nevertheless, has not abdicated the whole power, or the whole exercise, of judgment; for the Son is come "in "the name" of the Father ;y nor can he do any thing of himself, but what he seeth the Father do. The Father, therefore, judges by the Son; "He will judge "the world in righteousness by that man whom he "hath ordained," and "God shall judge the secrets "of men by Jesus Christ.”b Fa When Christ says of himself, that he judges no man, the expression must be thus understood. 1. He is not a minister of condemnation, such as Moses was ;c for "God sent not his Son into the world, to condemn "the world, but that the world through him might be "saved." 2. He doth not judge separately from the Father, which is intimated by the words immediately succeeding; "And yet if I judge, my judgment is "true, for I am not alone, but I and the Father that "sent me."e Compare also what he adds in a subse"I do nothing of myself, but as my quent verse; "ther hath taught me, I speak these things." f IX. It is necessary, also, to explain the reason why it pleased the Father to transfer the whole power of judging to the Son; which is expressed in these words: "And hath given him authority to execute judgment " also, BECAUSE he is the Son of man."s The following remarks will serve to illustrate the force of this reason. 1. Because the Son of God, by a voluntary humiliation, became man, that by his obedience and sufferings in the human nature he assumed, he might de y John v. 43. a Acts xvii. 31. c 2 Cor. iii. 9. • John v. 27. z Verse 19. d John iii. 17. f Verse 28. stroy the enemies of God's kingdom, and obtain salvation for his people; it was consonant to reason and equity, that he should likewise judge those conquered enemies, and award to his people that salvation which he had purchased for them. Hence his conquering and his judging are mentioned together.h 2. Because the Son of God in the form of the Son of man, became subject to the law, and presented himself before wicked men to be judged and condemned, as guilty of having presumptuously arrogated to himself the Divine majesty; it is expedient that, by a wonderful reverse, he should be manifested to be the Lord of the law, and the Judge of his unjust judges the glory of that Deity, his pretensions to which were by no means false, being vindicated and declared. Hence his challenge to his enemies, when he stood at the bar of the Jewish council, arraigned, and clothed with an humble garb.i "He "who stood under a judge," says Augustine, "will "sit as Judge. He who was himself falsely pronoun"ced guilty, will condemn the truly guilty.”* 3. Because he is the Son of man, it will be possible for him to be beheld in that nature by all, and to administer judgment visibly and audibly. Behold, he cometh "with clouds, and every eye shall see him, and they "also which pierced him."i "We read," says Augustine," that the Father judgeth no man, but hath com"mitted all judgment to the Son: as if it were said; "none will see the Father in the judgment of the quick and the dead; but all shall see the Son, be 66 "cause he is also the Son of man, so that he may be seen by the wicked."* 66 x. Christ will exercise judgment according to both natures: the Divine nature displaying infinite majesty, knowledge, and power; the Human, performing the acts of judgment in a visible and audible manner. XI. Christ will accomplish this work, not by a borrowed and delegated authority, as if he were the mere officer and interpreter of another; but by an authority belonging to himself, supreme, and independent. He doth all things indeed, as we have shown in the eighth Section, in the name of the Father; partly because he is the Son, and doth not work but from the Father, and principally because he has undertaken the discharge of the mediatorial office according to the united counsel of the Trinity-a counsel which has its origin from the Father, as the first person. Yet since the will, as well as the Deity of Christ, is the same with that of the Father, whatever Christ doth in the exercise of his office, is done also by his own authority, namely, that divine and supreme authority which he possesses in common with the Father. And certainly the work of which we now treat, implies or supposes Divine majesty; and can be performed by none that is not God. The inalienable glory of God is, without doubt, asserted in the following words in Isaiah: "I have sworn by myself; the word is gone "out of my mouth in righteousness, and shall not return; that unto me every knee shall bow, every "tongue shall swear." But in the Epistle to the Romans, the Apostle applies these words to Christ, and to the judgment which Christ is to administer. "The 66 * Lib. i. de Trinit. cap. 13. k Is. xlv. 23. 1 Rom. xiv. 10, 11. "Son of man is to judge," says Augustine, "yet not 66 by human authority, but by that of which he is pos"sessed as the Son of God." And again, "The Son "of God is to judge, not however appearing in that "form which belongs to him as God, equal to the Fa“ther; but in that which belongs to him as the Son " of man."* XII. The GLORY of Christ when he comes to judg ment, will be transcendantly great. It was great when he promulgated the law on mount Sinai.m But it will be greater, when he appears to judge according to that law. "Whose voice then shook the earth; but now " he hath promised, saying, Yet once more I shake not "the earth only, but also heaven." n 46 then shall he sit XIII. This glory consists, First, In the splendour of the Divine Majesty, shining forth with the brightest effulgence even in the human nature. "When the Son " of man shall come in his glory, upon the throne of his glory." And that none may imagine that his glory is inferior to that which is Divine and infinite, it is affirmed that Christ" shall come in "the glory of his Father." Not as if this glory were not his own, and were borrowed by him for a time from the Father; but it is a glory, which, owing to his having the same essence, he possesses in common with the Father, not thinking it robbery to be equal with God. Hence it is called his own glory and the Father's; that is, the Father's glory, so that it is his own also by an equal right. But that Divine glory "is to be revealed," in the body which he has assumed; for it will be seen by every eye. "Hereafter shall "ye see the Son of man sitting on the right hand of power, and coming in the clouds of heaven."s "All "the tribes of the earth - - - shall see the Son of man "coming in the clouds of heaven, with power and great glory."t 66 66 XIV. Secondly, In the magnificence of the voice and trumpet, which will accompany his advent. "For the "Lord himself shall descend from heaven WITH A "SHOUT,""-by which he will at once command and oblige the living to attend, and prepare himself for the judgment.-WITH THE VOICE OF THE ARCHANGEL, that is, with an energy enforcing his command, by which he will show himself to be the Prince of Angels, and bring Angels as his retinue. The Scripture speaks of no more than one Archangel; who is Christ," the Messenger, the Angel, the Lord;" "the "Head of all principality and power;"w" by whom Angels were created;"x of whom it is said, "Let all "the Angels of God worship him ;" and to whom, in fine," Angels, and authorities, and powers, are made "subject.”z 47—WITH THE TRUMP OF GOD; by which, as God, he will raise the dead. a 66 xv. This Trump is mentioned also in other passages. What we are to understand by it, is explained |