Exposition of the Apostles Creed, Part 2 · Sermon 24
Of Christs coming again to Judgement.
Acts 10.42.
And he commanded us to preach unto the people, and to testifie, that it is he who was ordained of God to be the Judge of Quick and Dead.
AS it is the last Article of our Creed, that concerns the history of our Saviour, that Christ shall come from heaven to judge the quick and dead; so it is one of those last things which the wise man wishes us to remember, as a fit memorandum to keep us from sin, Memento novissima; whatsoever thou takest in hand remember foreign, as it is in the Greek, the last things,Eccl. 7.36. and thou shalt never do amiss. And these are four, Death, Judgement, Heaven, and Hell; and they altogether make up so good a lesson, that could we but learn it well, and carry it well in our memories, we should need little more teaching. We might spare all our Sermons, and forbear our vehement exhortations, being nothing else but earnest perswasions and calls to good, and serious disswasions from sins; did men but call to mind that they were always dying, I had almost said, Dead men: That yet being dead, or asleep in their graves, they must thence be summoned to judgement, where if they have done well,Joh. 5.29. Mat. 25.46. they shall go into life eternal; if ill, into everlasting pain: This, this one meditation were a sufficient motive.
But the chief of these is judgement, for all the rest depend upon it; Death is but Judgements usher that goes before it; heaven or hell that retinue that follows it; death would not be so fearful if judgement did not follow; hell not so painful, if judgement did not go before; he that remembers the last day, remembers all the last things, and he that remembers the last things, cannot do amiss. Let therefore that practice of Saint Hierom be our daily meditation,Hieron. Eat we, drink we, buy we, sell we, rise we, or lye we down to sleep, whatsoever we do, let us always suppose we hear the summons of the last Trumpe, Surgite mortui, & venite ad judicium, Arise you Dead and come to judgement.
A point of that moment and necessity to be known, that Peter omits it not in this his Sermon. Called the Apostles were to be witnesses, witnesses of his life, witnesses of his death, witnesses of his resurrection, witnesses that he should be judge of quick and dead;Psal. 72.1, 2. which among other things declared him to be the Messias promised to the Fathers; for it was foretold, Give the king thy judgements, O Lord, and thy righteousness to the kings s…n. He shall judge thy people with righteousness, and thy poor with judgement; Isa. 2.4.He shall judge among the nations, and shall rebuke many people. But more clearly, Dan. 12.1, 2, 3, 4, verses. I forbear infinite other places,Joh. 5.22. Christ himself had said, The Father judgeth no man, but hath delivered all judgement to the Son. And of this Apostles were witnesses; this they were commanded foreign, to proclaim, this to testifie.
Three points there are in this verse to be considered, with the first of which, I shall not now meddle, as being not directly to my purpose.
1. The intent of the Apostles commission, to proclaim, and to witness the office of Christ, and the Redemption purchased by him.
2. That he was ordained to be the Judge.
Rom. 14.10.3. That all men must appear and be judged, whether quick or dead; For we shall stand before the judgement seat of Christ.
1. He was ordained to be the Judge.
And then there must be a day of judgement, for otherwise the Judge had been ordained to no purpose; and he must be a stranger to the Scripture that doubts of it; and if all other things which the holy Spirit foretold came to pass,Tertull. Apol. c. 18, 29. Psal. 96. Isa. 2.13. & 19.21. & 26.20. & 30.33. what reason have we to call this in question. This is to be read, as if engraven with the point of a Diamond in many places. David acknowledgeth it, For he cometh, he cometh to judge the earth. Isaiah foretells it again and again; Daniel prophesieth of it, Dan. 12.1, 2. Joel describes it, Joel 2.31. And that I may end with him, that concluded the Prophets, Malachy I mean; he also mentions it, Behold the day comes, that shall burn as an oven, and all the proud, Mal. 4.1.yea and all that do wickedly, shall be stubble, saith the Lord, and it shall neither leave them root nor branch.
I spare infinite other texts, because I hasten to those evident testimonies out of the new Testament; he that did not omit to comfort his disciples with many promises in the midst of their fiery tryals to be undergone for his name, did not forget this necessary comfort of his return again;Mat. 24. Mar. 13. Luc. 17.22. Act. 17.31. 1 Thess. 4.16. 2 Pet. 3.10. You shall see the Son of man coming in the clouds with power and great glory.
And his Apostles after him repeated it, and urged it, as a main Anchor of their hope; Saint Paul at Athens proclaims it, adviseth the Thessalonians to comfort themselves in it; Saint Peter teacheth it, nay an old prophecy there was, as old almost as the world that taught us much; Jude hath it out of the records of Enoch, Jud. ep. ver. 14.for he prophesied of these things, Behold the Lord comes with thousands of his Saints, to execute judgements upon all, and to convince all that are ungodly of their ungodly deeds.
That which I have hitherto produced, tends to this purpose that since Almighty God hath by a perpetual succession of Prophets, by himself, by his Apostles made mention of this his second coming, it ought to stand for an unmovable foundation; that there shall be a day, in which God will judge the world;Act. 17.31. which yet may seem at the first glimpse to derogate from the honor of so great a Majesty. Even as if some great King should call before him the basest of his servants, and cause him to render an accompt of his trust; for what is man, or what is all the glory of man? Earth and ashes, saith our father Abraham, as the small dust of the balance, saith Isaiah; a thing of naught, saith David; Psal. 144.3. Gen. 18.27. Isa. 40.15. Psal. 39.6, 7. Job 14.3. Gen. 18.21.a shadow, foreign, the dream of a shadow, saith Pindar; and doest thou then open thine eye upon such an one, and bringest him into judgement with thee? wilt thou enquire before thou destroy? and go down and see whether man hath done altogether according to the cry that is come before thee?
