CHAPTER XXVII.

JESUS AT JERUSALEM.

AFTER this, Jesus went on to speak more about the day of judgment. Oh! what a wonderful day that will be. Hear what He says:"When the Son of man shall come in his glory, and all the holy angels with Him, then shall He sit on the throne of his glory; and before Him shall be gathered all nations; and He shall separate them one from another, as a shepherd divideth the sheep from the goats." I should like you to read how St. John describes this great day:-" And I saw a great white throne, and Him that sat upon it, from whose face the heaven and earth fled away; and there was found no place for them. And I saw the dead,

small and great, stand before God; and the books were opened: and another book was opened, which is the book of life: and the dead were judged out of those things which were written in the books. And the sea gave up the dead which were in it and death and hell (or the grave)

:

delivered up the dead which were in them. And whosoever was not found written in the book of life was cast into the lake of fire." Oh! is not this a very solemn account? Do not Do not your hearts say while you hear it, "Oh! Lord, do let me be written in that book of life"? Now, hear the sweet words which the King shall say to his sheep, or those on his right hand,—

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Come, ye blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you." Then He will go on to mention some of the kind things they have done out of love to Him.

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'I was hungry, and ye fed me," &c.

(Matt. xxv. 35.) They will be quite sur

prised that Jesus should remember any of their kind actions; but He will tell them that, while they were showing kindness to one of the poorest and lowest of his people, He looked upon what they did as if it was really done to himself. Then will come the awful sentence to those on the left hand, 'Depart, ye cursed, into everlasting fire, prepared for the devil and his angels."

Jesus does not here say that they will be told of all their wickedness, though we know that every wicked thought, word, and action will appear against them. But they will be told, too, of what they had not done. They never did one thing out of love to Jesus, or gave up one thing for his people. And oh! what a dreadful sentence! "These shall go away into everlasting punishment!" Did you ever really think what everlasting means? Try to imagine that, when thousands and thousands of years have passed away, have passed away, the wicked

will be no nearer coming out of that fearful place than at the first moment when they were cast into that "lake of fire."

And think, too, what the punishment will be! It will be not only being driven away for ever from God, Jesus, holy angels, and all the good people who have ever lived. This would be a grievous punishment, but this is not all. Oh, no! those who do not go to heaven, must be for ever shut up with Satan, and his horrid angels, and with all the wicked men who ever lived; and shut up-where? In a lake of fire, where the worm dieth not, and the fire is not quenched. Dear children, does not the prayer rise in your hearts, Lord Jesus, make me thine now, and oh! let me stand at thy right hand at that great day!

CHAPTER XXVIII.

JESUS EATING THE PASSOVER WITH HIS

DISCIPLES.

AND now the time was coming very near when Jesus was to suffer and die. I shall try to tell you everything which is written about our dear Saviour during those last solemn days. You remember that Jesus had gone into Jerusalem riding on the ass, a day or two before, and it was at Jerusalem, or near to it, that he spoke to his disciples, as I told you in my last chapter. I am sure you remember, too, how much the anger of the chief priests and scribes had been roused against Him many times, so that they longed for an opportunity of taking Him. I hope, too, you have not forgotten what I told you about one of the