some, like Samuel and Josiah, are called into the service of God in their earliest days. Others are led to forsake the paths of sin and folly, and to remember their Creator in the days of their youth. Many, again, are not induced to obey the call of the gospel, till they attain to manhood, or even to an advanced age. Finally, some, having spent almost all their days in vanity and sin, do not enter into the vineyard till nearly the close of life, when, at this advanced age, through the mercy and grace of God, they exhibit the fruits of true repentance, and genuine faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. All, however, who really obey the gospel call, enter into this spiritual vineyard, and labor till the close of the day, will, undoubtedly, obtain eternal life; not, indeed, as the wages due to their work, but as the gift of God. The wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life, through Jesus Christ our Lord. The reward which the laborer receives is the reward of grace, and not of debt. And if by grace, then it is no more of works; otherwise grace is no more grace. Even those who enter into this spiritual vineyard and labor diligently, are said to be unprofitable servants; none can, therefore, claim any thing as a reward of merit. In the further illustration of these words, we propose to show,

I. That Christianity is a work which must be performed. Why stand ye here all the day idle? These words are addressed to the irreligious portion of mankind; they, therefore, imply that true Christians, instead of standing idle, are at work in the vineyard of God. All the metaphors which are employed in the Bible, to illustrate the Christian character and conduct, uniformly represent him as actively, diligently, and perseveringly engaged for God. Sometimes he is described as a warrior, fighting the good fight of faith; at other times, he is represented as running the race set before him, in which he strains every nerve, and puts forth all his energies. It is intimated in our text, that he is a laborer working in the vineyard of God, where he plucks up every pestiferous weed, and cultivates the plants of grace.

The gospel calls the sinner to the great work of salvation: Work out your own salvation with fear and trembling; for it is God which worketh in you, both to will and to do of his own good pleasure. The heart of a sinner, to use the sublime metaphor of the text, resembles an uncultivated wilderness. Here Satan has his pathway, and here he sows the pestiferous seeds which produce briers, and thorns, and brambles, and every foul and noxious plant. Here the wild beasts of the forest roam, and the birds of prey build their nests. It is the habitation of dragons, and a court for owls. Here the satyr cries to his fellow, and screech-owl finds herself a place of rest. The sun pours its warm and genial rays upon it without producing any fruits of righteousness, and the dews of heaven descend, year after year, without generating fertility. Such is the condition of that soil, God has committed to the sinner for his cultivation. It resembles the field of the slothful, de

scribed by Solomon: I went by the field of the slothful, and by the vineyard of the man void of understanding; and, lo, it was all grown over with thorns, and nettles had covered the face of it, and the stone wall thereof was broken down. Then I saw, and considered it: I looked upon it, and received instruction. Such is the sublime imagery employed by the Sacred Oracles to illustrate the miserable state of the sinner. O fellow-sinners, you are in a ruined condition-your souls are pining away in your iniquities—there is a burden of guilt on you that will sink you-there is a swarm of living lusts preying upon you that will devour you. The gospel is calling upon you to consider your ways, and to engage in the great work of salvation before it is too late.

Jesus Christ is calling upon you to enter into this vineyard, overgrown with thorns and brambles, to convert it into the garden of the Lord. You must shake off that spirit of indolence which has paralized all the energies of the soul, and gird yourselves for labor. You must pluck up every noxious plant, and not suffer one root of bitterness to remain in the ground. You must seize the gospel plough of conviction, and thoroughly break up the fallow ground, by the exercise of true penitence. You must build a hedge round about it of imperious resolutions, that will resist every encroachment, and protect it from every bird of prey, and every devouring beast of the forest. When the soil is suitably prepared, and the vineyard properly protected, you should sow the seed of light, life, and glory. And God will command the dews of heaven to descend upon it, and the genial rays of the sun to invigorate it. Instead of the thorn, shall come up the fir-tree; and instead of the briar, shall come up the myrtle-tree; it shall be to the Lord for a name, for an everlasting sign that shall not be cut off. The wilderness shall bud and blossom as the rose, and the desert land shall become the garden of the Lord. Then will God fulfil to you that sublime promise I will be as the dew unto Israel: he shall grow as the lily, and cast forth his roots as Labanon. His branches shall spread, and his beauty shall be as the olive-tree, and his smell as Lebanon. They that dwell under his shadow shall return; they shall revive as the corn, and grow as the vine: the scent thereof shall be as the wine of Lebanon.

