30 THE DAY OF JUDGMENT. the Lamby."" "We shall surely die, because we have seen God"," they said of old; what will it be to see God, and wish to die, and not be able to die? to see Him, not in mercy, as He ever shewed Himself to men, but in wrath? to find that in all whom you have sinned against, you have sinned against Him; that in all you have despised, you have despised Him; that the evil which you have done to the least of His brethren, you have done to Him; that He, the sinner's only hope, and Who so long suspended the Father's sentence from you, is come to do vengeance on all the ungodly, who would "not obey the truth;" that they who obeyed not His sceptre, must be crushed by His rod ? It is very aweful to repeat these words; aweful to us, who know so little of it, aweful to us, who know them only as words, and know them not, (God grant, that we may never know them!) feel them not, see them not, as realities. What would they be when we see them? What to see the unveiled presence of God, Who" is a consuming fire," in His wrath? What to see Him, Who came to reveal the good tidings of the Gospel, as "the power of God unto salvation unto every one that believeth," when He shall come to reveal the full wrath of God upon them that believe not? The end then is briefly this," Fear God, and keep His Commandments, for this is the whole duty of man. For God shall bring every work into judgment, with every secret thing, whether good or whether bad." Be we all more watchful, what for the future shall be written in those books which shall be opened in that day, and from which our sentence shall be read. Be the young, of whom as yet little comparatively has there been written, especially heedful, what shall be there written; their pages are not yet filled up; let them keep themselves diligently through God's holy keeping, that not evil but good may be written of them there. And for us, the larger portion of whose account is already there, labour we the more, that what is already there against us, may be at the last blotted out; what yet remains, may be more according to His will. For all which y Rev. vi. 16. z Jud. xiv. 22. add vi. 22. Gen. xxxii. 30. Exod. xxiv. 11. xxxiii. 20. Deut. v. 22. Is. vi. 5. THE DAY OF JUDGMENT. 31 yet remains, be diligent; for all the past, repent; for all you must be brought to judgment, for all repent. Watch over all your acts, thoughts, deeds, as having to give account for all; repent day by day of " all the sins, negligences, and ignorances" of all your past lives; bring them all before Him, at least when you repeat His Son's own words, " Forgive us our trespasses;" pray Him for His Son's sake to forgive them all, to blot out all; do "works meet for repentance;" acts of restitution; acts of humiliation; acts of penitence, acts especially of self-denying charity, whereby Scripture saith, " iniquity is purged away":" and though you must see your sins once again read out of that book at the judgment-day, they will not be your condemnation. Pray Him with the penitent thief, to remember thee when He cometh in His kingdom, and not to remember thy sins; and He Who despiseth not the sighing of a contrite heart, nor the desire of them that be penitent, He will cause His face to shine on thee: not a single sigh for past sins escapes His ears; not a groan of the heart but is heard by Him; not a tear falls to the ground, but He putteth it in His bottle; not a breathing of the soul after His holiness; not a loathing of our own unholiness; not an act of selfabasement, or humbling ourselves for sin; not a yearning of the soul for a purity which it hath not, if it be but followed by action; not an act of mercy, done in hopes that we may "obtain mercy;" not an act of self-denial in token of our displeasure and selfcondemnation at our offences, but we shall find there; every fragment of our poor sorrow and service we shall find there, gathered and stored up, and nothing lost. We know not what they are, yet God doth, and giveth them a value which they have not, for His Son's sake; and He who gave us our godly sorrow, will then acknowledge it; He who gave thee thy humility, will then exalt thee; He who taught thee mercy, will be merciful unto thee; He who gave thee the mind to give to His poor members, whether it be the cup of cold water, or the two mites, if they be all thou hast, or to give abundantly out of abundance, He will own them as done unto Himself. He will once more blot out, and for ever, the handwriting against us, that our sins and iniquities be remembered no more; and our Judge Whom we have besought to help us, and in Whose name we sought for a Prov. xvi. 6. 32 THE DAY OF JUDGMENT. giveness, will acknowledge us, and say to us not merely "Go in peace, thy sins be forgiven thee," but "Thy sins be forgiven thee, enter thou into the joy of thy Lord;" and " so shall we ever be with the Lord," in the blessedness of heaven, which is above all thought, praising Him Who hath redeemed us, and hath cleansed us from our sins, and given us repentance, and saved us from Satan, and from ourselves, and from everlasting punishment. Only be zealous and repent, and "bring forth fruits meet for repentance," and pray God daily to forgive you, for His EverBlessed Son's sake. O God, the Protector of all that trust in Thee, without Whom nothing is strong, nothing is holy; increase and multiply upon us Thy mercy; that Thou being our Ruler and Guide, we may so pass through things temporal, that we finally lose not the things eternal: grant this, O heavenly Father, for Jesus Christ's sake our Lord. Amen. حن THE END, BAXTER, PRINTER, OXFORD. |