Providence against all the Reproaches and evil Surmizes of Men for he will appear just when he judgeth and overcome when 〈◊〉 contendeth Let us not disturb our Heâ—â—â— with such Difficulties as we cannot understand now we know enough to believe that God is righteous in all his ways and holy in all his works enough to makâ— us devout Worshippers of God and tâ— enquire farther is a dangerous Curiosity like looking into the Ark of God SECT IX â—ifth Inference To affect our Souls with a strong and vigorous and constant Sence of Iudgment V. SInce it is certain that GOD will Judge the World let us endeavour by all means possible to affect our Souls with a strong and vigorous and constant Sence of Judgment The Belief of a Future Judgment is worth little when it ends in Speculation the use of it is to govern our Lives and to prepare us to give a good Account of ourselves to God since we know that he will demand an Account of us but a meer Belief that we shall be judged will not do this unless we affect our Souls with a Sence of Judgment The Experience of the World and our own Experience of ourselves does sufficiently prove this we all profess to believe a Future Judgment and most of us do heartily believe it and yet there are too many among us who give little reason to the World to think they believe it who commit those Sins every day for which they know God will damn them when they come to Judgment which one would think those who believe they shall be judged could never do so 〈◊〉 a meer Belief of a Future Judgment 〈◊〉 not govern Mens Lives but then 〈◊〉 very Men when they are awakened 〈◊〉 a Dread and Fear of Judgment feel 〈◊〉 Vertue and Power of it on their Hearâ— it makes them hate their Sins and 〈◊〉 themselves for them it makes them 〈◊〉 devout and importunate in their Pâ—â—â—ers very sincere and passionate in their Repentance very resolved to forsake all thâ—â—â— Sins and to live a new Life and thâ—â—â—fore if we would have the Belief of a Future Judgment make us good Men 〈◊〉 must not only believe it but affect oâ—â— Souls with a great Sence of it which iâ— true of all the other Arguments and Motives of Religion as well as of a Futurâ— Judgment The proper Enquiry then here is How we shall awaken and preserve such a poâ—erful Sence of Judgment in our Minds Now the only general Direction thâ—â— can be given is Frequently to Thinâ— and Meditate on a Future Judgment foâ— nothing can affect our Minds but ouâ— Thoughts which make the Object present and give us a near View of it 〈◊〉 it is in the Objects of Sence the Eye affects the Heart and excites and moveâ— the Affections more than all the Arguments in the World if we look stedfastly upon a terrible and frightful Object it will strike Terrour into us if upon a pleasant and beautiful Object it will excite Love and Delight if upon a miserable Object it will affect us with a tender Compassion to see Men in great Want and Misery will melt and open that Heart which was hardened and shut against all the Arguments and Motives to Charity and long and frequent Consideration will have much the same effect on us that Sight has Judgment is a terrible thing to bad Men and if they would but seriously think of it it would terrifie them if they would but imagine sometimes that they heard that last-Trumpet sound which will awaken all-Mankind and raise them out of their Graves and summon them to Iudgement that they saw the Son of Man descend from Heaven attended with his mighty Angels to execute Vengeance on all them who know not God and obey not the Gospel of our Lord Iesus Christ that they saw the Earth all in flames about them and Hell opening her Mouth wide to receive them that they saw the Books opened and those Sins recorded which they had forgot and the Secrets of their Hearts disclosed and that they heard that terrible Sentence Go ye cursed into everlasting fire prepared for the Devil and his Angels do yâ—â— think that any Man who believes all this and would suffer himself seriously to think of it could bear up against the Terrour of it or that with these Thoughts about him he could court a Strumpet or spend his Time in Revels and Excess or Blâ—spheme God and Ridicule Religion or Cheat his Neighbour or Oppress the Poor and Fatherless or Forswear himself Noâ— we see this cannot be as often as we see â— miserable Sinner whose awakened Conscience distracts him with all these Scenes and Images of Terrour So that serious Consideration would make a Future Judgment very effectual to govern our Lives but the great Difficulty of all is to bring Men to consider and yet one would think it impossible that a reasonable Creature should not consider that he must be judged But so it is and there is no disputing against Experience and yet it is so dangerous and fatal a Neglect that it concerns us to enquire into the Causes and Remedies of it for could we Cure this it would quickly Reform the World give a new Resurrection to Piety and Vertue and secure Men from the Danger and Terrours of a Future Judgement Now there are two apparent Causes of this 1. That the Thoughts of Judgment are very uneasie and troublesome and that makes Men afraid and averse to think of it And 2. that Judgment is out of sight and they have nothing to mind them of it and their Thoughts are so taken up with other matters that they forget it unless they happen to hear a Sermon about it or some accidental mention of it which when they return to their worldly Affairs and Business they quickly forget again 1 st Men are very apt to avoid all Thoughts of Judgment because they are very uneasie and troublesome they startle at the mention of it at least do not love to talk too long nor think too seriously of it for it awakens their Consciences and makes them think what a sad Account they have to give how many things they have done and daily do which they can never answer to God when he comes to Judgment and therefore they choose to live quietly without disturbing themselves with such terrifying Reflections and the amazing Thoughts of what is to come Now methinks it is no hard thing to convince thinking Men of the Danger and Folly of this and to reconcile them to the Thoughts of Judgment For 1. To drive these Thoughts out of our Minds though it may give us present ease yet it will not mend our Accounts nor prevent our being judged God will judge us whether we will think of being judged or not were no Men to be judged but those who think of it there were as much reason to stupifie our Consciences and never to think of Judgment as there is for sick Men to take
That at the name of Iesus every knee should bow 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 2 Phil. 9 10 11. His Power to save is attributed to his Intercession or Mediatory Kingdom Wherefore he is able also to save them to the uttermost that come unto God by him seeing he ever liveth to make iâ—tercession for them 7 Heb. 25. And in like manner St. Paul attributes our Reconciliation to God to the Death of Christ but our Salvation to his Life that is to that Power he was invested with at his Resurrection from the Dead For if when we were enemies we were reconciled â—nto God by the death of his Son much more being reconciled we shall be saved by his life That is actually delivered from the Wrath of God by the Power and Authority of a Living Saviour 5 Rom. 10. Upon the same account Christ is said to be delivered for our offences and to be raised again for our justification That is finally to Absolve and Justifie us at the Day of Judgment 4 Rom. 25. for we must observe that though Christ by his Death has made a general Atonement and Expiation for Sin and those Men are said at present to be justified who are in a justified State that is who are within the Terms of the Covenant for Justification who are such as Christ in his Gospel hâ—s promised to justifie yet properly speaking no Man is finally justified till he is finally acquitted and absolved at the Day of Judgment till he is judicially delivered from the Wrath of God threatned against Sin and actually sentenced to Life and Glory And if Christ cannot do this for us whatever other Benefits we receive by his Ministry and Death he is not a complete and perfect Saviour for he does not actually save us unless he have Power and Authority to Judge us that is finally to Absolve us from all our Sins and to bestow Heaven on us Which shews that the Saviour of Sinners must be their Judge because we are not actually saved till we are finally judged Moses was not a complete Saviour of Israel because tho' he brought them out of AEgypt yet he left them in the Wilderness but Ioshua was their Saviour and therein a Type of Christ who gave them Possession of the Promised Land 2. But besides the nature of the Thing that our Saviour must be our Judge that is must actually save us there is very great reason it should be so because this gives Authority and Efficacy to all the Methods of Salvation It will make Sinners afraid not to be saved by him when they know that he must Judge them As to shew this particularly It will give great Authority to his Laws and Counsels and great Credit to his Promises and Threatnings 1. It will give great Authority to his Laws and Counsels to remember that our Lawgiver will be our Judge that he who came into the World in Humane Nature to declare the Will of God to us shall come again to Judge us by that Gospel which he preached When God sends his Prophets to us there is great reason to reverence the Authority of God in them but much more when our Judge comes to preach to us himself for we may be sure he will not preach in vain the Laws he preached to us at his first coming shall be the Rule whereby he will Judge us at his second coming Especially when we consider that both our Prophet and our Judge is the Saviour of Mankind We may possibly flatter our selves that when God comes to Judgment he may relax somewhat of the Rigour and Severity of his Laws that he has reserved to himself a liberty of Dispensing with our Obedience to those Laws which by his Prophets he commanded us to Obey but we cannot think that our Saviour would lay any unnecessary Burden on us that he would require any thing of us under the Pain of Damnation but what he expects we should do that he will dispense with the Terms of the Gospel whicâ— are themselves a Dispensation with the Rigour of the Law for there must be an end of Dispensing somewhere unless Grace can dispense away all our Duty and dispense unreformed and impenitent Sinners into Heaven if this could be done there was no reason why the Saviour of