the dominions of darkness tremble. We shall have to render an account to him who hath searched our hearts, who hath spied out all our ways; we shall have to render an account to him of all our thoughts, all our words, all our actions; and we shall have to render this account before the hosts of heaven, and before all mankind assembled with us to receive their doom.

Brethren, if we have hid our talent in the earth, if we are not prepared for his coming, have we not cause to tremble at the declaration-" The Lord of these servants cometh and reckoneth with them ?" But if we have diligently improved the talents comPitted to us, we may then lift up our heads, for our redemption draweth nigh.

5. The Judge of all will assign to mankind various degrees of happiness or misery, according to their respective deserts.

This is the concluding reflection resulting from the parable.

The just shall then be rewarded with an entrance into the joy of their Lord; and their joy shall be in proportion to the talents committed to them, and to the improvement which they have made. For thus is the award of the Judge represented in this very parable, as recorded by St. Luke:-To him that had received ten pounds, and had made them ten pounds more, was committed authority over ten cities; and to him that had received five pounds, and had made them five pounds more, was committed authority over five cities. The rewards of the just will be proportionable to the talents bestowed, and to the improvement of them; to the grace which they had received, and to the service

which they had rendered. This is the dictate of reason, this is the rule of justice. In our Father's house are many mansions. One star differeth from another star in glory; so also shall it be at the resurrection of the just.

But as to the unprofitable servant-what is the doom pronounced upon him? "Cast ye the unprofitable servant into outer darkness: there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth." The same rule of justice which assigns different degrees of happiness in heaven to the just, will also allot different degrees of misery in hell to the wicked, according to the measure of their guilt. But, alas! hell, in its lightest caverns, is still a place of torment outer darkness covers it-the worm in it ceases not to gnaw-the fire in it is not quenched; no sounds issue from it but the sounds of despair— weeping, and wailing, and gnashing of teeth, for ever-for ever.

Brethren, what an awful sanction does the concluding representation of this parable afford to the moral which it contains! They who improve the talents committed to them, are admitted to the joy of their Lord; while the slothful and unprofitable are cast into outer darkness. Bring home, then, this awful scene to your own bosoms; bear it constantly in remembrance. You are stewards, to whom your Lord and Master hath intrusted his goods-the gifts of nature, of Providence, and of grace-in such proportion as his infinite wisdom judged best. To some of you he hath given five, to others two talents, and to others one. He is not "a hard Master, reaping where he has not sowed, and gathering where he has not strewed;" he will not require from you a service which he

hath not enabled you to perform, nor will he disproportion his rewards to your labours. If humble the talents of nature or of grace given you, sedulously improve them, and you shall not go without your reward. If more distinguished your natural endowments or spiritual gifts, greater will be your responsibility, more will be required of you; and greater also will be your reward. Your Lord will come and reckon with you. Hide not, then, your talent in the earth; sink not into sloth and negligence in your spiritual concerns; receive not the grace of God in vain; neglect not the business of your salvation. Remember, O remember the doom of the unprofitable servant-outer darkness, weeping, wailing, and gnashing of teeth, for ever-for ever. Diligently, then, improve the talents committed to you; devote every endowment of nature, every acquirement of industry, every blessing of Providence, every spiritual gift, to the glory of God, to the good of mankind, to the salvation of your own soul. Your labour in the Lord shall not be in vain. In the day when he comes to reckon with his servants, he will cover with the robe of his righteousness the infirmities which you have sought to overcome, the sins which you have humbly confessed: he will bring forth to the plaudits of men and angels, your humble piety, your exertions for his glory, your deeds of beneficence, your patience, your adversity, your zealous discharge of duty, neither seduced by the applauses of the world, nor shaken by its censures: to the plaudits of men and angels he will unite his own-" Well done, good and faithful servants, enter ye into the joy of your Lord."

SERMON XXXVIII.

THE TEN LEPERS.

LUKE xvii. 17, 18.

Were there not ten cleansed? but where are the nine? There are not returned to give glory to God, save this stranger.

NEVER surely did a personage appear on the earth with such claims to the admiration, love, and gratitude of mankind, as the blessed Redeemer of the world. Uniting in his adorable person the glories of the Divinity with the perfection of human virtue; the Creator and Lord of the universe, and at the same time the bountiful Benefactor and compassionate Saviour of the human race; the brightness of the Father's glory and the express image of his person, and at the same time condescending to assume a human body, that in it he might bear our sins and carry our sorrows; there are no emotions of admiration, gratitude, and love, of which the human heart is susceptible, that should not have been rendered to him; and yet he was despised and rejected by those on whom he conferred the greatest blessings-was constantly assailed by that ingratitude, which at length, under its overwhelming load, crushed him, an innocent victim, on the

cross.

Of this lamentable truth, the history of the ten lepers that were cleansed is one of the many proofs with which the suffering life of the Saviour abounds.

These persons were afflicted with a malady of the most loathsome and disgusting description. The leprosy was, in its own nature, a dreadful disease, and it was made more so by the institutions of the Jewish law. This law, designed, as a school-master, to bring men to Christ, typified, by its various institutions and ceremonies, that spiritual redemption which was finally to be wrought for men by the glorious Messiah, the desire of all nations and the hope of his people Israel. As the leprosy was a powerful, insidious, and loathsome disorder, that tainted the very sources of life, and corrupted the whole body, it was therefore considered by this law as typical of sin, that direful malady of the soul which corrupts all her powers and taints the principles of spiritual life. To denote, therefore, the great evil of sin, together with its fatal consequences, they who were afflicted with the leprosy -the impressive and highly appropriate type of the corrupting malady of the soul-were cut off from all intercourse with the rest of the Jews, were separated from a participation in their religious ordinances, and were shunned, as objects vile and disgusting. The numerous sacrifices that were to be made, and the purifications which the leper was to undergo, on his leprosy being healed, before he could be received again into civil and religious communion, were highly significant emblems of that one great sacrifice which Christ was to make for sin, and of the spiritual purification which the sinner must undergo before he could be restored to the favour of God.

With this direful disorder were those ten persons afflicted, who, in the bitterness of grief, and in all the earnest fervour of supplication, standing afar VOL. III.

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