Latest / Philosophy and Faith / 15 - The Great Assize, i e , The Last Judgment - Sermons on Several Occasions

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15 - The Great Assize, i e , The Last Judgment - Sermons on Several Occasions · Philosophy and Faith

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Speaker 1: The Great Assees i e. The Last judgment, We shall
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Speaker 1: all stand before the judgment seat of Christ Romans fourteen ten.
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Speaker 1: How many circumstances concur to raise the awfulness of the
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Speaker 1: present solemnity, the general concourse of people of every age, sex, rank,
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Speaker 1: and condition of life, willingly or unwillingly gathered together, not
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Speaker 1: only from the neighboring, but from distant parts, Criminals speedily
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Speaker 1: to be brought forth in having no way to escape,
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Speaker 1: officers waiting in their various posts to execute the orders
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Speaker 1: which shall be given, and the representative of our gracious Sovereign,
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Speaker 1: whom we so highly reverence and honor. The occasion likewise
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Speaker 1: of this assembly adds not a little to the solemnity
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Speaker 1: of it. To hear and determine causes of every kind,
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Speaker 1: some of which are of the most important nature, on
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Speaker 1: which depends no less than life or death, death that
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Speaker 1: uncovers the face of eternity. It was doubtless, in order
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Speaker 1: to increase the serious sense of these things, and not
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Speaker 1: in the minds of the vulgar, only that the wisdom
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Speaker 1: of our forefathers did not disdain to appoint even several
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Speaker 1: minute circumstances of this solemnity for these also, by means
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Speaker 1: of the eye or ear, may more deeply affect the heart.
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Speaker 1: And when viewed in this light, trumpets, staves, apparel are
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Speaker 1: no longer trifling or insignificant, but subservient in their kind
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Speaker 1: and degree to the most valuable ends of society. But
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Speaker 1: as awful as this solemnity is, one far more awful
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Speaker 1: is at hand for yet a little while, and we
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Speaker 1: shall all stand before the judgment seat of Christ. For
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Speaker 1: as I live saith the Lord, every need shall bow
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Speaker 1: to me, and every tongue shall confess to God. And
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Speaker 1: in that day every one of us shall give account
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Speaker 1: of himself to God. Had all men a deep sense
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Speaker 1: of this, how effectually would it secure the interests of society?
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Speaker 1: For what more forcible motive can be conceived to the
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Speaker 1: practice of genuine morality, to a steady pursuit of solid virtue,
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Speaker 1: an uniform walking in justice, mercy and truth. What could
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Speaker 1: strengthen our hands in all that is good and deter
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Speaker 1: us from all evil like a strong conviction of this.
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Speaker 1: The Judge standeth at the door, and we are shortly
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Speaker 1: to stand before him. It may not therefore be improper
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Speaker 1: or unsuitable to the design of the present Assembly to
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Speaker 1: consider number one the chief circumstances which will precede our
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Speaker 1: standing before the judgment seat of Christ. Number two the
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Speaker 1: judgment itself, and number three a few of the circumstances
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Speaker 1: which will follow it. Let us, in the first place,
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Speaker 1: consider the chief circumstances which will precede our standing before
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Speaker 1: the judgment seat of Christ. And first, God will show
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Speaker 1: signs in the earth beneath Acts two nineteen. Particularly, he
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Speaker 1: will arise to shake terribly the earth. The earth shall
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Speaker 1: reel to and fro like a drunkard, and shall be
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Speaker 1: removed like a cottage Isaiah twenty four to twenty. There
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Speaker 1: shall be earthquakes Cato Toopius, not in divers only, but
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Speaker 1: in all places, not in one only or a few,
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Speaker 1: but in every part of the habitable world Luke twenty
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Speaker 1: one to two. Even such as were not since men
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Speaker 1: were upon the earth, so mighty earthquakes and so great,
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Speaker 1: and one of these every island shall flee away, and
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Speaker 1: the mountains will not be found Revelation six ten twenty. Meantime,
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Speaker 1: all the waters of the tyraqueous globe will feel the
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Speaker 1: violence of those concussions, the sea and waves roaring Luke
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Speaker 1: twenty one, twenty five, with such an agitation as had
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Speaker 1: never been known before, since the hour that the fountains
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Speaker 1: of the Great Deep were broken up to destroy the earth,
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Speaker 1: which then stood out of the water. And in the
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Speaker 1: water the air will be all storm and tempest, full
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Speaker 1: of dark vapors and pillars of smoke Joel two thirty
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Speaker 1: resounding with thunder from pole to pole, and torn with
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Speaker 1: ten thousand lightnings. But the commotion will not stop in
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Speaker 1: the region of the air. The powers of Heaven also
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Speaker 1: shall be shaken. There shall be signs in the sun,
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Speaker 1: and in the moon, and in the stars Luke twenty one,
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Speaker 1: twenty five and twenty six, those fixed as well as
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Speaker 1: those that move round them. The Sun shall be turned
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Speaker 1: into darkness and the moon into blood. Before the great
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Speaker 1: and terrible day of the Lord Come Joel two thirty one.
