tremble at Judgment who are afraid of the Judge we are his he has bought us with his Blood he has renewed and sanctified us by his Spirit and now he is come to own us in the presence of Men and Angels to bestow a Kingdom on us to receive us to himself that where he is we may be also and behold his Glory But then on the other hand consider I beseech you what a terrible Sight this will be to bad Men who have laughed at the Fable of a Crucified Jesus and mocked at Future Judgment And is he come will such a Sinner say and must I be judged at last when I thought myself so secure of Judgment Behold I see him and can be an Infidel no longer Lord what Terrour is there in his Looks how do his Eyes flame with Vengeance who can abide the Day of his Wrath How can I appear before him as my Judge whom I would not have for my Saviour what account can I give of my actions who never expected to be called to an account for them what Plea can I make for my self who would never believe who would never be perswaded how shall I bear his Presence and yet whether can I flie from him when he condemns me to whom can I Appeal from the Judge and the Saviour of the World O Wretch that I am who would never believe never think of this Day and now I must be condemned by the Saviour of the World Let these Thoughts then make a deep impression upon our Minds before that Day comes let us remember that the Son of Man will be our Judge he who laid down his Life for us he who now invites us to Repentance he who now promises Pardon and Forgiveness to true Penitents let this teach us to reverence his Laws to imitate his Example to put our whole Trust and Confidence in his Merits and Intercession That when he cometh again in his glorious majesty to judge both the quick and the dead we may rise with him unto life immortal as our Church teaches us to pray Secondly Let us now consider what Assurance we have that the Man Christ Jesus shall be the Judge of the World and of this St. Paul tells us That God hath given assurance unto all men in that he hath raised him from the dead But you 'll say how does the Resurrection of Christ from the Dead prove that he is made the Judge of the World For that any Man rises from the Dead does not prove that he is Judge of the World we shall all rise again the last Day but not to judge but to be judged This is very true and therefore if we knew no more of Christ but only that he rose again from the Dead this would not prove him to be the Judge of the World But we must consider 1. That the Resurrection of Christ is a great and irresistible Proof of the Doctrine which he preached this our Saviour himself appeals to as the last Proof of his Divine Authority Destroy this temple and in three days will I raise it up And thus his Resurrection from the Dead proves that he is the Judgâ— of the World for this he expresly taught his Disciples That God had committed all judgment into his hands that the Son of man shall come in the glory of his Father with his angels and then shall he reward every man according to his works So that our Saviour plainly declared that God had made him the Judge of the World and God has confirmed his Testimony by raising him from the Dead 2. We must consider also that the Resurrection of Christ was his visible Advancement into his Kingdom then his Kingdom began when he rose from the Dead then all power was committed to him both in heaven and in earth 28 Mat. And that God has thus advanced him was visible to all Men in the Effusion of the Holy Spirit on the Apostles on the Day of Pentecost and in those wonderful Miracles which they wrought in his Name Thus St. Peter tells the Iews that the miraculous Effusion of the Spirit was a visible Proof that God had advanced Christ into his Kingdom 2 Acts 33. Therefore being by the right hand of God exalted and having received of the Father the promise of the Holy Ghost he hath shed forth this which ye now see and hear And from hence concludes v. 36. Therefore let all the house of Israel know assuredly that God hath made that same Iesus whom ye have crucified both Lord and Christ. Thus upon occasion of the Miracles the Apostles wrought when they were forbid to preach in his Name St. Peter tells the Sanhedrim The God of our fathers raised up Iesus whom ye slew and hanged on a tree Hiâ— hath God exalted with his right hand to be a Prince and a Saviour for to give repentance unto Israel and remission of sins And we are his witnesses of these things and so is also the Holy Ghost whom God hath given to them that obey him 5 Acts 30 31. So that when Christ rose again he took possession of his Kingdom and he must Reign till he hath put down all Enemies under his Feet that is till he hath judged the World finally condemned all bad Men and rewarded his faithful Disciples and then he shall give up the Kingdom again unto his Father that God may be all in all 1 Cor. 15. But besides this there are two visible Effects