For the Son of Man shall come in the glory of his Father, with his angels; and then he shall reward every mun according to his works. AS Christ is the Creator and Governor of the world; so he is to be the final Judge of it. The Father hath committed all judgment unto the Son. The Father judgeth no man.' Christ is every way qualified to judge the world. He searches the heart and tries the reins of men: He is perfectly acquainted with the law of God; and is a cordial friend to the Divine Government. His knowledge, wisdom and uprightness are such as become the Judge of quick and dead. It is fit and proper that He should judge the world; as He took upon Him our nature and dwelt among us; as He was made in all respects like unto his brethren; and as, in his glorified Humanity, He will be visible to the assembled millions of our race. In our text, we are taught, when Christ will perform the great work assigned Him, of judging the world. It will be, when He shall come in the glory of his Father, with his angels. "This relates to his second appearing, at the end of the world. Paul to Timothy, writes, "He shall judge the quick and the dead, at his appearing and his kingdom." Though Christ will reign on earth, by the influence of his Spirit, a thousand years, before the close of time, yet there is no evidence in Scripture, that He will appear again, personally in this world, until the last day; when He will come in like manner, as his disciple saw Him go up into Heaven. Hence this is called his second appearance; Heb. ix. 28.-"unto them that look for him shall he appear the second time, without sin unto salvation." This is called the day of the Lord: II. Peter, iii. 10. 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 things that are therein, shall be burnt up." At this last great day, or day of the Lord, and his second appearing, He will come to judge the world. Then we must all stand before his judgment seat, and every one of us must give account of himself to God. How important, then, it is, that we should know, while in a state of probation, upon what principle our Judge will proceed, by what rule He will be governed, in passing the final sentence, and distributing rewards and punishments. In this interesting particular, our text gives us information: "Then He shall reward every man according to his works.” The truth of this declaration rests on the veracity of Christ himself. I shall only attempt an explanation of it, in answer to the inquiry, What is implied in Christ's rewarding every man according to his works ? of misery in hell. This we are told by the Judge himself, in John v. 28, 29, "The hour is coming, in the which, all that are in the graves shall hear his voice, and shall come forth; they that have done good, unto the resurrection of life; and they that have done evil, unto the resurrection of damnation." That Christ will place mankind on the right hand, or the left; and that He will pass the sentence of life or death, according to the nature of their works, whether good or evil, is taught in his own representation of the process of the judg ment, in Matt. xxv. "When the Son of man shall appear in his glory, and all the holy angels with him, his glory, and before him shall be then shall he sit upon the throne of gathered all nations; and He shall separate them one from another, as a shepherd divideth his sheep from the goats and he shall set the sheep on his right hand, but the goats on the left. Then shall the king say to them on his right hand, Come, ye blessed of my Father, This being premised, I observe, inherit the kingdom prepared for in answer to the inquiry propos-world: For I was an hungered, and you from the foundation of the The works, according to which men are to be rewarded, are deeds done in the body-works performed in this life. The apostle expressly says, II. Cor. v. 20, We must all appear before the judgment-seat of Christ; that every one may receive the things done in his body, according that he hath done, whether it be good or bad." A prisoner is brought to the bar, to answer, not for what he has done in prison, but for what he did, before he was committed. There is no reason to think, that any thing done by men, in the intermediate state between death and the resurrection, will come into account, at the general judgment. ed, First. Christ's rewarding every man according to his works, implies, that He will pass the final sentence upon mankind, and adjudge them to a state of happiness or misery, according to the nature of their works. As there are only two sorts of works done by mankind, good and evil; so there are only two states to which they will be sentenced, at the great day; a state of endless happiness, and a state of endless misery. He that shall be found to have done any good works in this life, will be adjudged to a state of happiness in heaven. And, on the other hand, he that shall be found to have done no good works in this life, but evil only, will be sentenced to a state and ye gave me drink; I was a ye gave me meat; I was thirsty, stranger and ye took me in; naked, and ye clothed me; I was sick, and ye visited me; I was in prison, and ye came unto me. Then shall he say also unto them on the left hand, Depart from me, ye cursed, into everlasting fire, prepared for the devil and his angels: For I was an hungered, and ye gave me no meat; I was thirsty, and ye gave me no drink; I was a stranger, and ye took me not in; naked, and ye