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hast said, that whosoever received one of thy children in thy name, received thee.' Now, Lord, all these things didst thou enable me to do, in some imperfect measure. I received and owned thy children for thy sake, while, because of their faithfulness to thee, the world was casting out their name as evil. Some little offices of love I tendered them. I fed them, or gave them drink, or clothed them, or took them into my house, or visited them if they were sick or in prison.' Neither was I utterly wanting to minister to their bodies in other respects, or to their souls, according to my gifts or abilities. It was upon my heart not to offend them, and I was not utterly without regard to my conduct, that it should not be unto them an occasion of falling. But, righteous Judge! I do not stand before thee in the merit of any of these things. I dare not in any such view speak of my love to thee or thy people. I see it unsuitable, low, worthless, nothing. Now it was plainly to have been all thy work, whatever of it there was, but to have been hindered, weakened, debased, by my exceeding selfishness; and I am astonished at thy miraculous power that any thing like love should ever have subsisted in my depraved heart, or appeared in my conduct. Lo, in the merit of thy blood and righteousness I stand here before thee. This is all my salvation this day. I will mention no other. But since thou wilt, and hast respect in mercy to my poor services, behold I render back all the glory of them to thee, who didst work them in me; and, as for myself, I will stand for ever before thee with this one acknowledgment upon my heart and tongue, Sinful and unprofitable I stand here saved by grace."-Having therefore boldness to appeal thus to the Judge of all the earth, knowing that my Judge is my Saviour, under whose healing wings I have taken refuge from the avenging arm of Justice, knowing that my judgment will pass according to the works of faith, and not of the law, and having the testimony of my conscience that Christ dwelleth in me by the spirit of love which he hath given me, I have boldness in the expectation of his coming, and do say, with confidence of my interest therein, The Lord is at hand to judge the quick and the dead.-Wherefore,

Thirdly. Having this confidence in respect of judgment, I

mean to express also my hope, expectation, and waiting desire. of that day. I regard it as the day of my Lord's eminent triumph, when he shall come in the glory of the Father, with great power and unequalled majesty, attended by the hosts of heaven, and all nature bowing before him; when by the working of his mighty power the dead shall arise from the various distributions of their dust, and, with the assembled living, stand, a vast multitude which no man can number, before his seat, to own and honour, whether willingly or not, the once-despised Lamb; when the fallen angels too shall be brought up to adorn his appearance, and receive their final doom from his mouth; when he shall be admired in all them that believe, because of the adorable work he shall have wrought for them and in them, and upon such as would not obey his Gospel he shall get himself glory infinitely surpassing that when he destroyed so many of his haughty enemies in the depths of the Red Sea; when every eye shall see him, and they that pierced him shall own that he is no other than the once-crucified Jesus; when by his royal word he shall pronounce the sentences never to be recalled; by his omnipotency shut up the damned in the caverns of hell for a miserable eternity; and bid a new heaven and earth to come forth furnished and provided with every circumstance of greatness, glory, and beauty, to receive for ever his happy saints. Can I think of this day, so honourable to him whom my soul loveth, without longing and wishing for its appearance? And when I consider that his people shall partake with him in the glories of that day; hearing his voice, shall come forth victorious over Death, the last enemy, decked in all the brightness, strength, and glory of a spiritual body; with their own eyes behold their Lord avenging himself upon his enemies and theirs by an utter destruction; and hear him say to them those ravishing words never to be recalled, "Come, ye blessed of my Father!" can I do other than say, "Come, Lord Jesus! come quickly?" Surely I would rejoice to see and be for ever with the Lord; to behold all his beauty as the express image of the Father's person; to contemplate with endless and insatiable transport the glory which the Father has given him; to make my acknowledgment in the praises of heaven among the multitude which no man can number, as saved,

for ever saved, by his love and care, his power and grace. What! when the least beam of his glory now let in upon my soul turns my earth into heaven, and makes me cry out with Peter, It is good for us to be here,' can I wish him to delay his coming? When, remaining in this vale of misery, I groan under corruption, and am burdened with a corruptible body, can I say, This is better than to be fashioned in soul and body like unto the Lord? When I find here nothing but vanity and vexation of spirit, shall I be averse to the Lord's coming to change my sorrows into joy unspeakable and full of glory? Here, beset as I am with enemies, would I not long for that blessed day when I shall see them again no more for ever? And would I not be glad to be taken from a world lying in wickedness into the new heavens and earth wherein dwelleth righteousness? I know that my Redeemer liveth, I know that he shall stand on the latter day on the earth; I have humble confidence that he will own me among the children; and shall I, like those who know no better joys than this world can afford them, are ignorant of a Redeemer's righteousness, and lie under the conscious guilt of unnumbered and unpardoned sins; shall I, like them, cleave to this base life as my all for happiness, and not wait, and wish, and long for the day of my Master's glorious appearance? No, I will not abide in that low measure of faith, which only begets a hope that it may be well when the Lord comes, but knows not what it is to love the day of his appearance. My endeavour shall be to be "strong in faith," and "abounding in hope through the power of the Holy Ghost; always fruitful in good works," and "hastening unto the day of the Lord." Hold out, Faith! and come, Lord Jesus! Yet,

