may see how desirous God was of the salvation of all men, and that their ruin must be charged upon themselves; since upon such easy, reasonable terms they might have been happy if they would. And how will this add new degrees of torment to the wicked, to see how merciful a God they have made their enemy; and that with less pains and trouble they might have been saved, than they have taken to be for ever damned!

And if this, of the mention of the sins of the righteous at that day, be true, how exceeding careful should we all be to avoid the very least appearance of evil in what we think, or speak, or do, because every thing shall be brought into judgment; and some shame doubtless will attend the publication of whatever was sinful, though the sting be taken out by a sincere repentance.

I come now to the close of all, which is the several sentences that shall be passed, and the manner of their execution. After the books have been thus opened, as St. John expresses itm, and every one's desert fully known, then will the just and equal Judge, with the most endearing sweetness, first pass this enravishing sentence upon those on his right hand, Come, ye blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world" and instantly, with ineffable transport, they shall find themselves caught up in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air, and join with him as assessors in the final condemnation of the wicked, both men and devils, according to that prophecy of Enoch, mentioned by St. Jude, 14, 15; Behold, the Lord cometh with ten thousands of his saints, to o Thess. iv. 17.

m Rev. xx. 12.

n Matt. xxv. 34.

execute judgment upon all, and to convince all that are ungodly among them of their ungodly deeds which they have ungodly committed; to which that of St. Paul agrees, 1 Cor. vi. 2, 3, Know ye not that the saints shall judge the world? —Know ye not that we shall judge angels?

And what new life and vigour will those most cheering words, Come, ye blessed, inspire into their happy souls; what raptures will they feel at that blissful meeting in the clouds, when they shall be welcomed by the triumphant host of saints and angels, and embraced in the arms of their dearest Saviour, never more to be separated from him, but with him to enjoy to all eternity those heavenly pleasures that are at God's right hand for evermore! How will they bless their former pious labours, and all their sufferings for the [sake of Jesus, which are now repaid with an exceeding and eternal weight of glory! How will they love the memory of their spiritual guides, who have been faithful to them, and shewed them the right way to so great blessedness! And how will those spiritual guides rejoice to see such happy fruit of their labours, and to deliver up their charge in safety to the great Shepherd and Bishop of our souls! And how will all be inflamed with holy ardours of desire and love at the sight of such infinite goodness, and such infinite excellence and glory!

After this, the divine Judge, accompanied with that most august assembly that will then stand on each side of his throne, will proceed to pronounce this terrible sentence upon the miserable wretches on his left hand, and in which the fallen angels likewise will be involved, Depart from me, ye

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cursed, into everlasting fire, prepared for the devil and his angels P. "Depart from me, the fountain of happiness and perfection, of life and joy; from "me, who once died for you in torments, that you might escape those flames in which you now for ever must welter and be tortured. Depart into "those dismal abodes prepared for the accursed spirits of darkness, which now, for your being like "them, in base ingratitude and rebellion against God, must become your portion: depart into the regions of eternal fire and horror and despair; "which you cannot but own you have justly de"served, by despising the gracious tenders that have "been often made you, of everlasting life and happi"ness and glory."

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And now nothing remains to put an end to this great day and time together, but the execution of this dreadful sentence. Soon therefore after it is pronounced upon those accursed creatures who have so throughly deserved it, we are told by St. Peter that the heavens shall pass away with a great noise, and the elements melt with fervent heat, and the earth and the works that are therein shall be burned up; and the Son of man (saith the great Judge) shall send forth his angels, and they shall gather them that do iniquity; and shall cast them into a furnace of fire: there shall be wailing and gnashing of teeth. Agreeable to that of the prophet Malachi, Behold, the day cometh, that shall burn like an oven; and all the proud, yea, and all they that do wickedly, shall be stubble: and the day that cometh shall burn them up, saith the Lord of hosts, that it

P Matt. XXV. 41.

4 2 Pet. iii. 10.

r Matt. xiii. 41, 42.

shall leave them neither root nor branchs; but not so as utterly to destroy them, for that would put an end to their misery, which we are assured shall be eternal, and therefore St. John tells us, then shall men seek death, and shall not find it; and shall desire to die, but death shall flee from them; and accordingly the punishment of the other world is expressed by eternal death, to signify the extremest, but never finished, agonies of the damned in hell.

And would to God we could all be persuaded, seriously and often to revolve these terrors in our minds, and avoid those sinful courses, that will infallibly bring them upon us, before it be too late! That seeing this terrible end of all things is at hand, and will steal upon us as a thief in the night, and, as the parable that occasioned this discourse assures us, we know not the time when our great Lord will come; we would observe his gracious good advice, and watch and pray, lest coming suddenly, he find us sleeping! Since we really look for such things, and all this material frame of the world shall be dissolved, (as St. Peter says,) what manner of persons ought we to be in all holy conversation and godliness"; looking beyond the present perishing scene of things, to the eternal world, to which every hour brings us nearer and nearer; and making it our chief business to prepare against that great decisive day, when either heaven or hell will be made our portion for ever; taking heed to ourselves, lest at any time our hearts be overcharged with surfeiting, and drunkenness, and the cares of this life, and so that day come upon us unawares. For as a snare shall it come on all them t Rev. ix. 6. u 2 Pet. iii. 11.

s Mal. iv. I.

that dwell on the face of the whole earth. Watch ye therefore, and pray always, that ye may be accounted worthy to escape all these things that shall come to pass, and to stand before the Son of

man x

THE PRAYER.

I.

Most gracious and all-wise God! who hast placed us here in a state of probation for a future life, and as pilgrims journeying to our eternal home, make me every day more and more sensible, I beseech thee, that all things here are flitting and uncertain, that the present world is not my place of settlement, but I am travelling apace to that which is, and where I shall be fixed for endless ages.

And since that life to come will, through the merits of my blessed Saviour, be infinitely happy, as well as everlasting, unless I make it otherwise by an obstinate course of sin, O grant that I may insist in the way that leads to it with all possible care and circumspection, and endeavour to qualify myself for its pure enjoyments with the utmost diligence and application, and think nothing too much to do or suffer that I may attain it, and value nothing here below but as it is conducive to my safe arrival at that blissful kingdom above!

That is the only region of stability and rest, of uninterrupted happiness and glory; O therefore wean me from this perishing, this wicked miserable world, and enable me to raise my thoughts to Heaven, and fix my affections there unmoveably, where my treasure is, and vigorously to press after it in the ways * Luke xxi. 34, &c.