Fall upon us and hide us from the Face of him that fitteth upon the Throne, and from the Wrath of the Lamb; for the great Day of his Wrath is comes who shall be able to stand?

Then the Lord fhall bring to Light the hidden Things of Darkness and fhall manifeft the Thoughts of the Heart, with the most secret Contrivances. The Books fhall be opened, not only of the guilty Confciences, where Satan's Image and Deeds fhall be engraven, but also the other Books where God himfelf hath written, with his own Finger, all our Actions, Words, and our most hidden Thoughts. All Men fhall be judged according to the Things written in the Books, St. John declares this in the 20th of the Revelations, I faw a great white Throne, and him that fate on it, from whofe face the Earth and the Heaven fled away, and there was no Place for them, And I faw the Dead fmall 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 thofe things which were written in the Books, accord ing to their Works. Unto this St. Paul agrees, We must all appear before the Fudgment Seat of Chrift, that every one may receive in his Body according as he hath done, whe ther it be good or evil.

There are three Sorts of Perfons who are to ftand before this glorious Tribunal: fuch as never had any other Tutor but Nature, who were not acquainted with any other Works of God, but of Creation and Providence. For God hath not left himself without Witness in doing good. The fecond Sort have been affifted with a divine Revelation from above, under the Law, which hath diftinctly taught them what works are pleafing to God. Thefe may have heard fomething of a Meffias from the ancient Prophets, they may have feen his Portraiture in the Types and Shadows of Mofes's Ordinances. The other Sort have had the Grace of God clearly and plainly revealed to them, to whom our Lord Jefus Chrift hath brought Life and Immortality to Light through the Gofpel. There are none of these Perfons, if they have lived in Impiety and Debauchery,

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and are dead in Impenitency, that shall be able to excufe themselves in this dreadful Day of Judgment.. But fome are more guilty than others, therefore they shall be condemned to greater Punishments.

The Knowledge that God hath bestowed upon Man, hath been obfcur❜d by the Prince of Darkness, but it hath not been totally extinct; and that Law which God hath engraven in the Soul of Man, hath not been altogether blotted out, but there remains yet fome Relicks. So that no Man living can affirm, that he hath done all the good Deeds which his Confcience was perfwaded that he ought to perform, and that he hath omitted all the evil Acts of which his Confcience convinc'd him. They who have lived and are dead without any Law of God revealed to them, shall be judged without the Law. Such fhall be condemned for having taking Plea fure in extinguishing the remains of their natural Light, and in fmothering the good and rational Dictates of their Confciences. They fhall be condemned because they have abused Heaven's Favours, and filled themfelves with God's good Creatures without returning to him due Thanks; and because they have not meditated as they ought, upon fo many ftately and noble Works of Nature, nor learned by that Means to know God, who hath left in these Works, fo many Impreffions of his eternal Power and Godhead, and because that knowing God, they have not glorified him as God: This St. Paul teacheth in thefe Words, As many as have finned without Law, fhall alfo perish without Law; and as many as have finned in the Law, fhallbe judged by the Law. For when the Gentiles which have not the Law, do by Nature the Things contained in the Law, thefe having not the Law, are a Law unto themselves, which fhew the Work of the Law written in their Hearts, their Confcience alfo bearing witnefs, and their Thoughts the mean while accusing, or else ex cufing one another in the Day when God fhall judge the fecrets of Men by Jefus Chrift, according to my Gospel, Rom. z. They that profefs to know the Law, fhall be judged by the Law; fuch as have already heard the Thunders

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of Mount Sinai, they fhall one Day feel the Thunder bolts. They fhall underftand by experience, what it is to rebel against God, and to draw upon themselves and their guilty Heads, the dreadful Curfes of God's Law, Deut. 17. Curfed is every one that continueth not in all Things which are written in the Book of the Law to do them, Gal. 2. There is no Doubt but that the Jews, upon whom Mofes and the Prophets have spent so many fruitlefs Exhortations to live well, fhall be punished with fharper Torments than the poor Savages to whom God never fent any Meffage, who never had any Acquaintance with the Common-wealth of Ifrael, being Strangers from the Covenant, having no Hope, and being without God in the World, Eph. 2. For that Servant who knoweth his Master's Will and doth it not, fhall be beaten with more Stripes than him that knoweth it not, Luke 12.