But God, who is omnipotent, is also just, and therefore as we must give an account of our lives, so also will he at that day give an account of his proceedings in this world, and defend his own cause, and his own justice; that what he did in this World, was equally and justly done; the day shall declare it. Expedient therefore it was,1 Cor. 3.13. that there should be a day of judgement,
1. Ex parte sui, For his own sake. For if he be just, necessary it is that a good life have a good reward, and an evil life the evil of punishment. But in this life it is not alwayes so, where the best are under the Cross, and wicked men crucifie them: Ungodly men flourish as the Palm Tree, and the good and godly are pressed and trode under foot like the Camomile. Psa. 73.2. Psa. 50.21.David wonders at this, his feet well-nigh slipt at it, and the wicked grew presumptuous upon it. A thought came into their head, that God was such as they were, he had no better thoughts, no other ends. For be it that some few were made the examples of Gods anger; in one age a Pharaoh, in another a Herod; now a Julian, and then an Arrius; yet the most ended their dayes in peace, and descended to their graves in mirth and pleasure.
To remove such a scandal therefore, when God sees his time, he will up, answer all, satisfie all Objections, he will vindicate his wayes, and his wise government of the world, and make it cleare by this judgement,1 Pet. 3.9. That the world judg'd amiss of him; he was not slack or careless, nor gave his blessings over head; but that he bestow'd these to win the worst; who, because they refused his mercy, shall then smart by his judgement.
2. Expedient this is also, ex parte nostri, For our sakes. God indeed bestows a reward upon his servants so soon as they breath out their souls.Luk. 16.22. Lazarus dyes, and the Angels fetch his soul, and repose it in Abrahams bosome. A modo, foreign, presently the teares are wiped from our eyes,Rev. 14.13. Psa. 126.5. and the sorrows are removed from our hearts; our wet seed time of tears, is recompenc'd with an Harvest of joy. But all this is in occulto in secret; every Dives sees not this, nor wicked Pharaoh the rest of Israel. Necessary it is that this compensation be made known, that this joyful change and vicissitude be proclaimed, that the rich man is in his gulf, that Lazarus is gone to his rest,Luk. 16.23. Act. 1.25. Mat. 19.28. that Judas is sent to his place, and the Apostles set on their Thrones. Thus much that day will manifest; and that this reward be open, appointed he hath a day in which he will judge the world. Then, then it shall be said,Psal. 58.11. Ʋerily there is a reward for the righteous, doubtlesse there is a God that judgeth the Earth.
3. Expedient this is for the discovery of hypocrites: The heart of man is deceitful above all things; who can know it? Jer. 17.9. 1 Reg. 21.27. 2 Sam. 15.7. Mat. 26.49. Matth. 6. Mat. 23.14.Ahab seems to be a great penitent, he puts on sack-cloth, and walks humbly before God: Absolom pretends a vow to be paid at Hebron, when he raiseth Rebellion against his father: Judas kisseth Christ, when his intent is to betray him: The Pharisees leven their face, and fast, and pray, when their purpose is to devoure a poor widows house. All these things are to us in o culto, we see them not, we know them not; so that the foulest Hypocrite may pass with us for a good Saint; a Wolf in sheeps cloathing, for a harmless creature.
A day then there must be to put the difference; shew who dissembled with God with their lips, and who serv'd him with an honest and sincere heart. Now that day will reveale all. Every mans work shall then be made manifest.1 Cor. 3.15. Luk. 8.17. Every mans heart shall then be opened; for our Saviours words shall then be made good, There is nothing hid, which shall not be made manifest; nor nothing secret, which shall not be made known and come abroad.
Before then we venture too far,Use. 'twill be good to look what will come of it. 'Tis an excellent piece of wisdome; and Moses wisheth it to his Israelites, Deut. 32.29.O that they were wise, that they understood this, that they would consider their latter end! Something sure there is in this end worthy our sight, that he so pathetically desires they would consider it. The want of which,Jer. 5.30. caused, as Jeremy complaines, a strange and horrible thing to be committed in the Land; what it was, you may reade there; the people liked this sin, and loved that sin; which he presumes never would have been done, had they thought quid fiet in novissimo, what would be the end thereof. God indeed was merciful, and might forgive more than they could offend; but for ought he saw, their case was desperate; when the end of all things came, he could not tell what end they should have.
A Consideration though it move us little, yet it mov'd our Saviour very much, and fetcht a sigh from his heart, and tears from his eyes; he earnestly wish'd, and the tears fell when he spake, Oh that thou, even thou hadst known in this thy day, Luc. 19.41.the things that belong to thy peace! but now they are hid from thine eyes; and so was faine to break off, the tears flowing so fast, that they interrupted his words, and forced him to weep out the rest of the sentence! Think not he lamented only the ruine of those goodly buildings; it was their rejection, their stubbornness, their hardness of heart he wept for, who would not in their day know the things that belong'd to their peace, and so prevent the fury of the Lord in his day, of which this their destruction was but a fore-runner.
These teares shew, that the day of Gods visitation is like to be a heavy day. Those wishes demonstrate, that recordatio novissimi, the remembrance of the latter end, is a wholesome meditation, and that the greatest errours of our lives arise from the neglect of it. Did we think of it aright, we would not foreslow the time, but runne as fast from sin, as now we runne after it; come as fast on our knees to God, as with our feet we fly from him; in a word, arise, returne, and repent, before the terror of the Lord, and that angry day overtake us.Eccl. 11.9. Rejoyce then O young man in thy youth, and let thy heart cheere thee in the dayes of thy youth, and walk in the wayes of thy heart, and the sight of thy eyes: but know thou, that for all these things God will bring thee to judgement; when it will not be possible to hide what is now kept secret, nor to gild over what is rotten; all things will appeare naked and bare; The Judge will not be corrupted nor inclin'd to favour, but give to every man according to his desert in that day.
