predestinated to be conform'd to the Image of God's Son who trac'd out the way to Heaven in his own Blood and by the Cross ascended to the Throne Sometimes more immediately Divine Providence afflicts them to preserve their Spirits from the tainted pleasures of the World and other Holy Ends but there is a rest for the People of God in Heaven Besides there are Reliques of Sin in the best of the Saints here Indeed Sin is depos'd from sovereignty and rule the imperious Lusts are crucified but not quite expir'd As those that were nail'd to the Cross in their hands and feet the parts least vital and most sensible died a painful lingring death Still the flesh lusts against the spirit and the spirit against the flesh As there is a complexion of Humours in humane Bodies always jarring when they are in the soundest health and where there is not this active contrariety either the Body is without a Soul a mere Carcass or a glorified Body in Heaven So where there is not this internal Combat between Grace and Sin either the Man is wholly Carnal dead in sins and trespases or wholly spiritual reigning in Heaven And there is nothing more works on the tender affections of a Saint than to find in himself what is displeasing to God that still he is under a sad necessity of sinning What is said concerning an old Man wasted and decayed in his drooping Years that the Grashopper is a burden to him is true of the new Man in a Christian the sins that are counted light in the valuation of the World are a heavy weight to him Vain Thoughts idle Words irregular Passions unprofitable Actions are motives of heart-breaking sorrow Now Death is to a Believer a universal Remedy against all the Evils of this Life it frees him from all Injuries and Sufferings and from Sin in all its degrees from all inclinations and temptations to it He that is dead ceaseth from Sin Death is the passage from this Wilderness to the true Canaan the rest Above that flows with better Milk and Hony with Innocence and Happiness for ever There nothing can disturb the Peace or corrupt the purity of the blessed 3. Besides the privative advantage the freedom from all the effects of God's displeasure and the resentments of it there is the highest positive Good obtained by Death The Spirits of just Men are made perfect in Heaven The Soul is the Glory of Man and Grace is the Glory of the Soul and both are then in their exaltation All the Faculties of the Soul are rais'd to the highest degrees of Natural and Divine Perfection In this Life Grace renews the Faculties but does not elevate them to their highest pitch it does not make a mean Understanding pregnant nor a frail Memory strong nor a slow Tongue eloquent but sanctifies them as they are But when the Soul is releas'd from this dark Body of Earth the Understanding is clear and quick the Memory firm the Will and Affections ardent and vigorous And they are enrich'd with divine Light and Love and Power that makes them fit for the most noble and heavenly Operations The lineaments of God's Image on the Soul are first drawn here but then it receives his last hand All the Celestial Colours are added to give the utmost life and lustre to it Here we are advancing but by Death we arrive at Perfection We shall in Heaven be join'd to the Assembly of Saints and Angels our best Friends Love is the Law of that Kingdom and Perfectly obeyed there Now how charming is the Conversation of one that is wise and holy especially if the sweetness of affability be in his temper How pleasantly does time slide away in the company of our beloved Friends We are not sensible of its flight But what dear satisfaction is it to be united to that chosen consecrated Society Above who love one another as themselves Tho' the Angels and Saints have different degrees of Glory yet every one is perfectly happy and pleased As the strings of an Instrument differ in the size and sound some are sharp and high some grave and deep others a mean and from that variety results the Harmony and Musick so that if every string had Judgment and Election it would chuse to be what it is so from the different degrees of Glory in Heaven the most amiable and equal Order of the Divine Wisdom appears that satisfies every one We shall be in the glorious presence of God and Christ where is fulness of joy and infinite pleasures for ever 'T is said of Abraham He rejoic'd to see the day of Christ two thousand Years before his coming When by Faith he saw the incarnation of the Son of God in order to the redemption of Men it put him into an extasy Yet then our Saviour was born to Sorrows and Miseries But how ravishing is the sight of our Redeemer set down on the right hand of the Majesty on high having purged our Sins by himself and accomplish'd our Salvation Now we are absent from God yet in believing his infallible Promises we rejoice with a Joy unspeakable and glorious But how much more joyful is the fruition of them Here the Divine Goodness is derived to us through secondary means that weaken its efficacy but in Heaven the consolations of the Creator are most purely dispensed and his immediate Excellencies are made known This Blessedness exceeds all our thoughts and explicit desires and requires the eloquence and experience of an Angel to set it forth The bright sum of it is this We shall see God in his Glory face to face in the most perfect manner the sight of his Glory shall transform us into his Likeness we shall be like him for we shall see him as he is This shall produce in us the most pure and ardent Love and Love shall be attended with inexpressible joy and that with the highest praises of the blessed God whose influxive presence is the Heaven of Heaven And that which crowns all is that the Life above is Eternal This satisfies all our Desires and excludes all our Fears for unchangeableness is an inseparable Attribute of perfect felicity The Blessed are in full communion with God the Fountain of Life and Christ the Prince of Life Because I live saith our Saviour ye shall live also What can interrupt much less put an end to the happiness of the Saints The Love of God is immutably fix'd upon them and their Love upon him Here their love is subject to decays and gradual alienations as the Needle in the Compass tho' it always has a tendency to the North Pole yet sometimes it declines and has its variations But in Heaven the love of the Saints is directly and constantly set upon God The light of his Countenance governs all their Affections 'T is as impossible to divert their desires from him as to cause one that is inflam'd with thirst to leave a clear flowing Spring for a
having extinguish'd the fear of eternal future Evils which is the proper passion of reason The Apostle declares That knowing the terror of the Lord we perswade Men to be reconciled to him before the season of Mercy be expir'd But those who have supprest the natural Notions of Eternal Judgment as they think it beneath their wisdom to be perswaded by the Promises of Heaven so beneath their courage to be terrified with the threatnings of Hell and triumph over the ruins of Conscience But tho' wicked Infidels slite the Threatnings they shall not escape the Vengeance of God We read of Noah that being warned of God of things not seen as yet moved with fear he prepared an Ark for the saving of his House His Fear was the native issue of his Faith But the profane World in whom sence was predominant that despised the Oracle and trembled at no Judgments but what were acting on the visible Stage they eat and drank married and were given in marriage till swept away by the unfeared Inundation We read that Lot being certified by an embassy of Angels that a Deluge of Fire would in a few hours pour down from Heaven upon Sodom he most earnestly solicited his Sons-in-Law Arise depart out of this place for the Lord will destroy this City but they entertained his compassionate advice with derision he seemed to them as one that mocked and were surprised by those fearful Flames that dispatch'd them from a temporal Hell to that which is Eternal Thus 't was prophesied That in the last days there shall come Scoffers walking after their own lusts and saying Where is the Promise of his coming But let them blaspheme and scorn the most sacred and terrible Truths let them perpetuate their excess of riot and wild Mirth while they live Death will come and Judgment as sure as Death III. I now come to shew how the Death of Christ frees us from the tormenting fear of Death For the clearing this we are to consider that Sin Satan and Death are Enemies in combination against Man in his mortal state and the destructive Power of Satan and Death is from Sin When Man renounc'd his Creatour and natural Lord he was judicially given up to Satan as the Executioner of Vengeance and to the Power of Death Such is the order rather the confusion in the World by Sin The Empire of Satan and Death is built on the Ruins of our Innocence Now the Son of God came from his Throne in Heaven to deliver us And whereas there are two ways of obtaining freedom from captivity either by Ransom or by Power and Rescue in both respects our deliverance from Bondage to these Capital Enemies is ascribed to the Death of Christ. 