of this World and was worshipped with Divine Honours and St. Iohn tells us For this end the Son of God was manifest to destroy the works of the devil 1 Joh. 3.8 And Christ tells us That the Holy Ghost whom he would send upon his Apostles after his Resurrection from the Dead should convince the world of judgment because the prince of this world is judged 16 John 11. Where by Judgment I understand the final Judgment which the Spirit should convince the World of by that visible Judgment he would execute upon the Prince of this World For by the preaching of the Gospel he turned Men from Darkness unto Light and from the Power of Satan unto God converted great part of the Heathen World silenced their Oracles and exposed their Gods and their Worship their Temples and their Altars to contempt This was a visible Judgment of the Prince of this World and have not bad Men reason to look about them when they see their Prince and Captain so miserably defeated If Christ have already begun to execute Judgment on the Prince of this World is not this a plain Fore-runner of the final Judgment when the Devil and his Angels and all bad Men shall be condemned to Eternal Fire This assurance we have that the Son of Man shall Judge the World that God hath raised him from the Dead and thereby confirmed that Testimony which he gave of himself advanced him to the right Hand of Power and has already given some sensible Proofs of his Power and Justice in the Overthrow of the Iewish Nation and the Devil's Kingdom I shall only farther observe that this sensible Proof we have that Christ shall Judge the World is a sensible Proof of a Future Judgment as certain as we are that Christ is risen from the Dead so certain we are of a Future Judgment which is an abundant Confirmation of all those other Arguments from Reason and Scripture that God will Judge the World CHAP. IV. The Manner and Circumstances of CHRIST's Appearance and the Awful Solemnities of Iudgement IV. LET us now consider the Manner and Circumstances of Christ's Appearance and the Awful Solemnities of Judgment I have upon several Occasions hinted at most of these things already but the Order of my Discourse requires that I should say something particularly though briefly to them Now our Saviour tells us 16 Matth. 27. That the Son of man shall come in the glory of his Father with his angels 9 Luke 26. That the Son of man shall come in his own glory and in his Fathers's and of the holy angels That the Lord Iesus shall be revealed from heaven with his mighty angels in flaming fire taking vengeance on them â—hat know not God and obey not the gospel of our Lord Iesus Christ 2 Thess. 1.7 8. That the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout with the voice of the archangel and with the trump of God which shall awaken the dead and raise them out of their graves but the dead in Christ shall rise first then we which are alive that is whoever shall then be alive at Christ's coming to Judgment shall be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air and so shall we ever be with the Lord 1 Thess. 4.16 17. That when the Son of man cometh 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 divideth his sheep from the goats 25 Matth. 31 32. Or as it is described in St. Iohn's Visions 20 Revel 11 12 13. And I saw a white throne and him that sat on it from whose face the earth and heavens fled away and there was no place found for them And I saw the dead small and great stand before God and the books were opened and another book was opened which is the book of life and the dead were judged out of those things which were written in the books according to their works This gives us a general Prospect of the Order and Solemnity of the last Judgment which is very Pompous and Glorious and very Terrible there never was any thing like it all the Roman Triumphs in comparison with this were but like the Sports and Apish Imitations of Children let us then particularly but briefly consider the several parts of it Christ shall come in his own glory and in his Father's and of the holy angels In his own glory that must signifie the Glory of his Person that is the Glory of an Incarnate God His Body will be bright and glorious as the Sun so it was when he was transfigured before them on the Mount His face did shine like the sâ—â— and his raiment was white as the light 17 Matth. 2. And if there be any new degrees of Glory and Majesty we may be sure he will appear in it all when he comes to Judgment The Scripture assures us that Christ is now clothed with a glorious Body and that at the Resurrection he shall change our vile bodies that they may be like to his own most glorioâ—s body and he himself tells us At that day the righteous shall shine forth like the sun in the kingdom of their Father And if he bestows such Glory on his meanest Members how glorious will the Head be for St. Paul assures us that there are very different degrees of Glory There is one glory of the sun and another glory of the moon and another glory of the stars for one star differeth from another star in glory So also is the resurrection of the dead 1 Cor. 15.41 42. With what