a Sight as all of you who saw it cannot but confess it was what will it be to see the whole World on Fire and yourselves incompassed in the Flames of 〈◊〉 to see all those tempting Objects all the Instruments of your Pleasures all the Riches and Glory of the World which were the Fuel of your Lusts now turned into a devouring Fire to torment you to expiate those Flames they kindled in your Souls by sensible and material Flames Who would make this World his Portion and Inheritance who considers the end of it It looks charmingly indeed at present it invites and caresses and lays Baits and Snares for us but if we will have the World for our Portion it must be our Portion too at the Day of Judgment and consider how you shall like its Courtship when it incircles you with Flames and Smoke and Darkness those who choose this World for their Portion can never remove out of it and therefore must be contented to share Fortunes with it to smile when it smiles and to burn when it burns With what Triumph will good Men at that Day see themselves out of the reach of a burning World They betimes made their Escape out of this World as foreseeing its approaching Ruin they were not of the World while they lived in it but disintangled their Affections from this World while their Bodies were confined below And such Divine Souls whose Conversation was in Heaven as soon as they get loose from these Bodies ascend far above this Sphere of Corruption out of danger either of being tempted or being hurt by this World With what Triumph will they behold God erect a new World for them to inhabite create a new Heaven and new Earth where he will place his Throne and Tabernacle and dwell among them and be their God! What bad Man can hear these things without Terrour and Amazement What good Man does not long for this happy Day for this Marriage of the Lamb when the new Ierusalem shall come down from God out of heaven prepared as a bride adorned for her husband 21 Revel 2. 3. That the Day of Judgment is at the end of the World proves that this Judgment is final and irreversible because this present state of Things is come to an end and as this puts a final Conclusion to this World so to all accounts relating to it This World is a changeable Scene but the next World is eternal and therefore as good and bad Men are disposed of in the next World they must continue for ever This World will be destroyed and therefore bad Men can never return into it again to act over a new part and to correct the Sins and Follies of their former Lives as Origen conceived they should after a long time of Punishment when the fleshly Principle is thoroughly subdued by the Torments they have suffered Which Opinion how much mercy and good nature soever there may be in it has not the least countenance from Scripture nor any foundation that I know of in Reason when the World where they lived and where they sinned is at an end I think there is an end also of their acting any new part in it And that new World where good Men shall dwell in the immediate Presence of God shall last for ever there is no death no pain no crying for there can be no sin there there is no Devil no World to tempt and nothing within to be tempted they enter clean and pure into that holy Place and the immediate Sight and Presence of God will eternally keep them so Had we no positive Revelation of the Eternity of Rewards and Punishments it were yet reasonable to conclude that if the Day of Judgment put an end to this World without putting an end to good or bad Men but only translating them to a new state of Happiness or Misery that their Happiness or Misery must last as long as that new State does and their Sentence can never be reversed without a new Day of Judgment and therefore if this be the last and final Judgment good and bad Men must then enter upon an unalterable and eternal State of Happiness or Misery and this is the most comfortable and most terrible Consideration of all How will the Souls of good Men rejoyce in God their Saviour when they shall see themselves possest of an eternal and unchangeable Happiness when this mutable Scene is vanished and they have an abiding City whose Builder and Maker is God when they can look forward to Eternity without fearing Death or any Change or Diminution of their Happiness which may encrease to Eternity and be always new and fresh but can never admit of any interruption or allay But I will not pretend to describe the Confusion the Distraction the Raging Despair of those wretched Sinners who shall be condemned to Everlasting Fire who see an end of all their Happiness and but the beginning of their Miseries in a Fired World our Thoughts cannot reach this now we have no Passions yet big enough for such a Misery Eternal Torment Blessed JESU have Mercy upon us and let the present Fear and Dread of it preserve us from ever knowing