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Speaker 1: The stars shall withdraw their shining Joel three fifteen yea,
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Speaker 1: and fall from Heaven Revelation six thirteen, being thrown out
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Speaker 1: of their orbits. And then shall be heard the universal
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Speaker 1: shout from all the companies of Heaven, followed by the
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Speaker 1: voice of the archangel proclaiming the approach of the Son
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Speaker 1: of God. And man, and the trumpet of God sounding
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Speaker 1: an alarm to all that sleep in the dust of
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Speaker 1: the earth one Thessalonians four sixteen. In consequence of this,
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Speaker 1: all the graves shall open, and the bodies of men arise.
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Speaker 1: The sea also shall give up the dead which are
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Speaker 1: therein Revelation twenty thirteen. And every one shall rise with
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Speaker 1: his own body, his own in substance, although so changed
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Speaker 1: in its properties as we cannot now conceive. For this
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Speaker 1: corrupt will then put on incorruption, and this mortal put
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Speaker 1: on immortality. First Corinthians fifteen fifty three. Yea death and hades,
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Speaker 1: the invisible world shall deliver up the dead that are
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Speaker 1: in them Revelation twenty thirteen, so that all who ever
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Speaker 1: lived and died since God created man shall be raised,
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Speaker 1: incorruptible and immortal. At the same time, the Son of
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Speaker 1: Man shall send forth his angels over all the earth,
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Speaker 1: and they shall gather his elect from the four winds,
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Speaker 1: from one end of heaven to the other Matthew twenty
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Speaker 1: four thirty one. And the Lord himself shall come with
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Speaker 1: clouds in his own glory and the glory of the Father,
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Speaker 1: with ten thousand of his saints, even myriads of angels,
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Speaker 1: and shall sit upon the throne of his glory. And
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Speaker 1: before him shall be gathered all nations, and he shall
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Speaker 1: separate them one from another, and shall set the sheep
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Speaker 1: the good, on the right hand, and the goats the wicked,
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Speaker 1: upon the left Matthew twenty five, thirty one, etc. Concerning
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Speaker 1: this general assembly, it is that the beloved Disciple speaks, Thus,
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Speaker 1: I saw the dead, all that had been dead, small
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Speaker 1: and great, stand before God, and the books were opened,
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Speaker 1: a figurative expression plainly referring to the manner of proceeding
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Speaker 1: among men. And the dead were judged out of those
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Speaker 1: things which were written in the books according to their
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Speaker 1: works Revelation twenty twelve. These are the chief circumstances which
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Speaker 1: are recorded in the oracles of God as preceding the
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Speaker 1: general judgment. We are secondly to consider the judgment itself,
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Speaker 1: so far as it hath pleased God to reveal it.
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Speaker 1: The person by whom God will judge the world is
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Speaker 1: his only begotten son, whose goings forth are from everlasting,
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Speaker 1: who is God over all blessed forever, him being the
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Speaker 1: outbeaming of his Father's glory. The express image of his
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Speaker 1: person Hebrews one three. The Father hath committed all judgment
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Speaker 1: because he is the son of Man John five, twenty
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Speaker 1: two and twenty seven. Because though he was in the
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Speaker 1: form of God and thought it not robbery to be
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Speaker 1: equal with God, yet he emptied himself, taking upon him
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Speaker 1: the form of a servant, being made in the likeness
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Speaker 1: of men. Philippians two six and seven. Yeay, because being
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Speaker 1: found in fashion as a man, he humbled himself yet farther,
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Speaker 1: becoming obedient unto death, even the death of the cross.
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Speaker 1: Wherefore God hath highly exalted him, even in his human nature,
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Speaker 1: and ordained him as man to try the children of men,
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Speaker 1: to be the judge, both of the quick and the dead,
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Speaker 1: both of those who shall be found alive at his
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Speaker 1: coming and of those who were before gathered to their fathers.
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Speaker 1: The time termed by the prophet the Great and the
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Speaker 1: Terrible Day is usually in scriptured styled the Day of
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Speaker 1: the Lord. The space from the creation of man upon
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Speaker 1: the earth to the end of all things is the
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Speaker 1: day of the sons of men. The time that is
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Speaker 1: now passing over us is properly our day. When this
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Speaker 1: is ended, the day of the Lord will begin. But
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Speaker 1: who can say how long it will continue, with the
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Speaker 1: Lord one day as a thousand years, and a thousand
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Speaker 1: years as one day two Peter three eight. And from
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Speaker 1: this very expression, some of the ancient fathers drew that
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Speaker 1: inference that what is commonly called the day of judgment
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Speaker 1: would be indeed a thousand years. And it seems they
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Speaker 1: did not go beyond the truth. Nay, probably they did
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Speaker 1: not come up to it. For if we consider the
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Speaker 1: number of persons who are to be judged, and of
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Speaker 1: actions which are to be inquired into, it does not
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Speaker 1: appear that a thousand years will suffice for the transactions
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Speaker 1: of that day, so that it may not improbably comprise
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Speaker 1: several thousand years. But God shall reveal this also in
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Speaker 1: its season. With regard to the place where mankind will
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Speaker 1: be judged, we have no explicit account in scripture. An
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Speaker 1: eminent writer, but not he alone, many have been of
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Speaker 1: the same opinion supposes it will be on earth, where
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Speaker 1: the works were done, according to which they shall be judged,
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Speaker 1: and that God will, in order thereto employ the angels
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Speaker 1: of his strength to smooth and lengthen out the boundless
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Speaker 1: space and spread an area for all human race. But
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Speaker 1: perhaps it is more agreeable to our Lord's own account
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Speaker 1: of his coming in the clouds, to suppose it will
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Speaker 1: be above the earth, if not twice a planetary height.
