[6.] Not only some of all sorts, or of all nations, but every indi- vidual person. In one place the apostle saith, ' All of us,' collective, 2 Cor. V. 10 ; in another place, distributive, ' Every one of us,' Eom. xiv. 12 ; not only all, but every one ; not all, shuffled together in gross, but every one, severally and apart, is to give an account of his ways and actions to God.
Use. If these things be so, that all places shall give up their dead, and all those nations that difter so much one from another in tongues, rites, and customs of living, and distance of habitation, shall be gathered together into one place, and not left scattered up and down the world ; — there are many ways to shift men's courts and tribunals (they may fly the country, or bribe the judge), but there is no shun- ning the bar of Christ ; — oh ! then, let the thought of this make us more watchful and serious.
1. In this judgment there is no exemption ; for all are summoned, small and great ; and whether they will or no, they shall be gathered together. The faithful shall willingly come, as to absolution ; the wicked shall be violently haled, as to condemnation.
2. There is no appearing by a proctor or attorney ; but every one in his own person must give an account of himself to God.
3. No denying; for the books shall be opened, Eev. xx. 12.
4. No excusing or extenuating; for Christ will 'judge the world in righteousness,' Acts xvii. 31, according to terms of strict justice.
1 Qu. 'place'?— Ed.
40 SERMONS UrON MATTHEW XXV. [SeR. XX.
5. No appealing ; for this is the last judgment. No suing out of pardon, or no time of showing favour ; for this is too late ; the day of grace is past ; sinners are in tcrmino; their work is over, and now come to receive their wages. Oh ! then, now let us take care that this day may be comfortable to us. God's children have more cause to look and long for it than to dread it.
Secondly, We now come to the segregation ; and there — First, as to company, ' He shall separate them one from another, as the shepherd divideth between the sheep and the goats.' In these words there is —
1. A point intimated and implied, that Christ is represented as a shepherd and the godly as sheep, but the wicked as goats.
2. There is a second point expressed, that though there be a con- fusion of the godly and wicked now, yet at the day of judgment there will be a perfect separation.
For the first of these, that Christ is represented to us under the notion of a shepherd, so he is called, Zech. xiii. 7, ' Awake, 0 sword, against my shepherd : I will smite the shepherd, and the sheep shall be scattered ;' and 1 Peter ii. 25, * But are now returned to the shep- herd and bishop of your souls.'
1. A shepherd among men is one that is not lord of the flock, but a servant to take care of them and charge of them. This holdeth good of Christ as mediator ; for he is God's elect servant, the servant of his decrees : the flock are his, not in point of dominion, right, and original interest, but in point of trust and charge. So Christ is lord of the faithful as God ; but as mediator he hath an office and service about them, and is to give an account of them to God, when he bringeth them home, and leadeth them into their everlasting fold, John vi. 37-40, with 1 Cor. xv. 24, 25 ; Heb. ii. 13, ' Behold I and the children whicli God hath given me ;' Jude 24, ' Now unto him that is able to keep you from falling, and to present you faultless before the presence of his glory;' and Col. i. 22, ' To present you holy, and unblamable, and unreprovable in his sight.'
2. The work of the shepherd is to keep the flock from straying, to choose fit pasture and good lair for them ; yea, not only to fodder the sheep, but to drive away the wolf. To defend the flock is a part of his office ; as David fought with the lion and the bear, and slew them for the flock's sake. All these concur in Christ, as you may see, Ps. xxiii. 1-4, ' The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want. He maketh me to lie down in green pastures; he leadeth me beside the still waters. Thy rod and thy staff they comfort me.' There is guarding, and feeding, and defending. So John x., there is leading, ver. 3, 4 ; then there is feeding them, ver. 9 ; and defending them, ver. 12, 27-29.
3. Christ is not an ordinary shepherd : he is 6 Troi/jbyjv 6 koXo'?, ' The good shepherd,' John x. 11 ; and Heb. xiii. 20, Troi/xeva rojv 'Trpo^drwv TOP /xejav, ' The great shepherd of the sheep ;' and 1 Peter v. 4, ap'x^LTrolfj.evo';, ' The chief shepherd ;' * When the chief shepherd shall appear,^ &c.