Sermons Volume 2, Matthew 25 · Sermon 18
SERMON XVIII.
MATTH. XXV. v. 31, 32, 33.
When the Son of Man shall come in his Glory, and all the Holy Angels with him, then shall he sit upon the Throne of his Glory.
And before him shall be gathered all Nations; and he shall separate them one from another, as a Shepherd divideth his Sheep from the Goats.
And he shall set the Sheep on his Right Hand, but the Goats on the Left.
THIS latter Paragraph I cannot call a Parable, but a Scheme, and Draught, or a Delineation of the last Judgment, intermingled with many Passages that are plainly Parabolical: as, That Christ setteth forth himself as a King, sitting upon the Throne of his Glory; and as a Shepherd, dividing his Flock: That he compareth the Godly to Sheep, and the Wicked to Goats. Those Allegations and Dialogues between Christ, and the Righteous; Christ, and the Wicked; When saw we thee an hungry, &c. have much of the Nature of a Parable in them. In these Three Verses we have described,
1. The Appearance, or sitting down of the Judge.
2. The Presenting the Parties to be judged. The former is in Vers. 31. the latter in Vers. 32, 33. In Vers. 31. we have,
(1.) The Person who shall be the Judge; The Son of Man.
(2.) The Manner of his Coming: It shall be August and Glorious. Where note,
1. His Personal Glory: He shall come in his Glory.
2. His Royal Attendance: And all the Holy Angels with him.
3. His Seat and Throne: Then shall he sit upon the Throne of his Glory.
First, the Person is designed by this Character and Appellation, The Son of Man. He is called so, to shew that he is True Man, and descended of the present Race of Men: He might have been True Man, if God had framed his Substance out of nothing; as he did Adam out of the Dust of the Ground. And this Title is given him here, (as in many other Places) when the last Judgment is spoken of, (as I shall shew you by and by;)
(1.) Partly to Recompense his foregoing Humiliation, or despicable Appearance at his First Coming.
(2.) Partly because of his Second Coming: He shall appear visibly in that Nature, as he went from us; Act. 1.11. In like manner, &c. Christ shall come in the Form of a Man, but not in the same humble and mean Appearance, as now when he spake these things to them: For 'tis added for the manner:
1. For his Personal Glory: He shall come in his Glory: Not in the Form of a Servant, but becoming his present State. All Infirmities shall be removed from his Soul and Body. 'Tis not a borrowed Glory; but he shall come in his own Glory. 'Tis said, Matth. 16.27. The Son of Man shall come in the Glory of his Father: Here, in his own Glory. The Son of Man, and the Son of God, is only one Person; and his Glory as God, and his Father's Glory, is the same. So that, He shall come in his Glory, noteth either,
(1.) His Divine Power and Majesty, which shall then conspicuously shine forth: Or,
(2.) The Glory put upon the Humane Nature; and so it will note his plenary Absolution, as our Surety. The Father sendeth him from Heaven, in Power and great Glory: He appeareth without Sin, Heb. 9.28. He doth not say, They that look for him shall be without Sin; but, He shall appear the second time without Sin unto Salvation: That is, fully discharged of our Debt. First, He came in carnem; He shewed himself in the Nature of Man, to be judged: Then, in carne; He shall shew himself in the Nature of Man to judge the World. At his First Coming he was holy, yet in the Garb of a Sinner; we judged him as one forsaken of God: His Second Coming shall make it evident, that he is discharged of the Debt he took upon himself.
2. His Royal Attendance. The Angels shall attend him both to honour him, and to be employed by him.
3. His Royal Posture. He shall sit upon the Throne of his Glory. A glorious Throne, beseeming the Son of God, and the Judge of the Quick and the Dead, shall be erected for him in the Clouds: Such as none can imagine how glorious it shall be, till they see it.
Secondly, The next thing that is offered in these words, is, The presenting the Parties to be judged: And there you may take notice,
(1.) Of their Congregation. And before him shall be gathered all Nations.
(2.) Their Segregation. And he shall separate them one from another, as a Shepherd divideth his Sheep from the Goats. In the Segregation we have,
1. The ordering them into two several Ranks and Companies; Sheep, and Goats, Vers. 32.
2. As to Posture and Place; Vers. 33. And he shall set his Sheep on the Right Hand, and the Goats on his Left. Not only a Separation as to Crhist's Knowledge, and discerning them, but a Separation in Place.
