-l;Iead U. T.he -Hopdefinefl .of the Unrag~nerat~. 287 wrought out, death comes. and c.uts it ·out. HiJ breath goeth forth, he ret'urneth Jo hiJ tarth: in that 'Qery day hi1 thoughtJ per~fh1 • . Pial. cxlvi. 4· . · . ~ 2d/y, When d.eath comes,- they ha.ve no. folid grounds to hope for 'eternal'- happinefs. For rwh.at iJ the hopr: of th1 hypocrite, tho' he hath gained, when Go-d taketh. arway his f.tJul? job xxvii. 8. \Vhatever hopes they fondly entertain, they ar,e not founded on God's word, which is the only fure ground of hope: if they koow their own cafe, they would fee tbemfelves only happy in. a dream. And indeed what, hope ·can they have? The law i plain againfl: them, and co,nc;!emos them. The curfes of it (thefe .co.rds of death) are about them already. The Savioqr, whom · ~hey llighted, is now their Judge; and their Judge is thei·r -enemy. Ho\Y then can they hope ? They have. bolte_d the door of mercy ,a.gainfl: themfelves by their .unbelief. Tkey have defpifed -t ~ e remedy, and therefore mufl: die without mercy. They have no faving intere!l: in Jefus Chrifl, the 9n~y channel of ean~eyance, in, w.hich Iller:cy flows; and therefore they caR ; 1never tafte of it- ';fhe fword of jaftice guard~ the door of mercy, fo as none can enter in. · ~ut .the members pf the myrlical body of ChriO:, o'ver who{e hca.~s is, a covert of atoning blood, the Mediator's blood. ·Thefe indeed may pafs without harm, 'for juftice has nothing .~o require of them. But others cannot pafs, fince they are not 'in Chrifl: · death comes to tliem with the fling in -it, the lling of unpar· doned guilt.. It is armed againfl them... with all the force ~the fanCl: ion of a holy Jaw can give_it; ~ · Cr;r.xv. s6: T~: fling if death iJ fin, and the fl rength of )in ii tht law. When that hwwas gi~en .on S{nai, the whole mount quaked _ zreatly, Exod. xix.• ·18. \Vhen the Redeemer was making fatisfaa ion [Qr the e·I~Cl:'s breaking of it, the earth ditf. quak~, and the rocks r~nt, Matth . xxvii. 5r. What poffible ground of hope then is there .to the wicked Jnan, ·wf1en death comeJ upon him a'r·med with the f~rce of this law? How can }}e efcape that fire, which bun;t unto . the mic!ft of heav_en? ' Deut. iv. r I. How Gull he be able to ftand in that fmoke, th~t afcended a1 tht fmoke of a furnace? _Exod. xix 18. How will he endure the terrible thunders and !ightening1, ·ver. 16. and dwe.ll in the darknefi, clouds, andthick dark– nif!? I?eo t. iv. 1 I. all thefe .refembl anc.es heaped ·together do
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