Part 18

2. On the contrary, a deep conviction that we are not yet whole, that our hearts are not fully purified, that there is yet in us _a carnal mind_, which is still in its nature _enmity against God_; that a whole body of sin remains in our heart, weakened indeed, but not destroyed, shews beyond all possibility of doubt, the absolute necessity of a farther change. We allow, that at the very moment of justification, we are _born again_: in that instant we experience that inward change, from _darkness into marvellous light_; from the image of the brute and the devil, into the image of God, from the earthly, sensual, devilish mind, to the mind which was in Christ Jesus. But are we then _entirely_ changed? Are we _wholly_ transformed into the image of him that created us? Far from it: we still retain a depth of sin: and it is the consciousness of this, which constrains us to groan for a full deliverance, to him that is mighty to save. Hence it is, that those believers who are not convinced of the deep corruption of their hearts, or but slightly and as it were notionally convinced, have little concern about _entire sanctification_. They may possibly hold the opinion, that such a thing is to be, either at death, or some time, they know not when, before it. But they have no great uneasiness for the want of it, and no great hunger or thirst after it. They cannot, until they know themselves better, until they repent in the sense above described, until God unveils the inbred monster’s face, and shews them the real state of their souls. Then only, when they feel the burden, will they groan for deliverance from it. Then and not till then will they cry out, in the agony of their soul,

Break off the yoke of inbred sin And fully set my spirit free! I cannot rest, till pure within, Till I am wholly lost in thee!

3. We may learn from hence, secondly, that a deep conviction of our _demerit_ after we are accepted, (which in one sense may be termed _guilt_) is absolutely necessary, in order to our seeing the true value of the atoning blood; in order to our feeling that we need this as much, after we are justified, as ever we did before. Without this conviction we cannot but account the blood of the covenant _as a common thing_, something of which we have not now any great need, seeing all our past sins are blotted out. Yea, but if both our hearts and lives are thus unclean, there is a kind of guilt which we are contracting every moment, and which of consequence would every moment expose us to fresh condemnation, but that

He ever lives above, For us to intercede, His all-atoning love, His precious blood to plead.

It is this repentance and the faith intimately connected with it, which are expressed in those strong lines.

“I sin in every breath I draw, Nor do thy will, nor keep thy law On earth as angels do above: But still the fountain open stands, Washes my feet, my heart, my hands, Till I am perfected in love.”

4. We may observe, thirdly, a deep conviction of our utter _helplessness_, of our total inability to retain any thing we have received, much more to deliver ourselves from the world of iniquity remaining both in our hearts and lives, teaches us truly to live upon Christ by faith, not only as our priest, but as our king. Hereby we are brought to “magnify him” indeed, to “give him all the glory of his grace,” to “make him a whole Christ, an entire Saviour,” and truly to “set the crown upon his head.” These excellent words, as they have frequently been used, have little or no meaning. But they are fulfilled in a strong and a deep sense, when we thus, as it were, go out of ourselves, in order to be swallowed up in him; when we sink into nothing, that he may be all in all. Then his almighty grace having abolished _every high thing which exalted itself against_ him, every temper, and thought, and word, and work is _brought to the obedience of Christ_.

LONDONDERRY, _April 24, 1767_.

SERMON XV.[28]

THE GREAT ASSIZE:

ROM. xiv. 10.

_We shall all stand before the judgment seat of Christ._

1. HOW many circumstances concur, to raise the awfulness of the present solemnity? The general _concourse_ of people of every age, sex, rank and condition of life, willingly or unwillingly gathered together, not only from the neighbouring but from distant parts! _Criminals_, speedily to be brought forth, and having no way to escape: _officers_ waiting in their various posts, to execute the orders which shall be given: and the _Representative_ of our Gracious Sovereign, whom we so highly reverence, and honour. The _occasion_ likewise of this assembly, adds not a little to the solemnity of it: to hear and determine causes of every kind, some of which are of the most important nature: on which depends no less than life or death; death, that uncovers the face of eternity! It was doubtless in order to increase the serious sense of these things, and not in the minds of the vulgar only, that the wisdom of our forefathers did not disdain to appoint even several minute circumstances of this solemnity. For these also, by means of the eye or ear, may more deeply affect the heart. And when viewed in this light, trumpets, staves, apparel, are no longer trifling or insignificant, but subservient in their kind and degree to the most valuable ends of society.

2. But as awful as this solemnity is, one far more awful is at hand. For yet a little while, and _we shall all stand before the judgment seat of Christ. For as I live, saith the Lord, every knee shall bow to me, and every tongue shall confess to God._ And in that day, _every one of us shall give account of himself to God_.

