246
APPEARANCE
BEFORE,
GOD.
'SEEM.
RIV:
fore the
judgment
seat, every soul
who
is
found
in his
sins,
falls
under
an
eternal
curse,
and without repeal:
that
condemnation
shall never be removed
:
for immedi-
ate execution
follows
upon the sentence.
Now the sinner appears
before
God,
and hears such
words
of
compassion
as
these
are
:
"
I delight not
in
the
death
of
a sinner,
I
would have
him
turn
and live;
I
propose the
method
of
reconciliation and life:" But then
the
Lord
sits
upon a throne
of
judgment,
and
he
shall
laugh
at
the
calamity
of
the
wicked, and the
obstinate
sinner's distress;
for pity
and
compassion are for
ever
hid
from
his
eyes.
Now,
who
is
there among
us
able
to
bear
the sight
of
a provoked God,
who
is
infinite
in
power, terrible
in
majesty,
and
has
abandoned
all com-
passion.
C
5.
The sinner
now
appears
often before
Gód
;
there
but
once, and
is
for ever driven
from
his
presence:
Here, if
you
meet
with
no comfort
from
God
in
one
or-
dinance,
you
may find
it
in
the
next;
but
then
you
shall
be
punished
with
everlasting destruction frem the pre-
sence
of
the Lord, and the glory
of
his
power,
2
Thess.
i.
9.
How
will
you
long for such seasons again, when
you are for ever
shut out
from
them?
"O
that
I
had
but
one
Lord's
-day more to spend
in
the
service
of
God!
how
would
I
labour and
wrestle
with
God
in
prayer,
that
I
might
become"a
new
creature!"
But
in
hell the
days
are
all alike, they
are
all
dark
and stormy;
there
is
not
one day
of
sunshine,
not
one sabbath,
not
one
hour
of
rest.
"
How
did
I
mock
God
on
earth,
must
the
sinner
say,
when
I
appeared
before
him
!
and
after
I
had mocked
him
'once,
I
trifled `again and again
;
but
now
I
find
he
is
a
God
who will
not
be
mocked
;
I
see he
is
a
terrible
Majesty,.
and
I
am driven
for ever
from
all
his
grace and compassion, and shall
see his face
no
more/
Use.
All
the
use
that
I
shall
make of
this head,
is
only
to urge
upon
your-minds
a
practical
belief,
and a
lively
sense
of
this
appearance
before
God
at
judgment.
Must
we
all
stand
before the
judgment
seat
of
Christ?
Do
we
think
we
are ready?
'What
answer do
our
.own
consciences
give,
whén
we
make
that
enquiry
?
Am
I
prepared
to
appear
before
God
the
Judge?
Have
I
but
little
hope, and
yet can
I
satisfy myself
to lie down
at