as I was not fit to dwell among my fellow mortals. Reflect in time on this tremendous day of the Lord. For, "it will then be too late to "knock, when the door fhall be fhut, too late to cry for mercy, when it is the time of Juftice. O "terrible voice of moft juft judg mént, which fhall be pronounced 766 upon them, when it fhall be faid "unto them, Go ye curfed into the "fire everlasting, which is prepared for the Devil and his Angels.”+ How proper are thefe confideration's for you, who, by the unerring hand of Juflice, are placed within thefe walls for tranfgreffing the laws of your country; and who cannot but look forward to the general Asfize of all the World, while you reflect continually on your Tial be'fore an earthly Judge! But be not fo much afraid of them that kill the + Commination Service. body body, and after that have no more that they can do, as of that great and tremendous Being who, after he hath killed, hath power to caft into Hell. * In reflecting upon all the circumftances of the laft Judgment, as revealed in Scripture, we cannot but remark, that the Goodnefs of God is particularly confpicuous in the perfon, appointed to be our Judge. "God hath appointed a day, in which he will judge the world in righteoufnefs, by that man whom he hath ordained." Tho' Juftice, we may be affured, will be then ftrictly administered, yet the compaffionate father of mankind, we may be equally fure, will remember Mercy. But let not this amiable emanation of divine Goodness encourage any man in the practice of fin. "Shall we continue in fin, fays the Apostle, that Grace may M abound? Acts xvii. 31. abound? God forbid." The diftinctions between Almighty Juftice and Almighty mercy, are known only to the Sovereign Ruler of the Univerfe. As Chriftians, it is our duty to obey; and when we have, thro' the Infirmities of human nature, difobeyed, to repent, and to rely upon the promises of God, and the merits of our Saviour, for pardon and forgivenefs. That the hopes of mercy might induce men to forfake fin, the Gofpel informs us, that our Saviour fhall be our Judge. And what more could mortal man defire, than to fland at his bar, who has borne the nature and Infirmities of Mankind? Who, having been himself “ tempted, in all points, like as we are, can have compaffion on the ignorant, and on them that have been out of the way"? Too furely was he acquainted *Rom. vi. I. † Heb. iv. 15 acquainted with the wickednefs of men; he faw and wept over their fins; he felt the Iron enter into his Soul. Will he then judge us, as if we had been Angels? No: he will confider us as finful men, and accept a fincere repentance, inftead of a perfect obedience. Still further Encouragement has the penitent Sinner to look forward to the laft Judgment, when he confiders, that his Judge is the fame divine perfon, whofe Love for mankind brought him down from Heaven to redeem them. He it was that "bore our fins and carried our forrows"; that fuffered a thousand indignities, a thousand pains and troubles in the profecution of his benevolent office; that was crucified between two thieves. He too it was, that came to open the "blind Eyes, to bring out the prifoners from the M 2 * If. liii. 4. prifon, And prifon, and them that fit in darkness man, * If. xlii. 7. + Pf. xxxvii. 5. the |