the last Day the Righteousness of God's Proceedings shall be universally manifest and magnified 'T is therefore called the Day of the Revelation of the Righteous Judgment of God Now in order to this the Scripture informs us that all the Works of Men shall be brought in to Judgment even every secret thing whether good or evil And the Apostle saith That we must all 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 it be good or bad All Sins whether secret or openly visible shall be accounted for Those Sins that have been acted in the most secret Retirement so that no eye of Man could take cognizance of them Nay the Sins of the thoughts and affections of which Satan could not accuse Men when the inward Fire of Lust or Malice is not discovered by the least smoke or sparkles by no expressions all those shall be brought to Judgment God will judg the Secrets of Men by Jesus Christ. The sins of Omission of our Duty that are so numerous from carelesness and diversions from slothfulness and delays and that now so little affect us for we are more sensible of what we do than of what we have not done the guilt of all these shall then be heavily charged on the Conscience of the Sinner The neglect of improving all the Means Advantages and Opportunities of doing or receiving Good will be a great part of that Judgment The Lord called his Servants to an account for the Talent committed to their trust and required profit in proportion to their number and worth All sins of Commission in Youth and Age whether gross Sensuality as Lasciviousness Lusts excess of Wine Revellings Banquetings and abominable Idolatries and all excess of Riot shall be accounted for to him who is ready to judg the quick and the dead or acts of unrighteous-to others He that doth wrong shall receive according to the wrong he has done And sins of a lesser guilt for which the most are not touch'd with grief or shame shall then be produc'd in Judgment All the sins of our words so easily committed and not so easily observed shall then be called to a heavy remembrance The Judg himself tells us I say unto you that every idle word that Men shall speak they shall give account thereof in the Day of Judgment And if vain words the Signs and immediate Effects of a vain Mind shall sadly encrease our Accounts how much more all the contentious fierce and revengeful words the detracting false contumelious and injurious words the impure filthy and contagious words the prophane blasphemous and impious words that flow from the evil Treasure of the Heart O their dreadful number and oppressing weight And all the Aggravations and Circumstances of Mens Sins that raise their Guilt to such fearful heights shall be enumerated in order to Judgment For thus 't was foretold Behold the Lord cometh with ten thousand of his Saints to execute Judgment upon all and to convince all that are ungodly among them of all their ungodly Deeds which they have ungodly committed and all their hard Speeches which ungodly Sinners have spoken against him And all the good Works of the Saints shall then be remembred even to the least work of Piety the giving of two Mites to the Treasury of the Temple and the least work of Charity the giving a cup of cold Water to a Disciple upon the account of his Relation unto Christ. All their secret Graces and Duties shall then be rewarded The manner of this Judicial Evidence is set forth to us in Scripture by the opening the Books congruously to proceedings in humane Judgment wherein the Information and Charge is produc'd from Writings for the conviction of the Accused Thus it was represented to St. John in a Vision I saw the Dead small and great stand before God and the Books were opened and the Dead were judged out of the things that were written in the Books according to their Works 1. The Books of the Law and Gospel shall then be open'd in all the Injunctions and Prohibitions and our Lives compar'd with them Our Saviour told the Jews Do not think that I will accuse you to my Father there is one that accuseth you even Moses in whom you trust not the Person but the Law of Moses And he denounced against those that reject the Gospel the Word that I have spoken the same shall judg them in the last Day The Law is the exact Transcript of God's Sacred Will the natural and immutable Rule of Righteousness 't is pure forbids all Sin and enjoyns universal Holiness 't is Spiritual requires not only a conformity in Words and Actions but inward sanctity in mind and heart for the Soul is the principal part of Man entirely open to God's Eye the Maker and Judg of it And the most enlightned Saints have but an imperfect knowledg of it here This made Holy David after his meditation upon its purity and perfection to cry out in an Agony Who can understand his Errors cleanse thou me from secret sins This when opend in its spiritual and comprehensive Nature by a wise and zealous Preacher darts a Light into the Conscience and