Matt. XXV. 34, 41, 46. Tlien shall the King say unto them on his right hand, Come, ye blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the loorld .... Then shall he say also unto them on the left hand, Depart from me, ye cursed, into everlasting fire, prepared for the devil and his angels .... And these shall go away into everlasting punishment : hut the righteous into life eternal.
IT is scarcely needful in a Christian assembly to prove that there will be a Day of Judgment ; because no one entertains a doubt respecting it : but to
impress on our minds a consideration of the judicial process, and of the eternal consequences which will instantly ensue, is of the utmost importance. Taking for granted, therefore, that there is amongst us a cer- tain and universal expectation of that day, we shall proceed to notice the description which the Judge himself has given of it, from its commencement to its termination.
Let us call your attention to, I. The preparatory solemnities —
These are comprised under two heads :
1. The coming of the Judge —
[Our blessed Lord is ordained to be the Judge both of the quick and dead. It is of himself that he speaks, when he says, " The Son of Man" shall come^ As the Son of Man, he stood at the bar of Pilate : and, as the Son of Man, he will summon the universe to his tribunal. As the Son of Man, he himself was judged, condemned, executed : and, as the Son of Man, he will pass judgment on all, whether men or devils. At his first advent he appeared in the lowest state of degrada- tion, " a worm, and no man, a reproach of men, and despised of the people '': but in that day " he will come with power and great glory," surrounded by myriads of his holy angels. The pomp and glory of his appearing will infinitely surpass either the lustre of Mount Tabor, or the more terrific splendour of Mount Sinai''. His throne will be erected in the air; and the books, both " the book of his remembrance," wherein the actions of men were recorded, and the volume of inspiration, whereby they are to be judged, will be opened before him'^.]
2. The summoning of those who are to be judged —
[" Before him shall be gathered all nations." Every creature, from Adam to the last of his descendants, shall ap- pear in one vast assembly. Not one shall be absent: not one will be able to withstand the summons of the Almighty, or to elude his search. " The great and mighty of the earth" shall then stand on a level with the meanest beggar^. Every one shall appear in his own proper body^. As for the difficulty of collectmg the scattered atoms of every individual, atoms that have been transformed into ten thousand different shapes, this
a ver. 31. ^ Ps. xxii. 6.
= Matt. xxiv. 30, 31. 2 Thess. i. 7, 8.
^ Dan. vii. 9, 10. and thrice mentioned Rev. xx, 12.
e Rev. vi. 15. f 1 Cor. xv. 38, 42.