I begin with the first Branch, The Appearance and sitting down of the Judge.
Two Points I shall observe:
1. Doct. That the Iudge of this World is Iesus Christ.
2. Doct. That Christ's Appearance for the Iudgment of the World, shall be Glorious, and full of Majesty.
For the first Point;
That Iesus Christ is the Worlds Iudge.
(1.) Here I shall enquire, why he is Judge?
(2.) In what nature he doct act, or exercise this Judgement; whether as God, or Man, or both.
First, Let us enquire, how Christ cometh to be the Worlds Judge? and with what Conveniency and Agreeableness to Reason this Honour is put upon him. To a Judge there belongeth these four things:
1. Wisdom,
2. Justice,
3. Power, and
4. Authority.
(1.) Wisdom and Vnderstanding, by which he is able to judge all Persons and Causes that come before him, according to the Rules and Laws by which that Judgment is to proceed: For no Man can give Sentence in a Cause wherein he hath not Skill, both as to matter of Right and Wrong; and sufficient Evidence and Knowledge as to matter of Fact. Therefore, in ordinary Judicatures, a prudent and discerning Person is chosen.
(2.)Justice is required, or a constant and unbiassed Will to determine and pass Sentence, ex aequo, & bono; as Right and Truth shall require. He that giveth wrong Judgment, because he doth not accurately understand a thing, is imprudent, which in this business is a great Fault: But he that doth rightly understand a Matter, and yet is byass'd by perverse Affections and Aims, and giveth wrong Judgment in the Cause brought before him; that is highly impious and flagitious: Therefore, the Judge must be Just and incorrupt.
(3.) Power is necessary, that he may compell the Parties judged to stand to his Judgment, and the Offenders may receive their due Punishment: For otherwise, all is but precarious and arbitrary; and the Judgment given will be but a vain and solemn Pageantry.
(4.) There is required Authority: For otherwise, if a Man should obtrude himself of his own accord, they may say to him, Who made thee a Judge over us? Or if he by meer force should assume this Power to himself, the Parties impleaded have a pretence of Right to decline his Tribunal, and appeal from him. Certainly, he that rewards must be Superiour; and much more he that punisheth: For he that punisheth another, bringeth some notable Evil and Dammage upon him; but for one to bring Evil upon another, unless he hath right to do it, is unjust. Therefore, good Authority is required in him that acts the Part of a Judge. These things, as they stand upon evident Reason, and are necessary in all Judicial Proceedings between Man and Man, so much more in this great and solemn Transaction of the Last Judgment. For this will be the greatest Court that ever was kept; both in respect of the Persons to be judged, which shall be all Men, and evil Angels; high and low, small and great, rich and poor, Princes and Subjects; and in respect of the Causes that shall be produced, the whole Business of the World for six thousand Years, or thereabouts; or the Retributions made, which shall be Punishments and Rewards of the highest Nature and Degree, because Everlasting. And therefore, there must be a Judge sought out, that is exactly knowing not only of Laws, but of all Persons and Causes: That all things shall be naked, and open to him with whom we have to do, Heb. 4.12, 13. and 1 Joh. 3.20. Again, exceeding Just, without the least spot and blemish of wrong Dealing: Gen. 18.25. Shall not the Judge of all the Earth do right? And, Rom. 3.5, 6. Is God unrighteous, that taketh Vengeance? God forbid: For then how shall God judge the World? It cannot be, that the universal and final Judgment of all the World should be committed to him, that hath or can do any thing wrongful and amiss. And then, that Power is necessary both to summon Offenders, and make them appear, and stand to the Judgment which he shall award, without any hope of escaping or resisting; will as easily appear: Because the Offenders are many, and they would fain hide their guilty Heads, and shun this Tribunal, if it were possible. Rev. 6.16. Say to the Mountains and Rocks, fall on us, and hide us from the Face of him that sitteth upon the Throne, and from the Wrath of the Lamb: But that must not, cannot be: Psal. 90.11. Who knoweth the Power of thine Anger? According to thy Fear, so is thy Wrath. Authority is necessary also, or a Right to Govern, and to dispose of the Persons judged into their Everlasting Estate; which being all the World, belongeth only to the Universal King, who hath made all things, and preserveth all things, and governeth and disposeth all things for his own Glory. Legislation and Execution both belong to the same Power: Judgment is a part of Government: Laws are but Shadows, if no Execution follow. Now let us particularly see how all this belongeth to Christ.