'T is called our Ransom and that in its strict Notion has a respect to Captivity There is one God and one Mediator between God and Man the Man Christ Jesus who gave himself a Ransom for all His Life was the full price of our Liberty and Salvation God does not pardon sin and release from punishment by a pure absolute act of his Will and Authority as a Creditor forgives a Debtor but in such a way as to preserve the Rights of Justice inviolate Therefore when Man was devoted to Death our Redeemer exchang'd conditions with him and offer'd up his precious Blood as our Ransom to God in the quality of the King and Judg of all Such was the dignity of his Person that the entire World the Heavens and the Earth with all their Inhabitants are of less value to him than the basest Dross to refined Gold Such was the greatness of his Sufferings in which the highest degree of Obedience and the lowest degree of Humility were conspicuous as to be a valuable Compensation to obtain eternal Redemption for us Now when God the supreme Judg is satisfied Satan forfeits the right he had to torment us and is devested of his dominion over our Wills which tho' justly permitted was an usurpation upon God's Right in Man that can never be extinguish'd 'T is said by the Apostle that our Saviour blotting out the hand-writing of Ordinances that was against us which was contrary to us and took it out of the way nailing it to his Cross He abolish'd the use of the Ceremonial Law that was an Evidence and Enditement of their Guilt who performed it and the Curse of the Moral Law it follows and having spoiled Principalities and Powers he made a shew of them openly triumphing over them in it Our Saviour died victoriously the Tree of Infamy on which he suffered was the Trophy of his Conquest His Death disarm'd Satan of his Weaponswhere by he subdued us Sin the Law and Death for tho' his actual Triumph was in his Resurrection and Ascension to Glory yet it is justly ascribed to his Death for that meritoriously open'd the Grave at his Resurrection and Heaven at his Ascension And here by the way 't is most worthy of observation that our deliverance from our spiritual and most deadly Enemies is equally righteous as admirable and glorious for our suffering Saviour appeas'd the Wrath of God and broke the Powers of Darkness The Wisdom and Love of God had their designs in his Death as well as the malice and rage of Satan as Lines that are opposite in the circumference meet in the Centre And as from the Tyranny of Satan so the Death of our Redeemer is our redemption from Death as to the curse and final dominion of it nay has made it a blessed advantage to us 1. The Curse is removed Death considered as the Wages of Sin is all sting and poison the consequent of the spiritual Death and the introduction to eternal Death The sting of Death is Sin and the strength of Sin is the Law Death hath its wounding Power from Sin and Sin from the Law that forbids it the discovers its Nature and enhanses the measure of its Guilt and denounces condemnation for it Now our Saviour having in our stead subjected himself to Death the penalty of the Law for Sin There is no condemnation to those that are in Christ Jesus Christ hath redeemed us from the Curse of the Law being made a Curse for us Death inflicted on the Saints has not that relation to the guilt of Sin as to be properly satisfaction to revenging Justice There are no petty payments to be made by our Sufferings after his compleat satisfaction to God The Lord laid on him the Iniquities of us all 'T is indeed still a declaration of God's holy displeasure against Sin for that originally open'd the way of its coming into the World and sometimes by the immaturity or manner of it 't is a chastisment upon good Men for sin that is to make them renew their Repentance and mortify their carnal Affections that fasten them to the World For tho' after the last act of expiration there is no place for Repentance yet in the approaches of
our Labours Our Saviour when he was to leave the World addrest himself to his Father I have glorified thee on Earth I have finish't the work thou gavest me to do And now Father glorify me with thy self with the Glory which I had with thee before the World was A Christian that imitates and honours Christ and with diligence perseveres in weldoing may with an humble confidence in the Divine Mercy expect the promised reward The reflection upon a wel-spent life is joyn'd with a joyful prospect of God's Favour and acceptance above But the careless and remiss those who are wilfully negligent of their Duty how fearful is Death that summons them to give an account of their Talents to the Righteous Lord 4. A holy indifference of affection to present things makes it easie to part with them and Death less fearful to us David tho a King declares he was a stranger on Earth not only with respect to his transient condition but his inward disposition and that he was as a weaned Child from the admir'd Vanities of the World Chrysostom in a Letter to Ciriacus who was tenderly sensible of his Banishment wrote to him You now begin to lament my Banishment but I have done so for a long time for since I knew that Heaven was my Country I have esteemed the whole Earth a place of exilement Constantinople from whence I am expell'd is as distant from Paradise as the Desert to which they send me But when our affections are set upon external things and we are irregular in our aims intemperate in our use and immoderate in our delights how sensible cutting is the division from them How bitter is Death that deprives a carnal Wretch of all the materials of his frail Felicity What a storm of passions is rais'd to lose all his good things at once for 't is a Rule in Nature What is possest with transporting Joy is lost with excessive Sorrow As the Ivy that twines so closely about the Tree and is intimately fastned by so many roots as there are branches cannot be pluck'd away without rending the Bark with it so when the World that was as it were incarnated with the Heart is taken away the Heart it self is grievously rent by the violent separation And the infelicity of carnal and worldly persons is heavily aggravated in that the guilt in procuring or abusing those treasures and delights that they leave here with so great sorrow will cleave to them and give Testimony against them before their Judg. But when the Affections are loose to the World and set upon Heaven the separating with the Earth is no loss but gain and with that alacrity as the putting off a vile garment to be clothed with a Royal Robe 'T was the wise Counsel of Tertullian to the Women of the first Ages of the Church not to value and love the Jewels and Ornaments of Gold that they might be more ready and resolved to obtain by Death Martyrdom and by Martyrdom Eternal Glory And that we may disentangle our Souls from those voluntary bands that fasten us to present things we must have a sincere uncorrupted judgment of their meanness The Apostle exhorts Christians to moderation in their temper and conversation with respect to the business and enjoyments here that they who have Wives be as tho they had none that those that rejoice be as tho they rejoiced not and they that buy as tho they possessed not and they that use the World as not abusing it for the fashion of the World passeth away To a wise and pondering Observer what comparison is there between Shadows and Dreams and substantial everlasting Blessedness If Men had the same opinion of this World whilst they live as they will have when they are to die they would not set over it They who have magnified temporal Honours and Riches and lived in Pleasures without remorse yet in their dying hours when Men speak with most feeling and least affectation how have they vilified those empty appearances of happiness with what moving expressions declared the vanity and brevity of worldly things As when the Israelites were to go through the River Jordan that opened it self to make a free and dry passage for them the lower part of its Waters ran into the Dead Sea and utterly fail'd but the Waters that came from above rose up and appear'd like a Mountain thus when Men come to the universal passage from this to the next life inferiour things absolutely fail and are lost in the dead Sea but the things above that are eternal then appear in their true greatness exceeding all humane comprehension from hence is the change of mind and language concerning the one and other 5. Solemn affectionate and frequent Converse with God in Religious Duties will render Death not fearful to us The whole life of a Christian as such is a continual Communion with the Father and with Jesus Christ. For he performs all good works by divine Grace communicated from above and refers all to the Divine Honour As in a pair of Compasses one foot is fixt in the Center whiles the other moves in the Circumference so the Heart of a Christian is in Heaven his aims are for God whilst he is active here in the World His Natural and Civil Actions are heightened to a supernatural end And thus his Conversation