pray for and therefore it teaches us Having Food and Raiment there-with to be content But who could be contented with such a scanâ—y Provision while he sees the greater Prosperity of bad Men who dissolve in Ease and Luxury were there not a happy state reserved for them in the next World Where is the Man who would not comply with the Devil's Temptation to fall down and Worship him for all the Kingdoms of the World and the Glory of them were he not to lose a brighter and a richer Crown for it Some times indeed God does bless good Men with great Plenty and Honour but he has no where promised to do so in the Gospel of Christ sometimes he does it not so much to reward good Men for Temporal things are not the proper Rewards of Piety and Vertue as to serve the ends of his Providence in the World he takes care of good Men to supply their wants and necessities here which is all that a perfect Vertue requires but he rewards them hereafter and yet this is not absolutely promised neither for our Saviour teaches us to take up his Cross to expect Sufferings and Persecutions for his Name sake and then we must be contented to want Food and Raiment to part with Houses and Lands and Life itself for his sake and our condition may be so afflicted and calamitous here that it may force us to say as S. Paul does If in this life only we had hope we were of all men the most miserable And who would be the Disciple of Chriâ—â— upon these Terms to suffer so much for him in this World and to gain nothing by it in the next Thus on the other hand there is a terrible Vengeance threatned against wicked Men in the next World Lakes of fire and brimstone blackness of darkness the worm that never dieth and the fire that never goeth out but the Gospel threatens no Temporal Punishments against Sin Bad Men are very often punished in this World when the Wisdom of the Divine Providence sees fit and they very often escape too and are much more prosperous than good Men are here that there is no Threatning in the Gospel to restrain the Impieties of Men but only the Fears of the other World and a Future Judgement and if you take away these you destroy the Gospel of our Saviour 2. Many of our Saviour's Laws are founded on the supposition of a Future Judgment and are extreamly unreasonable if there be no Rewards or Punishments after this Life that if we will but allow him the ordinary Prudence of a Lawgiver a Future Judgment must be the Foundation of his Religion If there were no other Life after this the only Rule of our Actions would be to live as long and to enjoy as much of this World as we can But Christian Religion in many cases will not allow of this and therefore is no Religion for this World were there not another World to follow To begin with the Enjoyments of this World How many Restraints does the Christian Religion lay on us to lessen the Pleasures and Satisfactions of this Life It teaches us a great Indifferency to all the things of this World but how unreasonable is that if this World be our only place of Happiness For who can be indifferent whether he be happy or not It commands us to mortifie our sensual Appetites to crucifie the Flesh with its Affections and Lusts to live above the Pleasures of the Body to pluck out our right Eyes and to cut off our right Hands but what reason can there be to deny our selves any of these Enjoyments as far as is consistent with preserving our Health and prolonging our Lives if we have no expectations after Death nay if Men are contented to live a short and a merry Life what hurt is there in it if death puts an end to them It forbids us to lay up for ourselves Treasures on Earth which were a strange Command were there not greater Treasures to be expected in Heaven It forbids earthly Pride and Ambition an affectation of Secular Honours and Power but why must we submit to Meanness and Contempt in this World if this be the only Scene of Action we shall ever be concerned in for a mean and base Spirit is no Vertue and for the same reason it can be no Vertue to be contented with a low Fortune to be patient under Sufferings which if they will never be rewarded is to be patiently miserable and that is Stupidity and Folly but to have our Conversation in Heaven to live upon the hopes of unseen Things is Madness and Distraction if there be no Heaven no unseen Things for us The Laws of our Saviour require us in some cases to sacrifice the dearest Interests we have in this World and Life itself for his sake which is a sensless and unreasonable Command if he does not intend to bestow a better Life on us If there were no other Life after this no wise Man would forfeit more for any Religion than it is worth in this World and that would reach but a little way in Suffering Nor is our Saviour so unreasonable as to require it upon these Terms but tells us plainly Whosoever will save his life shall lose it and whosoever will lose his life for my sake shall find it For what is a man profited if he shall gain the whole world and lose his own soul Or what shall a man give in exchange for his soul 16 Mat. 25 26. The Reasons of most of the Evangelical Commands must be fetched wholly from the other World and a Future Judgement and therefore we should have had the same Evidence for a Judgment to come that we have for the Christian Religion tho' there had been no such express mention made of a Future Judgment I cannot but observe here the true Reason of the Corruption of Christian Morals which are as much corrupted as the Christian Faith is That