The Practical Believer, Chapter 4
CHAP. IV. Of the Future Judgment.
The Contents.
The necessity of the Future Judgment. All men are judged, and made happy or miserable, at their Deaths. But not so fully then, as they will be afterwards. The Compleat and General Judgment, is at the end of the World. In that, Jesus Christ is to be the Judge. Who are to be judged. In that Judgment no Condemnation, but for breaking Gods Laws: So not for indifferent things. Men shall be tryed and sentenced for all their sinful Actions, with regard to their lasting Effects. For their most secret ones. And such ill deeds as were disguised under the fairest Pretences. For their sinful Omissions. And Neglecting to Employ, and improve their Talents. For sinful Words. And Thoughts and Desires. For all these Men shall be judged impartially, without Respect of Persons. But with Equity and Candor, not in Rigor. The Benign Judge will be very ready to observe what makes for us, and make the best of our Performances. And interpret the seemingly Rigorous Expressions of his own Laws, with great condescension to Humane Measures. He will allow for involuntary Failings. And judge Candidly and Favourably of that involuntariness. And for Natural Infirmities. And for Providential disadvantages, as Multiplicity of Business, greatness of Temptations, Bodily Indispositions. For Pitiable Defects of Degrees in Duties. Great Latitude on the side of Bliss, and all not required to be of the same Size. He will Reward Good Things, tho' done with Difficulty and Reluctance, yea when Pitiably stain'd with impure mixtures. Our Judge will shew all this Candor, and would have us expect it. In Recompencing good Men, he will consider the Difficulties and Oppositions. And the hazard, and cost of their Services. And the hardships of Providence, allotted to exercise good Men in this Life. Of the Condemnation of ill Men. The Fire, which is to torment them, shall burn up and dissolve the World… Practical Inferences from the last judgment.
Quest. THE Seventh Article is, That, from Gods Right-Hand, Jesus Christ shall come to judge both the quick and the dead. Is there any Necessity of a Future Judgment?
Answ. Yes, upon many Accounts. As, 1st. For an exact Discrimination, to distinguish Persons. Numbers of ill Men are Hypocrites, or Good only in outward appearance; and these pass here for Saints. But at the last Day, God will make them manifest, and put them into Separate Companies, Dividing, as Christ foretold, the Sheep from the Goats, Mal. 25. 32.
2. For the clearing of Gods Justice, which seems in this World oftentimes, to misplace Rewards and Punishments, afflicting the Righteous, and making Sinners Prosperous: and therfore will surly be manifested in allotting more suitable Retributions, visibly Rewarding the good, and Punishing the wicked afterwards. Thus St. Paul told the Thessalonians, that their Present Sufferings, who were Gods good Servants, was a Token and Pledge of Gods Future Rewards on them, and of his …unishments upon their Persecutors. The Persecutions, and Tribulations you endure, are … manifest Token of the Righteous Judgment …f God, i. e. a token and ingagement, that God will hereafter manifest his Righteous Judgment, in their Punishment, and …our Reward▪ Seeing it is a Righteous Thing …ith God, to recompence Tribulation to them …hat trouble you; and to you, who are troubled, …est with us, when the Lord Jesus shall be re…ealed from Heaven, with his mighty Angels, … Thes. 1. 4, 5, 6, 7. And that Day, St. Paul …alls the Revelation of the Righteous Judgment …f God, when, however here they might …eem connived at, God will render to every Man according to his Deeds, Rom. 2. 5, 6.
3. For Reversing the Error of all Humane Judgments. All Humane Courts are …nder God, who is the Supreme Dispenser of Justice, and Protector of injured Inno…ence. And therefore if Humane Courts, who are his Substitutes, through Corruption, …r Mistake, Condemn the Innocent; it may …eseem him, whose Care comprehends, …nd whose Justice will do Right to all, …o Reverse the Error, and clear them again to all the World.
4. For the support of Religion, which …as no sufficient encouragement, without Hope of future Rewards. He that comes to God in Religion, must believe he is a Rewarder of those that diligently seek him, Heb. 11. …. Moses, and the Patriarchs, served God, out of a Respect to the Recompence of a Reward. v. 26. And this Reward was not present here, but Future in another World. They dyed, not having received the Promises, but only having seen them afar off, confessing themselves here to be Strangers and Pilgrims, and to seek a Country in a better place. v. 13, 14, 16. So that they were Religious, from an eye to future Judgment and Retributions.
Quest. From these Reasons, it may seem fit and necessary, God should have a Future Judgment; but are we sure he will have it?
Answ. Yes; he hath given assurance unto all men, that he will judge the World by Jesus Christ, by raising him from the Dead. Act. 17. 31.
Quest. How doth this assure it?
Answ. Both as an Instance of it, since thereby he most justly rewarded our Saviour Christ, who had done and suffered so much for him in this World. And also as it was Gods owning, and irrefragable Testimony to his Doctrine, which declares the Future Judgment as a Principal Part of it.
Quest. When is this Judgment to be?
Answ. At the end of the World, when there shall be no more Days of Labour and Tryal, but all of Recompence, in Punishment or Reward.
Quest. If it be so far off, men will be the less afraid of it, they being very apt to overlook Dangers that lye remote; as indeed, when any things are far distant, to look upon Great ones as little, and little ones as none at all. And will none be judged, till the end of the World?
Answ. Yes: That is only for the General Judgment of all men. But every particular Man is sentenced at his Death, either to a State of Bliss, or Misery.
Quest. But if a man be condemned in the First Judgment, since there is so great a Distance betwixt it and the Second, may he not have time to make his Peace, and either by doing or suffering something himself, or by the Care and Kindness of his Friends, offering Sacrifices, Prayers or Alms for him, get the Sentence reversed, and his State alter'd, and come off clear at the last Judgment?
Answ. No: Betwixt the Place of Rewards and Punishments, in the other World, there is an unpassable Gulph fixed, so that they who would pass from you to us, cannot; as Abraham, told the Rich Man in Torment *Luk. 16. 26.. There is neither Repentance nor Reconciliation in the Grave. When once the Night is come, says our Saviour, no Man can Work, Joh. 9. 4. Now, in this Life, saith St. Paul, is the accepted Time, now is the Day of Salvation, 2 Cor. 6. 2. And at the last Day, Men shall all be tryed, not for what they have done, or suffered since they were separate Spirits, but for what they did when they were Cloathed with their Bodies; giving account for every thing done in the Body, 2 Cor. 5. 10. And those deeds, are not what others have done for us, but what, through the Grace of God, and the Benifit of their Prayers, we have been enabled to do for our selves. Every Man shall receive for things done in his Body, according to what he hath done, saith St. Paul. And every Mans cause of rejoycing, must be in himself alone, and not in another, by passing over his Neighbours Prayers, or Merits to him. For every man shall bear his own Burden, Gal. 6. 4, 5. As a just God will not punish one for anothers Sin; so neither will he accept one for anothers Well-doing, Ezek. 18. 20.
Quest. If Sentence is so quickly passed upon them, the Souls of good men are not in a deep sleep, and insensible State, but enter upon Happiness, as the Souls of ill men do upon misery, as soon as they leave this world?
Answ. Yes, they do so. For this day, says our Saviour to the Penitent Thief, thou shalt be with me in Paradise, i. e. in a place of Happiness, Luk. 23. 43. And for me to dye is gain, saith S. Paul, whereas an insensible State would have brought him no Advantage, Phil. 1. 21. And when we are absent from the Body, we are present with the Lord, which presence notes happy enjoyment, 2 Cor. 5. 68. And Lazarus, when he dyed, was carried into Abraham's bosom, and Dives lift up his eyes in Hell, being in Torment, Luk. 16. 22, 23. All which shew, the Deceased Righteous to be Happy, (as the Wicked Wretched,) not only in expectation, but present enjoyment.
Quest. You speak this of all the Righteous?
