if an ordinary Judge of Assize be lookt on with so much Reverence and Awe what is the Glory and Majesty of an Universal Judge How will all the World fall and bow and tremble before him who with the Word of his Mouth can sentence them to Eternal Life or Death This is his Father's glory for he is the Natural Lord and Judge of the World and from him he receives this Authority to Judge the World The Father judgeth no man but hath committed all judgment to the Son That all men should honour the Son even as they honour the Father 5 John 22 23. To this Glory he is now advanced and we must now Obey and Reverence and Adore him as our Judge but it will give a visible Majesty to him when he thus comes in the Glory of his Father when the astonishing Glory of his Person is still made more Glorious and Majestick by the Authority of a Judge But his Retinue is very glorious also and adds to the Terror and Majesty of his Appearance for he shall come attended with Myriads of holy Angels bright and glorious Beings who incircle his Person and are the Witnesses and Ministers of his Justice We know a splended Retinue adds greatly to the Glory of a Prince or Judge a Multitude has something great and awful in it especially when this Multitude are all his Dependants Servants and Ministers and more still when every one of this Multitude are most excellent and glorious Creatures the Beauty and Perfection of the Creation whose single Glories we cannot now bear the sight of without great Apprehension and Amazement and what a mighty Prince is he who comes attended with the whole Host of Heaven who leave their heavenly Mansions to wait upon their Lord and to adorn his Triumphs But this glorious Retinue of Angels is not meerly for Pomp and State but they are the Ministers of his Justice and therefore are called his mighty Angels or the Angels of his Power 2 Thess. 1.8 And what a powerful Judge is he who has all the Powers of Heaven attending him to execute his Vengeance on Men and Devils This glorious Judge shall at the last Day come down from Heaven for thither he ascended after his Resurrection from the Dead and there he must continue till he comes to Judge the World but then the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout with the voice of the archangel and with the trump of God 2 Thess. 4.16 I see no reason why this should not be understood literally of an audible Voice and Shouting and an audible sound of the last Trumpet to summon all Mankind to Judgment for this makes the Appearance more solemn and awful and thus God descended on Mount Sinai when he gave the Law With thundrings and lightnings and the voice of a trumpet exceeding loud so that all the people that was in the camp trembled 19 Exod. 16. And if he gave the Law with the sound of a Trumpet why not Judge the World with it too This Shout is the shouting of the holy Angels begun by the Voice of the Archangel in their descent with Christ and signifies what such Shoutings do among Men either great Joy and Exultation or Alacrity and Courage thus Men shout for joy when any thing happens which highly pleases them thus Souldiers shout when the Signal is given for Battle Thus when our Lord shall say Come ye holy Angels go down with me to Judge the World they will shout for joy that that day is come which will put a final end to the Kingdom of Darkness when the Devil and his Angels and all wicked Men shall be cast into the Lake of Fire and good Men rewarded and crowned and received into the immediate Presence of God in Heaven For this is matter of Joy to all holy Angels to see the final Conquest of all the Enemies of CHRIST'S Kingdom to see the Triumphs of Justice to see all Impiety and Wickedness shamed condemned and punished and the World cleansed from the Pollutions of it to see their numbers encreased by the advancement of good Men into Heaven who will now be united to their Company and joyn with them in singing Halelujahs to Him that sitteth on the Throne and to the Lamb for if there be Joy in Heaven at the Repentance of one Sinner what Exultation and Acclamations will there be to see the whole number of GOD'S Elect raised again with glorious Bodies and receive that Kingdom which was prepared for them before the Foundations of the World When our Lord shall say Come ye holy Angels and be the Ministers of my Justice and execute my Vengeance upon a wicked World upon the Devil and all bad Men and gather together mine Elect from the four Corners of the Earth with what Shoutings will they receive their Commission with what Alacrity and Courage will they execute it for so our Saviour himself represents it that the Angels are not meerly Attendants of State but his Officers and Ministers whom he employs in Judging the World thus he expounds the Parable of the Tares 13 Mat. 41 42 43. He that soweth good seed is the Son of man The field is the world the good seed are the children of the kingdom but the tares are the children of the wicked one The enemy that sowed them iâ— the devil the harvest is the end of the world and the reapers are the angels As therefore the tares are gathered and burnt in the fire so shall it be in the end of the World The Son of man shall send forth his angels and they shall gather forth out of his kingdom all things that offeâ—â— and them which do iniquity and shall cast them into a furnace of fire there shall be â—â—iling and gnashing of teeth Then shall the righteous shine forth like the sun in the kingdom of their Father And thus he expounds the Parable of the Net that was cast into the sea and gathered of every kind Which when it was full they drew to shore and sat down and gathered the good into vessels and the bad they cast away So shall it be at the end of the world the angels shall come forth and sever the wicked from among the just and shall cast them into the furnace of fire there shall be wailing and gnashing of teeth v. 47 48 49 50. What is meant by the trump of God with which Christ descends from Heaven is hard to say only thus much we know that it is such a Trumpet at the sound of which the Dead shall rise as St. Paul expresly tells us 1 Cor. 15.51 52. Behold I shew you a mystery We shall not all sleep but we shall all be changed in a moment in the twinkling of an eye at the last trump for the trumpet shall sound and the dead shall be raised incorruptible and we shall be changed And therefore this last Trump seems to be what our Saviour calls the Voice of the Son of
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
