The Resurrection and the Reward to Come Considered, Discourse · Proposition 4
PROPOSITION IV.
Christians have good ground to assure themselves, and to be perswaded, that their Labour shall not be in Vain in the Lord.
I. They may be assured from the Revelation of the Gospel, whereby Light and Immortality is brought to light (2 Tim. 2. 10.) Light and Immortality, that is, Immortal Life, Eternal Blessedness both for Soul and Body, is now more clearly revealed and fully assured by the Gospel.
S. Paul had Preached at Corinth the Chief City of Achaia for a longer space of time then he used to do in other Cities, (for he continued there a Year and Six Months, Acts 18. 11.) and God encouraged him hereunto, notwithstanding the many troubles and oppositions he met with from the Jews, who unanimously and with one accord set themselves against Paul, (Vers. 6. and 12.) God spake to him by Night in a Vision, that he should not be afraid nor hold his peace; for though some did oppose, yet (saith God) I have much People in this City, (Vers. 10.) and accordingly its said (Vers. 8. That many of the Corinthians believed and were Baptized, yea Crispus, the Chief Ruler of the Synagogue, believed on the Lord, with all his House. And in Obedience to this Heavenly Vision, S. Paul did for a long time (a Year and an half) Preach the Gospel to them of Corinth clearly, and freely, and with much affectionateness to them; his whole Heart was set wide open to them, they had a great place in his affections; This he means, when he tells them in 2 Ep. 6. 11. 12. O ye Corinthians, our Mouth is opened to you, our Heart is enlarged, ye are not straitned in us.
And what was it that S. Paul took such care to Preach amongst them, and which he did first of all deliver unto them (1 Cor. 15. 3.)? It was this, That Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, and that he was Buried, and that he Rose again the Third Day according to the Scriptures: And this last-mentioned Article of the Resurrection of Christ (on which Our Resurrection doth depend, 1 Thes. 4. 14.) he particularly enlargeth upon, proving it from Eye-witnesses, and they not onelyonly some single persons, as Cephas, and James, but above Five Hundred Brethren, of whom he was seen at once; there were Five Hundred Christians, and more, that at one and the same time saw him after his Resurrection from the Dead; of whom although some were fallen asleep or were dead, yet (saith he Vers. 6.) the greater part remain (most of them are alive) unto this present, or (foreign) until now, and therefore from some of them they might know and be satisfied about his Resurrection, and that he who was Dead, was Alive again. Yea, they might assure themselves of this from S. Paul's own Testimony; who though he was no Disciple, not a Christian, nor an Apostle while Christ conversed upon Earth; yet he was afterwards at his Conversion an Eye-witness of Christs being alive again; last of all (saith he Vers. 8.) he was seen of me also; and by this appearing of Christ from Heaven was S. Paul Converted: The remarkable Story we have recorded by S. Luke in Acts 9. where Christ in Glory and Power, with dread and awful Majesty (for there was Thunder, foreign Vers. 3. and Lightning which flash'd and shone about him, Vers. 2.) appeared to Paul who was still breathing out threatnings and Slaughters, foreign, (Aristophanes in his foreign. hath a like Phrase, foreign) Thunder and Lightning was in his Mouth; and Christ to meet him in his fury, appears in Dread to him, makes him to tremble (Vers. 6.) Strikes him down to the Earth (Vers. 4.) and turns this Raging Lion, this Ravening Wolf, into a Meek Lamb; Lord, saith he, what wilt thou have me to do? The Men that were with Paul, saw no Man (Vers. 7.) not him that spake, but Paul saw him, and He declared himself who he was; I am Jesus whom thou Persecutest, Vers. 5 And besides this Testimony from his own seeing of Christ to be alive, he useth other Arguments in this 15. Chap. to the Corinthians to prove the Resurrection of Christ.
But what is this to the Resurrection of Christians? Very much. For Our Resurrection depends on Christ's. If Christ be Risen, then there is a Resurrection from the Dead, Vers. 13. 16. and then shall We also Rise again. For we must know that Christ is become the first Fruits of them that Slept or were Dead. He is twice in this Chapter called the First fruits (Vers. 20. 23.) and Col. 1. 15. The First born of every Creature, or more sully in Vers. 28. He is the Head of the Body the Church, He is the Beginning, the First born from the Dead, as he is also Styled Apoc. 1. 5. And these three Titles and peculiar Prerogatives of his (for in all things he was to have the Preeminence, saith the Apostle) evince the Doctrine in hand.
1. That of First-fruits [the First-fruits of them that Slept.] For as by the Consecrating and offering up to God the First-fruits, the whole Lump or Masse, the whole encrease was Sanctified and Consecrated (for if the first-fruits be Holy, the Lump, or Masse, is also Holy, Rom. 11.) So if Christ be Risen, all true believers who are fallen asleep, shall also be Raised.