Answ. Yes, for the Scripture makes no Difference. This Day shalt thou be with me in Paradise, said Christ to the Penitent Thief, tho' he had been a very great Sinner, and was but a very young Convert. And the usual way of expressing the Death of good Men, is by their †1 Cor. 15. 6, 8, 20, 51. & 1 Thes. 3. 13, 14, 15.falling asleep, which notes Ease and Refreshment. And in general it is said of these that dye in the Lord, that from henceforth they are blessed, and rest from their Labours, Rev. 14. 13. So that this Present Life, as our Lord notes in the *Luk. 16. 25.Story of Lazarus, is the Time of their receiving evil things: And they are no longer exercised with Torments, but, what is inconsistant with them, enter upon ease and comfort, in degree more or less, according to the difference of their virtuous Attainments, immediately upon their Deaths.
Quest. But is the Happiness of the one, or the Misery of the other, so full then, as it shall be after the last Judgment?
Answ. No; for now their Souls only are Happy, but then their Bodies shall be raised too, and the Bliss of the whole man, both Soul and Body, shall be compleat. And then they shall be happy in a fuller degree, and have a more perfect measure of it. This increase of Happiness they shall receive at the last Judgment; and therefore it is †Luk. 14. 14. 2 Thess. 1. 6, 7.called the Time of their being crown'd, or rewarded, 2 Tim. 4. 8. and they are represented as desiring it. So the Souls under the Altar, slain for the Testimony of Jesus, do in the Revelations, asking how long God would delay to judge the World, for the Consummation of their Reward, and of their Persecutors Punishment, Rev. 6. 9, 10, 11. And so it is with the damned Spirits too, the heaviest part of their Doom being still to come, and their present Miseries, tho' very great, being but Foretastes and Beginnings of what they are to be consign'd to at the last Day. Thus the Devils are said to be reserved in Chains, against the Judgment of the Great Day; their present State, it seems, in comparison of it, being no more than the Misery of a Prison, compared to that of the Day of Execution, 2 Pet. 2. 4. and Jude 6. And the Devils ask Christ, if he were come to torment them before the time; plainly intimating, that the Fulness of their Torment was not to be, till the Great Day comes, Mat. 8. 29.
Quest. These Private Judgments then are much short of the Last Judgment, because then is the Consummation of Reward and Punishment?
Answ. Yes. And also, because that Judgment shall be Solemn and Publick, in full Audience and open Court, before Angels and all the World, Luk. 12. 8, 9. and General, whereat all, both Angels and Men, shall be Convened and Tried.
Quest. And must not this be, till the End of the World?
Answ. No; for it is Christ's last Act in Discharging his Mediatory Office, and therefore must not be concluded, till all Things are at an End. All the Time before the Judgment, is a State of Trial, for proving Persons; wherein Christ gives Laws to direct us, and sufficient Opportunities, and inward Grace, to help us to perform them. But all the Time after it, is a State of irreversible Recompences, in sharing and dispensing promised Rewards, and Penal Executions. After the last Sentence is once pass'd, there is no more place for Intercessions, and making Friends; but a New and Unalterable State, of Eternal Joys or Miseries, commences. And thus Christ, having consummated his Trust as Mediator, will surrender up his Power, and deliver the Kingdom to God the Father, 1 Cor. 15. 24.
Quest. The General Judgment, you say, is at the End of the World: Has God decreed a set Time, and fixed a Day for it?
Answ. Yes; he hath appointed a Day, in which he will judge the World in Righteousness, Act. 17. 31. Which Day is called the Coming of Christ, 1 Cor. 15. 23. and the Day of the Lord, 1 Thess. 5. 2. & 2 Thess. 2. 2.
Quest. If every Mans Case must then be fully scann'd, and all Actions inquired into, and Pleas heard; methinks, that should be more than one Days Work?
Answ. So I suppose it will, the continuance perhaps of a thousand Days, nay, it may be, of a great number of Years. For Day, in Scripture, is any Continuance of Time, which is allotted for any Business. As the Time of Israels forty Years Travel in the Wilderness, is call'd the Day of Temptation, Heb. 3. 8, 9. and the Time of God's scourging and correcting, the Day of Visitation, Isa. 10. 3. & 1 Pet. 2. 12. and the Time of the Gospel, is the Day of Salvation, 2 Cor. 6. 2. And so the Day of Judgment, is not the Space of twenty four Hours, but all that Time which Christ shall spend upon it.
Quest. It seems, God has fixed the Day within himself; but is that determinate Day known to any besides himself?
Answ. No: For of that determinate Day knoweth no Man, no not the Angels in Heaven, nor the Son himself as Man, but the Father only, Mat. 24. 36. Mar. 13. 32. It shall surprise the World, and its coming shall be sudden and unexpected, as a Thief in the Night, or Travel upon a Woman with Child, 1 Thess. 5. 2, 3.
Quest. Who shall be the Judge at that Great Day, by whom all Men shall be tried, and sentenced?
Answ. Jesus Christ. For God will judge the World in Righteousness, by that Man whom he hath ordain'd; and he hath assured them of it, by raising him from the dead, Acts 17. 31. He only is able to discharge this transcendent Trust, having an Authority Paramount, which none can question, or appeal from; an Infinite Understanding, that can search the Hearts, and discover the naked Truth of every Mans Case, and the just Validity of their Pleas; an incorruptible Integrity, that cannot in the least be byassed by any Flatteries, Offers, Intercessions, or Intreaties; and an Almighty Power, that can reward the greatest Services, and punish the most high and haughty, as well as the meanest Criminals. And as he alone is qualified to Discharge, so he is also to sustain the Honour of it. For who is fit to sit as Judge of Princes and Potentates, Men and Angels; but he, who made and governs them, who is over all in Power, and next in Dignity to the Father, even the Son of God himself. All Judgment is committed to the Son, that all should honour the Son, even as they honour the Father, Joh. 5. 22, 23.
Quest. Who, at that Day, are to be judged?
Answ. All Men, that shall either be found alive at his coming, or were dead before. For we must all appear before the Judgmentseat of Christ, that every one may receive for the things done in the Body, 2 Cor. 5. 10. yea, and the lost Angels too; for know you not that we shall judge Angels? i. e. sit with Christ, and approve of his Sentence, when he condemns them? 1 Cor. 6. 3.
Quest. What Proof will there be of Crimes, and who shall be the Witnesses?
Answ. The Devils are the Accusers of the Brethren, Rev. 12. 10. and they will call for Justice: But there needs no Testimony at that Day, from the Father of Lies; for God, in his Omniscience, keeps a Register and Record of all Mens Actions, and that Book shall be opened, and the Dead shall be judged by that unerring Book of his Remembrance, Rev. 20. 12. Nay, indeed, there is no need of any Witnesses at all, because the Guilty shall confess their Crimes, and bear witness against themselves: Their Consciences shall bear witness, and their own Thoughts accuse, or excuse one another, in the Day when God shall judge the Secrets of Men, by Jesus Christ, according to my Gospel, Rom. 2. 15, 16.
Quest. Shall all this be acted in great Solemnity, with Pomp and Splendour?
Answ. Yes, as much as may be. For Christ will translate his Royal Court from Heaven to Earth, and come at the Righthand of that Glory, by which he now sits in peerless Splendor and Majesty, having all the Holy Angels glittering in their utmost Brightness, to attend this Triumph. He shall come in his own Glory, and in his Fathers, and of all the Holy Angels, Luk. 9. 26. & Mat. 25. 31. He shall descend from Heaven with a Shout, with the Voice of the Archangel, and the Trump of God, 1 Thess. 4. 16. And when that sounds, all that are in the Graves shall hear his Voice, and shall come forth, Joh. 5. 28, 29. and there shall be a Resurrection both of the Just and Unjust, Acts 24. 15. All these shall stand before his Throne: And, after an exact Scrutiny, and fair Trial of all Persons, he will separate them one from another, into two Companies, as a Shepherd divides the Sheep from the Goats; and as the Jews were wont to do in their Courts, setting such as were to be Absolv'd, together upon the Right; and such as were to be Condemn'd, upon the Left-hand of their Tribunals: And then, with great Solemnity, pass Sentence; bidding the Righteous, Come, ye Blessed of my Father, inherit the Kingdom prepared for you: But saying to the Wicked, Depart from me, ye Cursed, into everlasting Fire, Mat. 25. 31, 32, 34, 41.
