Falling into the Hands of the Living God!

Part 9

Matthew Mead, 1629-1699

"It is a terrifying thing to fall into the hands of the living God!" Hebrews 10:31

That which I am working on, is to give you the reasons of this truth—why it is such a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God.

I. It is with respect to those attributes of God which make it so.

II. It is because all the proceedings of God in that day shall be suited to the ministry of a man's own conscience, and shall be such as conscience shall fall in with.

III. It is because all who fall into his hands in the sense explained in the text, have to deal with God in such a covenant, where the great design of God is to glorify his justice.

IV. It is a fearful thing, because of the impartiality of the sentence that shall then be passed, which is made evident by three things:

  1. There shall be no distinction of persons.

  2. The sentence shall be suited to the nature and merit of the cause.

  3. No manner of sin shall escape the sentence.

V. In this, "It is a terrifying thing to fall into the hands of the living God"—because there is no way of being delivered out of his hand. It was a proud saying of Nebuchadnezzar, "What God will be able to rescue you from my hand?" (Daniel 3:15). There was a God he did not know, who could, and did deliver out of his hand. "If he cuts off, and shuts up—then who can hinder him?" (Job 11:10). Who can turn God from his purpose, or make him change his course, or alter his mind, or revoke his sentence?

There are but five ways that I can think on of being delivered out of the hands of God's wrath in that day. Either by way of justification, or supplication, or opposition, or appeal, or redemption. But none of these can be useful in the hands of a lost sinner in that day.

1. It cannot be by JUSTIFICATION—for the most righteous person breathing, cannot dare to justify himself before God. It is true that every believer shall be justified—he has one to plead his cause, who will justify his person—but he dare not justify himself. "If I justify myself, (Job says,) my own mouth shall condemn me," (Job 9:12). That is, my very plea shall be turned into sin, this will appear in two ways.

(1). From the insufficiency of any man for such an undertaking. How can he who is wholly unrighteous—justify himself before God, who is infinite in righteousness and holiness? Therefore, if a man attempts this, his words will prove him guilty, when he pleads not guilty.

(2). He who justifies himself before God, must do it by the merit of his own doings—he must bring forth all his duties, and performances, and all his good works. But this will not do, because the evil he has done is more than his good. If he mentions his duties—then he must mention his sins too; and then his own mouth will condemn him, for his sins are more than his duties.

Therefore, Job totally declines this plea of personal righteousness, and so does Paul in 1 Corinthians 4:4, "I know nothing by myself," (he says), I have no evil to charge on my conscience yet, (he says), "I am no not hereby justified;" therefore, he tells you what his great care was, (Philippians 3:9), "that I may be found in Christ, not having my own righteousness which is of the Law, but that which is through faith in Christ."

Now, if the most righteous man that breathes cannot justify himself before God—then how can a carnal unsanctified sinner do it, who is destitute of all righteousness? What does he have to plead with God?

The believer who is under the power of renewing grace has much righteousness to act, but none to plead. He has a righteousness to sanctify him, though it cannot justify him. But the lost sinner has no righteousness to act, and can therefore have none to plead, and therefore he can never hope to be delivered out his hands this way.

2. It cannot be by way of SUPPLICATION, for God will in that day be inexorable. Though now he has an ear to hear, tender affections to regard, answers the prayer of the destitute, says, "ask, and you shall have"—yet that day he will be inexorable.

Now he is moved (if I may phrase it so) by supplication. Prayer has a mighty prevalence with God in the present day. Jacob, "wept and made supplication," (Hosea 12:4), and by this, (it is said) he had power with God, "and prevailed." Therefore, Job resolves on this course, (Job 9:15), "I will make supplication to my judge." That is, I will throw myself down at the foot of God, I will deprecate judgment and sue for mercy. Prayer overcomes when nothing else can. Why is this?

Not as it is an act of ours, but as it is an institution of God, he has ordained it, as a means to that end, and therefore it is a prevailing means with God. But it is but during the present state that it is so. No supplications can prevail with God, when once lost sinners are fallen into his hands, because it ceases to be an ordinance of God. Then it has none of the stamp of his institution upon it, and therefore can have no prevalence in it.

