Great Day, to be according to the Law of Works or Faith; that is, according to the tenor of the Law or Gospel.

1. This is the unspeakable comfort of all true believers, that, at this Great Day, they shall not be judged by the Law of Works, according to its literal sense; but by the Gospel.

The tenor of the Gospel is, Whosoever believeth, shall be saved. The reason of all that Christ hath done in the world, why he took upon him the form of a servant, why he underwent the death of a malefactor, lies couched in this, that believers might obtain eternal life. This is the depth of that mystery, which angels pry into this is the sum of that ministry, which is committed unto us: this is the form of that trial, which must pass upon you, whether you have received Christ by faith, who hath been revealed and tendered to you in the Gospel. It will then be but a vain and fruitless labour, for the Devil to heap up accusations against us: for, though the Law saith, The soul, that sinneth, it shall die; yet faith will then remove the suit from God's Common Bar, to his Court of Chancery, if I may so speak; from the letter of the Law, to the more equitable construction of it. And here it will be found, that you have already satisfied the Law: you, in Christ, have done it; and therefore stand free from its condemnation.

2. Unbelievers shall, at the Last Day, be judged by both these laws; both by the Law of Works and the Law of Faith: and, what will be to their inconceivable horror, both will condemn them.

The severity of the Law casts them: the mercy of the Gospel cannot relieve them. When God shall ask them, how they will be tried; by the Law, or by the Gospel: if they say, by the Law, that tells them, Cursed is every one, that continueth not in all things, written in it, to do them: tell me, are ye so well persuaded and confident of your own righteousness and innocence, that you will stand to this sentence? will you venture the everlasting state of your souls upon this trial, that you cannot be proved guilty of any transgression? and, if your own consciences now accuse you, will they not much more, think you, accuse you then? Will you appeal to the Gospel? that tells you, He, that believeth not, is condemned already: John iii. 18: and, He, that believeth not.....the wrath of God abideth on him: John iii, 36: nay, let me tell you, the Gospel will be so far from relieving you, that it will but add to the condemnation of the Law: the Law sentenceth sinners to hell, for transgressing it ;

but, then, the Gospel lays on more load, and heats the furnace sevenfold hotter for those, who have not only violated the Law, but rejected pardon. He dies deservedly, who, being condemned by the law of the prince, slights his mercy too. This is the case of every unbeliever: they are all condemned, by law: God tenders them a pardon: Christ offers himself for their Saviour, his blood for their ransom; this Saviour they reject: this blood they trample on, and even dare God to do his worst, And, therefore, there is no one sin in the world, that carries so much provocation in it, as this of unbelief doth: it is an injury done to the tenderest of God's attributes, his mercy; it is an affront upon his dearest Son, the Lord Jesus Christ; and, therefore, shall be revenged with a most aggravated condemnation. Oh! then, what fears and terrors will encompass them round, who, when the Law hath condemned them for transgression, shall find themselves much more condemned for unbelief! The blood of Christ is not shed in vain: not a drop of it is spilt upon the ground, as water that cannot be gathered up again: it will, certainly, either justify, or condemn; either save, or destroy. And look, of what efficacy it is, to remove guilt from the souls of true believers; of the like efficacy it is, to bring guilt upon the souls of unbelievers: if, therefore, the blood of Christ, applied by faith, be of power to remove the guilt of all the sins which we have committed; the same blood, rejected by unbelief, will bring in a greater and sorer guilt upon us, than all the sins which we have committed besides. Be persuaded, therefore, never to leave praying and waiting, till the God of all grace be pleased to work this precious grace of faith in thee; without which, thou canst neither please him, nor be wellpleasing to him: that so, the blood of Jesus Christ may, in that Great Day, be found upon thy heart, for thy justification; and not upon thy head, for thy condemnation,

VIII. In the Eighth place, consider, who shall then appear, to ACCUSE and WITNESS against us.

Men shall have a fairer trial before Christ's tribunal, than Christ himself had before man's. The Scripture tells us, that many false witnesses were suborned, to accuse him. And, it seems, their rage against him made them forget that principal rule of lying, viz. that it be uniform and congruous; for it is said, that their witnesses agreed not together. But, when we come to judgment, we shall have nothing to except against the

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undoubted truth of the witnesses: yea, and though they are of different interests and natures; yet their depositions against us shall punctually agree.

i. GOD'S KNOWLEDGE shall, at that day, give in clear and positive evidence against us.

And this is such a witness, as none can suspect or challenge of falsehood. He is privy to all we do: for all things are open and naked to his eyes: Heb. iv. 13. It is as impossible to conceal any thing from his notice, as it is to do any thing without his permission. Every action must receive a passport from him; and, therefore, certainly, what cannot escape his providence, cannot escape his knowledge. He is company to us in solitariness. He is day about us at midnight. He sees our souls, more clearly than we can see one another's faces: and he hears the voice of our thoughts, more distinctly, than we can hear the sound of one another's words.

