assign some particular part of his income for the purpose, he would find himself under no temptation to withhold his charity; while, on the contrary, when a person acts only from the impulse of feeling, he is in great danger of letting selfishness swallow it up.

With regard to the mode of doing good in visiting the sick, we find it was in person: "I was sick, and ye visited me."-" Pure and undefiled religion is this: to visit the fatherless and widow in their afflictions." I am afraid this practice is much neglected. There is often a defect in the means of doing good, from improperly bestowing it. It is necessary to exercise patience and discrimination. The apostle James represents religion as visiting the sick and afflicted. It will solace the minds of the poor, and convince them that they are not beneath their fellow-creatures. It will be a cordial to their spirits, and keep alive the best sentiments of the heart. The practice might be recommended by contrast; for it will add pleasure to those who have the conveniences of life, and are enabled to extend relief to others in less fortunate circumstances. Appropriate, then, some part of your time. Do not say that you have no time; time is given for this purpose.

It is not necessary to say, (as notice was given of our intention, last Sabbath, to make a collection for the poor this afternoon,) that you will have an opportunity of doing it. You have before exercised your generosity, my friends, on similar occasions; and if the language of the text is not

sufficient to persuade you to do it now, it would be great presumption in me to say any thing. If this subject is properly attended to, it will engage your hearts in this duty. Recollect in what light it is represented to us. Jesus Christ never seemed to clothe himself in majesty and splendour but when speaking of charity. "When the Son of Man shall come in his glory, and all the holy angels with him, then shall he sit upon the throne of his glory : and before him shall be gathered all nations: and he shall separate them one from another, as a shepherd divideth his sheep from the goats: and he shall set the sheep on his right hand, but the goats on the left. Then shall the King say unto them on his right hand, Come, ye blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world."

Who are the sheep?-The imitators of Christ in his benevolence. And who are the goats?— Those who shut their hearts against the poor, who neglect that charity which consists in relieving them. Each of your characters is here represented. Heaven itself is open to receive you; and hell is open. Each person is represented as being surprised; each is astonished. The wicked are astonished at their crimes; the righteous at their virtues: presumption and unbelief had covered those of the one, and a veil of humility had concealed the other. "Then shall the righteous say, Lord, when saw we thee an hungrcd, and fed thee? or thirsty, and gave thee drink? When saw we thee a stranger, and took thee in?

or naked, and clothed thee? Or when saw we thee sick, or in prison, and came unto thee?" They were astonished to find that this acknowledgment was in consequence of their kindness to the disciples of their Lord. They were ready to think they had received a great reward in having tasted the sweets of doing good, and having enlarged the bounds of their best feelings; but Jesus Christ will take away that veil which humility had thrown over them, and say, " Come, ye blessed of my Father. . . . inasmuch as ye have done it to one of the least of these my brethren, ye have done it unto me." The wicked will express their astonishment, when he will say, "I was a stranger, and ye took me not in: naked, and ye clothed me not : sick, and in prison, and ye visited me not. Then shall they also answer him, saying, Lord, when saw we thee an hungred, or athirst, or a stranger, or naked, or sick, or in prison, and did not minister unto thee?" It is true we did despise thy sorrows in thy brethren; but we saw nothing in them but trembling limbs, decrepitude, meanness, and poverty:-we saw nothing of that glorious power of thine; and how could we suppose there was any alliance with thee, the Lord of glory?' 'But these,' he will intimate, 'were the representatives of my humiliation and sufferings; and, as the carnal jews overlooked them in the days of my flesh, so have you in my members: "Inasmuch as ye did it not to them, ye did it not to me. Depart, ye cursed." What an astonishing change in condition is here, when all the emblems of authority

and power, and splendour and greatness, and wisdom and fame, which distinguished them in this world, shall have passed away; and when nothing will remain untouched, but that holiness which is the image of Christ! Oh the blindness of the rich, when they have it in their power to relieve the disciples of their Lord!

Let those who believe in these solemn representations tremble lest they should incur this condemnation. This is not, my brethren, a theatrical display of the glory of the Son of Man; but your eyes shall see, and your ears hear. The goats and the sheep are in this assembly, and the everlasting destiny of all present will soon be determined.

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We do not mean to assert that christianity was intended to restore the order of the primeval world by making the poor rich but that every man should consider all that he possesses as put in his power in trust, to be employed in devotedness to Christ. There must, indeed, in society, be rich and poor, high and low-these have their momentary use; but they are only like figures exhibited amidst transient scenes and a passing show. How miserable is the man who repines at his situation! Miserable will be the rich, and miserable the poor, if they do not recollect that these are only temporary distinctions.

Let every one of us seriously reflect upon the solemn declarations of the text; and, whenever we contemplate a pious poor man, consider that we see an image of Christ, a temple of the Holy

Ghost, who, if we neglect and despise him, will sit at last as an assessor of our destiny. Yes, before that very despised individual shall we be placed and judged. Be afraid lest you despise Christ in his image, and become numbered among those who did not know their Lord in his brethren, because they were diseased, and in misery. Be apprehensive, lest by your conduct you should give occasion to Jesus Christ to say, "As ye did it not to one of the least of these my brethren, ye did it not to me: depart, ye cursed, into everlasting fire."

1 CHRON. XXVIII. 9.

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V.

If thou seek him, he will be found of thee; but if thou forsake him, he will cast thee off for ever."

[PREACHED AT CAMBRIDGE, JANUARY 17, 1802.]

To find God is the greatest blessing that man can enjoy, for it is the great earnest of eternal life, which is, "To know thee the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom thou hast sent." More is included in finding God, than persons in general imagine. Were many people in this christian country to be asked if they had found God, they would be startled at the question, and exclaim, "How can it enter into your imagination that we have not found him?" But, if we consult the