would be a reproach to you to abandon such as make no profession, for the sake of enjoying their society.

The other cause of regret is, that so shining a christian as you would make, according to your own account, if you were but among us, should deny us the benefit of your fellowship and example. You would live up to your profession. In your character there would be neither spot, nor wrinkle, nor any such thing. You would be a perfect christian. Why, you are just the man we need! You would make us all ashamed of ourselves! Such a prodigy of piety would soon work miracles among us, and rouse the most sluggish to imitate such resplendent virtue. And as to hypocrites,the most impudent among them would not have face enough to look upon such a paragon of purity, but would flee from his presence, as the Israelites did from Moses, when he came down from the holy mount, irradiated with divine glory! O thou detestable hypocrite! to prate against God's children, and undertake to hector them for coming short of perfection, when thou, thyself, art in league with the world, and canst not be persuaded to leave it; art walking according to the course of this world, according to "the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that worketh in the children of disobedience;" art seldom on thy knees in thy closet, and, perhaps, never worshipping with thy family; art, through the malignity of thy disposition, blazing abroad the infirmities of the pious, and magnifying them by thy wicked invention, when a spark of heavenly charity would have prompted thee to hide them; and art all the while affecting to be too holy for the society of those who are generally, to say the least, endeavouring to "work out their salvation with fear and trembling.

2. Another objection is, some member of the church has offended you, and you will not unite with it while he remains in it. But if church fellowship be a duty, as I think I have demonstrated, then this can be no excuse for declining it. Are the resentments of christians to be implacable? Is this a reason why you

should deprive yourself of all the advantages of the church, that one of its members has done you an injury? Am I to avoid the direct way to heaven because I see a stumbling block in it? I must travel that road; and if I cannot remove the stumbling block, I will climb over it. "He that will forgive nothing," our Saviour has taught us," shall have nothing forgiven.”

3. When other objections are answered, we are met with a most perplexing doubt, which is proposed with the utmost gravity. You assure us that you think the communion of saints a very good thing, which you would be glad to enjoy ; but the multiplicity of sects into which the christian world is divided, each pretending to be a true church of Christ, must make it a matter of extreme difficulty, amidst these numerous and rival claims, to determine which denomination is best entitled to our fellowship.

You have already, I presume, settled this important question. Why do you attend our ministry? As you affect to be both honest and intelligent, I must suppose you do this, because, after careful inquiry, you are persuaded we are ministers of Christ, and preach his glorious gospel more fully than others do; and if this be your judgment, then are you bound in conscience to unite with us. But if you have attended here from the prejudices of education, custom, fashion, or convenience, and not as the result of calm and holy deliberation, yet I think you may soon and safely settle this knotty question. Though there be a variety of sects, yet you will find on examination that nearly all of them hold in common the great vital principles of our holy religion; and those in every sect who live and die under their influence, will, without doubt, be saved everlastingly. The points about which they differ have their different degrees of importance, and therefore it is not a matter of indifference to which society you attach yourselves; yet, allow me to suggest, that in almost any church you will find greater helps, and stand a better chance of final salvation, than you can do in your present state of alienation from the faithful,

and connexion with the wicked. If you have received any spiritual good, under our ministry, you ought to try whether a closer communion with us would not be productive of still greater advantages. If you think you are in a safe state already, (though I greatly doubt this,) then you ought, out of gratitude for the benefits you have received, to join with us hand and heart, that you may share with us in all the privileges of the church, and lend us your assistance in spreading vital religion through the earth. It has a very beggarly appearance to come to our door for the bread of life, but refuse, when you are invited, to enter in and become one of the family. But if you say, you wish to get good to your souls under our ministry, and cannot; I have only to answer, go, and try somewhere else.

