Part 46
_See his Exposition on the Creed, Artic._ xi. _and Tertull. de resur. Carn. cap._ xii. _Aspice nunc ad ipsa qunq; exempla divinæ potestatis: dies moritur in noctem, & tenebris usquequaq spelitur. Funestatum mundi honor, omnis substantia deusgratur. Sordent, silent, stupent cuncta; ubiq; justitium est, quies rerum. Ita lux amissa lugetur; & tamen rursus cum suo cultu, cum dote, cum sole, eadem & integra & tota universo orbi reviviscit, interficiens mortem suam noctem, rescindens sepulturam suam tenebras, hæres sibimet existens, donec & nox reviviscat, cum suo & illa suggestu. Redaccenduntur enim & stellarum radii, quos matutina successio extinxerat. Reducuntur & siderum absentiæ, quas temporalis distinctio exemerat. Redornantur & specula lunæ quæ menstruus numerus adtriverat. Revolvuntur hyemes & æstates, & verna, & autumna, cum suis viribus, moribus, fructibus. Quippe etiam terræ de cœlo disciplina est, arbores vestire post spolia, flores denuo colorare, herbas rursus imponere, exhibere eadem quæ absumpta sunt semina; nec prius exhibere quam absumpta: mira ratio: de fraudatrice servatrix: ut reddat, intercipit: ut custodiat, perdit: ut integret, vitiat e ut etiam ampliet, prius decoquit. Siquidem uberiora & cultiora restituit quam exterminavit. Revera foenore interitu, & injuria usura, & lucro damno: semel dixerim universa conditio recidiva est. Quodcunq; conveneris, fuit: quodcunq; amiseris, nihil non iterum est. Omnia in statum redeunt, quum abscesserint. Omnia incipiunt, quum desierint. Ideo finiuntur, ut fiant. Nihil deperit, nisi in salutum. Totus igitur hic ordo revolubilis rerum, testatio est resurrectionis mortuorum. Operibus eam præscripsit Deus ante, quam literis: viribus predicavit ante, quam vocibus. Præmissit tibi naturam magistram, submissurus & prophetiam, quo facilius credas prophetiæ, discipulus natura: quo statim admittas, quum audieris, quod ubiq; jam videris; nec dubites Deum carnis etiam resuscitatorem, quem omnium noris restituorem. Et utiq; si omnia homini resurgunt, cui procurata sunt porro non homini, nisi & carni, quale est ut ipsa depereat ut totum, propter quam & cui nihil deperit? Et Vid. ejud. apologet cap._ xlviii. _in which he proves the resurrection of the body from the possibility of that being restored to a former being, with the same ease that it was made out of nothing; and shews how God has impressed upon this world many testimonies of the resurrection; and then he adds, Lux quotidie intersecta resplendet, & tenebræ, pari vice decedendo succedunt, sidera defuncta vivescunt, tempora, ubi finiuntur, incipiunt, fructus consummantur, et redeunt. Certe semina non nisi corrupta et dissoluta foecundius surgunt, omnia percundo servantur, omnia de interitu reformantur. Tu homo tantum nomen, si intelligas te, vel de titulo Pythix discens, dominus omnium momentum et resurgentium, ad hoc morieris, ut pereas?_
Footnote 176:
_This is what they generally intend by that aphorism, a privatione ad habitum non datur regressus._
Footnote 177:
_See Hody on the resurrection_, &c. _Pag. 205-208._
Footnote 178:
_Vid. Plat. in Cratyl, who brings in Socrates as gravely punning on the word_ σωμα, _q. d._ σημα, sepulchrum; _and supposing that this name, was given to denote that the soul suffers punishment for its faults, by being detained or shut up in prison. And Seneca speaks to the same purpose: corpus hoc, animi pondus, & poena est, permanente illo urgetur, in vinculis est. Vid. Sen. Epist. 65._
Footnote 179:
_Vid. Orig. in Loc. supra citat._
Footnote 180:
_Beneficium pluviæ ad omnes spectare, resurrectionem mortuorum ad justos tantum._
Footnote 181:
