Adam; for the believers of all ages, as well as of all nations, shall appear together in that day, and acknowledge Jesus the Saviour According to the brighter or darker discoveries of the age in which they lived, he has been the common object of their faith. Ever since he was called the seed of the woman; Gen. iii. 15. till the time of his appearance in the flesh, all the chosen of God have lived upon his grace, though multitudes of them never knew his name. It is true, the greater part of that illustrious company, on the right-hand of Christ, lived since the time of his incarnation, for the great multitude, which no man could number, 'is derived from the Gentile nations; Rev. vii. 9. Yet the ancient patriarchs, with the Jewish prophets and saints, shall make a splendid appearance there: One hundred and fortyfour thousand are sealed among the tribes of Israel; verse 4. These of old embraced the gospel in types and shadows; but now their eyes behold Christ Jesus, the substance and the truth. In the days of their flesh, they read his name in dark lines, and looked through the long glass of prophecy to distant ages, and a Saviour to come, and now behold they find complete and certain salvation and glory in him. These all died in faith, not having received the promises, but having seen them afar off, and were persuaded of them, and embraced them; Heb. xi. 18. They died in the hope of this salvation, and they shall arise in the blessed possession of it.

Behold Abraham appearing there the father of the faithful, who saw the day of Christ, and rejoiced to see it; John viii. 56. who trusted in his Son Jesus, two thousand years before he was born: His elder family, the pious Jews surround him there, and we his younger children among the Gentiles, shall stand with him as the followers of his faith, who trust in the same Jesus, almost two thousand years after he is dead. How shall we both rejoice to see this brightest day of the Son of man, and congratulate each other's faith, while our eyes meet and centre in him, and our souls triumph in the sight, love, and enjoyment of him, in whom we have believed! How admirable and divinely glorious shall our Lord himself appear, on whom every eye is fixed with unutterable delight, in whom the faith of distant countries and ages is centered and reconciled, and in whom all the nations of the earth appear to be blessed, according so the ancient word of promise; Gen. xii. 3. and xviii. 18.

Secondly, It is a further occasion of pleasing wonder, That so many wicked obstinate wills of men, and so many perverse affections should be bowed down, and submit themselves to the holy rules of the gospel." This is another instance of the grace of Christ, and shall be the subject of our joyful admiration. Every son and daughter of Adam by nature is averse to God, inclined to sin, a child of disobedience and death; Eph.

ii. 2, 3. There is a new miracle wrought by Christ in every instance of converting grace, and he shall have the glory of them all in that day. It is a first resurrection from the dead, it is a new creation, and the almighty power shall then be publicly adored.

Then one shall say, "I was a sensual sinner, drenched in liquor and unclean lusts, and wicked in all the forms of lewdness and intemperance: The grace of God my Saviour, appeared to me, and taught me to deny worldly lusts; Tit. ii. 11, 12. which I once thought I could never have parted with. I loved my sins as my life, but he has persuaded and constrained me to cut off a right-hand, and to pluck out a right eye, and to part with my darling vices; and behold me here a monument of his saving mercy.

"I was envious against my neighbour, shall another say, and my temper was malice and wrath; revenge was mingled with my constitution, and I thought it no iniquity: But I bless the name of Christ, my Redeemer, who, in the day of his grace, turned my wrath into meekness; he inclined me to love even my enemies, and to pray for them that cursed me; he taught me all this by his own example, and he made me learn it by the sovereign influences of his spirit. I am a wonder to myself, when I think what once I was: Amazing change, and almighty grace!"

Then a third shall confess, "I was a profane wretch, a swearer, a blasphemer; I hoped for no heaven, and I feared no hell; but the Lord seized me in the midst of my rebellions, and sent his arrows into my soul; he made me feel the stings of an awakened conscience, and constrained me to believe there was a God and a hell, till I cried out astonished, What shall I do to be saved? Acts xvi. 31. Then he led me to partake of his own salvation, and, from a proud rebellious infidel, he has made me a penitent and a humble believer, and here I stand to shew forth the wonders of his grace, and a boundless extent of his forgiveness."

