The apostle is very express, Acts xxvii. 31. "He hath appointed a day, in the which he will judge the world in righteousness, by that man whom he hath ordained." SeeMat. xvi. 27. 2 Cor. v. 10. 2 Thes. i. 7, 8, 9, 10. Rev. xx. 11-15. God has not only said it, but he has sworn it, Rom. xiv. 10, 11. "We must all stand before the judgment-seat of Christ. For it is written, As I live saith the Lord, every knee shall bow to me, and every tongue. shall confess to God." So that the truth of God is most solemnly plighted for it.

Secondly, The rectoral justice and goodness of God, the sovereign Ruler of the world, do necessarily require it, inasmuch as they require its being well with the righteous, and ill with the wicked. Howbeit, we often now see wickedness exalted, while truth and righteousness fall in the streets; piety oppressed, while profanity and irreligion do triumph. This is so very ordinary, that every ones who sincerely embraceth the way of holiness, must and doth lay his account with the loss of all he has, which the world can take away from him, Luke xiv. 26. "If any man come to me, and hate not his father and mother, and wife and children, and brethren and sisters, yea, and his own life also, he cannot be my disciple." But it is inconsistent with the justice and goodness of God, that the affairs of men should always continue in this state, which they appear in, from one generation to another, but that every man be rewarded according to his works; and since that is not done in this life, there must be a judgment to come, "Seeing it is righteous with God, to recompence tribulation to them that trouble you; and to you who are troubled, rest with us, when the Lord Jesus shall be reyealed from heaven," 2 Thes. i. 6, 7. There will be a day, in which the tables will be turned; and the wicked shall be called to an account for all their sins, and suffer the due punishment of them; and the pious shall be the prosperous; for, as the apostle argues for the happy rection of the saints, "If in this life only we have hope in Christ, we are of all men most miserable," I Cor. XV. 19. It is true, God sometimes punisheth the wicked in this life, that men may know, he is a God that judgeth in the earth; but yet much wickedness remains unpunished, and undiscovered, to be a pledge of the judgment të

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come. If none of the wicked were punished here, they would conclude, that God had utterly forsaken the earth; if all of them were punished in this life, men would be. apt to think, there is no after-reckoning, Therefore, in the wisdom of God, some are punished now, and some not. Sometimes the Lord smites sinners, in the very act of sin, to shew unto the world, that he is witness to all their wickedness, and will call them to an account for it. Sometimes he delays long, ere he strike; that he may discover to the world, that he forgets not mens ill deeds, though he does not presently punish them. Besides all this, the sins of many do outlive them; and the impure fountain, by them opened, runs long after they are dead and gone. As in the case of Jeroboam the first king of the ten tribes; whose sin did run on all along unto the end,of that unhappy kingdom, 2 Kings xvii. 22, 23. "The children of Israel walked in all the sins of Jeroboam, which he did they departed not from them; until the Lord removed Is rael out of his sight.

Thirdly, The resurrection of Christ is a certain proof that there shall be a day of judgment. This argument Paul useth to convince the Athenians: says he, "He hath given assurance to all men, in that he hath raised him from the dead, Acts xvii. 31. The judge is already named, his patent written and sealed, yea and read before all men, in his rising again from the dead. Hereby God hath given assurance of it (or offered faith, Marg.) He hath by raising Christ from the dead, exhibited his credentials as Judge of the world. When, in the days of his humiliation, he was sisted before a tribunal, arraigned, accused, and condemned of men; he plainly told them of this judgment, and that he himself would be the Judge, Math. xxvi. 64. Hereafter shall ye see the Son of man sitting on the right hand of power, and coming in the clouds of heaven. And now that he was raised from the dead, though condemned as a blasphemer on this very head, is it not un undeniable proof from heaven, of the truth of what he asserted? Moreover, this was one of the great ends of Christ's death and resurrection; "For to this end Christ both died, and rose, and revived, that he might be the Lord" (i. e. The Lord Judge, as is evident from the context,)" both of the dead and of the liying," Rom. xiv. 9.

Lastly, Every man bears about with him a witness to this, within his own breast, Rom. ii. 15. "Which shew the work of the law written in their hearts, their conscience also bearing witness, and their thoughts the mean while accusing, or else excusing one another. There is a tribunal erected within every man, where conscience is accuser, witness, and judge, binding over the sinner to the judgment of God. This fills the most profligate wretches with horror, and inwardly stings them, upon the commission of some atrocious crime; in effect summoning them to answer for it, before the Judge of the quick and dead. And this it doth, even when the crime is secret, and hid from the eyes of the world. It reacheth those, whom the laws of men cannot reach, because of their power or craft. When men have fled from the judgment of their fellow-creatures, yet go where they will, conscience, as the supreme Judge's of ficer, still keeps hold of them, reserving them in its chains to the judgment of the great day. And whether they es cape punishment from men, or fall by the hand of public justice, when they perceive death's approach, they heat from within of this after-reckoning; being constrained to hearken thereto, in these the most serious minutes of their life. If there be some, in whom nothing of this doth ap pear, we have no more ground thence to conclude against it, than we have to conclude, that because some men do not groan, therefore they have no pain; or that dying is a mere jest, because there have been, who have seemed to make little else of it. A good face may be put upon an ill conscience! and the more hopeless men's case is, they reckon it the more their interest to make no reflections on their state and case. But every one, who will consult himself seriously, shall find in himself the witness to the judgment to come. Even the Heathens wanted not a notion of it, though mixed with fictions of their own. Hence though some of the Athenians, when they heard of the resurrection of the dead, mocked, Acts xvii. 32. yet there is no account of their mocking, when they heard of the genéral judgment, ver. S1.