in expounding the Laws of our Saviour some Men have no other regard but to fit them to the ease and the conveniences of this Life and therefore reject any Interpretation of them which is severe to Flesh and Blood or will hazard their Ease and Fortunes in this World It is sufficient to Confute any Law of our Saviour or to Interpret it away to shew that there are great Temporal Inconveniences in it that to observe such Laws in such a sence would be very injurious to Mens present Interests and deprive them of many Pleasures and Advantages of Life It were easie to give many Instances of this but it shall suffice at present to confess that considering the State of this World and the Propensities and Inclinations of Humane Nature some Laws of our Saviour are very unreasonable were there not a Future Judgment to reward the Severities and Sufferings which good Men must undergo in observing of them and therefore we must have a care of rejecting any plain and express Law
the hands of wicked Spirits for the Devil is the Prince of the Power of the Air the great Tempter of Men while they live and their Tormenter when they die whoever is so far rejected by God as to be delivered up to the power of wicked Spirits without any restraint on their Malice and Cruelty as wicked Men are when they die need no other Punishment till the Day of Judgement when they together with the Devil and his Angels shall be cast into utter Darkness where there is weeping and wailing and gnashing of Teeth for ever more We know what cruel Tyranny the Devil exercised upon the Pagan World who so devoutly worshipped him and what then must the Case be of those wretched Souls who are delivered to him by God as their Jaylor and Tormentor till the Day of Judgment I will not say this is the Case though it seems no improbable Account oâ— it but if it be and thus it may be before Christ comes to judge the World you must all confess that to have the Devil for our Tormentor is the very next degree to being tormented with the Devil and his Angels But yet this is not a final Judgment the last Sentence is not pronounced against them and though I doubt not but most bad Men as certainly know what their Doom will be as the Devils themselves do yet there is reason to think that some bad Men as bad Men we see are very apt to flatter themselves with vain Hopes in this World and may do so in the next for ought we know are still in hopes of finding Mercy at the Day of Judgment when Christ comes to judge the World for if they knew themselves under a final and irreversible Sentence there can be no account given why at the last Day they should put in any Plea for themselves or sue for Mercy and yet thus our Saviour represents it In that day many will say unto me Lord Lord have we not prophesied in thy name and in thy name cast out devils and in thy â—ame done many wonderful works And then will I profess unto them I never knew you depart from me ye that work iniquity Matth. 22 23. And thus in the Description of the last Judgment when he shall say to them on the left hand Depart from me ye cursed into everlasting fire prepared for the devil and his angels For I was an hungred and ye gave me no meat I was thirsty and ye gave me no drink I was a stranger and ye took me not in naked and ye clothed me not sick and in prison and ye visited me not Then shall they answer him Lord when saw we thee an hungred or a thirst or a stranger or naked or sick or in prison and did not minister unto thee 25 Matth. 41 42 43 44. Now it is not imaginable that these Men at the last Day of Judgment should make any of these Plea's had they been judged and condemned and the final Sentence passed on them before The sum is this That Mankind shall not be finally judged till Christ comes to judge the World but yet good Men are in a State of Happiness and bad Men in a State of Punishment and Misery that very good Men as they are happy at present so they have the joyful Expectations of the Day of Judgment when they shall be finally rewarded and received into the immediate Presence of God in Heaven and that very bad Men besides the Miseries which they at present suffer have the terrible Prospect of a Future Judgment when they know they shall be condemned to endless Miseries 3. There is this farther to be added That according to that account the Scripture gives us of this matter though bad Men shall be miserable and good Men happy as soon as they go out of these Bodies yet bad Men shall not be condemned to Hell nor good Men received into Heaven till the Day of Judgment There is no great difficulty in proving this since the Rewards of good Men and the Punishments of the wicked that is their final Rewards and Punishments or Heaven or Hell are throughout the New Testament referred to the Day of Judgment This our Saviour expresly tells us 13 Matth. 