Quest. Where shall this Glorious Appearance be?
Answ. In the Air, saith St. Paul, 1 Thess. 4. 17. In the Clouds of Heaven, says our Saviour, Mat. 26. 64. Somewhere it will be near the Earth; but in what particular Part, it little concerns us to inquire, or advantages us to understand.
Quest. When this Great Judge has passed Sentence, shall all Parties concern'd acquiesce in it?
Answ. Yes; he is the last Judge, from whom there can be no Appeal. And there will be no need of any: For all shall acknowledge the Perfect and irreprehensible Justice of what he determines. The Righteous, being tried first, and call'd up to surround him in Glorious Circles whilst he tries the rest, shall approve and praise his Justice. The Saints shall judge the World, i. e. as his Assessors, and the Comprobators of his Judgment, 1 Cor. 6. 2, 3. And the Mouth of all Wicked, who suffer under it, shall be stopped, and they shall be convinced of it within themselves. For he will then convince all that are ungodly, of all their ungodly Deeds, which they have ungodly committed, and of all the hard Speeches which ungodly Sinners have spoken against him, Jude 15.
Quest. For what shall we be judged, and condemned in this Judgment?
Answ. For all Transgressions of the Laws of his Gospel, and for those only. He will not judge Arbitrarily, or condemn any for unforbidden Things, or for no Cause but only because he pleases: But the Laws of his Gospel are the Rule he will try, and judge all Christians by. God shall judge Men by Jesus Christ, according to my Gospel, Rom. 2. 16. and the Word that I have spoken, the same shall judge Men at the last Day, Joh. 12. 48.
Quest. If we shall be condemn'd only by God's Laws, then to be sure unforbidden Things, which are not threatned in the Word of God, and which there is no Law against, will never condemn any?
Answ. Most certainly they will not; and there is no Sin in them to be condemned. For where there is no Law, there is no Transgression, Rom. 4. 15. And whosoever commits Sin, transgresses also the Law; for Sin is the Transgression of the Law, 1 Joh. 3. 4. And Sin is not imputed, when there is no Law, Rom. 5. 13. So that it is a vain Fear, either in Religion, or in Common Life, when Mens Consciences scruple Things, which they confess to be Indifferent, i. e. forbid by no Laws; as using a Form of Prayers, Kneeling, Standing, or other Rites and Ceremonies no where forbidden in the Worship of God. In the last Judgment, they shall answer only for the Breach of Laws, and therefore are sure not to endanger their Souls, or become accountable for such as these, since there is no Law against them.
Quest. You say Men shall be judged for all their Transgressions of Gods Laws; then, to be sure, for all their Sinful Actions?
Answ. Yes: For we must all appear before the Judgment-seat of Christ, that every one may receive according to that he hath done in the Body, whether it be good, or bad, 2 Cor. 5. 10. And the Dead are judged every Man according to their Works, Rev. 20. 13.
Quest. So that then we must answer for all the Actions of our Lives, and receive Reward if they have been good, or Punishment if they have been ill ones?
Answ. Yes.
Quest. The Actions of Men are quickly done, and when they are over, they are wont to think there is an end of them: But do not the good or ill Effects of several survive, and last long, and make for a great while after, as if the Action were still a doing?
Answ. Yes, they do, both in good and bad Actions. So that Men may be sinning, and serving God, no… only whilst they live, but when they are in their Graves.
Quest. I pray you instance to me, how it is so in good Actions?
Answ. If a Man gains Proselytes to God, this good Fruit will last, and they will serve him when he is dead. If he promotes Pious Truths, or gives good Advice, or shews an holy Example in this World; the Truths may be remembred, and the Advice followed, and the Example copied out and imitated, when he is gone out of it. If he endows Churches, or builds Hospitals, or the like; his Piety will be Active when he is at Rest, and he may be doing Good to the Worlds End. Of these, and all such Good Works of permanent Effects, it may be said, as St. Paul did of Abel's Faith, whereto God gave witness, that by it, he being dead, yet speaketh, Heb. 11. 4.
Quest. And is it thus also in bad Actions?
Answ. Yes. For thus the wicked Opinions a Man broaches, may infect after-Ages; or, his corrupt Example, or Advice, live in his Posterity and Acquaintance. Or, if he corrupt and seduce others into any Sins, they may persist in them, after he is reclaimed from them. But then he will sin most of all in his Grave, if he has introduced wicked and irreligious Laws and Customs, which are hardly altered, even where there is the plainest, and greatest Reason for it; or abused the Laws, to possess himself of other Mens Rights, which derives down the Crime and Curse of Detaining ill-gotten Goods, on all his Posterity; or writ Pestilential Books; or establish'd any ungodly or injurious Thing, the Mischief whereof no one knows when it may determine.
Quest. And when God comes to judge us, will he take notice, and have respect to these continued and multiplied Effects of our Actions?
Answ. 'Tis just he should, they being all imputable to us, and reasonable to believe he will. For Jeroboam is taxed for sinning long after he was dead, because other Mens Sins were owing to him, he having establish'd Iniquity by a Law, and formed an Idolatrous Schism, and †1 Kings 15. 29, 30, 34.made Israel to sin, 2 Kings 10. 29. And to this, I suppose, we may, in part at least, ascribe the Trouble and Concern of Ghosts, and their sometimes appearing to make Satisfaction, after any great Injuries have been done, and not repaired in their Life-time: Which may shew, not only God's Care, in doing Justice; but their own, in lessening their Account too. On which Inducement, I believe, Dives was sollicitous to have his Brethren advertised of the Place of Torment, by one sent from the other World, Luke 16. 27, 28. For he being the Head of his Family, and a vicious Man, might have done much in corrupting his Kindred and Acquaintance, that resorted to him. And they being made the worse by his Example and Influence; the Growth of their Guilt, and Fructification of the ill Seed he had sown, would accumulate and increase his Sufferings. Which Principle of Self-Love, I take to be a better Reason of that Care of his, than any Charity for others, for which we have cause to think there is no Room in that Place. For God is Love, and he that dwells in Love, dwells in God; which certainly they do not, who are excluded from his Presence into that State of Torment, 1 Joh. 4. 16. And this should make all Men careful how they broach any ill Opinions, or give others any evil Example or Advice: But especially, how they introduce, or revive, or any ways support Irreligious Customs, or enrich themselves and Families by Injustice, or establish any Wickedness, lest thereby they sin in their Graves, and have Power to offend God, when they have no Power to serve him; and continue daily adding Sin to Sin, when they can no longer repent of them. And, on the other hand, it should as much encourage them in any good and useful Deeds; whose Effects, when they spread beyond their Expectations, or last beyond their Times, they may reasonably hope that God, who is more ready to reward than punish, will impute to them.
Quest. I see at the last Day Men shall be judged for the Actions of their Lives: But shall they be judged not only for their more Open and Publick, but also for their most Secret Deeds, that were committed under Concealment, and in the Dark?
Answ. Yes; for God shall bring every Work into Judgment, with every Secret Thing, whether it be Good, or whether it be Evil, Eccl. 12. 14. And therefore all Men are infinitely concern'd, not to commit any Wickedness under the fancied Security of Privacy, or act shamefully even in the Dark; since all those Secret Works shall then be exposed to Publick View, and they shall be put to shame, and condemned for them, before Angels and Men, all looking on.
