SERMON XV.-The Great Assize.

Preached at the assizes.held before the honourable Sir Edward Clive, knight, one of the judges of his majesty's court of common pleas, in St. Paul's church, Bedford, on Friday, March 10, 1758; published at the request of William Cole, Esq., high sheriff of the county, and others.

"We shall all stand before the judgment seat of Christ,” Rom. xiv, 10.

1. How many circumstances concur to raise the awfulness of the present solemnity!-The general concourse of people of every age, sex, rank, and condition of life, willingly or unwillingly gathered together, not only from the neighbouring, but from distant parts; criminals, speedily to be brought forth, and having no way to escape; officers, waiting in their various posts, to execute the orders which shall be given; and the representative of our gracious sovereign, whom we so highly reverence and honour. The occasion likewise of this assembly, adds not a little to the solemnity of it: to hear and determine causes of every kind, some of which are of the most important nature; on which depends no less than life or death, death that uncovers the face of eternity! It was, doubtless, in order to increase the serious sense of these things, and not in the minds of the vulgar only, that the wisdom of our forefathers did not disdain to appoint even several minute circumstances of this solemnity. For these also, by means of the eye or ear, may more deeply affect the heart: and when viewed in this light, trumpets, staves, apparel, are no longer trifling or insignificant, but subservient, in their kind and degree, to the most valuable ends of society.

2. But, as awful as this solemnity is, one far more awful is at hand. For yet a little while, and, "we shall all stand before the judgment seat of Christ." For, as I live, saith the Lord, every knee shall bow to me, and every tongue shall confess to God." And in that day, "every one of us shall give account of himself to God."

3. Had all men a deep sense of this, how effectually would it secure the interests of society! For what more forcible motive can be conceived to the practice of genuine morality, to a steady pursuit of solid virtue, and a uniform walking in justice, mercy, and truth? What could strengthen our hands in all that is good, and deter us from all evil, like a strong conviction of this, "The Judge standeth at the door;" and we are shortly to stand before him?

4. It may not therefore be improper, or unsuitable to the design of the present assembly, to consider,

I. The chief circumstances which will precede our standing before the judgment seat of Christ:

II. The judgment itself: and,

III. A few of the circumstances which will follow it.

I. Let us, in the first place, consider the chief circumstances which will precede our standing before the judgment seat of Christ.

And, 1st, "God will show signs in the earth beneath," Acts ii, 19; particularly he will "arise to shake terribly the earth." "The earth shall reel to and fro like a drunkard, and shall he removed like a cottage," Isa. xxiv, 20. "There shall be earthquakes,” xara rom85, (not in divers only, but) " in all places;" not in one only, or a few, but in

every part of the habitable world, Luke xxi, 11; even "such as were not since men were upon the earth, so mighty earthquakes and so great." In one of these " every island shall flee away, and the mountains will not be found," Rev. xvi, 20. Meantime all the waters of the terraqueous globe will feel the violence of those concussions; "the sea and waves roaring," Luke xxi, 25, with such an agitation as had never been known before, since the hour that "the fountains of the great deep were broken up," to destroy the earth, which then "stood out of the water and in the water." The air will be all storm and tempest, full of dark vapours and pillars of smoke, Joel ii, 30; resounding with thunder from pole to pole, and torn with ten thousand lightnings. But the commotion will not stop in the region of the air; "the powers of heaven also shall be shaken. There shall be signs in the sun, and in the moon, and in the stars;" those fixed, as well as those that move round them. "The sun shall be turned into darkness, and the moon into blood, before the great and terrible day of the Lord come," Joel ii, 31. "The stars shall withdraw their shining," yea, and "fall from heaven," Rev. vi, 13, being thrown out of their orbits. And then shall be heard the universal shout, from all the companies of heaven, followed by the "voice of the archangel," proclaiming the approach of the Son of God and man," and the trumpet of God," sounding an alarm to all that sleep in the dust of the earth, 1 Thess. iv, 16. In consequence of this, all the graves shall open, and the bodies of men arise. The sea also shall give up the dead which are therein, Rev. xx, 13, and every one shall rise with "his own body;" his own in substance, although so changed in its properties, as we cannot now conceive. "For this corruptible will [then] put on incorruption, and this mortal put on immortality," 1 Cor. xv, 53. Yea, "death and hades," the invisible world, shall "deliver up the dead that are in them," Rev. XX, 13. So that all who ever lived and died, since God created man, shall be raised incorruptible and immortal.

