204 APPEARANCE EEFOII£ GOD. selves here, and see each other ; we are sure it is a reality, and not a dream ; yet sevenyears ago, this eveningwas at so vast a distance from us, that we scarce knew how to realize it to our thoughts, and make it, as it were, present : but now all that long distance is vanished, and this evening is come ; those days are all passed, and this hour is uponus. Thus it isin thecase of death and judgment. Seven yearshence, it is most likely, some one or more of us, and perhaps every, one of us, shall appear before the bar of God our Judge; that appointed hour will come however it seem afar off now ; and then it will be as real an ap- pearance as this present hour is, but a much more solemn one : we shall see and feel ourselves there, and know it is not adream, but an awful reality. Consider further, that it can bebut a few seven years more, before every one of us must certainly appear at the judg- ment-seat of God ; and as long as these years seem now, yet theywill quickly fly away, and the last hour will be upon us. Think howmany of your acquaintance, in seven years past, have made their appearance before God, have past their final trial, and received their everlasting sentence : And each of us may say, " Why should not I be the next ? What is there in my nature, or in my circumstances that can secure me against the summons of death and judgment ?" It may but a few days before we are called ; and is every one of us here ready ? This is a question of infinite importance, and let us not give rest to our souls, till we can answer it to our satisfaction. O how should we live ! how should we act ! how should we speak ! how should we worship ! if this were always upon our hearts ? O that we could but realize these awful things to our minds, and make them more familiar to our thoughts daily ! Could sinners then be one daycontented without converting grace, andwithout a justifying righteousness ? Could they any longer refuse the mercy of the gospel, and Jesus the Saviour? Could they be satisfied to appear all guilty before God, and no friend there to speak for them ? no intercessor to plead for them ? none toundertake their cause? Could they go on to sin with a negli- gent mind, if they thought the judgment-door just opening upon them, and JesusChrist at hand ? Could it be possible we should havesuch cold and lazy desires after a Saviour and his salvation, if we thoughtour everlastinghappiness or misery depended upon the next day, the next hour, or the next moment ? For we know not how soon the summons may come, and state us before his tribunal. H. The secondpart of my discourse leads me to consider the blessed differencethat there shall be between a christian's appear- Mg before God in heaven, and his appearance here in divine
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