clothed me not; sick and in prison, and ve visited me not. And these shall go away into everlasting punishment; but the righteous into life eternal." ery man according to his works, Secondly. Christ's rewarding ev ery, to which He will adjudge mankind, at the last day, will be greater or less, according to the number and magnitude of their works, whether good or evil, in this life. And, He implies, that the happiness, or mis-, Sodom and Gomorrha, in the day of judgment, than for you.' told his hearers, that, for every idle word men may speak, they shall give account in the day of judgment. Again, he said, "That servant, who knew his Lord's will, and prepared not himself, neither did according to his will, shall be beaten with many stripes." He told the Scribes and Pharisees, that, for their hypocrisy and covetousness, they should receive the greater damnation. In the Revelation, a voice from heaven is represented as saying, respecting mystical Babylon, How much she hath glorified herself and lived deliciously, so much torment and sorrow give her." Thus will Christ reward the wicked according to their works: He will make the degrees of their misery, bear an exact proportion to the number and magnitude of their evil works. 1. The misery to which Christ will sentence the wicked, at the last day, will be in proportion to the number and aggravation of their evil works, in this life. We are plainly taught, in sacred scripture, that the final Judge will treat the wicked according to strict justice. He will pass upon them the sentence of the Divine law, without mitigation, or mercy. He wil doom them to that death, which is the proper wages of sin. He will show his wrath, not his mercy, and make known his power, not his grace, upon those vessels of wrath, fitted to destruction. Every one of their transgressions will receive a just recompense of reward. And as nothing but Divine Grace, through 2. Christ will bestow degrees of the atonement of Christ, can liber-happiness upon the righteous in exate any one from condemnation; so act proportion to the number and every sinner, let his sins be ever magnitude of their good works, in so few or small, will deserve to be this life. He will not forget any punished forever. But, the more of their labours of love; but renumerous and aggravated any one's ward them all. He will be so exsins shall have been, the greater act, as to reward them, even for will be that endless punishment, giving so much as a cup of cold wawhich he will deserve. Hence, the ter to one of his thirsty diciples, degrees of misery which Christ will from real regard to himself. Isainflict upon the finally impenitent, iah writes, "Say ye to the rightewill be in exact proportion to the ous, that it shall be well with him; number and greatness of their evil for they shall eat the fruit of their works. Thus the Psalmist prays doings." Daniel, speaking of the and imprecates, "Draw me not a- general resurrection and judgment, way with the wicked, and with the says, "They that be wise, shall workers of iniquity, who speak shine as the brightness of the firmapeace to their neighbours, but mis-ment; and they that turn many to chief is in their hearts. Give them righteousness, as the stars forever according to their deeds, according and ever." In the parable of the to the wickedness of their endeav-talents, our Lord plainly teaches, ours; give them after the work of their hands; render to them their desert." Our Lord, upbraiding the cities in which he performed his mighty works, said, 'It shall be more tolerable for Tyre and Sidon, that he who does the most good works in this life, shall receive the greatest future reward. He said to the Pharisee, who had invited him to eat bread, "When thou makest a feast, call the poor, the maimed, the lame, the blind: and thou shalt be blessed; for they cannot recompense thee; for thou shalt be recompensed at the re-urrection of the just." Paul write, "Every man shall receive his own reward, according to his own labour-He, who soweth sparingly, shall reap also sparingly; and he who soweth bountifully, shall reap also bountifully." And again he writes, "Other foundation can no man lay, than that is laid, which is Jesus Christ. Now, if any man build upon this foundation, gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, stubble; every man's work shall be made manifest; for the day shall declare it, because it shall be revealed by fire; and the fire shall try every man's work, of what sort it is. If any man's work shall abile, which he hath built thereupon, he shall receive a reward. If any man's work shall be burned, he shall suffer loss: but he himself shall be saved; yet so as by fire." From these passages, I think it must be sufficiently evident, that the degrees of happiness, which Christ will bestow upon saints at the day of judgment, will bear an exact proportion to the number and magnitude of their good works. I should now proceed to improve the subject, were it not for three or four plausible objections, which it may be proper first to obviate. OBJ. I. It may be said, that according to the representations of Christ and his apostles, the wicked are to be condemned and punished hereafter, for their impenitence and unbelief. "Except ye repent, ye shall all perish. He that believeth not is condemned already, because he hath not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God. He tha believeth not shall be damned." But, if the