discovers many secret Sins that like so many Serpents were still and quiet in the dark but upon the suddain breaking in of the Light fly upon the Sinner and torment him with their mortal Stings But when the Law-giver himself shall expound the Law in its full extent and perfection with respect to all the Duties it commands and Sins it forbids how guilty will Men appear how unable to answer one Article of a thousand charg'd upon them 2. The Omniscience of God will give most convincing Evidence of all our Works All things are naked and open to his Eyes with whom we have to do in Judgment The Psalmist declares the infinite perspicacity of his sight The Darkness hides not from thee but the Night shines as the Day As his Light and transcendent Brightness is invisible to us so our thickest darkness is visible to him We cannot see things in the Night because it hinders the reception of the Rays that insinuate into the Eye and causes sight but the Eyes of our Judg are like a flame of Fire dispelling all darkness From his Throne in Heaven his piercing Eye sees through all the concealments of Mens Sins Thou hast set our Iniquities before thee and our secret Sins in the Light of thy Countenance He discovered the Sacrilege of Achan the Lie of Gehazi the Deceit of Ananias Saul's disobedience in sparing the Amalekites devoted to destruction had the colourable pretence of Piety and as a Sacrifice was laid on the Altar And David's Murder of Uriah was imputed to the chance of War as a sufficient excuse But tho' they might have deceived others they could not
deceive God He is intimately present with the Souls of Men that are unsearchable to the most discerning Angels of Light and knows all their most secret Designs and Desires The Pharisees in whom Pride was the first Property and Hypocrisy a second Nature could not with all their saintly shews impose upon our Saviour for he knew what was in Man He discover'd their Alms to be not the effect of Charity but Ostentation and their specious Acts of Devotion to be a train to surprise some rich Prey And this Divine Knowledg of Men and their Actions is in order to Judgment Thus the wise King declares Doth not he that ponders the Heart consider it and he that keepeth thy Soul doth not he know it And shall not he render to every Man according to his Works And God himself testifies I the Lord search the Heart even to give to every Man according to his Works For this Reason he is said to keep a Register of Mens Sins Thus he speaks of the impure Idolatries of the Jews Behold it is written before me to signify his exact and actual knowledg I will not keep silence but will recompense even recompense into their Bosoms And at the Day of Judgment he will declare his Knowledg of their Sins before all and the most secret shall be made evident as if written in their Foreheads in the most plain and legible Characters And all the goodness of the Saints shall then be revealed by the Judg. Their greatest Excelcellencies are invisible to the Eyes of Men the sanctity of their Aims and Affections which gives Life and Value to all the Acts of Obedience their secret Duties wherein the sincerity and ardency of their Souls is most exprest are only known to God And such is the excellent humility of the Saints that the more they are enrich'd and abound with the gracious influences of the Spirit the less they discover to the World as the Celestial Bodies when in nearest conjunction with the Sun and most fill'd with his Light are least in appearance to the Inhabitants of the Earth But there is a Book of Remembrance before him for them that feared the Lord and thought upon his Name And they shall be mine saith the Lord of Hosts in the day when I make up my Jewels and I will spare them as a Man spares his Son that serves him 3. The Conscience of every Man shall then be open'd and give an accusing or excusing testimony of all things for these Acts of Conscience in the present Life have a final respect to God's Tribunal And tho the Accounts are so vast there shall be an exact agreement between the Books of God's Omniscience and of Conscience in the Day of Judgment Now indeed the Conscience of Man tho never so inquisitive and diligent in examining and revising his Ways is unable to take a just account of his Sins As one that would tell the first appearing Stars in the Evening before he can reckon them others appear and confound his Memory with their number so when Conscience is seriously intent in reflecting upon it self before it can reckon up the Sins committed against one Command innumerable others appear This made the Psalmist upon the survey of his Actions break forth in amazement and perplexity Mine Iniquities are more than the Hairs upon my Head therefore my Heart fails me But it will be one of the Miracles of that Day to enlarge the view of Conscience to all their Sins And O the formidable spectacle when Conscience enlightned by a Beam from Heaven shall