3. Had all men a deep sense of this, how effectually would it secure the interests of society? For what more forcible motive can be conceived, to the practice of genuine morality? to a steddy pursuit of solid virtue? an uniform walking in justice, mercy, and truth? What could strengthen our hands in all that is good, and deter us from all evil, like a strong conviction of this, _the Judge standeth at the door_: and we are shortly to _stand before him_?

4. It may not therefore be improper, or unsuitable to the design of the present assembly, to consider,

I. The chief circumstances which will precede our standing before the judgment seat of Christ.

II. The judgment itself, and,

III. A few of the circumstances which will follow it.

I. Let us, in the first place, consider the chief circumstances which will precede our standing before the judgment seat of Christ.

And 1st, _God will shew signs in the earth beneath_:[29] particularly he will _arise to shake terribly the earth. The earth shall reel to and fro like a drunkard, and shall be removed like a cottage. There shall be earthquakes_[30] κατὰ τόπους not in divers only, but _in all places_: not in one only, or a few, but in every part of the habitable world: even _such as were not, since men were upon the earth, so mighty earthquakes and so great_. In one of these _every island shall flee away, and the mountains will not be found_.[31] Meantime all the waters of the terraqueous globe will feel the violence of those concussions: _the sea and waves roaring_,[32] with such an agitation as had never been known before, since the hour that _the fountains of the great deep were broken up_, to destroy the earth which then _stood out of the water and in the water_. The air will be all storm and tempest, full of dark _vapours and pillars of smoak_;[33] resounding with thunder from pole to pole, and torn with ten thousand lightnings. But the commotion will not stop in the region of the air: _the powers of heaven_ also _shall be shaken.[34] There shall be signs in the sun and in the moon and in the stars_; those fixt, as well as those that move round them. _The sun shall be turned into darkness and the moon into blood, before the great and the terrible day of the Lord come.[35] The stars shall withdraw their shining_,[36] yea and _fall from heaven_, being thrown out of their orbits. And then shall be heard the universal _shout_[37] from all the companies of heaven, followed by _the voice of the arch-angel_, proclaiming the approach of the Son of God and man, _and the trumpet of God_, sounding an alarm to _all that sleep in the dust of the earth_. In consequence of this all the graves shall open, and the bodies of men arise. _The sea also shall give up the dead which are therein_,[38] and every one shall rise with _his own body_: his own in substance, although so changed in its properties, as we cannot now conceive. For _this corruptible will_ then _put on incorruption, and this mortal put on immortality_.[39] Yea, _death and hades_, the invisible world shall _deliver up the dead that are in them_. So that all who ever lived and died since God created man, shall be raised incorruptible and immortal.

2. At the same time _the Son of man shall send forth his angels_ over all the earth, _and they shall gather his elect from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other_.[40] And the Lord himself shall _come with clouds, in his own glory, and the glory of his Father, with ten thousand of his saints, even myriads of angels_, and _shall sit upon the throne of his glory. And before him shall be gathered all nations, and he shall separate them one from another, and shall set the sheep_, the good, _on his right hand, and the goats_, the wicked, _upon the left_.[41] Concerning this general assembly it is, that the beloved disciple speaks thus: _I saw the dead_, all that had been dead, _small and great, stand before God. And the books were opened_ (a figurative expression, plainly referring to the manner of proceeding among men) _and the dead were judged out of those things which were written in the books according to their works_.[42]

II. These are the chief circumstances which are recorded in the oracles of God, as preceding the general judgment. We are secondly, to consider the judgment itself, so far as it hath pleased God to reveal it.

1. The person by whom God _will judge the world_ is his only begotten Son whose _goings forth are from everlasting, who is God over all, blessed for ever_. Unto him, being _the out-beaming of his Father’s glory, the express image of his person_,[43] the Father _hath committed all judgment, because he is the Son of man_:[44] because tho’ he was _in the form of God, and thought it not robbery to be equal with God, yet he emptied himself, taking upon him the form of a servant, being made in the ♦likeness of men_.[45] Yea, because _being found in fashion as a man, he humbled himself_ yet farther, _becoming obedient unto death, even the death of the cross. Wherefore God hath highly exalted him_, even in his human nature, and _ordained him_ as man to try the children of men, to be the _judge both of the quick and dead_; both of those who shall be found alive at his coming, and of those who were before _gathered to their fathers_.

