Wright - BT300 W8 1788

LORD and SAVIOUR, JESUS CHRIST. ttg to his caufe : thefe happy fouls look up to their Judge, with fuch emotions as are above defcription, and, with inexpreffible joy, hear him pronounce this heart-expand- ing fentence, Come, ye bred ofmy Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for youfront thefoundation'of the world: for I was an hungered, and ye gave me meat; I was thirfly, and ye gave me drink ; I was a firanger, and ye took me in; naked, andye clothed nze ; I was fick, and ye vifitedme; Iwas intriton, and ye came unto me. The redeemed of the Lord, with inef- fO,ble joy, receive the approbation of their Judge : but their meek and humble hearts will not take any praife to themfelves, nor afcribe the happinefs they are going to re- ceive, to any thing done by them ; and, therefore, they meekly reply, Lord, when faw we thee an hungered, and fed thee? or thinly, and gave thee drink? When faw we thee a firanger, and took thee in? or naked, and clothed thee? Or when faw we thee Fick, or in p-ifon, and came unto thee? Our Lord approves and commends their humility, but, at the fame time, to let the whole affembled world know, how kindly he accepted of every inftanceof the kindnefs and benevolence they had (hewn to his people, he adds, Inafmuch as ye have done it unto one of the leaft of thefe my brethren, ye have done it untome. The Judge then changes his counte- nance, and, with a look of indignation and riling wrath, which pierces through the in- moft foul, he beholds the guilty wretches, who (land trembling at his left-hand : filled with confcious guilt, and all the agonies of raging defpair, they Rand expefing their final doom, while thefe accents break from the lips of their angry Judge : Depart from me, ye turfed, into everlafling fire, prepared for the devil and his angels : for Iwas anhungered, and yegaveme no meat; I was thirfiy, and ye gave me no drink ; I was a firanger, and ye took me not in ; naked, andye clothed me not ; fick, and in prifon, and ye vifitedme not. The wicked, however confcious of guilt, not recolle&- 2 MP' ing the precife akts of unkindnefs and con- tempt oé the Son of God, 'here literally fpecified, are emboldened to reply, Lord, when lawwe thee an hungered, or athirft, or aftranger, or naked, or Fick, or in pri- fon, and did not minifler unto thee? How- ever willing they may be to'juftify them- felves, our Lord well knows the naughti- nefs of their heart, and is fully acquainted with their evil deeds, and, therefore, he confounds them for ever with this reply ; Inafinuch asye did it not to one of the leaft of thefe, ye did it not to vne. The final and eternal fentence thus páf- fed, the execution immediately fucceeds a legion of mighty angels drive the black, horrid train of trembling finners from the judgment-feat ; and, caught in a fiery tern- pefl, they are precipitated into their dread- ful placeofpunilhment : the gulph ofeternal horror and defpair ftretches wide it's burn- ing jaws to receive them at their fall ; and they are tormented with fire and brimftone, in the prefence of the holy angels, and in the pretence of the Lamb : and the fnsoke of their torment afcendeth up for ever and ever. Mean while, the friends and favourites of the Eternal King, are conduEted to the paradife of God, and fafe lodged in the realms of eternal bleffednefs and reft : thefe happy realms, formed by the Eternal God, for the abode of his people, contain every thing which can fatisfy the pure defires of an immortal fpirit, and fill the foul with holy and ever-growing delight: now every fear, every forrow, and every fin is done away ; and the happy inhabitants of this glorious place, drink full firearm of blifs, and partake of thofe joys which proceed from the throne of God, andof theLamb now the redeemed of the Lord, forming one vaft, one happy fociety, dwell in that fplendid city, where the full glory of the Eternal God is manifeft in that exalted Saviour, who is emphatically ftyled, the brightnefs of his Father's glory, and the expr f image of his perfon. Here every happy believer in the Son of God, dwells in

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