41 42 43. The Son of man shall send forth his angels that is at the end of the World v. 39. and they shall gather out of his kingdom all things that offend and them which work iniquity and shall cast them into a furnace of fire there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth Then shall the righteous shine forth like the sun in the kingdom of their Father But there is no need of any other Proof of this but that at the Day of Judgment good Men shall be received into Heaven and bad Men condemned to Hell 25 Matth. And if good Men were in Heaven before it is very strange that they should be brought out of Heaven to be judged and to be received into Heaven again with greater Authority and Solemnity and if bad Men were in Hell before it seems as strange that they should be fetched out of Hell to be more solemnly condemned thither again this would be thought a very odd kind of Proceeding among Men and we have no reason to suspect this of GOD's Judgment As for bad Men they are to be cast into the Fire prepared for the Devil and his Angels and therefore it is not likely they should be cast into this Fire before the Devil himself is and yet the Scripture assures us that at present he is the Prince of the Power of the Air the Spirit that now worketh in the Children of Disobedience 2 Eph. 2. And St. Peter tells us That God spared not these angels that sinned but cast them down into hell and delivered them into the chains of darkness to be reserved unto judgment 2 Pet. 2.4 which is very ill translated for if they were cast down into Hell how are they reserved for the Day of Judgment for what worse Judgment can they undergo than to be cast into Hell But the words are 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 casting them down into Chains of Darkness for so 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 signifies only to cast down that is those Angels who formerly inhabitated the AEthereal Regions where there was perpetual Light were for their Sin cast down into this darksome Region of Air where the clearest Light is Smoke and Darkness in comparison with those brighter Regions from whence they fell for the Devil is the Prince of the Power of the Air and they are called Chains of Darkness because by the Decree of God they can go no farther cannot ascend higher to those Regions of Light again and here they are reserved till the Judgement of the last Day While our Saviour was on Earth it is plain that these evil Spirits were not confined to Hell for they possessed the Bodies of Men and very much complained that Christ came to torment them before their time 8 Matth.
and this Punishment bad Men have by being suffered to stand by and see the glorious Rewards of the Righteous But there is a further reason also for this that good Men when they are acquitted and absolved shall together with their Lord sit in Judgment on the wicked World 1 Cor. 6.2 3. Do ye not know that the saints shall judge the world Know ye not that we shall judge angels How far this extends we know not but it seems such a thing there is as was universally believed in the Apostle's Days as appears from his Appeal to their own knowledge of it but if they must Judge the World it is reasonable to think that their own Judgment must be over first I shall name but one thing more which I have had several occasions to take notice of already and that is That at the last Judgment this Earth shall be destroyed with Fire as S. Peter expresly tells us The day of the Lord shall come like a thief in the night in the which the heavens shall pass away with a great noise and the elements shall melt with fervent heat the earth also and the works that are therein shall be burnt up 2 Pet. 3.10 This has been an old Tradition that the World shall be destroyed by Fire and some Men are very curious and inquisitive by what Natural Causes this may be done for they are not willing to allow that God either made or destroys the World by an immediate Power for the less they leave for God to do the less they are concerned about him but though it is hard to perswade some Men now that there was any need of a God to make the World which they think could make itself without him yet the last Judgment shall convince them that it is God that destroys it when they shall see the World fired by a flame streaming from his Throne as is not improbable by the Description of the Prophet Daniel A fiery stream issued and came forth from before him 7 Dan. 10. The only Question is Whether the World shall be fired at Christ's first appearance to Judgment or after the final Sentence pronounced against bad Men The first does not seem probable because Christ himself shall place his Throne in the Air and all Mankind shall be gathered before him to Judgment and a fired World is not a proper Scene for such an Appearance and the burning of the World seems to be an Act of Judgment and Vengeance as St. Paul tells us He shall descend from heaven in flaming fire taking vengeance on them that know not God 2 Thess. 1.8 So that the Devil and bad Men shall first be condemned to Everlasting Fire and then their Punishment shall begin in a Fired World Thus I have given you a brief View of the Circumstances and Manner of Christ's Appearance and the Awful Solemnities of Judgment every part of which is for the Glory of our Lord for the Comfort of good Men and a Terrour to the wicked God grant we may so think of this Day before hand that we may not feel the Terrour and Astonishment of it when it comes CHAP. V. Who are to be Iudged viz. The World or all Mankind V. LET us consider who are to be judged and they are the World or all Mankind for I shall take no notice of the Judgment of the Devil and the Apostate Angels which we know no more of but only that they shall be judged that the angels which kept not their first estate but left their own habitation he hath reserved in everlasting chains under darkness unto the judgment of the great day Jude v. 6. Why their Judgment is deferred so long we cannot tell for it is plain that the Angels fell from their first Estate before Man and how long we know not for it was the Serpent that beguiled Eve but this we know that whatever their first Apostasie was