The Fruitless Vine

“And iuv word of llie Lord came unto mo, saying, Son of man, Wbat m iho 7iue-tr jo more than any tree, or than a branch which is among the trees of the forest?” — Ezekill, xt. 1, 2,

The Jewish nation had ai-rognnt ideas of themselves; when iliey sinned against God, they supposed that on account of the superior sanctity of their foi-efhthers, or by ix-ason of some special sanctity in themselves, they would be deUvered, sin as they pleased. In consequence of the infinite mercy of Jehovah, which he had displayed toward them, in deUvering them out of so many distresses, they gradually came to imagine that tlioy were the favorite children of Providence, and that God could by no means ever cast them away. God, therefore, in order to humble their pride, tells them that they in themselves were nothing more than any other nation; and he asks them what there was about them to recommend them? “I have often called you a vine; I have planted you, and nurtured you in a very fruitful hill, but now you bring forth no fruit; what iG there in you why I should continue you in my favor? If you imagine there is any thing about you more than about any other nation, your are mightily mistaken.” “What is the vine-tree more than any tree, or than a branch which is among the trees of the forest?”

Let us remember that these things miijht be said without implying that God in the least degree alters his eternal purpose toward any chosen vessel of mercy; for the Israelitish nation was not chosen to eternal salvation, as a nation, but chosen to special privileges; a type and shadow of that eternal personal election which Christ has given to his church. From his own elejt church God will i.ever withdraw his lovej

TUE FltUlTI.KSS VINE. 59

but from tl’e outward and visible church he soueiines may, Broni his own people he never will take away his afection., but from professors, from those who merely stand in his people’s external condition, and are not his children, he may, yea ar.d he will, withdraw every token of his favor. God humblen Israel, by reminding them that they had nothing which othe)* nations had not; that, in fact, they wei’e a contemptible nation, not worthy to be set side by side with the cedar of Baby Ion, or with the oak of Samaria; they were of no use, they were worthless, unless they brought forth fruit to him. He checks their pi’ide and humbles them, with the parable we have here before us.

Beloved, we shall, by God’s help, use this parable for our. selves, and learn two lessons from it. The first shall be a le» son of humility for saints / and the second, a lesson of search in g for all loho are prof essors.

I. First, here is a lesson of humility for all you who have “tasted that the Lord is gracious.” “What is the vine-tree more than any tree, or than a bi’anch which is among the trees of the forest?”

In looking upon all the various trees, we observe that the vine is distinguished among them; so that, in the old parable of Jotham, the trees waited upon the vine-tree, and said unto it, “Come thou and reign over ns.” B;it merely looking at the vine, without regard to its fruitfulness, we should not see any kingship in it over other trees. In size, form, beauty, or utility, it has not the slightest advantage. We can do nothing with the wood of the vine. “Shall wood be taken thereol to do any work? or will men make a pin of it to hang any vessel thereon?” It is a useless plant apart from its fruitfulness. We sometimes see it in beauty, trained up by the side of our walls, and in the East it might be seen in all its luxuriance, and great care is bes’”owed in its training; but leave the vine to itself, and consider it apart from its fruitfulness, it i? the most insigniticant and despicable of all things that bear the name of trees. Now, beloved, this is for the numbling of God’s people. They aie called God’s vine; but what are they by nature more than others ‘? Others are as good as they yea, some others are even great er and better than they. Thoy, by God’s goodness, have become fruitM, have been pLmted in a good soil; the Lord bath trained them upon the wallo of the sanctuary, and they bring forth fruit to his glory. But what ai-e they without their God? What are they without the continual influence of the Spirit, begetting fruitfulness in them? Ai-e they not the least among the sons of men, and the most to be despised of those that have been brought forth of women? Look upon this, believer.

“What wa? tsere in thee to merit esteem,
Or give the Creator deUght ‘?”

