speak of former generations, and those who have long been dead, as reserved unto the future judgment. Matt. x, 15, "Verily I say unto you, it shall be more tolerable for the land of Sodom and Gomorrah in the day of judgment than for that city," which rejects the Gospel. See also chap. xi, 22, 24. St. Paul, speaking of those Gentiles who lived before Christ, has these remarkable words:"For as many as have sinned without law, shall also perish without law; and as many as have sinned in the law, shall be judged by the law-in the day when God shall judge the secrets of men by Jesus Christ, according to my Gospel," Rom. ii, 12-16. St. Peter says, "If God spared not the angels that sinned, but cast them down to hell, and delivered them into chains of darkness, to be reserved unto judgment," &c, 2 Pet. ii, 4. St. Jude, speaking of the same characters, is more explicit ::-"And the angels which kept not their first estate, but left their own habitation, he hath reserved in everlasting chains, under darkness, unto the judgment of the great day," Jude 6. Although in the two last passages the subjects of the judgment are fallen angels, and not sinners of mankind; yet the argument from their cases, in support of the future judgment, is equally strong as though spoken of men: for it is not the subjects but the certainty of future judgment that is the object of inquiry. 4. I come in the last place to that class of Scripture proofs which speak of the adjuncts of the judgment, or those accompanying circumstances, by which its period may be certainly known. When Jesus Christ shall come to judge the world he shall be attended by his ministers of state, and his appearance shall be with flaming fire, the usual symbol of the Divine majesty." The Lord Jesus shall be revealed from heaven with his mighty angels, in flaming fire, taking vengeance on them that know not God, and that obey not the Gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ," &c, 2 Thess. i, 7, 8. The inspired penmen speak of the visible heavens and earth as waxing old and passing away; yea, of a general conflagration, as connected with the judgment. Thus the Apostle Peter:-"But the heavens and the earth which are now, by the same word are kept in store, reserved unto fire against the day of judgment and perdition of ungodly The day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night; in the which the heavens shall pass away with a great noise, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat, the earth also, and the works that are therein, shall be burnt up," 2 Pet. iii, 7, 10. men. Let these things be considered in connection with what is said of Christ's "coming with clouds" as he went into heaven; of his "appearing" or becoming visible; of his "coming in glory, with all the holy angels," &c, and you will be convinced that no event can be contemplated in those passages, except that of the last judgment. Indeed when I consider the frequent mention of this subject in the Scriptures; the manner in which Christ and his apostles speak of it, calling it emphatically, the day, that day, the last day, the great day, and the day of judgment; and above all, when I consider that it is not often mentioned incidentally, but of set purpose; not seldom, but frequently; not obscurely, but in the clearest and strongest terms; not independently, but deriving support from other doctrines; not to amuse the credulous, or frighten the superstitious, but to arouse the attention of all,-to alarm the fears of the guilty, to quicken the good, to assert the rights, and maintain the justice of God's throne; I cannot but think it the greatest rashness to deny or call it in question. I have now laid before you a part of the evidence which supports the important doctrine of a future judgment; and though the subject is far from being exhausted, you may perceive that few subjects are capable of being supported by evidence so full and satisfactory. I would ask the deniers of this doctrine how it ought to have been expressed to be entitled to credit? Can they find any clearer expressions than those which have been employed? Observe, the judgment is uniformly described as an event still future. That we may not mistake its period, it is said to be after death, and otherwise described as following the general resurrection. As though to put it beyond all doubt, the fallen angels, the inhabitants of Sodom and Gomorrah, and the generations of the Gentiles who lived and died before the commencement of the Gospel dispensation, we are told, are reserved unto the judgment of the great day. And finally, the adjuncts of the judgment are such as clearly distinguish that day from all others; such as the appearing of the Son of man in glory, with his mighty angels; the burning of the earth, the melting and passing away of the heavenly bodies, &c. Have these circumstances ever existed? To what event,-to the destruction of what city or kingdom will they apply? It will not be denied that some of these circumstances have been figuratively employed, by the inspired writers, to express political revolutions in earthly kingdoms. But every figure is taken from something real; and where shall we look for the reality of these things except in the circumstances of the last judgment? Let this be considered by those who deny a future judgment, and they will no longer pretend that they have found a parallel in the circumstances of the destruction of the Egyptian, the Babylonian, the Idumean, or the Jewish state. If the revolutions and changes in these governments are expressed in figurative language, as all admit, the same language must have a literal meaning somewhere; and yet upon the principles of our opponents, the literal meaning cannot be found. To deny a doctrine so well supported by Scripture evidence as that of a future judgment, is the direct road to skepticism and infidelity, and can hardly fail to produce the worst effects upon the minds of men. If such evidence can be set aside by sophistical exceptions, in one case, it can in another, and in all cases. And he who has conquered his faith in the doctrine of a future judgment, is prepared to go farther, and will, if inclination and interest serve, give up one point after another, till Christianity be reduced to the standard of a vain philosophy, or natural religion be substituted in its place. Beside, the mind being freed from the restraints of the terrors of the Lord, as St. Paul terms the future judgment, is more assailable by temptation and error, less likely to search diligently for truth, to judge accurately, or proceed with due caution in a case where inclination is opposed to duty. In this way a wide door is thrown open to error and irreligion, if not to downright licentiousness. 66 There has seldom been a time when it was more necessary to reason of righteousness, temperance, and judgment to come, than the present; and the assurance with which the judgment is denied, is a principal reason why it should be insisted on by the ministers of Christ. Our Saviour and his apostles frequently allude to it by way of admonition, and perhaps with less occasion than now exists. To how many towns and cities in our favoured land might we say, wo! unto you. It shall be more tolerable for Sodom and Gomorrah, yea, for Chorazin and Bethsaida, in the day of judgment, than for you." For had the inhabitants of these cities heard as many Gospel sermons, and seen as much of the work of the Lord as has been wrought before your eyes, "they would have repented long ago, in sackcloth and ashes." Every minister of Christ, and every Christian, should continually say," Knowing therefore the terror of the Lord, we persuade men." If the doctrine of future judgment be true, that of future punishment must be true also. These doctrines stand or fall together. The sentence of the great day will confirm and consummate the sentence more privately passed both upon the righteous and the wicked as they left this world. Yea, the decisions of that day will close the administration of the mediatorial kingdom of Christ, and that kingdom shall then be given up to the Father, that God may be all in all. Every argument, therefore, which proves a future judgment, proves also future punishment. There is just as much evidence for one of these doctrines, as for the other. And though to prove the endless duration of future punishment was not the object of this discourse, I cannot forbear to notice how clearly it follows from the decision of the last day. Whatever the terms be, in which the sentence upon the wicked is expressed, they must imply endless duration; not only because they are prospective, and look forward into eternity, without any rate of time to limit their signification; but because the administration of the mediatorial kingdom will then have ceased. There is then no longer a mediator between God and men. Mercy is no longer exercised toward the guilty. The "clement, mediatorial” day is over. The harvest with them is passed, the summer is ended, and they are not saved. Then they may knock, but it shall not be opened! they may call, but he will not answer. The use to be made of this subject is that of admonition. If there is to be a judgment, let us prepare for it. This is our time, the accepted time, the day of salvation. And how shall we escape if we neglect so great salvation as is now offered! And remember that the time is short. "Lo! on a narrow neck of land, "Twixt two unbounded seas we stand, A point of time, a moment's space, Removes us to that heavenly place, Or shuts us up in hell." Oct. 25, 1827. |