of Christ And thus we see Quis Judex SECONDLY Quinam Judicandi Who are to be judged The Doctrine tells us in general the World but more particularly 1 Angels 2 Men. FIRST Angels that is to say The evil ones they shall be judged for therefore is it they are reserved in everlasting chains under darkness unto the Judgement of the great day Jude 6. This the Devils believe Mat. 9.29 and tremble because of and therefore was that cry Art thou come to torment us before the time But SECONDLY Man and that 1 Good Men 2 Evil Men. For saith the Apostle 2 Corinth 5.10 We must all appear before the Judgement-seat of Christ But yet this shall be after a diverse manner THE former to be declared just THE latter to be condemned as wicked The former shall have Confidence when he shall appear 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Chrysost in Gen. 1. Hom. 8. 1 Joh. 2.28 The latter shall not onely be ashamed but shall not stand in the Judgement Psal 1.5 I now proceed to the third thing to be considered which is MODUS JUDICII The manner of this Judgement And in the right stating of this these things must be observed 1 Res Judicandae The things judged 2 Norma Judicii The Rule of Justice 3 Assessores in Judicio The Assessors in Judgement FIRST The things to be iudged The matters to be inquired after in this great Assizes at this general Audit and what they are is resolved Eccles 12.14 God shall bring every work into Judgement with every secret thing whether it be evil or whether it be good This Judge of Heaven and Earth is Sagax animi 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Chrysost Hom. 25. de fut Judic tom 6. He will suffer no person no thing to escape his most exact scrutiny to avoid his uncontrolled Sentence He himself tells us Mat. 12.36 There is not an idle word but we shall give an account of it The Apostle Paul goes somewhat further than this Rom. 2.16 In that day when God shall judge 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the secrets of mens hearts And if God do so what is there hid that shall not be made manifest The Adulterer who waiteth for the twilight and to whom the morning is as the shadow of death shall in that day be made manifest at noontide to the view of Men and Angels And if his being known here put him in the terrors of the shadow of death Iob 24.17 how terrible shall that day be unto him when what he hath done in secret shall be proclaimed upon the house-top For look as the Apostle saith Heb. 4.13 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 c. There is not any creature that is not manifest in his sight but all things are naked 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Oeâ—umen in locum 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and opened unto the eyes of him with whom we have to do So shall they be to all the world at the day of Judgment for there is nothing covered which shall not be revealed and hid that shall not be known Matth. 10.26 The hand of Justice at that time shall wipe away many a blot which hath been cast upon the people of God their name actions cause by the ungrateful world and shall pluck off many a Mask from the face of such 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 c. Chrysost de Pro. lib. 1. who have covered hatred by deceit and make them known in the midst of the congregation He shall then by the Touchstone of his Truth distinguish gold from that which glisters and is not such and shall take every piece of reprobate silver and cast it into a furnace of unquenchable fire not to purifie but to consume it In this world Saul is sporting in his Palace while David is flying as a Partridge upon the Mountains Ahab is stretching himself upon his Couch whilst righteous Naboth is breathing his last under a heap of stones Ahasuerus and his Courtiers are drinking wine in bowls whilst holy Esther with the Church of God are weeping and wailing covered in sackcloth and ashes Ps 37.6 7. Heb. 11.37 VIOLENCE covereth the wicked as a garment their eyes stand out with fatness they have more than heart can wish whilst the godly wander about in sheepskins and goat-skins being destitute afflicted tormented The proud are called happy yea they that work wickedness are exalted Vide Aug. de civ Dei l. 20. c. 2 3. The Chaff and the Corn are mixt together in the same floor the Wheat and the Tares grow together in the same field But in that great and notable day of the Lord when God shall appear with his fan and throughly purge his floor Mal. 4.1 Hic est qui dicitur dies judicii August de civ Dei l. 18. c. 35. he will separate the precious from the vile and all the proud yea all that do wickedly shall be stubble and that day shall burn them up Then shall the world discern between the righteous and the wicked between him that serveth God and him that serveth him not Mal. 3.18 Secondly NORMA JUDICII The Rule of Justice This also must be considered in Courts of Judicature and because that Lex est norma Judicii we shall see that God will proceed legally also for as for heathens who having not the law are a law unto themselves if they sin without the law they shall perish without the law Rom. 2.12 They then shall be judged by this Rule to wit the law of Nature As for such