of the Resurrection of CHRIST which are plain Presages and Preludiums to a Future Judgment the Destruction of the Iewish Nation and Policy and the Destruction of the Kingdom of Darkness 1. The Destruction of the Iews for their great Sin in Crucifying their Messias This Christ foretold he would do this is the meaning of that Parable of the noble man who went into a far country to receive for himself a kingdom and to return But his citizens hated him and sent a message after him saying We will not have this man to reign over us And when he returned he said But those mine enemies which would not that I should reign over them bring hither and slay them before me 19 Luke 12 14 27. And therefore when Christ had foretold the Destruction of the Temple and his Disciples asked him When shall these things be and what shall be the sign of thy coming and of the end of the World Our Saviour intermixes the Prophesie of the Destruction of Ierusalem the Fate of the Iewish Nation and the last Judgment or the end of the World the Destruction of the Iewish Nation being the beginning and the Presage of a Future Judgment 24 Matth. This was a visible Act of his Justice and Power and a fair Warning to the World what all the Enemies of Christ's Kingdom must expect 2. The Overthrow of the Devil's Kingdom in the World is another Presage of a Future Judgment When Christ appeared the Devil had his Kingdom in this World was the God
of this World and was worshipped with Divine Honours and St. Iohn tells us For this end the Son of God was manifest to destroy the works of the devil 1 Joh. 3.8 And Christ tells us That the Holy Ghost whom he would send upon his Apostles after his Resurrection from the Dead should convince the world of judgment because the prince of this world is judged 16 John 11. Where by Judgment I understand the final Judgment which the Spirit should convince the World of by that visible Judgment he would execute upon the Prince of this World For by the preaching of the Gospel he turned Men from Darkness unto Light and from the Power of Satan unto God converted great part of the Heathen World silenced their Oracles and exposed their Gods and their Worship their Temples and their Altars to contempt This was a visible Judgment of the Prince of this World and have not bad Men reason to look about them when they see their Prince and Captain so miserably defeated If Christ have already begun to execute Judgment on the Prince of this World is not this a plain Fore-runner of the final Judgment when the Devil and his Angels and all bad Men shall be condemned to Eternal Fire This assurance we have that the Son of Man shall Judge the World that God hath raised him from the Dead and thereby confirmed that Testimony which he gave of himself advanced him to the right Hand of Power and has already given some sensible Proofs of his Power and Justice in the Overthrow of the Iewish Nation and the Devil's Kingdom I shall only farther observe that this sensible Proof we have that Christ shall Judge the World is a sensible Proof of a Future Judgment as certain as we are that Christ is risen from the Dead so certain we are of a Future Judgment which is an abundant Confirmation of all those other Arguments from Reason and Scripture that God will Judge the World CHAP. IV. The Manner and Circumstances of CHRIST's Appearance and the Awful Solemnities of Iudgement IV. LET us now consider the Manner and Circumstances of Christ's Appearance and the Awful Solemnities of Judgment I have upon several Occasions hinted at most of these things already but the Order of my Discourse requires that I should say something particularly though briefly to them Now our Saviour tells us 16 Matth. 27. That the Son of man shall come in the glory of his Father with his angels 9 Luke 26. That the Son of man shall come in his own glory and in his Fathers's and of the holy angels That the Lord Iesus shall be revealed from heaven with his mighty angels in flaming fire taking vengeance on them â—hat know not God and obey not the gospel of our Lord Iesus Christ 2 Thess. 1.7 8. That the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout with the voice of the archangel and with the trump of God which shall awaken the dead and raise them out of their graves but the dead in Christ shall rise first then we which are alive that is whoever shall then be alive at Christ's coming to Judgment shall be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air and so shall we ever be with the Lord 1 Thess. 4.16 17. That when the Son of man cometh in his glory and all his holy angels with him then shall he sit upon the throne of his glory And before him shall be gathered all nations and he shall separate them one from another as a shepherd divideth his sheep from the goats 25 Matth. 