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242
APPEARANCE BEFORE
GOD
[BERM.
XIV.
other
world
hereafter
;
and
this in
order
to
awaken the
sinner, and
to
encourage
the
true
christian.
There
are
two
great future appearances
before God,
the one
at
judgment,
and the
other
in
glory in
heaven:
The
one belongs
to
all men,
the
other
only
to
the
saints.
/And
now
that I
may
divide
my
discourse aright, and
give to
every
one their portion,
I
would beg
leave
chiefly
to
apply our
general
appearance
before
God
at judg-
ment,
to
those
who
are unconverted,
and,
in
a
state
bf
sin;
for
we
have reason
to
fear
there
may
be
some
such
among
us
:
And
I
will
apply
the
blessed
appear-
ance
before
God
in
heaven to 'converted
souls,
to
whom
only
it
belongs: These are
the persons
who have
faith
and
lóve,
and are in
some
measure
prepared
to
appear
and
,worship
there.
)
First
then,
Let
us
consider our
appearance
before
God
in
judgment.
It
is trdle,
at
the moment
of
death
our
souls
immediately stand before
God
to be
judged,.
as
well as
our
souls
and
bodies united,
shall
stand together
there
in
the
great
day
of
the
resurrection
;
yet I
shall
not
make
any
distinction
of
these seasons
now,
lest
I
should
multiply
particulars; but
shall
treat of
them together,
to awaken the secure and sinful worshipper,
who
appears
before God here
in the form
of
devotion
:
And
to
put
him in mind he
must ere long stand before God
in
an-
other
manner than
now he does, and, to
set
his
thoughts
at
work to
compare
one
_with
the
other
in
these
particu-
Iars
;
1.
The sinner
now
appears
with some
degree
of
will-
ingness
in
the presence
of
God, then it
is
under
a
terri-
ble constraint. A
Wicked
man may
be willing to come to
public ordinances
for many
carnal
ends, as to comply
with
his
superiors,
to
follow the custom
of
the
family
.
iwere
he dwells, to gain
reputation
among men, to
satisfy
the
cries
of
awakened conscience; for
his
con-
science, pefliaps,
will
not
be
easy
without the
perform-
ance
of
some
duties; and
so
he makes use
of
divine
worship,
and
his
public
appearances
before
God,
as
a
kind
,-of"
opiate, to stupify
an
uneasy conscience,
and
therefore
he has some
inclination and
willingness to come
before God
here
on
earth
but at
death,
and
at
the general
resurrection, he must appear whether he
will
or
no.
lieb.
ix. 27.
It
is
appointed
for
all.men once to
die,
and after
1