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Speaker 1: And this supposition is not a little favored by what
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Speaker 1: Saint Paul writes to the Thessalonians. The dead in Christ
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Speaker 1: shall rise first, then we who remain alive shall be
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Speaker 1: caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet
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Speaker 1: the Lord in the air first Thessalonians four sixteen and seventeen.
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Speaker 1: So that it seems most probable the great white Throne
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Speaker 1: will be high, exalted above the earth. The persons to
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Speaker 1: be judged, who can count any more than the drops
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Speaker 1: of rain or the sands of the sea. I beheld,
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Speaker 1: Saith Saint John, a great multitude which no man can number,
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Speaker 1: clothed with white robes and palms in their hands. How
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Speaker 1: immense then must be the total multitude of all nations
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Speaker 1: and kindreds, and people and tongues of all that have
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Speaker 1: sprung from the loins of Adam since the world began
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Speaker 1: till time shall be no more. If we admit the
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Speaker 1: common supposition, which seems no ways absurd, that the earth
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Speaker 1: bears at any one time no less than four hundred
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Speaker 1: millions of living souls, men, women, and children. What a
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Speaker 1: congregation must all those generations make, who have succeeded each
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Speaker 1: other other for seven thousand years, great jerries, world in arms,
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Speaker 1: proud cannies host they all are here, and here they
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Speaker 1: all are lost, their numbers swell to be discerned in vain,
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Speaker 1: lost as a drop in the unbounded main. Every man,
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Speaker 1: every woman, every infant of days, that ever breathed the
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Speaker 1: vital air, will then hear the voice of the Son
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Speaker 1: of God, and start into life and appear before him.
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Speaker 1: And this seems to be the natural import of that expression.
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Speaker 1: The dead, small and great, all universally, all without exception,
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Speaker 1: all of every age, sex or degree, all that ever
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Speaker 1: lived and died or underwent such a change as will
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Speaker 1: be equivalent with death. For long before that day the
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Speaker 1: phantom of human greatness disappears and sinks into nothing, even
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Speaker 1: in the moment of death, that vanishes away who is
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Speaker 1: rich or great in the grave. And every man shall
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Speaker 1: there give an account of his own works, YEA, a
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Speaker 1: full and true account of all that he ever did
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Speaker 1: while in the body, whether it was good or evil. Oh,
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Speaker 1: what a scene will then be disclosed in the sight
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Speaker 1: of angels and men. While not the fabled Rhodamanthus, but
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Speaker 1: the Lord God Almighty, who knoweth all things in heaven
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Speaker 1: and earth, castegatque auditquedolos subugittque fattyri quai quis apud superos
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Speaker 1: ferto l'autetusanani diestulet and seram coomisa piacui la mortem, or
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Speaker 1: these drear realms. Stern rdamanthus reigns, detects each artful villain,
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Speaker 1: and constrains to own the crimes long veiled from human
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Speaker 1: sight in vain. Now all stand forth in hated light.
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Speaker 1: Nor will all the actions alone of every child of
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Speaker 1: man be then brought to open view, but all their words,
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Speaker 1: Seeing every idle word which men shall speak, they shall
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Speaker 1: give account thereof in the day of judgment Matthew twelve
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Speaker 1: thirty six and thirty seven. So that by thy words
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Speaker 1: as well as works, thou shalt be justified, and by
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Speaker 1: thy words thou shalt be condemned. Will not God then
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Speaker 1: bring to light every circumstance also that accompanied every word
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Speaker 1: or action, and if not altered the nature yet lessened
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Speaker 1: or increased the goodness or badness of them And how
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Speaker 1: easy is this to him who is about our bed
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Speaker 1: and about our path, and spieth out all our ways.
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Speaker 1: We know the darkness is no darkness to him, but
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Speaker 1: the night shineth as the day. Yea, he will bring
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Speaker 1: to light, not the hidden works of darkness only, but
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Speaker 1: the very thoughts and intents of the heart, and what marvel.
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Speaker 1: For he searcheth the reins and understandeth all our thoughts.
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Speaker 1: All things are naked and open to the eyes of
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Speaker 1: Him with whom we have to do helen destruction. Are
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Speaker 1: before him without a covering. How much more the hearts
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Speaker 1: of the children of men, And in that day shall
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Speaker 1: be discovered every inward working of every human soul, every appetite, passion, inclination, affection,
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Speaker 1: with the various combinations of them, with every temper and
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Speaker 1: disposition that constitute the whole complex character of each individual.
