every kind, yet the good in it were alone preserved. It is not doctrine but the life that will be examined! it is this that will determine our final state, whether we belong to the just or the unjust—to the good or to the bad. In the calm, tranquil, and peaceful moments of life, denoted by sitting down upon the bank free from the tempests of the sea, and the rolling of its waves, this examination is made. Here the trying scrutiny is carried on, and here our profession is tried, in order to see whether we belong to the good or the bad. Heaven is formed within the soul, and consists in the uniting together into a one of charity and faith, goodness and truth, the Christian life with that of profession and knowledge. This union, for which we live, and after which we ought to strive, is denoted by gathering the good into vessels; while those in whom no such union exists, are the bad that were cast away. To teach that doctrine grounded in love and holiness, forms the kingdom of heaven in the soul, is, at the Lord's command, to cast the net on the right side of the ship; but to teach faith alone without the works of charity and love, is to cast the net on the left side. It is a toiling in the dark,—in the night, when nothing is caught. (Luke v. 5.) False doctrine is as the net of the wicked one, spread in secret to deceive and catch the poor. (Psalm x. 9.) Men are saved not in their sins but from them. The consummation of the age, with each of us will soon arrive! the net be drawn to shore, and the examination made! Look well to this, and remember that the good are gathered into vessels, and the bad cast away.
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