SERMON XI.

ACTS i. 11.

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.

SUCH was the address of the angels to the disciples of Christ, when they were gazing with astonishment at the figure of their Lord, as he was ascending up to heaven. When interpreted by other parts of Scripture, it will be found to point to the most interesting of all events, the second coming of Christ to judge the world in righteousness. I call it. the most interesting of all events; for the certain approach of a day when we shall all be called to give an account of our conduct, and shall receive reward, or suffer punishment, according to the deeds we may have done from our first entrance on the business of the world, to the time of our departure from it, must ever be to all thinking persons a subject of most serious consideration.

Now, for the certainty of this great truth,

we are indebted solely to the Christian religion. Neither Jew nor Greek were absolutely assured of a future and final judgment, though both concluded that there would be one; the former from obscurer revelations, and the latter from reflection and reasoning on the nature of things, and the present condition of the moral world. The wisest of the heathens, when they considered how unequally the gifts of fortune were bestowed in this world; when they beheld good men suffering hardships, and impious men rich, and flourishing, they esteemed it probable that a God of justice and goodness would make all things even in another state of existence, and abundantly compensate to the virtuous their wants and sufferings in this life. The sweet Psalmist of Israel arrived at the same conclusion. He confesses that when he saw the ungodly in great prosperity, his treadings had well nigh slipped;" his faith received a shock, and doubts of the justice of Providence assailed his mind. But "when he went into the sanctuary," he saw the real nature of the thing; he perceived, when he meditated on what had been revealed of the attributes of God, that a period would arrive when all the glories of the wicked should fade, and the triumph of the godly should be complete.

The ancient Heathens, indeed, carried their belief in a future state of rewards and

punishments to such a pitch as even to point out to their neighbours the punishments which should be inflicted on the wicked, and the enjoyments which were reserved for the virtuous. But as they had no certainty as to this state, and neither knew positively whether there were any foundation for their belief; nor where, nor by whom, the world would be judged, and the fates of the souls of men determined for ever, they were but little influenced by it in their general conduct. If, therefore, as an acute Christian Philosopher has observed, Jesus Christ had made no other discovery than this to mankind, he would have done more for them than all other teachers of religion together had done before.

a

A judgment to come, being then. so very interesting an event to all mankind, it concerns us to inquire what the Bible reveals on the subject.

I. It assures us that a day has certainly been appointed, for holding this great assize. "God," says St. Paul in his address to the men of Athens, "hath appointed a day in which he will judge the world in righteousAnd the same Apostle elsewhere plainly declares, that it is appointed "unto men once to die, and after that the judgment. As certainly, therefore, as we shall die, so shall we be summoned to the judg

ness"

a

* Paley.

Acts xvii. 31.

c Heb. ix. 27.

ment-seat of God, thing into judgment, with every secret thing whether it be good, or whether it be evil".

"who will bring every

II. Nor do the Scriptures inform us only that such a judgment will take place. They tell us, moreover, who will preside on that dread day. The right of finally determining man's fate, belongs, of course, to HIM who created him, and gave him laws; who endued him with reason to guide his steps, and furnished him with the knowledge of good and evil. But we are told by the voice of inspiration, "that the Father judgeth no man, but hath committed all judgment to the Son;" and that when he appointed a day to judge the world, he also decreed that it should be through the instrumentality of "that man whom he hath ordained, and of which he hath given assurance unto all men, in that he raised him from the dead"."

Nor was this without a reason. The beloved apostle of Christ informs us, "that the Father hath given the Son authority to execute judgment, because he is the Son of Man "." Observe, I pray you, this distinction, and the reason of it; it is "because He is the Son of Man," because He alone of the three Persons of the blessed Trinity,

Heb. xii. 23.

e John v. 22.
27

8 John v.

Acts xvii. 31.

united his nature to the nature of man; and therefore might be said to have qualified himself especially for the office of judging a being of infirmity; having been exposed, whilst on earth, to the same temptations, and having submitted to the same wants.This, as far as we are concerned, was the reason of Christ's being appointed judge: HE could best reconcile justice and mercy.

But other reasons may also be supposed to have determined the mind of God in this matter. The dignity and authority of his Son were concerned in it; and it seemed due to Him who had submitted to insult and humiliation at the hands of men, that He should be endowed in their sight with majesty, and glory, and might. And, indeed, our Lord himself assured his persecutors, that this great change in his appearance would certainly take place; and that they should see him whom they had loaded with ignominy, resplendent in glory, and arrayed with power. "Hereafter shall ye see the Son of Man sitting on the right hand of power, and coming in the clouds of heaven"."

Our Lord is described in the Scriptures as discharging the functions of his office of judge, under various characters. Sometimes he is represented as a husbandman, "whose fan is in his hand, and he will tho

Matt. xxvi. 64.