Matt iii 12 Whose fan is in Ms hand, and he tvill thronghly
purge 'his floor, and gather his wheat into the garner; hut he
will hum up the chaff loith unquenchahle fire.
THE great duty of a Christian Minister is, to set forth the Lord Jesus Christ in all his characters, and to impress on the minds of all the necessity ot be- heving in him for the salvation of their souls. But the view which we give of the Saviour should be alto- gether such as is exhibited in the Holy Scriptures. If, at one time, we represent him as a propitiation for sin, saying, with the Baptist, " Behold the Lamb of God, that taketh away the sin of the world ;" or, at another time, exalt him as the Head of his Church, ready to *' baptize men with the Holy Ghost and with fire;" we must not fail to proclaim him also as the Judge of quick and dead ; and to declare, with the Baptist, that " his fan is in his hand, and that he will throughly purge his floor, and gather his wheat into the garner : but that he will burn up the chaff with unquenchable fire."
This is a subject to which we cannot too often call your attention, seeing how deeply we are interested in,
I. The discrimination which will be made at the last day—
Men are here divided into two classes, under the images of " wheat and chaff" —
[These images are just: for though all men spring from one common root, yet is there a great difference between thcni : some, as righteous, resembling wheat; and otliers, as wicked, answering rather to the chaff.
The righteous may fitly be considered as wheat : for they are solid in the whole of their experience : their repentance is deep and genuine : their faith is lively and operative : their self-dedication to God is uniform and entire. They have in themselves a real and intrinsic worth.
The wicked, on the contrary, whether they be merely nominal Christians or hypocritical professsors, may well be compared to chaff: for they are light, unsubstantial, worthless.