what it means If you should ask me When the end of the World and the Day of Judgment will come I must confess to you I do not know for our Saviour has before told us Of that day and hour knoweth no man not the angels in heaven nor the Son but the Father only That we are not concerned to know when this shall be nay that God has very wise Reasons to conceal this from us I have shewed you before I shall now add 1. That it is not likely to be yet 2. That how long soever it be delayed we have great reason at present to provide for it Especially 3. when we are sure that the time now hastens after so long an expectation of it I. That it is not likely to be yet In St. Paul's time some Christians were in great apprehension that the Day of Judgment was near and it seems were in a terrible Fright about it but the Apostle thought fit to correct this Mistake and that with some Earnestness as if it were a Mistake of ill consequence and so indeed it might have proved if not to them yet to those who followed who observing their Mistake about the Day of Judgment confuted as all such Mistake are by the Event might have concluded that the whole was a Mistake and that there should be no Day of Judgment because it did not come when it was expected and therefore the Apostle thought fit to warn them against it Now we beseech you brethren by the coming of our Lord Iesus Christ and by our gathering together unto him That ye be not soon shaken in mind or be troubled neither by spirit nor by word nor by letter as from us as that the day of Christ is at hand 2 Thess. 2.1 2. And to satisfie them
of this World and was worshipped with Divine Honours and St. Iohn tells us For this end the Son of God was manifest to destroy the works of the devil 1 Joh. 3.8 And Christ tells us That the Holy Ghost whom he would send upon his Apostles after his Resurrection from the Dead should convince the world of judgment because the prince of this world is judged 16 John 11. Where by Judgment I understand the final Judgment which the Spirit should convince the World of by that visible Judgment he would execute upon the Prince of this World For by the preaching of the Gospel he turned Men from Darkness unto Light and from the Power of Satan unto God converted great part of the Heathen World silenced their Oracles and exposed their Gods and their Worship their Temples and their Altars to contempt This was a visible Judgment of the Prince of this World and have not bad Men reason to look about them when they see their Prince and Captain so miserably defeated If Christ have already begun to execute Judgment on the Prince of this World is not this a plain Fore-runner of the final Judgment when the Devil and his Angels and all bad Men shall be condemned to Eternal Fire This assurance we have that the Son of Man shall Judge the World that God hath raised him from the Dead and thereby confirmed that Testimony which he gave of himself advanced him to the right Hand of Power and has already given some sensible Proofs of his Power and Justice in the Overthrow of the Iewish Nation and the Devil's Kingdom I shall only farther observe that this sensible Proof we have that Christ shall Judge the World is a sensible Proof of a Future Judgment as certain as we are that Christ is risen from the Dead so certain we are of a Future Judgment which is an abundant Confirmation of all those other Arguments from Reason and Scripture that God will Judge the World CHAP. IV. The Manner and Circumstances of CHRIST's Appearance and the Awful Solemnities of Iudgement IV. LET us now consider the Manner and Circumstances of Christ's Appearance and the Awful Solemnities of Judgment I have upon several Occasions hinted at most of these things already but the Order of my Discourse requires that I should say something particularly though briefly to them Now our Saviour tells us 16 Matth. 27. That the Son of man shall come in the glory of his Father with his angels 9 Luke 26. That the Son of man shall come in his own glory and in his Fathers's and of the holy angels That the Lord Iesus shall be revealed from heaven with his mighty angels in flaming fire taking vengeance on them â—hat know not God and obey not the gospel of our Lord Iesus Christ 2 Thess. 1.7 8. That the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout with the voice of the archangel and with the trump of God which shall awaken the dead and raise them out of their graves but the dead in Christ shall rise first then we which are alive that is whoever shall then be alive at Christ's coming to Judgment shall be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air and so shall we ever be with the Lord 1 Thess. 4.16 17. That when the Son of man cometh in his glory and all his holy angels with him then shall he sit upon the throne of his glory And before him shall be gathered all nations and he shall separate them one from another as a shepherd divideth his sheep from the goats 25 Matth. 