it cannot continue so much longer there are some Prophesies to be accomplished still but how soon they may be accomplished we know not no Man questions but that the World now grows to an end and therefore it is time for every Man to think of Eternity CHAP. III. Who shall be our Iudge viz. the Man CHRIST IESVS III. LET us now consider who shall be our Judge That man whom he hath ordained whereof he hath giveâ— assurance unto all men in that he hath raised him from the dead where are two things to be considered First The Person who is to Judge us Secondly What Assurance we have that He shall be our Judge First The Person who is to Judge us That man whom he hath ordained that is the Man CHRIST JESUS for thus both Christ and his Apostles assure us that God hath appointed him to be the Judge of the World The Father judgeth no man but hath committed all judgment to the Son 5 John 22. The Son of man shall come in the glory of his Father with his angels and then shall he reward every man according to his works 16 Matth. 27. Thus St. Peter assures Cornelius concerning Christ He commanded us to preach unto the people and to testifie that it is he which was ordained by God to be the judge of quick and dead 10 Acts 42. But there is no need to multiply Texts in so plain a Case it is of more concernment to inquire why Christ who is the Eternal Son of God and a God Incarnate when he is spoke of as Judge of the World is most usually described as a Man or the Son of Man thus He is that man whom God hath ordained and the Son of man nay Christ himself tells us For this reason God hath given him authority to execute judgment because he is the Son of man 5 John 27. Now the reason why our Saviour is described as a Man and the Son of Man when he comes to Judgment is because he shall visibly appear in Humane Nature to judge the World and therefore will be and will appear as much a Man as he did when he dwelt on Earth though he will appear also more like a God thus the Prophet Daniel describes it He saw in the night-visions and behold one like the Son of man came with the clouds of heaven and came to the ancient of days and they brought him near before him And there was given him dominion and glory and a kingdom that all people nations and languages should serve him his dominion is an everlasting dominion which shall not pass away and his kingdom that which shall not be destroyed 7 Dan. 13 14. It is the Son of Man who has this Glory and Kingdom given him and which he must administer as the Son of Man And this seems the true reason why our Saviour so often calls himself the Son of Man not as some imagine with respect to the mean Circumstances of his Appearance in the World for this Phrase The Son of Man no where in Scripture relates to such an external Meanness and Poverty as distinguishes one Man from another but it either signifies no more than a Man or it respects the common Weaknesses of Humane Nature and when this Name is applied to any particular Persons it is never used of mean Men but always of Princes or Prophets But by this Title of the Son of Man our Saviour gives us to understand that he is that Great and Extraordinary Person known by the name of The Son of Man in Daniel's Visions whom God hath ordained to be the Lord and Judge of the World But I shall not pass over this Argument thus but shall more particularly consider the great Wisdom of this how necessary congruous and fitting it is that the Son of Man should Judge the World which will suggest a great many useful Meditations to us Now I shall reduce what I have to say to these two Heads 1. That it is very fitting and necessary that the Saviour of Mankind should be their Judge also 2. And therefore that the Man Christ Jesus who is the Saviour of the World should Judge it I. That it is very fitting and necessary that the Saviour of Mankind should be their Judge also and that upon two Accounts 1. Because the Authority to Judge is essential to the Notion and Authority of a Saviour To save Sinners signifies to save them from their sins which is the true Interpretation of the Name Jesus 1 Matt. 20. And to save them from their Sins is to deliver them from the Punishment of Sin that is from the Wrath of God from the Curse of the Law from Death and Hell to raise them from the Dead and to bestow Immortal Life on them Now there are several Acts must concur to perfect this Salvation but the last concluding and finishing Act is Judgment And he only is a complete and perfect Saviour who has Authority to Judge to Pardon and to Reward God is a Holy and Pure Being and can never be reconciled to Sinners till they are renewed and sanctified which makes it necessary for the Saviour of the World to instruct Mankind in their Duty and by the Power of his Grace to change their Natures and make them Holy as God is since without holiness no man shall see God and therefore he must be a great Prophet and Preacher of Righteousness to turn men from darkness unto light and from the power of Satan unto God God is a very righteous Judge and has threatned Death against Sin and therefore the Saviour of Sinners must make Atonement and Expiation for Sin must deliver us from the curse of the law by being made a curse for us that is must be our Priest and our Sacrifice must die for our Sins and intercede for us with God but all this while a Sinner is not saved till he is finally acquitted and absolved till he is actually delivered from the Curse of the Law and possessed of Eternal Life and Glory all things else are only Preparatory Acts but the Final Judgment perfects our Salvation for he who finally Pardons and bestows Heaven on us is our Saviour Christ might have been our Prophet our Priest and our Sacrifice without being our Judge but he could not have been our Saviour without it and therefore after Christ's Resurrection from the Dead after he had preach'd the Gospel and died upon the Cross to expiate our Sins he tells his Disciples All power is given unto me both in heaven and in earth 28 Matth. And St. Peter tells the Sanhedrim Him hath God exalted with his right hand to be a Prince and a Saviour to give repentance to Israel and forgiveness of sins 5 Acts 31. So that he saves by Power he is our Saviour and our Prince and this Power is the Reward of his Obedience and Sufferings Therefore God hath highly exalted him and given him a name which is above every name
