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and the Stars shall fall from Heaven, and the Powers of the Heavens shall be shaken: and then shall appear the sign of the Son of Man in Heaven and then shall all the tribes of the earth mourn, and they shall see the Son of Man coming in the clouds of Heaven with power and great glory: And he shall send his Angels with a great sound of a Trumpet, and they shall gather together his Elect from the four winds, from one end of Heaven to another," Math. xxiv. 29. "When the Son of Man shall come in his glory, and all the holy Angels with him, then shall he sit upon the Throne of his glory and before Him shall be gathered all nations, and he shall separate them one from another, as a shepherd divideth his sheep from the goats," Matt. xxv. 31.-"I saw a great white Throne, and Him that sat on it, from whose face the earth, and the heaven fled away, and there was found no place for them: And I saw the dead, small and great, stand before God; and the books were opened, and another book was opened, which is the Book of Life: and the dead were judged out of those things which were written in the books, according to their works," Rev. xx. 11, 12.

5. Now, can we behold this glorious Person, and doubt of his Divinity? Can we see

"On an empyreal, flying Throne, Awfully rais'd, Heaven's everlasting Son! Virtue, Dominion, Praise, Omnipotence, Support the train of their triumphant Prince ! Night shades the solemn arches of his brows, And, in his cheeks the purple morning glows!" Can we (I say,) fix our eyes upon him, and still pronounce that he is a mere man? Can we observe him, as the resurrection and the life, manifesting infinite wisdom and almighty power, in raising from the dust of death the bodies of all mankind, and by a secret and invisible energy, in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, forming those of his Saints after a comformity to his glorious Body? Can we see them suddenly caught up in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air? Can we view all nations gathered before him, all the posterity of Adam,-all that have ever inhabited this spacious globe? Can we mark with what infinite discernment of the characters of men, founded on his perfect knowledge of the human heart, in all its unfathomable depths of deceit, and endless labyrinths of iniquity, in all its counsels and designs, motives and ends, thoughts and desires, he 66 separates them one from another, as a shepherd divideth his sheep from the goats?" Can we observe the righteous justice where with he condemns the wicked to fiery torments, and that in exact proportion to their demerit, and the boundless mercy whereby he raises his followers to heavenly bliss, rewarding them, unworthy as they are, according to their works? Can we (I say) fix our eyes upon the Judge himself, and behold the most awful process, of this most awful

day, and remember that our own eternal fate depends upon it, and yet believe that the Person upon the Throne, at whose bar whole nations of men, and legions of Angels tremble, and to whom, according to the Prophecy, every knee bows:-that He (I say) is but a mere man, and that a mere Man determines the states, the final and everlasting states, of all the immense multitudes of Men, and the various ranks of fallen Angels? Surely this would be a stretch of faith indeed, not to be found in the most orthodox believer in christian mysteries!

6. But let us hear the Scriptures upon this subject. They are so plain, that it is hardly possible to mistake their meaning. "The mighty God, even Jehovah (says the Psalmist, Psalm 1. i.) hath spoken, and called the earth, from the rising of the Sun unto the going down thereof. Out of Zion, the perfection of beauty, God hath 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, (viz. the inhabitants of heaven, the heavenly Hosts who will attend and minister unto him,) and to the earth, that he may judge his people. And the heavens shall declare his righteousness, for God is Judge himself." Mark that word,-" God is Judge himself," even the same God, who conversing with Abraham ages before concerning the destruction of Sodom, is styled by him "Judge of all the earth," and who, as a pledge of his future manifestation in the flesh, often appeared (as we have seen) in a visible human shape, to the Patriarchs and Prophets of old. Of him St. Paul speaks, when he says, that, "being in the form of God, (viz. before his incarnation, when he appeared to his ancient servants, in all ages from the beginning,) he thought it not robbery to be equal with God," being his very Word and Wisdom, his Face, Effulgence, aud express Image, assuming, as we have seen, all the divine names, titles, and attributes, as belonging to him, in union with the Father; yet" emptied himself, taking the form of a servant, being made in the likeness of men; and being found in fashion as a man, humbled himself still more, becoming obedient to death, the death of the Cross: therefore God also hath highly exalted him," not only his Word that had glory with him before the world was,-but the humanity assumed for our sakes," and given him a name above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of those in heaven, and those in earth, and those under the earth, and that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.".

7. It is not denied, but that the Judge is man, yea, very uan, and, as man, is distinct from pure and proper Deity and to

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confess," to that Man whom God hath highly exalted, yet, in bowing and confessing to him, they bow and confess to God.

