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The Final Judgment
by Jonathan Edwards
Or
The World Judged Righteously by Jesus Christ
Acts 17:31, "Because he hath appointed a day, in the which he will judge
the world in righteousness by that man whom he hath ordained."
INTRODUCTION
Subject: God hath appointed a day in which he will judge the world in
righteousness by Jesus Christ.
THESE words are a part of the speech which Paul made in Mars’ hill, a
place of concourse of the judges and learned men of Athens. Athens was
the principal city of that part of Greece which was formerly a common
wealth by itself, and was the most noted place in the whole world for
learning, philosophy, and human wisdom, And it continued so for many
ages, till at length the Romans having conquered Greece, its renown from
that time began to diminish. And Rome having borrowed learning of it,
began to rival it in science, and in the polite and civil arts. However,
it was still very famous in the days of Christ and the apostles, and was
a place of concourse for wise and learned men.
Therefore, when Paul came thither, and began to preach concerning Jesus
Christ, a man who had lately been crucified at Jerusalem (as in Acts
17:18), the philosophers thronged about him, to hear what he had to say.
The strangeness of his doctrine excited their curiosity, for they spent
their time in endeavoring to find out new things, and valued themselves
greatly upon their being the authors of new discoveries, as we are
informed in Acts 17:21. They despised his doctrine in their hearts, and
esteemed it very ridiculous, calling the apostle a babbler. For the
preaching of Christ crucified was to the Greeks foolishness, 1 Cor.
1:23, yet the Epicurean and Stoic philosophers, two different sects, had
a mind to hear what the babbler had to say.
Upon this Paul rises up in the midst of them, and makes a speech. And as
he speaks to philosophers and men of learning, he speaks quite
differently from his common mode of address. There is evidently, in his
discourse, a greater depth of thought, more philosophical reasoning, and
a more elevated style, than are to be found in his ordinary discourses
to common men. His speech is such as was likely to draw the attention
and gain the assent of philosophers. He shows himself to be no babbler,
but a man who could offer such reason, as they, however they valued
themselves upon their wisdom, were not able to gainsay. His practice
here is agreeable to what he saith of himself, 1 Cor. 9:22, “that he
became all things to all men, that he might by all means save some.” He
not only to the weak became as weak, that he might gain the weak, but to
the wise he became as wise, that he might gain the wise.
In the first place, he reasons with them concerning their worship of
idols. He declares to them the true God, and points out how unreasonable
it is to suppose, that he delights in such superstitious worship. He
begins with this, because they were most likely to hearken to it, as
being so evidently agreeable to the natural light of human reason, and
also agreeable to what some of their own poets and philosophers had said
(Acts 17:28). He begins not immediately to tell them about Jesus Christ,
his dying for sinners, and his resurrection from the dead. But first
draws their attention with that to which they were more likely to
hearken. And then, having thus introduced himself, he proceeds to speak
concerning Jesus Christ.
He tells them, the times of this ignorance concerning the true God, in
which they had hitherto been, God winked at. He suffered the world to
lie in heathenish darkness. But now the appointed time was come, when he
expected men should everywhere repent, “because he had appointed a day,
in the which he will judge the world in righteousness by that man whom
he hath ordained.” As an enforcement to the duty of turning to God from
their ignorance, superstition, and idolatry, the apostle brings in this,
that God had appointed such a day of judgment. And as a proof of this he
brings the resurrection Christ from the dead.
Concerning the words of the text, we may observe,
That in them the apostle speaks of the general judgment: He will judge
the WORLD. — The time when this shall be, on the appointed day: He hath
appointed a day. — How the world is to be judged: In righteousness. —
The man by whom it is to be judged: Christ Jesus whom God raised from
the dead.
DOCTRINE
There is a day coming in which there will be a general righteous
judgment of the whole world by Jesus Christ.
In speaking upon this subject, I shall show, That God is the Supreme
Judge of the world. That there is a time coming, when God will, in the
most public and solemn manner, judge the whole world. That the person by
whom he will judge it is Jesus Christ. That the transactions of that day
will be greatly interesting and truly awful. That all shall be done in
righteousness. And finally, I shall take notice of those things which
shall be immediately consequent upon the judgment.
SECTION I
God is the supreme judge of the world.
I. God is so by right. He is by right the supreme and absolute ruler and
disposer of all things, both in the natural and moral world. The
rational understanding part of the creation is indeed subject to a
different sort of government from that to which irrational creatures are
subject. God governs the sun, moon, and stars. He governs even the motes
of dust which fly in the air. Not a hair of our heads falleth to the
ground without our heavenly Father. God also governs the brute
creatures. By his providence, he orders, according to his own decrees,
all events concerning those creatures. And rational creatures are
subject to the same sort of government. All their actions, *1* and all
events relating to them, being ordered by superior providence, according
to absolute decrees so that no event that relates to them ever happens
without the disposal of God, according to his own decrees. The rule of
this government is God’s wise decree, and nothing else.
But rational creatures, because they are intelligent and voluntary
agents, are the subjects of another kind of government. They are so only
with respect to those of their actions, in which they are causes by
counsel, or with respect to their voluntary actions. The government of
which I now speak is called moral government, and consists in two
things, in giving laws, and in judging.
God is, with respect to this sort of government, by right the sovereign
ruler of the world. He is possessed of this right by reason of his
infinite greatness and excellency, by which he merits, and is perfectly
and solely fit for, the office of supreme ruler. He that is so excellent
as to be infinitely worthy of the highest respect of the creature, has
thereby a right to that respect. He deserves it by a merit of
condignity, so that it is injustice to deny it to him. And he that is
perfectly wise and true, and is only so regarded, has a right in
everything to be regarded, and to have his determinations attended to
and obeyed.
God has also a right to the character of supreme ruler, by reason of the
absolute dependence of every creature on him. All creatures, and
rational creatures no less than other, are wholly derived from him, and
every moment are wholly dependent upon him for being, and for all good,
so that they are properly his possession. And as, by virtue of this, he
has a right to give his creatures whatever rules of conduct he pleases,
or whatever rules are agreeable to his own wisdom. So the mind and will
of the creature ought to be entirely conformed to the nature and will of
the Creator, and to the rules he gives, that are expressive of it.
For the same reason, he has a right to judge their actions and conduct,
and to fulfill the sanction of his law. He who has an absolute and
independent right to give laws, has evermore the same right to judge
those to whom the laws are given. It is absolutely necessary that there
should be a judge of reasonable creatures. And sanctions, or rewards and
punishments, annexed to rules of conduct are necessary to the being of
laws. A person may instruct another without sanctions, but not give
laws. However, these sanctions themselves are vain, are as good as none,
without a judge to determine the execution of them. As God has a right
to be judge, so has he a right to be the supreme judge. And none has a
right to reverse his judgments, to receive appeals from him, or to say
to him, Why judgest thou thus?
II. God is, in fact the supreme judge of the world. He has power
sufficient to vindicate his own right. As he has a right which cannot be
disputed, so he has power which cannot be controlled. He is possessed of
omnipotence, wherewith to maintain his dominion over the world. And he
does maintain his dominion in the moral as well as the natural world.
Men may refuse subjection to God as a lawgiver. They may shake off the
yoke of his laws by rebellion. Yet they cannot withdraw themselves from
his judgment. Although they will not have God for their lawgiver, yet
they shall have him for their judge. The strongest of creatures can do
nothing to control God, or to avoid him while acting in his judicial
capacity. He is able to bring them to his judgment-seat, and is also
able to execute the sentence which he shall pronounce.
There was once a notable attempt made by opposition of power entirely to
shake off the yoke of the moral government of God, both as lawgiver, and
as judge. This attempt was made by the angels, the most mighty of
creatures. But they miserably failed in it. God notwithstanding acted as
their judge in casting those proud spirits out of heaven, and binding
them in chains of darkness unto a further judgment, and a further
execution. “God is wise in heart and mighty in strength; who hath
hardened himself against him, and hath prospered?” Job 9:4. Wherein the
enemies of God deal proudly, he is above them. He ever has acted as
judge in bestowing what rewards, and inflicting what punishments, he
pleased on the children of men. And so he does still. He is daily
fulfilling the promises and threatenings of the law, in disposing of the
souls of the children of men, and so be evermore will act.
God acts as judge towards the children of men more especially,
First, in man’s particular judgment at death. Then the sentence is
executed, and the reward bestowed in part; which is not done without a
judgment. The soul, when it departs from the body, appears before God to
be disposed of by him, according to his law. But by this appearing
before God, to be judged at death, we need understand no more than this,
that the soul is made immediately sensible of the presence of God, God
manifesting himself immediately to the soul, with the glory and majesty
of a judge, that the sins of the wicked and the righteousness of the
saints are brought by God to the view of their consciences, so that they
know the reason of the sentence given, and their consciences are made to
testify to the justice of it. And that thus the will of God for the
fulfillment of the law, in their reward or punishment, is made known to
them and executed. This is undoubtedly done at every man’s death.