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Speaker 1: So shall it be clearly and infallibly seen who was
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Speaker 1: righteous and who unrighteous, and in what degree every action
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Speaker 1: or person or character was either good or evil. Then
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Speaker 1: the King will say to them upon his right hand, come, ye,
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Speaker 1: blessed of my father. For I was hungry, and ye
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Speaker 1: gave me meat, thirsty, and ye gave me drink. I
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Speaker 1: was a stranger, and ye took me in naked, and
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Speaker 1: ye clothed me in like manner. All the good they
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Speaker 1: did upon the earth will be recited before men and angels,
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Speaker 1: whatsoever they had done, either in word or deed, in
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Speaker 1: the name or for the sake of the Lord Jesus.
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Speaker 1: All their good desires, intentions, thoughts, all their holy dispositions
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Speaker 1: will also be then remembered, And it will appear that
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Speaker 1: though they were unknown or forgotten among men, yet God
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Speaker 1: noted them in his book. All their sufferings, likewise for
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Speaker 1: the name of Jesus, and for the testimony of a
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Speaker 1: good conscience, will be displayed under their praise from the
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Speaker 1: righteous judge, their honor before saints and angels, and the
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Speaker 1: increase of that far more exceeding in eternal weight of glory.
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Speaker 1: But will their evil deeds too, Since if we take
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Speaker 1: in this whole life, there is not a man on
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Speaker 1: earth who liveth and sinneth, not, will these be remembered
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Speaker 1: in that day and mentioned in the Great congregation. Many
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Speaker 1: believe they will not, and ask would not this imply
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Speaker 1: that their sufferings were not at an end even when
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Speaker 1: life ended, Seeing they would still have sorrow and shame
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Speaker 1: and confusion of face to endure. They ask farther, how
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Speaker 1: can this be reconciled with God's declaration by the prophet.
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Speaker 1: If the wicked will turn from all his sins that
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Speaker 1: he hath committed, and keep all my statutes, and do
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Speaker 1: that which is lawful and right, all his transgressions that
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Speaker 1: he hath committed, they shall not be once mentioned unto
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Speaker 1: him Ezekiel eighteen twenty one and twenty two. How is
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Speaker 1: it consistent with the promise which God has made to
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Speaker 1: all who accept of the Gospel Covenant. I will forgive
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Speaker 1: their iniquities and remember their sin no more Jeremiah thirty
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Speaker 1: one thirty four. Or as the apostle expresses it, I
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Speaker 1: will be merciful to their unrighteousness, and their sins and iniquities,
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Speaker 1: will I remember no more Hebrews eight twelve. It may
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Speaker 1: be answered, it is apparently and absolutely necessary for the
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Speaker 1: full display of the glory of God, for the clear
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Speaker 1: and perfect manifestation of His wisdom, justice, power, and mercy
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Speaker 1: toward the heirs of salvation, that all the circumstances of
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Speaker 1: their life should be placed in open view, together with
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Speaker 1: all their tempers and all the desires, thoughts, and intents
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Speaker 1: of their heart. Otherwise how would it appear out of
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Speaker 1: what a depth of sin and misery the grace of
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Speaker 1: God had delivered them. And indeed, if the whole lies
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Speaker 1: of all the children of men were not manifestly discovered,
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Speaker 1: the whole amazing contexture of divine providence could not be manifested.
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Speaker 1: Nor should we yet be able in a thousand instances
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Speaker 1: to justify the ways of God to man unless our
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Speaker 1: Lord's words were fulfilled in their utmost sense, without any
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Speaker 1: restriction or limitation. There is nothing covered that shall not
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Speaker 1: be revealed, or hid that shall not be known. Matthew
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Speaker 1: ten twenty six. Abundance of God's dispensations under the sun
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Speaker 1: would still appear without their reasons. And then only when
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Speaker 1: God hath brought to light all the hidden things of darkness,
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Speaker 1: whosoever were the actors therein will it be seen that
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Speaker 1: wise and good were all his ways, that He saw
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Speaker 1: through the thick cloud, and governed all things by the
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Speaker 1: wise counsel of his own will. That nothing was left
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Speaker 1: to chance or the caprice of men. But God disposed
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Speaker 1: all strongly and sweetly, and wrought all into one connected
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Speaker 1: chain of justice, mercy, and truth, and in the discovery
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Speaker 1: of the divine perfections. The righteous will rejoice with joy unspeakable,
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Speaker 1: from feeling any painful sorrow or shame for any of
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Speaker 1: those past transgressions which were long since blotted out as
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Speaker 1: a cloud washed away by the blood of the lamp.
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Speaker 1: It will be abundantly sufficient for them that all the
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Speaker 1: transgressions which they had committed shall not be once mentioned
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Speaker 1: under them to their disadvantage. That their sins and transgressions
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Speaker 1: and iniquities shall be remembered no more to their condemnation.
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Speaker 1: This is the plain meaning of the promise, and this
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Speaker 1: all the children of God shall find true to their
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Speaker 1: everlasting comfort. After the righteous are judged, the King will
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Speaker 1: turn to them upon his left hand, and they shall
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Speaker 1: also be judged every man according to his works. But
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Speaker 1: not only their outward works will be brought into the account,
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Speaker 1: but all the evil words which they have ever spoken, yeay,
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Speaker 1: all the evil desires, affections, tempers which have or have
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Speaker 1: had a place in their souls, and all the evil
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Speaker 1: thoughts or designs which were ever cherished in their hearts.
