Selected quad for the lemma: judgement_n

Word A	Word B	Word C	Word D	Occurrence	Frequency Band	MI	MI Band	Prominent
judgement_n	according_a	judge_v	person_n	2,063	5	5.2344	4	true

Text snippets containing the quad

ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A66425	A sermon upon the resurrection preached before the Right Honourable Sir Edward Clark, Lord-Mayor, the Aldermen, and Governors of the several hospitals of the city, at St. Bridget's Church, on Easter-Monday, April 5, 1697 : being one of the anniversary spittal-sermons / by John Lord Bishop of Chichester.	Williams, John, 1636?-1709.	1697 (1697)	Wing W2732; ESTC R7557	14,394	37

him away whilst we slept When there is such a Perverseness of Mind they will cavil eternally and will question their own Senses rather than own that which they do not like and is to be and may be proved by that means to them Thus our Saviour resolves the point Luke 16. 31. If they hear not Moses and the Prophets neither will they be persuaded though one rise from the dead It was to little purpose to labour to convince such it was in our Saviour's Phrase to cast Pearl before Swine to give them an occasion of renewing their invectives and reproaches Such as these were not worthy of such favours So Lactantius saith He would not shew himself to the Jews lest he should bring them to repentance and heal the wicked For 3. The nature of the thing would not admit it that he should thus be shewn to all the people For Faith is all along made a necessary qualification for Salvation If thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead thou shalt be saved Rom. 10. 9. But where had there been any room or occasion for the Exercise of this so celebrated a Grace if our Saviour had openly been shewn and appeared to all the People after his Resurrection This had been such Evidence as none could have gainsaid And then there would have been no Mark nor Character by which the Believer and Sincere could have been distinguished from the Unbeliever and Caviller nor would Faith have been a Virtue worthy of Praise or Reward more than the Exercise of our Senses is upon their proper and natural Objects Our Saviour said to Thomas John 20. 25. c. Who when he beheld in his Hands the print of the Nails and thrust his Hand into his Side acknowledged him and said My Lord and my God Thomas because thou hast seen me thou hast believed blessed are they that have not seen and yet have believed To believe that Christ was risen when he saw him and put his Finger into the print of the Nails and thrust his Hand into his wounded Side was an Evidence no more to be questioned than whether he himself was alive and sensible And therefore if there was to be such a thing as Faith or a believing where they have not seen If Faith is a Virtue commendable and worthy of such a Reward as Eternal Life 't is fit there should be a way of trial by which the candid and ingenuous the honest and sincere may be distinguished from the perverse and obstinate And as the Apostle saith there must be Heresies and Sects that they which are approved and sincere may be made manifest So 't is fit that there should not be the utmost Evidence given that can be or that Cavillers may require for the trial of sincerity and whether persons will use that attention and diligence in inquiring that candour and sincerity in entertaining as Faith is not to be obtained nor can truly be called Faith without And this is a reason why Christ after his Resurrection was openly shew'd to chosen Witnesses and not to all the People Thus Tertullian saith He did not offer himself to the view of the People lest the Wicked should be delivered from their error He adds and that Faith which has assigned to it no small reward might meet with difficulty Then it is Faith and Faith is a Virtue as it was in those St. Peter speaks of Whom having not seen ye love And in whom though now ye see him not yet believing ye rejoice with joy unspeakable and full of glory But yet however Though Faith in Christ and a Belief of his Resurrection be thus necessary to all to those that saw him not as well as to those that saw him yet there must be an Evidence sufficient to induce them to believe that did not see and to render them inexcusable that believe not which should be the Subject of the next General viz. 3. That it is a sufficient Proof of Christ's Resurrection and a sufficient reason for our belief of it That he was thus openly shewn to such Witnesses though not to all the People There was an absolute necessity for the Proof of Christ's Resurrection that he should appear plainly and visibly to some and to whom sooner than to those that had been before conversant with him and were chosen by God Himself to be the Witnesses of it But when this was done and they were sufficiently empowred to testify of it there was no necessity that the same Evidence should be given to others that was given to them for the reasons before laid down Where I have already prevented my self so that I need not further to inlarge upon this Argument And so I shall proceed to the 4th General which is 4. To consider the Testimony which is given by Christ's Resurrection to the Doctrine Taught by the chosen Witnesses and that is Christ's being ordained by God to be the Judge of Quick and Dead In which there are these Four Things to be considered 1. That there is a Time of Reckoning and a Judgment to Come when all men shall give an account of themselves to God and be determined to Happiness or Misery according to what they have done in this Life 2. That Christ is ordained to be at that Time the Judge of Quick and Dead 3. That this is as certain so to be as that God raised up Christ from the Dead 4. That this is a Doctrine of such importance and universal concernment to all Mankind that it is to be preached to all the People 1. That there is a Judgment to come This World is a state of Trial where every person has a Work to Do an Office to Discharge a Talent to Improve and a Time for it But the time of reckoning when a Person is to give an account of his Stewardship is reserved to another Life And indeed the nature of this state will not admit that it should be otherwise and that persons here should receive their finall Doom For here God rules in an ordinary way by the Ministry of Men and under these circumstances it is not possible to lay Judgment to the Line and Righteousness to the Plummet and to bring all things to a right and unerring determination For men can judge only according to outward appearance and cannot understand what are the secret and original Springs of Action which often are lodged very deep and yet which must be known if we would pass an impartial Judgment Again There are Actions of the Heart which betray not themselves by any External Signs and Indications and so are only knowable to God the searcher of the Heart Again There are even some External Actions that a person is himself only privy to as secret Injustice on one side and private Charity on the other when the left hand knows not what the right hand doth Again There