2. That of the Head, [He is the Head of the Body, the Church] Christ is the Head, and He and true Beleivers make up one Body.
And as Adam is consider'd as the Head of Mankind, in whom all die, all that come from him and partake his Nature: So is Christ the Second Adam to be consider'd as the Head of all Believers, in whom all shall be made alive; All that partake of him, of his nature and Spirit, and are like him in Spirit and Life, they shall also bear the Image of the Heavenly Adam in having an Immortal and Glorious Body, such a one as Christ now hath.
3. That of the Beginning, and the First-born from the Dead, or more plainly (and without a Metaphor) Acts 26. 23. the first that should Ris… from the Dead. He is the first among those who shall Rise from the Dead unto Glory, the first which from the Grave was raised and exalted to Heaven: The First, as being the Cause of the Resurrection of others (in which Sense he saith, Jo. 11. 25. I am the Resurrection and the Life) and the First in Order of Time, — Christ the first-fruits (he first was to Rise) afterwards they that are Christ's at his coming; and at his coming to Judgment they shall then Rise who are his Members, who belong to him, and are his peculiar Possession.
But not onelyonly from the Resurrection of Christ doth the Apostle Labour to prove and clear to the Corinthians the Resurrection of Christians, but from several other Arguments and Proofs, of which there are not a few in this Chapter; and he doth more largely insist upon this Doctrine here, then he doth elsewhere in his Epistles upon any other: He speaks also more particularly here about the Nature and Quality of the Body to be Raised, of its being Spiritualiz'd and Immortaliz'd, as also in his 2 Ep. to Cor. Chap. 5. And something he tells them that was a Secret, undiscovered heretofore, foreign, Behold, I shew you a Mystery, or I tell you a secret, 1 Cor. 15. 51. and the same he told to the Thessalonians, in 1 Ep. Chap. 4. which he ushers in with this Preface, the more to assure them of it, Vers. 15. [For this we say unto you by the word of the Lord.]
And there was great need that the Apostle should be so large and earnest in the confirming of this Truth, because there were some at Corinth that having before received it, began to deny the Resurrection of the Dead, Vers. 12. And indeed this Leaven of the Sadducees, the denyal of the Resurrection and Life to come, was likely to spread there, such a Doctrine there were many that were apt to receive in this place, and to wish it true (and generally Men from wishing such a thing to be true, in time think it to be true) because Corinth the Metropolis of Achaia being grown a Wealthy City by Merchandise (for the which it was excellently fitted by its Scituation) and as Luxurious and Voluptuous as Wealthy (Riches usually Ministring to Luxury and Lust) so that it grew to a Proverb, Non est omnibus Corinthum appellere; which Horace hath exprest in this Verse, Non cuivis homini contingit adire Corinthum. There was a Temple in this City Dedicated to Venus, and (as Strabo relates, Geogr. l. 8.) so Richly Endowed, that above a Thousand Whores were Dedicated and Devoted for her Lustful Service, and they were very costly, demanded great Wages for their luiquity; which gave occasion to the forementioned Proverb; and because of the Uncleanness that did abound here, and to which the Corinthians were addicted (so that foreign, was as much as Scortari) there was great reason for the Apostle (in 1 Ep. Chap. 6.) to heap up (though in few words) so many Arguments against Fornication. Now to such a sort of People as these were, the Doctrine that denyed all Resurrection and the Judgment to come, was very pleasing.
To conclude therefore, from the Arguments used by the Apostle in this Epistle for the proof of the Resurrection, and from what he Preached at other times (as he intimates in Vers. 1. 3) concerning it; the Corinthians might well be assured that their Labour should not be in vain in the Lord; And therefore He might well say foreign, for as much as ye know, &c. and the rather because (as he tells them in Vers. 1. 2.) ye have received the Gospel which I Preached unto you, this great Evangelical Truth, and ye did stand or had stood foreign in it, it had been firmly embraced by them; And he might well also exhort them to be Stedfast and Vnmoveable, to stand firm in the Profession of it (as he doth in the last Verse) and to the like purpose he tells them, in Vers. 11. Therefore, whether it were I or they, so we Preach, and so ye Believed: Where having before spoken of Cephas and the other Apostles, all which were Eye-witnesses of Christ's Resurrection (for to them he appeared more then once upon Earth) and having also spoken of himself, to whom Christ appeared from Heaven, and therefore he of his own knowledge could Testifie that Christ was Alive again; he adds whether it were I or they, whether ye look upon my own Testimony, or upon the Testimony of his Apostles (of whom he speaks in the foregoing Verse) so we Preach (both I and they Preach the same thing) and so ye Believed; ye did receive this Truth, and held it without wavering, as indeed there was no cause after such Ample and Clear Proof and Testimony to doubt of it.