And where then will ungodly sinners appear, when Omniscience itself shall depose against them? when an all-knowing God shall rise up to accuse them? Now, indeed, God forbears them so long, till their impunity votes against his knowledge; and persuades them, that he sees them not, nor takes any notice of what they do. This is, usually, all the thanks they return his patience; that, because he winks at them, therefore they conclude him blind. But what saith God concerning these men, Psal. 1. 21? These things hast thou done, and I kept silence: thou thoughtest that I was altogether such an one as thyself; here man passeth judgment on God. But, when God passeth judgment on man, he saith, But I will reprove thee, and set them in order before thine eyes: and this God doth, to some, in the judgment-day of conviction; but, to all, in the judgment-day of condemnation. He sets their sins in order before their faces.

This expression denotes unto us Two things.

First. How clear God's knowledge of our sins is in itself: that he will set the vast and confused heap of them in order, at that day. He will marshal them in the same rank and order, in which they were committed. The time, the place, the persons concerned, the occasions, the temptations, the aggravations, and all the circumstances of our sins, lie all a-row in his knowledge; and every sin shall then be as distinctly and particularly discovered by him, as ever it was committed by us.

Secondly. It denotes, how convictive this knowledge will be unto sinners. He will set their sins before their face: that is, he will so particularly represent unto them whatsoever they have done, and in what manner, that they shall, as it were, plainly see every sin before their eyes, and be forced to acknowledge them for their own sins.

This knowledge of God, which shall give in evidence at the Great Tribunal, carries in it Two things, which may justly make it very terrible unto sinners.

1. In that it is the knowledge of the Judge.

What can be more dreadful to the prisoner at the bar, than for the judge himself to accuse him? he may cavil against the testimonies of other witnesses; but what plea can he have, when the judge shall pronounce him guilty, upon his own knowledge? This is the very case of sinners: many witnesses shall be produced against them, at the Last Day, who shall bring in great accusations and strong evidences: but none of these shall so daunt and damp them, as when God the Judge shall, from his throne, attest, that, upon his own knowledge, all is truth. They can expect nothing, but the sentence of the judge, to pronounce them damned; who have thus the knowledge of the judge, to pronounce them guilty.

2. It is the knowledge and testimony of Him, who is Truth itself; and, therefore, cannot be contradicted or denied.

And what can save them, if truth itself shall testify against them? unless that God, who is true in giving witness, should be unjust in giving sentence, which is impossible. It is impossible, likewise, that those, whom his knowledge doth accuse, his justice should acquit. Think then, O Sinner! what will become of thee, when thy sins shall be testified to thy face; not by any false or forged witness, but by the truth of God, to whom it is impossible either to lie or err: when his truth shall aver unto his justice, that thou art guilty, and both truth and justice consent together to thy condemnation. In 2 Kings v. 25. Gehazi returns from cheating of Naaman, and stands very demurely before his master: Whence comest thou, Gehazi? Thy servant went no whither: No! saith the Prophet: Did not my heart go with thee? so, when men shall stand before the Great God, he will call to them by name; "Sinner, what didst thou, such a day and hour of thy life?" It will be then in vain, to make any lame excuses; in vain to say, Thy servant did nothing. "No! was not mine eye upon thee? was not my heart with thee, to observe

thy actions? Didst thou not, at such a time, wrong thy brother, by base fraud and injustice? at such a time, abuse thyself by riot and intemperance? at such a time, blaspheme me, by hellish oaths and curses?" Men may, perhaps, think me somewhat coarse and blunt with them, to tell them of such sins as these are: but I beseech them to consider, how they will answer God, when he shall reckon up against them these and other like sins; and accuse them of them upon his own knowledge. Here, men stand upon their own reputation: tell a sot, though he reels again, that he is drunk; or a thief, that he steals; or a liar, that he lies; and straight, in a rage, they will bid you prove it. But, when God shall, at the Last Day, accuse them of these sins, it will be found proof sufficient, that he, who is Truth itself, shall depose it against them.

That is, therefore, the First Witness, God's Knowledge.

ii. MEN'S CONSCIENCES also shall, in that day, bring in accusations against them.

And, indeed, conscience is not one witness, but a thousand: a whole cloud of witnesses; and such witnesses, as will speak truth too. Now, possibly, men's consciences may be seared so, as not to speak at all; or bribed so, as to speak nothing but flatteries, with Ahab's prophets, Go on, and prosper. But, yet, those sins, which they seem to take no notice of, when committed, they will fearfully exaggerate, when accounted for. Though, here, conscience seems to be like the unjust steward, and sets down fifty for a hundred, and small sins for great; yet, at that day, it will mend its accounts, and give them up faithfully and impartially. Some sinners are, even in this life, selfcondemned: conscience hath sat upon them, and doomed them already. But all shall be so in the next: the process of God's justice shall be so clear, that men shall bring in evidence against themselves; and God shall need no other course to condemn them, but out of their own mouths: when God shall read over the catalogue of every man's sins against him, they shall all be found subscribed and attested by every man's conscience: and this, certainly, will be accepted as a competent witness, as having been always with the sinner, a register in his own breast, and having noted down every action of his life. Indeed, some men live as if they had no conscience at all: they do that, almost every day, which might set all the furies of hell about them; and, yet, they feel no terrors, no stings, nor scorpions. Well