The Whole Duty of Divine Meditation, Part 2 · Meditation 26
MED. XXVI. Upon Judgment.
2 Cor. v. 10.
For we must all appear before the judgment-seat of Christ, that every one may receive the things done in his body, according to that he hath done, whether it be good or bad.
IT is an Axiom, confirm'd by woful Experience, That the generality of them which bear the Name of Christians, and pretend to fight under Christ's Banner against the Enemies of the Apostolick Faith, are, by their profligate Impieties, the greatest Scandal to that glorious Profession: They live in such a Universe of Wickedness, as if the Redeemer of the World descended from Glory, not to subvert, but to establish the Empire of Sin; as if the main Design of their State, in this World, were only to fulfil that voluptuous Maxim of the Licentious Epicure, Let us eat and drink, for to morrow we mst die.
II. BUT if these Proficients in Atheism had a serious Memento, That there is a Deity inthron'd in Heaven, who is of purer eyes than to behold iniquity; and so jealous of his Honour, that he will not remit the least Guilt with Impunity: could they be perswaded to devote a few Minutes of the Time which they consume away to finish their Debaucheries, to a solemn Reflexion upon that inevitable Account which will be exacted from them at the General Resuscitation; when not only their Words and Actions, but the most occultest of their Cogitations shall be brought to Judgment; it were impossible for them, unless given over to a reprobate Sense, to perpetuate under the Dominion of their Carnal Appetites and Infections.
III. THE very Apprehension of the Vengeance to come, would fright 'em into an immediate Repentance; and produce such an admirable Reformation, that living soberly, righteously, and godly in this present world, they might be found Unblameable in the Great Day of the Lord Jesus. And what a Day will that be! at whose Appearance the Sun shall be turned into Darkness, and the Moon into Blood, Act. 2. 20. When the Heavens shall be rolled together as a Scroll, Isa. 34. 4. the Elements melt with fervent hert, 2 Pet. 3. 10. and this magnificent imbellish'd Structure of the Material Creation must perish in a Conflagration.
IV. When the ecchoing Sound of the Last Trumpet will be loud enough to astonish drowsie Mankind out of the sleep of Mortality; and all those innumerable Bodies, which for so many past Ages have inhabited the vast Re-Regions of Forgetfulness, shall arise from their Beds of Dust, and appear before the Aweful Tribunal of the Great and Impartial Judge! The Books will then be open'd, the Indictments read, and every Man's Works shall be produc'd at the Barr, and Evidence given, either for or against him. No Title of Honour, or Dignity of Place; no Preheminence of Nativity, or Excellency of Natural or Acquired Endowments, will, in this Court of Equity, be admitted, as a sufficient Demurr, to an immediate and impartial Tryal: but the High and the Low, the Rich and the Poor, the Noble and the Mean, the Learned and the Ignorant; he that sits on the Throne, and he that stands behind the Mill; even from the Swayer of the Scepter, to the Drawer of Water, must be equally impleaded; and without respect of Persons, receive a Compensation proportionable to their Merits.
V. IN this Great Day, the Lord of the Harvest will gather his Wheat into Heaven's Granary, bat the Chaff shall be thrown into Fire Unquencheable; He shall separate his Fine Gold from the Dross, and distinguish Right Jewels from False and Counterfeit Sparkles: The Sheep will then be separated from the Goats, and True Believers manifestly known from Formal Hypocrites. But what Tongue! not that of Angels, can express the Joy of those vigilant Servants, whom their Lord, at that time, will find diligently employ'd in the Performance of their Duties! All that formidable Pomp, and dreadful Solemnity, which shall precede and attend the Advent of the Judge, will but contribute to their Comfort, and enhance their Consolation: For they shall know, that He, who appears with such ineffable Majesty, to keep his General Sessions of Righteousness, is the same Iesus which was crucify'd for their Redemption.
VI. THEN that Exalted Saviour will accost his Followers in the Regeneration, Mat. 19. 28. with these or the like transporting Expressions: you my beloved Disciples, who renounc'd all that the World call'd Grandeur and Generosity, for the sake of your Crucify'd Lord and Master, and despis'd the present Enjoyments of Flesh and Blood, in Expectation of a Future and Invisible State of Felicity. You, who who retain'd your Obedience, in the mid'st of a Rebellious Generation; and embrac'd Vertue, in an Age of Impiety and Prophaneness. You, who subdu'd your sensual Appetites by the Austerities of Self-denial, and conform'd them to the sublimer Dictates of Reason and Religion. And You, who rejoyc'd in the Day of Tribulation, and adorn'd the Doctrine of the Gospel by an exemplary Patience in the Day of Adversity: This is the Day wherein you shall receive a Recompence for all your Sufferings; a Recompence so incomparably Glorious, and of such Sublimity, that it will at once create and accomplish your Beatitude.