This Doctrine of the Resurrection and a Reward to come the Corinthians might also know from the Preaching of Cephas or Peter, or of some of his Disciples: And from the Preaching of Apollos, Who was an Eloquent Man and Mighty in the Scripture, and being Fervent in Spirit, (an instance of which is that in Vers. 28. foreign, with great vehemency he convinced the Jews) he taught foreign exactly (with exact Truth) the things of the Lord, or concerning the Lord, foreign, the Lord Jesus (This he did at Ephesus) and being more perfectly instructed in the way of God by Aquila and Priscilla whom S. Paul did highly value and calls his Fellow-labourers in Christ Jesus, Rom. 16. 3, 4. he went into Achaia, and coming to Corinth the Metropolis thereof, foreign, he helped them much (or he much advantaged and emproved) them that believed through Grace (Vers. 27.) viz. upon the Preaching of S. Paul; for Paul planted and Apollos watered, (1 Cor. 3.) And as some might know this from the Preaching of Paul, and Cephas, and Apollos, so some from Christ himself pretended to have been instructed in the Christian Doctrine: As appears by those divisions amongst them, in saying, I am of Paul, and I of Cephas, and I of Christ; as we read in 1 Cor. 1. 12.
And no wonder that S. Paul and the Apostles were so much upon this: For the Doctrine of the Resurrection, of Christs Resurrection first, is a Doctrine of greatest Importance, as it makes for the encouragement of our Faith and Hope in God (for he was raised for our Justification, Rom. 4.) and as it makes for the justifying and confirmation of the Gospel, the Doctrine that he taught; there being no greater proof or evidence that the most Doubting and Sceptical and Prejudiced could desire or expect to have, to prove one to be a true Prophet, a Teacher sent from God, and that his Doctrine was from God, then this, if the Prophet or Teacher should foretel and give it them for a Sign to believe in him, That after his being put to Death by those that would not believe him, he should arise and live again in the World, and within such a time; which was fulfill'd and verified in our Saviour; and this was his last Sign superadded to the other Signs, the Miracles which he wrought, and is called The Sign of the Prophet Jonas; For as Jonas was Three Days and Three Nights in the Whale's Belly, so shall the Son of Man be Three Days and Three Nights in the Heart of the Earth (Matth. 12. 40.) And indeed this Sign of the Prophet Jonas was was very fitly remarkeable, Briefly to gloss upon it.
In this great Sea of the World its no wonder if the great Tempest of God's Anger doth arise by reason of Mens Sins, so that all are in danger to be cast away and Perish: And therefore it was expedient that one should Die (as Caiaphas the High-Priest spake, and more Prophetically then he was aware of, Jo. 11. 50) Jonas was cast into the Sea, that the rest might be saved, and the Sea calmed. He offered himself to them, to stav the raging of the Sea, and to save them from perishing; And Christ offered himself to those that came with Judas to apprehend him and bring him to his Suffering, which was designed and agreed on by the Chief of the Jews (Jo. 18. 8.) I have told you that I am he. If therefore ye seek me let these (his Disciples he means) go their way: I am the Man that must stay the Storm. Jonas was in the Belly of the Whale (Jon. 2. 1.) and in the Heart of the Seas, (Vers. 3.) and this Belly of the Whale he calls the Belly of Hell, so that he was as good as lost or dead, it was a wonder that he was not consumed, he was dead in a Figure (as tis said of Isaac, Heb. 11.) And Christ was in the Heart of the Earth, in the Belly of the Grave, he was dead not in a Figure onelyonly, but really dead and buried. Jonas was restored the Third Day to the dry Land alive [Thou hast (saith he) brought up my Life from Corruption, O Lord my God] And so was Christ restored the Third Day to the Land of the Living. And to cast in and superadd one Resemblance more, though not of this kind, Jonas arose and went to Nineveh (a great and populous City) to Preach Repentance to them: And Christ being risen from the dead, Repentance and Remission of Sins was to be Preached in his Name, among all Nations, not to one City or one Nation onelyonly, though first it was to be Preacht at Jerusalem, Luke 24. 47.