to hope they shall be saved in their Wickedness only because the Church will not damn them but reserves them to the Judgment of God and sends her charitable Wishes after them at least this can be no Encouragement when they are forewarned before hand of it which is the chief reason why I take notice of it at this time Upon the same Principle I am not ashamed to own I have always been averse to that Dispute about the Salvation of Heathens for this is to set in Judgement on three parts of the World and I am not the Judge of the World nor of any part of it and yet I know not what Character and Censures this plain Confession may bring upon me for some Men do as peremptorily Damn all the Heathen World as if it were an Article of their Creed and think all those Enemies to the Grace of Christ who do not but for my part I dare neither damn nor save them for I know nothing of the matter By what Rule God will Judge the Heathen World I cannot tell St. Paul tells us As many as have sinned without law shall also perish without law and as many as have sinned in the law shall be judged by the law 2 Rom. 12. And there is the same reason as to the Gospel too that those who never heard of the Gospel shall be judged without the Gospel and who can tell what this signifies what mighty Allowances God may make for their invincible Ignorances and the unhappy Circumstances of their Education who can tell how little God will accept from those to whom he has given little I am sure our Saviour tells us To whomsoever much is given of him shall be much required and to whom men have committed much of him they will ask the more 12 Luke 48. Which by a parity of Reason supposes that where God has given little he requires little St. Paul seems to intimate a very favourable Judgment which such Men shall have and a vast difference that God makes between the times of Pagan Ignorance and the Light of the Gospel The times of this ignorance God winked at but now commandeth all men every-where to repent because he hath appointed a day c. 17 Acts 30 31. where God's winking at the Times of Ignorance must signifie that he is not so severe and curious an Observer of their Actions not so strict to mark what is amiss nor so rigorous in exacting punishment as he will be now They are in the hands of God and there we ought to leave them with this general perswasion That God will be very just and very merciful in judging them and this eases my mind of a great many troublesome thoughts I know not what pleasure other Men take in it but it is terrible to me when I consider what eternal Damnation is to think that so much the greatest part of the World who never had the Means and Opportunities of Salvation as we have shall be eternally damned I dare judge nothing but that great love I have for Mankind inclines me to hope better for them as far as the circumstances of their Condition will admit of a favourable Judgment and that strong perswasion I have of the Justice and Goodness of God inclines me to believe better of him for so I am apt to think that the merciful side of the question is most agreeable to the Divine Justice and Goodness Such another curious Question is that about the Salvation of Infants who diâ— before they know good or evil especially the Children of Heathen Parents now it is certain they have no Legal and Covenant Title to Salvation nor have they any thing of their own to answer for but that Original Guilt they contracted by their Birth now God has not told us how he will judge these Infants nor are we concerned to know The Infants of Christian Parents indeed have a Covenant-Title to Salvation for the promise is made to us and our children and to say That such Children dying after Baptism before they have committed any actual Sin shall certainly be saved is not an Act of Judgment but only a declaring the Vertue and Efficacy of Baptismal Grace and Regeneration that the Grace of Baptism will save those who do not afterwards forfeit this Grace by wilful Sins and therefore if the Children of Christian Parents have a Right to Baptism they have a Right to the Salvation of Baptism and if they die before they have forfeited this Right by their own Act they must be saved And to deny this is to deny the Vertue and Efficacy of Baptism to Salvation and that I am sure is to deny or to lessen the Gospel-Grace The sum is God is the Judge of the World and we must leave Men to the Judgment of God and judge nothing before the time nor disturb our thoughts with some curious Questions how God will judge the World we certainly know how we shall be judged even by the Gospel of our Saviour and therefore ought to take care to prepare our Accounts but how those shall be judged who never heard of the Gospel we know not and are not concerned to know but if we will be judging we ought to judge very charitably because as I observed before With what judgment we judge we shall be judged and with what measure we mete it shall be measured unto us again But before I dismiss this Argument I cannot but take notice of some great and visible Mischiefs of this judging Mens final State whether we damn or save them 1. As first for Damning especially when we damn them by whole-sale as the Church of Rome damns all Hereticks and as others with as much Charity damn all Papists and Malignants or whoever they are pleased to vote for Hereticks Now what the effect of this is is visible to all the World It destroys not only Christian Love and Charity but even common Humanity when Men have voted one another damned and believe God will damn those whom they have adjudged to Damnation then they are the Enemies of God and they think they do God good service to destroy them God hates them and therefore they think it a sin in them to love those whom God hates or to have any pitty or compassion for those whom God will damn And thus they burn Hereticks or cut their Throats or Confiscate their Estates and drive them out from among them and treat them with all the Barbarity and Indignities which a damning Zeal and Fury can invent All other Villanies may meet with some Pitty and Charity but Charity is Lukewarmness and want of Zeal in God's Cause there is no Fire burns so furiously nor so outragiously consumes as that which is kindled at God's Alter And thus the Christian Church is turned into a great Shambles and stained with the Blood of Humane nay of Christian Sacrifices though were they in the right that God would damn these Men whom they have damned why should