But no People upon Earth have Caufe to expect and dread a more fevere Sentence than wicked Chriftians, who make Profeffion of knowing God, and believing in Jefus Chrift, who nevertheless deny him by their Works, and trample under Feet the Riches of his Grace. How can it otherwise be, for fuch as have heard the Gofpel preached, who have feen Jefus Chrift as it were crucified before their Eyes, and yet have made no Advantage of all this, they ought to be punished in another Manner than the bare Auditors of Mofes, that never faw the Meffias but afar off, and in the Shadows of the ceremonial Law. Take Notice of thefe divine Expreffions of St. Paul to the Hebrews; He that defpifed Mofes's Law died without Mercy, under two or three Witnesses; of how much forer Punishment, fuppofe ye, fall be be thought worthy, who hath trodden under Foot the Son of God, and hath counted the Blood of the Covenant, where with he was fanctified, an unholy Thing, and hath done Despite unto the Spirit of Grace? For we know him that hath faid, Vengeance belongeth unto me, I will recompence, faith the Lord; and again, the Lord fhall judge his People. It is a fearful thing to fall. into the Hands of the living God. Therefore when St, Paul

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fpeaks

fpeaks of fuch as obey not the Gofpel, he faith. That they fhall be punished with eternal Punishments from the Prefence of God, and from the Glory of his Power. And our Saviour teacheth us, that fuch as reject fo great Salvation, shall be punished more grievously than the most abominable Sinners, unto whom it was never reveal'd. Therefore when he fends forth his Apostles to preach, he tells them; Whosoever shall not receive you, and hear your Words, when ye depart out of that House or City, Shake off the Duft of your Feet; verily I say unto you, it fhall be more tolerable for the Lard of Sodom and Gomorrah, in the Day of Judgment, than for that City. Likewife when he reproaches the Incredulity and Impenitency of the Cities that were not converted by the Preaching of his Gofpel, and the Glory of his Miracles, he tells them, Matth. II. Wo unto thee Chorazin, we unto thee Bethfaida, for if the mighty Works which have been done in you, had been done in Tyre and Sidon, they would have repented long ago in Sack-cloth and Afbes. But I say unto you it Shall be more tolerable for Tyre and Sidon at the Day of Judgment, than for you. And thou Capernaum, which are exalted unto Heaven, fhall be brought down to Hell. For if the mighty Works which have been done in thee, had been done in Sodom, it would have remained unto this Day: But I fay unto you, that it shall be more tolerable for the Land of Sodom in the Day of Judgment than for thee.

The great Judge of the World, fhall place at his Left-hand all wicked Souls, which have lived without any Fear of God, and without expreffing Charity to the Members of his myftical Body, and shall pronounce to them this dreadful Sentence; Depart from me ye Curfed, to Eternal Fire, prepared for the Devil and his Angels; for I was an hungry, and ye gave me no Meat; Į was thirsty, and ye gave me no Drink; I was a Stranger, and ye took me not in; naked, and ye cloathed me not; fick, and in Prifon, and ye vifited me not; verily I fay unto you, in as much as ye did it not to one of the least of thefe, ye did it not to me. But the Faithful, who have witneffed their Faith by a good and holy Life; and

by

by Works of Charity and Mercy, he will place at his Right-hand, and' in the Prefence of God and all his Holy Angels, he shall fay unto them; Come ye bleffed of my Father, inherit the Kingdom prepared for you, from the Beginning of the World; for I was hungry, and ye gave me Meat; I was thirsty, and ye gave me Drink; I was a Stranger, and ye took me in; naked and ye Cloth ed me; I was fick, and ye vifited me; I was in Prifons and ye came unto me; verily I say unto you, in as much as ye have done it unto one of the least of these my Brethren, ye have done it unto me.

There be fome that make this Queftion, what Sign fhall precede immediately, or accompany the Coming of Chrift in the World? Our Saviour hath given Occafi on to this Demand; for when he fpeaks of the Things that are to happen about the Time of his glorious Appearance, he faith, That the Sun fhall be darkned, the Moon fhall not give Light, the Stars fhall fall from Hea ven, and the Powers of the Heavens fhall be shaken, and then fhall appear in Heaven the Sign of the Son of Man.

Some imagine, That this Sign of the Son of Man, is the Sign of the Crofs, which will be vifible in the Air. This Opinion in it felf is harmless, but in Regard that it hath no Foundation in holy Scripture, I am not to infift upon it. Others believe, that it fhall be the Fire with which Jefus Chrift fhall burn the Earth, diffolve the Elements, and punish Unbelievers. This Conceit is grounded upon St Paul's Words to the Theff. 2 Thef. 1. It is a righteous Thing with God to recompence Tribulation to them that trouble you, and to you who are troubled, Reft with us, when the Lord Jesus shall be revealed from Heaven with his mighty Angels in flaming Fire, taking Vengeance on them that know not God, and that obey not the Gospel of our Lord Jefus Chrift. Others conceive, that the Sign of this Son of Man, is nothing elfe but the Body of Jefus Christ, bearing and difcovering the Print of the Nails in his Hands and Feet, and the Wound of the Spear in his Side. This they Ffa

gather