«

Yea, look upon thyself as thou art now. Doth not thy conscience reproach thee? Do not thy thousand wanderings stand before thee, and tell thee that thou art unworthy to be called his son? Does not the weakness of thy mental power, the frailty of thy moral power, thy continual unbelief, and thy j)erpetual backsliding from God, tell thee that thou art less than the least of all saints? And if he hath made thee any thing, art thou not thereby taught that it is grace, free, sovei-eign grace, which hath made thee to difler? Should any here, supposing themselves to be the children of God, imagina that there is some reason in them why they should have been chosen, let them know, that as yet they a:e in the dark concerning the. first principles of grace, and have not yet learned the gosijel. If ever they had known the gospel, they would, on the other hand, confess that they m ere less than the least — the offscouring of all things — unwoithy, ill-deserving, undeserving, and hell-deserving, and ascribe it all to distinguishing grace, which has made them to differ; and to discriminating love, which has chosen them out from the rest of the world. Great Christian, thou wouldst have been a great sinner it God had not made thee to differ. O! thou who art valiant ibr truth, thou wouldst have been as valiant for the devil if grace nad not laid hold of thee. A seat in heaven shall one day be thine; but a chain in hell would have been thine if grace had not changed thee. Thou canst now sing his love i but a licentious song might have been on thy lips, d grace had not washed thee in the blood of Jesus. Thou art now sanctified, thou art quickened, thou art justified; but whot wouldst thou

Aave been t*>day if it had not been for the interposition of tho divine hand? There u not a crime thou mightest not havd committed; there is no: a folly into which thou mightest not have run. Even murder itself thou mightest have committed if grace had not kept thee. Thou shalt be -like the angels; but thou wouldst have been like the devil if thou hadst not been changed by grace. Therefore, never be proud; all thy gar-Eieats thou hast from above; rags were tliiue only heritage. B’i not proud, though thou hast a large estate, a wide domain or grace; thou hadst once not a single thing to call thine own, except thy sin and misery. Thou art now wrapped up in the golden righteousness of the Saviour, and accepted in the garments of the beloved; but thou wouldst have been buried under the black mountain of sin, and clothed with the filthy rags of unrighteousness, if he had not changed thee. And art thou proud? Dost thou exalt thyself? O! strange mystery, that thou, who hast borrowed every thing, should exalt thyself; that thou, M’ho hast nothing of thine own, but hast still to draw upon grace, shouldst be proud; a poor dependent pensioner upon the bounty of thy Saviour, and yet jjroud; one who hath a life which can only live by fresh streams of life from Jesus, and yet proud! Go, hang thy pride upon the gallows, as high as Haman; hang it there to rot, and stand thou beneath, and execrate it to all eternity; for sure of all things most to be cursed and despised is the pride of a Christian. He, of all men, has ten thousand times more reason than any othl!r to be humble, and walk lowly with his God, and kindly and humbly toward his i’ellow-creatures. Let this, then, humble thee. Christian, that the vine-tree is nothing more than any other tree, save only for the fruitfulness which God has given it.

II. But now here comes a lesson or seakch. As the vine without its fruit is useless and worthless; so, too, the professor, without f”uit, is useless and worthless; yea, he ia the most useless thing in the wide world.

Now, let us dwell upon this point. A fruiUess profession. And while I am preaching on it, let the words go round to each one, and let the minister, and let his deacons, and let hia hearers all try their hearts and search their reins, and sea whether they bav a fruitless profession.

62 THE FJZun’LKss yinb.

1. First, a fruitless professor. Uow do toe Jcuoio hira? what ts his character f Secondly. WJiat is the reason he is fruitless P Thirdly, lhat is the estimation God holds hiti in? He is good for nothing at all. And, then, fourthly, What tsill be his end? He is to be burned with lire.

First, Where arc toe to find fruitless professors? Everywhere, dear friends, everywhere — down here, up there, everywhere; in pulpits and m pews. False professors are to b” ibund in every church. Let us leave other denomination., alone, then. They are to be found in this church; they are to be found in this present assembly. To whatever denomination you may belong, there are some false and fruitless professors in it. How know you that you may not belong to those who bring forth no fruit? There are fruitless professors to l)e found in every position of Jae church, and in every part of society. You may find the false professor among the rich; he hath much wealth, and he is hailed with gladness by the church. God hath given him much of this world’s good; and therefore, the church, forgetful that God hath chosen the poor, giveth him honor, and what doth she get from him? She getteth but little to help her. Her poor are still neglected, and her means not in the Ibast recruited by his riches. Or if she gain a portion of his riches, yet she getteth none of his prayers; nor is she in the least supported by his holy living, for he that hath riches often liveth in sin, and rolleth in unclanness; and, then, weareth his profession as a uniform, wherewith to cover his guilt. Rich men have sometimes been false professors; and they are to be found among poor men too. Full many a poor man has entered into the church, and been cordially received. He has been poor, and they have thought it a good thing that poverty and grace should go together — that grace should cheer his hovel, and make his [joverty-strieken home a glad one. But then, this poor man hath turned aside to follies, and hath degraded himself with drunkenness, hath sworn, and by unworthy conduct dishonored his God; or, if not, he hath been idle, and sat still, and been of little service to the church; and so he hath been flilse and fruitless in his profession.

