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taken up their abode, and neglect the search where the blessings are to be found. Righteousness, and

peace, and joy, are only to be obtained in the kingdom of God-in the possession of true religion. Some of you, perhaps, have been seeking for satistisfaction from the enemies that must necessarily deprive you of it. As professed Christians the vows of God are upon you. You have engaged to renounce the devil, the world, and the flesh. But instead of renouncing, you have submitted to their tyranny, and they have disappointed your expectations. Oh correct your mistake, and no longer give credit to the deceivers who would destroy you! Look to the Author of every good and perfect gift to change your inclinations and your desires, to adorn you with the graces of his Spirit, and to clothe you with the robe of his righteousness. And thus the "work of righteousness shall be peace; and the effect of righteousness, quietness and assurance for ever."

2. From this subject we are led to see some of the grounds of that misery which will be the portion of the wicked in a future state.

Unrenewed and ungodly men, carry with them into the eternal world the seeds of their own woe. There is no renovation of the soul after death. Whether we die under the influence of sin or of holiness, death will not change the elements either of the one or the other. “He that is unjust let him be unjust still and he that is filthy let him be filthy still: and he that is righteous, let him be righteous still and he that is holy, let him be holy still."

had never existed in it. Where is he, in respect to any farther preparation for his eternal state? The fight is terminated, the race is run, and the crown is either awarded or lost. There is no return to the field of action; no scope for any amended efforts. "As the tree falls, so it must be." Pardon, peace, and holiness are now at an unapproachable distance from all who have not attained them in the present world.

3. Let us consider the question thirdly, with reference to the different characters of men.

Look at the presumptuous sinner: the man who is running a race of sin, who transgresses against conscience, warning, and example: who never troubles himself about faith, or repentance, or holiness; and who, notwithstanding this, presumes that all will be well with him at last. His time is come, "he giveth up the ghost, and where is he?"

Consider the character of the unbeliever. This is the man who hardens his heart against the threatenings and promises of God: who endeavours to persuade himself that the Bible is not a true book. His evil heart of unbelief causes him to depart from the living God. He rejects the counsel of God against his own soul: he despises the offers of mercy, and will not lend an ear to the invitation of the Saviour of sinners. At length he finishes his course, his race is run, he is undeceived! "He giveth

up

the ghost, and where is he?"

Reflect on the state of the hypocrite. This is he who may put on religion as a cloak to cover his

dishonesty or covetousness: who may wish to appear religious for popular applause, or to hide his sins under the appearance of virtue. The time is at hand when the mantle of hypocrisy will be stripped off, and he will stand exposed in his true character before God, angels, and men. "He giveth up the ghost, and where is he?"

Look at the blasphemer, who sports with oaths and curses; and who delights in sin for its own sake: who plunges in crimes that bring neither profit, honour, nor pleasure. "He giveth up the ghost, and where is he?"

But when and where can we stop?-sin is exhibited to us in such multifarious forms. View the miser who spends his life in heaping up that which will not profit in the day of wrath; while he disregards the welfare of his soul, in exchange for which the whole world were an useless ransom. Look at the man who scruples not to overreach and defraud an unsuspecting brother or neighbour, prospering in his dishonesty, and perhaps maintaining his reputation to the last. Look at the trifler who spends his time in idleness, pleasures, and amusements, dancing on blindfold to death's precipice. Add to these characters the melancholy list given by the apostle, "the unrighteous, the fornicator, the adulterer, the thief, the covetous, the drunkard, the reviler, the extortioner." One after another, they all give up the ghost, and where are they?

And, once more, look at the Christian: the man who knows that he has the seeds of all these sins in his

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soul, and who may have fallen into them, in a greater or less degree, but who has looked for pardon through the Saviour's blood; has exercised repentance for his transgressions, and prayed for grace to live soberly, righteously, and godly in this present world. "He giveth up the ghost, and where is he?" Let the Bible answer the question here, as well as in the other points of view in which it has been proposed.

4. Let us consider the question in the fourth and last place with regard to the final destiny of man.

And here we must reduce the whole of the human race into two great divisions, the righteous and the wicked. These universally give up the ghost, and where are they? Both classes are consigned to the grave. Both go into the unseen world, the state of existence between death and the resurrection. The righteous enter into paradise, to see the Saviour whom not having seen they loved, to be with him where he is, to have fellowship and communion with the angels, and to enjoy the society of the spirits of just men made perfect. On the other hand, the wicked go to their own place, to endure the torments of the damned.

"The hour is coming in the which all that are in the graves shall hear his voice, and shall come forth; they that have done good, unto the resurrection of life; and they that have done evil, unto the resurrection of damnation." Then the bodies of the righteous shall be changed, and fashioned like unto the glorious body of the Saviour, the Lord Jesus Christ, according to the

working whereby he is able even to subdue all things unto himself." The bodies of the wicked shall also be changed, and endued with the capacity of eternal suffering. All the sons and daughters of Adam, must stand before the judgment-seat of Christ. "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. 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."

Let us endeavour to improve this subject by making two inquiries.

1. Where are we now?

We are in a transitory world, dying creatures, born unto trouble, and rapidly hastening into eternity. But we are also in the land of grace, of prayer, and of hope; and under a dispensation of mercy. We are indeed, by nature and practice, condemned sinners; but we are respited, and thus an opportunity is graciously afforded us to avail ourselves of the offers of mercy made to us by the God of love. "God so loved the world, that He gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth on him should not perish, but have everlasting life." The Saviour has been sent. He

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