9. Another circumftance mentioned in our text attending our Lord's Second Coming, (and the last I shall now take notice of,) is, that he shall be revealed in flaming fire. This particular was alfo reprefented to Daniel, in that prophetic vifion. which God gave him of Christ's coming. He faw (as he tells us) "his throne like the fiery flame, and his wheels as burning fire, while a fiery ftream iffued and came forth from before him "As of old "the Lord rained upon Sodom and Gomorrah, brimstone and fire from the Lord out of heaven, and overthrew thofe cities, and all the plain, and all the inhabitants of those cities, and that which grew upon the ground," fo at the confummation of all things, when he arifes to fhake terribly the earth, with that fiery ftream which iffues and comes forth from before him, he will burn up the earth with its increase, and melt down the foundations of the mountains; yea, "a fire fhall be kindled in his anger, which fhall burn to the nethermost hell,-shall burn and shall not be quenched." We know that "the heavens and the earth which now are, are by the word of God kept in ftore, referved unto fire against the day of judgment and perdition of ungodly men." And when that period arrives, while the "heavens pafs away with a great noife, and the elements melt with fervent heat, the earth and all its works fhall be totally burnt up." "At that deftin'd hour, By the loud trumpet fummon'd to the charge, Eruptions, earthquakes, comets, lightnings, play Their blazing magazines, and take by ftorm 10. To add the greater terror to this most ter rible period, the Scriptures reprefent it as happen. ing ing at midnight " At midnight (fays Jesus) there was a cry made, Behold the Bridegroom cometh, go ye forth to meet him." And perhaps the Apoftle, in his first Epistle to the Theffalonians, intimates the fame, where he says, "Of the times and seasons ye have no need that I fhould write unto you, for ye yourselves know perfectly, that the day of the Lord fo cometh as a thief in the night."-T is true, this cannot be the cafe with respect to the whole earth, it ing always day in one part or other of it: But it may be the cafe with regard to those parts of the earth which are most inhabited, and have been moft favoured with the light of the Gofpel. Thefe may be enveloped with the difmal fhades of darknefs, when this awful day inftantly blazes forth. So it feems eur Poet, whofe fentiments on this fubject are always as juft as they are ftriking, and whom, therefore, I can hardly quote too often, fuppofed when he faid, "At midnight, when mankind are wrapt in peace, 11. Then, as was reprefented to St. John, "fhall there be a great earthquake, and the fun fhall become black as fackcloth of hair, and the moon fhall become as blood, and the stars of heaven fhall fall unto the earth, even as a figtree cafteth her untimely figs, when fhe is fhaken of a mighty wind. And the heavens fhall depart as a fcroll when it is rolled together, and every mountain and island fhall be moved out of their place: And the kings of the earth, and the great men, and the rich men, and the chief captains, and the migh 7 ty ty men, and every bondman, and every freeman, fhall hide themselves in the dens and in the rocks of the mountains, and fhall fay to the mountains and rocks, Fall on us, and hide us from the face of him that fitteth upon the throne, and from the wrath of the Lamb: for the great day of his wrath is come, and who shall be able to ftand." Who, indeed, when "Above, beneath, around, amazement all! Terror and glory join'd in their extremes! 12. And now let us turn afide and fee this great fight. Let us ftand ftill and confider this folemn fcene here opened to our view! By the help of that faith which is the evidence of things not seen, let us contemplate the awful majefty and terrible grandeur of this day, if our weak fenfes can endure the dreadful glory of its light, or our feeble faculties fuftain the effulgence of its over-powering brightness and aftonishing terrors.-Ah! how muft it furprize and alarm the fecure finner, and how muft it ftrike all men with amazement and awe, in the dead of night, to be fuddenly awaked out of the repofe of their laft fleep, by the confused noise and deafening roar of trumpets founding, thunders grumbling, ftars rufhing, elements melting, waves dafhing, the fea toffing, and the earth quaking! Ah! how will the ftouteft heart fail for fear, and fink with horrible dread, to hear the fudden crush of worlds, and behold the wreck of univerfal nature! To fee "Each mountain height Outburn Vefuvius; rocks eternal pour Her plowfhare o'er creation!" How How will the stubborn infidel, who treated these discoveries as the inventions of fancy, and the harden'd finner, who defpifed and neglected them; ah! how will they ftart from the flumbers of midnight, the bed of debauching pleasures, or the couch of rioting and revelling excefs, in wild affright and diforder, when they fhall behold with their eyes, and feel, to their forrow, what oncethey would not believe, or wilfully forgot! Now they can disbelieve and forget no longer. The great and terrible day of the Lord is arrived. "The fatal period, the great hour is come, Sharp lightnings with the meteors blaze confpire, Now the day is actually "come, which burns as. an oven, and all the proud, (all infidels) and all that do wickedly, (all impenitent finners,) fhall be as ftubble: The day is come that fhall burn them up, and leave them neither root nor branch." 13. "Blow ye the trumpet in Zion, found an alarm in the holy Mountain; let all the inhabitants of the land tremble, for the day of the Lord cometh, for it is nigh at hand: a day of darknefs and of gloominefs; a day of clouds and of thick darkness!" Jefus defcends with his holy angels; "a fire devoureth before them, and behind them a flame burneth." See, ye blind, the victorious blaze of irrefiftible and all-conquering fire! It rends the rocks, confumes the forests, melts down the mountains, lays cities, yea whole kingdoms in ashes, and envelopes the whole earth! Behold, it rifes, fwells, fpreads, and overwhelms E all all with an univerfal deluge! While in the mean time, "Black rifing clouds the thicken'd ether choke, And fpiry flames fhoot thro' the rolling fmoke, With keen vibrations cut the fullen night, And ftreak the darken'd fky with dreadful light." Hear, ye deaf, the re-bellowing growl and aggravated roar of hoarfe- muttering thunder, the mighty voice of the great Archangel, and the all-alarming trump of GOD! Feel, ye ftout-hearted, the earth quaking and opening, the mountains trembling and removing, the hills reeling and finking, the vallies heaving and rifing! Feel, or be for ever hardened, the fhock of conflicting elements, and the dash of ruined worlds! 14. Awake! awake! ye fleepy finners! fhake off your fatal flumbers! Arife from the bed of floth, and the lap of enchanting pleasures! Hafte, hafte, and flee for fhelter from this day of wrath and unrelenting fury! If you delay till this day overtake you, then, alas! whither can you flee? The earth quakes, trembles, and opens under your feet; the ftorm of divine vengeance lowers and bursts upon your guilty heads, and ruin and perdition furround you on every hand! The frowning Judge, whofe juft indignation you have provoked, and whofe almighty wrath your fins have kindled, fixes his piercing eye upon you, and marks you out as the butt, at which he will shoot his fiery arrows, and direct the thunder-bolts of his everlafting indignation, And now 'tis in vain to cry to the rocks and mountains to fall upon you and hide you; the rocks and mountains rend and cleave affunder, yea, flee away, and leave you deftitute and forfaken, expofed to all the artillery of omnipotent fury, and in the midft of dark and fiery torment, 15. Oh, |