they have a great deal more to answer for now and must expect a more terrible Condemnation All the Sin that is in the World is originally owing to the Temptation of the Devil who seduced our first Parents in Paradise and has ever since been the great Tempter to Wickedness and Apostasie from God and therefore he is in some degree entitled to all the Wickedness of Mankind And this is a good reason why the Devil and his Angels and all bad Men should be judged and condemned together those who tempt and those who are overcome by Temptations the Prince of Darkness and all his Subjects whether Angels or Men. Hell is the Fire prepared for the Devil and his Angels not for Men but when he has drawn Mankind into the Apostasie it is fit they should share in his Punishments too and when our Lord comes to Judge Men who have been seduced and corrupted by Evil Spirits there is no reason to think that wicked Spirits should escape who have seduced and tyrannized over Mankind But that which we are at present concerned in is the Judgment of Mankind That God hath appointed a Day wherein he will Judge the World or the whole Race of Men as St. Iohn represents it I saw the dead small and great stand before God 20 Revel 12. No Man who believes a Future Judgement makes any doubt of this but that all shall be judged For if any why not all We are all alike God's Creatures we are all equally accountable to him and though we have very different Talents yet we have all some Talent or other to improve for our Master's use And therefore I shall not go about to convince any Man that he is to be judged as well as the rest of Mankind but there are some Persons who are apt to forget this who have yet as much occasion to think of a Future Judgment as any other Men and therefore ought to be minded of it and they are those who are very Rich and Great or very Poor or in the Vigour and Gaiety of Youth 1 st Rich and Great Men Princes and Potentates Men of Honour and Fortune who are exalted above the common Level of Mankind These must all be judged as well as the meanest Men though they are not very apt to think of it great Power and great Riches make them reverenced and adored like so many little Deities in this World all Men court and flatter them and make a great distinction between them and those of a meaner Rank and Fortune and this is apt to swell their Minds they look down upon the rest of the World as very much below them and think they merit much when ever they look up to God for such great Men as they are to worship God and lift up their Eyes sometimes to Heaven they imagine is so great an Honour to God and Credit to Religion that a very little matter will be accepted from them they see Humane Judicatures very often have great respect for Mens persons in Judgment and they hope God will consider their
go out of these Bodies they shall go to Christ 2 Cor. 5.6 8. and this made it so difficult a Choice to St. Paul whether he should desire to live or die by living he might do great service to the Church and therefore he was very well contented to live but if he departed he should be with Christ which is best of all For I am in a strait between two having a desire to depart and to be with Christ which is far better Nevertheless to abide in the flesh is more needful for you 1 Phil. 23 24. And it is universally pronounced Blessed are the dead which die in the Lord from henceforth Yea saith the Spirit that they may rest from their labours and their works follow them 14 Revel 13. This evidently proves that good Men shall be happy as soon as they die and besides the express Authority of our Saviour in the Parable of Dives and Lazarus the reason of the thing proves that bad Men must be miserable that as the Happiness of good Men commences with their death so must the Miseries of the Wicked Bad Men indeed many times live very happily in this World for this is the time of God's Patience while he waits to be gracious not being willing that any should perish but that all should come to repentance but the Day of Grace ends with this Life the next World is for Retributions we must there receive according to our Works and therefore though we should suppose that the perfect Rewards of good Men and the perfect Miseries of the wicked should be deferred till the Day of Judgment when the final Sentence shall be pronounced which shall bestow Heaven upon good Men and condemn the wicked to Hell yet the Punishment of bad Men must begin when they leave this World because God's Patience is then at an end and the Rewards of good Men must begin too because their Work and Labour is at an end And this has been the universal Belief of Mankind who have believed a future State though they knew nothing of a General Judgment when all Mankind should be summon'd before God's Tribunal yet they all believed that when bad Men died they immediately went to a place of Punishment and good Men to Elysium a place of Rest and Happiness for if we shall be rewarded and punished in the next World for what we have done in this it is natural and reasonable to think that our Rewards and Punishments shall begin as soon as we go into the next World 2. And yet we read of no other formal Judgment but that great and general Judgment when the Son of Man shall descend from Heaven with a glorious Retinue of Angels to Judge the World if we examine all those express Declarations of Christ and his Apostles concerning Judgment or those Parables of our Saviour which relate to it we shall plainly find that they concern the last and general Judgment It is in that day which relates to a certain determined Day of Judgment that many shall say unto him Lord Lord have we not prophesied in thy Name 7 Matth. 