thing Thus when we are said to be justified by Faith some by Faith understand such a firm and steadfast belief of the whole Gospel of all that concerns the Person and Mediation of Christ the Expiation of his Blood his Resurrection from the Dead and Intercession for us in Heaven his Laws his Promises and Threatnings as renews and sanctifies our Nature governs our Lives conquers the World subdues the Flesh to the Spirit and makes us truly Divine and God-like Creatures the Sons of God not meerly by external relation but by a participation of his Nature Now this Notion of justifying Faith that we shall be justified by a living working Faith is very reconcilable with being judged by our Works for if we cannot be justified by Faith without Works if no Faith can justifie but that which is fruitful in all good Works then we may be judged by our Works since Holiness is essential to a justifying Faith Others by justifying Faith understand a reliance and recumbency on Christ for Salvation a receiving and embracing Christ and rowling their Souls on him as they are pleased to express it which when taken out of Metaphor can signifie no more than to hope and trust in Christ that he will save them and to be willing to be saved by him without any Works and Righteousness of their own Now if the bare Act of relying on Christ would justifie and save Men I cannot see how such Believers should be judged by their Works though Infidels may But this Antinomian Conceit of justifying Faith is not so plain and certain as it is that we shall be judged by our Works Not to dispute the Point now these Men may be mistaken in their Notion of justifying Faith but there can be no dispute made what the meaning is of being judged according to our Works Thus when we are said to be justified by Faith in opposition to Justification by Works it is matter of Controversie what is meant by Works Some think that when Works are rejected as contributing nothing to our Justification the Apostle means only the Works of the Ceremonial Law such as Circumcision and Sacrifices Washings and Purifications the Observation of New Moons and Sabbaths c. for this was the great Dispute St. Paul had with the Iews whether the Observation of the Mosaical Law were necessary to the Justification of Christians and in this sence the Apostle with good reason asserts our Justification by Faith without Works We are now justified by the Faith of Christ not by the Rites and Ceremonies of the Mosaical Law Others and with very good reason too not only reject the Works of the Ceremonial Law but also of the Moral Law from the Justification of Sinners not as if Sinners could be justified without good Works but that they are not justified by them that is that no Man is justified by the Merit of his own Works but by the Merit and Expiation of the Death of Christ. But though no Man is justified or saved for the Merit of his Works yet he may be judged according to his Works Though no Man shall be saved by the Merit of his good Works yet no Man shall be saved without good Works and wicked Men shall be damned for their evil Works which leaves room enough for our being judged according to our Works So that though we be not justified by Works but by Faith as St. Paul tells us yet we must be judged by our Works wicked Men shall be condemned for their Wickedness and none but good Men shall be justified and saved by the Merits of Christ and who are wicked and who are righteous shall at the Last Day be judged by their Works And indeed this is plainly confessed by those who contend most zealously foâ— Justification by Faith alone which makes this a very needless and impertinent Controversie as appears from their way of reconciling St. Paul and St. Iames. St. Paul tells us we are justified by Faith without the Works of the Law St. Iames tells us That by works a man is justified and not by faith only 2 Jam. 14. To reconcile these two great Apostles they tell us That the Man is justified by Faiâ—h and his Faith is justified by Works Now whether this be the true way of reconciling St. Paul and St. Iames I shall not at present dispute but it grants all that I desire that notwithstanding our being justified by Faith we shall be judged by our Works for whether a Man or his Faith be judged and justified by Works I think is the same thing for if the Man must be justified by Faith and his Faith justified by Works I doubt the Man cannot be justified without Works unless he can be jâ—stified by an unjustified Faith Before Fâ—ith can justifie the Man it must be justified itself and Faith must be justified by Works and what this differs from judging a Believer by his Works I cannot tell So that as many Disputes as there are about Justification by Faith we ought firmly to believe that we shall be judged by our Works for most of the Notions of Justification by Faith in opposition to our Justification by Works are very reconcilable with this Doctrine of being judged by our Works and those that are not are not so plain and certain as it is that we shall be judged by our Works 3. However since this is so plainly expressed in Scripture that there is no avoiding it nor any other possible sence to be made of it whatever our Notions of Justification be it is much the safest way to believe and expect that we shall be judged according to our Works that if we live wickedly we shall certainly be condemned at that Day and though we shall be acquitted and finally absolved by the Mercies of God and the Merits of Christ yet not without Holiness not without good Works not without partaking of the Divine Nature and being conformed to Christ our Head To entertain any other hopes will undo us for ever for we shall be very ill prepared to give an account of our Lives and Actions when our Lord comes to call us to an Account if we can possess our selves with such Notions of Justification as deliver us from the Fears of Judgment if we can perswade our selves that we shall not be judged according to our Works but by the Merits of Christ that we shall not receive the things done in the Body whether good or evil but shall receive the purchase of Christ's Obedience and Righteousness without regard to our own These are the dangerous Conclusions which some Men draw from their mistaken Notions of Justification and this is the great danger of such mistakes While Men acknowledge the Grace of God and the Merits of Christ in the Justification of Sinners and believe that they shall be judged according to their Works whatever other Disputes there may be there is no danger in them but if Men by some uncertain Reasonings can perswade themselves
careful of our Words CHAP. VII Concerning the Righteousness of the Future Iudgment and the Rule whereby we shall be judged ST Paul tells us That God will judge the world in righteousness which had been a terrible saying did Righteousness always signifie strict and severe Justice For who then could be saved But 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 signifies Mercy Goodness Equity as well as Justice or Justice tempered with Equity and Mercy And what the Apostle adds That God will judge the World in Righteousness by that man whom be hath ordained that is by Christ Jesus proves that Righteousness signifies an equal kind and merciful Justice For Christ is a Mediatory King and a Mediatory Judge He judges between God and Man He sets Bounds and Measures to Justice and makes allowances for the folly and weakness of Human Nature and with a Soveraign Authority dispenses not only the Justice but the Mercies of God When God appoints the Great High-Priest and Mediator to be the Judge of the World all Mankind may expect a very merciful Judge for the High-Priest and Mediator must judge with Equity and Mercy or else he does not maintain his Character of Mediator when he judges and yet the Final Judgment is the concluding Act of his Mediatory Kingdom and therefore an Act of his Mediation We know not certainly how God will deal with the Heathen World who never heard of Christ and never had the Gospel preached to them but it seems to look very favourably on them that the Saviour of Mankind the merciful and compassionate Jesus is their Judge also which promises all the Mercy that their Condition is capable of and how much that is we cannot tell for the Saviour of the World must judge with Mercy and Equity not by the Rules of severe and rigoâ—ous Justice Of which more presently Leaving then the Heathen World to the Mercies of God which are over all his Works it more concerns us to enquire by what Rule Christ will judge us who have had the Gospel preached to us Now in general St. Paul tells us God will judge the secrets of men by Christ Iesus according to my Gospel 2 Rom. 16. that is by the Gospel which I preach The Gospel of our Saviour is the Rule whereby we shall be judged by which our Lives and Actions shall be examined and as the Gospel acquits or condemns any Man so he shall be acquitted or condemned at the last Judgment So that we need not go far to know what our Doom shall be we need not search into the secret and hidden Counsels of God the Gospel lies open before us and though we cannot find our Names there we may read our Sentence for God will render to every man according to his deeds To them who by patient continuance in well doing seek for glory and honour and immortality eternal life but unto them that are contentious and do not obey the truth but obey unrighteousness indignation and wrath Tribulation and anguish upon every soul of man that doth evil of the Iew first and also of the Gentile but glory honour and peace to every man that worketh good to the Iew first and also to the Gentiles for there is no respect of persons with God 2 Rom. 6 7 8 9 10 11. What this good and this evil is the Gospel acquaints us and if we do what the Gospel commands we shall be acquitted and rewarded if we do what it forbids we shall be condemned So that we certainly know that all wicked Men who live in the wilful commission of any known sin shall be finally condemned Christ will at that Day profess unto them I never knew you depart from me ye that work iniquity 7 Mat. 23. Know ye not that the unrighteous shall not inherit the Kingdom of God be not deceived neither Fornicators nor Idolaters nor Adulterers nor Effeminate nor Abusers of themselves with Mankind nor Thieves nor Covetous nor Drunkards nor Revilers nor Extortioners shall inherit the Kingdom of God 1 Cor. 6.9 10. But the righteous shall shine forth like the Sun in the Kingdom of their Father And who these Righteous are St. Iohn tells us Little children let no man deceive you he that doth righteousness is righteous even as he is righteous He that committeth sin is of the devil for the devil sinneth from the beginning for this purpose was the Son of God manifested that he might destroy the works of the devil Whosoever is born of God doth not commit sin for his seed remaineth in him and he cannot sin because he is born of God in this the children of God are manifested and the children of the devil Whosoever doth not righteousness is not of God neither he that loveth not his brother 1 Joh. 3.7 8 9 10. This is very plain and so expresly taught in Scripture that every Man may as certainly know whether he shall be saved or damned at the last Day as he can know whether he be a good or a bad Man whether he doth righteousness or commits iniquity But most Men are conscious to themselves of so much wickedness that they don't love to hear of this For what will become of them if they must be rewarded or punished according to their Works What difference is there between the Law and the Gospel if they must still be judged according to their Works For what could the Law do more than condemn the wicked and reward the good But they are very Sound and Orthodox Believers they believe in God who justifieth the ungodly they believe in Christ and trust in him for Salvation and there is no condemnation to those who are in Christ Iesus they expect to be justified by Faith to be saved by Grace and that without the works of the law And what has the Law then to do to condemn them who believe in Christ who have satisfied the Law in Christ who have fulfilled the Law in him who are washed from their sins in his Blood and are clothed with his Righteousness imputed to them Those who are not in Christ must indeed be judged by their Works but all true Believers are justified by their Faith and saved by Grace Now it must be confessed this is very expresly taught in Scripture that we are justified by Faith and saved by Grace and that without the Works of the Law By the deeds of the law there shall no flesh be justified in his sight But now the righteousness of God without the law is manifest being witnessed by the Law and the Prophets even the righteousness of God which is by faith in Iesus Christ Being justified freely by his grace thorough the redemption which is in Christ Iesus whom God hath set forth to be a propitiation through Faith in his blood to declare his righteousness for the remission of sins that are past through the forbearance of God That Abraham our Father was not justified by Works but by Faith That being justified by faith we
