[1.] Some that have heard of Christ, and of the grace of God dis- pensed by him. These shall be judged by the gospel tenor and dispensation, which clearly sets forth all men to be sinners, and there- fore to have deserved eternal death ; and that ' there is no name under heaven whereby men can be saved, but by the name of Jesus,' Acts iv. 12. And the great question propounded to them is, whether they have believed in Chi'ist, yea or no ? Mark xvi. 16, ' They that believe not shall be damned.' They are condemned upon a double account — partly by the law, and partly by the gospel. Partly by the law, be- cause they, being under the wrath and curse of God, would not em- brace the remedy. Besides, the sentence of the law standeth in full force against a man if he cometh not to Christ to get it repealed : John iii. 18, 'He that believeth not is condemned already;' and the sentence is ratified in the gospel : John iii. 36, 'He that believeth not the Son shall not see life, but the wrath of God abideth on him.' To their other sins they added unbelief, which is a heinous crime ; yea, the great damning sin, 1 John v. 10. Those that say they believe are to prove the truth of their faith by the power it hath upon their hearts and
Vers. 32, 33. J sermons upon matthew xxv. 37
practice, James ii, 6-8, Eev. xx. 21 ; if that liath drawn off their hearts from worldly vanities and fleshly lusts, and engaged them to live unto God in the new and heavenly life.
[2.] All that have heard of Christ have not the gospel alike clearly made known unto them. To some he is preached clearly and purely, and without any mixture of errors that have any considerable influence upon the main of religion. Others are in that communion in which those doctrines are as yet taught that are indeed necessary to salva- tion, but many things are added which are indeed pernicious and dangerous in their own nature ; so that if a man should possibly be saved in that profession, ' he is saved as by fire,' 1 Cor. iii. 13. And it is a strange escape; as if one had poison mingled among his meat, the goodness of his digestion and strength of nature might work it out, but the man runneth a great hazard. As the Papists acknowledge Christ for the redeemer and mediator between God and men ; they own his two natures and satisfaction, though they mingle doctrines that strangely weaken these foundations. The Turks deny not Christ to be a great prophet, but they deny him to be the Son of God and the Saviour of the world, and the Kedeemer of mankind, and wickedly prefer their false prophet before him. The Jews confess there was a Jesus the son of Mary, that gave out himself in their country of Judea to be the Messiah, and gathered disciples, who from him are called christians ; but they call him an impostor, question all the miracles done by him, as done by the power of the devil. Now, all these shall be judged by the gospel, which is so proudly and obsti- nately rejected by them : ' The Spirit shall convince the world of sin, because they believe not in me,' John xvi. 9. He hath so proved himself to be the Christ, the Son of God, the great prophet, and true Messiah, that their rejecting and not believing in him and his testi- mony will be found to be a great and damning sin, both in itself and as it bindeth their other sins upon them ; however, their judgment shall be lighter or heavier, according to the diversity of their offence, and the invincible prejudices they lie under. The corrupters of the christian religion, because they have perverted the truth of the gospel to serve their interests (ambition, avarice, or any human passion), their doom will be exceeding great : 2 Thes. ii. 10-12, ' And with all deceivableness of unrighteousness in them that perish ; because they received not the love of the truth, that they might be saved. And for this cause God shall send them strong delusions, that they should believe a lie : that they all might be damned, who believed not the truth, but had pleasure in unrighteousness.' To poison fountains was the highest way of murder ; to royle the waters of the sanctuary, to mangle Christ's ordinances, is a crime of a high nature. The Jews that rejected Christ in so clear light of miracles, John viii. 24, Christ saith, ' If you believe not that I am he, ye shall die in your sins ; ' it maketh the judgment the more heavy upon them. Others to whom Christ is less perspicuously revealed shall have a more tolerable judg- ment ; for the clearer the revelation of the truth is, the more culpable is the rejection or contempt of it. For there is no man that heareth of Christ's coming into the world, suffering for sinners, and rising again from the dead, and ascending into heaven, but is bound more diligently
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to inquire into it, and to receive and embrace this truth. Carnal chris- tians, their profession condemneth them ; they are inexcusable ; they deny in works what in word they seem to acknowledge.