shall neither be able to bear the sight of God or of his fairest copy, that is, Jesus his Son, because I am so shamefully unlike them both, and besides, I have affronted their majesty, and despised their mercy.

How painful and smarting will be the reflection of my heart in that day, when I shall remember, that Jesus called out to me from heaven, by the messengers of his grace, and said, "Behold me, behold me, look unto me from the ends of the earth, and be saved:" But now he is armed with a commission of vengeance, and he strikes terror and exquisite pain into my soul with every frown, so that I shall wish to be forever hid from the face of the Lamb, for the great day of his wrath is come, and who shall be able to endure this wrath, to stand before his thunder, or bear the lightning of this day? Alas, how miserable must I be by an everlasting necessity, if I cannot bear the countenance of God and Christ, which is the spring of unchangeable happiness to all the saints and the blessed angels? may I timely secure the love of my God, and gain an interest in the favour and salvation of the blessed Jesus! Here, Oh Lord, at thy foot I lay down all the weapons of my former rebellions; I implore thy love through the interest of thy Son, the great Mediator: Let me see the light of thy countenance, and the smiles of thy face: Let me see a reconciled God, and let him tell me that my sins are all forgiven; then shall I not be afraid to meet the countenance of him that sits upon the throne, or the

Oh

Lamb, when Christ shall return from heaven, to punish the impenitent rebels against divine grace.

Ref. 4. How hopeless, as well as distressed, is the case of sinners in that day, when they are driven to this last extremity, to seek help from the rocks and the mountains?' It is the last, but the fruitless refuge of a frighted and perishing creature: The rocks and mountains refuse to help them; they will not crush to death those wretches, whom the justice of God has doomed to a painful immortality, nor will they conceal or shelter those obstinate rebels, whom the Son of God has raised out of their graves, to be exposed to public shame and punishment. Those high and hollow rocks, those dismal dens and caverns, dark as midnight, those deep and gloomy retreats of melancholy and sorrow, which they shunned with the utmost aversion, and could hardly bear to think of them without horror here on earth, are now become their only retreat and shelter; but it is a very vain and hopeless one.

When I see such awful appearances in nature, huge and lofty rocks hanging over my head, and at every step of my approach they seem to nod upon me with overwhelming ruin, when my curiosity searches far into their hollow clifts, their dark and deep caverns of solitude and desolation, methinks while I stand amongst them, I can hardly think myself in safety, and at best they give a sort of solemn and dreadful delight: Let me improve the scene to religious purposes, and raise a divine meditation. Am I one of those wretches, who shall call to these

huge impending rocks to fall upon me? Am I that guilty and miserable creature, who shall entreat these mountains to cover me from him that sits on the throne and the Lamb? Am I prepared to meet the countenance of the blessed Jesus the Judge in that day? Have I such an acquaintance with the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world, such a holy faith in his mediation, such a sincere love to him, and such an unfeigned repentance of all my sins, that I can look upon him as my friend and my refuge, and a friend infinitely better than rocks and mountains, for he not only screens me from the divine anger, but introduces me into the Father's love, and places me in his blissful presence for ever?

Ref. 5. What hideous and everlasting mischief is contained in the nature of sin, especially sin against the gospel of Christ, against the methods of grace, and the offers of salvation, which exposes creatures to such extreme distress? The fairest and the most flattering iniquity, what beautiful colours soever it may put on in the hour of temptation, yet it carries all this hidden mischief and terror in the bosom of it, for it frights the creature from the sight of his Creator and his Saviour, and makes him fly to every vain refuge. Adam and Eve, the parents of our race, when they lost their innocence and became criminals, fled from the presence of God, who they conversed with before in holy friendship. Gen. iii. 8. They hid themselves among the trees of Paradise,' and the thickest shadows of the garden; but the eye and the voice of God reached them there: The curse found

them out, though that was a curse allayed with the promised blessing of a Saviour. Guilt will work in the conscience, and tell us, that 'God is angry,' and the next thought is, where shall I hide myself from an angry God?" But when the mercy of God has taught us where we may hide ourselves, even under the shadow of the cross of his Son, and we refuse to make him our refuge, there remains nothing but a final horror of soul, and a hopeless address to rocks and mountains, to hide us from an offended God, and a provoked Saviour.

Whensoever, Oh my soul, thou shalt find or feel some flattering iniquity alluring thy senses, making court to thy heart, and ready to gain upon thy inward wishes, remember the distress and terror of heart that sinners must undergo in the great and terrible day of the Lord. Think of the rocks and mountains which they vainly call upon to befriend them, to shield them from the vengeance of that almighty arm which is provoked by sin, to make his creatures miserable. Remember, Oh my soul, and fear; remember and resist the vile temptation, and stand afar off from that practice, which will make thee afraid to see the face of God.

Refl. 6. Of what infinite importance is it then to sinners, to gain a humble acquaintance and friendship with the Lamb of God, who takes away the sins of the world, that we may be able with comfort, to behold the face of him that sits on the throne in that day.' Which of us can say, 'I am not a sinner, I am not guilty before God?' And which of us then

has the courage and hardiness to declare, 'I have no need of a Saviour?'. And is there any one amongst us, who hath not yet fled for refuge to Jesus our only and sufficient hope? There is a protection provided 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 Oh 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.

Ref. 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 sorrounded 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 pre. sence of the Lord, the fields and the forests become