have Treasure in Heaven 19 Mat. 21. What is the meaning of this Does the Gospel preach Merit to us must we merit forgiveness by forgiving must we purchase Heaven with our Money Every body sees that this can be no Purchase because there is no Proportion in the value but though Charity cannot merit our Pardon yet it deserves some favour to be shewn it and God will be merciful to those who shew mercy though our Alms and Works of Charity cannot merit Heaven yet they make us Friends as our Saviour speaks and such Friends as will receive us into Everlasting Habitations They will make God and Christ our Friend who will bestow Heaven on us not as the Merit of our Works but out of Grace and Favour which such Acts of Charity deserve This is a plain account why our Saviour in the last Judgment takes notice of no other Works but Acts of Charity and shews us how we may be judged by our Works and pardoned and rewarded by Grace and if this will not convince us of the necessity of Charity it is in vain to urge any other Arguments 2 dly Another Rule and that a very righteous Rule of Judgment is that God will judge us according to our Receipts as our Saviour expresly tells us To whomsoever much is given of them shall much be required and to whom men have committed much of him they will ask the more 12 Luke 48. As for the righteousness and equity of this our Saviour's Appeals to the Practice of Mankind they think it very reasonable to ask the more of him to whom they have committed much And we have no reason to complain of God if he deals with us as we think it just and reasonable to deal with one another There is no need to prove the righteousness of this Rule which all Men own and confess but the consequence of it deserves to be considered by Christians who have received so much more from God than the rest of Mankind have done for by this Rule at the Day of Judgment more will be required of us than of the rest of the World as we have received more Very few Christians seem to think of this they pity the rest of the World who they say are under the Law and a Covenant of Works by which no Man can be justified who is a Sinner as all Men are and therefore their Salvation is desperate but a little matter will save a Christian if he be a true Believer if they are but sorry for their sins and confess and bewail them before God as often as they commit them and trust in the Merits and Righteousness of Christ nay if they do but retract their wicked Lives with some dying Groans and Resolutions of living well when they know they can live no longer if they wish they had lived better when they come to die and promise that they would live better if they could live over their Lives again this will secure their Salvation and this is the glorious Priviledge they enjoy by being Christians this is Gospel-Grace this is the Purchase of Christ's Blood But not to enter into this Dispute which I have said enough of already certainly these Men are mistaken and these vain hopes will deceive them if our Saviour's Rule be true That to whom much is given of them shall be much required For has not God given more to us than he has to the rest of the World And is that a reason why he should ask less Let us briefly consider what God has done more for us than he has done for the rest of the World and see whether what God has done more for us does excuse us from any part of our Duty or rather whether it does not exact a more perfect Vertue from us The Gospel of Christ has given us a more perfect knowledge of the Will of God and of our Duty to him nay has given us a more perfect Law and Rule of Life has in many instances advanced our Duty above what the Law of Nature or the Law of Moses required at least above what the generality of Men thought they did require Now is this a reason why God should excuse us from doing our Duty because we know it better than other Men Or why God should expect less from us than from other Men because we know more This is directly contrary to what our Saviour tells us That servant which knew his Lord's will and prepared not himself neither did according to his will shall be beaten with many stripes but he that knew not and did things worthy of stripes shall be beaten with few stripes 12 Luke 47 48. This seems a hard saying that he which knew not should be beaten at all but our Saviour does not by this understand a total ignorance but an imperfect knowledge which will excuse Men from such parts of their Duty as they were ignorant of if this ignorance was not their own fault but the more we know the more is our Duty enlarged and therefore as our Knowledge increases our Account must encrease with it and that will increase our punishment if we know the Will of God and disobey it Is there any use of Knowledge but to direct our Lives And could God then intend any thing in revealing his Will to us but that we should obey it The Jews had these vain Conceits they boasted in Circumcision and in their Knowledge of the Law and condemned the Heathen World for those sins which they themselves securely committed as if they should be saved in their sins because they knew the Law which forbids them but the ignorant Heathens should be damned for theirs But St. Paul very sharply and sarcastically exposes the folly of this in the Second Chapter to the Romans throughout the whole Chapter which I would desire you seriously to read and consider and then I need add no more about it The Gospel gives us a more abundant assurance of a future State and of the Rewards and Punishments of it than the World had before for life and immortality is brought to light by the Gospel and the more certain our Faith and Knowledge is of another World in all reason it may be expected to work more powerfully upon our Minds to conquer all the Temptations of this Life to terrifie us from every thing that is wicked to make us steadfast unmovable always abounding in the work of the Lord as knowing that our labour shall not be in vain in the Lord 1 Cor. 15.58 The certainty of Faith is the strength and vigour of the Mind and therefore every new degree of evidence requires proportionable degrees of resolution activity caution and circumspection in doing our Duty and as this is reasonable to be expected so God does expect it from us The times of ignorance God winked at but now commandeth all men every where to repent because he hath appointed a day wherein he will judge the world in righteousness by that man
to their Works And this may suffice for the first thing proposed What Natural Evidence we have of a Judgment to come SECT V. The Scripture Proof of a Future Iudgement II. HAving shewn what Evidence we have from the Light of Nature for a Future Judgment let us now consider the Scripture Proofs of it And this might be dispatched in a very few wordâ— by turning you to some plain Texts of Scripture which expresly assert it but â— shall do something more than this which if it be not necessary for the proof of 〈◊〉 Future Judgment yet will be of use for the better understanding the Christian Religion and to rivet this Belief faster 〈◊〉 our Minds that is I shall represent to you those Parabolical Reasonings whereby our Saviour insinuates this Belief into ouâ— Minds and shew you that the whole Christian Religion is founded on and adapted to the belief of a Future Judgement and is a very unintelligible Institution without it 1. Let us consider those plain and express Proofs the Gospel of our Saviour contains of a Future Judgment and some few Texts will be sufficient for this purpose This is expresly affirmed by St. Paul 17 Acts 31. That God hath appointed a day in the which he will judge the world in righteousness The Apostle to the Hebrews tells us It is appointed for men once to die and after that the judgement 9 Heb. 27. Our Saviour tells us that we shall be judged 7 Matth. 1 2. Iudge not that ye be not judged For with what judgment ye judge ye shall be judged and with what measure ye meet it shall be measured unto you again And v. 22 23. he tells us That in that day that is the Day of Judgment many will say unto me Lord Lord have we not prophesied in thy Name and in thy Name have cast out devils and in thy Name done many wonderful works And then will I profess unto them I never knew you Depart from me ye that work iniquity Thus he tells us 16 Matth. 27. The Son of man shall come in the glory of his Father with his angels and then he shall reward every man according to his works And 25 Matth. 31 c. he gives us a lively Description of the Future Judgment When the Son of man shall come in his glory and all the holy Angels with him then shall he sit upon the throne of his glory And before him shall be gathered all nations and he shall separate them one from another as a shepherd divideth his sheep from the goats And he shall set the sheep on his right hand but the goats on the left And then hâ— Judges them and pronounces their Fiâ—â—â— Doom and Sentence according to theâ—â— Works as it follows in that place 〈◊〉 were easie to turn you to many Texts 〈◊〉 this purpose as every one knows who 〈◊〉 acquainted with the Scripture but theâ—â— is no need of it these few are so expreâ—â— that if we believe the Gospel we must believe that we shall be judged 2. Our Saviour does not only expresly declare this that there shall be a Judgement but insinuates the Belief and Reasonableness of this by some proper Allâ—â—â—ons and Comparisons which is the 〈◊〉 scope and design of many of his Parables As to instance in some of them 1â— Luke 12 c. he tells us of a certain â—ble man who went into a far country to receive for himself a kingdom and to return where he describes his own leaving thâ— World and ascending into Heaven to take possession of his Kingdom from whenâ—â— he shall return again at the last Day tâ— Judge the World This noble man called his servants and delivered them ten pounds and said unto them Occupy till I come Bâ—â— his citizens hated him and sent a message after him saying We will not have this man to reign over us This describes our State in this World which is a State of Labour and Industry where we must improve our Master's Money all the advantages and opportunities of doing good to his Service and Glory Now as it is reasonable to expect when such a King returns that he will call his Servants to an Account reward the Diligent and punish the Slothful and destroy his Enemies the same Usage we must expect from our Lord when he returns again he will judge us will reward or punish us according to our Works To the same purpose is that Parable 25 Matth. 14 c. of a Man travelling into a far Country who called his Servants and delivered to them his Goods and at his return rewarded them proportionably to the Increase and Improvement they had made and punished that wicked Servant who hid his Talent in a Napkin The Parable of the unjust Steward who had wasted his Master's Goods and was turned out of his Stewardship for it is founded on the same reason that we are but Stewards of God's Gifts in this World and that God will as certainly call us to an Account for our Stewardship as an earthly Master will 16 Luke 1. The Parable of the Housholder who hired Labourers into his Vineyard and gave them every Man his Peny at night 20 Matth. signifies to us that in this Life we must work in God's Vineyard and finish the Work he has given us to do and that at Evening when this Life ends God will reward us in the next and this we may as certainly and reasonably expect from God as an hired Labourer expects his Wages when he has done his Work The Parable of the King 22 Matth. who made a Marriage for his Son and sent forth his Servants to call them who were bidden to the Wedding but they refused to come and evil entreated his Servants and slew them upon which the King was wroth and sent forth his Armies and destroyed those Murderers and burnt up their City and sent and invited others to the Marriage though it primarily refer to the Destruction of the Iewish Nation for their rejecting their Messias and calling the Gentiles into the Church yet is founded on the same reason that God will punish our Abuse of his Grace and all the Invitations of the Gospel as a gracious but affronted Prince would punish his Subjects in such a case But the Parable of the Wheat and Tares 13 Matth. 24 c. is very observable because it gives an account why God does not destroy all bad Men in this World and yet that he will punish the Wicked and reward the Good in the next World A man sowed good seed in the field and while men slept his enemy came and sowed tares but when the blade sprung up and brought forth fruit then appeared the tares also This our Saviour expounds v. 37 c. He that sowed good seed is the Son of man the field is the world the good seed are the children of the kingdom that is good Christians but the tares are the children of the wicked one that is bad Men. The