Secondly who have sinned in the law they shall be judged by the law Rom. 2.12 and so that law which was ordained unto life through their breach thereof shall be found to death as the Apostle speaks in his own person elsewhere in another case For such then who have heard of the Moral Law it shall be the Rule of their Judgement but yet closer Revel 20.12 The Apostle John speaking of the last Judgement he saw in a Vision he tells us The dead were judged out of those things which were in the Books c. Now there are three Books out of which the Dead shall chiefly be judged 1 The Book of Conscience 2 The Book of Gods Omnisciency 3 The Book of the Scriptures For the first The Book of Conscience The Book spoken of Rev. 20.12 which is the Book of Life LIBER VITAE UNIUSCU jusque The Book of each mans Life as one * translates it Vide Aug. de civ Dei l. 20. c. 14. and that is as he interprets it Conscience into which God shall infuse a supernatural Light whereby all the actions of men which have been written in it shall appear however formerly they may have seem'd rased out by Oblivion Conscience shall then awake however it hath been stifled or seared by counter-checks to the dictates of an inlightned minde Truth though imprisoned before in unrighteousness shall now have its freedom to accuse yea to condemn the sinner and will
winding-sheet That this which is called death 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Chrysost Serm. de Fid. Leg Natur. Psal 49.14 shall cool the valour of all the hot-spurs in the world who in their life time could not put up an injury without a challenge That they shall roll in the dust who sometimes did wallow in pleasures like the swine in the mire when like sheep they are laid in the grave and death shall feed upon them And how few of the heirs of life do walk as if they were to pass to an inheritance but after death whilst some do either with persecuted Elijah or peevish Jonah seek after death exceedingly desirous of the penny but yet so delicate that they they are loth to work in the heat of the day Others of them though they have set their faces towards the new Jerusalem and are on their journey thither yet by the way they remember the flesh-pots of Egypt Num. 11.5 and their present enjoyments do make them the lesse active in the expectation of future felicity God is forced to cast wormwood upon the brests of the Creature that he may make them the more earnestly draw water out of the wells of Salvation Others of them conceive God may have honour by their lives and therefore they are loath they should be deprived of such an opportunity by their deaths For this cause possibly the Psalmist might say Psalm 102.24 O my God take me not away in the midst of my dayes And upright Hezekiah might beg for a reprieve after God had said unto him Thou shalt dye and not live All these though their intentions might plead an excuse yet their actions are not commendable Yet we know a found constitution is consistent with some qualmes and we ought to conclude that strength of grace is consistent with some weakness in this particular Gods people cease not to be men by becoming Christians as they are the former they may be afraid as the latter they do dare to dye Aaron upon Mount Hor can be stripped of his clothes Num. 20.18 and without repining go to bed Blessed Simeon wil depart in peace Luke 2.29 30. after his eyes have seen the Lords Salvation Act. 21.13 The holy Apostle is indifferent whether to live or dye but if it be for the name of the Lord Jesus he is ready not to be bound but to dye also Thus we see the Shepherd of Israel hath sheep as well as Lambs in his fold men of riper years as well as babes in Christianity Such as dare encounter the King of terrors as well as such who are afraid at his presence Vide Bullinger in 1 Thess 4.8 Morteâ—n mali vitant sancti in vitant quibus non tam vitae hujus interitus quam aeternae interitus est Heidfel Sphis Theo Phil. c. 38. p. 908. But all believers have this happinesse though few live in the comfort of it that death to them is but a sleep the grave an hiding place both a resting from their labours their passage from this vale of misery is but an entrance into their Masters joy This notwithstanding is not sufficient for a Christian to know that though he die yet his life is hid with Christ in God He must so dye that God may be glorified by his death the which that every one of us may do we must prepare our selves for so great a change The which preparation consists in three things 1. Dying unto sin 2. Living unto righteousness 3. Mortification to the world A word to each of these First Dying unto sin * The sting of death is sin 2 Cor. 15.56 he then that dyeth unto sin destroyeth death And frequent reflections upon death would prove an excellent meanes hereunto But oh how hard is it though we have daily Spectacles of others mortality to live under convictions of our owne we should live more in heaven if we did believe we were to die and so to goe from hence This would season our discourse lives and check the exorbitancy of our rising lusts to consider it is appointed for all men once to die and consequently alleviate the feare of death For that which maketh death terrible to a