29. They knew it seems there was a time of Torment appointed for them but it was not yet and yet there was then some place of Confinement for them which is the 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 or Deep whatever that signifies whither they were unwilling to go and therefore when Christ cast them out of the Man whom they had long and furiously possessed they beg of him that he would not command them to go into the Deep 8. Luke 31. I shall only observe farther That the Devils are said to believe and tremble Now what is it they believe and what is it they tremble at but the last Judgment and that terrible Condemnation which they then expect and therefore they are not under it yet for Faith respects what is absent and future and Fear does not respect what we suffer at present but what we expect But these are great Mysteries which we cannot now understand but thus much we do understand that if these fallen and apostate Angels have not yet received their final Punishment but are only reserved in Chains of Darkness till the Judgment of the great Day there is less reason to think that wicked Men who are to be punished with the Devil and his Angels should immediately go to Hell as soon as they go out of these Bodies and therefore whatever is meant by those Flames wherein Dives was tormented it is not the last Fire prepared for the Devil and his Angels As for good Men those Expressions of Scripture of their going to Paradise especially of their going to Christ or being present with the Lord seem to bid very fair for their going directly to Heaven where Christ is but the Primitive Christians understood them otherwise that Paradise and Abraham's Bosom was a place of Ease and Happiness but not Heaven that no Man ascends into Heaven till after the Resurrection which Ireneus and Tertullian prove from the Example of Christ to which we must be conformed for Christ himself did not ascend into Heaven till after the Resurrection but as his Body rested in the Grave so his Soul went into the State of Souls departed and when he arose again then he ascended into Heaven and thus they say we must do also When we die our Souls shall live in those places which God has prepared for separate Souls and when we have re-assumed our Bodies we shall be admitted into the highest Heavens whither Christ is ascended and this seems very reasonable that we should not ascend into Heaven into the immediate Presence of God which signifies our perfect Reconciliation to him without our Bodies the want of which is an argument of our Apostasie and his Displeasure and all the Marks of his Displeasure ought to be removed before we appear in his immediate Presence But is not Christ in Heaven and how then can good Men be present with the Lord after Death if they do not immediately ascend into Heaven Now as for this they tell us That the Souls of just Men in Paradise have the sight and conversation of Angels and Archangels and the Vision or 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 of our Saviour which they think is what is meant by being present with the Lord though they did not affirm that no good Men did immediately ascend into Heaven when they died but expressly taught that all Martyrs did who died for the Name and Religion of Christ and this was the thing which made them in that Age so fond of Martyrdom that they thought all Martyrs ascended directly into Heaven And if they could have proved this as it is plain they believed it that Martyrs did immediately ascend into Heaven and that other Christians did not who would not have coveted to die a Martyr Thus I have very fairly and truly represented this Matter and that no Man who has not so carefully considered this may take Offence at it I shall 1. shew you how useful this Doctrine is at this time And 2. that it gives no discouragement to Vertue nor any encouragement to Vice 1 st As for the first we may consider In the first place That in such an Age as this wherein we have to deal with so many Atheists and Infidels we ought to take care to make Religion reasonable and intelligible for if we do not they expose it to Scorn and Ridicule and both harden themselves in their own Infidelity and corrupt others and therefore we must take care of representing any thing absurdly and inconsistently Now to say that Men who are already judged and either condemned or absolved and actually sent to Hell or to Heaven should be solemnly judged over again and condemned again to Hell or advanced to Heaven sounds oddly to such Men but if the Scripture does not expresly teach such a Doctrine we are at liberty not to teach it especially if we can give another Account of it which seems as agreeable to Scripture and more agreeable to the Reason and Understanding of Mankind 2. Some there are who observing that Mankind shall not be judged till the Day of Judgment conclude that there is no intermediate State but that the Soul sleeps with the Body till the Day of Judgment A very Foolish and Unphilosophical Opinion for we may as reasonably think that the Soul dies as that it sleeps in a state of Separation if the Soul be a spiritual Substance distinct from the Body it may live and act without it and it is as easie and reasonable to defend the Mortality of the Soul as its sleeping for if the Soul must sleep when it is separated from the Body it must sleep for ever if it never be re-united to the Body again that is it must live and die with the Body for such a sleep as this is not meerly an Image of Death but Death it self But from what I have now discoursed it appears that though there be a great distance between Death and Judgment yet the Soul does live and act is happy or miserable in the mean time 3. This Notion does very great Service also against Popery For 1. it gives an account of a middle State without Purgatory This has greatly imposed upon unlearned Men that the Advocates of Popery have proved from the Ancient Fathers that they owned a middle State which was neither Heaven nor Hell and then presently conclude that this must be Purgatory Now it is very true the Ancient Christians did own a middle State between Death and Judgment which was neither Heaven nor Hell but yet never dreamt of a Popish Purgatory they believed bad Men were in a State of Punishment as soon as they left these Bodies but not in Hell and that good Men were in a State of Rest and Happiness but not in Heaven but they never thought of a place of Torment to expiate the Temporal Punishment due to Sin when the Eternal Punishment is remitted which is the Popish Purgatory and the most barbarous Representation of the Christian Religion though the most profitable
such vain and groundless Fears This ought to be plainly and fully stated for we live in the last Days and have many of these Scoffers already among us 1. But if GOD have appointed the Dâ—y of Judgment it is a very foolish Argument to say that he will not judge the World because he has not done it yet unless we could prove that the Day appointed for Judgment is already past God cannot be said to delay to judge the World wheâ— the time he has appointed for Judgment is not yet come for to delay doing any thing is not to do it in its proper season when it is time to do it or when we resolved and determined to do it and therefore no Man can say that God delays to judge the World unless he could tell whaâ— Day God in his own infinite Wisdom appointed for Judgment For 2. That God appoints a long Day for Judgment is no Argument that he will not judge us Thus it was in the Destruction of the Old World a great while before God brought that Universal Deluge on them but it came at last and swept them all away as St. Peter observes For this they willingly were ignorant of that by the word of God the heavens were of old and the earth standing out of the water and in the water whereby the world that then was being overflow'd with water perished This general Destruction of the Old World by Water is reason enough to believe God when he threatens to destroy it again by Fire For the heavens and the earth which are now by the same word are kept in store reserved unto fire against the day of judgement and perdition of ungodly men 5 6 7. It was a great while before God destroyed the Old World and though this second Destruction by Fire is deferred much longer it will come in its appointed time 3. For what seems a very long time to us is not so to God as the same Apostle tells us One day is with the Lord as a thousand years and a thousand years as one day God is not affected with the succession of Time nor its lingring delays and therefore is not in hast to judge the World before the World is ripe for Judgment and when that is he himself knows best For to appoint a Day to judge the World is a Work of great Wisdom and Counsel Before God judges the World it is fit for him to display all the various Scenes of Wisdom and Goodness and Power and Justice in the Government of the World to exercise great Patience towards Sinners and to make the utmost Experiments to reform them as St. Peter tells us The Lord is not slack concerâ—iâ—â— his promise as some men count slackness but is patient to us-ward not willing thâ— any should perish but that all should coâ—â— to repentance v. 9. 4. When God finally judges the Worlâ— he destroys this present Frame of Things as it follows in the next Verse The day 〈◊〉 the Lord will come 〈◊〉 a thief in the night in the which the heavens shall pass away with a great noise and the elements shall melt with fervent heat and the earth also and the works that are therein shall 〈◊〉 burnt up Now it does not become â— wise and a good God to be hasty in dâ—stroying a World that he has made And therefore to reconcile God's dâ—stroying the World with his Essential Attributes of Wisdom and Goodness therâ— are two things necessary 1 st The incorrigible Wickedness of Mankind A wise Man will not immediately pull down a House he has builâ— till he discovers some irreparable decayâ— in it thus God justifies his Destructioâ— of the Old World from the Universal Corruption of Manners and the incurable Wickedness of it God saw the wickedneâ—â— of man that it was great upon the earth aâ—â— that every imagination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually And it repented the Lord that he had made man on the earth and it grieved him at his heart And the Lord said I will destroy man whom I have created from the face of the earth 6 Gen. 5 6 7. And this was the only reason that could be given to justifie so universal a Destruction of Mankind that they were universally wicked excepting one righteous Family which God preserved and it seems very probable that the general State of the World will be very wicked and corrupt before the final Destruction of the World by Fire for we can conceive no other reason why God should finally destroy this World but to put an end to the incurable Wickedness of Men. And this is the Account the Scripture gives us of it we find every-where a deplorable Description of the Wickedness of the last Days In the last days perillous times shall come For men that is the generality of Mankind shall be lovers of their ownselves covetous boasters proud blasphemers disobedient to parents unthankful unholy without natural affection truce-breakers false accusers incontinent fierce despisers of those that are good traytors heady high-minded lovers of pleasures more then lovers of God having a form of godliness but denying the power thereof 2 Tim. 3.1 2 3 4 5. Thus St. Iude tells us There shall be mockers iâ— the last times who should walk after their own ungodly lusts v. 18. And St. Peter as you heard that in the last Days there shall be Scoffers saying Where is the promise of his coming And our Saviour himself plainly intimates what an universal Decay there shall be of Piety and Faith when he comes to judge the World Nevertheless when the Son of man cometh shall he find faith on the earth 18 Luke 8. Atheism and Infidelity shall greatly prevail in the World before the Day of Judgement and by this as St. Iohn said long since We know that is the last time And this is one of the signs both of the Destruction of Ierusalem and of the Day of Judgment Then shall many be offended and shall betray one another and shall hate one another And many false prophets shall rise and shall deceive many And because iniquity shall abound the love of many shall wax cold But he that shall endure to the end the same shall be saved 24 Matth. 10 11 12 13. And therefore the Destruction of this World by Fire which is the Preparation to the final Judgment is represented as an immediate Vengeance on the wickedness of that Generation of Men who shall then be living on the Earth though at the same time the Dead shall be raised and all ungodly men involved in the same ruin The Lord Iesus shall be revealed from heaven with his mighty Angels in flaming fire taking vengeance on them that know not God and that obey not the Gospel of our Lord Iesus Christ 2 Thess. 1.8 And 10 Hebr. 27. it is called a fiery indignation which shall devour the Adversaries So that one thing God has regard to in appointing the day of Judgment is
