condemned in this great judgment as a traitor to his God, a rebel against the King of heaven, and a murderer of Jesus Christ! when the men of Nineveh shall rise up against him, and condemn bim; and the people of Sodom and Gomorrah shall be more mercifully dealt with than he!

Q. 43. What effect will all these things have upon the just ?

A. Our Saviour, after describing to the apostles the signs that shall go before this great day, says to them, "But when these things begin to come to pass, look up and lift up your heads, because your redemption is at hand," Luke xxi. 28. And the Scripture says that at that day "the just shall stand with great constancy against those that have afflicted them, and taken away their labours-they shall live for evermore, and their reward is with the Lord, and the care of them is with the Most High," Wisd. v. 1, 16. 1, 16. Every circumstance of this awful day will contribute to their honour and happiness, and they shall be exalted in great glory; "for behold the day shall come kindled as a furnace, and all the proud, and all that do wickedly, shall be stubble; and the day that cometh shall set them on fire, saith the Lord of Hosts; it shall not leave them root nor branch. But unto you that fear my name the Sun of Justice shall arise, and health in his wings, and you shall go forth, and shall leap like calves. of the herd, and you shall tread down the wicked, when they shall be ashes under the sole of your feet, in the day that I do this, saith the Lord of Hosts," Malach. iv. 1.. And this their happiness shall be completed beyond expression, when the sentence of eternal bliss shall be pronounced by the great Judge upon them.

Q. 44. What account does the Scripture give of the last sentence?

A. Christ himself declares to us in these words: "Then shall the King say to them that shall be on his right hand, Come, ye blessed of my Father, possess the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world."Then shall he say to them also that shall be on his left hand, "Depart from me, ye cursed, into everlasting fire, which was prepared for the devil and his angels." --And immediately shall these two sentences be executed; for "these last shall go into everlasting punishment, but the just into life everlasting,' Matth. xxv. 34. At the end of the world the Son of Man shall send his angels, and they shall gather out of his kingdom all scandals, and them that work iniquity, and shall cast them into the furnace of fire; there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth; then shall the just shine as the sun in the kingdom of their Father," Matth. xiii. 41. Thus the whole posterity of Adam shall receive their eternal doom either in heaven or hell, in eter, nal happiness or eternal misery.

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CHAPTER IX.

OF THE BENEFITS OF OUR REDEMPTION.

Q. 1. WHAT are the benefits which we receive from the Redeemer?

A. They are all comprehended in these three general heads, to wit, satisfaction or propitiation, redemption, and impetration. That is to say, that, by the infinite merits of what he did and suffered for us, he fully satisfied the divine justice for our sins; he rendered God propitious to us, and inclined to mercy; he redeemed us from sin,

from the tyrranny of the devil, and from the torments of hell; and he obtained for us all spiritual benedictions and graces in this life, and the kingdom of heaven in the life to come.

Q. 2. Were the merits of Christ of infinite value ?

A. By the word merit, is understood the right or title that one person acquires by his services, to receive any favour or reward from another. This right may either be a right of congruency, or a right in justice. A right or title of congruency is, when the person to whom the service is done, is nowise obliged to reward it, by any promise or agreement of his own; but is at liberty to reward it or not as he pleases, and to reward it in what manner or proportion he sees proper, according as the services done may deserve, and as gratitude and decency shall dictate to them. A right in justice is, when the person to whom the service is done, is bound by promise or agreement to reward it; for by this the other, who does the service, acquires a full right and just title to the reward. Now, what Jesus Christ did and suffered for the glory and service of his Father, was of infinite value in itself, and deserved an infinite reward; and his eternal Father himself laid these sufferings upon him, and engaged, on his undergoing them, to give them the reward which he demanded for them, both in regard to himself and us. Hence the merits of Christ were of infinite value; and he has acquired a full title in justice to every thing he demands from his Father in reward of them.

Q. 3. How comes the merit of what Christ did and suffered to be of infinite value in itself?

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A. This arises chiefly from three causes; (1.) The infinite dignity of his person; for the more exalted any person is, the more meritorious and

valuable is any act of obsequiousness which he does to please another. (2.) The infinite value of what he gave and dedicated to the service of his Father, which was no less than the actions, sufferings, life and death of God made man. (3.) The fervour of his charity and love with which he served his Father; for, from the moment he was conceived in his mother's womb, till the moment he expired on the cross, every thing he did, said, and suffered, were all done out of the most perfect obedience to his Father's will. Thus, " when he cometh into the world, he saith, Sacrifice and oblation thou wouldst not; but a body thou has fitted to me: Holocausts for sin did not please thee, Then said I, Behold I come, in the head of the book it is written of me, that I should do thy will, O God," Heb. x. 5. And this his fervent charity to do the will of his Father, was so agreeable to him, that St. Paul immediately adds, "By the which will we are sanctified by the oblation of the body of Jesus Christ once,' ver. 10. This perfect obedience he carried on through the whole of his life, in every thing he did; so that it was "his meat to do the will of him that sent him, and to perfect his work," Jo. iv. 34. "I do nothing of myself," says he, "but as the Father has taught me, I speak these things

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for I do always the things that please him," Jo. viii. 28. And he laid down his life at last, in the midst of torments, from the same divine motive of obedience to his heavenly Father; humbled himself, becoming obedient unto death, even the death of the cross," Phil. ii. 8. Now, a person of such dignity offering to his Father a gift of infinite value, and employing himself with such infinite love, and through such dreadful sufferings for his Father's glory, most certainly deserves an infinite reward for such services; and

therefore, his merits are in themselves of infinite value.

Q. 4. How does it appear that God the Father laid all the sufferings of Christ upon him, and promised him a reward for them?

A. This is expressly declared by the prophet Isaiah, who also assures us that this was done in punishment for our sins, to make up our peace with God, and heal our bruises. "Surely he hath borne our infirmities and carried our sorrows, and we have thought him as it were a leper, and as one struck by God and afflicted; but he was wounded for our iniquities, he was bruised for our sins, the chastisement of our peace was upon him, and by his bruises we are healed.And the Lord hath laid upon him the iniquity of us all for the wickedness of my people have I struck him-and the Lord was pleased to bruise him in infirmity." Then follows the promise of the reward, "If he shall lay down his life for sin, he shall see a long-lived seed, and the will of the Lord shall be prosperous in his hand. Because his soul hath laboured, he shall see and be filled; by his knowledge shall this my just servant justify many, and he shall bear their iniquities; therefore will I distribute to him very many, and he shall divide the spoils of the strong," Isai. liii. Hence Jesus Christ claimed from his Father an infinite reward as his due for what he had done for him, to wit, the eternal glorification of his human nature in heaven, proinised in the words of the prophet: "he shall see and be filled. I have glorified thee on earth,' says he, "I have finished the work which thou gavest me to do; and now glorify thou me, O Father, with thyself, with the glory which I had, before the world was, with thee," John xvii 4. And he made the same demand for all