former Agâ— give us an account of very terrible Judgâ—ments which God then executed upon the World and yet we see the Final Judgement is deferred and we know not hoâ— long it may be deferred still but though the general Judgment may be a great way off yet our particular Judgment may be very near God may quickly cut us off and put an end to our Account and when the Judgments of God are in the World we have reason to expect it at least so far as to be prepared for it Proxiâ—â—â—ardet Vcalagon when we see the Judgements of God sweep away so many Thousands round about us who not long since lived as secure and unconcerned for Danger as we do when we see the Clouds hover and rowl about the Heavens charged with Thunder and Tempest Who knows where the Storm will break next and who shall feel the Violence of it And therefore the Judgments of GOD which are in the Earth will give all considering Men such a present Sence of a Future Judgment as a threatning Sickness will do Present Judgments may suddenly cut us off and send us into the other World unprepared for a Final Judgement and there is no preparing for it there and then these present Judgments may prove Final to us So that those who live in such an Age as this will be utterly inexcusable if they forget their Account which they have such terrible Admonitions of let us make this use of present Judgments to awaken a more lively and vigorous Sence of a Future Judgment in us and that will make us good Men and secure our Eternal Happiness and is the best way to prevent any Publick Calamities of our Country which we may fear or to preserve ourselves from being involved in them CHAP. II. Concerning the Time of Iudgment SECT I. Concerning a Particular Iudgment at the Time of every Man's Death II. LET us now consider the Time of Judgment God hath appointed â— day wherein he will judge the world iâ— righteousness Now this plainly refers to that General Judgment when all Mankind shall be summoned before the Tribunal of CHRIST to be judged according to their Works But before I speak to this it will be necessary to take notice of what we commonly call a Particular Judgment which is supposed to pass upon all Men as soon as they go out of these Bodies The received Opinion is That when any Man dies he is immediately called to Judgment and receives his Final Sentence which is immediately executed on him that a bad Man is sentenced to Hell and sent immediately thither that a good Man is received into Heaven and enjoys the Beatifick Vision from the time of his going out of this Body But I must confess this has always appeared a great Difficulty to me we live in such an inquisitive Age as will not allow us to affirm what we cannot prove and indeed no honest Man ought to do so for it forfeits any Man's Authority and weakens the Credit of Religion when that which has no proof or at best is very uncertain is taught with as great assurance as that which is most certain and unquestionable in Religion and yet no wise Man will oppose and contradict a received Doctrine though he were satisfied it were a Mistake when there are no evil Consequences attend it For my part I must honestly profess that I neither dare affirm nor deny this Particular Judgment in the sence in which it is commonly understood for there are some Passages in Scripture which seem to look both ways and since I cannot decently avoid saying something of it I shall fairly represent to you what Intimations there are in Scripture about this matter for there is no other way of knowing this and I dare teach no more than what the Scripture teaches 1. Now in the first place thus much is very plain in Scripture that good Men when they die are translated to a place of Ease and Rest and Happiness and bad Men to a place of Misery and Punishment which I suppose is what Men mean by a Particular Judgment for this is a kind of Judgment tho' it be not performed with all the pompous Solemnities of Judgment to allot Men their different states of Life according as they have behaved themselves in this World The Parable of Dives and Lazarus is very express to this purpose 16 Luke 19 c. There was a certain rich man which was cloathed in purple and fine linnen and fared sumptuously every day And there was a certain begger named Lazarus which was laid at his gate full of sores And it came to pass that the begger died and was carried by the Angels into Abraham's bosom the rich man also died and was buried And in hell he lift up his eyes being in torment and seeth Abraham afar off and and Lazarus in his bosom That this relates to the state of good and bad Men immediately after Death is very evident especially from that Request which the rich Man made to Abraham to send Lazarus to his Father's House For saith he I have five brethren that he may testifie to them lest they also come into this place of torment Which shews that Lazarus was in Abraham's Bosom and Dives tormented in Hell or Hades while his Brethren were living and revelling on Earth and therefore this can't relate to a General Judgement but signifies that State they entred into as soon as they died and though what is generally said that we must not argue from Parables is very true as to particular Circumstances of the Story which are the Ornaments and Embellishments of Parables yet it is as true that we must argue from the principal Scope and Design of them and then we may certainly conclude from this Parable that good and bad Men as soon as they die are in a State of Happiness and Misery otherwise there is no Foundation for this Parable for why should one be sent from the Dead to inform the Living what Punishments bad Men suffer in the next World if they suffer nothing till the Day of Judgment which is not yet for in this case such a Messenger could not be an Eye witness of the Punishment of Sinners which is the only thing that is supposed to give such Authority to his Testimony I do not remember any other such express Text for the immediate Punishment of Sinners as soon as they go out of these Bodies and one such Text as this is enough but there are many Texts to prove that good Men when they die go immediately into a State of Happiness not only Lazarus was carried by the Angels into Abraham's Bosom but Christ promised the Thief upon the Cross that that day he should be with him in Paradise and St. Paul tells us That to be at home in the body is to be absent from the Lord but when they are absent from the body they shall be present with the Lord That is when they die when they
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
the hands of wicked Spirits for the Devil is the Prince of the Power of the Air the great Tempter of Men while they live and their Tormenter when they die whoever is so far rejected by God as to be delivered up to the power of wicked Spirits without any restraint on their Malice and Cruelty as wicked Men are when they die need no other Punishment till the Day of Judgement when they together with the Devil and his Angels shall be cast into utter Darkness where there is weeping and wailing and gnashing of Teeth for ever more We know what cruel Tyranny the Devil exercised upon the Pagan World who so devoutly worshipped him and what then must the Case be of those wretched Souls who are delivered to him by God as their Jaylor and Tormentor till the Day of Judgment I will not say this is the Case though it seems no improbable Account oâ— it but if it be and thus it may be before Christ comes to judge the World you must all confess that to have the Devil for our Tormentor is the very next degree to being tormented with the Devil and his Angels But yet this is not a final Judgment the last Sentence is not pronounced against them and though I doubt not but most bad Men as certainly know what their Doom will be as the Devils themselves do yet there is reason to think that some bad Men as bad Men we see are very apt to flatter themselves with vain Hopes in this World and may do so in the next for ought we know are still in hopes of finding Mercy at the Day of Judgment when Christ comes to judge the World for if they knew themselves under a final and irreversible Sentence there can be no account given why at the last Day they should put in any Plea for themselves or sue for Mercy and yet thus our Saviour represents it In that day many will say unto me Lord Lord have we not prophesied in thy name and in thy name cast out devils and in thy â—ame done many wonderful works And then will I profess unto them I never knew you depart from me ye that work iniquity Matth. 22 23. And thus in the Description of the last Judgment when he shall say to them on the left hand Depart from me ye cursed into everlasting fire prepared for the devil and his angels For I was an hungred and ye gave me no meat I was thirsty and ye gave me no drink I was a stranger and ye took me not in naked and ye clothed me not sick and in prison and ye visited me not Then shall they answer him Lord when saw we thee an hungred or a thirst or a stranger or naked or sick or in prison and did not minister unto thee 25 Matth. 41 42 43 44. Now it is not imaginable that these Men at the last Day of Judgment should make any of these Plea's had they been judged and condemned and the final Sentence passed on them before The sum is this That Mankind shall not be finally judged till Christ comes to judge the World but yet good Men are in a State of Happiness and bad Men in a State of Punishment and Misery that very good Men as they are happy at present so they have the joyful Expectations of the Day of Judgment when they shall be finally rewarded and received into the immediate Presence of God in Heaven and that very bad Men besides the Miseries which they at present suffer have the terrible Prospect of a Future Judgment when they know they shall be condemned to endless Miseries 3. There is this farther to be added That according to that account the Scripture gives us of this matter though bad Men shall be miserable and good Men happy as soon as they go out of these Bodies yet bad Men shall not be condemned to Hell nor good Men received into Heaven till the Day of Judgment There is no great difficulty in proving this since the Rewards of good Men and the Punishments of the wicked that is their final Rewards and Punishments or Heaven or Hell are throughout the New Testament referred to the Day of Judgment This our Saviour expresly tells us 13 Matth. 41 42 43. The Son of man shall send forth his angels that is at the end of the World v. 39. and they shall gather out of his kingdom all things that offend and them which work iniquity and shall cast them into a furnace of fire there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth Then shall the righteous shine forth like the sun in the kingdom of their Father But there is no need of any other Proof of this but that at the Day of Judgment good Men shall be received into Heaven and bad Men condemned to Hell 25 Matth. And if good Men were in Heaven before it is very strange that they should be brought out of Heaven to be judged and to be received into Heaven again with greater Authority and Solemnity and if bad Men were in Hell before it seems as strange that they should be fetched out of Hell to be more solemnly condemned thither again this would be thought a very odd kind of Proceeding among Men and we have no reason to suspect this of GOD's Judgment As for bad Men they are to be cast into the Fire prepared for the Devil and his Angels and therefore it is not likely they should be cast into this Fire before the Devil himself is and yet the Scripture assures us that at present he is the Prince of the Power of the Air the Spirit that now worketh in the Children of Disobedience 2 Eph. 2. And St. Peter tells us That God spared not these angels that sinned but cast them down into hell and delivered them into the chains of darkness to be reserved unto judgment 2 Pet. 2.4 which is very ill translated for if they were cast down into Hell how are they reserved for the Day of Judgment for what worse Judgment can they undergo than to be cast into Hell But the words are 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 casting them down into Chains of Darkness for so 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 signifies only to cast down that is those Angels who formerly inhabitated the AEthereal Regions where there was perpetual Light were for their Sin cast down into this darksome Region of Air where the clearest Light is Smoke and Darkness in comparison with those brighter Regions from whence they fell for the Devil is the Prince of the Power of the Air and they are called Chains of Darkness because by the Decree of God they can go no farther cannot ascend higher to those Regions of Light again and here they are reserved till the Judgement of the last Day While our Saviour was on Earth it is plain that these evil Spirits were not confined to Hell for they possessed the Bodies of Men and very much complained that Christ came to torment them before their time 8 Matth.