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this his manhood, the Apostles often refer in the New Testament. As for instance, Acts x. 38-42. "God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Ghost, and with power: 9. The Man, therefore, the visible judge, who went about doing good, and healing all is not alone when he judges the world, any that were oppressed of the devil for God more than he was alone when he walked was with him ;"-" whom they slew and upon the water, rebuked the wind and the hanged on a tree: Him God raised up the sea, said, "Lazarus, come forth;" "Dethird day, and shewed him openly," and stroy this Temple, (my body,) and in three he commanded us to preach to the people, days I will raise it up" pronounced to the and to testify that it is He that is ordained of sick of the palsy, Thy sins be forgiven God to be the Judge of the quick and the thee,"-proclaimed, "I am the resurrection dead," viz. he that was anointed with the and the life;" "I quicken whom I will;" Holy Ghost, and with power, he whom they "He that hath seen me hath seen my Fa slew and hanged on a tree; he whom God ther;" "If any man thirst, let him come raised up, and shewed openly, even the Man unto me and drink ;""Come unto me, ye Christ Jesus. He is the appointed and visi- that are weary and heavy laden, and I will ble Judge. But to prevent our mistaking, give you rest :" "My grace is sufficient for (were it possible to mistake in so plain a thee: My strength is made perfect in weak. case,) to prevent our supposing that a mere ness :" "Where two or three are met in man, however dignified and exalted, could, my name, I am there in the midst of them." of himself be able to judge all the ten thou- "I am with you always, even unto the end sand millions of men and angels, to know of the world;"" Upon this rock I build my perfectly, and remember distinctly, every ac- church, and the gates of hell shall not pretion of every individual, of that immense vail against it." But as when he did these multitude,-every word, every temper, every wonders, and pronounced these words, (too desire, every thought; to discern, and unfold, great, surely, for any creature to do and all the secret workings of every heart,-of pronounce,) the "Word that was in the every son and daughter of fallen Adam, and beginning with God," and, in union with of every fallen Angel; to bring to light all the him, "was God," dwelt in the human na hidden things of darkness, and make mani- ture, and spoke and acted by that nature; fest all the counsels of the heart; to discover and as the Father was in the Son, and the all the motives and ends, as well as words Son in the Father, so when he comes to and works, schemes, and pursuits, arising judge the world in righteousness, the man therefrom, and to know, and make known, does not come alone, but the fulness of Deity, the true state and character of every one, that dwelt, and does dwell, and ever will so as to pronounce a right sentence, and as- dwell, in him bodily, comes along with him, sign every saint and every sinner, every man and perceives, and knows, and speaks, and and every angel, his proper share of praise or acts, in and by him, as much as the soul blame, happiness, or misery ;-to prevent perceives, and knows, and speaks, and acts, our mistaking (I say) in this case, we are re-in and by the body. So that, as David says, peatedly assured that the Divine Nature is joined to the human, and that God, (in and by his eternal Word and Wisdom,) is with and in the man.

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8. Thus St. Paul, preaching at Athens, declares, God hath appointed a day in which he will judge the world in righteousness by that Man whom he hath ordained, whereof (says he) he hath given assurance to all men, in that he hath raised him from the dead,' Acts xvii. 31.-Again, Rom. ii. 16. "God shall judge the secrets of men by Jesus Christ according to my gospel." So that God in and by Man, the Divine Nature in and by the human, "brings (as Solomon says,) every work into judgment, aud every secret thing, whether it be good, or whether it be evil.' Thus, though the dead, small and great," stand before a visible Man, yet, as St. John assures us, they also "stand before God, (Rev. xx. 12.) and though" every knee of those in Heaven, and those in earth, and those under the earth, bow, and every tongue

God is, indeed, Judge himself; and yet the Man Jesus of Nazareth is appointed "Judge of quick and dead."

10. And how exceeding reasonable and proper does all this appear to be, even to us, little as we know in divine things. Hereby, first, the Judge is visible, he is a man like ourselves, and we may have access to him. We need not say with Job, ch xxiii. 3, &c. "Oh! that I knew where I might find him! that I might come, even to his seat! I would order my cause before him, and fill my mouth with arguments: I would know the words which he would answer me, and understand what he would say unto me." For he may reply, "If thou canst answer me set thy words in order before me, stand up. hold, I am according to thy wish, in God's stead. I also was formed out of the clay. Behold, my terror shall not make thee afraid; neither shall my hand be heavy upon thee."

Be.

