where they shall shine forth as the sun, in glory, in brightness, in happiness, and in joy. When he shall take the wicked, who have done the works of the devil, and cast them into a furnace of fire, where there shall be wailing and gnashing of teeth.

He shall sit on the judgment-seat; and all people shall be gathered before him, and he shall divide the wicked from the good as a shepherd divideth his sheep from the goats: and he shall give eternal life to the one, and send the other away into everlasting fire.

But now, my friends, I have told you a great deal about the good, I have spoken of them often. I must therefore take care to set you right on this point, that is, shew you who the good are. I should deceive you, I should not tell you the truth, if I were to make any of you look upon yourselves as good. If you consider how Holy

God is, how holy is Jesus Christ, and how holy are all their commandments, you cannot fail to look upon yourselves as sinners, miserable sinners in their sight. The best of men once said, I was shapen in wickedness, and in sin hath my mother conceived me. If we were not sinners we should not stand in need of a Saviour to save us. We all have done that which we ought not to have done: we have all left undone that which we ought to have done. But then God Almighty has promised to forgive us, if we repent, if we believe in Jesus Christ, forsake our sins, lead new lives, and strive to obey him. They therefore are the good, who heartily and sincerely bewail all that they have done or thought amiss, who put their trust and faith in their Saviour, pray day by day for his Holy Spirit, and try, with all their might, knowing that God will help them, to live soberly, righteously, and godly-to keep themselves from all wickedness, and to pass their lives here in the love and fear of God. These repenting

sinners, these who are trying to please the Lord, are the good: these are the children of the kingdom: these are the good seed: these shall be gathered into their heavenly Father's kingdom. Whilst the children of the devil, who go on without repent ance, who have no faith in the Saviour, and work all sin with greediness, will be cast into the furnace of fire.

Let me beg you then to ask yourselves often, whether you are living like the children of God, or like the children of the devil? Ask yourselves whether your lives are such as lead to Heaven or to hell? To one of these places all mankind will go. As you would not wish to be cast into hell, take care to yourselves in time: let no wickedness, no bad temper, no lust, no evil practice get the dominion over you: but to conquer them, to trust in your Saviour, and to lead a holy and good life, that our Lord Jesus Christ may own you to be his, when he cometh with ten thousand of his saints to

execute judgment upon all, to gather out of his kingdom all things that offend, and them that do iniquity, and to cast them into a furnace of fire. Then shall the righteous, shine forth as the sun in the kingdom of their Father.

to hear, let him hear.

And now to God, &c.

Who hath ears

LECTURE XXXIII.

ST. MATTHEW xiv. 1, 2.

At that time, Herod the Tetrarch heard of the fame of Jesus, and said unto his servants: This is John the Baptist: he is risen from the dead, and therefore mighty works do shew forth themselves in him.

I AM about to tell you this evening of the wicked behaviour of a very cruel man towards as holy and just an one as ever lived: I mean the behaviour of Herod towards John the Baptist. Some time ago I told you a great deal of John the Baptist. He came on earth as the forerunner of our Lord, to prepare the way before the Saviour. For this end, he preached repentance, saying that Jesus Christ was at