at the judgment it will be known, when the Lord shall judge between cattle and cattle, the sheep and the goats, and divide them from one another. Besides, what the wicked are upbraided with, shew that they were such who had dwelt among christians, and had been associates with them, and saw them in distress, and did not relieve them; but this cannot be said of multitudes who never heard of Christ, nor ever saw any of his people in distressed circumstances, and shewed them no pity; and moreover, the sentence pronounced upon them, is the same which elsewhere it is said will be pronounced on such that have bore the christian name, yet bad men, either preachers of the word, or members of churches, Luke xiii. 26, 27. I am aware what will be objected to all this, that it is said, that all nations shall be gathered before the Judge: but then it should be observed, that the word all is frequently to be restrained, and taken in a limitted sense, according to the subject treated of; as it must be here; for if what has been said is sufficient to prove, that only professors of religion are spoken of, then the sense must be, that professors in all nations of the world shall be summoned, and brought before the Judge. Likewise the text in Rev. xx. 12. seems only to respect the wicked; the dead said to stand before God, are the wicked dead, the rest of the dead, who lived not till the thousand years were ended, verse 5. and are the same, who, being raised, shall encompass the camp of the saints, the beloved city; but being defeated in their enterprize, shall be brought, and stand as criminals before God, the Judge of all, and be judged out of the books opened, according to their works: and what may further strengthen this sense, no other use, as appears, is made of the book of life; only that those whose names were not found in it, were cast into the lake of file, which must be the wicked. However, putting all these descriptions together, they are a full proof of the general judgment, both of good and bad men, of men under every character and class, and of every age.

II. The next enquiry is, who the person is that shall be the Judge, preside in judgment, and carry on the judicial process to the end? God is, and will be Judge, and he only; hence we read of God the Judge of all, Heb. xii. 23. and of the judgment of God; and of the righteous judgment of God, Rom. ii. 3. 5. and John saw in a vision, the dead, small and great, stand before God, Rev. xx. 12. but not God the Father; For the Father judgeth no man, John v. 22. that is, no man separate and apart from his Son; nor in a visible form, for he never assumed any but then he will judge the world by his Son, as he is expressly said to do, Rom. ii. 16. so that he is not excluded from a concern in the judgment; nor the Holy Spirit. The trine-une God will be the Judge, as to original authority, power, and right of judgment; but according to the oeconomy settled between the three divine Persons among themselves, the work is assigned unto the Son; and is appropriate to him: hence we read of appearing and standing before the judgment-seat of Christ, and of the Lord Jesus Christ, who shall judge the quick and the dead, at his appearing and kingdom, Rom. xiv. I

this work belongs to him as Mediator, and is a part of his office as such; it is what is committed to him by the Father; and which he ivis an authority from him to execute, John v. 22, 27. it is what he was appointed to in the council and covenant of God, it is a branch of his kingly office, and therefore in the administration of it he is spoken of as a King; Then shall the King say to them on his right-hand, Come ve blessed, &c. and when they shall sav, Lord, when saw we thee so and so; The King shall answer and say, &c. Matt. xxv. 34, 40Yea, Christ, by his death and resurrection, has obtained a right of dominion over all, as to be the Judge of them; For to this end Christ both died, and rosen and revived, that he might be the Lord both of the dead and living, Rom. xiv. 9. that is, so as to judge both quick and dead, as the following verses shew. And accordingly, upon his resurrection from the dead, all power in heaven and earth were given to him as Mediator; and upon his ascension to heaven, he was made, or declared, Lord and Christ; and at his second coming, he will come as the Lord, the righteous Judge, with an acquired, as well as an allowed right to judge the world; and this office he will execute as God-man, in both his natures, human and divine; which are both necessary to the execution of it.

