SOVEREIGNTY OF CHRIST. 305 save the soul, that God hath said ánd.sworn shall not ne saved. Ah ! poor souls, that have no better saviors. And well may Christ, his truth, and cause, prevail that have no stronger enemies. Use 1. You have here a text that will fully inform you how you are like to speed at the bar of Christ; who shall die and who shall live. The great assize is near at hand; the feet of our Judge are even at the door. Go thy way, unbelieving sinner, when thou hast had all the pleasure that sin will afford thee; lie down in the dust and sleep awhile, the rousing voice shall quickly awake thee, and thine eyes shall see that dreadful day. O blessed day ! O doleful day! Blessed to the saints, doleful to the wicked. O the rejoicing ! O the lamenting that there will be ! The triumphant shoutings of joyful saints ; thehideous, roaring cries of the ungodly, when each man bath newly received his doom, and there is noth- ing but eternal glory and eternal fire. Beloved hearers, every man of you shall shortly there appear, and wait as the trembling prisoner at the bar, to hear what doom must pass upon you. Do you not believe this ? I hope you do believe it. Why, what would you give now to know, for certain, how it shall go with you? Why, here is the book by which you must be judged, and here is the sum of it in my text, and the grounds upon which the Judge will then proceed. Will you but go along with me, and answer the questions which hence I shall put to you, and search and judge yourselves by themas you go, you may know what doom you may then expect; only deal faithfully, and search thoroughly, for self- flattery will not prevent your sorrow. - And here you must know that it is the kiss of the heart, and not of the lips, which we must here inquire after. The question will not be at the great day, who bath spoken Christ fair; or who bath called themselves by the name of Christians ; or who bath said the Creed or the Lord's Prayer oftenest; or cried, Lord, Lord ; or come to church ; or carried a Bible ; or who bath held this opinion, or who that. It would make a man's heart ache to think how zealously men will honor the shadow of Christ, and bow at his name, and reverence the image of the cross which he died on, and the names and relics of the saints that died for him, and yet do ut- terly neglect the ,Lord himself, and cannot endure to begoverned by him, and resist his Spirit, and scorn his strict and holy ways, and despitefully hate them that most love and obey him, and yet believe themselves to be real Christians. For God's sake, sirs, do not so delude your immortal souls, as to think your baptism, and your outward devotion, and your good meanings, as you call them, and your righteous dealing with men, will serve the turn to prove you Christians. Alas.! this is but,' with Judas, to kiss the mouth ofChrist,and indeed to fetch your death from those blessed VOL. II. 39
RkJQdWJsaXNoZXIy OTcyMjk=