to their Works And this may suffice for the first thing proposed What Natural Evidence we have of a Judgment to come SECT V. The Scripture Proof of a Future Iudgement II. HAving shewn what Evidence we have from the Light of Nature for a Future Judgment let us now consider the Scripture Proofs of it And this might be dispatched in a very few wordâ— by turning you to some plain Texts of Scripture which expresly assert it but â— shall do something more than this which if it be not necessary for the proof of 〈◊〉 Future Judgment yet will be of use for the better understanding the Christian Religion and to rivet this Belief faster 〈◊〉 our Minds that is I shall represent to you those Parabolical Reasonings whereby our Saviour insinuates this Belief into ouâ— Minds and shew you that the whole Christian Religion is founded on and adapted to the belief of a Future Judgement and is a very unintelligible Institution without it 1. Let us consider those plain and express Proofs the Gospel of our Saviour contains of a Future Judgment and some few Texts will be sufficient for this purpose This is expresly affirmed by St. Paul 17 Acts 31. That God hath appointed a day in the which he will judge the world in righteousness The Apostle to the Hebrews tells us It is appointed for men once to die and after that the judgement 9 Heb. 27. Our Saviour tells us that we shall be judged 7 Matth. 1 2. Iudge not that ye be not judged For with what judgment ye judge ye shall be judged and with what measure ye meet it shall be measured unto you again And v. 22 23. he tells us That in that day that is the Day of Judgment many will say unto me Lord Lord have we not prophesied in thy Name and in thy Name have cast out devils and in thy Name done many wonderful works And then will I profess unto them I never knew you Depart from me ye that work iniquity Thus he tells us 16 Matth. 27. The Son of man shall come in the glory of his Father with his angels and then he shall reward every man according to his works And 25 Matth. 31 c. he gives us a lively Description of the Future Judgment When the Son of man shall come in his glory and all the holy Angels with him then shall he sit upon the throne of his glory And before him shall be gathered all nations and he shall separate them one from another as a shepherd divideth his sheep from the goats And he shall set the sheep on his right hand but the goats on the left And then hâ— Judges them and pronounces their Fiâ—â—â— Doom and Sentence according to theâ—â— Works as it follows in that place 〈◊〉 were easie to turn you to many Texts 〈◊〉 this purpose as every one knows who 〈◊〉 acquainted with the Scripture but theâ—â— is no need of it these few are so expreâ—â— that if we believe the Gospel we must believe that we shall be judged 2. Our Saviour does not only expresly declare this that there shall be a Judgement but insinuates the Belief and Reasonableness of this by some proper Allâ—â—â—ons and Comparisons which is the 〈◊〉 scope and design of many of his Parables As to instance in some of them 1â— Luke 12 c. he tells us of a certain â—ble man who went into a far country to receive for himself a kingdom and to return where he describes his own leaving thâ— World and ascending into Heaven to take possession of his Kingdom from whenâ—â— he shall return again at the last Day tâ— Judge the World This noble man called his servants and delivered them ten pounds and said unto them Occupy till I come Bâ—â— his citizens hated him and sent a message after him saying We will not have this man to reign over us This describes our State in this World which is a State of Labour and Industry where we must improve our Master's Money all the advantages and opportunities of doing good to his Service and Glory Now as it is reasonable to expect when such a King returns that he will call his Servants to an Account reward the Diligent and punish the Slothful and destroy his Enemies the same Usage we must expect from our Lord when he returns again he will judge us will reward or punish us according to our Works To the same purpose is that Parable 25 Matth. 14 c. of a Man travelling into a far Country who called his Servants and delivered to them his Goods and at his return rewarded them proportionably to the Increase and Improvement they had made and punished that wicked Servant who hid his Talent in a Napkin The Parable of the unjust Steward who had wasted his Master's Goods and was turned out of his Stewardship for it is founded on the same reason that we are but Stewards of God's Gifts in this World and that God will as certainly call us to an Account for our Stewardship as an earthly Master will 16 Luke 1. The Parable of the Housholder who hired Labourers into his Vineyard and gave them every Man his Peny at night 20 Matth. signifies to us that in this Life we must work in God's