Second, in the great and general judgment, when all men shall together
appear before the judgment-seat to be judged, and which judgment will be
much more solemn, and the sanctions of the law will to a further degree
be fulfilled. — But this brings me to another branch of the subject.
SECTION II
That there is a time coming when God will, in the most public and solemn
manner, judge the whole world of mankind.
The doctrine of a general judgment is not sufficiently discoverable by
the light of nature. Indeed some of the heathens had some obscure
notions concerning a future judgment. But the light of nature, or mere
unassisted reason, was not sufficient to instruct the world of fallen
men in this doctrine. It is one of the peculiar doctrines of revelation,
a doctrine of the gospel of Jesus Christ. There were indeed some hints
of it in the Old Testament, as in Psa. 96:13, “The Lord cometh to judge
the world with righteousness, and his people with his truth.” And Ecc.
12:14, “For God will bring every work into judgment, with every secret
thing, whether it be good, or whether it be evil.” And in some other
such like passages. But this doctrine is with abundantly the greatest
clearness revealed in the New Testament. There we have it frequently and
particularly declared and described with its circumstances.
However, although it be a doctrine of revelation, and be brought to
light by the gospel, the brightest and most glorious revelation that God
has given to the world; yet it is a doctrine which is entirely agreeable
to reason, and of which reason gives great confirmation. That there will
be a time before the dissolution of the world, when the inhabitants of
it shall stand before God and give an account of their conduct; and that
God will in a public manner, by a general and just judgment, set all
things to rights respecting their moral behavior, is a doctrine entirely
agreeable to reason. Which I shall now endeavor to make appear. But I
would premise that what we would inquire into is not whether all mankind
shall be judged by God. For that is a thing that the light of nature
clearly teaches, and we have already spoken something of it. But whether
it be rational to think that there will be a public judgment of all
mankind together. This I think will appear very rational from the
following considerations.
I. Such a judgment will be a more glorious display of God’s majesty and
dominion. It will be more glorious because it will be more open, public,
and solemn. — Although God now actually exercises the most sovereign
dominion over the earth, although he reigns and does all things
according to his own will, ordering all events as seemeth to himself
good, and although he is actually judge in the earth, continually
disposing of men’s souls according to their works; yet he rules after a
more hidden and secret manner, insomuch that it is common among the
proud sons of men to refuse acknowledging his dominion. Wicked men
question the very existence of a God, who taketh care of the world, who
ordereth the affairs of it, and judgeth in it. And therefore they cast
off the fear of him. Many of the kings and great men of the earth do not
suitably acknowledge the God who is above them, but seem to look upon
themselves as supreme, and therefore tyrannize over mankind, as if they
were in no wise accountable for their conduct. There have been, and now
are, many atheistical persons, who acknowledge not God’s moral dominion
over mankind. And therefore they throw off the yoke of his laws and
government. And how great a part of the world is there now, and has
there always been, that has not acknowledged that the government of the
world belongs to the God of Israel, or to the God of Christians, but has
paid homage to other imaginary deities, as though they were their
sovereign lords and supreme judges. Over how great a part of the world
has Satan usurped the dominion, and set up himself for God, in
opposition to the true God!
Now, how agreeable to reason is it, that God, in the winding up of
things, when the present state of mankind shall come to a conclusion,
should in the most open and public manner, manifest his dominion over
the inhabitants of the earth, by bringing them all, high and low, rich
and poor, kings and subjects, together before him to be judged with
respect to all that they ever did in the world! That he should thus
openly discover his dominion in this world, where his authority has been
so much questioned, denied, and proudly opposed! That however God be not
now visibly present upon earth, disposing and judging in that visible
manner that earthly kings do. Yet at the conclusion of the world he
should make his dominion visible to all, and with respect to all
mankind, so that every eye shall see him, and even they who have denied
him shall find, that God is supreme Lord of them, and of the whole
world!
II. The end of judgment will be more fully answered by a public and
general, than only by a particular and private, judgment. The end for
which there is any judgment at all is to display and glorify the
righteousness of God; which end is more fully accomplished by calling
men to an account, bringing their actions to the trial, and determining
their state according to them, the whole world, both angels and men,
being present to behold, than if the same things should be done in a
more private way. At the day of judgment there will be the most glorious
display of the justice of God that ever was made. Then God will appear
to be entirely righteous towards everyone. The justice of all his moral
government will on that day be at once discovered. Then all objections
will be removed. The conscience of every man shall be satisfied. The
blasphemies of the ungodly will be forever put to silence, and argument
will be given for the saints and angels to praise God forever: Rev.
19:1, 2, “And after these things I heard a great voice of much people in
heaven, saying, Alleluia; salvation, and glory, and honour, and power be
to the Lord our God: for true and righteous are his judgments.”
III. It is very agreeable to reason, that the irregularities which are
so open and manifest in the world, should, when the world comes to an
end, be publicly rectified by the supreme governor. The infinitely wise
God, who made this world to be a habitation for men, and placed mankind
to dwell here, and has appointed man his end and work, must take care of
the order and good government for the world, which he has thus made. He
is not regardless how things proceed here on earth. It would be a
reproach to his wisdom, and to the perfect rectitude of his nature, to
suppose so. This world is a world for confusion. It has been filled with
irregularity and confusion ever since the fall. And the irregularities
of it are not only private, relating to the actions of particular
persons, but states, kingdoms, nations, churches, cities, and all
societies of men in all ages, have been full of public irregularities.
The affairs of the world, so far as they are in the hands of men, are
carried on in the most irregular and confused manner.
Though justice sometimes takes place, yet how often do injustice,
cruelty, and oppression prevail! How often are the righteous condemned,
and the wicked acquitted and rewarded! How common is it for the virtuous
and pious to be depressed, and the wicked to be advanced! How many
thousands of the best men have suffered intolerable cruelties, merely
for their virtue and piety, and in this world have had no help, no
refuge to fly to! The world is very much ruled by the pride,
covetousness, and passions of men. Solomon takes much notice of such
like irregularities in the present state (in his book of Ecclesiastes),
hereby he shows the vanity of the world.
Now, how reasonable is it to suppose, that God, when he shall come and
put an end to the present state of mankind, will in an open, public
manner, the whole world being present, rectify all these disorders! And
that he will bring all things to a trial by a general judgment, in order
that those who have been oppressed may be delivered; that the righteous
cause may be pleaded and vindicated, and wickedness, which has been
approved, honored, and rewarded, may receive its due disgrace and
punishment; that the proceedings of kings and earthly judges may be
inquired into by him, whose eyes are as a flame of fire; and that the
public actions of men may be publicly examined and recompensed according
to their desert! How agreeable is it to divine wisdom thus to order
things, and how worthy of the supreme governor of the world!
IV. By a public and general judgment, God more fully accomplishes the
reward he designs for the godly, and punishment he designs for the
wicked. One part of the reward which God intends for his saints, is the
honor which he intends to bestow upon them. He will honor them in the
most public and open manner, before the angels, before all mankind, and
before them that hated them. And it is most suitable that it should be
so. It is suitable that those holy, humble souls, that have been hated
by wicked men, have been cruelly treated and put to shame by them, and
who have been haughtily domineered over, should be openly acquitted,
commended, and crowned, before all the world.
So one part of the punishment of the ungodly will be the open shame and
disgrace which they shall suffer. Although many of them have proudly
lifted up their heads in this world, have had a very high thought of
themselves, and have obtained outward honor among men; yet God will put
them to open shame, by showing all their wickedness and moral filthiness
before the whole assembly of angels and men, by manifesting his
abhorrence of them, in placing them upon his left hand, among devils and
foul spirits, and by turning them away into the most loathsome, as well
as most dreadful, pit of hell, to dwell there forever. — Which ends may
be much more fully accomplished in a general, than in a particular
judgment.
SECTION III
The world will be judged by Jesus Christ.
The person by whom God will judge the world is Jesus Christ, God-man.
The second person in the Trinity, that same person of whom we read in
our Bibles, who was born of the Virgin Mary, lived in Galilee and Judea,
and was at last crucified without the gates of Jerusalem, will come to
judge the world both in his divine and human nature, in the same human
body that was crucified, and rose again, and ascended up into heaven.
Acts 1:11, “This same Jesus that is taken up from you into heaven, shall
come in like manner, as ye have seen him go into heaven.” It will be his
human nature which will then be seen by the bodily eyes of men. However,
his divine nature, which is united to the human, will then also be
present. And it will be by the wisdom of that divine nature that Christ
will see and judge.