is in Heaven But this was spoken of before and that which is now specified is the more immediate Service of God in holy Meditation Prayer and the Ordinances of the Gospel which is the noblest part of the spiritual Life Our blessed Saviour who was a Comprehensor upon Earth always saw the Face of God and invariably sought his Glory in all things yet had his special times of Prayer and Heavenly-Communion with God and the most glorious testimonies of his Favour in those times Our Communion with God here is as true as in Heaven but the influence and fruition is different according to our capacity When the Soul feels the vigorous exerâ—ise of the thoughts affections upon God and the raised operations of Grace in holy Duties 't is as certain a sign of God's Favour and Acceptance as when Fire descended from Heaven to consume the Sacrifice And often our affeâ—tionate Duties are rewarded with sensible Consolations and holy Souls are dismist from the Throne of Grace as they shall be received at the Throne of Glory with the reviving testimonies of God's approbation Now the assurance of God's Love conquers the fear of Death This Communion must be frequent As love and respects between Friends are maintained by constant Visits and Letters and mutual Confidence arises from Acquaintance so by the interchange of holy Duties and divine favours we preserve a lively sense of God's Love and an humble familiarity with his Majesty that his Presence is not a terror to us A Christian that walks with God here when he leaves the World to use the
noisom Puddle In short Heaven is filled with eternal Halelujahs for there is no appearance of Sin no shadow of Death there all miseries are vanish'd and all that is desireable is possess'd by the Saints the Circle of their Employment is to enjoy and praise the Divine Goodness for ever Now is not the blessed exchange a Christian makes of the present Life for that which is infinitely better sufficient to make Death not fearful nay desirable to him And this Happiness was purchas'd for us by the everlasting Treasure of our Saviour's Blood The satisfaction of his Sufferings was meritorious as the Merits of his active Obedience was satisfying Before I proceed to the third Head I shall resolve a Question How it comes to pass since Believers are freed from the sting of Death that they die and remain in the state of Death for a time For this there are several Reasons 1. By this means all the sinful Frailties that cleave to the Saints in this Life are abolish'd The Body is dead because of Sin And what is more becoming the wise and holy Providence of God than that as by Sin Man was at first made subject to Death so by Death Sin dies entirely for ever Thus as in Sampson's Riddle Out of the Devourer comes Meat and our worst Enemy is conquer'd by his own Weapons 2. Death is continued to the Saints for the more eminent exercise and illustration of their Graces for the Glory of God and in order to their future reward Faith and Love and Patience are declared in their most powerful Operations in our encounter with Death If every Saint were visibly and entirely translated to Heaven after a short course of holy Obedience if the Wicked did visibly drop down quick into Hell Faith would be resigned to sight here This would confound the Militant state of the Church with the Triumphant Therefore now Death happens to the Good as well as to the Wicked In the next state they shall be separated by a vast Gulph and an amazing Difference Now Faith what-ever the kind of Death be that a Christian suffers sees through the thickest Clouds of Disgrace and Misery the glorious Issue As the illustrious Confessor who was crucified with our Saviour proclaim'd his Eternal Kingdom in the midst of insulting Infidels And our love to God then appears in its radiancy and vigour when we are ready for the testimony of his Truth and advancing his Glory to suffer a violent Death or when it comes in a gentler manner for 't is even then terrible to Nature we are willingly subject to dissolution that we may be united to God in Heaven And our patience has never its perfect work and is truly victorious till this last Enemy be subdued Death is the Seal of our Constancy Perseverance Now the Righteous Rewarder will crown none but those that strive lawfully and are compleat Conquerors And how wise and sweet is the Oeconomy of the Divine Providence in this that the frailty of our Nature should afford us a means of glorifying God and of entitling our selves by his most gracious Promises to a blessed Reward 3. Our Saviour by his unvaluable Obedience and Sufferings has procur'd for Believers a Celestial Divine Life of which the natural Body is not capable The Apostle saith Flesh and Blood cannot enter into the Kingdom of Heaven The exigencies and decays of the sensitive Nature require a continual relief by food and sleep and other material supplies but the Life above is wholly spiritual and equal to that of the Angels Therefore till this earthly animal Body be reformed and purified 't is not capable of the Glory reserv'd in Heaven This is so absolutely requisite that those Believers who are found alive at the last Day shall in the twinckling of an Eye be changed that they may be qualified for it Now herein the Wisdom of God is wonderful that Death which by the Covenant of Works was the deserved penalty of Sin by the Covenant of Grace should be the Instrument of Immortality That as Joseph by a surprising Circuit was brought from the Prison to the Principality so a Believer by the Grave ascends to Heaven This the Apostle in his Divine Disputation against Infidels proves in a most convincing manner Thou Fool that which thou sowest is not quickned except it die As the rotting of the Corn in the Earth is necessary to the reviving and springing of it up so we must die and the Image of the Earthly Adam be abolish'd that we may be transformed into the Image of the Heavenly One And to the other part of the Question Why the Saints remain in the state of Death for a time there is a clear Answer The Resurrection of the Saints is delayed till Christ's coming to Judgment partly for the Glory of his Appearance For what an admirable sight will it be that the Saints of all Ages shall at once arise glorified and immortalized to attend upon our Saviour in the last act of his Regal Office and then to make a triumphant entry with him into Heaven And partly that the establish'd order of Providence may not be disturbed for the changing of our Nature into Glory in a suddain and inexplicable manner cannot be without miraculous Power and if every Believer presently after Death were in his glorified Body translated to Heaven the World would be always filled with Miracles which were to cease after the sufficient Confirmation of the Gospel by them But how long soever the Interval be to the Resurrection it shall be with them that sleep in Jesus as 't is with those that awake out of a quiet natural sleep to whom the longest night seems but as a moment so when the Saints first awake from Death in the great Morning of the World a thousand Years will seem no more to them than to God himself but as one day I now come to prove the third Thing That our Saviour will abolish the Dominion of Death over the Saints Whilst the Bodies of the Saints remain in the Grave they seem to be absolutely under the power of Death The World is a Golgotha fill'd with the Monuments of its Victories And it may be said to this our last Enemy in the words of the Prophet to the bloody King Hast thou killed and taken possession But we are assur'd by an infallible Word that the power of Death shal be abolish'd and the Bodies of the Saints be reviv'd incorruptible and immortal The Resurrection is a Terra incognita to the wisest Heathens a Doctrine peculiar to the Gospel some glimmerings they had of the Soul's Immortality without which all Vertue had been extinguish'd in the World but no conjecture of the reviving of the Body But reason assists Faith in this point both as to the Will of God and his power for the performing it I will glance upon the natural Reasons that induce the considering Mind to receive this Doctrine and more largely shew how