Glory then will our Lord appear when he comes to Judgment If the Righteous shall shine forth like the Sun how bright will the Sun of Righteousness himself be If meer Creatures shall appear so glorious what will the Glory of an Incarnate God be for he will not then appear as a glorious Creature but as a visible God as I observed before his Godhead will shine through his glorified Humanity as visibly as our Souls do through our Bodies and how glorious must that Body be in which the Deity appears a Glory which distinguishes a God from the most glorious Creatures But he must appear in the Glory of his Father also that is as I understand it with the Authority of an Universal Judge this is a great Glory for Authority and Power carries Reverence and Majesty with it whatever Mens personal Qualifications are though upon all other accounts they are much inferior to their Neighbours yet the Character of a Judge makes them Venerable especially to those who must be judged by them Authority is an invisible Character but yet gives a visible Majesty it is apt to impose upon our Judgments of Persons that we hardly think them the same Men when they are in Authority and out of it and
IMPRIMATUR G. Royse R. R. in Christo Patri ac Dom. Dom. Iohanni Archiep. Cantuar. Ã Sacris Domest Iuly 28th 1691. A Practical Discourse CONCERNING A Future Judgment By WILLIAM SHERLOCK D. D. Dean of St. Paul's Master of the Temple and Chaplain in Ordinary to Their Majesties LONDON Printed for W. Rogers at the Sun over-against St. Dunstan's Church in Fleet-street 1692. TO THE QUEEN'S MOST EXCELLENT MAjESTY May it please Your Majesty TO accept of this Treatise a small Part of which being Preached in Your Royal Chappel Your Majesty was pleased to Excuse the Printing of it then that it might wait for the Publication of the Whole which Your Majesty was given to understand I intended which I now humbly Present to Your Sacred Majesty rejoycing that I have so good an Occasion of Acknowledging Your Great and Vndeserved Favours to me and of professing with all the Sincerity that the Subject of this Treatise requires that I am Your MAjESTY'S Most Humble and most Obedient Subject and Servant William Sherlock The CONTENTS THE Introduction containing a Distribution of the Work Page 1 CHAP. I. The Proof of a Future Iudgment 3 Sect. I. That Man is by Nature an Accountable Creature 5 Sect. II. The Essential Differences between Good and Evil and the Natural Notions we have of God prove a Future Iudgment 19 Sect. III. The External Appearances of Providence prove a Future Iudgment 34 Sect. IV. The Natural Presages of Conscience prove a Future Iudgment and if there be a Future State there must be a Future Iudgment 89 Sect. V. The Scripture Proof of a Future Iudgement 106 Sect. VI. The Improvement of this Doctrine in some particular Inferences as 1. To live as it becomes those who shall certainly be judged 2. To keep our Eye upon a Future Iudgment for the Government of our Lives 123 Sect. VII Third Inference To refer all Iudgement to God 144 Sect. VIII Fourth Inference To refer all Difficulties to the Day of Iudgment 168 Sect. IX Fifth Inference To affect our Souls with a strong and vigorous and constant Sence of Iudgment 189 CHAP. II. Concerning the Time of Iudgment 208 Sect. I. Concerning a Particular Iudgment at the time of every Man's Death ibid. Sect. II. That the Day of Iudgment is appointed 233 Sect. III. The Day God has appointed is a General Day of Iudgment 255 Sect. IV. The Day of Iudgment is at the End of the World 278 CHAP. III. Who shall be our Iudge viz. The Man Christ Iesus 300 CHAP. IV. The Manner and Circumstances of Christ's Appearing and the Awful Soâ—emnities of Iudgment 336 CHAP. V. Who are to be judged viz. The World or all Mankind 360 CHAP. VI. For what we shall be judged 403 CHAP. VII Concerning the Righteousness of the Future Iudgement and the Rule whereby we shall be judged 439 Conclusion How to know what our Sentence will be at the last Iudgment with an Exhortation to Reverence our own Consciences 521 ERRATA PAge 154. l. 28. for froward r. forward p. 240. l. 18. r. that this is p. 279. l. 5. f. shall r. should p. 369. l. 26. f. Peâ—sions r. Persons p. 496. l. 30. f. undue to r. due unto A Practical Discourse CONCERNING A Future Judgment xvii ACTS xxxi Because he hath appointed a day in the which he will judge the world in righteousness by that man whom he hath ordained whereof he hath given assurance unto all men in that he hath raised him from the dead The INTRODUCTION HAVING in a former Treatise discours'd largely concerning Death the next thing to be considered is Judgment for so the Apostle tells us After death the judgment And a very grave and serious Thought it is if ever Men will be serious for nothing can be of greater concernment to us than a Future Judgment which will determine our final state and condition to Eternity In treating on this Subject I shall observe this Method 1. Inquire what Assurance we have of a Future Judgment 2. The Time when this Judgment shall be God hath appointed a day for it 3. Who shall be our Judge God will judge the world but not immediately by himself but by