Page:The Works of Samuel Johnson ... A journey to the Hebrides. The vision of Theodore, the hermit of Teneriffe. The fountains. Prayers and meditations. Sermons.v. 10-11. Parliamentary debates.pdf/420

 *nifies to act; and to reap, is to receive the product of our actions. As no man can sow one sort of grain, and reap another, in the ordinary process of nature; as no man gathers grapes of thorns or figs of thistles, or when he scatters tares in the furrows, gathers wheat into his garners; so, in the final dispensations of providence, the same correspondence shall be found in the moral system; every action shall at last be followed by its due consequences; we shall be treated according to our obedience or transgressions; the good shall not miss their reward, nor the wicked escape their punishment; but when men shall give account of their own works, they that have done good shall pass into everlasting life, and they that have done evil into everlasting fire.

Let us, therefore, at this and at all times, most heartily and fervently beseech almighty God to give us faithful and sincere repentance, to pardon and forgive us all our sins, to endue us with the grace of his Holy Spirit, and to amend our lives according to his holy will and commandments.

SERMON XI.

"Finally, be ye all of one mind, having compassion one of another, love as brethren, be pitiful, be courteous." 1 iii. 8.

The apostle, directing this epistle to the new converts, scattered over the provinces of Asia, having laid before them the great advantage of the religion which they had embraced, no less than the salvation of their souls, and the high price for which they were redeemed, the precious blood of Christ, proceeds to explain to them what is required by their new profession. He reminds them, that they live among the heathen, of whom it must necessarily be supposed, that every one watched their conduct with suspicious vigilance; and that it is their duty to recom