2. Of the uncertainty of this day.
But when will this day be? The question is too curious; and yet certain it is, that the best Saints of God have been very inquisitive about this point; gracious promises they had made unto them when this day came, and therefore they thought it long till it came.Dan. 12.8, 6. Daniel asks after it with a kinde of passion, O my Lord, what shall be the end of these things! Esdras is yet more curious,2 Esd. 4.44, 45, 51. and demands upon the favour he found with God, Whether he might not live untill that time. A curiosity which possess'd Christs own Disciples; they came to their Master privately, saying, Tell us when shall these things be, and what shall be the signes of thy coming, and of the end of the World? Mat. 24.3.Our Saviour sayes much there, by which the approach may be guessed at, but in fine resolves them, that it was not for them, that it was not for them to know the times and seasons which God had put in his own power; For of that day and houre knoweth no man, no not the Angels in heaven, but my Father only.Vers. 36.
Notwithstanding which cleare resolution, some bold Calcutatours there were, who in St. Pauls time would needs foretell the day. These Impostors used three kinds of perswasions; Revelations, Reasons, and counterfeit Letters from the Apostles; against which St. Paul opposeth his Negative,2 Thes. 2.2. Be not troubled, neither by Spirit, nor by Word, nor by Letter as from us, as that the day of Christ is at hand. Not by Spirit, for Revelation they never had any; rather the contrary. To you it is not given. Not by Word, Act. 1.6.for foreign, from reason Christs coming on such a yeare cannot be concluded. Not by Letter, for from the Apostles no such Letters have proceeded, nor ever could be procured; they knew it not themselves, and therefore cannot in it inform others.
But neither Christs Non est datum, nor St. Pauls threefold reason,Napier Posit. 14. hath stay'd the itching humours of curious men, who out of a Talmudical prophesie, a Cabalistical Cypher of numbers, men and ages, and other light Arguments have set the period to the world 6000. years, which for the Elects sake may not be compleat. Others have yet gone farther, and out of I know not what spirit, presumed upon the month and day.
But why should men presume to know more than other sober men in this point, more than the Apostles, more than the Angels, more than Christ himself, as he was the Son of man? It is a kinde of Sacriledge to break into Gods holy place, and pry into his Ark. Christs Apostles were nearer unto him, in as much favour as we can be. The mysteries of the Kingdom they might know;Mark 4.11. Dan. 12.4. Mat. 18.10. others, yet not this. Knowledge might be encreased, as was revealed to Daniel, and yet not in this kinde. Angels behold the face of God in heaven, have natural, experimental, revealed knowledge; & matutinam & vespertinam notitiam; yet thus much they may not know. Christ himself as man, is ignorant of it; or else dicitur nescire, quia non facit scire, he is said to be ignorant of it, because he minds not to reveal it; and shall a lump of heavy clay sore above the Angels, the Schollar look to know more than his Master, or more than he intends to teach him? He is but a fool, who will be wiser than Wisdom it self. Secret things belong to the Lord, Deut. 29.29.and then let us suffer them to rest in secret, even in the breast of him to whom they belong. 'Tis dangerous to have an eare where God hath no tongue. God to discover how much this curiosity hath displeased him, hath frustrated the accounts, and evicted of errour and imposture, as many as have pleased themselves with this curiosity. In this point there is a resolution, which is safe and godly,1 Joh. 2.18. That these are the last times. Th…t the time of Nature is past, the time under Moses gone; that the time of the Gospel is now;Rev. 10.6. James 5.9. Mat. 24.33. Hab. 2.3. that after this there shall be no more time; That the Judge is near, before the door, saith St. James; In or at the door, saith St. M…t hew; and that he that shall come, will come, and will not tarry. And upon it I shall enjoyn you no other duties than the Spirit of God hath done.
1. Be sober; 'tis St. Peters counsel; or if you had rather,1 Pet. 4.7. Luk. 21.34. you shall have it from Christs mouth, Take heed to your selves, lest at any time your hearts be oppressed with surfetting and drunkenness, &c. For these things slyly steale away the heart, load and oppress it, making it so drowsie and heavy, that it cannot look for Christs coming. The bad servant in the Gospel would never have become Master of mis-rule, fell upon his fellow-servants,Luk. 12. abused and beat them; he would never have kept such leud company, eat and drunk, and been drunken with them, had he not been perswaded that his Master had deferr'd his coming. All his Riot is imputed to that presumption. And surely we may impute the disorders of the world to the same cause.Amos 6.3. Men put away the evil day farre from them; they think not the Judge is so near, the Assize so present. And this is it that hath brought in such a flood of wickedness. A way yet there is to stay this inundation; remember St. Pauls words, The Lord is at hand; and if he were at hand then, he is much nearer now. This is the old decrepit age of the world;Phil. 4.5. & quod senescit propè interitum est; every thing that grows old is neare its end. The time is at hand when the account must be given, and therefore be wise and sober.
2. For if you be not wise and sober, you will be heavy and drowsie, ready to fall asleep, and so unapt to perform another duty, which Christ out of this respect enjoyns you, Wath therefore, for you know not at what houre your Lord doth c…me. Mat. 24.42.Come he will, that you know; but when he will come, that you know not; watch therefore. For if you do it not, you shall have less wit in your heads than every common housholder. For know this, That if the good man knew at what time the Thief would come, Mat. 24.43.he would have watched, and not have suffered his house to have been broken up. Christ is that same good Thief, he will steal upon us as a Thief in the night; doth it not stand us then upon to watch,Apoc. 3.3. because we know not the houre when he will come?
I speak not of bodily watching, but of the care and vigilancy of the heart. For a man may be asleep in sinne with his eyes open; and on the contrary, watch for his Masters coming when his eyes are fastshut. Will you then know what it is to stand upon your Watch? Prepare your selves every day to make up your account, as if the last day; search your hearts by the light of Gods Word; arraign, judge, condemn your selves for your sins; pray to him for Remission and pardon of them; be chang'd, become new creatures, stand upon the Gate, and look which way your spiritual enemies mean to assault the City, labour to repell them, and beat them back, and then you need not fear to meet the Judge. Plus vigilare, est plus vivere. He that lives best, watcheth most.
