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him, and they that have pierced 30, 31. Hence it is evident that him; and all kindreds of the earth all the angels are the creatures and shall wail because of him: even so. servants, as well as the worshipAmen." Acts i. 11. Rev. i. 7. pers, of the incarnate Son of God. The man Jesus, in his glorified body, His coming will be announced even that body which was crowned by a summons august and tremenwith thorns, scourged, spitted on, dous beyond description; and imand nailed to the cross; will then mediately followed by the resurrecbe made visible to all men, to those tion of the dead. "The Lord himwho thus abused him, and to such self shall descend from heaven with as have in every age consented to a shout, with the voice of the this deed by despising him and his Archangel and the trump of God: salvation. He will be seen by "all and the dead in Christ shall rise who have crucified him, as it first." "Behold I show you a were, again and again; as well as mystery! We shall not all sleep, by them, for whom he once suf- but we shall all be changed, in a fered, the just for the unjust, to moment, in the twinkling of an bring them unto God." eye, at the last trump. For the

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But how immensely will his ap- trumpet shall sound, and the dead pearance, as judge of the world, shall be raised incorruptible, and differ from that of the man of sor- we shall be changed." "The hour rows! The mount of transfigura- cometh, when all that are in the tion, when "his countenance shone graves shall hear his voice, and as the sun, and his raiment was shall come forth; they that have like lightning" yea, the vision of done good to the resurrection of his glory, which caused his beloved life, and they that have done evil disciple, who had once reclined on to the resurrection of damnation." his bosom, in the familiarity of en- 1 Thes. iv. 16, 17. 1 Cor. xv. 51, deared friendship, to "fall down 52. John v. 28, 29. Believers will at his feet as dead;" can give us rise first, and then such of the saints but a faint idea of that divine light as shall be alive on the earth at and majesty, with which he will be that time, will be changed; that arrayed, when he shall ascend his" death may be swallowed up in awful tribunal. "He shall then be victory." Afterwards the multirevealed from heaven with his tudes of the wicked will "awake mighty angels:" the angels of his to shame and everlasting contempt." power and authority; the ministers -The bodies of the unnumbered of his vengeance and his love.-millions, who through succeeding "At the end of the world, the Son ages have inhabited the globe, of man shall send forth his angels; wherever laid, or however conand they shall gather out of his kingdom all things that offend, and them that do iniquity; and shall cast them into a furnace of fire: there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth." They shall see the Son of man coming in the clouds of heaven with power and great glory; and he shall send his angels, and they shall gather together his elect." Matt. xiii. 41-43; xxiv.

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sumed, will be restored to life, and reunited to their immortal souls, that they may participate their happiness or misery. "Then the dead, small and great, shall stand before God. The sea shall give up the dead that were in it; and death and hell shall deliver up the dead which were in them." Rev. xx. 13-15.

At this important crisis, the earth and all its works, yea, the visiblę

heavens also, shall become one objections against the doctrines of general conflagration:" the heavens revelation, taken from our low apand earth which now are, by the prehensions, or levelled against the same word, are kept in store, re- misinterpretations of injudicious served unto fire, against the day of believers. "Ye do err, not knowjudgment and perdition of ungodly ing the Scriptures nor the power of men.' "The day of the Lord will God." He hath declared these come as a thief in the night, in things in his authenticated word: which the heavens shall pass away "his testimony is sure and giveth with a great noise, and the elements wisdom unto the simple ;" and he shall melt with fervent heat; the" that believeth not hath made him earth also, and all the works which a liar."

