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gained two other talents beside them. His lord said unto him, Well done, good and faithful servant; thou hast been faithful over a few things, I will make thee ruler over many things: enter thou into the joy of thy lord. Then he which had received the one talent came and said, Lord, I knew thee that thou art an hard man, reaping where thou hast not sown, and gathering where thou hast not strawed: and I was afraid, and went and hid thy talent in the earth: lo, there thou hast that is thine. His lord answered and said unto him, Thou wicked and slothful servant, thou knewest that I reap where I sowed not, and gather where I have not strawed: Thou oughtest therefore to have put my money to the exchangers, and then at my coming I should have received mine own with usury. Take therefore the talent from him, and give it unto him which hath ten talents. For unto to every one that hath shall be given, and he shall have abundance: but from him that hath not shall be taken away even that which he hath. And cast ye the unprofitable servant into outer darkness: there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth.

What can excite us to a becoming care and activity in the duties of life, if we are deaf to those various and important motives which this excellent parable suggests? We have each of us received our talents, whether five, or two, or one; and if we be faithful, it matters not much under which of these classes we fall. Our acceptance and reward will be proportionable to our diligence; nor will any be blamed because he has not received five, though many will be condemned for neglecting one.

Yet a little while, and our Lord comes to reckon with us, and even now his eye is continually upon us. Let us ask our own souls, with what temper, with what courage, with what cheerfulness, shall we appear before him? Let us think of that appearance with awe, but not with terror. Away with every unjust thought and reasoning, (with whatever artifice it be excused, with whatever honourable name it be dignified) that would represent him as a rigorous and severe Master, and produce a servile dread, which would cut the sinews of industry, and sink the soul into a sullen negligent despair.

Whatever our particular snares in life may be, let us think of the doom of the slothful servant, to awaken our souls, and to deter us from every degree of unfaithfulness. And, on the other hand, let us often reflect on that unutterable transport which will overflow the breast of every real Christian, when his gracious Master shall condescend, in so honourable a manner, to commemorate his honest, though feeble, attempts of service; and shall say, Well done, thou good and faithful servant thou hast been faithful in a few things, I will make thee ruler over many things: enter thou into the joy of thy Lord! May that joy be the great object of our hopes and pursuits and may our daily care in the improvement of every talent lodged in our hands be a token to us that it will be sure and great!

SECTION LXXXV.

MATT. XXV. 31—46.

WHEN the Son of man shall come in his glory, and all the 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: For I was anhungred, 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 shall he say also

unto them on the left hand, Depart from me, ye cursed, into everlasting fire, prepared for the devil and his angels: For I was an-hungered, and ye gave me no meat: I was thirsty, and ye gave me no drink : I was a stranger, and ye took me not in: naked, and ye clothed me not: sick, and in prison, and ye visited me not. Then shall they also answer him, saying, Lord, when saw we thee an-hungred, or athirst, or a stranger, or naked, or sick, or in prison, and did not minister unto thee? Then shall he answer them, saying, Verily I say unto you, Inasmuch as ye did it not to one of the least of these, ye did it not to me. And these shall go away into everlasting punishment: but the righteous into life eternal.

Let us now behold, with an attentive eye and a solicitous heart, the end of all the living; that awful scene, in which the various dispensations of God to mankind shall terminate in the solemn day, when the Son of man shall come in his glory, and sit on his magnificent throne. All nations and people shall be assembled before him, and we must make up a part of the assembly. The sheep and the goats must then be separated: and, O my soul, amongst which wilt thou then be numbered? Is there an inquiry, is there a care, of greater, of equal, of comparable importance?

Let us view the sentence we must shortly hear, as he who will himself pronounce it has been pleased to give us a copy of it. Can we conceive any thing more dreadful than that which shall be passed on those on the left-hand; to be driven from the presence of Christ as accursed, and to be consigned over to a devouring fire! and this is not only to the tortures of a moment, or an hour (as in some painful executions that have been known here,) but to everlasting fire, yea, to fire prepared for the devil and his angels, where they will be perpetual companions, and perpetual tormentors! should not the thought that he is in danger, in hourly danger, of being sealed up under this sentence, awaken the most stupid sinner, and engage him eagerly to cry out, What shall I do to be saved?— And on whom is this sentence passed? Let us attentively observe it! Not merely on the most gross and abandoned sinners, but on those who have lived in an habitual neglect of their duty: not merely on those who have ravaged and persecuted the saints (though surely their furnace will be heated seven times hotter than that of others,) but even on those who have neglected to relieve them.

