Secondly, His royal attendance, ' And all the holy angels with him.' Chrysostom saith the whole court of heaven removeth with him ; surely there are many of them : Jude 14, ' The Lord cometh with ten thousand of his saints to execute judgment on all, to convince all that are ungodly.' It is likely these angels will put on some visible shape, for the greater glory and majesty of Christ's appearing ; for as he will appear in a body upon his glorious throne, so will his legions round about him ; whose order, power, and formidable hosts must some way or other be seen of the wicked for their greater terror. Their attend- ance upon Christ seemeth to be for these reasons :—
1. Partly for a train, to make his appearance the more full of majesty. We find angels waiting upon Christ at his ascension, and so at his return to judgment. Public ministers of justice are made formidable by their attendance, and Christ will come as a royal king in the midst of his nobles. And —
2. Partly that by their ministry the work of the day may be the more speedily and powerfully despatched. They are to 'gather the elect from the four winds,' Mat. xxiv. 31. The angels that carried their souls to heaven shall be employed in bringing their bodies out of the graves : Luke xvi. 22, ' Carried by angels into Abraham's bosom.' They are still serviceable about the saints ; this is the last office they perform to them ; they are as it were, under Christ, guardians of their bones and dust. Now, to the wicked, they are to bind the tares in bundles, Mat. xiii. 41, that they may be burnt in the fire. They force and present wicked men before the judge, be they never so obstinate. They are witnesses ; they attend upon congregations, 1 Cor. xi. 10. In assemblies there is more company meets than is visible ; devils and angels meet there ; the devils to divert your minds as soon as the}'- begin to be serious, to catch the good word out of your heart; and angels observing you ; here should be no indecency. So in your ordi- nary conversations they are conversant about j^ou. And then for execution, no sooner is sentence pronounced but executed ; as Haman's face was covered, and he led away to execution as soon as the king
VeR. 31.] SPIRMONS UPON MATTHEW XXV. 29
had but said the word. Thus the scripture, in a condescension to our capacity, representeth to us the ministry of angels in that great and terrible day. We can better understand the operations of angels than of God himself ; they being nearer to us in being, and of an essence finite and limited, their acts are more comprehensible.
3. There may be a third reason imagined why the angels should come to this judgment, which will give us an occasion for handling a question, Whether they shall be judged, yea or no?
I answer — For the good angels, I think not ; for the bad, the scrip- ture is express and plain.
[1.] For the good angels, it is clear, by what hath been said already, that they shall be present at this action, not to be judged, but to bring others to judgment ; as officers, not as parties. I suppose this, if men had continued in their innocency and integrity of their creation, such i\ day of universal judgment had been needless, for then there had been none to be condemned, because none had sinned ; the covenant of God would have been enough to have secured their happiness : so the good angels continuing in that state wherein they were created, there is nothing doubtful about them that needeth any judiciary debate and discussion ; and being already confirmed in the full fruition of God and happiness as to their whole nature, their estate is not to be put to any trial : whereas good men, though their souls be in heaven, yet their bodies are not admitted there ; some part of them as yet lieth under the effects of sin, and their glorification is private, and God's goodness as yet hath not been manifested to them in the eyes of all the world, nor their uprightness sufficiently vindicated; therefore a judg- ment needeth for them, but not for the angels, who were never as yet censured and traduced in the world, and they in their whole nature and person enjoy most absolute felicity in God's heavenly sanctuary : no such great change will happen to them after the judgment as happeneth to the saints when their whole persons are taken into glory. It is true they have a charge and ministry about the saints, Heb. i. 14 ; but of that ministry and charge they give an account daily in the sight of God, to whom they do approve themselves in it ; so that there is no cause for further inquisition concerning that thing, there being no neces' sity of judgment concerning them ; I think they shall not be judged.
[2.] For the evil angels, the scripture is express : 1 Cor. vi. 3, 'Know ye not that we shall judge angels ?' that is, as evil men, so evil angels. So 2 Peter ii. 4, ' God spared not the angels that sinned, but cast them down to hell, and delivered them into chains of darkness, to be reserved to the judgment of the great day.' Though they are im- prisoned in the pit of hell, yet reserved for further judgments. God's irresistible power and terrible justice overruleth, tormenteth, and restraineth them for the present. These are the chains of darkness ; yet there is a more high measure of wrath that shall light upon them at the day of judgment. Where any accession or considerable increase shall be made either to the happiness or punishment of any creature, there that creature shall be judged. Now, there is no such consider- able alteration or increase of happiness to good angels as to men ; and on the other side, there is a considerable alteration as to wicked angels : Mat. viii. 20, ' Art thou come to torment us before the time ? ' They