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are therein shall be burnt up." 2 Will any man presume to say, Peter iii. 10-22. Yea, "heaven that it is impossible for God to and earth shall flee away, and there raise the dead? That human nashall be found no place for them." ture should be capable of such In vain should we attempt a daring_absurdity, ought to cover description of this sublime and aw- us with shame, and cause us to ful scene: our faculties labour, and tremble.-Let us, my friends, imiour tongues as it were falter, when tate the old patriarch, who "by we would think or speak of such faith being warned of God of things subjects!-What then will be the not seen as yet, was moved with feelings of the immense multitudes fear and prepared an ark." Let us assembled on this occasion! What prepare to meet our God, and serithe astonishment, terror, and des- ously inquire "who may abide the pair of the impenitent! of such as day of his coming? or who may have idolized those things, which stand when he appeareth?" are the prey of all devouring flames: Neither ought we to regard of those who have blasphemed that those "scoffers," who, according Saviour, who appears to be their to the prediction of the apostle, are Judge, or ridiculed the divine tes- come in these last days, walking timony concerning the place of tor-after their own lusts, and saying, ment, and those evil spirits which where is the promise of his coming? are ready to seize upon them? Let for since the fathers fell asleep, all us then recollect, that we shall be things continue as they were from present, not as mere spectators, the beginning of the creation." but as cited to give account to We know not indeed the precise him that is ready to judge the quick time when the Lord shall come; and the dead." "For we must all but we should not be ignorant that, appear before the judgment-seat of" one day is with the Lord as a Christ, that every one may receive thousand years, and a thousand the things done in his body, accord- years as one day:" and we are ing to that he hath done, whether assured that "the day of the Lord it be good or bad." 2 Cor. v. 10. so cometh as a thief in the night; Our present conduct is voluntary; for when they shall say, peace and we choose whether we will serve safety, then sudden destruction the Lord, or no: but we shall not cometh upon them, as travail upon be allowed to choose, whether we a woman with child, and they shall will stand before his tribunal, or not escape." "" 1 Thess. v. 2, 3. decline the awful decision. Death is very near, and judgment It is extremely frivolous to start follows. In this sense "The

Judge standeth at the door:" and flesh could be saved; even the book "the end of all things is at hand." of life, in which all the elect of God, "Be ye therefore ready; for ye all true believers, are registered, know not the time when the Son of with the evidences of their repentman cometh." The intervening ance, faith, and love. Then, all space will soon elapse; let us men will be "judged out of those then account his long-suffering to things, which are written in the be salvation:" and "seeing we books, according to their works. look for such things, let us be dili-And whosoever shall not be found gent, that we may be found of him written in the book of life shall be in peace without spot and blame-cast into the lake of fire." Rev. xx. less."- We proceed therefore, 12-15.

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We know but little of the real

II. To consider the discoveries characters even of those with whom which will then be made." The we are most intimately acquainted; Lord shall come, who will both and far less of other men's. A vast bring to light the hidden things of proportion of their outward condarkness, and will make manifest duct is concealed from us: what the counsels of the hearts." strangers then must we be to the When the Son of man shall dispositions and counsels of their come in his glory and all his holy hearts! Perhaps a tenth part of angels with him, then shall he sit the actions of our nearest relatives upon the throne of his glory; and or friends, do not come under our before him shall be gathered all notice: we must therefore judge as nations and he shall separate well as we can; and though cauthem one from another, as a shep- tion be necessary, a measure of herd divideth the sheep from the suspicion adequate to our uncergoats"--that is, with perfect ease, tainty, would mar all our earthly and infallible certainty. Then shall enjoyments. David seems not to he be seated on the great white have suspected Ahithophel, nor throne, the emblem of his awful the apostle Judas: yet they were justice and spotless purity, "and both plausible hypocrites. Many the books shall be opened."-This of you, my friends, may perhaps be expression, referring to the affairs conscious, that if your neighbours, of men, leads our thoughts to the or relations, knew certain things in discoveries of that solemn season. your conduct, which you carefully The book of the divine law shall be and successfully conceal; your chaopened, as the perfect standard of racters would be injured, and yourgood and evil; the book of providence, selves covered with confusion. stating the talents committed to" But when the Lord shall come, the stewardship of each individual, he will bring to light all these hidwith the advantages or disadvan- den things of darkness." Then tages of his situation; the book of the dishonesty and extortion which omniscience, developing all the par- have here escaped detection, and ticulars of every man's conduct, even suspicion; or which have been and all the motives and thoughts of pleaded for with specious fallacy, his heart; and the book of conscience will appear in all their deformity or memory, answering to every before men and angels. The opcharge or discovery, however before pression, rapine, and cruelty, which buried in oblivion. But another have been gilded over with the book shall also be opened, or no splendour of great talents and re

nowned achievements, will be view- lamented before God with many ed in another light: when "the groans and tears; that they conearth shall disclose her blood, and demned themselves more severely no more cover her slain." Nor will than others could condemn them; that degrading licentiousness and that they prayed without ceasing sensuality, which are often covertly not to be left to repeat their sin and practised by persons of decent or folly; and that they spared no pains, respectable character, any longer and vigilantly used every means of be concealed; though it be now a crucifying their evil propensities, shame "to speak of those things and bridling their appetites and which are done of them in secret. passions.

