Coming to Judge

The coming of Christ to the judgement is a truth well known, firmly believed, and earnestly desired by all the saints.

1. That it is well known, the apostle produceth the testimony of Enoch: Jude 14, 'Behold the Lord cometh with ten thousand of his saints.' David often mentioneth it as a thing delighted in by believers; therefore, in a poetical, or rather prophetical strain, he calleth upon the heavens, earth, sea, and fields to rejoice 'before the Lord, for he cometh, for he cometh to judge the earth; he shall judge the world with righteousness, and the people with his truth,' Ps. 96:13; and again, Ps. 98:9, he calleth upon the creatures to rejoice 'before the Lord, for he cometh to judge the earth; with righteousness shall he judge the world, and the people with equity;' passages which relate, not only to the kingdom of the Messiah, as it is exercised now in the world, but also to his final act of judging, till which time they are not fully verified. Solomon bindeth the whole duty of man upon him by this consideration: Eccles. 12:13, 14, 'Let us hear the conclusion of the whole matter: Fear God and keep his commandments, for this is the whole duty of man;' for God shall bring every work into judgement, with every secret thing, whether it be good or whether it be evil. And the apostles, when they went abroad to proselytise the world, usually began with this point.

2. That this is firmly believed by all true Christians. This must needs be so, because it is the grand inducement to all piety and godliness, and none ever disbelieved it but those the interest of whose lusts engaged them to question it: 2 Peter 3:3-5, 'Knowing this first, that there shall come in the last days scoffers, walking after their own lusts, and saying, Where is the promise of his coming? For since the fathers fell asleep, all things continue as they were from the beginning of the creation. For this they willingly are ignorant of,' &c.Willingly ignorant; their self-interest puts them upon it, rather than their conscience, because this doctrine filleth them with unquiet thoughts, that they cannot so securely follow their sinful practices till they blot out the fear of it, or banish the thoughts of it out of their hearts. But all that obey the teachings of grace (take it for objective or subjective grace), they firmly believe it: Titus 2:11-13, 'For the grace of God, that bringeth salvation, hath appeared to all men, teaching us that, denying ungodliness and worldly lusts, we should live soberly, righteously, and godly in this present world, looking for that blessed hope, and the glorious appearance of the great God, and our Saviour Jesus Christ.' The sound belief of it is not so much encountered with the doubts of the mind, as the inclinations of their perverse hearts. Now, the seeming reasons of partial men are not to be heard, especially as delivered in a scoffing, malicious way; and on the other side, godliness and mortification standeth upon such evident reason as man's unquestionable duty, that it needeth not to be maintained by a lie and manifest falsehood. Certainly, they that deny it do not so much reason against this article of our Christian faith as scoff at it; and it is to be imputed to the malignity of their tempers, rather than the acuteness or sharpness of their reason that they do not believe it. Many things which they urge are a manifest token of the contrary; as the calamities of the good: 2 Thes. 1:4, 5, 'So that we glory in you for your faith and patience in all your persecutions and tribulations that you endure, which is a manifest token of the righteous judgement of God.' The perversion of justice: Eccles. 3:16, 17, 'And moreover, I saw under the Sun the place of judgement, that wickedness was there, and the place of righteousness, that iniquity was there; I said in my heart, God shall judge the righteous and the wicked; for there is a time there for every purpose and for every work. Things must be reviewed and judged over again. A state-engine to serve order and government. Doth the benefit of mankind need a lie to promote it? Doth carnal interest govern the world, or virtue? If mere carnal interest, what a confusion would there be of all things? Then men might commit all villainy, take away men's lives and goods when it is their interest, or they could do it safely and secretly, without infringement of their interest; servants poison their masters, if they could do it without discovery, and there were no sin in it; men prey upon others, if it be in the power of their hands; and 'catch he that catch can,' without impunity, would be the truest wisdom. Clear it is, virtue cannot be supported without the thoughts of a world to come; and it is unreasonable to imagine that God would make a world which cannot be governed without falsehood and deceit.

3. That it is earnestly desired by all true Christians. That is of chief respect here; for the apostle implores them by all that is dear and sacred in their most holy faith; and upon this I will mainly spend the first part of this discourse. I shall prove it by these two choice pieces of scripture, which describe the communion of the church with Christ, or the dispensations of Christ to the church; the one concerneth God's internal, the other his external government — the Canticles and Revelations. The book of Canticles is ended with this desire, aspiration, and wish: Cant. 8:14,'Make haste my beloved, and be like a young hart or roe upon the mountains of spices.' The bride's last and great suit to the bridegroom is 'make haste,' as to his coming in glory to judge the world; not that Christ is slack, but the church's affections are strong. They that go a-whoring after the world neither desire his coming, nor love his appearing; but the spouse would have all things hastened that he might return. He cannot come soon enough to set the world to rights and complete their happiness; it is that only that will perfect their consolation, and therefore would have the blessed and longed-for meeting hastened. In the other book, of the Revelations, see how it is closed: Rev. 22:20, Christ saith, 'Surely I come quickly;' and the church, like a quick echo, saith 'Even so, come, Lord Jesus; come quickly. It taketh the word out of Christ's mouth, and presently improveth the promise into a prayer, and so Christ's voice and the church's voice are unisons. The acclamation of the saints answereth to his proclamation. Christ saith, 'I come,' as desiring to meet with us. The church answereth, 'Even so, come,' as desiring his fellowship and company. When once faith apprehendeth the glorious coming of our Lord Jesus to judgement, love presently desireth it, as the most comfortable thing which we can ask of him; that is the farewell suit of the church to Christ. If he will grant this, all complaints, and sorrow, and sighing will be no more.