Quest. This is most terrible to all impenitent Sinners, who will then be punish'd for these Sins. But is it not discouraging to the Righteous too, who have repented of them, and are forgiven? For their Secret Sins, which cost them so much Sorrow here, will then renew their Grief, and put them to an open Shame, if there must be such Publick Mention and Exposal of them?
Answ. No; they are in no danger of any more trouble from them: For when they are brought to light, as Solomon says, God will bring every Work into Judgment, whether it be good or bad, Eccl. 12. 14. that shall be only to set off the Impartiality of this Scrutiny, and the Riches of Gods pardoning Mercy; but they shall not be upbraided with them, or lessen'd in the esteem, either of Glorified Angels, or of Men. For as God himself doth, so do they esteem of Penitents, as if they had always lived innocent; and when once they have left them, forget all their former Offences, as if they had never been done. So that as to all real Effects, of their suffering from them, either in their own Persons, or in the Estimation of others, the Sins of the Righteous at that Day, are as if they were not mention'd, but conceal'd. And this will make out those Expressions of the Scriptures, which speak of the †Rom. 4. 7, 8.Lord's not imputing Sin to them▪ and, of their Sins being cover'd; and of *Heb. 8. 12.God's remembring their Sins and Iniquities no more. They will not be mention'd so as to make them either afraid, or ashamed; which is as good as if they were wholly hid, and never mention'd at all.
Quest. Among the Deeds of Men, all those are not really Good, which are so in outward Appearance, and which the World takes for such?
Answ. No: Several good Actions, Hypocritical Men put on only in Disguise. As the Pharisee seemed to be devout in making long Prayers, when that was not to serve God, but to get Trust among Men, that he might be able to devour Widows Houses without suspicion, Mat. 23. 14. And when the Precious Ointment was poured on Christ's Head, Judas pretended great Care of the Poor, and cried out of the Waste on that pretence; when, in truth, that which made him speak, was not his Charity, but his Covetousness, John 12. 5, 6. Absalom pretends the Payment of a Vow in Hebron; but the Design was to execute a fore-laid Rebellion, 2 Sam. 15. 7, 10. Many Men pretend Kindness, only for Self-ends; Religion, for Secular Interests; the Publick Good, when they only seek to satisfie their own By-ends, or private Resentments.
Quest. But when under this Hypocritical Mask, Men commit ill Deeds under fair Colours, will Christ at that Day bring this Hypocrisie to Light, and condemn these Actions, which the Authors justified to the World by these Pretences?
Answ. Yes: For when the Lord cometh, he will bring to light the hidden things of darkness, and will make manifest the Counsels of the Hearts, 1 Cor. 4. 5. He shall be of quick Understanding, in the Fear of the Lord, and shall not judge after the sight of his Eyes, nor reprove after the hearing of his Ears; i. e. barely from outward Appearances; but with Righteousness shall he judge the Poor, and reprove with Equity even the Meek upon Earth, where they are Trespassers, Isa. 11. 3, 4. And therefore it nearly concerns us to be sincere in all the Goodness we make shew of, and to be the same to God, as we appear to be to Men: For if we dissemble in any thing, he will pluck off the Disguise, and shew us openly to be Hypocritical Pretenders, and disguised Sinners to all the World.
Quest. I see we shall be judged then for all our sinful Actions. But shall we judged too, for all our sinful Omissions?
Answ. Yes; for we are as much bound to do what God injoyns, as to forbear doing what he forbids: and at that Day, he will call us to an account for both. Go ye Cursed into everlasting Fire, for in my poor Members, I felt Hunger, and ye gave me no Meat; I was Thirsty, and ye gave me no Drink; a Stranger and ye took me not in; Naked, and ye Cloathed me not; Sick, and in Prison, and ye visited me not. All which are omissions of Duty, and for them they are Sentenced. Mat. 25. 41, 42, 43.
Quest. I perceive we shall be sentenced for neglecting to fulfill Laws. But will Judgment also pass upon us, for neglecting to employ, or improve our Talents?
Answ. Yes; for the Lord orders the unprofitable Servant, who had hoarded up his Talent, and made no gain with it, to be cast into utter Darkness, Mat. 25, 25, 30. And therefore it concerns all men, to whom God has given Leisure, or Power, or Wealth, or Credit, or Wit and Parts, to look upon all these as Trusts; and not to squander them away on Vice, or Vanities, Sports and Pastimes; but, as Wise and Faithful Stewards, to employ them all for God's service, remembring that all these were …ommitted to them for their Master's …se; and that at the last Day, they shall be called to give an account how they have spent them.
Quest. What say you to our words, shall we be judged at the last Day for them too?
Answ. Yes; for by thy words thou shalt be Justified, and by thy words thou shalt be Condemned, Mat. 12. 37. And this should make all men careful, to Govern their Tongues, since they must give so strict an account for the abuse of them.
Quest. Christ there says, Men shall give account in the Day of Judgment, for every idle word, v. 26. what then will become of most men in this world? For is not any man, that Discourses with freedom, liable to utter something that is Idle, that is, works no good, or makes none the better for it?
Answ. By Idle word there, is to be understood every False and Slanderous word, such as the Jews had then cast out against him, when they said he wrought Miracles through Beelzebub, v. 24.
Quest. But in this strict Judgment, for all our sinful Actions, and sinful Words, will there be any account still further required, for our inward Thoughts and Desires of ill, which were never come to act?
Answ. Yes; for at that Day, God will Judge the Secrets of men, Rom. 2. 16. And when the Lord comes to Judgment, he will make manifest the Counsels of the Heart, 1 Cor. 4. 5.
Quest. But is not every man troubled, more or less, with ill Thoughts, and unlawful Desires, and like to be so, whilst we bear these Bodies about us?
Answ. Yes; for in the Regenerate themselves, the Flesh Lusteth against the Spirit, Gal. 5. 17.
Quest. How then can any man stand in the Judgment, if for these they shall be Condemned?
Answ. If the bare sudden Thoughts and Desires were Damnable, they could not. But that, for which God will then Condemn men, is not all stirring of them, but only all yielding to fulfill them. Make no Provision for the Flesh, to fulfill the Lusts thereof, Rom. 13. 14. And this the Righteous do not commit, or, when they do, before their Death they Repent of it, and amend it.
Quest. What will be judged yielding to fulfill them?
Answ. 1. All inward Consent to the fulfilling of them in our hearts, tho, it may be, we cannot do it for want of opportunity. For, when Lust has thus Conceived, it bringeth forth Sin, Jam. 1. 15. And, our Saviour says, Adultery may be committed in the Heart, Mat. 5. 28.
2. All Contrivance for the acting and Fulfilling of them, after we have consented to them. He that Deviseth to do evil, shall be called, and dealt with as a mischievous Person, Prov. 24. 8. And evil Thoughts, that is, Murderous Machinations and Contrivances, are ranked in Guilt and Punishment with Murders themselves, Mat. 15. 19.
3. All Actual accomplishment of them, in Deed and Practice; which is, fulfilling the Lusts of the Flesh, Gal. 5. 16. And this is more provoking still, if it be in a settled Custom, and constant Tenor of action, which is walking or living after the Flesh, Rom. 8. 1. 4. 13.
Quest. I perceive then, when Christ comes to Judgment, we shall all be called to Account, for all the sinful Deeds we have done, and all the sinful Words we have spoken, and all the evil Thoughts or Desires we have consented, or endeavoured to fulfill; and Condemned for them, unless we have sincerely repented of them.
Answ. Yes.
Quest. But how will Christ proceed in Judging us for these Things? Will he pass Sentence impartially, without respect of Persons?