Nothing so like death as sleep; nor any thing so like a dead man, as he that is laid to rest. Will you then shew your selves alive? So long as you sleep in sin,1 Cor. 15.34. you carry about you the resemblance of a dead man; awake to righteousness, and sin not, and so men will know that you are alive. The Prophet Jonah fled from God, and a mighty storme from above fell upon the ship, so that the Mariners, which they use not oft, fell devoutly to their prayers:Johah. 1.4, 5, 6. But all the while he lay, and was fast asleep. The Tempest could not awake him, till the Master of the ship rouzed him with What meanest thou, O thou sleeper! I apply it thus: A tempest there is coming, and it is from God; the Sea and the waters shall roare. You and the greatest part of the world are like Jonah, fast asleep, you think not of your danger. Some few there are,Luk. 21.25. who are awake, and pray that the ship sink not, and at this time I supply the Pilots room; Those sleepers must be content that I rouze them up from their pillows of security, and ask, What mean you, O you sleepers! will you go away in a sleep! shall your life pass away in a dream! Came you naked of goodness into the world, and will you return as naked! brought you no oyl in your Lamps with you,Mat. 25.10. 1 Thes. 4.16. and will you have none when the bridegroom comes! Or do you tarry to be startled by the Angels Trump? the shrillest Trumpet that ever blew, the fearfullest voice to sleepers that ever sounded. What is it you expect? what is it you look for?
A long continuance of the world? That may not be; it is in its decaying age, and must ere long dissolve. Hope you for Methuselahs years for your selves? Nor that neither; for seventy, or eighty, or an hundred years is the largest grant. What yet do you expect? an adjournment of the Session; sooner it may come,Mat. 24.22. but deferr'd it will not be; for, for the Elects sake those dayes are shortned.
Or suppose all this, that the world would last long, or the Assize were put off,Luk. 12.20. yet the day of thy appearance is at hand. This night, or to morrow he may send for thy soul, and exact a private account of thy life. To day a man, to morrow none. For in death there is no peradventure; in other things there is great casualty; forte dives erit, forte pauper, &c. perhaps a man may be rich, perhaps poor; perhaps honourable, perhaps dishonourable; perhaps married, perhaps unmarried: but can a man say, Perhaps I shall die,Augustin. perhaps I shall not die? No, no, death is a snare, it takes all, 'tis a hook that catcheth all.
Now look as Death arrests and delivers a man, so shall judgement find him; if it fell him a hallow tree, the grave will not make him sound; if a good tree,Eccles. 11.3. 'twill not make him worse. As the tree falls, so shall it lie. Cain died in his impenitence, and for that the Bill will be found against him. Judas in his Treason, and for a Traytour he shall be condemned; the like may be said of others; if the day of death finde them unworthy, as unworthy persons at the last day they shall be adjudg'd. He that goes out of the world in debt, must lie in that eternal prison, till at the last day he be haled by the severe Creditor before the Judge. When the Accuser of the brethren, like some eloquent Orator, will plead thus against an obstinate sinner, Not I,Rev. 12.10. not I suffer'd one blow on my face, one thorn in my head, one scourge on my back for this man, I shed no blood to Redeem him, I was not crucified to save him, I promised him no Kingdome for his work, except it were that of darknesse: yet hath this wicked wretch been at my service, and devoted himself wholly to my command. Judge O righteous Judge of the world, that which is equal;Gen. 18.25. judge him mine, who would be none of thine. After his abrenunciation of me, and all that is mine, in his Baptism, what had he to do with vanity, with lust, with anger, with covetousness? &c. In these yet he hath yielded himself my servant. Behold my works are yet found about him; and therefore let him be wholly mine, who hath wholly serv'd me. O therefore beware how you part the world with any of the devils stuff about you! for you see he may claim it at the day of judgement, and you for it.
I end this meditation with that of Augustine, Momentum hoc est unde pendet aeternitas; Our life is short, a moment, a puff of breath in our nostrils, but yet such a moment that on it depends no less matter than Eternity; our bliss, or bane; comfort, or torment. It stands us therefore in hand, to husband this moment well, to be sober in it, to be wachful in it; for then when the Bridegroom cometh, we shall go with him into a place of joy. And next I shall put you out of suspence who this Bridegroom is, which was no other than He who was appointed to be the Judge, our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ.
3. He it is.
In the Text we finde a Decree past for it, and presently after his Resurrection, his faculty was dated and signed for the execution of it;Mat. 28.18. Joh. 5.27, 22. All power is given to me in heaven and in earth; with which the Father delivered all Judgement to the Son. True it is that the Act of Judicature is common to all three persons, but the execution is consign'd to Christ only; By him God shall judge the world. That person God and man, is delegated to this Office, although the Authority and weight of his Sentence depends upon his Divine Power. And the Reasons Interpreters fetch from common equity.
By him, say they, it was that the Law was given in Mount Sinai; by him I am sure it was that the world was bought in Mount Calvary; who then so fit to call men to account for the observation of the Law, as the Authour of the Law? who so fit to judge of those he bought, as he that laid down the price?
2. Men we are, and who can be fitter to heare the cause of men, than one of our own flesh and blood?Job 19.25. I know that my Redeemer liveth. Go…l, Heb. My Kinsman, and then he will do the part of a Kinsman unto me. Let God come to judgement, and down our crests must fall; we have nothing to answer, no pure hands to lift up, deal only we can by supp…ications, O Lo…d enter not into judgement with thy servant. Job 8.5. Psa. 143.2. Gal. 3.19. Heb. 4.15. Mat. 18.11. Joh. 3.15, 16.But now it is the likelier we shall finde mercy in that day, because the Law by which he is to proceed, is in the hand of a Mediator; a man that hath experience of our infirmities, a man that came to save us, a man that dyed for us, a man that hath promised That whosoever believeth in him, shall not perish, but have everlasting life.