A fourth shall stand up, and acknowledge in that day, "And I was a poor, carnal, covetous creature, who made this world my God, and abundance of money was my heaven; but he cured me of this vile idolatry of gold, taught me how to obtain treasures in the heavenly world, and to forsake all on earth, that I might have an inheritance there; and behold he has not disappointed my hope: I am now made rich indeed, and I must for ever speak his praises." There shall be no doubt or dispute, in that day, whether it was the power of our own will, or the superior power of divine grace, that wrought the blessed change, that turned the lion into a lamb, a groveling earth-worm into a bird of paradise, and of a covetous or malicious sinner,

made a meek and a heavenly saint. The grace of Christ shall be so conspicuous in every glorified believer in that assembly, that, with one voice, they shall all shout to the praise and glory of his grace; Not unto us, O Lord, not unto us, but to thy name be all the honour! Ps. cxv. 1.

Thirdly, It shall be the matter of our wonder, and the glory of Christ in that day, "that so many thousand guilty wretches should be matle righteous by one righteousness, cleansed in one laver from all their iniquities, and sprinkled unto pardon and sanctification with the blood of one man Jesus Christ. See the great multitude that no man could number; Rev. vii. 9, 10. They all washed their robes, and made them white in the blood of the Lamb, Verse 14.

It is a matter of wonder to us now on earth, that the blessed Son of God, who is one with the Father, should stoop so low as to unite himself to a mortal nature, that he should become a poor despicable man, and pass through a life of sufferings and sorrows, and die an accursed death, to redeem us from guilt and deserved misery: But when we shall see him in his native glory and lustre, his acquired dignities, and all the honours of heaven heaped upon bim, it will raise our wonder high, to think, that such a one should once humble himself to the death of the cross; the death of the vilest slave, that he might save our souls from dying; that he should pour out his own blood, to wash off the stains of millions of sins, that we might appear righteous before a God of holiness. Then shall the multitude of the saved join in that song, To him that loved us, and washed us from our sins in his own blood, be glory and dominion for ever; Rev. i. 5. 6. Worthy is the Lamb that was slain, to receive power and riches, and honour, for thou hast redeemed us with thy blood from every kindred, tribe, and nation; Rev. v. 9, 12.

Then shall those blessed words of scripture appear, and shine in full glory, howsoever they are often passed over in silence, and too much forgotten in our age; Rom. v. 17, 19, 21. If by one man's offence, death reigned by one; much more they which receive abundance of grace, and of the gift of righteousness, shall reign in life by one Jesus Christ. For us by one man's disobedience many were made sinners: So by the obedience of one, shall many be made righteous. That as sin hath reigned unto death, even so might grace reign through righteousness unto eternal life by Jesus Christ our Lord. Then shall our blessed Lord shine in the complete lustre of that incommunicable naine, Jehovah Tzidkenu, the Lord our righteousness; Jer. xxiii. 6.

And not only the atonement, and salvation itself, shall be the subject of our glorious admiration, but the way and manner how sinners partake of it, shall minister further to our wonder, and to the glory of Christ, That such a world of poor misera

ble creatures should be saved from hell, by believing or trusting in grace, when they could never be saved by all their own works; that they should obtain righteousness and acceptance unto eternal life, by a humble penitence and poverty of spirit, depending on the death and righteousness of another, when all their labour and toil, in works of the law, could not make up a righteousness of their own, sufficient to appear before the justice of God; Christ will not only be glorified in their holiness as saints, but admired and honoured in and by their faith as believers. His blood and his grace shall share all the glory. Therefore it is of faith, and not of works that it might be of grace; Rom. iv. 15. Yet this saving faith is the spring of shining holiness in every believer. Duties and virtues are not left out of our religion, when faith is brought into it. The graces of the saints join happily with the atonement of Christ, to render that day more illustrious.

