SERMON CLXXXIII. The uncertainty of the day of judgment, confidered and improved. MARK xiii. 32. 33. But of that day and that hour knoweth no man, no not the Angels which are in heaven, neither the Son, but the Father. Take ye heed, watch and pray; for ye know not when the time is. T Hefe words are fpoken by our Saviour of the day of judgment; for though, in this chapter, as likewife in the xxivth of St. Matthew, and the xxift of St. Luke, which are parallel to it, our Saviour difcourfeth very particularly and largely concerning the eminent appearance of his power and juftice in the deftruction of Jerufalem, which may perhaps fometimes in fcripture be called his coming; yet it is plain likewife, that he difcourfeth there concerning his coming to judgment at the end of the world. For we find in the xxivth of St. Matthew, that after our Saviour had foretold his difciples of the utter ruin of Jerufalem, they came afterwards to him, to enquire more particularly about it; ver. 3. And as he fat upon the mount of 0lives, the difciples came unto him privately, faying, tell us, when fhall these things be? and what shall be the fign of thy coming, and of the end of the world? Where there are two feveral questions, to which our Saviour returns a diftin&t answer. The firft, when those things he had been fpeaking of before fhould be? that is, the things which related to the deftruction of Jerufalem, for of that only he had been fpeaking of before. The other queftion was, concerning the fign of his coming, and of the end of the world. The reafon of their joining these two questions together, feems to be this, (as is very probable from many VOL. VIII. M texts texts of the new teftament) viz. that the Apostles did think (and our Saviour permitted them for a long time to remain under this mistake) that the end of the world, and the general judgment, would be presently after the deftruction of Jerufalem. Now to this fecond queftion of theirs, concerning the end of the world, and our Saviour's coming to judgment, he gives an answer in the latter part of that chapter, ver. 29. But immediately after the tribulation of thofe days, the fun shall be darkened, and the moon fhall not give her light; and then shall appear the fign of the Son of Man in heaven. Not that the general judgment of the world was immediately to follow the deftruction of Jerufalem; for there were many other things to intervene, as is manifeft from St. Luke, chap. xxi. 24. That the Jews fhould be led captive into all nations, and Jerufalem Jhould be trodden down of the Gentiles, until the times of the Gentiles were fulfilled. And though these things be expreffed in a few words, yet they comprehend a long tract of time; for the captivity of the Jews hath continued for above 1600 years, and is not yet at an end. And. then after the accomplishment of these things, it follows, that there fhall be figns in the fun and the moon, and then they shall fee the Son of Man coming in a cloud with power and great glory. And then he tells them in conclufion, that these things fhould begin to come to pass, that is, fome of them thould happen, before the end of that generation; and fo they did, for the deftru&tion of Jerufalem was about forty years after. But when the end of all should be, that is, when the day of judgment would happen, he could not tell them the precise time, ver. 36. But of that day and hour knoweth no man, no not the angels of heaven, but the Father only; and it is added in St. Mark, neither the Son. Now by that day and hour, is meant that famous and terrible time of the general judgment of the world, which St. Peter calls, by way of eminency, the day of the Lord, 2 Peter iii. 10. The day of the Lord will come, as a thief in the night; that is, it will furprize men fuddenly and unexpectedly, because no man can tell when it will be; it will fteal upon the world, as a thief does into a house by night. But of that day and hour knoweth knoweth no man, no not the Angels which are in heaven, neither the Son, but the Father. Take ye heed, watch and pray for je know not when the time is. Having thus cleared all difficulties concerning the general meaning of the text, that it is to be understood of the day of judgment, and not as fome learned men have thought, of the deftruction of Jerufalem; I fhall now confider the words more particularly, and they contain in them these two things. First, The uncertainty of the day of judgment, as to us, and all other creatures. But of that day and hour knoweth no man, no not the Angels of heaven, neither the Son, but the Father. Secondly, That the confideration of the uncertainty of the time, should make us very careful to be always prepared for it. Take ye heed, watch and prays for ye know not when the time is. I fhall fpeak as briefly as I can to both these. Firft, Our Saviour here declares the uncertainty of the time, as to us, and all creatures, when the general judgment shall be. And to express this the more emphatically, he tells us, 1. That God only knows it. Of that day and hour, ideis older, ei juù ó Пlarip, none knows, but the Father. For though we tranflate it, no man, yet in the Greek it is more general, none knows but the Father, that is, God only. For the word