x200 APPEARANCE BEFORE GOD. appears beforeGod here in the form of devotion : And to put hint in mind he must ere long standbefore God in another manner than now be does, and to set his thoughts at work to compare one with the other in these particulars : 1. The sinner now appears with some degree of willingness in the presence of God, then it is under a terrible 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 where he dwells, to gain reputation among men, to satisfy the cries of an awakened conscience ; for his conscience, perhaps, will not be easy without the perform- anceof 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 Godhere on earth : but at death, and at the general resurrection, hemust appearwhether hewill or no ; Heb. ix. 27. It is appointed for all men once to die, and after death thejudgment ; Rom. xiv. 10. and 2Cor. v. 10. We must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ. The angels shall gather the elect from the four quarters of the world, andbring them near to the judge with pleasure ; but sinners shall be dragged toward that awful tribunal, an be forcedto abide the trial. While the believer, who walks in lively faith, says, When shall I cone into that world of spirits, and appear there before God ? the sinner wishes that day may never come : O that I Might live for ever on earth ! that I might for ever converse with men, and never see the face of that God whohates me, and whom I have never loved. O that death might make an utter end of me ! O that the grave would cover me for ever, that I might rise no more." And when that dreadful day comes, then, " Fall on us, rocks ; then, mountains press 'us down, and conceal us for ever from the wrath of God and the Lamb ; as in Rev. vi. 15, 16. that outcry is represented. But they must stand and see the terror ; they are constrained to hear the glorious and dreadful sentence, Dost thou believe this, Omy soul ! and canst thoube content to live unprepared for the solemn- ities of this-day ? 2. Here sinners appearlike the saints of God in disguise ; but there as sinners, openly guilty, and exposed to light : Here not separated from the saints in the place of worship, theresuffi- ciently distinguished and divided from all who loveGod, and that worship him in spirit: For when a sinful soul goes out of the body to appear before God, every angel in heaven knows him ; he is naked without a covering of disguise, as well as without the coveringof a justifying righteousnses ; and upon this account
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