Providence against all the Reproaches and evil Surmizes of Men for he will appear just when he judgeth and overcome when 〈◊〉 contendeth Let us not disturb our Heâ—â—â— with such Difficulties as we cannot understand now we know enough to believe that God is righteous in all his ways and holy in all his works enough to makâ— us devout Worshippers of God and tâ— enquire farther is a dangerous Curiosity like looking into the Ark of God SECT IX â—ifth Inference To affect our Souls with a strong and vigorous and constant Sence of Iudgment V. SInce it is certain that GOD will Judge the World let us endeavour by all means possible to affect our Souls with a strong and vigorous and constant Sence of Judgment The Belief of a Future Judgment is worth little when it ends in Speculation the use of it is to govern our Lives and to prepare us to give a good Account of ourselves to God since we know that he will demand an Account of us but a meer Belief that we shall be judged will not do this unless we affect our Souls with a Sence of Judgment The Experience of the World and our own Experience of ourselves does sufficiently prove this we all profess to believe a Future Judgment and most of us do heartily believe it and yet there are too many among us who give little reason to the World to think they believe it who commit those Sins every day for which they know God will damn them when they come to Judgment which one would think those who believe they shall be judged could never do so 〈◊〉 a meer Belief of a Future Judgment 〈◊〉 not govern Mens Lives but then 〈◊〉 very Men when they are awakened 〈◊〉 a Dread and Fear of Judgment feel 〈◊〉 Vertue and Power of it on their Hearâ— it makes them hate their Sins and 〈◊〉 themselves for them it makes them 〈◊〉 devout and importunate in their Pâ—â—â—ers very sincere and passionate in their Repentance very resolved to forsake all thâ—â—â— Sins and to live a new Life and thâ—â—â—fore if we would have the Belief of a Future Judgment make us good Men 〈◊〉 must not only believe it but affect oâ—â— Souls with a great Sence of it which iâ— true of all the other Arguments and Motives of Religion as well as of a Futurâ— Judgment The proper Enquiry then here is How we shall awaken and preserve such a poâ—erful Sence of Judgment in our Minds Now the only general Direction thâ—â— can be given is Frequently to Thinâ— and Meditate on a Future Judgment foâ— nothing can affect our Minds but ouâ— Thoughts which make the Object present and give us a near View of it 〈◊〉 it is in the Objects of Sence the Eye affects the Heart and excites and moveâ— the Affections more than all the Arguments in the World if we look stedfastly upon a terrible and frightful Object it will strike Terrour into us if upon a pleasant and beautiful Object it will excite Love and Delight if upon a miserable Object it will affect us with a tender Compassion to see Men in great Want and Misery will melt and open that Heart which was hardened and shut against all the Arguments and Motives to Charity and long and frequent Consideration will have much the same effect on us that Sight has Judgment is a terrible thing to bad Men and if they would but seriously think of it it would terrifie them if they would but imagine sometimes that they heard that last-Trumpet sound which will awaken all-Mankind and raise them out of their Graves and summon them to Iudgement that they saw the Son of Man descend from Heaven attended with his mighty Angels to execute Vengeance on all them who know not God and obey not the Gospel of our Lord Iesus Christ that they saw the Earth all in flames about them and Hell opening her Mouth wide to receive them that they saw the Books opened and those Sins recorded which they had forgot and the Secrets of their Hearts disclosed and that they heard that terrible Sentence Go ye cursed into everlasting fire prepared for the Devil and his Angels do yâ—â— think that any Man who believes all this and would suffer himself seriously to think of it could bear up against the Terrour of it or that with these Thoughts about him he could court a Strumpet or spend his Time in Revels and Excess or Blâ—spheme God and Ridicule Religion or Cheat his Neighbour or Oppress the Poor and Fatherless or Forswear himself Noâ— we see this cannot be as often as we see â— miserable Sinner whose awakened Conscience distracts him with all these Scenes and Images of Terrour So that serious Consideration would make a Future Judgment very effectual to govern our Lives but the great Difficulty of all is to bring Men to consider and yet one would think it impossible that a reasonable Creature should not consider that he must be judged But so it is and there is no disputing against Experience and yet it is so dangerous and fatal a Neglect that it concerns us to enquire into the Causes and Remedies of it for could we Cure this it would quickly Reform the World give a new Resurrection to Piety and Vertue and secure Men from the Danger and Terrours of a Future Judgement Now there are two apparent Causes of this 1. That the Thoughts of Judgment are very uneasie and troublesome and that makes Men afraid and averse to think of it And 2. that Judgment is out of sight and they have nothing to mind them of it and their Thoughts are so taken up with other matters that they forget it unless they happen to hear a Sermon about it or some accidental mention of it which when they return to their worldly Affairs and Business they quickly forget again 1 st Men are very apt to avoid all Thoughts of Judgment because they are very uneasie and troublesome they startle at the mention of it at least do not love to talk too long nor think too seriously of it for it awakens their Consciences and makes them think what a sad Account they have to give how many things they have done and daily do which they can never answer to God when he comes to Judgment and therefore they choose to live quietly without disturbing themselves with such terrifying Reflections and the amazing Thoughts of what is to come Now methinks it is no hard thing to convince thinking Men of the Danger and Folly of this and to reconcile them to the Thoughts of Judgment For 1. To drive these Thoughts out of our Minds though it may give us present ease yet it will not mend our Accounts nor prevent our being judged God will judge us whether we will think of being judged or not were no Men to be judged but those who think of it there were as much reason to stupifie our Consciences and never to think of Judgment as there is for sick Men to take