the World should have preach'd at all or have given any Laws to Mankind if he would have no regard to them in judging the World but if the Judge of the World become a Preacher it concerns us diligently to hearken to him for whether we will obey his Laws or no we shall be judged by them 2. This gives great Credit to his Promises and Threatnings when they are made by our Judge himself who has Authority to execute them Has Christ promised Pardon of Sin to all true Penitents has he promised to raise our dead Bodies out of the Grave immortal and glorious to bestow a Crown and Kingdom on us then we may depend on it that he will do what he has promised for he who has promised is able also to perform He has Authority to forgive Sins to raise the Dead to receive all his Disciples into Heaven into the immediate Presence of God there to live and to rejoyce for ever and when he who came to save us and 〈◊〉 promised this great Salvation to us has Power to give it when he who has made these Promises has the disposal of Life and Glory and Heaven in his own hands this is a mighty Encouragement to us to be stedfast unmovable always abounding in the Work of the Lord for as much as we know that our labour shall not be in vain in the Lord. And have not all impenitent Sinners as much reason to expect that Christ will certainly execute that Vengeance on them which he has threatned that he will condemn them to Eternal Night and Darkness to Lakes of Fire and Brimstone where there is Weeping and Wailing and Gnashing of Teeth for evermore For he is the Judge of the World who has Power and Authority to do it and has declared that he will do it and then we have reason to take his word for it Men are apt to shelter themselves from the Terrors of the Law by the Merits and and Mediation and Mercies of a Saviour God indeed is very just and severe a consuming Fire and who can abide his comming But the Blessed Jesus is a merciful and compassionate Saviour He is so infinitely merciful but yet this merciful Saviour has threatned Everlasting Fire against incorrigible Sinners and he is our Judge too and if he will condemn us at the last Day what hope is there for us where shall we find another Saviour to deliver us It seems he is not all Mercy as Sinners are apt to flatter themselves No! he is a Judge and a terrible Judge and
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
go out of these Bodies they shall go to Christ 2 Cor. 5.6 8. and this made it so difficult a Choice to St. Paul whether he should desire to live or die by living he might do great service to the Church and therefore he was very well contented to live but if he departed he should be with Christ which is best of all For I am in a strait between two having a desire to depart and to be with Christ which is far better Nevertheless to abide in the flesh is more needful for you 1 Phil. 23 24. And it is universally pronounced Blessed are the dead which die in the Lord from henceforth Yea saith the Spirit that they may rest from their labours and their works follow them 14 Revel 13. This evidently proves that good Men shall be happy as soon as they die and besides the express Authority of our Saviour in the Parable of Dives and Lazarus the reason of the thing proves that bad Men must be miserable that as the Happiness of good Men commences with their death so must the Miseries of the Wicked Bad Men indeed many times live very happily in this World for this is the time of God's Patience while he waits to be gracious not being willing that any should perish but that all should come to repentance but the Day of Grace ends with this Life the next World is for Retributions we must there receive according to our Works and therefore though we should suppose that the perfect Rewards of good Men and the perfect Miseries of the wicked should be deferred till the Day of Judgment when the final Sentence shall be pronounced which shall bestow Heaven upon good Men and condemn the wicked to Hell yet the Punishment of bad Men must begin when they leave this World because God's Patience is then at an end and the Rewards of good Men must begin too because their Work and Labour is at an end And this has been the universal Belief of Mankind who have believed a future State though they knew nothing of a General Judgment when all Mankind should be summon'd before God's Tribunal yet they all believed that when bad Men died they immediately went to a place of Punishment and good Men to Elysium a place of Rest and Happiness for if we shall be rewarded and punished in the next World for what we have done in this it is natural and reasonable to think that our Rewards and Punishments shall begin as soon as we go into the next World 2. And yet we read of no other formal Judgment but that great and general Judgment when the Son of Man shall descend from Heaven with a glorious Retinue of Angels to Judge the World if we examine all those express Declarations of Christ and his Apostles concerning Judgment or those Parables of our Saviour which relate to it we shall plainly find that they concern the last and general Judgment It is in that day which relates to a certain determined Day of Judgment that many shall say unto him Lord Lord have we not prophesied in thy Name 7 Matth. 22. It is at the end of the World when the Angels shall separate between the Wheat and the Tares between the good and bad Fish which were taken in the same Net 13 Matth. It is when the Son of man shall come in the glory of his Father with his Angels that he shall reward every man according to his works 16 Matth. 27. that is as St. Paul speaks when the Lord Iesus shall be revealed from heaven with his mighty Angels in flaming fire taking vengeance on them that know not God and obey not the gospel of our Lord Iesus Christ 2 Thess. 8 9. God hath given him authority to execute judgment because he is the Son of man And when he must do this he tells us The hour is coming in the which all that are in the graves shall hear his voice and shall come forth they that have done good to the resurrection of life and they that have done evil to the resurrection of damnation 5 John 27 28 29. And in his account of his Judging the World he tells us When the Son of man shall come 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 separateth his sheep from the goats 25 Matth. 31 32. Then it is when the Man who travelled into a far Country returns and calls his Servants to an Account how they have improved their Talents v. 14 c. Christ is the only Judge of the World for all Judgment is committed to the Son and he does not judge the World till his second Appearance till he returns in the Glory of his Father with his Angels The Apostle to the Hebrews indeed tells us It is appointed unto men once to die and after death the judgment which might seem to intimate a particular Judgment of all Men as soon as they die but he adds when this Judgment shall be in the next Verse So Christ was once offered to bear the sins of many he died once for us because we must once die and unto them that look for him shall he appear the second time without sin unto salvation That is he shall appear the second time to judge the World which shews that this Judgement after Death is the general Judgement 9 Heb. 27 28. And the truth is if all Men have a final Sentence past on them as soon as they go into the other World it is very unaccountable why Christ at the last Day shall come with such a terrible Pomp and Solemnity to Judge and Condemn those who are judged and condemned and executed already as much as ever they can be And therefore in the Parable of Dives and Lazarus we have no mention of their being judged but Lazarus was carried by an Angel into Abraham's Bosom the Angels being ministring spirits sent forth to minister for them who shall be heirs of salvation 1 Heb. 14. Thus they minister to good Men in this World and do a great many kind Offices for us which we know not of and thus they minister to us when we go out of this World and conduct us to a place of Ease and Rest carry us safe through the Crowds of evil Spirits which fill these lower Regions into Abraham's bosom but the rich man was dead and buried and lift up his eyes in hell or Hades not Gehennah which signifies the State of separate Souls and it seems of wicked Souls and was in Torment but how he came thither it is not said there is no notice given us of any Judgment which sat on him or who carried him thither and therefore if we may guess by the Analogy of the Parable as Lazarus was carried by an Angel into Abraham's Bosom so Dives having no good Angel to guard him fell into
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
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
if an ordinary Judge of Assize be lookt on with so much Reverence and Awe what is the Glory and Majesty of an Universal Judge How will all the World fall and bow and tremble before him who with the Word of his Mouth can sentence them to Eternal Life or Death This is his Father's glory for he is the Natural Lord and Judge of the World and from him he receives this Authority to Judge the World The Father judgeth no man but hath committed all judgment to the Son That all men should honour the Son even as they honour the Father 5 John 22 23. To this Glory he is now advanced and we must now Obey and Reverence and Adore him as our Judge but it will give a visible Majesty to him when he thus comes in the Glory of his Father when the astonishing Glory of his Person is still made more Glorious and Majestick by the Authority of a Judge But his Retinue is very glorious also and adds to the Terror and Majesty of his Appearance for he shall come attended with Myriads of holy Angels bright and glorious Beings who incircle his Person and are the Witnesses and Ministers of his Justice We know a splended Retinue adds greatly to the Glory of a Prince or Judge a Multitude has something great and awful in it especially when this Multitude are all his Dependants Servants and Ministers and more still when every one of this Multitude are most excellent and glorious Creatures the Beauty and Perfection of the Creation whose single Glories we cannot now bear the sight of without great Apprehension and Amazement and what a mighty Prince is he who comes attended with the whole Host of Heaven who leave their heavenly Mansions to wait upon their Lord and to adorn his Triumphs But this glorious Retinue of Angels is not meerly for Pomp and State but they are the Ministers of his Justice and therefore are called his mighty Angels or the Angels of his Power 2 Thess. 