and this Punishment bad Men have by being suffered to stand by and see the glorious Rewards of the Righteous But there is a further reason also for this that good Men when they are acquitted and absolved shall together with their Lord sit in Judgment on the wicked World 1 Cor. 6.2 3. Do ye not know that the saints shall judge the world Know ye not that we shall judge angels How far this extends we know not but it seems such a thing there is as was universally believed in the Apostle's Days as appears from his Appeal to their own knowledge of it but if they must Judge the World it is reasonable to think that their own Judgment must be over first I shall name but one thing more which I have had several occasions to take notice of already and that is That at the last Judgment this Earth shall be destroyed with Fire as S. Peter expresly tells us The day of the Lord shall come like a thief in the night in the which the heavens shall pass away with a great noise and the elements shall melt with fervent heat the earth also and the works that are therein shall be burnt up 2 Pet. 3.10 This has been an old Tradition that the World shall be destroyed by Fire and some Men are very curious and inquisitive by what Natural Causes this may be done for they are not willing to allow that God either made or destroys the World by an immediate Power for the less they leave for God to do the less they are concerned about him but though it is hard to perswade some Men now that there was any need of a God to make the World which they think could make itself without him yet the last Judgment shall convince them that it is God that destroys it when they shall see the World fired by a flame streaming from his Throne as is not improbable by the Description of the Prophet Daniel A fiery stream issued and came forth from before him 7 Dan. 10. The only Question is Whether the World shall be fired at Christ's first appearance to Judgment or after the final Sentence pronounced against bad Men The first does not seem probable because Christ himself shall place his Throne in the Air and all Mankind shall be gathered before him to Judgment and a fired World is not a proper Scene for such an Appearance and the burning of the World seems to be an Act of Judgment and Vengeance as St. Paul tells us He shall descend from heaven in flaming fire taking vengeance on them that know not God 2 Thess. 1.8 So that the Devil and bad Men shall first be condemned to Everlasting Fire and then their Punishment shall begin in a Fired World Thus I have given you a brief View of the Circumstances and Manner of Christ's Appearance and the Awful Solemnities of Judgment every part of which is for the Glory of our Lord for the Comfort of good Men and a Terrour to the wicked God grant we may so think of this Day before hand that we may not feel the Terrour and Astonishment of it when it comes CHAP. V. Who are to be Iudged viz. The World or all Mankind V. LET us consider who are to be judged and they are the World or all Mankind for I shall take no notice of the Judgment of the Devil and the Apostate Angels which we know no more of but only that they shall be judged that the angels which kept not their first estate but left their own habitation he hath reserved in everlasting chains under darkness unto the judgment of the great day Jude v. 6. Why their Judgment is deferred so long we cannot tell for it is plain that the Angels fell from their first Estate before Man and how long we know not for it was the Serpent that beguiled Eve but this we know that whatever their first Apostasie was they have a great deal more to answer for now and must expect a more terrible Condemnation All the Sin that is in the World is originally owing to the Temptation of the Devil who seduced our first Parents in Paradise and has ever since been the great Tempter to Wickedness and Apostasie from God and therefore he is in some degree entitled to all the Wickedness of Mankind And this is a good reason why the Devil and his Angels and all bad Men should be judged and condemned together those who tempt and those who are overcome by Temptations the Prince of Darkness and all his Subjects whether Angels or Men. Hell is the Fire prepared for the Devil and his Angels not for Men but when he has drawn Mankind into the Apostasie it is fit they should share in his Punishments too and when our Lord comes to Judge Men who have been seduced and corrupted by Evil Spirits there is no reason to think that wicked Spirits should escape who have seduced and tyrannized over Mankind But that which we are at present concerned in is the Judgment of Mankind That God hath appointed a Day wherein he will Judge the World or the whole Race of Men as St. Iohn represents it I saw the dead small and great stand before God 20 Revel 12. No Man who believes a Future Judgement makes any doubt of this but that all shall be judged For if any why not all We are all alike God's Creatures we are all equally accountable to him and though we have very different Talents yet we have all some Talent or other to improve for our Master's use And therefore I shall not go about to convince any Man that he is to be judged as well as the rest of Mankind but there are some Persons who are apt to forget this who have yet as much occasion to think of a Future Judgment as any other Men and therefore ought to be minded of it and they are those who are very Rich and Great or very Poor or in the Vigour and Gaiety of Youth 1 st Rich and Great Men Princes and Potentates Men of Honour and Fortune who are exalted above the common Level of Mankind These must all be judged as well as the meanest Men though they are not very apt to think of it great Power and great Riches make them reverenced and adored like so many little Deities in this World all Men court and flatter them and make a great distinction between them and those of a meaner Rank and Fortune and this is apt to swell their Minds they look down upon the rest of the World as very much below them and think they merit much when ever they look up to God for such great Men as they are to worship God and lift up their Eyes sometimes to Heaven they imagine is so great an Honour to God and Credit to Religion that a very little matter will be accepted from them they see Humane Judicatures very often have great respect for Mens persons in Judgment and they hope God will consider their
and distressed People Sloth and Idleness and other Vices have sent thither What loud Clamours should we have against the Justice of the Divine Providence did men suffer half so much by Piety and Vertue as they do in the service of their Lusts If Mens own Vices be not a sufficient punishment to them we may consider in the next place how bad Men punish one another There are infinite instances of this even in well-governed Kingdoms where the Vices of Men are restrained by publick Laws and the severest Executions of Justice yet how many Outrages do they commit Rapes Murders Thefts Oppression Injustice and all sorts of Violence What work does Pride and Covetuousness and Lust make especially when such Vices as these infect great Men and are armed with Power to do Mischief witness all the bloudy Wars of Aspiring and Ambitious Princes attended with the Ruins and Desolations of flourishing Countries and all the Miseries and Calamities which the most frightful Fancy can conceive or the most Poetick Wit desâ—ribe But then on the other hand Vertue has its natural Rewards it gives peace and satisfaction to the Mind governs our Appetites and Passions that they cause no pain or disturbance to us it is the best means to preserve our Health to encrease our Fortune to procure Friends to reconcile Enemies to give us Credit and Reputation to escape the Injuries of bad Men and to pass through the World with as little Envy and Opposition and Justling as it is possible that is it is not of itself sufficient to make a good Man compleatly happy in this World for there is no such thing to be had here but it is the only thing that can make him as happy as he can be here it will prevent a great many michiefs which other Men fall into and enable him to bear those patiently which it cannot prevent This is the first step of God's governing Mankind that natural Provision he has made for the punishment of Wickedness and the rewards of Vertue for I suppose all Men will grant that this is God's own act for none but He who made Man could so fit and temper his Nature to the Laws of Vertue as to make his Duty his natural Reward and Happiness and his Sin his Punishment this is admirable and stupendious Wisdom and the most effectual means for the good government of the World and which was necessary to make all other acts of Government successful but this is so useful an Argument that I cannot dismiss it without some farther Remarks and Observations 1. God has by this means taken care that Vertue shall never be wholly unrewarded nor Sin unpunished for they are a reward and punishment to themselves and such rewards and punishments as are founded in the Nature of Things are unavoidable 2. This in ordinary cases supersedes the necessity of God's interposing by an immediate Providence to reward good Men and to punish the wicked these natural rewards and punishments when there is no occasion for more signal examples of God's Goodness and Justice will serve for this World for this reason indeed some Men conclude that God takes no notice of Humane Affairs because he does not always visibly interpose for the punishment of Wickedness and the defence and protection of vertuous Men but God has made a standing provision for this in the Nature of Things and that will serve the ordinary ends of Providence and when he sees occasion for it he can soon rectifie any great Disorders by a more immediate Hand this is most agreeable to the wisdom and to the majesty of Providence Thus God governs the Inanimate World the Heavens and the Earth and all the Creatures in it by keeping this great Machine in that regular and uniform Motion which he at first gave it and suffering all Creatures to follow the tendency of their own natures excepting such cases as require some extraordinary and preter-natural events as when God thinks fit to work Miracles for the Conviction of Infidels and to give Authority to his Prophets or to punish a wicked World with Drought or Famine or Pestilence to infect their Air and to make the Earth Iron and the Heavens Brass the less the Divine Providence deviates from the Nature of Things while the World is well and wisely governed the more admirable is his Wisdom who has so contrived the World that he can govern all Creatures by the Springs and Principles of their own Natures 3. Thus these Natural Rewards and Punishments give a sacred and venerable Authority to the Divine Laws for this proves that they are not Arbitrary Constitutions which depend wholly upon the Will and Pleasure of God who might if he had pleased have made Vertue Vice and Vice Vertue as some Men venture to talk with equal Ignorance Impudence and Prophaneness for unless God had made us other Creatures than we now are he could have given us no other Laws unless he could have given us Laws destructive to our Nature and Happiness for none but a vertuous Man can be happy and Sin must make us miserable 4. Nay these natural rewards and punishments are a glorious Justification of all the other acts of God's Providence for the rewarding good Men and punishing the wicked for this is to dispense rewards and punishments according to the nature and deserts of Things which becomes the Just Governour of the World for Happiness is the natural effect and reward of Vertue and Wickedness of Vice and therefore to reward good Men and punish the wicked is to reward Men for making themselves happy and to punish them for making themselves miserable to encourage them to make themselves as good and happy as possibly they can by rewarding them with new additions of Happiness and to restrain and terrifie them from making themselves wicked and miserable by threatning and inflicting more severe punishments on them and can there possibly be a more gracious Government than this What hath any Man to quarrel at in it unless it be that God is so greatly and passionately concerned that we should be happy for this is the apparent intention and design of his Providence in this World both in rewarding good Men and punishing the wicked 5. Nay further these Natural Rewards and Punishments which God has enterwoven in the Nature of Things whereby he has made Vertue a reward and Wickedness a punishment to itself are not onely a particular instance of God's Providence in that natural Provision he has made for the rewards of Vertue and the Punishment of Vice but are a natural Earnest and Pledge of all other acts of Providence which are necessary to this end When God made Vertue and Vice the natural Causes and Instruments of our Happiness and Misery it is certain that he intended that good Men should be happy and the wicked miserable Now does God ever intend things by halves will he not certainly effect what he intends These natural Rewards and Punishments are one