_The words are_, רב’ם מישני, _multi ex dormientibus. Now it is certain that_ רבים, _is often translated_ a multitude, _or_ multitudes, _and signifies the same with_ רוב, _or the Greek word_ το πληθος, _as in Gen._ xvii. 5. _Psal._ cix. 30. _and in several other places. But the principal difficulty lies in the sense of the particle_ Mem, _which is prefixed to the following word; and is generally supposed to be taken distributively; and accordingly the sense must be_, Many, _that is, a great number, or part, taken out of them_ that sleep, shall awake; _though, I am apt to think, that the prefix_ Mem _here, is not taken distributively; but denotes the following word to be in the Genitive case, as Lamed and Beth often do; and if so, the words may be rendered_, The multitude of them that sleep, shall awake; _that is, the whole number of them that sleep shall awake; and so it is the same with what is mentioned by our Saviour in the text but now referred to_; all that are in their graves shall come forth, _and be disposed of in a different way, as he particularly expresses it; which contains the sense of the prophet’s prediction in this place. There is a scripture, in which the word_ many _plainly signifies_ το πληθος, _the_ multitude, _or all mankind: thus the apostle speaks, Rom._ v. 15. _of_ many, _as_ being dead by the offence of one, _and_ by one man’s disobedience, many _being_ made sinners; _which none, who allow all the world to have fallen in Adam, will suppose to be taken in any other sense. See other instances of the like nature in Glas. Phil. Sacr. Lib._ v. _Tract. 1. Cap._ xv.
Footnote 182:
_Vid. Poc. Not. Misc. in Maimon. Port. Mos. Cap._ vi. _who treats largely on this subject, and gives an account of the opinions of several Rabbinical writers concerning this matter; which renders it needless for me to refer to particular places_.
Footnote 183:
_Vid. Whitby in 1 Cor._ xv. 44, 50. _If by the bright and shining body, which this author speaks of, he intends that it shall be invested with some rays of glory in the heavenly state, as many others suppose: this, I think, none will deny since it agrees well with what the apostle says concerning the body’s being made like to Christ’s glorious body, and also what the prophet Daniel says, chap._ xii. 2. _concerning their_ shining as the brightness of the firmament, and as the stars; _or, as our Saviour says_, Matt. xiii. 43. They shall shine as the sun in the kingdom of their Father.
Quest. LXXXVIII.
QUEST. LXXXVIII. _What shall immediately follow after the resurrection?_
ANSW. Immediately after the resurrection shall follow the general and final judgment of angels and men; the day and hour whereof no man knoweth, that all may watch and pray, and be ever ready for the coming of the Lord.
Our Lord Jesus Christ having finished the work which he undertook to perform, in gathering in his elect, and bringing that grace which he wrought in them to perfection; the only thing then remaining to be done, will be his receiving them into his immediate presence, to behold his glory; and banishing others, for ever, from him, with marks of infamy and detestation. And, in order hereunto, he will raise the dead, and give a summons to the whole world of angels and men, to appear before his tribunal in that day in which he is appointed, by the Father, to judge the world in righteousness; which is the subject insisted on in this answer. In speaking to which, we shall
I. Prove that there shall be a day of judgment.
II. Consider the person, the character, and the solemnity of the appearing of the great Judge, to whom this work is committed.
III. The persons to be judged, angels and men.
IV. The manner in which he shall proceed in judging them. And,
V. Some circumstances concerning the place where, and the time when this great and awful work shall be performed.
I. We are to prove that there shall be a day of judgment. This is as evident a truth as that there is a providence, or that God is the Governor of the world. Every intelligent creature, who is the subject of moral government, affords an argument for the proof of this doctrine. And accordingly we must consider them as under a law which he has given, as that by which they are to be governed. From hence arises our obligation to duty, and being rendered accountable to the great Lawgiver, as to what concerns our obedience to, or violation of his law. And God is obliged, in honour, to make a scrutiny into, or take an account of our behaviour, that it may be known whether we have obeyed or rebelled against him. This is evident from the concern which the glory of his own perfections has herein; and the promises and threatnings annexed to his law, which he is obliged to fulfil or execute. From whence it follows, that God will display his glory as the Judge of the world.