False professors are to be found in the men that lead the ranguavd of God’s army; the men who preach eloqueDtly, whose opinion is law, who speak like prophets, and whose laniuage seems to be inspired. They have brought foi’th the ‘i’lut of popularity, ay, and the fruit of ])hilanthropy too but their heart has not been right with God, therefore, the fruit, good in itself, was not fruit unto holiness; the moral benefit of their labors does not extend to everlasting life. They bale not brought forth the fruits of the Spirit, seeing that they were not livino- branches of the livinof vine. Then there have been false professors in obscurity; modest people, who have said nothing, and seldom been heard of; they have glided into their pews on the Sunday morning, taken their seats, gone out, and satisfied themselves that by their presence they had fafii’ed a religious duty. They have been so silent, quiet, and retired. Lazy fellows, dohig nothing. You may think that all the fruitless ti’ees grow in the hedge outside of the garden. No they don’t. There are some fruitless trees in the inside of it in the very center of it. There are some false professors to be found in obscurity as well as in publicity; some among the poor as well as among the rich.

And there are false professors to be found among men that doubt a great deal. They are always afraid they do not love Jesus, and always saying, “Ah, if I did but know I were hUl

“‘Tis a point I long to know,
Oft it causes anxious thought.”

Yes, and it ought to cause them anxious thought, too, if they are bringing forth no fruit and giving no “diligence to make their calling and election sure.” Fruitless professors are to be found, on the other hand, among the confident men, who say, without a blush, “I know whom I have believed; 1 know I am a Christian, let who will doubt. I am sure and certain my sins can not destroy me, and my righteousness can not save me. I may do what I like; I know I am one of the Lord’s.” Ah! fruitless professor again; just as fruitless as the other man, who had all doubts and no faith, and did nothing for his Master.

And then there is the fruitless professor, who, when he is asked to uray at the prayer meeting, never does so; and who

Qi TRE FRUITLESS YINK.

neglects fiiinily prayer. We will not say any thing about pn rate devotion; no doubt he neglects that too: he is a fruitless one. Ah! but there may be another, who stands up and prayT such an eloquent prayer for a quarter of an hour, perhaps, fust as fruitless a professor as the silent one; with plenty of words, but no realities; many leaves, but no fruits; great gifts of utterance, but no gifts oif consistency; able to talk xvell, but not to walk well; to speaV piously, but not to walk humbly with his God, and serve him with gladness. I do not know your individual characters; but I know enough of you to say that your position, however honorable in the church, and your character, however fair before men, is not enough to warrant any of you in concluding at once that you are not a fruitless professor. For fruitless professors are of every character and every rank, from the highest to the lowest, from the most talented to the most illiterate, frora the richest to the poorest, from the most retiring to the most conspicuous. Fruitless professors there are in every part of the church.

Now, shall I tell you who is a fruitless professor? The man who neglects private prayer, and does not walk with his God m public; that man whose carriage and conversation before God are hypocritical; who cheats in trade and robs in business, yet wraps it up, and comes out with a fair face, like the nypocrite with a widow’s house sticking in his throat, and says, ‘’ Lord, I thank thee I am not as other men are!” There is a man for you, who brings forth no fruit to perfection. Another OMe is he who lives right morally and excellently, and depends apon his works, and hopes to be saved by his righteousness; «vho comes before God, and asks for pardon, with a lie in his .ight hand, for he has brought his own self-righteousness with aim. Such a man is a fruitless professor; he has brought hwih no fruit. That man, again, is a fruitless ])rofessor who talks big words about high doctrine, and likes sound truth, but he does not like sound living; his pretensions are high; but not his practice. He can bear to hear it said,

“Once in Cbrist, in Cbrist for over.” »4ut as for himself, he nover was in Christ at all, for he neitb’^ loves nor serves his Master, but lives in sin that grace may abound. There is another fruitless vine for you.

