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SERMON X.

The Manner and the Circumftances of the Day of Judgment.

Preach'd before Queen Anne, 1710.

ACTS xvii. 31.

He hath appointed a Day in which he will judge the World in Righteousness, by that Man, whom he hath ordained.

Design of them, as you may eafily perceive, was to convince the Athenians of the Neceffity of leaving their Idolatry and their vicious Converfation, and to perfuade them to a hearty Return to God, by a ferious Repentance and Faith in the Gofpel; and that from this Confideration, that God had appointed a Time in which he would call all Men to account

account for their Actions paft, reward the Good with everlasting Happiness, and punish the Wicked and Unbelievers with endlefs Torments.

And certainly there is no other Argument in the World fo effectual for the perfuading Men to quit their ungodly Courses, and to betake themselves to a ferious, devout, religious Life, as this of the general Judgment, which fhall come upon all Men at the End of the World. The other Arguments for Repentance, drawn from the Goodness of God, and the infinite Kindness of our Lord Jefus, in laying down his Life for us, and the Folly and Unreasonableness of all Sin in itself, and the ill Confequences that it brings upon us in this World: I fay, these, and fuch like, tho' they are very ftrong in themfelves, yet, God knows, thro' the horrible Corruption of human Nature, they have often no Effect upon us: Such Slaves we are to our Lufts, that for the Love of them we can make a shift to break through all thefe Confiderations. But now, when a future Judgment and the Terrors of Damnation are laid before us, and preffed upon us, thefe do come fo close to our dearly beloved Principle of Self-prefervation, and fo ftrongly work upon our Paffions of Fear and Hope, which do moft influence us, that, if they be seriously believed and confidered, it is impoffible for human Nature.

to

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Cor. 5. to refift them. Knowing the Terrors of the Lord we perfuade Men. So faith St. Paul, in another Place, intimating, that if these do not perfuade Men, nothing else can. These are the laft Remedies to be applied to Mens Minds; and if they be unsuccessful, their Cafe is defperate.

The Point therefore that I now mean to fpeak to, is the Manner and Circumstances of Chrift's coming to judge the World, and the Proceedings of that Judgment, and the Confequences that will follow upon thofe Proceedings.

Now feveral very confiderable Things our Lord Jefus Chrift and his Apostles have discovered to us in this Matter, which are to be found interfperfed in the Speeches of our Lord recorded in the Gofpels, and in the Epiftles of St. Paul and St. Peter, and the Revelations of St. John. Thefe Paffages therefore it fhall now be my Business to collect into one View, and to reduce them under their diftinct Heads, and to make fuch Reflections upon them as every Particular leads me to.

1. The first Thing I take notice of, as to the Manner and Circumftances of the Day of Judgment, which the Scriptures give us an Account of, is this, that it fhall come upon the World fuddenly and un2 Pet.3.10.expectedly: Thus St. Peter, The Day of the Lord will come as a Thief in the Night,

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Luke 17.

viz. without any previous Notice. It will furprize the World, when they think not of it, when they leaft expect it. And our Lord, fpeaking of that Day, acquaints us, that as a Snare it shall come upon all them Luke 21. that dwell upon the Face of the whole Earth. And in another Place he tells us, that as it was in the Days of Noah, fo fhould it be 26,27,28, alfo in the Day of the Son of Man. They 29, 30. ate, they drank, they married, they were given in Marriage, until the Day that Noah entred into the Ark, and the Flood came and deftroyed them all. Likewife alfo as it was in the Days of Lot, they did eat, and drink, they bought and fold, they planted and builded; but the fame Day that Lot went out of Sodom, it rained Fire and Brimftone out of Heaven and deftroyed them all; even thus fball it be in the Day when the Son of Man

is revealed.

Tho' in fome of these Expreffions our Saviour may seem to have Respect to his unexpected coming to deftroy Jerufalem, yet the Words are not to be confined to that, as appears from the parallel Paffage in St. Matthew; but do mainly and principally relate to his coming to the general Judgment: Of which his Judgment upon Jerufalem was both a Forerunner, and alfo a folemn Figure and Representation. And that is the Reason why our Saviour doth fo often mix his Difcourfes of both these together.

Now

Now this fudden and unexpected Approach of the Day of Judgment, how ought it to affect our Hearts! how ought it to oblige us not to be taken unprovided at that Day! How will it aftonish and conMatt. 25. found us, if the Bridegroom should come, and we, like the foolish Virgins, are faft afleep without Oil in our Lamps.

3.5.

Oh what Amazement, what Horror will feize us, when, in the midft of our Divertisements and Pleafures, or in the full Tide of our fecular Business, when our Heads are full of other Defigns, when we are promifing to ourselves many fair Years of Happiness, and thinking that all will go well with us, all of a fudden to see the World falling in pieces about us, and ready to be buried in its own Ruins, and to hear the dreadful Trumpet fummoning us to appear before our Judge to give an Account of all our Actions. Oh! it was a dreadful Word that was spoken to the rich Man in the Gospel, who, pleafing himself with the Happinefs of his prefent CondiLuke 12. tion, faid to himfelf, Soul, thou hast much

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Goods laid up for many Years, take thine Eafe, eat, drink, and be merry. But, saith God to him, thou Fool, this Night fhall thy Soul be required of thee. Surely great was the Horror, and bitter was the Agony that the Man was in when he heard this. But, alas! thus fhall it happen to the greatest Part of the World at that Day. Let us

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