On the other hand, let us seriously reflect what it will be to be owned by Christ before the assembled world; and to hear him saying with a sweet smile, and with a voice of harmony and love, Come, ye blessed of my father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world. How infinite is the love that prepared that kingdom for us before we had a being! how rich the blood that purchased it! how overflowing the grace that bestows it on such mean, such undeserving creatures! Bless the Lord, O our souls, in the prospect of it! Let men curse, O Lord, if thou wilt thus bless. (Psalm cix. 28.) Let them load our names with infamy if thou wilt adorn them with such glory: let all the kingdoms of the earth, and all the pomp of them, be despised and trampled under foot, when offered as an equivalent for this infinitely more glorious kingdom.

Let us attentively observe the character of those who are to receive it. They are the useful and benevolent souls: such as have loved the Lord Jesus Christ, not only in his name, and ordinances, and promises, but have loved him in his laws, and in his people too; and have known him in those humble forms in which he has been pleased, as it were by proxy, to appear among us. I was hungry, and ye fed me; thirsty, and ye gave me drink, &c.; for in as much as ye did it to one of the least of these my brethren, ye did it unto me. Amazing words! that the meanest saint should be owned by the King of glory as one of his brethren! Irresistible argument to those that do indeed believe these words, to stir them up to abound in every good word and work! Under this impression, methinks, instead of hiding ourselves from those who should be to us as our own flesh by virtue of our common union to him, we should not only hearken to their entreaties, but even search them out in those corners to which modest want may sometimes retire, and cast about in our thoughts how we may secure any happy opportunity of relieving some poor saint, for their sakes, and for their Master's, and even for our own. What if Christ came to us in person as a poor helpless stranger? What if we saw him destitute of food and raiment, or in want of any other necessaries of life? Should we not contend for it as an honour, which of us should receive him into our houses, which of us should entertain him at our table, which of us should even strip ourselves of our clothing to give it to him? And yet he tells us that he is in effect with us in his poor members; and we invent a thousand cold excuses for neglecting to assist him, and send our compassionate Saviour away empty. Is this the temper of a Christian? Is this the temper in which we should wish to be found at the judgment. day?

But we know not Christ in this disguise. Neither did these unhappy creatures on the left-hand know him: they are surprised to be told of such a thing; and yet are represented as perishing for it. Away therefore with all those religious hopes (vainly so called) which leave the heart hardened, and the hand contracted from good works! If we shut up the bowels of compassion from our brethren, how dwelleth the love of God in us? (1 John iii. 17.) Or to what doth the love of Christ constrain us, if it be not to the exercise of gratitude to him, and the offices of cheerful and active friendship to those whom he now owns as his brethren, and whom he will not be ashamed to call so in the midst of his highest triumph? Blessed Jesus, how munificent art thou! and what a fund of charity didst thou lay up in the very words which are now before us! In all ages since they were spoken, how many hungry hast thou fed, how many naked hast thou clothed, how many calamitous creatures hast thou relieved by them! May they be written deep in our hearts, that the joy with which we shall finally meet thee may be increased by the happy effect of this day's meditation!

SECTION LXXXVI.

MATT. XXVI. 1-4, 14-16.

MARK XIV. 1, 2, 10, 11.

LUKE XXI. 37, 38. XXII. 1-6.

AND it came to pass, when Jesus had finished all these sayings, he said unto his disciples, Ye know that after two days is the feast of the passover, and the Son of man is betrayed to be crucified.

Then assembled together the chief priests, and the Scribes, and the elders of the people, unto the palace of the high priest, who was called Caiaphas, and consulted and sought how they might take Jesus by subtilty, and kill him. But they said, Not on the feast-day, lest there be an uproar among the people; for they feared the people.

Then entered Satan into Judas surnamed Iscariot, being of the number of the twelve; and he went his way unto the chief priests and captains, and communed with them how he might betray him unto them and when they heard it, they were glad, and promised to give him money. And he said unto them,

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