This is plainly revealed in scripture; it was foretold in the early ages of the world, as contained in the epistle of Jude, in ver. 14, 15. _Behold the Lord cometh with ten thousand of his saints, to execute judgment upon all, and to convince all that are ungodly among them, of all their ungodly deeds, which they have ungodly committed, and of all their hard speeches which ungodly sinners have spoken against him_: which words, though they might have a peculiar relation to the judgment which God would execute in the destruction of the old world; yet it is plain by the application hereof made by the apostle, that it looks as far as the final judgment, which shall be in the end of time. And this likewise appears from what is said in Eccles. xii. 14. that _God shall bring every work into judgment, with every secret thing, whether it be good, or whether it be evil_. There are, indeed, many displays of God’s judicial hand in the present dispensations of his providence, as he is said to be _known by the judgment which he executeth_, Psal. ix. 16. The visible token of his regard to his saints in this world, as well as the public and dreadful display of his vengeance poured forth upon his enemies, proclaim his glory, as God, the Judge of all. But inasmuch as sin deserves greater punishments than what are inflicted here; and the promises which God has made for the encouragement of his people, give them occasion to look beyond the present scene of affairs; and especially since the divine dealings with men, as to what respects outward things, cannot so clearly be accounted for, while we behold the righteous oppressed, and many of the wicked having, as it were, more than heart could wish; this plainly argues, that there is a time coming when matters will be adjusted; and, as the Psalmist says, ‘A man shall say,’ or every one shall have occasion to say, ‘Verily there is a reward for the righteous; verily he is a God that judgeth in the earth,’ Psal. lviii. 11.
Moreover, this doctrine is not only revealed in scripture, but it is impressed on the consciences of men; which, though they never took so much pains to extinguish their apprehension or dread thereof, it is impossible for them to do it. That secret remorse or terror which sinners feel within their own breasts, which makes them restless and uneasy, especially when they perceive themselves to stand on the confines of another world, is an undeniable argument that there is a future judgment. What was it that made Belshazzar’s _countenance to change_? Why did his _thoughts trouble him, so that the joints of his loins were loosed, and his knees smote one against another_, when he saw the _hand-writing on the wall_, in the midst of all his mirth and jollity? Dan. v. 6. Was he afraid of the united forces of the Persians and Medes, who at that time invested the capital city in which he was? Did he know that he should be slain before the morning? That was most remote from his thoughts, as apprehending himself safe from any danger that might arise from that quarter. Was he afraid of punishment from men? His condition in the world set him above the dread of any such event. It was only the sense he had of a future judgment from God, that produced these effects in him. It was this that made the Heathen governor _tremble_, when the apostle _reasoned of righteousness, temperance, and judgment to come_, Acts xxiv. 25. And when he was disputing with the Athenians, though they mocked and treated what he said about the resurrection with ridicule; yet none of them had any thing to object against this doctrine that _God would judge the world in righteousness_, chap. xvii. 31.
It may be observed that the doctrine of future rewards and punishments, as the result of a sentence passed on men after death, is so often mentioned by heathen-writers, that it is evident they either received by tradition, or understood it by the light of nature; though, when they enter into particular explications thereof, we meet with little but what is fabulous and trifling. Some of them suppose the rewards and punishments to be in other bodies, agreeably to the doctrine of the transmigration of souls, as before-mentioned. Others speak of fictitious lakes and rivers in the other world, where men are doomed to abide, at least, for some time; though they know nothing of the day of judgment, or the appearance of the whole world before Christ’s tribunal; which is a matter of pure revelation[184].