tremble at Judgment who are afraid of the Judge we are his he has bought us with his Blood he has renewed and sanctified us by his Spirit and now he is come to own us in the presence of Men and Angels to bestow a Kingdom on us to receive us to himself that where he is we may be also and behold his Glory But then on the other hand consider I beseech you what a terrible Sight this will be to bad Men who have laughed at the Fable of a Crucified Jesus and mocked at Future Judgment And is he come will such a Sinner say and must I be judged at last when I thought myself so secure of Judgment Behold I see him and can be an Infidel no longer Lord what Terrour is there in his Looks how do his Eyes flame with Vengeance who can abide the Day of his Wrath How can I appear before him as my Judge whom I would not have for my Saviour what account can I give of my actions who never expected to be called to an account for them what Plea can I make for my self who would never believe who would never be perswaded how shall I bear his Presence and yet whether can I flie from him when he condemns me to whom can I Appeal from the Judge and the Saviour of the World O Wretch that I am who would never believe never think of this Day and now I must be condemned by the Saviour of the World Let these Thoughts then make a deep impression upon our Minds before that Day comes let us remember that the Son of Man will be our Judge he who laid down his Life for us he who now invites us to Repentance he who now promises Pardon and Forgiveness to true Penitents let this teach us to reverence his Laws to imitate his Example to put our whole Trust and Confidence in his Merits and Intercession That when he cometh again in his glorious majesty to judge both the quick and the dead we may rise with him unto life immortal as our Church teaches us to pray Secondly Let us now consider what Assurance we have that the Man Christ Jesus shall be the Judge of the World and of this St. Paul tells us That God hath given assurance unto all men in that he hath raised him from the dead But you 'll say how does the Resurrection of Christ from the Dead prove that he is made the Judge of the World For that any Man rises from the Dead does not prove that he is Judge of the World we shall all rise again the last Day but not to judge but to be judged This is very true and therefore if we knew no more of Christ but only that he rose again from the Dead this would not prove him to be the Judge of the World But we must consider 1. That the Resurrection of Christ is a great and irresistible Proof of the Doctrine which he preached this our Saviour himself appeals to as the last Proof of his Divine Authority Destroy this temple and in three days will I raise it up And thus his Resurrection from the Dead proves that he is the Judgâ— of the World for this he expresly taught his Disciples That God had committed all judgment into his hands that the Son of man shall come in the glory of his Father with his angels and then shall he reward every man according to his works So that our Saviour plainly declared that God had made him the Judge of the World and God has confirmed his Testimony by raising him from the Dead 2. We must consider also that the Resurrection of Christ was his visible Advancement into his Kingdom then his Kingdom began when he rose from the Dead then all power was committed to him both in heaven and in earth 28 Mat. And that God has thus advanced him was visible to all Men in the Effusion of the Holy Spirit on the Apostles on the Day of Pentecost and in those wonderful Miracles which they wrought in his Name Thus St. Peter tells the Iews that the miraculous Effusion of the Spirit was a visible Proof that God had advanced Christ into his Kingdom 2 Acts 33. Therefore being by the right hand of God exalted and having received of the Father the promise of the Holy Ghost he hath shed forth this which ye now see and hear And from hence concludes v. 36. Therefore let all the house of Israel know assuredly that God hath made that same Iesus whom ye have crucified both Lord and Christ. Thus upon occasion of the Miracles the Apostles wrought when they were forbid to preach in his Name St. Peter tells the Sanhedrim The God of our fathers raised up Iesus whom ye slew and hanged on a tree Hiâ— hath God exalted with his right hand to be a Prince and a Saviour for to give repentance unto Israel and remission of sins And we are his witnesses of these things and so is also the Holy Ghost whom God hath given to them that obey him 5 Acts 30 31. So that when Christ rose again he took possession of his Kingdom and he must Reign till he hath put down all Enemies under his Feet that is till he hath judged the World finally condemned all bad Men and rewarded his faithful Disciples and then he shall give up the Kingdom again unto his Father that God may be all in all 1 Cor. 15. But besides this there are two visible Effects of the Resurrection of CHRIST which are plain Presages and Preludiums to a Future Judgment the Destruction of the Iewish Nation and Policy and the Destruction of the Kingdom of Darkness 1. The Destruction of the Iews for their great Sin in Crucifying their Messias This Christ foretold he would do this is the meaning of that Parable of the noble man who went into a far country to receive for himself a kingdom and to return But his citizens hated him and sent a message after him saying We will not have this man to reign over us And when he returned he said But those mine enemies which would not that I should reign over them bring hither and slay them before me 19 Luke 12 14 27. And therefore when Christ had foretold the Destruction of the Temple and his Disciples asked him When shall these things be and what shall be the sign of thy coming and of the end of the World Our Saviour intermixes the Prophesie of the Destruction of Ierusalem the Fate of the Iewish Nation and the last Judgment or the end of the World the Destruction of the Iewish Nation being the beginning and the Presage of a Future Judgment 24 Matth. This was a visible Act of his Justice and Power and a fair Warning to the World what all the Enemies of Christ's Kingdom must expect 2. The Overthrow of the Devil's Kingdom in the World is another Presage of a Future Judgment When Christ appeared the Devil had his Kingdom in this World was the God
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
