IV.

SERMON to us; and persuaded that, where our discoveries fail, it is not because there is no more wisdom or goodness to be seen, but because our present condition allows us not,

to see more.

In the second place, let us be taught with what eye we are to look upon those bad men whom we find around us in the world. Not surely with an eye of envy. Whatever prosperity they may seem to enjoy, they are still no more than tares, the weeds of the field; contemptible in the sight of God, tolerated by his providence for a while on account of the righteous, to whose improvement they are rendered subservient. The parable parable informs us that, in the end, they are to be gathered together and burnt. In this life only they have their good things. But their prosperity is transitory. They are brought into desolation in a moment, and utterly consumed with terrours. As a dream when one awaketh, so, O God, when thou awakest, thou shalt despise their image*. When we consider their unhappy state, it

Psalm Ixxiii. 19, 20.

becomes

IV.

becomes us to behold them with the eye of SERMON pity. Let us remember that, in the midst of their errours, they are by nature still our brethren. Let us not behave to them in the spirit of bitterness. Insult not their follies. Pride not yourselves on superiour virtue. Remember that, as bad men are mixed with the good, so, in the best men, vices are at present mixed with virtues. Your own character, good as you may esteem it, is not free from every evil taint; and in the characters of those whom you reprobate as vitious, there are always some good qualities mixed with the bad ones. Study, as far as you can, to reclaim and amend them; and if, in any degree, you have been profited by their failings, endeavour, in return, to profit them by good counsel and advice; by advice not administered with officious zeal, or self-conceited superiority, but with the tenderness of compassion and real friendship.

IN the third place, in whatever proportion the admixture of vice may seem to take place in the world, let us never despair

2

IV.

SERMON despair of the prevalence of virtue on the whole. Let us not exaggerate, beyond measure, the quantity of vice that is found in the mixture. It is proper to observe, that in the parable now before us, after the owner of the field had sown his good seed, no reason is given us to think, that the good seed was entirely choked up by tares. On the contrary, we are told that the blade sprung up, and brought forth fruit; and, though the tares also arose, yet, in the end, there was a harvest, when the wheat was reaped and gathered into the barn. In the most corrupted times, God never leaves himself without many witnesses on earth. He is always attentive to the cause of goodness; and frequently supports and advances it by means which we are unable to trace. He nourishes much piety and virtue in hearts that are unknown to us; and beholds repentance ready to spring up among many whom we consider as reprobates.-I know that it has always been common for persons to represent the age in which they live as the worst that ever appeared; and religion and virtue as just on the point of vanishing

4

This is the SERMON

vanishing from among men.
language sometimes of the serious; often
of the hypocritical, or of the narrow-minded.
But true religion gives no sanction to such
severe censures, or such gloomy views.
Though the tares must be at all times
springing up, there is no reason for be-
lieving that they shall ever overspread the
whole field. The nature of the weeds that
spring up may vary, according to the nature
of the soil. Different modes of iniquity may
distinguish different ages of the world;
while the sum of corruption is nearly the
same. Let not our judgments of men,
and of the times in which we live, be
hasty and presumptuous. Let us trust in
the grace of God, and hope the best of
mankind.

In the fourth and last place, let us keep our eyes ever fixed on that important pericd, which is allud to in the Text, as the conclusion of all. Let both grow to

gether until the harvest.

The great spiri

tual year is to be closed by a larvest, when the householder is to gather the wheat into his barn; when, at the end of the

world,

IV.

SERMON world, the final distinction of men and

IV.

characters is to take place. The confused mixture of good and evil, which now prevails, is only a temporary dispensation of Providence, accommodated to man's fallen and imperfect state. Let it not tempt us for a moment to distrust the reality of the Divine government; or to entertain the remotest suspicion that moral good and evil are to be on the same terms for ever. The frailties of our nature fitted us for no more at present than the enjoyment of a very mixed and imperfect society. But when our nature, purified and refined, shall become ripe for higher advancement, then shall the spirits of the just, disengaged from any polluted mixture, undisturbed by sin or by sinners, be united in one divine assembly, and rejoice for ever in the presence of him who made them. Looking forward to this glorious issue with stedfast faith, let no cross appearances ever discomfit our hopes, or lead us to suspect that we have been serving God in vain. If we continue faithful to the death, we may rest assured, that in due time we shall receive the crown of life.