DISCOURSE I. 61 of 'sensible reliefs, and our thoughts and souls are called away from their sorrows by present business, or diverted by present pleasure; but all these avocations and amusements will forsake us at once, when we drop this mortal tabernacle ; we must enter alone into the world of spirits, and live without them there. Whatsoever agonies or terrors, or huge distresses we may meet with in that unknown region, we shall have none of these sensible enjoyments to soften and allay them, no drop of sweet- ness to mix with that bitter cup, no scenes of gaity and merri- ment to relieve the gloom of that utter darkness, or to soothe the anguish of that eternal heart -acb. O take heed my friends, that your souls do not live too much on any of the satisfactions of this life, that your affections be not set upon them in too a high degree, that you make them not your idols and your chief good, lest you be left helpless and miserable under everlasting disappointment, for they cannot follow you into the world of souls : they are the things of time, and they have no place in eternity. Read what caution the apostle Paul gives us in our converse with the dearest comforts of life ; I Cor. vii. 29. The time is short; and let thosewho have the largest affluence of tem- poral blessings, who have the nearest and kindest relatives, and the most endeared friendships be snorted to them, and be in some sense, as though they had then not, for ye cannot possess them long. St. Peter joins in the same sort of advice ; 1 Pet. iv. 7. The end of all things is at hand, therefore be ye sober, be ye moderate in every enjoyment on earth, and prepare to part with them all when the angel pronounces, that time shall he no longer: His sentence puts an effectual period to every joy in this life,: and to every hope that is not eternal. Thus we hive taken a brief survey, what are the solemn and awful thoughts relating to such mortal creatures in general, which are contained in this voice or sentence of the angel, that time shall he no longer. In the Second place, let us proceed further and enquire a little " what are those terrors which will attend sinners, impenitent sinners at the end of time: I. " A dreadful account must he given of all this lost and wasted time. When the judge shall ascend his throne in the air, and all the sons and dauhters of Adam are brought before him, the grand enquiry will' be, what have you done with all the time of life in yonder world? " You spent thirty or forty years there, or perhaps seventy or eighty, and I gave you this time with a thousand opportunities and means of grace and sal- vation ; what have you done with them all ? How many sah- baths did I afford you ? How many serinons have you heard? How many seasons did I give you for prayer and retirement and converse with God and your own souls ? Did you improve D 6,
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