2. At the same time, "the Son of man shall send forth his angels" over all the earth; "and they shall gather his elect from the four winds. from one end of heaven to the other." And the Lord himself shall come with clouds, in his own glory, and the glory of his Father, with ten thousand of his saints, even myriads of angels, and shall sit upon the throne of his glory. "And before him shall be gathered all nations, and he shall separate them one from another, and shall set the sheep [the good] on his right hand, and the goats [the wicked] upon the left, Matt. xxv, 33. Concerning this general assembly it is, that the beloved disciple speaks thus: "I saw the dead, [all that had been dead,] small and great, stand before God. And the books were opened, [a figurative expression, plainly referring to the manner of proceeding among men,] and the dead were judged out of those things which were written in the books, according to their works," Rev. xx, 12.

II. These are the chief circumstances which are recorded in the oracles of God, as preceding the general judgment. We are, secondly, to consider the judgment itself, so far as it hath pleased God to reveal it. 1. The person by whom God will judge the world, is his only begotten Son, whose "goings forth are from everlasting;" "who is God over all, blessed for ever." Unto him, being "the out beaming of his Father's glory, the express image of his person," Hebrews i, 3, the

Father "hath committed all judgment, because he is the Son of man ;" John v, 22, 27; because, though he was "in the form of God, and thought it not robbery to be equal with God, yet he emptied himself, taking upon him the form of a servant, being made in the likeness of men;" Phil. ii, 6, 7; yea, because "being found in fashion as a man, he humbled himself, [yet farther,] becoming obedient unto death, even the death of the cross. Wherefore God hath highly exalted him," even in his human nature, and "ordained him," as man, to try the children of men, to be the judge, both of the quick and dead;" both of those who shall be found alive at his coming, and of those who were before gathered to their fathers.

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2. The time, termed by the prophet, "The great and the terrible day," is usually, in Scripture, styled The day of the Lord. The space from the creation of man upon the earth, to the end of all things, is the day of the sons of men; the time that is now passing over us, is properly our day; when this is ended, the day of the Lord will begin. But who can say how long it will continue? "With the Lord one day is as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day," 2 Pet. iii, 8. And from this very expression, some of the ancient fathers drew that inference, that, what is commonly called the day of judgment would be indeed a thousand years and it seems they did not go beyond the truth; nay, probably they did not come up to it. For, if we consider the number of persons who are to be judged, and of actions which are to be inquired into, it does not appear, that a thousand years will suffice for the transactions of that day; so that it may not improbably comprise several thousand years. But God shall reveal this also in its season.

3. With regard to the place where mankind will be judged, we have no explicit account in Scripture. An eminent writer (but not he alone; many have been of the same opinion) supposes it will be on earth, where the works were done, according to which they shall be judged; and that God will in order thereto, employ the angels of his strength,— "To smooth and lengthen out the boundless space, And spread an area for all human race."

But perhaps it is more agreeable to our Lord's own account of his coming in the clouds, to suppose it will be above the earth, if not " twice a planetary height." And this supposition is not a little favoured by what St. Paul writes to the Thessalonians: "The dead in Christ shall rise first. Then we who remain alive, shall be caught up together with them, in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air," 1 Thess. iv, 16, 17. So that it seems most probable, the great white throne will be high exalted above the earth.

4. The persons to be judged, who can count, any more than the drops of rain, or the sands of the sea? "I beheld," saith St. John, "a great multitude, which no man can number, clothed with white robes, and palms in their hands." How immense then must be the total multitude of all nations, and kindreds, and people, and tongues; of all that have sprung from the loins of Adam, since the world began, till time shall be no more! If we admit the common supposition, which seems no ways absurd, that the earth bears at any one time, no less than four hundredmillions of living souls, men, women, and children; what a congregation must all those generations make, who have succeeded each other for seven thousand years!

"Great Xerxes' world in arms, proud Canne's host,
They all are here; and here they all are lost.
Their numbers swell to be discern'd in vain ;
Lost as a drop in the unbounded main."

Every man, every woman, every infant of days that ever breathed the vital air, will then hear the voice of the Son of God, and start into life, and appear before him. And this seems to be the natural import of that expression," the dead, small and great :" all universally, all without exception, all of every age, sex or degree; all that ever lived and died, or underwent such a change as will be equivalent with death. For long before that day, the phantom of human greatness disappears, and sinks into nothing. Even in the moment of death, that vanishes away. Who is rich or great in the grave?