pray for and therefore it teaches us Having Food and Raiment there-with to be content But who could be contented with such a scanâ—y Provision while he sees the greater Prosperity of bad Men who dissolve in Ease and Luxury were there not a happy state reserved for them in the next World Where is the Man who would not comply with the Devil's Temptation to fall down and Worship him for all the Kingdoms of the World and the Glory of them were he not to lose a brighter and a richer Crown for it Some times indeed God does bless good Men with great Plenty and Honour but he has no where promised to do so in the Gospel of Christ sometimes he does it not so much to reward good Men for Temporal things are not the proper Rewards of Piety and Vertue as to serve the ends of his Providence in the World he takes care of good Men to supply their wants and necessities here which is all that a perfect Vertue requires but he rewards them hereafter and yet this is not absolutely promised neither for our Saviour teaches us to take up his Cross to expect Sufferings and Persecutions for his Name sake and then we must be contented to want Food and Raiment to part with Houses and Lands and Life itself for his sake and our condition may be so afflicted and calamitous here that it may force us to say as S. Paul does If in this life only we had hope we were of all men the most miserable And who would be the Disciple of Chriâ—â— upon these Terms to suffer so much for him in this World and to gain nothing by it in the next Thus on the other hand there is a terrible Vengeance threatned against wicked Men in the next World Lakes of fire and brimstone blackness of darkness the worm that never dieth and the fire that never goeth out but the Gospel threatens no Temporal Punishments against Sin Bad Men are very often punished in this World when the Wisdom of the Divine Providence sees fit and they very often escape too and are much more prosperous than good Men are here that there is no Threatning in the Gospel to restrain the Impieties of Men but only the Fears of the other World and a Future Judgement and if you take away these you destroy the Gospel of our Saviour 2. Many of our Saviour's Laws are founded on the supposition of a Future Judgment and are extreamly unreasonable if there be no Rewards or Punishments after this Life that if we will but allow him the ordinary Prudence of a Lawgiver a Future Judgment must be the Foundation of his Religion If there were no other Life after this the only Rule of our Actions would be to live as long and to enjoy as much of this World as we can But Christian Religion in many cases will not allow of this and therefore is no Religion for this World were there not another World to follow To begin with the Enjoyments of this World How many Restraints does the Christian Religion lay on us to lessen the Pleasures and Satisfactions of this Life It teaches us a great Indifferency to all the things of this World but how unreasonable is that if this World be our only place of Happiness For who can be indifferent whether he be happy or not It commands us to mortifie our sensual Appetites to crucifie the Flesh with its Affections and Lusts to live above the Pleasures of the Body to pluck out our right Eyes and to cut off our right Hands but what reason can there be to deny our selves any of these Enjoyments as far as is consistent with preserving our Health and prolonging our Lives if we have no expectations after Death nay if Men are contented to live a short and a merry Life what hurt is there in it if death puts an end to them It forbids us to lay up for ourselves Treasures on Earth which were a strange Command were there not greater Treasures to be expected in Heaven It forbids earthly Pride and Ambition an affectation of Secular Honours and Power but why must we submit to Meanness and Contempt in this World if this be the only Scene of Action we shall ever be concerned in for a mean and base Spirit is no Vertue and for the same reason it can be no Vertue to be contented with a low Fortune to be patient under Sufferings which if they will never be rewarded is to be patiently miserable and that is Stupidity and Folly but to have our Conversation in Heaven to live upon the hopes of unseen Things is Madness and Distraction if there be no Heaven no unseen Things for us The Laws of our Saviour require us in some cases to sacrifice the dearest Interests we have in this World and Life itself for his sake which is a sensless and unreasonable Command if he does not intend to bestow a better Life on us If there were no other Life after this no wise Man would forfeit more for any Religion than it is worth in this World and that would reach but a little way in Suffering Nor is our Saviour so unreasonable as to require it upon these Terms but tells us plainly Whosoever will save his life shall lose it and whosoever will lose his life for my sake shall find it For what is a man profited if he shall gain the whole world and lose his own soul Or what shall a man give in exchange for his soul 16 Mat. 25 26. The Reasons of most of the Evangelical Commands must be fetched wholly from the other World and a Future Judgement and therefore we should have had the same Evidence for a Judgment to come that we have for the Christian Religion tho' there had been no such express mention made of a Future Judgment I cannot but observe here the true Reason of the Corruption of Christian Morals which are as much corrupted as the Christian Faith is That in expounding the Laws of our Saviour some Men have no other regard but to fit them to the ease and the conveniences of this Life and therefore reject any Interpretation of them which is severe to Flesh and Blood or will hazard their Ease and Fortunes in this World It is sufficient to Confute any Law of our Saviour or to Interpret it away to shew that there are great Temporal Inconveniences in it that to observe such Laws in such a sence would be very injurious to Mens present Interests and deprive them of many Pleasures and Advantages of Life It were easie to give many Instances of this but it shall suffice at present to confess that considering the State of this World and the Propensities and Inclinations of Humane Nature some Laws of our Saviour are very unreasonable were there not a Future Judgment to reward the Severities and Sufferings which good Men must undergo in observing of them and therefore we must have a care of rejecting any plain and express Law
the Gospel were never intended by our Saviour as the Rewards or Motives of our Obedience but only to eâ—courage and support us in our Pilgrimagâ— in this World that if we seek first tâ—â— kingdom of God and his righteousness 〈◊〉 we give up ourselves to the Obediencâ— of the Gospel and live upon the Hopes oâ— unseen Things and lay up Treasures iâ— Heaven all other things shall be added 〈◊〉 us God will provide what is needful for our passage through this World whateveâ— Difficulties and Discouragements we may meet with from Men. The design of the Gospel is to take ouâ— Hearts from this World to teach us noâ— to lay up for ourselves Treasures on Earth but in Heaven not to love this World nor the things that are in the World anâ— therefore it is impossible that Temporâ—â— Blessings should be a Gospel-Motive nothing in this World can be a Motive unless we love the World and therefore thiâ— can be no Motive of the Christian Religion which teaches us not to love the World unless the love of the World caâ— be a proper Motive and Argument to make us despise it and live above it And therefore I confess I have sometimes wished that there had been less stress laid upon the Temporal Rewards and Advantages of Vertue to perswade Men to Religion and upon the Temporal Evils and Miseries of Sin to discourage Men from it for this is not always true and if it were it is an Argument which will perswade no Men and if it did it cannot advance them to the heights and perfections of a Christian Vertue and therefore is no Gospel-Motive As for Instance Some Vertues are very healthful prolong our Lives and prevent a great many painful and mortal Diseases which the contrary Vices expose Men to such as Temperance and Chastity other Vertues are very proper Methods of Thriving in the World such as Diligence Prudence Justice others give us Reputation and Honour advance us to Rule and Empire and Publick Trusts Now this is sometimes true and sometimes not as the State of the World now is as I shewed you before that whatever natural Efficacy Vertue may have to make Men happy or Vice to make them miserable this may be in a great measure defeated by the external Circumstances of our Condition in this World and therefore this can never be a Motive that is it cannot be a reason why we should choose Vertue because it is not always a reason nay is as often a reason for Vice as for Vertue and if it be a good reason for one I cannot see why it should not be a good reason for the other for if it be a reason at all it is a reason for that side on which at present it is whether that be Vertue or Vice Indeed these Temporal Advantages of Vertue are not so much Reasons for Vertue as against Vice and that too only against such Vices or such Degrees and Instances of Vice as are destructive to Mens Health or Fortunes or Reputation however this Reason be it what it will will reach no farther than to such a degree of Vertue as will contribute to a happy and prosperous Life in this World and therefore will not raise us above this World will not teach us to despise Riches and Honours and Bodily Pleasures nay is not consistent with a mean Value and great Indifferency to present Things and therefore it cannot make us Christians and is a very improper Argument to perswade Men to be Christians it never made a Christian yet and never will do And therefore let us not think to conquer the Deceits and Flatteries of the World and the Flesh with such Arguments as these which have no strength â—n them which are more apt to make Men fond of this World then to conquer â—t But this is our victory which overâ—omes the world even our faith the hope â—nd fear of unseen Things or a Future â—udgment when God will eternally reward good Men and punish the wicked This is an Argument in all Times and in â—ll Conditions it will make us despise the World when it Smiles and Flatters and â—corn its Frowns Here are Hopes too big â—or this World and Fears too great and â—owerful for its Fears such Hopes as can â—upport us under the greatest Sufferings â—uch Fears as can imbitter all the sweets of Sin and therefore let us keep the Future â—udgment always in our eye let us fetch our Supports and Comforts from thence â—et us oppose these Hopes and Fears against all Temptations for here is our strength â—ll other Arguments are easily baffled but nothing can answer the Argument of Eternal Life and Death SECT VII Third Inference To refer all Iudgmenâ— to GOD. III. IF GOD will certainly Judge the World let us refer all Judgmeâ—â— to God or as St. Paul speaks Therefore judge nothing before the time until the Lord come who both will bring to light the hidden things of darkness and will maâ—â— manifest the counsels of the hearts aâ—â— then shall every man have praise of God 1 Cor. 4.5 Nothing is more indecenâ— nor more dangerous than for Men whâ— must be judged themselves to take Godâ—â— Work out of his hands and to assume 〈◊〉 Praetorian Power to Judge Acquit anâ— Condemn whom they please without expecting the Judgment of God to Judge is God's Prerogative and he will Judge the World And what hast thou to do 〈◊〉 judge another man's servant to his owâ— master he shall stand or fall Why 〈◊〉 much hast to prevent the Judgment oâ— God by our rash ignorant uncharitable Judgments Judgment will come time enough for us all and therefore judge nothing before the time This is so common a Fault and does so much Mischief in the World and yet is so very unreasonable considering a Future Judgment that it will be of great use to Discourse it more particularly and if it be possible to Correct this Miscarriage which is one of the greatest Plagues of Humane Society It is very obvious to ask here What is the Fault of this Is there any living in the World without judging of Men and Things Must we not say that he is a very bad Man whom we see do very bad things Must we not distinguish between Vertue and Vice and between good and bad Men Must we not make good Men our Friends commend and imitate their Vertues and reject the Conversation of the wicked and beware of Knaves and Men of ill Principles and Designs And is it not necessary then to distinguish between good and bad Men that is to judge who are so Must we wholly refer the Punishment of Wickedness and the Rewards of Vertue to the Day of Judgement and because God will Judge the World must not Princes and Magistrates execute Justice and separate between the Pure and the Vile This is so very unreasonable so inconsistent with the wise Conduct and Government of our Lives and a prudent Care of ourselves so destructive to
they think Patience and Forbearance a greater Fault in them then it is in God who beareth with much long suffering the vessels of wrath fitted for destruction Why are they so unmerciful as to hurry away these poor Wretches immediately to Hell when God is contented to let them live on to let the Tares and the Wheat grow up together till the Harvest Why do they envy them the short and perishing Contentments of this Life when they are to suffer an Eternity of Misery Methinks it should satisfie the most implacable Hatred to know that they must be miserable for ever though their Miseries should be adjourned for some few Years but if this be the Effect of damning Men you may guess that the Cause is not very good though an uncharitable Judgment will hurt no Body but themselves yet it is of dangerous consequence when such rash Judges will be as hasty Executioners too 2. Though the effects of saving Men and voting them to Heaven be not so Tragical as those of damning them yet this has its Mischiefs too when any Party of Men have voted themselves the only true Church wherein Salvation is to be had or the only Saints and Elect People of God then all who will be saved must herd with them and most Men think it enough to secure their Salvation to get into their Number Thus the Church of Rome frightens Men into her Communion by threatning Damnation against all who are out of that Church and this reconciles Men to all their Superstitions and Idolatries for fear of Damnation and encourages them in all manner of Looseness and Debauchery when they arâ— got into a Church which can save them and it has much the same effect when Men list themselves with any Party where they hope to be saved for Company while all the rest of Mankind even those who profess the Faith of Christ are no better then the World and the Ungodly and Reprobates who tho' they may have more Moral Vertues then some others yet have no Grace And the mischief of this encreases when Men are Sainted after death Had it not been for this Trick the Church of Rome had had very few Saints to Worship none but the Virgin Mary and the Apostles whom they might certainly conclude to be in Heaven but as for their