Fourthly. When I declare my belief, confidence, and hope, concerning the coming of Christ, I do therewith also express my purpose and determination to be daily making preparation for his coming. All my belief, confidence, and hope, regarding that day, I must needs look upon as delusion, unless the expectation thereof makes me both diligent and persevering in the work of the Lord. For assuredly I could neither believe, nor desire, nor have any interest in the day of the Lord, if the coming of that day did not in such manner abide upon my heart as to engage

me unto a continual preparation for it. But I know that the day of the Lord cometh, yea, that it cometh as a thief in the night, and therefore it is my desire to be always prepared, that whenever it cometh I may be found so doing as that my work may be ready. Like the foolish virgins, I would not go out to meet the bridegroom not having oil in my lamp, neither with those that were wise would I slumber and sleep, suffer my lamp to burn dimly, and to need trimming when the cry of the bridegroom's coming should reach me. It is my desire and purpose to live always as if I heard that solemn voice sounding continually in my ears, "Awake, ye dead, and come to judgment;" and, in this view, not barely to abstain from such things as would bring me to confusion of face before the judgment-seat of Christ, but as much as possible even from all such thoughts, cares, and studies, as would make me forgetful of the day of the Lord. On the contrary, I would be daily laying up treasures for that day. Every day would I be so meditating upon and have fixed on my heart the day of judgment, that my faith therein should be more lively, and my hope of it more ardent, and this my faith and hope kindle my love of Jesus and of his people into a brighter flame, to the consuming more and more all selfish, sensual, and earthly ends and mixtures; and to the producing such works of love, to him and them, as will be to the increase of praise and glory on that day. I would not have one day or hour go by, wherein the coming of the Lord should be forgotten; nor one thing brought forth that would not graciously be remembered when I shall stand before the judgment-seat of Christ. Every day and hour I would be doing something for judgment, whether by endeavouring after an inward increase of that faith which worketh by love, or by attempting something outwardly for the honour and interests of my Master, for the salvation and present happiness of others, for his sake. Wherever I had been, and whatever I had done, I would be able, on reflection, to trace the footsteps of this expectation to have been in my conduct; and, as I grew nearer to that day, I would have this expectation to become more strong, fruitful, and visible, in my every action. I would not grow weary nor faint, but endure unto the end in such works as are prepared for me to walk in, hastening still onward to

the day of the Lord. To this work I would encourage myself by repeated meditations on the glory of that illustrious day; and perpetually would I ask myself, Am I ready? Will this and this, O my soul! retard or promote thy readiness? Will this or this bring thee joy or shame at Christ's coming? Thus would I exercise myself in the belief and expectation of the day of the Lord; thus would I do, and be found doing when my summons is brought me by Death to appear before the Judge of quick and dead; and in the confidence of my Redeemer's merit, and of my interest therein, I would say to death, Welcome; and to the day of Christ, Come quickly.

What has been now set before you is the plain unquestionable meaning of the point under consideration. What shall we think, therefore, if, while we own with our mouths that Christ shall come from the right hand of God to judge the quick and the dead, we have neither confidence in nor hope of that day, and have not made nor are making any preparation for that? In such case, shall we say, or can we think, we have faith in this article? And O how much less may this be said, if we know in our consciences that we are absolutely unprepared for that awful day, and so, instead of having any confidence therein, are satisfied it would be our destruction, should it find us as we are, and therefore tremble at the thought of its coming? Alas, alas, my dear friends! how shall many of us appear before the judgment-seat of Christ? for what have we to appear in? Where is our faith in Jesus Christ? What fellowship is there between him and our souls ? Where are the works of faith, love to him and to his people? Have we none of these to show? No owning of Christ, no following his words, no renouncing the ways of men for his sake, no love of his people, no water to any because they are his? degree, such works as he will own? according to our works? But what if instead of owning Christ we have been opposing him; instead of loving his people we have been hating them for being so; instead of having any good works to show for ourselves, Christ will find an endless number of evil works to show against us? What can we think of it, if nothing shall appear to have been done by

giving so much as a cup of What! in no kind, in no And yet shall we receive can we think of it then,

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