wherein to trust. For the door of the visible church is thus wide enough to admit both believers and unbelievers, penitents and impenitents, half-way professors and christians indeed; but not so the gate of heaven itself; not a single guest shall in any wise be admitted to the marriage supper of the Lamb, who is found unprovided with a wedding garment. All besides shall be bound hand and foot and cast into outward darkness.† May that God whose eyes are in every place, whose sole prerogative it is to search the heart, and who well knows those in the present assembly who are believing christians unto salvation, and those who are secretly trusting in themselves: may He be graciously pleased to convince the latter of their folly and of the eternal risk to which they hereby foolishly expose themselves; and endue them with that heavenly wisdom which will render them willing to submit to the righteousness of God. But

II. There is another righteousness to which our Lord's language equally ap

+ Matt. xxii. 13.

plies. Of this we must not be wholly silent; though we can now only speak of it with brevity. Hitherto our attention has been occupied by a righteousness which Christ hath wrought out for us. Now we have to do with a righteousness which the Holy Spirit by his gracious operations produces in us. The former is the foundation of our hopes; the latter bears witness to our interest in the former; evidences the legitimacy of our pretensions as the children of God and joint heirs with Christ, whilst it constitutes our qualification for participating in the present privileges, and sharing in the future glories of the kingdom of heaven. These two are, in one sense, so distinct, thai they ought never to be confounded; and, in another sense, so united that they ought never to be disjoined. When we speak of a sinner's justification, works of every kind must be kept out of sightnot only those which are the fruit of "the wild olive tree," but such even as the believer produces after he is engrafted into Christ. In the matter of justification the sinner is passive-working not, but be

lieving on Him who justifieth the ungodly, that he might be saved by faith without the deeds of the law. the believer is no law, but dead to it;

66

And in this sense

longer under the the law as a cove

nant of works having no further demand upon him. But when we speak of the salvation of the sinner generally, (of which, be it remembered, pardon and justification constitute only a part,) the necessity of good works must be insisted on; the law must be diligently enforced as a rule of life; and the absolute need of conformity of heart to that law, and of universal obedience must be strongly urged. "Faith" in the language of the church, "doth not shut out repentance, hope, love, dread, and the fear of God to be joined with faith in every man that is justified; but it shutteth them out from the office of justifying. Neither doth faith shut out the justice of our good works, necessarily to be done afterwards of duty towards God-for we are most bounden

+ Rom. iv. 5.,

Rom. vi. 15.

to serve God, in doing good deeds commanded by him in his holy scripture, all the days of our life; but it excludeth them, so that we may not do them to this intent, to be made just by doing of them." Thus we see how the gospel plan of salvation provides most abundantly for the honour of the divine law, and for the interests of holiness; whilst it cuts off the sinner from all occasion of glorying, and requires that he that glorieth should glory in the Lord.‡

What now, my brethren, are your hopes, and what is your character? These are the points of practical use and application to which the present subject relates—

I. In the first place let me ask what are your hopes? In order to determine this question with accuracy, consider the nature of that righteousness whereupon those hopes are rested? Does it exceed that of the Scribes and Pharisees, and is it one which is totally distinct from theirs?This my brethren, is a point of no less

+ Homily on Justification,

+ 1 Cor. i, 31.

Either

than infinite moment; for, upon this the life of your precious souls, upon this your everlasting happiness or misery depends. Close then your ears to every false insinuation of the world, to the deceitful whispers of your own treacherous heart, and to the suggestions of the Arch-deceiver;-listen only to the word of God, and bring your hopes and expectations, your works, and graces to this only test and standard. Either you are just before God, or you are yet in your sins. you are under the law, or you are under grace. You are either in Christ, or out of Christ-and if the latter, reflect on the dreadful consequences! In such a case you have no forgiveness, no righteousness, no Saviour, no friend or advocate in heaven, and there is none upon earth strong enough to deliver you. You are in the midst of enemies, but have no shield to defend you, the wolf is at hand to devour, but you have wandered far from the fold, and are unable to say "The Lord is my shepherd;" the floods of divine vengeance already begin to roll around