and impudent and are not so much concerned to be private what at first they were ashamed the World should know in time they think no Shame A Custom of Sinning though in private wears off the Modesty of Humane Nature and when Men forget to blush they despise Reproach and Censure and then publish their own Wickedness and seek for Retirement and Privacy no longer The most impudent Sinners in the World were at first modest but if they can find any Excuse to make a beginning how modest soever their beginnings are they quickly improve and lose the sence of Sin and aversion to it by their repeated Commissions and then cannot bear the Restraints of Modesty and Retirement And this shews what little hope there is that secret Sinners should ever prove true Penitents for the most impudent and hardened Sinners sinned very secretly at first and of all those Sinners who make very modest and bashful beginnings I doubt for one true Penitent some hundreds sin away all thoughts of Repentance For the only effectual Restraint upon Humane Nature is an Awe and Reverence for God and the Fear of Future Judgement and Men may sin away this in private as well as in publick When once they conquer a Reverence for God and for their own Consciences which a Custom of Sinning will do be it never so secret they will have little regard to what the World says of them they may fear Humane Punishments but they are sunk below the sence of Shame If ever God reclaim such Men it must be either by some great and severe Afflictions which carry the Marks of a Divine Vengeance on them or by discovering their Wickedness and exposing them to publick Shame before they have lost all sence of it But if Men sin secretly and are very fortunate in concealing their Sins they will never think it time to repent till they can sin no longer And therefore since GOD sees our most secret Sins and will judge us for them let us maintain a constant Awe for God in our greatest Retirements let us remember that God is always present with us that he sees us when no other Eye sees that he abhors our most secret Sins that it is a great Contempt of God to retain a Reverence for Men and to cast off the Reverence of God to be ashamed that Men should know and see that Wickedness which we are not ashamed to commit tho' we know God looks on But then on the other hand we must remember that at the Day of Judgment God will reward all the good we do how private and secret soever it be as our Saviour assures us with reference to our private Devotions private Alms and private Fasts 6 Mat. That our Father who seeth in secret will reward us openly It is too often seen that Men make Religion itself minister to their Lusts and Secular Interests as the Pharisees did all their Works to be seen and to be admir'd of Men and therefore their great care was for what is external and visible they prayed in the Corners of the Streets and gave their Alms with the sound of a Trumpet and disfigured their Faces that they might appear unto Men to Fast. This was all vain Glory and Hypocrisie and when they were admired by Men for it they had the Reward they aimed at and all the Reward they must expect But true Religion does not court the Applause of Men A good Man must set a good Example to the World in his publick Conversation but such Acts of Vertue as may be private he is contented should be known to none but God and his own Conscience This is highly acceptable to God for it is to do good only for God's sake and that satisfaction we take in doing good Here is no mixture of Secular Ends but God is the whole World to us that he sees it is more than all Humane Applause though the whole World were the Theatre we expect our Reward from him and from him only for we let no body else know it which is such a Perfection of Obedience of Faith of Hope and Trust in God as deserves the greatest Rewards Those who industriously conceal the good they do from Men can expect nothing from Men for it neither Praise nor Rewards and therefore can have no other Motive to do good but the Love and Reverence of God and Faith in him or the pleasure they take in doing good for Goodness sake which are such Noble and Divine Principles of Action as command Reverence from all Men when they are discovered do great Honour to the Divine Nature and will procure great Rewards which is a mighty encouragement to the most secret Vertues to the most secret Acts of Devotion and Charity That our Father who seeth in secret will reward us openly in the presence of men and angels VI. We shall be judged for the Sins of our Thoughts and though all Men will confess this also yet few consider it Good God! could we look into one anothers Thoughts how should we blush and be confounded to see each other Men who seem to make Conscience of their external Behaviour and Conversation make very little Conscience of governing their Thoughts and secret Passions Those who appear so modest as to blush at any indecent Word and Action too often at the very same time burn with Lust and entertain their Fancies with all impure and unclean Imaginations The most affable and courteous Men whose Words and Behaviour are soft endearing and obliging can yet cherish revengeful Thoughts Anger Malice Hatred and please themselves with the Imagination of some Tragical Scenes which they dare not Act. Nay many times those who appear Humble to a Fault who seem as free from Ambition as any Men in the World who arrogate nothing to themselves nay seem to admire every body but themselves are yet very full of themselves swoln with vain Conceits of their own Worth and Merit and please themselves with their own Deserts and that the World takes notice of their Deserts and then they consider how they ought to be rewarded and preferred and will be sure to choose very well for themselves and thus entertain their deluded Fanices with vain and empty Scenes of Greatness and Glory The Pharisees thought all this very innocent that to lust after a beautiful Woman and please themselves with amorous and wanton Imaginations were no Crime if they did not commit Adultery that Anger and Malice and Revenge were very innocent while confined to thought but our Saviour teaches his Disciples better Ye have heard it hath been said to them of old Thou shalt not commit adultery But I say unto you Whosoever looketh on a woman to lust after her hath committed adultery with her already in his heart You have heard it hath been said unto them of old Thou shalt not kill and whosoever shall kill shall be in danger of the judgment But I say unto you Whosoever shall be angry with his brother