VII. Your Troubles were Finite, and expired in a Moment; but the Duration of your Bliss will be Infinite and Eternal: You shall now enter into that Heavenly Kingdom, where all your Tears shall be wiped from your Eyes; and those Chrystal Drops which you plentiful shed in the Prosecution of your Salvation, shall be congeal'd into Pearls, to enrich your Diadems, and imbellish your Robes of Immortality: There no Deluge of Sorrow shall disturb the Serenity of your Felicity; no Anxiety or Perplexity, no Discontent or Vexation shall intrude within the Limits of your Happiness; but you shall securely bathe in Oceans of unmix'd Pleasures, and feast upon Delights which know no period.
VIII. BUT, while these Fluctuations of the Divine Mercy will consummate a Beatifick Calm in the Breasts of the Righteous, what irresistable Tempests of Consternation shall excruciate those impenitent Wretches, who chose their Portion on this side Heaven; and preferr'd the Dung and Miseries of a transitory World, before the Real Joys of a Solid Eternity? Now, they shall in vain invoke the Mountains to bury them beneath their perpetual Ruines; that by a more tolerable Destruction, they might evade the Fury of that Almighty Indignation ready to overwhelm them. But what will attribute them, in these inextricable Exigencies, that they possess'd the Quintessence of the Earth; that they were splendid in Wealth and Honour; that they inhabited Palaces of Cedar, and took their Repose under Canopies embroider'd with Gold; that they were homag'd by Crouds of Parasites, and grew Famous in Popular Applause; that they were the Favourites of Crowned Heads, and the Darling of the Multitude; that all things past currrant according to their Desires, and were not molested by the Misfortunes of other Men: when those illustrated Accommodations did contribute but to render 'em the more magnificently Miserable; when they vanish'd like a visionary Dream of the Night; but the Memento and Guilt of their Absurdity, will, like venomous Snakes and Serpents, cling to their Consciences, and become their remorseless Executioners for infinite Ages.
IX. THEN the Eyes of their Understanding will be opened, which the Fascinations of Sin had kept long clos'd; and they shall perceive the Folly and Frailty of those impertinent Trifles which they courted with so much Passion and Eagerness; and for whose unsatiable Fruition they neglected their Immortal Souls, forfeited their Title to a blissful Immortality, and subjugated themselves to those tremendous Extremities which are the inseparable Concomitants of an inevitable Damnation. What heaps of Treasure then would they give, to reenjoy one Minute of that inestimable Time which they profusely expended in the unprofitable Works of Darkness, that for so inconsiderable a space, they might be but within a Possibility of Salvation? What Presidents of Mortification! What Miracles of Piety? What inimitable Examples of Vertue and Goodness would they appear to Mankind, were they to renovate the Lease of their Lives! How would they disesteem all those magnificent Shadows, and glittering Annihilations, which the idolizing Worldling so preposterously admires; and esteem the unmatchable Treasure of a Pacifick Conscience, unspeakably beyond the most transcendent Terrestrial Enjoyments!
X. BUT alas! 'twill be then too late for Repentance; and they who, in the Day of their Visitation, contemn'd the repeated Proposals of a Redeemers Reconciliation, shall, at this Juncture, with Tears of Blood, supplicate for Mercy, and be refus'd it: and the Lord Iesus, who would have been their Saviour, and so frequently extended his compassionate Arms to receive them into Favour, if they would but Believe and Repent, will, as their inexorable Judge, utter this direful Sentence against them, Depart from me, ye cursed, into everlasting fire, prepared for the Devil and his Angels.
XI. O IRREVERSIBLE Decree! from whence there can be no Appeal! and which no sooner pronoun'd, but those Condem'd Wretches must be for ever exil'd from the Ecstatical Presence of the Almighty; and by Legions of apostate Spirits, haled away to the dismal Place of Horrour and Confusion, where they shall languish under the pressure of intollerable Punishments; and, by Wonder of Omnipotency, shall in Torrents of Fire, endure Extremity of Frigidity; and in Rivers of Ice, be tormented with perpetual Burnings: There they shall feed the Worm that never dies, and transude in those Flames which cannot be extinguish'd. And the Consideration of the Perpetuity of those Supernal Felicities which they rejected for Vanities, and of the infinite Continuation of their infernal Tortures, will shipwreck all their Hopes in the formidable Gulf of Desperation, and plunge them into the bottomless Abysses of the lowest Hell.
The Prayer.
O BLESSED Father! since Thou art Formidabe in Thy Judgments, and Thy Anger is a Consuming Fire; since those incorrigible Sinners who despise the Offers of Thy Mercy, shall become the Victims of Thy implacable Vengeance, and glorifie Thee in unimaginable Pains; since Thou hast appointed a Season, when an Eternity of Felicity, or Misery, shall be the Reward of our Actions; and we must either stand or fall, according to our handy Operations: Vouchsafe, that the Contemplation of these weighty Verities may be such a prevalent Inducement to the Amendment of our Lives, that we may work out our salvation with fear and trembling. Let not the pernicious Allurements of this fraudulent World make us negligent of the Wrath to come; but let us walk with that aweful Care, and vigilant Circumspection, that we may appear with Joy, in that dreadful Day wherein the greater part of mis-call'd Christians shall be consign'd to an Immortal Ruine and Destruction.