obferv'd, undiscover'd in that Day of Ser. II. Tryal. There is nothing now fecret, that fball not then be made manifeft, neither any Luke viji. thing hid that fhall not be known, and come 17. abroad. For when the Day of the Lord cometh, be both will bring to Light the hidden things of Darkness, and will make mani- 1 Cor. iv, feft the Counfels of the Hearts. And now judge you, whether we ought not to be very ftrict in enquiring into our Duties, and very exact and impartial in the Examination of our felves; for you fee, that at that Day every thing will appear in its true and proper Colour. Our Excufes and Disguises will then, like Adam's FigLeaves, prove not the Concealments, but Evidences of our Shame and Nakedness; then fhall we behold and hear not only the Actions and Difcourfes of Men; but we fhall also see what was the secret Paffion, what was the hidden Luft, which did both produce and A&t and Move them. O ftrange Sight! When thro' the thin Varnifh of pretended Zeal, we shall be able to fee underneath Spiritual Pride, rafh Self-Conceit, Ambitious Malice, Black Difcontent, Sacrilegious Covetoufnefs, unruly Wantonnefs and Itch of changing. O unwelcome Sight! When the Paint of Formality and good Nature, and Civility being melted

1

by

Vol. II. by the Flames of that Day, there fhall appear as Engraven in Steel or Adamant, Spiritual Death, Hatred of GOD, Difrelifh of Heavenly things, Sottish Intemperance, more Sottish Vanity, and most Sottish Pride, and a Thousand other Sins, not the Offsprings, but the Ulcers and Impoftumations even of the Flesh. What a ftrange Sight will it be, when a bold and confident, but mistaken Confcience fhall be fhew'd, the private Luft, the fecret Sin, by which it fuffer'd it self to be betray'd into its Mischievous and Destructive Principles? Thefe and such like will be the Miraculous Discoveries of that last Day: And doth it not therefore behove us to be extreamly Diligent, to see that there be nothing of this kind in us, but what we have bewail'd and confefs'd? How much more eligible is it to make a plain Confeffion, an open Reftitution here in this World, than to undergo the Shame and the Eternal Mifery, that will otherwife attend our Hypocrify and Injustice in another? How much better is it for us to confefs and bemoan our Sins before the Throne of Grace, than to have 'em rise up in Judgment against us before the great Tribu nal of the Laft Day? Thus you fee what

Influence the Confideration of God's Ser. II, Omniscience ought to have upon us.

The next Attribute of GOD which calls for this Preparation e'er we can be fit to meet him, is his Holiness; for this is that, that enkindles his Anger to the extreameft Heat. If Righteous and Good Men be poffefs'd with an irreconcilable Hatred of Sin, and can't behold it without Indignation and Abhorrence; if the Conscience of a Sinner himself do reproach and lafh him for Sin, what Paffion think we must GOD have against it, and that in the Act of Judgment too, in the Day wherein he is to manifeft to Angels and Men, not only how Good and Merci-. full, but how Juft and Holy he is too? That GOD that can't reftrain himself from giving the World many and dreadfull Teftimonies of his Indignation against Sin, even here in this Life, which is the Day of Mercy, and the Acceptable Time, how will his Indignation burn like Fire in that Day, which is the Day of Judg ment, the Day of Juftice, the Day of Wrath? What is it then that thou doft hope for? What is it that the wretched Sinner can then relie upon? Can't thou hope that the Holy God will be reconciled to thy Sin? Thou may'ft as foon reconcile Light and Darkness, and make God

Vol. II. God and Belial, the Ark and Dagon dwell amicably together in the fame Temple. Or can't thou hope that God will be wrought upon at that Day by the Prayers and Tears, by the Groans and Shrieks of his as Miferable, as Sinfull Creatures? Time was indeed when these would have prevail'd with GOD; Time was when Tears and Prayers would have mov'd the Bowels of Divine Compaffion, and have turn'd the Anger of an Enemy into the Tenderness of a Father: But that Time will then be paft, thofe Days will then be fet in an hideous and implacable Night, which muft continue for ever. Does not this therefore loudly call for Preparation? Does it not befpeak the Neceffity of our Heb. iii.8. Repenting to Day, while it is called to Day? To Day if you will here his Voice, harden not your Hearts; for now is the Accepted time, now is the Day of Salvation.

2 Cor. vi.

The 3d. Attribute of GOD, which befpeaks our Preparation is his Power. Nothing can be more dreadful than Infinite Hatred, or Infinite Wrath, when it is Arm'd and furnish'd with Infinite Power. Contemptible are the Mightieft of Princes, Death it felf and all the Evils they can threaten are defpicable ScareCrows and Mockeries in comparison of

an

an Angry GOD. Hence is that Advice Ser. II. of our Saviour to his Difciples, Fear not them which kill the Body, but are not able to kill the Soul: But rather fear him who is able Matt.x 28. to destroy both Soul and Body in Hell. This is the Thought which ought to awaken us into the moft lively and ferious Concern for our Succefs that Day; for this leaves no Room for that vain Imagination, which is the only remaining Hope and Confidence of a Sinner, that after Death he can be no more. There is a fecret mixture of Infidelity, a conceal'd Opinion of the impoffibility of the Refurrection in all Men that die Impenitently, and one would think in all that live in a deliberate course of Sin. What Cafar gave as a Reafon in the Senate, why the Complices of Cataline fhould not be punished with Death, is the sense of the Souls of fuch Men generally Mortem Ærumnarum Requiem, non Cruciatum effe; eam cuncta Mortalium mala diffolvere, Sall. Bell. ultraneq; Cure,neq; Gaudio locum effe; that 165. Death is not the beginning of new Troubles, but the removal of the Old; that this puts an end to all the Miferies of Mortal Men, and that beyond it, there is neither Joy nor Hear. This is it that Sinners are all defirous to perfwade themfelves, that a Future State and confequently