This last act of Christ, namely, his judging the world, is a spe- cial part of his exaltation and honour bestowed upon him, " be- " cause he is the Son of man," John v. 27. In that day shall his glory, as King, and absolute Lord, shine forth as the sun when it shineth in its strength. O what an honour will it be to the man Christ Jesus, who stood arraigned and condemned at Pilate's bar, to sit upon the great white throne, surrounded with thousands, and ten thousands of angels ! men and devils waiting upon him to receive the final sentence from his mouth. In this will the o-lory of Christ's sovereignty and power be eminently and illustriously dis- played before angels and men*. And this is that great truth which he commanded to be preached and testified to the people, namely, that it is " he which is ordained of God to be the Judo-e " of quick and dead."
Wherein we have four things to be distinctly considered, viz. The subject, object, fountain and truth of the supreme judiciary authority.
First, The subject of it, Christ, it is he that is ordained to be Judge. Judgment is the act of the whole undivided Trinitv. The Father and Spirit judge, as well as Christ, in respect of authority and consent, but it is the act of Christ, in respect of visible management and execution, and so it is his per proprietatem, by propriety, the Father having conferred it upon him, as the Son of man ; but not his per appropriationem, so as to exclude either the Father or Spirit from their authority, for they judge by him.
Secondly, The object of Christ's judiciary authority. The quick and dead, i. e. all that at his coming do live, or ever had lived. This is the Object personal. All men and women that ever sprang from Adam : all the apostate spirits that fell from heaven, and are reserved in chains to the judgment of this great day. And in this personal object, is included the real object, viz. all the actions, both secret and open, that ever they did, 2 Cor. v. 5. Rom. ii. 16.
Thirdly, The Fountain of this delegated authority, which is God the Father ; for he hath ordained Christ to be the Judge. " He "is appointed f," as the Son of man, to this honourable office and work. The word notes, a firm establishment of Christ in that office by his Father. He is now, by right of redemption, Lord and King. He enacts laws for government, then he comes to judge of men's obedience and disobedience to his laws.
* To the royal dignity doth belong that power or authority by which Christ is made the Judge of all men and angels. Ames. Met. p. 1 1 7. t ngitffMvc;. Drfinitus sen constitutes.
5%6 THE FOUNTAIN OF LIFE. SEBM. XLII.
Fourthly, and lastly. Here is the infallible truth, or unquestion- able certainty of all this : " He gave us commandment to preach '•' and testify it to the people." We had it in charge from his own mouth; and dare not hide it. Hence the point of doctrine is plainly this,
Doct. That our Lord Jesus Christ is ordaified by God the Father to be the Judge of quick and dead.
This truth stands upon the firm basis of scripture authority. You have it from his own hand, John v. 22. " The Father judg- " eth no man, but hath committed all judgment to the Son," viz. in the sense before given. And so the apostle, Acts xvii. 31. t; He hath appointed a day, in the which he will judge the world " in righteousness, by the man whom he hath ordained ; whereof " he hath given assurance," $c. And again, Rom. ii. 16. " In "the day when God shall judge the secrets of men by Jesus " Christ." Three things will be opened here. First, The certainty of a judgment to come. Secondly, The quality and nature of it. Thirdly, That it is a special part of Christ's exaltation to be ap- pointed Judge in this day.
First, The certainty of a judgment. This is a truth of firmer
rpi , . . establishment than heaven and earth. It is no
n . 7 l ? devised fable, no cunning artifice to keep the
J J S n - World in awe ! but a thing as confessedly true as
it is awfully solemn. For,
First, As the scriptures aforementioned (with these, 2 Cor. v. 10. Eccles. xii. 14. Matt. xii. 36. and many other, the true and faithful sayings of God) do very plainly reveal it ; so the justice and righteousness of God require it should be so. For the Judge of all the earth will do right, Gen. xviii. 25. Now righteousness itself requires that a difference be made betwixt the righteous and the wicked : " Say ye to the righteous it shall be well with him ; i( woe to the wicked, it shall be ill with him," Isa. iii. 10. But no such distinction is generally and fully made betwixt one ano- ther in this world. Yea, rather the wicked prosper, and the righteous perish, " There is a just man that perisheth in his " righteousness, and there is a wicked man that prolongeth his " life in his wickedness, Eccles. vii. 15. Yea, not only in, but for his righteousness, as it may be fairly rendered.
Here the " wicked devoureth the man that is more righteous " than himself," Hab. i. 13. As the fishes of the sea, where the great and strong swallow up the small and weak. And even in courts of judicature, where the innocent might expect relief; there they often meet with the worst oppressions. How fairly and
SERM. XLII. THE FOUNTAIN OF LIFE. 527
justly therefore doth the wise man infer a judgment to come from this consideration, Eccles. iii. 16, 17, "I saw under the sun the " place of judgment that wickedness was there, and the place of " righteousness, that iniquity was there ; I said in my heart, God " shall judge the righteous and the wicked ; for there is a time " there for every purpose, and for every work," q. d. the judg- ment to come, is the only relief and support left to poor innocents, to quiet and comfort themselves withal *. To the same purpose also is that, Jam. v. 6, 7. " Ye have condemned and killed the " just ; and he doth not resist you ; be patient, therefore, brethren, " unto the coming of the Lord.11 It is confessed, that sometimes, God vindicates his providence against the Atheism of the world, by particular strokes upon the wicked ; but this is but rare. And as the Father well observes, " •(* if no sin were punished here, no " providence would be believed ; again, if every sin were openly " punished here, no judgment hereafter could be expected." Besides,