other Saints who were the great Founders and Examples of their Superstition they are Saints of their own making just as the Heathens made their Gods and it is the Stories and Legends of these Saints which support the Superstition of the Church of Rome for who dares question the Examples of those who are canonized Saints in Heaven Hac arte Pollux vagus Hercules innixus arces attigit igneas And there are another sort of Men who are not behind-hand with them in this who have a great many more Saints than the Church of Rome though they don't pray to them who send great shoals to Heaven especially if they have been zealous for promoting a Party which hides all other Faults and sanctifies very doubtful Actions and how powerful must the Example of such Saints be to excite others to an imitation of their Vertues In a word when we pretend to send Men to Heaven we make them our Rules and Examples we hope to go to Heaven with all the Faults they had and those who knew them possibly knew a great many what they were eminent for we conclude were great Vertues and fit for our imitation tho' otherwise of a doubtful and suspicious Nature There is not a more dangerous thing than to make any Man our Rule and Example and yet that we necessarily do when we send him to Heaven for who would not think himself safe in imitating those whom he believes to be in Heaven And if we consider at what rate both the Church of Rome and others make Saints we must needs be sensible how infinitely dangerous this is to Mens Souls To conclude this Head Let us judge charitably of all Men and hope well according to the different reasons we have to hope but let us leave their final State to God neither peremptorily damn nor save them it is to be feared that Humane Judgment has sent many Men to Heaven who will never get thither and to be hoped that many Men shall meet with a more favourable Sentence in the next World than they do in this God is the Judge of the World and he will certainly judge us and there is no Inconvenience in staying till the Day of Judgement to see what Mens final Sentence shall be but very great Mischief in pronouncing a rash and hasty Judgment our selves SECT VIII Fourth Inference To refer all Difficulties to the Day of Iudgment IV. IF God will Judge the World let us refer all Difficulties to the Day of Judgment It must be confessed that there are very great Difficulties in Providence such as the wisest Men cannot understand and I can by no means say it is a Fault for Men to search into Providence and to be very inquisitive into the reasons of it for what can more become a reasonable Creature then to study the Works of God and what Works more worth our study then the Divine Providence and the wonderful Mysteries of God's governing the World But the Difficulty is to set Bounds to the Curiosity of Mankind to teach them to study Providence with the Modesty of Creatures and with the just Reverence which we owe to God whose Wisdom is infinite and unsearchable to be contented to discover what we can to admire and adore the Wisdom and Goodness and Justice of Providence in what is plain and there is enough plain to exercise our devout Meditations to be matter of our Praise and Thanksgivings anda sure foundation of our Trust in God And this wise and good Men are contented with but most Men take least notice of what is plain as if that were of no use and not worth notice but puzle their thoughts and lose themselves in those vast Depths and Abysses which no Humane Understanding can fathom To Correct this Miscarriage would do great service to Religion would give great peace and satisfaction to Mens minds and prevent a great many scandalous Disputes about the Divine Providence and therefore if I discourse this a little more at large then my present Argument requires I hope it will be no great Fault Now to set Bounds to our Curiosity and to make us Modest in our Inquiries into Providence I shall shew you I. How dangerous it is to search too narrowly into the Secrets of Providence II. How unreasonable it is to disturb our Minds with such Difficulties as we cannot answer III. That what cannot be known in this World it is time enough for us to know in the World to come IV. That we have all the reason in the World to believe that what we cannot know in this World will be made very plain and easie at the Day of Judgment I. As
too to the Church of Rome that ever was invented 2. This utterly overthrows the Worship of Saints in the Church of Rome at least of all Saints who were not Martyrs for Saint-worship is founded on this Belief that these Saints when they die are received into Heaven into the immediate Presence of God and therefore can there powerfully intercede for us but if these Saints are not yet received into Heaven nor shall be till the Resurrection which was the Faith of the Primitive Christians and seems very agreeable to the Doctrine of theGospel as I have now shewn you then there is an end of the Worship and Interâ—ession of Saints 2 dly This Doctrine neither discourages Vertue nor encourages Vice I cannot indeed say but that Heaven is a much happier place then Paradise and therefore it is more desirable for good Men when they die to go directly to Heaven then to Paradise but yet it is a sufficient encouragement to the exercise of the most perfect Vertues that as soon as we die we shall be carried by Angels into Abraham's Bosom or into Paradise a place of perfect Ease and Rest and as perfect Happiness as can be enjoyed out of Heaven such a Paradise where holy Souls dwell Patriarchs Prophets Apostles Martyrs and Confessors with Heaven at the end of it is a sufficient an abundant Reward for all the most difficult and laborious Services of this Life that Heaven is not yet is no greater Discouragement then that we shall not rise from the Dead till the Day of Judgment that we shall not have our Bodies again till they are awakened by the last Trumpet Bodies which will be bright and glorious as the Sun which will rise with eternal Youth and Strength and Beauty this is a much greater Happiness then to live either in Paradise or in Heaven without our Bodies but this we must stay for and so we may for Heaven and we may be very well contented to wait for Heaven and for the Resurrection of our Bodies in Paradise when we are as happy as Paradise can make us we may very patiently expect the full Completion of our Happiness in the Resurrection of our Bodies and our Admission into the highest Heavens to the immediate Throne and Presence of God Thus though Hell is a place of the most perfect Torment and Misery for it is the Fire prepared for the Devil and his Angels and therefore it is much more formidable for Sinners to drop immediately into Hell when they die then to suffer any other State of Punishment between Death and Judgment yet he is a very unreasonable Man who does not think the Day of Judgment time enough to be condemned to Hell and who does not think it Misery enough to fall under the Power of evil Spirits in the mean time If God thinks this Punishment enough methinks Sinners should and those who cannot fear Hell at the distance of the Day of Judgment will not fear Hell tho' it were no farther off than Death those who are not afraid of being tormented as Dives was when they go out of these Bodies will not fear Hell though we allow Hell to be a State of more perfect Misery I am sure Dives thought those Torments so great that they were sufficient to have made his Brethren true Penitents had they known what they must suffer for their Sins as soon as they die and those who will not allow that bad Men are immediately condemned to Hell as soon as they die yet must allow that they may be tormented as Dives was In short if wicked Men do not drop into Hell as soon as they die yet they shall be condemned to Hell at the Day of Judgment and in the intermediate State between Death and Judgment shall suffer all those unknown Miseries which are prepared for wicked Souls till the Day of Judgment and those who will not be perswaded by this will live and die in their Sins though you could convince them that they shall drop into Hell as soon as they die SECT II. That the Day of Iudgment is appointed HAving thus considered the State between Death and Judgment let us now more strictly consider the Time of Judgment and here are several things to be observed and explained I. That the Day of Judgment is appointed He hath appointed a day wherein he will judge the world II. That this is a General Day for the Judgment of the whole World III. That this Day of Judgment will be at the End of the World I. That the Day of Judgment is appointed He hath appointed a day wherein he will judge the world This is a matter of pure Revelation and can be known no other way for though we have great evidence from Reason that God will judge the World yet to appoint a Day is a free Act of God's Wisdom and Counsel and this must be learnt from Revelation and we cannot have a more express Revelation for any thing than we have for this for St. Paul tells us in plain words that God hath appointed a Day to Judge the World and our Saviour in express words several time refers to this Day as appointed and determined by God In that day many shal say unto me Lord Lord have we not prophesied in thy name which refers to some certain Day 7 Matth. 22. And the hour is coming in the which all that are in their graves shall hear his voice 5 John 28. And of that day and hour knoweth no man no not the angels of heaven but my Father only 24 Matth. 36. Which plainly signifies that the Day is determined and fixed because God knows when it shall be that is he knows when he has appointed it and if it were not appointed it had been no great wonder that neither Men nor Angels know it Now this Consideration that God hath appointed a Day wherein he will judge the World is not without its Use For 1 st This proves the Certainty of a Future Judgement that the Day of Judgement is appointed For we cannot think thaâ— God would appoint a Day to judge the World unless he absolutely resolved to judge it 2 ly This answers the Objection against a Future Judgment from the long Delays of it This St. Peter tells us would be a great Objection in the last Days or towards the end of the World 2 Pet. 3.3 4. Knowing this first that there shall come in the last days scoffers walking after their own lusts and saying Where is the promise of his coming for since the fathers fell asleep all things continue as they were from the beginning of the creation That is consider how old the World now is and how long Mankind have been frightned with the Fears of Judgment many Ages and successive Generations have lived in expectation of it but it is not yet nor any more signs of it then when the World was first made and since it has been so long expected to no purpose it is time to despise
not to destroy the World till the wickedness of Mankind is grown incurable and past Remedy and till this is the state of the World how much wickedness soever there be in it it is too soon for a wise and good God to destroy the World he made But there seems 2. to be something more than this to justifie the final destruction of the World not only that the present race of Mankind is so universally corrupt that they deserve to be universally destroyed which was the case of the old World wherein there was but one Righteous Family but that Mankind is thus incurably wicked after all the wise Methods of God's Grace and Providence to reform the World for then it is time to put a final end to the state of this World and to the farther propagation of Mankind on it and to Summon all Men to Judgment to receive according to their Works This seems to be the reason why Noah's Flood did not put a final end to the World and why God did not at that time call all Mankind to Judgment because tho' the wickedness of that Generation of Men was so universal and so incurable that it justified their universal destruction yet God had new Methods of Grace and hidden Treasures of Wisdom in reserve for the reforming the World and therefore though he purged the Earth from its wicked Inhabitants he did not think fit to put an end to the race of Men but preserved Noah and his Sons in the Ark which was the only Righteous Family then living to propagate a new Generation of Men whom he would try with new Methods of Grace the last and most admirable and most effectual Method of Grace was reserved for the last Times the Mysterious Incarnation of the Son of God and the Power of Gospel-Grace And when this also shall have lost its effect when Atheism and Infidelity and all manner of Wickedness shall prevail when the Church it self shall be over-run with Heresies Schisms and a meer external form of Religion without the power of it when Men shall walk after their own Lusts when Faith shall fail Iniquity abound and the Loâ—â— of many wax cold then the end is at hand God has then tryed what Mankind will prove long enough and it is time to put a period to this World and to the race of Mankind and call them all to Judgment If what some learned Men teach be true that the Letters St. Iohn was commanded to write to the seven Churches of Asia were Prophetick of the seven different states of the Christian Church from the time of Christ till the end of the World we find that the very last state of the Church when Christ will spew her out of his mouth that is when he will put a final end to the Church on Earth is represented by the Church of Laodicea 3 Revel 14 c. And to the Angel of the Church of the Laodiceans write these things saith the Amen the faithful and true witness the beginning of the Creation of God I know thy works that thou art neither cold nor hot I would thou wert cold or hot so then because thou art Lukewarm and neither cold nor hot I will spew thee out of my mouth When a true Zeal and Concernment