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Speaker 1: The joyful sentence of acquittal will then be pronounced upon
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Speaker 1: those upon the right hand, the dreadful sentence of condemnation
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Speaker 1: upon those on the left, both of which must remain
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Speaker 1: fixed and unmovable as the throne of God. We may,
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Speaker 1: in the third place, consider a few of the circumstances
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Speaker 1: which will follow the general judgment, And the first is
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Speaker 1: the execution of the sentence pronounced on the evil and
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Speaker 1: on the good. These shall go away into eternal punishment,
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Speaker 1: and the righteous into life eternal. It should be observed
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Speaker 1: it is the very same word which is used both
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Speaker 1: in the former and the latter clause. It follows that
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Speaker 1: either the punishment lasts forever, or the reward too will
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Speaker 1: come to an end. No, never, unless God could come
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Speaker 1: to an end, or his mercy and truth could fail,
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Speaker 1: then shall the righteous shine forth as the son in
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Speaker 1: the kingdom of their father, and shall drink of those
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Speaker 1: rivers of pleasure which are at God's right hand forevermore.
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Speaker 1: But here all description falls short, all human language fails.
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Speaker 1: Only one who is caught up into the third heaven
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Speaker 1: can have a just conception of it. But even such
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Speaker 1: a one cannot express what he hath seen these things.
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Speaker 1: It is not possible for man to utter the wicked
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Speaker 1: meantime shall be turned into hell, even all the people
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Speaker 1: that forget God. They will be punished with everlasting destruction.
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Speaker 1: From the presence of the Lord and from the glory
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Speaker 1: of his power. They will be cast into the lake
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Speaker 1: of fire, burning with brimstone, originally prepared for the devil
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Speaker 1: and his angels, where they will gnaw their tongues for
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Speaker 1: anguish and pain. They will curse God and look upward.
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Speaker 1: There the dogs of hell, pride, malice, revenge, rage, horror,
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Speaker 1: despair continually devour them. There they have no rest day
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Speaker 1: or night, but the smoke of their torment ascendeth forever
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Speaker 1: and ever. For their worm dieth not and the fire
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Speaker 1: is not quenched, then the heavens will be shriveled up
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Speaker 1: as a parchment scroll and pass away with a great noise.
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Speaker 1: They will flee from the face of Him that sitteth
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Speaker 1: on the throne, and there will be found no place
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Speaker 1: for them Revelation twenty eleven. The very manner of their
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Speaker 1: passing away is disclosed to us by the apostle Peter.
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Speaker 1: In the day of God, the heavens, being on fire,
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Speaker 1: shall be dissolved tewond Peter three twelve. The whole beautiful
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Speaker 1: fabric will be overthrown by that raging element, the connection
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Speaker 1: of all its parts destroyed, and every atom torn asunder
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Speaker 1: from the others. By the same the earth also, and
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Speaker 1: the works that are therein, shall be burned up Verse ten.
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Speaker 1: The enormous works of nature, the everlasting hills, mountains, that
24:16
Speaker 1: have defied the rage of time and stood unmoved so
24:20
Speaker 1: many thousand years, will sink down in fiery ruin. How
24:25
Speaker 1: much less will the works of art, though of the
24:28
Speaker 1: most durable kind, the utmost efforts of human industry, tombs, pillars,
24:34
Speaker 1: triumphal arches, castles, pyramids, be able to withstand the flaming
24:39
Speaker 1: conqueror all all will die, perish, vanish away like a dream.
24:46
Speaker 1: When one awaketh it has indeed been imagined by some
24:50
Speaker 1: great and good men, that as it requires that same
24:54
Speaker 1: almighty power to annihilate things as to create, to speak
24:58
Speaker 1: into nothing or out of nothing, so no part of
25:02
Speaker 1: no atom in the universe will be totally or finally destroyed. Rather,
25:06
Speaker 1: they suppose that as the last operation of fire which
25:10
Speaker 1: we have yet been able to observe, is to reduce
25:14
Speaker 1: into glass what by a smaller force it had reduced
25:17
Speaker 1: to ashes. So in the day that God hath ordained,
25:21
Speaker 1: the whole earth, if not the material heavens also will
25:24
Speaker 1: undergo this change, after which the fire can have no
25:27
Speaker 1: farther power over them. And they believe this is intimated
25:31
Speaker 1: by that expression in the revelation made to Saint John
25:35
Speaker 1: before the throne, there was a sea of glass like
25:38
Speaker 1: unto crystal Revelation four to six. We cannot now either
25:43
Speaker 1: affirm or deny this, but we shall know hereafter, if
25:48
Speaker 1: it be inquired by the scoffers the minute philosophers, How
25:52
Speaker 1: can these things be whence should come such an immense
25:56
Speaker 1: quantity of fire as would consume the heavens and the
25:59
Speaker 1: whole to aqueous globe, We would beg leave first to
26:03
Speaker 1: remind them that this difficulty is not peculiar to the
26:07
Speaker 1: Christian system. The same opinion almost universally obtained among the
26:12
Speaker 1: unbigoted Heathens. So one of these celebrated freethinkers speaks according
26:18
Speaker 1: to the generally received statement s e quoque in fatis
26:22
Speaker 1: remisquetur affore tempus quomare quotells correptique ragia quili ar diet
26:30
Speaker 1: at mundi molis operosa Labori. The following is Dryden's translation
26:37
Speaker 1: of this quotation from OVID, remembering in the fates a
26:42
Speaker 1: time when fire should to the battlements of heaven aspire,
26:46
Speaker 1: and all the blazing world above should burn, and all
26:50
Speaker 1: the inferior globe to Cinder's turn. But secondly, it is
26:56
Speaker 1: easy to answer, even from our slight and superficial acquaintance
27:00
Speaker 1: with natural things, that there are abundant magazines of fire
27:03
Speaker 1: ready prepared and treasured up against the day of the Lord.
