Jesus Christ. 4. That every man will, ere then, know or hifl own .personal relation to the l,,)rd Jesu~, and that he is to be the Judge or all mankind. 5. That the final stat.e or every soul w,11 depend un its attitude to th~ Lord Jesus Christ. 6. That men will be eentenoed, not according to the light God saw tl~ to send them. but according to the use they have made of the light granted to them. 7. '!'hat the Lord Jesus Christ, as an omnieoient and unerring Judge, will sentence every man; tha1i this sentence will be acoording to truth; and,that it will be the outworking or moral laws that are in oper- ation now, which are like their Author," the same yesterday, and to-day, and for ever;• 8. That the measure or punishment will be according to the measure of guilt. 9. That for the righteous there will be joy and honour uni<peakable, which will never end. 10. That for the wicked there will be irremediable loss, unutterable woo, for a duration ofi which no man can gauge the extent, accompanied with a depth of remorse that no t.ongne nor pen can describe. 11. That for those who reject Jesus Christ in this life there will be no such thing 8:1 making up lost time, and that they· will M111l1' attain to the blessedness they wo11ld have reached if they had received Christ in this, the aooepted time. Their time once lost is lost for ever, and the corresponding losa of blllllSedness-witl never be retrieved. . Surely here is enough, and more than enorigh, for foculllled power in the pulpit in the pN111entation of the revealed truth of"God on the future destiny of the ungodly. And when we see what a dread aspect of finality there is in such words as" The door was t!hut;" when we remember how repeatedly the trnmpet.call Now is sounded; when we know that these are spoken of 88 the la&t days, and that the day of judgment is " the last day;" when there is no hint or an offer of meroy in the next life t11 t1wlti wbo haw .refect,,J Jffll/l Ghrist in this ; when. we know. that, by oontinued sin. men are gettiog into a stat.13 of hardness in whioh no means known to us can possibly reach their con- Bclences ;-to shrink from the presentation to them oftheirrisks would be gross unfaith- fulneSB.. There is no need to indulge in the exC888ive statement that sin will last as 0Iong 88 God lasts; there is no need to indulge in flaming descriptions of material fire
and of bodily torture; there is no reason for so setting things as to make one's moral nature and conscience revolt therefrom ; in fact, there is every reason for ,wt doing ·anything of the kind. For, within the lines indicated of a w.idely spread agr811ment among men of diverse conclusions as to the ulfimat. issue, the facts of life are so real, ·tb41 drift of evil is so manifest, the penalties on sin are so stern, the Word of God iii so clear, the oom111ission to the Christian teacher is so direct, and the importance of com- mending ourselves to every man's conscience is so vast, that with the most careful accuracy, measured statement, calm reasoning, pungent appeal, impassioned fervour, we are .bound-even. weeping-to plead with men in Christ's ■tead, to " be reoonciled w God." reminding them that · "'Tis not the whole of lif'e to live, Nor all of death to die." There is--there is-Ow, ucond d6atJ., sven the lake of fire.
HOMILIES BY VARIOUS AUTHOBS. Ver. 6.-" The fird mmrrection." "Blessed and holy is ho that bath part in the first resurrection." It is a common remark that we are to learn much concerning the Divine admi'nistration in the kingdom of heaven by observing the laws of his adminis- tration amongst men now, in this present life; And there can be no question that God deals with men here by a system of special rewards. He holds before 0$, 88 we ent.er life, prizes of greater or less value, that we may be stimulat.ed to diligence in the road along which these prizes lie. But it bas been too commonly thought that in the kingdom of heaven there is nothing of this kind. 'l'hat there one reward awaiti .i.ll alike, and one penalty all to whom penalty is appointed. And the effect has been to make imperfect, unspiritual, and self-indulgent Christians all too content with themselves and their oondition before God. They have what they are pleased to call faith, which in them is only a lazy reliance upon what the Lord Jesus Christ has done; and 88 thoy believe, certainly, in justification by faith, they deem themselves jWltitied, and on the way to be glorified; and what can any one need more? But the subject whioh Ollf text m.n..1-15;] !l'BE REVELATION OIP ST. JOHN THE DIVINE. ~