Thirdhj, The consequents of that day. I shall name three— sending of persons judged to their everlasting state, giving up the kingdom to his Father, and burning the world.
1. The sending of persons judged to their everlasting state, the •elect into glory, and the wicked into torments. For the elect : Mat. xxv. 34, ' Come, ye blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world.' Oh ! you have been too long absent ; Come, blessed children, come into my bosom ; come, pos- sess that which was prepared for you before you had a being in the world. And then for the wicked, by a terrible ban and proscription they are excommunicated and cast out of the presence of the Lord : ver. 31, 'Depart from me, ye cursed, into everlasting fire, prepared for the devil and his angels.' A terrible ban and proscription ! As Haman's face was covered when the king was angry, and so he was led away to execution, so the wicked banished from Christ's presence are accursed to all eternity, and so enter into their eternal state. Now from this sentence, either of absolution or condemnation, there is no appeal; it is pronounced by Christ as God-man. On earth many times God's sentence is repealed. God may speak of the ruin of a nation, but free grace may interpose : Jer. xviii 7, 8, ' At what instant I shall speak concerning a nation, and concerning a kingdom, to ])luck up, and to pull down, and to destroy it ; if that nation against whom I have pro- nounced, turn from their evil, I will repent of the evil that I thought to
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do unto them.' Deus mutat senientiam, non decretum — In the world, though God doth not change his decrees, yet he changeth his sentence many times; the sentence shows what might be, the decree shows what shall be. But now this sentence shall never be reversed. Now is the day of patience, then of recompense ; the day of patience is past. It is said, Luke ii. 14, ' Peace upon earth,' God may proclaim war against a soul or people, that he may awaken them to look after their peace ; but this is a sentence that shall never be changed. The execu- tion is speedy. Here many times the sentence is passed, but ' not speedily executed against an evil work,' Eccles. viii. 11 ; but here Christ's sentence presently begins, and the wicked in the very sight of the godly are thrust into hell : Mat. xiii. 30, ' Gather ye together first the tares, and bind them in bundles to burn them ; but gather the wheat into my barn ; ' which doth awaken the grief and envy of the wicked, when they shall see others gathered into the great congregation, and themselves thrust out. And then the godly have a deeper sense of their own condition. When contraries are put together, they do mutually illustrate one another; so when we see the misery of the wicked, this matures our apprehensions, and makes us have larger thoughts of our deliverance by Christ. And then the sentence is accomplished upon the whole person, and that for ever. Upon the whole man, ' Go ye cursed,' and, ' Come, ye blessed ; ' both body and soul share in the reward and punishment. And then the sentence is eternal; it remains for ever. Why? For the reward is built upon an infinite merit. The Lord Christ's blood is of an infinite value ; the virtue of it lasts to all eternity to secure heaven to us. And the punishment is eternal, because an infinite majesty is ofiended. In short, God is never weary of blessing the godly, and never weary of cursing the wicked, and accomplishing his judgment and displeasure against them.
2. The next consequent is the resigning and giving up of the king- dom to the Father. You have it described, 1 Cor, xv. 24-28. I suppose this giving up of the kingdom is not taken for the resigning of his kingly office ; for Christ still holds the government, and wears the crown of honour to be the head of the church. But kingdom here is put for 'the subjects of the kingdom.' He shall finish the present manner of dispensation, and present all the elect to God, and give them up as a prey snatched out of the mouth of the lion ; and this is called presenting his spouse to God : Eph. v. 27, ' That he might present it to himself a glorious church.' Christ hath shed his blood, and washed her clean, and decked her with all the jewels of the covenant ; and then he shall present her to God ; and the form of surrender you have, Heb. ii. 13, 'Behold I and the children God hath given me.' Behold, here I am, and all thou hast given me ; there is not one wanting. Oh ! what a glorious sight will this be to see the great shepherd of the sheep leading his flock into their everlasting folds, and all the elect follow- ing Christ with their crowns of glory upon their heads, singing to the praise of the Lamb, ' 0 death, where is thy sting ? 0 grave, where is thy victory ? ' &c. To see them with harps in their hands, triumphing thus in the salvation of God, all enemies gone, and the church lodged in everlasting habitations ! Besides, consider the acclamation and