We are taught this much, by the parable of the rich man, (Luke 16:24), that, "being in torment, he cried and said, Father Abraham, have mercy upon me, and send Lazarus to dip his finger in water to cool my tongue, for I am tormented in this flame!" But what is the answer? "Between us and you, there is a gulf fixed." The meaning is to show that their state in that day is eternally determined—there is a gulf fixed. "If a man sins against the Lord—who shall entreat for him?" He must be left to the righteous judgment of God.

3. Nor can OPPOSITION or RESISTANCE prevail. If God will not withdraw his anger, (as in that day) the proud and haughty shall stoop under him. Men may slight his word now, but they cannot resist his power then. Can the spider withstand the broom, and the arm that sweeps with it? No more can the sinner withstand God, when he comes to sweep them down with the broom of destruction!

Rebels may be too hard for an earthly prince, but the Almighty cannot be hindered from exercising his power by the weakness of puny man. He overcomes when he judges, by executing the sentence. Though men resist his laws now, and will not submit to his rule—they cannot resist the sentence of his punishment then. As they must bow to his sovereignty—so they must fall under the power of his wrath.

A prisoner in this world may possibly make his escape, and avoid his sentence—but none can escape from God. He has the keys of Hell and death, and none can deliver out of his hand. Neither bribes nor power can avail to rescue them. Therefore, the prophet says, "Consider, you who forget God, lest I tear you in pieces and there be none to deliver!" None can deliver out of his hand. The strength of God is an invincible thing. His throne is represented, "as a fiery flame," (Daniel 7:9). Fire is a masterless element and it burns everything before it.

No man can resist the meanest creature when it comes to him armed with a power from God. Pharaoh, as great as he was, could not withstand an army of lice, nor keep the frogs out of his bed-chamber. A few worms armed with a commission from God, devour a proud Herod. God can make the sea overflow and swallow the earth up, as he did in the flood. If God speaks to the earth, it shall open up and swallow rebellious sinners as it did Korah and his company.

What force can repel the Almightiness of God, which overturns the mountains, which shakes the earth out of its place, and makes its pillars tremble? Therefore, a godly man cries out, "The Lord is wise in heart and mighty in strength." "Who shall say to God: What are you doing?" His Almightiness is as much beyond our strength—as his infiniteness is beyond our understanding. Therefore, there no being can be delivered out of his hand, by opposition or resistance.

4. Nor is it possible to escape the sentence of that day by any APPEAL. It is some relief to a man's mind that when he is cast in one court, he may appeal to another; he may be cast in one court, and acquitted in another. But there is no appealing from the righteous bar of God, nor reversing the sentence which he passes.

Shall a man appeal to the law? Alas! the law justifies the judgment, and condemns every sinner!

Shall he appeal to the gospel? It is the slighting and despising of the gospel, out of which the sentence arises. The sentence of God on lost sinners at the last, only ratifies the sentence which the gospel now passes on them here.

Shall he appeal to the mercy of God and his goodness? I know many flatter themselves with the thoughts of this, "God is full of mercy—I hope he will show me mercy." But alas! they have abused God's mercy and goodness all their lives long: "Or do you show contempt for the riches of his kindness, tolerance and patience, not realizing that God's kindness leads you toward repentance? But because of your stubbornness and your unrepentant heart, you are storing up wrath against yourself for the day of God's wrath, when his righteous judgment will be revealed." Romans 2:4-5

Therefore you think this, O man, who has hopes of God's mercy, and rests on his goodness—while you remain in your sins and disobedience. Think about this, O man, shall you escape the judgment of God? Shall men despise the goodness of God now—and yet think to escape by appealing to it then? Shall they slight mercy now, when it may be had—and yet think to appeal to mercy, when the date has expired? O! what folly is this! Were you never told of seasons of grace, and that the offers of mercy had their limited times? Has not the word of God told you, "Now is the accepted time, now is the day of salvation." Now God offers mercy to lost sinners. But there is no mercy for those who have refused the offers of it in this world, in the eternal world.

There can be no appeal from God to any other in that day. He being above all, can be accountable to none—and therefore there is no escaping by way of appeal.

5. There is no escaping this sentence by way of REDEMPTION. None can redeem a sinner, when once he is fallen into the hands of God. There is a redemption provided for lost man, a sufficient one, a glorious one, a blessed one, which is able to redeem the vilest sinner who repents.

The Lord Jesus Christ is our blessed Redeemer. He is the only plank of mercy, upon which we may escape the hazard of an eternal shipwreck. The loss of sinners by the fall would have been as irrecoverable as the loss of the fallen angels—had not God contrived a method of redeeming, above the reach of all human wisdom.

