rather than sacrifice. It is very true; but if you will neither shew mercy, nor offer sacrifice, this rule is nothing to your purpose, Before you apply this as your justification in omitting sacrifice, go and shew mercy. You withhold from your Lord the honor due to his worship and ordinances, because you have the poor with you. But how much have you done for the poor? Has your liberality to them been so great, as to disable you from the service which you wish to perform for him? Did you ever think of this and that poor man, before you had occasion for an excuse from some urgent duty? And after all you can say, is it not plain, that you can help your poor neighbors quite as much as you wish, and still honor the Lord with your substance as much as he requires?

In excuse for omitting the stated worship of the Lord's day, you perhaps plead, that the labors of the preceding week oblige you to rest on this day-that distance and other inconveniences render your attendance at the place of worship very difficult-that if you employ your time in religious exercises at home, you may be as much edified and as well accepted, as if you joined in the devotions of the church.

When you endeavor thus to pacify your consciences, I advise you to inquire, whether you are consistent with yourselves. If you spend the sab..

bath in exercises as laborious, as those of the sanctu

ary,

then it is not for the sake of rest, that you decline the latter. If you can break through the difficulties of distance, rough ways and bad weather, in obedience to the calls of the world, and the solicitations of pleasure, then these difficulties are not the main obstructions to your regular attendance on God's worship. If your time on the Lord's day is spent in slumber, diversion, labor, or in reading novels and romances, then no more pretend that you absent yourselves from God's house for the sake of private devotion and spiritual edification.

Seasons of occasional worship are generally disregarded. You will say, as almost every body else says, "Lectures may be useful; it is well to continue them; we should be sorry to hear that they were laid aside. But as they are not directly instituted and expressly commanded in scripture, we view them as matters of expedience only, not as matters of necessity; and when our worldly convenience will not comport with our attendance upon them, we suppose, we have a right to omit them.” Be it so. But let me ask you, Do you never omit them, except when worldly convenience will not comport with your attendance? At the time when your business has detained you from a lecture, could you not have left this same business to receive or give a visit to attend a festivity-to enjoy an amusement-or to gratify your curiosity in seeing a ropedancer, a lion or puppet show ?-If your conduct is not consistent with itself, your pretensions are not sincere. If you omit this, or that duty, because there are others, which you esteem more important, go and do the latter; and then probably you will find that you can do the former also.

John has remarked, that Judas pleaded in behalf of the poor, "not because he cared any thing for the

poor, but because he was a thief, and had the bag, and bare what was put therein." Judas does not ask, "Why did not the woman, instead of buying the ointment, give her money to the poor?" This would not have answered his purpose. But he asks, "Why was not the ointment sold, and the proceeds sequestered for the poor?" Then the money would have been put into his hands; and he could have. applied it to his own use, and said, he had given it to the poor. He was capable of this duplicity.

"He was a thief;" and well he knew how to peculate from the common treasury, of which he had the charge.

Many will plead the cause of the poor, when they can thus serve their own interest. The poor have always had more advocates than benefactors.

The most illiberal and selfish wretch you can find, will earnestly recommend charity to the poor, if he sees a channel by which this charity will run into his own coffers, or if he hopes, that, by expatiating. on the distresses of the poor, he can decently turn off a demand made on his own purse for some public service.

All vice is so palpably wrong, that few care to avow it in its own proper colors. The man who has determined to do an unworthy action, studies to throw over it a veil, which may conceal it from the public eye. The forms of piety and charity are often assumed merely as cloaks to cover the detestable designs of selfishness and pride. The pharisees made long prayers, that they might devour widow's houses. They gave alms by sound of trumpet, that the ostentation of benevolence might prevent a suspicion of covetousness, and that the show of liberality might facilitate the success of their rapacity. Jehu proclaimed his zeal for the Lord, that he might more surely execute his ambitious and cruel inten