Vineyard and finish the Work he has given us to do and that at Evening when this Life ends God will reward us in the next and this we may as certainly and reasonably expect from God as an hired Labourer expects his Wages when he has done his Work The Parable of the King 22 Matth. who made a Marriage for his Son and sent forth his Servants to call them who were bidden to the Wedding but they refused to come and evil entreated his Servants and slew them upon which the King was wroth and sent forth his Armies and destroyed those Murderers and burnt up their City and sent and invited others to the Marriage though it primarily refer to the Destruction of the Iewish Nation for their rejecting their Messias and calling the Gentiles into the Church yet is founded on the same reason that God will punish our Abuse of his Grace and all the Invitations of the Gospel as a gracious but affronted Prince would punish his Subjects in such a case But the Parable of the Wheat and Tares 13 Matth. 24 c. is very observable because it gives an account why God does not destroy all bad Men in this World and yet that he will punish the Wicked and reward the Good in the next World A man sowed good seed in the field and while men slept his enemy came and sowed tares but when the blade sprung up and brought forth fruit then appeared the tares also This our Saviour expounds v. 37 c. He that sowed good seed is the Son of man the field is the world the good seed are the children of the kingdom that is good Christians but the tares are the children of the wicked one that is bad Men. The
if an ordinary Judge of Assize be lookt on with so much Reverence and Awe what is the Glory and Majesty of an Universal Judge How will all the World fall and bow and tremble before him who with the Word of his Mouth can sentence them to Eternal Life or Death This is his Father's glory for he is the Natural Lord and Judge of the World and from him he receives this Authority to Judge the World The Father judgeth no man but hath committed all judgment to the Son That all men should honour the Son even as they honour the Father 5 John 22 23. To this Glory he is now advanced and we must now Obey and Reverence and Adore him as our Judge but it will give a visible Majesty to him when he thus comes in the Glory of his Father when the astonishing Glory of his Person is still made more Glorious and Majestick by the Authority of a Judge But his Retinue is very glorious also and adds to the Terror and Majesty of his Appearance for he shall come attended with Myriads of holy Angels bright and glorious Beings who incircle his Person and are the Witnesses and Ministers of his Justice We know a splended Retinue adds greatly to the Glory of a Prince or Judge a Multitude has something great and awful in it especially when this Multitude are all his Dependants Servants and Ministers and more still when every one of this Multitude are most excellent and glorious Creatures the Beauty and Perfection of the Creation whose single Glories we cannot now bear the sight of without great Apprehension and Amazement and what a mighty Prince is he who comes attended with the whole Host of Heaven who leave their heavenly Mansions to wait upon their Lord and to adorn his Triumphs But this glorious Retinue of Angels is not meerly for Pomp and State but they are the Ministers of his Justice and therefore are called his mighty Angels or the Angels of his Power 2 Thess. 1.8 And what a powerful Judge is he who has all the Powers of Heaven attending him to execute his Vengeance on Men and Devils This glorious Judge shall at the last Day come down from Heaven for thither he ascended after his Resurrection from the Dead and there he must continue till he comes to Judge the World but then the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout with the voice of the archangel and with the trump of God 2 Thess. 4.16 I see no reason why this should not be understood literally of an audible Voice and Shouting and an audible sound of the last Trumpet to summon all Mankind to Judgment for this makes the Appearance more solemn and awful and thus God descended on Mount Sinai when he gave the Law With thundrings and lightnings and the voice of a trumpet exceeding loud so that all the people that was in the camp trembled 19 Exod. 16. And if he gave the Law with the sound of a Trumpet why not Judge the World with it too This Shout is the shouting of the holy Angels begun by the Voice of the Archangel in their descent with Christ and signifies what such Shoutings do among Men either great Joy and Exultation or Alacrity and Courage thus Men shout for joy when any thing happens which highly pleases them thus Souldiers shout when the Signal is given for Battle Thus when our Lord shall say Come ye holy Angels go down with me to Judge the World they will shout for joy that