II. We are now to consider the person, character, and solemnity of the appearing of the great Judge, to whom this work is more especially committed. This is a doctrine that can be known no other way than by divine revelation. The light of nature, indeed, discovers to us that God shall judge the world; but there is something more than this may be learned from scripture, as well as those circumstances of glory with which this work shall be performed. Accordingly we read,
1. That the person who is to perform this great work, is the Lord Jesus Christ; of whom it is said, he shall _judge the quick and the dead at his appearing, and his kingdom_, 2 Tim. iv. 1. And elsewhere, _We must all appear before the judgment-seat of Christ_; 2 Cor. v. 10. If we consider his glory as a divine person, he is fit to engage in it. For as he knoweth all things, he can judge the secrets of men, which no mere creature can do; and as he has all the other perfections of the divine nature, he can display and glorify them, in such a way as is necessary, in determining the final estate of men, and rewarding every one according to his work.
We may also observe, that this is a branch of his Mediatorial dignity, and contains in it a part of the execution of his Kingly office; it was contained in that commission which he received of the Father. Thus it is said, that _the Father judgeth no man_, John v. 22. that is, not in a visible manner, or by any delegated power, which he is invested with, ‘but hath committed all judgment to the Son,’ and, it is said, he has ‘given him authority to execute judgment also, because he is the Son of man,’ ver. 27. And to this we may add, that it is a part of the work which was incumbent on him in the application of redemption, which cannot be said to be brought to the utmost perfection, till the day of judgment: Thus when he speaks concerning his ‘coming in a cloud with power and great glory’; then he bids his people ‘lift up their heads, inasmuch as their redemption draweth nigh,’ Luke xxi. 27, 28. We might also add to this, that it was very expedient that he should judge the world, since he was unjustly judged and condemned by the world; therefore the cause must have a second hearing, that his enemies, at whose bar he once stood, may be fully convinced, to their eternal confusion, that he was not the person they took him to be, that he did not deserve the treatment and rude insults which he met with from them, when he stood at their tribunal. They asked him this question, ‘Art thou the Christ, the Son of the blessed?’ to which he replied, ‘I am: And ye shall see the Son of man sitting on the right hand of power, and coming in the clouds of heaven,’ Mark xiv. 61-64. wherein he applied to himself what the prophet Daniel said concerning him, Dan. vii. 13. and thereby intimated, that this would be the most visible and incontestible proof of his Mediatorial glory, with which he was invested, as the Son of man; upon which the high-priest rent his clothes, apprehending that he spake blasphemy; after which they all condemned him to be guilty of death. Therefore it is expedient that this visible proof of his Sonship and Mediatorial glory should be given, and that he should perform this great work, which was incumbent on him, as he gave them to expect. It is his ‘coming with clouds, that every eye shall see;’ that shall oblige ‘them which pierced him, and all the kindreds of the earth,’ who set themselves against him, ‘to wail because of him,’ Rev. i. 7.
It was also necessary that he should judge the world, that he might publicly vindicate his people, who have been judged and condemned by the world for his sake; and that his cause and interest, which has been trampled on by them, might be defended in the most public and glorious manner, which will afford an everlasting conviction, that he whom men despised, whose glory was set light by, whose gospel was rejected and persecuted, is a person worthy of universal honour and esteem. Thus concerning the person who is appointed to judge the world, and the character in which he shall do it: which leads us,
2. To consider the solemnity of his appearing, when engaging in it. The work being the most glorious that ever was performed since the world was created, and the honour redounding to Christ as the result thereof, being the last and highest degree of his state of exaltation; it cannot but be supposed that he will appear with those ensigns of majesty and regal dignity that become his character as the Judge of quick and dead: accordingly we have an account of his ‘appearing in his own glory, and in his Father’s, and of the holy angels,’ Luke ix. 26. _His own glory_ respects the rays of his divinity shining forth; whereby it will appear, that he has a natural right to summon the whole world before him. This cannot but strike a terror into his enemies, and enhance the joy and triumph of his friends, and excite the adoration that is due to so glorious a person. His appearing in _his Father’s glory_, denotes that this is the highest display of his Mediatorial dignity; the reward of his having perfectly fulfilled the commission given him by the Father, and fully answered the end for which he became incarnate. And his appearing in the _glory of his holy angels_, implies the reverence and homage which they will pay to him, into whose hands they are given, as ministering spirits, to fulfil his pleasure, and who always rejoice in the advancement of his kingdom.