22. It is at the end of the World when the Angels shall separate between the Wheat and the Tares between the good and bad Fish which were taken in the same Net 13 Matth. It is when the Son of man shall come in the glory of his Father with his Angels that he shall reward every man according to his works 16 Matth. 27. that is as St. Paul speaks when the Lord Iesus shall be revealed from heaven with his mighty Angels in flaming fire taking vengeance on them that know not God and obey not the gospel of our Lord Iesus Christ 2 Thess. 8 9. God hath given him authority to execute judgment because he is the Son of man And when he must do this he tells us The hour is coming in the which all that are in the graves shall hear his voice and shall come forth they that have done good to the resurrection of life and they that have done evil to the resurrection of damnation 5 John 27 28 29. And in his account of his Judging the World he tells us When the Son of man shall come in his glory and all his 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 separateth his sheep from the goats 25 Matth. 31 32. Then it is when the Man who travelled into a far Country returns and calls his Servants to an Account how they have improved their Talents v. 14 c. Christ is the only Judge of the World for all Judgment is committed to the Son and he does not judge the World till his second Appearance till he returns in the Glory of his Father with his Angels The Apostle to the Hebrews indeed tells us It is appointed unto men once to die and after death the judgment which might seem to intimate a particular Judgment of all Men as soon as they die but he adds when this Judgment shall be in the next Verse So Christ was once offered to bear the sins of many he died once for us because we must once die and unto them that look for him shall he appear the second time without sin unto salvation That is he shall appear the second time to judge the World which shews that this Judgement after Death is the general Judgement 9 Heb. 27 28. And the truth is if all Men have a final Sentence past on them as soon as they go into the other World it is very unaccountable why Christ at the last Day shall come with such a terrible Pomp and Solemnity to Judge and Condemn those who are judged and condemned and executed already as much as ever they can be And therefore in the Parable of Dives and Lazarus we have no mention of their being judged but Lazarus was carried by an Angel into Abraham's Bosom the Angels being ministring spirits sent forth to minister for them who shall be heirs of salvation 1 Heb. 14. Thus they minister to good Men in this World and do a great many kind Offices for us which we know not of and thus they minister to us when we go out of this World and conduct us to a place of Ease and Rest carry us safe through the Crowds of evil Spirits which fill these lower Regions into Abraham's bosom but the rich man was dead and buried and lift up his eyes in hell or Hades not Gehennah which signifies the State of separate Souls and it seems of wicked Souls and was in Torment but how he came thither it is not said there is no notice given us of any Judgment which sat on him or who carried him thither and therefore if we may guess by the Analogy of the Parable as Lazarus was carried by an Angel into Abraham's Bosom so Dives having no good Angel to guard him fell into
with all the Festival Expressions of Joy will not immediately turn him out of his Family to seek his Fortune No Christ has shed his Blood for us all and the more he saves the greater Reward he has of his Sufferings the more numerous his Train and Retinue of redeemed Souls is and Numbers add to the Glory of the Triumph this may convince all Mankind how merciful our Judge will be and if we must be judged at all could God do more for us then to appoint the Man Christ Jesus who is our Saviour to be our Judge But then consider on the other hand what a terrible thing will it be to be condemned by the Man Christ Jesus the Saviour of the World What Tumults and Convulsions of Thoughts must such Sinners labour under they must be Self-condemned they must feel all the Agonies of Guilt and Despair for if they could reasonably excuse themselves or the most merciful Man in the World could excuse them their Judge would excuse them too I know not how to bear the thoughts of this the very imagination of it amazes and confounds me to be damned is a tolerable Punishment in comparison of being damned by the Saviour of the World And might I have been saved will such a Sinner say did my Saviour who is now my Judge a terrible Judge shed his his Blood for me did he purchase Heaven for me and does he now condemn me to Hell and deservedly too against his own inclinations though he lose the Purchase of his Blood by it O Wretch that I am might I have been saved and must I be damned and damned by the Saviour of the World What Fury and Passion will accompany these thoughts is not to be expressed by words and I pray GOD none of us may ever feel it 3. Another thing which made it so fitting and congruous that the Son of Man should Judge the World is that he will be a visible Judge It is very fitting the World should be visibly judged for without this all the Pomp and Triumph of Judgment nay some of the principal Ends of Judgment are lost God judges the