HART i. SERMON V. 67 he comes near to the seat of his majesty! Behold, saith Abra- ham, .I now have taken upon me to speak unto thee, I who am but dust and ashes; Gen. xviii. 27. This is the language of a saint when got near to the seat of the majestyof God, " Before I'had seen thee as such a sovereign, 1 was restive and stubborn : in times past I quarrelled with God because of difficult duties im- posed Upon me, and because of the difficult dispensations I was made to pass through; but now I behold God so infinitely my superior, that I can quarrel no more with' any duty, or any diffi- culty I submit to all his will : whatsoever he will have me be, that I am ; whatsoever he bids me do, that I do ; for it is fit he should be a sovereign, and I should be a subject. I give myself to him afresh, and for ever, that he may dispose of me according tohis own will and for his own glory : I would be more regardless of myself, and more regardful of my God ; it is fit he should be the ultimateend of 'all that I can be, and all that I can do, for he is my sovereign." Again, when a soul is near to God, God appears in the glory of his holiness ; for the seat of his majesty is called the throneof his holiness ; Ps. xlvii. 8. And then the heavens are not clean in his sight : and the soul cries out with those worship- ping seraphims, Holy, holy, holy, is the Lordof hosts; the whole earth is fullof his glory: and joins with Isaiah, the worshipping saint, in that humble language, who is me, for I am a man of un- clean lips, 4c. You see the character of a saint getting near to God, and standing before the seat of his majesty ; Is. vi. 3, 4. where the angels and the prophet worship together with the deepest humility. " I have heard of thyholiness before, saysthe soul, and I have heard before of thy glory afar off; but nowmine eyes see it, and I abhor myself indust and ashes; Job xliii. 6. 2. His seat is to be considered as a seat of judgment; for God is not only a king, but a judge : and Job has, without doubt, a reference to this in my text, because the language which he uses, seems suited to a throne of judicature, a throne of justice. " If I could get near his seat, I wouldorder my cause before him, I would plead with him." The soul that gets near to God, sees him sittingupon a seat of judgment, as an omniscient God : he looks like the judge of all the earth, and his eyes are like a flame of fire to search our souls to the centre, and to know our most hidden thoughts:- the soul then attempts no more to conceal itself, nomore to hide its guilt or its wretchedness ; for it beholds those eyes of God that see through all things, that search intothe deepest hypocrisy, and itis impossible that any thing should be concealed from him. " Behold I am before that God, says the soul, before whom nothing can be hid ; before whom all things are naked and open ; and it is with him thatI have todo, there r2
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