at this voice the graves of the dead shall be opened, and every soul reunited to its own body; the dark pit of hell shall be shaken, when the dreadful soul shall leave its place of terror, and once more re-enter into its stinking carcass, to receive a greater condemnation, John v. 28, 29. The voice of Christ is a powerful and strong voice; "The dead shall hear his voice, and they shall come forth; they that have done good unto the resurrection of life, and they that have done evil to the resurrection of condemnation."

Thus much for the summons; you hear it given, and every man must appear. Death must now give back all that he has taken from the world. What a ghastly and shocking sight shall this be, to see all the graves open, and to see dead men arise out of their graves, and the scattered flying on the wings of the wind, till they meet together in one body, Ezek. xxxvii. 6: "The dry bones shall live." Behold, the power of God Almighty, out of the grave and the dust of the earth, from those chambers of death and darkness, shall arise the bodies of the buried, Rev. xx. 12, 13: "I saw the dead," says John, "small and great, stand before God; and the sea gave up the dead which were in it; and death and hell delivered up the dead that were in them; and they were judged every man according to his works." He that said to corruption, "Thou art my father, and to the worm, Thou art my、 mother and my sister," said also, " I know that my Redeemer liveth, and mine eyes shall behold him." O good God! how wonderful is thy power! Joel iii. 11, 12: “Assemble yourselves, and come, all ye heathen, to the valley of Jehoshaphat; for there will I sit to judge all the heathen round

about."

Thus have you an account of the dead being raised; they are all brought together, and now we must put them asunder; the sheep shall be put on the right hand, and the goats on the left hand. And now see the parties thus summoned, raised, gathered, and set apart. Is not here a world of men to be judged all in one day? All tongues, all nations and people of the earth, shall appear in one day. We shall then behold each son of Adam, and Adam shall then see all his posterity. Consider this, ye that are high and low, rich and poor, one with another; "for with God there is no respect of persons." Hark, O beggar! petitions are out of date, yet thou needest not fear, for thou shalt have justice done thee this day. All causes shall be heard, and thou, though ever so poor, and even despised in the world, must with the rest receive thy sentence. Hark, O farmer! now are the lives and leases together finished; this day, is the new harvest of the Judge, who "gathers his wheat into his garner, and burns

up his chaff with fire unquenchable:" no bribes, no prayers, no tears: but as thou hast done, so thou art sentenced. Hark, O landlord! where is thy purchase to thee and thy heirs for ever? This day makes an end of all: and unhappy were thy soul, if thou hadst not better land than a barren rock, to cover and shelter thee from the presence of the Judge. Hark, O captain! how vain is the hope of man to be saved by the multitude of a host. Thou hast commanded all the armies of the earth, and hell, yet canst thou not resist the power of heaven. Hark, the trumpet sounds, and the alarm summons thee; thou must appear. All must appear, the beggar, the farmer, the captain, the prince, and the greatest potentates of the world; nay, all shall receive their reward according to their deserts.

(2.) This is for terror to the wicked; every man must appear. O that every man would but think of it! Would you know the man that shall at this day be blessed? It is he that thinks on this day, and prepares for it. O then, I beseech you, meditate every day, that you and every man must one day appear before the Judge of the quick and dead, and receive according to your works.

And now, having brought the prisoners to their trial, I must tell you how this trial must be; for your works: faith justifies, but it is by works we are judged. Mistake me not, he shall be judged according to his works, as being the best witness of his inward righteousness. But, the better to acquaint you with this trial, we come to consider,

1. How all men's works shall be manifested to us. 2. How all men's works shall be examined by God.

1. Of the manifestation of every man's works: Rev. xx. 12: "I saw the dead, small and great," says John, "stand before God: and the books were opened; and another book was opened, which is the book of life: and the dead were judged out of those things which were written in the books, according to their works." Remember this, O forgetful sinner, thou mayest commit sin after sin, and multiply your sins, but be sure God keeps a just account, and none of your sins, though ever so secret, shall be forgotten. There is a book of God's memory; it is called a book of remembrance, Mal. iii. 16: "A book of remembrance was written before Him, for them that feared the Lord, and called upon his name." This is that which manifests all secrets; this is that which reveals all doings, whether good or evil. In these records are found at large Abel's sacrifice and Cain's murder, Absalom's rebellion and David's devotion, the Jews' cruelty and the prophets' innocence. Nothing shall be hid when this book is opened, for all may run and read it, "God will bring every work into judgment, with every secret thing, whether it be good, or whether it be evil," Eccles. xii. 14. Wail, ye wicked, and tremble in astonishment. Now your closet sins must be disclosed, and your private faults laid open.

Imprimis, For adultery, envy, blasphemy, drunkenness, oaths, violence, murder, sabbath-breaking, lying, and every other sin from the beginning to the end, from your birth to your death, the total sum is eternal death and damnation. But there is another book, that shall give a more fearful evidence than the former, [written by] the secretary in the soul of man: no man can commit a sin, but the soul is privy to the fact, and will write it in this book. What a woful case will thy poor heart then be in! with what a strong trembling of terror must it then stand possessed, when this book shall be opened, and thy sins revealed? This book is now, perhaps, shut up and sealed: but in the day of judgment it shall be opened, and what will be the evidence that will be brought in? There is a private session to be held in the breast of every sinner; the memory is the record, truth is the law, damnation is the judgment, hell is the prison, devils are the jailers, and conscience both the witness and the judge to pass sentence upon thee. What hopes can he have at the general assize, whose conscience has condemned him before he appears? Consider this, O thou impenitent sinner!