considerative mind is not so much the pain which is felt in the separation of soul body for I doubt not but men undergo more sharp agonies as to fense in a fit of the stone 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Chrysost expos Psal 116. or gout or such acute diseases then at the moment of their dissolution nor is it altogether that natural abhorrency of an annihilation or destruction of being which maketh death formidable but that which represents death sitting upon a pale horse as described Rev. 6.8 is conscience of sin and thereby obligation unto hell following after death but a beleever may use with a holy confidence what sometimes presuming Agag said 1 Sam. 15 32. Surely the bitternesse of death is past and with the blessed Apostle may close his eies in peace with a 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 c. Rom. 8.83.39 I am perswaded that neither death nor life nor Angels nor principalities nor powers c. shall be able to separate me from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord. 2. Living unto righteousnesse Mala more putâ—nda non est quâ—m bona vita praecesserit August de civit Dei lib. 1. cap. 11. A holy life will usher in a happy death This is that which doth also evidence our dying unto sin and will make us die more peaceably in our beds We find that they who lived most up amongst the heathens to the principles of morality were least afraid to die when those who lived the most rudely were most unwilling to leave the world Seneca or Cate when about to die seem exceeding ready when a wicked Nero whose conscience told him what his mouth did utter Sueton in vita Neronis Vivo deformiter ac turpiter doth depart the world with an Vsque adeone mori miserum est and encourageth himself to his own ruine with an 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 It becometh not It becometh not thee O Nero to be so daunted go to encourage thy selfe Upright Hezekiah had not such cause to weep when the Prophet brought those tydings to him Isai 38.1 2 that he should dye and not live seeing he was so well prepared for death that he could appeal to God that he had walked before him in truth and with a perfect heart and done that which was good in his sigh David his father also a man after Gods own heart did thus prepare for death and after he had served his own generation by the wil of God fell asleep Act. 13 35. Thirdly Mortification to the world this will prepare us for the stroke of death Those things which are glewed together are not without much difficulty dis-united and when our affections are set upon earthly things we shall not willingly
he nill he shall set those sins before his eyes Psa 50.21 51.9 from which God hath not hid his face Secondly not onely Conscience which is the Clerk of the Assizes but God who is the great Custos Rotulorum shall produce and prefer all the Bills of Indictment that can be brought against a sinner and reade all the Pardons which have been sealed to a Saint who stands now at Gods Tribunal for his Trial upon Life and Death Thirdly The Book of the Scriptures This shall be NORMA JVDICII The Rule of Judgment And so we hear the Judge himself say Joh. 12.48 The word that I have spoken the same shall judge him at the last day And one of his chief Retinue tells us the same God shall judge the secrets of men by Jesus Christ saith he 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Rom. 2.16 according to his Gospel delivered by me Men shall be judged according to their Works their Works according to the Gospel The wicked shall be judged SECVNDVM ET PROPTER OPERA according and for their Works by the Law The godly SECVNDVM SED NON PROPTER OPERA according but not for their Works by the Gospel Which Gospel shall condemn the wicked for their neglect of so great Salvation and shall acquit the godly of their sins against the Law Praeveniunt judicium fide suā Aug. Serm. 121. de resur mort by reason of this that they believe in Christ and so have accepted the Reconciliation tendred in the Gospel THE third thing in this manner of Judgement considerable is ASSESSORES IN JVDCIO the Assistants or Associates in the Judgment and these God doth use out of indulgence not indigency to honour them not to help him And they are 1 Holy Angels 2 Glorified Saints Christ formally the Angels instrumentally the Saints declaratively shall Judge the Word FOR the first I have touched somewhat upon this already onely let me adde He is said formally to Judge who passeth the definitive Sentence of Life or Death Absolution or Condemnation upon the Innocent or Nocent and that Christ with his own mouth shall do this and that as I have said as a part of his Regal Office see Matth. 