that a man whom he hath ordained that is by Christ Jesus who is a Man and the Son of Man as well as the eternal Son of God 4. The publick and awful Solemnities of Judgment 5. The Persons who shall be judged The world or all Mankind 6. For what we shall be judged whatever we have done in this body whether it be good or bad 7. The Rule whereby we shall be judged and the Righteousness of the Judgement CHAP. I. The Proof of a Future Iudgment IN treating of Death there was no need to prove That all Men must die for this is too visible to be denied but Judgment is not seen nor can it be seen because it is not yet Could Men indeed look into the other World they would soon be convinced by the different state of good and bad Men there that God has appointed a Day for Judgment but that is an invisible State to us and the Thoughts of Judgment are so uneasie to bad Men now that they are very unwilling to believe it and this makes it necessary to lay the Foundation of all in the Proof of a Future Judgment Now there are two ways of proving this First By the Principles of Reason Secondly By Revelation By Reason we can prove that God will judge the World as that signifies that God will call all Men to an account for their Actions and that he will reward good Men and punish the Wicked in the next World This the Heathens themselves discovered by the Light of Nature they talked very much of the Internal Judges and of the Rewards and Punishments of good and bad Men after Death and therefore in this sence did believe a Future Judgment But yet the Revelation of the Gospel has given us a more plain and undeniable assurance of this and has discovered something more than the Light of Nature could discover The Light of Nature and Reason may satisfie us as it did the Heathens that God will reward good Men and punish the wicked in the next World but it could not tell us that God had appointed a general Day of Judgment wherein all the Dead shall rise again out of their Graves and re-assume their Bodies and be summoned to Judgment it could not tell us who shall be our Judge with what Glory and Majesty he shall appear and with what Pomp and awful and terrible Solemnities he shall judge us The World knew nothing of this before the Gospel was preached for it depends wholly upon the will and pleasure of God and therefore can be known only by Revelation I shall begin with the Proofs from Reason and shew you what Moral Evidence and Assurance we have that God will judge the World as that signifies that he will reward good Men and punish the wicked in the next World
all had her but our Saviour told them at the resurrection they neither marry nor are given in marriage but are as the angels of God in heaven Thus it is here those natural Affections and Passions which are of so great use in this World and make us so nearly concerned for Children and other Relations are not the Measures of our Kindness and Friendship and Concernment in the other World they are necessary here many times to supply the place of Reason and Vertue and to prompt us to do those good Offices by the impatience and uneasiness of a Passion which the generality of Mankind would not do from wiser Principles but the end of these Passions is served in this World and there is no occasion for them in the next and therefore we shall feel no uneasiness or disturbance from them good Men will have no Friends no Relations in the other World but those who are truly good who are Members of the same Mystical Body of Christ the Children of God and Heirs of the same Happiness and Glory To conclude I shall only observe this farther How vain it is for bad Men to hope to defend themselves from Shame and Punishment by their Numbers they may I confess do it in this World when they have to deal with Men tho' when God comes to judge them even in this World the most powerful Combinations of Sinners are but like Chaff before the Wind But if ever Numbers would do it would be at the Day of Judgment when the Devil and his Angels and all bad Men shall be summoned together and if they cannot then defend themselves when their whole Force is united but stand as Criminals before their Judge and receive their Sentence from him it becomes us to fear and tremble before that powerful Judge who has all Nature at his command and all Devils and wicked Men in Chains and with the Word of his Mouth can condemn them to Eternal Torments SECT IV. The Day of Iudgment is at the End of the World III. THe Day of Judgment is at the End of the World That it will be so and the Reasons why it will be so are very plain from what I have already discoursed our Saviour tells us that it is at the end of the World when the Angels shall separate between the Wheat and the Tares which grew in the same Field between the good and the bad Fish which were taken in the same Net 13 Matth. It is in the Evening of the World when the Lord comes to reckon with his Servants and to reward those who have laboured in his Vineyard 20 Matth. for when Christ comes to Judgment this World shall be set on fire and this present visible Frame of Things shall be dissolved as St. Peter tells us 2 Pet. 3.10 11 12. Upon