DISC. air, coming in glorious majesty, to judge VI. the quick and dead.

And certainly, if any thing can lead men to repentance, and turn the hearts of the difobedient to the wisdom of that Just One, the wisdom which maketh wife unto falvation, through faith in Chrift Jesus, it must be the united confiderations of his mercy and his juftice: his infinite mercy during the day of grace, when all fins, that can be repented of, are forgiven unto men; his inexorable justice at the day of retribution, when he shall infallibly render unto every man according as his work shall be. And perhaps there is no better method of ftirring up our wills to procure an interest, or of discovering the intereft we already poffefs in the love of Chrift, than by viewing in their proper colours the terrors of his judgment, as they will fhew themselves to the astonished world at that awful hour of his fecond Advent; when the mask put upon falfe principles and evil actions shall drop off, and all things be estimated by the measures

measures of Christianity, and the standard DISC. of the Gospel of Jesus.

The words of the divine and well beloved John now read are, it is prefumed, not improper for this purpose, as they evidently fall in with the defign of our church at this season, and speak the fame language with her Advent fervices-" Behold, he "cometh with clouds, and every eye shall "fee him, and they also that pierced him; " and all the kindreds of the earth fhall "wail because of him. Even so, Amen.”

In these words we may obferve,

I. Chrift's Advent to judgment, with
the manner of it:

"cometh with clouds."

Behold, he

II. The circumftance of the world's
beholding him, and the effect it

VI.

pierced him; and all the kindreds "of the earth fhall wail because of

" him."

L 2

III. The

DISC.
VI.

III. The faith and hope of the church, difplayed by her wishing and praying for his manifeftation, notwithstanding all the terrors that are to attend it: "Even fo. Amen."

I. Then we are to confider Chrift's Advent to judgment. There is fomething wonderfully awful and affecting in the short description the text gives us of it. The beautiful manner, particularly, in which it is introduced, is worthy notice. St. John, having occafion to mention his dear Lord and Mafter, at whofe command he wrote this epiftle to the churches, fired and tranfported at the glorious name, runs on with amazing rapidity, enumerating the bleffings of the Redemption which is by him; and having carried him from his cross to his throne, and ascribed all glory to him fitting upon it, immediately he fees him in the clouds, and breaks forth in the words of the text. The whole paffage runs thus:

66

John to the feven churches which are " in Afia, Grace be unto you, and peace

" from

" from him which is, and which was, and DISC. "which is to come; and from the feven

fpirits which are before his throne; and "from Jefus Chrift, who is the faithful

witness, and the firft begotten from the "dead, and the prince of the kings of the

earth; unto him that loved us, and "washed us from our fins in his own "blood, and hath made us kings and

priefts unto God and his father; unto "him be glory and dominion for ever and "ever. Amen.-Behold, he cometh!" It is evident likewife, at firft fight, how well this fudden and abrupt introduction is calculated to awaken our attention to what follows. "The corruptible body, alas! preffeth down the foul that museth on "many things," and especially when it mufeth on the things of eternity. Multitudes lie afleep in their fins, amused with delufive dreams; dead to their true views and interests, as a corpfe fleeping in the dust is dead to the views and interefts of this life. Therefore the Holy Spirit, about to make proclamation of Chrift's fecond Advent,

VI.

DISC. first founds a trumpet in Sion, and an alarm VI. in the holy mountain, and ushers it in with

an emphatical-Behold! which, like the voice of that wakeful bird that gives the first notice of the approach of the morning, and as a prelude to the Archangel's trump, which is to give notice of the approach of the last morning that shall ever rife upon the world, is defigned to awaken a careless and indolent generation out of it's lethargy, importing the fame in this place, with those other frequent calls of the apoftles and prophets-" Awake, thou "that fleepest, and arife from the dead, " and Christ shall give thee light. Arife, «fhine, for thy light is coming, and the glory of the Lord is rifing upon thee."

"Behold, he cometh!" And is not this a fight most worthy of our attention? Is it not very meet, right and our bounden duty, that we should behold it? that we fhould open the eyes of our faith, which the bewitching cup of pleasure and vanity, mingled by a deceitful world for our deftruction,