not taught at all or only taught the Art of Living in the World by Labour and Industry that God might as well judge Men for being Rich or Poor when their Fortune is not at their own disposal but owing to their Birth or to prosperous or adverse Events of Providence as to judge Men by the different Degrees and Improvements of Knowledge Thus as for Faith some never heard of Christ at all or if they did it was only under the Character of an Imposter or of a Fable but never had the true Reasons of Faith explained to them others have been very ill instructed in the Faith of Christ and never had opportunity to rectifie their mistakes and yet as no Man is bound to know what Nature does not teach unless it be revealed to him so no Man is bound to believe what he has not so much as heard of nor to believe every thing he does hear without sufficient Evidence nor to receive the true Faith of Christ which he was never taught So that should God divide the World at the Last Day only into Believers and Infidels this would be a very unequal distribution because great part of the World never had the Faith of CHRIST preached to them and though Infidelity will condemn those Men who have been instructed in the Faith of CHRIST and would not believe yet it cannot in Reason and Justice be imputed to those Men who never heard of Christ. But now the Being and Providence of God and the Differences of Good and Evil are known to all Mankind Nature teaches this and therefore all Mankind are bound to know it and all Mankind may be judged by this Rule whether they know God and worship him as God and take care to do that which is good and to avoid the evil This account St. Paul gives us of it For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men who hold the truth in unrighteousness Because that which may be known of God is manifest in them for God hath shewed it unto them For the invisible things of God from the creation of the world are clearly seen being understood by the things that are made even his eternal power and Godhead so that they are without excuse Because that when they knew God they glorified him not as God neither were thankful but became vain in their imaginations and their foolish heart was darkened 1 Rom. 18 19 20 21. And the same Apostle tells us That the Gentiles which have not the Law no Divine written Law do by nature the things contained in the law these having not the law are a law unto themselves which shew the work of the law written in their hearts their consciences also bearing witness and their thoughts the mean while accusing or else excusing one another 2 Rom. 14 15 16. So that all Mankind even Heathens themselves have a natural knowledge of GOD and of Good and Evil and therefore may be judged for what they know and condemned by God for transgressing those Laws of Righteousness for which their own Consciences condemn them for this leaves them without excuse And if God will judge the Heathens by their Works and condemn them for those sins they commit against the Light of Nature an equal Justice requires that Christians shall be judged by their Works also For is it equal to damn a Heathen for those Sins which a Christian may commit and be saved Will equal and impartial Justice allow that when a Heathen and a Christian are equally wicked the Christian shall be saved and the Heathen damned Is not this to accept the Persons of Men in Judgment to make a difference between the Men when there is no difference in their Actions And yet the same Apostle tells us There is no respect of persons with God for as many as have sinned without law shall also perish without law and as many as have sinned in the law shall be judged by the law 2 Rom. 11 12. And that this is the Rule of Judgment in the day when God shall judge the secrets of men by Iesus Christ according to the gospel v. 16. There is no other common and general Rule whereby all Mankind can be judged but only this to render to every Man according to his Works for there is nothing else for which Men must be judged that is common to all Men but the natural knowledge of God and the differences of Good and Evil Christians indeed know more than the Light of Nature taught Heathens and therefore have more to account for than Heathens have but if Heathens shall be condemned for their sins against the Light of Nature if they shall be judged according to their Works Christians have more reason to expect this for if God be a righteous and impartial Judge he cannot condemn one Sinner for his Sins and save another as wicked as he The nature of Vertue and Vice is the same in all Mankind whether Heathens Jews or Christians and deserves in itsself the same Rewards and Punishments if it be righteous in God to punish the Sins of Heathens it is righteous in God to punish the same Sins of Christians to render to all Men whoever they be according to their Works for this is to deal equally with all Men. 3 dly I add farther that nothing else is the proper Object of Judgment but the Good or Evil of our Actions and therefore if we be judged at all we must be judged for the Good or Evil we have done For does Judging signifie any thing else but Examining what Good or Evil such a Man hath done and rewarding or punishing him according to the Good or Evil he has done And therefore a righteous Judge cannot judge Men cannot reward or punish them for that which is neither Good nor Evil. Now is there any thing Good or Evil but Vertue or Vice What is Knowledge good for which does not direct and govern our Lives What is Faith good for which does not renew and sanctifie us Are there not very knowing and believing Devils Does not Faith and Knowledge make every sin we commit against Faith and against Knowledge the more inexcusable Does not our Saviour tell us That he who knows his master's will and does it not shall be beaten with many stripes What Merit or Vertue is there in a presumptuous reliance on Christ for Salvation to call him Lord Lord and not to do the things which he has commanded And can we think then that God will reward us for our Knowledge or our Faith and overlook all the Evils and Impurities of our Lives Will he reward us for that which deserves no Reward and not punish us for that which deserves punishment Is this to judge the World in Righteousness This is abundantly enough to prove that we must be judged according to our Works that we must receive the things done in the Body whether Good or Evil since the Righteousness of the