"In this, (says Bishop Pearson,) appear. eth the wisdom and goodness of God, that

making a general judgment, he will make a visible judge, whom all may see who shall be judged. "Without holiness no man shall ever see God; and, therefore, if God, as God only, should pronounce sentence upon all men, the ungodly should never see their judge. But that both the righteous, and unrighteous, might see and know who it is that judgeth them, Christ, who is both God and Man, is appointed Judge; so, as he is Mun, all shall see him; and, as he is God, they only shall see him, who by that vision shall enjoy him.

1. "And, secondly, whom can we desire to appear before, rather than Him who is of the same nature with us? If the children of Israel could not bear the presence of God as a Lawgiver, but desired to receive the law by the hand of Moses, how should we appear before the presence of that God, judging us for the breach of that Law, were it not for a better Mediator, of the same nature that Moses was, and we are, who is our Judge ? -Having dwelt in flesh, and in the days of his flesh having suffered, being tempted, he perfectly knows our frame, knows what sore temptations mean, and is touched with the feeling of our infirmities.' Besides, he is our near kinsman, our own brother, a descendant of our father Adam, of our flesh, and of our bone; and, therefore, for his affinity with our nature, for his sense of our infirmities, as well as for his appearance to our eyes, he is most fit to represent the greatest mildness and sweetness of equity, in the severity of that just and irrespective judgment.

12. "Nor is this a reason only in respect of us who are to be judged, but, thirdly, in regard of him also who is to judge; for we must not look only upon his being the Son of Min, but also upon what he did and suffered as the Son of Man. He humbled himself so far as to take upon him our nature, in that nature, so taken, he humbled himself to all the infirmities which that was capable of -to all the miseries which this life could bring, to all the pains and sorrows, which the sins of all the world could cause; and, therefore, in regard of his humiliation did God exalt him; and part of the exaltation due unto him, was this power of judging. The Father, therefore, who is only God, and never took upon him either the nature of or angels, judgeth no man, but hath committed all judgment unto the Son; and the reason why he hath committed it to him, is, because he is, not only the Son of God, and truly God, but also the Son of Man, and so truly Man; because he is the Son of Man who suffered so much for the sons of mer."

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13. And certainly it is a great demonstration of the justice of God, so highly to re

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ward that Son of Man, as to make him judge of all the world, who came into the world and was judged here; to give him absolute power of absolution and condemnation, who was by us condemned to die, and died that he might absolve us; to cause all the sons of men to bow before his throne, who did not disdain, for their sakes, to stand before the Tribunal, and receive that sentence, "Let him be crucified." He, therefore, who "for the suffering of death was made a little lower than the angels," nay, lower than the generality of men,-who was ar. raigned as a criminal at the bar of Pilate, and expired as a malefactor on a cross on Calvary, is now rewarded and crowned with glory and honour, comes in the clouds of heaven, sits on a throne of judgment, summons all nations to his bar, and passes an irreversible sentence on men and angels!

"O how unlike

The Babe at Bethle'em! How unlike the Man
That groaned on Calvary! yet he it is;
That man of Sorrows! O how changed! What
pomp!

In grandeur terrible, all heaven descends!
And gods ambitious triumph in his train.

14. In the mean time, fourthly, his enemies are humbled and degraded, by being placed at the bar of a man, once poor, mean, and afflicted; whom, in former days, they despised and insulted, hated, and persecuted, arrested, tried, condemned, and crucified. "They who pierced him, now wail because of him; and they who would not have him to reign over them, are now brought

forth and slain before him."

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"Mistaken Caiaphas Ah! who blasphem'd?. Thou or thy Prisoner? Which shall be condemned ?. Well might'st thou rend thy garments-well exclaim Deep are the horrors of eternal flame !"

Well might Daniel say, "They shall awake to shame and everlasting contempt, for surely they shall be ashamed and confounded, to bow to him whom they deemed lunatic,-to stand at his bar whom they arraigned at theirs, -and to receive their sentence, their final irreversible sentence, from the lips of one they formerly condemned to the most ignominious and disgraceful of all deaths.

15.

"Nor man alone; the foe of God aud man,
From his dark den, blaspheming drags his chain,
And rears his brazen front, with thunder scarr'd,
Receives his sentence, and begins his hell.
All vengeance past, now seems abundant grace!
Like meteors in a stormy sky, how roll
His baleful eyes! He curses whom he dreads,
And deems it the first moment of his fall!

Milton supposes that he fell through refusing allegiance to God's Messiah, to the Word and only begotten of the Father, concerning whom he says, "Thou art my Son, this day have I begotten thee." So, if he

refused to acknowledge him as Lord, by whom himself, and all the heavenly hierar chies had been created, though appearing in a nature superior to angels in his Form of God, how must it mortify that proud Spirit, and all the associates of his revolt, to bow at the footstool of the same person, when unit. ed to flesh, and inhabiting a nature formed out of the clay !

