eousness." His heart is at war with the government of God, because, under that government, those who choose to persevere in sin, will be judged at the Last Day, and "punished with everlasting destruction." He dislikes the severity of God against sin, and would have him more lenient, granting a second probation to those who love sin too well to forsake it during the present. Are you willing to be such a man? If you are, who can be more worthy of the worm that dieth not, and of the fire that never shall be quenched? Who can be more worthy of hell, than he who desires the privilege of sinning safely?

The hope, then, of a second probation for any of the human race, by means of which they may escape the doom for which their characters in this life have prepared them,

must be given up. God in this life, may

Those only who serve

hope to reign with God in heaven; while those who live and die unbelieving and impenitent, must come forth out of their graves at the Last Day, "unto the resurrection of damnation." It is not safe, to

calculate upon making our peace with God after we are dead. Such an expectation and a corresponding life are not only unsafe, but inevitably destructive. Those who in this life hate knowledge and do not choose the fear of the Lord, but reject his counsel and despise all his reproof, "shall eat of the fruit of their own way, and be filled with their own devices."

CHAPTER VII.

CONCLUSION.

We may, then, on the authority of the word of God, receive the following propositions as undoubted truth.

1. That Jesus Christ died,-really died,for our sins, according to the Scriptures.

2. That, on the third day, he rose from the dead; so rose, that his body, which had been dead, was no longer in the sepulchre where it had been laid, but was alive, and was seen alive by many infallible proofs," at divers times, until he was received up into heaven.

3. That, at a day which God hath appointed, called in Scripture "the Last Day," the "Day of Judgment," and "the end of the world," he will come to judge the world.

4. That, at his second coming, the bodies of all the dead will be raised to life, and the bodies of all the living will be changed, so as no longer to be subject to decay and dissolution.

5. That all the individuals of the human race will then be judged according to the deeds done in the body; so that those who have done good in this life shall be approved and received to happiness, and others condemned and sentenced to a state of misery.

6. That the judgment of that day will be final; the wicked going away into everlasting punishment, but the righteous into life eternal.

Being thus warned of God concerning the things that are before us, it becomes us to prepare for them. The warning has been given in mercy, that we might be aware of our condition; that we might take warning, and watch and be sober, as men that watch for the coming of their Lord, lest that day should come upon us as a thief, and find us unprepared. It is not wise to disregard the warning. It is not wise to desire and search for means of doubting the fulfilment of that which the Lord hath

spoken. It is not wise, it is not respectful, it is not safe, for us to argue that the justice, or the goodness, or the mercy of God will not permit him to do that which he hath declared that he will do. God knows better than we do, what is consistent with his goodness, his mercy, and all his glorious attributes. It is not safe for us to neglect preparation for the Day of final Judgment, because we think that no judgment of God against sinners ought to be final. If any will have more confidence in their own reasonings concerning the duty of God, than in the declarations of God concerning what he will do, they must take the consequences. "He that reproveth God, let him answer it." But let all who know themselves to be fallible and believe that Christ spake the truth, take warning, and prepare to meet their God.

And be not afraid of losing earthly good. "If thy hand offend thee, cut it off: it is better for thee to enter into life maimed, than having two hands to go into hell, into the fire that never shall be quenched; where their