but there are many ways out of it. Some die a painful and others and easy death. Some there are who are called very suddenly into the eternal world. O, my dear young friends, how very important and necessary it is to be prepar ed to die. In the bill of mortality for London 18029196 children died under the of ten years, and in 1803-8222 under ten years of age. age "Dangers stand thick through all the ground, And fierce diseases wait around, Thus, we find, that "it is appointed unto all once to die, but after this the judgment-For the trumpet shall sound, and the dead shall be raised incorruptible-And I saw the dead, small and great, stand before God." By these words, we find that not only the hour of death, but secondly, the day of judgment is mentioned in the words of the text. From the 10th verse to the end of the chapter, we have a brief, but particular account of the proceedings of the day of judgment, that great that awful day, for which all other days were made. That there will be a day of judgment is plain, from the words of the text. This is not the only part of the word of God where the day of judg ment is mentioned; I could tell you of many others, but two or three will be sufficient. "For God will bring every work into judgmen whether it be good or whether it be evil-Even a child is known by his doings, whether his work be pure and whether it be right-For we shall all stand before the judgment seat of Christ." Yes, my young friends, the great day of his wrath will come when Jesus shall be revealed from Heaven in flaming fire, taking vengeance on them that know not God, and that obey not his gospel. If there is to be no day of judgment; if there is no account to be given, no reckoning to be made, no tribunal before which you are to be brought, why are you afraid to die? why hide your sins, as if you were ashamed of them? why tell so many stories to cover your faults and thus endeavour to escape punishment? why are you afraid of the anger of God? your own conscience condemns your conduct: your sins will certainly find you out: It is conscience that reminds you of a judgment to come: It was conscience that made Felix tremble, when Paul reasoned of righteousness, temperance, and a judgment to come. Why did the knees of Belshazzar smite one against the other, when he saw the hand writing on the wall, and was told by Daniel that he was weighed in the balance, and found wanting? It is conscience that approves of that which is right, and disapproves of that which is wrong. That silent monitor is placed by God in every bosom; attend to the voice of conscience; despise not the advice of conscience, and never act contrary to your conscience. Did not God judge the wickedness of man in the days of Noah, and the wicked were swept away by a flood of water? Did not God judge Sodom and Gomorrah when he poured out fire and brimstone, and destroyed the wicked people and children that were there? If God has punished some for their wickedness, you may depend on it, that he intends to punish all. Jesus Christ is appointed by God the Father, to be the Judge of the world, at the last day. He will appear in his own glory, in the glory of his Father and of his holy angels; "Every eye shall see him, and they also which pierced himthe wicked shall weep and wail because of him." A good man who had served God for thirty years, had five sons and two daughters, who, in spite of all his advice, all his prayers and tears, were very wicked children. In January 1809, he dreamt that the day of judgment was come; he saw the Judge on his great white throne; the holy angels sat around him, and all nations were gathered before him. He and his wife were standing on the right hand of the Judge, but he could not see any of his children: I cannot bear this, he said, I must go and seek them : : so he went to the left hand and found them all seven, standing together, tearing their hair and beating their breasts and cursing the day that ever they were born: as soon as they saw him they caught hold of him and said, O father, we will part no more: he said, my dear children, I am come to try, if possible, to get you out of this dismal situation: he took them all with him; but when he was come within bow shot of the Judge, he thought he cast an angry look at him and said, what do thy chil dren with thee now? they would not take thy warning when on earth, they shall not share the crown with thee now-depart ye cursed. At these words he awoke, bathed with sweat and tears. He related his dream one sunday evening, the effect of it was, that five were converted to God, and the other two were afterwards brought to acknowledge the truth, in answer to prayer. Thirdly. We find by the words of the text, who those are that will be judged-the small and the great children as well as those who are grown up, must stand before God: the young and the old. There you must stand and give an account of all your bad actions, of all your evil thoughts and idle words. For you must give an account of all the deeds done in the body, both good and bad; even the secrets of your hearts will be made known, and for every idle word you must give account to God. Awful thought! How many bad, wicked, sinful words have you spoken. "And must the crimes that you have done, Be all exposed before the sun, But, says a little girl, why must we stand be fore God? what will he say to us? what actions shall we have to give an account of? Lying, sabbath-breaking, disobedience to parents, wasting your time in idleness and mischief, and many more that I cannot now name. Some children are very sly, but these sly children do a great deal of mischief: some are very bold in sin; but at that day they will be ashamed. Your secret sins which have been committed in the black and dark nights will be exposed. There are many sins which you have commited that are only known to God and yourselves. How many stories have you told, and then said that you were only in sport; it was only a joke; you did not mean what you said: many things you have said, yet it would have been far better for you to have been born dumb, than to have uttered such filthy words, and taken the name of the Lord in vain for you must answer for your cursing and swearing. Let those who laugh and mock at serious things, take care, for they must give an account of what they say: there will be many witnesses against you, so that you will not be able to make any excuse: your parents must be against you; I must be a witness against you at that day, if you do not repent and seek for the pardon of your sins, before you die angels will witness against you; all i : |