But why need I stop to pick you out? May the Lord find you out to-night! There are many of you here, concerning whom the curse of INIeroz might be uttered. “Curse ye Meroz, said the angel of the Lord, cui-se ye bitterly the inhabitants thereof, because they came not to the help of the Lord; to the help of the Lord against the mighty.” Many of you are content to eat the lat and drink the sweet, and bring forth no fruit to God; nor do you serve him — lazy Issachars, crouching down like a strong ass between two burdens; neither speaking for Christ, nor praying for Christ, nor giving to Christ, nor living to Christ; but having a name to live, while you are dead; wrapping yourselves up in a profession, while you are ftot living to Christ, nor consecrating your beir.g to him. Judge ye what I say; if ye were put into the sieve this night, how many of you would come out clean in this matter? Are there not many high-flying professors here, who fly high, but who do nothing; who can talk flist, but live as slowly as you like; who, perhaps, delight in hearing the truth, but who never practice the truth in serving their God, nor living to his honor? Such as you, sirs, are the most useless and worthless of all ci*eatures in the world! For, like the vine, you would be honorable if you were fruitful; but wthout fruit, as the vine is despicable, so are you good for nothing but to be cast out and burned.

2. And now I come to the second question — Why is it that these moi we fruitless, and must be cast avmy f The reason is, because they have no roots. Many, many professors have no roots; fine professors they are, beautiful to look at, but they have no roots whatever. Don’t you remember your childish freak, when you had a little garden of your own; when you plucked some flowers, and put them in the ground, and said that was your garden; and when you went the next day, and found that all the flowers were withered and dead? Such are many professors — pretty flowers, plucked oft’withou roots; having no adherence to the soil, drawing no sap and no nourishment from it. And therefore ic is they die, and bring forth no frui*. Yov come to us; and say,” I wish to join

56 THE FRUITLESS VrNE.

the church.” We question you as far as we are able; yon solemnly tell us that your hearts are right Avitli God. W^ baptize you, receive you into our number; but then there was no root in many of you, and after a while you die; when the p,un has risen with a burning heat you perish; or if you maintain a tolerably fair profession, yet there is never any fruit upon you, because you did not get the root first; you got the tiotion first, and then thought you would get the root afterward. I do tremble for many young people in my church — I will not exclude my own church. They get an idea into their heads that they are converted: the work was not true, not genuine, not real; it was an excitement; it was a stir in the conscience for a while, and it will not last.. But the worst of it is, that though it does not last, they last as professors. When they have been received into the chui-cti, they say, “I. am sure enough!” Preach about them as long as you please, ) ou can not get at them. They are church members, they are baptized persons, they have passed the Rubicon; what do they want more? You can do little for them. I do tremble for Ihese. For my most hard-hearted hearers I weep before God; hut for these people I need to have four eyes to weep with. For who can make an impression upon them, when they are firmly persuaded that they are right, and have had the seal of the church that they are right, though they are deceiving theinselves and others, and are still “in the gall of bitterness and in the bond of iniquity.” My young friends, I do not want to check any of you In joining a church; but T do say to you, make sui-e work before you make a profession. I would gay to as many of you as love the Lord, come forward and unite with God’s people; but, I beseech you, do be sure; do •’ search your hearts and try your reins.” Many have thought themselves converted when they were not; hundreds of thousands have had an impression, a kind of conversion, not real, which for a while endured, but afterward it passed away as summer’s dream. It was but a little while ago that I had m my” house a gentleman, an excellent man, and I believe a true cihild of God, who told me he had been brought seriously under impression, on account of sin, through hearing a sermon of late. “But,!’ said he, “I was baptized in ray childhood

THE niUlTLESS VINE. 67.