3. Farther; As he was the Son of man, he was arraigned, condemned, executed,Heb. 12.2. Phil. 2.8, 9. put to a shameful and a painful death: Therefore hath God now highly exalted him, set him on the Bench, that was arraigned at the Barre; made him the Judge, who was judg'd; given all power to him, that submitted himself to an earthly power; and set his Name above every name, because it was made inferiour to every name, and fastned to the Cross in scorn, Jesus of Nazare…h, August. tract. 19. in Joan.&c. This reason is St. Augustins, Forma illa erit judex, quae stetit sub judice; illa judicabit quae judicata est.
Use.Use. The whole world admits of no other division than good and bad,Mat. 25.32. Mat. 13.25, &c. Sheep and Goats, Corne and Tares; and here is matter of meditation for both.
First, For the ungodly of the world, that put the evil day away from them, Amos 6.3. Isa. 28.18. Rev. 20.4, 11. Dan. 7.9.and suppose their Covenant with Death shall stand, here is matter of terrour. For 'tis not so; their day must come, the Thrones must be set, and Christ the Ancient of dayes will take his place. Lord, what confusion of faces will there be, to see him the Judge whom they have thrust through! his wounds opened, whom they have derided! his person raised and exalted, whom they have troden underfoot!
Men love not to see the faces of those they have wronged, much less if they have power to punish them; at the very name of Joseph, his eleven brethren were amaz'd; I am Joseph whom you sold; you are found murtherers,Gen. 45.3. and deserve to die; I am a Prince, you my prisoners. What trouble then shall possess the hearts of wretched and accursed souls, when at the last day Christ shall say to the wicked, I am Jesus! Jesus that would have saved you, but you would none of my salvation! Jesus that was sold to preserve you alive, but you would not come to fetch food! Jesus that offer'd my self unto you,Mat. 27.21. & 23.37. Act. 10.38. Luk. 4.29. Zach. 11.13. but you preferr'd Barabbas before me! Jesus that would have gathered you as a Hen gathereth her chickens, but you would not! Jesus that went about to do you good, but you thrust me out of your Coasts, that I say not, you sold me for trifles, pleasures, and profits! a goodly price to value the Son of God at!
The voice of thunder, or the crack of a cloud, is nothing to the sound of these words; Gods own voice upon Mount Sinai was not so terrible; for they that heard it did live; but they who hear this must live no more, except in fire. That they might be out of hearing, how glad would they be that the hills would break about them, fall upon them, cover them! But that may not be;Luk. 23.30. Zach. 12.10. stand they must there still, and see and look upon him whom they have pierced. He shall be a Thorn in the eye of that Jew that Crown'd him with Thorns; a prick in the side of that Gentile, which with his sinne prick'd him to the heart. See him they shall, and acknowledge him to be the Son of God by the eminent lustre of his glorious body, by the evident signs in the Sunne, Moon, and Stars, by his absolute power to command, and the ready obedience of Saints and Angels unto him. True it is, that this sight will bring no delight to them. Delight? nay, much sadness and heaviness. For it cannot choose but be a grief of heart to them, to see him whom they have hated,Luk. 21.27. Mat. 24.31, 30. disgraced, scorned, cast aside, come in so great power, Majesty, Glory. For if a general shout in heaven, if the vo…ce of an Arch-Angel, if the Trump of God, if the attendance and service of Angels, if the invironing clouds, if the exaltation of the Cross, and the seat of judgement can make any presence terrible and glorious, this will be a day of terrour and glory.Esth. 6.11. For thus shall it be done on that day to the man whom God will honor. All Nations shall then bow before him, all people shall fall low unto him, and cry, The Lord he is God, 1 King. 18.39.the Lord he is God.
What will the Mammonist of the world say, to see him the Judge, who in his life was so poor, that he had not whereon to lay his head? What the proud, to see him the Judge, who humbled himself to the Cross? What the ambitious, to see him the Judge, who fled when they would make him King?Luk. 9 58. Joh. 6.15. Mat. 27.34. What the Gluttonous before him, who was offer'd gall and vinegar? Lastly, What will all the lovers of the world say then before him, who hath commanded, That they love not the world? 1 Joh. 2.15.It must needs be a great horrour and confusion of face to the rich, that the poor; to the proud, that the humble; to the Lion, that the Lamb; to the wanton, that the undefiled; to the glutton, that the sober; to the ambitious, oppressing Grandee, that the contemnor of honor, poor Christ Jesus must be the Judge.
Then you may behold the nature of an evil conscience. It lies asleep here all the while a man lives, and Satan is content to sing Lullaby to it, as desirous it should sleep on, and take its rest; But at the last day, when it shall see its Judge with these eyes, so terrible, so glorious, then it will stirre, then it will awake, and no Opium will bring it to sleep again; it will torment, attach, accuse, endite, condemn the man, and lay to his charge the contempt of Christ and his Word, his disbelief, and his misdemeanors in the day of grace. And he repenting and groaning in himself, shall say, Oh this is that Christ whom I had sometimes in derision!Psa. 69.7. Heb. 10.29. this is that Jesus whom I made a Proverb of reproach! this is that Son of God whom I crucified afresh, whose blood I trode under foot! this is that holy One, to whose Spirit I did despite! But now I see plainly that he was the Saviour of the world, that he is worthily raised and exalted to be the Judge, when I an unworthy wretch must stand and be judg'd at the Bar.
These and the like shall be the thoughts of the wicked at that day,Luk. 21.26. and their very hearts shall faile them for fear, in a woful expectation of what shall ensue; for these are but the beginning of sorrows. The worst follows, when this sentence shall fall from the mouth of the Judge, Depart from me ye cursed, Mat. 25.41.into everlasting fire, prepared for the Devil and his Angels. Never any sentence that fell from the mouth of Judge, no nor all the sentences put together, were so terrible as this. In all penalties there can be but either loss or paine. Here we finde both, Depart, in that a loss, a loss beyond expression! for it is from the blessed Vision of Gods face, in which is fulnesse of joy. Psa. 16.11.The persons are Accursed, the pain is fire, the continuance of the torment in that fire, Eternal.
