they deal out abuse and censure on their neighbours, will their neighbours bestow abuse and censure upon them. Nay, we sometimes see, that of what they have thus sown in iniquity, they reap an hundredfold by which means, not only their own lives are rendered uneasy, but the peace of society is disturbed they not only trample under foot the laws of Christ themselves, but tempt and provoke others to do the same: so that it is no small or trifling guilt they have to answer for: it is indeed a heinous and complicated guilt, and such as, if unforsaken and unrepented of, must finally ruin them." Wo unto the world, because of offences;" saith our Lord, "for it must needs be, that offences come: but wo unto that man, by whom the offence cometh: it were better for him, that a millstone were hanged about his neck, and that he were drowned in the depth of

Upon the whole: if we entertain any respect for the feelings and comfort of others, or any concern for our own true dignity; if we deem it of any importance that peace and mutual friendship, in place of discord and animosity, should prevail in the society of which we are members; and, above all, if we would look forward with a well-grounded hope, that, through the merits of a Redeemer, we shall be mercifully dealt with in the great day of account, we will carefully restrain, and do our utmost to root out any propensity we may feel in ourselves to the sin of censoriousness. Whilst, with zeal and firmness, we exert our best abilities to maintain the

cause of truth, and advance the interests of religion, we will watch over ourselves, lest any bad passion should mingle itself with our purer motives, and mislead us from the path, or carry us beyond the limits, which the great law of Christian charity prescribes : And, through life, our first and last, our constant and uniform care and solicitude will be, to make up our peace in heaven, by following peace with all men, and that holiness, without which no man shall see the Lord.

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SERMON XVII.

THE CHARACTERISTICS OF THE TRUE FOLLOWERS OF CHRIST.

MATT. XVI. 24-28.

Then said Jesus unto his disciples, if any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me. For whosoever will save his life shall lose it: and whosoever will lose his life for my sake shall find it. For what is a man profited, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul? or what shall a man give in exchange for his soul? For the Son of man shall come in the glory of his Father with his angels; and then he shall reward every man according to his works. Verily I say unto you, There be some standing here which shall not taste of death, till they see the Son of man coming in his kingdom.

In examining ourselves, and in endeavouring to form a just estimate of our religious character, we can adopt no better method than diligently to compare it with those places in Scripture where our Saviour describes the marks which characterize his genuine followers, and distinguish them from the rest of the world. For as we profess ourselves to be the disciples of Christ, and by such profession engage to

obey him as our Lord and Master; so, to be barely consistent, we must consider his laws and injunctions as binding upon us, even though, in some instances, we should not be able to perceive the reasonableness of them. But how indisputably will the obligation appear, when we discover that his commands are all of them, not only highly reasonable in themselves, but entirely calculated to promote and secure both our present and future welfare and happiness.

Of those requisites, which he declares to be essential to the Christian character, there are some, which at first view, may appear unfriendly to our happiness, difficult of attainment, and not altogether consistent with the account he gives of his service ; namely, "That his yoke was easy, and his burden light:" but, upon further and more mature consideration, we shall find, that they are highly conducive, both to the perfection of our nature, and to the increase of our temporal felicity.

Of this nature are the frequent intimations which he gives us, that, unless we deny ourselves, and take up our cross; unless we hate father and mother, and wife and children, and be ready to part with every thing, that is near and dear to us for his sake; that is, if we prefer not our duty and allegiance to him, to our ease or pleasure, to worldly attachments and advantages,-in short, to every earthly consideration, we cannot be his disciples. But in this, there will appear nothing harsh or unreasonable, or in the least inconsistent with what he declared concerning his religion at other times,-if we consider,

First, That even in human estimation, a man would be accounted infamous, who should prove unfaithful to a master, to whom he had solemnly vowed attachment and fidelity; and it would require no small degree of provocation on the part of the master, to justify such a servant in the opinion of the world and save him from general contempt and indignation. That the services required of him, were difficult and disagreeable, would not be held as a sufficient apology. It would even be said, that ill treatment was no valid excuse for negligence or disrespect, and that nothing could justify disobedience to the master's commands, short of its being impossible for the servant to comply with them, without a breach of the laws of God, and the laws of his country. Now, if these are our notions with respect to the fidelity and obedience, which a man owes to an earthly master, whom he hath come under a solemn obligation to follow and to obey; shall we deem ourselves innocent or excusable, if we fail in the duty which we owe to the great Captain of our salvation, whose authority over us, we acknowledge to be supreme, and whom, by the very profession of his religion, we declare ourselves bound to serve with fidelity and affection? Shall we say, that his yoke, so far from being easy and light, is a burden too heavy for us to bear, that his commandments are intolerably grievous, and we cannot obey them?

Secondly, They, who speak thus of the precepts of the Gospel, either do not understand them, or wilfully misrepresent them. Say, what doth our