16. As to Christ's loyal subjects, fifthly, whether men that have been restored, or angels that never fell,-how must. they ap. plaud the wisdom, revere the justice, and rejoice in the mercy and grace of this dispensation! The holy angels must rejoice to see One so exalted and honoured, towards whom they had maintained their allegiance, when millions of their companions revolted and rebelled;-One, whose amazing condescension and love to mankind, when immers ed in sin and ruin, they had admired and glorified of whose wonderful birth, they had brought tidings to our world; whom they had constantly attended, and to whom they had ministered in the days of his humiliation, when he was a man of sorrows and acquainted with grief, and to whose agony in the garden and tragical death upon Mount Calvary, they had been witnesses,and whom, therefore, they now rejoice to see upon a throne of glory, judging his judges, and passing sentence upon all the enemies of his government.

"For lo now, twice ten thousand gates thrown wide,

Pour forth their Myriads, Potentates, and Powers, Of light, of darkness: in a middle field Wide, as Creation! populous, as wide! A neutral region; there to mark th' event Of that great drama, whose preceding scenes Detain'd them close spectators, through a length Of ages, rip'ning to this grand result; Ages, as yet unnumber'd but by God; Who now, pronouncing sentence, vindicates The rights of virtue, and his own renown." 17. As for his own brethren of mankind, as he condescended to call them, they acknowledge the reasonableness, and praise the wisdom of the appointment, whereby he who bore their sins, acquits their persons; who preserved them from falling, presents them faultless before the presence of his glory; and who purchased heaven for them with its various mansions, determines their happiness, and assigns each individual his proper and proportionable reward. They were under his government on earth, and he was always present with them, searching their hearts, observing their works, affording them aid, and exactly marking all their advantages and disadvantages, their helps and hinderances; they own, therefore, that he is well qualified to be their Judge, and applaud the righteous and equitable appointment.Hence,

All, all is right, by God ordain'd or done."

in all his works!
He is righteous in all his ways, and holy
Assembled worlds must
ings, and men and angels unite in one great
see and confess the equity of his proceed-
burst of universal praise !

"Oh how sublime the chorus of the skies!
Oh! how sublime those shouts of joy that shake
The whole Ethereal! how the concave rings!
To see Creation's god-like aim and end,
So well accomplish'd! so divinely closed!
To see the mighty Dramatist's last act
(As meet) in glory rising o'er the rest.
No fancied God, a God, indeed, descends,
To solve all Knots-to strike the Moral home,
To throw full day on darkest scenes of time-
To clear, commend, exalt, and crown the whole.
Hence, in one peal of loud, eternal praise,
The charm'd spectators thunder their applause;
And the vast void beyond applause resounds !"

18. "And I heard a voice of much people in Heaven, saying, Hallelujah, salvation and glory, and honour and power unto the Lord our God: For true and righteous are his judgments, for he hath judged the earth, and avenged the blood of his servants; and again they said, Hallelujah!-and the four and twenty elders, and the four living creatures, fell down and worshipped God that sat on the throne, saying, Amen! Hallelujah! And a voice came out of the throne, saying, praise our God, all ye his servants, and ye that fear him, both small and great: and I heard, as it were, the voice of a great multitude, and as the voice of many waters, and as the voice of mighty thunderings, saying, Hallelujah; for the Lord God Qmnipotent reigneth! Let us be glad, and rejoice, and give honour to him, for the marriage of the Lamb is come, and his wife hath made herself ready. And to her it was granted, that she should be arrayed in fine linen, clean and white: now the fine linen is the righteousness of the saints. And he saith unto me, write, blessed are they that are called unto the marriage. supper of the Lamb.-And he saith unto me, fell at his feet to worship; and he said unto these are the true sayings of God. And I vant, and of thy brethren, that have the tesme, see thou do it not: I am thy fellow-ser. timony of Jesus, worship God. Rev. xix. 1-10.

19. "And I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth were passed away; and there was no more Jerusalem, coming down from God out of sea. And I John saw the holy city, the New heaven, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. And I heard a great voice out of heaven, saying, Behold the tabernacle of God is with men, and he will dwell with them, and they shall be his people; and God him self shall be with them, and be their God. And God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes; and there shall be no more death, neither sorrow, nor crying, neither shall there be any more pain, for the former things are passed away. And he that sat upon the

throne, said, Behold, I make all things new. And he said unto me, write, for these words are true and faithful.-And he said unto me, It is done. I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end: I will give unto him that is athirst, of the fountain of the water of life freely. He that overcometh, shall inherit all things; I will be his God, and he shall be my Son."