Fourthly, That a company of such feeble christians should maintain their course towards heaven, through so many thousand obstacles: This shall be another subject of admiration, and yield a further revenue of glory to our Lord Jesus Christ, for he who is their righteousness, is their strength also. Is. xlv. 24, 25. In the Lord shall all the seed of Israel glory in that day, as their strength and their salvation. They have broke through all their difficulties, and were able to do all things through Christ strengthening them; Phil. iv. 13.

Behold that noble army with palms in their hands; once they were weak warriors, yet they overcame mighty enemies, and have gained the victory and the prize; enemies arising from earth, and from hell, to tempt, and to accuse them, but they overcame by the blood of the Lamb; Rev. xii. 7, 11. What a divine honour shall it be to our Lord Jesus Christ, the Captain of our salvation, that weak christians should subdue their strong corruptions, and get safe to heaven through a thousand oppositions within and without It is all owing to the grace of Christ, that grace which is all-sufficient for every saint; 2 Cor. xii. 9. They are made more than conquerors through him that has loved them; Rom. viii. 37.

Then shall the faith, and courage, and patience of the saints have a blessed review; and it shall be told, before the whole creation, what strife and wrestlings a poor believer has passed through in a dark cottage, a chamber of long sickness, or perhaps in a dungeon; how he has there combated with powers of darkness, how he has struggled with huge sorrows, and has borne, and has not fainted, though he has been often in heaviness through manifold temptations. Then shall appear the bright scene which St. Peter represents as the event of sore trials. 1 Pet. i. 6, 7. When our faith has been tried in the fire of tribulation and is found more precious than gold, it shall shine to the

praise, honour and glory of the suffering saints, and of Christ himself at his appearance.

Behold that illustrious troop of martyrs, and some among them of the feeblest sex, and of tender age! now that women should grow bold in faith, even in the sight of torments, and children, with a manly courage, should profess the name of Christ in the face of angry and threatening rulers; that some of these should become undaunted confessors of the truth, and others triumph in fire and torture, these things shall be a matter of glory to Christ in that day; it was his power that gave them courage and victory in martyrdom and death. Every christian there, every soldier in that triumphing army, shall ascribe his conquest to the grace of his Lord, his leader, and lay down all their trophies at the feet of his Saviour, with humble acknowledgments, and shouts of honour.

Almost all the saved number were, at some part of their lives, weak in faith, and yet, by the grace of Christ, they held out to the end, and are crowned. "I was a poor trembling creature, shall one say, but I was confirmed in my faith and holiness by the gospel of Christ, or I rested on a naked promise, and found support, because Christ was there, and he shall have the glory of it." In him are all the promises yea, and in him amen, to the glory of the Father;" 2 Cor. i, 20-22. and the Son shall share in this glory, for he died to ratify these promises, and he lives to fulfil them.

"Oh, what an Almighty arm is this, shall the believer say, that has borne up so many thousands of poor sinking creatures, and lifted their heads above the waves!" The spark of grace that lived many years in a flood of temptations, and was not quenched, shall then shine bright to the glory of Christ, who kindled and maintained it. When we have been brought through all the storms and the threatening seas, and yet the raging waves have been forbid to swallow us up, we shall cry out, in raptures of joy and wonder, what manner of man is this, that the winds and the seas have obeyed him? Mark. iv. 14. Then shall it be gloriously evident, that he has conquered Satan, and kept the hosts of hell in chains, when it shall appear, that he has made poor mean trembling believers victorious over all the powers of darkness, for the prince of peace has bruised him under their feet,

Fifthly, There is more work for our wonder and joy, and inore glory for our blessed Lord, when we shall see, that so many dark and dreadful providences were working together, in mercy, for the good of his saints; it is because Jesus Christ had the management of them all put into his hands; and we shall acknowledge he has done all things well; Mark vii. 37. All things have wrought together for good; Rom. viii. 28. It is the