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A SERMON, BY THE REV. WILLIAM JAY.

PREACHED AT ARGYLE CHAPEL, BATH, ON SUNDAY MORNING, MARCH 1, 1840.

"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. Then shall the King say unto them on his left hand, Depart from Me, ye cursed, into everlasting fire, prepared for the devil and his angels."-Matthew xxv, 33, 41.

My brethren, the scene with which (joy, but laws to observe. They are capa these words are connected, stamps a value ble of knowing His will; they are inform on human nature, and furnishes a stand-ed of it; they are bound to obey it. And ard by which to estimate the true value of "we must all appear before the judgmentthe objects that court and claim our atten- seat of Christ;' for "God will bring tion. Where now is "the tree of life, every work into judgment, with every that stood in the midst of the Paradise of secret thing, whether it be good, or God?" Where the ark of Noah? Where whether it be evil." the rod by which Moses divided the Red Sea?

Where the materials of Solomon's temple? Where the wood of the cross on which the Saviour suffered? They are lost among the lumber of creation; "the places that once knew them, know them no more for ever."

It must

Now this is the subject here represented; and it is worthy your regard, that He who represents it here, will Himself occupy the chief place in the proceedings the day; for "He will come to be our Judge." I was thinking this morning in my retirement, what a contrast He must How lovely, glorious, and sublime are have perceived, at the time He uttered the appearances of nature! And yet all these words, between His condition then these are doomed to destruction. "The and His future grandeur! He was then "a heavens shall pass away with a great Man of sorrows and acquainted with noise, and the elements shall melt with grief;" He had "not where to lay His fervent heat, the earth also and the works head;" He was "despised and rejected that are therein shall be burned up." The of men;" but then He knew, He felt, animals are very superior to all in- that "before Him should be gathered animate productions. How remarkable | all nations ;" and that "the Son of Man are the qualities of many of them! While should come in His glory." some of them surpass man in strength, Observe" all nations." the sagacity of others seems scarcely therefore include your own. It must indistinguishable from reason itself. Yet clude you, ye young; it must include you, Solomon says, "The spirit of the beast ye old, ye rich, ye poor; ye professors, goeth downward, and the spirit of man ye profane. You will not only be specgoeth upward." For they are not moral tators, but you will all be parties conagents, nor destined to give account of cerned. It is a solemn thing for a man themselves to God. But no man ever to be judged of his own conscience. Oh! perished or ever will perish: he had a how pleasing is the approval of that beginning, but he will have no end. He sentence, of that deputy of God within! dies indeed, but "the spirit returns to but oh! how intolerable its frown! God who gave it." He dies indeed, but "The spirit of a man may sustain his infirthe body that enters the grave, and even mity; but a wounded spirit who can sees corruption, will not remain there. bear? It is a solemn thing for a man to "All that are in the graves shall stand before an earthly tribunal, with his hear His voice and shall come forth; they property, his reputation, his liberty, and that have done good, unto the resurrection his life at stake; to leave the courta cquitof life; they that have done evil, ted of all charges, to return to the bosom unto the resurrection of damnation. of his family, or to return to be confined Men are not only God's creatures, but again, not for trial, but for execution, they are God's subjects too. He has But all this is nothing," less than nothing, given them not only appetites, but reason; and vanity," compared with the arrangenot only passions, but conscience; He ments and decisions here announced. has given them, not only blessings to en

VOL. XIII.

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Men are now variously intermingled;

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them, they are unworthy of credence.
What a task, then, O sinner, hast thou
imposed upon thee, before thou canst
lay thy apprehensions at rest, and defy
this denunciation!
that is, to prove,