And as the Apostles Preached Jesus, and his Resurrection, and did it with great Power, as it is exprest in Acts 4. Vers. 33. And with great Power gave the Apostles Witness of the Resurrection of the Lord Jesus. S. Peter Preacht it at Pentecost before the Jews then Assembled at Jerusalem, from every Nation under Heaven, and this he did foreign, Acts 2. 29. freely and openly: And again he did it, at the Temple in Solomon's Porch besore the Jews; and with a boldness that Astonished them. He and S. John asserted it before Annas the High-Priest, and Caiaphas, and the Rulers and Elders and Scribes, Acts 4. 13. and this they did again, and in the Temple, as we read in Acts 5. in obedience to Gods Message sent them by an Angel, Vers. 20. Go, stand and speak in the Temple to the People, all the words of this Life. So the Apostles also Preacht Our Resurrection (which is consequent upon Christ's) with all freedom, though it Gall'd the Sadducees, who were grieved that they Preached through Jesus the Resurrection from the Dead, Acts 4. 2. And S. Peter in his Preaching to Cornelius and his near Friends and Kinsmen (the first converted Gentiles) as he Preacheth Christs Resurrection (Acts 10. 40, 41.) so he tells them that Christ Commanded us (viz. the Apostles) to Preach unto the People, and to testifie that it is He which was Ordained of God to be the Judge of Quick and Dead; whence it follows, That Christ was to Rise from the Dead, and that the Dead shall Rise again: The words suppose both the Resurrection of Christ, and Our Resurrection.
But to return to our Apostle Paul (who by the Grace of God laboured more abundantly then they all) He very largely and freely, Preached Christs Resurrection, and Ours: That this was his constant Employment, He affirms it in his defence before King Agrippa and Festus the Roman Governour, Acts 26. Vers. 22. I continue unto this Day, Witnessing both to small and great, That Christ should suffer, and that he should be the first that should Rise from the Dead; And in the beginning of his Apology or Defence, why should it be thought a thing incredible with you that God should Raise the Dead? (Vers. 8.) And as here before the Greatest Persons, so before the Greatest Judicatory in Greece, the Judges in Areopagus, before the Philosophers at Athens (that famous University, foreign, the Greece of Greece, as it was called) he Preached Jesus and the Resurrection, Acts 17. 18. for the which he was opposed by the Epicureàns, and counted at Athens no better then a foreign, a Babler, a Trifler, a Despicable fellow; and the same Entertainment he met with after he had Preached the same before the Judges in Areopagus, as we find it in Vers. 32. And when they heard of the Resurrection of the Dead, some Mocked, for he had said in the words immediately foregoing, That now God Commandeth all Men every where to Repent, because he hath appointed a Day wherein he will Judge the World with Righteousness, by that Man whom he hath Ordained (viz. by Christ) whereof he hath given assurance, in that he Raised him from the Dead. Though he had seen before how this Doctrine was entertain'd with scorn, as idle talk and for which he was counted foreign, (and for such and no better it was esteemed by Pliny (in Hist. Nat. l. 2. c. 7. and l. 7. c. 55.) pnerile deliramentum, and also by the Heathen Cecilius in Minutius Felix, Christianorum aniles fabulae) yet he knowing of what great importance and weighty consequence it was to Preach this necessary Doctrine of the Resurrection and (that which it is in order to) the Judgment to come, and what the Power of it was, as it afterward made Felix, the Roman Governour, to tremble; he thought it Seasonable to declare it before that Grave and Severe Senate and Judicatory of the Areopagites at Athens. And what he did here assert and Preach before them, was very fit and Seasonable; for that Court or Judicatory was a little Figure and Emblem of the great Day of Judgment. This Court was the Supreme Court of Justice at Athens, the Judges were persons of great note, and renown'd for their Wisdom and Integrity, able and fit to Judge of the most weighty matters, and therefore were the most difficult causes wont to be refer'd to them; they sat in the Dark, that they might not be moved to any undue affection and compassion upon Sight of the Malefactor; they would not permit him foreign or foreign, to use any Rhetorick to move their affections, but onelyonly to make a plain and bare Narration: They were also very strict and severe in enquiring into the Lives and Manners of Men (for this was another End to which this Court was appointed) and taking an account hereof, ubi quid quisque Atheniensium ageret, diligentissimè inquiri soleb at, ut homines honestatem (vitae rationem memores reddendam esse) sequerentur (as Valerius Maximus describes it) they were strictly inquisitive what any one of the Athenians did, how he demean'd himself, that Men might see it to be their interest to live well, as considering that they were to give an account of their lives and behaviour; and therefore it was called Sanctissimum Consilium, the most Holy Council or Judicatory; and by this it seem'd a little Representation of the Great Tribunal of Christ and Solemn Day of Judgment, at what time the Books shall be opened, the Rolls wherein Mens Actions are Recorded; and when All must appear before the Judgment-Seat of Christ, that every one may receive the things done in his Body, according to that he hath done, whether good or evil, as the Apostle speaks in 2 Cor. 5. 10. And upon this account and consideration (as a proper and powerful perswasive to a good Life) he would have Christians to make it their great design and Holy Ambition to live so as to be acceptable unto God, in the foregoing Verse, as he adds also in the following Verse, Knowing therefore the terrour of the Lord (this dreadful appearance of the Lord at the Last Day) we perswade Men.
