The parties judged, who stand before the throne, are, (1.) Generally * the dead,' all who had died from Adam to the last day. He calls them ' the dead,' after the common law of nature, but then raised from death to life by the power of God, Eph. ii. 5 ; Col. ii. 13. He speaks not of men dead in sins and trespasses, but of such as died corporally, and now were raised up to judgment. But shall not the living then be judged ? Oh, yes ! ' For we must all appear before the judgment-seat of Christ: that he may be judge of the quick and the dead, and be Lord both of the dead and the living,' 2 Oor. v. 10 ; Kom. xiv. 9, 10. Under this phrase, ' the dead,' are comprehended all those that then shall be found alive. By ' the dead ' we are to understand the living also, by an argument from the lesser. If the dead shall appear before the judgment-seat, how much more the living ! But the dead alone are named, either because the number of the dead, from Adam to the last day, shall be far greater than those that shall be found alive on earth in that day, or because those that remain alive shall be accounted as dead, because ' they shall be changed in the twinkling of an eye,' 1 Cor. xv. 52. Secondly, He describes them from their age and condition, for the words may be understood of both ' great and small,' which takes in all sorts of men, tyrants, emperors, kings, princes, dukes, lords, <fec., as well as sub- jects, vassals, slaves, beggars ; rich and poor, strong and weak, bond and free, old and young. All and every one, without exception, are to be judged ; for the judgment shall be universal. No man shall be so great as to escape tlie same, nor none so small as to be excluded ; but every one shall have justice done him, without respect of persons, as that great apostle Paul tells us, ' We must all appear before the judgment-seat of Christ, that every one may receive the things done in his body, according to that he hath done, whether it be good or bad/ 2 Cor. v. 10. I am no admirer of the schoolmen's notion, who suppose that all shall be raised about the age of thirty-three, which
ALL THE SAINTS SHALL BE JUDGED, ETC. 407
was Christ's age; but do judge that that perfection, which consisteth in the conforming them to Christ's glorious body, is of another kind than to respect either age, stature, or the like.!
' Stand before God,' that is, brought to judgment. The guilty- standing ready to be condemned, and the saints standing ready in Christ's presence to be absolved and pronounced blessed, John iii. 18.
' And the books were opened,' Christ the judge being set on his throne, and having all the world before him, ' the books are opened.' (1.) In the general the books are said to be open. (2.) Here is a special book for the elect, ' The book of life was opened,' (3.) Here you have sentence passed and pronounced, ' according to what was written in these books, and according to their works : and the dead were judged out of those things which were written in the books, according to their works.' Here the judicial process is noted by imitation of human courts, in which the whole process is wont to be drawn up, and laid before the judge, from whence the judge deter- mineth for or against the person, according to the acts and proofs that lie open before him. The equity, justice, and righteousness of Christ the judge, that sits on his white throne, is set forth by a metaphor taken from human courts, where the judge pronounceth sentence according to the written law, and the acts and proofs agreeing there- unto. 'All things are naked and bare before him, whose eyes are as a flame of fire,' Heb. iv. 13 ; Eev. i. 14, But to shew that the judg- ment shall be as accurate and particular in the trial, and just and righteous in the close, as if all were registered and put on record, nothing shall escape or be mistaken in its circumstances, but all things shall be so cleared and issued beyond all doubts and disputes, as if an exact register of them had been kept and published ; in all which there is a plain allusion unto the words of Daniel, speaking thus of this judgment, ' The judgment was set, and the books were opened,' Dan. vii, 10, We find six several books mentioned in the Scripture.
[1.] The hook of nature, that is mentioned by David, ' Thine eyes did see my substance, yet being unperfect ; and in thy book all my members were written, which in continuance were fashioned, when as yet there was none of them,' Ps. cxxxix. 16.2 It is a metaphor from curious workmen, that do all by the book, or by a model set before them, that nothing may be deficient or done amiss. Had God left out an eye in his commonplace-book, saith one, thou hadst wanted it. ' The heavens declare the glory of God, and the firmament sheweth his handiwork.' The psahnist looks upon that great volume of heaven and earth, and there reads in capital letters the prints and characters of God's glory. This book, saith one, was imprinted at the New Jerusalem by the finger of Jehovah ; and is not to be sold, but to be seen, at the sign of glory, of every one that lifts up his eyes to heaven. In this book of nature, which is made up of three great leaves, heaven, earth, and sea, God hath made himself visible, yea, legible, ' even his eternal power and godhead,' Kom. i. 20. So that
^ See General Index, under ' Resurrection,' for more on this point. — G. * The world, saith Clemens Alexandrinus, is, Dei IScriptura, the first Bihle that God made for the instruction of man.
408 OF THE BOOK OF LIFE, OUT OF WHICH
all men are left without excuse. Out of this book the poor blind Gentiles might have learned many choice lessons, as, first, that they had a maker ; secondly, that tliis maker, being before the things made, is eternal, without beginning or ending ; thirdly, that he must needs be almighty, which made all things out of nothing, and sustained such a mass of creatures ; fourthly, the order, variety, and distinction of creatures declare his marvellous wisdom ; fifthly, in this book they might run and read the great goodness, and the admirable kindness of God to the sons of men, in making all the creatures for their good, for their service, and benefit ; sixthly and lastly, in this book they might run and read what a most excellent, what a most admirable, what a most transcendent workman God was. What are the heavens, the earth, the sea, but a sheet of royal paper, written all over with the wisdom and power of God ? Now, in the great day of account, this book shall be produced to witness against the heathen world, because they did not live up to the light that was held forth to them in this book, but crucified that light and knowledge by false ways of worship, and by their wicked manners, whereof the apostle gives you a bead- roll or catalogue, from verse 21st to the end of that 1st of the Romans. But,