World in so publick a manner to convince the World of his Power and Justice and Goodness in the final Destruction of all bad Men and the final Rewards of Vertue and therefore this must be a visible Judgment and then there must be a visible Judgment-seat and a visible Judge a visible Glory and Power bad Men must know for what they are judged and see the Hand that executes Vengeance on them or for ought I know they might go Atheists and Infidels to Hell and see no more of God in a fired World then they do in Plague or Sword or Famine or such other Judgments as God sends upon the Earth they might curse their hard Fate but neither accuse themselves nor own the Divine Power and Justice and could they sink into Hell without owning the Being and Justice of God or acknowledging their own Guilt and Deserts and accusing themselves as the Authors of their own Misery and Destruction God would lose the Glory of his Justice and Power and Hell itself would be a very tolerable place to Sinners there would be Fire there to burn them but no Worm to gnaw their Consciences no inward Furies to torment them the Justice of the last Judgment which will stop the Mouths of Sinners and make them confess their own Guilt and Deserts will make the Flames of Hell so furiously rage and devour So that it is necessary that the last Judgment should be executed by a visible Judge that it may not be thought the Effect of Chance and Accident or Fate but the Result of the Divine Wisdom and Counsel that the World may see and know that God is come to Judge them and to take Vengeance on all the Workers of Iniquity and this also makes the Son of Man a very proper Judge of Mankind because he is a visible God and can appear in a visible Glory and as visibly Judge the World as any Earthly Prince or Judge when he ascends the Judgment-seat This will be the Glory of that Day to see the visible Appearance of the Son of Man in the Clouds of Heaven attended with Myriads of Angels to his Throne of Glory where he sits incircled with the Heavenly Host and all Mankind standing before his Tribunal expecting their final Doom from his Mouth Good Lord how will such a Sight as this affect us could we but paint a lively Image and Representation of Judgment upon our Fancies how would it warm our Hearts how would it disparage all the pompous Pageantry of this World how would it revive the Spirits of good Men inspire them with Courage and Resolution with Zeal and Activity in serving Christ looking for that blessed hope and glorious appearance of the great God and our Saviour Iesus Christ What terror would the thoughts of it strike into Sinners how would it cool the heat of Lust how would it make their Countenance change and loosen the Joynts of their Loyns and make their Knees knock one against another like the Hand writing upon the Wall while they are carousing in their full Bowls and drinking away the Thoughts of God and Judgment Who can possibly conceive the Joy and Exultation of that Day when good Men shall see their Lord coming in the Clouds of Heaven clothed with a Humane Body but bright and glorious as the Sun a Body which still retains the Marks of his Sufferings and the Tokens of his Love How will it transport us to see him whom our Soul loveth to see him whom we have so passionately longed and desired to see to see him whom we love though we have not seen him To see him I say not as the Shepherds did a poor helpless Infant wrapped in Swadling-clouts and lying in a Manger to see him not arraigned for a Malefactor nor hanging in a shameful manner upon the Cross but to see him in all his Majesty and Glory to see him a Triumphant Conqueror and Judge to see him with Crowns and Laurels in his hands and in him to see the Certainty of our Faith the Completion of our Hopes the Rewards of our Patience and Sufferings and our final Conquest over Death and Hell O joyful Day when this Royal Bridegroom shall come in the Glory of his Father to meet his Spouse the Church to conduct her to his Father's House there to see and there to partake in his Glory and never to part more Methinks I see holy and devout Souls in the highest Raptures and Extasies of Joy embracing and comforting one another at the appearance of their Lord Here comes the Blessed Jesus it is he himself the true Image of God the very Brightness of his Father's Glory This is that blessed Day we have so long expected and hoped for let us go forth and meet him let us hasten into the Embraces of our Saviour He is come to Judgment but let those
prays to God Cleanse thou me from secret faults 19 Psal. 12. There is no reason to think it should be otherwise since our most secret Sins are visible to God All things are naked and open unto the eyâ—s of him with whom we have to do 4 Heb. 13. And when God knows our most secret Sins why should he not judge us for them Humane Judicatures will punish those Sins which are most secretly committed when they happen to be discovered for the Sin is never the less nor does it less deserve to be punished for being secret and therefore though such Sins may escape the Judgement of Men by being concealed they cannot escape God's Judgment who sees and knows them I grant that to commit Sin openly in the Face of the Sun argues greater Impudence in sinning does more publick Dishonour to God and gives greater Scandal to the World but secret Sins put as great a Contempt on God as open Impieties do for it is a plain Proof that such Sinners have a greater Reverence for Men than they have for God though they profess