Here naturally arises an inquiry, Why is Christ appointed to judge the
world rather than the Father or the Holy Ghost? We cannot pretend to
know all the reasons of the divine dispensations. God is not obliged to
give us an account of them. But so much may we learn by divine
revelation, as to discover marvelous wisdom in what he determines and
orders with respect to this matter. We learn,
I. That God seeth fit, that he who is in the human nature, should be the
judge of those who are of the human nature. John 5:27, “And hath given
him authority to execute judgment also, because he is the Son of man.”
Seeing there is one of the persons of the Trinity united to the human
nature, God chooses, in all his transactions with mankind, to transact
by him. He did so of old, in his discoveries of himself to the
patriarchs, in giving the law, in leading the children of Israel through
the wilderness, and in the manifestations he made of himself in the
tabernacle and temple. When, although Christ was not actually incarnate,
yet he was so in design, it was ordained and agreed in the covenant of
redemption, that he should become incarnate. And since the incarnation
of Christ, God governs both the church and the world by Christ. So he
will also at the end judge the world by him. All men shall be judged by
God, and yet at the same time by one invested with their own nature.
God seeth fit, that those who have bodies, as all mankind will have at
the day of judgment, should see their judge with their bodily eyes, and
hear him with their bodily ears. If one of the other persons of the
Trinity had been appointed to be judge, there must have been some
extraordinary outward appearance made on purpose to be a token of the
divine presence, as it was of old, before Christ was incarnate. But now
there is no necessity of that. Now one of the persons of the Trinity is
actually incarnate, so that God by him may appear to bodily eyes without
any miraculous visionary appearance.
II. Christ has this honor of being the judge of the world given him, as
a suitable reward for his sufferings. This is a part of Christ’s
exaltation. The exaltation of Christ is given him in reward for his
humiliation and sufferings. This was stipulated in the covenant of
redemption. And we are expressly told, it was given him in reward for
his sufferings, Phil. 2:8-12, “And being found in fashion as a man, he
humbled himself, and became obedient unto death, even the death of the
cross. Wherefore God also hath highly exalted him, and given him a name
which is above every name: that at the name of Jesus every knee should
bow, of things in heaven, and things in earth, and things under the
earth; and that every tongue should confess, that Jesus Christ is Lord,
to the glory of God the Father.”
God seeth meet, that he who appeared in such a low estate amongst
mankind, without form or comeliness, having his divine glory veiled,
should appear amongst men a second time, in his own proper majesty and
glory, without a veil. To the end that those who saw him here at the
first, as a poor, frail man, not having where to lay his head, subject
to much hardship and affliction, may see him the second time in power
and great glory, invested with the glory and dignity of the absolute
Lord of heaven and earth. And that he who once tabernacled with men, and
was despised and rejected of them, may have the honor of arraigning all
men before his throne, and judging them with respect to their eternal
state! John 5:21-24.
God seeth meet that he who was once arraigned before the judgment-seat
of men, and was there most vilely treated, being mocked, spitted upon,
and condemned, and who was at last crucified, should be rewarded, by
having those very persons brought to his tribunal, that they may see him
in glory, and be confounded. And that he may have the disposal of them
for all eternity. As Christ said to the high priest while arraigned
before him, Mat. 26:64, “Hereafter ye shall see the Son of man sitting
on the right hand of power, and coming in the clouds of heaven.”
III. It is needful that Christ should be the judge of the world, in
order that he may finish the work of redemption. It is the will of God,
that he who is the redeemer of the world should be a complete redeemer;
and that therefore he should have the whole work of redemption left in
his hands. Now, the redemption of fallen man consists not merely in the
impetration of redemption, by obeying the divine law, and making
atonement for sinners, or in preparing the way for their salvation, but
it consists in a great measure, and is actually fulfilled, in converting
sinners to the knowledge and love of the truth, in carrying them on in
the way of grace and true holiness through life, and in finally raising
their bodies to life, in glorifying them, in pronouncing the blessed
sentence upon them, in crowning them with honor and glory in the sight
of men and angels, and in completing and perfecting their reward. Now,
it is necessary that Christ should do this, in order to his finishing
the work which he has begun. Raising the saints from the dead, judging
them, and fulfilling the sentence is part of their salvation. And
therefore it was necessary that Christ should be appointed judge of the
world, in order that he might finish his work (John 6:39, 40, chap.
5:25-31). The redemption of the bodies of the saints is part of the work
of redemption; the resurrection to life is called a redemption of their
bodies (Rom. 8:23).
It is the will of God, that Christ himself should have the fulfilling of
that for which he died, and for which he suffered so much. Now, the end
for which he suffered and died was the complete salvation of his people.
And this shall be obtained at the last judgment, and not before.
Therefore it was necessary that Christ be appointed judge, in order that
he himself might fully accomplish the end for which he had both suffered
and died. When Christ had finished his appointed sufferings, God did, as
it were, put the purchased inheritance into his hands, to be kept for
believers, and be bestowed upon them at the day of judgment.
IV. It was proper that he who is appointed king of the church should
rule till he should have put all his enemies under his feet. In order to
which, he must be the judge of his enemies, as well as of his people.
One of the offices of Christ, as redeemer, is that of a king. He is
appointed king of the church and head over all things to the church. And
in order that his kingdom be complete, and design of his reign be
accomplished, he must conquer all his enemies, and then he will deliver
up the kingdom to the Father. 1 Cor. 15:24, 25, “Then cometh the end,
when he shall have delivered up the kingdom to God, even the Father;
when he shall have put down all rule, and all authority and power. For
he must reign till he hath put all enemies under his feet.” Now, when
Christ shall have brought his enemies, who had denied, opposed, and
rebelled against him, to his judgment-seat, and shall have passed and
executed sentence upon them, this will be a final and complete victory
over them, a victory which shall put an end to the war. And it is proper
that he who at present reigns and is carrying on the war against those
who are of the opposite kingdom, should have the honor of obtaining the
victory, and finishing the war.
V. It is for the abundant comfort of the saints that Christ is appointed
to be their judge. The covenant of grace, with all its circumstances,
and all those events to which it has relation, is every way so contrived
of God, as to give strong consolation to believers: for God designed the
gospel for a glorious manifestation of his grace to them. And therefore
everything in it is so ordered, as to manifest the most grace and mercy.
Now, it is for the abundant consolation of the saints, that their own
Redeemer is appointed to be their judge. That the same person who
spilled his blood for them has the determination of their state left
with him, so that they need not doubt but that they shall have what he
was at so much cost to procure.
What matter of joy to them will it be at the last day, to lift up their
eyes, and behold the person in whom they have trusted for salvation, to
whom they have fled for refuge, upon whom they have built as their
foundation for eternity, and whose voice they have often heard, inviting
them to himself for protection and safety, coming to judge them.
VI. That Christ is appointed to be the judge of the world will be for
the more abundant conviction of the ungodly. It will be for their
conviction that they are judged and condemned by that very person whom
they have rejected, by whom they might have been saved, who shed his
blood to give them an opportunity to be saved, who was wont to offer his
righteousness to them, when they were in their state of trial, and who
many a time called and invited them to come to him, that they might be
saved. How justly will they be condemned by him whose salvation they
have rejected, whose blood they have despised, whose many calls they
have refused, and whom they have pierced by their sins!
How much will it be for their conviction, when they shall hear the
sentence of condemnation pronounced, to reflect with themselves, how
often has this same person, who now passes sentence of condemnation upon
me, called me, in his word, and by his messengers, to accept of him, and
to give myself to him! How often has he knocked at the door of my heart!
and had it not been for my own folly and obstinacy, how might I have had
him for my Savior, who is now my incensed Judge!
SECTION IV
Christ’s coming, the resurrection, the judgment prepared, the books
opened, the sentence pronounced and executed.
I. CHRIST Jesus will, in a most magnificent manner, descend from heaven
with all the holy angels. The man Christ Jesus is now in the heaven of
heavens, or, as the apostle expresses it, far above all heavens, Eph.
4:10. And there he has been ever since his ascension, being there
enthroned in glory, in the midst of millions of angels and blessed
spirits. But when the time appointed for the day of judgment shall have
come, notice of it will be given in those happy regions, and Christ will
descend to the earth, attended with all those heavenly hosts, in a most
solemn, awful, and glorious manner. Christ will come with divine
majesty, he will come in the glory of the Father, Mat. 16:27, “For the
Son of man shall come in the glory of his Father, with his angels..”
We can now conceive but little of the holy and awful magnificence in
which Christ will appear, as he shall come in the clouds of heaven, or
of the glory of his retinue. How mean and despicable, in comparison with
it, is the most splendid appearance that earthly princes can make! A
glorious visible light will shine round about him, and the earth, with
all nature, will tremble at his presence. How vast and innumerable will
that host be which will appear with him! Heaven will be for the time
deserted of its inhabitants.
