lities of the resurrection, the sound of the trumpet, the great shout heard, the dead bodies awakened, the Judge descending, and the twofold resurrection, that of life and that of damnation. We will now notice more particularly the proceedings of this great day, under these heads

1. The Judge upon the throne,

2. The assembly gathered before Him, 3. The opening of the books,

4. The judgment itself.

I. THE JUDGE UPON THE THRONE. And I saw a great white throne, and him that sat on it, from whose face the earth and the heaven fled away, and there was found no place for them.

We have here the throne of judgment, the Judge seated on it, the effect of his appearance. 1. THE THRONE OF JUDGMENT-a great white throne.

It is a throne, under which is conveyed to us the idea of majesty, and dominion. It is the throne of the Most High, all whose decrees are authoritative and absolute, equitable and holy. Righteousness and judgment are the habitation of his throne. There can be no appeal to any

other tribunal; the decision of this judgment will irreversibly fix our condition.

It is a great throne, which points out the magnitude and extent of the judgment to be then made. What God calls great is truly so. How great the judgment of that day, when all called great in this world bows before it: when apostate angels, who sinned before our world was, and all the generations, and tribes, and nations of the whole earth, through successive ages, are summoned, and which the glorious heavenly host, cherubim and seraphim, angels and archangels, surround! How great when the sentence of him who sits upon it shall determine the final everlasting state of millions upon millions of immortal beings.

It is a white throne, emblematic of its purity and uprightness. There can be neither partiality nor error in its decisions. There is no fear of consequences to turn the Judge aside from the path of strictest justice, and no bribery nor desire of the favour of any creature to bias him. The judgment of God is according to truth.—For there is no respect of persons with God. Now men speak much against the hardness and severity of God's requirements; but the conscience of every one judged will in that day so accord with the

sentence pronounced, that even the condemned shall be silent in their own behalf.

O my brethren, often realise the circumstances of that day! Let us place before our eyes that great event, When the Son of man shall come in his glory and all the holy angels with him, and dwell often in our thoughts and meditations on that period, when he shall sit on the throne of his glory, and before him shall be gathered all nations. You and I shall be there, and the preaching and the hearing of this very sermon shall be one of those things which will then testify for or against us.

2. THE JUDGE SEATED ON IT.

I saw him that sat upon it.

stupendous scenes of Matt. xxv. 31.) The but hath committed all

Who is this King of Glory? Who is this most worthy Judge eternal? It is our Lord Jesus Christ. The Scriptures frequently speak of him as presiding over all the this day. (Mark viii. 38. Father judgeth no man, judgment unto the Son. (John v. 22.) The throne of judgment is therefore called the judgment seat of Christ. (Rom. xiv. 10. 2 Cor. v. 10.) And he it is who shall be seated on this great white throne.

O how different from his first coming! Then

F

he was shut out of human dwellings, born in a stable, a weak and helpless babe in his virgin mother's arms, cradled in a manger, subject to his parents, brought up as a carpenter, despised and rejected of men. Then he was a man of sorrows, not having where to lay his head. Then he was himself tried, judged, condemned, spit upon, nailed to a cross, crucified with thieves, and laid in the grave. This he submitted to, this he underwent for you, for me, that we might, through his sufferings for us, escape judgment, condemnation, shame, and everlasting contempt.

But now how changed! He appears infinitely more glorious by the contrast of that humiliation to which, in his love and pity and for man's redemption, he submitted. He now is manifested in his true and proper character, as the brightness of his Father's glory, and the express image of his person. His face shining as the sun; myriads of angels attending upon him, the whole universe waiting to hear the decisions of his lips, and that voice which is to fix for ever the destiny of man.

O lover of Jesus! think of this, and take courage. That Being in whom thou hast trusted, whom thou hast made thy righteousness, whose

Spirit thou hast received, who is thy Redeemer and thy Saviour; He, He is Judge of all the earth. Thou hast confessed Him here, He will confess thee there.

O despiser of Jesus! tremble and be alarmed. This is he whom thou art rejecting; this is he whom thou slightest. O agree with him quickly. Kiss the Son, lest he be angry, and ye perish from the way, when his wrath is kindled but a little. Blessed are all they that put their trust in him. (Psalm ii. 12.)

3. THE EFFECT OF HIS APPEARANCE.

From his face the earth and the heaven fled away, and there was found no place for them.

There is a sublimity and awful magnificence in these ideas, that surpass our loftiest thoughts. O what will be the reality! The words shew the entire dissolution of the present fabric of the world. In the language of St. Peter, it is the day of God, wherein the heavens, being on fire, shall be dissolved, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat... the earth also, and the works that are therein, shall be burnt up. For thousands of years this earth has been the abode of sinners. Every kingdom, every inheritance, every habitation, and every possession, is stained and dyed with sin; all below is contaminated