31 32. Or as it is described in St. Iohn's Visions 20 Revel 11 12 13. And I saw a white throne and him that sat on it from whose face the earth and heavens fled away and there was no place found for them And I saw the dead small and great stand before God and the books were opened and another book was opened which is the book of life and the dead were judged out of those things which were written in the books according to their works This gives us a general Prospect of the Order and Solemnity of the last Judgment which is very Pompous and Glorious and very Terrible there never was any thing like it all the Roman Triumphs in comparison with this were but like the Sports and Apish Imitations of Children let us then particularly but briefly consider the several parts of it Christ shall come in his own glory and in his Father's and of the holy angels In his own glory that must signifie the Glory of his Person that is the Glory of an Incarnate God His Body will be bright and glorious as the Sun so it was when he was transfigured before them on the Mount His face did shine like the sâ—â— and his raiment was white as the light 17 Matth. 2. And if there be any new degrees of Glory and Majesty we may be sure he will appear in it all when he comes to Judgment The Scripture assures us that Christ is now clothed with a glorious Body and that at the Resurrection he shall change our vile bodies that they may be like to his own most glorioâ—s body and he himself tells us At that day the righteous shall shine forth like the sun in the kingdom of their Father And if he bestows such Glory on his meanest Members how glorious will the Head be for St. Paul assures us that there are very different degrees of Glory There is one glory of the sun and another glory of the moon and another glory of the stars for one star differeth from another star in glory So also is the resurrection of the dead 1 Cor. 15.41 42. With what Glory then will our Lord appear when he comes to Judgment If the Righteous shall shine forth like the Sun how bright will the Sun of Righteousness himself be If meer Creatures shall appear so glorious what will the Glory of an Incarnate God be for he will not then appear as a glorious Creature but as a visible God as I observed before his Godhead will shine through his glorified Humanity as visibly as our Souls do through our Bodies and how glorious must that Body be in which the Deity appears a Glory which distinguishes a God from the most glorious Creatures But he must appear in the Glory of his Father also that is as I understand it with the Authority of an Universal Judge this is a great Glory for Authority and Power carries Reverence and Majesty with it whatever Mens personal Qualifications are though upon all other accounts they are much inferior to their Neighbours yet the Character of a Judge makes them Venerable especially to those who must be judged by them Authority is an invisible Character but yet gives a visible Majesty it is apt to impose upon our Judgments of Persons that we hardly think them the same Men when they are in Authority and out of it and
God 5 John 25 28 29. Verily verily I say unto you The hour is coming and now is when the dead shall hear the voice of the Son of God and they that hear shall live Which may indeed be understood of a Metaphorical or Spiritual Death and Resurrection that those who were dead in Sin should be raised to a new Spiritual Life by hearing the Voice of the Son of God and believing on him but though our Saviour might intend this sence yet he meant somewhat more by it as appears from what follows Marâ—â— not at this for the hour is coming in the which all that are in their graves shall hear his voice and shall come forth they that have done good unto the resurrection of life and they that have done evil unto the resurrection of damnation So that the Voice of Christ shall raise the Dead which may well be called the Trump of God when it shall found through all the World and give a new Life to the Dead and summon 'em to Judgment For this is another very material Circumstance of the Future Judgment that all the Dead both good and bad shall be raised to Life again and appear before the Judgment-seat of Christ that as we must give an account of whatever we have done in this Body whether good or bad so we must re-assume our Bodies again when we come to Judgment I shall noâ— now discourse to you of the Nature or Possibility of the Resurrection which belongs to another Argument but the Man Christ Jesus is the Judge of Mankind he appears in Humane Nature himself cloathed with an Humane Body though infinitely bright and glorious and he comes to Judge Men not unbodied Souls and therefore we must be reunited to our Bodies again for a Humane