Catechistical Guide to Sinners and Babes in Christ, Part 2 · Chapter 9
CHAP. IX. Of God's Work of Government in Judging the World by Jeſus Chriſt.
Q. WEll then, let us diſcourſe of God's Work in judging the World by Jeſus Chriſt; What in the general have you learn'd concerning it?
A. This I have learned in general, That God hath appointed a day in the which he will judg the World in Righteouſneſs by that Man Jeſus Chriſt, whom he hath ordained, whereof he hath given aſſurance unto all Men, in that he hath raiſed him from the Dead. Act. 17.31. Rom. 2.16.
Q. What are we to underſtand by the Day which God hath appointed?
A. This Day is that time when Jeſus ſhall come from Heaven in the Glory of his Father, with his Angels. Acts 1.11. 1 Theſſ. 4.16. Mat. 16.27. & 25.31, &c.
Q. But when ſhall this time be?
A. At the end of the World; but the day and hour, Jeſus ſaid, No Man knoweth, no, not the Angels which are in Heaven, neither the Son, but the Father only. Mat. 24.36. Mark 13.32.
Q. What is it for God to judg the World by the Man Jeſus Chriſt, whom he hath ordained?
A. The meaning is, That God although he be the Judg of all, yet will not himſelf judg the World, but by Jeſus Chriſt, to whom he hath committed all Judgment, giving him Authority to execute the ſame, having ordained him to be the Judg of Quick and Dead. Heb. 12.2, 3. Joh. 5.22, &c. Rom. 2.16. Act. 10.42.
Q. What did Jeſus that God did thus exalt him?
A. He was obedient unto Death, even the Death of the Croſs. Phil. 2.8, 9, &c. Rom. 14.9.
Q. Whom will God judg by Jeſus Chriſt?
A. God will by Jeſus Chriſt judg the Angels that ſinned, and all Men, both Quick and Dead, at his Appearing and Kingdom. 2 Pet. 2.4. Jud. 6. 1 Cor. 6.3. Jam. 2.19. Act. 10.42. 2 Tim. 4.1. 1 Pet. 4.5. Rom. 14.10. 2 Cor. 5.10. Mat. 10.15. & 11.22.
Q. What are we to underſtand by the Quick and Dead?
A. We are to underſtand by the Quick, or Living, all Men that ſhall be found alive at the coming of Chriſt; and by the Dead, all both good and bad, that died before his coming.
Q. But how ſhall theſe be brought unto Judgment?
A. Thus: all the Dead, both the Juſt and Unjuſt, ſhall be raiſed, and then all Men ſhall by the Angels be gathered and brought before Chriſt, ſitting on the Throne of his Glory. Acts 24.15. John 5.28, 29. Mat. 25.31, 32.
Q. Is there any thing in ſpecial to be obſerved here concerning the Righteous?
A. Yes; for we are taught, That the Dead in Chriſt ſhall riſe firſt; and that they, together with thoſe Believers that ſhall be alive at the coming of Chriſt, ſhall be caught up in the Clouds, to meet the Lord in the Air.
[1 Theſſ. 4.13, &c. But I would not have you to be ignorant, Brethren, concerning them which are aſleep, [that is, the Faithful which are Dead] that ye ſorrow not even as others which have no Hope. For if we believe that Jeſus died, and roſe again, even ſo them alſo which ſleep in Jeſus, will God bring with him. For this we ſay unto you by the Word of the Lord, That we [Believers] which are alive, and remain unto the coming of the Lord, ſhall not prevent [that is, ſhall not come before] them which are aſleep. For the Lord himſelf ſhall deſcend from Heaven with a ſhout, with the Voice of the Arch-Angel, and with the Trump of God: and the dead in Chriſt ſhall riſe firſt. Then we which are alive, and remain, 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. See alſo 1 Cor. 15.22, 23, 52.]
Q. Now tell me, What is it for God to judg the World in Righteouſneſs by Jeſus Christ?
A. God by Jeſus Chriſt will judg the World in Righteouſneſs, that is, Righteouſly, by rewarding every Man according to his Practice or Works, whether Good or Evil: for this Judgment is a Juſt or Righteous Judgment. Matth. 16.27. Rom. 2.6. Rev. 2.23. 1 Cor. 3.8. 2 Cor. 5.10. & 11.15. Rev. 20.12, 13. & 22.12. Rom. 2.5. Joh. 5.30.