(1.) For Wisdom and Vnderstanding. 'Tis in Christ two-fold, Divine and Humane; for each Nature hath its particular and proper Wisdom belonging to it. As God, 'tis Infinite: Psal. 147.15. His Vnderstanding is Infinite. And so by one Infinite View, or by one Act of Understanding, he knoweth all things that are, have been, or shall be, yea or may be, by his Divine Power and All-sufficiency. They are all before his Eyes, as if naked and cut down by the Chine-bone. We know things successively; as a Man readeth a Book, line after line, and Page after Page; but God at one View. Now his Humane Wisdom cannot be equal to this: A Finite Nature cannot be capable of an Infinite Understanding; but yet it is such as it doth far exceed the Knowledge of all Men, and all Angels. When Christ was upon Earth, though the Forms of things could not but successively come into his Mind or Understanding, because of the limited Nature of that Mind and Understanding; yet then he could know whatever he would; and to whatsoever thing he would apply his Mind, he did presently understand it; and in a moment, by the Light of the Divinity, all things were presented to him; so that he accurately knew the Nature of whatever he had a mind to know. And therefore, then he was not ignorant of those things that were in the Hearts of Men, and were done so secretly, as they were thought only to be known to God himself. Thus he knew the secret Touch of the Woman, when the Multitude thronged upon him, Luk. 8.45, 46. So Matth. 9.3, 4. When certain of the Scribes said within themselves, This Man blasphemeth: Jesus knowing their Thoughts, said, Why think ye evil in your Hearts. He discerneth the inward Thoughts, and turneth out the Inside of the Scribes minds: So Matth. 12.24, 25. Jesus knew their Thoughts, when they imagined that by Beelzebub the Prince of the Devils he cast out Devils. But most fully, see Joh. 2.24, 25. He committed not himself to them, because he knew all Men, and needed not that any should testifie of Man; for he knew what was in Man: It may be, they knew not themselves; but he knew what kind of Belief it was, such as would not hold out in time of Temptation. We cannot infallibly discern Professors, before they discover themselves: Yet all Hypocrites are seen and known of him even long before they shew their Hypocrisie, not by a conjectural, but a certain Knowledge, as being from, and by himself, as God. He doth infallibly know what is most secret and hidden in Man. Now, if he were endowed with such an admirable Understanding even in the Dayes of his Flesh, while he grew in Wisdom and Stature, Luk. 2. and his Humane Capacity enlarged by Degrees; what shall we think of him in that State in which he is now Glorious in Heaven? Therefore, to exercise this Judgment, he shall bring incomparable Knowledge, so far exceeding the manner and measure of all Creatures, even as he is Man; but his Infinite Knowledge as God, shall chiefly shine forth in this Work. Therefore, he is a fit Judge, able to bring forth the secret things of Darkness, and Counsels of the Heart, into open and manifest Light, 1 Cor. 4.5. and disprove Sinners in their Pretences and Excuses, and pluck off their Disguises from them.
(2.) For Justice and Righteousness. An incorrupt Judge, that neither doth nor can erre in Judgment, must be our Judge. As there is a double Knowledge in Christ, so there is a double Righteousness; one that belongeth to him as God, the other as Man; and both are exact, and immutably perfect: His Divine Nature is Holiness its self. In him is Light, and no Darkness at all. The least Shadow of Injustice cannot be imagined there. All Vertues in God are his Being, not superadded Qualities. God's Holiness may be resembled to a Vessel of pure Gold, where the Substance and Lustre is the same: But ours is like a Vessel of Wood or Earth gilded, where the Substance and Gilding is not the same. Our Holiness is superadded Quality: We cannot call a wise Man, Wisdom; or a righteous Man, Righteousness. We use the Concrete of Man, but the Abstract of God. He is Love, He is Light, He is Holiness its self; which noteth the Inseparability of the Attribute from God. 'Tis Himself; God cannot deny Himself: His Act is his Rule. Take Peter Martyr's Similitude: A Carpenter chopping a piece of Wood by a Line or Square, may sometimes chop right, and sometimes wrong; he cannot carry his Hand so evenly: But if we could suppose that a Carpenter's Hand were his Rule, he could not chop amiss. Christ's Humane Nature was so sanctified, that upon Earth he could not sin, much more now Glorified in Heaven. And there will be use of both Righteousnesses in the last Judgment; but chiefly of the Righteousness that belongeth to the Divine Nature: For all the Operations of Christ are Theandrical; neither Nature ceaseth to work in them. As in all the Works of Men, the Body and the Soul do both conspire and concur in that way which is proper to either: Only, as in the Works of his Humiliation his Humane Nature did more appear; so in the Works that belong to his Exaltation, and glorified Estate, his Divine Nature appeareth most; especially in this solemn Action, wherein Christ is to discover himself to the World with the greatest Majesty and Glory!