1.8 And what a powerful Judge is he who has all the Powers of Heaven attending him to execute his Vengeance on Men and Devils This glorious Judge shall at the last Day come down from Heaven for thither he ascended after his Resurrection from the Dead and there he must continue till he comes to Judge the World but then the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout with the voice of the archangel and with the trump of God 2 Thess. 4.16 I see no reason why this should not be understood literally of an audible Voice and Shouting and an audible sound of the last Trumpet to summon all Mankind to Judgment for this makes the Appearance more solemn and awful and thus God descended on Mount Sinai when he gave the Law With thundrings and lightnings and the voice of a trumpet exceeding loud so that all the people that was in the camp trembled 19 Exod. 16. And if he gave the Law with the sound of a Trumpet why not Judge the World with it too This Shout is the shouting of the holy Angels begun by the Voice of the Archangel in their descent with Christ and signifies what such Shoutings do among Men either great Joy and Exultation or Alacrity and Courage thus Men shout for joy when any thing happens which highly pleases them thus Souldiers shout when the Signal is given for Battle Thus when our Lord shall say Come ye holy Angels go down with me to Judge the World they will shout for joy that that day is come which will put a final end to the Kingdom of Darkness when the Devil and his Angels and all wicked Men shall be cast into the Lake of Fire and good Men rewarded and crowned and received into the immediate Presence of God in Heaven For this is matter of Joy to all holy Angels to see the final Conquest of all the Enemies of CHRIST'S Kingdom to see the Triumphs of Justice to see all Impiety and Wickedness shamed condemned and punished and the World cleansed from the Pollutions of it to see their numbers encreased by the advancement of good Men into Heaven who will now be united to their Company and joyn with them in singing Halelujahs to Him that sitteth on the Throne and to the Lamb for if there be Joy in Heaven at the Repentance of one Sinner what Exultation and Acclamations will there be to see the whole number of GOD'S Elect raised again with glorious Bodies and receive that Kingdom which was prepared for them before the Foundations of the World When our Lord shall say Come ye holy Angels and be the Ministers of my Justice and execute my Vengeance upon a wicked World upon the Devil and all bad Men and gather together mine Elect from the four Corners of the Earth with what Shoutings will they receive their Commission with what Alacrity and Courage will they execute it for so our Saviour himself represents it that the Angels are not meerly Attendants of State but his Officers and Ministers whom he employs in Judging the World thus he expounds the Parable of the Tares 13 Mat. 41 42 43. He that soweth good seed is the Son of man The field is the world the good seed are the children of the kingdom but the tares are the children of the wicked one The enemy that sowed them iâ— the devil the harvest is the end of the world and the reapers are the angels As therefore the tares are gathered and burnt in the fire so shall it be in the end of the World The Son of man shall send forth his angels and they shall gather forth out of his kingdom all things that offeâ—â— and them which do iniquity and shall cast them into a furnace of fire there shall be â—â—iling and gnashing of teeth Then shall the righteous shine forth like the sun in the kingdom of their Father And thus he expounds the Parable of the Net that was cast into the sea and gathered of every kind Which when it was full they drew to shore and sat down and gathered the good into vessels and the bad they cast away So shall it be at the end of the world the angels shall come forth and sever the wicked from among the just and shall cast them into the furnace of fire there shall be wailing and gnashing of teeth v. 47 48 49 50. What is meant by the trump of God with which Christ descends from Heaven is hard to say only thus much we know that it is such a Trumpet at the sound of which the Dead shall rise as St. Paul expresly tells us 1 Cor. 15.51 52. Behold I shew you a mystery We shall not all sleep but we shall all be changed in a moment in the twinkling of an eye at the last trump for the trumpet shall sound and the dead shall be raised incorruptible and we shall be changed And therefore this last Trump seems to be what our Saviour calls the Voice of the Son of
are so busie and careful in keeping your Books and casting up your Accounts and ballancing your Gain and your Loss and observing how your Stock increases or decays can you forbear thinking that you have a greater and more concerning Account than this the Account of your Life and Actions which if you do not keep God does he has his Records of them and will produce his Books at the Day of Judgment and judge you out of them When you call your Servants or Stewards to an Account how they have improved or embezled your Goods whether they have hid their Talent in a Napkin or traded with it and gained five or ten Talents you should remember that you also are but God's Stewards and must give an Account of your Stewardship and either shall be Stewards no longer but be turned out of your Master's Service and punished for your Negligence or shall receive a Reward proportionable to your Diligence and Gain When we correct our Children or Servants for their Idleness Disobedience or any other Miscarriage or reward their Diligence and Vertue can we forget that we have a Father and a Master in Heaven who curiously observes all our Actions and will judge will reward and punish us according to our Works When we see at Harvest the Wheat gathered into the Barn and the Weeds neglected or burnt should it not mind us what a difference God will make between good and bad Men at the Day of Judgment that though they live intermixed in this World they shall be parted then good Men received into Heaven where God dwells and bad Men banished into outward Darkness where there is Weeping and Wailing and Gnashing of Teeth for evermore The awful Solemnities of Humane Judicatures the Judge sitting on the Bench the Malefactor arraigned at the Bar the Jury the Witnesses the Tryal Condemnation Sentence Execution are lively Emblems of a Future Judgment and methinks should mind Judge and Juries and Witnesses and Spectators of it I have mentioned these few Instances because they are common and familiar and Scripture-Representations of a Future Judgment and so often occur that if we would but as often think seriously of a Future Judgment we should soon attain an habitual Sence of it And possibly my applying them to this purpose now as little an Observation as it may seem may make you think of your great Account when you are casting up your Books or reckoning with your Workmen or taking an Account of your Stewards and Servants and if it should I shall have my end and you will find the benefit of it But there is one thing which is naturally apt to mind us of a Future Judgement and I am sure always ought to do so and is of very near and present concernment to us at this time and that is When the judgments of GOD are in the earth for then as the Prophet Isaiah tells us the inhabitants of the world will learn righteousness 26 Isaiah 9. I have already observed to you that the Examples of a just and righteous Providence which governs this World are a good Proof of a Future Judgment for it is an argument that God does take notice of the Actions of Men and concerns himself in the Government of the World and then we have no reason to question whether he will judge the World And when God is actually executing Judgments on the World when he is a judging Kingdoms and Nations when he has unsheathed the Sword and made it drunk with Blood when the Desolations of flourishing Countries the Burning of Towns and Cities the lamentable Slaughter of infinite numbers of People do so loudly proclaim the Wrath and Displeasure of God those who han't a great and awful and terrible Sence of Judgment will never be awakened but by the sounding of the last Trumpet It is this that makes the Judgments of God so effectual to Reform the World not meerly the Fears of present Sufferings of those Temporal Evils and Calamities wherewith God punishes Sinners but that by these visible Tokens of God's Anger by the present sensible Effects of his Justice and Power Men are rouzed and alarm'd into a Consideration of future Vengeance We extreamly weaken the Argument from present and sensible Judgments when we urge it no further then to perswade Men to reform their Lives to remove those Judgments which are upon them this is an additional Argument to reform our Sins to save our Country from Ruin but those who will not reform their Sins to save their Souls will never part with them to save a Nation and therefore the true force of the Argument resolves itself into a Future Judgment God has begun to punish us already in this World for our Sins and unless we repent we must not hope to escape so these Temporal Sufferings are but a Summons to Judgment and it may be are intended to remove us presently into the other World to receive our Reward The Axe is now visibly laid to the root of the Tree and every Tree which bringeth not forth good Fruit is hewen down and cast into the Fire And the visible Execution of GOD's Judgments upon the World will certainly mind us of a Future Judgment and give us a feeling sence of it as it gives us a present and sensible View of God's Justice and Power and a nearer Prospect of it 1. It gives us a present and sensible View of God's Justice and Power And that though he be very good and merciful he is very righteous too and very severe in his Judgments that though he be gracious and merciful slow to anger and of great kindness yet he will not always spare but will awake to visit the heathen and will not be merciful to any wicked transgressors 59 Psal. 5. When we see what Desolations God makes in the Earth how his Judgments like a sudden and mighty Torrent overflow a secure and happy Country sweep away the Inhabitants of it or transplant them into foreign Nations to beg their Bread among Strangers when we see how he sounds an Alarum to War and sets Kingdom against Kingdom and every Man's Sword against his Brother when we observe with what an impartial Hand he strikes that there is no Country no People no Religion escapes that he makes Ambition and Covetuousness correct Superstition and Superstition chastise the Coldness and Formality the loose and licentious Lives of more Orthodox Christians I say when we see such things as these in the World shall we not fear and tremble before that just and righteous Judge Can we forget that GOD will judge the World in Righteousness when we see already such terrible Executions which are onely Preludiums to a Final Judgment 2. These present and visible Judgmenâ— give us a nearer Prospect of a Futurâ— Judgment and Judgment will more seâ—sibly affect us the nearer we see it Not that such Judgments as these prove that the Final Judgment is near at hand foâ— the Records and Histories of
