Jesus Christ is the appointed Judge. This appears wise and desirable; that he who is God manifest in the flesh, and by this medium, and in this sense, the visible God should take this high, and infinitely important and honourable station, and decide the character and eternal state of all moral agents, especially of man. This will be a bright and glorious manifestation of Deity in the human nature, when he shall come in the glory of the Father, with all the signals of divinity, attended with all the holy angels; and shall raise the bodies of all the dead, and summon all before him as their final judge, taking upon him an office and business infinitely too high and great for a mere creature. This will strike conviction into the mind of every intelligent creature, that he is really God and man. And it is highly proper and important, that he who stooped so low, and took upon him the form of a servant, and submitted to reproach and contempt, and to die an ignominious and cruel death, by the hands of wicked men, for the salvation of sinners, should be thus rewarded and honoured; and every knee be made to bow to him, as God, and their final Judge.* Nothing could be more pleasing, and give greater joy and happiness to the redeemed, and the holy angels, than to have the Redeemer thus exalted and honoured as the Judge of all; and nothing more disagreeable and confounding to devils and wicked men. The place in which the general judgment will be attended will be such as shall be in the best manner suited to such a transaction; to accommodate the Judge, and all concerned in the business of that important, solemn day. It will be so contrived and situated, that every one of the vast assembly, which shall then be collected, will be under advantage to see the Judge, and all that is done, and hear every word that shall be spoken by the Judge, or by any one else, through the whole process. The apostle Paul says, "The Lord himself shall descend from heaven, with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God: And the dead in Christ shall rise first: Then we which are alive, and remain, shall be caught up, together with them, in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air; and so shall we ever be with the Lord."* It hence appears, that this scene will not be on this earth, but in some more convenient place, which shall be fixed and formed for that purpose, which Christ, by whom all worlds were made, can effect at once, with infinite ease. It is not certain, from the apostle's mentioning clouds, and the air, that it will be in the atmosphere of this earth: for if this be meant by the air here, which is not certain, though the redeemed shall meet Christ in our atmosphere, this may be, that they may accompany him to some other more distant place, where the judgment shall be, and to which all intelligent creatures in the universe will be brought. The design of the general judgment is not to inform the Judge, that he may know the character and actions of all, so as to be able to pronounce a proper and righteous sentence upon them; for he is omniscient. But it is to make known to creatures, upon what grounds he proceeds in giving rewards, and inflicting punishment; that all may be under the best advantage, to see and approve the righteousness and propriety of the final sentence. Therefore, in the scripture it is called, "The day of the revelation of the righteous judgment of God."t In order to this, the moral character of every one will be laid open, and set in a true and clear light, so that all the spectators shall be under the best advantage to see it. Every single person must be called forth, and take his turn to be scrutinized; and all he has done, whether secretly or more openly, will be made manifest to all creatures, while all attend to every particular; for there will not be one inattentive spectator there. All disguise and hypocrisy will be detected; and every exercise of heart, and outward action, with the motive and design, will be made to appear in a true light. In this the scripture is very express. "For God will bring every work into judgment, with every secret thing, whether it be good, or whether it be evil."‡ "There is nothing covered that shall not be revealed, neither hid, that shall not be known. Therefore, whatsoever ye have spoken in darkness, shall be heard in the light: And that which ye have spoken in the ear in closets, shall be pro1 Thess. iv. 16, 17. † Rom. ii. 5. + Eccl. xii. 14. elaimed upon the house tops. I say unto you that every idle word that men shall speak, they shall give account thereof in the day of judgment.”* "In the day when God shall judge the secrets of men by Jesus Christ, according to my gospel. Therefore judge nothing before the time, until the Lord come, who both will bring to light the hidden things of darkness, and make manifest the counsels of the hearts."† "So then every one of us shall give account of himself to God." they were judged every man according to his works." "And It hence appears, that the day of judgment, will not be finished in the space of a natural day of twenty-four hours; but the process may continue and go on during the term of many thousand years, much longer than from the creation to the commencement of that day: though days, and years, and time, as we now measure it, will then be at an end; yet there will be a succession of events, and of ideas and perceptions, among creatures; and this must continue without end. And it must take time, as we now term it, and conceive of it, for creatures to recollect and take a particular view, of every character that has existed; of all that has been done, secretly or openly, by every particular person, of angels, devils and men, from the beginning of the world to that time: Even though the exhibition shall be made in the best and most advantageous manner, and creatures shall be able to think and receive ideas, with much greater celerity, than men can in this state. Solomon seems to have reference to this long duration of the day of judgment, in the following words; "I said in my heart, God shall judge the righteous and the wicked: For there is a time there, for every purpose, and for every work."| That is, however long a term it may take to bring every purpose, and every work of men into view, so as to judge them according to their works, yet time will not be wanting; and God will take time enough for it. In this transaction, it may be supposed, the Redeemer will give, or cause to be exhibited, the best, most perfect, and entertaining history of mankind, and of all intelligences, without the least error, or misrepresenta Matt. xii. 36. Luke xii. 2, 3. § Rev. xx. 13. Rom. ii. 16. 1 Cor. iv. 5. a believer every one st to his works, the gospel is one who shall, works in clear a Christ, and united cording to the gost ed with eternal life, according to the law found not to be friend shall be condemned, a This is agreeable to gives of the general judg sets it in the same light.f conceivable height, which will continue and increased had been guilty of one sin. It cannot be tru The redeemed will not be publicly justified, and re- 1.That the sins of the redeemed sho brought into view, at the day of judgmen Matt xxv. 31, &c. And believers in him; since God can be just, and yet ublicly justify every one who is publicly known to be believer in Christ. And when it is said, that very one shall be judged, and shall receive according ɔ his works, which he has done in the body in this life, the gospel is supposed, and kept in view; and every ne who shall, by setting the whole of his character and yorks in clear and public sight, appear to be a friend to Christ, and united to him, shall, on this account and acording to the gospel, be publicly justified and rewardGed with eternal life, which he could not be, if treated according to the law of works. And they who shall be ound not to be friends to Christ, while in this world, shall be condemned, and fall under the curse of the law. This is agreeable to the representation which Christ gives of the general judgment.* And the apostle Paul sets it in the same light.† It has been a question, whether the sins of the redeemed would be brought into view, and laid open before all intelligences, at the day of judgment; or would be covered and kept out of sight; and different opinions have been entertained of this. But it is thought, if the matter be properly considered, it will be evident that all their sins will be brought into view, and laid open before all; and that it will appear that there is not any evidence from the scripture, that their sins will be concealed; but the contrary. It is indeed said in scripture, that the sins of the people of God shall be blotted out, covered, cast into the depths of the sea, and remembered no more. But these are metaphorical expressions, to denote the free and full pardon of all their sins, so that they should never be remembered against them, so as to condemn them to suffer the just consequence of them; but they shall be treated as well as if they never had been guilty of one sin. It cannot be true that God will remember their sins no more, in any other sense; for it is impossible he should forget them, or any thing else. This has been already observed in the section on justification. 1. That the sins of the redeemed should not be brought into view, at the day of judgment, appears con • Matt. xxv. 31, &c. † 2 Thess. i. 7, 8, 9, 10. |