such vain and groundless Fears This ought to be plainly and fully stated for we live in the last Days and have many of these Scoffers already among us 1. But if GOD have appointed the Dâ—y of Judgment it is a very foolish Argument to say that he will not judge the World because he has not done it yet unless we could prove that the Day appointed for Judgment is already past God cannot be said to delay to judge the World wheâ— the time he has appointed for Judgment is not yet come for to delay doing any thing is not to do it in its proper season when it is time to do it or when we resolved and determined to do it and therefore no Man can say that God delays to judge the World unless he could tell whaâ— Day God in his own infinite Wisdom appointed for Judgment For 2. That God appoints a long Day for Judgment is no Argument that he will not judge us Thus it was in the Destruction of the Old World a great while before God brought that Universal Deluge on them but it came at last and swept them all away as St. Peter observes For this they willingly were ignorant of that by the word of God the heavens were of old and the earth standing out of the water and in the water whereby the world that then was being overflow'd with water perished This general Destruction of the Old World by Water is reason enough to believe God when he threatens to destroy it again by Fire For the heavens and the earth which are now by the same word are kept in store reserved unto fire against the day of judgement and perdition of ungodly men 5 6 7. It was a great while before God destroyed the Old World and though this second Destruction by Fire is deferred much longer it will come in its appointed time 3. For what seems a very long time to us is not so to God as the same Apostle tells us One day is with the Lord as a thousand years and a thousand years as one day God is not affected with the succession of Time nor its lingring delays and therefore is not in hast to judge the World before the World is ripe for Judgment and when that is he himself knows best For to appoint a Day to judge the World is a Work of great Wisdom and Counsel Before God judges the World it is fit for him to display all the various Scenes of Wisdom and Goodness and Power and Justice in the Government of the World to exercise great Patience towards Sinners and to make the utmost Experiments to reform them as St. Peter tells us The Lord is not slack concerâ—iâ—â— his promise as some men count slackness but is patient to us-ward not willing thâ— any should perish but that all should coâ—â— to repentance v. 9. 4. When God finally judges the Worlâ— he destroys this present Frame of Things as it follows in the next Verse The day 〈◊〉 the Lord will come 〈◊〉 a thief in the night in the which the heavens shall pass away with a great noise and the elements shall melt with fervent heat and the earth also and the works that are therein shall 〈◊〉 burnt up Now it does not become â— wise and a good God to be hasty in dâ—stroying a World that he has made And therefore to reconcile God's dâ—stroying the World with his Essential Attributes of Wisdom and Goodness therâ— are two things necessary 1 st The incorrigible Wickedness of Mankind A wise Man will not immediately pull down a House he has builâ— till he discovers some irreparable decayâ— in it thus God justifies his Destructioâ— of the Old World from the Universal Corruption of Manners and the incurable Wickedness of it God saw the wickedneâ—â— of man that it was great upon the earth aâ—â— that every imagination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually And it repented the Lord that he had made man on the earth and it grieved him at his heart And the Lord said I will destroy man whom I have created from the face of the earth 6 Gen. 5 6 7. And this was the only reason that could be given to justifie so universal a Destruction of Mankind that they were universally wicked excepting one righteous Family which God preserved and it seems very probable that the general State of the World will be very wicked and corrupt before the final Destruction of the World by Fire for we can conceive no other reason why God should finally destroy this World but to put an end to the incurable Wickedness of Men. And this is the Account the Scripture gives us of it we find every-where a deplorable Description of the Wickedness of the last Days In the last days perillous times shall come For men that is the generality of Mankind shall be lovers of their ownselves covetous boasters proud blasphemers disobedient to parents unthankful unholy without natural affection truce-breakers false accusers incontinent fierce despisers of those that are good traytors heady high-minded lovers of pleasures more then lovers of God having a form of godliness but denying the power thereof 2 Tim. 3.1 2 3 4 5. Thus St. Iude tells us There shall be mockers iâ— the last times who should walk after their own ungodly lusts v. 18. And St. Peter as you heard that in the last Days there shall be Scoffers saying Where is the promise of his coming And our Saviour himself plainly intimates what an universal Decay there shall be of Piety and Faith when he comes to judge the World Nevertheless when the Son of man cometh shall he find faith on the earth 18 Luke 8. Atheism and Infidelity shall greatly prevail in the World before the Day of Judgement and by this as St. Iohn said long since We know that is the last time And this is one of the signs both of the Destruction of Ierusalem and of the Day of Judgment Then shall many be offended and shall betray one another and shall hate one another And many false prophets shall rise and shall deceive many And because iniquity shall abound the love of many shall wax cold But he that shall endure to the end the same shall be saved 24 Matth. 10 11 12 13. And therefore the Destruction of this World by Fire which is the Preparation to the final Judgment is represented as an immediate Vengeance on the wickedness of that Generation of Men who shall then be living on the Earth though at the same time the Dead shall be raised and all ungodly men involved in the same ruin The Lord Iesus 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 our Lord Iesus Christ 2 Thess. 1.8 And 10 Hebr. 27. it is called a fiery indignation which shall devour the Adversaries So that one thing God has regard to in appointing the day of Judgment is
clothed him with their own Weaknesses and Passions made him either a Tyrant and a Devil or such a tame easie fond Being as Men may make bold with without danger others prophane his Name corrupt his Worship or neglect and despise it some think themselves too big to serve God others too little to be observed by him some ridicule his Laws others take no notice of them and there are very few who are sincere Worshippers of him and acknowledge and submit to his Authority and Power and when God has been so much dishonoured in the World I think it is very fit that when he judges the World he should vindicate his own Glory make it publick and visible and force all his Creatures to own and confess it and the most effectual way to do this is by summoning all Mankind before him and judging them according to their Works Thus we see what reason there is with respect to God why he should not judge Men singly and send them privately and silently to Heaven or Hell but appoint a general Day of Judgment II. There is great reason for this too with respect to Men both to good and to bad Men for this is part of the Reward of Vertue and of the Punishment of Vice Many good Men have been used with the utmost Contempt and Scorn if they cannot comply with their Company and do as their Neighbours do if they boggle at popular and fashionable Vices they are gazed on as so many Comets and Prodigies and would be contented to be gazed on were they as far out of the reach of danger too as those Meteors are some call them Fools others Knaves and Hypocrites and treat them accordingly and is it not fit that God should vindicate these Men who have suffered Infamy and Reproach for his sake that he should publickly own them applaud and reward their Vertue And what a glorious Vindication is this if we can but have patience to expect it what a little contemptible Scene is this World nay this little Corner of the World where we live for whether we be praised or reproached it is likely we are never heard of out of the Parish and Neighbourhood or City oâ— Kingdom where we live and can't we be contented to let a whole Parish or City or Kingdom despise us to be publickly owned by God in the General Assembly of Men and Angels Good Men do a great many good actions privately which few or none are conscious to but God and themselves and therefore they lose the Praise which is due to such secret Vertues in this World but our Saviour has promised that such Men shall have praise of God that if we Pray and Fast and give Alms in secret Our Fâ—ther which seeth in secret shall reward 〈◊〉 openly 6 Matth. And this is a great encouragement to the practice of the moâ—â— secret Vertues that we shall be openly towarded for them Good Men are many times great Sufferers in this World are not only reproached but persecuted lose their Estates their Liberties their Lives foâ— Christ's sake and though God has strictly forbid them to avenge themselves yet he will execute Vengeance on their Enemies and do it publickly and make them the Spectators and Witnesses of it On the other hand Wickedness is many times very glorious and triumphant in this World is so far from suffering Shame which is the just Reward of it that it is applauded and courted and the greatest Prodigies of Wickedness are adored for their prosperous Villanies but yet Shame is the just Reward of Sin and it must have it at one time or other and nothing can more effectually cast Shame and Contempt upon Sinners then a General Judgment when they shall be publickly arraigned and condemned in the great Assembly of Men and Angels This will confound the most glorious Sinner who never blushed before for though while bad Men are supported with Power or are the most numerous Party and can out Vote and out Laugh the rest of the World they can secure themselves against the sence of Shame yet when they appear before such a Judge and have their Villanies exposed to all the World when they are stript of their Riches and Honours and Power and see all their Admirers and Companions past Laughing and Flattery and themselves despised and scorned by God and his holy Saints and Angels and condemned to everlasting Miseries it will then be impossible for them any longer to glory in their Shame Confusion will then cover their Faces and it would be thought very mercifâ—l to be damned privately without seeing their Judge and being exposed to publick Scorn and Censure Thus there are a great many wicked things done privately and concealed from the Eyes of Men and many times gildeâ— over with a form and counterfeit appearance of Religion and such secret Villaiâ— not only escape publick Shame but 〈◊〉 thought very extraordinary Men and great Saints now it is very fitting that such Men also should have their Masquâ— and Disguise taken off and be exposed to the View of the World just as they are and this God will do in that Day wheâ— he will judge the Secrets of Mens Hearts and bring to light the hidden Works oâ— Darkness And then what will it avaâ—â— them to pass for Saints in this World when at the Day of Judgment they shalâ— be known and be doubly scorned botâ— for their Wickedness and for their Hypocrisie What a severe Aggravation will it be of the Condemnation of the Wicked to see good Men whom they despised and persecuted whose Lives they thought Folly and Madness now owned and rewarded by God as our Saviour speaks To see them come from the East and from the West from the North and from the South and sit down with Abraham Isaac and Iacob in the kingdom of God and themselves sâ—ut out This will be a confounding Sight at that Day and as little as such Men now value Heaven to see the bright and dazling Crowns of those blessed Saints will pierce their Souls and wound them to Eternity This justifies the Wisdom of God in appointing a general Day of Judgment to reward good Men and to condemn the wicked but there is one good natured Objection against this which respects good Men for there are few good Men but may have some very wicked Relations who yet are very dear to them and how can they bear to be Witnesses of their final Condemnation to hear that Sentence pronounced on them Go ye cursed into everlasting fire prepared for the Devil and his angels We tremble at the thoughts of it now and one would think it should over-cast the Glory of that Day to such blessed Saints to see such a terrible Execution upon those who were so dear to them but this is such a Mistake as the Sadduces Objection against the Resurrection concerning the woman who had had seven husbands whose wife she should be of the seven at the resurrection for they