?7heii i was but young, there was a i-evival in our village, in New England. Mine was the hardest heart in the village; but I was found out at last. There was scarcely a girl or boy that did not join the church, and I was at last brought under deep impression. I used to weep before God, and pray to hira. I went to the minister and told him I was converted, deceived him, and was baptized.” And then he went on to tell me that he had dived into the blackest crimes, and gone far away, even from the profession of religion; that after going to college he had been struck off the church-roll on account of wickedness, and that up to this time he had been an infidel, and had not lo much as thought of the things of the kingdom. Take heed, many of you, that you do not get a sham religion. Many jump into godliness as they would into a bath; but they are very glad to jump out of it again, when they find the world pays them better. And many there are who will just come and say they are the Lord’s, and they think they are, but there is no root in them, and therefore by-and-by their impression«i 31ISS away. O we have many fruitless professors in our ruidst, because they do not look well to theii’ beginnings; they did /lot take heed at their starting point, they did not watch well the first dawn; they thought the little farthing rushlight of their own hopes was the dawning of the Sun of righteousness* they thought the bleeding of their own conscience was a killing by the hand of God, whereas it was a deeper, and better and surer, and more entire work that they needed, than thai which they received. Let us take heed, my brethren, that we do not put too much trust in our experiences, and take too much for granted while it is not yet proved in our beginnings; let us often go back and begin again; let us often go to Christ with the old cry,

“Nothing in my hands I bring,
Simply to thy cross I cling;”

for remember tli.at these bad beginnings have had a great effect in njaking a man fruitless.

3. And again, thirdly — What is Gocia estimation offrindcus professors? I shall not ask you their own; for there are many men v;ho are professors of religion, with whom you nai2;lit innke your fortune very speedily if you could buy tliom at your price and sell them at their own. There are many, too, that have a very good opinion of themselves, which they have gained from the church. The minister thinks well of Ihem; the church thinks well of them; they are respectable people; it is so nice to have them come, it helps the cause so, to see such respectable people sitting in the pews! Really, I do think he would do for a deacon! Everybody thinks well of him; everybody praises him. Now we have nothing to do with this kind of opinion to-night; our business is with God’s opinion of such a man. And God’s opinion of a man who makes a profession without being sincere, is this — that he is the most useless thing in the world. And now let me try to prove it. Is there any one that will prove that this man ig of any use at all? I will ask the church — Here is a man that brings forth no fruit, and has only a profession. J[embers of the church, what is the use of this man? Will he comfort any of you in your distress? Will he hold up the pastoi’s hands in prayer, when he is weary? Will he lead the troops to battle? Will he be of any service to you? I see you unanimously lift up your hands, and say, “The man is of uo use to us whatever, if he brings forth no fruit; if his life be not consistent with his profession; strike his name off the chiu’ch-roll let him go; he is of no use.” Where has he gone to? He has gone to the M’orld. Bring the worldling up. What do you think of this man? He makes a profession of religion. Is he of any use to you? “No,” they say, “we do not want such a fellow as that. The man is Jack-of both-sides; he is sometimes a professor of religion, and sometimes a sinner in the world. We will have nothing to do with him; turn him out of our company.” Where shall we sell him then? IIow ghall we dispose of him? He seems to be of no use either to the church or the world. Is he of any use to his family? Ask his eldest son. “John, is your father any good to you?”” No, sir; none at all. He used to pray the Lord to save us with seeming’ earnestness, and rise from his knees to give vent to his temper. Many a violent blow has he given me without any reasonable provocation. He was always a passionate man He used to go to chapel on Sunday and take us with him