25.34 Then shall the King say unto them on his right hand c. SECONDLY The Holy Angels instrumentally or ministerially for with the sound of a Trumpet they shall gather together the Elect from the four winds from the one end of heaven unto the other Mat. 24.31 And whether or no Christ will use them as instruments to execute his Sentence I shall not here determine the Affirmative seems evident Mat. 13.49 56. The Saints declaratively shall judge the World 1 Cor. 6.2 Do ye not know that the saints shall judge the world This honour then shall the Saints have that they who are now trodden down as mire in the streets shall hereafter sit upon the Bench with the Judge of the Earth They shall judge the World how Not as Counsellors to this Judge For who hath been his Counsellor Rom. 11.24 but declaratively that is to say either by consenting to his Judgement as just and true as in Courts of Civil Judicature they are said to do when by rising up or some such sign they shew an assent to the Sentence pronounced by the Judge as the Judgement of the Court or else declaratively that is to say their Faith good Conscience Integriry shall then so appear that they shall make the wicked inexcusable And thus even in this life Noah is said by preparing an Ark Heb. 11.7 to have condemned the world And in the life to come our Saviour saith Mat. 12.41 The queen of the South shall rise up in judgement with that generation which heard him and his Gospel and shall condemn it And he also tells his Disciples Luk. 22.30 that they shall sit on Twelve Thrones and shall judge the Twelve Tribes of Israel that is to say the Faith of the Apostles Non est aliter intelligendum Marlorar in loc 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 1 Cor. 4.13 who were Israelites yea ignorant men and yet embraced Christ and were Ministers of his Kingdom shall take away all excuse from the Israelites O how shall the sparkling Beauty of a Saint who is but in this world accounted as the filth thereof and the off-scouring of all things break forth in that day when God shall make up his Jewels 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Cyri◠Catec 15. p. 382. even to the dazling of the eyes and tying the tongues of those whose malice or detraction did so far hinder them that they would or could not behold the Majesty of Heaven in their lives whilst in this world They shall then look upon them with an eye of envy whom before they viewed with supercilious contempt and disdain and with their tongues shall say We fools counted their lives madness but behold they are numbred amongst the righteous And thus much for this third Particular We shall next speak to JVDICII EVENTVM The Event of this general Judgement and it is set down Mat. 25.46 The wicked shall go away into everlasting punisment but the righteous into life eternal the former shall be punished with everlasting destruction from the presence of the Lord and the glory of his power 2 Thess 1.9 The latter shall meet the Lord in the air and so shall ever be with the Lord 1 Thess 4.17 It may be expected I should now speak somewhat to the LOCVS JVDICII The Place of Judgement And truly some have curiously disputed none I know of clearly determined this thing Some would have it in the Valley of Jehosaphat which is situated betwixt the City of Jerusalem and Mount Olivet which is toward the East which opinion is grounded from that of Joel 3.2 where God saith He will gather thither all Nations and plead with them there for his people and the Argument is enforced from Act. 1.11 where the Angel tells our Saviours Disciples whilst they stood gazing up into heaven that the same Jesus which was taken up from them into heaven should so come in like manner as they had seen him go into heaven Others think it shall be in the Air Grotius Amesius c. out of 1 Thess 4.7 For my part I I desire to be wise unto sobriety and till I better understand the aforesaid places of Scripture I shall believe if God will finde a time when he will also finde a place where to judge the World Temerè definire non audeo quod excogitare non valeo August de Civ Dei l. 21. c. 30. In the mean time I shall leave it amongst the 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the secret things which belong to God as knowing that those things which are revealed alone belong to us As for the TEMPVS JVDICII the particular time of this general Judgement some may possibly be inquisitive after and some with more confidence than success have undertaken to define it But I
should be loth to decide what Infinite Wisdome hath left in doubt neither do I profess my self to understand what the Angels of heaven nor any man doth know but the Father onely Mat. 24.36 Proud desire of knowledge may do hurt where humble ignorance of what God is pleased to conceal doth not suppose a fault Let me leave this therefore irresolved as the former and apply what hath been already said It may inform us in the words of the Apostle Vse 1 Rom. 14.12 So then every one of us shall give an account of himself to God for therefore is this Judgement appointed that God may exercise Distributive Justice in the World by rewarding the righteous punishing the wicked absolving the one condemning the other which actions suppose a scrutiny in mens lives And although God who knoweth all things might without further witness pass to give Sentence yet he will give the sinner leave to plead his own Cause and then out of his own mouth will condemn him or else so clear shall be the testimony of his own Conscience that it shall leave him speechless without excuse And thus the sinner shall justifi God when he speaketh and shall clear him when he judgeth Thus they who would not confess their sin here to give glory to God shall will they nill they then confess