XXXIII.

1 Pet. 4, 5.

36.

SERM. Paul, will bring to light the hidden things of darkness, and will make manifest the counsels of hearts; Rom. ii. 29. and, of every idle word that men shall speak, they Matt. xii. shall render an account at the day of judgment, saith our Lord; and, After a long time, saith he again, the Lord of those servants cometh, and reckoneth with them, &c. and, Every work, saith the Preacher, God shall bring into judgment, with every secret thing, whether it be good, or whether it be evil.

Matt. xxv. 18.

Eccles. xii.

4.

6. That upon each man, according to the true quality of his doings, thus detected, examined, and stated, a definitive sentence shall pass, whereby he shall be acquitted and approved, or condemned and 1 Cor. iv. 5. reprobated; tóte ó éñaivos yevýσetai ékάotw, Then, saith St. Paul, praise shall be to each one; praise, that is, generally, (by an evpnuoμòs, or favourable manner of speech,) a due taxation and esteem, according to Matt. xxv. merit: then, Well done, good and faithful servant, and, O thou bad and slothful servant, shall be pronounced to one or the other sort of men, respectively, according to their demeanour here.

21, 26.

Μισθαποδο

σία.

7. That according to the purport of this sentence Heb. xi. 26. a discrimination shall be made; and to one party a gracious reward, correspondent to the quality and measure of their good works, in a blissful place; to the other, a sore punishment, in proportion to their demerits, in a place of misery: to the one, everlasting joy and glory above in heaven; to the other, endless sorrow and shame beneath in hell, shall be Matt. xvi. assigned and dispensed effectually. The Son of man shall come in the glory of his Father with his angels; and then he shall reward every man accordMatt. xxv. ing to his works; he will separate them one from

27.

32, &c.

21, 30.

another, as a shepherd divideth his sheep from the SERM. goats; and he shall set his sheep on his right XXXIII. hand, but the goats on the left: then the King shall say unto them on his right hand, Come, ye blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world:and, Then he shall say also unto them on the left hand, Depart from me, ye cursed, into everlasting fire, prepared for the Devil and his angels: and, the good and faithful servant shall enter into his Master's joy; the bad and slothful shall be cast Matt. xxv. into utter darkness, where is weeping and gnashing" of teeth: so our Lord himself expresseth it: and St. Paul thus; We must, saith he, all appear before 2 Cor. v. 10. the tribunal of God, ἵνα κομίσηται ἕκαστος, that each one may bear away the things done in the body, according to what he hath done, whether it be good or bad: and, God will render unto every man ac- Rom. ii. cording to his works: to them who by patient continuance in well-doing seek for glory and honour and immortality, eternal life: but unto them that are contentious, and obey not the truth, but obey unrighteousness, indignation and wrath, tribulation and anguish, upon every soul of man that doeth evil and even of old the prophet Daniel thus briefly did express this different doom; Many of Dan. xii. 2. them that sleep in the dust of the earth shall awake; some to everlasting life, and some to shame and everlasting contempt. Hence in regard to one party is the time of judgment styled the season of refresh- Acts iii. 19. ment, the day of redemption, the time of recompense; Luke xiv. in reference to the other, the day of wrath, the day Col. iii. 24. of destruction, the time of vengeance; when our 2 Pet. iii. 7. Lord will, as St. Paul saith, take vengeance on them 2 Thes. i.8.

6-9.

Eph. iv. 30.

12.

Rom. ii. 5.

SERM. that know not God, and obey not the Gospel of our XXXIII. Lord Jesus Christ; who shall be punished with everlasting destruction from the presence of the Lord, and from the glory of his power.

Luke ix. 26.

8. We are also further taught, that all this shall be transacted in a regular, public, and most solemn manner, in open court, in the face and audience of 2 Thes. i.7.all the world, before angels and men. For our Lord Matt. xxv. is described coming to judgment with attendance of all the holy angels; and the saints, being them1 Cor. vi. 2. selves first approved, shall become assessors there; 28. and all men are represented as present at the trial, Luke xii. or as spectators and auditors thereof: Whosoever, Matt. x. 32. saith our Lord, shall confess me before men, him

31. xvi. 27.

