BOOK 10. THE JUDGEMENT.
CHAPTER 1.
10.1.2. Of Christ's coming to Judgment.
Of Christ's coming to Judgment.
For Christ's coming to judgment, no sooner Christ prepared, and all in readiness, but down he descends from his imperial throne, to the judgment-seat. In this passage I shall observe these particulars:
1. He descends with his train; he comes with his royal attendants out of heaven. This is the glory of a prince, that he hath so many nobles waiting on him; and this is the glory of Jesus Christ, that when he comes to judge the world, he shall have his saints and angels (the glory of the creation) to be his attendants in that work, "Behold, the Lord comes with mighty angels," 2 Thess. i. 7. Behold, the Lord comes with ten thousands of his saints, to execute judgment upon all," Jude 14. Certainly a numberless number shall wait upon him; Daniel tells us of a thousand thousands that this day minister unto Christ, "a thousand thousands ministered unto him, and ten thousand times ten thousand stood before him," Dan. vii. 10. Or if heaven have more, I believe heaven will empty itself of all the saints, and all the angels; not one spirit, whether saint or angel, shall stay behind, when Christ descends; "The son of man shall come in his glory, and all the holy angels with him," Matth. xxv. 31. Oh! what a glorious day will this be? If one sun make the morning sky so glorious, what a bright shining and glorious morning will that be, when so many thousands of suns shall shine over all our heads, the glorious body of our Christ surpassing them all in splendour and glory? Here's a new heaven of sun, and stars, such as this nether world never saw: "Lo, yonder the Sun of righteousness with all his morning stars, singing and shouting for joy!" Heaven now empties itself of all its created citizens and cleaves asunder to make way for Christ and all his train.
2. In his descent through the heavens, he shakes the heavens, "And the powers of the heavens shall be shaken," Matth. xxiv. 29. The whole frame of heaven, most strong and immutable in its being and motion; or the mighty bodies thereof, most mighty in their substance, lastingness, motion, and operation shall be shaken. I know by the powers of heaven, some mean the angels, who at this wonderful descent of Christ, shall admire and move; but I rather think the heavens themselves are meant hereby, whose very nature shall be moved and shaken at that day, "At his nod the pillars of heaven tremble, and are astonished," Job xxvi. 11. As yet they are subject to vanity, and therefore it is no wonder if at the coming of Christ they tremble and are moved. In this moving or shaking the evangelist adds, that the glorious lights of heaven shall be altered, "The sun shall be darkened, and the moon shall not give her light, and the stars shall fall," Matth. xxiv. 22. Many interpretations are given of this; I am not for allegories, but rather conceive these things are real? (Adventum Christi tantum lucis allaturam, ut eo solis et lunae splendor obscuretur. Aretius in loc.) The very coming of Christ shall bring with him such a light, that the splendour of the Sun and moon shall be obscured; (Certissimum autem dium judicii magna majestate fore, ut recte and sol and luna dicantur obscurandi. Aretius in loc.) This is most certain, saith Aretius, that both sun and moon shall surely be darkened at that day; it is the glory of his majesty, that will dazzle those candles.
3. As he passes through the elementary world, a fire doth usher him, "Our God shall come, and shall not keep silence: a fire shall devour before him, and it shall be very tempestuous round about him," Psal. l. 8. Whence this fire shall come, I shall not dispute, only one tells us with some confidence, "That it is begotten in the middle region of the air by divine command; and that it first goes before him, ushering the judge to the judgment-seat, and that there it stays during the judgment, and that ended, and the doom passed on all flesh, then it sets on fire all the world." (Saurez de renovatione mundi, in 3 parts. Thomne.) Let this pass as it may, scripture goes thus far. That "a fire goeth before him," Psal. xcvii. 3. "Behold the Lord will come with fire, and with his chariots like a whirlwind," Isa. lxvi. 15. And "the Lord Jesus shall be revealed from heaven with his mighty angels in flaming fire" 2 Thess. i. 7, 8. In which respect, Daniel saw "his throne like the fiery flame, and his wheels as burning fire; a fiery stream issued and came forth from before him," Dan. vii. 9, 10. And, at last, this fire shall have that effect, that the very "elements shall melt with fervent heat; the earth also and the works that are therein shall be burnt up," 2 Pet. iii. 10. O Christians! what cause have we to make the apostle's use on this point? "Seeing all these things shall be dissolved, what manner of persons ought we to be in all holy conversation and godliness, looking for, and hastening unto the coming of the day of God, wherein the heavens being on fire, shall be dissolved, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat?" 2 Pet. iii. 11, 12.