cannot deceive us for if we judge of our selves by the same Rule by which God will judge us every Man knows himself so well that he cannot mistake and when GOD and Conscience judge by the same Rule their Judgment must be the same but if we will alter our Rule of Judging if Conscience judge by one Rule and God by another then there is no wonder if their Judgments differ if GOD condemn those whose Consciences acquit them and absolve those whose Consciences or rather whose private Opinions and Fancies condemn them This is plain from the instances before us some Men justifie themselves in doing very wicked Actions but the reason is because they mistake the Nature of Things they call Good Evil and Evil Good and then their Consciences applaud and commend them for doing that which is very wicked but which they call good As our Saviour tells his Apostles The time cometh when every one that killeth you will think that he does God good service 16 Joh. 2. Others who know they are guilty of very great wickedness are yet very confident of their Salvation and full of assurance because they do not judge of themselves by the good or evil which they do but rely upon other marks and evidences for their Salvation Raptures Extasies Enthusiasms a presumptuous Faith in Christ an ineffectual sorrow for sin some arbitrary and fanciful signs of Election c. Now indeed these Mens Consciences do condemn them for they accuse them of great wickedness but they will not believe the Judgment of their own Consciences but judge of their final state by their own mistaken Fancies and Opinions and therefore according to the Apostle's Rule God will condemn these Men for their own Consciences condemn them though they will not believe the Judgment of their Consciences but justifie themselves in contradiction to it when Conscience condemns Other Men who are not condemned by their own Consciences that is who cannot charge themselves with any great guilt who are not conscious to themselves that they have lived in any known Sin or in the habitual neglect of any material and essential part of their Duty yet they strongly fancy that GOD will condemn them that they are under the Sentence of Reprobation that they have sinned against the Holy Ghost though what that Sin is they know not They want the testimony of the Spirit to assure them of their Election they have never felt the Spirit of Bondage and therefore they fear they have not the Spirit of Adoption that is they have never felt the Horrours and Agonies of guilty Sinners because by the Grace of GOD and the Blessing of a pious and vertuous Education they have always been preserved from those frightful sins which amaze the Conscience and therefore they fear it is but a false Peace they feel that God is not in this soft and calm Voice of Conscience because they have never heard nor seen the Thundrings and Lightnings from Mount Sinai Or though they maintain a great reverence for God and worship him with all humility of Soul and Body yet they do not feel those flights of Devotion those melting and languishing Passions which some good Men â—eel or if at any time they are transported beyond themselves and feel their Hearts all on fire with Love and Devotion these Fits are but short these Boylings and Fermentations go off and they return to a calm and even Temper and then they think they grow cold and that the Spirit of GOD hath forsaken them Now it is plain also that these Mens Consciences do not condemn them for they charge them with no such guilt as the Gospel of Christ will condemn them for but they are condemned only by false Opinions or by a misguided and disturbed Fancy In both these Cases Men absolve or condemn themselves not by the judgment and testimony of Conscience but by their mistaken Notions and Opinions and God is not concerned to confirm and ratifie such a Judgment The Sum is this When St. Iohn tells us That if our Conscience condemn us God will condemn us but if our Conscience do not condemn us neither will God condemn us he means by Conscience that Judgment which Men make of themselves by comparing their Lives and Actions with the Rule by which GOD will judge us for Conscience judges not by making new and arbitrary Rules of Judgment but by giving Testimony to our Lives and Actions The Judgment of Conscience is no more but this Whether we have obeyed or disobeyed the Laws of the Gospel whether we have done those things which the Gospel threatens to punish or which it promises to reward but when we judge our Actions by false Notions of Good and Evil contrary to the Gospel of our Saviour we judge by a false Rule and then our Judgment must be false and when we judge our selves not by the Nature of our Works as God will judge us and as Conscience judges but by Opinions and Fancies and some Arbitrary and Enthusiastick Marks and Signs this is not the Judgment of Conscience which judges only of our Works but the Judgment of private Opinions Conceits and Fancies and though God will judge us as Conscience judges yet he will not judge us as Opinion Fancy Enthusiasm or Melancholy judge us Thus we see how we may know what our Sentence shall be at the Day of Judgment Two sorts of Men may certainly know what their Sentence shall be and a third sort may know the great danger they are in if they will but listen to the Judgment of their own Consciences Men whose Consciences absolutely condemn them may certainly expect that God will condemn them For when their guilt is so notorious that they are forced to condemn themselves why should they think that a just and righteous Judge will not condemn them Those whose Consciences do not condemn them shall certainly be pardoned and rewarded by the Mercies of God those whose Consciences will neither condemn nor absolve them but do both by turns are in a very doubtful and hazardous state their Salvation as yet is very uncertain and it concerns them to work out their salvation with fear and trembling and to give all diligence to make their calling and election sure And should not this teach us to reverence the Judgment of Conscience as a Divine Sentence not to provoke our Consciences to condemn us to obey their Admonitions and to reform at their Rebukes and Censures What would Sinners think should they hear themselves condemned by God every time they commit a known and wilful sin And yet Conscience is the Tribunal of God judges for God and condemns us in God's Name and by his Authority and God will confirm and execute its Sentence and therefore Conscience is a very venerable Judge And ought we not diligently to hearken to that Judgment which Conscience passes on us This I am sure is of vast concernment both to bad and to good Men whether it