Jude 14.

Matt. xix.

8, 9.

shall the Son of man also confess before the angels

of God; but he that denieth me before men shall Luke xii. 2. be denied before the angels of God: and, There is nothing covered that shall not be revealed; neither hid, that shall not be known: whatsoever ye have spoken in darkness shall be heard in the light; and that which ye have spoken in closets shall be proclaimed upon the housetops.

9. That also the judgment shall pass to the full conviction and entire satisfaction of all that are present; so that each one concerned therein shall be forced in conscience to acquiesce in his doom, as most just and equal; the condemned stooping with awe to his justice; the absolved adoring with humble reverence his mercy; the spectators applauding with admiration his holy wisdom: for that day Rom. ii. 5. will be, as St. Paul calleth it, a day of revelation of God's righteous judgment; and God in regard Rom. xiv. thereto is represented speaking thus; To me, as I

II.

live, saith the Lord, every knee shall bow, and

10.

every tongue shall give glory to God: and, our SERM. Lord, in that day, saith St. Paul, will be glorified XXXIII. in his saints, and admired in all them that believe: 2 Thess. i. and, He will then, as it is in St. Jude, convince all Jude 15. that are ungodly of all their ungodly deeds, which they have ungodlily committed, and of all the hard speeches which ungodly sinners have spoken against him. So that thereupon those confessions and acclamations of praise in the Revelation shall be resounded through heaven; Alleluia; Salvation, and Rev. xix. 2. glory, and power, be to the Lord our God; for true and righteous are his judgments: Salvation be unto our Lord, that sitteth on the throne, and to the Lamb: Great and wonderful are thy works, O Lord God Almighty; just and true are thy ways, O thou King of saints.

Thus do the holy Pandects of our religion set out that judgment, which all men hereafter must undergo; wherein all the attributes of God shall be conspicuously glorified; his wonderful clemency shall be sweetly displayed, his exact justice shall be terribly demonstrated, his perfect wisdom shall be clearly unfolded; wherein the knotty intrigues of Providence shall be loosed, and the mysterious depths of the divine counsels shall be laid open; and God's honour, which now by the bold and rash judgments of men is often attacked, shall be thoroughly cleared and repaired, to the joyful satisfaction of all pious men, and sad confusion of the impious; wherein the great wisdom of those, who before all things choose to be good and to serve God, and the extreme folly of those who scorn or neglect piety, shall be most evidently apparent; wherein, finally, all scores that now so undiscernibly run on shall be exactly

xvi. 7. vii.

10. XV. 3.

XXXIII.

SERM. quitted and even; impartial right shall be done; every man shall have his due assigned and rendered to him.

Gen. xviii.

25.

But let so much suffice concerning the judgment appointed we proceed to the next particular, the Judge ordained; he; that is, Jesus, our Lord and Saviour.

II. The original right and absolute power of judging doth inseparably pertain to God Almighty, whose creatures, whose servants, whose subjects we are, and consequently to whose judgment we stand obnoxious; as he is naturally the Sovereign Lord and King of the world, so he is, as the apostle calleth Heb. xii.13. him, Kpins ávтw, the Judge of all persons and things; and particularly Judge of all the earth, or of all men, as Abraham did style him; as upon the grounds specified we do owe obedience to the laws he prescribeth us, performance of the service he allotteth us, and improvement of the talents he committeth to us; so we do thence stand obliged to render an account to him of our correspondent behaviour, and due management in those respects, and are liable to the judgment he shall make thereof: all judgment therefore must be exercised either immediately by God himself, or in subordination to him; in his name and right, and by virtue of authority Rom. xiv.4. derived from him; otherwise that of St. Paul, Who

art thou that judgest another's servant, might be alleged against any, who, without license or commission from him, should presume to judge us.

Now that immediately God should administer any judgment, is incongruous to his nature and to ours; it is particularly unsuitable to the manner of this judgment, which God designeth to be such as may pass