on earth, are now become their only retreat and shelter; but it is a very vain and hopeless one.

"When I see such awful appearances in nature, huge and lofty rocks hanging over my head, and at every step of my approach, they seem to nod upon me with overwhelming ruin when my curiosity searches far into their hollow clefts, their dark and deep caverns of solitude and desolation, methinks while I stand amongst them, I can hardly think myself in safety, and at best, they give a sort of solemn and dreadful delight: Let me improve the scene to religious purposes, and raise a divine meditation. Am I one of those wretches, who shall call to these huge impending rocks to fall upon me? Am I that guilty and miserable creature who shall entreat these mountains to cover me from him that sits on the throne, and the Lamb? Am I prepared to meet the countenance of the blessed Jesus, the judge in that day? Have I such an acquaintance with the Lamb of God, who takes away the sins of the world, such a holy faith in his mediation, such a sincere love to him, and such an unfeigned repentance of all my sins, that I can look upon him as my friend and my refuge, and a friend infinitely better than rocks and mountains, for he not only screens me from the divine anger, but introduces me into the Father's love, and places me in his blissful presence for ever?

V. "What hideous and everlasting mischief is contained in the nature of sin, especially sin against the gospel of Christ, against the methods of grace and the offers of salvation, which exposes creatures to such extreme distress? The fairest and the most flattering iniquity, what beautiful colours soever it may put on in the hour of temptation, yet it carries all this hidden mischief and terror in the bosom of it, for it frights the creature from the sight of his Creator, and his Saviour, and makes him fly to every váin refuge. Adam and Eve the parents of our race, when they lost their innocence and became criminals, fled from the presence of God whom they conversed with before in holy friendship. Gen. iii. 8. They hid themselves among the trees of paradise, and the thickest shadows of the garden; but the eye and the voice of God reached them there: The curse found them out, though that was a curse allayed with the promised blessing of a Saviour. Guilt will work in the conscience, and tell us that God is angry, and the next thought is, "Where shall I hide myself from an angry God?" But when the mercy of God has taught us where we may hide ourselves, even under the shadow of the cross of his Son, and we refuse to make him our refuge, there remains nothing but a final horror of soul, and a hopeless address to rocks and mountains to hide us from an offended God and a provoked Saviour.

"Whensoever, Oh my soul, thou shalt find or feel some flat

tering iniquity alluring thy senses, making court to thy heart, and ready to gain upon thy inward wishes, remember the distress and terror of heart that sinners must undergo in the great and terrible day of the Lord. Think of the rocks and mountains which they vainly call upon to befriend them, to shield them from the vengeance of that almighty arm which is provoked by sin to make his creatures miserable. Remember, O my soul, and fear; remember and resist the vile temptation, and stand afar off from that practice which will make thee afraid to see the face of God."

VI. "Of what infinite importance is it then to sinners to gain an humble acquaintance and friendship with the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world, that we may be able with comfort, to behold the face of him that sits on the throne in that day." Which of us can say, "I am not a sinner, I am not guilty before God?" And which of us then has the courage and har diness to declare, "I have no need of a Saviour?". And is there any one amongst us who hath not yet fled for refuge to Jesus our only and sufficient hope? There is a protection provided against a provoked God, but there is none against a neglected and abused Saviour: I mean where this neglect and abuse is final and unrepented. "Oh, how solicitous should every soul be in a matter of this divine moment, this everlasting importance! What words of compassion shall we use, what words of awakening terror, to put sinners in mind of their extreme danger, if they neglect the only security which the gospel has appointed? What language of fear and importunity shall we make use of to hasten you, Oh sinners, to the acquaintance, the faith and the love of Jesus the Saviour, that you may behold his face and the face of the Father with serenity and joy in the last day? Give yourselves up to him then without further delay, as your teacher, your high-priest, your reconciler, your Lord and king. His bles sed offices are the only chambers of protection, when God shall arise to burn the world, and to avenge himself on his enemies that will not be reconciled."

VII. Let us take occasion from my text also, to meditate on the "happy circumstances of true christians in that day of terror:" Behold the Judge appears, he cometh in the clouds surrounded with armies of avenging angels, the ministers of his indignation; he rideth on a chariot of flaming fire; the earth, with all its mountains, melt like wax at the presence of the Lord, the fields and the forests become one spacious blaze, the sea grows dry and forsakes it shores, and rivers flee away at his lightning; the rocks are broken and shivered at the appearance of his majesty, the tombs are thrown open, and with terrible dismay shall the graves give up their dead; the pyramids of brick and stone moulder and sink into dust, the sepulchres of brass

and marble yield up their royal prisoners, and all the captives of death awake and start into life, at the voice of the Son of God. Amidst all these scenes of surprise and horror, with how serene a countenance, and how peaceful a soul do the saints awake from their beds of earth? Calm and serene among all these confusions, they arise from their long slumber and go to meet their returning Saviour and their friend. They have seen him in the glass of his gospel, submitted to his laws and rejoiced in his grace, and they now delight to see him face to face in his glory. They have seen him vested with his commission of mercy, they have heard and received his message of goodness and love, and they cannot but rejoice to see him coming to fulfil his last promises. They have chearfully subjected themselves to his government bere on earth, they have followed him in paths of holiness through the wilderness of this world, and what remains but that they be publicly acknowledged by Jesus the Judge of all, and follow him up to the place of blessedness, which he hath prepared for them.

