roaring,”[1] who comes to devour His enemies! Father, Brother, Friend, Spouse, Saviour, Mediator, Intercessor, our Pledge with God; alas, there is an end of all that! His only name and title when He shall appear on His throne will be that of a strict Judge, whose duty and obligation it is to condemn those who are convicted of guilt, and sentence them to public execution, but in no way whatever to intercede for them or obtain a mitigation of their sentence.
Shown by an example after the manner of a simile. A Greek philosopher was offered the position of judge, and as is usual in such cases, his wife, children, friends, and neighbors came to congratulate him; but all he said to them was: “In future I look on myself as a stranger to all of you.”[2] Wife, thou knowest my heart and affections, and how I have loved thee hitherto. Children, you know that I have cared for you up to this as for myself. Friends, I have always been faithful to you, as you are well aware. But pardon me if I now speak the truth to you; I must be a stranger to you henceforth; all our relations are at an end; the change of office has also brought a change in my love and affection; I am now your judge, and therefore I cease to be your husband, father, and friend. Look on me therefore in future not otherwise than as a stranger. His meaning was: my present duties have no regard for love or friendship; if you commit a crime, I shall punish you just as I would any other criminal. Christian souls! in the same strain and even more emphatically will Jesus Christ, the most just of all judges, speak to you on the day when He shall appear in His majesty and glory, and seat Himself on His tribunal before heaven and earth: Christian soul! thou knowest the tender affection and love I have always had for thee during thy life on earth, as long as thou didst remain My faithful spouse in the state of sanctifying grace; thou knowest that while thou wert My child I loved thee better than My own life, which I gave up in pain and disgrace for thy sake that I might enrol thee among the number of My children, and keep thee there forever; thou knowest that I have often admitted thee to My Table, and fed thee with My own body and blood, or at least that I was daily prepared to give thee this heavenly food. Thou must also acknowledge that when thou wert actually abandoning, despising, offending Me as thy sworn Enemy, and treating
