DISCOURSE V. 118 vain will all the shifts and hopes of sinners be in that dreadful day to avoid the wrath and vengeance. First, Who are the persons that appear clothed in so much terror ? Answer. It is he that sits ppon the throne and the Lamb : Itis God the Father of all, the great and almighty Creator, the supreme Lord and Governor of the world, and the Lamb of God, thát'is, our Lord Jesus Christ his Son; dwelling in human nature, to whom the judgment of the world is committed, and by whom the Father will introduce the terrible and the illustrious scenes of that clay, and manage the important and eternal affairs of it. It is by these names that the apostle John, in this prophe- tical book, describes. God the Father, and his Soh Jesus ; Rev. iv. 10. and v. 6 -13. If it be enquired why God the Father . is described as the person sitting on the throne, this is plainly agreeable to the other representations of him throughout the scripture ; where he is described as first and supreme in authority, as sitting on the throne of majesty on high, as denoting and commissioning the Lord Jesus, his well - beloved Son, to act for him, and as placing him on his throne to execute his works of mercy or ven- geance. Rev. iii. 21. He that overcometh shall sit down with me on my throne, saith our Saviour, even as I have overcome, and am set down with the Father on his throne.' John v. 22 27. The Father has committed all judgment into the hands of his Son. It is true, the godhead or divine essence is but one, and it is the same godhead which belongs to the Father, that dwells in the Son, and in this respect, " Christ and the Father are one, he is in the Father, and the Father in him ; John x. 30, 38. yet the Father is constantly exhibited in scripture with peculiar characters of prime authority, and the Son is represented as receiving all from the Father ; John v. l0, 20, 22, 26, 27. If it be farther enquired, Why Christ is called the Lamb of God, I shall not pursue those many fine metaphors and similes, in - which the wit and fancy of men have run a long course on this subject, but shall only mention these two things : 1. He is called the Lamb, from the innocence of his beha- viour, the quietness and meekness of his disposition and conduct in the world. The character of Jesus among men was peaceful and harmless, and patient of injuries ; when he was reviled, he reviled not again, but was led as a Lamb to Me slaughter with submission and without revenge: This resemblance appears, and is set forth to view in several scriptures, wherein he is com- pared to this gentle Creature ; Acts viii. 32. 1 Pet. ii. 23. 2. Ile is called the Lamb, because he was appointed a,sacri-
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