Father is feveral times in the New Testament not used perfonally, in way of diftinction from the Son, and the holy Ghoft; but fignifies the Deity, the Father being Fons & principium deitatis," the fountain "and principle of the Deity." Of that day and hour; the word apa is not here to be taken ftrictly for the measure of time, commonly called an hour; this were to make our Saviour's expreffion very flat, after he had denied that the day is known, to deny that they know the hour: for if they do not know the day, much lefs the hour. Now in thefe kind of fpeeches, the expreffion ought to rife, and that which is most emphatical ought to be faid in the last place; fo that it fhould rather have been, they know not the hour, no, nor the day; but ape here does undoubtedly fignify the appointed feafon or time; and fo the four feafons of the year are by the Greeks called "pu; and in this fenfe the word is moft certainly used by the Evangelist St. John, chap. vii. 30. But no man laid hands upon bim, fpeaking of Chrift, because his hour was not yet come, that is, the time appointed for his fuffering; and that which in the text is called hour, is in the next verse called napès, which fignifies a particular season, or appointed time. Ye know not when the time is, that is, the time which God hath particularly defigned and appointed for this great work of judging the world. 2. He excludes from the knowledge of it, those who were most likely to know it, if God had not abfolutely reserved it to himself. Of that day and hour knows none, no, not the Angels, neither the Son. (1.) Not the Angels, which are in heaven; though they be creatures of fo perfect a knowledge, though they be the minifters of God, and do continually attend upon him, and behold his face, and understand much more of the works of God, and his providence in regard to the affairs of the world, than we that live here below in fo much error and ignorance, that dwell in houfes of clay, whofe foundations are in the duft: yet the particular time, when God will judge the world, he hath referved as a fecret to himself, and not communicated it fo much as to the Angels, who are defigned to wait upon the great Judge of the world, and to make up his train in that folemnity. So our Saviour tells us, Mat. xxv. 31. That the Son of Man fhall come in his glory, and all the holy Anges with him. And fo likewife the Apoftle, 2 Theff. i. 7. That the Lord Fefus Chrift fhall be revealed from heaven, with his mighty Angels. But this is not only hid from the Angels, but which is yet more, from the Son himself. Of that day and hour knows none, no not the Angels which are in heaven, neither the Son. This feems ftrange indeed, that the Son of God, who came from the bofom of his Father, and therefore is more likely than any to know his fecrets, that he whom God had ordained to be the Judge of the world, into whofe hands he had committed that great trust and authority, fhould not be acquainted with the time of this judgment: Nay, that he, in whom are are all the treasures of wifdom and knowledge, and in whom the divinity does fubftantially refide, fhould not know this time, this feems incredible, but that he himfelf hath told us fo. It was indeed a common faying among the Jews, that the time of the end of the world was revealed to none: But yet, one would think, the Son were always excepted. Nay, how can it well be dtherwife, if we believe him to be God? and indeed the fathers, in their difputes with the Arians, have mightily puzzled themselves about this text. Some, and thofe of no fmall account, have underftood these words, as if our Saviour only intended to put off his difciples from a more particular enquiry about this matter; not that he was ignorant of the day of judgment, but that he did not know it, fo as to reveal it to them; which is by no means to be admitted, not only because it looks too like the equivocation of the Jefuits, but likewife because the fame may be faid of the Angels; fince it is no otherwife denied of tlie Angels, that they know this time, than it is of the Son. Others fay, that his human nature was not ignorant of the day of judgment, but that it did not know this of it felf, but by virtue of its union with the divine nature. But our Saviour abfolutely fays, that the Son did not know it. And therefore others more reasonably have diftinguished between his human nature and divine, and though as God he could not be ignorant of any thing, yet his human understanding did not know it. And it is not unreasonable to fuppofe, that the divine wisdom which dwelt in our Saviour, did communicate itself to his human foul according to his pleasure; and fo his human nature might át fome times not know fome things. And if this be not admitted, how can we understand that paffage concerning our Saviour, Luke, ii. 52. That Jefus grew in wisdom and ftature; or as the word namia may more fitly be tranflated, in age, and in favour with God and man? For if the human nature of Chrift did néceffarily know all things by virtue of its union with the divinity, he could not then, as man, be faid to grow in wisdom. And this I think may be fufficient for the clearing of this difficulty, concerning the Son's not knowing the particular M 3 |