THE PREFACE. AMONG all the solemn and important things, which relate to religion, there is nothing that strikes the soul of man, with so much awe and solemnity, as the scenes of death,.and.the dreadful or delightful conse- quents, which attend it. Who can think of entering into that unknown region, where spirits dwell, without the strongest impressions upon the mind arising from so strange a manner of existence ? Who can take a survey of the resurrection ofthe millionsof the dead, and of the tribunal of Christ, whence men and angels must receive their doom, without the most painful solicitude, " What will my sentence be ?" Who canmeditate on the intense and unmingled pleasure or pain in the world to come, without the most pathetic emotions of soul, sinceeach.otus.must be de- termined to one of these states, and they are both of everlasting duration ? These are the things, that touch the springs of every passion, in the most sensible manner, and raise ourï pes and our fears to their supreme exercise. These are the subjects, with which, our blessed Saviour and his apostles frequently entertained their hearers, in order to persuade them to hearken,. and attend to the divine lessons, which they published amongst them '. These were some of the sharpest weapons of their holy 'warfare, which entered into the inmost vitals of mankind, and pierced their consciences with the highest solicitude. Thesehave been the happy means to awaken thousands of sinners, to flee from the wrath to come ; and to allure and hasten their to enter intó,that glorious refuge, that is set before them in the gospel. It is for the saine reason, that I have selected a few discourses, on these arguments, out ofmy public ministry, to set them before the eyes of the world in a more public manner, that, if possible, some thoùghtless crea- tures might be roused out of their sinfulslumbers, and might awake into a spiritual and eternal life, through the concurring influencesof the blessed Spirit. I am not willing to disappoint my readers, and therefore I would let them know before-hand, that they will find very little, in this book, to gratify their curiosity about the manyquestions relating to the invisible world, and the things, which God has not plainly revealed : Something of this kind, perhaps, may be found in " two Discourses of Death and Heaven," which I published long ago : But, in the present discourses, I have verymuch neglected such curious enquiries. Nor will the ear, that has an itch for controversy, be much entertained here,, for I have avoided matters of doubtful debate. Nor need the most zealous man of orthodoxy, fear to be led astray into newand dangerous sentiments, if he will but take the plainest and most evident dictates of scripture for his direction into all truth. My only design has been., to set the great and most momentous things ofa future world, in themost convincing and affecting light, and to in- force them upon the conscience with all the fervour, that such subjects
RkJQdWJsaXNoZXIy OTcyMjk=