present to a Sinner in one view the sins of his whole Life Now Conscience is a Notary in every Man's Bosom and tho 't is not always vocal yet writes down their Actions The Sin of Judah is written with a Pen of Iron and with a point of a Diamond 't is graven upon the Tables of the Heart But then it shall be compell'd to give a full Charge against the Guilty Of this we have an infallible presage in this world when Conscience turns the point against the Brest of a Sinner and enforces the Tongue by a secret instigation to accuse the Person And this Information of Conscience at the last will make the Sinner speechless for the Book of Accounts with Divine Justice was always in his own keeping and what-ever is recorded there was written with his own hand And how will those hardned Sinners that now kick against the Pricks of Conscience be able to repel its strong and quick Accusations before that terrible Tribunal 4. Other numerous Witnesses will appear to finish the process of that Day Not as if God that knows all things wants information but for the publick conviction of the Wicked Satan will then bring a bloody Charge against them Such is his Malignity that he is a Complainer of God to Man and by calumniating the Blessed Creator seduc'd our first Parents and he is the Accuser of Men to God He is stiled the Accuser of the Brethren before God day and night Sometimes falsly as when he taxed Job that his Piety was mercenary and often truly to provoke the Divine Displeasure But tho his Charge be just against them as Sinners yet as Penitent Sinners they are absolved by the Judg upon the Throne of Grace This we have represented to the Prophet Zechary Joshua the High Priest a Type of the Church standing before the Angel of the Lord and Satan standing at his right hand to accuse him for that was the place of Accusers But Christ the Blessed Reconciler interposed And the Lord said to Satan the Lord rebuke thee O Satan even the Lord that hath chosen Jerusalem rebuke thee But he will principally act the part of an Accuser at the Last Judgment This is intimated in that fearful imprecation Let Satan stand at his right hand When he is judged let him be condemned He is now an active watchful Spirit whose Diligence is equal to his Malice and by glittering Snares or violent Temptations draws Men to sin But then he will be their most bitter Accuser not from zeal of Justice but pure Malignity Then he will aggravate their Crimes by the most killing Circumstances tho in accusing them he endites himself their sins being usually done by his sollicitations And the Wicked themselves will accuse one another In this World Fellow-sinners usually conceal one anothers Wickedness restrain'd by their own obnoxiousness But then all that have been jointly engaged in the commission of Sin will impeach each other The voluptuous Sinners that have excited one another to Lust or Luxury Come let us take our fill of Love till the Morning Come I will fetch Wine and we will fill our selves with strong Drink for to morrow shall be as to day and much more abundant All the Charming Companions and Associates will with fierceness charge one another And the malicious cruel Sinners that say Come
judged according to his Works the tenor of good Works and the desert of bad The Apostle assures us That whatsoever a Man sows that shall he reap He that soweth to the Flesh shall of the Flesh reap Corruption But he that soweth to the Spirit shall of the Spirit reap Life everlasting The Harvest shall be according to the Seed both in kind and measure 1. Those who by patient continuance in well-doing seek for Glory and Honour and Imortality shall obtain eternal Life Indeed eternal Life is the Gift of infinite bounty nay of pure Mercy and Mercy excludes Merit 'T is said of the Blessed Martyrs who contended for the Truth and Purity of the Gospel to the Death that their Robes were wash'd white in the Blood of the Lamb not in their own Blood Their right to Heaven was from the application of his Merits to them But the Reward is dispens'd from God according to the Evangelical Law not only as a Magnificent Prince but as a Righteous Judge All those whom the Gospel ordains to Eternal Life shall infallibly obtain it and none that the Gospel excludes Those who were sensible of their Sins and cordially forsaking them did humbly and entirely depend upon the Grace of God through the Blessed Reconciler and Saviour shall be justified and glorified Then the Judg will discern between unfeigned Faith and vain Presumption and will justify the Faith of the Saints by the genuine Fruits of it the Godliness Righteousness and Sobriety of their Lives and a victorious perseverance in their Duty notwithstanding all the pleasing Temptations or Tortures to withdraw them from it Thus the Apostle expresses his humble confidence I have fought the good Fight I have finish'd my Course henceforth there is laid up for me the Crown of Righteousness which God the