upon all Ages of the World especially since that express revelation which the Gospel has made of it This Instruction our Saviour himself gives us that since we know not the Day of Judgment we should always watch and be ready prepared for it Watch therefore for ye know not what hour your Lord doth come But know this that if the good man of the house had known in what watch the thief would come he would have watched and would not have suffered his house to be broken up therefore be ye also ready for in such an hour as ye think not the Son of man cometh 24 Matth. 42 43 44. And if this was good Advice in our Saviour's days it more nearly concerns us on whom the end of the World is come 4. There is one thing more I shall observe from this Discourse not to be offended though you see Atheism and Infidelity prevail in the World and the true Christian Faith begin to fail and the love of many wax cold thus it must be towards the end of the World and if we now see the beginnings of it it is no great wonder This is indeed a great Temptation to Men who are governed by Examples to hear the first Principles of Religion called in Question and the great Fundamental Articles of our Faith made Matter of Dispute and Controversie nay the plainest Rules of Life ridiculed and exploded but if these things should not be the World would never come to an end God cannot destroy a believing and righteous Nation much less a righteous World a World of Believers and Saints And if it be our Portion to fall into the dregs of Time into these last days when there shall be Scoffers walking after their own ungodly Lusts let us consider that this is no more than was foretold thus it must be towards the end of the World and therefore this ought not to weaken the Credit of Religion no more than the fulfilling of Prophesies does let us remember how Sacred this Faith has been for 1600 Years how many Martyrs and Confessors it has had how God has preserved it against all the Powers and Opposition of the World how it has triumphed over Pagan Idolatries and which is more than that triumphed over the Lusts and Vices of the World in the Exemplary Self-denial Mortification and Divine and Heavenly Conversations of its Professors and this I think is such an Argument of its Divinity as may defend us against the Wit and Rallery and Impudence of professed Atheists and Debauchees who till of late have themselves been the scorn and derision of Mankind SECT III. The Day God has appointed is a General Day of Iudgment II. THIS Day God has appointed is a General Day of Judgment or a Day to Judge the whole World all Mankind shall be summoned before the Tribunal of Christ and be tried and condemned or acquitted in the general Assembly of Men and Angels What an amazing sight will this be to see all Mankind start out of their Graves and appear before their Judge to have one view of the whole Race of Men of all successive Generations from Adam to the end of the World Such an Assembly as never was before never will be till that day and never will be after it Could we look on as unconcerned Spectators at that day what an Entertainment would here be only to see all Mankind together all the Men of Name and Renown whose Fame is recorded in Story who have signalliz'd themselves in their several Ages by their Piety and Vertue and Wisdom and Valour or it may be by their Vices but this will be no time to gratifie our Curiosity when we all meet to receive our final Doom It more concerns us at present to draw another Scene of things and to imagine how differently Men will appear at the Day of Judgment from what they do in this World We shall see all Mankind together rise with their own Bodies just the same Men that they were but yet quantum mutatus ab illo they won't look altogether as they did there will be some change in their Countenance which will betray very different Passioâ—s and give a very different Air and Aspect to them We may easily imagine that Atheisâ—s and Infidels who have disputed very Subtilly and Philosophically against a God and Religion and broke many a 〈◊〉 Jest upon Heaven and Hell will be not a little amazed when they shall see all their Philosophy confuted and their Jests quite spoiled by the appearance of their Judge What surprize and astonishment will then be seen in the looks of secure Sinners who never thought of Judgment but reckoned themselves very safe by banishing the thoughts of it as if God would not Judge them unless they thoughâ— of being judged The brave and the bold Sinners who mocked at Fear especially at the Fear of God as a base and unmanly Passion will not be able to conceal their Fears then but even those mighty Hectors the great Disturbers of Mankind who carried Fear and Terrour in their Looks and made the World tremble before them will then stand trembling before their Judge and call to the rocks and mountains to fall on them and hide them from the wrath of the Lamb. On the other hand with what triumph will good Men lift up their Heads the poor the despised the persecuted the reproached the vilified Worshippers of the Crucified Jesus and the Disciples of the Cross their Sorrows will then flie away like the Shades of Night at the approach of the Sun their Tears will be dried up and we shall see nothing but secure Joy give Lustre and Brightness to their Looks We are extreamly imposed on by the present appearances of Things Vice looks gay and bold and fearless in this World and Vertue many times as mean and contemptible as Injustice and Oppression can make it that it would be of great use to us sometimes to remove the Scene from this World to the Day of Judgment when all Mankind shall appear together the greatest Appearance that ever was and therefore it is much more considerable how we shall appear then than how we appear in this World But the Enquiry here is why GOD judges all the World at once and summons all Mankind together to receive their final Sentence Now that God will do so is very plain why he does it he has not told us but whoever wisely considers this matter will discover great and excellent ends which may be served by such a publick Judgment and that may satisfie us that there is great reason why God should do it and these may be referred to two general Heads 1. With respect to God himself 2. With respect to Men both good and bad Men. I. With respect to God And this universal Judgment greatly tends to advance the Divine Name and Glory 1. As I hinted to you before this will justifie the Divine Providence and display all the various Wisdom and expound
and unriddle all the secret Mysteries of it when God comes to judge the World iâ— is to justifie himself as well as to judge Men for what St. Paul says is most properly applicable to the last Judgment Let God be true and every man a liar as it is written That thou mightest be justified in thy sayings and mightest overcome when thou art judged 3 Rom. 4. And St. Iude makes this one great end of the last Judgement The Lord shall come with ten thousands of his saints to execute judgment upon all to convince all that are ungodly among them of all their ungodly deeds which they have ungodly committed and of all their hard speeches which ungodly sinners have spoken against him Jude 14 15. How many such hard Speeches do we daily hear against the Divine Providence and how hard are good Men who know but little of the matter put to it to answer the Cavils and Reproaches of Atheists and Infidels we can indeed say enough in general to vindicate the Divine Wisdom and Justice and Goodness but there are a thousand particular Cases which seem very hard which we can say nothing to because we know nothing of them But when all the World shall be summoned before God's Tribunal all the Ages and Generations of Men we shall then have a perfect History of Providence and that will expound the Reasons of Things which are now obscure when we shall hear how every particular Man every Age and Generation of Men every Country and Nation have behaved themselves and how God dealt with them what Talents they were entrusted with and what Account they give then all Mouths will be stopped and the whole World will become guilty before God 3 Rom. 19. Then we shall see an entire Chain of Providences and all the various and intricate Turnings of the Divine Wisdom in its different Forms and Administrations but still within the Sphere and Circle of Justice and Goodness How shall we then admire God when we shall see all these wonderful and curious Scenes unfolded when we shall observe the gradual and regular Advances of Goodness in the several Ages of the World proportioned to the Wants and Capacities of Men till it came to the full Maturity and Perfection of Gospel-Grace what a delightful Prospect will this be to good Men how will it enlarge their Knowledge encrease their Wonder inflame their Devotions How will it confound bad Men especially all the prophane Scoffers at God and his Providence how will this aggravate and encrease their Torments that they will be forced to admire and justifie God in their own Damnation which must turn all their rage and fury upon themselves This is reason enough why God should judge the World all together to justifie himself to all his Creatures and to make a glorious Discovery of all the Wonders and Mysteries of his Grace and Providence good Men see enough at present to admire and praise God but now as St. Paul tells us We know in part and we prophesie in part but when that which is perfect is come then that which is in part shall be done away When I was a child I spake as a child I understood as a child I thought as a child but when I became a man I put away childish things For now we see through a glass darkly but then face to face now I know in part but then shall I know even as also I am known 1 Cor. 13.9 10 11 12. The Divine Wisdom will never appear so glorious as at the Day of Judgment because it will never be so perfectly known as then when he shall come to be glorified in his saints and admired in all them that believe 2 Thess. 