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which no man knoweth but him that receiveth it."* The sentence of judgment will be thus expressed to you:-" Come, ye blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world;" and your prayers and your alms he will mention as evidences that you have not received his grace in vain. Let this prospect excite you to "add to your faith virtue, knowledge, temperance, patience, brotherly kindness, charity; for if these things be in you, and abound, they make you that ye shall neither. be barren nor unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. But he that lacketh those things is blind, and cannot see far off, and hath forgotten that he was purged from his old sins."+ Regard not the censures of men when conscience tells you they are unmerited; and let your character be such, that, like the Apostle, you can thus comfort yourselves," It is a small matter for me to be judged of man's judgment; he that judgeth me is the Lord."

Let ungodly men be afraid. Make not the terrors of judgment the subject of your mirth. Mock not, lest your bands be made strong. A sinner is never nearer the sentence of destruction, than when he makes light of the inspection, the control, and the vengeance of Heaven. Let none suppress the serious thoughts which may have been awakened within him, but with fear and trembling let every sinner work out his salvation. A sword more terrible than that which slew Belshazzar is whetting against you, and the second death, with all its horrors, is preparing for you.

* Rev. ii. 17.

+ 2 Peter i. 5—9.

Yet we are not sent, as Daniel was, to pronounce We are enjoined to tell you, that come to seek and to save that

your case hopeless. the Son of man is which was lost. His hands are stretched out, not to

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drive you away in your wickedness, but to embrace you on your approach to him in penitence. Consider the promises he hath made to encourage your return,-promises which assure the believer of a supfor every want, an answer to every charge, protection in every danger, and pardon for every sin. Come, then, and take on you the Saviour's yoke; abandon every false hope and wicked way; and, conscious that you have done nothing for God in time past, devote every moment, every faculty, and every talent for the future to his honour. Thus shall you receive a kingdom which cannot be moved, a life hid with Christ in God, and the gracious approbation of the omniscient Judge. Amen.

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which no man knoweth but him that receiveth it."

The sentence of judgment will be thus expressed to you:-" Come, ye blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world ;" and your prayers and your alms he will mention as evidences that you have not received his grace in vain. Let this prospect excite you to "add to your faith virtue, knowledge, temperance, patience, brotherly kindness, charity; for if these things be in you, and abound, they make you that ye shall neither be barren nor unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. But he that lacketh those things is blind, and cannot see far off, and hath forgotten that he was purged from his old sins."+ Regard not the censures of men when conscience tells you they are unmerited; and let your character be such, that, like the Apostle, you can thus comfort yourselves," It is a small matter for me to be judged of man's judgment; he that judgeth me is the Lord."

Let ungodly men be afraid. Make not the terrors of judgment the subject of your mirth. Mock not, lest your bands be made strong. A sinner is never nearer the sentence of destruction, than when he makes light of the inspection, the control, and the vengeance of Heaven. Let none suppress the serious thoughts which may have been awakened within him, but with fear and trembling let every sinner work out his salvation. A sword more terrible than that which slew Belshazzar is whetting against you, and the second death, with all its horrors, is preparing for you.

* Rev. ii. 17.

+ 2 Peter i, 5-9.

Yet we are not sent, as Daniel was, to pronounce your case hopeless. We are enjoined to tell you, that the Son of man is come to seek and to save that which was lost. His hands are stretched out, not to drive you away in your wickedness, but to embrace you on your approach to him in penitence. Consider the promises he hath made to encourage your return,-promises which assure the believer of a supply for every want, an answer to every charge, protection in every danger, and pardon for every sin. Come, then, and take on you the Saviour's yoke; abandon every false hope and wicked way; and, conscious that you have done nothing for God in time past, devote every moment, every faculty, and every talent for the future to his honour. Thus shall you receive a kingdom which cannot be moved, a life hid with Christ in God, and the gracious approbation of the omniscient Judge. Amen.

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DISCOURSE XV.

THE LESSONS AND DUTIES OF WINTER.

JOHN X. 22. And it was winter.

THE Evangelists mark with care the places and the seasons, of our Lord's discourses and miracles. A general statement of these would have been regarded by some as warranting suspicion as to the truth of the narrative, and it would have been said, that this mode of detail was chosen to prevent that inquiry which would have detected imposture; but this history is so conducted, that a reference could be made to a multitude of witnesses for the reality of its most remarkable incidents. The discourses are stated to have been delivered in the hearing of multitudes in cities and districts, some of whom might easily have been brought forward to assert, that no such discourses were heard if the account of them was untrue; and the persons said to have been healed by the Saviour were known by many as labouring under incurable maladies; and they had it in their power effectually to expose the narrators of the miracles, by pointing to the miserable patients, if still diseased. Thus John tells us, that the place where our Lord delivered the discourse contained in this chapter was Jerusalem, and that it was at the feast of dedication, which was celebrated in winter. This was a feast instituted by Judas Maccabæus on his having purified

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