We may argue the glory of Christ’s appearance, from his appearance at
other times. When he appeared in transfiguration, his face did shine as
the sun, and his raiment was white as the light. The apostle Peter long
after spoke of this appearance in magnificent terms, 2 Pet. 1:16, 17,
“We were eye-witnesses of his majesty; for he received from God the
Father honour and glory, when there came such a voice to him from the
excellent glory.” And his appearance to St. Paul at his conversion, and
to St. John, as related in Rev. 1:13 etc. were very grand and
magnificent. But we may conclude, that his appearance at the day of
judgment will be vastly more so than either of these, as the occasion
will be so much greater. We have good reason to think, that our nature,
in the present frail state, could not bear the appearance of the majesty
in which he will then be seen.
We may argue the glory of his appearance, from the appearances of some
of the angels to men, as of the angel that appeared at Christ’s
sepulcher, after his resurrection, Mat. 28:3, “His countenance was like
lightning, and his raiment white as snow.” The angels will doubtless all
of them make as glorious an appearance at the of judgment, as ever any
of them have made on former occasions. How glorious, then, will be the
retinue of Christ, made up of so many thousands of such angels! And how
much more glorious will Christ, the judge himself, appear, than those
his attendants! Doubtless their God will appear immensely more glorious
than they.
Christ will thus descend into our air, to such a distance from the
surface of the earth, that everyone, when all shall be gathered
together, shall see him, Rev. 1:7, “Behold, he cometh with clouds, and
every eye shall see him.”
Christ will make this appearance suddenly, and to the great surprise of
the inhabitants of the earth. It is therefore compared to a cry at
midnight, by which men are wakened in a great surprise.
II. At the sound of the last trumpet, the dead shall rise, and the
living shall be changed. As soon as Christ is descended, the last
trumpet shall sound, as a notification to all mankind to appear. At
which mighty sound shall the dead be immediately raised, and the living
changed. 1 Cor. 15:52, “For the trumpet shall sound, and the dead shall
be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed.” Mat. 24:31, “And he
shall send his angels with a great sound of a trumpet.” 1 Thes. 4:16,
“For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the
voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God.” There will be some
great and remarkable signal given for the rising of the dead, which it
seems will be some mighty sound, caused by the angels of God, who shall
attend on Christ.
Upon this all the dead shall rise from their graves. All, both small and
great, who shall have lived upon earth since the foundation of the
world, those who died before the flood, and those who were drowned in
the flood, all that have died since that time, and that shall die to the
end of the world. There will be a great moving upon the face of the
earth, and in the water, in bringing bone to his bone, in opening
graves, and bringing together all the scattered particles of dead
bodies. The earth shall give up the dead that are in it, and the sea
shall give up the dead that are in it.
However the parts of the bodies of many are divided and scattered;
however many have been burnt, and their bodies have been turned to ashes
and smoke, and driven to the four winds; however many have been eaten of
wild beasts, of the fowls of heaven, and the fishes of the sea; however
many have consumed away upon the face of the earth, and great part of
their bodies have ascended in exhalations; yet the all-wise and
all-powerful God can immediately bring every part to his part again.
Of this vast multitude some shall rise to life, and others to
condemnation. John 5:28, 29, “All that are in the graves shall hear his
voice, and shall come forth, they that have done good, unto the
resurrection of life; and they that have done evil, unto the
resurrection of damnation.”
When the bodies are prepared, the departed souls shall again enter into
their bodies, and be re-united to them, never more to be separated. The
souls of the wicked shall be brought up out of hell, though not out of
misery, and shall very unwillingly enter into their bodies, which will
be but eternal prisons to them. Rev. 20:13, “And death and hell
delivered up the dead that were in them.” They shall lift their eyes
full of the utmost amazement and horror to see their awful Judge. And
perhaps the bodies with which they shall be raised will be most filthy
and loathsome, thus properly corresponding to the inward, moral
turpitude of their souls.
The souls of the righteous shall descend from heaven together with
Christ and his angels: 1 Thes. 4:14, “Them also which sleep in Jesus
will God bring with him.” They also shall be re-united to their bodies,
that they may be glorified with them. They shall receive their bodies
prepared by God to be mansions of pleasure to all eternity. They shall
be every way fitted for the uses, the exercises, and delights of
perfectly holy and glorified souls. They shall be clothed with a
superlative beauty, similar to that of Christ’s glorious body. Phil.
3:21, “Who shall change our vile body, that it may be fashioned like
unto his glorious body.” Their bodies shall rise incorruptible, no more
liable to pain or disease, and with an extraordinary vigor and vivacity,
like that of those spirits that are as a flame of fire. 1 Cor. 15:43,
44, “It is sown in dishonour, it is raised in glory: it is sown in
weakness, it is raised in power: it is sown a natural body, it is raised
a spiritual body.” With what joy will the souls and bodies of the saints
meet, and with what joy will they lift their heads out of their graves
to behold the glorious sight of the appearing of Christ! And it will be
a glorious sight to see those saints arising out of their graves,
putting off their corruption, and putting on incorruption and glory.
At the same time, those that shall then be alive upon the earth shall be
changed. Their bodies shall pass through a great change, in a moment, in
the twinkling of an eye. 1 Cor. 15:51, 52, “Behold, I show you a great
mystery; We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed, in a
moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trump.” The bodies of
the wicked then living will be changed into such hideous things, as
shall be answerable to the loathsome souls that dwell in them, and such
as shall be prepared to receive and administer eternal torments without
dissolution. But the bodies of the righteous shall be changed into the
same glorious and immortal form in which those that shall be raised will
appear.
III. They shall all be brought to appear before Christ, the godly being
placed on the right hand, the wicked on the left; Mat. 25:31, 32, 33.
The wicked, however unwilling, however full of fear and horror, shall be
brought or driven before the judgment-seat. However they may try to hide
themselves, and for this purpose creep into dens caves of the mountains,
and cry to the mountains to fall on them, and hide them from the face of
him that sitteth on the throne, and from the wrath of the Lamb. Yet
there shall not one escape. To the judge they must come, and stand on
the left hand with devils. On the contrary, the righteous will be
joyfully conducted to Jesus Christ, probably by the angels. Their joy
will, as it were, give them wings to carry them thither. They will with
ecstasies and raptures of delight meet their friend and Savior, come
into his presence, and stand at his right hand.
Besides the one standing on the right hand and the other on the left,
there seems to be this difference between them that when the dead in
Christ shall be raised, they will all be caught up into the air, where
Christ shall be, and shall be there at his right hand during the
judgment, never more to set their feet on this earth. Whereas the wicked
shall be left standing on the earth, there to abide the judgment. 1 Thes.
4:16, 17, “The dead in Christ shall rise first; then we which are alive
and remain, shall be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet
the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord.”
And what a vast congregation will there be of all the men, women, and
children that shall have lived upon earth from the beginning to the end
of the world! Rev. 20:12, “And I saw the dead, small and great, stand
before God.”
IV. The next thing will be that the books shall be opened. Rev. 20:12,
“I saw the dead, great and small, stand before God; and the books were
opened.” Which books seem to be these two, the book of God’s
remembrance, and the book of Scripture. The former as the evidence of
their deeds which are to be judged, the latter as the rule of judgment.
The works both of the righteous and of the wicked will be brought forth
that they may be judged according to them, and those works will be tried
according to the appointed and written rule.
First, the works of both righteous and wicked will be rehearsed. The
book of God’s remembrance will be first opened. The various works of the
children of men are, as it were, written by God in a book of
remembrance. Mal. 3:16, “A book of remembrance was written before him.”
However ready ungodly men may be to make light of their own sins, and to
forget them; yet God never forgets any of them. Neither does God forget
any of the good works of the saints. If they give but a cup of cold
water with a spirit of charity, God remembers it.
The evil works of the wicked shall then be brought forth to light. They
must then hear of all their profaneness, their impenitence, their
obstinate unbelief, their abuse of ordinances, and various other sins.
The various aggravations of their sins will also be brought to view, as
how this man sinned after such and such warnings, that after the receipt
of such and such mercies; one after being so and so favored with outward
light, another after having been the subject of inward conviction,
excited by the immediate agency of God. Concerning these sins, they
shall be called to account to see what answer they can make for
themselves. Mat. 12:36, “But I say unto you, that every idle word that
men shall speak, they shall give account thereof in the day of
judgment.” Rom 14:12, “So then every one of us shall give account of
himself to God.”
The good works of the saints will also be brought forth as evidences of
their sincerity, and of their interest in the righteousness of Christ.
As to their evil works, they will not be brought forth against them on
that day. For the guilt of them will not lie upon them, they being
clothed with the righteousness of Jesus Christ. The Judge himself will
have taken the guilt of their sins upon him. Therefore their sins will
not stand against them in the book of God’s remembrance. The account of
them will appear to have been canceled before that time. The account
that will be found in God’s book will not be of debt, but of credit. God
cancels their debts, and sets down their good works, and is pleased, as
it were, to make himself a debtor for them, by his own gracious act.