Thus we see how the Apostle made it his great care and business to Preach the Resurrection of Christ, as also the General Resurrection, or (which amounts to as much) the Great Day of Judgment. What ever Doctrine, more smooth and flattering, and complying with Mens e…e and carnality, Others might Teach, yet this is that which S. Paul with all faithfullness Preacht unto the World, this was his Preaching of the Gospel, he made sure always to clear, and confirm, and inculcate this great Evangelical Truth, this Fundamental Article of Christian Religion, The Doctrine of the Resurrection.
Concerning which, I shall onelyonly add this one Consideration more (and its worthy to be well consider'd by us) That though in this Fifteenth Chapter to the Corinthians he useth many Arguments to evince and perswade the Belief of Our Resurrection, yet first of all, and principally, (foreign) he makes use of the Resurrection of Christ for the proof of it, who rose as the Head of the Church (the Second Adam being a Common Head, as well as the First, in the Sense we have shewed) and as the First fruits of them that Slept, and the First-born from the Dead. And further consider. That the Argument drawn from Christs being Raised to Life, and to a Life of Immortal Blessedness (Rom. 6. 9) is a most plain and easie Argument to prove that there is a Blessed Life and Immortality hereafter. There are other Arguments to evince this, but some of them are too sublime for every capacity; but the meanest are capable of understanding this; For the Man Christ, one in our nature and flesh, Died, and Rose again, and is now Alive, and liveth for Ever; which is an evident proof of a future Life after the Death of the Body, and a fair pledge of a Blessed Immortality hereafter, which God will reward the faithful with, those that have the Spirit of God dwelling in them, as the Apostle speaks, Rom. 8. 11.
And now having seen how Christians have good ground to hope for, and expect a Future Reward of Soul and Body from the Light of Revelation, we shall shew (in the following Arguments) how they may hope for it from the Light of Reason.
2. From the Justice of God, they may know their Labour is not in vain.
His Justice manifests it self in rendring to every one according to his works, and this without any respect of Persons: Both Maximes are much insisted upon in the Scriptures both of the Old and New Testament. The first is acknowledged by David the Royal Psalmist, in Psal. 62. 12. by that Royàl Oracle of Wisdom, Solomon his Son, Prov. 24. 12. by the Prophets, Jeremy 32. 19. Ezek. 33. 20. and by one greater then Solomon, and the Prophets, even Christ Jesus, the Judge himself, in Matth. 16. 27. Revel. 22. 12. and by his Apostles, S. Paul, Rom. 2. 6. 2 Cor. 5. 10. and S. Peter, 1 Ep. 1. 17.
Now the ways or works of Men are either good or evil; and God who rewards, cannot be deceived or mistaken; (as not corrupted or wrought upon by fear or flattery) but he has a perfect knowledge, and just value of Mens works, knows the inward Springs and Principles of their actions: And he which is Lord over all, shall fear no Mans persons, nor shall he stand in awe of any Mans greatness, &c. Wisdom 6. 7. He seeth not as Man seeth, for Man looketh on the outward appearance, but the Lord looketh on the Heart, 1 Sam. 16. 7. The Righteous Lord tries the Reines and Heart, Psal. 7. 9. And this, That he may give every Man according to his ways, and according to the fruit of his doings; which is mention'd with God's searching and pondering the Heart, and trying the Reins, Jer. 17. 10. Prov. 24. 12.
And that God renders to every one without respect of persons, is a Maxime frequently also asserted in Scripture, in the Old Testament, Deut. 10. 17. 2 Chron. 19. 7. Job 34. 19 and in the New Testament, Acts 10. 34. Rom. 2. 11. Gal. 2. 6. Ephes. 6. 9. Colos. 3. 25. We read in Prov. 11. 1. that A false Ballance is Abomination to the Lord, surely then God will not Practise that himself, which he Abominates in Men; but he will weigh the actions of Men in a true Ballance. He will be far from all Partiality and respect of persons, which are false Weights and Measures, and Ballances of deceit. He will not accept or respect persons in Judgment. In the dispensation of Rewards and Punishment, he will not regard or look at any thing but the temper of their Minds, and their Actions, whether good or evil.
Now the Justice of God requires ut bonis bene, malis male sit. Isa. 3. 10, 11. Say ye to the Righteous, That it shall be well with him. Wo unto the wicked, it shall be ill with him.
But we often experience it otherwise to be in this World, yea good Men in the Old Testament found it not seldome to be otherwise; and yet under that dispensation there is more abundant mention of Temporal good things in the Promises there recorded; and hence were those complaints in Mal. 3. 15. and in Psal. 73. from Verse 3. to 12. (as Job 12. 6.) and in Jer. 12. 1. and Holy David observ'd the like of wicked Men, the Men of the World, Psal. 17. 14. and in the Epistle to the Hebrews the Calamities of the most Eminent in goodness are described, Vers. 36. 37, 38.