27:07
Speaker 1: How soon may a comet commissioned by him travel down
27:11
Speaker 1: from the most distant parts of the universe, And were
27:14
Speaker 1: it to fix upon the Earth and its return from
27:17
Speaker 1: the Sun, when it is some thousand times hotter than
27:20
Speaker 1: a red hot cannon ball, who does not see what
27:22
Speaker 1: must be the immediate consequence, but not to ascend so
27:27
Speaker 1: high as the ethereal heavens, might not the same lightnings
27:32
Speaker 1: which give shine to the world, if commanded by the
27:35
Speaker 1: Lord of Nature, give ruin and utter destruction, or to
27:40
Speaker 1: go no farther than the globe itself. Who knows what
27:44
Speaker 1: huge reservoirs of liquid fire are, from age to age
27:48
Speaker 1: contained in the bowels of the earth. Etna hecla Vesuvius,
27:53
Speaker 1: and all the other volcanoes that belch out flames and
27:56
Speaker 1: coals of fire. What are they but so many proofs
28:00
Speaker 1: and mouths of those fiery furnaces, and at the same
28:04
Speaker 1: time so many evidences that God hath in readiness, wherewith
28:07
Speaker 1: to fulfill his word. Yea, were we to observe no
28:11
Speaker 1: more than the surface of the earth and the things
28:13
Speaker 1: that surround us on every side, it is most certain,
28:17
Speaker 1: as a thousand experiments prove beyond all possibility of denial,
28:21
Speaker 1: that we ourselves, our whole bodies, are full of fire,
28:25
Speaker 1: as well as everything round us. Is it not easy
28:28
Speaker 1: to make this ethereal fire visible even to the naked eye,
28:32
Speaker 1: and to produce thereby the very same effects on combustible
28:36
Speaker 1: matter which are produced by culinary fire. Needs there, then,
28:40
Speaker 1: any more than for God to unloose that secret chain
28:43
Speaker 1: whereby this irresistible agent is now bound down and lies
28:48
Speaker 1: quiescent in every particle of matter. And how soon would
28:51
Speaker 1: it tear the universal frame in pieces and involve all
28:55
Speaker 1: in one common ruin. There is one circumstance more, which
29:00
Speaker 1: will follow the judgment that deserves our serious consideration. We
29:04
Speaker 1: look says the apostle according to his promise for new
29:08
Speaker 1: heavens and a new Earth, wherein dwelleth righteousness Tewod Peter
29:13
Speaker 1: three thirteen. The promise stands in the prophecy of Isaiah. Behold,
29:20
Speaker 1: I create new heavens and a new Earth, and the
29:22
Speaker 1: former shall not be remembered, Isaiah sixty five seventeen. So
29:27
Speaker 1: great shall the glory of the latter be these Saint
29:31
Speaker 1: John did behold in the visions of God, I saw
29:35
Speaker 1: saith he a new heaven and a new earth, for
29:38
Speaker 1: the first heaven and the first earth were passed away
29:42
Speaker 1: Revelation twenty one to one, and only righteousness dwelt therein. Accordingly,
29:48
Speaker 1: he adds, and I heard a great voice from the
29:51
Speaker 1: third heaven, saying, behold, the Tabernacle of God is with men,
29:55
Speaker 1: and He will dwell with them, and they shall be
29:57
Speaker 1: his people. And God himself sh will be with them
30:01
Speaker 1: and be their God twenty one to three. Of necessity.
30:05
Speaker 1: Therefore they will all be happy. God shall wipe away
30:09
Speaker 1: all tears from their eyes, and there shall be no
30:12
Speaker 1: more death, neither sorrow nor crying, neither shall there be
30:17
Speaker 1: any more pain. Twenty one four. There shall be no
30:22
Speaker 1: more curse, but they shall see His face twenty one,
30:27
Speaker 1: three and four, shall have the nearest access to and
30:31
Speaker 1: hence the highest resemblance of Him. This is the strongest
30:36
Speaker 1: expression in the language of Scripture to denote the most
30:39
Speaker 1: perfect happiness. And His name shall be on their foreheads.
30:44
Speaker 1: They shall be openly acknowledged as God's own property, and
30:48
Speaker 1: His glorious nature shall most visibly shine forth in them.
30:52
Speaker 1: And there shall be no night there, and they need
30:55
Speaker 1: no candle, neither light of the sun, for the Lord
30:58
Speaker 1: God giveth them light, and they shall reign forever and ever.