31 32. Or as it is described in St. Iohn's Visions 20 Revel 11 12 13. And I saw a white throne and him that sat on it from whose face the earth and heavens fled away and there was no place found for them And I saw the dead small and great stand before God and the books were opened and another book was opened which is the book of life and the dead were judged out of those things which were written in the books according to their works This gives us a general Prospect of the Order and Solemnity of the last Judgment which is very Pompous and Glorious and very Terrible there never was any thing like it all the Roman Triumphs in comparison with this were but like the Sports and Apish Imitations of Children let us then particularly but briefly consider the several parts of it Christ shall come in his own glory and in his Father's and of the holy angels In his own glory that must signifie the Glory of his Person that is the Glory of an Incarnate God His Body will be bright and glorious as the Sun so it was when he was transfigured before them on the Mount His face did shine like the sâ—â— and his raiment was white as the light 17 Matth. 2. And if there be any new degrees of Glory and Majesty we may be sure he will appear in it all when he comes to Judgment The Scripture assures us that Christ is now clothed with a glorious Body and that at the Resurrection he shall change our vile bodies that they may be like to his own most glorioâ—s body and he himself tells us At that day the righteous shall shine forth like the sun in the kingdom of their Father And if he bestows such Glory on his meanest Members how glorious will the Head be for St. Paul assures us that there are very different degrees of Glory There is one glory of the sun and another glory of the moon and another glory of the stars for one star differeth from another star in glory So also is the resurrection of the dead 1 Cor. 15.41 42. With what Glory then will our Lord appear when he comes to Judgment If the Righteous shall shine forth like the Sun how bright will the Sun of Righteousness himself be If meer Creatures shall appear so glorious what will the Glory of an Incarnate God be for he will not then appear as a glorious Creature but as a visible God as I observed before his Godhead will shine through his glorified Humanity as visibly as our Souls do through our Bodies and how glorious must that Body be in which the Deity appears a Glory which distinguishes a God from the most glorious Creatures But he must appear in the Glory of his Father also that is as I understand it with the Authority of an Universal Judge this is a great Glory for Authority and Power carries Reverence and Majesty with it whatever Mens personal Qualifications are though upon all other accounts they are much inferior to their Neighbours yet the Character of a Judge makes them Venerable especially to those who must be judged by them Authority is an invisible Character but yet gives a visible Majesty it is apt to impose upon our Judgments of Persons that we hardly think them the same Men when they are in Authority and out of it and
God 5 John 25 28 29. Verily verily I say unto you The hour is coming and now is when the dead shall hear the voice of the Son of God and they that hear shall live Which may indeed be understood of a Metaphorical or Spiritual Death and Resurrection that those who were dead in Sin should be raised to a new Spiritual Life by hearing the Voice of the Son of God and believing on him but though our Saviour might intend this sence yet he meant somewhat more by it as appears from what follows Marâ—â— not at this for the hour is coming in the which all that are in their graves shall hear his voice and shall come forth they that have done good unto the resurrection of life and they that have done evil unto the resurrection of damnation So that the Voice of Christ shall raise the Dead which may well be called the Trump of God when it shall found through all the World and give a new Life to the Dead and summon 'em to Judgment For this is another very material Circumstance of the Future Judgment that all the Dead both good and bad shall be raised to Life again and appear before the Judgment-seat of Christ that as we must give an account of whatever we have done in this Body whether good or bad so we must re-assume our Bodies again when we come to Judgment I shall noâ— now discourse to you of the Nature or Possibility of the Resurrection which belongs to another Argument but the Man Christ Jesus is the Judge of Mankind he appears in Humane Nature himself cloathed with an Humane Body though infinitely bright and glorious and he comes to Judge Men not unbodied Souls and therefore we must be reunited to our Bodies again for a Humane Soul is not a perfect Man without its Body An unbodied Soul is guilty of none of those Sins for which we must be judged for we must be judged for what we did in the Body the Man sinned and the Man must be judged and the Man must be either happy or miserable for ever Lord with what Horrour and Reluctancy will bad Souls