Use. Let us then encourage ourselves when we are counted the scurf and offscouring of all things. We shall not always be in this condi- tion, but Christ will put honour upon us in sight of all the world.
SEPvMON XXL
Then shall the King say unto them on Ms right hom,d, Come, ye blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom i^repared for you from the foundation of the luorld. — Mat. XXV. 34.
We have considered in the former verses — (1.) The sitting down of the judge; (2.) The presenting the parties to be judged. Now (3.) The sentence.
First, Of absolution, in these blessed words which I have now read to you. Observe in them — (1.) The preface ; (2.) The sentence itself.
1. The preface showeth the person by whom the sentence is pro- nounced, then shall the King say.
2. The parties whom it concerneth, to them on the right hand.
46 SERMONS UPON MATTHEW XXV. [SeR. XXI.
Secondly, The form and tenor of the sentence itself ; it is very- comfortable and ravishing. Take notice —
1. Of a compellation used, ye Messed of my Father.
2. An invitation, expressed in two words, hevre, KkTjpovofji^ijcraTe, come and inherit.
The first giveth warning for entering ; the second, for possessing of this blessed estate, and that by a sure tenure.
3. The happiness unto which we are invited ; and there the notion by which it is expressed, the Jcingdom. The adjunct, a kingdom pyrpared. The ai)plication of it to the parties concerned, for you. The ancientness of it, from the foundation of the ivorld. An estate excellent in itself, and made sure for us.
Doct. That Jesus Christ, at his coming, will adjudge his people unto a state of everlasting happiness, by a favourable and comfortable sentence passed in their behalf.
First, Observe the order, then. The godly are first absolved, before the wicked are condemned. Why ? Because —
1. It is more natural to God to reward than to punish, to save than to condemn. The one is called alienum opus, ' his strange work,' Isa. xxviii. 21. His self-inclination bendeth him to the one more than to the other. The absolution of the good maketh for the mani- festation of his mercy, the attribute wherein God delighteth, Micah vii. 18. But his justice, as to the punitive part of it, it is last. God doth good of his own accord, but punishment is extorted and forced from him.
2. It is suitable to Christ's love to begin with the saints. He is so pronely inclined to them, that he taketh their cause first in hand. He parted from them with thoughts of returning to them again.
3. For the godly's sake, that they be not for any while terrified with that dreadful doom which shall pass on the reprobate ; and that afterwards become judges of the wicked, by their vote and suffrage, when absolved themselves, 1 Cor. vi. 3.
4. For the wicked, that they may understand and be affected with their loss, and so be made more sensible of their own folly. Christ will, in their sight, put glory and honour upon his good servants, that they may have a stinging and vexatious sense of that hapjiiness which they have forsaken. Whether it be for this or that reason, let us the better bear it here. When judgment beginneth at the house of God, as it often doth, 1 Peter iv. 17, there absolution beginneth at the house of God ; and if upon us God first show his displeasure against sin, it is for the bettering of the saints, and reforming the world. First Christ will take in hand our absolution and coronation before he passeth sentence against the wicked.
Secondly, The next thing observable is the title given to Christ, ' Then shall the King say.' Christ first calleth himself the Son of man, ver. 31, because in human nature he administerelh this judg- ment ; afterward sets forth himself by the notion of a shepherd, ver. 32, because of his office and charge about the flock, and then to show it in the exact discrimination he shall make between cattle and cattle. But now the notion is varied, ' The King shall say.' Partly because it belongeth to his kingly office to pass sentence, and prefer his faith-
VeR. 34.] SERMONS UPON MATTHEW XXV. 47
fill subjects to dignitj^ and honour, as also to punish the disobedient. Partly because in that day he shall discover himself in all his royal magnificence, and call the godly to him, and solemnly put them in possession of the promised glory. The King shall crown and absolve us : it shall be a tribunal act ; and therefore valid and authentic. When the Redeemer of the world, as King, shall then sit in judgment in all his royalty, he shall then put this honour upon the saints.
Thirdly, The next thing is —
1. The compellation used, ' Come, ye blessed of my Father.'
[1.] Observe in the general, it is a friendly compellation, used to such, as were thought to be in favour with God. AVitness Laban's words to Abraham's servant ; Gen. xxiv. 31, ' Come in, thou blessed of the Lord;' and Judges xvii. 2, 'Blessed be thou of the Lord.' Those that were counted dear and beloved of the Lord were thus treated and spoken to. And because of the high favour vouchsafed to the Virgin Mary, in being the mother of the Son of God, it is said, ' All generations shall call thee blessed,' Luke i. 28, 42, 48. But what an honour is this, when Christ shall pronounce us to be so with his own mouth : ' Come, ye blessed of my Father.'