stances, has been different from what it ought to have been. But we conceive, that it is possible for us to balance our good qualities against our bad, in such a manner as to find acceptance in the presence of a Deity whose predominant attribute we believe to be mercy. We are sensible of our habitual tendency to wander from the path of rectitude. But we have an implicit confidence in our powers of self-government, and entertain no doubt, that we shall be able to resist temptation, and preserve our integrity unimpaired.-These are our natural sentiments; and they are sentiments which the word of God expressly and positively condemns-sentiments which it is the primary business of religion to eradicate from the mind of man. Hence it is, that we find humility

-a virtue unknown to other codes of ethics-represented, in the New Testament, as the first and noblest trait of the Christian character. Hence it is, that Solomon in the text before us, pronounces the individual who trusts in his own heart, a fool.

We have said, that all men are more or less disposed to trust in their own hearts. Christianity boasts of no "faultless monsters." They over whom the gospel has acquired the highest ascendency, have still their imperfections. They perceive, and bitterly lament, that the feeling of self-dependence retains, in some degree, its hold in their souls. Our passage is, therefore, one from which even the best of Christians may extract appropriate and salutary instruction. But it is not our present object thus to apply the text. We would rather contemplate it in reference to the case of those, who, though in courtesy we may call them Christians, are strangers to the spirit of vital Christianity.

Now, there are two senses in which such men trust in their own hearts. They do this retrospectively and

prospectively-that is, they rely upon themselves for the expiation of past, and the prevention of future misconduct. We shall proceed to offer a few remarks on each of these particulars.

The doctrine which admits the reality and the efficacy of human merit in the matter of salvation, is so glaringly absurd, that it needs only to be enunciated in plain and direct terms, to be at once rejected by every one whose moral and religious perceptions have not been clouded by the inveterate prejudices of education. And yet some of the very persons who would discard this doctrine with feelings bordering on contempt, entertain opinions in respect to the moral character and performances of man, which, if pursued to their legitimate consequences, would be seen to be little less preposterous. There are those who cannot help thinking, in spite of what they read in the Bible on the subject, that when they have made a vigorous effort of self-denial, or when they have done an act of more than ordinary beneficence, they have really deserved a share of the divine approbation. And if they are too modest to say this of themselves, they are less backward in affirming it with regard to others. Take up an article of biography from the pen of one of our classical writers. How common is it to find the author admitting, that the person whose life he relates, was by no means free from faults, but zealously contending, that these were more than expiated by his good qualities, and particularly by his sufferings, if he happened to be unfortunate. Open a newspaper, and read the inflated account of an execution. You are told, that the unhappy victim displayed the firmnest fortitude and courage-for every felon, it would seem, becomes a hero when he reaches the gallows-and at such an hour atoned for his crime by submitting to a fate which it was not in his power to avert.

Indeed, if an opinion were to be formed from the elaborate and high-coloured detail of these melancholy transactions, which the editors of newspapers are expected to furnish, we should almost be tempted to conclude, that there is no surer and easier method of getting to heaven, than by the commission of a capital offence.-We would not now be understood as intimating, that all who adopt the kind of phraseology which we have mentioned, really believe in the possibility of expiating sin, by deeds of virtue, exercises of benevolence, or the most intense and protracted sufferings of body or of mind. But the prevalence of such phraseology shows sufficiently, that the general views of men in relation to this matter, are not in strict accordance with evangelical truth.-We may add, that our most popular writers, moral and sentimental-especially our elegant essayists-commonly speak of the happiness of the future state, as if it were to be the pure reward of human merit. It has been justly said, that "this, so far as any allusions are made to the subject, is the prevailing opinion through the school of polite literature."

Brethren, it is important for us to guard you against any degree of error in respect to the point now under consideration. If there be one truth on which peculiar stress is laid in the sacred Scriptures, and particularly in the New Testament, it is this. Recollect those awful words of revelation: "Cursed is he that trusteth in man, and maketh flesh his arm." Behold, too, the estimate of human merit formed by Him who came into the world to expiate human guilt. Says our Lord to his disciples: "When ye shall have done all those things which are commanded you, say, We are unprofitable servants; we have done that which was our duty to do." Here, then is the fundamental principle of Christianity-the article

by which true religion must stand or fall. And might we not ask, to what purpose did the Son of God divest himself of his essential glories, and leave the bosom of his Father, for a life of humiliation, a pilgrimage of sorrow, and a death of torture on earth, if it had been possible for man to be saved on the ground of his own merits? The very fact, that divine wisdom and goodness have devised for our fallen race, so complicated and expensive an apparatus of salvation, may be considered as a conclusive argument in behalf of the truth asserted in our text. Yes, it must have been because we have no substantial ground of confidence in our own hearts-because we are, under all circumstances, unprofitable servants— because when we have done the utmost that we can possibly effect, we have established no valid claim to the favour or the compassion of our Creator-it was on this very account that God deemed it necessary to provide for us that Saviour, the image of himself, and the brightness of his own glory, whom the gospel reveals.

But here the question may arise, Do not the sacred Scriptures sometimes represent the future felicity of the redeemed, as a reward conferred upon them by their Father in heaven, for the zeal and diligence which they have displayed in his service? We answer in the affirmative. Thus the Saviour, on a certain occasion, addressed his disciples in these terms: "Verily I say unto you, there is no man that hath left house, or parents, or brethren, or wife, or children, for the kingdom of God's sake, who shall not receive manifold more in this present time, and in the world to come, life everlasting." And in the striking account given by our Lord of the solemnities of the final judgment, we observe, that the acceptance of those on the right hand of the Son of man, is predicated on the fact, that they had fed the hungry, furnished drink

to the thirsty, entertained the stranger, clothed the naked, visited the sick, and interested themselves in the prisoner's behalf. But these and similar passages only relate to the inseparable connexion which, according to the plan of the gospel, subsists between the present character and the ulterior destiny of man. "Without holiness no man shall see the Lord." But as God himself provides the means by which this holiness is to be attained—as he imparts both the inclination and the ability to perform virtuous, and pious, and benevolent deeds-the blessings thus procured cannot be said to be merited, in the proper sense of that word. We accordingly find, that these blessings are described in the New Testament, as the reward, not of debt, but of grace.

Beware, then, candidates for the favour of Heavenbeware of trusting in your own hearts. When you approach the throne of divine Justice, let the righteousness of Christ be your only plea. Cast it not from you, dear hearers; it is your life, your all! Cling to it as that which alone can expiate your offences, and procure for you a sentence of acquittal at the bar of your God. Build your immortal hopes entirely on this righteousness, and then you need not fear the retributions of eternity-then you may present yourselves before the tribunal of Jehovah, with the humble, yet confident language-" Lord, we have done nothing to deserve thy complacent regards -the review of our earthly career affords only matter for humiliation and regret; we dare not trust to the very best deed that we have ever performed: thy justice would doom us to misery, and we cannot expect that the general benevolence of thy nature will interpose for our rescue. We look to the merits of thy Son for security. We ask that his blood may be applied to the effacing of our transgressions from the volume of thy remembrance. Father