enter into their Bodies again not to enjoy their old beloved Sensualities but to be judged for them when the very sight of their Bodies shall call to mind all the Villanies they acted in them when they must appear before their Judge with all the Instruments of Wickedness about them with those very Bodies whose members they had made servants of uncleanness and to iniquity unto iniquity with Eyes full of Adultery with Hands stained with Blood or full of Bribes or Rapine with a blaspheming a lying a reviling a perjured Tongue to unite a Soul to such a Body again is like tying a Man to his murdered Friend which will both scare and torment his Conscience and poison him with a noisom Stench The Body which was the Tempter and the Instrument in all this Wickedness will now be a Witness against him and an Instrument of his Punishment too But holy Souls will give a better Welcome to their Bodies Bodies in which the Flesh was subdued to the Spirit which were preserved pure and clean from all sensual Lusts which were the ready Instruments of Righteousness and Vertue which were offered up living holy and acceptable Sacrifices to God which suffered loss and want and torment and death for the sake of Christ good Men would desire to be judged in such Bodies as these which are visible Testimonies of their Faith and Patience and Mortification and Self-denial which are the Members of Christ and the Temples of the Holy Ghost Thus all Mankind shall rise out of their Graves and appear before the Judgment seat of Christ and therefore now let us Contemplate our Lord sitting upon his Throne the Throne of Judgment as he himself tells us 25 Matth. 31. When the Son of man shall come in his glory and all the holy angels with him then shall he sit upon the throne of his glory Thus it is described in the Revelations of St. Iohn 20 Revel 13. And I saw a great white throne and him that sat on it from whose face the earth and the heaven fled away and there was found no place for them What this Throne is or where it shall be placed we are not told but the most probable Conjecture is that this Throne is a bright resplendant Cloud in the form of a Magnificent Throne placed in the Air at some distance from the Earth for he is said to come in the Clouds of Heaven and St. Paul plainly intimates to us that his Throne shall be in the Air when he tells us that those good Men who shall be alive at Christ's coming shall be caught up to meet the Lord in the air and it is not improbable but this may be near Ierusalem where the Temple of God was where he conversed while he lived on Earth and where he was judged and condemned as a Malefactor and treated with the utmost Scorn and Contempt and nailed in an infamous manner upon the Cross for it seems to add to the Triumph of that Day to appear in all his Glory to Judge the World at that very place when he suffered Shame and Reproach and Death for the Sins of Men and from the hands of Sinners But this is all Conjecture though not without some appearing Probability and therefore I shall build nothing on it The Judge being sat all Mankind appear before him to give an account of their Actions and to receive their finaâ— Sentence Before him shall be gathered 〈◊〉 nations and he shall separate them 〈◊〉 from another as a shepherd divideth the sheep from the goats 25 Mat. 32. This 〈◊〉 I observed before our Saviour attributes to the Ministry of Angels who separate the Wheat from the Tares and the good Fiâ—â— from the bad for the angels we know 〈◊〉 ministring spirits sent forth to minister for them who shall be heirs of salvation 1 Heb. 14. and therefore they know how to distinguish between good and bad Men and to separate them from each other This is the last and final Separation good and bad Men shall never meet and intermix with each other after this they live together in this World and conveâ—â— together are united by Relation and Inâ—â—rest are Members of the same Church and Worship God together in the same Holy Communion of Prayers and Sacraments but they must part Company at the Day of Judgment the one to the right Hand and the other to the left Men are very apt to flatter themselves now that they shall fare the better for the Company they keep no Church and no Communion is pure enough for them not that they are so much Holier than their Neighbours but they are of Opinion that God will judge of them by the Church they are of and therefore whatever Church strikes their Fancy most with an appearance of Sanctity and Holiness there they joyn themselves not so much to
