calls in vain. She has no consolations for herself; and can

"Here," she coldly. and From nothing he sprang:

therefore administer none to him. sullenly cries, "is the end of man. to nothing he returns. All that remains of him is the dust, which here mingles with its native earth."

At this sullen moment of despair, Revelation approaches, and with a command at once awful and delightful, exclaims, Lazarus, come forth! In a moment the earth heaves, the tomb discloses, and a form, bright as the sun, and arrayed in immortality, rises from the earth; and, stretching its wings toward heaven, loses itself from the astonished sight.

3. These considerations teach us, to entertain the highest apprehensions concerning the future glory of the mind.

Of how little value, even in our own view, are these earthy, frail, perishable bodies! Yet what great and delightful things are to be done for them at the resurrection. What, then, must we suppose will be the future allotments of the mind, in its nature imperishable and eternal. The future glory of the body, as revealed in the Scriptures, outruns all the efforts of the human imagination. How exceedingly abundantly above all that we are able to ask, or think,' will the mind be exalted, adorned, and enraptured, by him, whose glory and delight it is to bless, and who has already enstamped it with his own image, loveliness, and beauty.

4. We learn from these considerations, the true way of providing for the welfare of our bodies.

The human frame is here shown to possess an incalculable value, in the distinction to which it is entitled beyond the grave. If, therefore, we love our bodies, and desire to preserve and cherish them, we shall with the most effectual care secure their revival to all that distinction, and the happiness with which it is connected. This is to be accomplished, not by adorning and pampering them here, in obedience to the calls of pride and luxury; but by seeking effectually the immortal life of those minds by which they are inhabited. The body necessarily follows the destination of the mind. He therefore who gains a title to endless life, makes complete provision for the welfare of the whole man. In the Christian system all good is united; our duty and our interest, the well being of the soul and

that of the body, the blessings of time and those of eternity. He therefore who neglects the life of the soul, casts away his present good; he who refuses to do his duty, squanders his all,

SERMON CLXVI.

THE REMOTER CONSEQUENCES OF DEATH.

THE FINAL JUDGMENT.

BUT THE DAY OF THE LORD WILL COME AS A THIEF IN THE NIGHT 2 PETER III. 10.

IN the three preceding Discourses I have considered Death; its immediate consequences; and the first of its remoter consequences; to wit, the resurrection. I shall now proceed to the consideration of another of these consequences; to wit, the General Judgment.

The day consecrated to this great transaction is in the text styled the day of the Lord.' The Christian Sabbath is, in the cxviiith Psalm, said to be the day which the Lord hath made;' and is called in the first chapter of the Apocalypse, 'the Lord's day.' On that day Christ arose from the dead, finished the work of redemption, and 'rested from his labours, as God did from his.' In honour of this wonderful event, Christ consecrated the first day of the week for ever to himself, as a season of public religious worship to all the nations of men. On this day, he has ever been peculiarly present with all his followers and commanded the blessing' to de

But the day mentioned in the text is his day, in a still higher and more solemn sense. It is selected from all the days of time, as the Sabbath from those of the week.

It is the final day; the period of this earthly system; the

dying day of this great world; on which its last groans will be heard, its knell sounded through the universe, and its obsequies celebrated with most awful pomp, and supreme as well as melancholy grandeur.

It is the day of universal judgment; on which the personal concerns of angels and of men will be brought to the last trial, before the Judge of the quick and dead, and irreversibly settled for eternity.

It is the day in which the mystery will be finished. All the wonderful and perplexing events of providence towards this world, will at this time be explained to the full conviction of the assembled universe; so that God will appear just when he judges, and clear when he condemns.' The secrets of the human heart, the mazes of providence, and the wonders of the Divine character, displayed in these events, will be unfolded in such a manner, as to stop every mouth, and murmur, for ever.

It is the day on which the catastrophe of this earthly system will arrive. The plot, immensely great and wonderful, comprising innumerable important scenes, and an endless variety of actors, will now be unravelled. The theatre is a world; the duration of the action is time; the actors are all the millions of the race of Adam; the subject is redemption; the hero is the Messiah; the end is the final triumph of virtue, and the irrevocable overthrow of sin. The catastrophe on this day will be completed and disclosed; and all the efforts, windings, and intricacies find their termination. "IT IS DONE," will be proclaimed by the divine herald to the universe; and the curtain will be drawn for ever.

It is the day on which Christ will be glorified. In this world he appeared as a man, humbled, persecuted, suffering, dying, nailed to the cross, and buried in the grave. Now he will descend from heaven with the glory of his Father;' and will come to be admired by all them that believe,' with wonder and reverence inexpressible. No more the babe of Bethlehem; no more a prisoner before a human judge; no more an expiring victim on the cross; no more a lifeless corpse in the sepulchre he will sit upon the throne of the universe, invested with the sceptre of infinite dominion. He will judge both angels and men, dispose of all nations at his pleasure, and open and shut both heaven and hell. Eternity to all be

:

ings will now be suspended on his nod; and life and death, which will know no end, will be conveyed by his voice. All beings will be as nothing before him;' and will be justly ' counted unto him as less than nothing and vanity.' He will speak, and it will be done; he will command, and it will stand for ever.

On this day he will glorify his justice in the sight of the Universe. He will show, beyond denial, to the consciences of impenitent beings, that their ruin was derived from themselves; that their sin is just as evil and odious, as he has declared it to be in the Scriptures; and that it is equitably punished with everlasting destruction from his presence, and the glory of his power.'

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On this day he will glorify his kindness in the deliverance of all his followers from guilt and perdition. His compassion to this ruined world, his overflowing mercy to them, who believed in him, chose him as their Saviour, and obeyed his voice, will now be manifested with supreme and eternal splendour. The universe will perceive that he chose them as his own, with perfect propriety; while they with astonishment and rapture will remember the love with which he loved them, and gave himself for them,' the tenderness with which he preserved them from temptations and enemies, the affection with which he still bears them on his heart, and the divine promises which, while they lived in the present world, conveyed to them immortal life, and are now to be fulfilled in a manner which no eye hath seen, and no mind conceived.

On this day he will glorify his omniscience. He will show that from the beginning he hath searched the hearts, and tried the reins, of all the children of men.' The sins which they have committed, the virtues which they have exercised, the motives by which they have been governed, and the rewards which will constitute an equitable retribution for their various conduct, he will set in the light of his countenance,' as objects intended to be clearly seen are by ourselves placed in the sun beams. It will then appear, that he knew all his works from the beginning;' and is that ocean of knowledge whence innumerable streams have flowed, and will for ever flow to his intelligent creatures.

On this day he will glorify his immutability. Now he will