Answ. Yes. All that are equal in Guilt, shall be sure to have equal Punishment. For the Judge is not capable of being Byassed, by Fear or Favour, by any Fondness or Indulgence towards any Criminals, by any of their Flatter… … Complements, Gifts or Services, their Crafty insinuations, or tiresom importunities, by their Kindred or Families, Sects and Opinions. But absolutely setting aside all byRespects, he will regard only the Merit of Causes, and what doth really influence the Case, and Sentence every Man according to the Evidence that lyes against him. At that Revelation of his Righteous Judgment, there is no Respect of Persons with God. They that have sinned without Law, shall Perish without Law; and as many as have sinned under the Law, shall be Judged by the Law. God will render to every man, according to his Deeds; Eternal Life, to those that have continued in well-doing; but Wrath, and Anguish, on every Soul that doth evil, whether Jew, or Gentile, Rom. 2. 5. to 13. God without respect of Persons, judges as every Mans work shall be, 1 Pet. 1. 17.
Quest. But in judging upon all these Points, will Christ do it in Rigor, pressing all the Punctilio's, and taking all the Advantages of Law: or will he do it with Equity and Candor, as one plainly inclined to shew all reasonable favour?
Answ. He will be the most Fair, Equitable, and Candid Judge, our Hearts can wish for. He is our Judge who is our Advocate, and has all along espoused our Cause: our Friend, that Loved us better than his Life, and shed his Blood for us. So that when we are brought before him, we may promise our selves all the Favour that is consistent with Justice.
Quest. Will he favourably interpret our Performances when they come before him, and make the best of every thing, that it can justly bear, and be as ready to note what may make for us, as what may make against us?
Answ. Yes; for in the Description of the last Judgment, Mat. 25. he assigns good deeds to those on his Right-hand, viz. the Feeding, and Cloathing, and Visiting him, which in strict Truth they had not done, having never seen him, but only by a favourable interpretation, from their having done so to his Brethren for his sake, which shews, had they seen him in that want, they would much more have done it to himself. Come, ye Blessed of my Father, for I was an hungred, and ye gave me Meat; thirsty, and ye gave me Drink, &c. And when they shall answer, Lord, when saw we thee, to do any of these things for thee? He tells us he will reply, in as much as ye have done it to the least of these my Brethren, ye have done it unto me, v. 34. to 41. Nay, to assure us further of his extraordinary Favour, in Censuring of his Friends; behold his marvellous Candor, in judging of the worst Actions of his Enemies; and that too at a Time, when, if ever, he should have been prone to pass a hard Construction. For, representing the most Barbarous Murder of himself to God, as he hung upon the Cross, and had a most pungent sense of it, he imputes it to the most Pardonable Principles, and says, they acted so through Ignorance, (the only possible thing that could be suggested for their excuse,) censuring that horrid Act, which he of all Men had cause to make the worst of, not as an Accuser, but rather like a retain'd Advocate, Luk. 23. 34. Thus, in that Day, will the most benign Judge be of Counsel for all the Prisoners, and spye all their Virtues, and make the best he reasonably can of every bad Case. And, as for good Men, he will impute their Failures to the most pardonable Causes, and Remember their good Services when they have forgot them, setting them off by a kind interpretation, and thinking better of them, than their own Humility and Modesty would allow themselves to do.
Quest. But what say you, to the seeming Rigor of his own Laws, which require us to †Deut. 6. 5. Mat. 22. 37.Love and serve him, with all our Heart and strength? And if this be drawn out to a full stretch, and strained to mean our utmost Possibilities, no Candor to our Performances, can construe them to come up to this pitch.
Answ. The seeming Rigor of that Expression, he will interpret with great condescension to the Measures of Men. He will reasonably allow, and abate, for our many Temptations and Distracting Thoughts, our Natural Backwardness, and Forgetfulness, and other Frailties so incident to our present State and Circumstances. And when all that is candidly deducted, the rest, which in our Circumstances we are honestly and fairly able to Do, will pass for serving him with all the heart and strength, according to the Commandment.
Quest. How will you make that out?
Answ. Because the Scripture Declares, he will bear in Reason with our Infirmities, Heb. 5. 2. And because he has done so in several judged Cases, expresly declaring of several, that they have kept this Commandment, when they needed these abatements. Thus, of Asa it is said, that his Heart was Perfect before God, 1▪ King. 15. 14. And of David, that he followed God with his whole Heart: Yea, that he turned not aside from any thing he commanded him, all his days, except in the matter of Uriah. 1 King. 14 8. and c. 15. 5. And of Josiah, that he did that which was right in the sight of the Lord, neither declining to the Right Hand, nor to the left, 2 King. 22. 2. And of Zachariah and Elizabeth, that they walked before God, in all the Ordinances of the Law, Blameless, Luk. 1. 6. Now all these were Persons of our own Frailties, and Infirmities. They were defective in their Care, as we are; and, though they went beyond the pitch of others, yet fell below the utmost of their possibilities, as the Scriptures have recorded of them, in †2 Chron. 16. ver. 1, 10, 13.several instances. They served God, indeed, with all their Souls, in one sense of the Precept, as that notes their adhering only to his 1 Sam. 21 1, 2. 2 Sam. 19. 29. 2 Chron. 35 21, 22, 23.Worship, and allowing no part of their Heart to any Idol God. But, as it note… the intireness of Degrees in serving him: Such failings, as were pardonable under humane Circumstances and infirmities, were first taken out, and so much as they were able to do after that abatement, was judged their serving God with all their Heart, according to the Commandment.
Quest. Will Christ then after he has thus made the most of their good Performances, make reasonable Allowances also for mens Slips and Failures, either in committing ill, or in omitting Good things?
Answ. Yes; when they fail in either, through some innocent, and well meant Error, or Ignorance: Or when they slip through pure haste and unadvisedness, and are surprized into some ill Thoughts, or sudden Passions, or rash words, but correct themselves as soon as they consider what they have done, and do not continue in it with Observation. He will then have Compassion on these, when he comes as our Judge; as now he has, when he acts as our Priest, and intercedes for us. For as the Jewish Priests had, so can he have compassion on the Ignorant, and Erroneous, or, as the †foreign. word notes, he can Suffer in moderation, or reasonably bear with them, Heb. 5. 2.
Quest. But what if men are Ignorant, because they neglect to learn their Duty, nay, perhaps stop their Eyes and Ears, and Refuse to see, or be told of it?
Answ. Then that will be no excuse to them, where they fail of performing it, they being, as St. Peter says, willingly Ignorant, 2 Pet. 3. 5.
Quest. I perceive he will shew Favour towards our involuntary Failures. But this will not avail us, if he be Strict and Rigorous in judging of that Involuntariness. For, alas! what man doth all that is Possible, to prevent Ignorance, or Surprize? And if we do not all we can against them, he may say they come through our own wills and sufferance, if he will judge in Srictness. Will he therefore shew Candor, in judging any escapes to be Pitiable, and unwill'd Miscarriages; without which, all his Candor in other Things will not support us in his Presence?
Answ. Yes. He will shew all Reasonable Favour, in admitting Actions for involuntary, that a Child could expect from a Wise and Tender Father, or we experiment from one another. A marvellous Instance we have of his Proneness to make the best of ill Actions, in ascribing his own Crucifixion, as is noted, to the Jews Ignorance, which seemed so lyable to be imputed to Envy, Malice, and such other more inexcusable Principles. Thus benign he was upon the Cross, and he will be no less so when he appears in Court. He will only have more Glory and Power, not less Benignity and Candor there also.
Quest. Christ our Judge, it seems, will very graciously bear with our involuntary failings. But will he bear also with any willful Sins, when we transgress wittingly, or against our Consciences?
Answ. No; for whatever ill proceeds out of the Heart of man, defiles the man, Mat. 15. 18. And tho innocent Ignorance plead some excuse; yet when a man knows to do good, and doth it not, to him 'tis Sin, Jam. 4. 17. But if they truly Repent of these, and amend them before their Death, they shall not be Condemned for them at that great Day.