Put case these accursed souls should at that day put up a supplication to the Judge to this purpose, for some Remission, yet they shall not be heard. He that stands to listen, and to receive petitions now, will not hearken then. Be it they make a motion, Lord, since we must be cast from thy sight, yet send us away with a blessing; but this may not be, Cursed you are. Well yet if accursed, yet suffer us to go into a place of rest. No, saith the Judge, it must be into Fire. Well yet, if this must be our doom, yet remember us at last, and suffer us not to be accursed, and lie in this fire tormen ed for ever. For ever and ever it must be, replyes the Judge. O let not our Lord be angry, and we will speak but this once: Since we be Accursed, since live in fire, since in everlasting fire, yet let us have there with us some good company, who may afford us some comfort. But this may not be granted, ye shall live accursed, ye shall live in fire, ye shall live in everlasting fire, prepared for the devil and his Angels. Those for ever must be your companions, those your tormentors.
Wisd. 5.1.2. But as for the godly, it shall not be so with them: For then shall the righteous men stand with great boldness before the face of such as have afflicted them, and made no account of their labours. The sentence of the Judge hath enough in it to put them in heart.Mat. 25.34. First he calls in a kinde manner, Come ye; then he pronounceth them a blessed p…ople; after he bestows an inheritance upon them, then acquaints them with the quality of it; 'tis no less than a Kingdom; a Kingdom not then thought on, but one prepar'd for them from the beginning of the world.
In the sentence there is not a word, which is not like the dropping of an honey-comb. That the fearful sentence to be pronounced upon the wicked terrifie them not, he calls to them first, Ʋenite, Come …e; he first shews signes of clemency, before any token of severity; Come near, for ye are blessed. Blessing is a rich word; and I know not the veryest miscreant but would wish himself well. Even Esau, prophane Esau comes with his eyes full of teares,Gen. 27.38. and houles for thus much; but this was but from an earthly father: But yours is from my Father in heaven; you are Benedicti patris, The blessed of my Father. And come ye blessed, not to receive some small portion or dowry, but an inheritance. Your Father hath adopted you for his children,Rom. 8.17. and made you all heires. In inheritances there be great odds, one much better than another; but this is one and the same to all; One of the greatest honour and highest esteem that may be. It is a Kingdom: Inherit the Kingdom. What, must all Gods adopted Sons be Kings then? Lazarus and all? who would think that such Rags were ordain'd to be exchanged for Robes? or such an ulcered body fit to wear a Crown? But so it must be, for it is your Fathers will to give you a Kingdome, for it is prepared for you.Luk. 12.32.
Joseph suffered his brethren to be brought into great straits and fears, as God doth his children sometimes in this world;Gen. 44.16. They are apt to say with Judah, What is this that God doth unto us? what shall we say unto my Lord? what shall we speak? Hos. 5.15.or how shall we cleare our selves? God certainly will finde out the iniquity of his servants. And God oftentimes in these agonies will oftentimes refraine himself. But at last he will cleare up his face in Josephs words,Gen. 45.3, 4. It is I, I am your brother Joseph; Come near to me, I pray you, I am Joseph your brother, be not afraid. Thus at that great and fearful day will Christ say to all his, It is I, it is I, I am Joseph your brother, Christ your Saviour, your God; your Lord, that have not spared mine own life, but have given it for you, be not afraid; be not I say afraid, pluck up your hearts and rejoyce; your sorrow is ended, your trial finished. I will be a good brother unto you, and no worse for ever. It is I, it is I, be of good comfort; come, come near to me, I will promote you, and place you neare about me, in my Throne, in my Kingdome. Come you blessed of my Father, for I am Jesus your brother, bone of your bone, and flesh of your flesh.
When a merciful King shall go about to ruine his b…st Subjects; when the head shall cease to direct or succour the feet; when an honest Advocate sh…ll betray the just cause of his Client; then think that Christ the King, the Head, the Advocate of his Church will ruine, plot destruction, and suffer a judgement or Decree to pass against his. But if all this may happen, for Kings are but men, and some heads may be distemper'd, and some Advocates corrupted; and others, though never so honest, yet through ignorance deceiv'd, or by power over-rul'd: But with Christ it is otherwise. For there can be no bad intendment in this King toward his people: in this head not the least suspicion of a bad influence upon his Body: In this Advocate there is fulness of knowledge, and plenitude of power; those Clients then, whose cause he hath taken to follow and plead, cannot miscarry. 'Tis no small matter of security, that we shall appear at no other Bar than of that of a Redeemer, where he that bought us with his blood, shall be our Advocate and Judge too. No more shall be put into the bill than he pleaseth,1 Joh. 2.1. for he frames it out of his own book. And no sentence shall proceed from his mouth for his, but that of Absolution, according to that of the Apostle,Rom. 8.1. There is no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus; who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit.
Thus you see this one clause, that Christ is ordain'd to be Judge, hath Law and Gospel, Wine and Oyle, a Sting and Honey, Mercy and Judgement in it. To the wicked, that Christ shall come to judge, there is nothing but Law, nothing but sowre wine, a sharp sting, and judgement without mercy to be expected: whereas those who are his servants, shall taste nothing but honey, be cheered with oyl, hear nothing but Gospel, feel nothing but mercy from Him.
And to receive both, both must appear.Rom. 14.10. All shall appear before the judgement-seat of Christ. In this world many cannot be brought to answer at a tribunal, their power is so great, their wealth so vast; and say they could be impleaded, yet you know, that Laws are like Spiders webs,Plutarch. in Solone. they entangle poor flyes, but cannot hold Wasps or Hornets. Besides, Judges are too oft corrupted, and accepters of persons. But when that day comes, all Orders of men, all Sexes, all Nations, all sorts, great and small,Rev. 20.12. rich and poor shall be set at the Tribunal.
