4. Suffer me to add a few words to all of you who are at this day present before the Lord. Should not you bear it in your minds all the day long, that a more awful day is coming? A large assembly this! But what is it to that which every eye will then behold, the general assembly of all the children of men that ever lived on the face of the whole earth! A few will stand at the judgment seat this day, to be judged touching what shall be laid to their charge. And they are now reserved in prison, perhaps in chains, till they are brought forth to be tried and sentenced. But we shall all, I that speak and you that hear, _stand at the judgment seat of Christ_. And we are now reserved on this earth, which is not our home, in this prison of flesh and blood, perhaps many of us in chains of darkness too, till we are ordered to be brought forth. Here a man is questioned concerning one or two facts, which he is supposed to have committed. There we are to give an account of all our works, from the cradle to the grave; of all our words, of all our desires and tempers, all the thoughts and intents of our hearts: of all the use we have made of our various talents, whether of mind, body or fortune, till God said, _Give an account of thy stewardship; for thou mayst be no longer steward_. In this court, it is possible some who are guilty, may escape for want of evidence. But there is no want of evidence in that court. All men with whom you had the most secret intercourse, who were privy to all your designs and actions are ready before your face. So are all the spirits of darkness, who inspired evil designs, and assisted in the execution of them. So are all the angels of God, those _eyes of the Lord, that run to and fro over all the earth_, who watched over your soul, and laboured for your good, so far as you would permit. So is your own conscience, a thousand witnesses in one, now no more capable of being either blinded or silenced, but constrained to know and to speak the naked truth, touching all your thoughts and words and actions. And is conscience as a thousand witnesses? Yea, but God is _as_ a thousand consciences! O who can stand before the face of _the great God, even our Saviour, Jesus Christ_.
See, see! He cometh! He maketh the clouds his chariots! He rideth upon the wings of the wind! A devouring fire goeth before him, and after him a flame burneth! See, he sitteth upon his throne, cloathed with light as with a garment, arrayed with majesty and honour! Behold his eyes are as a flame of fire, his voice as the sound of many waters!
How will ye escape? Will ye call to the mountains to fall on you, the rocks to cover you? Alas, the mountains themselves, the rocks, the earth, the heavens, are just ready to flee away! Can ye prevent the sentence? Wherewith? With all the substance of thy house, with thousands of gold and silver? Blind wretch! Thou camest naked from thy mother’s womb, and more naked into eternity. Hear the Lord, the Judge! _Come ye blessed of my Father! inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world._ Joyful sound! How widely different from that voice, which ♦echoes through the expanse of heaven, _Depart, ye cursed into everlasting fire, prepared for the devil and his angels_! And who is he, that can prevent or retard the full execution of either sentence? Vain hope! Lo, hell _is moved from beneath_, to receive those who are ripe for destruction! And the _everlasting doors lift up their heads_, that the heirs of glory may come in!