This is the wonder of angels, "the great mystery of godliness," (1 Timothy 3:16). It is the matter of the saint's triumphant song in Heaven, (Revelation 1:6). And well it may, when we consider that a nobler kind of creatures are finally lost, and there is no Redeemer appointed for them. How strange is it that God should have more regard to sinning man, than to sinning angels! He takes up the nature of man, rather than that of angels—and becomes a Redeemer to man, and not to angels. He condescends to save an earthen pitcher, and let a vessel of gold be lost!

O! how should every sinner value a Redeemer! The very name of Christ (Bernard says) is honey in the mouth, melody in the ear, and a jubilee in the heart.

The Apostle says, "To you who believe, he is precious," (1 Peter 2:7). There is a twofold preciousness in Christ.

One in respect of his essential excellency, as he is, "the only begotten Son of God, the brightness of his Father's glory, and the express image of his person."

The other in respect of what he is to us. He is precious in respect of his usefulness and suitableness to all the sinner's needs. All this is implied in his being a Redeemer. He redeems from all evil. He redeems to all good. He is a Redeemer from Hell and wrath. He is a Redeemer to Heaven and glory. He has worked out eternal redemption for us.

None can express the preciousness of Christ, but those that have had a sense of guilt and wrath, and have fled for refuge to the hope set before them—and to such, Christ is precious indeed. Those who understand the worth of an immortal soul, and the dreadfulness of the wrath of God, and how sufficient the blood of Christ is to ransom from it—these will take him for their Redeemer. And to such he will be precious: by pardoning sin, removing wrath, and giving peace with God, and making the soul free indeed, and, "delivering him forever from his Judge," (Job 23:7).

But though the benefit of this blessed redemption is so great—yet it is not to be had hereafter, if a saving interest in it is not secured by the soul here. And therefore, the counsel of the Holy Spirit is, "Kiss the Son, lest he be angry and you be destroyed in your way, for his wrath can flare up in a moment. Blessed are all who take refuge in him!" (Psalm 2:12).

Kiss the Son—that is, the Lord Christ. This kissing the Son, is by showing submission to Christ, by faith and obedience. To kiss the Son, is to receive and embrace Christ, as our King, our Priest, and Prophet. It is to receive him in the whole of his saving work of mediatorship. And this is the way, and the only way, to escape the wrath of God. Without this, it is utterly impossible to avert it, for, "Whoever believes in the Son has eternal life; but whoever rejects the Son will not see life, for God's wrath remains on him." It shall abide upon him forever, and there can be no removing of it. No ransom can then deliver from it.

Job 36:18 says, "Because there is wrath, beware lest God take you away with his stroke—then a great ransom cannot deliver you." A ransom is a price paid for the delivering of captives out of bondage. So, Christ gave himself a ransom for lost sinners; but here is a case where no ransom will be taken, though it is ever so great. If God once takes you away with his stroke, then a great ransom can never deliver you! If once a sinner falls into the hands of the justice of the living God, it will be a vain thing to think of getting off by a ransom, though ever so great. You read of a two-fold ransom for the children of God in Scripture.

(1.) The destruction of the wicked is sometimes made the ransom and price of their deliverance. So it is said in Proverbs 21:18, "The wicked shall be a ransom for the righteous, and the transgressor for the upright." How is the wicked a ransom for the righteous? Will the wicked man give himself a ransom for the good man? Will he lay down his life for such as he hates to the death? It cannot be. But the meaning of it is this: that God will save and deliver the righteous by the destruction of the wicked; rather than the righteous shall perish, the wicked shall be destroyed to save them. So God speaks by the prophet in Isaiah 33:3, "I gave Egypt for your ransom for Israel." That is, God destroyed Pharaoh and the Egyptians in the Red Sea, to preserve his own people. So, the righteous are delivered out of trouble, by putting the wicked in his stead.

(2.) There is another ransom for the people of God—and that is the precious blood of the Son of God. all who lay hold on him by faith, "are bought with a high price!" (1 Corinthians 6:20). This is a great ransom, and yet there are some cases, in which this ransom, the blood of the Son of God, will not deliver. Though the blood of Christ has in itself an infinite and intrinsic virtue to redeem, and deliver any sinner—let the sin be ever so great; yet there are some cases the blood of Christ will not afford any relief under. Such as these:

1st. Such as are impenitent and obstinate in sin. These resolvedly go on in their lusts, against the calls of God, and the means of grace. The blood of Christ is no ransom for such. Christ came to save us from our sins—but not to save us in our sins.