that day is come which will put a final end to the Kingdom of Darkness when the Devil and his Angels and all wicked Men shall be cast into the Lake of Fire and good Men rewarded and crowned and received into the immediate Presence of God in Heaven For this is matter of Joy to all holy Angels to see the final Conquest of all the Enemies of CHRIST'S Kingdom to see the Triumphs of Justice to see all Impiety and Wickedness shamed condemned and punished and the World cleansed from the Pollutions of it to see their numbers encreased by the advancement of good Men into Heaven who will now be united to their Company and joyn with them in singing Halelujahs to Him that sitteth on the Throne and to the Lamb for if there be Joy in Heaven at the Repentance of one Sinner what Exultation and Acclamations will there be to see the whole number of GOD'S Elect raised again with glorious Bodies and receive that Kingdom which was prepared for them before the Foundations of the World When our Lord shall say Come ye holy Angels and be the Ministers of my Justice and execute my Vengeance upon a wicked World upon the Devil and all bad Men and gather together mine Elect from the four Corners of the Earth with what Shoutings will they receive their Commission with what Alacrity and Courage will they execute it for so our Saviour himself represents it that the Angels are not meerly Attendants of State but his Officers and Ministers whom he employs in Judging the World thus he expounds the Parable of the Tares 13 Mat. 41 42 43. He that soweth good seed is the Son of man The field is the world the good seed are the children of the kingdom but the tares are the children of the wicked one The enemy that sowed them iâ— the devil the harvest is the end of the world and the reapers are the angels As therefore the tares are gathered and burnt in the fire so shall it be in the end of the World The Son of man shall send forth his angels and they shall gather forth out of his kingdom all things that offeâ—â— and them which do iniquity and shall cast them into a furnace of fire there shall be â—â—iling and gnashing of teeth Then shall the righteous shine forth like the sun in the kingdom of their Father And thus he expounds the Parable of the Net that was cast into the sea and gathered of every kind Which when it was full they drew to shore and sat down and gathered the good into vessels and the bad they cast away So shall it be at the end of the world the angels shall come forth and sever the wicked from among the just and shall cast them into the furnace of fire there shall be wailing and gnashing of teeth v. 47 48 49 50. What is meant by the trump of God with which Christ descends from Heaven is hard to say only thus much we know that it is such a Trumpet at the sound of which the Dead shall rise as St. Paul expresly tells us 1 Cor. 15.51 52. Behold I shew you a mystery We shall not all sleep but we shall all be changed in a moment in the twinkling of an eye at the last trump for the trumpet shall sound and the dead shall be raised incorruptible and we shall be changed And therefore this last Trump seems to be what our Saviour calls the Voice of the Son of
enemy that sowed them is the devil as our Saviour tells such Men Ye are of your father the devil and his works ye do The Servants of the Housholder having informed their Master of what had happened ask him Whether they should go and gather up the Tares But he said Nay lest while ye gather up the tares ye root up also the wheat with them Let them both grow together till the harvest and in the time of harvest I will say to the reapers Gather ye together first the tares and bind them into bundles to burn them but gather the wheat into my barn Which he thus expounds The harvest is the end of the world and the reapers are the angels for so our Saviour tells us he must come in the glory of his Father with his Angels who are the Ministers and Executioners of his Justice Aâ— therefore the tares are gathered and burn in the fire so shall it be in the end of the world The Son of man shall send forth his Angels and they shall gather out of hiâ— kingdom all things that offend and theâ— which do iniquity and shall cast them iâ— to a furnace of fire there shall be wailiâ—â— and gnashing of teeth Then shall the righteous shine forth like the Sun in the kingdom of their Father This we must confess was wisely considered by the Housholder not to destroy the Wheat with the Tares but rather suffer them both to grow up together till the Harvest then to pluck up the Wheat before it be ripe together with the Tares and this is as good a reason why God does not destroy all bad Men in this World because good and bad Men are intermixt and all bad Men cannot be destroyed here but good Men must suffer with them as I have already shewed you at large And therefore bad Men cannot