joyes or pains This shal bee as the Quarter-sessions that other like the generall Assises Thou shalt know by this how it will go with thee then Well Beloved this also is unknown to us Though wee cannot all say as Isaac Gen. 27. that wee are old yet wee may all say as hee did Wee know not the day of our death Let this consideration therefore press the same duty of Watchfulness Ideo latet unus dies ut observentur omnes God hath on purpose kept the knowledge of this one day from us that hee might have our service every day that wee should never bee secure but ever ready ever doing our Masters business ever casting up our own accompts ever considering our later end like wise virgins ever trimming our lamps like faithfull servants ever employing and improving our talents that so when our Master cometh and findeth us about his work wee may receive his wages or rather his gift eternall life So much of the first point That there shal bee a Judgement Come we now to the second II. Christ shall bee the Judge To bee a Judge here upon earth though the Manichees and Donatists of old did and the Anabaptists their successours now do cry it down is an high and honourable calling To bee an oracle of justice a refuge for wronged innocencie a mainteiner of Truth and Peace a prop and pillar of the State To give eyes to the blind and feet to the lame To break the jaws of oppressours and pluck the spoil out of their teeth Job 29.15 17. To drive away wickedness and wicked men with a cast of his ey or with the breath of his mouth Pro. 20.8 26. To carry the life livelihood of others on the tip of his tongue Such actions as these so great so good lift a man almost above humanity And indeed as Judges do Gods work The judgement is Gods Deut. 1.17 and Yee judge not for man but for the Lord 2 Chron. 19.6 so God giveth Judges his own title Psal 82.6 I have said Yee are Gods and all of you are children of the most High If these that ride circuits here below and exsecute judgement and justice but in some small province have so great honour and dignity laid upon them how unconceivable will the autority and majesty of that Person bee that shall bee Lord Chief Justice of heaven and earth that shall bring in his hand the keyes of Hell and Death and shall cause a generall Gaol-delivery to bee made that shall exercise Commission of Oyer Terminer over all both men and angels and shall pass an unrepealable sentence upon both And to this height is Christ advanced All power is given him in heaven and in earth Matth. 28.18 Hee is made not onely Head of his Church Ephes 5.23 but Lord and Judge of all Acts 10.36 42. All things are put under his feet and hee is set far above all principality and power and might and dominion and every name that is named not onely in this world but also in that which is to come Ephes 1.20.22 Obj. But doth not Christ say If any man hear my words and believe not I judge him not for I came not to judge the world but to save the world John 12.47 And the like wee have John 3.17 Resp Such places are to bee understood of that coming which is past not of that which is to come Christ came not indeed to judge the world but hee shall come to judge it Hee came in poverty but hee shall come in power Hee came in the form of a servant and in the similitude of sinfull flesh but hee shall come in the glorie of his Father Hee came to bee judged but hee shall come to judge even those that judged him Hee came like a Lamb to bee sacrificed for sin but hee shall come like a Lion to tear all impenitent and unbelieying sinners in pieces At his first coming such was his meekness and humility that hee hid himself that hee might not bee a King John 6.15 but such shall bee the splendour and terrour of his second coming that even Kings and Potentates shall seek to hide themselves from his presence Rev. 6 15-17 When hee was upon earth hee refused to bee a Judge of civile matters and a divider of earthly inheritances Man who made mee a Judge or a divider over you Luke 12.14 but when hee cometh in the clouds of heaven hee will bee a Judge and a divider indeed hee will bestow the mansions of glorie on the vessels of grace and like his type Joshua divide the heavenly Canaan among all the Israel of God giving to one autority over five cities to another over ten Luke 19.17 19. Qu. But how and why is Judgement attributed to Christ since God is Judge of all the earth Gen. 18.25 Yea since God is Judge himself Psal 50.6 Resp How and why Let the Arian and Socinian hear how and why Christ is therefore Judge of all Heb. 12.23 because hee is God over all Rom. 9.5 His Divinity and his Autority inferre each other That which in the Text the Apostle calleth standing before the judgement-seat of Christ in the twelfth verse hee calleth Giving account to God So then saith hee every one of us shall give account of himself to God So then Christ is God And indeed the Father communicateth both