Meditation VII

At his presence nature shakes,
Earth affrighted hastes to flee;
Solid mountains melt like wax,
What will then become of thee?

O, my unconverted friends, where will you hide yourselves in the great and terrible day of the Lord? Where will you secrete yourselves from the presence of the Almighty? If you ascend into heaven, he is there; if you make your bed in hell, he is there. If you take the wings of the morning and fly to the utmost parts of the earth, even there shall he find you, and his right hand shall search you out. Be not deceived, God is not mocked. If the righteous are scarcely saved, where will the sinner and the ungodly appear? Now consider this, ye that forget God, lest he tare you in pieces, and there is none to deliver you.

Where now their haughty looks?
O, their horror and despair,
When they see the open books,
And the dreadful sentence hear!

O, my friends, it is painful to tell you the truth, but you had better hear it now before it is eternally too late. O, then, fly to the Saviour before the door of mercy is forever shut against you. Repent and believe in the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved.

Prayer

O, Lord God, Paul may plant, and Apollos water, but thou alone givest the increase. We are sensible that without thee we can do nothing. Vain are all our efforts without thy blessing. But, Lord God, thou hast the hearts of all thy creatures in hand, and thou canst turn them withersoever thou wilt. Strip the hearts of this people from their idols, we humbly beseech thee. Take off their eyes from beholding vanity. Thou canst glorify thyself in making them the monuments of thy mercy; and thou canst glorify thyself in making them the monuments of thy wrath. Glorify thyself in making them the monuments of thy victorious grace. Open their eyes that they may see that their feet stand upon slippery places, and that fiery billows roll beneath them. And, O Lord God, wilt thou in an especial manner have mercy on our unconverted brethren? Soften their proud and rebellious hearts, and be not angry with them forever. O, Jesus of Nazareth, hast thou not died that they might live? Hast thou not become poor that they might become rich? Is not thy blood sufficient to atone? Wherefore, O Lord God, hast thou hardened their hearts and blinded their eyes? Wherefore hast thou so long withheld from them the divine influences of thy holy spirit? Open their eyes that they may see that they are going down to hell as fast as the wheels of time can carry them. O, stop them in their mad career! Grant that a grievous cry might be heard among thy professing children in behalf of perishing souls; and may it be like the cry of the Egyptians in the night that thou didst slay their firstborn. And not only for ourselves do we pray, but for all nations, kindreds, tongues, and people. Grant that an innumerable host, which no man can number, may be gathered in from the four winds of heaven; and when the last trumpet shall sound, grant that we may be caught up into the clouds of the air and our ear saluted with the joyful sound: "Well done, thou good and faithful servant; thou hast been faithful over a few things, I will make the ruler over many things; enter thou into the joy of thy Lord."