and Conscience that were so long under unrighteous restraints break the Fetters and terribly charge the sinner Then innumerable Acts which they thought to be innocent appear to be sins and Sin that they made light of to be infinitely evil and in the highest degree hateful to God And sometimes by the suggestions of the enemy of Souls they are overwhelm'd with despair and their last Error is worse than the first 5. Others are deceived with things that are short of true repentance and mistake a false peace for a true and asswage the anguish of Conscience by palliating remedies Their sorrowful sense of Sin their Prayers their resolutions of Amendments are the product of servile Fear that is ineffectual to Salvation And as 't is with crafty Tradesmen that take up much upon trust when they are ready to breaking so they are very liberal of their promises of Reformation when in their own apprehension near dying But how often does Experience convince us of the inefficacy of a sick-bed Repentance How many that were very penitent and devout with one foot as it were in the Grave and another in Hell and were as a Brand pluck'd out of the Fire and the fear of Death being removed all the pangs of Conscience the religious Affections that were felt and exprest by them vanish as the morning dew Now converting Grace is distinguish'd by its radication and efficacy not only from the meer pretences of those who know their own insincerity but from the real workings of Conscience and the imperfect dispositions to good that are in the Unrenewed And those persons who with the return of Health have returned to their Sins again if they had died with their religious resolutions would have presum'd that their repentance was unto Life and of their interest in the divine Mercy The Heart is deceitful above all things and above all things deceitful to it self 6. But supposing in the last hours there be an unfeigned closing with Christ according to the Gospel-Covenant and a cordial change from the love of Sin to the love of Holiness this person shall certainly not miss of Heaven but Death will be less comfortable than if he had in the course of his Life declared the truth and power of Grace in such acts and fruits as are suitable to it The sum is this the vain hope of living long and being reconciled to God when they please is the fatal foundation of Mens Sins and Misery They apply the Word of God against the Mind of God and securely provoke him as if they could take Heaven by violence in contradiction to the Gospel But they usually dispose of that time they shal never injoy or presume upon that pardoning Mercy and assisting Grace they shall never obtain We are commanded to seek the Lord while he may be found a sad intimation that 't is not in our power to find him to our comfort when we please He spares long but abused Patience will deliver Sinners to revenging Justice Sampson was three times in the Chamber of his Lust exposed to Treachery and escap'd but the fourth time he said I will arise but was surpriz'd by his Enemies and lost his strength and sight and liberty I doubt not that some are wonderfully converted and saved at last but these special Mercies are like our Saviour's passing in the Way and by his miraculous Virtue healing the two blind persons when great numbers remain'd uncured We read a prodigious story in the Book of Kings that a Captain and his fifty went to Elias to command him to come to the King and immediately a tempest of Lightning destroyed them Now who would think it possible that another Captain and his fifty should be so desperate that having the Ashes and Reliques of these miserable Carcases smoking before their Eyes as to make the same Citation to the Prophet yet they did and provok'd the Justice of Heaven to consume them And this is verified in thousands every day for notwithstanding they see sinners like themselves suddenly cut off in their evil ways they persist unreformed as if they were fearless of Hell nay as if resolved to secure their own Damnation I have insisted the longer on this because 't is so universally useful 2. The careful preserving our selves from wilful presumptuous Sins is an happy means to render Death comfortable to us The Spirit seals our Pardon and title to Heaven as the holy Spirit his Testimony that we are the Children of God and Heirs of Glory is concurrent with the renewed Conscience and distinguish'd from the ignorant presumptions blind conjectures and carnal security of the unholy As the sanctifying Spirit he distinguishes true Christians from the lost World appropriates them to God confirms their present interest in the Promises of the Gospel and their future hopes Briefly Grace is the most sensible effect and sign of God's special Favour the fruit of Election and the earnest of Glory and the truth of Grace is most clearly and certainly made evident by the continual efficacy of it in the Conversation The observation of our Hearts to suppress unholy affections and of our senses to prevent them a constant course of Holiness in our lives tho many frailties will cleave to the best is usually rewarded with greate peace here God has establish't a connexion between our Obedience and his Comforts Those that keep themselves pure from the defilements of the World have the white Stone promised the bright Jewel of Assurance of God's pardoning and rewarding Mercy We read of Enoch that the walk't with God was a Star shining in a corrupt Age the tenour of his Life was holy and he was translated to Heaven without seeing Death Tho this was an extraordinary Dispensation yet there is a peculiar reward analogical to it for those who walk circumspectly they shall not see Death with its terrors but usually have a holy Chearfulness a peaceful Joy in their passage through the dark Valley to Heaven But presumptuous Sins against external and internal restraints the convincing Law of God and the directions of Conscience grieve the Holy Spirit and wound our Spirits and if continued sequester us from the comfortable priviledges of the Gospel and render us unfit for the Kingdom of Heaven And when they are retracted by Repentance yet there often remains a bitter remembrance of them as deep Wounds tho cur'd yet are felt in change of weather And somtimes a spring-tide of doubts and fears breaks into humble penitent Souls in the last hours tho Death brings them safely yet not comfortably to Heaven 3. The zealous discharge of the Duties of our place and calling the conjunction of our resolutions and endeavours to glorify God and do good according to our abilities and opportunities of service sweetens the thoughts of Death to us For the true end and perfection of Life is the Glory of God and when with fidelity it is employed in order to it Death brings us to the blessed Rest from
words of a dying St. changes his Room but not his Company God was always with him on Earth and he shall be ever with God in Heaven But cold and seldom converse begets strangeness and that makes us shy of God When Religious Duties are performed as a complemental Visit without zealous Affections or used only in times of Affliction and Exigency as Cordial Waters in swooning Fits the Divine Presence is uncomfortable to us They who prefer carnal sweets before acquaintance with God cannot with Peace and Joy think of appearing before him O how unwelcome is Death to such for then the Spirit returns to God that gave it 6. Let us strengthen our belief of the blessed state after Death Divine Truths lose their influence and efficacy when they are not stedfastly believed Faith is the substance of things not seen and the evidence or conviction of things hoped for The Spirit confirms our Faith not by a pure Physical Act but by convincing Reasons of the truth of the Gospel The Life of Christ so glorious in holiness his Doctrine so becoming the Wisdom and other excellent Attributes of the Deity his Miracles so great numerous open and beneficial not meerly to surprize the Spectators with astonishment but to touch their Hearts his Death foretold by the Prophets and exactly agreeing in all the circumstances of the Predictions his Resurrection the most noble operation of the Divine Power are the strongâ—st Proofs that what he has reveal'd as the Counsel of God for our Redemption and the Preparations of Glory for the Saints in Heaven are divine Truths And the efficacy of the Spirit of Christ in sanctifying his Disciples in all Ages is a continual and as satisfying an Argument that the Gospel is derived from God the fountain of Truth as extraordinary Miracles For Holiness is as â—â—â—parable a property of the Divine Natu◠〈…〉 the sancti◠〈…〉 divine an efâ—ect 〈…〉 of the Body Now 〈…〉 God enters into Covenant with obedient Believers to be their God a title and relation that supposing them the most happy here all the enjoyments of this World cannot fulfil This Covenant is not dissolv'd by Death for he uses this stile after the death of his faithful Servants and from hence it follows they are partakers of his Glory and Joys in the next Life For the honour of his Veracity is most dear to him The Psalmist declares that he has magnified his Word above all his Name No perfections of his Nature are more sacred and inviolable than his Truth The foundations of Nature shall be overturn'd and the most solid parts of the Creation destroyed but his Promises shall be compleatly accomplish'd We are assured by his Infallible Authority that there remains a Rest for the People of God And he that receives this Testimony sets to his Seal that God is true honours the Truth of God's Word and binds himself more firmly to his Service and is encouraged to leave this sensible World for that which is infinitly better Our confidence and patience in well-doing and in suffering the utmost evil to Nature is from the pregnant apprehensions of the reality of eternal things We know saith the Apostle if our earthly tabernacle be dissolved we have a Building not made with hands eternal in the Heavens This fortified him against the terrors of Death When Stephen saw the Heavens open and the Son of God ready to receive him