1.10 What good Man would not long to see that blessed Day which will perfect his Soul with the Knowledge and Love and Admiration of God and give him such clear raised and divine Thoughts and Passions as are fit for Heaven and the immediate Presence of God whither he is a going what wise Man will not reselve to be very good that at that Day he may see the Glory of God with out Terrour and Astonishment with all those Raptures and Extasies with which such new and bright Appearances of the Divine Wisdom will fill the Soul 2. God summons all Mankind together to Judgment that Men and Angels may be Witnesses of his equal and impartial Justice We are all equally God's Creatures the Rich and the Poor the Honourable and the Vile and the Prince and the Subject are alike to him and Justice requires that they should be alike that the just Judge of the World should respect no Man's Person in Judgment Now there is no such way to convince all the World that God is an equal and impartial that is a very just and righteous Judge as to judge all the World together for then they themselves may see whether God be partial or not But there is a great deal more I mean by this for the Providence of God in this World is very liable to the Charge of Partiality that he has not an equal Regard to all his Creatures I do not mean with reference to their Fortune and Station in this World that some are Rich others Poor some Princes and Nobles entrusted with great Powers others Subjects and exposed to the Wills and Lusts of Princes for this is more easily accounted for such different Ranks of Men being necessary to good Order and Government in the World but I mean with respect to their Souls and their eternal State that God has not taken equal care to Instruct all Mankind in their Duty to acquaint them with the Danger of Sin and the Rewards and Punishments of the next Life and the Certainty of a Future Judgment and this is too visible to be denied God suffered Mankind to fall into Idolatry and when they had corrupted their Natural Notions of Good and Evil sent no Prophet among them to Instruct them better and when after some Ages he called Abraham out of Vr of the Chaldees and having tried his Faith and Obedience entred into Covenant with him yet he confined his Covenant to his Posterity whom he chose for his peculiar People and took no visible care of the rest of the World and though this was a great Priviledge of Israel above the rest of Mankind yet the Mosaical Law was but a weak and imperfect Dispensation but a Childish Pedagogie and the Iewish Church but in the State of Servants or of an Heir under Age. And though God did at last send Christ into the World to make a perfect Revelation of his Will yet it was towards the end of the World and what a wonderful difference has this made between those who enjoy the Light of the Gospel and the rest of Mankind as if they had not all the same Maker or were not equally his Creatures and yet how little a part of the World is there still which have the Gospel preached
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
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
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
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
have them not but this does not hinder but that they may give an account of their Poverty and those Graces which become a poor and low Fortune They shall not be examined about their Charity when they had nothing to give but they may for their Thankfulness to God and to their Benefactors They shall not be examined how they used their Riches which they had not but they may be how they bore their Poverty whether external Poverty has taught them true Poverty of Spirit Humility Modesty Patience in Want and Sufferings Contentment with a little Submission to the Will of God and a chearful Dependance on Providence for their daily Bread whether they have constantly prayed to God for the supply of their Wants as well as begged an Alms of Men and implored the Help and Assistance of the Rich these are Duties and Vertues which Poverty teaches and which poor Men ought to exercise and therefore which God may challenge from them and Judge them for It is a very wild Imagination to think that Poverty will excuse Mens Pride and Rudeness and Insolence unless it be a Vertue to be Proud when Men have no Temptation to it when they have nothing to be proud of Will Poverty excuse Sloth and Idleness when Men have nothing to live by but their Hands is that a Reason why they should not work When Men are able to work and get their own living is Poverty an excuse for begging and living idly upon the Charity and Industry of other Men when they work hard all day to get Bread for themselves and Families is this a reason to go to the Ale-house and spend it all at night to make themselves Beasts and leave their Wives and Children to starve ought not God and Men to judge them for this But above all things Poverty is the most unreasonable and senseless Excuse for Irreligion for neglecting the Worship of God For certainly if any thing will make us sensible how much we stand in need of God Poverty will Rich Men whose Coffers are full of Treasure who have Goods laid up for many Years are apt to forget God because they think they have no present need of Him they know how to live without him They have no occasion to beg their daily Bread of him who have enough to last their lives and to maintain their Posterity in Luxury when they are gone But methinks poor Men who have no Provisions before hand and know not where they shall have their Bread the next day should be very sensible that they live upon Providence that they have nothing else to trust to and would not any one reasonably expect that such Men would be very devout Worshippers of GOD would pray constantly and heartily to him to take them into his Care when they have nothing but the Providence of God to depend on One would think such Men should above all things take care to please God and to make him their Friend and Patron for if he cast them off they have no other Refuge that is a prophane irreligious Mind indeed whom Want and Distress will not drive to God But what would you have such poor Men do They han't time to spare for their Prayers unless they should spare it from eating or sleeping they must be up early at work and have not leisure for their Devotions as those have who live at ease But did they believe the Divine Prodence it would satisfie them that the time of Prayer is the best spent of any time in the day and contributes more to make a comfortable Provision for them then their hardest Labour for the Blessing of God is more then our Diligence and Labour he can succeed and prosper our Work he can raise up unexpected Friends to us and by some unseen Accident can change the whole Scene of our Lives for a more easie and prosperous Fortune However want of time for Prayer and Devotion is always a pretence and nothing but a pretence to excuse the Indevotion of our Minds a Man who loves and reverences God never wants time for Prayer whatever his state of Life be a poor labouring Man can't every Day spend an Hour at Church at his Prayers but if he have a Mind prepared and disposed for it he can fall upon his Knees and offer up a short Prayer to God as soon as he rises which takes up very little time and though he cannot be long upon his Knees yet he can raise up his Heart to Heaven in short and pious Ejaculations no business can hinder a devout Mind from this and therefore no business can excuse the not doing it and this will be accepted by God when we have no time for more Solemn Prayer So that you see Religion is the Business and ought to be the Care of poor Men as well as of the rich there are Graces and Vertues for them to exercise proper for their state of Life and therefore they shall be judged as well as the Rich and ought frequently to think of a Future Judgment and to live under the constant awe and sence of it The constant sence of a Future Judgement is very necessary for all Mankind to govern their Lives and to prepare their Accounts but besides this it is of the greatest use to poor Men of any other for it will in a great measure help to cure their Poverty or to make it easie In ordinary cases a Man who lives under a constant sence of Judgment cannot be poor to extremity for the sence of Judgment will make him diligent and industrious and honest and frugal and temperate and a devout Worshipper of God which are all thriving Vertues and will not suffer a Man to be miserably poor The diligent hand maketh rich and when it does not make Rich it at least prevents Poverty inflexible Honesty gives a Man Reputation in the World brings him into Business and Employment and that is a way to thrive Frugality and Temperance save what is got and encrease the Store and Reverence and Devotion for God brings down Blessings on them gives success to their honest Labours and we know it is the Blessing of God which maketh Rich. The Experience of the World as well as the Reason of the Thing proves this The miserable Poor are generally the most corrupt and profligate part of Mankind the very Reproach of Humane Nature and if you make any curious Observations about it you will generally find that it is not their Poverty which makes them wicked but their Wickedness makes them poor you shall very rarely see an honest industrious sober pious Man but makes a very good shift to live comfortably in the World unless the Times prove very hard that there is but little Work and Provisions dear or that his Family encreases so quick upon him that he has a great charge of Children before any of them are capable of working for their living and in this case such industrious Men seldom want Friends
