SERMON XX.

SIMON MAGUS.

ACTS viii. 21.

"Thou hast neither part nor lot in this matter, for thy heart is not right in the sight of God."

THE outward profession of the Christian religion, is too often unaccompanied by real vitality of Christian principle, or any anxious desire, to live in conformity to the requirements of the gospel, for there are many who have been baptized into Christ, "who have not put on Christ;" many who assume the Christian name, who are wholly uninfluenced by those truths which Jesus taught, and do not evidence that they are united to him as living branches in the true vine, by those sure and infallible tests of discipleship,

possession of his spirit, conformity to his image, and obedience to his precepts.

It becomes an imperative duty therefore to endeavour to lead men to the solemn inquiry, whether they may not be deceived as to their spiritual condition, and be resting contented with the form of godliness, while they deny its power; and whether there may not be something materially wrong in the state of their heart and affections, even while they are perfectly satisfied with their religious attainments, and under no apprehension as to their eternal safety. For such a tendency to deception is natural to fallen humanity; and he whose unceasing aim it is, to lure souls to their eternal ruin, is ever anxious to lull men into a state of fancied security; to prevent their exercising serious self-examination, and trying themselves by the infallible standard of right and wrong-the volume of revealed truth. The emptiness of mere profession was, perhaps, never more lamentably manifested than in the case of Simon Magus, to whom the humiliating and alarming declaration was made by St. Peter in the text; and who, although avowing himself a disciple, and having been admitted by baptism within the pale of the visible church, had, as the apostle affirms, neither part nor lot in the saving efficacy of the gospel, for "his heart was not right in the sight of God."

Incalculable mischief has arisen to the cause of Christianity from the conduct of such professors as Simon, and such, unfortunately, have not been confined to the days of the primitive church; for, by their deeds, great occasion is given to the enemies of the truth to blaspheme. The infidel at home, by their inconsistency, has been confirmed in his unbelief, and been supplied with weapons which he has too often successfully employed against the truth as it is in Jesus. For while infidelity has slain its thousands, nominal Christianity has slain its ten thousands. The heathen abroad has clung more pertinaciously to his idols, when he has beheld the professed believer in the gospel indulging in habits of sensuality and profaneness, and cruelty and malignity-which that gospel condemns. The Christian name has thus been vilified; the credibility of God's word has been questioned; the admirable suitability of that word for man's moral and spiritual improvement has been doubted. Nothing indeed is more important than to point out the fact, that Christianity is to be judged by the conduct of its real, and not of its nominal professors, and clearly to distinguish between those who have embraced the Christian faith, from the circumstance of birth or example, or worldly motives; and those who do so from rational conviction, who receive Jesus as he is

offered in the gospel; who earnestly seek to possess his Spirit, to be conformed to his image, and to obey his will; and who are walking in that newness of life, which the gospel inculcates and demands. Neither the infidel nor the heathen, however, is justified in his rejection of the gospel, on this or any other account: its truths are set before him that he may believe, and believing, may have life through the Saviour's name; and it will be in vain for him to urge in palliation of his guilt in rejecting it, that he saw thousands of those by whom it was professed to have been received, evidently having neither "part nor lot" in a participation of its promised blessings, their hearts being obviously "not right in the sight of God."

Let us briefly advert, in the first place, to the accounts here given, respecting the conduct of Simon Magus; let us inquire, in the second place, into the force of the expression, the heart not being "right in the sight of God;" and consider, in the third, the fearful consequences of this state of heart, namely, exclusion from the privileges of the gospel, "Thou hast neither part nor lot in this matter."

I. On the persecution of the disciples by Saul, "who made havoc of the church, entering into every house, and haling men and women

committed them to prison;"" the disciples were scattered abroad, and went every where preaching the word." Philip the Deacon, or, as he is elsewhere termed, the Evangelist, went to Samaria, and there preached the great doctrines of the gospel. The reception he met with was widely different from that experienced by the Saviour, when refused admittance into a city of the Samaritans, "because his face was as though he would go to Jerusalem." The ministrations of Philip were thankfully received; the miracles which he performed excited extraordinary attention; they were decisive proofs that he was under heavenly guidance; the people heard him gladly, and the result of his visit was a sense of thanksgiving and gratitude, for "there was great joy in that city." And though this joy may in some measure have arisen from the important bodily cures which had been performed, yet it cannot be reasonably doubted, that the message of redeeming mercy was the chief cause of their rejoicing; and that they were led to magnify the goodness of that Jehovah by whose tender mercy the day-spring from on high had visited them; to adore the riches of his grace, who descended from the throne of glory, on an errand of love and mercy; who offered upon the cross a full and complete atonement for human transgression, giving himself for them, "an offer