for the Faith and Practice of Christianity fails in the Church and Atheism and Infidelity and all manner of Wickedness prevails in the World these are â—resages of the near approach of a final Judgment Now if this be a fair and reasonable account of the destruction of the World and a Future Judgment we need not wonder that God has appointed so late a day for it seven or eight thousand Years is no long time for the duration of the World especially when we have had such a terrible Example of God's Justice and Vengeance in the destruction of the old World already We have reason to believe that this World should never have been destroyed but for the incurable wickedness of Mankind for nothing else can justifie the Wisdom and Goodness of God in destroying what he had made God could have judged and rewarded or punished particular Men without destroying the World but when Mankind is grown universally and incurably wicked it does not become God to suffer this Earth to be an eternal Nursery of Atheists and Rebels against the Majesty of Heaven and this makes it necessary for God to destroy it but then the Wisdom and Goodness of God requires that this should be done with great patience and long-suffering and after the disappointment of all the wise Methods of his Grace in reforming the World and then no Man can say that God has hitherto too long delayed the final Judgment some thousand years is no long tryal to save the World and Mankind whom he hath made from final destruction 1. And therefore let no Man laugh at a future Judgment and final destruction of this World as if it would never be because it is not yet God is in no hast to destroy the World but when he sees it ripe for Destruction that is the day he has appointed for Judgment Such Scoffers as these are certain fore-runners of that day and unless there be still a new Resurrection of true Faith and Piety which we hope for it cannot be far off how long soever such Men may think God delays yet their Iudgment lingreth not and their Damnation slumbereth not 2 Peter 2.3 Let us all remember what our Saviour tells us If that evil servant shall say in his heart my Lord delayeth his coming and shall begin to smite his fellow-servants and to eat and drink with the drunken the Lord of that servant shall come in a day when he looketh not for him and in an hour that he is not ware of and shall cut him asunder and shall appoint him his portion with the Hypocrites there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth 24 Matth. 48. It is no Argument that Judgment is a great way off because Men are secure and can laugh at the thoughts of it for the more secure the World is the nearer it is to Judgment the very day that Judgment shall overtake them they shall least of all think of it as it must needs be when the World shall be so over-run with Atheism and Infidelity and therefore the day of Judgment is said to come like a thief in the night that is suddenly and by surprize when we are asleep and secure and least suspect it 1 Thess. 5.2 4. 2 Peter 3.10 As Christ threatens the Church of Sardis 3 Revel 3. If therefore thou shalt not watch I will come on thee as a thief and thou shalt not know what hour I will come upon thee Thus 24 Matth. 37 c. Christ tells us that the day of Judgment or the coming of the Son of man is like the days of Noah For as in the days that were before the flood they were eating and drinking marrying and giving in marriage
clothed him with their own Weaknesses and Passions made him either a Tyrant and a Devil or such a tame easie fond Being as Men may make bold with without danger others prophane his Name corrupt his Worship or neglect and despise it some think themselves too big to serve God others too little to be observed by him some ridicule his Laws others take no notice of them and there are very few who are sincere Worshippers of him and acknowledge and submit to his Authority and Power and when God has been so much dishonoured in the World I think it is very fit that when he judges the World he should vindicate his own Glory make it publick and visible and force all his Creatures to own and confess it and the most effectual way to do this is by summoning all Mankind before him and judging them according to their Works Thus we see what reason there is with respect to God why he should not judge Men singly and send them privately and silently to Heaven or Hell but appoint a general Day of Judgment II. There is great reason for this too with respect to Men both to good and to bad Men for this is part of the Reward of Vertue and of the Punishment of Vice Many good Men have been used with the utmost Contempt and Scorn if they cannot comply with their Company and do as their Neighbours do if they boggle at popular and fashionable Vices they are gazed on as so many Comets and Prodigies and would be contented to be gazed on were they as far out of the reach of danger too as those Meteors are some call them Fools others Knaves and Hypocrites and treat them accordingly and is it not fit that God should vindicate these Men who have suffered Infamy and Reproach for his sake that he should publickly own them applaud and reward their Vertue And what a glorious Vindication is this if we can but have patience to expect it what a little contemptible Scene is this World nay this little Corner of the World where we live for whether we be praised or reproached it is likely we are never heard of out of the Parish and Neighbourhood or City oâ— Kingdom where we live and can't we be contented to let a whole Parish or City or Kingdom despise us to be publickly owned by God in the General Assembly of Men and Angels Good Men do a great many good actions privately which few or none are conscious to but God and themselves and therefore they lose the Praise which is due to such secret Vertues in this World but our Saviour has promised that such Men shall have praise of God that if we Pray and Fast and give Alms in secret Our Fâ—ther which seeth in secret shall reward 〈◊〉 openly 6 Matth. And this is a great encouragement to the practice of the moâ—â— secret Vertues that we shall be openly towarded for them Good Men are many times great Sufferers in this World are not only reproached but persecuted lose their Estates their Liberties their Lives foâ— Christ's sake and though God has strictly forbid them to avenge themselves yet he will execute Vengeance on their Enemies and do it publickly and make them the Spectators and Witnesses of it On the other hand Wickedness is many times very glorious and triumphant in this World is so far from suffering Shame which is the just Reward of it that it is applauded and courted and the greatest Prodigies of Wickedness are adored for their prosperous Villanies but yet Shame is the just Reward of Sin and it must have it at one time or other and nothing can more effectually cast Shame and Contempt upon Sinners then a General Judgment when they shall be publickly arraigned and condemned in the great Assembly of Men and Angels This will confound the most glorious Sinner who never blushed before for though while bad Men are supported with Power or are the most numerous Party and can out Vote and out Laugh the rest of the World they can secure themselves against the sence of Shame yet when they appear before such a Judge and have their Villanies exposed to all the World when they are stript of their Riches and Honours and Power and see all their Admirers and Companions past Laughing and Flattery and themselves despised and scorned by God and his holy Saints and Angels and condemned to everlasting Miseries it will then be impossible for them any longer to glory in their Shame Confusion will then cover their Faces and it would be thought very mercifâ—l to be damned privately without seeing their Judge and being exposed to publick Scorn and Censure Thus there are a great many wicked things done privately and concealed from the Eyes of Men and many times gildeâ— over with a form and counterfeit appearance of Religion and such secret Villaiâ— not only escape publick Shame but 〈◊〉 thought very extraordinary Men and great Saints now it is very fitting that such Men also should have their Masquâ— and Disguise taken off and be exposed to the View of the World just as they are and this God will do in that Day wheâ— he will judge the Secrets of Mens Hearts and bring to light the hidden Works oâ— Darkness And then what will it avaâ—â— them to pass for Saints in this World when at the Day of Judgment they shalâ— be known and be doubly scorned botâ— for their Wickedness and for their Hypocrisie What a severe Aggravation will it be of the Condemnation of the Wicked to see good Men whom they despised and persecuted whose Lives they thought Folly and Madness now owned and rewarded by God as our Saviour speaks To see them come from the East and from the West from the North and from the South and sit down with Abraham Isaac and Iacob in the kingdom of God and themselves sâ—ut out This will be a confounding Sight at that Day and as little as such Men now value Heaven to see the bright and dazling Crowns of those blessed Saints will pierce their Souls and wound them to Eternity This justifies the Wisdom of God in appointing a general Day of Judgment to reward good Men and to condemn the wicked but there is one good natured Objection against this which respects good Men for there are few good Men but may have some very wicked Relations who yet are very dear to them and how can they bear to be Witnesses of their final Condemnation to hear that Sentence pronounced on them Go ye cursed into everlasting fire prepared for the Devil and his angels We tremble at the thoughts of it now and one would think it should over-cast the Glory of that Day to such blessed Saints to see such a terrible Execution upon those who were so dear to them but this is such a Mistake as the Sadduces Objection against the Resurrection concerning the woman who had had seven husbands whose wife she should be of the seven at the resurrection for they
all had her but our Saviour told them at the resurrection they neither marry nor are given in marriage but are as the angels of God in heaven Thus it is here those natural Affections and Passions which are of so great use in this World and make us so nearly concerned for Children and other Relations are not the Measures of our Kindness and Friendship and Concernment in the other World they are necessary here many times to supply the place of Reason and Vertue and to prompt us to do those good Offices by the impatience and uneasiness of a Passion which the generality of Mankind would not do from wiser Principles but the end of these Passions is served in this World and there is no occasion for them in the next and therefore we shall feel no uneasiness or disturbance from them good Men will have no Friends no Relations in the other World but those who are truly good who are Members of the same Mystical Body of Christ the Children of God and Heirs of the same Happiness and Glory To conclude I shall only observe this farther How vain it is for bad Men to hope to defend themselves from Shame and Punishment by their Numbers they may I confess do it in this World when they have to deal with Men tho' when God comes to judge them even in this World the most powerful Combinations of Sinners are but like Chaff before the Wind But if ever Numbers would do it would be at the Day of Judgment when the Devil and his Angels and all bad Men shall be summoned together and if they cannot then defend themselves when their whole Force is united but stand as Criminals before their Judge and receive their Sentence from him it becomes us to fear and tremble before that powerful Judge who has all Nature at his command and all Devils and wicked Men in Chains and with the Word of his Mouth can condemn them to Eternal Torments SECT IV. The Day of Iudgment is at the End of the World III. THe Day of Judgment is at the End of the World That it will be so and the Reasons why it will be so are very plain from what I have already discoursed our Saviour tells us that it is at the end of the World when the Angels shall separate between the Wheat and the Tares which grew in the same Field between the good and the bad Fish which were taken in the same Net 13 Matth. It is in the Evening of the World when the Lord comes to reckon with his Servants and to reward those who have laboured in his Vineyard 20 Matth. for when Christ comes to Judgment this World shall be set on fire and this present visible Frame of Things shall be dissolved as St. Peter tells us 2 Pet. 3.10 11 12. Upon which account Christ is said to come in flaming Fire of which more hereafter and if God will judge all Mankind together the Day of Judgment must be at the end of the World But besides this it seems very reasonable and congruous that the final Judgement and the End of the World should come together or that when God finally Judges all Mankind he shall put an end to this habitable Earth For this Earth was made for the Habitation of Man and all things in it for his use and delight and therefore it receives its Fate and Destiny with Man too Paradise was the Habitation of innocent Man and had Man continued Innocent and Peopled the World with an innocent and holy Race the whole World must have been a Paradise but when Man had sinned and had no Right to so easie and happy a Life the Ground was cursed for his sake 3 Gen. 17 18 19. Cursed be the ground for thy sake in sorrow shalt thou eat of it all the days of thy life Thorns and thistles shall it bring forth to thee and thou shalt eat the herb of the field In the sweat of thy face shalt thou eat thy bread till thou return unto the ground When all Flesh had corrupted their ways excepting Noah and his Family God destroyed the Old World with its wicked Inhabitants and to