(3.) For Power. A Divine Power is plainly necessary, that none may with-draw themselves from this Judgment, or resist or hinder the Execution of this Sentence; for otherwise it would be past in vain: Titus 2.13. Looking for the blessed Hope, and glorious Appearing of the great God, and our Saviour Jesus Christ. Christ is then to shew himself the Great and Powerful God: His Power is seen in Raising the Dead, in bringing them together in one Place, in opening their Consciences, in casting them into Hell! Matth. 24.30. The Son of Man shall come from Heaven with Power, and great Glory.
(4.) For Authority. I shall the longer insist on This, because the main Hinge of all lieth here; and this doth bring the Ma…ter home: That Jesus Christ, and none but Jesus Christ, shall be the Worlds Judge. By the Law of Nature, the wronged Party, and the Supream Power hath Right to require Satisfaction for the Wrong done. Where no Power is publickly constituted, possibly the wronged Party hath Power to require it; but where things are better constituted, lest the wronged Party should inindulge his Revenge and Passion too far, it rests in the Supream Power, and those appointed by it, to judge the Matter; and to make amends to those that are wronged in their Body, Goods, or Good Name. Now, to God both these things concur.
1. He is the wronged Party, and offended with the Sins of Men: Not that we can lessen his Happiness by any thing that we can do; for our Good and Evil reacheth not unto him; his Essential Glory is still the same, whether we obey or disobey, please or displease, honour or dishonour him: That which is Eternal and Immutable, neither is lessened nor increased by any thing that we can do. He is out of the reach of all the Darts that we can cast at him: Hurt us they may, but reach him they cannot. But Sin; 'tis a wrong to his Declarative Glory, as Soveraign Lord and Law-giver; as 'tis a Breach of his Law. There was Hurt done to Bathsheba and Vriah, Psa. 51.4. but the Sin and Obliquity of the Action was against God, and his Sovereign Authority. If the Injury done to the Creature could be severed from the Offence done to God, it were not so great. God is the Author of the Light of Nature; and that Order which begetteth a Sense of Good and Evil in our Hearts. God is the Author of the Law given by Moses, and the Gospel revealed by his Son. Therefore, whatever things are committed against the Law of Nature, or the Law of Moses, or the Gospel, certainly 'tis a wrong to the Justice of God, as being a Breach of that Order which he hath Established. 1 Joh. 3.4. He that committeth Sin, transgresseth also the Law; for Sin is a Transgression of the Law. Laws cannot be despised, but the Majesty of the Law-giver is contemned, disparaged and sleighted. Therefore, upon this Right God might come in as a very proper Judge: But indeed God doth not punish meerly as offended, or as a private Man revengeth himself, where there is no Power publickly constituted to do him right; but he properly Judgeth.
2. A Supream and Sovereign Lord, and Governour of the World, to whom it belongeth for the common Good; to see that it be well with them that do well, and ill with them that do evil; and that no Compassion be shewed, but where the Case is Compassionable, according to that Declaration he hath made of himself to the Creatures. To declare this more plainly, we shall see how this Right accrueth to God: It may be supposed to accrue to him two wayes; either because of the Excellency of his Being, or because of his Benefits which he hath bestowed upon Mankind.