with what courage and constancy did he encounter the bloody Rage of his Murderers Faith supplies the want of Vision it pierces the Clouds opens a Window in Heaven sees the Crowns of Righteousness prepared for the Saints and sweetens the bitterest passage to it But if our Faith be weak and wavering our Courage will decline in the needful hour 'T is with Christians in their last passage from Earth to Heaven as with the Apostle walking upon the Waters to Christ whilst his Faith was firm in Christ he went upon the Waves as on the firm Land but upon the rising of a Storm his Faith sunk into Fear and he sunk in the Waters till our Saviour upon his earnest Prayer Lord save me took hold of him and rais'd him with that compassionate Reproof O thou of little Faith wherefore didst thou doubt The last Use is to excite the Saints to die with that courage and chearfulness as becomes the Gospel of Christ. The encouragement of Joshua to the Israelites against the Giants that terrified them from entring into the Land of Canaan the type of Heaven Be not afraid of them they are Bread for us we shall obtain an easy Conquest over them is applicable to this purpose do not fear Death the Enemy that interposes between us and the true Canaan for our Conflict shall be the means of our Victory and triumphant possession of the holy and blessed Land above This is very honourable to our Redeemer and recommends Godliness to the judgment affections and practice of others S. Basil tells of a custom to annoint the tops of Doves Wings with some fragrant liquor that mixing in company with other Doves they might by the scent allure them to follow to the Dove-houses Thus when holy Persons live and die with peaceful joy those that converse with them are drawn by that Fragrance of Paradise to apply them to serious Religion 'T is the Apostle's Consolatory Advice to Believers Not to be sorrowful for those that sleep in JESUS and those that are without hope When Jacob saw his Beloved Son's Coat rent and stain'd with Blood he abandoned himself to desperate Sorrow and mourned for his Death when Joseph was advanc'd in Authority and Dignity next to Pharoah in the Kingdom of Egypt Thus when we see the Garment of Mortality rent by Diseases we mourn for departed Saints as if Death had absolutely destroyed them when their Souls are reigning in Glory This immoderate Sorrow is an Heathenish Passion suitable to their ignorance of the future happy state but very unbecoming the plenary Assurance the Gospel affords us of it So for the Wicked to die with fears and palpitations of heart to be surrounded with impendent horrours when such a precipice and depth of misery is before them is very just and reasonable but for the Saints to die uncomfortably under inordinate fears is a disparagement to the Blessed Hope establish'd upon the revelation of Life and Immortality by the Gospel Now in three things I shall propound the duty of dying Christians 1. To submit to the Divine Pleasure with resigned spirits as to the means the manner and time of Death God has a Sovereign Right and Dominion over us The present Life is his most free Favour and he may justly resume it when he pleases His Will should be the first and last Rule of ours Whether he gently untwines the Band of Life or violently breaks it we must placidly without reluctation yield up our selves By what means soever Death comes all second causes are moved by an impression
from above in what Age of Life soever all our times are appointed by the divine Counsel And a Saint ought with that readiness and submission receive it as if he heard an express Voice from Heaven calling him to God and say in his heart with Samuel Here I am thou didst call me This is the last act of our obedience and very pleasing to God We read of the marvelous Consent of Abraham and his son Isaac the Father to offer up his Son and the Son his Life that were both the gifts of God in compliance with the divine Command and from Heaven he declared his high approbation of it This is to make a vertue of necessity and turn Nature into Grace But discontent and reluctancy as if our Lives were our own and taken from us unjustly or unseasonably is rebellious unthankfulness unbecoming a Creature much more a true Christian who exchanges a perishing life for that which is eternal 2. To receive Death not only with Patience but earnest desires to be with Christ. I know Death is naturally unwelcome Our Saviour tells St. Peter When thou art old another shall bind thee and lead thee where thou wouldest not Signifying his Martyrdom The circumstance when thou art old is remarkable and intimates the natural unwillingness to die when there was little time to live But his rational sanctified Will was superiour and prevalent The universal desire of the Saints is to be happy in the presence of God for the Divine Nature communicated to them is intelligent and inclining towards its chief good and if the obtaining it were not by being uncloathed but clothed upon by an imediate translation to Heaven how willingly would they leave this World But there is a bitterness in Death that makes it unpleasant and many holy Souls that desire the Glorious Liberty in Heaven yet are loth to leave their Prison Now there are so many Arguments to make the Saints desirous of dying that methinks since Life is cheifly valued and dear to them as it is the way to Heaven when they are come to that blessed end it should not be longer desirable What is this lower World that chains us so fast 'T is the Devil's circuit wherin he ranges seeking whom he may devour 'T is the Theater of contentions The low aspire to rise the exalted fear to fall The Poor envy the Rich and the Rich despise the Poor 'T is a foreign Countrey to the Saints and as Pilgrims and Strangers they are liable to reproaches injuries and hard dealings from the Wicked the natives of the Earth What is the present momentany Life that so enamours us 't is surrounded with Temptations opprest with Fears ardent with irregular desires and continually spent in vanity or vexation In Adversity 't is deprest and melancholy in Prosperity foolish and proud 'T is a real infelicity under the deceitful appearance of felicity But above all other motives the evil of Sin from which we cannot be clearly exempted here should render Death desireable The best suffer internal divisions between the law of the Flesh and the law of the Mind as Rebecca felt the twins Esau and Jacob repugnant in her Womb How hard is it to be continually watching the Heart that Corruptions do not break out and the Senses that temptations do not break in How difficult to order the Affections to raise what is drooping and suppress what is rebellious for they are like the People of whom the Historian speaks qui nec totam servitutem pati possunt nec totam libertatem How many Enemies of our Salvation are lodg'd in our own bosoms The Falls of the Saints give sad evidence of this If the Body were unspotted from the World as in the Creation of Man there might be a just Plea of our unwillingness to part with it but since it is the insentive and instrument of Sin we should desire to be desolved that we might be perfectly holy Death is the final remedy of all the temporal and spiritual evils to which we are liable here And the love of Christ should make us willing to part with all the endearments of this life nay desirous to enter into the Caelestial Paradice tho we must pass under the Angels Sword the stroke of Death to come into his Presence He infinitely deserves our love for we owe our Salvation and Eternal Glory to the merit of his Humiliation and the power of his Exaltation With what earnest affections did St. Paul desire to be dissolved and to be with Christ Love gave Wings of Fire to his Soul ardent desires mounting to Heaven How valiant were the Martyrs in expressing acts of love to Christ How boldly did they encounter Death that interpos'd between them and the sight of his Glory their love was hotter than the Flames that consumed them They as willingly left their Bodies as Elias let fall his Mantle to ascend to Heaven And how does it upbraid the coldness of our love that we are so contented to be here absent from our Saviour That the Moles of the Earth who never saw the light of the Sun and feed on bitter roots are pleas'd in their dark receptacles is no wonder but if Birds that are refresht with his chearful Beams feed on sweet Fruits should willingly be confin'd in Caverns of the Earth it were unnaturally strange thus if Pagans and those who are so in heart tho different in profession that are so short-sighted and depraved that only present and sensible things are perceived and affect them that they are unwilling to die is no wonder for then all that is valuable and delightful to them is lost for ever but for those who are inlightned by the Revelation of God so clearly concerning the state of Glory and have tasted the goodness of the Lord and know the incomparable difference between the mean and frail felicity here and the inestimable immutable felicity hereafter for them to be unwilling to leave this World for that which is infinitely better is astonishing Such was the love of our Saviour that his personal Glory in Heaven did not fully content him without the Saints partaking of it with him Father I will that those whom thou hast given me be with me where I am that they may behold my Glory If our Hearts do not answer his 't is a sad indication that we have not an interest in him for the application of his Merits is alwayes joyn'd with the imitation of his Vertues and the reflection of his Love The Lovers of Christ will joyn with the inflamed Spouse Draw us and we will run after thee O loosen our affections from this World that we may readily ascend to thee they will renew the sighs of holy David in his Banishment O when shall we come and appear before God! Lastly To die with thanksgiving and joy 'T is usual to compare this Life to a Voyage the Scripture is the Chard that describes the Coasts we must
