"Go ye to

were uttered in the most compassionate manner. them that sell, and buy for yourselves:" Unhappy virgins! you accounted our lives folly. Whilst with you in the body, how often have you condemned us for our zeal in running to hear the word of God, and looked on us as enthusiasts, for affirming, that we must be led and walk by the Spirit, and feel the spirit of God witnessing with our spirits, that we are his children? Now you would be glad to be partakers of this privilege, but it is not ours to give. You contented yourselves with seeking, when you should have been striving to enter in at the straight gate; and now go to them that sell, "and buy for yourselves."

And what say you to this, ye foolish formal professors? for I doubt not but curiosity and novelty have brought many such, even to this despised place to hear a sermon. Can you hear this reply, and yet not tremble? Why yet a little while, and thus it shall be done to you. Rejoice and bolster yourselves up in your duties and forms; endeavor to cover your nakedness with the fig-leaves of an outward profession, and legal righteousness, and despise the true servants of Christ as much as you please, yet know that all your hopes will fail you when God brings you into judgment. For not he who commendeth himself is justified, but he whom the Lord commendeth.

But to return; we do not hear of any reply the foolish virgins made: no, their consciences condemned them; like the person without a wedding garment, they are struck dumb, and are now filled with anxious thoughts how they shall buy oil, that they may lift up their heads before the bridegroom. "But whilst they went to buy," the bridegroom, the Lord Jesus, the king, the husband of his spouse the church, cometh, attended with thousands and twenty times ten thousands of saints and angels, publicly to count up his jewels; and they that were ready, the wise virgins who had oil in their lamps, and were sealed by his Spirit to the day of redemption, having on the wedding garment of an imputed righteousness, and a new nature, went in to the marriage.

Who can express the transports these wise virgins felt, when they were thus admitted, in holy triumph, into the presence and full enjoyment of him, whom their souls hungered and thirsted after. No doubt they had tasted of his love, and by faith had often fed on him in their hearts, when sitting down to commemorate his last supper here on earth; but how full may we think their hearts and tongues were of his praises, when they see themselves seated together to eat bread in his heavenly kingdom. And what was best of all, the door was shut, and shut them in to enjoy the ever blessed God, the com

pany of angels, and the spirit of just men made perfect, for ever. say without interruption; for in this life, their eyes often gushed out with water, because men kept not God's law; and they could never come to appear before the Lord, or to hear his word, but Satan and his emissaries would come also to disturb them but now the door is shut, now there is a perfect communion of saints, which they in vain longed for in this lower world; now tares no longer grow up with the wheat; no hypocrite, or unbeliever, can screen himself among them. Now" the wicked cease from troubling," and now their weary souls enjoy rest.

Once more, O believers, let me exhort you in patience to possess your souls. God has sealed you to be his, and has secured you, as surely as he did Noah when he locked him in the ark. But though heirs of God and joint heirs of Christ, and neither men nor devils can pluck you out of your heavenly Father's hands, yet you must be tossed about with manifold temptations; however, lift up your heads, the day of your perfect, complete redemption draws nigh. Behold the bridegroom cometh to take you to himself; then you shall be ever with the Lord.

But I even tremble to tell you, O nominal christians! that the door shall be shut, I mean the door of mercy, never to be opened to give you admission, though ye should continue knocking to all eternity. For thus speaks our Lord, “Afterwards," after those that were ready went in and the door was shut; after they had, to their sorrow, found that no oil was to be bought, nor grace procured, "came also the other virgins ;" and as Esau, after Jacob had got the blessing, cried with an exceeding bitter cry, "Bless me, even me also, O my father;" so they came saying, "Lord, Lord, open to us." Observe the importunity of these foolish virgins, implied in these words Lord, Lord. Whilst in the body, I suppose they only read, did not pray over their prayers. If you now tell them, they should pray without ceasing, they should pray from their hearts, and feel the want of what they prayed for; they would answer, they could not tell what you mean by inward feelings; that God did not require us to be always on our knees; but if a man did justly, and loved mercy, and did as the church forms required him, it was as much as the Lord required at his hands.

I fear, sirs, too many among us are of this mind : nay, I fear there are many so polite, so void of the love of God as to think it too great a piece of self-denial, to rise early to offer up a sacrifice of praise and thanksgiving acceptable to God through Jesus Christ. If any such, by the good providence of God, are brought hither this morning, I beseech you to consider