iniquity I shall add but one thing more wherein Christians have a great advantage of Jews and Heathens and have received more from God than they I mean the plentiful Effusions of the Holy Spirit on the Christian Church I dare not say that Heathens themselves wanted all internal assistances to Vertue for I can by no means perswade myself that God who is an infinite Spirit should for so many Ages together have no commerce with Mens Minds and Spirits that he who governs the inanimate World who steers the Motions of the Heavens and keeps Nature in its regular course should wholly neglect the Rational World and the Moral Springs of Action should not influence the Thoughts and Passions of Men should not lay invisible Chains on their Lusts nor inspire them with great and vertuous Designs especially since he is a great Lover of Vertue and abhors Vice and knows the corruption and wickedness of Humane Nature without some restraints and its weakness and indisposition to Vertue without Divine impulses I am sure Heathens themselves called Vertue the Gift of God and ascribed all extraordinary Excellencies and Perfections of Men to the secret Influences and Assistance of their Gods The Jews had these internal assistances to illuminate their Minds to influence their Wills to direct their Choice to give warmth and vigour to their Affections as is plain from the Psalms of David wherein there are many Prayers to this purpose which prove what his belief was for had he not known that the Divine Spirit did use to assist good Men he would not have prayed for such assistance and yet this he frequently does O that my ways were directed to keep thy statutes With my whole heart have I sought thee O let me not wander from thy commandments Blessed art thou O Lord O teach me thy statutes Open thou mine eyes that I may behold wondrous things out of thy law I am a stranger upon earth hide not thy commandments from me Make me to understand the way of thy precepts Strengthen thou me according to thy word Teach me O Lord the way of thy precepts Give me understanding and I shall keep thy law Incline my heart unto thy testimonies and not to covetousness Turn thou mine eyes from beholding vanity and quicken me in thy way And in his Penetential Psalm he prays Create in me a clean heart O God and renew a right spirit within me restore unto me the joy of thy salvation and uphold me with thy free spirit But as devout Men among the Jews had a greater Portion of the Holy Spirit than the Heathens had so there was still a more plentiful effusion of the Holy Spirit on the Christian Church not only in those miraculous Gifts and Powers which were bestowed upon the Apostolick Age and continued in some measure in After-Ages till Christianity was well planted in the World but as to the renewing and sanctifying Influences of the Holy Spirit We are now born not only of Water but of the Spirit in Baptism 3 Iohn 5. And by one spirit we are all baptized into one body And have been all made to drink into one spirit 1 Cor. 12.13 So that at Baptism we are born of the Spirit which signifies that the Holy Spirit gives Life and is a new principle of Life to us in the Lord's Supper we drink into one spirit which signifies the fresh supplies and communications of Grace as we daily receive new supplies of Spirits from our natural Meat and Drink and I know not how we should have the Spirit in a more perfect manner than as a constant Principle of Spiritual Life But it is not my business to prove what all Orthodox Christians own that the Holy Spirit is more plentifully bestowed upon the Christian Church than ever it was upon Jews or Heathens which makes our Obedience to the Divine Laws more easie by encreasing our strength and exacts from us more perfect Attainments as we all expect more perfect Services from our Children as their age and strength increases All this God has done more for us Christians than he has done for the rest of the World and all this which he has done more for us makes it our Duty to live better and to do more Service for God than other Men and that makes it very just for God to expect more from us and proves that he does so and then we should consider what manner of persons we Christians ought to be in all holy conversation and godliness If Heathens shall be damned for their sins against the weak and glimmering Light of Nature and the feeble Convictions of a Natural Conscience corrupted by Education by Examples by prevailing Customs by the Cheats and Impostures of wicked Spirits what shall the Condemnation of Christians be who neglect so great salvation who when light is come into the world love darkness rather than light because their deeds are evil who sin against the clear and bright Light of the Gospel against the Love of GOD against the Grace of CHRIST against the powerful Restraints and Assistances of the HOLY SPIRIT If those that despised Moses law died without mercy under two or three witnesses of how much sorer punishment suppose ye shall he be thought worthy who hath troden under foot the Son of God and hath counted the blood of the Covenant wherewith he was sanctified an unholy thing and hath done despite unto the spirit of grace 10 Heb. 28 29. Which is true not only of final Apostasie but of all wilful Disobedience The Grace of the Gospel makes our Work easie but our