and it would not be safe for a mortal to under take the task of separating them; for as the Master in the parable says, there would be danger,lest while he pulled up the tares, he shouldroot up also the wheat with them; both therefore must grow together either that this Book is a lie, or that Jeuntil the harvest. Many ends are to be an-sus Christ is a liar. swered by this intermixture now; many The second, regards the state; as not with regard to the wicked; many with re-originally designed for man, but " pregard to the godly themselves. And therepared for the devil and his angels." But is another reason to be assigned why the when once prepared, you see it will do one is now imperfectly punished, and the for any other orders of rebels as well as for other is imperfectly rewarded; namely, them; and if you declare for their party, that we are now under an introductory if you will do the works of the devil, dispensation; that we are now in a state having shared in his guilt, you will also of discipline and trial. But now comes a share in his punishment. And thus you state of retribution: "And He shall se- will make the place your own, as Judas parate them one from another, as a shep- did; who, therefore it is said, "went to his herd divideth his sheep from the goats; own place." and He shall set the sheep on His right The third regards the conduct of those hand, but the goats on the left. Then who fall under this dreadful malediction. shall the King say unto them on His right And here you are ready to exclaim, 'Surely hand, Come, ye blessed of My Father, it must consist in crimes too great for inherit the kingdom prepared for you human nature often to commit. Surely from the foundation of the world." Then the criminals must be Cains, or Pharaohs, shall He say also unto them on the left or Belshazzars, or Herods, or Julians, hand, Depart from Me, ye cursed, into or robbers, or thieves, or murderers, everlasting fire, prepared for the devil' murderers of fathers and murderers of and his angels." mothers." No such thing; the criminals are not here so described. They were free from many vices: they lived in easy circumstances; they were approved of by many of their fellow-creatures. What were they? They were dry-eyed; they were close-fisted; they were hard-hearted; they were flint instead of flesh; they lived only for themselves, "For I was an hungred, and ye gave Me no meat; I was thirsty, and ye gave Me no drink; I was a stranger, and ye took Me not in; naked, and ye clothed Me not; sick, and in prison, and ye visited Me not. shail they also answer Him, saying, Lord, when saw we Thee an hungred, or athirst, or a stranger, or naked, or sick, or in prison, and did not minister unto Thee? Then shall He answer them, saying, Verily I say unto you, Inasmuch as ye did it not to one of the least of these, ye did it not to Me. And these shall go away into everlasting punishment; but the righteous into life eternal."

But though I have read the latter verse as well as the former, I know not how to dwell upon it. It was designed, not for declamation, but for belief. It has been given, not to be explained and known and comprehended; but to be left in undefined terrors, the forebodings of imagination. I will, therefore, at once pass by both the nature and the duration of this punishment-only briefly remarking three things.

The first regards its certainty. Do not imagine that these words will be found an idle tale. They are not the offspring of enthusiasm, or the creature of priestcraft. No: and does not your conscience, sinner, often tell you so, notwithstanding all your wishes and endeavours to get rid of it? Such is the misery (however you may explain or soften it), that if there were only a probability or a possibility of your enduring it, prudence would more than justify you in submitting to all the self-denial, which the Gospel requires, in order to avoid it. But before you can suppose, that there is only possibility or probability in this case, before you can question the certainty of this sentence, you must prove that either He did not utter these words, or that if He did utter

Then

I now hasten back to the first part of our text; and having happily resigned the other, return to the more cheering part of it. "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 foun

dation of the world." We shall not no-
tice His title. "The King;" "the King
of glory," "the King of saints," "the
King of nations." We shall not notice
their position.
At the "right hand;"
the place of distinction and eminence,
of power and dominion. But there are
three things which we will bring under
review, and endeavour briefly to explain.
First, the character,-" Ye blessed of My
Father." Secondly the invitation, -
"Come." Thirdly the induction,-"In-
herit the kingdom prepared for you from
the foundation of the world."

I. THE CHARACTER. My Father."

"Ye blessed of

show us any good? Lord, lift Thou up the light of Thy countenance upon me; Thou hast put gladness in my heart, more than in the time when their corn and their wine increaseth." How vain would be the censure of the whole world if He should smile upon us! "Let them curse, but bless Thou." What are the revilings of men while He says to my soul, "I am thy salvation?"