Quest. O! how happy are we in this marvellous Clemency and Candor of our Judge, who will be so ready to make the most of our Good Deeds, and to connive at our ignorant and involuntary Failings, and to pass over all our wilful Sins themselves, upon our true Repentance. But besides these ignorant and inconsiderate Failings, have we not many other Natural Infirmities, that will need his Clemency and Favour towards us?
Answ. Yes; the Natural Uncertainty of our Tempers; our Dulness in any Duties, more especially at some times; our Distractions and wandring Thoughts in Prayers; our Desires of Praise, and other indirect Aims, intruding into our best Actions; our Natural Backwardness to Good; our Remisness and Faintness in performing it, and our being soon wearied with it; our Weakness of Faith, in believing the unseen Things God has promised; our great Adherence to Worldly and Sensible Things; and our Unaffectedness with Spiritual and Divine Objects, and the like. These are Infirmities incident to the best Men, and will cling to us more or less, as long as we bear these Bodies about us, and converse with the Things of this World.
Quest. And will our Equitable and Benign Judge, shew favour to these infirmities, which are so inseparable from our Natures?
Answ. Yes. Were he only God, we might be more prone to fear, he would look more at the just Demand of God's Laws, and be little touch'd with our Infirmities, which hinder us from fully answering them. But for this very end he took our Nature upon him, submitting to our infirmities, and conflicting with our Temptations, that having felt and experimented them in himself, he might be more feelingly tender, and Compassionate towards them in us. He is such an High-Priest, saith the Apostle, as is touched with the feeling of our infirmities, having been tempted as we are in all Points, tho' without Sin. Therefore let us come with Boldness to the Throne of Grace, Heb. 4. 15, 16. It behoved him, says he again, to be made like unto his Brethren in all things, that he might be, as Faithful to God, so merciful to us, and having been Tempted himself, be the readier to Consider, and Succour our infirmities and Temptations, Heb. 2. 17, 18. This sense of our infirmities, makes him, now he acts in Heaven as our High-Priest, most compassionately to recommend them to God's mercy. And the same sense he will have of them, when he sits upon us as our Judge, and then we may be sure, he will Graciously Dispense that mercy towards them which before he interceded for.
Quest. Besides these Natural infirmities, we are sorely kept back by many supervening Disadvantages. Particularly, by multiplicity of Business; which causes much distraction of Thoughts, and Haste in Dispatch, whence arise many Errors. By the greatness of Temptations; as when we are hastily driven to do ill, through some great and sudden Terrours, or urgent necessities, to secure our Lives, or sustenance. And by our Bodily indispositions; as when Sickness, or habitual Pain and uneasiness, or a continual succession of cross Accidents and Provocations, make us Pevish and impatient, or betray us into other rash miscarriages. And will our Candid favourable Judge, make abatements for these Providential disadvantages?
Answ. Yes; all just and reasonable abatements he will exactly consider, and fairly and equitably allow for them. They that sinned without Law, saith S. Paul, shall be judged without Law, that is, with such abatements, as are allowable to those, who wanted the Law; not according to such stricter Terms, as are reasonably exacted of all, who enjoy'd it, Rom. 2. 12. The time of Heathen ignorance, saith he again, God winked at: expecting less from those, who had the great disadvantage of walking in the dark, Act. 17. 30. Where these disadvantages betray men into haste, and inadvertence, and a pitiable involuntariness, he will graciously connive at them, as he did at †Act. 23. 2, 3, 5.St. Paul's undutifulness to Ananias, upon a sudden provocation; and Job's many fretful expostulations, under a most uneasie Body, and heavy Afflictions; and where they bring guilt, by drawing us in to yield, and consent to those sins, whereto they expose us; on their account he will exact the less, and such sins will be sooner expiated, and the Judge easilier satisfied, with a more moderate Repentance.
Quest. That which through the merits of Christ, must gain us acceptance, is our good deeds. But may not the best of us all find defects enow even in these?
Answ. Yes. Our Zeal for God is not all Flame, and inexhaustible activity, as St. Paul's was. We are not so prompt and forward in any act of Love to our dear Lord, as St. Peter; so slow to Anger, as Moses; so persevering in Patience, as Job; so intirely affected with Divine Things, and formed after Gods own Heart, as David. When we attain to be submissive under Crosses, perhaps we do not arrive, with any great affectionateness, to thank God for them: tho' we contentedly bear reproaches for Christ; yet, it may be, we cannot take pleasure in them, nor Count Poverty for his sake, the truest Riches; or Labour and Travel, an ease; or Stripes and Imprisonments, a Triumph; or the Cross, a Crown; like the Holy Apostles. When we do God's will, we are not so intent upon it, nor so sensibly delighted with it, as with our meat and drink, like our Blessed Saviour: we want that pitch of contempt for worldly things, and of command over our own Appetites; that height of Abstinence and Self-denyal; that ease, delight, and watchfulness in Prayer; that Assiduity and Pleasure in Divine Meditations; that depth of Humility, and poverty of Spirit; that fervour of Charity; that promptness to shew kindnesses, and gladness in doing them; that backwardness to admit of Provocation; that easiness in forgetting, and remitting injuries, which some of God's Saints have happily enjoy'd, and for which they have been most highly Rewarded.
Quest And will not this failure of Degrees in good things, need a like Indulgence from this compassionate and benign Judge?
Answ. Yes, and find it too. For these heighths and eminent degrees of Virtue, he proposes to all, with more resplendant Crowns of Glory to recompence them, and noble examples that lead on to them; but not as indispensable Articles of Salvation. They are required as Things, which are hard for any to attain, praise worthy to attempt, and pardonable to miss of them. They are Gems, that adorn and set off; or Radiant Crowns, which surround the brightest Stars; but Stars they are still, which want these Glories.
Quest. By this, there must be a great Latitude in virtuous attainments on the side of Bliss, and Christ will not screw up all he saves to the same certain Standard of perfection, or require them all to be of the same size?
Answ. No; the Tenor of the Law it self, is only to obey God with †Luk. 10. 27.all our strength: but that strength is more in some, than it is in others. There are weak, as well as strong, among Christ's accepted Servants. And as different Magnitudes among the Glorified Saints, as there are among the Sun, Moon, and Stars, in the Prophet †Dan. 12. 3.Daniels, and St. †1 Cor. 15 41, 4….Pauls; or the different Rooms and Mansions of a Stately Palace, in our Blessed †Joh. 14. 2.Lords resemblance. Nay, St. Paul could say, he labour'd more abundantly than they all, even among the Blessed Apostles themselves, 1 Cor. 15. 10. Thus do very widely distant, and unequal virtues, all meet in the place of Bliss, and are each Beatified in their several Proportions. He that soweth much, shall reap much; and he that soweth little shall reap little, saith the Apostle, but both are to reap something, 2 Cor. 9. 6. And in the Parable †Mat. 25. 15.according to their several Abilities, one Servant improved his Pound to ten Pounds, Luk 19. 16. another his, to five Pounds, v. 18. and a third, only doubled his, Mat. 25. 22. But yet all these were welcomed, with a well done, thou Good and Faithful Servant. And as he that gain'd Ten Pounds, had the Rule over ten Cities; and he who gain'd five, had Authority over five Cities: so he, that only doubled his Talents, was recompensed with a proportionable Reward, Luk. 19. 17, 19. and Mat. 25. 22, 23.
Quest. I see Christ will not require us all, to be as tall in Spiritual stature as Apostles, but will graciously accept of inferiour virtues, and encourage them with proportionable Recompences. But what will you say, if even these small and slender things, are performed with much Difficulty and Reluctance? It may be, in the little good we do, we are not forward to catch at good motions, nor presently yield to a virtuous Discourse, or good Advice, but adhere a while to our own self-will, chiefly in cases against our own humour, inclinations or former opinions, though we do the thing at last, after some disputings with our selves. And will this gracious Judge accept of such slow, and backward services?
