Lectures to Professing Christians

Be ys doen of the word, not heareie only, decolTing your own idTee. — 4 Jamea i. 22.

THERE are two extremes in religion, equally false ak.d equally fatal. And there are two classes of hypocrites that occupy these two extremes. The first class make religion to consist altogether in the belief of certain abstract doctrines, or what they call faith, and lay little or no stress on good works. The other class make religion to consist altogether in good works, (I mean, dead works) and lay little or no stress on faith in Jesus Christ, but hope for salvation by their own deeds. The Jews belonged generally to the last-mentioned class. Their religious teachers taught them that they would be saved by obedience to the ceremonial law. And therefore, when Paul began to preach, he seems to have attacked more especially this error of the JeWs. He was determined to carry the ruaih question, that men are justified by faith in Jesus Christ, in opposition to the doctrine of the scribes and pharisees, that salvation is by obedience to the law. And be pressed this point so earnestly, in his preaching and in his epistles, that he carried it, and settled the faith of the church in the great doctrine of justification by faith. And then certain individuals in the chlirch laid hold of this doctrine and carried it to the opposite extreme, and maintained that men are saved by faith altogether, irrespective of works of any kind. They overlooked the plain principle, that genuine faith always results in good works, and is itself a good work.

I said that these two extremes, that which makes religion to consist altogether in Outward works and that which makes it consist altogether in faith, are equally false and equally fatal. Those who make religion consist altogether in good works, overlook the fact that works themselves are not acceptable to God unless they proceed from faith. For without faith it is impossible to please him. And those who make, religion consist altogether in faith, overlook the fact that true faith always works by love, and invariably produces the works of love.

They are equally fatal, because, on the one hand, without faith persons cannot be pardoned or justified; and on the ’ other, without sanctification they cannot be fitted either for the employments or enjoyments of heaven. Let a sinner turn from his sins altogether, and suppose his works to be as perfect as he thinks them to be, and yet he could not be pardoned without faith in the atonement of Jesus Christ. And so if any one supposed that he could be justified by faith while his works were evil, he ought to, know that without sanctification his faith is but dead, and cannot even be the instrument of his justification.

It appears that the apostle James, in this epistle, designed to put this matter upon the right ground, and show exactly where the truth lay, and to explain the necessity, and reason of the necessity, of both faith and good works. This epistle is a very practical one, and it meets full in ’ the face all the great practical questions of the day, and decides them.

Doctrines in reUgion are of two classes, those which refer to God, and those which refer to human practice. Many confine their idea of religious doctrines to the for« mer class. They think nothing is properly called doctrine but what respects God, his attributes, mode of existence, decrees, and so on. When I gave notice that I shoujd commence a course of “Practical Lectures,” I hope you did not understand me to mean that the lectutes would not be doctrinal, or would have no doctrine in them. My design is to preach, if the Lord will, a course of lecture* on practical doctrines. The doctrine which I propose to consider now, is this — That professor of religion who does not practice what he admits to be true, is self-deceived.

There are two classes of hypocrites among professors of religion, those that deceive others and those that deceive themselves. One class of hypocrites are those that, under a specious outside of morality and religion, cover up the enmity of their hearts against God, and lead others to think they are very pious people. Thus the pharisees obtained the reputation of being remarkably pious, by their outside show of religion, their alms and their long prayers. The other class is that referred to in the text, who do not deceive others but themselves. These are orthodox in sentiment, but loose in practice. They seem to suppose religion to consist in a parcel of notions, without regard to practice,* and thus deceive themselves by thinking they are good Christians while destitute of true holiness. They are hearers of the word but not doers. They love orthodox preaching, and take great pleasure in hearing the abstract doctrines of religion exhibited, and perhaps have flights of imagination and glowing feelings in view of the character and government of God, but they are not careful to practise the precepts of God’s word, nor are they pleased with the preaching of those doctrines which relate to human

practice.

Perhaps there are some present to-night of both these classes of hypocrites. Now mark I I am not going to preach to-night to those of you who. by great strictness of morals and outside show of religion, deceive others. I ad* dressp now, those of jou who do not practise what yon know to be trae-^who are hearers and not doers. Perhaps I had better say, to secure attention, that it is very proba-M», there are a number here now of this character. I do not know your names; bijit I wish yon to understand, that if you are that character, yon are the persons I am speaking to, just as if I called out your names. I mean you. You hear the word, and believe it in theory, while you deny it in practice. I say to you, that “you deceive yourselves.” The text proves it., Here you have an express “Thus saith the Lord” for it, that all such characters are eelf-deceivers. I might quote a numbr of other passages of scripture, that are to the point, and there leave it.’ But I wish to call your attention to some other considerations beside the direct scripture testimony.

In the first place, you do not truly believe the word. Tou hear it, and admit it to be true, but you do not truly believe it. And here let me say, that persons are themselves liable to deception on this point. Not that their consciousness deceives them, but they do not understand what it is that consciousness testifies. Two things are indispensable to evangelical, or saving faith. The first is, intellectual conviction of the truth of a thing. And here I do not mean merely the abstract truth of it, but in its hearing on you. The truth, in its relation to you, or its bearing on your conduct, must be received intellectually. And then true faith includes a corresponding state of the heart. This always enters into the essence of true faith. When a man’s understanding is convinced, and he admits the truth in its relation to himself, then there must be a hearty approbation of it in its bearing or relation to himself. Both these states of mind are indispensable to true faith. Intellectual conviction of the truth is not saving faith. But intellectual conviction, when accompanied with a corresponding state of the affections, is saving faith. Hence it follows that where there is tme saving faith, there is always corresponding conduct. The conduct always follows the real faith. Just as certain as the will controls the conduct, men will act as they believe. Suppose I say to a man, Do yon believe this? “Yes, I believe it.” What does he mean? A mere intellectual conviction? He may have that, and yet not have faith.

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