THE FPCiTI.KSS VI XE. fl9

aiul ihon wij laiow what he used to do on Monday he wouid get drunk, or swear. A deal of use he was ever t*; -ne! liy made me an intidel, sir!” And his wife. “Well, what do you think of this good husband of yours? He has long” made a profession of religion.” “Ah! sir, it is not for me to say a word about my husband; but he has made me a miserable woman. I think I should have joined your church long ago, if it had not been for his miserable inconsistencies. But really he has grieved my heart; he has always been a stumbling-block to me; and what to do with him I do not know.” Well, Jane, we will have you out of the kitchen. “What think you of your master; he makes a profession of reiiglon, yet does not live a right life. What do you think of him?” ‘Well, I did think that Christians were a good sort of people, and that I should like to live with them; but if this be Christianity, sir, I will take five pounds a year less to live with a worldly man; that’s all I can say” Well, what is the use of him? I suppose he does something in business. He is a grand professor. He keeps a shop; everybody thinks him a most respectable man. Has he not given a hundred pounds just now to the building of a new church? Is he not always known to subscribe liberally to ragged schools? We will ask his men. “What do you think of your master?” “What do we think of him? Why, we would think a great deal more of him if he would give us a half-crown a week more wages; foi he is the worst paymaster in the parish.” “That is nothing, perhaps. But what do you think of him?” “Why, that he is an unutterable cant! Some of us did go to a place of worship, but we are honest, and we would rather stay away than go with such a miserable hypocrite.” I am desci’ibinj real cases and not fictions. I need not to go further than between this and London Bridge to knock at the door and wake them up, some of them. What is the good of such professors? If they would speak fiiiriy out, and say, “I am no Cln-i&tian,” there would be some sense in it. For if Baal be God, let Baai be served; and if the world be worth serving, let a man serve it out and out; and let him get the credit of candor — not cheating the devil. But if God be God, and a man live in sin, and talk about grace, then of what u.se is lie?- God Mnisulf wJl disown lihn. Ask him if this man has been of any use a:id he repHes, “No, of no nse whatever.” The vine is of no nse unless it bring forth fruit; and this man, making a profession, is worse than worthless, because he does not live up to It. My dear friends, I would not say an extravagant thing, but I will say this very coolly — if any of you, who make a profession of religion, are deceiving others, by not living up to it, I do request you — and I say it advisedly — I do request you to give up your profession, unless God give you grace to live up to it. Do not, I beseech you, halt between two opinions-; if God be God, serve him, and do it thoroughly; do not tell lies about it. If Baal be God; if he be a nice master; if you would like to serve him, and win his W’ages, serve him; but do not mix the two together; be one thing, or else the other. Renounce your profession, and serve the devil thoroughly, or else keep your profession, and serve God with your heart — one thing, or else the other. I solemnly exhort you to choose which you will have, but never thhik that you can keep both; for “no man can serve two masters.” “Ye can not serve God and mammon.”

4. And now let me close u) by mentioning lohat is to become of this fruitless tree f We are told it is to be devoured in the fire. When an old vine is pulled off the wall, after having brought forth no fruit, what becomes of it? You know there is a lot of weeds raked up in the corner of the garden, and the gardener, without taking any notice of it, just throws tho vine on the heap of weeds, and it is burned up. If it were any other kind of a tree he would at least reserve it for chopping up to make a fire within the master’s house; but this Is much an ignominious thing, he throws it away in the corner and burns it up with the weeds. If it were a stout old oak, it might have tie funeral of the yule log, with honor in its burning, and brightness in its flame; but the fruitless vine is treated with contempt, and left to smoulder with the weed?, the refuse, and rubbish. It is a miserable thing. Just so with professors; all men that love not God must perish. But those who profess to love him, and do not, shall perish with singulta ighcminy. “They shall not come into the sepulchres of the kings.” Something like that ancient king, of whom it waa

TilE FRUITLESS VTISTB. 71

Slid, “He shall be buried with the burial of f n ass, drawn cvA c.’ist ibith bevond the gates of Jerusalem.” The damuatior ol a protssor will bo the most horrible and ignominious sight that ever hell itself has seen! When Satan fell from heaven, with his black Satanic malice against God, there was a kind of grandeur in his devilry; there was an awful, terrific sulp limity in his damnation; and when a great blasjijhemer and a hard swearer shall be sent at last to perdition, there shall he something of sublimity in it, because he lias been consistent with his profession. Ijut when*a professor of religion finds himself in hell, it shall be the most miserable, contemptible, and yet terrible mode of damnation wherewith men were evei damned. I think I see honest blasphemers lifting themselves fiom their chains of fire, and hissing between their teeth at the mii’.ister who comes there, after having been a deceiver — ‘Aha! aha! aha! ait thou here with us? Thou didst warn us cf our drunkenness, and tell us of our curse; ah! art thou con)e into the drunkard’s hell thyself?” “Pshaw!” says another, “that is your strict Pharisee. Ah! I remember how he told, me one night that I should perish, unless I made a profession of religion. Tak« that, sir!” and he spits upon him. “Thou art a loathsome thing. I perished; but I served my master well. Thou — thou didst pretend to sei-ve God, and yet thou art a sneaking hypocrite!” Says another, yelling from the corner of .the pit, “Let us have a Methodist hymn, sir; quote a promise from, the Bible; tell us about election. Let us have a little of your fine preaching now.” And rouml hell there goes the hiss, and the “aha! aha! aha!” and the yell of spitefulness and scorn upon the man who professed to be a Christian, but became a castaway, because his heart was nol right in the matter. I confess, I should dread above all things the unutterable hell of hells of hypocritical apostates, of men that stand in the ranks, profess to love God, prate godliness, that sit in the pews and uphold Christianity, that take the sacrament, and speak about communion, that stand up to pray, and talk about being heard for their faith, who are all the while committing abominations, and under cover of their professions are cheating the poor, robbing the fatheiless, aiiQ doing all kinds of iniquity. I confess, T as much drad the

