(4.) That he may require an account of things during his absence ; what his servants have done with their talents, Mat. xxv. ; what his church hath done with his ordinances, and how things have been carried in his house : 1 Tim. vi. 14, ' Keep this commandment without rebuke unto the appearing of Jesus Christ.' Whether his officers have been diligent : 2 Tim. iv. 1, ' I charge thee before God, and the Lord Jesus Christ, who shall judge the quick and the dead at his appearing, and his kingdom.' How they have dispensed the censures, whether they have eaten and drunk with the drunken, and beaten their fellow- servants, Mat. xxiv. 49 ; that is, encouraged the wicked and strengthened their hands with the suppression of the godly, and discouraged the most serious. Finally, who have violated the light of nature, or dis- obeyed the gospel, ver. 8.
Use 1. Believe it. Nature cannot easily contradict this truth, and scripture doth plainly assert it. If it were a vain conceit and fancy, you might entertain it with scorn, but it is an evident truth, constantly delivered in the word of God. And the whole frame of religion would fall to the ground if this were not granted. God would lose the glorious demonstration of his goodness and justice, Christ the honour of all his sufferings, and christians all their comfort and hope raised in them by the Spirit of God, the wicked all that awe which doth in part suppress their licentiousness, and the whole government of the world be dissolved. It is a great, it is a sure, and now it is a near day. God and all his creatures would never be brought together if there were not such a time. The law of nature would be in vain, and the gospel would be
VeR. 7.] SERMONS UPON 2 THESSALONIANS I. 239
false, if there were not such a time. Now, must man be unmanned, and the gospel, which is the wisest institution that ever the world was acquainted with, be condemned as a falsity, to justify your unbelief, and the cause and effect of it, your licentious living ? Acts xvii. 31, 'God hath appointed a day, wherein he will judge the world in right- eousness,' iria-Ttv irapaayoiv iraaw. He made sufficient demonstration of the truth of this doctrine in Christ's resurrection : Zech. xiv. 3, ' The Lord my God shall come, and all the saints with thee.' Bouse up your faith, adhere steadfastly to this truth, as a thing certain; Christ shall come, attended with all his glorious saints and angels, and the believer shall find the fruit of his interests in him.
2. Carry yourselves so that this day may be a comfort to you, and not a terror. It will be a terror to all guilty souls that have not entered into God's peace, 2 Peter iii. 14, a terror to all those that have not loved the Lord Jesus Christ above their own lives and interests in the world : 1 Cor. xvi. 22, ' If any man love not the Lord Jesus Christ, let him be anathema maranatha.' A terror it will be to all that have opposed Christ's kingdom in the world, and discouraged serious godli- ness, and turned religion into a ceremony and dead form. A terror it will be to all those that love the present world, and the credit, plea- sures, and profits thereof, and could not tarry till Christ came to distribute crowns, and pleasures, and honours at his right hand, but took up their happiness aforehand : Luke xvi. 25, ' Son, remember that thou in thy lifetime receivedst thy good things, and likewise Lazarus evil things ; but now he is comforted, and thou art tormented.' A terror it will be to the scorners of godliness and the world to come, 2 Peter iii. 3, 4, but a comfort to the believers, that not only looked for, but loved this day, 2 Tim. iv. 8, thought it the greatest encouragement and happiness that could be offered to them to prepare for this day, 2 Peter iii. 11, that lived in a constant fidelity to Christ, and not only made conscience to do his will, but suffered all manner of inconveni- ences, 1 Peter iv. 13, rather than dispense with their duty to him : ' As ye are partakers of Christ's sufferings, so, when his glory shall be revealed, ye shall be glad with an exceeding joy.' All that have been sober and mortified, loath to take up with a temporal happiness : 1 Peter i. 13, ' Gird up the loins of your minds, be sober, and hope to the end, for the grace that is to be brought unto you at the revelation of Jesus Christ ; ' 1 Thes. v. 8, ' Let us who are of the day be sober,' &c. We cannot keep up the lively expectations of better things unless we keep our hearts from vain delights.
3. Wait and hope earnestly for this time, because of the abundant grace and glory which shall be brought to us.
[1.] Grace : 1 Peter i. 13, ' Be sober, and hope to the end, for the grace that is to be brought unto you at the revelation of Jesus Christ.' Then we shall have the fullest and largest manifestation of God's love and favour to us. There is grace brought to us now by the revelation of Christ in the gospel, but hereafter more fully and perfectly. We see his grace in the pardon of sins, and that measure of sanctification which we now attain unto, that he is pleased to pass by our offences, and take us into his family, and give us to taste of his love, and to have a right to his heavenly kingdom, and employ us in his service ;