and this Punishment bad Men have by being suffered to stand by and see the glorious Rewards of the Righteous But there is a further reason also for this that good Men when they are acquitted and absolved shall together with their Lord sit in Judgment on the wicked World 1 Cor. 6.2 3. Do ye not know that the saints shall judge the world Know ye not that we shall judge angels How far this extends we know not but it seems such a thing there is as was universally believed in the Apostle's Days as appears from his Appeal to their own knowledge of it but if they must Judge the World it is reasonable to think that their own Judgment must be over first I shall name but one thing more which I have had several occasions to take notice of already and that is That at the last Judgment this Earth shall be destroyed with Fire as S. Peter expresly tells us The day of the Lord shall come like a thief in the night in the which the heavens shall pass away with a great noise and the elements shall melt with fervent heat the earth also and the works that are therein shall be burnt up 2 Pet. 3.10 This has been an old Tradition that the World shall be destroyed by Fire and some Men are very curious and inquisitive by what Natural Causes this may be done for they are not willing to allow that God either made or destroys the World by an immediate Power for the less they leave for God to do the less they are concerned about him but though it is hard to perswade some Men now that there was any need of a God to make the World which they think could make itself without him yet the last Judgment shall convince them that it is God that destroys it when they shall see the World fired by a flame streaming from his Throne as is not improbable by the Description of the Prophet Daniel A fiery stream issued and came forth from before him 7 Dan. 10. The only Question is Whether the World shall be fired at Christ's first appearance to Judgment or after the final Sentence pronounced against bad Men The first does not seem probable because Christ himself shall place his Throne in the Air and all Mankind shall be gathered before him to Judgment and a fired World is not a proper Scene for such an Appearance and the burning of the World seems to be an Act of Judgment and Vengeance as St. Paul tells us He shall descend from heaven in flaming fire taking vengeance on them that know not God 2 Thess. 1.8 So that the Devil and bad Men shall first be condemned to Everlasting Fire and then their Punishment shall begin in a Fired World Thus I have given you a brief View of the Circumstances and Manner of Christ's Appearance and the Awful Solemnities of Judgment every part of which is for the Glory of our Lord for the Comfort of good Men and a Terrour to the wicked God grant we may so think of this Day before hand that we may not feel the Terrour and Astonishment of it when it comes CHAP. V. Who are to be Iudged viz. The World or all Mankind V. LET us consider who are to be judged and they are the World or all Mankind for I shall take no notice of the Judgment of the Devil and the Apostate Angels which we know no more of but only that they shall be judged that the angels which kept not their first estate but left their own habitation he hath reserved in everlasting chains under darkness unto the judgment of the great day Jude v. 6. Why their Judgment is deferred so long we cannot tell for it is plain that the Angels fell from their first Estate before Man and how long we know not for it was the Serpent that beguiled Eve but this we know that whatever their first Apostasie was they have a great deal more to answer for now and must expect a more terrible Condemnation All the Sin that is in the World is originally owing to the Temptation of the Devil who seduced our first Parents in Paradise and has ever since been the great Tempter to Wickedness and Apostasie from God and therefore he is in some degree entitled to all the Wickedness of Mankind And this is a good reason why the Devil and his Angels and all bad Men should be judged and condemned together those who tempt and those who are overcome by Temptations the Prince of Darkness and all his Subjects whether Angels or Men. Hell is the Fire prepared for the Devil and his Angels not for Men but when he has drawn Mankind into the Apostasie it is fit they should share in his Punishments too and when our Lord comes to Judge Men who have been seduced and corrupted by Evil Spirits there is no reason to think that wicked Spirits should escape who have seduced and tyrannized over Mankind But that which we are at present concerned in is the Judgment of Mankind That God hath appointed a Day wherein he will Judge the World or the whole Race of Men as St. Iohn represents it I saw the dead small and great stand before God 20 Revel 12. No Man who believes a Future Judgement makes any doubt of this but that all shall be judged For if any why not all We are all alike God's Creatures we are all equally accountable to him and though we have very different Talents yet we have all some Talent or other to improve for our Master's use And therefore I shall not go about to convince any Man that he is to be judged as well as the rest of Mankind but there are some Persons who are apt to forget this who have yet as much occasion to think of a Future Judgment as any other Men and therefore ought to be minded of it and they are those who are very Rich and Great or very Poor or in the Vigour and Gaiety of Youth 1 st Rich and Great Men Princes and Potentates Men of Honour and Fortune who are exalted above the common Level of Mankind These must all be judged as well as the meanest Men though they are not very apt to think of it great Power and great Riches make them reverenced and adored like so many little Deities in this World all Men court and flatter them and make a great distinction between them and those of a meaner Rank and Fortune and this is apt to swell their Minds they look down upon the rest of the World as very much below them and think they merit much when ever they look up to God for such great Men as they are to worship God and lift up their Eyes sometimes to Heaven they imagine is so great an Honour to God and Credit to Religion that a very little matter will be accepted from them they see Humane Judicatures very often have great respect for Mens persons in Judgment and they hope God will consider their
have them not but this does not hinder but that they may give an account of their Poverty and those Graces which become a poor and low Fortune They shall not be examined about their Charity when they had nothing to give but they may for their Thankfulness to God and to their Benefactors They shall not be examined how they used their Riches which they had not but they may be how they bore their Poverty whether external Poverty has taught them true Poverty of Spirit Humility Modesty Patience in Want and Sufferings Contentment with a little Submission to the Will of God and a chearful Dependance on Providence for their daily Bread whether they have constantly prayed to God for the supply of their Wants as well as begged an Alms of Men and implored the Help and Assistance of the Rich these are Duties and Vertues which Poverty teaches and which poor Men ought to exercise and therefore which God may challenge from them and Judge them for It is a very wild Imagination to think that Poverty will excuse Mens Pride and Rudeness and Insolence unless it be a Vertue to be Proud when Men have no Temptation to it when they have nothing to be proud of Will Poverty excuse Sloth and Idleness when Men have nothing to live by but their Hands is that a Reason why they should not work When Men are able to work and get their own living is Poverty an excuse for begging and living idly upon the Charity and Industry of other Men when they work hard all day to get Bread for themselves and Families is this a reason to go to the Ale-house and spend it all at night to make themselves Beasts and leave their Wives and Children to starve ought not God and Men to judge them for this But above all things Poverty is the most unreasonable and senseless Excuse for Irreligion for neglecting the Worship of God For certainly if any thing will make us sensible how much we stand in need of God Poverty will Rich Men whose Coffers are full of Treasure who have Goods laid up for many Years are apt to forget God because they think they have no present need of Him they know how to live without him They have no occasion to beg their daily Bread of him who have enough to last their lives and to maintain their Posterity in Luxury when they are gone But methinks poor Men who have no Provisions before hand and know not where they shall have their Bread the next day should be very sensible that they live upon Providence that they have nothing else to trust to and would not any one reasonably expect that such Men would be very devout Worshippers of GOD would pray constantly and heartily to him to take them into his Care when they have nothing but the Providence of God to depend on One would think such Men should above all things take care to please God and to make him their Friend and Patron for if he cast them off they have no other Refuge that is a prophane irreligious Mind indeed whom Want and Distress will not drive to God But what would you have such poor Men do They han't time to spare for their Prayers unless they should spare it from eating or sleeping they must be up early at work and have not leisure for their Devotions as those have who live at ease But did they believe the Divine Prodence it would satisfie them that the time of Prayer is the best spent of any time in the day and contributes more to make a comfortable Provision for them then their hardest Labour for the Blessing of God is more then our Diligence and Labour he can succeed and prosper our Work he can raise up unexpected Friends to us and by some unseen Accident can change the whole Scene of our Lives for a more easie and prosperous Fortune However want of time for Prayer and Devotion is always a pretence and nothing but a pretence to excuse the Indevotion of our Minds a Man who loves and reverences God never wants time for Prayer whatever his state of Life be a poor labouring Man can't every Day spend an Hour at Church at his Prayers but if he have a Mind prepared and disposed for it he can fall upon his Knees and offer up a short Prayer to God as soon as he rises which takes up very little time and though he cannot be long upon his Knees yet he can raise up his Heart to Heaven in short and pious Ejaculations no business can hinder a devout Mind from this and therefore no business can excuse the not doing it and this will be accepted by God when we have no time for more Solemn Prayer So that you see Religion is the Business and ought to be the Care of poor Men as well as of the rich there are Graces and Vertues for them to exercise proper for their state of Life and therefore they shall be judged as well as the Rich and ought frequently to think of a Future Judgment and to live under the constant awe and sence of it The constant sence of a Future Judgement is very necessary for all Mankind to govern their Lives and to prepare their Accounts but besides this it is of the greatest use to poor Men of any other for it will in a great measure help to cure their Poverty or to make it easie In ordinary cases a Man who lives under a constant sence of Judgment cannot be poor to extremity for the sence of Judgment will make him diligent and industrious and honest and frugal and temperate and a devout Worshipper of God which are all thriving Vertues and will not suffer a Man to be miserably poor The diligent hand maketh rich and when it does not make Rich it at least prevents Poverty inflexible Honesty gives a Man Reputation in the World brings him into Business and Employment and that is a way to thrive Frugality and Temperance save what is got and encrease the Store and Reverence and Devotion for God brings down Blessings on them gives success to their honest Labours and we know it is the Blessing of God which maketh Rich. The Experience of the World as well as the Reason of the Thing proves this The miserable Poor are generally the most corrupt and profligate part of Mankind the very Reproach of Humane Nature and if you make any curious Observations about it you will generally find that it is not their Poverty which makes them wicked but their Wickedness makes them poor you shall very rarely see an honest industrious sober pious Man but makes a very good shift to live comfortably in the World unless the Times prove very hard that there is but little Work and Provisions dear or that his Family encreases so quick upon him that he has a great charge of Children before any of them are capable of working for their living and in this case such industrious Men seldom want Friends