2. The time, termed by the prophet, _the great and the terrible day_, is usually in scripture stiled _the day of the Lord_. The space from the creation of man upon the earth to the end of all things, is _the day of the sons of men_: the time that is now passing over us, is properly _our day_. When this is ended, _the day of the Lord_ will begin. But who can say, how long it will continue? _With the Lord one day is as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day._[46] And from this very expression some of the ancient fathers drew that inference, that, what is commonly called, _the day of judgment_, would be indeed a thousand years. And it seems they did not go beyond the truth: nay, probably they did not come up to it. For if we consider the number of persons who are to be judged, and of actions which are to be enquired into, it does not appear, that a thousand years will suffice for the transactions of that day. So that it may not improbably comprise several thousand years. But God shall reveal this also in its season.

3. With regard to the place where mankind will be judged, we have no explicit account in scripture. An eminent writer (but not he alone; many have been of the same opinion) supposes it will be on earth, where the works were done, according to which they shall be judged, and that God will in order thereto employ the angels of his strength,

“To smooth and lengthen out the boundless space, And spread an area for all human race.”

But perhaps it is more agreeable to our Lord’s own account, of his _coming in the clouds_, to suppose it will be above the earth, if not “twice a planetary height.” And this supposition is not a little favoured, by what St. _Paul_ writes to the _Thessalonians_. _The dead in Christ shall rise first. Then we who remain alive, shall be caught up together with them, in the clouds_,[47] to meet the Lord in the air. So that it seems most probable, the _great white throne_, will be high exalted above the earth.

4. The persons to be judged, who can count any more than the drops of rain, or the sands of the sea? I beheld, saith St. _John_, _a great multitude which no man can number_, clothed with white robes, and palms in their hands. How immense then must be the total multitude, of all nations, and kindreds, and people, and tongues? Of all that have sprung from the loins of _Adam_, since the world began, till time shall be no more? If we admit the common supposition, which seems no ways absurd, that the earth bears at any one time, no less than four hundred millions, of living souls, men women and children: what a congregation must all those generations make, who have succeeded each other for seven thousand years?

“Great Xerxes world in arms, proud _Cannæ’s_ host, They all are here: and here they all are lost. Their numbers swell to be discerned in vain; Lost as a drop in the unbounded main.”

* Every man, every woman, every infant of days that ever breathed the vital air, will then hear the voice of the Son of God, and start into life, and appear before him. And this seems to be the natural import of that expression, _the dead, small and great_: all universally, all without exception, all of every age, sex or degree; all that ever lived and died, or underwent such a change as will be equivalent with death. For long before that day the phantom of human greatness disappears and sinks into nothing. Even in the moment of death, that vanishes away. Who is rich or great in the grave?

5. And every man shall there _give an account of his own works_, yea, a full and true account, of all that he ever did while in the body, whether it was good or evil. O what a scene will then be disclosed, in the sight of angels and men! While, not the fabled _Radamanthus_, but the Lord God Almighty, who knoweth all things in heaven and earth,

_Castigatque auditque dolos; subigitque fateri Quæ quis apud superos, furto lætatus inani, Distulit in seram commissa piacula mortem._

Nor will all the actions alone of every child of man, be then brought to open view, but all their words: seeing _every idle word which men shall speak, they shall give account thereof in the day of judgment_.[48] So that _by thy words_ as well as works, _thou shalt be justified; or by thy words thou shalt be condemned_. Will not God then bring to light every circumstance also, that accompanied every word or action, and if not altered the nature, yet lessened or increased the goodness or badness of them? And how easy is this to him, who is _about our bed and about our path, and spieth out all our ways_? We know, _the darkness is no darkness to him, but the night shineth as the day_.

6. Yea, he _will bring to light_ not _the hidden works of darkness_ only, but the very _thoughts and intents of the hearts_. And what marvel? For he _searcheth the reins, and understandeth all our thoughts. All things are naked and open to the eyes of him with whom we have to do. Hell and destruction are before him without a covering. How much more the hearts of the children of men?_

7. And in that day shall be discovered every inward working of every human soul: every appetite, passion, inclination, affection, with the various combinations of them, with every temper and disposition that constitute the whole complex character of each individual. So shall it be clearly and infallibly seen, who was righteous, and who unrighteous; and in what degree every action, or person, or character was either good or evil.

8. _Then the king will say to them upon his right-hand, Come ye blessed of my Father. For I was hungry and ye gave me meat, thirsty and ye gave me drink, I was a stranger and ye took me in, naked and ye cloathed me._ In like manner, all the good they did upon earth, will be recited before men and angels: whatsoever they had done either _in word or deed, in the name_, or for the sake, _of the Lord Jesus_. All their good desires, intentions, thoughts, all their holy dispositions, will also be then remembered; and it will appear, that though they were unknown or forgotten among men, yet God _noted_ them _in his book_. All their sufferings likewise for the name of Jesus, and for the testimony of a good conscience will be displayed, _unto_ their _praise_ from the righteous Judge, their _honour_ before saints and angels, and the increase of that _far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory_.