16 Mark 16. And therefore St. Peter tells the Iews Neither is there salvation in any other for there is none other name under heaven given among men whereby we must be saved 4 Acts 12. And if there be no other Name whereby Men must be saved Infidelity must damn us Would some Men in our days seriously consider this they would not think themselves so secure in their Infidelity nor take so much pains to make themselves Infidels for if after all their pains to disbelieve the Gospel it should prove true at last they must be damned for disbelieving it If Christ came into the World to save Sinners and there is no other Name under Heaven whereby Sinners can be saved those who will not believe on his Name must eternally perish As if there were but one Physician in the World who could cure such a mortal Distemper those who labour under this Distemper and will not go to this Physician for their Cure must necessarily die by their neglect their Infidelity in that case would kill them what reasons soever they could pretend for their Infidelity by neglecting the only means of their Recovery But besides this Infidelity is a very great Crime when we have sufficient Reasons and Motives of Faith for this destroys all Commerce and Intercourse if I may so speak between GOD and Men If Men may be allowed to disbelieve a Revelation which has all the Evidence and Proof that any Revelation can have it makes it impossible for God to reveal his Will to the World at least to give us such a standing Revelation as may be a certain Rule of Faith to all Ages And besides this Infidelity is not owing to want of Evidence but to an evil Temper of Mind which is prepossessed with such vicious Lusts and Passions as will not suffer Men to believe thus our Saviour tells us That men love darkness rather than light because their deeds are evil and tells the Pharisees How can ye believe who receive honour one of another and seek not that honour which cometh of God So that Infidelity is more in Mens wills than in their understandings and therefore is as punishable as any other Vice and though such Infidels will pretend to Reason for their Infidelity and despise and laugh at the easie Credulity of the rest of the World they may have a great force and byaâ—s upon their understandings for all that and would they be honest and sincere they themselves must be sensible of it however God who sees their hearts sees that it is so and it is reason enough to By-standers to suspect it is so when they observe that the more vertuously Men are inclined the more readily they embrace the Gospel and the more firmly they believe it whereas Infidels commonly make little pretence to Sobriety or Vertue but are Men of this World who design no more than to please themselves in the enjoyment of it and when Mens understandings in other matters are equally good it is very reasonably suspicious that it is only their different Inclinations and Passions which make them judge so differently of things If this be the Case as our Saviour assures us it is and as our own Reason and our Observation of Mankind may give us sufficient cause to suspect all Men must grant that it is as fit Men should be judg'd for their Infidelity as for any other Vice And this is reason enough to make Men afraid of Infidelity for if they may be damned for being Infidels they have no reason to be secure in their Infidelity Infidels themselves must confess that if there be sufficient reason to believe the Gospel they deserve to be punished for their Unbelief and if it should prove true at last it will be too late to dispute it in the other World whether God had given them sufficient Evidence of it That great Number of Believers who were as wise and cautious Men as themselves will convince them that there was Evidence enough for wise thinking Men to believe the Gospel And when they shall be ashamed to plead want of Evidence for their Unbelief what Excuse will they find for their Infidelity This may convince Infidels themselves that their Infidelity is no security to them for whether they will believe Heaven and Hell or not if there be an Heaven they shall lose it and if there be an Hell they shall fall into it for their Infidelity and deservedly too if their Infidelity be caused by the fault of their Wills not by a want of Evidence and therefore no Man can be secure in his Infidelity till he be secure that his Infidelity is not wilful that there is no corrupt nor vicious affection which byasses and perverts his Judgment and there is but one way of trying this that I know of and I am pretty confident it would cure all the Infidelity in the World Let Men renounce all their sinful Lusts and Vices which make them infamous to the World let them obey the Laws of the Gospel which are for the good of Humane Societies for the good of their Families which are the Ornament and Perfection of Humane Nature whether the Gospel be true or not and then if they can disbelieve the Gospel it is not because their Deeds are evil not because they have some Lust or other to serve by their Infidelity and this would make their Infidelity very excusable but I know not of such an Infidel as this in the World It is apparent and visible that the Infidels of our Days promise themselves security in their Vices from their Infidelity they laugh at Heaven and Hell because they will not be at the pains to go to Heaven and are afraid of Hell Whatever Wit and Reason they pretend to all Mankind see which way their Inclinations lead them and if they do not see it themselves nor suspect that this may be the cause of their Infidelity whatever Wit they may have they have no Sense III. We shall be judged also for not improving those Talents we are entrusted with that is for not doing Good in the World This many Men are apt to forget To squander away and wast their Master's Goods to do that which is evil this they think they must give an account of but if they do no hurt they are not much concerned what good they do But our Saviour in the Parable of the Talents informs us better that we must give an account of our Improvements for he who received but one Talent went and digged in the Earth and hid his Lord's Money and when his Lord came to reckon with him he said Lord I knew that thou art an hard man reaping where thou hast not sown and gathering where thou hast not strawed And I was afraid and went and hid thy talent in the earth lo there thou hast what is thine But his Lord answered and said unto him Thou wicked servant thou knewest that I reap where I sowed not and gather where I
not taught at all or only taught the Art of Living in the World by Labour and Industry that God might as well judge Men for being Rich or Poor when their Fortune is not at their own disposal but owing to their Birth or to prosperous or adverse Events of Providence as to judge Men by the different Degrees and Improvements of Knowledge Thus as for Faith some never heard of Christ at all or if they did it was only under the Character of an Imposter or of a Fable but never had the true Reasons of Faith explained to them others have been very ill instructed in the Faith of Christ and never had opportunity to rectifie their mistakes and yet as no Man is bound to know what Nature does not teach unless it be revealed to him so no Man is bound to believe what he has not so much as heard of nor to believe every thing he does hear without sufficient Evidence nor to receive the true Faith of Christ which he was never taught So that should God divide the World at the Last Day only into Believers and Infidels this would be a very unequal distribution because great part of the World never had the Faith of CHRIST preached to them and though Infidelity will condemn those Men who have been instructed in the Faith of CHRIST and would not believe yet it cannot in Reason and Justice be imputed to those Men who never heard of Christ. But now the Being and Providence of God and the Differences of Good and Evil are known to all Mankind Nature teaches this and therefore all Mankind are bound to know it and all Mankind may be judged by this Rule whether they know God and worship him as God and take care to do that which is good and to avoid the evil This account St. Paul gives us of it For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men who hold the truth in unrighteousness Because that which may be known of God is manifest in them for God hath shewed it unto them For the invisible things of God from the creation of the world are clearly seen being understood by the things that are made even his eternal power and Godhead so that they are without excuse Because that when they knew God they glorified him not as God neither were thankful but became vain in their imaginations and their foolish heart was darkened 1 Rom. 18 19 20 21. And the same Apostle tells us That the Gentiles which have not the Law no Divine written Law do by nature the things contained in the law these having not the law are a law unto themselves which shew the work of the law written in their hearts their consciences also bearing witness and their thoughts the mean while accusing or else excusing one another 2 Rom. 14 15 16. So that all Mankind even Heathens themselves have a natural knowledge of GOD and of Good and Evil and therefore may be judged for what they know and condemned by God for transgressing those Laws of Righteousness for which their own Consciences condemn them for this leaves them without excuse And if God will judge the Heathens by their Works and condemn them for those sins they commit against the Light of Nature an equal Justice requires that Christians shall be judged by their Works also For is it equal to damn a Heathen for those Sins which a Christian may commit and be saved Will equal and impartial Justice allow that when a Heathen and a Christian are equally wicked the Christian shall be saved and the Heathen damned Is not this to accept the Persons of Men in Judgment to make a difference between the Men when there is no difference in their Actions And yet the same Apostle tells us There is no respect of persons with God for as many as have sinned without law shall also perish without law and as many as have sinned in the law shall be judged by the law 2 Rom. 11 12. And that this is the Rule of Judgment in the day when God shall judge the secrets of men by Iesus Christ according to the gospel v. 16. There is no other common and general Rule whereby all Mankind can be judged but only this to render to every Man according to his Works for there is nothing else for which Men must be judged that is common to all Men but the natural knowledge of God and the differences of Good and Evil Christians indeed know more than the Light of Nature taught Heathens and therefore have more to account for than Heathens have but if Heathens shall be condemned for their sins against the Light of Nature if they shall be judged according to their Works Christians have more reason to expect this for if God be a righteous and impartial Judge he cannot condemn one Sinner for his Sins and save another as wicked as he The nature of Vertue and Vice is the same in all Mankind whether Heathens Jews or