his nature and his power unto him Hee hath given all things into his hand Joh. 3.35 and hee hath given him autority to exsecute judgement because hee is the Son of man Joh. 5.27 But wee must not imagin that by investing the Son with this power the Father hath devested himself of it For hee still reteineth the power hee hath given As in respect of essence the Son is in the Father and the Father in the Son so in respect of action the Son worketh from the Father and the Father by the Son John 17 21-23 Concerning the particular in hand That of our Saviour Joh. 5.22 The Father judgeth no man but hath committed all judgement to the Son is excellently expounded by S. Paul Acts 17.31 God hath appointed a day in the which hee will judge the world in righteousness by that man whom hee hath ordained Yet shall not Christ sit as a delegate or subordinate Judge but as a Judge Paramount principall and absolute from whom there shall bee no appeal whose sentence shall not bee traversed nor his power resisted For hee shall judge not as Man onely nor as God onely but as 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 as both together As Man hee shall come in the clouds of heaven and sit on the tribunall as God hee shall raise the dead and force all to stand before him As Man every ey shall behold him as God hee shall behold every thought and discover every deed of darkness As Man hee shall pronounce the sentence as God hee shall fulfill and exsecute it The Scripture asscribeth the last Judgement to three sorts of Judges to God
as the Apostle saith 2 Thess 1.5 The Wise man argueth in like manner Eccles 3.16 17. For observing the cruelty and injustice of men in great place and authority how in stead of being a shelter and sanctuary to the oppressed they proved unto them a briar and a thorn-hedge in stead of being patrones of laws they perverted them making use of their power to do mischief and turning their Courts of Justice into dens of rapine into meer butcheries and shops of cruelty what inferreth he hence Not what they Ezek. 9.9 The Lord hath forsaken the earth and the Lord seeth not but what his Father doth in the like case Psal 12.5 For the oppression of the poor for the sighing of the needy the Lord will arise c. Solomon from the cruell and unjust courses of Magistrates inferreth the just judgement of God and how there shall be a time when he that is higher then the highest will call them to account for all their oppression of the poor and their violent perverting judgement and justiee For thus he saith Moreover I saw under the sun the place of judgement that wickedness was there and the place of righteousness that iniquity was there I said in mine heart God shall judge the righteous and the wicked for there is a time there for every purpose and for every work Thus Solomon like Samson found honey in the carcases even of lions And thus may the children of God do still The prosperous wickedness of profane persons which emboldeneth them in their waies of cruelty and tyrannie and maketh them say in their hearts God hath forgotten he hideth his face he will never see it Psal 10.11 even that very same thing though it oft wring tears from the eyes of the godly yet it affordeth them a towell to wipe their cheeks withall it being a strong argument to assure their hearts that a time of refreshing will come from the presence of the Lord Acts 3.19 when there shall be no more place left for those silly objections against Divine Providence Why is this villain prosperous and why that Saint in mifery Cur sceleris pretium ille crucem tulit hic diadema Why was that traitour dressed with an hempen halter and this with a gold chain or a diadem Then the 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Rom. 2.5 the 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the exact justice of God will be so evident that even his enemies shall be forced to say Verily there is a reward for the righteous doubtless there is a God that judgeth the earth Psal 58 11 A day of judgement then shall come But when Some profane ones ask the question 2 Pet. 3. scoffing at Gods slackness and thinking because it is not yet that it will be never But the Lord is not slack as they count slackness He doth but stay till his harvest be ripe then he will send forth his reapers Matth. 