sitteth on the throne, and from the wrath of the Lamb: for the great day of his wrath is come, and who shall be able to stand? The boldest sinners that ever were upon the earth, shall then flee from the face of him, whom they have so often blasphemed and denied; and shall so far despair of finding mercy with him in that day, that they shall address themselves to the mountains and rocks as being more exorable than he, to hide them from the face of him that sitteth on the throne, and from the wrath of the Lamb. From the wrath of the Lamb, to signify unto us, that nothing is more terrible than meekness and patience, when they are thoroughly provoked and turned into fury.

In such dreadful confusion shall all impenitent sinners be, when they shall be surprised by that great and terrible day of the Lord: and the case of a dying sinner, who would take no care in the time of his life and health to make preparation for another world, is not much more comfortable: for, alas! how little is it that a sick and dying man can do in the midst of so much pain and weakness of body, and of such confusion and amazement of mind! With what heart can he set about so great a work, for which there is so little time? With what face can he apply himself to God in this extremity, whom he hath so disdainfully neglected all the days of his life? And how can he have the confidence to hope that God will

hear his cries, and regard his tears, forced from him in this day of his necessity, when he is conscious to himself that in that long day of God's grace and patience, he turned a deaf ear to all his merciful invitations, and rejected the counsel of God against himself? In a word, how can he who would not know, in that his day, the things which belonged to his peace, expect any other but that they should now be for ever hid from his eyes, which are ready to be closed in utter darkness.

I will not pronounce any thing concerning the impossibility of a death-bed repentance: I am sure it is very difficult, and I believe very rare. We have but one example, that I know of, in the whole Bible, of the repentance of a dying sinner; I mean, that of the penitent thief upon the cross: and the circumstances of his case are so peculiar and extraordinary, that I cannot see that it affords any ground of hope to men in ordinary cases.

And the parable in the text is so far from giving any encouragement to a death-bed repentance and preparation, that it rather represents their case as desperate, who put off their preparation to that time. How ineffectual every thing proved that the foolish virgins could do, is set forth at large in the parable: they wanted oil, but could then neither borrow nor buy it. First they apply themselves to the wise virgins for a share in the overplus of

their graces and virtues; the foolish said unto the wise, Give us of your oil, for our lamps are gone out; but the wise answered, Not sa, lest there be not enough for us and you: go ye rather to them that sell, and buy for yourselves. And whilst they went to buy, the Bridegroom came; and they that were ready went in with him to the marriage, and the door was shut. And afterwards came also the other virgins, saying, Lord, Lord, open to us; but he answered and said, Verily I say unto you, I know you not.

You see how little, or rather no encouragement at all, there is in this parable, for those who have delayed their preparation for another world till they be overtaken by death or judg ment, to hope, by any thing that they can then do, by any importunity which they can then use, to gain admission into heaven. Let those consider this with fear and trembling, who forget God, and neglect religion all their lifetime, and yet feed themselves with vain hopes of being admitted into heaven at last. Our blessed Saviour, indeed, merited for us the reward of eternal life, upon the condition of faith, repentance, and obedience; but the infinite merit of his obedience and sufferings will be of no advantage to us, if we ourselves be not really and inherently righteous. So St. John tells us, Little children, let no man deceive you ; he that doeth righteousness is righteous.

Fourthly, I observe, that no man can do

more than is his duty to do by way of preparation for another world. For when the foolish virgins would have begged of the wise some oil for their lamps, the wise answered, Not so, lest there be not enough for us and you. It was only the foolish virgins, who, in the time of their extremity, and when they were conscious that they wanted what was absolutely necessary to qualify them for admission into heaven, had entertained this idle conceit, that there might be an overplus of grace and merit in others sufficient to supply their want But the wise knew of none they had to spare they supposed all that they had done, or cou possibly do, to be little enough to qualify the for the glorious reward of eternal life: and imp this point they had been plainly instructed the Bridegroom himself: But ye, when ye haveḥ done all, say, we are unprofitable servants, and have done nothing but what was our duty to do. ba

The inference from all this shall be the ap-u plication which our Saviour makes of this ou parable: Watch therefore, for ye know neither the day nor the hour wherein the Son of Manve cometh; as if he had said, the design of thist parable is to instruct us, that we ought to be s continually vigilant, and always upon our b guard, and in a constant readiness and pre-s paration to meet the Bridegroom, because we know not the time of his coming to judgment; nor yet, which will be of the same