II. For explication, the following particulars may serve to give some view of the nature and transactions of that great day.

First, God shall judge the world by Jesus Christ : “ He

will judge the world in righteousness, by that Man whom he hath ordained," Acts xxvii. 31. The Psalmist tells us, that God is judge himself, Psalm 1. 6. The holy blessed Trinity, Father, Son, and Holy Ghost, is Judge, in respect of judicial authority, dominion, and power: But the Son incarnate is the Judge, in respect of dispensation, and special exercise of that power. The judgment shall be exercised or performed by him, as the royal Mediator; for he has a delegated power of judgment from the Father, as his Servant, his King, whom he hath set upon his holy hill of Zion, Psal. ii. 6. and to whom he hath committed all judgment, John v. 2. This is a part of the Mediator's exaltation, given him, in consequence of his voluntary humiliation, Philip. iii. 8, 9, 10. "He humbled

himself, and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross. Wherefore God hath highly exalted him, and given him a name, which is above every name," (i. e. power and authority over all, to wit) That at (or in) the name of Jesus (not the name of Jesus, that is not the name above every name, being common to others, as to Justus, Col. iv. 11. And Joshua, Heb. iv. 8.) every knee shall bow. The which is explained by the Apostle himself, of standing before the judgment seat of Christ, Rom. xiv. 10, 11. So he who was judged and condemned of men, shall be the Judge of men and angels.

Secondly, Jesus Christ, the Judge descending from hea ven into the air (1 Thes. iv. 16.) shall ❝ come in the clouds of heaven, with power and great glory," Matth. xxiv. 30. This his coming, will be a mighty surprise to the world, which will be found in deep security: Foolish virgins sleeping, and the wise slumbering. There will then be much luxury and debauchery in the world, little sobriety and watchfulness; a great throng of business, but a great scarcity of faith and holiness: "As it was in the days of Noah, so also shall it be in the days of the Son of man: They did eat, they drank, they married wives, they were given in marriage, until the day that Noah entered into the ark; and the flood came and destroyed them all. Likewise, also, as it was in the days of Lot; they did eat, they drank, they bought, they sold, they planted, they builded.-Even thus shall it be, in the day when the Son of man is revealed," Luke xvii. 26, 27, 28, 30. The coming of the Judge

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will surprise some at markets, buying and selling; others at table, eating and drinking, and making merry; others busy with their new plantings; some building new houses; nay some's wedding-day, will be their own and the world's judgment-day. But the Judge cometh! the market's are marred; the buyer throws away what he has bought; the seller casts down his money: They are raised from the table, and their mirth is extinguished in a moment. Though the tree be set in the earth, the gardner may not stay to cast the earth about it: The work-men throw away their tools, when the house is half-built, and the owner regards it no more: The bridegroom, bride, and guests, must leave the wedding-feast, and appear fore the tribunal; for, “Behold he cometh with clouds! and every eye shall see him!" Rev. i. 7. He shall come most gloriously; for he will come in the glory of his Father, with the holy angels, Mark viii. 38. When he came in the flesh, to die for sinners, he laid aside the robes of his glory, and was despised and rejected of men: But when he comes again, to judge the world, such shall be his visible glory and majesty, that it shall cast an eternal veil over all earthly glory, and fill his greatest enemies with fear and dread. Never had prince, or potentate in the world, such a glorious train, as will accompany this Judge! All the holy angels shall come with him for his honour and service. Then he, who was led to the cross. with a band of soldiers, will be gloriously attended to the place of judgment, by (not a multitude of the heavenly. host, but) the whole host of angels: All his holy angels, says the text.

Thirdly, At the coming of the Judge, the summons is given to the parties, by the sound of the last trumpet; at which the dead are raised, and these found alive changed; of which before, 1 Thes. iv. 16, 17. O loud trumpet! that shall be heard at once, in all corners of the earth, and of the sea! wonderful voice, that will not only disturb those who sleep in the dust; but effectually awaken, rouze them out of their sleep, and raise them from death! Were trumpets sounding now, drums beating, furious soldiers crying and killing men, women and children running and shricking, the wounded groaning and dying; those who are aves, would have no more disturbance than if flic