however specious we may be in our outward appear- ance, he will discern our character through the thickest veil ; " he searcheth the hearts, and trieth the reins ;" or, as it is yet more strongly expressed, " he weigheth the spirits:" he knows exactly the qualities of which every action is compounded, and can separate, with infallible certainty, its constituent parts : and, when we shall stand before him in judg- ment, he will distinguish the upright Christian from the hypocritical and specious Pharisee, as easily " as a man divideth his sheep from the goats." Then shall the final separation take place ; " the wheat shall be treasin-ed up in the garner, and the tares shall be burnt with unquenchable fire." Here then is a further reason for the assertion in our text. If an outside religion would suffice, we might rest satisfied with it : but if we have a Judge, " whose eyes are as a flame of fire," to whom the most secret recesses of the heart are " naked and open," just as the inwards of the sacrifices were to the priest appointed to exa- mine them ; and if, as he has told us, " he will bring to light the hidden things of darkness, and make manifest the counsels of the heart;" then must we be, not specious Pharisees, but real Christians, even " Israehtes indeed, and without guile :" we must not be contented " with being Jews outwardly, but must be Jews inwardly, and have, not the mere circumci- sion of the flesh, but the inward circumcision of the heart, whose praise is not of men, but of God^*."
The pecuHar importance of the subject, we hope, will plead our excuse, if we trespass somewhat longer than usual on your time. In our statement we have been as concise as would consist with a clear exposi- tion of the truth. In our application of it we shall also study brevity, as far as the nature of the subject will admit. An audience habituated to reflection, like this, will never grudge a few additional moments for an investigation so solemn, so weighty, so interest- ing as the present.
1. The first desciiption of persons, then, to whom
P Rom. ii. 28, 29.