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Speaker 1: It remains only to apply the preceding considerations to all
31:07
Speaker 1: who are here before God, And are we not directly
31:11
Speaker 1: led so to do by the present solemnity which so
31:15
Speaker 1: naturally points us to that day when the Lord will
31:18
Speaker 1: judge the world in righteousness. This, therefore, by reminding us
31:23
Speaker 1: of that more awful season, may furnish many lessons of instruction.
31:28
Speaker 1: A few of these I may be permitted just to
31:30
Speaker 1: touch on. May God write them on all our hearts.
31:35
Speaker 1: And First, how beautiful are the feet of those who
31:38
Speaker 1: are sent by the wise and gracious providence of God
31:41
Speaker 1: to execute justice on earth, to defend the injured, and
31:45
Speaker 1: punish the wrong doer. Are they not the ministers of
31:49
Speaker 1: God to us for good, the grand supporters of the
31:52
Speaker 1: public tranquility, the patrons of innocence and virtue, the great
31:57
Speaker 1: security of all our temporal blessings. And does not every
32:02
Speaker 1: one of these represent not only an earthly prince, but
32:06
Speaker 1: the judge of the earth, him whose name is written
32:09
Speaker 1: upon his thigh, King of kings, and Lord of lords. Oh,
32:15
Speaker 1: that all these sons of the right hand of the
32:17
Speaker 1: most Time may be as holy as He is, holy,
32:20
Speaker 1: wise with the wisdom that sitteth by his throne, like him,
32:24
Speaker 1: who is the eternal wisdom of the Father, no respector
32:28
Speaker 1: of persons, as he is none, but rendering to every
32:31
Speaker 1: man according to his works, like him, inflexibly, inoxerably just,
32:38
Speaker 1: though pitiful, and of tender mercy, So shall they be terrible.
32:42
Speaker 1: Indeed to them that do evil, as not bearing the
32:45
Speaker 1: sword in vain. So shall the laws of our land
32:50
Speaker 1: have their full use and due honor, and the throne
32:53
Speaker 1: of our King be still established in righteousness. He truly honorable.
32:59
Speaker 1: Men whom God and the King have commissioned in a
33:02
Speaker 1: lower degree to administer justice, may not ye be compared
33:07
Speaker 1: to those ministering spirits who will attend the Judge coming
33:10
Speaker 1: in the clouds. May you, like them, burn with the
33:14
Speaker 1: love of God and Man. May you love righteousness and
33:18
Speaker 1: hate iniquity. May ye all minister in your several spheres
33:23
Speaker 1: such honor hath God given you also to them that
33:25
Speaker 1: shall be heirs of salvation and to the glory of
33:29
Speaker 1: your Great Sovereign. May ye remain the establishers of peace,
33:34
Speaker 1: the blessing and ornaments of your country, the protectors of
33:38
Speaker 1: a guilty land, the guardian angels of all that are
33:42
Speaker 1: round about you, you whose office it is to execute
33:46
Speaker 1: what is given you in charge by Him before whom
33:48
Speaker 1: you stand. How nearly are you concerned to resemble those
33:52
Speaker 1: that stand before the face of the Son of Man,
33:55
Speaker 1: those servants of His that do his pleasure and hearken
33:58
Speaker 1: to the voice of his words. Does it not highly
34:02
Speaker 1: import you to be as uncorrupt as them? To approve
34:07
Speaker 1: yourselves the servants of God, to do justly and love mercy,
34:12
Speaker 1: to do all as ye would they should do to you.
34:16
Speaker 1: So shall that great Judge, under whose eye you continually stand,
34:20
Speaker 1: say to you also, well done, good and faithful servants,
34:25
Speaker 1: Enter ye into the joy of your Lord. Suffer me
34:29
Speaker 1: to add a few words to all of you who
34:30
Speaker 1: are at this day present before the Lord. Should not
34:34
Speaker 1: you bear it in your minds all the day long,
34:36
Speaker 1: that a more awful day is coming a large assembly
34:41
Speaker 1: this But what is it to that which every eye
34:43
Speaker 1: will then behold, the general assembly of all the children
34:47
Speaker 1: of men that ever lived on the face of the
34:49
Speaker 1: whole earth. A few will stand that the judgment seat
34:52
Speaker 1: this day to be judged, touching what shall be laid
34:55
Speaker 1: to their charge. And they are now reserved in prison,
34:58
Speaker 1: perhaps in chains, till they are brought forth to be
35:01
Speaker 1: tried and sentenced. But we shall all I that speak,
35:05
Speaker 1: and you that here stand at the judgment seat of Christ.
35:10
Speaker 1: And we are now reserved on this earth, which is
35:13
Speaker 1: not our home, in this prison of flesh and blood,
35:17
Speaker 1: perhaps many of us in chains of darkness too, till
35:20
Speaker 1: we are ordered to be brought forth. Here a man
35:24
Speaker 1: is questioned concerning one or two facts which he is
35:27
Speaker 1: supposed to have committed. There we are to give an
35:30
Speaker 1: account of all our works from the cradle to the grave,
35:34
Speaker 1: of all our words, of all our desires and tempers,
35:38
Speaker 1: all the thoughts and intents of our hearts, of all
35:41
Speaker 1: the use we have made of our various talents, whether
35:44
Speaker 1: of mind, body, or fortune, till God said, give an
35:48
Speaker 1: account of thy stewardship, for thou mayest be no longer
35:51
Speaker 1: steward in this court. It is possible some who are
35:56
Speaker 1: guilty may escape for want of evidence, But there is
36:00
Speaker 1: no want of evidence in that court. All men with
36:03
Speaker 1: whom you had the most secret intercourse, who were privy
36:07
Speaker 1: to all your designs and actions, are ready before your face.
