_First_ then, Let us consider our appearance before God in judgment. It is true, at the moment of death our souls immediately stand before God to be judged, as well as our souls and bodies united, shall stand together there in the great day of the resurrection; yet I shall not make any distinction of these seasons now, lest I should multiply particulars; but shall treat of them together, to awaken the secure and sinful worshipper, who appears before God here in the form of devotion: And to put him in mind he must ere long stand before God in another manner than now he does, and to set his thoughts at work to compare one with the other in these particulars: 1. The sinner now appears with some degree of willingness in the presence of God, then it is under a terrible constraint. A wicked man may be willing to come to public ordinances for many carnal ends, as to comply with his superiors, to follow the custom of the family where he dwells, to gain reputation among men, to satisfy the cries of an awakened conscience; for his conscience, perhaps, will not be easy without the performance of some duties; and so he makes use of divine worship, and his public appearances before God, as a kind of opiate, to stupify an uneasy conscience, and therefore he has some inclination and willingness to come before God here on earth: but at death, and at the general resurrection, he must appear whether he will or no; Heb. ix. 27. _It is appointed for all men once to die, and after death the judgment_; Rom. xiv. 10. and 2 Cor. v. 10. _We must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ. The angels shall gather the elect_ from the four quarters of the world, and bring them near to the judge with pleasure; but sinners shall be dragged toward that awful tribunal, and be forced to abide the trial. While the believer, who walks in lively faith, says, When shall I come into that world of spirits, and appear there before God? the sinner wishes that day may never come: O that I might live for ever on earth! that I might for ever converse with men, and never see the face of that God who hates me, and whom I have never loved. O that death might make an utter end of me! O that the grave would cover me for ever, that I might rise no more. And when that dreadful day comes, then, “Fall on us, rocks; then, mountains press us down, and conceal us for ever from the wrath of God and the Lamb;” as in Rev. vi. 15, 16. that outcry is represented. But they must stand and see the terror; they are constrained to hear the glorious and dreadful sentence, Dost thou believe this, O my soul! and canst thou be content to live unprepared for the solemnities of this day?