for why will ye die, O house of Israel? For I have no pleasure in the death of him that dieth, saith the Lord God: wherefore turn yourselves and live ye. Ho, every one that thirsteth, come ye to the waters, and he that hath no money; come ye, buy, and eat; yea, come buy wine and milk without money and without price. Wherefore do ye spend money for that which is not bread? and your labour for that which satisfieth not? Hearken diligently unto me, and eat ye that which is good, and let your soul delight itself in fatness. Incline your ear, and come unto me: hear, and your soul shall live: and I will make an everlasting covenant with you, even the sure mercies of David. Seek yo the Lord while he may be found, call ye upon him while he is near. Let the wicked forsake his way, and the unrighteous man his thoughts; and let him return unto the Lord, and he will have mercy upon him; and to our God; for he will abundantly pardon. Jam. 4. 7—10. Is. 1.16, 17. Ez. 18, 30--32. Is. 55. 1-3, 6, 7. || Hos. 10. 12. Observe the purport of the scriptures through out. 181. When is the best, perhaps the only time to begin a religious life? Wherefore (as the Holy Ghost saith,) TO DAY, if ye will hear his voice, Harden not your hearts, as in the provocation, in the day of temptation in the wilderness. Take heed, brethren, lest there be in any of you an evil heart of unbelief, in departing from the living GOD. But exhort one another daily, while it is called to-day; lest any of you be hardened through the deceitful ness of sin. For he saith, I have heard thee in a time accepted, and in the day of salvation have I succoured thee: BEHOLD, NOW IS THE ACCEPTED TIME; BEHOLD, NOW IS THE DAY OF SALVATION. Serve the Lord with fear and rejoice with trembling. Kiss the Son, lest he be angry, and ye perish from the way, when his wrath is kindled but a little., Blessed are all they that put their trust in him. Heb. 3. 7, 8, 12, 15. 2 Cor. 6. 2. Ps. 2. 11, 12. || Gen. 6. 3. Heb. 4. 7. Jam. 4. 13-17. 182. Is this life a state of probation? Be not deceived; GoD is not mocked: for whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap. For he that soweth to his flesh shall of the flesh reap corruption; but he that soweth to the Spirit shall of the Spirit reap life everlasting. Therefore, brethren, we are debtors, not to the flesh, to live after the flesh. For if ye live after the flesh ye shall die: but if ye through the Spirit do mortify the deeds of the body, ye shall live. For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ; that every one may receive the things done in his body, according to that he hath done, whether it be good or bad. Gal. 6. 7, 8. Rom. 8. 12, 13. 2 Cor. 5. 10. || Is. 61. 2. Hos. 10. 12, 13. 183. Is it appointed unto ALL men ONCE to DIE? Man that is born of a woman is of few days and full of trouble. For we are strangers before thee, and sojourners, as were all our fathers: our days on the earth are as a shadow, and there is none abiding. For he knoweth our frame; he remembereth that we are dust. As for man, his days are as grass: as a flower of the field, so he flourisheth. For the wind passeth over it, and it is gone; and the place thereof shall know it no more. The Lord killeth; and maketh alive; he bringeth down to the grave, and bringeth up. There is no man that hath power over the spirit to retain the spirit: neither hath he power in the day of death and there is no discharge in that war: neither shall wickedness deliver those that are given to it. Job 14. 1. 1 Chron. 29. 15. Ps. 103. 14-16. 1 Sam. 2. 6. Eccl. 8. 8. Job 16. 22. and 30. 23. Ps. 39. 4, 5. Job 4. 12, 20. and 14. 2, 5, 10, 12, 19, 20. and 21. 23-26. 184. "If a man die shall he live again ?" Job 14. 14. Marvel not at this; for the hour is coming, in the which all that are in the graves shall hear his voice. And shall come forth: they that have done good, unto the resurrection of life; and they that have done evil unto the resurrection of damnation. Behold, I shew you a mystery; we shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed. In a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trump: (for the trumpet shall sound,) and the dead shall be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed. For this corruptible must put on incorruption, and this mortal must put on immortality. For this we say unto you by the word of the Lord, that we which are alive, and remain unto the coming of the Lord shall not prevent them which are asleep. For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the arch-angel, and with the trump of GoD: and the dead in Christ shall rise first: Then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air, and so shall we ever be with the Lord. Wherefore comfort one another with these words. John 5. 28, 29. 1 Cor. 15. 51-53. 1 Thes. 4. 15—18, Rev. 20. 6, 13, 14. Job 19. 25-27. Acts 24 15, 16. Ps. 16. 8, 9, 11. Dan.12. 2. 1 Cor. 15. 12. &c. 185. Who will "judge the world in righteous ness ?" For the Father judgeth no man; but hath committed all judgment unto the Son. Because he hath appointed a day, in the which he will judge the world in righteousness, by that man whom he hath ordained, whereof he hath given assurance unto all men in that he hath raised him from the dead. For it is written, As I live, saith the Lord, every knee shall bow to me, and every tongue shall confess to God. So then every one of us shall give account of himself to GOD When the Son of Man shall come in his glory, and all the holy angels with him, then shall he sit upon the throne of his glory; And before him shall be gathered all nations; and he shall separate them one from another, as a shepherd divideth his sheep from the goats. And he shall set the sheep on his right hand, but the goats on the left. John 5. 22. Acts 17. 31. Rom. 14. 11, 12. Mat. 25. 31-33. || Rev. 20. 11, 12. Eccl. 12. 14. 11, 9. Jude 14. 15. Rom. 2. 3-16. Mat. 16. 27. and 24. 36-42. Luke 9. 26, || Mark 13. 32--37. 186. What will be the sentence of the righteous? Then shall the King say unto them on his right hand, Come, ye blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world: for I was an hungered, and ye gave me meat: I was thirsty,and ye gave me drink: I was a stranger and ye took me in : Naked and ye clothed me: I was sick, and ye visited me: I was in prison, and ye came unto me. Then shall the righteous answer him, saying, Lord, when saw we thee an hungered, and fed thee? or thirsty, and gave thee drink? When saw we thee a stranger,and took thee in? or naked, and clothed thee? Or when saw we thee sick, or in prison, and came unto thee? And the King shall answer, and say unto them, Verily, I say unto you, in as much as ye have done it unto one of the least of these my brethren, ye have done it unto me. Therefore are they before the throne of GoD, and serve him day and night in his temple; and he that sitteth on the throne shall dwell among them. They shall hunger no more; neither thirst any more; neither shall the sun light on them, nor any heat. For the LAMB which is in the midst of the throne shall feed them, and shall lead them unto living fountains of waters: and GoD shall wipe away all tears from their eyes. And he shewed me a pure river of water of life, clear as crystal, proceeding out of the throne of GoD and of the LAMB. In the midst of the street of it, and on either side of the river, was there the tree of life, which bare twelve manner of fruits, and yielded her fruit every month and the leaves of the tree were for the |