The angels shall not indeed be employed in raising the dead, for that is a work too great for finite power; but we read of their ministry as subservient to the glory of the solemnity, as consisting in their appearing with Christ as his retinue; so it is said, that he shall ‘come in his glory, and all the holy angels with him,’ Matt. xxv. 31. These, indeed make up his train; but do not convey to him the least branch of that glory or character he is invested with: but it is their honour to attend him, whose servants they are; their work is to praise and adore him, and to shew their readiness to fulfil his pleasure, without desiring to usurp the least branch of his glory.
The first thing they are represented as doing, is, their attending his coming with a shout, or the word of command first given forth by Christ, and transmitted by them to the whole world, whereby they shall be summoned to appear before him. This shall doubtless be attended with universal joy and triumph expressed by them. And whereas Christ is said to _come with the sound of a trumpet_, 1 Thess. iv. 16. this is either to be considered in allusion to the custom of calling the hosts together, which was by the sound of a trumpet, Num. x. 2. _&c._[185] or else we may understand it in a literal sense, for some sound like that of a trumpet, which shall be heard throughout the world, which shall have a tendency to excite the joy and triumph of the saints, and to strike terror into the wicked. And as this trumpet gives an alarm to all to appear before Christ’s tribunal; the angels are represented as assisting in bringing them thither. It is by them that the saints _which remain alive, shall be caught up_ with others _in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air_, 1 Thess. iv. 17. and they are said to _gather together the elect from the four winds, from one end of the heaven to the other_.[186] And elsewhere, our Saviour, speaking of the _end of the world_, which he calls the _harvest_, represents the angels as _reapers_, Matt. xiii. 39. which he explains as denoting that _at the end of the world the angels shall come forth, and sever the wicked from among the just_, ver. 49. which plainly intimates that they are to gather the elect together. And inasmuch as there must be a separation between them and the wicked, so that one shall be set at Christ’s right hand, the other at his left; this, as it is more than probable, shall be done by the ministry of angels, chap. xxv. 32. And then the Judge is represented as _sitting on his throne_, ver. 31. this is called elsewhere a judgment-seat, agreeable to his character as a judge; and it is here styled his throne, as expressive of the majesty and royal dignity with which he shall perform this great work. Which leads us,
III. To consider the persons who are to be judged, things being thus prepared for it; and these are said to be angels and men, _i. e._ all who are summoned to appear before Christ’s tribunal. Whether the holy angels are included in the number of those whom Christ will judge, it is not safe for us to pretend to determine, since scripture is silent as to this matter. That they are the subjects of moral government is evident, because they are intelligent creatures; and it follows from hence, that they are accountable to God for their behaviour as such. It is also certain, that they are employed by our Saviour, in _fulfilling his pleasure_; and pursuant thereto, they are _sent forth by him to minister to the heirs of salvation_, Heb. i. 14. and upon this account it may not be reckoned foreign to the work of the day, for Christ to give a public testimony to their faithfulness in the discharge of every work which has been committed to them; especially since the saints, who, in some respects, may be said to have been their charge and care, have received no small advantage from the good offices which they have performed for them by Christ’s appointment: but more than this, I think, cannot be determined, with respect to their being judged by Christ. Therefore, many conclude, that, properly speaking, they are not included in the number of those that shall be judged by him; and that either because they are represented as attending him, when he comes to judgment; and are never spoken of as standing before his tribunal, as persons whose cause is to be tried by him; or because they are considered, as long before this confirmed in holiness and happiness, and as beholding the face of God in heaven; and consequently not to be dealt with as those who are to undergo a farther scrutiny, in order to their having, a new sentence passed upon them.