his Father to inherit the kingdom prepared for them from the foundation of the world. There they shine as the brightness of the firmament, as the fun when he thone in his ftrength. The firmament is rolled away. The fun is swallowed up in darkness. But the glory of the righteous fadeth not. They shine in glory shed upon them from the throne of God: and, like the throne of God, established for ever.

Our Lord, having concluded his interpretation of the parable, closed the subject with those folemn words, which he was accustomed to address to his followers, when he had delivered to them inftructions demanding fignal regard: He who hath ears to hear, let him ear. My brethren! Reverence the admonition of the Son of God, and ponder his doctrine in your hearts. Confider the fupreme and everlasting importance of the truths which this parable enforces; truths important as heaven and hell, and enduring, as to their effects, unto eternity. If there be no refurrection, take your eafe; eat, drink, and be merry. Eat and drink; for to-morrow ye die. But if the Scriptures indeed pronounce that every man fhall give an account of himself before the judgement-feat of Chrift; Who fhall

dwell

dwell with the devouring fire? Who can dwell with everlasting burnings? Enquire, before the day of harvest arrives, to what defcription you belong. Are you of the wheat, or of the tares; of the children of the kingdom, or of the children of the wicked one? Let every one examine and return an answer to himself. Are you a fervant of Chrift in fincerity and truth; labouring day by day to bring forth fruit unto him to the falvation of your foul through his blood; and, with Chriftian folicitude, feizing every opportunity which your station affords of ftrengthening others in genuine faith, and of upholding and advancing them in holiness? Or are you a flave and a minifter of Satan, devoted to him, fulfilling his fervice, bringing forth fruit unto death, unto death everlasting; deftroying your own foul by difobedience, and, like tares that fmother the wheat, endangering and ruining the fouls of others by your wicked perfuafions, and your carelefs and unrighteous example? He that is not of Chrift is of the devil. If you know not to which mafter you belong; it is because you will!! not fearch the Scriptures and lay them to to heart. The marks of diftinction between the followers of Chrift, and the fubjects of!

the devil, are fo repeatedly and fo clearly stated in the Scriptures, that they cannot be overlooked or misunderstood otherwise than wilfully. If you are of the number of the wicked; boaft not because you may have been hitherto permitted to triumph in fin, nor prefume that you fhall always escape. The tares are not the less tares, because they are luxuriant: nor the lefs to be burned, because they have now the maftery over the crop. If thou art profperous in iniquity, fay not within thyself; "God feeth not: God careth not for it.” He waiteth only for the harvest. For purposes of his own he may delay to ftrike: but he will affuredly strike in the end. If thou perfistest in rebellion: every instance of his patience which thou haft despised will aggravate thy condemnation. In hell, no less than in heaven, are many mansions. And among the various abodes of torture, the moft dreadful are reserved for those, who turn the long-fuffering grace of God into an occafion and encouragement of fin. If an habitual and humble comparison of thy heart and conduct with the standard of religion displayed in the Gofpel affords thee ground for hope that the Holy Spirit hath in fome meafure renewed thy heart VOL. II.

unto

unto righteousness: fret not thy felf because of the ungodly, neither be thou envious against the workers of iniquity. Quietly purfue thy courfe in godliness: reft in the Lord, and wait patiently for him. For evil-doers fhall be cut off: but those that wait upon the Lord, they fhall inherit the earth. Commit thy way unto the Lord; and thou shalt enjoy, even in the midst of many forrows, the greatest bleffings attainable on earth, peace of confcience in Chrift, and cheerful dependence on the Almighty. Fret not thyfelf because of the man who profpereth in the way of wicked devices. Yet a little while, and thou fhalt be tranfplanted from the wildernefs of this world. into the land of promife; from the thorny field of tribulation into the garden of God. Health and riches and worldly fuccefs are bounties which it pleafes God to bestow even upon his inveterate enemies. He maketh his fun to fhine on the evil and on the good; and fendeth rain on the just and on the unjuft. Earthly enjoyments are not the rewards which he has fet apart for his fervants. For them he has prepared a kingdom yet to be revealed; a kingdom purchafed for them by the blood of his Son; a kingdom of honour and glory

and happiness at this right hand for ever. Be patient in faith and holinefs; and that kingdom fhall become thine inheritance. Thou shalt enter into peace: thou fhalt ftand in thy lot at the end of days. Thou fhalt behold thy Redeemer face to face. Thou shalt be in bleffedness with him throughout eternity.