Indeed, the work to which sinners are called by the gospel, is a great and comprehensive work. It commences in a due preparation of heart for the reception of the divine mercy, by the exercise of godly sorrow for sin, and proceeds by an unreserved dedication of the whole man, body and soul, to the service of God. It is the work of practical godliness, styled in the Scriptures, the work of righteousness, and the labor of love. The Christian is a laborer, and he labors in a manifest and uniform course of obedience to all the commandments of God. The Christian is not left to choose the ground he will occupy, or the plants he will cultivate; he must labor in the vineyard of God, and he must bring forth the fruits of

righteousness, or he cannot reap in mercy. In other words, he must render such obedience as God demands-he must comply with the institutions of the gospel as they are laid down in the Holy Scriptures, if he would render an acceptable service to God. But we pass to remark,

II. That this is a work in which the sinner manifests much reluctance to engage. Why stand ye here all the day idle? This language certainly implies that the sinner prefers idleness to labor, sin to holiness. Sinners do not engage in this work,

Because it is a work to which, of all others, they in their hearts feel the most opposed. The carnal mind, says the Apostle, is enmity against God; for it is not subject to the law of God, neither indeed can be. So, then, they that are in the flesh cannot please God. All unregenerate men are in the flesh, and under the influence of this carnal mind, which is the very principle of rebellion in the soul. This carnal mind refuses submission and obedience to God, and excites hatred and rebellion against him. It is earthly, sensual, and devilish, and minds the things of the flesh-it has no relish for spiritual and heavenly exercises. While the sinner is under the influence of the carnal mind, he would rather do anything than to go and work in God's vineyard. The prodigal son would rather go and feed swine, than to go back to his father's house, till he came to himself. To put off the old man with his deeds, and crucify the flesh with its lusts, is like cutting off a right hand, or plucking out a right eye. And this is the first act a sinner is directed to perform, and it is a most painful and distressing exercise; therefore, sinners dislike to engage in it.

2. Sinners dislike to go and work in God's vineyard, because of their prevailing love to carnal ease. Spiritual sloth is so sweet a sin, that the carnal heart is always in love with it. How long wilt thou sleep, O sluggard? when will thou arise out of thy sleep? Yet a little sleep, a little slumber, a little folding of the hands to sleep: so shall thy poverty come as one that traveleth, and thy want as an armed man. The sinner lies upon the bed of sloth, and would not miss of heaven if desiring and wishing would carry him there; but if these will not he must indeed miss of it, for he cannot leave the embrace of his dear ease. Fighting, running, wrestling, striving, praying, taking heaven by violence, are exercises for which his indolent soul has no relish. He lies upon the bed of sloth, and suffers the roots of bitterness to spring up and grow till his vineyard is overrun with thorns, and nettles cover the face of it. He sleeps away his golden moments, till ruin, irrecoverable ruin, overtakes him.

3. Sinners neglect to go and work in God's vineyard, because Satan furnishes them with constant employment. Ye are of your father the devil, and the lusts of your father ye will do. When the call of the gospel comes to sinners, Satan does to them as Pharaoh did to the Israelites-doubles their tasks; so that they always have

busy heads and hands. The sinner generally finds the present time inconvenient to attend to the subject of religion, and desires to put it off till he has more leisure time, when the cares of the world will be withdrawn, and the mind will be unoccupied with the pleasure of sense. For the present, the desires of the flesh, the lust of the eye, and the pride of life, are all pressing their claims, and demanding special attention. These furnish constant and continued employment. They shoot up like luxurious plants in a rich soil, and prevent the growth of the good seed. Thus the sinner can find neither disposition nor time to enter into this spiritual vineyard, and labor for God.