Christians and deserves in itsself the same Rewards and Punishments if it be righteous in God to punish the Sins of Heathens it is righteous in God to punish the same Sins of Christians to render to all Men whoever they be according to their Works for this is to deal equally with all Men. 3 dly I add farther that nothing else is the proper Object of Judgment but the Good or Evil of our Actions and therefore if we be judged at all we must be judged for the Good or Evil we have done For does Judging signifie any thing else but Examining what Good or Evil such a Man hath done and rewarding or punishing him according to the Good or Evil he has done And therefore a righteous Judge cannot judge Men cannot reward or punish them for that which is neither Good nor Evil. Now is there any thing Good or Evil but Vertue or Vice What is Knowledge good for which does not direct and govern our Lives What is Faith good for which does not renew and sanctifie us Are there not very knowing and believing Devils Does not Faith and Knowledge make every sin we commit against Faith and against Knowledge the more inexcusable Does not our Saviour tell us That he who knows his master's will and does it not shall be beaten with many stripes What Merit or Vertue is there in a presumptuous reliance on Christ for Salvation to call him Lord Lord and not to do the things which he has commanded And can we think then that God will reward us for our Knowledge or our Faith and overlook all the Evils and Impurities of our Lives Will he reward us for that which deserves no Reward and not punish us for that which deserves punishment Is this to judge the World in Righteousness This is abundantly enough to prove that we must be judged according to our Works that we must receive the things done in the Body whether Good or Evil since the Righteousness of the
have Treasure in Heaven 19 Mat. 21. What is the meaning of this Does the Gospel preach Merit to us must we merit forgiveness by forgiving must we purchase Heaven with our Money Every body sees that this can be no Purchase because there is no Proportion in the value but though Charity cannot merit our Pardon yet it deserves some favour to be shewn it and God will be merciful to those who shew mercy though our Alms and Works of Charity cannot merit Heaven yet they make us Friends as our Saviour speaks and such Friends as will receive us into Everlasting Habitations They will make God and Christ our Friend who will bestow Heaven on us not as the Merit of our Works but out of Grace and Favour which such Acts of Charity deserve This is a plain account why our Saviour in the last Judgment takes notice of no other Works but Acts of Charity and shews us how we may be judged by our Works and pardoned and rewarded by Grace and if this will not convince us of the necessity of Charity it is in vain to urge any other Arguments 2 dly Another Rule and that a very righteous Rule of Judgment is that God will judge us according to our Receipts as our Saviour expresly tells us To whomsoever much is given of them shall much be required and to whom men have committed much of him they will ask the more 12 Luke 48. As for the righteousness and equity of this our Saviour's Appeals to the Practice of Mankind they think it very reasonable to ask the more of him to whom they have committed much And we have no reason to complain of God if he deals with us as we think it just and reasonable to deal with one another There is no need to prove the righteousness of this Rule which all Men own and confess but the consequence of it deserves to be considered by Christians who have received so much more from God than the rest of Mankind have done for by this Rule at the Day of Judgment more will be required of us than of the rest of the World as we have received more Very few Christians seem to think of this they pity the rest of the World who they say are under the Law and a Covenant of Works by which no Man can be justified who is a Sinner as all Men are and therefore their Salvation is desperate but a little matter will save a Christian if he be a true Believer if they are but sorry for their sins and confess and bewail them before God as often as they commit them and trust in the Merits and Righteousness of Christ nay if they do but retract their wicked Lives with some dying Groans and Resolutions of living well when they know they can live no longer if they wish they had lived better when they come to die and promise that they would live better if they could live over their Lives again this will secure their Salvation and this is the glorious Priviledge they enjoy by being Christians this is Gospel-Grace this is the Purchase of Christ's Blood But not to enter into this Dispute which I have said enough of already certainly these Men are mistaken and these vain hopes will deceive them if our Saviour's Rule be true That to whom much is given of them shall be much required For has not God given more to us than he has to the rest of the World And is that a reason why he should ask less Let us briefly consider what God has done more for us than he has done for the rest of the World and see whether what God has done more for us does excuse us from any part of our Duty or rather whether it does not exact a more perfect Vertue from us The Gospel of Christ has given us a more perfect knowledge of the Will of God and of our Duty to him nay has given us a more perfect Law and Rule of Life has in many instances advanced our Duty above what the Law of Nature or the Law of Moses required at least above what the generality of Men thought they did require Now is this a reason why God should excuse us from doing our Duty because we know it better than other Men Or why God should expect less from us than from other Men because we know more This is directly contrary to what our Saviour tells us That servant which knew his Lord's will and prepared not himself neither did according to his will shall be beaten with many stripes but he that knew not and did things worthy of stripes shall be beaten with few stripes 12 Luke 47 48. This seems a hard saying that he which knew not should be beaten at all but our Saviour does not by this understand a total ignorance but an imperfect knowledge which will excuse Men from such parts of their Duty as they were ignorant of if this ignorance was not their own fault but the more we know the more is our Duty enlarged and therefore as our Knowledge increases our Account must encrease with it and that will increase our punishment if we know the Will of God and disobey it Is there any use of Knowledge but to direct our Lives And could God then intend any thing in revealing his Will to us but that we should obey it The Jews had these vain Conceits they boasted in Circumcision and in their Knowledge of the Law and condemned the Heathen World for those sins which they themselves securely committed as if they should be saved in their sins because they knew the Law which forbids them but the ignorant Heathens should be damned for theirs But St. Paul very sharply and sarcastically exposes the folly of this in the Second Chapter to the Romans throughout the whole Chapter which I would desire you seriously to read and consider and then I need add no more about it The Gospel gives us a more abundant assurance of a future State and of the Rewards and Punishments of it than the World had before for life and immortality is brought to light by the Gospel and the more certain our Faith and Knowledge is of another World in all reason it may be expected to work more powerfully upon our Minds to conquer all the Temptations of this Life to terrifie us from every thing that is wicked to make us steadfast unmovable always abounding in the work of the Lord as knowing that our labour shall not be in vain in the Lord 1 Cor. 15.58 The certainty of Faith is the strength and vigour of the Mind and therefore every new degree of evidence requires proportionable degrees of resolution activity caution and circumspection in doing our Duty and as this is reasonable to be expected so God does expect it from us The times of ignorance God winked at but now commandeth all men every where to repent because he hath appointed a day wherein he will judge the world in righteousness by that man
frightful Apparitions of damned Spirits what a transporting foretast would it give us of the Joys of Heaven to read our Names written in the Book of Life to see a Crown a bright and glorious Crown prepared for us But how shall we know this Who shall search the Records of Heaven for us The Answer is plain we need not ascend up into Heaven for it we have the counterpart of those Records in our own breasts For as St. Iohn tells us if our heart condemn us God is greater than our heart and knoweth all things beloved if our heart condemn us not then have we confidence towards God 1 John 3.20 21. That is if our Heart or Conscience condemn us then God will condemn us for he knows more of us than our own Consciences know he knows us better than we know ourselves and if we know so much wickedness by our selves that we cannot but condemn our selves though every Man is a favourable Judge of himself God who knows a great deal more of us must condemn us also But if our Conscience condemn us not if it acquit and absolve us then have we confidence towards God great and sure hopes in God's Mercy that he will not condemn us We cannot have the confidence of Innocent Men because we have been Sinners but we may have the humble confidence and assured hopes of Returning and Repenting Prodigals and of Dutiful and Obedient Children That this is so the Apostle's Authority is sufficient to convince us and yet if the Apostle had not said it the Reason and Nature of the thing sufficiently proves it God has given us a certain Rule whereby we shall be judged which I have now explained to you and therefore since God will Judge us by this Rule if we also judge our selves by it we may certainly know what Judgment God will pass on us for neither God nor our own Consciences can mistake in their Judgment and when the Rule is the same and there can be no mistake on either side the Judgment must necessarily be the same and then the same Judgment our own Consciences make of us God will make If they condemn us God will condemn us also if they condemn us not neither will God condemn us then we shall have confidence towards God There needs no Proof of this if you will but confess that every Man knows himself what his own Life and Actions are and that God knows every Man