(1.) The Excellency of his Being. This is according to the Light of Nature, that those that excell should be above others: As 'tis clear in Man, who is above the Brute Creatures, he is made to have Dominion over them, because he hath a more excellent Nature than they. And when God said, Let us make Man after our own Image, he presently upon that Account gave him Dominion over the Beasts of the Field, and Fowls of the Air, and Fishes of the Sea: So God being Infinite, and far above all Finite things, hath a Power over the Creatures, Angels or Men, who are as nothing to him; and therefore to be governed by him. But chiefly,
(2.) By vertue of the Benefits bestowed by him. For great Benefits received from another, do necessarily beget a Power over him that receiveth them. As Parents have a Power and Authority over their Children, who are a means under God to give them Life and Education; the most barbarous People would acknowledge this: How much greater then is the Right of God, who hath given us Life, and Breath, and Being, and Well-being, and all things? He created us out of nothing; and being created, he preserveth us, and giveth us all the good things which we enjoy. And therefore, we are obliged to be subject to him, and to obey his Holy Laws, and to be accountable to him for the Breach of them. Therefore, let us slate it thus: As the Excellency of his Nature giveth him a Fitness, and a Sufficiency for the Government of Mankind; his Creation, Preservation, and other Benefits give him a full Right to make what Laws he pleaseth, and to call Man to an Account whether he hath kept them, yea or no. His Right is greater than Parents can have over their Children; for in Natural Generation they are but Instruments of his Providence, acting only the Power which God giveth them; and the Parents propagate nothing to the Children, but the Body, and those things that belong to the Body; called therefore, The Fathers of our Flesh, Heb. 12.9. Yea, in framing the Body God hath a greater Hand than they; for they cannot tell whether the Child will be Male or Female, Beautiful or Deformed: They know not the number and posture of the Bones, and Veins, and Arteries, and Sinews: But God doth not only concur to all these things, but form the Spirit of Man in him, Zech. 12.1. And all the Care and Providence of our Parents cometh to nothing, unless the Lord directeth it, and secondeth it with his Blessing. Therefore, God naturally is the Governour and Judge of all Creatures, visible and invisible: So that, from his Empire and Jurisdiction, they neither can nor ought to exempt themselves. So that, to be God, and Judge of the World, is one and the same thing expressed in divers terms.
Well then, you will ask, Why is Christ the Judge of the World, rather than the Father, and the Spirit, who made us, and gave the Law to us?
1. I Answer, That we have gone a good Step to prove, that it is the peculiar Right of God, common to the Three Persons, Father, Son and Holy Ghost; for these Three are One, 1 Joh. 5.7. They have one common Nature, and the Operations that are with the Divine Essence, are common to them All: So that, as the Creation of all things is equally attributed to All, so also the Right of this Act of Judging the World, doth alike agree to All. So that, as yet the thing is not explained enough, unless we should grant, that it shall be exercised by All; or can prove out of the Scriptures, that One Person of these Three is ordained, and by mutual Consent chosen out by the rest, to exercise it for himself, and for the other. Indeed, at the first, when the Doctrine of the Trinity was not as yet openly revealed, 'twas not needful to enquire more diligently after it: But this general Truth sufficed, That God is the Judge of the World. As when Enoch said, Jude 14. Behold, the Lord cometh with ten thousands of his Saints; and as David, Psal. 64.2. Lift up thy self, thou Judge of the Earth; and Psal. 50.6. God is Judge himself; and in many other Places. 'Twas enough to understand it of one only, and true God, without Distinction of the Persons: But when that Mystery was clearly manifested, then the Question was necessary, which of the Persons should be Judge of the World?
2. As there is an Order among the Persons of the Blessed Trinity, in the manner of Subsisting; so there is also a certain Order and Oeconomy, according to which all their Operations are produced, and brought forth to the Creature; according to which Order, their Power of Judging fell partly to the Father, and partly to the Son.
(1.) In the Business of Redemption: The Act of Judging, which was to be exercised upon our Surety, who was substituted in our Room and Place, and offered himself not only for our Good, in bono nostrum, but loco, & vice nostri, to bear our Punishment, and to procure Favour to us; there the Act of Judging belongeth to the Father, to whom the Satisfaction is tendred. 1 Joh. 2.1. the Advocate is to plead before the Judge. But,
(2.) As to the Judgment to be exercised upon us, who either partake of that Salvation which was purchased by that Surety, or have lost it by our Negligence, and Unbelief; there the Son, or Second Person, is our Judge: In the former, the Son could not be Judge, because in a Sense he made himself a Party for our Good, and in our Room and Place; and the same Person cannot be both Judge, and Party too: Give, and take the Satisfaction both, that cannot be. Well then, in this other Judgment the Holy Ghost cannot be conveniently the Judge; for in this Mystery he hath another Part, Function, and Office prepared; and being the Third Person in the order of Subsisting, the Son was not to be passed over, but it fell to him.