Righteous Judg will give me at that day and not only to me but to all that love his appearance We read in the Description of the Last Judgment That the Book of Life was opened the Names of all that were written in Heaven shall then be declared that it may appear they are saved by Grace For it was his most free pleasure to select some from the common Mass of Perdition who were naturally as guilty and corrupted as others and to predestinate them to Eternal Glory and effectual persevering Grace to prepare them for it The Saints are created in Christ Jesus unto good Works which God hath before ordained that they should walk in them And the New Creation is as undeserved and entire an Effect of God's Love as the first was But 't is said That every Man was judged according to his Works For Eternal Election does not entitle a Person immediately to Heaven but according to the order establish'd in the Gospel Thus the King at the last Day speaks to the Elect Come ye Blessed of my Father inherit the Kingdom prepared for you before the foundation of the World for I was hungry and ye fed me naked and ye clothed me And according as the Saints have excell'd in Fidelity and Zeal in God's Service they shall be rewarded with a more excellent Glory The Stars of Paradise are of a different brightness and greatness as the Stars of the Firmament Indeed all are perfectly happy without jealousie that any is equal or superior to them in that Kingdom But God will crown his own Graces as the Saints have improved them Our Saviour valued the Widows two Mites as transcending all the magnificent Gifts of others because of the degrees of Love in the giver There was a richer Mine of affection in her Heart Gold of a more noble Vein more pure and precious than all their Riches This was of greater price in God's account who weighs the Spirits in his Ballance God will accept and reward according to what a Man has and not according to what he has not He that improves but two Talents with his best skill and diligence shall have a greater Reward than another that had ten Talents and was remiss and less careful to employ them for his Masters profit The Rule will be exactly observed He that sows bountifully shall reap bountifully and he that sows sparingly shall reap sparingly And if God will be thus impartial in rewarding the Saints much more in punishing the Wicked For the renumeration of our Duty is the effect of his most free Favour but the recompences of Sin are due and decreed by Justice in Number Weight and Measure The severity of the sence will be in proportion as Mens Sins have been more numerous and heinous Altho ' all the Damned shall be equally miserable in dispair all broken on an endless Wheel yet the degrees of their Torment are different Sins of Ignorance are extenuated in comparison of Rebellious Sins against knowledge The first are like a Servant's dashing against his Master in the dark the other like the insolent striking of him in the light And as they incur greater Guilt will expose to greater Punishment Accordingly our Saviour predicts that the Servant which knew his Lord's Will and prepared not himself neither did according to his Will shall be beaten with many stripes But he that knew not and did commit things worthy of stripes shall be beaten with few stripes Unactive Knowledge is worse than Igâ—orance For this reason the case of Heathens wil be more tolerable than of the Jews for tho' some natural Principles were strong and quick in their minds that made them sensible of their duty and danger yet they were not so clear and perfect as the Law delivered by Moses Those Sins that were infirmities in a Pagan were presumptuous in a Jew And the case of the Jews will be more tolerable than of disobedient Christians who enjoy the Gospel less charged with Ceremonies and more abundant in Grace than the Mosaical Dispensation Those that have set before them the Life of Christ the Model of all Perfection that are excited by such lowd Calls to flee from the Wrath to come and yet are deaf and regardless to the Commands nay to the melting Invitations and precious Promises of the Gospel shall have a more intolerable Judgment than the most guilty Sinners even the Sodomites and Sidonians that were strangers to it The precious Blood of the Son of God despised induces a Crimson Guilt And as Sins are committed with pride and pleasure with eager appetite and obstinacy the revenge of Justice will be more heavy upon Persons More particularly Sins of consequence whereby others are drawn to Sin will heighten the Guilt and the retribution of Justice will be to every Man according to his ways and according to the fruit of his doings This will principally concern Superiours in eminency of place whose dignity has always a concomitant proportion of Duty Their vicious Actions are Examples and their Examples more powerful Rules than their Laws and give countenance to others to sin licentiously They sin