The Israelites (God's People) gather Straw. make Brick, live a Life of bitter affliction, when as the Egyptians live at ease, and in pleasures. When Jacob and his Children were afflicted, partly as being in a Sojourning and uncertain condition, and partly while they were Strangers and Servants in Egypt, Esau and his Posterity flourished in Honour.
Lazarus (a Son of Abraham) had many evil things, was in hard Circumstances, not onelyonly poor, but full of Sores, a sick weak thing, unable to get his Bread with labour and sweat of his brows; desired but the Crumbs that fell from the Rich Mans Table. Dives the Rich Man, and wicked, had his good things; he was Richly Attired, and fared Deliciously every Day, (Luke 16. 19.) foreign, Every Day he enjoy'd all that made for pleasure, and not onelyonly at some great or Solemn times; He and his Five Brethren with other jolly Company: While others (as Lazarus) fared hardly.
So that Sin is not alway punished in this Life, nor Holiness rewarded.
God did not render unto Lazarus, and those of whom the World was not Worthy, he did not render unto them in this Life according to what they had done or suffered.
God did not render unto Dives here according to the evil he did, his Unmercifulness, his Luxury and Riot, with the Sins attending thereon; He had the good things of this Life, lived in ease and pleasure, he received in full Measure his good things: Now this was not a Reward according to what he did; he Reaped what was better then he Sowed.
And therefore if Divine Providence does not equally distribute Rewards and Punishments here; it follows, since God is Just, That in the World to come he will dispense Rewards and Punishments according as they have lived here; that every one may receive according to what they have done in the Body, whether good or evil. There is therefore a time, a Day to come, wherein the Judge of the World will make it appear that he did weigh and consider the Spirits and Lives of all Men, and now they shall be dealt with according as they have done well or ill here, and therefore this time is called, Rom. 2. 5. The Day of the Revelation of the Righteous Judgment of God.
This Argument taken from the Justice of God, is mention'd by the Apostle in 2 Thes. 1. 6, 7. It is a Righteous thing with God to recompense Tribulation to them that trouble you: And to you who are troubled, Rest with us, when the Lord Jesus shall be revealed from Heaven, with his mighty Angels.
In short thus, God the Wise and Righteous Law-giver and Ruler of the World, hath given us a Law and Rule to walk by and govern us, and he hath shewed us what is good, and what the Lord our God requires of us, (and his Will is Holy, and Wise and Perfect) this Law he hath Written in Mans Conscience, and hath more fully declared it in his Word: Now he will not let the Transgression of his Righteous Law, the open and constant violation of it by wicked Men, go unpunished; tho' he may bear with them here for a while, he will not suffer them to devour and cruelly to treat his obedient Servants; the Rod of the wicked shall not always rest upon the Lot of the Righteous, (Psal. 125.) But they shall know that there is a God that Judgeth in the Earth, and shall find that Tribulation and Anguish, Indignation and Wrath, will be to every Soul that doth Evil, Rom. 2.
Nor will God forget the faithful and sincere obedience of his Servants, but will render Eternal Life to them that by patient continuance in well-doing seek for Honour, and Glory, and Immortality. So in Hebr. 6. 10. God is not unrighteous to forget your work and labour of Love. He hath his Book of remembrance, Mal. 3. He hath promised and Eternal Reward, a Crown of Life; and this Crown of Life and Glory is also a Crown of Righteousness, 2 Tim. 4. And God as he is the Righteous Judge (as well as a God of Mercy) will give it, because he hath promised to give it upon the Terms of Faith and sincere Obedience, or patient continuance in well doing: And he who hath promised, will be Just and Righteous to perform; as he is abundantly Merciful in Pardoning our Infirmities and Imperfections, and also in Rewarding us and doing for us exceeding abundantly above all that we have done. So Rich is his Mercy, and so Noble his Goodness: And so far are our works, our doings or sufferings from any Merit or any Worthiness, to be compared with the Reward and Glory to be revealed, Rom. 8. It is a Merciful Justice, and therefore its said in Psal. 62. 12. Also unto thee, O Lord, belongeth Mercy: For thou rendrest to every Man according to his Work.
Human Judicatories and Tribunals cannot take notice of all Sins and Offences; and where they do, they may be corrupted or bribed, or they may be deceived and mistaken. But the Judge of all the Earth, he regardeth not persons nor taketh reward, Deut. 10. 27. Nor can he be deceived by false pretensions; for the Lord is a God of knowledge, and by him actions are weighed, 1 Sam. 2. and before him all things are naked and open, Heb. 4.