Duty more and the danger of a miscarriage greater It does not require unsinning Obedience but it requires greater measures of Purity â—nd Goodness and Universal Righteousness and has threatned an hotter Hell against wicked Christians Thus Christians will have a greater Account to give than Jews or Heathens because they have received more and as the Receipts of Christians are very unequal so their Accounts will proportionably differ Some Christians have but One Talent others Two others Five and as no Man shall account for more than he has received so how much soever we have received we must account for it all This needs no proof and it has been sufficiently explained and applied above The CONCLUSION How to know what our Sentence will be at the last Iudgment With an Exhortation to Reverence our own Consciences HAving thus largely discoursed concerning a Future Judgment I need not mind you of what Concernment it is to know what Sentence Christ will pass on us at that Day whether Come ye blessed of my Father or Go ye cursed into everlasting fire For if we must be happy or miserable for ever how can we content our selves to live in doubt and suspence which of these shall be our Portion What a Hell is this to live in perpetual fear of Hell How can we sleep without dreaming of Lakes of Fire and Brimstone without the
cannot deceive us for if we judge of our selves by the same Rule by which God will judge us every Man knows himself so well that he cannot mistake and when GOD and Conscience judge by the same Rule their Judgment must be the same but if we will alter our Rule of Judging if Conscience judge by one Rule and God by another then there is no wonder if their Judgments differ if GOD condemn those whose Consciences acquit them and absolve those whose Consciences or rather whose private Opinions and Fancies condemn them This is plain from the instances before us some Men justifie themselves in doing very wicked Actions but the reason is because they mistake the Nature of Things they call Good Evil and Evil Good and then their Consciences applaud and commend them for doing that which is very wicked but which they call good As our Saviour tells his Apostles The time cometh when every one that killeth you will think that he does God good service 16 Joh. 2. Others who know they are guilty of very great wickedness are yet very confident of their Salvation and full of assurance because they do not judge of themselves by the good or evil which they do but rely upon other marks and evidences for their Salvation Raptures Extasies Enthusiasms a presumptuous Faith in Christ an ineffectual sorrow for sin some arbitrary and fanciful signs of Election c. Now indeed these Mens Consciences do condemn them for they accuse them of great wickedness but they will not believe the Judgment of their own Consciences but judge of their final state by their own mistaken Fancies and Opinions and therefore according to the Apostle's Rule God will condemn these Men for their own Consciences condemn them though they will not believe the Judgment of their Consciences but justifie themselves in contradiction to it when Conscience condemns Other Men who are not condemned by their own Consciences that is who cannot charge themselves with any great guilt who are not conscious to themselves that they have lived in any known Sin or in the habitual neglect of any material and essential part of their Duty yet they strongly fancy that GOD will condemn them that they are under the Sentence of Reprobation that they have sinned against the Holy Ghost though what that Sin is they know not They want the testimony of the Spirit to assure them of their Election they have never felt the Spirit of Bondage and therefore they fear they have not the Spirit of Adoption that is they have never felt the Horrours and Agonies of guilty Sinners because by the Grace of GOD and the Blessing of a pious and vertuous Education they have always been preserved from those frightful sins which amaze the Conscience and therefore they fear it is but a false Peace they feel that God is not in this soft and calm Voice of Conscience because they have never heard nor seen the Thundrings and Lightnings from Mount Sinai Or though they maintain a great reverence for God and worship him with all humility of Soul and Body yet they do not feel those flights of Devotion those melting and languishing Passions which some good Men â—eel or if at any time they are transported beyond themselves and feel their Hearts all on fire with Love and Devotion these Fits are but short these Boylings and Fermentations go off and they return to a calm and even Temper and then they think they grow cold and that the Spirit of GOD hath forsaken them Now it is plain also that these Mens Consciences do not condemn them for they charge them with no such guilt as the Gospel of Christ will condemn them for but they are condemned only by false Opinions or