4. He descends lower and lower till he is enwrapt with clouds, "Hereafter shall ye see the Son of man sitting on the right hand of power, and coming in the clouds of heaven," Matth. xxiv. 64. When he went up into heaven, it is said, that "a cloud received him out of their sight," Acts i. 9, and the angels then said, "Ye men of Galilee, Why stand ye gazing up into heaven? This same Jesus which is taken up from you into heaven, shall so come in like manner as ye have seen him go into heaven," Acts i. 11 , 12. He went up in clouds, and he shall come down in clouds. "I saw in the night visions, and behold, one like the Son of man came with the clouds of heaven," Dan. vii. 13. Here is the first sight of Christ to men on the earth, when once he is come down into the clouds, then shall they lift up their eyes, and have a full view of Jesus Christ; a cloud first received him out of their sight, and a cloud now discovers him to their sight, "Then shall appear the sight of the Son of man in heaven, and they shall see the Son of man coming in the clouds of heaven, with power and great glory," Matth. xxiv. 30. Is it not plain that the first appearings and sight of Christ at his second coming from heaven is in the midst of clouds? "Behold he cometh with clouds, and every eye shall see him, and they also which pierced him," Rev. i. 7. Some controversy there is about these clouds, as whether they be angels. When the Psalmist speaks of all sorts of meteors, as of waters, clouds, winds, flames, some say all these are angels; "and of the angels, he saith, Who maketh his angels spirits, and his ministers a flame of fire," Heb. i. 7. For my part I take it in the literal sense, that upon the very backs of clouds, Christ shall come riding along at the general day; and howsoever this may seem a small matter unto us, yet I cannot look on any circumstance of this transaction as small and trifling; the very clouds on which Christ rides, speak terror and comfort.
(a). Oh what a terror is this to the wicked; "They shall see the Son of man coming in the clouds, and then shall all the tribes of the earth mourn," Matth. xxiv. 30. These tribes of the earth are the tribes of the wicked; no sooner shall they look up, (Id de impiis solum intelligo, ad quos planetus and luctus illi miserandos solum pertinent. Aretius in locum.) and see Christ in his clouds, but with inconceivable horror will they cry out, "O yonder is he whose blood we neglected, whose grace we resisted, whose counsels we refused, whose government we cast off! O yonder is he that comes now in clouds, in tempestuous clouds! O see how he storms! do not these very clouds on which he rides, speak or threaten a storm?" In the eighteenth Psalm is a description of Christ coming to judgment. But, O! how terrible? In the seventh verse, we find the earth trembling; in the eighth verse, a fire devouring; in the ninth verse, the heavens bowing downwards; in the 12, 13, 14, 15 verses, are "thick clouds, darkening the sky, thunders, lightenings, hail-stones flying through the air, the foundations of the world discovered." Thus the mighty God, our Jesus descends. Oh! how should the wicked but tremble at this, when but a consideration of this hath sometimes startled God's own people? Behold, Habakkuk, with quivering lips, trembling joints, bones mouldering into dust, when he had only a prophetic representation of Christ's second appearance, Hab. iii. 16 . All the dreadful things that attended the presence of God in Egypt, at the red sea, on mount Sinai, through the wilderness, are made but types, but shadows of the terrible march of the Captain of the Lord of hosts, and therefore shall the wicked mourn.