2nd. Such as are unbelievers. Though they cease from the outward practice of sin, if they do not close with Christ by faith, his blood is no ransom for them. Christ will not save presumptuous sinners, who believe without repentance. Neither will he save incredulous sinners, who repent without believing.

3rd. Such as are apostates and turn from God. The blood of Christ is no ransom for such. (Hebrews 10:26). "If we sin willfully after we have received the knowledge of the truth, there remains no more sacrifice for sin."

4th. There is another sort of lost sinners that shall have no benefit by this ransom of the blood of Christ. They are such as have actually fallen into the hands of the living God in the eternal world. The virtue of Christ's blood does not operate there. It was never designed to that end. Christ is a Redeemer upon earth—but not in Hell. His blood is a ransoming blood now in the day of grace—but it will not be so then in the day of justice. You hope in Christ when you are past hope—and trust him when it is too late. I tell you, his blood operates only during the seasons that God has appointed for its offers. That is, the season of grace. Now is the time of tendering Christ's blood; now is the time a sinner may have benefit by this ransom. Now it operates, and effects a blessed redemption for all who receive and apply it.

But there is no tender of this after this life, and therefore no soul can have benefit by it then. If he is not redeemed here, he is lost forever. If it is ever done, it must be done here. Redemption is not a thing to be done hereafter. If ever you are saved by Christ, you must be saved now. Now is the day of grace.

Redemption, it is true, is not completed until the final judgment, which is, therefore, called the day of redemption. But your redemption is begun here, if ever you are saved hereafter. All who shall be saved in that world—must be first saved in this one. O! how should all of us look at times after redeeming grace, while we may have it! "Seek the Lord while he may be found, call upon him while he is near." Now is the time of applying Christ's blood, while it is operative and effectual; for though it may be in its own nature powerful—yet it is not operative and effectual except for during the appointment of God. This is while the day of grace lasts, and no longer.

Therefore, do not deceive yourselves! Though it is a ransoming blood now, it will not be so when you have fallen into the hands of God, for from there you find no salvation.

Christ is said to deliver us from the wrath to come. The wrath to come is hereafter—but the deliverance from it is here. We must be saved now, if at all, for then we cannot; the redemption of the soul ceases forever. When God once, "takes him away with His stroke, then a great ransom cannot deliver you." The blood of Christ himself cannot, and the reason is—because the state of lost sinners, when they are in the hand of God, is unalterable. They are in an eternal unalterable state.

Here on earth, the condition of a man is uncertain and mutable. Here a man is a child of wrath today—and by the power of grace, he is made an heir of God tomorrow. Born—and then new born. Here he goes under many changes:

From a state of guilt, to a state of justification.

From a state of bondage, to a state of adoption.

From a state of darkness, to a state of light.

From a state of sin, to a state of grace.

There are many changes here—and blessed are those who know this change.

But in the eternal world, there are no changes of state. The state he then enters into—he abides in forever. Both saints and lost sinners, all who go there enter into a newer, but never-ending condition. Whether they go to Heaven, or Hell; whether they rise to the resurrection of life, or damnation—they are equally put into an everlasting condition. The last verse of Matthew 25 says, "These shall go away into everlasting punishment, and the righteous into life eternal."

Whichever way the miseries of the wicked are expressed in Scripture, they are still said to be of an everlasting duration.

Hell is darkness. This is a darkness that shall never be day. It is everlasting darkness. As it is said of the glory of Heaven, "There is no night there;" so, of the darkness of Hell, there is no day there. (Jude 13). "For whom is reserved the blackness of darkness forever." It is darkness, because there is no light of God's countenance shining in that place. It is blackness of darkness, to express the extremity of the misery. It is blackness of darkness forever, to set out its duration.

Again, Hell is called a prison. (1 Peter 3:19.) It is said of the spirits of the old world, that they are in prison—that is, in Hell. This is such a prison as that they who are cast in, shall never come out of! If it is out of the reach of Christ's blood to fetch the soul from Hell—then it must necessarily be out of the reach of the saint's prayers; for the efficacy of all prayers is in the blood of Jesus. The prisoners in this state are not prisoners of hope—no, these are prisoners of despair, for those who are once cast in there, are forever locked up by him who has the keys of Hell and death. Job 12:14, "He shuts up a man—and there can be no opening." Those whom God's power shuts in—no key can let out! The chains that God puts upon a sinner can never fall off!