which account Christ is said to come in flaming Fire of which more hereafter and if God will judge all Mankind together the Day of Judgment must be at the end of the World But besides this it seems very reasonable and congruous that the final Judgement and the End of the World should come together or that when God finally Judges all Mankind he shall put an end to this habitable Earth For this Earth was made for the Habitation of Man and all things in it for his use and delight and therefore it receives its Fate and Destiny with Man too Paradise was the Habitation of innocent Man and had Man continued Innocent and Peopled the World with an innocent and holy Race the whole World must have been a Paradise but when Man had sinned and had no Right to so easie and happy a Life the Ground was cursed for his sake 3 Gen. 17 18 19. Cursed be the ground for thy sake in sorrow shalt thou eat of it all the days of thy life Thorns and thistles shall it bring forth to thee and thou shalt eat the herb of the field In the sweat of thy face shalt thou eat thy bread till thou return unto the ground When all Flesh had corrupted their ways excepting Noah and his Family God destroyed the Old World with its wicked Inhabitants and to this day besides that Original Curse which still rests upon the Earth Nature suffers for the Sins of Man and revives and flourishes again as he returns to his Duty He turneth rivers into a wilderness and the water-springs into dry ground a fruitful land into barrenness for the wickedness of them that dwell therein And on the other hand He turneth the wilderness into a standing water and dry ground into water springs And there he maketh the hungry to dwell that they may prepare a city for habitation 107 Psal. 33 34 35 36. It were easie to Harangue here and describe the Ruines and Desolations which the Judgments of God have brought upon the most flourishing Countries for the Sins of the Inhabitants Famine and Pestilence and Sword The Sword which carries all other Judgments along with it but God knows we live in an Age wherein there is no need of haranguing about it this is seen and felt and heard every day such Miseries as are beyond the Description of the most Eloquent Tongue or Pen God grant we may only hear of them that we may take warning by what others suffer and appease the Wrath of God by a timely Repentance Now for the same reason when God Judges all Mankind he will put an end to this present state of Things when Man for whom this Earth was framed shall dwell no longer on it but all good Men shall be received into Heaven and all bad Men condemned to Hell this World has lasted as long as it was made for and must now be cast into a new Mould and Frame For so indeed the Scripture represents it not that this World shall be destroyed but that it shall be new made that as the whole Creation is made subject to Vanity by Adam's Curse so it shall be redeemed from Vanity and Corruption too when Man is It shall be purged by Fire and a new incorruptible World shall spring out of its Ashes 8 Rom. 19 20 21 22. For the earnest expectation of the creature which must signifie this visible Creation waiteth for the manifestation of the sons of God For the creature was made subject to vanity not willingly but by reason of him who hath subjected the same in hope Because the creature itself also shall be delivered from the bondage of corruption into the glorious liberty of the children of God Or when the Sons and Children of God shall be delivered from Corruption For we know the whole creation groaneth and travelleth in pain until now And thus St. Peter tells us That at the last Judgement this World shall be destroyed with Fire Nevertheless we according to his promise look for new heavens and a new earth wherein dwelleth righteousness 2 Pet. 1 â—â— where St. Peter refers to the Prophesy of Isaiah 65.17 For behold I create new
if our Saviour will judge us it is dangerous to neglect so great Salvation That God did not intend meerly to fright Sinners with his Threatnings is evident from the Sufferings of our Saviour he could not save us without making Atonement and Expiation for our Sins and if he must undergo the Curse of the Law if he must suffer Death to redeem Sinners it is certain Sinners must have died if Christ had not died for them as St. Paul argues If one died for all then were all dead for would God have laid the Punishment of our Sins on Christ if he had not intended to execute the Curse of the Law against Sinners would he have delivered up Christ to Death for us if he had not intended that Sinners should die without a Sacrifice And when the Saviour of the World who came to lay down his Life for us to â—edeem us from the Curse of the Law threatens everlasting Destruction against impenitent and unbelieving Sinners what reason have we to hope that he will not execute his Threatnings those who are not redeemed by his Death must die themselves and it cannot be otherwise expected but that he who died to save us will execute the Sentence of Eternal Death on all those who will not be saved by him When he comes to Judgment he will remember the Shame and Agony the Infamy