But what does His blessing His people here intend? His "blessing is upon His people"-upon all their concerns. He blesses even their temporal advantages and comforts. He "giveth them all things richly to enjoy." He blesses, as it is said, "their bread and their water." Hence "the There are some, who bless themselves. little that a righteous man hath is better Thus when Moses is speaking of the pre- than the riches of many wicked." If you sumptuous offender, he says, "When he would know the full meaning of our text, heareth the words of this curse, he will go back to the dying hour of Moses, and bless himself in his heart, saying, I shall hear him praying, on behalf of his beloved have peace, though I walk in the imagi- Joseph, "for the good will of Him that nation of my heart, to add drunkenness to dwelt in the bush." If you would unthirst." And David, speaking of the suc- derstand our text, go to the language of cessful worldling, says, that "while he the apostle to the Ephesians. "Blessed lived he blessed his own soul; and men be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus will praise thee when thou doest well to Christ, who hath blessed us with all spithyself." There are some who are bles- ritual blessings in heavenly places in sed by men-blessed by vile men, who Him." Here is the quality of those flatter them. They "bless the covetous, blessings-"spiritual blessings." Here whom the Lord abhorreth." Some are is their plenitude-"all spiritual blessblessed by the grateful. "When the earings." Here is their residence-“ in heahas heard, it has blessed them; and when venly places." Here is their securitythe eye has seen them, it has given witness "in Him." He not only feeds His peoto them; because they delivered the poor ple, but He feeds them with "the bread that cried, the fatherless, and him that of life." He not only clothes them, but had none to help him." Good men love clothes them with "the garments of salto bless. Ministers bless, and bless offici-vation." He not only makes them free, ally: "We bless you," say they, "in the name of the Lord." "Thus shall ye bless the children of Israel, saying, The Lord bless thee and keep thee; the Lord make His face to shine upon thee and be gracious unto thee; the Lord lift His countenance upon thee, and give thee peace."

but "free indeed." He not only enriches them, but bestows upon them "the unsearchable riches of Christ." He makes them not only creatures, but "new creatures;" delivers them from the curse of the law; justifies them freely by His grace; renews them by His Holy Spirit; calls them to the fellowship of His Son JesusChrist, so that "when He shall appear they shall also appear with Him in glory;" and now gives them the earnest, and first Of fruits, and foretastes; so that—

But ah! my brethren, the grand thing is, to be blessed of God. Men bless only in words and wishes; God in results, in communications. He "commandeth the blessing, even life for evermore."

what avail in the most important exigencies of life would be the friendship of our fellow-mortals, however powerful? But "the blessing of the Lord, it maketh rich, and addeth no sorrow with it." His "loving kindness is better" even "than life." Where is the Christian, who has not often said, "There be many that say, Who will

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sed of My Father." To others, as you have heard, the very reverse, "De part." This, you know was their language always towards Him -the language, if not of their words, of their tempers and of their wills. They "said unto Him, Depart from us, we desire not the knowledge of Thy ways." And can it be unrighteous, can it be unreasonable, can it be wonderful, if He then should say to them, "Depart from Me?" No; they will not themselves deem it unrighteous, or unreasonable, or wonderful they will be "speechless."

But you ask, Will His absence be a misery to those who have desired the removal of His presence from them? Let me answer. While they were here, they had many substitutes for Him; wretched substitutes indeed, but substitutes they were. Though they had nothing that could satisfy their minds, they had many things that amused them and occupied them. But if they can do without Hira in prosperity, can they do without Him in adversity when their comforts are laid low? Can they do without Him when death comes, and when heart and flesh fail? Can they do without Him in another world? How will they

"weather an eternal night, When such expedients fail?"

Can they do without Him when the Judge descends? He alone should be then their friend and their helper; but He will say, "Depart."

But as to those who are "blessed of His Father," they had been made to feel their need of Him here; it was the business of their life; they sought after Him in His works, in His ways, in His dispensations, in His ordinances. They had been brought to such a state that they could

say

"I cannot live contented here,

Without some glimpses of Thy face;
And heaven, without Thy presence there,
Would be a dark and tiresome place."

He will therefore fulfil all their desires after Him completely, and say at last, "Come, ye blessed of My Father."

"Come." Were they afar off? They were by nature without Christ; and thence their debasement; thence their misery. But He was anxious to bring them to Himself. Therefore in the days of His flesh His anxiety always was, not for His own welfare, but for theirs; not because He stood in need of them, but because He

knew that they stood in need of Him, and that without Him they would be undone for ever. He knew that He was the source of their blessedness, and that unless they came to Him they never could be truly happy. He was therefore the Physician, inviting the patients to come to Him and be healed: He was the Benefactor, inviting the beggars to come unto Him and be fed. His language always was, "Come unto Me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest :" Him that cometh unto Me I will in no wise cast out.'