13.30 he tarrieth but till his elect be accomplished and then he that shall come will come and will not tarry Hebr. 10.37 Others too curious have taken on them to calculate the period of the world both Gentiles Jews and Christians Plato and Pythagoras among the Heathens said all this elementary frame shall be dissolved after six and thirty thousand yeers Elias a Jew but not the Tishbite but a cabalisticall Rabbine of a far meaner stamp alloweth the world but a sixth part of that term which those Philosophers do and saith it shall endure but six thousand yeers which he equally parcelleth out thus two thousand before the Law two thousand under two thousand after But he grosly erreth in the two first particulars for from the creation of the world to the giving of the Law were above five hundred years more then his accompt and from the Law to Christ almost five hundred years less Therefore we may well suspect him in the last particular which was the furthest off from his ken But his totall summe of six thousand years passed for currant with many of the antient Fathers whilest they compared Gods creating the world in six dayes with that place of S. Peter One day is with the Lord as a thousand years and a thousand years as one day 2 Pet. 3.8 It would bee endless and indeed it is needless to acquaint you with the severall opinions of Christian writers concerning the time of Christ's second coming there having been some almost in every age that have ventured to set the year if not the day of these grand Assises Most of which conjectures Time the mother of Truth hath already convinced to bee as false as they were bold and so without doubt it will confute the rest For none know nor can know the end of the world but hee that began it Times and seasons are in the Fathers power Acts 1.7 this especially Mark 13.32 Of that day and that hour knoweth no man no not the angels which are in heaven neither the Son but the Father Not the Son that is not as man or not at that time for his knowledge was graduall Luke 2.52 and mixed with some ignorance Mark 11.13 or not as Mediatour so as to reveal it to his Church Thus the Son knew not the day of judgement From 1 Thess 5.2 The day of the Lord so cometh as a thief in the night some conclude but very weakly that Christ shall come in the night The uncertainty of this appeareth from Mark 13.35 Yee know not when the Master of the house cometh at even or at midnight orat the cock-crowing or in the morning Besides it is called the day of the Lord 1 Cor. 5.5 2 Cor. 1.14 2 Pet. 3.10 Moreover when it is night with us it is day in the other hemisphere Whether night or day how near it is wee may not affirm yet that it is not far off wee may gather from those prognosticks that our Saviour hath given us most whereof are come to passe already as the arising of false Christs and false prophets persecuting of true Christians wars and rumours of wars pestilences and famines quakings of the earth and searfull signes in heaven iniquity everywhere abounding and charity everywhere abating These buds plainly tell us that the Sun of righteousness draweth nigh Let us therefore lift up our heads and gird up our loins that hee may not come upon us and pass by us before wee bee aware Let the sound of the Archangels trumpet bee ever in our ears as S. Hierome saith it was in his Let the fear and remembrance of that dreadfull tribunall bee continually in our minds But how far soever the generall Judgement bee off this let us know that our particular judgement is at hand For this immediately followeth our death So saith the Apostle Heb. 9.27 It is appointed unto men once to die but after this the judgement No sooner shal thy soul leave her earthly tabernacle but shee shall stand before her Judge who having passed an unalterable doom upon her shee shall enter into endless
seldome looked into but closed and fast sealed shall then bee spread wide open bee as bad as a thousand witnesses against thee It wil bee a testimonie beyond all exception for it was written all with thine own hand kept alway in thine own cabinet This is one of those books mentioned Rev. 20.12 even the book of thy Conscience which shall bear witness and either accuse or excuse thee before thy Judge Rom. 2.16 But indeed the Judge shall need no proof or evidence for hee knoweth all things of himself and needeth not that any should testifie of man John 2.25 In the vast volume of his Omniscience all our membres were written before they were fashioned Hee is not onely acquainted with all our wayes but there is not a word in our tongue that hee knoweth not altogether yea hee understandeth our thoughts afarre off as the Psalmist most excellently Psal 139. As hee putteth tears into a bottle Psal 58.8 so hee soweth and sealeth up transgressions in a bag Job 14.17 Hee now setteth thine iniquities before him even thy secret sins in the light of his countenance Psal 90.8 and time will come though thou thinkest otherwise when hee will set all in order before thine eyes Psal 50.21 Secondly as in respect of his Wisdome the Judge may be said to be Totus oculus so in respect of his power hee may bee said to bee Totus manus Other Judges are oft hindred as I said in the exsecution of Justice But there will bee no standing against this Judge no appealing from him Hee is higher then the highest Eccl. 5.8 And his Kingdome ruleth over all Psal 103.19 His hand will bee found no shorter at the last day then it was at the first but as at the beginning of the world so at the end