pass and the Rocks we must avoid Faith is the Compass that directs the Course we must steer Love is the Rudder that governs the Motion of the Ship Hope fills the Sails Now what Passenger does not rejoice at the discovery of his Country where his Estate and Heart is and more at the near approach to the Port where he is to land Is not Heaven the Countrey of the Saints is not their Birth from above and their tendency to their Original and is not the blessed Bosom of Christ their Port Oh what joyful thanksgivings are due to God when by his Spirit and Providence they have happily finish'd their Voyage through such dangerous Seas and are coming into the Land of the Living How joyful was to Noah the coming of the Dove with an Olive Branch to shew him the Deluge was asswaged and the time was come of his freedom from the troublesom company of Animals and from the straitness and darkness of the Ark to go forth and possess the World How joyful should Death be to a Saint that comes like the Dove in the evening to assure him the Deluge of Misery is ceas'd and the time is come of his enlargement from the Body his deliverance from the wretched sinful society here and his possessing the Divine World Holy Souls are immediately transported by the Angels to Christ and by him presented to his Father without spot or wrinkle compleat in Holiness and prepared for Communion with him in Glory How joyfully are they received into Heaven by our Saviour and the blessed Spirits they are the reward of his Sufferings the precious and dear purchase of his Blood The Angels that rejoice at the Conversion of a Sinner much more at the Glorification of a Saint and the Church of the First-born who have before us enter'd into Glory have a new accession of Joy when their younger Brethren arrive to the undefiled immortal Inheritance And is it not very becoming Believers joyfully to ascend to the Seat of Blessedness to the happy Society that inspires mutual Joys for ever For our encouragement there are numerous instances of Believers that have with peace and joy tho in various degrees past through the dark Valley to the Inheritance of Light Some have died with more Joy than they lived and triumph'd over the last Enemy with the vocal Praises of God others with silent affections have quietly commended their Spirits into his hand Some have inward Refreshings and support others exuberant Joys and Ravishments as if the Light of Glory shined into them or the Veil of Flesh were drawn and their Spirits were present with the invisible World Some of the Martyrs in their cruellest Sufferings felt such impressions of Confidence and Alacrity that as in the House of Lamech there was accorded at the same time two discordant Callings by the two Brothers Jubal the Inventer of the Harp and Organ and Tubal-Cain the first Artificer in Brass and Iron the one practised on Instruments of Musick breathing harmonious sounds and melodies the other used Hammers Anvils making noise and tumult So in some persons whilst the heaviest strokes fell on their Bodies their Souls were ravish'd with the sweetest Joy and Exultation Indeed 't is not thus always with the Saints for tho Sin be pardoned yet the apprehensions of Guilt may remain When a Stream is disturbed it does not truly represent the Object When the Affections are disordered the Mind does not judge aright of a Christian's state A Serpent may hiss when it has lost its sting Death may terrify when it cannot hurt us I doubt not but some excellent Saints have been in anxieties to the last till their Fears were dispell'd by the actual fruition of Blessedness As the Sun sometimes sets in dark Clouds and rises in a glorious Horizon We reade our Evidences for Heaven by the Light of God's Countenance his Image is made visible in our Souls by the illustration of his Spirit and he exercises Prerogative in the dispensation of his Comforts 'T is his pleasure to bestow extraordinary Favours on some and deny them to others that are as holy But every Penitent Believer has just cause of Joy in Death for Jesus Christ has reconciled God destroyed Satan and conquered Death and the last day of his Life is the first of his Glory FINIS Errata of the Sermons on Death PAge 8. line 19. for should r. might P. 25. l. 18. f. lost r. tost P. 32. l. 19. f. quietly r. guiltily P. 92. l. 12. f. impassibility r. impossibility The Sermons on Judgment P. 11. l. 21. dele only l. 22. r. not only the Angels P. 19. l. 23. f. attaque r. attach SERMONS UPON Eternal Judgment BY WILLIAM BATES D. D. LONDON Printed by J. D. for Brabazen Aylmer at the Three Pigeons against the Royal Exchange in Cornhil 1683. SERMONS UPON Eternal Judgment Acts 17. 31. Because he hath appointed a Day in the which he will judg the World in Righteousness by that Man whom he hath ordained whereof he hath given assurance unto all Men in that he raised him from the dead SAint Paul had this Title of Honour eminently conferred upon him the Apostle of the Gentiles This Office he performed with persevering diligence diffusing the Light of Life to those that sate in darkness and in the shadow of Death In this Chapter we have recorded the substance of his Sermon to the Athenians wherein his admirable Zeal and Prudence are remarkable in the Matter and Order of his Discourse to convince and perswade them to receive the saving Truth of the Gospel He first lays down the Principles of Natural Religion to prepare them for the more easy belief of supernatural revealed Religion The depravation of the Minds of Men was in no instance more prodigious than in their vilifying Conceits of the Deity They attributed his Name and Honour to various Idols and ascribed to him their own Figure and which was infinitely more unworthy and dishonourable their own Passions and Vices They adored their own vain Imaginations The Idols of their Hearts were erected on their Altars Venus was a Goddess because impure Love reigned in their Brests Bacchus had Religious Rites because sensual Pleasures as sweet as Wine intoxicated their Spirits These Errors as gross as impious were universal the Philosophers themselves were not exempted from the Contagion The Apostle therefore makes use of the clearest Arguments to give Authority to the plain conspiring Voice of Nature that had so long in vain recall'd them from Idolatry to the Worship of the only true God He therefore declares that the Divine Maker of all things the Father of Spirits could not be represented by corporeal and corruptible things but was to be acknowledg'd and ador'd in a manner becoming his spiritual and infinite Perfections That he made all Nations of one Blood tho' distinguish'd in their Habitations and Times that they might seek and serve the one universal Creator And though
the Pagan World for many Ages had lived in an unnatural Oblivion of God and he seem'd unconcerned for their violation of his Laws yet it was not from the defect of Justice but the direction of his Wisdom that his Patience was so long extended to them And this he proves by the new and most express declaration of his Will But now he commandeth all Men every where to repent because he hath appointed a day in which he will judg the World in Righteousness by the Man whom he hath ordained whereof he hath given assurance to all Men in that he raised him from the Dead In the words the Eternal Counsels of God are revealed in two great things 1. The determining a time wherein he will righteously judg the World He hath appointed a Day 2. The designation of the Person by whom he will perform that eminent part of Soveraignty by Jesus Christ whom he hath raised from the Dead In order to the handling of the main Point it is requisite to premise briefly some Propositions 1. That God is the Universal Monarch of the World and has supreme Authority to govern reasonable Creatures antecedent to their Election and Consent The Psalmist calls to the Heathens Know ye that the Lord is God that is the most glorious Being and absolute Sovereign for it is he that made us and not we our selves He formed all things by his Almighty Goodness and is King by Creation 2. The two principal and necessary parts of his Soveraignty are to give Laws for the ruling of his Subjects and to pass final Judgment upon them for their Obedience or Disconformity to his Precepts