5. And every man shall there "give an account of his own works;" yea, a full and true account of all that he ever did while in the body, whether it was good or evil. Oh what a scene will then be disclosed, in the sight of angels and men !—while not the fabled Rhadamanthus, but the Lord God Almighty, who knoweth all things in heaven and in earth,"Castigatque auditque dolos; subigitque fateri

Quæ quis apud superos, furto lætatus inani, Distulit in seram commissa piacula mortem."* Nor will all the actions alone of every child of man be then brought to open view, but ail their words; seeing "every idle word which men shall speak, they shall give account thereof in the day of judgment," Matt. xii, 36, 37; so that "by thy words," as well as works, "thou shalt be justified: and by thy words thou shalt be condemned." Will not God then bring to light every circumstance also, that accompanied every word or action, and if not altered the nature, yet lessened or increased the goodness or badness of them? And how easy is this to Him, who is "about our bed, and about our path, and spieth out all our ways?" We know " the darkness is no darkness to him, but the night shineth as the day."

6. Yea, he will bring to light, not the hidden works of darkness only, but the very thoughts and intents of the heart. And what marvel? For he" searcheth the reins and understandeth all our thoughts." "All things are naked and open to the eyes of him with whom we have to do." "Hell and destruction are before him without a covering. How much more the hearts of the children of men!"

7. And in that day shall be discovered every inward working of every human soul; every appetite, passion, inclination, affection, with the various combinations of them, with every temper and disposition that constitute the whole complex character of each individual. So shall it be clearly and infallibly seen, who was righteous, and who unrighteous; and in what degree every action, or person, or character, was either good or evil.

8. "Then the King will say to them upon his right hand, Come, ye blessed of my Father. For I was hungry, and ye gave me meat; thirsty, and ye gave me drink: I was a stranger, and ye took me in; naked, and ye clothed me." In like manner, all the good they did upon earth * O'er these drear realms stern Rhadamanthus reigns, Detects each artful villain, and constrains

VOL. I.

To own the crimes, long veil'd from human sight:
In vain Now all stand forth in hated light.

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will be recited before men and angels; whatsoever they had done either in word or deed, in the name, or for the sake of the Lord Jesus. All their good desires, intentions, thoughts, all their holy dispositions, will also be then remembered; and it will appear that though they were unknown or forgotten among man, yet God noted them in his book. All their sufferings likewise for the name of Jesus, and for the testimony of a good conscience, will be displayed, unto their praise from the righteous Judge, their honour before saints and angels, and the increase of that "far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory."

9. But will their evil deeds too, (since, if we take in his whole life, there is not a man on earth that liveth and sinneth not,) will these be remembered in that day, and mentioned in the great congregation? Many believe they will not; and ask, "Would not this imply, that their sufferings were not at an end, even when life ended?-seeing they would still have sorrow, and shame, and confusion of face to endure." They ask farther, "How can this be reconciled with God's declaration by the prophet, If the wicked will turn from all his sins that he hath committed, and keep all my statutes, and do that which is lawful and right; all his transgressions that he hath committed, they shall not be once mentioned unto him,' Ezek. xviii, 21, 22. How is it consistent with the promise which God has made to all who accept of the gospel covenant, 'I will forgive their iniquities, and remember their sin no more?' Jer. xxxi, 34. Or, as the apostle expresses it, 'I will be merciful to their unrighteousness, and their sins and iniquities will I remember no more!" Heb. viii, 12.

10. It may be answered, it is apparently and absolutely necessary, for the full display of the glory of God; for the clear and perfect manifestation of his wisdom, justice, power, and mercy, towards the heirs of salvation; that all the circumstances of their life should be placed in open view, together with all their tempers, and all the desires, thoughts, and intents of their hearts: otherwise, how would it appear out of what a depth of sin and misery the grace of God had delivered them? And, indeed, if the whole lives of all the children of men were not manifestly discovered, the whole amazing contexture of divine providence could not be manifested; nor should we yet be able, in a thousand instances, "to justify the ways of God to man." Unless our Lord's words were fulfilled in their utmost sense, without any restriction or limitation, "There is nothing covered that shall not be revealed, or hid that shall not be known;" Matt. x, 26; abundance of God's dispensations under the sun would still appear without their reasons. And then only when God hath brought to light all the hidden things of darkness, whosoever were the actors therein, will it be seen that wise and good were all his ways; that he saw through the thick cloud, and governed all things by the wise counsel of his own will; that nothing was left to chance or the caprice of men, but God disposed all strongly and sweetly, and wrought all into one connected chain of justice, mercy, and truth.

11. And in the discovery of the divine perfections, the righteous will rejoice with joy unspeakable; far from feeling any painful sorrow or shame, for any of those past transgressions which were long since blotted out as a cloud, and washed away by the blood of the Lamb. It will be abundantly sufficient for them, that all the transgressions which they had committed shall not be once mentioned unto them to their