Every man shall take his Doom;Gower. lib. 2.
As well the Master as the Groom.
Here's no place for any Latitat. If the Writ be once put, and the Trumpet sounded, there is no Non comparuit to be return'd. No plea to be had or heard, no shift or delay to be admitted; for every one must appeare in person, whether alive or dead; so saith Saint Peter, He was ordained to be JUDGE OF QUICK AND DEAD.
That the Dead shall rise, there can be no doubt to him that believes the Scripturrs. The question is about the quick. For shall there be any then who shall remaine alive? How say some, is that possible, since there is a Statutum est, a Statute made in heaven, and proclaim'd by the mouth of God on earth,Heb. 9.27. That all men must once die.
To cleare this doubt, Confessed it is,1 Cor. 15.22. That in Adam all men became mortal; our first father sinned, and his posterity died. Thus it is with the generality of men; Death spares none. But he who hath the power of death, may spare whom he pleaseth, as he restrains the fire, the water, the Lions mouth upon particular occasions. And out of this plenary power, an exemption was granted to Enoch. Some Rabbins indeed suppose he died, yet so, that his death was foreign, an easie and sweet kinde of death without paine; but the Apostles Testimony is evident, that he died not, foreign. He was translated that he might not see death. Heb. 11.5.And of Eliah it is confessed; These two,2 King. 2.11. notwithstanding the statute, were exempted, and therefore there may be an exemption, if God please, for others also. And of this number we finde all those who shall be alive at Christs coming, who in the Text are call'd the Quick; foreign, the living; in the Epistle to the Thessalonians, foreign, those that remain, 1 Thes. 4.17.he means alive.
But what shall then happen to these? A mystery and secret it is; and had not St. Paul revealed it, we knew not what to say to it. But now we can give an answer from his mouth,1 Cor. 15.51. We shall not all sleep, that is, dye, but we shall be all changed. Such a change there must be, both in the dead and living; because flesh and blood, that is, the corrupt qualities, and infirmities of flesh and blood, 50.52.46.cannot inherit the Kingdome of God. Chang'd we shall be all; and made of mortal immortal; of corruptible incorruptible; of natural spiritual; of weak strong; in a word, of earthly heavenly; of base and vile, glorious creatures in our bodies: And this change shall be without any delay, without succession of time, it shall be in a moment, in an instant, in the twinkling of an eye;1 Thes. 4.17. 1 Cor. 15.51. as soon as you can shut your eye-lid, say some; as speedy as you turn the candle of your eye, say others. The Trumpet shall no sooner sound, but this change shall be made. But the doubt doth still remaine. How then do all die? Answer is made, that this word Death is taken in a double acception: Either properly, or improperly. Properly, for the separation of the soul from the body: Or improperly, for the mutation of the corrupt qualities of the body.
1. Many of the Latine fathers, and with them the Pontificians, because of those words of God,Gen. 3.19. Dust thou art, and to dust shalt thou return; and because Original sin hath over-run all mankinde, do except no man from the stroke of death taken in a proper and strict sense; and Aquinas is bolder, who maintaines an incineration of the body, from whose ashes an incorruptible body sh…ll arise: which Salmeron affirms, shall be done igne conflagrationis, by that fire which shall burn the whole world.
2. But the Greeks, and some of the Latines collect out of the Apostles words, there shall be a change only, which shall be a freedome of the body from all corruptibility and mortality, and other defects. Which because it shall not dissolve the totum compositum, cannot be said to be a true, real, and proper death.Calvin. in Thes. 1. cap. 4. To their judgement Calvin subscribes, Qui dormiunt aliquo temporis spatio, exuunt corporis substantiam; qui innovabuntur, non nisi qualitatem. And this opinion seems most consonant to the Holy Ghost for these reasons:
1. The very Preface to St. Pauls Text, speaks for it, Behold I shew you a mystery. Is it any mystery to shew all shall die? To be mortal and breath out our souls, needs no Demonstration, dayly reason and experience will prove it. The secret is, that at Christs coming there should be many men remain alive, who should not die: that they should be presently chang'd; of mortal creatures, become immortal, though dispari conditione, in an unlike condition; the good made incorruptible by glory, the bad made immortal for pain.
2. And to this the Adversative particle here gives great strength, But: For it makes a plain opposition and distinction betwixt All in the first pause, and All in the second: intimating something to be attributed to these, which shall not happen to the other. Death to those, but a change to these. All shall not sleep, negatively, exclusively, but all shall be chang'd; as if he had said, Though all die not, yet somewhat there shall be that shall happen to all instead of death, viz. a mutation.
3. Lastly, This is consonant, and very aptly agrees with the clause of the next verse, The dead shall be raised incorruptible, Ver. 53.and we shall be changed. The dead raised; but we that live, changed; they shall have their Resurrection; we instead of it, our Mutation. Doth he not plainly put a difference betwixt the one and the other? As Resurrection is a favour expected by those who lie in their graves: so is this alteration and change of the corrupt qualities of their bodies, an indulgence granted to those that shall be alive at the sound of the last Trump. And this I take to be the mystery which Saint Paul reveals.
That I hold you no longer, Be the truth on which side it will, yet this is certain, than all must appear. Quick and Dead, and that the Judge will pass sentence upon all.
Look upon the prisoners at the Bar, and among them look upon your selves; for all you must stand there; when you can exempt your selves out of the number of the dead or living,Rev. 20.12. or be free from the appellation of high or low, small or great, then you shall have a better place; till then you must be content to be ranked with those who must hold up their hand.