Mere natural Agents are regulated by a wise establishment that is the Law of their Creation The Sun and Stars are moved according to the just Points of their Compass The Angels are under a Law in Heaven and obey his Commandments The Humane Nature of Christ though advanced to the highest capacity of a Creature yet received a Law And his whole Work upon Earth for our Salvation was an Act of Obedience to the Will of God If a Prince out of affection to his Friend will leave his own Dominions and live privately with him in a Forreign Country he must be subject to the Laws of the Place Indeed it is not conceivable that a Creature should be without a Law for this is to make it supreme and independent Supreme in not being liable to a superior Power to confine and order it Independent as to its Being and Operations for dependance necessarily infers subjection There is a visible connexion between those Titles The Lord is our Judg the Lord is our Law-giver the Lord is our King And sometimes in Scripture his Soveraignty is intimated in the Title of Judg thus in that humble Expostulation of Abraham for Sodom Shall not the Judg of all the World do right He addresses his request to God under that Title to soften his Power and incline his Clemency to save the Wicked for their sakes who were comparatively Righteous that is innocent of their crying Sins 3. As his right to govern and judg the World is natural so are his Attributes his Wisdom Holiness Justice and Power that qualify and render him most worthy to exercise this Government These are finite separable Qualities in Angels or Men but essential Perfections to the Deity 'T is more rational to conceive that things may be congeal'd by the heat of Fire or turn'd black by whiteness than that the least act of injustice can be done by the Righteous Lord. The Apostle rejects with extreme detestation the blasphemous Charge of unrighteousness in God's proceedings Is God unrighteous that taketh Vengeance God forbid For then how shall God judg the World He may as soon renounce his Nature and cease to be God for as such he is necessarily Judg of the World as violate his own Perfections in his judicial proceedings with us 4. God being invisible in his own Nature hath most wisely ordained the last Judgment of the World to be transacted by a visible Person because Men are to be only judged and not the Angels and the whole Process of it with them will be for things done in the Body The Person appointed for this Great Work is Jesus Christ the Son of God united to the Humane Nature The Father judgeth no Man Not as if he descended from the Throne and devested himself of his Supremacy but not immediately but hath committed all Judgment to the Son And it follows As the Father hath Life in himself so hath he given to the Son to have Life in himself And hath given him authority to execute Judgment also because he is Son of Man that is as Mediator The quality of this Office requires no less Person for the discharge of it 1. Upon the account of its superlative Dignity No mere Creature is capable of such a glorious Commission To pass a Sovereign Sentence upon Angels and Men is a Royalty reserv'd for God himself We read that no Man in Heaven or Earth was able to open the Sealed Book of his Eternal Counsels as unsearchable as deep only Jesus Christ who was in the Bosom of the Father the Seat of his Counsels and Compassions and was acquainted with all his Glorious Secrets could unfold the Order of the Divine Decrees about the Church And if no Creature was worthy to be admitted into God's Counsel much less to be taken into his Throne The Eternal Son the express Image of his Person is alone fit to be his authorised Representative in Judgment Our Saviour declares that the Father invested the Son with this Regal Power that all Men should honour the Son with the same religious Reverence and supreme adoration as they honour the Father 2. Upon the account of the immense Difficulty no mere Creature is able to discharge it To judg the World includes two things 1. To pass a righteous and irrevocable Judgment upon Men for all things done in this Life 2. The actual execution of the Sentence And for this no less than infinite Wisdom and infinite Power are necessary If a select number of Angels of the highest Order were deputed yet they could not manage the judicial trial of one Man For besides the innumerable acts and omissions in one Life the secrets of the Heart from whence the guilt or goodness of Moral Actions is principally derived are not open to them He alone that discerns all things can require an account of all 2. The Son of Man is invested with this High Office as the Reward of his Sufferings We must distinguish between the essential and oeconomical Power of Christ. The Son of God considered in his Divine Nature has an original Power of Judgment equal with the Father but considered as Mediator has a Power by delegation In the quality of the Son of Man he is inferior in dignity to the Father The Apostle declares this in that scale of Subordination
of the Creatures to Believers and of Believers to Christ and of Christ to God All things are yours and you are Christ's and Christ is God's Aud observing the beautiful Order that arises from the superiority and dependance between things he saith The Head of every Man is Christ and the Head of the Woman is the Man and the Head of Christ is God Now this Power by Commission was conferr'd upon him as the Reward of his Sufferings The Apostle expresly declares it that Christ being in the Form of God and without any usurpation truly equal to him in Divine Perfections and Majesty humbled himself and came obedient to the Death of the Cross. Wherefore God hath highly exalted him and given him a Name above every Name that at the Name of Jesus every Knee should bow of things in Heaven and things in Earth and things under the Earth and that every Tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord to the Glory of God the Father His victorious Sufferings are the Titles of his Triumphs his being so ignominiously deprest and condemn'd by Men is the just reason of his advancement to judg the World 5. There is a Day appointed wherein the Son of Man will appear in sensible Glory and exercise his judicial Power upon Angels and Men. He is now seated at the right hand of the Majesty on High and the Celestial Spheres are under his Feet Universal Nature feels the power of his Scepter He reigns in the Hearts of the Saints by his Word and Spirit and restrains the Fury of his Enemies in what degrees he pleases but still his Servants are in distress and his rebellious Enemies insolently break his Laws and the Curtains of Heaven conceal his Glory from us therefore a Time is prefix'd when in the Face of the World he will make an eternal difference by Rewards and Punishments between the Righteous and the Wicked and his Government shall have its compleat and glorious Issue This is stiled the Judgment of the Great Day 1. With respect to the appearance of the Judg. When the Law was given from Mount Sinai the Mountain was covered with Fire and the Voice of God as loud as Thunder proclaimed it from the midst of the Flames so that the whole Army of the Israelites was prostrate on the Plain struck with a sacred Horror and almost dead at the amazing sights and sounds From hence 't is said that in his right hand was a fiery Law And if the Law-giver appear'd in such terrible Majesty at the proclaiming the Law how much more when he shall come to revenge the Transgressions of it 'T is set forth in Scripture in the most lofty and magnificent Expressions He shall come in his Father's Glory and his own Glory and the Glory of the Angels A devouring Fire shall go before him to consume all the Works of the Universe He shall descend from the highest Heavens glorious in the attendance of innumerable Angels but more in his own Majesty and sit on a radiant Throne high above all 2. 'T is great with respect to the appearance of those who are to be judg'd All the Apostate Angels and the universal Progeny of Adam The bowels of the Earth and the bottom of the Sea and all the Elements shall give up the Dead The mighty Angels the winged Ministers of Justice shall fly to all Parts and attaque the Wicked to bring them as miserable Prisoners before that high Tribunal And those blessed powerful Spirits shall congregate the Righteous to present them at his right hand 3. 