Answ. Yes; he that stood out at first, and said he would not go work in the Vineyard, but after he had better considered of it, repented, and went, is judged by our Saviour to be of the number of those, that do the will of his Father, Mat. 21. 29, 31. Easiness, and alacrity in closing with good, is a perfection of virtue, and shall receive a greater Recompence. But if we obey at all, though it be with Reluctance and Disputings, we shall be in the List of Servants, and not of Rebels, and receive rewards still, though in smaller Proportions. Albeit the Flesh lust against the Spirit, yet if we do not fulfill its Lusts, but the Spirit prevails, we walk in the Spirit, and are truly Regenerate, as St. Paul says, Gal. 5. 16, 17.
Quest. But, alas! the little good we do is not only thus defective in degrees, but is oft-times polluted by impure mixtures. When we do an act of honour to God, for instance, we are too apt, perhaps, to make it serve our own vanity more or less, and to seek thereby our own Praise. In censuring and reproving others Vices, it may be, in some degree, we gratifie our own peevishness, or other corrupt passions. And so in other Cases. And can we expect any reward at the hands of this Benign Judge, for such impure Services?
Answ. Yes; through his infinite mercy and goodness. He is so Candid, and inclined to make the most of what is good, that he is ready to overlook some compassionable and lesser ill, which is twisted with it; passing by the ill, when they are humbled and sorry for it; and not throwing away the good for the evil's sake. Thus in the mixt action of the Egyptian Midwives; he commends, and rewards their Pious Charity, and passes over their Officious falseness, Exod. 1. 19, 20, 21. And in Rahab's case, he recompences her Faith in the true God, and friendship for the Spyes, and winks at the insincerity of her feign'd excuse, Jam. 2. 25. and Josh. 2. 4, 5, 9. yea, in censuring, not only the virtues, but the liberties of men, when they are justifiable in the main, but culpable in some pitiable circumstance, he is apt to observe in the Action what may bear it out, and when they are humbled for the rest, to draw a vail over what may pitiably be connived at: as our Lord did in mentioning David's eating of the Shew-bread, vindicating him on account of that necessity which authorized, not censuring him on account of that falshood whereby he procured it, Mat. 12. 3, 4.
Quest. But is it not said, that if we Pray, or give Alms, or Fast, for the Praise of men, we shall lose our reward, Mat. 6. 2, 5, 16.
Answ. Yes; when the main design of our Prayers, or Alms, or other good Deeds, is to be commended, and we should not do them but in hopes of that. For in Acting Principally for commendations sake, we serve our own Pride and Vanity, but do not serve God. But when our chief aim in it, is to please God, he accepts a Good work, though some pitiable defect adhere, or pardonable faultiness be unwarily let in and combined with it.
Quest. But in contemplating all this Indulgence of our Judge, we must not think his favour will pass into fondness, which will bear with all we do, and spy no faults in us?
Answ. No; as he is a good and candid, so, as I noted before, is he a most Righteous and just Judge. What he will give to our infirmities, St. Paul calls †foreignmoderate and reasonable allowance, Heb. 5. 2. He bears in him the most exact temperament of Mercy, and Severity: being most prone to Mercy, in every compassionable Case; and as inexorably bent on Justice, where 'tis reasonable, and fit …o inflict Vengeance.
Quest. You have shewn me, that Christ will use all this Candor in constructions, and make these favourable Allowances when we are brought to his Bar upon our Tryals. Would he not have us in the mean time, to promise to our selves, and expect all this?
Answ. Yes; or else considering the infirmities and defects of most, if not of all his Followers, we could never have any comfortable hope in him; much less so great, as to desire, and Pray for his Appearance. And yet the Apostles give this, as the Character of good and acceptable Christians, who may therefore hope to be made happy, when they are qualified for it according to Humane measures. The Crown of Righteousness is for me, and all that love his appearing, saith St. Paul, 2 Tim. 4. 8. Look for, and, by your Prayers, haste on the coming of the great Day of God, saith St. Peter, 2 Pet. 3. 12. Come, Lord Jesus, come quickly, saith St. John, Rev. 22. 20. And in our daily Prayers, our Lord himself has taught us, every day to say, thy Kingdom come.
Quest. Are we not indebted for all this indulgence, to the merit of his Death?
Answ. Yes; for we are accepted in the Beloved, in whom we have Redemption through his Blood, Eph. 1, 6. 7. And owing all to him, we must both Pray, and give thanks for it in his Name, Joh. 14. 13. & Eph. 5. 20.
Quest. All these acts of favour you have recited, are marvellous instances of Gods clemency to all his faithful Servants; and the Gospel, I see encourages us to expect them at his hands. But are we sure at that Day, God will stand to these Gospel Terms?
Answ. Yes; most sure. For he never repents of his promises, nor can deny himself. Besides, the same Jesus, who once came from God to make us these gracious offers, is then to come and Judge us according to them, and make good his own Proposals. Nay, since there may seem the same Reason, for his retaining them on to the consummation, as for his resuming them at the Resurrection, he may probably come, as some of the Ancients have thought, with the Glorious Scars of the Spear and Nails, and the signs of his Meritorious wounds, which purchased all this Grace, about him. And then, as all the Wicked †Rev. 1. 7.shall look on him whom they have pierced, with horror and consternation: so shall the Righteous, with unspeakable comfort, most joyfully beholding in his wounds, both the heighth of their most dear and compassionate Judge's Love, and the Price and assurance of their own Salvation.
Quest. This indulgence of our Almighty Judge, will be an inexhaustible Fountain of ravishing joy and comfort, to all serious and considerate minds. And, indeed, without such clemency as you have described, the thoughts of the future judgment, must needs be a very melancholly consideration to the best Persons. But expecting so much Candor and Benignity from him, they have cause enough, not only to look for, but to love and desire his appearing. But what shall be the effect of all this to good men?
Answ. They shall be sentenced to an Everlasting Life, and Rewarded with all the Glory, and Happiness of an Eternal Kingdom. For having fairly, and impartially heard their Cause, and made all these Allowances, and found them Righteous, he will say to them, Come ye Blessed Children of my Father, inherit the Kingdom prepared for you, from the Beginning of the World, Mat. 25. 34.
Quest. And in that Allotment, and Proportioning of Rewards, will he consider the Difficulties, and Oppositions in Doing Good, which some Men meet withal above others?
Answ. Yes. As these Tryals and Temptations, are Proofs of a greater Love, they will in proportion be a Ground of a Greater Reward. Thus St, Paul says, the adding of Affliction to his Bonds, or Multiplying his Trouble in preaching of the Word, would surely turn to his greater Salvation in the End, Phil. 1. 16, 19.
Quest. Will he also consider the Costliness of it, as when 'tis done, with hazard, or Loss of their Friends or Estates, or, it may be, of their Lives?
Answ. Yes; one single Act under such hazards, may shew as much Religious Love and Zeal, as would suffice to great Numbers, when they are free from such incumbrances. When we obey God with present Damage, he will not only consider our Services, but our Loss in his Cause; and recompence abundantly, not only all we did, but likewise all we suffered for him. For every one that forsakes Houses, or Brethren, or Sisters, or Father, or Mother, or Wife, or Children, or Lands, for my Name's sake, says our Saviour, shall receive therefore an hundred fold, Mat 19. 29. And the Martyrs that were beheaded for the Witness of Jesus, shall rise first, and Reign with Christ a thousand years; but the Rest of the Dead, not till the thousand years are finished, Rev. 20. 4, 5. And therefore whensoever God calls Men to suffer for Righteousness, they must not look upon it as a Calamitous Scourge; but as a Favour and Priviledge, such Suffering being sent, in Truth, as opportunities of accumulating Bliss, and securing to themselves, not only more ample, but, when their Sufferings proceed to Blood, more early shares of the Future Glories. To you 'tis given, saith St. Paul, in the behalf of Christ, not only to believe on him, but also to suffer for his sake, Phil. 1. 29. Count it all joy, saith St. James, when you fall into diverse Temptations, Jam. 1. 2. When you are Reviled, and Slandered, and Persecuted for Righteousness sake, says our Saviour, then think your selves Blessed, and Rejoice, and be exceeding glad, for your Reward in Heaven shall be great for it, Mat. 5. 10, 11, 12. As the Apostles did, who, when the Council had beaten them, departed from their Presence, rejoicing that they were counted worthy to suffer shame for Christ's Name, Act. 5. 40, 41. And the Hebrews, who took joyfully the spoiling of their Goods, as knowing they had in Heaven a better and more Durable Substance, Heb. 10. 34.