And, fellow-sinner, have you not found, by woful experience, that this picture is too true? that this portrait is too exact to be denied? Have you found within you any relish for the holy exercises of religion? Did you ever find any pleasure in communion with God, or in the fellowship of saints? Have not the desire of riches, and the love of pleasure, been the ruling passion of the soul? When you have contemplated the subject of religion, when the power of truth has touched the heart, have you not felt that the work of reformation was too arduous to engage in? When you have seen how many evil tempers must be subdued, how many vicious habits must be overcome, how many roots of bitterness must be plucked up, before you can become a humble follower of Jesus, have you not shrunk back, and said, the work is too mighty for me to perform? Or, have you gone so far as to form resolutions and make vows, have not all the energies of your soul been withered, merely at the thoughts of encountering the first temptation? And when you closed in with it, did not your indolent soul find itself unequal to the conflict? Did not all your courage die within you, as snow is consumed by the scorching rays of a burning sun? I ask, fellowsinner, if you have not, to this day, said to Christ, as Felix did to Paul: Go thy way for this time; when I have a convenient season I will call for thee. Why stand ye here all the day idle? You must search for the true cause of your idleness, in your own hearts. There lurks the foe of man, and there the destroyer has erected his seat.

III. Once more, these words imply, that the day of labor will soon end. Why stand ye here all the day idle? These words were spoken at the eleventh hour, only sixty minutes in advance of the setting sun. God not only calls upon us to labor in his vineyard, but directs us to labor during the day; for the night cometh wherein no man can work. At the period of death, the day will close, and close forever. Then shall cease all opportunity of working out our salvation with fear and trembling. Then shall the sinner be no longer interested in the Saviour's blood, nor in the mercy and grace of God, which is now so freely offered to him in the gospel. He is, therefore, exhorted: Whatsoever thy hand findeth to do, do it with thy might; for there is no work, nor device, nor knowledge,

nor wisdom, in the grave, whither thou goest. The works of the present life cannot be performed in a future state; they must be wrought during the day man is permitted to live. And how short

is the life of man! How fleeting are the moments he spends on earth! The life of man is like a vapor, that soon vanishes away; or like a bubble, that rises, and floats, and bursts, and mingles again with its own element. Indeed, Solomon says, There is a time to be born, and a time to die; but the stay of man is so short upon earth, he makes no mention of a time to live. The life of man, to use the sublime metaphor of the text, does not consist of years, of months, or of weeks; it is a day-only a short day of twelve hours. And, alas! the day is far spent, and the night is at hand. The hours are almost numbered; one hour more, and the sun sinks behind the western hills, and the dark and gloomy mantle of death will be spread over the sinner. O sinner! but sixty minutes to live, and the work of a life to perform. You have trifled away nearly the whole day of life, and you are still standing idle. You have much to do, and but little time to do it in. Time is fast receding, and eternity is heaving in view. Will you consume the few remaining moments in indolence? Why stand ye here all the day idle? But we pass to inquire,

IV. Who are those that stand all the day idle? Why stand ye here all the day idle? All, in the language of the Bible, are considered as standing idle, who neglect the great duties of religion. Man was sent into the world, not merely to eat and to drink, and to die; but to acquire a character that will fit him for that better country, that land of pure delight, where saints immortal reignto obtain that meetness, which will qualify him for a seat at God's right hand, where there are pleasures for evermore. We are, therefore, directed by our blessed Lord, to seek first the kingdom of heaven and its righteousness, with assurances that all things shall be added thereunto. All who do not obey this commandment, but neglect the moral and religious cultivation of the soul, how much soever they may be engaged in the discharge of the common duties of life, are regarded, in a religious sense, as idlers. The laborious mechanic, the busy merchant, and the bustling statesman, while they neglect the cause of God, and the interests of religion, are pronounced, by the word of truth, as standing idle. The reason is obvious; they are regarded as standing idle, because the inferior objects of time and sense have absorbed their thoughts, and occupied the whole of their attention, to the utter neglect of the momentous concerns of eternity. The claims of the body have engrossed the whole of their attention, to the absolute neglect of the interests of the soul. They have been sowing to the wind, and must reap the whirlwind. They have been sowing to the flesh, and of the flesh must reap corruption. Such persons do not answer the great end of their creation, nor fulfil the purposes for