(3.) In the Son there is a double Relation, or Consideration; one as he is God, the other as he is Mediator; the one Natural and Eternal, and shall endure for ever; the other of Mediator, which as he took upon himself in Time, so in the Consummation of Time he shall at length lay aside. In this latter respect, as Mediator, he is Judge by Deputation. The Primitive Sovereign and Judge is God; and the King and Judge by derivation, is Jesus Christ the Mediator, in his Manhood, united to the Second Person in the Godhead; and so the Judgment of the World is put upon him: In regard of the Creatures, his Authority is absolute and supream; for there can be no Appeal from his Judgment: but in regard of God, 'tis deputed. He is ordained; so 'tis said, Joh. 5.27. The Father hath given him Authority also, to exercise Judgment, because he is the Son of Man. He hath the Power of Life and Death, to Condemn, and to Absolve: So Act. 10.42. He is ordained of God to be the Judge of the Quick and the Dead; and Act. 17.31. He hath appointed a Day, in which he will judge the World in Righteousness, by that Man whom he hath ordained: In all which he acts as the Father's Vicegerent; and after he hath judged, He shall deliver up the Kingdom to God, even the Father, 1 Cor. 15.24. So that the Right of Christ as Mediator, is not that which befalleth him immediately from the Right of Creation; but is derivative, and subordinate to that Kingdom which is Essential to him, common to the Father, Son, and Spirit.
(4.) This Power which belongeth to Christ as Mediator, is given to him, partly as a Recompense of his Humiliation; of which I shall speak in the second Point. But chiefly,
1. Because it belongeth to the Fulness of his Mediatory Office: And therefore, being appointed King by the Father, his last Function as a King, was to Judge the World. The Mediator was not only to pay a Price to Divine Justice, and to separate the Redeemed from the World, by his Spirit converting them to God; but also to Judge the Devil, and all those Enemies out of whose Hands he had freed the Church. He was to fight against the blind World, and Triumph over them; and when the World is ended, to Judge them, and cast them into Eternal Torments.
2. His Office is not full, till this be done: 'Tis a part of his Administration, as Mediator. The last Act of Conquest, is overcoming his Enemies, and Glorifying, and redressing Injuries and Wrongs of his Saints.
Secondly, In what Nature he doth act and exercise the Judgment, as God, or Man, or both.
I Answer, In both: Christ is the Person, as God-Man; yet the Judgment is acted visibly by him in the Humane Nature, sitting upon a visible Throne, that he may be seen of all, and heard. Therefore, Christ is so often designed by this Expression, Son of Man; as in the Text, and Matth. 16.27. and Act. 17.31. and Matth. 26.64. Ye shall see the Son of Man coming in the Clouds, with Power and great Glory, Joh. 5.27. The Son of Man is the visible Actor and Judge; because the Judgment must be visible, therefore the Judge must be such as may be seen with Bodily Eyes. The Godhead puts forth its self by the Humane Nature, in which all these great Works are acted.
VSE. You see what need there is to get in with Christ: Rom. 8.1. There is therefore now no Condemnation to them that are in Christ. 1 Joh. 2.28. And now little Children, abide in him; that when he shall appear we may have Confidence, and not be ashamed before him at his Coming. Oh, what a Comfort will it be, to have our Redeemer in our Nature, to be our Judge! Then we shall see our Goel, our Kinsman whom we have heard so much of, whom we have loved, and longed for: But the Contemners of his Mercy will find the Lamb's Face terrible. Revel. 6.16. And said to the Mountains and Rocks, Fall upon us, and hide us from the Face of him that sitteth upon the Throne, and from the Wrath of the Lamb. But Believers will find their Advocate their Judge, to reward those that trust in him, Psal. 2.12. He that hath so often pleaded with God for us, he is to pass Sentence upon us. Would a Man be afraid to be Judged by his dearest Friend? or think his Sentence would be terrible? If the Devil were our Judge, or wicked Men, we might be sad: But 'tis your dear Lord Jesus! Therefore, let us comfort our selves with the Thoughts of it. David's Followers were afraid; but when he came to be Crowned at Hebron, then he dignified and rewarded them. Christ's Followers are now despised; but when he shall come in his Glory, they shall be invited into his Kingdom; Come ye Blessed of my Father.