Quest. But numbers of the Evils we endure, come not on us for keeping God's Commandments, but only as our share of that Misery and Trouble, which God has allotted for us in this Life. And will he at that Day Rate these, and consider any persons having endured more Poverty, Oppression, Shame, or Sickness in this World, than other good Persons, who yet are no better, nor Dearer to God, than themselves?
Answ. I suppose he will; for he is no Respecter of Persons. And therefore when Persons of equal, or higher Goodness, through the present ordering of his Providence, want much of their Brethrens Temporal Encouragements, they may hope for a more Liberal share in a better place. For his extraordinary Measure of Evil things, in this present time, Lazarus had a proportionable surplusage of Good, in Abraham's Bosom, Luk. 16. 24. Blessed are ye that live in Poverty, and Hunger now, says our Saviour, for ye shall be filled. Blessed are ye that weep now, for ye shall laugh. Noteing thereby, such an ample Recompence for these present Evils in the next World, as would render them to all good Men, not the Miseries, as this World esteems them, but the truest Favours, and Gainful Blessings of their Lives, Luke 6. 20, 21. This seeming inequality of Gods present Distributions, which lies upon Providence, will then be cleared up by a full and Liberal Amends. For then, God's Righteousness in Judgment, that in great part lay hid before, will be fully Revealed and made manifest, Rom. 2. 5.
Quest. But when he deals thus graciously with all the good, how will he proceed with ill Men?
Answ. In all the equity of a fair Tryal, but yet to a just Condemnation. When he bears with all Natural Infirmities, and reasonably abates for outward Impediments, and connives at involuntary Failings, and forgives all the sins of the Penitents; he will avenge the willful Sins of all impenitent Persons, according to their Deserts. For he will judge the World in Righteousness, Act. 17. 31. To the wicked, he will say, Depart from me ye workers of iniquity, Mat. 7. 23. And when they, that have done Good, come forth to the Resurrection of Life; they that have done Evil, shall come to the Resurrection of Damnation, Joh. 5. 29.
Quest. What Punishment shall these Miserable Men be condemned to?
Answ. All the Plagues of Hell, where their Spirits shall always be gnawed and preyed upon, by the Worm of Conscience; and their Bodies scorched with Fire and Flames. Go ye cursed into everlasting Fire, prepared for the Devil and his Angels, Mat. 25. 41. Yea, they shall have all the smart of Fire, where 'tis the hottest: being cast into a Furnace of Fire, Mat. 13. 42. and into a Lake of Fire, burning with Brimstone, Rev. 19. 20. And there, as the Fire is not quenched, so their Worm of Conscience Dyeth not, Mar. 9. 44.
Quest. And when shall all these Dreadful Miseries seize them?
Answ. So soon as this Terrible Sentence, of Go ye Cursed into everlasting Fire, is solemnly passed upon them. For this way of Effecting things, is by his Omnipotent Word. When he said, let there be Light, or Earth, immediately there was so at first, Gen, 1. 3, 9. And when he shall say, go ye Cursed into everlasting Fire, in obedience to that all-powerful Word, streight-way a Fire shall come forth from his Presence, and shall seize on the whole Earth, and Air, where his Adversaries Abode is, and set it all on fire about them, turning all this lower World, which probably thenceforwards is to serve for no other use, into one intire Globe of Fire, or Flaming Furnace. The Fire that shall Torment and Scorch the Damned, at the coming of our Lord, shall burn up the Earth, and melt the Elements, and Crack the Heavens, making them dissolve, and pass away with a Great Noise, says St. Peter, 2 Pet. 3. 10, 12. The Heavens, and Earth that are now, says he again, are kept in store, and reserved unto Fire, against the Day of Judgment, and Perdition of Ungodly Men; the Fire that shall break out from God upon the Ungodly, being, it seems, to seize and dissolve them, ver. 7. And the Fire that comes down from God, to devour and torment the Devil, and all he has deceived, Day and Night, for ever; shall make the Earth and Heaven that now is, flee away, as may seem from St. John, and leave nothing, but a devouring Hell, or a World of never Dying Fire and Flame, in its place, Rev. 20. 9, 10, 11, 14. and c. 21. 1. And when once this is kindled, those forelorn Wretches may †Rev. 6. 15 16.cry in vain to the Hills to fall on them, and to the Rocks to cover them. For every Cave is then a Furnace, and every high Hill a Flaming Mountain: a Fervent Heat has melted all the World, and nothing is to be felt or seen, but boyling Element, and scorching Fire all about them.
Quest. Oh! the wonder of God's Mercy, which shall then be displayed towards all his Saints, and the Terror of his Judgments, which shall then be inflicted on all incorrigible Offenders! Must not this expectation of Christ's future Judgment of us, for all our Actions, make us very careful how we lead our Lives?
Answ. Yes; it should do it above all things. We must account for all our Thoughts, Words, and Actions. And an Eternity of highest Bliss, or Woe, depends upon the account we make. And therefore we had need to do all things here with such care, that when we are taken to task at that Great Day, we may give in a good, and comfortable account of them. Seeing God will be more terrible in punishing all ungodly Sinners, what manner of Persons ought we to be, in all holy Conversation, and Godliness, 2 Pet. 3. 11, 12.
Quest. That day, you say, will surprize the World, as a Thief in the Night, and it is most uncertain to every Man, when he shall be called to it. Ought not that to make us every day secure our Peace with God, and watch always to be in a readiness, and preparation for that great Account?
Answ. Yes; there is no room for preparation afterwards, if we are unprepared when he calls, as the Foolish Virgins experienced to their cost. Watch therefore, for ye know neither the Day, nor the Hour, wherein the Son of Man cometh, Mat. 25. 11, 12, 13.
Quest. Since Christ has reserved the judgment of all Men to himself, who best knows, and who alone is able unerringly to judge of them: Must not this make us wary, not to judge and censure one another?
Answ. Yes, by all means; for this Judgment he esteems an usurpation upon his Office. Why doest thou judge thy Brother, or why doest thou set at naught thy Brother? We shall all stand at the Judgment Seat of Christ, Rom. 14. 10. Who art thou that Judgest another Man's Servant? To his own Master he stands, or falls, ver. 4. Nay, he tells us, as we have no Authority to do it, so we are unfit for it, because we cannot see each others Hearts; and so, in many Censures we pass, can have no true Judgment of Men, and Actions, as he has. Judge nothing before the Time, until the Lord come, who will bring to Light the hidden things of Darkness, and make manifest the Counsels of the Hearts, 1 Cor. 4. 5.
Quest. And since God will clear the Innocent, before Men and Angels, and in his judgment set all right at last: Is not this a support to us, under all the unjust Slanders, and wrongful Judgments we meet with here in this World?
Answ. Yes; for it shews all will be fully wiped off, if we can have a little patience. Our Innocence shall shine the brighter, for the Vail that was drawn before it, as the Sun doth when he recovers from a Cloud: For then God shall bring forth our Righteousness as the Light, and our Judgment as the Noon-day, Psal. 37. 6. So that in such Cases, we may all say, as St. Paul, it is a very small thing with me, that I should be judged of Mans Judgment, because he that judgeth me i… the Lord, who will shortly reverse all the Errors of Mens Censures, and shew them Publickly to all the World, 1 Cor. 4. 3, 4.