are many Acts Good or Evil which the Laws of men have no regard to as Gratitude and Ingratitude that are highly commendable or injurious and yet no Human Authority doth oblige to the Virtue nor punish the want of it Again Men are very partial apt to be byassed by Enmity Envy Interest Fear or Flattery or Prejudice on one side to the worse or by prepossession from Affection and Interest to the other And therefore there needs a Higher Tribunal where Universal Knowledge Unlimited Power Impartial Administration bear sway Where all things shall be finally decided all cases fully resolved and determined according to the Merits of them This then the present state of things in the World doth shew This the Consciences of men do presage This the Scripture every where inculcates This will be a Judgment exact and impartial final and irreversible A Consideration of mighty force So Solomon thought it when he concludes his Advice with it Eccl. 12. 13. Let us hear the conclusion of the whole matter Fear God and keep his Commandments for God shall bring every work into Judgment with every secret thing whether it be good or whether it be evil So thought St. Paul 2 Cor. 5. 9 10. We labour that whether present or absent we may be accepted of him For we must all appear before the Judgment-seat of Christ v. 11. Knowing therefore the Terror of the Lord we persuade men And surely this will persuade men or nothing will This will persuade if they are to be persuaded The Rich Man thought so when he concluded That if Lazarus rose from the Dead and went to his Five Brethren and testified unto them concerning a Place of Torment they would repent And surely if this Doctrine was as much believed and as well considered as it is of importance it would quicken the Slothful awaken the Drowsy and Negligent reform the Perverse and conquer the Obstinate If they did but after this manner reflect upon themselves Is the Time coming when whatsoever a man soweth that shall he also reap when all that I have done said or thought shall be brought into Examination Are all these things wrote down in a Book of Remembrance What a condition then am I in to appear before such a Judge and such a Tribunal If I know so much by my self who have kept no such Book taken no such punctual account of my self and yet know so much as to condemn my self and stand condemned by my own Heart what shall I say or think when God is greater than my heart and knoweth all things May we not justly cry out with the Psalmist Enter not into judgment with thy Servant O Lord for in thy sight shall no flesh living be justified And again If thou Lord shouldest mark iniquities O Lord who shall stand but there is forgiveness with him and that is testified by Jesus Christ and confirmed by God's raising him from the Dead who was a Propitiation for our Sins Which brings me to the second 2. That Christ is ordained to be at that Time the Judge of Quick and Dead So we read John 5. 22. That the Father hath committed all judgment to the Son and v. 28 29. The time is coming when all that are in the grave shall hear his voice and come forth and shall stand before the judgment-seat of Christ That God shall judge the secrets of men by him Matter indeed of just Terror to the Wicked That he is then to be the Judge who thought nothing too dear to purchase their Redemption but freely parted with his own Life for it How must those stand Speechless and be Inexcusable When the Lord shall be revealed from Heaven with his mighty Angels in flaming fire taking vengeance on them that know not God and that obey not the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ. But on the other side What Comfort will this administer to all True Believers That He is to be the Judge who took part of the same with them and laid down his Life for them To see him whom they have believed in as their Saviour loved and obeyed as their Lord To see him whom they have longed to see What Joy will it then be to such What Comfort will spring up in their Minds When the Lord Jesus shall come to be glorified in his saints and to be admired of all them that believe in that day 3. There is the certainty of this As certainly is there a Judgment to come and as certainly shall Christ then be the Judge as he himself rose from the Dead Thus the Apostle improves it Acts 17. 31. God hath appointed a Day in which he will judge the world in righteousness by that man whom he hath ordained and of which he hath given assurance to all men in that he hath raised him from the dead That indeed is an undeniable Testimony for whatever it is to prove So it was thought by that miserable Person in Hell Luke 16. 30. who said of his Five Brethren If one went from the dead they will repent That is There is no Evasion it is Evidence not to be gainsaid But here is one risen from the Dead that has brought Life and Immortality to Light And then how inexcusable must they be that disregard such a Testimony or the matter it bears Testimony to Let him come down from the cross say the incredulous Jews and we will believe But here is one come from the Dead and what can be said then if they believe not 4. The Doctrine of a Future Judgment being a Point of great importance to all is to be preached unto the People This is the Use St. Paul makes of it knowing the terror of the Lord That we must all appear before the judgment-seat of Christ we persuade men And surely there is no matter of greater Terror no Argument of greater Force and Persuasion and so none more to be used and repeated and insisted upon by the Teacher none more fit to be considered by the People both as to the Consequence of it and the Negligence of Mankind in the Consideration of it What an Influence would this Doctrine of a Judgment to come have upon us if firmly believed duly pondered and frequently thought upon If it was but taken into serious Consideration in the beginning of the Day and reflected upon in the close of it what Evil would it prevent And what Good would it put us upon and promote If the Thoughts of it did but intervene in the Spaces of our Business how just and exact would it make us in our Dealings How observant of our Words and Behaviour How would it oblige us to improve our Time and to lay out our Talents to the best Advantage And yet though this be one of the most important Subjects we can think upon and the most necessary to have frequently in our Thoughts though this be an Article we all profess to believe how