against a provoked God, but there is none against a neglected and abused Saviour: I mean, where this neglect and abuse is final and unrepented. Oh, how solicitous should every soul be in a matter of this divine moment, this everlasting importance! What words of compassion shall we use, what words of awakening terror to put sinners in mind of their extreme danger, if they neglect the only security which the gospel has appointed? What language of fear and importunity shall we make use of, to hasten you, O sinners, to the acquaintance, the faith, and the love of Jesus the Saviour, that you may behold his face, and the face of the Father, with serenity and joy in the last day? Give yourselves up to him then without further delay, as your teacher, your high priest, your reconciler, your Lord and King. His blessed offices are the only chambers of protection, when God shall arise to burn the world, and to avenge himself on his enemies that will not be reconciled.

Reflection 7. Let us take occasion, from my text, also to meditate on the happy circumstances of true Christians in that day of terror. Behold the Judge appears, he cometh in the clouds, surrounded with armies of avenging angels, the ministers of his indignation. He rideth on a chariot of flaming fire, the earth, with all its mountains, melt like wax at the presence of the Lord, the fields and the forests become one spacious blaze, the sea grows dry and forsakes its shores, and rivers flee away at his lightning; the rocks are broken and shivered at the appearance of his majesty; the tombs are thrown open, and with terrible dismay shall the graves give up their dead; the pyramids of brick and stone moulder and sink into dust; the sepulchres of brass and marble yield up their royal prisoners, and all their captives of death awake, and start into life, at the voice of the Son of God. Amidst all these scenes of surprise and horror, with how serene a countenance, and how peaceful a

soul, do the saints awake from their beds of earth! Calm and serene, among all these confusions, they arise from their long slumber, and go to meet their returning Saviour and their friend. They have seen him in the glass of his gospel, submitted to his laws, and rejoiced in his grace; and they now delight to see him face to face in his glory. They have seen him vested with his commission of mercy, they have heard and received his message of goodness and love, and they cannot but rejoice to see him coming to fulfil his last promises. They have cheerfully subjected themselves to his government here on earth, they have followed him in paths of holiness through the wilderness of this world, and what remains but that they be publicly acknowledged by Jesus the Judge of all, and follow him up to the place of blessedness which he hath prepared for them.

Perhaps some of these holy ones, in the days of the flesh, were banished from the cities and the societies of men for the sake of Christ; they were driven out from their native towns, and forced to seek a shelter in solitary dens and caves, among rocks and mountains, to wander through deserts in sheep-skins and goat-skins, destitute, afflicted, tormented, Heb. xi. 31. They made the clefts of the rocks, and caverns of the earth, their refuge from the face of their cruel persecutors: the mountains and the rocks sheltered them from the wrath of princes; and the dark grottoes of the earth and the dens of wild beasts concealed them from the rage of men, from the sword of the mighty. But now the scene is gloriously changed; the martyrs and holy confessors, awaking from their graves, exult and triumph in the smiles of their Judge, and receive public honours before the whole creation of God. They behold the infinite consternation of haughty tyrants and persecuting princes, of proud generals and bloody captains, in that day; they hear them call to the rocks and moun

tains, to hide them from the face of him that sits upon the throne and the Lamb. The authority and regal honour of the emperors of the earth hath long slept in the dust, but it is lost there for ever; their glory shall not awake nor rise with them: behold the mighty sinners who have been the enemies of Christ, or negligent of his salvation, how they creep affrighted out of their shattered marbles, and leave all that pomp and pride of death in ruins, to appear before God with shame and everlasting contempt. The men of arms, the captains and sons of valour, whose swords lay under their heads, with their trophies and titles spread around them, shall raise their heads up from the dust with utmost affright and anguish of spirit: their courage fails them before the face of Jesus the Lord and Judge of the whole creation. They would fly to the common refuge of slaves, they shrink into the holes of the rocks, and call to the mountains to screen and protect them: and every bondman, and every freeman, who have not known nor loved God and Christ, are plunged into extremest distress; but the humble christian is se rene and joyful, and lifts up his head with courage and delight in the midst of these scenes of astonishment and dismay.

"He is come, he is come," saith the saint, "even "that Lord Jesus whom I have seen, whom I have "known and loved in the days of my mortal life, "whom I have long waited for in the dust of death; "he is come to reward all my labours, to wipe away "all my sorrows, to finish my faith and turn it into "sight, to fulfil all my hopes and his own promises: "he is come to deliver me for ever from all my "enemies, and to bear me to the place which he has "prepared for those that love him and long for his "appearance.

"Oh, blessed be the God of grace who hath con"vinced me of the sins of my nature, and the sins

of my life in the days of my flesh; who hath dis"covered to me the danger of a guilty and sinful "state, hath shewn me the commission of mercy in "the hands of his Son, hath pointed me to the "Lamb of God, who was offered as a sacrifice to take 66 away the sins of men, and hath inclined me to re"ceive him in all his divine characters and offices, "and to follow the Captain of my salvation through "all the labours and dangers of life. I have trusted "him, I have loved him, I have endeavoured, though "under many frailties, to honour and obey him, and "I can now behold his face without terror: while the mighty men of the earth tremble with amazement, "and call to the rocks and mountains to hide them from his face, I rejoice to see him in his robes of judgment, for he is come to pronounce me righ "teous in the face of men and angels, to declare me "a good and faithful servant before the whole cre"ation, to set the crown of victory on my head, to "take me to heaven with him, that where he is I

may be also, to behold his glory, and to partake for "ever of the blessings of his love." Amen.

DISCOURSE VII.

NO NIGHT IN HEAVEN.

REV. xxi. 25.

For there shall be no night there.

LENGTH of night, and overspreading darkness in the winter season, carries so many inconveniences with it, that it is generally esteemed a most uncom fortable part of our time. Though night and day ne cessarily succeed each other all the year, by the wise appointment of God in the course of nature, by means of the revolution of the heavenly bodies, or rather of this earthly globe, yet the night season is neither so delightful, nor so useful a part of life, as the duration of daylight. It is the voice of all nature, as well as the word of Solomon, light is sweet, and a pleasant thing it is to enjoy the sunbeams. Light gives a glory and beauty to every thing that is visible, and shews the face of nature in its most agree