and Torments of the Cross which he under went for Sinners and this will make him revenge the Contempt of his dying and suffering Love he suffered for Sin once and though he were the Son of God he bowed and sweat and died under the weight of it but all this is despised by Sinners and goes for nothing and now he will die no more for them but they shall die for themselves shall feel the weight of God's Wrath themselves shall sweat and groan and die under it to Eternity II. It is very fitting and congruous that the Man Christ Jesus who is the Saviour should be the Judge of the World and that upon three Accounts 1. This is a very fitting Reward of his Humiliation and Sufferings 2. It gives great advantage to the Future Judgment that the Son of Man is the Judge of Mankind 3. It adds to the Glory and Triumph and Terrour of that Day to have a visible Judge 1. The Glory and Authorâ—ty of a Judge is a very proper and fitting Reward of Christ's Humiliation and Sufferings He became Man to save Mankind though he was in the form of God and thought it not robbery to be equal with God yet he made himself of no reputation and took upon him the form of a servant and was made in the likeness of men and being found in fashion as a man he humbled himself and became obedient unto death even the death of the cross 2 Phil. 6 7 8. This was a very low Condescension for the Son of God to conceal his Eternal Majesty under so mean a Disguise of Flesh and Blood to become Man as we are to submit to all the Weaknesses and Infirmities of Humane Nature to choose a low and mean Fortune to be treated with Contempt and Infamy and to die a painful and accursed Death upon the Cross. All this he submitted to in Obedience to his Father's Will for the Redemption of Mankind but it was not fitting this Son of Righteousness should always lie under an Eclipse he must break forth at last with a new and surprizing Glory the World must see what a great and excellent Person he was who came to visit them in great Humility who took upon him the form of a servant and was despised and rejected of men a man of sorrow and acquainted with grief and therefore God hath highly exalted him and given him a name which is above every name That at the name of Iesus every knee should bow both of things in heaven and things in earth and things under the earth and that every tongue should confess that Iesus Christ is Lord to the glory of God the Father V. 10 11. Christ is now exalted to the right Hand of God as a Reward of his Humiliation and Sufferings and appears in the true Glory of an Incarnate God but his Glory is now visible onely to the blessed Inhabitants of Heaven those who despised him persecuted him spit on him nailed him to the Cross those who in all Ages since have derided the Crucified Jesus and scorned his Religion and Worship see nothing of his Glory but when he comes to Judge the World then his Glory and Power shall be visible to all this will put an end to the Reproach of the Cross and turn it into Surprize and Wonder when they shall see what a glorious Person he is who submitted to so infamous a Death When he came into the World he appeared as other Men do as mean as the meanest Men clothed with a mortal Body of Flesh and Blood without any external Splendor of Birth or Fortune to recommend him but when this Son of Man shall return again to Judge the World his external Appearance will then be glorious so bright and transplendent that he will Eclipse the Sun as the Sun does the lesser Lights of Heaven then God will be as visible in him as Man was on Earth and shine through Humane Nature as the Soul does through the Body that an Incarnate God will be as visible as a Man Humane Nature will no longer veil and conceal the Glory of the Godhead but shall bear all the visible Impressions of the Deity and appear with the awful Majesty of God and this is a proper Reward for his mean appearance on Earth for when God becomes Man though there may be wise Reasons why he should conceal himself in Humane Nature for a while yet it cannot and ought not to be always so but if God becomes Man he will at one time or other make his Glory visible to all the World in Humane Nature It was a low and vile submission for the Son of God to be arraigned as a Male-factor before Pontius Pilate to be falsly accused unjustly condemned made a Mock King buffetted scourged reviled with the most bitter and insulting Scorn and nailed upon the Cross betwixt two Thieves but the Scene will be changed when he comes to Judge the World when his Crown of Thorns shall be bright Rays of Glory when the Wound in his Side and the Print of the Nails in his Hands and Feet shall be Springs and Fountains of Light when his Cross shall be turned into a Triumphant Charriot and Throne of Judgment and his Judge and Accusers and all the Enemies and Despisers of his Cross shall stand trembling before him this is the Triumph of the Crucified Jesus this is the Reward of his Infamy and Death and a proper Reward it is to make him the Judge of the World who was judged and condemned himself by Sinners The firm belief and perswasion of this now that God has made him the Judge