But yet there is another book we read of, and that is "the book of life," in which are written all the names of God's elect, from the beginning to the end of the world. This is the precious book of heaven, in which, if we be registered, not all the powers of darkness, death, or devils, can blot us out again.. Therefore, to make some useful application,

1st, Consider now, O sinner, what books one day must be set before thee. The time will come, when every word of thy mouth, every glance of thine eye, every moment of thy time, every sermon thou hast heard, every thing thou hast left undone, all shall be seen, and laid open before men, angels, and devils; thou shalt then and there be horribly and everlastingly ashamed. Never go about then to commit sin, though ever so secretly, though at midnight, and all the doors locked about thee, yet at this great day it shall be brought to light.

2dly, As you intend the good of your souls, amend your lives, call yourselves to an account, while it is called to-day; search and examine all your thoughts, words, and deeds; prostrate yourselves before God, with broken and bleeding affections; pray that your name may be written in the book of life; and if you do so, God is not unrighteous to forget your labour of love, and all your good works: for at that great day, the book shall be opened, our works manifested,

and, as we have done, so we must be rewarded; for then shall he "reward every man according to his works." But a little to recall ourselves:

The prisoners are tried, the verdict brought in, the indictments are found, and the Judge now sits upon life and death, ever ready with sparkling eyes to pronounce the sentence. The Lord grant, that, when this day comes, the sentence may be for us, and we be saved, to our everlasting comfort. O now hold up your heads, all ye "saints of the most high God," for this shall be a blessed day for you; for then shall ye hear the sweet heavenly voice of Christ, saying, "Come, ye blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for, you." I cannot express what joy it will be to the righteous, when they shall hear Christ say, Come, ye blessed soul, who hath been bathed in repenting tears. Here is a sentence able to revive the dead, much more the afflicted. Are you sorrowing for your sins, leave it awhile, and meditate with me on this ensuing melody. Hark! yonder is the choir of angels sounding to the Judge, while he is pronouncing thy sentence. Now is the day of your coronation; now shall ye be made perfectly happy, and that for ever. Come, saith Christ, you that have suffered for me, now you shall have your reward; you shall have your souls filled to the brim with joy, such as is " unspeakable, and full of glory."

But I must return to the left hand, and show another crew, prepared for another sentence. And O what a terrible sentence will that be, which will make all ears glow and tingle! "His lips," says the prophet, "are full of indignation, and his tongue like a consuming fire," Isa. xxx. 27. What fire is so hot as that fiery sentence, Matth. xxv. 41: "Depart from me, ye cursed, into everlasting fire, prepared for the devil and his angels."

1. They must depart. This seems nothing to the wicked: Now, they are content to be gone; they have much more delight in sin, than in God's service. But whither must they go? "From me." If from me, then from all my mercies, my glory, and my salvation. But whither, O Lord, shall the cursed go, that depart from thee? Into what haven shall they arrive? What master shall they serve? It is thought a great punishment to be banished from our native soils? What, then, is it to be banished from the almighty God? But whither must they go? " Into everlasting fire." O what bed is this? no feathers but fire, no friends but furies, no ease but fetters, no day-light but darkness, no clocks to pass away the time, but endless eternity, fire eternal, always burning, and never dying. O who can endure everlasting flame? "it shall not be quenched night nor day; the smoke of their torment shall ascend for ever and ever." The wicked shall

be crowded together, like bricks in a fiery furnace. But for whom was this fire prepared? For the devil and his angels. These must be your companions. The last sentence is now pronounced. What! Go, (Who?) ye cursed, into everlasting fire, to crews of devils. O take heed, that you live in the fear of God, lest that, leaving his service, he give you this reward, " Depart from me, ye cursed, into everlasting fire, prepared for the devil and his angels."

2. Consider, then, what fearful trembling will seize on your souls, that have their sentence for eternal flames: 0 which way will they turn? How will they escape the Almighty's wrath? To go backward is impossible, to go forward is intolerable. Whose help will they crave? God is their Judge, heaven their foe; the saints deride them, angels hate them. Good Lord, what a world of miseries hath seized on miserable souls. Their executioners are devils, the dungeon hell; the earth stands open, and the furnace burning, ready to receive you. O how will these poor souls quake and tremble! Every part of their body will bear a part in their doleful ditty; eyes weeping, hands wringing, breasts beating, hearts aching, with voices crying. Now, O man of the earth, what shall thy wealth avail thee? one drop of water, to cool thy tongue in the flames, is worth more than all the pleasures of the world.

Thus you have heard the sentence of the just and wicked; and the Judge is risen from his glorious seat. The saints guard him along, and the sentenced prisoners are delivered to the jailers; shrieks of horror shall be heard. What woes and lamentations shall be uttered, when devils and reprobates, and all the damned crew of hell, shall be driven into hell, never to return. Down they go howling, shrieking, and gnashing their teeth: the world leaves them, the earth forsakes them, hell entertains them; there they must live, and yet not live nor die; but dying live, and living die.

O miserable must those be, if the drowning of the world, the swallowing up of Korah, and the burning of Sodom with brimstone, were attended with such terror and hideous outcries; how infinitely, to all possibility of conceit, and trembling of that red fiery day; in a word, what wailing, weeping, roaring, and yelling, filling both heaven, earth, and hell! O most miserable wretches, Matth. xxii. 13: "Take them away, and cast them into utter darkness: there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth." A darkness, indeed! They must for ever be debarred from the light of heaven. Sunshine never peeps within these walls, nothing is there but smoke and darkness; and such is the portion of sinners, and the reward of the wicked.