Soul is not a perfect Man without its Body An unbodied Soul is guilty of none of those Sins for which we must be judged for we must be judged for what we did in the Body the Man sinned and the Man must be judged and the Man must be either happy or miserable for ever Lord with what Horrour and Reluctancy will bad Souls enter into their Bodies again not to enjoy their old beloved Sensualities but to be judged for them when the very sight of their Bodies shall call to mind all the Villanies they acted in them when they must appear before their Judge with all the Instruments of Wickedness about them with those very Bodies whose members they had made servants of uncleanness and to iniquity unto iniquity with Eyes full of Adultery with Hands stained with Blood or full of Bribes or Rapine with a blaspheming a lying a reviling a perjured Tongue to unite a Soul to such a Body again is like tying a Man to his murdered Friend which will both scare and torment his Conscience and poison him with a noisom Stench The Body which was the Tempter and the Instrument in all this Wickedness will now be a Witness against him and an Instrument of his Punishment too But holy Souls will give a better Welcome to their Bodies Bodies in which the Flesh was subdued to the Spirit which were preserved pure and clean from all sensual Lusts which were the ready Instruments of Righteousness and Vertue which were offered up living holy and acceptable Sacrifices to God which suffered loss and want and torment and death for the sake of Christ good Men would desire to be judged in such Bodies as these which are visible Testimonies of their Faith and Patience and Mortification and Self-denial which are the Members of Christ and the Temples of the Holy Ghost Thus all Mankind shall rise out of their Graves and appear before the Judgment seat of Christ and therefore now let us Contemplate our Lord sitting upon his Throne the Throne of Judgment as he himself tells us 25 Matth. 31. When the Son of man shall come in his glory and all the holy angels with him then shall he sit upon the throne of his glory Thus it is described in the Revelations of St. Iohn 20 Revel 13. And I saw a great white throne and him that sat on it from whose face the earth and the heaven fled away and there was found no place for them What this Throne is or where it shall be placed we are not told but the most probable Conjecture is that this Throne is a bright resplendant Cloud in the form of a Magnificent Throne placed in the Air at some distance from the Earth for he is said to come in the Clouds of Heaven and St. Paul plainly intimates to us that his Throne shall be in the Air when he tells us that those good Men who shall be alive at Christ's coming shall be caught up to meet the Lord in the air and it is not improbable but this may be near Ierusalem where the Temple of God was where he conversed while he lived on Earth and where he was judged and condemned as a Malefactor and treated with the utmost Scorn and Contempt and nailed in an infamous manner upon the Cross for it seems to add to the Triumph of that Day to appear in all his Glory to Judge the World at that very place when he suffered Shame and Reproach and Death for the Sins of Men and from the hands of Sinners But this is all Conjecture though not without some appearing Probability and therefore I shall build nothing on it The Judge being sat all Mankind appear before him to give an account of their Actions and to receive their finaâ— Sentence Before him shall be gathered 〈◊〉 nations and he shall separate them 〈◊〉 from another as a shepherd divideth the sheep from the goats 25 Mat. 32. This 〈◊〉 I observed before our Saviour attributes to the Ministry of Angels who separate the Wheat from the Tares and the good Fiâ—â— from the bad for the angels we know 〈◊〉 ministring spirits sent forth to minister for them who shall be heirs of salvation 1 Heb. 14. and therefore they know how to distinguish between good and bad Men and to separate them from each other This is the last and final Separation good and bad Men shall never meet and intermix with each other after this they live together in this World and conveâ—â— together are united by Relation and Inâ—â—rest are Members of the same Church and Worship God together in the same Holy Communion of Prayers and Sacraments but they must part Company at the Day of Judgment the one to the right Hand and the other to the left Men are very apt to flatter themselves now that they shall fare the better for the Company they keep no Church and no Communion is pure enough for them not that they are so much Holier than their Neighbours but they are of Opinion that God will judge of them by the Church they are of and therefore whatever Church strikes their Fancy most with an appearance of Sanctity and Holiness there they joyn themselves not so much to