his Word will bee his Work He spake the word and we were made at first Ps 33.9 when hee saith Return yee children of men Psal 90.3 wee shall be made anew With his word hee drew us all out of that old Chaos if I may so speak and placed us here on earth and with his word hee will people both heaven and hell and fix that 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 that great gulf Luke 16.26 betwixt them Thirdly his Justice is of equall dimensions with his Wisdome and Power And indeed where this is wanting in a Judge the other two serve but to arm Iniquity and to make it so much the more mischievous But this great Judge is good as well as great Hee is Justice it self the true Melchisedech the King of righteousness His name is THE LORD OUR RIGHTEOUSNESS Jer. 23.6 and his nature is to love righteousness and to hate wickedness Psal 45.7 Righteousness shall go before him Psal 85.13 Righteousness shall bee under him Righteousness judgement are the habitation of his throne Psal 97.2 Righteousness shall bee round about him Righteousness shall bee the girdle of his loins and faithfulness the girdle of his reins Isa 11.7 So righteous hee was here upon earth that none of his enemies could convince him of sin John 8.46 Neither Herode nor Pilate could find any fault in him Luke 23.14 15. Yea the very devil cried out Mark 1.24 I know thee who thou art the Holy one of God But though this Judge were ever righteous in all his wayes and holy in all his works Psal 145.17 yet then especially will his righteousness appear when hee cometh when hee cometh to judge the earth when hee shall judge the world with righteousness and the people with his truth Psal 96.13 His judgements now though ever just yet are often secret his favours and his punishments beeing so promiscuously dealt and all things coming so alike to all that there is no judging of love or hatred by outward events Eccl. 9.1 2. But at the last day his judgement will bee manifest as well as just Now hee loveth to sit upon his mercie-seat and his throne of grace to encline his ear to prayers to bee mollified with tears to bee swayed with sighs to receive suits and to grant Reprives and Pardons But at the day of Judgement his Patience and Long-suffering will bee at an end Then no entreaties no tears no promisses no friends no mediation shall further prevail with him but putting-on righteousness as a breastplate and an helmet of salvation upon his head and putting-on the garments of vengeance for clothing and beeing clad with zele as a cloak according to their deeds accordingly hee will repay furie to his adversaries and recompense to his enemies Isa 59.17 18. II. If Christ shall bee the Judge oh how shall Pilate tremble that condemned him and Judas that betrayed him and the Jews that thirsted for his bloud and all that any wayes were consenting to his death And that let mee tell you many thousands are that think themselves far enough from such horrid impiety They that now despise his Ministers reject the offers of grace disobey the Gospel profane the Sacrament count the Cross foolishness will not relie on a crucified Saviour such how well soever conceited of themselves allow the fact of the Jews in crucifying of Christ and had they lived in that place and at that time they would have had an hand in that bloud which they now trample under foot and account as a commonthing Hebr. 10.29 Yea they do even now in some sort crucifie the Son of God afresh and put him to open shame pierce him again again with their sinnes Heb. 6.6 When such as these shall behold him whom they have pierced how shall their faces gather blackness rottenness enter into their bones and their hearts bee overwhelmed with fear and astonishment They were here offended at Christs humility they shall bee much more offended at his glorie They were here ashamed of him then hee will bee ashamed of them They would not hear his gentle mild voice to their conversion they shall therefore hear his terrible and dreadfull voice to their confusion They would not come to him for ease and refreshment Mat. 11.29 they shall therefore depart from him into everlasting fire Mat. 25.41 If in the state of his humiliation hee was able with a word to throw his apprehenders on their backs Joh. 18.6 how casily then when hee ariseth to judgement shall his enemies that would not apprehend him by faith bee scattered and they that hate him flee before him Psal 68.1 Now consider this yee that forget God lest hee then tear you in pieces there bee none to deliver Psal 50.22 Knowing the terrour of the Lord let us bee perswaded to look about us while wee have time place before that great and notable day of the Lord come Acts 2.20 That will bee the Lords day a day of glorie In this our day the day of grace while it is called To day let us hearken to his voice and consider the things that belong to our peace lest hereafter they bee hid from our eyes Luke