your ways, and remember, if you are not awakened out of your spiritual lethargy, and live a life of prayer here, you shall but in vain cry out with the foolish virgins, "Lord, Lord, open to us," hereafter. Observe farther, the impudence, as well as importunity of these other virgins; Lord, Lord, say they, as though they were intimately acquainted with the holy Jesus. Like numbers among us, who because they go to church, repeat their creeds, and receive the blessed sacrament, think they have a right to call Jesus their Savior, and dare call God their Father, when they put up the Lord's prayer. But Jesus is not your Savior. The devil, not God is your father, unless your hearts are purified by faith, and you are born again from above. It is not merely being baptized by water, but being born again of the Holy Ghost, that must qualify you for salvation; and it will do you no service at the great day, to say unto Christ, Lord, my name is in the register of such and such a parish, I am persuaded the foolish virgins could say this and more. But what answer did the blessed Jesus make? He answered and said, "Verily, I say unto you." He puts the word verily to assure them he was in earnest. "I say unto you," I who am truth itself, I whom you have owned in words, but in works denied," verily I say unto you I know you not." These words must not be understood literally; for whatever Arians and Socinians may say to the contrary, yet we affirm that Jesus Christ is God, God blessed for ever, and therefore knoweth all things. He saw Nathaniel, when under the fig-tree. He sees and is now looking down from heaven, his dwelling place, upon us, to see how we behave in these fields. Brethren, I know nothing of the thoughts and intents of your hearts, in coming hither; but Jesus knows who come like new-born babes, desirous to be fed with the sincere milk of the word; and he knows who come to hear what the babbler says, and to run away with part of a broken sentence, that they may have whereof they may ridicule or accuse him. This expression then, I know you not, must not be understood literally; no, it implies a knowledge of approbation, as though Christ had said, "you call me Lord, Lord, but you have not done the things that I have said;" you desire me to open the door, but how can you come in hither, not having on a wedding garment? Alas, you are naked! Where is my outward righteousness imputed to you? Where is my inherent righteousness wrought in you? Where is my divine image stamped upon your souls? How dare you call me Lord, Lord, when you have not received the Holy Ghost, whereby I seal all that are truly mine?"Verily, I know you not; depart from me, ye cursed, into everlasting fire, prepared for the devil and his angels."

And now, "he that hath ears to hear, let him hear" what manner of persons these were, whom Jesus Christ dismissed with this answer. Remember, I entreat you, they are not fornicators, swearers, sabbath breakers, or prodigals. No, in all probability, they were, touching the outward observances of the moral law, blameless; they were. constant as to the form of religion; and if they did no good yet no one could say they did any harm. The only thing for which they were condemned, and eternally banished from the presence of the Lord (for so much is implied in "I know you not,") was this, they had no oil in their lamps, no principle of a true living faith and holiness in their hearts. And if persons may go to church, receive the sacrament, lead honest moral lives, and yet be sent to hell at the last day, as they certainly will be if they advance no farther, where wilt thou, O drunkard? Where wilt thou, O swearer? Where wilt thou, O sabbath breaker? Where wilt thou that deniest divine revelation, and even the form of godliness? Where will you and such like sinners appear? I know very well. You must appear before the dreadful tribunal of Jesus Christ. However you may, like Felix, put off the prosecution of your convictions, yet you, as well as others, must arise after death and appear in judgment; you will then find, to your eternal sorrow, that your damnation slumbers not: sin has blinded your hearts, and hardened your foreheads now, but yet a little while, and our Lord will ease him of his adversaries. Methinks, by faith, I see the heavens opened, and the holy Jesus coming with his face brighter than ten thousand suns, darting fury upon you from his eyes! Methinks I see you rising from your graves, trembling, astonished, crying out, who can abide this day of his coming!

And now what inference shall I draw from what has been said? Our Lord, in the text, has drawn one for me: "Watch therefore, for ye know neither the day nor the hour wherein the Son of man cometh."

Watch, that is, be on your guard, and keep your graces in continual exercise; for, as when we are commanded to watch unto prayer, it signifies that we should continue instant in that duty; so when we are required to watch in general, it means that we should put on the whole armor of God, and live every day as though it were our last.

And O that the Lord may now enable me to lift up my voice like a trumpet! for had I a thousand tongues, or could I speak so loud that the whole world might hear me, I could not sound a more useful alarm than that which is contained in the text. Watch, therefore, my brethren, I beseech you by

the mercies of God in Christ Jesus, watch; be on your guard "Awake, ye that sleep in the dust; for ye know neither the day nor the hour wherein the Son of man cometh." Perhaps to-day, perhaps this midnight the cry may be made for in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, the trump is to sound. However, supposing the final day of judgment may yet be a great way off, the day of death is certainly near at hand. For what is our life? It is but a vapor, soon passeth away, and we are gone. Blessed be God, we are all here well; but who out of this great multitude, dare say, I shall go home to my house in safety? Who knows but whilst I am speaking God may commission his ministering spirits to call some of you away by a sudden stroke, to give an account with what attention you have heard this sermon.

You know, my brethren, some such instances we have lately had. And what angel or spirit has assured us, that some of you shall not be the next? Watch therefore, for ye know neither the day nor the hour wherein the Son of man will come. And it is chiefly for this reason, that God has hid the day of our deaths from us. For since I know not but I may die to-morrow, why, O my soul, wilt thou not watch to-day? Since I know not but I may die next moment, why wilt thou not prepare for dying this?

Many such reflections as these, my brethren, crowd in on my mind. At present, blessed be the Lord, who delights to magnify his strength in a poor worm's weakness, I am at a stand, not so much about what I shall say, as what I shall leave unsaid. My belly, like Elihu's, is as it were full of new wines; out of the abundance of my heart my mouth speaketh. A sense of the infinite majesty of that God in whose name I preach, and before whom I as well as you must appear, to give an account; and the uncertainty there is whether I shall live another day, to speak to you any more, are considerations, which furnish me with so much matter, that I scarcely know where to begin, or end my application. However, for method's sake, by the divine assistance, I will branch it into three particulars.

And first, I would remind you that are notoriously ungodly, of what our Lord says in the text for, though I have said your damnation slumbers not, whilst you continue in an impenitent state; yet that was only to set you on your watch, to convince you of your danger, and excite you to cry out, "What shall we do to be saved?" I appeal to all that hear me, whether I have said the door of mercy should be shut against you, if you believe on Jesus Christ: no, if you are the chief of sinners; if you are murderers of fathers, or of