Humane Laws onelyonly restrain Words and outward Actions; But the Divine Law reacheth the Spirit of Man, his inward Thoughts, and Secrets of the Heart.
There are Spiritual Sins, as Hypocrisie, Pride of Heart, Envy, Lusts of the Heart, Murder of the Heart; These, and the like, are not punished by Human Laws, but are greatly Criminal before God.
There are Speculative Sins; Sins acted over in the Phansy, and there repeated and remember'd with delight (when the outward act is past) which are highly provoking to God, and shall be judged: For, for Men to do this, to recal in their thoughts with pleasure and delight such and such Sins, is to act over the same Sins in Phancy and Speculation, to aggravate their Sins by new and fresh guilt, it is to stand to and make good their former Transgressions, instead of repenting of them; for then they would be remembred with Sorrow and Abhorrence.
These Sins not falling under Mans Cognisance; as onelyonly Words and Actions do, but not Thoughts (which yet are the first contrivers of that Sin and evil in Words and Actions) and these Sins escaping the Judgment and Punishments of Humane Judicatories; yet shall not escape the Judgment of God.
The Day of Judgment is described by this, 1 Cor. 4. 5. Judge nothing before the time, until the Lord come, who both will bring to light the Hidden things of Darkness, and will make manifest the Counsels of the Heart; and then shall every Man have praise of God; that is, every one that hath done well; as on the contrary, they shall have shame and everlasting contempt (Dan. 12. 2.) that have done evil, how cunning and close soever they were, and whatsoever fair pretences they might make before Men. The Day of Judgment is described here by the time when Christ shall bring to light the Hidden things of Darkness, and make manifest the Counsels of the Heart: And so in Rom. 2. 16. its call'd the Day when God shall judge the secrets of Men by Jesus Christ.
3. From the Testimony of Conscience.
Conscience is God's Deputy and Vice-gerent. The voice of Conscience is God's voice, and it does powerfully witness a Future State, and the Rewards and Punishments to be dispensed therein, according to what we have done here, Good or Evil.
Upon the Consciousness of doing their duty, there arises within Men a Peace, and Satisfaction, and Comfortable expectations from God who is the Father of Mercies. And there is no such satisfaction, no such joyous reflections as those; as 'twas said of the Athenians, foreign. A continual Feast is a good Conscience; But this Feast is but an Antipast, a foretast of a better in Heaven.
Now on the contrary, there follows upon Sin, inward Trouble, and Anguish, and Fear, a fearful expectation of a sad after-reckoning and Judgment to come. Hae sunt impijs assiduae domesticaeque furiae (saith Tully.) And these inward Fears and Troubles, Terrors of another World, are not imprest upon Men by Politians and Statesmen, for Secular ends and interest of State, to awe Men into obedience; For,
(1.) They follow upon such sins as are not punishable by Human Laws, as Secret Sins, Sins of the Heart, Speculative Sins and Spiritual Wickednesses; which are such Sins as no Earthly Judges, no Magistrates can have Cognisance of, and no Human Laws can reach: It would be a vain thing for the Supreme Powers to make Laws about what its impossible for them to know, and consequently impossible for them to punish.
(2.) Yea, they follow upon such Sins as are hid from Men, if punishable by Laws when discovered, such Sins as no Man can accuse the Malefactor of, or not prove them against him.
(3.) Yea, they follow upon such sins, as being known by Man, yet are not punishable by the Laws of that Country, nay sometimes are applauded and esteem'd by Men. Judas his sin was so far from being punished by the Jewish Powers, that he was rewarded for it; But the reward he had, and all the applause and encouragement they could give him, could not ease and sree him from the Anguish in his Conscience, and Fear of what was to come.
(4.) Yea these Fears and Terrors are found to be amongst them in whom is no Policy, Nations that are rude and barbarous, and not governed by Crafty Polititians; yet even in such appear'd Magna vis Conscientiae: So universally have they possest Men, and in all ages; whereas vain and causeless and Panick Fears are of a short and uncertain continuance, and not so universal, as these inward Fears and Troubles of Conscience. Nor are these Fears pleasing and grateful to Men (as is easie for any Man to judge and acknowledge) but contrary to the inclinations of Men, who are carried out to the love and practise of such Sins (as Revenge, Injustice, Lust, and the like) whence these inward Troubles arise.