to believe that God is present every-where and sees all they do yet they securely commit the greatest Villanies under his Eye when no body else sees them which they durst not commit in the presence of the meanest Man This is a very unaccountable thing and one would imagine that such Men did not believe that God sees what they do in secret and yet they do believe it and we all know it is so It may be there are few Men but are guilty of some private Sins at sometime or other which nothing could have perswaded them to have committed publickly and yet when any Man is tempted by Secresie and and Retirement though he drives away the Thoughts of God as much as he can while he is in pursute of his Lusts and wicked Designs when he comes to himself and has time to think his Conscience speaks Terrour to him and puts him in mind that God sees him though Men do not But consider I beseech you if God will judge us for all our most secret Sins how little it will avail us to conceal our Sins from Men We may indeed by this means escape present Shame and Punishment but eternal Shame eternal Torment will be our Portion and are we more afraid of being reproached by Men then of being reproached by God and by our own Consciences then of being exposed to Shame in the General Assembly of Men and Angels when God shall bring to light all the hidden Works of Darkness are we more afraid of some Punishments in our Bodies or Estates which Humane Laws and Judicatures can inflict on us than we are of Hell where the Worm dieth not and the Fire is not quenched I am very sensible what it is that deceives Men in this matter and if you will but reflect upon yourselves you will find what I say to be true You do believe that God sees your most secret Sins and will judge and condemn you for them and you are more afraid of Hell then of all present Shame and Punishment and yet you will venture upon those Sins under the Eye of God which the Presence of a Man at least of such Men as will discover your Sin and Shame and punish you for it would have kept you from What is the meaning of this to be more afraid of God than of Men and yet to stand in more awe of Man than of God The Account of this which looks like a Mystery I think is very plain Men dare not commit those Sins publickly which they will venture on in private because if Men see their Wickedness they immediately forfeit their Reputation and get such a Blot and Stain on their Names which all the Tears of Repentance cannot wash out again for they know the World is ill-natured and every single Miscarriage which comes to be known leaves an indelible Character of Infamy on them and they are not willing to forfeit their Reputation which is so necessary to the Comforts of Life for ever And besides this if the Sins they commit be such as are punishable by Human Laws if they be known all their Repentance how sincere soever it be will not deliver them from Punishment and though they love their Sins very well they will not venture the punishment of them But now though God abhors all Sin more than the best Men do and Hell be a more terrible Punishment then any thing in this World yet God may be atoned and reconciled by Repentance Repentance will restore them to the Favour of God and hide and cover their Sins and blot them out of their account and reconcile them to their own Consciences and prevent their final Punishment in the next World and this they resolve upon repent they will and Repentance will secure them both from the future Shame and Punishment of Sin and therefore their onely care is to conceal their Shame from Men and to escape present Punishment And this is the reason why they dare commit those Sins in secret though they know God sees them which they dare not commit in the view of the World This makes the Presence and the Eye of God so ineffectual to restrain Mens Lusts that they hope after all their secret Villanies to be friends again with God but do not expect should the World discover their Wickedness that it would spare them or ever think well of them more This looks like a very notable Contrivance to preserve our Reputation in the World by Secresie and to regain the Favour of God by Repentance But the Devil is too cunning for Sinners for if the Awe and Reverence for God and the fear of a Future Judgment will not preserve Men from secret Sins their other hopes will deceive them such Mens Shame will not be long concealed and their Repentance will soon grow impossible When Men think to out-wit God his Justice and Providence is concerned for their discovery Almost as many Sinners as we see hanged or pilloried or whipt so many Demonstrations there are that Men cannot conceal their Sins or can never be sure they shall for all these Malefactors study Secresie and Concealment as much as they can and yet are at one time or other discovered and suffer that publick Shame and Punishment they deserve There are a thousand Accidents which betray the greatest Privacies a thousand Circumstances which make Men suspected and that makes them watched and curiously observed they cannot always use that Caution that is required or the Partners and Instruments of their Sins are discovered and then they betray one another Nay many Sins without great caution will betray themselves let Men be never so secret in their Lust it will be known to all the World when they begin to rot with it when the Marks of their Sin grow visible and can be hid no longer Nay Men who sin very cautiously and secretly at first in time grow more bold