better than he knows himself If we know our selves and know our Rule if we know what we ought to do and what we have done we can certainly tell whether we hâ—ve done our Duty or not If our own Consciences condemn us it is certain we have not done our Duty that we either do what we know we ought not to do or leave undone what we know we ought to do for no Man in his wits will accuse himself wrongfully Now if this be our case our Consciences do very justly condemn us and then God who knows us as perfectly as our own Consciences must condemn us also For a guilty Sinner who is guilty to his own Conscience can never escape the Condemnation of a Just and Righteous Judge if he know his guilt Did earthly Princes or Judges as certainly know the Crimes which every particular Man is guilty of as God knows the sins of all Men with all their particular Circumstances and Aggravations every Malefactor who knows what Laws he has broken and what is the Punishment of the breach of such Laws might certainly know what his Condemnation will be if he meet with a Righteous Judge But earthly Judges do not always know mens personal Guilt or want Evidence to prove it and thus many Criminals whose own Consciences condemn them may escape the Condemnation of Men but God knows more of us than our own Consciences and needs no other Evidence against us but our own sciences to condemn us Earthly Judges are not always upright in their Judgment fear or favour may pervert their Justice but God is the Judge of all the World and therefore Supream Rectitude and Justice that no Sinner can hope to escape his Justice whose own Conscience condemns him for if God should not condemn such Men he would be less just than the Conscience of a Sinner But you 'll say the Mercy of God and the Merits of our Saviour may pardon a Sinner whose Conscience condemns him though Justice can't I answer No If Conscience condemns according to the Rule of the Gospel it condemns both for the Justice and for the Mercy of God for the Gospel is the Gospel of Grace and contains all the Mercy that God hath promised to Sinners and if Conscience judging by this Rule condemns a Sinner the Mercy of God will not save to be sure Gospel-Grace and Mercy his own Conscience being Witness cannot save him and therefore his Salvation is hopeless while he continues in this state No man's Conscience which is not disturbed or misguided of which more presently will absolutely condemn him without some notorious and manifest guilt and the Mercy of the Gospel cannot save such a Man He must be conscious to himself that he lives in the commission of some known Sin or in the habitual neglect of some known Duties without Repentance and Reformation before he will peremptorily condemn himself and the Grace of the Gospel will not pardon wilful impenitent unreformed Sinners Thus on the other hand if our Consciences do not condemn us then we have confidence towards God If we have a conscience void of offence both towards God and towards Man If we have the testimâ—ny of our consciences that in simplicity and godly sincerity we have had our conversation in this world If we serve God with such Zeal and Vigour and Activity if we so abound in the work of the Lord in all the Fruits of Righteousness Goodness and Charity that our own Consciences approve and commend us for it this will give us a secure hope in God's Mercy such a hope as will not make us ashamed as will not deceive us Though we know nothing by our selves as St. Paul speaks yet are we not hereby justified he that judgeth us is the Lord 1 Cor. 4.4 In this case it is true also that God is greater than our hearts and knoweth all things and therefore he may observe those defects and imperfections in us which we do not observe in our selves that the most innocent and vertuous Man dares not challenge Heaven as his Merit and Desert but yet expects and hopes for a Reward from the Mercies of God has confidence towards God A man 's own Conscience cannot deceive him in this Every Man must know whether he carefully avoid all known and wilful sins whether he discharge all the essential parts of his Duty to God and Men especially when he does any eminent Services for God and becomes an Example of Piety and Vertue A Man whose Conscience gives this Testimony to
be made better by their Company as to escape the better with them but they should remember that the Tares and the Wheat grow together in the same Field but yet have a very different end the one is gathered into the Barn and the other is burnt and that good and bad Fish are taken in the same Net but they are separated at the Day of Judgment All our Separations now will avail us nothing unless we take care to be found in the Number of Christ's Sheep when we come to Judgment for if we be concealed Hypocrites and rotten and corrupt Members of a Sound and Orthodox and Pure Church though we have conversed with good Men all our lives here yet we must part Company at last the angels at that day will gather forth 〈◊〉 of Christ's kingdom and Church all things which offend and work iniquity The Judge being thus seated on his Throne and all Mankind before him the Books are opened which is another Circumstance to be considered in the last Judgment 20 Revel 12. 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 The like we have 7 Dâ—â— 10. This opening of the Books seems to be an Allusion to the Form of Process in Humane Judicatures for we cannot think that God keeps Books of Record in a literal sence as Men do for such Books are onely Helps to Memory and therefore God needs them not but this represents to us the exact and impartial Justice of the last Judgment for there are two sorts of Books which shall be opened and out of which we shall be judged 1. The Laws of God which are the Rule of our Actions by which we shall be judged 2. The Records of our Lives and Actions which contain the Matters of Fact or that for which we shall be judged I shall discourse more particularly of this hereafter and shall only observe at present that God is a curious Observer of all our Actions and keeps a faithful Record of them though we take little notice of our Sins ourselves and forget them presently and then think they are gone and past yet God remembers them and we shall find fair and fresh Records of them when we come to Judgment And how will it amaze and confound bad Men to see all the Sins of their Lives called to remembrance to see a black Catalogue of all their Impieties and Blasphemies Injustice and Oppression Uncleanness and Impurities to see an exact Counterpart of a most wicked and ungodly Life Nothing can blot our Sins out of God's Book but a sincere Repentance and Reformation of our Lives for then God has promised to blot out all our iniquities which is somewhat more then crossing the Account for when the Account is only crossed it is visible still but what is blotted-out don 't so much as appear it no longer stands upon Record it is forgot and shall never be alleadged against us there shall be no mention made of it at the Day of Judgment for St. Iohn tells us there is another Book shall be opened the Book of Life out of which good Men shall be judged which records their Faith and Patience and Charity and all the good they have done but none of their Sins which God has blotted out of his Remembrance and has promised to keep no Record of them And is not this a mighty encouragement to true Repentance that all our Sins shall be blotted out before the Day of Judgment that there shall be no mention no remembrance of them then Some very good Men have been guilty of very great Wickedness which it may be none but God and their own Consciences know and the best Men have so many Failings Weaknesses Miscarriages that should all the Sins of good Men be exposed to the View and Censure of Men and Angels at the Day of Judgment tho' they were finally absolved and acquitted yet it would cause great Shame and Confusion and overcast the Glory of that Day but their Sins are done away and forgot and they have washed their Garments and made them white in the Blood of the Lamb this is the only way to conceal your most secret Sins to blot them out of God's Book by Repentance for if they remain there upon Record how successful soever you may be in concealing them at present the Books will be opened at the Day of Judgment and then all the World will know them Thus in our Saviour's Account of the last Judgment none of the Sins which good Men ever committed are mentioned but only the Graces and Vertues for which they are rewarded nor is there any notice taken of any good Actions done by bad Men but only of their Sins 25 Mat. as God expresly declares it shall be 32 Ezek. 13 14 16. When I shall say to the righteous that he shall surely live if he trust to his own righteousness to the good he hath already done and commit iniquity all his righteousness shall not be remembred but for his iniquity that he hath committed he shall die for it Again when I say to the wicked Thou shalt surely die if he turn from his sin and doth that which is lawful and right None of his sins that he hath committed shall be mentioned unto him he hath done that which is lawful and right he shall surely live And now let us consider in what order Christ will Judge the World When he has separated between the Sheep and the Goats between good and bad Men he first calls good Men to Judgment and pronounces them blessed as we see 25 Matth. And this very much becomes the Person of our Judge who is the Saviour of the World and therefore to save is his proper Work and must take place of all Acts of Justice and Vengeance the Saviour of the World as I observed before must be our Judge that he may be a complete and perfect Saviour that he may finally acquit and reward us and therefore this is his first care to separate his Elect from the Company and to deliver them from the Destruction of the Ungodly This demonstrates to all the World that God takes more pleasure to save then to destroy this convinces Sinners that their Destruction is from themselves that they might have been saved as well as others for Christ came to save them and they see now that he would have done it would they have been saved by him in the Glory which is conferred on good Men they see what they have lost before they hear that terrible Sentence pronounced Go ye cursed into everlasting fire and this is a double Damnation to see the Happiness of good Men and to feel their own Misery for when we come to Judgment to lose Heaven will be thought a terrible Punishment though there were no Hell