this day besides that Original Curse which still rests upon the Earth Nature suffers for the Sins of Man and revives and flourishes again as he returns to his Duty He turneth rivers into a wilderness and the water-springs into dry ground a fruitful land into barrenness for the wickedness of them that dwell therein And on the other hand He turneth the wilderness into a standing water and dry ground into water springs And there he maketh the hungry to dwell that they may prepare a city for habitation 107 Psal. 33 34 35 36. It were easie to Harangue here and describe the Ruines and Desolations which the Judgments of God have brought upon the most flourishing Countries for the Sins of the Inhabitants Famine and Pestilence and Sword The Sword which carries all other Judgments along with it but God knows we live in an Age wherein there is no need of haranguing about it this is seen and felt and heard every day such Miseries as are beyond the Description of the most Eloquent Tongue or Pen God grant we may only hear of them that we may take warning by what others suffer and appease the Wrath of God by a timely Repentance Now for the same reason when God Judges all Mankind he will put an end to this present state of Things when Man for whom this Earth was framed shall dwell no longer on it but all good Men shall be received into Heaven and all bad Men condemned to Hell this World has lasted as long as it was made for and must now be cast into a new Mould and Frame For so indeed the Scripture represents it not that this World shall be destroyed but that it shall be new made that as the whole Creation is made subject to Vanity by Adam's Curse so it shall be redeemed from Vanity and Corruption too when Man is It shall be purged by Fire and a new incorruptible World shall spring out of its Ashes 8 Rom. 19 20 21 22. For the earnest expectation of the creature which must signifie this visible Creation waiteth for the manifestation of the sons of God For the creature was made subject to vanity not willingly but by reason of him who hath subjected the same in hope Because the creature itself also shall be delivered from the bondage of corruption into the glorious liberty of the children of God Or when the Sons and Children of God shall be delivered from Corruption For we know the whole creation groaneth and travelleth in pain until now And thus St. Peter tells us That at the last Judgement this World shall be destroyed with Fire Nevertheless we according to his promise look for new heavens and a new earth wherein dwelleth righteousness 2 Pet. 1 â—â— where St. Peter refers to the Prophesy of Isaiah 65.17 For behold I create new
heavens and a new earth and the former shall not be remembred nor come into mind Which St. Peter understands in a literal sence not meerly of a more prosperous state of Things in this World And thus St. Iohn as the Conclusion of his Revelations immediately after his Account of the last Judgment gives us a Description of this new Heaven and new Earth 21 Rev. 1 c. And I saw a new heaven and a new earth for the first heaven and the first earth were passed away and there was no more sea And I Iohn saw the holy city new Ierusalem coming down from God out of heaven prepared as a bride adorned for her husband And I heard a great voice out of heaven saying The tabernacle of God is with men and they shall be his people and God himself shall be with them and be their God And God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes and there shall be no more death neither sorrow nor crying neither shall there be any more pain for the former things are passed away And the rest of that Book is spent in describing the Glory of the Great City the Holy Ierusalem the River of the Water of Life proceeding from the Throne of God and of the Lamb and the Tree of Life which bore twelve manner of Fruits These are great Mysteries which we cannot perfectly understand yet especially what St. Iohn says about the new Ierusalem's coming down from Heaven to take up its Seat and Habitation on this new Earth that there is the Throne of God and of the Lamb where God dwells and which he enlightens with his Presence and from whence he drives away Death and Sorrow and Pain which seems to signifie that as the old Heavens and old Earth are destroyed by Fire in Vengeance on its wicked Inhabitants so this new Heaven and new Earth which God makes after the Destruction of the old is the Seat of the Blessed after their Resurrection from the Dead which I confess I know not how to understand But this gives a plain account why the final Judgment when good Men shall receive their final Reward shall not be till the end of the World because this old World must be destroyed before GOD makes those new Heavens and new Earth The final Destruction of bad Men will begin with the Destruction of this old World and the Rewards and Happiness of good Men shall be consummated in the new World whatever that be where they shall dwell for ever in the immediate Presence of God and of the Lamb. Now that God defers the Day of Judgment to the end of the World May 1. convince us of God's great Patience and Long-suffering towards Sinners for he forbears their Execution as long as he can forbear destroying the World and that we may be sure is as long as Wisdom and Justice will permit To destroy a World is a Work of as great Wisdom and Counsel as to make one nay the Divine Goodness will easily justifie the making of a World at any time for no time is unfit to exercise such acts of Goodness as will justifie themselves but for God to destroy the World which he has made without great necessity for it reflects upon his Wisdom and Goodness in making it The wise Maker of the World can have no inclination to destroy it and though the Justice of Providence may require some more hasty Executions to maintain good Order and Government and to give check to Vice yet the final Destruction of the World requires all wise Delays and Sinners can expect no more of God than to defer their final Sentence as long as he can defer the end of the World It is great pitty that such Goodness and Patience should be so monstrously abused that Men should harden themselves in sin and conclude that God will not judge the World because he is so unwilling to destroy it but this will justifie the Severity of the last Judgment that it is not the Effect of a hasty and sudden Fury but of mature Counsel that God did not want Goodness to spare Sinners as long as Wisdom and Justice could spare them To be slow to execute Judgment is as essential to Goodness as it is to Justice at last to punish and to conclude that God will not punish at all because he is patient and delays to punish is to prove that God cannot be just because he is good 2. That God destroys the World when he judges it is an undeniable Proof of the Severity of the last Judgment for what a terrible Vengeance is that which fires the World and dissolves this present Frame of Nature this is a fiery indignation indeed to devour the Adversary 10 Heb. 27. when bad Men and wicked Spirits shall be encompassed with Flames and Smoke without any possibility to escape for whether can they flie out of a fired World when the heavens shall pass away with a great noise and the elements shall melt with â—ervent heat the earth also and all that is therein shall be burnt up There are a great many brave Sinners who mock at Fear and harden themselves against Hell itself but if they can be serious but for some few Minutes let them imagine all the World on fire about them the Heavens covered with thick Darkness and the whole Earth but one Vulcano one AEtna or Vesuvius Vomiting up Rivers of Burning Sulphur and themselves plunged in the midst of it let them try how they can bear this Thought before they laugh at Hell for this will certainly be the State of Sinners at the Day of Judgment and should not this make us fear and tremble before that great and powerful Judge Who knoweth the power of his wrath who can live with devouring fire who can dwell with everlasting burnings What an irresistible Judge is he who can destroy the World and all Sinners with it the World that was their God and now will be their Funeral Pile according to the Fate of some Heathen Idolaters they shall be sacrificed to their own God and tormented in the Embraces of a burning Idol The Destruction of the World gives a terrible Pomp and Solemnity to the last Judgment it will astonish bad Men and break their stout Hearts to see the World in Flames it will convince them to purpose that God is come to judge them and that he is very severe and terrible in his Judgments Who can describe the Horrours and Agonies and Consternation of that Day Cast your thoughts back a little upon that terrible Day when you saw London on Fire when you saw your Houses and Treasure all vanish into Dust and Smoke What did you think then of the Power and Justice of God And yet this was no more than a little Boan-fire compared with the Universal Conflagration though you could not save your Houses and Furniture and Treasure from its Rage and Fury yet there was room left for your own Escape and if this were so amazing
it cannot continue so much longer there are some Prophesies to be accomplished still but how soon they may be accomplished we know not no Man questions but that the World now grows to an end and therefore it is time for every Man to think of Eternity CHAP. III. Who shall be our Iudge viz. the Man CHRIST IESVS III. LET us now consider who shall be our Judge That man whom he hath ordained whereof he hath giveâ— assurance unto all men in that he hath raised him from the dead where are two things to be considered First The Person who is to Judge us Secondly What Assurance we have that He shall be our Judge First The Person who is to Judge us That man whom he hath ordained that is the Man CHRIST JESUS for thus both Christ and his Apostles assure us that God hath appointed him to be the Judge of the World The Father judgeth no man but hath committed all judgment to the Son 5 John 22. The Son of man shall come in the glory of his Father with his angels and then shall he reward every man according to his works 16 Matth. 27. Thus St. Peter assures Cornelius concerning Christ He commanded us to preach unto the people and to testifie that it is he which was ordained by God to be the judge of quick and dead 10 Acts 42. But there is no need to multiply Texts in so plain a Case it is of more concernment to inquire why Christ who is the Eternal Son of God and a God Incarnate when he is spoke of as Judge of the World is most usually described as a Man or the Son of Man thus He is that man whom God hath ordained and the Son of man nay Christ himself tells us For this reason God hath given him authority to execute judgment because he is the Son of man 5 John 27. Now the reason why our Saviour is described as a Man and the Son of Man when he comes to Judgment is because he shall visibly appear in Humane Nature to judge the World and therefore will be and will appear as much a Man as he did when he dwelt on Earth though he will appear also more like a God thus the Prophet Daniel describes it He saw in the night-visions and behold one like the Son of man came with the clouds of heaven and came to the ancient of days and they brought him near before him And there was given him dominion and glory and a kingdom that all people nations and languages should serve him his dominion is an everlasting dominion which shall not pass away and his kingdom that which shall not be destroyed 7 Dan. 13 14. It is the Son of Man who has this Glory and Kingdom given him and which he must administer as the Son of Man And this seems the true reason why our Saviour so often calls himself the Son of Man not as some imagine with respect to the mean Circumstances of his Appearance in the World for this Phrase The Son of Man no where in Scripture relates to such an external Meanness and Poverty as distinguishes one Man from another but it either signifies no more than a Man or it respects the common Weaknesses of Humane Nature and when this Name is applied to any particular Persons it is never used of mean Men but always of Princes or Prophets But by this Title of the Son of Man our Saviour gives us to understand that he is that Great and Extraordinary Person known by the name of The Son of Man in Daniel's Visions whom God hath ordained to be the Lord and Judge of the World But I shall not pass over this Argument thus but shall more particularly consider the great Wisdom of this how necessary congruous and fitting it is that the Son of Man should Judge the World which will suggest a great many useful Meditations to us Now I shall reduce what I have to say to these two Heads 1. That it is very fitting and necessary that the Saviour of Mankind should be their Judge also 2. And therefore that the Man Christ Jesus who is the Saviour of the World should Judge it I. That it is very fitting and necessary that the Saviour of Mankind should be their Judge also and that upon two Accounts 1. Because the Authority to Judge is essential to the Notion and Authority of a Saviour To save Sinners signifies to save them from their sins which is the true Interpretation of the Name Jesus 1 Matt. 20. And to save them from their Sins is to deliver them from the Punishment of Sin that is from the Wrath of God from the Curse of the Law from Death and Hell to raise them from the Dead and to bestow Immortal Life on them Now there are several Acts must concur to perfect this Salvation but the last concluding and finishing Act is Judgment And he only is a complete and perfect Saviour who has Authority to Judge to Pardon and to Reward God is a Holy and Pure Being and can never be reconciled to Sinners till they are renewed and sanctified which makes it necessary for the Saviour of the World to instruct Mankind in their Duty and by the Power of his Grace to change their Natures and make them Holy as God is since without holiness no man shall see God and therefore he must be a great Prophet and Preacher of Righteousness to turn men from darkness unto light and from the power of Satan unto God God is a very righteous Judge and has threatned Death against Sin and therefore the Saviour of Sinners must make Atonement and Expiation for Sin must deliver us from the curse of the law by being made a curse for us that is must be our Priest and our Sacrifice must die for our Sins and intercede for us with God but all this while a Sinner is not saved till he is finally acquitted and absolved till he is actually delivered from the Curse of the Law and possessed of Eternal Life and Glory all things else are only Preparatory Acts but the Final Judgment perfects our Salvation for he who finally Pardons and bestows Heaven on us is our Saviour Christ might have been our Prophet our Priest and our Sacrifice without being our Judge but he could not have been our Saviour without it and therefore after Christ's Resurrection from the Dead after he had preach'd the Gospel and died upon the Cross to expiate our Sins he tells his Disciples All power is given unto me both in heaven and in earth 28 Matth. And St. Peter tells the Sanhedrim Him hath God exalted with his right hand to be a Prince and a Saviour to give repentance to Israel and forgiveness of sins 5 Acts 31. So that he saves by Power he is our Saviour and our Prince and this Power is the Reward of his Obedience and Sufferings Therefore God hath highly exalted him and given him a name which is above every name