The King here sits upon his Throne, the Judges sit upon the bench, and the Justices are Assessors, and sit by him, and God is content all this while to stand; God standeth in the Congregation of the mighty. Psal. 82.1.He stands attentively and patiently, to see how they in the Throne and Bench carry themselves. But then the case will be altered; He will sit, and they shall stand. He that stood waiting so long, and listning so long, to mark what they did upon their seats, will make all these great ones stand before him at the bar, and answer for what they have done upon the bench. Neither do you who stand below, imagine that you shall be forgot, and never call'd for. No, no; all you, even the meanest person among you must appeare; not only the great,Rev. 20.12. Mat. 24.40, 41. but the small, so saith St. John; she at the mill, and be in the field. The grave cannot hide you, your life cannot protect you, the entrails of fishes, the gorges of foules, the maws of wilde beasts, the depths of waters cannot detaine you. God will call to these, and the earth must give up her dead,Rev. 20.13. Ezek. 37.7. and the beasts their prey, and the sea her slaine. Bone must come again to bone, and sinew shall be knit to sinew, and flesh shall cover all, and breath enliven all. Living or dead, you must stand before the Judge; not one shall be absent.Job 4.18. As there is an order, That all must dye, or be changed: so also there is another Order for judgement, All must appeare before the judgement-seat of Christ.
What prisoners therefore do before the Assize, that we ought to do before this great day, bethink our selves of an answer to every part of the Enditement. Not guilty we shall not be able to plead; for he found folly in his Angels, and iniquity in the best of his Saints. One way there is to take off the bill, and cancel the nditement. Amendment and Faith will do it; Look then you be provided of these against God shall call. Penitent teares will so blur and wet the Enditement, that it cannot be read. Faith will present such an infinite obedience and satisfaction, that the Judge will be pacified. It will make what is his, yours; so that what is done, cannot be undone; yet upon his book it will be no more found and read, than if never done. Oh how happy would the prisoner at the bar think himself, if after the commission of some notorious offence, a few teares, and some expressions of sorrow, the leaving off his old course, and becoming a new man, would save his life! Your case is better; this sorrow and reformation will availe you. While therefore you are in these prisons of your bodies, and are not yet brought to the bar, let your eyes run down with tears for what is past, and become new men; and so though you must stand at the bar, yet you shall not be condemn'd as Malefactors.
My little children of whom I travel in the Lord, and should judge it my happiness to present you to the Judge,Gal. 4.19. Heb. 13.17. and make my account with …oy, shall I acquaint you with the secrets of my heart? I never reade those words of the Gospel without horrour and trembling (The men of Ninivee shall rise up in the judgement with this Generation, Mat. 12.41, 42.and condemne it; for they repented at the Preaching of Jonas, and behold a greater than Jonas is here! The Queene of the South shall rise up in the judgement against this generation, and condemne it: For she came from the utmost parts of the earth to heare the wisdome of Solomon, and behold a greater than Solomon is here.)
For, methinks, I heare the last Trump sounding, the Judge set upon the Tribunal, the Books opened, Christians set to the Barre; and the Ninivites on one hand, and the Queene of the South on the other, upbraiding and libelling, and that justly against them. She enditing them for their ignorance and negligence; and they impleading them for their infidelity, irrepentance, and intemperance. To which accusation what will be replyed, I see not; Lay the fault upon Jonah you cannot; for the Prophet hath lift up his voice in your streets, cryed he hath early and late, Repent, Mat. 3.2. Luk. 9.56.for the Kingdome of God is at hand. Transferre the fault upon the Judge you dare not, for he came to save, and not to destroy; he, greater than Jonah, than Solomon, would have wonne you to amendment, to be wise in time, and was prodigal of his Blood to save you. Look about for Advocates, you can finde none, Accusers many. Your very silence speaks you guilty, and your Guilt calls for Condemnation.
Jonah 3.8.And yet I know what you may answer, We have sinned with Ninivee, but we have repented with Ninivee; we have done wickedly as that wicked City, but we have cried mightily to God, and washed off that wickedness with a bathe of teares; proudly and presumptuously we offended, but for this we appeared in Sack-cloth and ashes before thee. We once turned away our eare, and would not heare one wiser than Solomon speaking by his Embassadours to us;1 King. 10.8. but after we confessed, That happy are thy men, and happy are these thy servants which stand continually before thee, and that heare thy wisdome. Now such is the Rhetorick of this Apology, that if found true, it will melt the bowels of the Judge into compassion; stand up he will in the behalf of his Elect, and ask, What Ninivite dare rise up against them? What black-faced Queen of the South judge and condemn these penitents. I, even I have seen their tears, bottled them up, and numbered in my book their sorrows,Isa. 44.22. and for my Nams-sake have blotted out their transgressions.
Strive therefore with God by sorrow and amendment, as he strives by his Spirit and Word with you.Gen. 6.3. Jonah 3.9. Ezek. 33.11. Heb. 3.15. Gen. 32.26. Meet him in sack-cloth and ashes, before his fierce anger doth arise. Quis scit? Who knows whether he will return and pardon? Nay, Quis non scit? Who knows not that he will returne and pardon: for his Word and his Oath is passed for it. Thus therefore while it is call'd to day, if you wrestle, you shall have a blessing; Thus if you contend, you shall wear a Crown.
The Judge on the Throne at the last day will say unto you, Come ye Blessed. These are the men who weakly fouled their Garments, but they have washed them in the blood of the Lamb. These are they who ignorantly and unwillingly defiled their hands, but they thrust their fingers into my side, and cleansed them with my blood. These never committed sinne without a teare, nor yielded to wickedness without a sob, a sigh, a groane; ashamed they were for what they did, and confounded for that in which they transgressed, and therefore they shall enter into my joy, and their joy.
My joy it is to reward them, and their joy to be thus rewarded: And this joy shall no man take from them; For ever and ever they shall be happy, and follow the Lamb wheresoever he goeth: Which God grant to us all in his good time, for his Son Jesus Christs sake: To whom with the Father, and the Holy Ghost, be all Glory and Honour world without end. Amen.
These Sermons which follow next, serve to expound the Article concerning the Holy Ghost.