(b). Here is the patience, and faith, and joy of saints, "And all the kindreds of the earth shall mourn over him; even so Amen," Rev. i. 7. This I cannot but understand of the wicked: only some tell us of a double mourning on that day, the one of joy, and love, and the other of sorrow and despair; I shall not deny but there may be some sweet tears upon this sweet subject, Christ's apparition in the clouds; such a shine will be from Christ in the clouds, that the very shine will pierce the hearts of men with the golden-headed arrow of love, and how may this work tears? from this text of John, "Behold he cometh with clouds, and every eye shall see him, and they also which pierced him, and all the kindreds of the earth shall wail" etc. Rev. i. 7. Some divines (Hinc consequitur Christum in eo judicio cicatrices vulnerum ostensurum tanquam trophaeum infallibile contra onmes suos hostes. Aretius in loc.) gather, that Christ at that day, will show his glorified body, the wounds of his crucifying, as an infallible trophy of his victory over all his enemies: and hence the wicked, who pierced or crucified the Lord of glory by their sins, will weep and wail, I can think no less, but that Christ at that day will open his bosom, and show those wounds of love, which he had in his heart from all eternity, together with those wounds which he received on the cross, as they are glorified in his eternal love. And then, as at the discovery of Joseph, he and his brethren fell upon the necks of each other, and wept; so will this discovery, in the appearances of Christ, bring a sweet confusion upon the spirits of saints; then shall a saint fall at the feet of his Saviour, and weeping, say, O my Jesus! thou art my father, brother, husband, self; while there were other things, I loved other things beside thyself; but, alas! they are everlastingly gone, and have left me alone, yet now thou ownest me. O my Jesus! thou breakest my heart: I cannot but weep out tears of love, and tears of joy at this appearing; O welcome, welcome, sweet Jesus into these clouds! O welcome, welcome, sweet Jesus into this nether world.
In these clouds I must leave our Saviour for a while, and the rather, because I believe he will descend no lower; only before I pass; one word of use to all his saints.
Use. You see him still upon his old design, though the world now end, yet hitherto there is no end of this great transaction; his first coming and his second coming is to save your souls; his first coming was to purchase, his second to give you the possession of salvation. What are you not glad of this gospel-news, that Christ will come at last from the imperial throne to his judgment-seat, to give you the possession of salvation? Is not the promise of his coming comfortable? Is it not comfortable to believe in him, and to hope for him? why, muse, then, what comfort will it be to see his person with all his glorious train coming for you? "The mighty God the Lord hath spoken, and called the earth, from the rising of the sun, to the going down thereof; out of Zion, the perfection of beauty hath God shined; our God shall come, and shall not keep silence; a fire shall devour before him, and it shall be very tempestuous round about him: he shall call to the heavens from above, and to the earth that he may judge his people," Psal. l. 1, 2, 3, 4. It is indeed a most terrible day unto the wicked, but Oh! how sweet, and pleasant, and comfortable to his saints? Christians! do we not long to have Christ's Spirit come into our soul with life? Do we not droop while Christ is absent from our souls? Are not the feet of them beautiful that bring glad tidings of peace, and of salvation by Jesus Christ? Oh then! what will it be to see the king, not in his ambassadors, but in his own person, coming for us, to fetch us into heaven? If we have but a dear friend returned from some far country, how do all run out to meet him with joy? O! saith the child, My father is come; saith the wife, my husband is come; and shall not we, when we see our father, our husband, our head, our Saviour returning with great glory, and glorious majesty, cry out, He is come, he is come! Shall not we at the first view of him in the clouds, cry out, O! yonder is he, whose blood redeemed us, whose Spirit cleansed us, whose prayers prevailed for us, whose law did govern us? Yonder comes he in whom we trusted! and now we see he hath not deceived our trust; yonder is he, for whom we waited long, and now we see we have not waited in vain.
I verily believe thus it will be with us one day, we shall have comfort then, Oh! let us comfort ourselves with these words; and ever and anon cry, "Come, Lord Jesus, come quickly; make haste my beloved, and be thou like to a roe, or to a young hart, upon the mountains of spices," Cant. viii. 14.