if our Saviour will judge us it is dangerous to neglect so great Salvation That God did not intend meerly to fright Sinners with his Threatnings is evident from the Sufferings of our Saviour he could not save us without making Atonement and Expiation for our Sins and if he must undergo the Curse of the Law if he must suffer Death to redeem Sinners it is certain Sinners must have died if Christ had not died for them as St. Paul argues If one died for all then were all dead for would God have laid the Punishment of our Sins on Christ if he had not intended to execute the Curse of the Law against Sinners would he have delivered up Christ to Death for us if he had not intended that Sinners should die without a Sacrifice And when the Saviour of the World who came to lay down his Life for us to â—edeem us from the Curse of the Law threatens everlasting Destruction against impenitent and unbelieving Sinners what reason have we to hope that he will not execute his Threatnings those who are not redeemed by his Death must die themselves and it cannot be otherwise expected but that he who died to save us will execute the Sentence of Eternal Death on all those who will not be saved by him When he comes to Judgment he will remember the Shame and Agony the Infamy and Torments of the Cross which he under went for Sinners and this will make him revenge the Contempt of his dying and suffering Love he suffered for Sin once and though he were the Son of God he bowed and sweat and died under the weight of it but all this is despised by Sinners and goes for nothing and now he will die no more for them but they shall die for themselves shall feel the weight of God's Wrath themselves shall sweat and groan and die under it to Eternity II. It is very fitting and congruous that the Man Christ Jesus who is the Saviour should be the Judge of the World and that upon three Accounts 1. This is a very fitting Reward of his Humiliation and Sufferings 2. It gives great advantage to the Future Judgment that the Son of Man is the Judge of Mankind 3. It adds to the Glory and Triumph and Terrour of that Day to have a visible Judge 1. The Glory and Authorâ—ty of a Judge is a very proper and fitting Reward of Christ's Humiliation and Sufferings He became Man to save Mankind though he was in the form of God and thought it not robbery to be equal with God yet he made himself of no reputation and took upon him the form of a servant and was made in the likeness of men and being found in fashion as a man he humbled himself and became obedient unto death even the death of the cross 2 Phil. 6 7 8. This was a very low Condescension for the Son of God to conceal his Eternal Majesty under so mean a Disguise of Flesh and Blood to become Man as we are to submit to all the Weaknesses and Infirmities of Humane Nature to choose a low and mean Fortune to be treated with Contempt and Infamy and to die a painful and accursed Death upon the Cross. All this he submitted to in Obedience to his Father's Will for the Redemption of Mankind but it was not fitting this Son of Righteousness should always lie under an Eclipse he must break forth at last with a new and surprizing Glory the World must see what a great and excellent Person he was who came to visit them in great Humility who took upon him the form of a servant and was despised and rejected of men a man of sorrow and acquainted with grief and therefore God hath highly exalted him and given him a name which is above every name That at the name of Iesus every knee should bow both of things in heaven and things in earth and things under the earth and that every tongue should confess that Iesus Christ is Lord to the glory of God the Father V. 10 11. Christ is now exalted to the right Hand of God as a Reward of his Humiliation and Sufferings and appears in the true Glory of an Incarnate God but his Glory is now visible onely to the blessed Inhabitants of Heaven those who despised him persecuted him spit on him nailed him to the Cross those who in all Ages since have derided the Crucified Jesus and scorned his Religion and Worship see nothing of his Glory but when he comes to Judge the World then his Glory and Power shall be visible to all this will put an end to the Reproach of the Cross and turn it into Surprize and Wonder when they shall see what a glorious Person he is who submitted to so infamous a Death When he came into the World he appeared as other Men do as mean as the meanest Men clothed with a mortal Body of Flesh and Blood without any external Splendor of Birth or Fortune to recommend him but when this Son of Man shall return again to Judge the World his external Appearance will then be glorious so bright and transplendent that he will Eclipse the Sun as the Sun does the lesser Lights of Heaven then God will be as visible in him as Man was on Earth and shine through Humane Nature as the Soul does through the Body that an Incarnate God will be as visible as a Man Humane Nature will no longer veil and conceal the Glory of the Godhead but shall bear all the visible Impressions of the Deity and appear with the awful Majesty of God and this is a proper Reward for his mean appearance on Earth for when God becomes Man though there may be wise Reasons why he should conceal himself in Humane Nature for a while yet it cannot and ought not to be always so but if God becomes Man he will at one time or other make his Glory visible to all the World in Humane Nature It was a low and vile submission for the Son of God to be arraigned as a Male-factor before Pontius Pilate to be falsly accused unjustly condemned made a Mock King buffetted scourged reviled with the most bitter and insulting Scorn and nailed upon the Cross betwixt two Thieves but the Scene will be changed when he comes to Judge the World when his Crown of Thorns shall be bright Rays of Glory when the Wound in his Side and the Print of the Nails in his Hands and Feet shall be Springs and Fountains of Light when his Cross shall be turned into a Triumphant Charriot and Throne of Judgment and his Judge and Accusers and all the Enemies and Despisers of his Cross shall stand trembling before him this is the Triumph of the Crucified Jesus this is the Reward of his Infamy and Death and a proper Reward it is to make him the Judge of the World who was judged and condemned himself by Sinners The firm belief and perswasion of this now that God has made him the Judge
with all the Festival Expressions of Joy will not immediately turn him out of his Family to seek his Fortune No Christ has shed his Blood for us all and the more he saves the greater Reward he has of his Sufferings the more numerous his Train and Retinue of redeemed Souls is and Numbers add to the Glory of the Triumph this may convince all Mankind how merciful our Judge will be and if we must be judged at all could God do more for us then to appoint the Man Christ Jesus who is our Saviour to be our Judge But then consider on the other hand what a terrible thing will it be to be condemned by the Man Christ Jesus the Saviour of the World What Tumults and Convulsions of Thoughts must such Sinners labour under they must be Self-condemned they must feel all the Agonies of Guilt and Despair for if they could reasonably excuse themselves or the most merciful Man in the World could excuse them their Judge would excuse them too I know not how to bear the thoughts of this the very imagination of it amazes and confounds me to be damned is a tolerable Punishment in comparison of being damned by the Saviour of the World And might I have been saved will such a Sinner say did my Saviour who is now my Judge a terrible Judge shed his his Blood for me did he purchase Heaven for me and does he now condemn me to Hell and deservedly too against his own inclinations though he lose the Purchase of his Blood by it O Wretch that I am might I have been saved and must I be damned and damned by the Saviour of the World What Fury and Passion will accompany these thoughts is not to be expressed by words and I pray GOD none of us may ever feel it 3. Another thing which made it so fitting and congruous that the Son of Man should Judge the World is that he will be a visible Judge It is very fitting the World should be visibly judged for without this all the Pomp and Triumph of Judgment nay some of the principal Ends of Judgment are lost God judges the World in so publick a manner to convince the World of his Power and Justice and Goodness in the final Destruction of all bad Men and the final Rewards of Vertue and therefore this must be a visible Judgment and then there must be a visible Judgment-seat and a visible Judge a visible Glory and Power bad Men must know for what they are judged and see the Hand that executes Vengeance on them or for ought I know they might go Atheists and Infidels to Hell and see no more of God in a fired World then they do in Plague or Sword or Famine or such other Judgments as God sends upon the Earth they might curse their hard Fate but neither accuse themselves nor own the Divine Power and Justice and could they sink into Hell without owning the Being and Justice of God or acknowledging their own Guilt and Deserts and accusing themselves as the Authors of their own Misery and Destruction God would lose the Glory of his Justice and Power and Hell itself would be a very tolerable place to Sinners there would be Fire there to burn them but no Worm to gnaw their Consciences no inward Furies to torment them the Justice of the last Judgment which will stop the Mouths of Sinners and make them confess their own Guilt and Deserts will make the Flames of Hell so furiously rage and devour So that it is necessary that the last Judgment should be executed by a visible Judge that it may not be thought the Effect of Chance and Accident or Fate but the Result of the Divine Wisdom and Counsel that the World may see and know that God is come to Judge them and to take Vengeance on all the Workers of Iniquity and this also makes the Son of Man a very proper Judge of Mankind because he is a visible God and can appear in a visible Glory and as visibly Judge the World as any Earthly Prince or Judge when he ascends the Judgment-seat This will be the Glory of that Day to see the visible Appearance of the Son of Man in the Clouds of Heaven attended with Myriads of Angels to his Throne of Glory where he sits incircled with the Heavenly Host and all Mankind standing before his Tribunal expecting their final Doom from his Mouth Good Lord how will such a Sight as this affect us could we but paint a lively Image and Representation of Judgment upon our Fancies how would it warm our Hearts how would it disparage all the pompous Pageantry of this World how would it revive the Spirits of good Men inspire them with Courage and Resolution with Zeal and Activity in serving Christ looking for that blessed hope and glorious appearance of the great God and our Saviour Iesus Christ What terror would the thoughts of it strike into Sinners how would it cool the heat of Lust how would it make their Countenance change and loosen the Joynts of their Loyns and make their Knees knock one against another like the Hand writing upon the Wall while they are carousing in their full Bowls and drinking away the Thoughts of God and Judgment Who can possibly conceive the Joy and Exultation of that Day when good Men shall see their Lord coming in the Clouds of Heaven clothed with a Humane Body but bright and glorious as the Sun a Body which still retains the Marks of his Sufferings and the Tokens of his Love How will it transport us to see him whom our Soul loveth to see him whom we have so passionately longed and desired to see to see him whom we love though we have not seen him To see him I say not as the Shepherds did a poor helpless Infant wrapped in Swadling-clouts and lying in a Manger to see him not arraigned for a Malefactor nor hanging in a shameful manner upon the Cross but to see him in all his Majesty and Glory to see him a Triumphant Conqueror and Judge to see him with Crowns and Laurels in his hands and in him to see the Certainty of our Faith the Completion of our Hopes the Rewards of our Patience and Sufferings and our final Conquest over Death and Hell O joyful Day when this Royal Bridegroom shall come in the Glory of his Father to meet his Spouse the Church to conduct her to his Father's House there to see and there to partake in his Glory and never to part more Methinks I see holy and devout Souls in the highest Raptures and Extasies of Joy embracing and comforting one another at the appearance of their Lord Here comes the Blessed Jesus it is he himself the true Image of God the very Brightness of his Father's Glory This is that blessed Day we have so long expected and hoped for let us go forth and meet him let us hasten into the Embraces of our Saviour He is come to Judgment but let those