Both good and bad will be judged according to their works. Rev. 20:12,
“And the dead were judged out of those things that were found written in
the books, according to their works.” And verse 13, “And they were
judged every man according to their works.” Though the righteous are
justified by faith, and not by their works, yet they shall be judged
according to their works. then works shall be brought forth as the
evidence of their of their faith. Their faith on that great day shall be
tried by its fruits. If the works of any man shall have been bad, if his
life shall appear to have been unchristian, that will condemn him,
without any further inquiry. But if his works, when they shall be
examined, prove good and of the right sort, he shall surely be
justified. They will be declared as a sure evidence of his having
believed in Jesus Christ, and of his being clothed with his
righteousness.
But by works we are to understand all voluntary exercises of the
faculties of the soul. As for instance, the words and conversation of
men, as well as what is done with their hands. Mat. 12:37, “By thy words
thou shalt be justified, and by thy words thou shalt be condemned.” Nor
are we to understand only outward acts, or the thoughts outwardly
expressed, but also the thoughts themselves, and all the inward workings
of the heart. Man judgeth according to the outward appearance, but God
judgeth the heart. Rev. 2:23, “I am he that searcheth the heart and the
reins, and I will give unto every one of you according to his works.”
Nor will only positive sins be brought into judgment, but also omissions
of duty, as is manifest by Mat. 25:42, etc. “For I was an hungred, and
ye gave me no meat; I was thirsty, and ye gave me no drink,” etc.
On that day secret and hidden wickedness will be brought to light. All
the uncleanness, injustice, and violence, of which men have been guilty
in secret, shall be manifest both to angels and men. Then it will be
made to appear, how this and that man have indulged themselves in wicked
imaginations, in lascivious, covetous, malicious, or impious desires and
wishes. And how others have harbored in their hearts enmity against God
and his law; also impenitency and unbelief, notwithstanding all the
means used with them, and motives set before them, to induce them to
repent, return, and live.
The good works of the saints also, which were done in secret, shall then
be made public, and even the pious and benevolent affections and designs
of their hearts, so that the real and secret characters of both saints
and sinners shall then be most clearly and publicly displayed.
Second, the book of Scripture will be opened, and the works of men will
be tried by that touchstone. Their works will be compared with the Word
of God. That which God gave men for the rule of their action while in
this life, shall then be made the rule of their judgment. God has told
us beforehand, what will be the rule of judgment. We are told in the
Scriptures upon what terms we shall be justified, and upon what terms we
shall be condemned. That which God has given us to be our rule in our
lives, he will make his own rule in judgment.
The rule of judgment will be twofold. The primary rule of judgment will
be the law. The law ever has stood, and ever will stand in force, as a
rule of judgment, for those to whom the law was given. Mat. 5:18, “For
verily I say unto you, Till heaven and earth pass, one jot or one tittle
shall in no wise pass from the law, till all be fulfilled.” The law will
so far be made the rule of judgment, that not one person at that day
shall by any means be justified or condemned, in a way inconsistent with
that which is established by the law. As to the wicked, the law will be
so far the rule of judgment respecting them, that the sentence denounced
against them will be the sentence of the law. The righteous will be so
far judged by the law, that although their sentence will not be the
sentence of the law, yet it will by no means be such a sentence as shall
be inconsistent with the law, but such as it allows. For it will be by
the righteousness of the law that they shall be justified.
It will be inquired concerning everyone, both righteous and wicked,
whether the law stands against him, or whether he has a fulfillment of
the law to show. As to the righteous, they will have fulfillment to
show. They will have it to plead, that the judge himself has fulfilled
the law for them. That he has both satisfied for their sins, and
fulfilled the righteousness of the law for them. Rom. 10:4, “Christ is
the end of the law for the righteousness to every one that believeth.”
But as to the wicked, when it shall be found, by the book of God’s
remembrance, that they have broken the law, and have no fulfillment of
it to plead, the sentence of the law shall be pronounced upon them.
A secondary rule of judgment will be the gospel, or the covenant of
grace, wherein it is said, “He that believeth shall be saved, and he
that believeth not shall be damned:” Rom. 2:16, “In the day when God
shall judge the secrets of men by Jesus Christ according to my gospel.”
By the gospel, of covenant of grace, eternal blessedness will be
adjudged to believers. When it shall be found that the law hinders not,
and that the curse and condemnation of the law stands not against them,
the reward of eternal life shall be given them, according to the
glorious gospel of Jesus Christ.
V. The sentence will be pronounced. Christ will say to the wicked on the
left hand, “Depart, ye cursed, into everlasting fire, prepared for the
devil and his angels.” How dreadful will these words of the judge be to
the poor, miserable, despairing wretches on the left hand! How amazing
will every syllable of them be! How will they pierce them to the soul!
These words show the greatest wrath and abhorrence. Christ will bid them
depart. He will send them away from his presence, will remove them
forever far out of his sight, into an everlasting separation from God,
as being most loathsome, and unfit to dwell in his presence, and enjoy
communion with him.
Christ will call them cursed. Depart, ye cursed, to whom everlasting
wrath and ruin belong, who are by your own wickedness prepared for
nothing else, but to be firebrands of hell, who are the fit objects and
vessels of the vengeance and fury of the Almighty. Into fire. He will
not send them away merely into a loathsome prison, the receptacle of the
filth and rubbish of the universe. But into a furnace of fire. That must
be their dwelling-place, there they must be tormented with the most
racking pain and anguish. It is everlasting fire. There is eternity in
the sentence, which infinitely aggravates the doom, and will make every
word of it immensely more dreadful, sinking, and amazing to the souls
that receive it. Prepared for the devil and his angels. This sets forth
the greatness and intenseness of the torments, as the preceding part of
the sentence does the duration. It shows the dreadfulness of that fire
to which they shall be condemned, that it is the same that is prepared
for the devils, those foul spirits and great enemies of God. Their
condition will be the same as that of the devils, in many respects;
particularly as they must burn in the fire forever.
This sentence will doubtless be pronounced in such an awful manner as
shall be a terrible manifestation of the wrath of the judge. There will
be divine, holy, and almighty wrath manifested in the countenance and
voice of the judge. And we know not what other manifestations of anger
will accompany the sentence. Perhaps it will be accompanied with
thunders and lightnings, far more dreadful than were on mount Sinai at
the giving of the law. Correspondent to these exhibitions of divine
wrath, will be the appearances of terror and most horrible amazement in
the condemned. How will all their faces look pale! How will death sit
upon their countenances, when those words shall be heard! What dolorous
cries, shrieks, and groans! What trembling, and wringing of hands, and
gnashing of teeth, will there then be!
But with the most benign aspect, in the most endearing manner, and with
the sweetest expressions of love, will Christ invite his saints on his
right hand to glory; saying, “Come, ye blessed of my Father, inherit the
kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world.” He will not
bid them to go from him, but to come with him; to go where he goes; to
dwell where he dwells; to enjoy him, and to partake with him. He will
call them blessed, blessed of his Father, blessed by him whose blessing
is infinitely the most desirable, namely, GOD. Inherit the kingdom. They
are not only invited to go with Christ, and to dwell with him, but to
inherit a kingdom with him, to sit down with him on his throne, and to
receive the honor and happiness of a heavenly kingdom. “Prepared for you
from the foundation of the world.” This denotes the sovereign and
eternal love of God, as the source of their blessedness. He puts them in
mind, that God was pleased to set his love upon them, long before they
had a being, even from eternity. That therefore God made heaven on
purpose for them, and fitted it for their delight and happiness.
VI. Immediately after this, the sentence will be executed, as we are
informed, Mat. 25:46, “These shall go away into everlasting punishment;
but the righteous into life eternal.” When the words of the sentence
shall have once proceeded out of the mouth of the judge, then that vast
and innumerable throng of ungodly men shall go away, shall be driven
away, shall be necessitated to go away with devils, and shall with
dismal cries and shrieks be cast into the great furnace of fire prepared
for the punishment of devils, the perpetual thunders and lightnings of
the wrath of God following them. Into this furnace they must in both
soul and body enter, never more to come out. Here they must spend
eternal ages in wrestling with the most excruciating torments, and in
crying out in the midst of the most dreadful flames, and under the most
insupportable wrath.
On the other hand, the righteous shall ascend to heaven with their
glorified bodies, in company with Christ, his angels, and all that host
which descended with him. They shall ascend in the most joyful and
triumphant manner, and shall enter with Christ into that glorious and
blessed world, which had for the time been empty of its creature
inhabitants. Christ having given his church that perfect beauty, and
crowned it with that glory, honor, and happiness, which were stipulated
in the covenant of redemption before the world was, and which he died to
procure for them; and having made it a truly glorious church, every way
complete, will present it before the Father, without spot, or wrinkle,
or any such thing. Thus shall the saints be instated in everlasting
glory, to dwell there with Christ, who shall feed them, and lead them to
living fountains of water, to the full enjoyment of God, and to an
eternity of the most holy, glorious, and joyful employments.
