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who are these? The Judge himself, who intimately knows all hearts, will be a witness against the transgressors. "I will come near to you to judgment; and I will be a swift witness against the sorcerers and against the adulterers, and against false swearers, and against those that oppress the hireling in his wages, the widow, and the fatherless, and that turn aside the stranger from his right, and that fear not me, saith the LORD of hosts." The judge will also be a witness for his people, by bearing testimony to their sincere piety, to their cordial acceptance of salvation through himself as their Redeemer, and to the holy dispositions that have been produced in their souls by the Holy Spirit. Angels will likewise be witnesses in the judgment, who had been sent forth to minister to the heirs of salvation, and who had inspected the affairs and conduct of men. And devils, moreover, who once tempted men to sin, will now become witnesses and accusers. Conscience will also become a witness. It is now often seared; but then it will bear a faithful testimony to every thing the sinner has done. Besides this, men will also be witnesses one against another. Ministers must bear witness against those who have rejected the Gospel, which they have faithfully dispensed to them, so as to be pure from their blood. And the people, in many cases, will testify against their ministers for " prophesying to them smooth things, and saying, Peace, peace, when God says there is no peace.' Parents will witness against their children, and children against their parents.—

Those who have been friends and companions in sin, will then be constrained to appear one against another as evidences; and oh! what confounding testimonies will be produced in that day, when God shall judge the secrets of men by Jesus Christ, and make manifest the counsel of all hearts.-Now, dear friends and fellow sinners, allow me to ask, what will you be able to plead, against all these witnesses, why sentence should not be passed against you? There is one way, and only one, by which you may escape condemnation in that day, if you do not neglect the more than golden opportunity now in your power. Accuse yourselves unto God in an humble and penitent acknowledgment of your sins. Say as much against yourselves now, as Satan, your own consciences, or any of your accusers can say in the last day. Fly for refuge to Jesus Christ as your Saviour, before you stand at his tribunal as your judge. Thus you may challenge all accusers, and depend on the divine promise for your assurance of acquittal in the great day." If we judge ourselves, we shall not be judged."

(4.) It only remains that we notice the sentences that will be pronounced on the acquitted and the condemned.

At the right hand of the judge stand the glorious company of the redeeemed all the elect people of God. Every charge against them has been overruled, and the judge, as their Saviour, has acknowledged them as his own. Their plea that they trusted in him for salvation, has been ratified and confirmed.

Their iniquities having been laid on Jesus, and their sins washed away in the fountain of his blood," all the transgressions that they have committed, they shall not be mentioned unto them."

Clothed with the robes of Christ's righteousness from the period of their justification, they are invested with a title to the glory and happiness of heaven. They are addressed therefore by their Saviour and Judge, "Come, ye blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world." But who can conceive the delight and joy with which the redeemed and sanctified of the Lord will hear these emphatic words. They hoped and longed for the immediate presence of their God and Saviour, and now they are called to come and dwell with him for ever. They desired

the blessing of God above all things;-they dreaded nothing so much as his curse; and now they are addressed as the everlastingly "blessed of the Father." They often felt their spiritual poverty, and their unworthiness of the least of God's mercies; but now they are called to inherit a kingdom-a kingdom prepared for them when their existence found a place only in the divine fore-knowledge. And here. let it be observed on what account this gracious sentence is passed. It is neither for their faith, nor for their works. The kingdom they are called to possess was prepared for them, by God's mercy and grace, before the foundation of the world. They are called to inherit it as the children of God, and not to receive it as a reward for their services. They were predes

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tinated, called, justified and glorified, according to the everlasting purpose of God. Their redemption

by the blood of Christ, and their justification by his righteousness, is the sole ground and cause of the gracious sentence. But the redeemed being qualified for the enjoyment of heaven by the sanctification of the Holy Spirit, they are often said to be judged and rewarded according to their works. Therefore it is added to the sentence pronounced upon the righteous, "For I was an hungered, and ye gave me meat: I was thirsty, and ye gave me drink: I was a stranger, and ye took me in: naked, and ye clothed me: I was sick, and ye visited me: I was in prison, and ye came unto me." But this conduct of the righteous does not denote the ground, but the evidence, of their right and title to heaven. It shews how that grace, which prepares for glory, operates in the hearts of its possessors. It exhibits to us the connexion between glory and good works-that is, works evangelically good, and performed out of faith and love to Jesus Christ. And believers will not only be judged according to these works, in opposition to the works of the wicked and unregenerate; but as far as grace has had opportunities and occasion of action in the present world, so far, may it probably be said, the people of God will receive rewards in proportion to their works. Hence the apostle John says, Look to yourselves, that we lose not the things which we have wrought, but that we receive a full reward." The more we are enabled by grace to do for God, the more will our hearts be filled with joy and

ye see the Son of man sitting on the right hand of power, and coming in the clouds of heaven." On account of this declaration, the Redeemer of man was immediately condemned as a blasphemer. But God, having raised him from the dead, has given an undeniable proof of the truth of his assertion. "To this end," says the apostle, "Christ both died, and rose, and revived, that he might be Lord both of the dead and living. For we shall all stand before the judgment seat of Christ." Enough has been said, it is presumed, to prove the certainty of the general judgment, and to convince you, my brethren, that God hath indeed appointed a day in the which he will judge the world in righteousness. Let us proceed, in the second place, to consider

II. The character of the judge, and the manner of his appearance.

Who is the judge?

Jesus Christ.

God

The

This is no other than the Lord will judge the world in righteousness by that man whom he hath ordained,”—by Jesus, the Son of God, and the Son of man. The Psalmist assures us, that God is judge himself. holy and glorious Trinity, Father, Son, and Holy Ghost, is judge in regard to judicial authority, dominion, and power. But the Son incarnate is judge in regard to dispensation, commission, and the exercise of that power. The judgment will be executed by him, because "unto him the Father hath committed all judgment." This is part of that exaltation given to him in consequence of his voluntary humiliation for the salvation of men. Because Jesus,

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