by a misguided and disturbed Fancy In both these Cases Men absolve or condemn themselves not by the judgment and testimony of Conscience but by their mistaken Notions and Opinions and God is not concerned to confirm and ratifie such a Judgment The Sum is this When St. Iohn tells us That if our Conscience condemn us God will condemn us but if our Conscience do not condemn us neither will God condemn us he means by Conscience that Judgment which Men make of themselves by comparing their Lives and Actions with the Rule by which GOD will judge us for Conscience judges not by making new and arbitrary Rules of Judgment but by giving Testimony to our Lives and Actions The Judgment of Conscience is no more but this Whether we have obeyed or disobeyed the Laws of the Gospel whether we have done those things which the Gospel threatens to punish or which it promises to reward but when we judge our Actions by false Notions of Good and Evil contrary to the Gospel of our Saviour we judge by a false Rule and then our Judgment must be false and when we judge our selves not by the Nature of our Works as God will judge us and as Conscience judges but by Opinions and Fancies and some Arbitrary and Enthusiastick Marks and Signs this is not the Judgment of Conscience which judges only of our Works but the Judgment of private Opinions Conceits and Fancies and though God will judge us as Conscience judges yet he will not judge us as Opinion Fancy Enthusiasm or Melancholy judge us Thus we see how we may know what our Sentence shall be at the Day of Judgment Two sorts of Men may certainly know what their Sentence shall be and a third sort may know the great danger they are in if they will but listen to the Judgment of their own Consciences Men whose Consciences absolutely condemn them may certainly expect that God will condemn them For when their guilt is so notorious that they are forced to condemn themselves why should they think that a just and righteous Judge will not condemn them Those whose Consciences do not condemn them shall certainly be pardoned and rewarded by the Mercies of God those whose Consciences will neither condemn nor absolve them but do both by turns are in a very doubtful and hazardous state their Salvation as yet is very uncertain and it concerns them to work out their salvation with fear and trembling and to give all diligence to make their calling and election sure And should not this teach us to reverence the Judgment of Conscience as a Divine Sentence not to provoke our Consciences to condemn us to obey their Admonitions and to reform at their Rebukes and Censures What would Sinners think should they hear themselves condemned by God every time they commit a known and wilful sin And yet Conscience is the Tribunal of God judges for God and condemns us in God's Name and by his Authority and God will confirm and execute its Sentence and therefore Conscience is a very venerable Judge And ought we not diligently to hearken to that Judgment which Conscience passes on us This I am sure is of vast concernment both to bad and to good Men whether it
condemn or absolve Bad Men indeed are very much afraid of their own Consciences because they reprove and condemn them and threaten them with Hell-fire and therefore they fly from their Consciences will not hear them and will not suffer them to speak but what do they get by this but to drop securely and quietly into Hell and then Conscience will speak and never be silent more If they will not hear their Consciences now they must hear their Judge at the last Day Though Conscience be never so severe in its reproofs and censures they are the reproofs of a Friend the Judgment of Conscience is only to warn us of the Judgment of God to warn us to fly from the Wrath to come and would Men hearken to their own Consciences it would give check to them and reform their Lives if we would patiently hear Conscience threaten us with Hell-fire it would be the most effectual means to prevent our falling into it But what is the Joy and Triumph of a good Conscience which speaks Peace to us and gives us a secure hope in God which gives us the joyful prospect of Eternal Rewads of a Crown and a Kingdom of those Rivers of Pleasures which are at God's right hand When with St. Paul we can say I have fought a good fight I have finished my course I have kept the faith henceforth is laid up for me a crown of righteousness which God the righteous Iudge will give me at that day 2 Tim. 4.7 8. This is a happy state indeed a plerophory and full assurance of hope which makes good Men impatiently long for the Day of Judgment to be put into the possession of so great a happiness and there is no way to have this but from the Testimony of our own Consciences The Holy Spirit indeed does give Testimony to good Men and fill them with joys unspeakable and full of glory but then the spirit beareth witness with our spirits that we are the sons of God 8 