1. It is highly proper that the Judge of all the earth, should be God. The work requires divine omniscience, infinite wisdom, almighty power, and strict justice and faithfulness; all which are to be found in Christ the Son of God. Omniscience is necessary to this work, which is proper to God; for all the works, words, and thoughts of men, must be known by him, in order to judge them; to know all the works, words, and thoughts, of only one man, for the space of sixty, seventy, or eighty years, is more than ony mere creature can know, but what is even this knowledge, to that of all the individuals throughout a kingdom and nation? and what is that to the knowledge of all the works, words, and thoughts, of the millions of individuals in all kingdoms and nations? and of those in every age of the workl, from the beginning of the world to the end of it? Such knowledge is too wonderful for us to conceive of; yet this is in Christ, as God, who knows all persons and things, before whom every creature and all things, are manifest, naked and oper; even before him with whom we have to do; or to whom we must give an account, as the words may be rendered. He is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart; and needs not to be told any thing of man, for he knows all that is in him, and done by him. Wisdom and sagacity are necessary to a judge. Solomon, by his judgment between the two harlots, became very famous and respectable among his people; but a greater than Solomon is here: One who is the all-wise God, the wisdom of God, in whom are hid all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge, and on whom the Spirit of knowledge and wisdom rests; a Judge whose head, and whose hairs, are white as wool, as white as snow, denoting his greatgravity and wisdom; who is able, as it is necessary he should be, to distinguish between man and man; between that which has only the appearance of a good action, and that which is really such. Almighty power is likewise requisite

in the Judge of the world, to do what must and will be done by him; as to raise the dead, summon all before him, and not only pronounce the decisive sentences on them, but carry them into exccution; for which purpose, he is said to come with power, as well as with great glory and such an one is Christ, who is the mighty God, stilel most mighty, yea, the Almighty. Strict justice and faithfulness, are qualifications in a temporal judge, who is to exe, cute true judgment; is not to be bribed, nor to respect persons; nor to pass sentence in a cause through favour and affection; and such a Judge, and one infinitely more so, is necessary to judge the world in righteousness, and the people with equity; and such an one is Jesus Christ the righteous; and who will appear to be the Lord the righteous Judge, and his judgment to be just and true; for he will not judge according to the sight of his eyes, and the hearing of his ears; but with righteousness shall he judge, and reprove with equity; righteousness will be the girdle of his loins, and faithfulness the girdle of his reigns,

A

11. That Christ should appear in human nature, when he comes to judge the world, is highly necessary; for God has appointed to judge the world by that Man whom he has ordained; so that Christ, as man, must be concerned in the judgment of the world; vea, the Father has given him authority to execute it, because he is the Son of man, Acts xvii. 31. John v. 27. because he has assumed human nature, and so can appear visibly in it, as it is proper a judge should be visible. The sight of a judge is very striking; it commands awe and reverence in all, it fills the criminal with terror, and the just man with pleasure: so Christ, the Judge, will come in such a visible manner, that every eye shall see him; he will appear to the joy of some, and to the shame and confusion of others. judge usually appears, and it is proper he should, in some external pomp and splendour, in his habit, in his retinue, and attendants; and as placed on a seat, or throne, a bench of justice, with a court set around him: Christ, the Judge of all will come in great splendour and glory, in the glory of his human nature visible, the rays of his divine nature beaming through it; attended by his mighty angels and with a shout, the voice of the archangel, and the trump of God; a glorious great white throne will be prepared for him, on which he will be visibly placed, and thousands, and ten thousands standing about him, and ministering unto him; it is proper he should appear in human nature, to deliver out, with an articulate voice to be heard, the sentences, both the one and the other; Come ye blessed, and Go ye cursed! Moreover, since he, as man, was arraigned at the bar of man, and stood before a judge, and was unjustly condemned by him, and dealt with injuriously by men; it seems highly proper, that when he comes as a Judge, he should come as man, and the tables be turned; and he that was his Judge stand before him, and see the very man he used so ill, and receive his sentence from him; as well as all such who have spoken against him, his person, doctrines, and ordinances, and mal-treated his people; and who will be clliged to centers, that he is Lord, to the glory of God the Father..

E

As for the concern of others in the judgment, angels or men, nothing is to be admitted, that derogates from the glory of the office of Christ, as Judge of the world. Angels will be no otherwise concerned, than as they will be attendants on him at his coming; be employed by him in gathering and bringing to him the elect, raised from the dead, in the several parts of the world, ot the first re surrection; and in the binding up of the tares, the wicked, and casting them into hell, after the second resurrection, and final judgment: approvers of the righteous judgment, no doubt they will be; but as assisting and advising in it, as there will be no need of it, there is no reason to believe it: how far they may be evidences and witnesses in some cases, I will not say; since they are frequently in religious assemblies, and have been employed in many things in this lower world, and must be prity to many things done in it. As for the saints, there seems to be more that is said of them; as that thrones will be set for them, and judgment be given to them; the apostles are said to sit on twelve thrones, in the kingdom of Christ, and to judge men; and the apostle Paul says, that the saints shall judge the world; yea, judge angels, Luke xxii. 36. 1 Cor. vi. 2, 3. not that the saints will be co-judges with Christ, and assistants to him in judgė ment; whatever may be said for them, as sisters by, and approvers of it, as no doubt they will be; and besides this, it is generally allowed, that they, as members of Christ, and as considered in him, their head, will judge the world; and also that their holy lives and conversation, will rise up in judgment against their wicked neighbours, and condemn them; as that of righteous Lot will rise up against the inhabitants of Sodom.