be finally punished nor good Men finally rewarded till they are first parted for to root up the Tares here signifies the final Extirpation and Destruction of all bad Men not the casting bad Men out of the Communion of the Church nay not putting Hereticks to Death to which some apply these words which were it reconcileable with the other Laws and with the Genius and Spirit of Christianity as it is not would be as reconcileable with this Parable as the Execution of any other Malefactors is this may be done without destroying the Wheat nay in some cases the Wheat may be preserved by it for the Punishment and Execution of some bad Men is necessary to preserve the Innocent but when the Tares are more than the Wheat grow close together and are intangled in each other as the Interests of good and bad Men are intermixt and interwoven in this World there is great reason to spare the Tares for the sake of the Wheat But the Tares must not expect to escape thus always a wise Housholder in the time of Harvest will order the Reapers to separate between the Tares and the Wheat and then the Tares shall be burnt and the Wheat gathered into the Barn and thus Christ will separate between good and bad Men at the last Judgement and allot them very different Portions All this is very reasonable thus a wise Man will do and therefore this we must expect from the Wife and Just Judge of the World This Parable of the Wheat and Tares which grow together in the same Field represents the mixture of Believers and Infidels the Christian Church and the Men of this World here but the following Parable of the Net v. 47. which was cast into the sea and gathered of every kind represents the mixture of good and bad Men in the Communion of the Christian Church for thus our Saviour tells his Apostles that he would make them Fishers of Men and gave them a Figure of the success of their Ministry in that miraculous Draught of Fishes after they had toiled all the Night and had taken nothing 5 Luke 5.6 which he repeated again after his Resurrection from the Dead 21 Iohn 6 c. So that the Net signifies the Communion of the Christian Church which gathers both good and bad but when this Net is drawn to shore they gather the good into Vessels but cast the bad away that is at the end of the World the Angels shall not only separate between the Church and the World between Believers and Infidels but between good and bad Christians who live together in the same Communion in this World The Angels shall come forth and sever the wicked from among the just and shall cast them into the furnace of fire there shall be wailing and gnashing of teeth Thus we see in these Parables our Saviour does not only prove that God will Judge the World but convinces us of the Necessity and Reasonableness of this by appealing to the common Rules of Prudence and Justice among Men Thus all wife and just Princes and Housholders will do destroy Traitors and Rebels revenge the abuse of their Favours call their Stewards to an account reward the Labour and Improvements of faithful Servants and punish the slothful and unprofitable separate the Wheat and Tares at Harvest though they grow up together in the same Field and separate between the good and bad Fish though caught in the same Net and therefore thus God will do who is not less Wise and Just and Holy than Men are And this gives Authority to all-the Arguments for a Future Judgment drawn from the Reason and Nature of Thingâ— thus our Saviour reasons and thus he has taught us to reason for the fundamental Principle on which all these Parables rest is this That whatever is manifestly just and wise and reasonable for Men to do that God will do If this be not true the Parables of our Saviour have his authority but have no reason though the nature of such Parables is an Appeal to the Reason of Mankind and if this be true then we may argue thus in other cases which are equally plain and obvious and are sounded upon the same Reason which gives a kind of Divine Authority to the plain and necessary Dictates of Reason in this matter and then I 'm sure I have furnished you with Reasons enough already for the Belief of a Future Judgment 3. The whole Christian Religion is founded on and adapted to the Belief of a Future Judgment and is a very unintelligible Institution without it and therefore this must be a first Principle to all who call themselves Christians if they understand the Religion they profess as to shew this particularly 1. The chief Promises and Threatnings of the Gospel relate to the other World Godliness indeed hath the promise of the life that now is as well as that which is to come but the Temporal Promises made to a holy and vertuous Life are such as worldly minded Men cannot much value they extend no farther than Food and Raiment to our daily Bread which is all our Saviour has taught us to