5r5 THE tjeUITLKSS VINE.

excess of their flarnnation, above the damnation of oUiers, as I dread to be damned at all. It is as if in hell another hell had been made, to damn those that sin above others to damn them after being damned — for hypocrites, for men who have been with us, and not of us; who professed to be Christ’s, and yet have been mean deceivers after all. O! sirs, if ye would not make your chains more heavy, if ye would not stir the fire to a more furious heat, if ye would not make your yells more hideous, quit your professions this night, if ye are not worthy of them. Go oul of this place, and send in your resignation to the church; or else, sirs, be honest, and bend your knee before God, and ask him to search you, and try you, and make you sincere and upright before him. Be one thing, or else the other; do not cloak yourself in the robes of sanctity to hide the corruptions that all the while fester beneath. Stand out, bold, brave sinners; and do not be mean, sneaking sinners, that wear the masks of saints. “What is the vine more than any other tree?” Without fruit it is worse than any other. It must perish more dolefully, more horribly than any other, if there be on it no fruit brought to perfection. Does not this shake us? Ah! it will shake you, very likely, that do not want the shaking; but the men that want arousing will keep just as they were. It will go into the hearts of some of you, like the cry, “Howl, Moab, howl, Moab!” but alas! Moab will not howi. You will weep for Kirhareseth but Kirharcseth will not weep for herself. You will weep for your hypocritical friends; but they will rub their eyes, and Bay, “A strong sermon; but it has nothing to do with me.” And they will go out with cool presumption; sin with one hand, and take the sacramental cup with the other; sing the lascivious song one night, and then sing,

“Jesas, lover of my soul,”

the day after. Meet Christ here, and take the devil yonder, and bid him God speed in all his freaks of devilry. Ah! sirs, sirs, sirs, take heed, take heed, I beseech you, of this matter. Let us each search our hearts, lest we should hgive been deceiled. And may God bring us to a right understanding vu this matter, that we may be clear before him.” Search mo,

0 (tO(1, an:] know my ways; try mo, and know my liouo-hts, atid see if there be any wicked thing in me; and lead me in the way everlastini’-.”

And, now, I must not send you away until I have had a word with my friend in the aisle there He says,” I like that,

1 like that; I am no professor, I am not; I am all right. No one can call me a hypocrite.” Well, my dear friend, I am very glad you are not, because you say you are no Christian. J>ut let me tell you, you must not expect to be a wonderful deal the better oft’ for that. Suppose two men are brought up before the Lord Mayor, and one says, “Your worship, I am an honest man and not guilty;” and he blushes that an imputation should be cast on his character. Well, he is proved to be guilty, and gets committed to prison for three months. Up comes the ether one, and says, “Your worship, I am a guilty man; I always was a rogue, and I always shall be; I don’’t make a profession at all.” “I think I must give you six months,” says his worship, “for really I think you must be the more determined rascal of the two.” So if any of you say, “I do not make a profession, I shall be all right,” let me tell you, that to make a lying profession is a very fearful thing; but for you to think of getting off” because you make no profession at all, is equally bad. Take heed you do not deceive yourselves; it must be the new heart and the right spirit with God, or else, profession or no profession, we must perish. (> * that God would give us grace to go to our houses, and cry tt. him for mercy, and would help us to repent of our sins, and Dring us to put our trust simply and wholly upon the Lord Jesus Christ! So should we bo saved now, and saved for even