III. The persons that will be judged; angels and men: as to good angels, nothing is said of the judgment of them in scripture; nor does it seem probabic, since they never sinned, were confirmed in their original state, by the grace of Christ, and have always been in a fixed state of happiness, always beholding the face of God in heaven: how far their perfect obedience to God, and the faithful services they have performed to men, at his command, may be brought into judgment, to receive their just priase and commendation, I will not say. But as to the case of the evil angels, it is notorious that they will be judged; for if the saints shall judge angels, that is, evil ones, much more will Christ: these, indced as soon as they sinned, were cast down to hell, as into a prison; and as criminals are committed to prison, and laid in chains, until the assize, or session, comes; so these are laid in chams of darkness, and reserved to the judgment of he great day, when they will receive their final sentence, and enter into full punishment; in which it seems they are not as yet, 2 Pet. i. 4. Jude 6. But the judgment spoken of in scripture, chiefly concerns men, good and bad; for as the wise man says, God shall judge the righteous and the wicked.

The righteous and these shall be judged first alone; for the ungodly shall not stand in the judgment with them, nor sinners in the congregation of the righteous, and they will be first judged; not only according to the order of the words in Ecclesiastes, before mentioned, on which no stress is to be laid; but

their judgment will be dispatched first, as represented in Matt. xxv.

Besides,

they will be raised first; The dead in Christ will rise fist; even a thousand years before the rest; and it is not reasonable to suppose, that their judgment will not proceed; but be deferred until the rest are raised. Besides, Christ will judge the quick and the dead, the living saints changed, and the dead ones raised, at his appearing and kingdom; their judgment will be at the beginning of his kingdom, and be continued in it; and it will be proper that they should be judged first, that they may receive the distribution of rewards, made in the kingdom-state; though indeed, they may at once be put into the possession of diatinguished favours, and have marks of respect, immediately, as soon as that state begins, and their judgment be brought on, to shew the justness of the distribution made to them. Moreover, since they are to judge the world, and to judge angels, it is necessary they should be first judged themselves.

Here would have been the proper place to consider the question, whether the sins of the righteous will be brought into judgment? but that I have given my thoughts of this in another place. Thus much for the judgment of the righte ous. Some have thought that Enoch and Elias, and those who rose after the resurrection of Christ, and of whom it may be supposed, that they went with him at his ascension to heaven; that those will not come into judgment, since they have been so long in a state of perfection, both in soul and body, which will not be the case of the other righteous at the coming of Christ; but this I will not take upon me to determine.

11. The wicked will be judged; such who have indulged themselves in the gratification of sinful pleasures, and may have been so hardened in sin as to imagine they shall escape the judgment of God; yet they shall not, Rom. ii. 3—5 even all the wicked shall be judged. These are the dead, John saw stand be fore God, small and great; all the wicked dead from the beginning of the world to the end of it; who will not live again, or be raised from the dead, till after the thousand years are ended, Rev. xx. 5, 12. so that the judgment of those will not be till after the thousand years reign of Christ and his saints, and after the second resurrection; after which, all the wicked being raised, shall be brought to judgment, small and great; that is, such as were so when they died, being either children, or grown persons; though now as they will rise as persons in manhood, will so stand before God; or as high and low, rich and poot, kings and peasants: for now shall the rich and poor mect together, though not now distinguished as such; but having been such in their mortal state, shall not be exempted from the judgment of God: or as greater and lesser sinners, and accordingly, shall receive their just punishment; for however it may be a question, whether there will be degrees in the ultimate glory; there is none concerning degrees of punishment; since it will be more tolerable for Tyre and Sidon, Sodom and Gomorrah, in the day of judgment, than for some cities where Christ preached and wrought his miracles, yet repented not, nor believed in him.