36:12
Speaker 1: So are all the spirits of darkness, who inspired evil
36:15
Speaker 1: designs and assisted in the execution of them. So are
36:19
Speaker 1: all the angels of God, those eyes of the Lord
36:22
Speaker 1: that run to and fro over all the earth, who
36:24
Speaker 1: watched over your soul and labored for your good so
36:28
Speaker 1: far as you would permit. So is your own conscience
36:31
Speaker 1: a thousand witnesses in one now, no more capable of
36:36
Speaker 1: being either blinded or silenced, but constrained to know and
36:40
Speaker 1: to speak the naked truth, touching all your thoughts and
36:44
Speaker 1: words and actions. And is conscience as a thousand witnesses, yea.
36:50
Speaker 1: But God is as a thousand consciences. Oh, who can
36:54
Speaker 1: stand before the face of the Great God, even our
36:57
Speaker 1: Savior Jesus Christ. See see he cometh, He maketh the
37:03
Speaker 1: clouds his chariots. He writeth upon the wings of the wind.
37:06
Speaker 1: A devouring fire goeth before him, and after him a
37:10
Speaker 1: flame burneth. See he sitteth upon his throne, clothed with light,
37:15
Speaker 1: as with a garment, arrayed with majesty and honor. Behold,
37:20
Speaker 1: his eyes are as a flame of fire, his voice
37:22
Speaker 1: as the sound of many waters. How will ye escape?
37:26
Speaker 1: Will ye call to the mountains to fall on you,
37:29
Speaker 1: the rocks to cover you, alas the mountains themselves, the rocks,
37:33
Speaker 1: the earth, the heavens are just ready to flee away.
37:36
Speaker 1: Can ye prevent the sentence? Wherewith with all the substance
37:40
Speaker 1: of thy house, with thousands of gold and silver, blind wretch,
37:45
Speaker 1: thou camest naked from thy mother's womb, and more naked
37:48
Speaker 1: into eternity. Hear the Lord, the Judge, Come ye, blessed
37:54
Speaker 1: of my father inherit the kingdom prepared for you from
37:57
Speaker 1: the foundation of the world. Joyful sound, how widely different
38:02
Speaker 1: from that voice which echoes through the expanse of heaven.
38:06
Speaker 1: Depart ye cursed into everlasting fire, prepared for the devil
38:11
Speaker 1: and his angels, And who is he that can prevent
38:14
Speaker 1: or retard the full execution of either sentence? Vain hope
38:19
Speaker 1: lo Hell is moved from beneath to receive those who
38:22
Speaker 1: are ripe for destruction, and the everlasting doors lift up
38:25
Speaker 1: their heads, that the airs of glory may come in
38:30
Speaker 1: what manner of persons that ought we to be in
38:33
Speaker 1: all holy conversation and godliness. We know it cannot be
38:38
Speaker 1: long before the Lord will descend with the voice of
38:40
Speaker 1: the archangel and the trumpet of God, when every one
38:44
Speaker 1: of us shall appear before him and give account of
38:46
Speaker 1: our works. Wherefore beloved, seeing ye look for these things,
38:52
Speaker 1: seeing ye know he will come and will not tarry,
38:56
Speaker 1: be diligent, that ye may be found of Him in
38:59
Speaker 1: peace with the others out spot and blameless. Why should
39:03
Speaker 1: ye not, why should one of you be found on
39:05
Speaker 1: the left hand at his appearing. He willeth not that
39:08
Speaker 1: any should perish, but that all should come to repentance,
39:11
Speaker 1: by repentance to faith in a bleeding Lord, by faith
39:15
Speaker 1: to spotless love, to the full image of God renewed
39:19
Speaker 1: in the heart, and producing all holiness of conversation. Can
39:23
Speaker 1: you doubt of this, when you remember the Judge of
39:27
Speaker 1: all is likewise the savior of all. Hath he not
39:30
Speaker 1: bought you with his own blood that ye might not
39:33
Speaker 1: perish but have everlasting life. Oh, make proof of his
39:37
Speaker 1: mercy rather than his justice, of his love, rather than
39:41
Speaker 1: the thunder of his power. He is not far from
39:44
Speaker 1: every one of us, and he has now come not
39:47
Speaker 1: to condemn, but to save the world. He standeth in
39:50
Speaker 1: the midst Sinner. Doth he not now even now knock
39:55
Speaker 1: at the door of thy heart? Oh, that thou mayest
39:59
Speaker 1: know at least in this thy day the things that
40:02
Speaker 1: belong unto thy peace? O, that ye may now give
40:07
Speaker 1: yourselves to Him who gave himself for you in humble faith,
40:11
Speaker 1: in holy, active, patient love. So shall ye rejoice with
40:16
Speaker 1: exceeding joy in his day when he cometh in the
40:19
Speaker 1: clouds of heaven. End of Section fifteen.