Rom. 16. Unless our Consciences give testimony to us the Holy Spirit never does all pretences to the Testimony of the Spirit without this are cheats and delusions and Conscience will never give this testimony to us without a tried and experienced Vertue till the Flesh be subdued to the Spirit till our Minds are refined and purified and our Conversations adorned with all Divine and Heavenly Graces Every new conquest we gain over this World every new degree of strength and vigour in serving God our increase in Charity and all good Works will add new degrees to our hope our Consciences will give the more ample testimony to us and that gives us greater confidence towards God which will make us joyfully expect that blessed hope and glorious appearance of the great God and our Saviour Iesus Christ. The END BOOKS Published by the Reverend Dr. SHERLOCK Dean of St. Paul's Master of the Temple and Chaplain in Ordinary to Their Majesties AN Answer to a Discourse Entituled Papists Protesting against Protestant Popery Second Edition 4 o An Answer to the Amicable Accommodation of the Differences between the Representer and the Answerer 4 o A Sermon at the Funeral of the Reverend Benjamin Calamy D. D. 4 o A Vindication of some Protestant Principles of Church-Unity and Catholick-Communion from the Charge of Agreement with the Church of Rome 4 o A Preservative against Popery Being some plain Directions to unlearned Protestants how to Dispute with Romish Priests First Part. Fifth Edition 4 o A Second Part of the Preservative against Popery Second Edition 4 o A Vindication of Both Parts of the Preservative against Popery in Answeâ— to the Cavils of Lewis Sabran Jesuit 4 o A Discourse concerning the Nature Unity and Communion of the Catholick Church First Part. 4 o A Sermon Preached before the Right Honourable the Lord Mayor and Aldermen of the City of London on Sunday Novemb. 4. 1688. 4 o A Vindication of the Doctrine of the Holy and Ever-Blessed Trinity and the Incarnation of the Son of God Occasioned by the Brief Notes on the Creed of St. Athanasius and the Brief History of the Unitarians or Soâ—iâ—ians and containing an Answer to both The Second Edition 4 o The Case of the Allegiance due to Soveraign Powers stated and resolved according to Scripture and Reason and the Principles of the Church of England with a more particular Respect to the Oath lately enjoyned of Allegiaâ—ce to their present Majesties King William and Queen Mary Sixth Edition 4 o A Vindication of the Case of Allegiance due to Soveraign Powers In Reply to an Answer to a late Pamphlet Entituled Obedience and Submission to the present Government demonstrated from Bishop Overal ' s Convocation-â—ook with a Postscript in Answer to Dr. Sherlock ' s Case of Allegiance 4 o A Practical Discourse concerning Death The Fifth Edition 8 o A Practical Discourse concerning a Future Judgment 8 o Printed for W. Rogers Books lately Printed for Will. Rogers A Sermon Preached at White-Hall before the Queen on the Monthly-Fast-Day September 16th 1691. 4 o A Persuasive to Frequent Communion in the Holy Sacrament of the Lord's Supper The Eighth Edition 12 o Both by the most Reverend Father in God John Lord Archbishop of Canterbury A Sermon Preached on the 28th of Iune at St. Andrew's Holbourn By the Right Reverend Father in God Iohn Lord Bishop of Norwich 4 o A Sermon Preached on the 28th of Iune at St. Mary it Bow on Sunday the fifth of Iuly 1691 at the Consecration of the Most Reverend Father in God Iohn Lord Archbishop of Yoâ—k and the Right Reverend Fathers in God Iohn Lord Bishop of Norwich Richard Lord Bishop of Peterborough and Edward Lord Bishop of Gloucester By Ioshua Clark Chaplain to the Right Reverend Father In God the Bishop of Norwich 4 o The Necessity of Serious Consideration and Speedy Repentance as the only way to be safe both living and dying By Clement Elis Rector of Kirkby in Nottingham-shire 8 o Reflections upon two Books one Entituled The Case of Allegiance to a King in Possession The other An Answer to Dr. Sherlock ' s Case of Allegiance to Soveraign Powers in Possession on those parts especially wherein the Author endeavours to shew his Opinion to be agreeable to the Laws of this Land In a Letter to a Friend 4 o In the Press The Folly of Atheism demonstrated to the Capacity of the most unlearned Reader By Clement Elis Rector of Kirkby in Notting-hamshire 8 o 9 Heb. 27. 1 Tim. 6.3 Practical Discourse of Death Ch. 2. Sect. 1. 2 Pet. 3.5 6. 22 Matth. 30. 49 Ier. 18. 25 Iob. 6. 80 Psal. 17. 146 Psal. 3. 2 Ezek. 1. 3 Phil. â—2â— 13 Mat. 43. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 â— Rom. 1. 3 Rom. 20 21 22 24 25. 4 Rom. 5 Rom. 1. 2 Eph. 8 9. 3 Tit. 5. 2 Rom. 6. 2 Cor. 5.10 7 Mat. 21.22 23. 1 Rom. 18. 2 Rom. 8 9. 2 Titus 11 12. 6 Ron 23. 10 Act. 34 35. 2 Cor. 8.12 2 Cor. 5.14 Nimquam vir magnus sine Divino afflatu 119 Psalm 5 10 14 18 19 27 28 34 35 36 37. 51 Psal. 10 12. P. 415. 2 Tit. 13.