4. Most objectors, however, are ashamed to speak the truth, as to why they do not unite with any christian community. The above objections, in general, are mere pretences; the fact is, these gentlemen on the outside, do not like to be subjected to the discipline of the church of Christ. They are living in some known sin; they know, if they were members of a church, they would be called to account for it; they are resolved not to give it up; they therefore keep at a respectful distance, and if a zealous person gives any of them a gentle reproof, the answer is ready: "You have no business to interfere with me; I am not of your society; I have a right to do as I please, without being accountable to you." And it will be found in this, as in most other instances, that the same reasons which keep men out of the church will keep them out of heaven.

5. There is at least, however, one exception to the above observation, and that is in the case of those who object to enter into the church on account of their unfitness for it. They have such a painful sense of their sinfulness, as makes them blush at the thought of being united to the excellent ones of the earth; and till their character be very much improved, they conceive that any advances they might make towards the church would appear very presumptuous. And yet they can

never stand in greater need of christian fellowship than now, when, without experience, struggling under the oppression of guilt and depravity, and conflicting with the world and satan, they are in danger of sinking into despondency. Such need encouragement. You feel your need of that information and assistance which the church can afford, but you are afraid to apply to it. The church opens her doors to you, and invites you to enter in. The only condition she imposes as a qualification for admittance is, "A desire to flee from the wrath to come." She knows your situation, and sympathizes with you. Under her ordinances you will receive liberty, comfort, and purity. Do not let a voluntary humility deprive you of those privileges which it is the duty and the glory of the church to confer on those who seek her aid. She will be satisfied, though on your admission you be "wretched, and miserable, and poor, and blind, and naked," if you will but, in the use of her means, which are always available to sincerity and faith, grow in wisdom, and spirituality, and holiness.

I have already adverted to the advantages of christian fellowship. To enter into them at large would require another sermon. The more important of them may be comprised under the following particulars. Your separation from the world will remove you from a scene of temptation, which none can dare with impunity. The union of christians among themselves causes the reproach of the cross to light upon the whole community, and not on an individual; and, thus divided, each feels his share to be light. As their union is for holy purposes, they will stimulate each other to noble deeds; will watch over each other in love; will bear one another's burdens, and so fulfil the law of Christ; will give mutual instruction, reproof, warning, and consolation; and will be benefited by the ordinances of the church, such as pastoral advice, public prayer, the Lord's supper, etc. And besides all this, their union is necessary to give efficiency to plans for spreading the gospel, in which all real christians must

feel deeply interested, and which the Head of the church has imposed as a sacred duty upon his members. Our Saviour declared that his disciples were not of the world; and instead of their remaining scattered and solitary, he prayed most heartily "that they all may be one; as thou, Father, art in me, and I in thee, that they also may be one in us: that the world may believe that thou hast sent me." And again: “I in them, and thou in me, that they may be made perfect in one; and that the world may know that thou hast sent me, and hast loved them, as thou hast loved me." (John xvii. 21, 23.) It is the visible union of christians one with another, which is here prayed for, because the manifestation of it to the world is intended as the prime means of its conviction and conversion.

Having shown that it is both a duty and a privilege to be united to the church of Christ; and that it is dangerous in the extreme to prefer, under any pretence, the society of the wicked to that of the just; give me leave to press upon the consciences of all who are not in communion with the church, the necessity of immediately making up your minds on this most momentous subject. If, after all, you will not be convinced and persuaded, allow me to remind you, in conclusion, that should you be denied admission into heaven at last, you will have no just cause of complaint. God will only confirm, in the next world, the choice you made in this. You prefer separation from the righteous here; and God will separate you from them hereafter. In this life you have chosen the wicked for your associates, and in the life to come you shall have your portion with them for ever and ever. You cannot, surely, object to this.

A word to church members, and I have done. Do you think that because you are in a christian society, therefore you are safe? "Without holiness, no man shall see the Lord." Communion is not a substitute for holiness, but a means of producing it. In the use of all the means of grace appointed by the church, see to it that ye secure the end intended by their institu