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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. 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 he brings forward their faith which worketh by love, "for I was an hungred, 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 hungred, 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, inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of these my brethren, ye have done it unto me. Then he passes sentence upon his enemies, and shews

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1 Matt. xxv. 31-40.

in them the fruits of sin. Again: it is said, "He that is unjust, let him be unjust still and he which is filthy, let him be filthy still: and he that is righteous, let him be righteous still : and he that is holy, let him be holy still: "1 every thing is eternally fixed; what will be the state of the wicked maddened in sin through the countless ages of eternity? Contrast this with the state of the righteous. What then, you inquire, must I do to be saved? I reply, repent and believe the gospel; do not perplex yourselves about the secret decrees of God but you ask, 'Is there a possibility of my escaping?' Yes, there is, the richest mode devised by God himself; may you and I partake of its blessings.

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Again I repeat the command is given to every one, to repent and believe; it is the work of the Holy Spirit to give repentance, and to lead us to Christ have you and I submitted ourselves to God and Christ in his own way, and do we deny ourselves, and take up our cross daily and follow him?" Some weak ones may distrust, but those who live in the rich experience of these truths may even now be assured of what will be their fate on the judgment day. Oh! may we appear in the robe which Christ himself will wear.

1 Rev. xxii. 11.

SERMON XXVIII.

1823.

THE PRESENT AND FUTURE WEALTH OF THE BELIEVER.

For ye had compassion on me in my bonds, and took joyfully the spoiling of your goods, knowing in yourselves that ye have in heaven a better and an enduring substance.-HEBREWS 34.

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THE Apostle in one of the preceding verses, twenty-six, is speaking of sinning wilfully; many persons have distressed themselves unnecessarily, supposing they have committed the unpardonable sin; two things are necessary to do it—first, they must know the truth; secondly, afterwards wilfully and maliciously sin against the truth and the Saviour. "He that despised Moses' law died without mercy under two or three witnesses: of how much sorer punishment, suppose ye, shall he be thought worthy, who hath trodden under foot the Son

of God, and hath counted the blood of the covenant, wherewith he was sanctified, an unholy thing, and hath done despite unto the Spirit of grace?" The wilful rejection of Christ is here dwelt upon in the strongest manner; all are warned without one exception. "It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God." 2 It is most important to keep this in sight. The Apostle then addresses believers in Christ in the thirty-second and thirty-third verses, "But call to remembrance the former days, in which, after ye were illuminated, ye endured a great fight of afflictions; partly, whilst ye were made a gazingstock both by reproaches and afflictions; and partly, whilst ye became companions of them that were so used." To connect this with the text is what the Apostle has in view, in order to encourage the Hebrew converts to leave their enemies entirely in the hands of God, and not to treat them with any bitterness; for Christ treats our greatest foes with the utmost tenderness; may God enable us so to do; and, considering this truth, with what sweetness ought we to behave towards each other! The Apostle gives us an example in

the text.

1 Hebrews x. 28, 29.

2 Ibid. 31.

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This will lead us to consider three things, I. THE BELIEVER IS RICH IN THIS WORLD. II. HE HAS RICHES STILL IN REVERSION. III. HIS PRESENT WEALTH IS A SURE EARNEST OF HIS FUTURE INHERITANCE.

I. THE BELIEVER IS RICH IN THIS WORLD; he possesses the best riches,-"For ye had compassion of me in my bonds, and took joyfully the spoiling of your goods, knowing in yourselves that ye have in heaven a better and an enduring substance." Here is the proof; sympathy towards the people of Christ proves the believer has the spirit of his Master.

They took joyfully the spoiling of their goods:" contrast this with man's natural character, he wishes to grasp at every thing, and part with nothing; but here are those who "took joyfully the spoiling of their goods;" the reason is, they were in possession of something infinitely richer-a reconciled God in Christ, and the text tells us they know this. The wealth of the creature consists in the possession of created being-the wealth of Deity does not consist in the possession of created being, but in himself, and the wealth of his people consists in possessing him. The possession of the creature has an immediate tendency to impoverish the possessor, a ten

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