SECTION V
All will be done in righteousness.
CHRIST will give to every man his due, according to most righteous rule.
Those who shall be condemned, will be most justly condemned, will be
condemned to that punishment which they shall most justly deserve, and
the justice of God in condemning them will be made most evident. Now the
justice of God in punishing wicked men, and especially in the degree of
their punishment, is often blasphemously called in question. But it will
be made clear and apparent to all. Their own consciences will tell them
that the sentence is just, and all cavils will be put to silence.
So those that shall be justified, shall be most justly adjudged to
eternal life. Although they also were great sinners, and deserved
eternal death; yet it will not be against justice or the law, to justify
them, they will be in Christ. But the acquitting of them will be but
giving the reward merited by Christ’s righteousness, Rom. 3:26, “That
God may be just, and the justifier of him that believeth in Jesus.”
Christ will judge the world in righteousness, particularly as he will
give to everyone a due proportion either of reward or punishment,
according to the various characters of those who shall be judged. The
punishments shall be duly proportioned to the number and aggravations of
the sins of the wicked. And the rewards of the righteous shall be duly
proportioned to the number of their holy acts and affections, and also
to the degree of virtue implied in them. — I would observe further,
I. That Christ cannot fail of being just in judging through mistake. He
cannot take some to be sincere and godly, who are not so, nor others to
be hypocrites, who are really sincere. His eyes are as a flame of fire,
and he searcheth the hearts and trieth the reins of the children of men.
He can never err in determining what is justice in particular cases, as
human judges often do. Nor can he be blinded by prejudices, as human
judges are very liable to be. Deu. 10:17, “He regardeth not persons, nor
taketh reward.” It is impossible he should be deceived by the excuse,
and false colors, and pleas of the wicked, as human judges very commonly
are. It is equally impossible that he should err, in assigning to
everyone his proper proportion of reward or punishment, according to his
wickedness or good works. His knowledge being infinite, will effectually
guard him against all these, and other such errors.
II. He cannot fail of judging righteously through an unrighteous
disposition. For he is infinitely just and holy in his nature. Deu.
32:4, “He is the rock, his work is perfect; for all his ways are
judgment: a God of truth, and without iniquity, just and right is he.”
It is not possible that an infinitely powerful, self-sufficient being
should be under any temptation to injustice. Nor is it possible that an
infinitely wise being, who knoweth all things, should not choose
justice. For he who perfectly knows all things perfectly knows how much
more amiable justice is than injustice. And therefore must choose it.
SECTION VI
Those things which will immediately follow the day of judgment.
I. AFTER the sentence shall have been pronounced, and the saints shall
have ascended with Christ into glory, this world will be dissolved by
fire. The conflagration will immediately succeed the judgment. When an
end shall have been put to the present state of mankind, this world,
which was the place of their habitation during that state, will be
destroyed, there being no further use for it. This earth which had been
the stage upon which so many scenes had been acted, upon which there had
been so many great and famous kingdoms and large cities, where there had
been so many wars, so much trade and business carried on for so many
ages, shall then be destroyed. These continents, these islands, these
seas and rivers, theses mountains and valleys, shall be seen no more at
all. All shall be destroyed by devouring flames. This we are plainly
taught in the Word of God. 2 Pet. 3:7, “But the heavens and the earth
which are now, by the same word are kept in store, reserved unto fire
against the day of judgment, and perdition of ungodly men.” Verse 10,
“But the day of the Lord will come as 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. 3:12, “Looking for and hasting unto the
coming of the day of God, wherein the heavens being on fire shall be
dissolved, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat.”
II. Both the misery of the wicked and the happiness of the saints will
be increased beyond what shall be before the judgment. The misery of the
wicked will be increased, as they will be tormented not only in their
souls, but also in their bodies, which will be prepared both to receive
and administer torment to their souls. There will doubtless then be the
like connection between soul and body, as there is now. And therefore
the pains and torments of the one will affect the other. And why may we
not suppose that their torments will be increased as well as those of
the devils? Concerning them we are informed (Jam. 2:19) that they
believe there is one God, and tremble in the belief; expecting no doubt
that he will inflict upon them, in due time more severe torments than
even those which they now suffer. We are also informed that they are
bound “in chains of darkness, to be reserved unto judgment; and unto the
judgment of the great day,” (2 Pet. 2:4, and Jude 6) which implies that
their full punishment is not yet executed upon them, but that they are
now reserved as prisoners in hell, to receive their just recompense on
the day of judgment. Hence it was that they thought Christ was come to
torment them before the time. Mat. 8:29. Thus the punishment neither of
wicked men nor devils will be complete before the final judgment.
No more will the happiness of the saints be complete before that time.
Therefore we are in the New Testament so often encouraged with promises
of the resurrection of the dead, and of the day when Christ shall come
the second time. These things are spoken of as the great objects of the
expectation and hope of Christians. A state of separation of soul and
body is to men an unnatural state Therefore when the bodies of the
saints shall be raised from the dead, and their souls shall be again
united to them, as their state will be more natural, so doubtless it
will be more happy. Their bodies will be glorious bodies, and prepared
to administer as much to their happiness, as the bodies of the wicked
will be to administer to their misery.
We may with good reason suppose the accession of happiness to the souls
of the saints will be great, since the occasion is represented as the
marriage of the church, and the Lamb. Rev. 19:7, “The marriage of the
Lamb is come, and his wife hath made herself ready.” Their joy will then
be increased because they will have new arguments of joy. The body of
Christ will then be perfect, the church will be complete. All the parts
of it will have come into existence, which will not be the case before
the end of the world. No parts of it will be under sin of affliction.
All the members of it will be in a perfect state. And they shall all be
together by themselves, none being mixed with ungodly men. Then the
church will be as a bride adorned for her husband, and therefore she
will exceedingly rejoice.
Then also the Mediator will have fully accomplished his work. He will
then have destroyed, and will triumph over, all his enemies. Then Christ
will have fully obtained his reward, and fully accomplished the design
which was in his heart from all eternity. For these reasons Christ
himself will greatly rejoice with him. Then God will have obtained the
end of all the great works which he has been doing from the beginning of
the world. All the designs of God will be unfolded in their events. Then
his marvelous contrivance in his hidden, intricate, and inexplicable
works will appear, the ends being obtained. Then the works of God being
perfected, the divine glory will more abundantly appear. These things
will cause a great accession of happiness to the saints, who shall
behold them. Then God will have fully glorified himself, his Son, and
his elect. Then he will see that all is very good, and will entirely
rejoice in his own works. At the same time the saints also, viewing the
works of God brought thus to perfection, will rejoice in the view, and
receive from it a large accession of happiness.
Then God will make more abundant manifestations of his glory, and of the
glory of his Son. Then he will more plentifully pour out his Spirit, and
make answerable additions to the glory of the saints, and by means of
all these will so increase the happiness of the saints, as shall be
suitable to the commencement of the ultimate and most perfect state of
things, and to such a joyful occasion, the completion of all things. In
this glory and happiness will the saints remain forever and ever.
SECTION VII
The uses to which this doctrine is applicable.
I. THE first use proper to be made of this doctrine is of instruction.
Hence many of the mysteries of Divine Providence may be unfolded. There
are many things in the dealings of God towards the children of men,
which appear very mysterious, if we view them without having an eye to
this last judgment, which yet, if we consider this judgment, have no
difficulty in them. As,
First, that God suffers the wicked to live and prosper in the world. The
infinitely holy and wise Creator and Governor of the world must
necessarily hate wickedness. Yet we see many wicked men spreading
themselves as a green bay-tree. They live with impunity; things seem to
go well with them, and the world smiles upon them. Many who have not
been fit to live, who have held God and religion in the greatest
contempt, who have been open enemies to all that is good, who by their
wickedness have been the pests of mankind. Many cruel tyrants, whose
barbarities have been such as would even fill one with horror to hear or
read of them; yet have lived in great wealth and outward glory, have
reigned over great and mighty kingdoms and empires, and have been
honored as a sort of earthly gods.
Now, it is very mysterious, that the holy and righteous Governor of the
world, whose eye beholds all the children of men, should suffer it so to
be, unless we look forward to the day of judgment. And then the mystery
is unraveled. For although God for the present keeps silence, and seems
to let them alone; yet then he will give suitable manifestations of his
displeasure against their wickedness. They shall then receive condign
punishment. The saints under the Old Testament were much stumbled at
these dispensations of Providence, as you may see in Job 21, and Psa.
73, and Jer. 12. The difficulty to them was so great, because then a
future state and a day of judgment were not revealed with that clearness
with which they are now.