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Thus you see how their blessedness began. It was by an intercourse with Christ; it was by a coming to Him. And how is it to be obtained? Why, in the very same way. Come, ye blessed of My Father." As if He thought they never could be near enough to Himself. "Come." "I remember,' says He,' when I saw you coming to My cross with your burden on. I remember when I saw you come to My throne with all your wants, to spread them there. I remember when I saw you coming to My house, to behold My beauty and My glory there. I remember when I saw you coming to My table, to behold My hands and My side. Oh! come now into My immediate presence; come now into My arms; come now into My bosom, and be for ever with the Lord. Come. Are they

Come!'

ready to shrink back? There was a time Do they, then, hesitate? when this was the case. Yes; they did hesitate once and the hesitation arose from their mistaking His appearance, and His approach. When He came to convince them of sin, when He came to correct them by affliction, when He came to discourse to them of their own unworthiness and desert, they supposed that He came as a destroyer instead of a Saviour. They were in this condition like the poor disciples at sea; when He was walking towards them (to save them too)—walking towards them on the waters, they little thought that He would come in the bosom of the storm; therefore when they saw Him they cried out for fear; but He said, "Be of good cheer, it is I; be not afraid."

You will remember that they also sometimes felt a kind of shrinking back-not arising from any thing like aversion, but from a sense of their own unworthiness. As in the case of the miraculous draught of fishes. When Peter had seen this, he

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said, "Depart from me, for I am a sinful man, O Lord." And if they are sensible of their unworthiness now, they will be a thousand times more sensible of it hereafter. Therefore they are represented as 'casting their crowns before Him;" as much as to say by their abdication, that they are not worthy to wear them; and as much as to say, ' If we are to wear them, He shall place them on our heads, in the sight of all this assembly: they shall know, as well as ourselves, that it is all of grace, and all from Him.'

But then they will have an equal confidence in Him. Then they will know no sin. They will know, and He will wish them to know, that they are as welcome to come as they are unworthy. Yes, my brethren; He will say to them then, "Come, ye blessed of My Father." Though you have often invited a beloved friend to your house; though you have sometimes beckoned a dear child to your embrace, you have never given either of them a thousandth part of the welcome with which He will receive you when He shall say at the last, “Come, ye blessed of My Father."

III. THE INDUCTION. "Inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world." Observe four things.

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1. The building-a "kingdom." Not only "a building of God, a house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens;" not merely "an inheritance incorruptible, undefiled, and that fadeth not away, reserved in heaven for you;" but something more excellent and dignified a "kingdom." A crown sparkles in the eyes of ambition; a throne is the highest pinnacle of honour. To grasp the sceptre that has swayed a few provinces, and which has frequently been rent from the hand by violence, or dropped out of it by weakness and death, what crimes have been committed and what blood has been

shed! But,Christians, you will have a kingdom-"the everlasting kingdom of our Lord and Saviour;" a kingdom that cannot be shaken. The highest throne of an earthly monarch will be nothing compared to the throne of the lowest Christian (if we may use such an expression)

in heaven.

2. The attribute attached to it-" prepared for you." For it was not a natural acquisition, it was not an easy attainment; and it is not an inexpensive be

stowment. Oh! how many things were to be removed before we could receive it! How many things were to be done! What a system of mediation was to intervene between God and us! And therefore says the Saviour to His disciples, "I go to prepare a place for you." His resurrection was necessary; His ascension was necessary; His intercession was necessary; His advocacy with the Father was necessary; His possession of the whole dispensation of the Spirit was necessary: and before this it required His death, and all the dispensation that followed, and all the means of grace, and all the agency of the Holy Ghost.

3. Observe the earliness of the designa kingdom prepared from "the foundation of the world." Collins the infidel published a tract called, "Christianity as old as the creation." We accept the title; but we accept it, not as an argument against Christianity, but as a commendation in its favour. Yes; "the Gospel was preached before unto Abraham ;” the Gospel was preached even in Paradise. Yea; Christianity as old as the creation! it is much older: the creation is not yet six thousand years old; but "the mercy of the Lord is from everlasting_to everlasting unto them that fear Him." Do we think of the sacrifice that procured it? It is "the Lamb siain from before the foundation of the world." Do we think of the promise that conveys it? "In hope of eternal life, which God who cannot lie, promised before the world began." Do we think of the love which was the source of it? "I have loved thee with an everlasting love, and therefore with lovingkindness have I drawn thee." So true is it, that He has "saved us and called us with an holy calling; not according to our works, but according to His own purpose and grace, given us in Christ Jesus, before the world began.'

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4. The period of actual possession"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." They are now heirs, but heirs under age : and while they are under age, heirs in some respects are no more than servants, though they are lords of all. As Young very finely says

"Creatures of yesterday we are ;
Nor into manhood rise,
Till death pronounces us of age,
And crowns us for the skies."

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