Again, this state of Hell is called the wrath of God. (Ephesians 5:6; Revelation 14:10). This wrath is such as abides upon the soul forever. Therefore, it is said in the text, "It is a terrifying thing to fall into the hands of the living God"—because, he being the living God, his wrath must necessarily be a living, a lasting wrath—and, therefore, it is a fearful thing.

Sometimes Hell is called a worm—as conscience in that day will be a fearful corroding thing, and that is a worm that shall not die, (Mark 9:44.) "Where the worm never dies!" The living God makes the sinner's conscience a never dying worm.

Again, sometimes Hell is called fire, which is a fit metaphor to express God's wrath by. As fire is the most dreadful element—so is God's wrath the most dreadful wrath.

There is no fire like this, for it burns INTERNALLY. Visible fire burns only visible matter—but this burns invisibly and inwardly. It burns that which no other fire can touch, and that is the soul of man. God is a spirit, and his wrath is a fire that can reach the spirit.

That which makes Hell-fire terrible indeed, is that it burns ETERNALLY and EVERLASTINGLY. Therefore, it is called a fire that shall never go out—that shall never be quenched—"eternal fire!" "Then He will say to those on His left: Depart from Me, you who are cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels!" Matthew 25:41

Great fires here on earth, though they are dreadful—yet they go out after a time. These fires consume themselves by devouring that which feeds and maintains them.

But this fire of Hell is kindled and preserved by the everlasting wrath of God! As long the life of God remains—so long must this fire burn!

"Our God is a consuming fire!" Hebrews 12:29. It is not called so because the fire of His wrath consumes, but because He consumes lost sinners by the fire of His wrath. But yet this fire does not consume one sinner as to his being, but only as to his well-being. It does not annihilate his person, but his hope.

The great dread of common fire is that it destroys and consumes what it burns. But the greatest dread of Hell-fire is that it burns, but will not consume. It is a consuming fire, but does not consume the body, for the body as well as the soul of the sinner shall remain in this fire forever, and never be consumed.

O! the folly of men to kindle the fire of God's wrath, and by unbelief to throw themselves into it! Will any man in his right mind cast himself into the fire? Indeed you read in Matthew 17:15 of one "who often fell into the fire"—but he was a complete lunatic! There are none so mad as obstinate sinners, who throw themselves into the fire of God's wrath willingly, and so shall perish forever.

O! that God by this, would awaken every sinner out of his security, that he might flee from the wrath to come. This is a wrath that none can deliver you out of! There is no deliverance out of God's hands!

No deliverance by justification, or supplication, or opposition, or appeal, or redemption itself. Therefore, it is a terrifying thing to fall into the hands of the living God, and that is the fifth reason.

 

VI. It is a terrifying thing to fall into the hands of the living God, because it is the last of God's dispensations to man, and the last is the most terrible. The glorifying of the elect, and the destruction of the wicked, are the last works of God. When this world shall be folded up as a garment, and a final conclusion is put to all the present dispensations of God—he will then come then to save the godly, and to throw lost sinners into their everlasting state of destruction!

The sinner is reserved to the day of destruction, and he shall be brought forth to the day of God's wrath—when many wraths shall be wrapped up in one. For then shall the sinner be the object of the entirety of God's wrath. The wicked is reserved to the day of wrath, as Pharaoh was preserved in the ten plagues—to be drowned and destroyed in the sea. In the same way, many lost sinners are kept from lesser plagues in this world, to perish in the sea of God's wrath! God preserves the wicked, until the lesser plagues are over, and then the sinner and his sin shall be brought forth together into judgment, they shall be brought forth to the day of wrath.

All the evil days which the wicked escape here—it is but reserving them to the evil day, from which there is no escaping! God's last works in the world are his saving believers, and destroying lost sinners. He will so manage these, as that he will in this show himself to be God indeed. The believer shall know what a God he is for grace and mercy. The lost sinner shall know what a God he is for justice and wrath.

It is a certain rule, that God's latter works exceed the former! I could show this by a variety of dispensations in the world.

