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summoned to appear before God. It is not reason to say, Let us walk after the desire of our heart and the sight of our eyes; for, "For all this God will call us into judgment." It is not reason to say, Seeing that death is at hand, and judgment is before the door; therefore let us live as if we had made a covenant with death, and there was no Judge to summon us before him. There is no reason in this. And the apostle knows that we must allow it, when plainly set before us; and merely asks, Seeing that all these things shall be dissolved, what manner of persons ought we to be?

ness."

We ought to be as persons, whose first and chief object is "the kingdom of God and his righteousWe ought not to pursue even the most needful, or the most innocent, or the worthiest, or the dearest earthly thing, as if that were the chief concern. All other things must be thought of and attended to, according as they bear upon our eternal state; nothing must be allowed to interfere with the one great business, the securing our salvation.

To speak, for example, of two things which in some form or other most generally occupy the world, -wealth and pleasure.

And first of wealth. Men are not forbidden to improve their fortunes. Each man is at liberty to rise in his station, whether that be a high or low one; to better his condition. So to do, is the natural, i. e. the providential effect of the habits which all ought to follow of industry, prudence, temperance. Many of the good men recorded in Scripture were rich nay, grew rich in the service of God. Not to mention the elder patriarchs of the Jewish

nation; Joseph rose from the condition of a captive slave, to be the second person of the land. Scripture nowhere condemns him for so rising. Daniel, who was a servant in the king's palace, was raised to wealth and dignity. "The king made Daniel a great man, and gave him many great gifts, and made him ruler over all the province of Babylon."

This then may be a man may have many blessings here below, and yet his affections may remain fixed on things above: the fear of God may still prevail in his heart; as we know it did in Joseph: the glory of God may still be the chief thought, as we know it was with Daniel. Yet there is great danger lest it be otherwise and if it is otherwise, and men will be rich, richer, i. e. than they are, serving mammon instead of God; then they incur the condemnation of the prophet, who was inspired to say, "Woe unto them that add house to house, that lay field to field, till there be no place; that they may be placed alone in the midst of the earth." These were treating the world as if it was their own, was made for them, and they and it were to last for ever: not as if it were a land they were to pass through "as strangers and pilgrims," leading to an eternal inheritance beyond.

Then, as to pleasure. Men are not forbidden to enjoy the comforts which the bounty of God has left to his unworthy creatures, and which he has allowed to survive the sin which ruined man, and marred his blessings. What is forbidden, is to seek that as pleasure, which God has pronounced to be sin what is forbidden, is to make the pleasures of

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life the object, the pursuit of life: and in the enjoyment of the good, to forget or offend the Giver of the good.

Here, again, we have the prophet's warning: "Woe unto them that rise up early in the morning, that they may follow strong drink, that continue until night, till wine inflame them: and the harp and the viol, the tabret and pipe and wine are in their feasts but they regard not the work of the Lord, neither consider the operation of his hands.”8

With persons of this sort, with both these classes, we might invert the apostle's reasoning; and might suppose them to argue: Seeing that these things shall never be dissolved, and we shall possess our wealth for ever, let us seek to add coin to coin, and field to field. Seeing that life is given us for no other purpose than that we should take our ease, eat, drink, and be merry; let us follow our heart's desire. But if we, as Christians, believe differently; let us reason differently; and if we reason differently, let us act in agreement with our principles : and since we know that all these things are to be dissolved, let our present lives be passed in all holy conversation and godliness.

And the proper conclusion is, that such ought to be our daily conversation, our habitual manner of living, as the Lord would approve, if this day were to be the day of his coming, if this night the heavens being on fire were to be dissolved, and the elements to melt with fervent heat. For the word of God, whilst it tells us what shall be dissolved, tells us also what

8 Isa. v. 11.

shall never be dissolved." Heaven and earth shall pass away;"" but he that doeth the will of God, abideth for ever. 9

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LECTURE LI.

HEAVEN THE ABODE OF RIGHTEOUSNESS.

2 PETER iii. 13.

13. Nevertheless we, according to his promise, look for new heavens and a new earth, wherein dwelleth righteous

ness.

"The heavens," we are assured, "shall be dissolved; the earth also and the works that are therein shall be burned up."

Is it then the same with the righteous as with the wicked? With the Christian, as with the scoffer? With the faithful who persevere unto the end, as with the unstable who in time of temptation fall away ? This is far from God's intention: and St. Peter does not fail to encourage the brethren by reminding them, that the day of destruction of the wicked is the day of salvation to the people of God. Nevertheless, notwithstanding this revelation concerning the end of the world, we, according to his promise, look for new heavens and a new earth, wherein dwelleth righteousness. For "this is the promise that he hath promised us, even eternal life." This is the

91 John ii. 17. See also Isa. li. 6.

11 John ii. 25.

hope set before us: this expectation has made us what we are, followers of Christ Jesus: that, as his followers, we may inherit his kingdom.

It is interesting and important to observe the way in which St. Peter describes the heavenly kingdom for which Christians look. He does not here speak of it as a place "where is fulness of joy, and pleasures for evermore;" he does not attempt to represent its glories, by figuring to our minds gates of pearl, and streets of gold he does not even make mention of the absence of all sorrow, "where they shall hunger no more, not thirst any more, neither shall there be any more pain :-but he simply speaks of a new world, wherein dwelleth righteousness. He states this, and this alone, as if this were all, and this all-sufficient.

And truly, speaking thus, he speaks as one who had gone through the ranks of mankind, and the abodes of human nature, and had learnt what causes misery, and what real happiness consists in. He speaks as one who had entered into the recesses of his own heart, and had discovered what was needful to its peace: and then he describes heaven as a place wherein dwelleth righteousness.

This world would have been free from all calamity, if there had been no unrighteousness. If the heart of man had remained uncorrupt, all things else would have remained as they were at first pronounced by their Creator, who surveyed the works of his hands," and behold, they were very good." With sin came death; came all the pain and woe that leads to death, and attends it. With sin came

2 See Rev. vii. and xxi.

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