Perhaps, some of these holy ones, in the days of his flesh; were banished from the cities and the societies of men for the sake of Christ, they were driven out from their native towns, and forced to seek a shelter in solitary dens and caves, among rocks and mountains, to wander through desarts in sheep-skins and goal-skins, destitute, afflicted, tormented; Heb. xi. 31. they made the clefts of the rock, and caverns of the earth their refuge from the face of their cruel persecutors: The mountains and rocks sheltered them from the wrath of princes, and the dark grottos of the earth, and the dens of wild beasts concealed them from the rage of men, from the sword of the mighty; but now the scene is gloriously changed, the martyrs and holy confessors, awaking from their graves, exult and triumph in the smiles of their Judge, and receive publie honours before the whole creation of God. They behold the infinite consternation of haughty tyrants and persecuting princes, of proud generals and bloody captains in that day: They hear them "call to rocks and moun tains to hide them from the face of him that sits upon the throne, and the Lamb." The authority and regal honour of the emperors of the earth, hath long slept in the dust, but it is lost there for ever; their glory shall not awake nor arise with them: Behold the mighty sinners who have been the enemies of Christ, or negligent of his salvation, how they creep affrighted out of their shattered marbles, and leave all that pomp and pride of death in ruins, to appear before God with shame and everlasting contempt. The men of arms, the captains and sons of valour, whose swords lay under their heads, with their trophies and titles spread around them, shall raise their heads up from the dust with utmost affright and anguish of spirit: Their courage fails them

before the face of Jesus, the Lord and Judge of the whole creation. They would fly to the common refuge of slaves, they shrink into the holes of the rocks, and call to the mountains to screen and protect them: And every bond-man, and every free-man, who have not known, nor loved God and Christ, are plunged into extremest distress; but the humble christian is serene and joyful, and lifts up his head, with courage and delight, in the midst of these scenes of astonishment and disınay.

"He is come, he is come, saith the saint, even that Lord Jesus whom I have seen, whom I have known and loved in the days of my mortal life, whom I have long waited for in the dust of death; he is come to reward all my labours, to wipe away all my sorrows, to finish my faith, and turn it into sight, to fulfil all my hopes and his own promises; he is come to deliver me for ever from all my enemies, and to bear me to the place which he has prepared for those that love him and long for his appearance.

"O blessed be the God of grace, who hath convinced me of the sins of my nature, and the sins of my life in the days of my flesh; who hath discovered to me the danger of a guilty and sinful state, hath shewn me the commission of mercy in the hands of his Son, hath pointed me to the Lamb of God, who was offered as a sacrifice to take away the sins of men, and hath inclined me to receive him in all his divine characters and offices, and to follow the Captain of my salvation through all the labours and dangers of life. I bave trusted in him, I have loved him, I have endeavoured (though under many frailties) to honour and obey him, and I can now behold his face without terror: While the mighty men of the earth tremble with amazement, and call to the rocks and mountains to hide them from his face, I rejoice to see him in his robes of judgment, for he is come to pronounce me righteous in the face of men and angels, to declare me a good and faithful servant before the whole creation, to set the crown of victory on my head, to take me to heaven with him, that where he is I may be also to behold his glory; John xvii. 24. and to partake for ever of the blessings of his love." Amen.

DISCOURSE VII.-No Night in Heaven.

Rev. xxi. 25.-For there shall be no night there.

LENGTH of night and over-spreading darkness in the winter-season, carries so many inconveniences with it that it is generally esteemed a most uncomfortable part of our time. Though night and day necessarily succeed each other all the year, by the wise appointment of God in the course of nature, by means of the revolution of the heavenly bodies, or rather of this earthly globe, yet the night-season is neither so delightful nor so useful a part of life as the duration of day-light. It is the voice of all nature as well as the word of Solomon, Light is sweet, and a pleasant thing to enjoy the sun-beams; Ecc. xi. 7. Light gives glory and beauty to every thing that is visible, and shews the face of nature in its most agreeable colours; but night, as it covers all the visible world with one dark and undistinguishing veil, is less pleasing to all the animal parts of the creation. Therefore as hell, and the place of punishment is called utter darkness in scripture, so heaven is represented as a mansion of glory, as the inheritance of the saints in light; Col. i. 12. And this light is constant, without interruption, and everlasting, or without end. So my text expresses it, there shall be no might there.

Let it be observed, that in the language of the holy writers, light is often ascribed to intellectual beings, and is used as a metaphor to imply knowledge and holiness and joy. Knowledge, as the beauty and excellency of the mind, holiness as the best regulation of the will, and joy as the harmony of our best affections in the possession of what we love: And in opposition to these, ignorance, iniquity, and sorrow, are represented by the metaphor of darkness. Then we are in darkness in a spiritual sense, when the understanding is beclouded or led into mistake, or when the will is perverted or turned away from God and holiness, or when the most uncomfortable affections prevail in the soul. I might cite particular texts of scripture to exemplify all this. And when it is said, there shall be no night in heaven, it may be very well applied in the spiritual sense; there shall be no errors or mistakes amongst the blessed, no such ignorance as to lead them astray, or to make them uneasy; the will shall never be turned aside from its pursuit of holiness and obedience to God: nor shall the affections ever be ruffled with any thing that may administer grief and pain. Clear and unerring knowledge, unspotted holiness, and everlasting joy shall be the por