SERMON I.

RIGHT AND WRONG.

ST. JAMES IV. 17.

"To him that knoweth to do good, and doeth it not, to him it is sin."

DAYLIGHT is not more perplexing to the owl's eyes, than the simplicity which is in Christ, to a double-minded man. To such a person, the way of truth is really the way of difficulty. May God the Holy Spirit, the Lord and Giver of life! be present with us now, and quicken with His light, and life, and love, the darkness and the deadness of our spirits. May He anoint our blinded eyes, making our eye-sight single, and giving us grace to see the glory of God, in the face of Jesus Christ.

The writer of this Epistle was surnamed the Just, and the name described his character. He was a man of singular judgment, and well fitted for the high office which he held as Bishop or

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Overseer of the Church of God at Jerusalem. The exhortations of this Apostle are clear, bold, and vigorous. The word of God, indeed, in his grasp, is a weapon of formidable force, the living and powerful sword of the Spirit, the discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart. He stands forth in the midst of the christian world, and lifts up his voice like a trumpet, against all those whose lives agree not with their profession. He feels deeply the disgrace brought upon the christian faith by those who say and do not. He allows sin no quarter in the followers of Jesus; the double mind is the object of his unsparing severity. He strips off at once all its fair disguises. The world and all worldliness, he boldly condemns. The lovers of worldly distinction, the flatterers of the great in this world, the lovers of riches, and hoarders of riches, he brings down all such with his strong and sweeping accusation. He turns to the wise and the gifted, "It matters not that ye are highly exalted in your wisdom! What do ye more than others? Who is a wise man, and endued with knowledge among you, let him shew out of a good conversation his works with meekness of wisdom." 66 'No, nor does it matter," he says to others, "that you know little, and make that your excuse for doing nothing, do you act up to what you

know?" "To him that knoweth to do good, and doeth it not, to him it is sin." It is quite a mistake to suppose that this epistle takes a lower standard than the other epistles: it does not; it commends, invariably, the single eye, the single purpose of a true child of God. It forbids all intercourse with the defilements of the world, and gives a glorious description of that wisdom which is from above.

We are told by the Apostle Paul, that God hath concluded all under sin; and the Apostle John has declared, that "if we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. If we say that we have not sinned, we make God a liar." The Apostle James shews us how this charge of sin may be brought home to every one. He might have said, but he does not, "To him that transgresseth the law of God, to him it is sin; or, "To him that breaketh the law of the land, to him it is sin." He speaks not even of any sin of positive commission; he points not to any gross neglect of duty. But he says, "To him that knoweth to do good, and doeth it not, to him it is sin." Who can escape an accusation at once so simple and so searching?

Now there are some persons who utterly disclaim a religious character, though they bear at the same time, and would not choose to give

up the name of a christian, which means, of course, a follower of Jesus Christ, and a believer in His holy religion. Alas! so it is, must allow from

they are not religious! for we

the pulpit, that this fearful inconsistency must and will exist; they are not religious! still, we bring the Bible to bear its awful judgment against the very lowest profession they can make, against the very slightest opinions of their light and trifling mind. I say to them most solemnly,-You do know what is good. You allow this in other words. You know right from wrong, and if you will not do that which is right, when you know it to be right, and if will you do that which is wrong, when you know it to be wrong, you are a sinner, a condemned and self-convicted sinner before the high Authority of heaven; for what says the apostle in the text, "To him that knoweth to do good, and doeth it not, to him it is sin."

There is, indeed, a large class among us to which these words, "To him that knoweth to do good, and doeth it not, to him it is sin," must be addressed in their uncompromising plainness. This class consists of those who on the subject of religion profess stupidity, and a want of power to understand and comprehend the plainest rules of duty. They are answered with a homely plainness by this honest teacher,

which they cannot gainsay. I repeat, that there is a class of persons who may be said, on the subject of religion, to profess stupidity; I do not mean that their profession is exactly in what they say, but in pretending that they cannot say, that they cannot understand. Preach to them plain truths and plain duties in plain language, read to them the plain threatenings and plain promises of the Holy Bible, question them, talk to them, endeavour to teach them in any way, and you will be met by a dull look and a heavy ear; they will make the old excuse, "I am no great scholar, these matters are above me;" or they will tell you with a sigh, that they wish they had such advantages of education as others whom they could name. But to such persons, I say. What is teaching from the book of God? is it only to fix so many words on the memory? Words must lead to actions, or they do not perform the proper office of words. What are the use of words on any common subject? A master, a farmer for instance, tells his shepherd, in so many words, to go forth into the open country, and seek a sheep which has strayed from the flock, and to bring it back to the fold. Now, the servant does not afterwards try to recollect the mere words and nothing more, but he sets at once about the doing of the thing which he is told to