the reward; and remember it for guidance and for redemption :-"Behold, we have forsaken all and followed thee: what shall we have therefore? And Jesus said unto them, Verily, I say unto you, that ye which have followed me, in the regeneration when the Son of man shall sit in the throne of his glory, ye also shall sit upon twelve thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel. And every one that hath forsaken houses, or brethren, or sisters, or father, or mother, or wife, or children, or lands, for my name's sake, shall receive an hundred-fold, and shall inherit everlasting life." A subject like the one now offered to your attention, evidently affords matter of solemn consideration to those who are not the followers but the enemies of the Son of God. The blessing of spiritual and heavenly reward, is to be the property only of those who are the friends of the Redeemer: what then will be the end of the impenitent persecutor, and scorner, and unbeliever? -There may be now present, in the different modifications of depravity, those who are avowing a positive and dogmatic infidelity; or those who without daring to assume the boldness of open denial, are yet guilty of neglecting the great salvation, and practically renouncing the hopes of immortality for the vain and debasing pleasures and indulgences of the world. I tell you, sinners, that the principles of truth you have now heard, teach what, I would to God, might be impressed indelibly on your hearts, your exposure to a doom of exclusion and punishment far more awful than any language can describe, or than any imagination can conceive. Who will receive from Christ" an hundred-fold?" Not you. Who will sit upon thrones, and be invested with the priesthood and royalty of heaven? Not you. Who will inherit "everlasting life?" Not you. Then where will you be, and what will you have? When the great day of decision shall come, you will rise—but to be placed at the left hand of the Judge: you will be scrutinized but to receive the sentence of eternal condemnation : you will be dismissed-but to live as the victims of the remediless curse; and while those you have scoffed at, or neglected, shall be lifted up to the exaltation of the skies, you will be hurled down to the abyss where dwells the blackness of darkness for ever! O it matters not that on this earth you are rich, or that you are powerful, or that you are honourable: because you are not the followers of the Lord, in your wealth, there is poverty; in your power, there is impotence; in your honour, there is infamy; the angel of destruction breathes on every fair possession, and transforms all things into the blasted emblems of an imperishable ruin. Are you not awakened by the threatenings which are uttered by the lips of the Eternal? Are you not induced to seek the path of escape, and to inquire what you must do to be saved? The harvest is not yet past; the summer is not yet ended:-believe on H Christ-follow Christ-commit your souls to Christ; and then the radiance of celestial glory will enshrine you all. Forsake the impurities of time, and you will gain the delights of eternity: lose the body, and you will save the soul ! If I speak to any who are undecided, and who are hesitating as to the course which for future times they shall adopt, let them at once attend to and answer the challenge-" How long halt ye between two opinions?" Set before you the two great opposing parties, to one of which you must be attached; and the two great opposing results, in one of which you must be involved. Here are Christ and Belial; here are the world and religion; here are life and death, blessing and cursing, heaven and hell. Between these, is it possible for you to hold your opinions in equipoise, and refuse to decide? You assume to yourselves a measure of talent and discernment; but, what of talent or discernment,-what right exercise of the reason given by your Creator, is there, if you do not determine, in the divine strength, on the assumption of a character, which though connected with temporary inconvenience and privation, yet secures the dignity of your moral nature, and the felicity of your immortal souls? O let the voice of the Redeemer, calling to you in his ministry, determine the doubtful case; induce you now to resolve, “As for us, we will serve the Lord;" and bring you without delay into the number of his faithful people, that you may be adorned with their graces, assist in their labours, and participate in their reward! And need we repeat, how much of excitement and encouragement is imparted to those, for whom the grand question is decided, and who are ranged with, and have acted as the followers of the Son of God? How the heart of the sincere and devoted disciple must be cheered, kindled to new courage and ardour, by the contemplation of what God has prepared for them that love him!-Brethren, what trial shall depress, what difficulty shall unnerve, what sacrifice shall deter, when we behold in the vision of faith, what we are hastening on to receive the kingdom prepared from the foundation of the world? We count them happy which endure:" "we rejoice inasmuch as we are partakers of Christ's sufferings; that when his glory shall be revealed, we also may be glad with exceeding joy." Let us still count all things but dung, that we may win Christ, and be found in him: let us still own Him as the only Leader of our souls, and Captain of our salvation, in comparison with whom all other beings are as nothing: let us spend for Him our youth, our manhood, and our age, and dedicate every power to one who has ransomed us from hell. Thus shall we live with the smile of his approbation, and die in the prospect of his glory; and when we have |
