BUT of the Times and the Seafons, Brethren, ye have no need that I write unto you:- For yourselves know perfectly, that the Day of the Lord fo cometh as a Thief in the Night, 1 Thef. v. 1, 2. All Knowledge of the Day of Judgement confifts in believing that it cannot be known. Whatever is not taught us in the Word of God concerning it, is either Delufion or vain Conjecture. To watch continually, not to lie in the Darkness of, Sin, and to arm ourselves with Faith and Prayer, this is the certain Way of keeping us from being furprised. We'll pray, and wait the Hour, The awful Hour unknown, When roll'd in Majefty and Pow'r Thou shalt from Heav'n come down. Th' immortal Son of Man! To judge the human Race, A ND these fhall go away into everlasting Punishment; but the Righteous into Life eternal, Matt. xxv. 46. No Appeal, no Remedy to all Eternity; no End to the Punishment of thofe, whose final Impenitence manifefts in them, as it were, an eternal Will and Defire to Sin. By dying in a settled Oppofition to God, they caft themfelves into a Neceffity of continuing in an eternal Averfion to him. The Eternity of the Torment of the Damned proceeds from the infinite Dignity of the God who is offended; the Eternity of the Happiness of the Children of God, from the infinite Goodness of Him who confers it upon them. O Eternal Life, which art nothing but pure Life and Joy, not the Joy of the World, but that substantial Joy of which God alone is the Source, the Object, and the End. May I have nothing at Heart but Thee, may I feek nothing else during this mortal Life. Have Mercy, Lord, thy Wrath remove, Lo! in my Prayer I ever mourn, Vext with the fad Remains of Sin, Broken,and bruis'd,and rack'd,and torn How fhall I bear this Hell within? ND the fecond Time the Cock crew. AND And Peter called to Mind the Word that Jefus faid unto him, Before the Cock crow twice, thou fhalt deny me thrice. And when he thought thereon, he wept, Mark xiv. 72. In vain does the Cock crow to the Ears of Peter; in vain do all Preachers cry aloud to awaken the Sinner, unless the Grace of Chrift open his Underftanding, his Memory, and his Heart, and draw from thence the Tears of Repentance.➡ St. Peter's Tongue utters not a Word, but his Heart fpeaks by his Eyes. A Soul truly under Conviction for Sin fpeaks moft by Silence, especially if his Tongue has been the Inftrument of his Sin. Such a Perfon fhould fpeak to God by his Love, and to Men by his Tears. - It is to his Heart that God fpeaks, when it is touched with a Senfe of its Sins; and it is his Heart which must speak to God, if it defires to be cured. JESUS, fin atoning Lamb, JESUS, Lover of thy Foe, Hear my Cry out of the Deep, Hafte and help a friendless Soul, Seek and fave a wand'ring Sheep, Make a Sin-fick Sinner whole. O the only wife God our Saviour, be Glory and Majefty, Dominion and Power, both now and ever. Amen. Jude 25. To whom, O my God, fhould we give the Glory of our Salvation but to Thee, to whom we owe it entirely? To whom fhould we confecrate our Hearts, but to Him who redeems them by His Blood, fanctifies them by His Spirit, and renders them happy by His Glory? Reign in them, Lord, now here below by thy Love, that Thou mayeft one Day reign in them with Glory, Majefty, and Dominion in Heaven. To God the only wife, Our Saviour and our King, Let all the Saints below the Skies, "Tis his Almighty Love, His Counfel and his Care, Preferves us fafe from Sin and Death, And ev'ry hurtful Snare, He will present our Souls, Then all the chofen Seed Shall meet around the Throne, Shall blefs the Conduct of his Grace, And make its Wonders known. A ND we know that the Son of God is come, and hath given us an Understanding that we may know him that is true: and we are in Him that is true, even in his Son Jefus Chrift. This is the true God, and eternal Life, 1 John v. 20. The Incarnation of the Son of God is a capital Truth, the first of Christianity, and the Spring of all the other Graces. Jefus Chrift is the Pattern, who brought the Knowledge and the Love of the true God down upon the Earth; and he alone alfo can convey them into the Heart. He alone was the Son of God, but he was unwilling to continue fo alone; he makes us his Members, in order to make us in Him Children and Heirs of God. Let the Remembrance of fo inconceivable a Favour, penetrate our Hearts with an eternal Gratitude, and engage us in the Service of God, without reserve, and at the Expence of all Things. JESUS, mine Advocate above, Let me not hear of Thee alone, But make the Wonders of thy Love, By deep Experience fweetly known. On Thee my Soul would fix its Eye, |