once entered in shall never go out. "What is the hope of the hypocrite, when God taketh away his soul?" I proceed, II. To propose some considerations which may evince the awfulness of the thing here represented, and

1. It is God that shuts the door. To open and shut the heavens, can only be done by Him who made the heavens, and has authority to do what he will in them, as being his property and habitation. Now, as it is the act of God, it must be an act of power; none can resist him in doing, none can alter what he has done. What he does, he does completely; when he begins, he will make a full end. It is also an act of justice. "Is God unrighteous," says the apostle, "who taketh vengeance?" Punishments are deserved-"The wages of sin is death;" so that the sinner will have none to accuse but himself, and he will do this to all eternity. Every mouth will be stopped in the great day, or, if opened, it will be to declare the equity of the divine proceedings. God will be clear when he judgeth.

2. There is no other way of entrance when the door is shut. Hypocrites may creep in, thieves and robbers climb over the wall into the church below, but neither craft nor violence can open a passage into heaven. There is one way, and if that be blocked up, it is inaccessible in any other. "No man," says Christ, "cometh unto the Father but by me." We cannot scale the ramparts, or undermine the walls, of the celestial city; there will be no breaking in or going out, as there will be no complaining in the streets.

3. This door was in some respects once open. It was open to others as undeserving of the Divine favour, as obnoxious to the Divine displeasure, as those against whom it will be finally shut; nay, it was open even to them in the publication of the gospel, the language of which is, "Whosoever will, let him come." This seems to be implied when Christ speaks of "the Master of the house, being risen, and shutting the door." It is not because the door of heaven is not set open, but because the door of the heart is not so, that sinners are not saved; and it will be an

aggravating circumstance, that many who are shut out, seemed once just at the door; many who are excluded the kingdom, like the scribe, were "not far from" it.

have set before thee," says Christ, to the Church at Philadelphia, an open door." It is, in some sense, an open

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door to all, though an effectual door only to some.

4. Others are shut in, which will be an heightening of the misery of those that are shut out. They shall see the guests at the marriage supper, but not be able to join them; see the entertainment, but not partake of it. Yea, certainly, a sight of the blessed in heaven will add to the torments of the damned in hell. "He shall appear to your joy," says the prophet," and they shall be ashamed." And again, "Behold, my servants shall eat, but ye shall be hungry; my servants shall drink, but ye shall be thirsty; my servants shall sing for joy of heart, but ye shall cry for sorrow of heart, and howl for vexation of spirit." Who will be able to endure to see some whom we loved, and yet whose counsels we rejected, some whom we hated and persecuted, received with honour and applause, while we are rejected with ignominy and shame ?

⚫ 5. Being once shut, the door is ever shut; for it is shut by Him who shutteth and no man openeth, and a flaming sword is placed to guard it. Before the decree goes forth, we are to seek the Lord, for we cannot tell but he may repent and return, and leave a blessing behind him; but when the decree has once gone forth, all seeking will be in vain. If an eternity of happiness is not our portion, an eternity of misery will be. Prayer is a key that opens the door of heaven now, but those who have let this key lie by till it is grown rusty, will find it insufficient for that purpose hereafter. Hence it is said in the following verse, "Afterwards, also, came the foolish virgins." When their broken cisterns were exhausted, they would have recourse to the living fountain. Those who do not love holiness, cannot but desire happiness. They came as suppliants, unfortunate suppliants; prayer was their last refuge. "Lord,

Lord!" say they, open to us." They were right as to the object of prayer, nor was there any fault to be found in the matter of it; they were ready to perish, and that salvation which they formerly slighted they now earnestly sought. Extraordinary distress, and extraordinary importunity, appear in the manner of their application; but did they prevail? no. He answered and said, "Verily I say unto you, I know you not ;" you would not know me before, and I will not know you now; your repentance is too late, your application unseasonable: I will hear nothing from you, and you shall hear nothing from me but what will be terrifying and distressing. You rejected my love, and you shall feel my wrath; you despised the good land, and you shall not set your foot in it: depart to that place, work, and company, which you have chosen.

6, and lastly. Though one door is shut, yet there is another open. Impenitent sinners are not only shut out of heaven, but shut into hell. The negative part of their misery is very dreadful,-they shall not inherit the kingdom of heaven; but the other part is more so, for they shall be punished with everlasting destruction from the presence of the Lord, and from the glory of his power. Instead of glory, honour, and immortality, behold tribulation and wrath, everlasting anguish, and overwhelming shame. There is no middle place between heaven and hell; and not to be happy, is to be extremely miserable. To prefer sin to holiness, is to prefer darkness to light; the pains of the damned, to the joys of the blessed.

Improvement:

1. What terror does this speak to wicked men. Some, concerning whom they little expected it, are taken into heaven, and they themselves shut out; their fellow-members, those who sat in the same pew, and around the same table, admitted, and they excluded. O that such could be persuaded to view their case as it really is! Think, and pray over what you have heard. Lamps will not do without oil; if you shut out Christ now, he will shut you out

hereafter from the society of the blessed, from heaven, from himself, from God.

2. The happiness of the saints will be completed by that which is the misery of the damned. The shutting out of sin and sinners is no small part of the felicity of the heavenly world, where, as there will be every thing to delight, so nothing to perplex or annoy. When Adam was put into Paradise, the door was left open, and he went out. When the saints are taken into heaven, the door will be shut, so that their happiness will not only be complete, but everlasting. "Him that overcometh," says Christ, "I will make a pillar in the temple of my God, and he shall go no more out."

3. Well may the prophet say, " Then shall ye return and discern between the righteous and the wicked; between him that serveth God, and him that serveth him not." "Gather together the tares," says Christ," and bind them in bundles to burn them; but gather the wheat into my barn." The distinction between saints and sinners will remain when all other distinctions cease. "Between us and you," says Abraham to the rich man in torments, "there is a great gulf fixed;"-no friendly intercourse, no intermixture of joys or sorrows." The one shall be for ever with the Lord, the other at an eternal distance from him.

SERMON LII.

ON THE DUTY OF MINISTERS TO PROMOTE
THEIR PEOPLE'S JOY.

2 CORINTHIANS I. 24.

Not that we have dominion over your faith, but are helpers of your joy.

HERE we have both the negative and positive character of humble and faithful ministers of the gospel.

I. Their negative character. They have not dominion over the people's faith. This may be understood of the grace of faith, which they can neither produce nor increase. They may propose the object, open the nature, and urge the necessity of it; but the most masterly reasonings, the most flowing eloquence, and the most pathetic expostulations, will not avail to the putting forth any act of faith without a divine influence. Not only the being, but the measure of faith is as the Lord gives to every man. If your minister, in this sense, had dominion over your faith, you should all be not only believers, but strong believers. But the doctrine of faith seems to be here principally intended. Ministers have no power to impose new articles of faith, lord it over the consciences of men, or make that necessary which Christ has left indifferent. Those who dislike an intolerant spirit in others, should, upon no occasion, discover it themselves. They should grant that liberty of private judgment which they claim, and not press upon their people those peculiarities of which they themselves