such melancholy Thoughts as a Future Judgment they are so lately come into the World and are big it may be with such great designs of advancing their Fortunes in it that they cannot think of going out of it very quickly again they look upon Judgment as they do upon the other World as a great way off and therefore it is not of a present concernment but may be thought of time enough some Years hence These are all very foolish Reasonings but yet these or such like Fallacies serve to impose upon Young Men or whatever their pretence be Experience tells us that it is true in Fact that they think very little of a Judgment to come It is easie enough to shew that these are no Reasons why they should not think frequently of a Future Judgment How gay and pleasant soever they be and whatever their designs are for this World the thoughts of Judgment will not allay nor interrupt their Pleasures while they preserve their Innocence nothing can make the thoughts of Judgment uneasie to them unless they resolve to take such Liberties and persue such Designs as they are afraid to be called to an account for and the reason why they should think of Judgement is to prevent this for if once they distract their Minds with Guilt the thoughts of Judgment will ever after be very uneasie to them and they must never think of it if they can help it The best way is to accustom our Minds to the thoughts of Judgment while we are innocent before we begin to be afraid to think of Judgment and that will preserve our Innocence and then the thoughts of Judgement will never interrupt our Pleasures But if we cast off the thoughts of Judgement in Youth which is the surest Guard and Preservative we have we shall by degrees cast off the belief of it too When we lay aside the thoughts of Judgment to take the greater Liberties to walk in the ways of our hearts and in the sight of our eyes we contract such Guilt as makes us afraid of Judgment and very willing to believe that we shall never be judged and then we shall easily find some little argument or other to perswade us that there is no Judgment that either there is no God or that he takes no notice of Humane Actions The thoughts of Judgment are never uneasie and troublesome till Men have scared and terrified their Consciences with Guilt and therefore the certain way never to have the thoughts of Judgment troublesome is to begin betimes to make it familliar to us and if we do so the thoughts of it will not prove melancholy and then we shall have no reason to lay them aside And it is a great Mistake to imagine that there is no need to think of Judgement but when it is near that we may securely lay aside the thoughts of it when it is at a distance for neither its being near nor its being at distance is any reason either to think or not to think of Judgment but the true reason is to govern our Lives under the sence of a Future Account and that is a good reason equally good whether Judgment be nigh at hand or a great way off For if we must give an account of what we do at seventeen or twenty Years old and of what we do at fifty or sixty there is the same reason to think of Judgment and to govern our Lives under the sence of it when we are but twenty as when we are threescore Years old 2. Young Men have great and constant occasion for the thoughts of Judgement and that is a good reason why they should think frequently and seriously of it What but this can reduce that giddy Age within Bounds and make them live by Rule But if they would consider that they must be judged by Rule by the Laws of the Everlasting Gospel this would do it This would convince them that they are not their own Masters that they are not at liberty to live as they list and to pursue every wild and roving Fancy they may indeed do this if they please but they shall be judged for it if they do What but this can cool the Heats of Youth and conquer all the Charms of Flesh and Sence But know saith the wise man that for all these things God will call thee to judgment And a Man who is afraid of Judgment who is afraid of Lakes of Fire and Brimstone who has the terrible prospect of eternal Miseries before him will have no great Appetite to the choicest Sensualities He will freez in the Embraces of the most beloved Mistress and will tremble in the midst of his Cups as Belâ—shazzar did when he saw the Hand-writing upon the Wall For who can bear the thoughts of being miserable for ever Who with these thoughts about him can relish such fatal Pleasures Pleasures which will cost him his Soul short and dying and vanishing Pleasures which will end in eternal Pain who would not be contented to endure the pain of denying an Appetite of subduing a domineering Passion of plucking out a right Eye and cutting off a right Hand rather than to be miserable for ever And when it is so impossible for Young Men to resist these flattering Temptations without a present and awful Sence of Judgment can any thing more concern them then frequently to repeat these Thoughts and to possess their Imaginations with the lasting Impressions and Images of it that it may be always at hand and ready for use But this is necessary for all Men as well as those who are young whoever takes care of his Soul ought to keep his Eye upon a Future Judgment I grant it is so but there are some peculiar Advantages which Young Men will reap by this if they begin this Practise betimes 1 st For this will preserve their Innocence and Vertue and prevent the Terrours and Agonies of a late Repentance All the kindness the Thoughts of Judgement can do to old Sinners is to put a stop to them and to bring them to Repentance and this is a very great kindness if it makes them true Penitents because it will save their Souls And this is that which most Sinners desire to enjoy the Pleasures of Sin as long as they can and to repent before they die and thus they think they adjust all Interests gratifie the Flesh and save their Souls at last But if these Men ever prove true Penitents they become very sensible of their Mistake They wish then when it is too late that they had remembred their Creator in the days of their youth that they had preserved themselves from the Pollutions of Flesh and Sence they feel by sad Experience what an evil and a bitter thing it is to sin against God How amazing the Shame how sharp the Sorrow of Repentance is It is a very melancholy and disconsolate Work when Men draw near their end to look back upon a vicious and profligate Life
to have their whole Lives to unlive again to abhor themselves for what they have done and to look forward with trembling into the other World for such late Penitents generally carry the Marks of their Repentance in Shame and Sorrow to the Grave with them All this Young Men may prevent if they will but think of Judgment in their Youth and govern their Lives under a sence of it This will make them remember their Creator in the days of their youth and consecrate their tender Age to his Service it will preserve them from youthful Lusts from all enormous Crimes and give them the humble Assurance and Confidence of dutiful Children in their Addresses to God when they draw near a conclusion of their Lives they review their past Victories over the World and the Flesh with the securest Triumphs The little Follies and Indiscretions and Miscarriages which the best Men are subject to will keep them humble and teach them to trust only in the Merits and Intercession of Christ but when they have made it the whole business of their Lives to please God though with the common Weaknesses and Infirmities of Humane Nature they feel great Peace of Mind and assurance of the Love of God and the nearer their Work is to an end the more securely they triumph What a happy State shall we think this when Death and Judgment are in view to feel so sweâ—â—â— Calm in our Breasts to have so joyful a Prospect before us And who would not think of Judgment when he is young that the hope and expectation of it may be the Comfort and Support of Age that then he may review his past Life not to undo what he has done but to tast the Pleasures and to reap the Rewards of it in present Peace of Mind and great Hopes 2 ly There is another Advantage which Young Men may make of the early thoughts of Judgment which old Sinners have lost and can never retrieve by all their Repentance viz. To make great Advances and Attainments in Piety and Vertue which will greatly augment their Reward Men who sin on till old Age though they prove true Penitents at last can never recover this for their time is past and their youthful Strength and Vigour spent and the Scene of Action over they can never re-call thirty or forty Years past in which if they had improved their time well they might have done great Service to God and to Religion and great good to Men but those who are beginning their Lives if they start right at first and pursue an even and steady Course of Piety and Vertâ—â— if they keep the Future Judgment and the next World always in their Eye what Improvements will they make what rich Treasures and glorious Rewards may they expect from that Righteous Judge who will render to every Man according to his Works The most that a Penitent can expect after a long Life spent in Wickedness and Folly is to get to Heaven and it is infinite Mercy in God to accept of such Penitents but the bright and dazling Crowns are reserved for those who have spent their Lives well and glorified God on Earth and finished the Work he gave them to do such Men will triumph at the Conclusion of their Race and Warfare as St. Paul did I have fought a good fight I have finished my course I have kept the faith henceforth is laid up for me a crown of righteousness I know this will not affect those Men now who love their Sins and desire to keep them as long as they can they will be very well satisfied if they can but get to Heaven at last how mean soever their Station be there for they are not so desirous to go to Heaven as to escape Hell and if they can but keep out of Hell it is all they hope for but Men must have a greater Spirit a more Divine and Generous Temper of Soul before they can get to Heaven If ever they prove true Penitents the loss of so many opportunities of doing Good and the loss of any degrees of Glory they might have had will both shame and afflict them I am sure the greater Rewards we expect in the other World the greater degrees of Glory and Happiness the greater will our Joy and Triumph be Are not Men in this World as fond of Happiness as they are afraid of Misery Does not a great Mind despise little things and aim at what is great And is there not as much reason to aim at the highest Happiness we are capable of in the next World as well as in this This is the noble Prize I would propoâ—e to Young Men You are now beginning your Race your Day is but in its Dawn if you rise with the Sun and work hard all day and spend your whole Lives in God's Service what a great deal of work will you do and what a proportionably great Reward will you have This you will do if you make the Thoughts of Judgment familiar to you this will keep a constant Guard upon your Actions this will excite and quicken your Industry this will make you stedfast unmoveable always abounding in the work of the Lord as knowing that your labour shall not be in vain in the Lord. CHAP. VI. For what we shall be Iudged VI. LET us now enquire What we are to be judged for And the general Answer to this is very plain That we must all stand before the judgment-seat of Christ that every one may receive the things done in his body according to what he hath done whether it be good or bad 2 Cor. 5.10 That is we shall be judged for all the Good and Evil we have done This is obvious to all Men and acknowledged by all who believe a Judgement and it may be thought impertinent to prove that we shall be judged for such or such particular Crimes when it is universally confessed that we shall be judged for all But as I observed under the former Head though all Men who believe a Future Judgment profess also to believe that all Men shall be judged yet some Men are very apt to forget it and to flatter themselves that they shall escape better than others so it is here Though Men will in general acknowledge that we must give an account of whatever we have done in the Body yet there are a great many things which in themselves are very great Crimes and yet many Men think there is no account to be given of them I shall not instance in particular Sins though a great many such there are which few Men take any great notice of but shall confine myself to what is of a more General Nature for Particulars would be endless I. First then we must remember we shall be judged for our Ignorance which some Men are so far from suspecting that they take Sanctuary in their Ignorance to Skreen them from the Judgment of GOD. If they can but keep out the Light they