(5.) To what hath been said, I shall superadd this, That the Deepest Polititians and Greatest Statesmen, the Greatest Potentates of the Earth are not more free and secure from these inward Fears then the populus terrae, the mean Peasants and those of low degree (which yet these Grandees could not have been disturbed with, had they known that these were but arts and a juggle invented by them for State-reasons) yea the Great Men of the Earth, Men of Policy and Power, have been rather more severely lasht caeco verbere, with these secret and unseen lashes: They have been more severely assaulted and haunted by these domesticae furiae and inward Horrors, though they would fain have been delivered from them, and have used all arts to be freed from this evil Spirit, a Self-corroding and tormenting Conscience, which troubled them.
4. From the Souls inward Sense in good Men.
There are certain Instincts and Sympathies and Propensions in the Soul of Man to Religion, to God and the Enjoyment of him; and these are more especially enlivened, and vigorous, in Holy and renewed Souls. There is a vehement thirst and longing in such Souls after Union with God, the Father of Spirits: Their Souls pant after God, after the living God, that they may see and enjoy him whom their Souls love, whom they have chosen for their Portion, for whom they have forsaken all the vanities of the World, and denyed All to enjoy Him; They have none in Heaven but Him, none in Earth in comparison of Him. As for this present Life and State, they groan being burdened, while they are in this Tabernacle; this is their State of Pilgrimage; while they are here, they are absent from the Lord, 2 Cor. 5.
And hence it is that these Holy Souls perswade themselves that the Father of Spirits, God who is Love, that implanted these Instincts and Affections in them, that hath awakened them by his Grace, that hath drawn out their Hearts after him, so that the Love of God hath constrain'd them to count nothing that he commanded them grievous to do, nothing hard to suffer for him, they perswade themselves that God will satisfie these Desires and Affections of his own begetting in them, I shall be satisfied when I awake, with thy likeness (as Holy David speaks Psal. 17.) and that their Souls who cleave to God in love, who desire and love him above all things, and do more thirst after a full Enjoyment of him from the lesser tastes and relishes of his Goodness here, and hope to see him as he is, face to face hereafter, shall not be frustrated of their desires and hopes; but God will satisfie these by the manifestation of some better State and Enjoyment then of this World, which is not their Portion, nor did they mind Earthly things. They perswade themselves that God will not forsake them, nor thrust away the Soul that thirsts after him, and loves and desires him above all, and places her Felicity in him; and when it has most prepared her self, as a Bride adorned for her Husband, for the other State, and is more near to enjoy him, as it is when the Death of the Body is near.
That such a Soul should be cut off from God, and cast into the place of forgetfulness and be no more, so as she should never enjoy God (nor indeed any thing else) is not to be conceived, it being manifestly contrary to the Divine Goodness.
Hath God implanted in Brute Beasts such and such Propensions and Instincts, Sympathies and Antipathies, the Passions of Fear and Aversation, the Affections of Hope, and Desire, and Joy, with real and proper Objects for them to be respectively exercised upon; So that they naturally fear and avoid what is for their hurt, and they hope and desire and delight in what is for their welfare and pleasure? And is it to be imagined that the same Passions which are implanted by God in Better and Higher Beings, the Souls of Men, and in Holy and renewed Souls (the Best Souls) have not suiteable Objects for them also? Is the Hope of enjoying God, and a Blessed Immortality, and the Future State (and the Joy thence arising, or, as the Apostle speaks, Rom. 5. the rejoycing in Hope of the Glory of God) a vain Hope, a vain Joy? Do the Best Men act like Fools, and unwisely, in denying themselves as to many advantages and pleasures in this World, for an Vtopian Paradise, for a Nothing, for that which is not? Are all the Religious Instincts and Propensions towards God, which are rooted in the Souls of Men, and are most active in the Souls of Holy Men, and especially towards the end of their Life, are they Frustraneous and Vain?
But we cannot imagine things to be thus, without highly reproaching the God of Nature, God most Wise and most Good, who made all his Works in Wisdom, (Psal. 104. 24. which Wisdom reacheth from one end to another, and sweetly orders all things, Wisdom. 8. 1.) and who saw every thing that he had made, that it was good, very good (Genes. 1.) and accordingly fitted every Creature for its End, which it knows, and observes the proper means to attain it; this Wise and Good God did not surely do otherwise in making of Man, but he hath excellently fitted him for the Highest and Best End; and Holy Souls are in the readiest capacity for it. Hence that in 2 Cor. 5. 5. He that hath wrought us for the self same thing, is God, who also hath given unto us the earnest of the Spirit.
And thus much for the Arguments from the light of Reason: Concerning which, if any shall object, That this last Argument (as also the former) seems not so much to prove the Resurrection of the Body, as a Life to come, or a Blessed Immortality of the Soul after the Death of the Body; I answer, Be it so, yet they are of force to prove that which was the matter in hand, viz. That those who Abound in the Work of the Lord, their Labour shall not be in vain in the Lord.
THE END.
End of the text · John Worthington, The Resurrection and the Reward to Come Considered (1690)