Q. But what is it for God by Jeſus Chriſt to judg every Man according to his Works?
A. Here are two things to be conſidered.
Q. What is the first?
A. The firſt is; That God by Jeſus Chriſt will judg every Man: for all muſt ſtand before the Judgment Seat of Chriſt, and give an account of themſelves unto God. Rom. 14.10, 11, 12. 1 Pet. 4.1. 2 Pet. 2.9. 2 Cor. 5.10. Jam. 2.12.
Q. What is the Second?
A. The Second is; That God by Jeſus Chriſt will judg every Man according to his Works; that is, without reſpect of Perſons, and according to Truth and Right. Rom. 2.11. 1 Pet. 1.17. 2 Chron. 19.7. Epheſ. 6.9. Col. 3.23. Rom. 2.2. Rev. 19.2. Deut. 32.4. Pſal. 96.13. Gen. 18.25. Pſal. 9.4. Iſa. 10.2. Job 34.23. 2 Theſſ. 1.5, 6. 2 Tim. 4.8. Pſal. 45.6. Heb. 1.8.
Q. Can you explain this in a ſpecial Application to Men, whom God will juſtify and condemn by Jeſus Chriſt at the last Day?
A. I can.
Q. How do you ſet it forth in reference to thoſe whom God by Jeſus Christ will juſtify at the laſt Day?
A. Thus it may be done: God will render to every Man Eternal Life; who according to the Truth manifeſted to him, does, by patient continuance in well-doing, ſeek for Glory, and Honour, and Immortality; and that God will make them to exceed thoſe in Glory, whom they exceed in Righteouſneſs. Rom. 2.6, 7, 10. 1 Cor. 15.41. Matth. 20.23. Dan. 12.3. 1 Cor. 3.8. Phil. 4.17.
Q. How do you ſet it forth in reference to them whom God by Jeſus Chriſt will condemn at the laſt Day?
A. God will render Indignation and Wrath unto every one that is Contentious, and does not obey the Truth, as manifeſted either without the Law, or under the Law, or under the Goſpel; and that God will render the greateſt Puniſhment to the greateſt Offenders. Rom. 2.8, 9, 12, &c. 2 Theſſ. 1.8, 9. Mat. 11.22, 24. Luk. 12.47, 48. 2 Pet. 2.20, 21. 2 Cor. 9.6. Mat. 23.14.
Q. When you ſay, That God by Jeſus Chriſt will render to Men this or that; What mean you by that word?
A. I mean not only that God by Jeſus Chriſt will judg them, to ſuch or ſuch a Condition, but will alſo bring them into it. Mat. 25.31, to the end of the Chapter.
Q. What will follow this Judgment?
A. Firſt after this Judgment, all the Enemies of Chriſt being put under his Feet, and all things ſubdued unto him, the Son ſhall deliver up the Kingdom to God, even the Father, and ſhall himſelf alſo be ſubject to him that put all things under him, that God may be all in all. 1 Cor. 15.24, &c.
Q. What elſe will follow?
A. In reſpect of the Righteous this will follow: They being adjudged by Chriſt to inherit the Kingdom prepared for them from the Foundation of the World; and having their vile Body changed, that it may be faſhioned like unto Chriſt's glorious Body, ſhall enter into the Joy of their Lord, where they ſhall live, reſt, and rejoice, with fulneſs of joy for ever and ever. Matth. 25.34. Phil. 3.21. 1 Cor. 15.50. Matth. 25.21, 23. Luk. 20.35, 36. Joh. 6.51. 2 Theſſ. 1.7. Heb. 4.9. 1 Pet. 1.6. & 4.13. Pſal. 16.11.
Q. But what ſhall follow in reſpect of the Wicked?
A. The Wicked being judged to depart from Chriſt into everlaſting Fire, prepared for the Devil and his Angels, ſhall be caſt Body and Soul into Hell [Geenna] that Furnace of Fire, where ſhall be wailing and gnaſhing of Teeth. Mat. 25.41. & 10.28. & 13.42.
Q. What from the conſideration hereof may Sinners now be exhorted and perſwaded to?
A. They may hence be exhorted and perſwaded to repent and be converted, that their Sins may be blotted out, when the times of refreſhing come from the preſence of the Lord. Act. 3.19. & 17.30, 31.
Q. What from the conſideration of the aforeſaid Judgment, and that which follows, may Converts, or Believers, be exhorted and perſwaded to?
A. They may hence be exhorted and perſwaded to be ſtedfaſt, unmoveable, always abounding in the Work of the Lord. 1 Cor. 15.58.