have peace with God through our Lord Iesus Christ. By grace you are saved tbrough faith and that not of your selves it is the gift of God not of works least any man should boast Not by works of righteousness which we have done but by grace hath he saved us by the washing of regeneration and renewing of the Holy Ghost But then it is as plain on the other hand that God will render to every man according to his deeds that we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ to receive the things done in the body according to what we have done whether it be good or bad That Christ will condemn all wicked Christians whatever their Faith be Not every one that saith unto me Lord Lord shall enter into the Kingdom of Heaven but he that doth the will of my Father which is in Heaven Many will say to me in that day Lord Lord have we not prophesied in thy name and in thy name cast out devils and in thy name done many wonderful works and then will I profess unto them I never knew you depart from me ye that work iniquity What shall we say then to this matter both these Propositions must be allowed to be undoubtedly true We are justified by Faith we are saved by Grace without the Works of the Law and we shall be judged according to our works and shall receive what we have done in this body whether good or evil That is we are justified by faith justified freely by God's grace through the redemption which is in Christ Iesus and through faith in his blood and yet shall be condemned at the last Judgment if we live wickedly This is a matter of very great consequence to be plainly stated because a great many Christians encourage themselves in sin with vain hopes and eternally perish by a presumptuous Faith and Reliance on Christ. I. Now in the first place that whatever mistakes or misapprehensions Men may have about the nature of Faith and Justification may not endanger their Souls by encouraging them in sin I observe that we must reconcile the Doctrine of Justification by Faith without Works to our being judged by our Works not expound away the Doctrine of our being judged according to our Works to reconcile it to our Notions of Justification by Faith And there are manifest Reasons for this 1. Because it is as expresly taught in Scripture that we shall be judged by our Works as it is that we are justified by Faith and therefore we must not oppose our Justification by Faith to our being judged by our Works for that is not to expound Scripture but to confute one Scripture Doctrine by another to prove that we shall not be judged by our Works though the Scripture says we shall because the Scripture also teaches that we are justified by Faith without Works Now if it be allowable to reject any Scripture Doctrine or to confute one Doctrine by â—â—other we may with as good reason 〈◊〉 them both by each other and belâ—â—â—â— neither for if they can't be reconciled but we must deny one our being judged by our Works does as plainly prove that we are not justified by Faith without Works as Justification by Faith proves that we shall not be judged by our Works We must distinguish between expounding and reconciling Scripture and confuting it and therefore whatever we believe about Justification by Faith we must still confess we shall be judged by our Works For 2. There is great reason to expound Justification by Faith by our being judged by Works because when we are told in Scripture That God will render to us according to our deeds that every man must receive the things done in his body according to what he hath done whether it be good or bad These are plain proper expressions without any Figure or Metaphor in them and therefore are capable of no other sence than what the words at first view signifie We shall receive what we have done if we have done good we shall be rewarded if we have done evil we shall be punished good Men shall be received into Heaven and all wicked Men even wicked Believers as well as wicked Infidels shall 〈◊〉 cast into Hell this every Child understands to be the meaning of these Words and no other sence can be made of them and therefore since this is so plainly and so frequently taught in Scripture whatever we believe else we must believe this if we believe the Scripture But now when we read of being justified by Faith without Works every word is capable of very different sences and we know is expounded very differently by learned Men according to the different Hypothesis they intend to serve by it and then we must confess it is not so certain what is meant by Justification by Faith without Works as what is meant by being judged according to our Works at least so much must be allowed that we must prefer that sence of Justification by Faith which agrees with our being judged by our Works before any other interpretation which contradicts or overthrows this plain sence of a Future Judgment As for instance Some by justifying understand making just and righteous that to justifie the ungodly is to make a wicked Man good by the power and efficacy of Faith but then to justifie the ungodly without the Works of the Law or to make a wicked Man good without good Works does not found very well and therefore others more reasonably and more agreeably to Scripture understand justifying in a forensick sence for absolving acquitting declaring and accounting Men just and righteous and treating them as such that is imputing righteousness to them though in a strict and proper sence they are not inherently righteous And then this forensick Justification may either signifie our being justified at Baptism when by the profession of our Faith we are incorporated by Baptism into Christ's Church and are made the Members of his Mystical Body and have all our sins washed away in his Blood and come pure and innocent out of the laver of Regeneration and thus the most ungodly Sinners are justified by Faith in Baptism without Works or any antecedent righteousness of their own or else this Justification may be extended to the Future Judgment that at the last Day of Account we shall be justified acquitted absolved rewarded by Faith without Works but this does not agree very well with our being judged and receiving according to our Works the Scripture expresly teaches that we are justified by Faith without Works and that we shall be judged by our Works but never saith we shall be judged by our Faith which seems to make a great difference between being justified and being judged for if we are justified without Works and judged by our Works justified by Faith without Works but not judged not acquitted and rewarded by Faith without Works to be justified and to be judged cannot signifie the same
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
Future Judgment makes this necessary 3 dly Let us then consider how this matter may be reconciled that we are saved by Grace and justified by Faith in Christ and yet must be judged by our Works And this is very easily done for we shall be judged by our Works according to the Gracious Terms of the Gospel The Faith of Christ was never intended to give us a liberty in sinning or to excuse us from the necessity of a holy life and as far as the necessity of holiness is reconcilable with the Grace of the Gospel so far our being judged by our Works is reconcilable with our being saved by Grace upon the same Terms that the Gospel promises Pardon and Forgiveness we shall be pardoned at the Day of Judgment whatever the Gospel promises to reward shall be rewarded at the Day of Judgment and thus we are judged by Grace and by Works too This is easily understood by those who know any thing of the Gospel of Christ and therefore I shall at present but just mention it The Gospel of Christ promises Pardon of sin to true Penitents who are heartily sorry for their sins abhor themselves for them make restitution for the Injuries they have done to Men beg God's Pardon in the Name and Mediation of Christ and amend their Lives for Christ has made atonement and expiation for such Sinners and therefore at the Day of Judgment no Man shall be condemned for such sins as he has heartily repented of and reformed and this is to be judged by Grace as well as by our Works for the Law prescribes our Duty but promises no Pardon no not to Penitents this is owing to the Grace of God through the Merits and Mediation of Christ but though the Grace of the Gospel pardons true Penitents yet the same Gospel threatens eternal damnation against impenitent Sinners The wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all unrighteousness and ungodliness of men who hold the truth in unrighteousness To them who are contentious and do not obey the truth but obey unrighteousness indignation and wrath tribulation and anguish upon every soul of man that doth evil And therefore impenient Sinners will be judged and condemned for their sins at the last Day by the Mediatour of the Covenant of Grace for the Gospel itself condemns them Thus the Grace of God that bringeth salvation and hath appeared unto all men teacheth us that denying ungodliness and worldly lusts we should live soberly and righteously and godly in this present world And therefore without holiness no man shall see God Heaven is the Reward only of good Men who live in the Exercise of all Christian Graces and Vertues and therefore good Men must be judged must be rewarded according to their Works and yet this is Gospel-Grace too for such a glorious Reward as Heaven is above the Merit of the most perfect Vertue in this World The best Man cannot challenge such a Reward from the Justice of God and therefore it is owing to Gospel-Grace the wages of sin is death but eternal life is the gift of God not the merit and desert of our Works through our Lord Iesus Christ. Especially when we consider that this great and perfect Reward is bestowed upon a very imperfect Vertue the Obedience of the best Men is very defective stained and sullied with Human Weaknesses Indiscretions Follies Ignorances Mistakes indecent Surprizes of Passion or coldness and flatness of Devotion and too often interrupted with wilful and scandalous sins such as nothing but Grace can pardon and therefore much more nothing but Grace can reward and therefore good Men are judged by Grace and rewarded by Grace though according to their Works We are all Sinners we are all obnoxious to the Justice of God would he be extream to mark what is done amiss but since a perfect Vertue is not to be expected from Mankind in this lapsed state God is pleased to accept of sincerity instead of perfection and through the Merits of Christ and Faith in his Blood to account him a righteous Man who sincerely loves and fears him and obeys his Laws though with the Weaknesses and Infirmities incident to Humane Nature So that our being judged by our Works signifies no more but that we are distinguished by the Good or Evil we do into good or bad Men according to the favourable allowances of the Gospel and then bad Men receive the just desert of their sins and good Men receive those Rewards not which they have merited but which the Grace of God and the Merits of Christ have prepared and purchased for them This is a plain account how Christians may be judged by their Works and yet saved by Grace and by Faith in Christ and the righteousness and equity of the last Judgment seems to entitle Heathens themselves thô they have no Covenant Right to it to some degrees of this Grace for I cannot think that God in judging the World will deal more rigorously and severely with Heathens than he will with Christians that he will demand most where he has given least which is contrary to our Saviour's Rule of Judgment and therefore I cannot but hope that Christ in judging of their Works will make the same favourable allowances to them which the Gospel makes to those who do believe in Christ that is to say that he will allow of the Repentance of a Heathen if it were sincere and hearty and did reform his Life as well as of the Repentance of a Christian that he will overlook the same Defects and Imperfections in the good Actions of Heathens who lived vertuous Lives who worshipped the One true God and observed the natural Rules of Sobriety Justice and Righteousness that he will in the Actions of Christians That if any Heathen should be found equally vertuous with the meanest Christian who shall be finally saved that Heathen at least will not be damned and indeed would seem to have reason to complain of unequal usage if he should St. Paul tells us both with respect to Jews and Heathens as well as Christians That God will judge the secrets of men by Christ Iesus according to the Gospel And if the Gospel be the Rule of judging all Mens Actions they must be all equally judged with respect to the Good or Evil of their Actions and be judged as the Gospel judges I grant the Heathens had no promise of Pardon upon their Repentance but yet all Mankind believed so well of the Goodness and Mercy of God that they hoped for Pardon upon their Repentance thus we find the Ninivites did and they had it and indeed it was this perswasion that taught them to pray to God and to offer Sacrifices which had been insignificant things had they not been perswaded that God both could and would pardon sin when Sinners repent Nor have the Heathens any Covenant Title to Salvation and yet they were generally perswaded that good Men shall be rewarded and the
