Day of Judgment, Day of Wonders!

By John Newton
Day of Judgment! Day of wonders!
Hark! the trumpet’s awful sound,
Louder than a thousand thunders,
Shakes the vast creation round!
How the summons will the sinner’s heart confound!


See the Judge, our nature wearing,
Clothed in majesty divine!
You who long for His appearing
Then shall say, This God is mine!
Gracious Savior, own me in that day for Thine!


At His call the dead awaken,
Rise to life from earth and sea;
All the powers of nature shaken
By His look, prepares to flee.
Careless sinner, what will then become of thee?


Horrors, past imagination,
Will surprise your trembling heart,
When you hear your condemnation,
Hence, accursed wretch, depart!
Thou, with Satan and his angels, have thy part!


Satan, who now tries to please you,
Lest you timely warning take,
When that word is past, will seize you,
Plunge you in the burning lake:
Think, poor sinner, thy eternal all’s at stake.


But to those who have confessèd,
Loved and served the Lord below,
He will say, Come near, ye blessèd,
See the kingdom I bestow;
You forever shall My love and glory know.


Under sorrows and reproaches,
May this thought your courage raise!
Swiftly God’s great day approaches,
Sighs shall then be changed to praise.
We shall triumph when the world is in a blaze.

The Unsheltered Alien Sinner

"He who believes in the Son has eternal life; he who does not obey the Son shall not see life, but the wrath of God rests upon him" (Jn. 3:36, RSV; cf. v. 18). When something of the awful condition of being exposed to the wrath of God is perceived, the inconceivably grave state of the alien sinner, as set forth by this text, begins to appear. That wrath can be utterly consuming of the object of its visitation, as scriptural examples of its outpouring abundantly demonstrate. The person of accountable status to God who is not in Christ is wholly unsheltered from the Divine wrath, which is "revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men" (Rom. 1:18). He constantly lives under that dread exposure—when he abides in his domicile, when he lies down, when he arises, when he goes out, when he comes in. All the while God is completely uninhibited, as to justice, from wreaking His wrath to the full against such a one. Somehow, we of the church must make those who are out of Christ realize this terrible state of things. In such a condition, one should not let another day come to a close—nay, another moment pass—ere he flees to Jesus Christ for refuge from the righteous wrath of the holy God against him. --Fred O. Blakely