it to take shame unto themselves Neither is this account less strict than sure there are no shifts to avoid it we cannot blinde the eyes of this Judge with gifts nor scare him with our frowns nor appeal from his Tribunal to a higher Bench nor hide our selves from his Omniscience or fly any where from his Presence His Serjeant Conscience will Arrest the proudest Prince and bring him before the King of kings where devested of his Royal Pomp he shall equally stand to receive his Doom with the meanest Peasant and shall there exchange his Scepter for a Crown of Glory his Royal Ornaments for the White Robes of the Saints or else be environed with greater shame Each creature will own the Summons at that day which the last Trump shall proclaim The Earth shall give up its dead the Sea likewise it s that so each person contained in them may give an account of himself to God Secondly If God hath appointed a Day wherein to Judge the World Then learn that 1 Cor. 4.5 Therefore judge nothing before the time untill the Lord come who will bring to light the hidden things of darkness and will make manifest the counsels of the heart Let no man anticipate God or take his Office out of his hand by judging his brethren Exact knowledge is requisite in a Judge Si judicas cognosce Sen. Med. but the eyes of man are too dim to judge of the actions of others because they cannot see them in the heart their Root and Fountain for God alone searcheth hearts Hence it is that holy men in this life are oft judged as hypocrites when as on the contrary the glistring gloworm of Morality in this dark night of the world goeth under the notion of Holiness and Integrity Thus the righteous are condemned and the wicked are justified by those who judge after the sight of their eyes according to appearance and not righteous judgement To those God doth speak Who art thou that judgest another Iam. 4.12 And also Gods people say as to Moses was once retorted by the Israelite Who made thee a Prince Exo. 2.14 and a Judge over us Produce thy Commission thou that art so forward in censuring or condemning the rest of thy brethren If thou hast none what is thy plea for this inordinate practice Is it that in the Psalmist Psa 12.4 Our lips are our own who is Lord over us And therefore thy tongue walketh through the streets Hast thou not read that God is ready to judge both the quick and the dead to acquit whom thou condemnest to condemn whom thou approvest Or readest thou not that of the Apostle Jam. 5.9 Behold the Judge standeth before the door execute not then thy malice till God hath delivered his Sentence It is not hatred of sin but desire of revenge which doth inflame mens tongues with a love to blame and condemn not amend and correct the faults of others or rather as S. Austin doth notably observe De Serm. Dom. in Mont. lib. 2. cap. 18. in Mat. 7.1 Such do labour with Pride or Envy which cause their hearts to swell against the persons and names of their brethren Whilst I thus inveigh against judging another I do not say but we may say A sin is a sin Gal. 5.19 for the works of the flesh are manifest and therefore fall under our censure But in judging we must avoid these three things First We must not we may not judge our brethren about the use or abstinence from those things which in their own nature are indifferent In this case the Apostle puts the question Sunt quaeiam facta media quae ignoramus quo an mo siam qaia bono malo siâ—r possunt de quibu temerarium est judicare maxime ut condemnemus Aug. de Serm Dom. in Mont. l. 2. c. 18. Rom. 14.4 Who art thou that judgest another mans servant to his own Master he standeth or falleth And for the abstinence from such things the same Apostle saith Let no man judge you Calvin in loc and that is as one explains it make guilty of Judgement or Condemnation to wit for the omission of such Ceremonies as were abolished by Christ his death Secondly Our Suspicions must not serve us to condemn our brethren for those 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 those secret things of the heart it is Gods work to bring them to light 1 Cor. 4 3. Suspicions are no Proof and therefore not a sufficient foundation of a Legal Sentence No nor every Report is sufficient to raise a mist whereby to darken the reputation of our brethren for we know SI SATIS FVERIT ACCVSASSE NEMO ERIT INNOCENS If it were sufficient to accuse none should be innocent We must therefore in this case take Gods counsel and imitate his practice First We must take his counsel Deut. 13.14 They were not upon a bare report to destroy them who said Let us go and serve other gods But minde thou shalt inquire make search and ask diligently and behold if it be truth and the thing certain then do thus and thus Again see Gods Practice Gen. 18.21 There God who is Omniscient saw their sin the cry thereof came unto heaven yet speaking to our capacity and suggesting our duty I will go down now saith he and see whether they have done altogether according to the cry of it which is come unto me and if not I will know This is the second thing we must avoid then in judging we must not condemn our brother for what we suppose or suspect before sound search after and clear knowledge of the fact Thirdly and