9. But will their evil deeds too (since if we take in his whole life, _there is not a man on earth that liveth and sinneth not_) will these be remembered in that day, and mentioned in the great congregation? Many believe they will not, and ask, “Would not this imply, that their sufferings were not at an end, even when life ended? Seeing they would still have, sorrow, and shame and confusion of face to endure?” They ask farther, how can this be reconciled with God’s declaration by the prophet. _If the wicked will turn from all his sins that he hath committed, and keep all my statutes, and do that which is lawful and right; all his transactions that he hath committed, they shall not be once mentioned unto him._[49] How is it consistent with the promise which God has made, to all who accept of the gospel-covenant, _I will forgive their iniquities, and remember their sin no more_?[50] Or as the apostle expresses it, _I will be merciful to their unrighteousness, and their sins and iniquities will I remember no more_?[51]

10. * It may be answered, it is apparently and absolutely necessary, for the full display of the glory of God, for the clear and perfect manifestation of his wisdom, justice, power and mercy toward the heirs of salvation, that all the circumstances of their life should be placed in open view, together with all their tempers, and all the desires, thoughts and intents of their hearts. Otherwise how would it appear out of what a depth of sin and misery the grace of God had delivered them? And, indeed, if the whole lives of all the children of men were not manifestly discovered, the whole amazing contexture of Divine Providence could not be manifested: nor should we yet be able in a thousand instances,

To “justify the ways of God to man.”

Unless our Lord’s words were fulfilled in their utmost sense, without any restriction or limitation, _there is nothing covered that shall not be revealed, or hid that shall not be known_,[52] abundance of God’s dispensations under the sun would still appear without their reasons. And then only when God hath brought to light all the hidden things of darkness, whosoever were the actors therein, will it be seen that wise and good were all his ways: that he _saw through the thick cloud_, and governed all things by the wise _counsel of his own will_: that nothing was left to chance or the caprice of men, but God disposed all _strongly and sweetly_, and wrought all into one connected chain of justice, mercy, and truth.

11. And in the discovery of the divine perfections, the righteous will rejoice with joy unspeakable; far from feeling any painful sorrow or shame, for any of those past transgressions, which were long since blotted out as a cloud, washed away by the blood of the Lamb. It will be abundantly sufficient for them, that _all the transgressions which they had committed, shall not be once mentioned unto them_, to their disadvantage; that _their sins and transgressions and iniquities shall be remembered no more_, to their condemnation. This is the plain meaning of the promise: and this all the children of God shall find true, to their everlasting comfort.

12. After the righteous are judged, the King will turn to them upon his left hand, and they shall also be judged, every man _according to his works_. But not only their outward works will be brought into the account, but all the evil words which they have ever spoken; yea, all the evil desires, affections, tempers, which have or have had, a place in their souls, and all the evil thoughts or designs which were ever cherished in their hearts. The joyful sentence of acquital will then be pronounced upon those upon the right hand: the dreadful sentence of condemnation upon those on the left: both of which must remain fixt and unmoveable, as the throne of God.

III. 1. We may, in the third place, consider a few of the circumstances which will follow the general judgment. And the first is the execution of the sentence pronounced on the evil and on the good. _These shall go away into eternal punishment, and the righteous into life eternal._ It should be observed, it is the very same word which is used, both in the former and the latter clause: it follows, that either the punishment lasts for ever, or the reward too will come to an end. No, never, unless God could come to an end, or his mercy and truth could fail. _Then shall the righteous shine forth as the sun, in the kingdom of their father_, and shall _drink of those rivers of pleasure which are at God’s right hand for evermore_. But here all description falls short; all human language fails! only one who is caught up into the third heaven, can have a just conception of it. But even such an one cannot express what he hath seen: these things _it is not possible for man to utter_.

The wicked, meantime, _shall be turned into hell_, even _all the people that forget God_. They will be _punished with everlasting destruction, from the presence of the Lord, and from the glory of his power_. They will be _cast into the lake of fire burning with brimstone_, originally _prepared for the devil and his angels_; where they will _gnaw their tongues_ for anguish and pain, they will _curse God and look upward_: there the dogs of hell, pride, malice, revenge, rage, horror, despair continually devour them. _There they have no rest, day or night, but the smoke of their torment ascendeth for ever and ever. For their worm dieth not, and their fire is not quenched._