fracting the light, it fhall be visible to the low

er hemifphere alfo'.

The appearance of the Judge, his throne and attendants shall be glorious beyond conception; "The Son of man fhall come in his glory, and "all the holy angels with him, and shall fit " upon the throne of his glory," Matth. xxv. 31. Even on the mount of transfiguration, where Chrift fhewed a faint gleam of his heavenly glory," his face shined as the fun, and his "raiment white as the light," Matth. xvii. 2. How tranfcendently bright must his appearance be, when he shines in all his glory! The throne must be fplendid, fuitable to the digni

ty

(1) Water refracts the rays of light, fo that when the ocean is the horizon, the body of the fun is visible, after it is beneath the level of the horizon. When "the fun "ftood ftill in the midft of heaven, and hafted not to go "down about a whole day," Joshua x. 13. we are not to fuppofe the diurnal motion of the earth was stopped, but moft probably fome medium, created by the Almighty, refracted the light fo powerfully, that the body of the fun was visible, when in the oppofite meridian, and the refracting power proportioned to the distance of the fun from the meridian of the place, would make the fun appear to ftand fill. By whatever means the fun was made visible and ftationary, after it was actually fet, we may reafonably expect that the fame divine power, on fo folemn an occafion as the laft judgment, will make the Judge, his throne, and attendants vifible to the whole earth.

ty of the person who fits on it. A faint reprefentation of such a throne was feen by Mofes, Aaron, and the elders of Ifrael. "They faw "the God of Ifrael; and there was under his "feet, as it were a paved work of sapphire"ftone, and as it were the body of heaven in "his clearness," Exod. xxiv. 10. The attendants of the throne are "all the angels,” an innumerable hoft, "the chariots of God are twen"ty thoufand, even thousands of angels,” Pfal. lxviii. 17.; and of various ranks," thrones, do"minions, principalities, and powers." We may conceive this innumerable and glorious hoft, ranged according to their ranks, on each fide of the throne, in the form of a crescent. Moft probably in a fimilar form behind the throne, and the hoft of angels, is arranged that flaming fire," 2 Theff. i. 7. defigned as the instrument of punishing the wicked. -throne ftands "the archangel, trump of God."

Close by the

bearing the

The Judge being fet, and his attendants arranged, he iffues his mandate to the archangel, who founds the trumpet. In an inftant, "the dead in Chrift," from righteous Abel, to the laft of those who expired on the earth, fhall rise from their graves ; "the dead in "Chrift fhall rise first," 1 Theff. iv. 16. and receive spiritual and incorruptible bodies.

" It

"is fown in corruption, it is raised in incorrup, "tion: it is fown in dishonour, it is raised in

glory: it is fown in weakness, it is raised in

power it is fown a natural body, it is raifed "a fpiritual body," 1 Cor. xv. 42, 43, 44. The Judge again iffues his command, and the archangel founds a fecond time'. In the twinkling of an eye, the faithful followers of Chrift then on earth shall be ftripped of their corruptible bodies, and receive the fame fpiritual incorruptible bodies with which their brethren arose from the dead. "Behold, I fhew you a myfte"ry, We shall not all fleep, but we shall all be "changed in a moment, in the twinkling of "an eye, at the laft trump; (for the trumpet "fhall found); and the dead shall be raised in

cr

corruptible, and we shall be changed,” 1 Cor. xv. 51, 52. The whole church of Chrift thus united into one body, are conveyed by the attendant angels to the throne. "Then we which "are alive, and remain, fhall be caught up to"gether with them in the clouds to meet "the Lord in the air," 1 Theff. iv. 17. The Judge upon their arrival pronounces that gra

cious

(1) The Scriptures clearly mark the several steps of the Judgment. And confidering the folemnity of the occafion, I reckon it probable, (but do not affert it dogmatically, that each step shall begin with a distinct found of the trumpet.

cious fentence, "Come, ye blessed of my Fa"ther, inherit the kingdom prepared for you "before the foundations of the world." The fentence implies, that their fole claim to glory. is God's free love, who defigned and prepared a state of eternal happiness for them, before the foundations of the world, when they neither did good or evil; and that the distinguishing character of those for whom glory is prepared, is, Love to Chrift the Mediator, whom they received by faith, and entertained with love in their hearts, while he was despised and rejected by the world. "For I was an hungered, and ye gave me meat: "I was thirsty, and ye gave me drink; I was a "stranger, and ye took me in: naked, and ye

clothed me: I was fick, and ye vifited me: I "was in prison, and ye came unto me." A humble fenfe of unworthinefs, which convinces the righteous at all times, that "their goodness "extendeth not to God;" a coldness of heart to their greatest and best Benefactor, which they often felt and complained of on earth, induce them now to disclaim the approbation given, as being unworthy of it. Then fhall the righteous answer him, faying, Lord, when faw "we thee an hungered and fed thee? or thirsty, "and gave thee drink? When faw we thee a ftranger, and took thee in? or naked, and "clothed thee? Or when faw we thee fick, or

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.

ye

"in prison, and came unto thee ?" To which the Judge answers, that he accepts of their love and friendship to one another for his fake, as the best evidence of their fincere love to himfelf. "The King shall answer, and say unto "them, Verily I fay unto you, In as much as have done it unto one of the least of these tr my brethren, ye have done it unto me," Matth. xxv. 40. Inftantly a place is provided for them, next the throne, ncarer than the attendant angels, for they are fet down as affeffors with Chrift, in judging wicked men and devils. "Do ye not know that the faints fhall judge "the world?—Know ye not that we shall judge "angels?" I Cor. vi. 2, 3.

By the command of the Judge, the archangel founds a third time, and all the wicked who had died from the beginning of the world, arise from the dead; they, together with the wicked men then alive on the earth, are collected into one place, by the angels who attend the throne, (Matth. xiii. 39-41.) One charge is laid against all, a defect of love to Chrift the Mediator. "I was an hungered, and ye gave me no "meat," Matth. xxv. 42. Various were the ways in which the wicked fhewed this defect of love. Some crucified, fome blafphemed him, fome rejected his offers of grace, fome perfecuted his followers, fome defpifed his ordinances,

fome