The making of Heaven and earth was a glorious work, but there is another creation to come, which far exceeds that, the new heavens and new earth.

The giving out the covenant of grace, how darkly was it dispensed to Adam; (Genesis 3:15). It was more explicitly made known to Noah. To Abraham—yet more plain and full. David had it more clear and full than all the former. But this covenant was never so gloriously revealed, as by Christ in the Gospel. That is the last dispensation of the covenant, and therefore the greatest and best, and therefore called, "the better covenant."

The worship of God, how much more carnal was it of old under the Jewish state, than now it is under the Gospel. Then it was in sacrifices, and divers washings, and the like—but now his worship is more spiritual, more raised and noble, (John 4:23), "The hour is coming, and now is, when the true worshipers shall worship the Father in spirit and in truth." Gospel worship is a better worship, and therefore called the time of reformation, (Jeremiah 3:5). "In those days, says the Lord, (that is, in the days of Messiah) they shall no more say: the ark of the covenant of the Lord, neither shall it come to mind, neither shall they remember it, neither shall that be done any more."

You must know there is a synecdoche in the words. The ark of the covenant is put for all the legal ceremonies, of which the ark was a chief part, and the meaning is, that the whole ark with all its ceremonies should utterly cease when Christ was come, for he answers all the uses of the ark.

In the ark was laid up the pot of manna, Aaron's rod, the tables of the law. Now Christ is all this. Christ is the hidden manna, the bread of life, Christ is the rod of government—in him is the whole Law fulfilled. And now Christ reigns in his church by his word and Spirit, therefore all the former things shall cease. Therefore it shall no more be said, "The ark of the covenant of the Lord."

The great blessing of the Spirit, how sparingly was He given out at first, to a very few in number, and that in a small measure, in so much that it is said comparatively, that the Spirit was not given. He was not given, that is, in comparison of what was to be when Christ had ascended. For the fullest enjoyment of the extraordinary gifts, and saving graces of the Spirit was reserved until Christ's ascension, as the fruit of his exaltation and triumph. So that the Spirit is said to be, "poured out," in that day; (Joel 2:28). There is a greater measure of the Spirit enjoyed under the Gospel than ever was before, and let me tell you there is yet another pouring out of the Spirit promised, that shall be greater than any ever yet was.

So, you see by these hints, that still the last works of God are the greatest in a way of mercy—and truly it is the same in a way of judgment! Still the last judgments are the greatest. Therefore you read of these threatenings, (Leviticus 26:18). He threatens to make an addition of seven times greater judgments, if they would not hearken to him, and so he goes on with yet seven times more, four times over—to show us that there is a gradation in wrath. The farther God goes on in a way of wrath with any people, the greater still it is. You read of little wrath, greater wrath, and wrath to the utmost.

There is first a kindling of wrath, and then there is a flame of wrath, and at last unquenchable fire. So that God's last works are his greatest, whether it be in a way of mercy to his people, or in a way of judgment to the wicked world, and God will observe the same method to the last.

It shall be so in the last day. God's last works to believers shall be the greatest. God will do more for believers, than ever he has done. First, he gives grace, then more grace, then a perfect man in Christ Jesus, and so an ideal preparation for glory. Grace is in the beginning, little—but in the end, it is glorious. God gives the tokens of his love by degrees. First, we see through a glass darkly, and then face to face. Love first breaks forth to the soul in union to Christ, then it shows itself more in our communion with Christ, until at last it is perfected in the full enjoyment of Christ.

So it is in the dispensations of God's wrath to lost sinners, his last works are his greatest works. In the next world, they shall have all of his wrath. How terrible must it be, when the angry God, the sin-revenging God—will pour out all his wrath on the sinner. As the salvation of the righteous will be a great and glorious salvation, in which eternal love shall be perfected on the saints—so the destruction of the wicked shall be a great and dreadful destruction, in which eternal vengeance shall be forever perfected on the sinner. Therefore it must necessarily be a "terrifying thing to fall into the hands of the living God."

O! that God would awaken your hearts, that these things may make impressions on you, and sink down into your hearts. They are the words of God. If we do not know what the wrath of God is, and its dreadful effects—then how shall we be awakened to flee from it by a timely repentance, and diligent laying hold on Christ, and improving the means of grace, which God has appointed to this end—that we may be delivered from wrath, and partake of eternal glory, by Jesus Christ?