Second, God sometimes suffers some of the best of men to be in great
affliction, poverty, and persecution. The wicked rule, while they are
subject. The wicked are the head, and they are the tail. The wicked
domineer, while they serve, and are oppressed, yea are trampled under
their feet, as the mire of the streets. These things are very common,
yet they seem to imply great confusion. When the wicked are exalted to
power and authority, and the godly are oppressed by them, things are
quite out of joint. Pro. 25:26, “A righteous man falling down before the
wicked, is as a troubled fountain, and a corrupt spring.” Sometimes one
wicked man makes many hundreds, yea thousands, of precious saints a
sacrifice to his lust and cruelty, or to his enmity against virtue and
the truth, and puts them to death for no other reason but that for which
they are especially to be esteemed and commended.
Now, if we look no further than the present state, these things appear
strange and unaccountable. But we ought not to confine our views within
such narrow limits. When God shall have put an end to the present state,
these things shall all be brought to rights. Though God suffers things
to be so for the present, yet they shall not proceed in this course
always. Comparatively speaking, the present state of things is but for a
moment. When all shall be settled and fixed by a divine judgment, the
righteous shall be exalted, honored, and rewarded, and the wicked shall
be depressed and put under their feet. However the wicked now prevail
against the righteous, yet the righteous shall at last have the
ascendant, shall come off conquerors, and shall see the just vengeance
of God executed upon those who now hate and persecute them.
Third, it is another mystery of providence, that God suffers so much
public injustice to take place in the world. There are not only private
wrongs, which in this state pass unsettled, but many public wrongs,
wrongs done by men acting in a public character, and wrongs which affect
nations, kingdoms, and other public bodies of men. Many suffer by men in
public offices, from whom there is no refuge, from whose decisions there
is no appeal. Now it seems a mystery that these things are tolerated,
when he that is rightfully the Supreme Judge and Governor of the world
is perfectly just. But at the final judgment all these wrongs shall be
adjusted, as well as those of a more private nature.
II. Our second use of this subject shall be to apply it to the awakening
of sinners. You that have not the fear of God before your eyes, that are
not afraid to sin against him, consider seriously what you have heard
concerning the day of judgment. Although these things be now future and
unseen, yet they are real and certain. If you now be left to yourselves,
if God keep silence, and judgment be not speedily executed, it is not
because God is regardless how you live, and how you behave yourselves.
Now indeed God is invisible to you, and his wrath is invisible. But at
the day of judgment, you yourselves shall see him with your bodily eyes.
You shall not then be able to keep out of his sight, or to avoid seeing
him. Rev. 1:7, “Behold he cometh with clouds; and every eye shall see
him, and they also which pierced him: and all kindreds of the earth
shall wail because of him.” You shall see him coming in the clouds of
heaven. Your ears shall hear the last trumpet, that dreadful sound, the
voice of the archangel. Your eyes shall see your judge sitting on the
throne, they shall see those manifestations of wrath which there will be
in his countenance. Your ears shall hear him pronounce the sentence.
Seriously consider, if you live in the ways of sin, and appear at that
day with the guilt of it upon you, how you will be able to endure the
sight or the hearing of these things, and whether horror and amazement
will not be likely to seize you, when you shall see the judge
descending, and hear the trump of God. What account will you be able to
give, when it shall be inquired of you, why you led such a sinful,
wicked life? What will you be able to say for yourselves, when it shall
be asked, why you neglected such and such particular duties, as the duty
of secret prayer, for instance? Or why you have habitually practiced
such and such particular sins or lusts? Although you be so careless of
your conduct and manner of life, make so light of sin, and proceed in it
so freely, with little or no dread or remorse; yet you must give an
account of every sin that you commit, of every idle word that you speak,
and of every sinful thought of your hearts. Every time you deviate from
the rules of justice, of temperance, or of charity; every time you
indulge any lust, whether secretly or openly, you must give an account
of it. It will never be forgotten, it stands written in that book which
will be opened on that day.
Consider the rule you will be judged by. It is the perfect rule of the
divine law, which is exceeding strict, and exceeding broad. And how will
you ever be able to answer the demands of this law? — Consider also,
First, that the judge will be your supreme judge. You will have no
opportunity to appeal from his decision. This is often the case in this
world. When we are dissatisfied with the decisions of a judge, we often
may appeal to a higher, a more knowing, or a more just judicatory. But
no such appeal can be made from our Divine Judge. No such indulgence
will be allowed. Or if it were allowed, there is no superior judge to
whom the appeal should be made. By his decision, therefore, you must
abide.
Second, the judge will be omnipotent. Were he a mere man, like
yourselves, however he might judge and determine, you might resist, and
by the help of others, if not by your own strength, prevent or elude the
execution of the judgment. But the judge being omnipotent, this is
utterly impossible. In vain is all resistance, either by yourselves, or
by whatever help you can obtain. “Though hand join in hand, the wicked
shall not be unpunished,” Pro. 11:21. As well might you “set the briers
and thorns in battle against God,” Isa. 27:4.
Third, the judge will be inexorable. Human judges may be prevailed upon
to reverse their sentence, or at least to remit something of its
severity. But in vain will be all your entreaties, all your cries and
tears to this effect, with the great Judge of the world. Now indeed he
inclines his ear, and is ready to hear the prayers, cries, and
entreaties of all mankind. But then the day of grace will be past, and
the door of mercy be shut. Then although ye spread forth your hands, yet
the judge will hide his eyes from you. Yea, though ye make many prayers,
he will not hear. Isa. 1:15. Then the judge will deal in fury. His eye
shall not spare, neither will he have pity. And though ye cry in his
ears with a loud voice, yet will he not hear you. Eze. 8:18. And you
will find no place of repentance in God, though you seek it carefully
with tears.
Fourth, the judge at that day will not mix mercy with justice. The time
for mercy to be shown to sinners will then be past. Christ will then
appear in another character than that of the merciful Savior. Having
laid aside the inviting attributes of grace and mercy, he will clothe
himself with justice and vengeance. He will not only, in general, exact
of sinners the demands of the law, but he will exact the whole, without
any abatement. He will exact the very uttermost farthing, Mat. 5:26.
Then Christ will come to fulfill that in Rev. 14:10, “The same shall
drink of the wine of the wrath of God, which is poured out without
mixture, into the cup of his indignation.” The punishment threatened to
ungodly men is without any pity. See Eze. 5:11, “Neither shall mine eye
spare; neither will I have any pity.” Here all judgments have a mixture
of mercy. But the wrath of God will be poured out upon the wicked
without mixture, and vengeance will have its full weight.
III. I shall apply myself, thirdly, to several different characters of
men.
First, to those who live in secret wickedness. Let such consider that
for all these things God will bring them into judgment. Secrecy is your
temptation. Promising yourselves this, you practice many things, you
indulge many lusts, under the covert of darkness, and in secret corners,
which you would be ashamed to do in the light of the sun, and before the
world. But this temptation is entirely groundless. All your secret
abominations are even now perfectly known to God, and will also
hereafter be made known both to angels and men. Luke 12:2, 3, “For there
is nothing covered, that shall not be revealed; neither hid, that shall
not be known. Therefore whatsoever ye have spoken in darkness, shall be
heard in the light: and that which ye have spoken in the ear in closets,
shall be proclaimed upon the house-tops.”
Before human judges are brought only those things which are known. But
before this judge shall be brought the most “hidden things of darkness,
and even the counsels of the heart,” 1 Cor. 4:5. All your secret
uncleanness, all your secret fraud and injustice, all your lascivious
desires, wishes, and designs, all your inward covetousness, which is
idolatry, all your malicious, envious, and revengeful thoughts and
purposes, whether brought forth into practice or not, shall then be made
manifest, and you shall be judged according to them. Of these things,
however secret, there will be need of no other evidence than the
testimony of God and of your own consciences.
Second, to such as are not just and upright in their dealings with their
fellow-men. Consider, that all your dealings with men must be tried,
must be brought forth into judgment, and there compared with the rules
of the Word of God. All your actions must be judged according to those
things which are found written in the book of the Word of God. If your
ways of dealing with men shall not agree with those rules of
righteousness, they will be condemned. Now, the Word of God directs us
to practice entire justice. “That which is altogether just shalt thou
follow,” Deu. 16:20, and to do to others as we would they would do to
us. But how many are there, whose dealings with their fellow-men, if
strictly tried by these rules, would not stand the test!
God has, in his word, forbidden all deceit and fraud in our dealings one
with another, Lev. 11:13. He has forbidden us to oppress one another,
Lev. 25:14. But how frequent are practices contrary to those rules, and
which will not bear to be tried by them! How common are fraud and
trickishness in trade! How will men endeavor to lead on those with whom
they trade in the dark, that so they may make their advantage! Yea,
lying in trading is too common a thing among us. How common are such
things as that mentioned, Pro. 20:14, “It is nought, it is nought, saith
the buyer; but when he is gone his way, then he boasteth.”
Many men will take the advantage of another’s ignorance to advance their
own gain, to his wrong. Yea, they seem not to scruple such practices.