'T is great with respect to what shall be then done He shall perform the most glorious and consummate act of his Regal Office after a righteous Trial pronounce Judgment upon which the eternal Destiny of the World depends And immediately the Saints shall ascend with him to the everlasting Mansions of Glory and the Wicked shall be swallowed up in the fiery Gulph for ever To define the particular Time when this shall be accomplish'd is beyond the knowledg of the Angels of highest dignity 'T is inter Arcana Imperii among the Secrets of the Kingdom of Heaven 'T is observable that God has revealed the Times precisely wherein some great Events should come to pass after how many Years the Israelites should be freed from Egyptian Bondage after what space of Time they should be restored from the Captivity of Babylon when the Messiah should die for the expiation of Sin but there is no designation by certain Characters of the particular Day nor Year nor Age in any Prophecy of our Saviour's coming to Judgment And of this an Account may be given The special End of those Predictions was that those who lived to see their accomplishment notwithstanding the seeming Impossibilities might believe the Truth and Power of God to fulfil the Revelation of his Purposes for the time to come But at the last Day all the Promises and Threatnings will be fulfilled nothing will remain to be the Object of Faith and consequently it was superfluous to declare the certain Time since the exact accomplishment of it according to the prediction will neither be useful to confirm Believers or convert Infidels Lastly The Resurrection of Jesus Christ is the most convincing and commanding Evidence of this Doctrine that he shall judg the World For he was charged with Blasphemy deserving of Death for this Testimony I say unto you hereafter shall you see the Son of Man sitting on the right hand of Power and coming in the Clouds of Heaven He dedicated Martyrdom in his own Sufferings Now God in raising him from the Dead confirmed the truth of his Testimony by that visible Miracle and the belief of it converted the World to Christianity I will now proceed to illustrate and prove the main Point which is this That God will judg the World in Righteousness by Jesus Christ. The Mediator who shall be Judg in the Union of both Natures considered as the Son of God is essentially Holy and Righteous and considered as the Son of Man was holy harmless undefiled and separate from Sinners In him all Vertues shin'd in their absolute Purity and who is so worthy and qualified to reward Holiness and punish Wickedness as the holy one of God 'T is said of him Thou hast loved Righteousness and hated Iniquity therefore thy God hath anointed thee with Oil of gladness above thy Fellows Consecrated him to the Regal Office and enrich'd his humane Nature with Endowments suitable to it 'T was prophesied of him The Spirit of the Lord shall rest upon him the Spirit of Wisdom and Understanding the Spirit of Counsel and Might the Spirit of Knowledg and of the Fear of the Lord and shall make him of quick understanding in the Fear of the Lord and He shall not judg after the sight of his Eyes neither reprove after the hearing of his Ears But with Righteousness shall he judg the Poor and reprove with Equity Humane Judgments are
the last Day the Righteousness of God's Proceedings shall be universally manifest and magnified 'T is therefore called the Day of the Revelation of the Righteous Judgment of God Now in order to this the Scripture informs us that all the Works of Men shall be brought in to Judgment even every secret thing whether good or evil And the Apostle saith That we must all appear before the Judgment-Seat of Christ that every one may receive the things done in his Body according to that he hath done whether it be good or bad All Sins whether secret or openly visible shall be accounted for Those Sins that have been acted in the most secret Retirement so that no eye of Man could take cognizance of them Nay the Sins of the thoughts and affections of which Satan could not accuse Men when the inward Fire of Lust or Malice is not discovered by the least smoke or sparkles by no expressions all those shall be brought to Judgment God will judg the Secrets of Men by Jesus Christ. The sins of Omission of our Duty that are so numerous from carelesness and diversions from slothfulness and delays and that now so little affect us for we are more sensible of what we do than of what we have not done the guilt of all these shall then be heavily charged on the Conscience of the Sinner The neglect of improving all the Means Advantages and Opportunities of doing or receiving Good will be a great part of that Judgment The Lord called his Servants to an account for the Talent committed to their trust and required profit in proportion to their number and worth All sins of Commission in Youth and Age whether gross Sensuality as Lasciviousness Lusts excess of Wine Revellings Banquetings and abominable Idolatries and all excess of Riot shall be accounted for to him who is ready to judg the quick and the dead or acts of unrighteous-to others He that doth wrong shall receive according to the wrong he has done And sins of a lesser guilt for which the most are not touch'd with grief or shame shall then be produc'd in Judgment All the sins of our words so easily committed and not so easily observed shall then be called to a heavy remembrance The Judg himself tells us I say unto you that every idle word that Men shall speak they shall give account thereof in the Day of Judgment And if vain words the Signs and immediate Effects of a vain Mind shall sadly encrease our Accounts how much more all the contentious fierce and revengeful words the detracting false contumelious and injurious words the impure filthy and contagious words the prophane blasphemous and impious words that flow from the evil Treasure of the Heart O their dreadful number and oppressing weight And all the Aggravations and Circumstances of Mens Sins that raise their Guilt to such fearful heights shall be enumerated in order to Judgment For thus 't was foretold Behold the Lord cometh with ten thousand of his Saints to execute Judgment upon all and to convince all that are ungodly among them of all their ungodly Deeds which they have ungodly committed and all their hard Speeches which ungodly Sinners have spoken against him And all the good Works of the Saints shall then be remembred even to the least work of Piety the giving of two Mites to the Treasury of the Temple and the least work of Charity the giving a cup of cold Water to a Disciple upon the account of his Relation unto Christ. All their secret Graces and Duties shall then be rewarded The manner of this Judicial Evidence is set forth to us in Scripture by the opening the Books congruously to proceedings in humane Judgment wherein the Information and Charge is produc'd from Writings for the conviction of the Accused Thus it was represented to St. John in a Vision I saw the Dead small and great stand before God and the Books were opened and the Dead were judged out of the things that were written in the Books according to their Works 1. The Books of the Law and Gospel shall then be open'd in all the Injunctions and Prohibitions and our Lives compar'd with them Our Saviour told the Jews Do not think that I will accuse you to my Father there is one that accuseth you even Moses in whom you trust not the Person but the Law of Moses And he denounced against those that reject the Gospel the Word that I have spoken the same shall judg them in the last Day The Law is the exact Transcript of God's Sacred Will the natural and immutable Rule of Righteousness 't is pure forbids all Sin and enjoyns universal Holiness 't is Spiritual requires not only a conformity in Words and Actions but inward sanctity in mind and heart for the Soul is the principal part of Man entirely open to God's Eye the Maker and Judg of it And the most enlightned Saints have but an imperfect knowledg of it here This made Holy David after his meditation upon its purity and perfection to cry out in an Agony Who can understand his Errors cleanse thou me from secret sins This when opend in its spiritual and comprehensive Nature by a wise and zealous Preacher darts a Light into the Conscience and discovers many secret Sins that like so many Serpents were still and quiet in the dark but upon the suddain breaking in of the Light fly upon the Sinner and torment him with their mortal Stings But when the Law-giver himself shall expound the Law in its full extent and perfection with respect to all the Duties it commands and Sins it forbids how guilty will Men appear how unable to answer one Article of a thousand charg'd upon them 2. The Omniscience of God will give most convincing Evidence of all our Works All things are naked and open to his Eyes with whom we have to do in Judgment The Psalmist declares the infinite perspicacity of his sight The Darkness hides not from thee but the Night shines as the Day As his Light and transcendent Brightness is invisible to us so our thickest darkness is visible to him We cannot see things in the Night because it hinders the reception of the Rays that insinuate into the Eye and causes sight but the Eyes of our Judg are like a flame of Fire dispelling all darkness From his Throne in Heaven his piercing Eye sees through all the concealments of Mens Sins Thou hast set our Iniquities before thee and our secret Sins in the Light of thy Countenance He discovered the Sacrilege of Achan the Lie of Gehazi the Deceit of Ananias Saul's disobedience in sparing the Amalekites devoted to destruction had the colourable pretence of Piety and as a Sacrifice was laid on the Altar And David's Murder of Uriah was imputed to the chance of War as a sufficient excuse But tho' they might have deceived others they could not