wicked, hereafter, will be condemned and destroyed for impenitence and unbelief; what reason is there to think, that all their evil works will be brought into the account, to increase the measure of their punishment? ANS. Sinners are said to be condemned for their impenitence and unbelief, not because they are to be punished for these sins only; but, because these sins, according to the terms of the gospel, exclude them from pardon and an interest in Christ, and leave them under the curse of the law, and so exposed to a punishment, great, in proportion to the amount of their evil works, impenitence and unbelief included. OBJ. II. It may be said, that the apostle insists much upon justification by faith and through faith. But how will the justification of believers be by or through faith; if they are to be rewarded according to their works, in the sense explained? If they are to be made happy in heaven, just according to their good deeds upon earth; will not their justification be by works, and through works? ANS. To be justified is one thing; to be rewarded, is another. To be justified, is to be pardoned and exempted from punishment. To be rewarded, is to be made a partaker of the inheritance of the saints in light. In the justification of believers, God displays his Grace; in their reward, he displays his Goodness. Men must be justified first, or they can never be rewarded. But, when completely justified by Divine Grace, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus,' the way is prepared, for saints to be rewarded for all their good deeds, done here in the body. OBJ. III. The apostle Paul says, Romans iv. 4, "Now, to him that worketh, is the reward not reckoned of grace, but of debt. But to him that worketh not, but believeth on him that justifieth the ungodly, his faith is counted for righteousness." And again, Eph. ii. 8, 9, "By grace are ye saved, through faith; and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God: not of works, lest any man should boast." Do not these passages teach us, that the salvation and reward of believers is wholly of grace? And if so, how can they be rewarded according to their works, in the sense explained? If their future reward is to be greater or less, according to the number and magnitude of their good works done in the body, is not their reward of works, instead of being of grace, as Paul teaches? ANS. Believers, after they shall be completely justified, and pronounced free from the condemning sentence of the law, as they all will be, at the last day, will be as proper objects of reward for all their good works, as the angels, who have never sinned. They will be undeserving of reward, it is true; and so are the elect angels. But, after saints are justified, the law has no more dominion over them, than it has over the angels of light. "There is now no more condemnation to them who are in Christ Jesus;" they are pardoned through his blood, and may, as consistently, be rewarded for whatever good they have done, as if they had not sinned at all. But, still, their reward is of grace; because their justification is of grace. It will forever be owing to Divine grace in Christ Jesus, that they are proper objects of reward, and not fit subjects of punishment; for, having sinned and transgressed, and remaining as guilty, as if they had not been pardoned, they will forever deserve to be punished for all their sins, and will forever be deeply sensible, that it is of the Lord's mercies, that they are not consumed.' sentations of sacred scripture are thought to favour this idea. We read, that wrath will come upon the wicked to the uttermost-that God will show his wrath and make his power known upon them.' And, on the other hand, the righteous are called "vessels of mercy;" which seems to imply that they will be filled from those rivers of holy pleasure, which flow from the throne of Divine grace above. And this corresponds with what our Lord said on the mount-Blessed are they that hunger and thirst after righteousness; for they shall BE FILLED." It would seem, from these passages of scripture, that the capacities of saints and sinners, and not the number or greatness of their god or evil works, are to be the measure of their happiness or misery. ANS. It is admitted, that scripture favours the sentiment, that the righteous will be happy and the wicked miserable, in the world to come, according to their various capacities for enjoyment and suffering. As the wicked, in this world, do evil things as they can,' and the righteous, when they love God at all, love him with all the heart, soul, mind and strength; so every vessel of mercy in heaven, and every vessel of wrath in hell, will be full to the brim. But, how this militates against the doctrine advanced in this discourse, is not seen. It may be true, that the righteous and the wicked will hereafter be rewarded according to their works, in the sense explained; while, at the same time, the righteous shall be made as happy, and the wicked as miserable, as their capacities will admit: For, it is thought reasonable to suppose, that the capacities of the wicked to suffer misery hereafter, will be in proportion to the number and magnitude of their evil works, done here OBJ. IV. It has generally been supposed, by orthodox Christians, that the wicked will be made miserable and the righteous happy, in the coming orld, to the full extent of their capacity. And the repre-in the flesh; and that the capaci |