Beside downright lying, men have many ways of blinding and deceiving one
another in trade, which are by no means right in the sight of God, and
will appear to be very unjust, when they shall be tried by the rule of
God’s Word at the day of judgment. And how common a thing is oppression
or extortion, in taking any advantage that men can by any means obtain,
to get the utmost possible of their neighbor for what they have to
dispose of, and their neighbor needs!
Let such consider, that there is a God in heaven, who beholds them, and
sees how they conduct themselves in their daily traffic with one
another, and that he will try their works another day. Justice shall
assuredly take place at last. The righteous Governor of the world will
not suffer injustice without control. He will control and rectify it by
returning the injury upon the head of the injurer. Mat. 7:2, “With what
measure ye mete, it shall be measured to you again.”
Third, to those who plead for the lawfulness of practices generally
condemned by God’s people. You who do this, consider that your practices
must be tried at the day of judgment. Consider, whether or no they are
likely to be approved by the most holy Judge at that day. Pro. 5:21,
“The ways of man are before the eyes of the Lord; and he pondereth all
his goings.” However, by your carnal reasonings, you may deceive your
own hearts, yet you will not be able to deceive the judge, he will not
hearken to your excuses, but will try your ways by the rule. He will
know whether they be straight or crooked.
When you plead for these and those liberties which you take, let it be
considered, whether they be likely to be allowed of by the judge at the
last great day. Will they bear to be tried by his eyes, which are purer
than to behold evil, and cannot look on iniquity?
Fourth, to those who are wont to excuse their wickedness. Will the
excuses which you make for yourselves be accepted at the day of
judgment? If you excuse yourselves to your own consciences, by saying
that you were under such and such temptations which you could not
withstand, that corrupt nature prevailed, and you could not overcome it,
that it would have been so and so to your damage if you had done
otherwise, that if you had done such a duty, you would have brought
yourselves into difficulty, would have incurred the displeasure of such
and such friends, or would have been despised and laughed at. Or if you
say, you did no more than it was the common custom to do, no more than
many godly men have done, no more than certain persons of good
reputation now practice, that if you had done otherwise, you would have
been singular. If these be your excuses for the sins which you commit,
or for the duties which you neglect, let me ask you, will they appear
sufficient when they shall be examined at the day of judgment?
Fifth, to those who live in impenitence and unbelief. There are some
persons who live in no open vice, and perhaps conscientiously avoid
secret immorality, who yet live in impenitence and unbelief. They are
indeed called upon to repent and believe the gospel, to forsake their
evil ways and thoughts, and to return to God, that he may have mercy on
them; to come unto Christ, laboring, and heavy-laden with sin, that they
may obtain rest of him; and are assured, that if they believe, they
shall be saved; and that if they believe not, they shall be damned; and
all the most powerful motives are set before them, to induce them to
comply with these exhortations, especially those drawn from the eternal
world. Yet they persist in sin, they remain impenitent and unhumbled.
They will not come unto Christ that they may have life.
Now such men shall be brought into judgment for their conduct, as well
as more gross sinners. Nor will they be any more able to stand in the
judgment than the other. They resist the most powerful means of grace,
go on in sin against the clear light of the gospel, refuse to hearken to
the kindest calls and invitations, reject the most amiable Savior, the
judge himself, and despise the free offers of eternal life, glory, and
felicity. And how will they be able to answer for these things at the
tribunal of Christ?
IV. If there be a day of judgment appointed, then let all be very strict
in trying their own sincerity. God on that day will discover the secrets
of all hearts. The judgment of that day will be like the fire, which
burns up whatsoever is not true gold. Wood, hay, stubble, and dross,
shall be all consumed by the scorching fire of that day. The judge will
be like a refiner’s fire, and fuller’s soap, which will cleanse away all
filthiness, however it may be colored over. Mal. 3:2, “Who may abide the
day of his coming? and who shall stand when he appeareth? for he is like
a refiner’s fire, and like fuller’s soap.” And Mal. 4:1, “For behold the
day cometh that shall burn as an oven, and all the proud, yea, and all
that do wickedly, shall be stubble, and the day that cometh shall burn
them up, saith the Lord of hosts.”
There are multitudes of men that wear the guise of saints, appear like
saints, and their state, both in their own eyes and in the eyes of their
neighbors, is good. They have sheep’s clothing. But no disguise can hide
them from the eyes of the judge of the world. His eyes are as a flame of
fire. They search the hearts and try the reins of the children of men.
He will see whether they be sound at heart. He will see from what
principles they have acted. A fair show will in no degree deceive him,
as it does men in the present state. It will signify nothing to say,
“Lord, we have eaten and drunk in thy presence; and in thy name have we
cast out devils, and in thy name have done many wonderful works.” It
will signify nothing to pretend to a great deal of comfort and joy, and
to the experience of great religious affections, and to your having done
many things in religion and morality, unless you have some greater
evidences of sincerity.
Wherefore let everyone take heed that he be not deceived concerning
himself. And that he depend not on that which will not bear examination
at the day of judgment. Be not contented with this, that you have the
judgment of men, the judgment of godly men, or that of ministers, in
your favor. Consider that they are not to be your judges at last. Take
occasion frequently to compare your hearts with the Word of God. That is
the rule by which you are to be finally tried and judged. And try
yourselves by your works, by which also you must be tried at last.
Inquire whether you lead holy Christian lives, whether you perform
universal and unconditional obedience to all God’s commands, and whether
you do it from a truly gracious respect to God.
Also frequently beg of God, the judge, that he would search you, try you
now, and discover you to yourselves, that you may see if you be
insincere in religion. And that he would lead you in the way
everlasting. Beg of God, that if you be not upon a good foundation, he
would unsettle you, and fix you upon the sure foundation. The example of
the psalmist in this is worthy of imitation. Psa. 26:1, 2, “Judge me, O
Lord, examine me, and prove me; try my reins and mine heart.” And Psa.
139:23, 24, “Search me, O God, and know my heart: try me, and know my
thoughts. And see if there be any wicked way in me, and lead me in the
way everlasting.” God will search us hereafter, and discover what we
are, both to ourselves and to all the world. Let us pray that he would
search us, and discover our hearts to us now. We have need of divine
help in this matter; for the heart is deceitful above all things.
V. If God has appointed a day to judge the world, let us judge and
condemn ourselves for our sins. This we must do, if we would not be
judged and condemned for them on that day. If we would escape
condemnation, we must see that we justly may be condemned. We must be so
sensible of our vileness and guilt, as to see that we deserve all that
condemnation and punishment which are threatened. And that we are in the
hands of God, who is the sovereign disposer of us, and will do with us
as seemeth to himself good. Let us therefore often reflect on our sins,
confess them before God, condemn and abhor ourselves, be truly humbled,
and repent in dust and ashes.
VI. If these things be so, let us by no means be forward to judge
others. Some are forward to judge others, to judge their hearts both in
general and upon particular occasions, to determine as to the
principles, motives, and ends of their actions. But this is to assume
the province of God, and to set up ourselves as lords and judges. Rom.
14:4, “Who art thou, that thou judgest another man’s servant?” Jam.
4:11, “Speak not evil one of another, brethren. He that speaketh evil of
his brother, and judgeth his brother, speaketh evil of the law, and
judgeth the law.” To be thus disposed to judge and act censoriously
towards others, is the way to be judged and condemned ourselves. Mat.
7:1, 2, “Judge not, that ye be not judged. For with what judgment ye
judge, ye shall be judged: and with what measure ye mete, it shall be
measured to you again.”
VII. This doctrine affords matter of great consolation to the godly.
This day of judgment, which is so terrible to ungodly men, affords no
ground of terror to you, but abundant ground of joy and satisfaction.
For though you now meet with more affliction and trouble than most
wicked men, yet on that day you shall be delivered from all afflictions,
and from all trouble. If you be unjustly treated by wicked men, and
abused by them, what a comfort is it to the injured, that they may
appeal to God, who judgeth righteously. The psalmist used often to
comfort himself with this.
Upon these accounts the saints have reason to love the appearing of
Jesus Christ. 2 Tim. 4:8, “Henceforth there is laid up for me a crown of
righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous judge, shall give me at
that day: and not to me only, but to all those that love his appearing.”
This is to the saints a blessed hope. Tit. 2:13, “Looking for that
blessed hope, and the glorious appearing of the great God, and our
Saviour Jesus Christ. This day may well be the object of their eager
desire, and when they hear of Christ’s coming to judgment, they may well
say, “Even so come, Lord Jesus,” Rev. 22:20. It will be the most
glorious day that ever the saints saw. It will be so both to those who
shall die, and whose souls shall go to heaven, and to those who shall
then be found alive on earth. It will be the wedding-day of the church.
Surely then in the consideration of the approach of this day, there is
ground of great consolation to the saints.
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