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Then shall he answer them, saying, Verily, I say unto you, inasmuch as ye did it not to one of the least of these, ye did it not to me."*

No doubt the scrutiny of that great day will extend much farther, and relate to other qualities besides the grace of charity. Those on the right hand, which shall hear the summons, "Come, ye blessed children of my Father," must be humble, and penitent, and meek, and pure in heart, as well as merciful. But the very prominent place which our Lord has assigned to charity in this awful description of the tribunal where he will himself appear in his glory as Judge, and "before him shall be gathered all nations," shows thus much, at least, that this virtue is indispensable; is one by which the Christian must often examine himself and prove his own soul, inasmuch as without it his Saviour will not acknowledge him; he shall not obtain mercy. Not that charity, or any other virtue, can redeem us from the punishment of sin, or entitle us to the reward of heaven: "eternal life is the gift of God through Jesus Christ."+ It would be a miserable error for a man to suppose, that by giving an alms he could atone for a crime, or by excusing his debtor here, clear his own account with God. Forgiveness and pity are necessary parts of that character which Christ will save, but cannot alone save us, or be placed in the stead of Christ. But, as I observed, they are necessary features in that character which Christ will save. Without these, it

* Matt. xxv. 42, &c.

+ Rom. vi. 25.

will be in vain for a man to cry unto him in that day, "Lord, Lord, have we not been called by thy name?" He will still answer, You could not have a proper sense of the mercy which I showed, in « bearing your sins in my own body on the tree*,” when you showed no mercy towards your own brethren, who had not offended you by ten thousand times as heavily as you have offended against your Almighty Father. Neither could you value your knowledge of my Gospel, when you have employed no pains to give others that knowledge; neither could you love your brethren, as I commanded you to love them, when you refused to do unto them as you would they should do unto you; therefore, yours is not the character which shall obtain mercy, nor the character for which my heavenly kingdom is prepared.

My brethren, if any of you are conscious that you have not forgiven a neighbour when he trespassed against you; if any of you are conscious that you have taken a malicious pleasure in making a brother's offences known, and injuring his credit; if any have pushed your rights to an extreme, and insisted on severity of justice, when you might rather have shown mercy and pity; if any have no feeling for their fellow-creatures' wants, and are contented to enjoy themselves, without bestowing a thought on those who have in this life evil things; you plainly perceive that the blessing bestowed on the merciful is not addressed to you: you must ex

* 1 Pet. ii. 24.

pect judgment without mercy, if you have shown no mercy. Pray, therefore, to the Lord Jesus Christ, that he who first set the most beautiful example of charity, and displayed his almighty power, not by removing mountains or destroying cities, but went about doing good, reforming the sinner, and curing the diseased, and relieving the distressed, and blessing those who persecuted him, may "pour into your hearts that most excellent gift of charity, without which all other qualities are nothing worth." Whenever you are tempted to resent an injury, reflect with yourselves, has God no account against you? When you are inclined to speak or to think hardly of your neighbour, who may have fallen into sin, reflect, Am I so without sin that I can venture to "cast the first stone" against another? When you are unwilling to take some trouble, or to spare some little of your substance, to relieve another's wants, remember the sentence of your Lord and Judge, "Inasmuch as ye did it not unto one of the least of these, ye did it not unto me.*

* Matt. xxv. 45.

CONNEXION BETWEEN CHRISTIAN FAITH

AND CHRISTIAN PRACTICE.

MATTHEW, xii. 33.

Either make the tree good, and his fruit good; or else make the tree corrupt, and his fruit corrupt: for the tree is known by his fruits.

ON different occasions lately I have attempted to delineate the various features of the Christian character, which our Lord placed together in one point of view in his discourse on the Mount, and on which he pronounced his blessing. They are the poor in spirit; the penitent; the meek; the merciful; the pure in heart; the peacemakers; those who hunger and thirst after righteousness; and those who are willing to encounter persecution for righteousness' sake these are blessed by their Saviour's voice, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

But it must not be thought that these virtues, though they are distinctly named and distinctly treated of, are therefore unconnected and separable, so that a man may profess and follow some, and reject or violate the rest. This would no more form a consistent Christian than a set of words thrown together at random would form an intelli

gible sentence, or a string of unconnected sentences produce a regular treatise. There must be a ruling mind to give meaning to the words and sentences; and so there must be a governing and connecting principle to give value and consistency to the several virtues.

No doubt, in talking of persons who are not governed or influenced by the Gospel, we often speak of them as eminent for this or that particular quality, which may exist by itself unsupported by any others. We praise one man as remarkably prudent; another, as being strictly correct in all his dealings; another, as being uniformly temperate and sober. And this has nothing in it inconsistent or unintelligible; for a man may be sober, and yet not honest; or he may be honest, and yet not temperate; or he may be both honest and chaste, and yet addicted to anger and revenge.

This, I say, may be the description of characters which are not formed upon the Gospel; but it cannot be the description of a Christian. The Christian virtues must stand or fall together. It is not enough for one man to say, I admire the spirit of charity which the Gospel inculcates; it is a spirit which would universally promote happiness among men: I will endeavour to practise that virtue. Or for another to say, I admire the meekness which is taught in the Gospel: I will adopt that article of the Christian code. It is not in this way that the character can be formed of which our Lord declares" great is its reward in heaven."

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