But to relieve our minds from The discoveries of that solemn such painful reflections, let us take day will likewise relate to men's a view of the contrast. The Lord words. "Every idle word that men will also bring to light the good shall speak, shall be given an acworks of his believing people: "he count of at the day of judgment: for saw them in secret, and he will re- by thy words thou shalt be justified, ward them openly." Those fruits and by thy words thou shalt be conof faith and love, which the world demned." Matt. xii. 34-37. Our perhaps vilified and called by some words must indeed be known in opprobrious name; and those, in some measure to others: but men which they scarcely "let the left are commonly very careful to whom hand know what the right hand they declare their unreserved sendid," will then be disclosed and timents; and would often be exapproved by the righteous Judge. tremely disconcerted, if their disThe self-denial of his despised dis- course in private circles, among the ciples, in sparing from every article select companions of their vices, of expense and indulgence, to raise should be disclosed to those, with a little fund for the relief of the whom they desire to maintain anoneedy, and even of their calumnia- ther kind of character. But the tors and persecutors: their secret profane, blasphemous, atheistical, prayers, and compassionate tears infidel, abominable speeches, which over the very persons, who counted men vent in their secret cabals; them harsh and uncharitable, be- with all the falsehoods, slanders, cause they would not "speak peace boastings, bitterness, imprecations, when there was no peace;" Jer. and horrid language, which on some xiii. 17. their scrupulous care to occasions they utter, during the avoid every degree of injustice, whole course of their lives, will be when no blame was likely to be produced against them before the cast upon them for it; their earnest-assembled world. "For the tongue ness in secret devotion, with deep is a fire, a world of iniquity, it is an humiliation and enlarged benevo- unruly evil, full of deadly poison; lence all these will be discovered it sets on fire the whole course of when the Lord shall come, and nature, and is set on fire of hell." greatly tend to illustrate and dis- James iii. 5-10. The secret influtinguish the characters of men. The ence of evil conversation corrupts blemishes and misconduct of pious men's principles and morals, and persons are too often visible to their wounds their reputations; it ruins. neighbours, and give occasion to domestic and relative comfort, and their scoffs and impiety: but it will disseminates impiety, infidelity, he then appear that these things were resy, profligacy, enmity, discord, and

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confusion, through neighbourhoods, But words of another kind shall cities, and nations. Yet no disco- be made known when the Lord shall very can be made of such private come. The servants of God love to mischiefs, except by the omnipre-associate together, and many censent and omniscient Judge. It sure them for it: but what saith would be tedious to insist particu- the Scripture? "They that feared larly, on the flatteries, deceptions, the Lord, spake often one to anofalse colourings, seductions, and ther; and the Lord hearkened and other artifices, by which wicked heard it; and a book of rememmen carry on their base designs. brance was written before him, for These, however, are hidden things them that feared the Lord, and that of darkness, which will be brought thought upon his name; and they to light when the Lord shall come. shall be mine, saith the Lord of If, then, all our words without ex- Hosts, in that day when I make up ception, whether spoken openly, or my jewels; and I will spare them among our select companions, shall as a man spareth his own son that be thus made known at the great serveth him. Then shall ye return, decisive day, could nothing else be and discern between the righteous produced against us, we must surely and the wicked; between him that feel that this alone would over- serveth God, and him that serveth whelm us with confusion. The story him not." Mal. iii. 16-18. When is well known, of the person who the "books shall be opened," the invited a company of his friends, social piety, gratitude, and charity that were accustomed to take the of true Christians will be brought to Lord's name in vain, and contrived light. Their discourse about the to have all their discourse taken perfections, ways, and works of down and read to them. Now if God; the best methods of promothey could not endure to hear the ting his glory, the peace of the words repeated, which they had church, and the benefit of mankind: spoken during a few hours; how their mutual warnings, exhortations, shall we bear all that we have ut- counsels, and encouragements; their tered, through a long course of spiritual, affectionate, and animayears, brought forth as evidence ting conversation; and all the words against us at the tribunal of God? which the Lord delighted to hear, -but the hour is coming when this will be made known before men and will actually be the case: when not angels. And when these shall be a single irreverent mention of the contrasted with the filthy, impious, Creator's sacred name; not one ob- and frivolous speeches of the wickjection to his law, government, or ed; it may easily be conceived, how gospel; not one sarcasm or jest men's real characters will be discriupon his cause or worshippers, minated, and in what sense "by shall be overlooked! when every their words they will be justified or word "spoken in the ear in closets, condemned." shall be proclaimed on the house tops!" Where then will the wicked and ungodly appear? How shall any of us endure that scrutiny; unless we have fled for refuge to the hope of the gospel, and all our sins have been buried in the depths of the sea?

The thoughts also of every heart shall be disclosed. Men generally imagine, that these at least, are free and subject to no control; so that they allow their memory and imagination, to excite and feed corrupt affections; representing to themselves, with all the ingenuity of in

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