DISC. VI.] THE VAIN REFUGE OF SINNERS. 445 them before the face of Jesus, the Lord and Judge of the whole creation. They would fly to the common refuge of slaves, they shrink into the holes of the rocks, and call to the mountains to screen and protect them: " And every bond -man, and every freeman," who have not known, nor loved God and Christ, are plunged into ex- tremest distress; but the humble christian is serene and joyful, and lifts up his head, with courage and dielght, in the midst of these scenes of astonishment and dismay. He is come, he is come, saith the saint, even that Lord Jésus, whom I have seen, whom I have known, and loved in the days of my mortal life, whom I have long waited for in the dust of death; he is come to re- ward all my labours, to wipe away all my sorrows, to finish my faith, and turn it into sight, to fulfil all my hopes, and his own promises; he is come to deliver me for ever from all my enemies, and to bear me to the place which he has prepared for those that love him, and long for his appearance. Oblessed be the God of grace, who bath convinced me of the sins of mynature, and the sins of my life in the days of my flesh; who hath discovered to me the danger ofa guilty and sinful state, bath shewn me the commis- sion of mercy in the hands of his Son, hath pointed me to the Lamb of God, who was offered as a sacrifice to take away the sins of men, and bath inclined me to re- ceive him in all his divine characters and offices, and to follow thecaptain of my salvation through all the labours and dangers of life. I have trusted in him, I have loved him, I have endeavoured, though under many frailties, to honour and obey him, and I can now behold his face without terror : While the mighty men of the earth trem- ble with amazement, and call to the rocks and moun- tains to hide them from his face, I rejoice to see him in his robes ofjudgment, for he is come to pronounce"me righteous, in the face of men and angels, to declare me a good and faithful servant before the whole creation, to set the crown of victory on my head, to take me to heaven with him, " that where he. is, I may be also, to behold his glory," John xvii. 24. and to partake for ever of the blessings of his love." Amen.
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