a Man who is possessed with this true Divine Charity has all Christian Graces A Man who has not this divine Principle has no good in him and that is enough to damn him without enquiring what evil he has done It concerns us all seriously to consider this for if all uncharitable Men shall certainly be damned Charity is the only certain mark whereby we can judge of our future state whatever other good qualities we seem to have if we be not charitable there is nothing good in us nothing that God will accept or reward we shall be condemned to the Fire prepared for the Devil and his Angels with all our other glittering and counterfeit Vertues but if to our other Vertues we add an universal Charity we may then joyfully and securely expect to hear from our Lord when he comes to Judgment Come ye blessed of my Father inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world I say if to our other Vertues we add Charity for if we live in any wilful sin how liberal and bountiful soever we are to the Poor this is not Charity St. Paul supposes That Men may give their bodies to be burnt and all their goods to feed the Poor without charity 1 Cor. 13.4 And though our Saviour only mentions the external Acts of Charity in feeding the hungry and clothing the naked and visiting the sick and the prisoners because he will not allow of the pretence of Charity without charitable Actions yet he supposes that these charitable Actions flow from a true Principle of Divine Charity from the love of God and Men which it is certain those Men have not who allow themselves in any wickedness And therefore the plain state of the Case is this whatever other Vertues we pretend to without Charity will avail us nothing at the Day of Judgment for the uncharitable Man shall certainly be condemned though he were guilty of no other Crime that how charitable soever we are to the Poor in all the external acts and expressions of Charity this will avail us nothing unless we discharge all the other Duties and Offices of Religion because where there is not an universal regard to the Divine Laws there are charitable Actions without this Divine Principle of Charity but when Men have a respect to all the Laws of God and exercise themselves in all the Acts of Kindness and Charity to Men they unite the Principle and the Practise and have that Divine Charity which our Lord will reward with the Kingdom of Heaven 3 dly This is a manifest proof that the Rewards of good Men at the day of Judgment are wholly owing to the Grace of God through our Lord Jesus Christ which confirms what I have already discoursed that we are judged by Grace as well as by our Works Christ has made atonement and expiation for our sins he has reconciled us to God by his Death and that puts us into a capacity of happiness but the reason our Saviour gives why he adjudges good Men to the Kingdom of Heaven proves that the Reward is of Grace not of Debt The only reason he assigns is the kindness they have shewn to himself When I was an hungred ye fed me when I was thirsty ye gave me drink when I was naked ye clothed me when I was sick ye visited me when I was in prison ye came unto me 1. Now in the first place it is great Kindness and Grace to Mankind that he should reckon all Acts of Kindness done to Men done to himself That Glorious Being who needs nothing that we can do for him from whom we receive the very power and ability of doing any kindness and yet Inasmuch as ye have done it to one of the least of these my brethren ye have done it unto me 2 dly And therefore he bestows Heaven upon them as a Reward of their kindness to himself now we all know the difference between rewarding Kindnesses and paying Debts or rewarding Men according to their Deserts In rewarding Kindnesses we reward their Love not their Works we don't consider what the actual Service was whether small or great but what the kindness and affection was that did it if the kindness and affection was great which would have done greater things if it could the affection is valued and rewarded though not the work as our Saviour tells us That whoever shall give to drink unto one of these little ones a cup of cold water only in the name of a disciple verily I say unto you he shall in no wise lose his reward 10 Mat. 42. And the Apostle tells us That where there is a willing mind it is accepted according to what a man hath not according to what he hath not But still it is Grace which values and rewards the affection which is not considered at all in making a Bargain which is so much work for so much pay And therefore in rewarding kindnesses we have no regard to proportions as we have in paying Debts or rewarding Services If we pay what we owe that is all that Justice requires if we pay a Labourer according to our Contract with him or according to the common estimation of his Labour this is all that is expected but there is no Rule no Proportion in rewarding Kindnesses where Men do not traffick for Kindnesses which is thought the most sordid Spirit in the World the least external expression of kindness we can shew may have the greatest return and no Man blames prodigality or excess in such returns And thus it is here our Saviour rewards our Kindness not our Work and that makes such a vast disproportion between the Work and the Reward between some few Acts of kindness done to Men and the Eternal Glories of the Kingdom of God No Works we can do can deserve such a Reward but when Christ rewards our Kindness not our Works the Reward must bear proportion to his own Grace not to our Deserts he may reward as liberally as he pleases for when the Reward is of Grace not of Debt no Reward can be too great for infinite Grace to bestow though it may be too great for our Works to deserve But this still convinces us that Heaven cannot be the Merit of our Works but the Reward of our Charity Works have a stinted Merit and the best Actions we can do cannot merit Heaven but Grace may reward Charity as it pleases and nothing but Charity has any Title to the Rewards of Grace which justifies our Saviour's account of the Future Judgment which assigns no other reason of bestowing Heaven upon good Men but only their Charity for Works bear no proportion to such a Reward and Grace can reward nothing but Charity all our Acts of Kindness to Men out of Love to God and our Saviour Christ. All the expressions of our Love to God and our Saviour Christ may be rewarded by Grace as we reward the Kindnesses which are shewn to us without
whom he hath ordained whereof he hath given assurance unto all men in that he hath raised him from the dead 17 Acts 30 31. While Men were ignorant of the other World or had only some uncertain Reports of it mixed with fabulous Stories to increase and nourish Superstition their wickedness was very pitiable and shall meet with a more favourable Judgment but we can now pretend Ignorance no longer and therefore now God commands us to repent Upon this Principle it is that our Saviour upbraided those cities wherein most of his mighty works were done because they repented not Woe unto thee Chorazin woe unto thee Bethsaida for if the mighty works which have been done in you had been done in Tyre and Sidon they would have repented long ago in sackcloth and ashes but I say unto you it shall be more tolerable for Tyre and Sidon in the day of Iudgment than for you And thou Capernaum who art exalted unto heaven shalt be brought down to hell for if the mighty works which have been done in thee had been done in Sodom it would have remained until this day but I say unto you that it shall be more tolerable for the land of Sodom in the day of judgment than for thee 11 Mat. 20 21 22 23. Those mighty Works our Saviour wrought in these Cities were such powerful Convictions as rendred their Infidelity inexcusable and that aggravated their Condemnation And for the same reason our Saviour threatens that unbelieving Generation who saw all his mighty Works and heard his admirable Wisdom which was so much beyond whatever was seen or heard before The men of Niniveh shall rise in judgment against this generation and shall condemn it because they repented at the preaching of Ionas and behold a greater than Ionas is here The Queen of the South shall rise up in the judgment with this generation and shall condemn it for she came from the uttermost parts of the earth to hear the wisdom of Solomon and behold a greater than Solomon is here 12 Luke 41 42. The greater the Preacher is the greater Works he does and the greater Evidence he gives of his Divine Authority still the guilt and condemnation proportionably increases and then the Infidelity of those who live in a Christian Nation and the Wickedness of professed Believers who have so much greater certainty of the Rewards and Punishments of the next World than either Chorazin or Bethsaida or Capernaum then had exceeds them all and their Punishments will proportionably exceed Thus the Gospel has fully acquainted us with the whole Dispensation of Grace in the Redemption of the World by our Lord Jesus Christ That God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten son that whosoever believes in him should not perish but have everlasting life 3 John 16. That Christ gave himself for us to redeem us from all iniquity and to purifie to himself a peculiar people zealous of good works 2 Tit. 14. That he has made atonement for our sins by his Blood That herein God hath commended his love towards us that while we were yet sinners Christ died for us that when we were yet enemies we were reconciled to God by the death of his son 5 Rom. 8.10 And we know the grace of our Lord Iesus Christ that though he was rich yet for our sakes he became poor that we through his poverty might be rich 2 Cor. 8 9. Here is a new Scene of Grace and Love opened which the World was unacquainted with before which presents us with new Arguments and lays new Obligations on us to serve God Arguments and Obligations so endearing so powerful that one would think Human Nature could not resist them could not get loose from them If we will not reverence the Authority of God yet how can we resist his Love If it be not enough to entitle God to our Service that he made us shall we deny his Purchase too When he has bought us with a price the inestimable Blood of his own Son Ought not the love of Christ to constrain us Could he do any thing more for us than redeem us from Death and Hell Could he redeem us at a dearer rate than with his own Blood When he could get nothing by it but the pleasure and satisfaction of making us happy and the glory of being the Saviour of Sinners It is a reproach to Humane Nature to think that such Love as this should not convert the World and subdue Mankind to the Obedience of God It is plain this gives God a greater Right to us than meer Creation and therefore gives every sin of Christians a double guilt if Heathens sinned against their Maker Christians sin against their Maker and their Saviour too And to sin against Love against suffering redeeming forgiving saving Love is a very different thing from sinning against Authority We may call it folly or madness to disobey our Soveraign Lord who can and will punish our Disobedience but to abuse to affront to grieve Love is not the sin of Men though too many Men are guilty of it but of a diabolical Nature I have nothing to say of it but that it is the greatest provocation in the World and all Men think so and thus much worse the sins of Christians are than the sins of Heathens But the Love of God and the Grace of Christ are not the only motives and arguments which our Redemption by the Death of Christ furnishes us with but there are a great many other and such powerful ones as must greatly aggravate our guilt to sin against them There is not a greater preservation against sin than to have a just sense of the Evil of it and a thorough Conviction of God's irreconcileable hatred and displeasure against it and that he will certainly punish it Now indeed Nature does in some measure teach this the Reason of Mankind condemns it Modesty preserves us from some sins Natural Aversions from others till both the Modesty and Aversions of Nature are conquered by a Custom of sinning but then on the other hand the inclinations of Flesh and Blood very strongly tempt us to some sins which are very grateful to Flesh and Blood and to other sins to gain opportunities to gratifie those inclâ—â—ations and when Men taste the sweets of sin and find the present advantages of it this bribes their Reason to speak more favourably of it and to attribute the shame and aversions of Nature to Education and Popular mistakes Thus though men have a natural Sense of God's displeasure against sin and natural Conscience threatens the Judgments of God against sinners yet the experience of the World tells us that most Men flatter themselves that God may be appeased and reconciled to them without forsaking their sins not only the Heathens but even Iews themselves thought this might be done by their sacrifices and the other external rites and ceremonies of their Religion as appears from the frequent complaints of