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
to have their whole Lives to unlive again to abhor themselves for what they have done and to look forward with trembling into the other World for such late Penitents generally carry the Marks of their Repentance in Shame and Sorrow to the Grave with them All this Young Men may prevent if they will but think of Judgment in their Youth and govern their Lives under a sence of it This will make them remember their Creator in the days of their youth and consecrate their tender Age to his Service it will preserve them from youthful Lusts from all enormous Crimes and give them the humble Assurance and Confidence of dutiful Children in their Addresses to God when they draw near a conclusion of their Lives they review their past Victories over the World and the Flesh with the securest Triumphs The little Follies and Indiscretions and Miscarriages which the best Men are subject to will keep them humble and teach them to trust only in the Merits and Intercession of Christ but when they have made it the whole business of their Lives to please God though with the common Weaknesses and Infirmities of Humane Nature they feel great Peace of Mind and assurance of the Love of God and the nearer their Work is to an end the more securely they triumph What a happy State shall we think this when Death and Judgment are in view to feel so sweâ—â—â— Calm in our Breasts to have so joyful a Prospect before us And who would not think of Judgment when he is young that the hope and expectation of it may be the Comfort and Support of Age that then he may review his past Life not to undo what he has done but to tast the Pleasures and to reap the Rewards of it in present Peace of Mind and great Hopes 2 ly There is another Advantage which Young Men may make of the early thoughts of Judgment which old Sinners have lost and can never retrieve by all their Repentance viz. To make great Advances and Attainments in Piety and Vertue which will greatly augment their Reward Men who sin on till old Age though they prove true Penitents at last can never recover this for their time is past and their youthful Strength and Vigour spent and the Scene of Action over they can never re-call thirty or forty Years past in which if they had improved their time well they might have done great Service to God and to Religion and great good to Men but those who are beginning their Lives if they start right at first and pursue an even and steady Course of Piety and Vertâ—â— if they keep the Future Judgment and the next World always in their Eye what Improvements will they make what rich Treasures and glorious Rewards may they expect from that Righteous Judge who will render to every Man according to his Works The most that a Penitent can expect after a long Life spent in Wickedness and Folly is to get to Heaven and it is infinite Mercy in God to accept of such Penitents but the bright and dazling Crowns are reserved for those who have spent their Lives well and glorified God on Earth and finished the Work he gave them to do such Men will triumph at the Conclusion of their Race and Warfare as St. Paul did I have fought a good fight I have finished my course I have kept the faith henceforth is laid up for me a crown of righteousness I know this will not affect those Men now who love their Sins and desire to keep them as long as they can they will be very well satisfied if they can but get to Heaven at last how mean soever their Station be there for they are not so desirous to go to Heaven as to escape Hell and if they can but keep out of Hell it is all they hope for but Men must have a greater Spirit a more Divine and Generous Temper of Soul before they can get to Heaven If ever they prove true Penitents the loss of so many opportunities of doing Good and the loss of any degrees of Glory they might have had will both shame and afflict them I am sure the greater Rewards we expect in the other World the greater degrees of Glory and Happiness the greater will our Joy and Triumph be Are not Men in this World as fond of Happiness as they are afraid of Misery Does not a great Mind despise little things and aim at what is great And is there not as much reason to aim at the highest Happiness we are capable of in the next World as well as in this This is the noble Prize I would propoâ—e to Young Men You are now beginning your Race your Day is but in its Dawn if you rise with the Sun and work hard all day and spend your whole Lives in God's Service what a great deal of work will you do and what a proportionably great Reward will you have This you will do if you make the Thoughts of Judgment familiar to you this will keep a constant Guard upon your Actions this will excite and quicken your Industry this will make you stedfast unmoveable always abounding in the work of the Lord as knowing that your labour shall not be in vain in the Lord. CHAP. VI. For what we shall be Iudged VI. LET us now enquire What we are to be judged for And the general Answer to this is very plain That we must all stand before the judgment-seat of Christ that every one may receive the things done in his body according to what he hath done whether it be good or bad 2 Cor. 5.10 That is we shall be judged for all the Good and Evil we have done This is obvious to all Men and acknowledged by all who believe a Judgement and it may be thought impertinent to prove that we shall be judged for such or such particular Crimes when it is universally confessed that we shall be judged for all But as I observed under the former Head though all Men who believe a Future Judgment profess also to believe that all Men shall be judged yet some Men are very apt to forget it and to flatter themselves that they shall escape better than others so it is here Though Men will in general acknowledge that we must give an account of whatever we have done in the Body yet there are a great many things which in themselves are very great Crimes and yet many Men think there is no account to be given of them I shall not instance in particular Sins though a great many such there are which few Men take any great notice of but shall confine myself to what is of a more General Nature for Particulars would be endless I. First then we must remember we shall be judged for our Ignorance which some Men are so far from suspecting that they take Sanctuary in their Ignorance to Skreen them from the Judgment of GOD. If they can but keep out the Light they
Future Judgment makes this necessary 3 dly Let us then consider how this matter may be reconciled that we are saved by Grace and justified by Faith in Christ and yet must be judged by our Works And this is very easily done for we shall be judged by our Works according to the Gracious Terms of the Gospel The Faith of Christ was never intended to give us a liberty in sinning or to excuse us from the necessity of a holy life and as far as the necessity of holiness is reconcilable with the Grace of the Gospel so far our being judged by our Works is reconcilable with our being saved by Grace upon the same Terms that the Gospel promises Pardon and Forgiveness we shall be pardoned at the Day of Judgment whatever the Gospel promises to reward shall be rewarded at the Day of Judgment and thus we are judged by Grace and by Works too This is easily understood by those who know any thing of the Gospel of Christ and therefore I shall at present but just mention it The Gospel of Christ promises Pardon of sin to true Penitents who are heartily sorry for their sins abhor themselves for them make restitution for the Injuries they have done to Men beg God's Pardon in the Name and Mediation of Christ and amend their Lives for Christ has made atonement and expiation for such Sinners and therefore at the Day of Judgment no Man shall be condemned for such sins as he has heartily repented of and reformed and this is to be judged by Grace as well as by our Works for the Law prescribes our Duty but promises no Pardon no not to Penitents this is owing to the Grace of God through the Merits and Mediation of Christ but though the Grace of the Gospel pardons true Penitents yet the same Gospel threatens eternal damnation against impenitent Sinners The wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all unrighteousness and ungodliness of men who hold the truth in unrighteousness To them who are contentious and do not obey the truth but obey unrighteousness indignation and wrath tribulation and anguish upon every soul of man that doth evil And therefore impenient Sinners will be judged and condemned for their sins at the last Day by the Mediatour of the Covenant of Grace for the Gospel itself condemns them Thus the Grace of God that bringeth salvation and hath appeared unto all men teacheth us that denying ungodliness and worldly lusts we should live soberly and righteously and godly in this present world And therefore without holiness no man shall see God Heaven is the Reward only of good Men who live in the Exercise of all Christian Graces and Vertues and therefore good Men must be judged must be rewarded according to their Works and yet this is Gospel-Grace too for such a glorious Reward as Heaven is above the Merit of the most perfect Vertue in this World The best Man cannot challenge such a Reward from the Justice of God and therefore it is owing to Gospel-Grace the wages of sin is death but eternal life is the gift of God not the merit and desert of our Works through our Lord Iesus Christ. Especially when we consider that this great and perfect Reward is bestowed upon a very imperfect Vertue the Obedience of the best Men is very defective stained and sullied with Human Weaknesses Indiscretions Follies Ignorances Mistakes indecent Surprizes of Passion or coldness and flatness of Devotion and too often interrupted with wilful and scandalous sins such as nothing but Grace can pardon and therefore much more nothing but Grace can reward and therefore good Men are judged by Grace and rewarded by Grace though according to their Works We are all Sinners we are all obnoxious to the Justice of God would he be extream to mark what is done amiss but since a perfect Vertue is not to be expected from Mankind in this lapsed state God is pleased to accept of sincerity instead of perfection and through the Merits of Christ and Faith in his Blood to account him a righteous Man who sincerely loves and fears him and obeys his Laws though with the Weaknesses and Infirmities incident to Humane Nature So that our being judged by our Works signifies no more but that we are distinguished by the Good or Evil we do into good or bad Men according to the favourable allowances of the Gospel and then bad Men receive the just desert of their sins and good Men receive those Rewards not which they have merited but which the Grace of God and the Merits of Christ have prepared and purchased for them This is a plain account how Christians may be judged by their Works and yet saved by Grace and by Faith in Christ and the righteousness and equity of the last Judgment seems to entitle Heathens themselves thô they have no Covenant Right to it to some degrees of this Grace for I cannot think that God in judging the World will deal more rigorously and severely with Heathens than he will with Christians that he will demand most where he has given least which is contrary to our Saviour's Rule of Judgment and therefore I cannot but hope that Christ in judging of their Works will make the same favourable allowances to them which the Gospel makes to those who do believe in Christ that is to say that he will allow of the Repentance of a Heathen if it were sincere and hearty and did reform his Life as well as of the Repentance of a Christian that he will overlook the same Defects and Imperfections in the good Actions of Heathens who lived vertuous Lives who worshipped the One true God and observed the natural Rules of Sobriety Justice and Righteousness that he will in the Actions of Christians That if any Heathen should be found equally vertuous with the meanest Christian who shall be finally saved that Heathen at least will not be damned and indeed would seem to have reason to complain of unequal usage if he should St. Paul tells us both with respect to Jews and Heathens as well as Christians That God will judge the secrets of men by Christ Iesus according to the Gospel And if the Gospel be the Rule of judging all Mens Actions they must be all equally judged with respect to the Good or Evil of their Actions and be judged as the Gospel judges I grant the Heathens had no promise of Pardon upon their Repentance but yet all Mankind believed so well of the Goodness and Mercy of God that they hoped for Pardon upon their Repentance thus we find the Ninivites did and they had it and indeed it was this perswasion that taught them to pray to God and to offer Sacrifices which had been insignificant things had they not been perswaded that God both could and would pardon sin when Sinners repent Nor have the Heathens any Covenant Title to Salvation and yet they were generally perswaded that good Men shall be rewarded and the