which will then be on fire, and which will eventually be

Those who are alive at the Apostle tells us, "will be

burnt up, the judgment will sit. second coming of Christ, the changed in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye." Those who are dead shall be awakened; "for the trumpet shall sound, and the dead shall be raised." The pious dead, as if most ready to obey the summons, will rise first. But not a child of Adam, of any age, clime, or country, shall be overlooked, or left behind. What a host!

"No spot on earth, but has supplied a grave,
And human skulls the spacious ocean pave,
All's full of man; and at this dreadful turn,

The swarm shall issue, and the hive shall burn."

It appears from scripture, that the righteous will be separated from the wicked, as soon as they rise.-From the commencement of the judgment they will be placed on the right hand of the Judge, and the wicked on the left. Angels, as well as men, we are expressly told, will then appear to be judged. The fallen angels are "reserved in chains of darkness, unto the judgment of the great day." They were the tempters of man to sin, and they are now to stand with him before the common Judge. This is one grand end and design. of the judgment day: that as, through the intervention of Christ, man has been redeemed and Satan defeated, so, when the work is accomplished, all concerned in this work, may be collected together, not only to witness the exaltation and triumph of Christ, but to contribute to it-his friends, by receiving his approbation and sharing his glory; his enemies, by receiving the sentence of their condemnation, and being consigned to merited and endless misery.

Another design of the judgment is to vindicate, and make known to all, the equity of the Divine dispensations, and the justice of the Divine procedure. Then all the mysteries of Providence, we have reason to believe, will be unfolded; and God will show that in all cases, he has acted with perfect justice, wisdom, faithfulness and truth; and all inequali

ties, as they now appear to us, will be explained and adjusted.

But another, and a great design of the judgment is, that from that time, the happiness of the righteous, and the misery of the wicked, may be greatly augmented. Both classes, we know, are made happy or miserable at death. But the Divine constitution is, that during the intermediate state, between death and the resurrection, they shall be less happy and less miserable, than after their souls and bodies are reunited. Hence the judgment day is represented as a great object of desire to the righteous, and of great apprehension and dread to the wicked.

As the righteous will rise first, so also they will be judged and acquitted first; because they are afterwards to be assessors with Christ, in passing sentence on devils and wicked men: That is, they will consent to his judgment as just, and say Amen, to the doom pronounced on the ungodly-" Know ye not, says the Apostle, that we shall judge angels." It is the opinion of some, to which I rather incline, that we are authorized from scripture to say, that there will be no mention made of the sins of the righteous, in the day of judgment; that, being blotted out by the blood of Christ, they will be cancelled, as though they had never been. There is no question that all their good deeds will be brought into view-not only those which have been publick, but all their most secret acts of benevolence, piety and love-and that they will be rewarded, according to their works. The reward will be all of grace, and yet proportioned to the attainments and exertions of each individual.

On the other hand, all the secret vices and wickedness of the ungodly, in all their blackness and deformity, will be exposed to the universe. The heathen who have sinned without law, shall be judged without law-judged only for the violation of that law which was written on their hearts, and legible by the light of nature. But "those who have sinned under the law, shall be judged by the law." Those who have

enjoyed and rejected the gospel, will perish with the most awful condemnation.

The reverses which the day of judgment will exhibit, will be both fearful and delightful. Many a proud warrior and conqueror, who has waded to empire and renown through rivers of blood; many a despot who has filled a throne, supported by the oppression of hapless millions; many a petty tyrant who has inflicted on helpless slaves, or other inferiors, unceasing misery and torment; many a wealthy miser, who has ground the faces of the poor, that he might add to his splendid hoards; many a talented infidel, whose writings have gained him fame on earth, while they have led thousands to perdition-many of all these characters will wish, in all the agony of despair, that theirs had been the lot of the meanest saint, or even that of ordinary sinners. On the other hand, thousands of those whom the great ones of this world have treated with scorn or pity; have looked down upon as mean and contemptible; have regarded as enthusiasts or fools; will appear to have been the excellent of the earth, the honoured servants and children of God while they lived, and those whom he will now delight to acknowledge, and to crown with unfading honours, in the view of the assembled universe-To these, and to all on his right hand, the Judge will say, "come ye blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world." To those on the left hand, the terrifick sentence will be"Depart from me, ye cursed, into everlasting fire prepared for the devil and his angels-And these shall go away into everlasting punishment, but the righteous into life eternal." In closing this lecture I remark

1. That the ascension and glorification of Christ, demonstrate that there is a local heaven-a place where his glorified body resides, where he is now the object of admiration and worship by angels and the spirits of just men made perfect, and to which all his saints will be gathered after the resurrection; when their former "vile bodies shall be fashioned like unto his glorious body, according to the working whereby he

1

is able even to subdue all things unto himself." We know not, and it is not necessary to know, in what region of the immensity of space this local heaven is placed. It is enough to know that it exists, and that we are permitted to aspire to an admission to it; and to become members of the general assembly and church of the first born, who shall there surround the Redeemer's throne, and behold his glory, in a beatifick vision, to all eternity.

2. Let us contemplate with holy wonder and delight, the state of our Redeemer's exaltation. God's ways are not our ways, nor his thoughts our thoughts. In all that he does he acts like himself-like a God. But in the work of redemption there appear to be things, more wonderful than in any of his other works.. It is not for us to say, whether we ought to be more astonished that God should condescend to unite his nature to ours, or to raise ours, by that union, to the height in which we contemplate it, in the exalted state of our Redeemer-a height, far beyond that of the tallest angel, or the brightest seraph, in the heavenly host.

"A thousand seraphs, strong and bright,

Stand round the glorious Deity;
But who amongst the sons of light
Pretends comparison with thee?

"Yet there is one of human frame,
Jesus, array'd in flesh and blood,
Thinks it no robbery to claim

A full equality with God.

"Their glory shines with equal beams,
Their essence is for ever one :

Though they are known by different names,
The Father God, and God the Son.

"Then let the name of Christ our King
With equal honours be ador'd;

His praise let ev'ry angel sing;

And all the nations own their Lord."

3. Let us often meditate on the judgment of the great day. Let us keep constantly in mind that for all we do, or say, or think, God will bring us into judgment: that then all

those actions of our lives which we may now most studiously and anxiously endeavour to conceal from the world, and to which we can hardly turn our own thoughts without shame and confusion; yea, that all the secret motives, and wishes, and desires of our souls, which have never eventuated in action-that all these will be disclosed to the universe, and that we must meet them, under the full blaze of heaven, at the tribunal of Christ. Oh! if the recollection of this truth were kept on our minds as it ought to be, it would have the most salutary influence on our whole conduct. Yes, my dear youth, and it would make you feel how important it is, that you immediately flee to the Lord Jesus Christ-that being pardoned through his blood, and clothed with his righteousness, you may escape the condemnation of his enemies, and receive the acquittal and reward of his friends, in the day when "he shall come to be glorified in his saints, and admired in all them that believe."

LECTURE XXVII.

How are we made partakers of the redemption purchased by Christ? How doth the Spirit apply to us the redemption purchased by Christ? What is effectual calling?

THE next subject of discourse is contained in the 29th answer of our catechism, and is thus expressed

"We are made partakers of the redemption, purchased by Christ, by the effectual application of it to us, by his Holy Spirit."

By redemption in this answer, we are to understand the whole of that salvation which is revealed and exhibited in the Gospel. This redemption is said to be purchased, because, having brought ourselves into a state of bondage and slavery, we could not be ransomed but at a great price. The Saviour himself declared, that he came "to give his life a ransom