20. "And he shewed me a pure river of water of life, clear as crystal, proceeding out of the throne of God, and of the Lamb. And there shall be no more curse: but the throne of God, and of the Lamb, shall be in it, (the city,) and his servants shall serve him.And they shall see his face; and his name shall be in their foreheads. And there shall be no night there, and they need no candle, neither light of the sun; for the Lord God giveth them light, and they shall reign for ever and ever. And I John saw these things, and heard them; and when I had heard and seen, I fell down to worship before the feet of the angel that shewed me these things. Then saith he unto me, see thou do it not, for I am thy fellow-servant : worship God. Behold, I come quickly, and my reward is with me, to give every man according as his work shall be: I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end, the first and the last. I Jesus have sent mine angel to testify unto you these things in the churches. I am the Foot and offspring of David, and the bright and morning star. He that testifieth these things, saith, surely I come quickly.-Amen! even so, Come, Lord Jesus!"

CHAP. XI.

living God, who made heaven and earth, and.the sea, and all things that are therein." 2 Well did these holy men, and holy angels, understand that Jehovah alone is the proper object of religious worship, according to what is repeatedly commanded in the Holy Scriptures. As, Exod. xx. 3, "Thou shalt have no other Gods before me."-Deut. vi. 14, "Hear, O Israel, the Lord our God is one Lord." Ver. 13, "Thou shalt fear Jeho vah thy God, and serve him, and shalt swear by his name. Ye shall not go after other Gods, (for the Lord thy God is a jealous God among you,) lest the anger of the Lord thy God be kindled against thee, and destroy thee from off the face of the earth." Again, ch. x. 20, "Thou shalt fear the Lord thy God: him shalt thou serve, (and to him shalt thou cleave, and swear by his name. thy praise, and he is thy God." To these, and such like passages, the Lord Jesus undoubtedly referred, when he said, (Matt. iv. 10,) it is written, "Thou shalt worship the Lord thy God, and him only shalt thou serve."

He is

3. Now, notwithstanding this, it is certain, first, that the same God who gave the above precepts concerning the proper object of divine worship, hath commanded his Son to be worshipped:-secondly, that he hath accordingly been worshipped, and that both before and after his incarnation, both while he was on earth, and after his ascension into Heaven ; and, thirdly, that not one instance can be produced, in which he hath ever refused the worship addressed to him.

First, God hath commanded him to be worshipped : as by David in the 45th Psalm, "He is thy Lord, and worship thou him.".

That divine worship has been, is, and must be Psalm 97," Worship him, all ye Gods;" or paid to him.

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1. In two passages quoted from the 19th and 22nd chapters of the Revelation, by St. John, at the conclusion of the last chapter, we saw a glorious angel absolutely refusing to be worshipped. "I fell down at his feet to worship him, and he said to me, See thou do it not, I am thy fellow-servant." And again, "I fell down to worship before the feet of the angel, and he said, See thou do it not, for I am thy fellow-servant,-worship God." Instances of a similar kind occur in divers parts of Scripture. As, Acts x. 25, "And as Peter was coming in, Cornelimet him, and fell down at his feet, and worshipped him: but Peter took him up, saying, stand up, I myself also am a man.' And again, ch. xiv. when the inhabitants of Lystra were about to offer sacrifice to Paul and Barnabas, “ they rent their clothes, and ran in among the people, crying out, Sirs, why do ye these things? We also are men of like passions with you, and preach unto you, that ye should turn from these vanities unto the

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us

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as it is expressed, Heb. i. 6, "When he bringeth his first begotten into the world, he saith, let all the angels of God worship him. " But this is still more clearly and fully declared by our Lord himself, John v. 19, in a passage which is the more remarkable, as it contains an answer to the Jews, who the Historian tells us, "sought the more to kill our Lord, because he had not only broken the sabbath, but said also that God was his sown (idtov proper). Father, making himself equal with God." Even to these upon such an occasion as this, among other things, Jesus said, "What things soever the Father doth, these doth the Son likewise. For as the Father raiseth up the dead, and quickeneth them, even so the Son quickeneth whom he will: For the Father judgeth no man, but hath committed all judgment unto the Son: that all men should honour the Son, even as they honour the Father. He that honoureth not the Son, honoureth not the Father who hath sent him. See also to the same purpose, Phil. ii. 9-11, compared with Rom. xiv. 11.

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