A practical discourse concerning a future judgment by William Sherlock ...

SECT. II. That the Day of Iudgment is appointed.

HAving thus considered the State be∣tween Death and Judgment, let us now more strictly consider the Time of Judgment; and here are several things to be observed and explained:

• I. That the Day of Judgment is ap∣pointed: He hath appointed a day wherein he will judge the world.
• II. That this is a General Day for the Judgment of the whole World.
• III. That this Day of Judgment will be at the End of the World.

I. That the Day of Judgment is ap∣pointed: He hath appointed a day where∣in he will judge the world.

This is a matter of pure Revelation, and can be known no other way; for though we have great evidence from Rea∣son, that God will judge the World, yet to appoint a Day is a free Act of God's

Wisdom and Counsel, and this must be learnt from Revelation; and we cannot have a more express Revelation for any thing, than we have for this; for St. Paul tells us in plain words, that God hath ap∣pointed a Day to Judge the World: and our Saviour in express words several time refers to this Day, as appointed and deter∣mined by God: In that day many shal say unto me, Lord, Lord, have we not pro∣phesied in thy name? which refers to some certain Day, 7 Matth. 22. And the hour is coming, in the which all that are in their graves shall hear his voice, 5 John 28. And of that day and hour knoweth no man, no, not the angels of heaven, but my Father only, 24 Matth. 36. Which plainly signi∣fies, that the Day is determined and fix∣ed, because God knows when it shall be; that is, he knows when he has appointed it: and if it were not appointed, it had been no great wonder, that neither Men nor Angels know it.

Now this Consideration, that God hath appointed a Day, wherein he will judge the World, is not without its Use: For,

1st, This proves the Certainty of a Fu∣ture Judgement, that the Day of Judge∣ment is appointed: For we cannot think,

tha•• God would appoint a Day to judge the World, unless he absolutely resolved to judge it.

2ly, This answers the Objection against a Future Judgment from the long Delays of it: This St. Peter tells us, would be a great Objection in the last Days, or to∣wards the end of the World, 2 Pet. 3.3, 4. Knowing this first, that there shall come in the last days scoffers, walking after their own lusts, and saying, Where is the pro∣mise of his coming? for since the fathers fell asleep, all things continue as they were from the beginning of the creation: That is, consider how old the World now is, and how long Mankind have been fright∣ned with the Fears of Judgment; many Ages and successive Generations have li∣ved in expectation of it, but it is not yet, nor any more signs of it, then when the World was first made; and since it has been so long expected to no purpose, it is time to despise such vain and groundless Fears.

This ought to be plainly and fully sta∣ted, for we live in the last Days, and have many of these Scoffers already among us:

1. But if GOD have appointed the D••y of Judgment, it is a very foolish Argument, to say, that he will not judge the World, because he has not done it yet, unless we could prove, that the Day appointed for Judgment is already past: God cannot be said to delay to judge the World, whe•• the time he has appointed for Judgment is not yet come; for to delay doing any thing, is not to do it in its proper season, when it is time to do it; or when we re∣solved and determined to do it: and there∣fore no Man can say, that God delays to judge the World, unless he could tell, wha•• Day God in his own infinite Wisdom ap∣pointed for Judgment. For,

2. That God appoints a long Day for Judgment, is no Argument, that he will not judge us.

Thus it was in the Destruction of the Old World, a great while before God brought that Universal Deluge on them, but it came at last, and swept them all a∣way; as St. Peter observes, For this they willingly were ignorant of,* 1.1 that by the word of God, the heavens were of old, and the earth standing out of the water, and in the water: whereby the world that then was, being overflow'd with water perished. This general Destruction of the Old World by

Water, is reason enough to believe God, when he threatens to destroy it again by Fire; For the heavens and the earth which are now, by the same word are kept in store, reserved unto fire against the day of judge∣ment, and perdition of ungodly men, 5, 6, 7. It was a great while before God de∣stroyed the Old World; and though this second Destruction by Fire is deferred much longer, it will come in its appoint∣ed time.

3. For what seems a very long time to us, is not so to God, as the same A∣postle tells us, One day is with the Lord as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day. God is not affected with the succession of Time, nor its lingring de∣lays; and therefore is not in hast to judge the World, before the World is ripe for Judgment; and when that is, he himself knows best.

For to appoint a Day to judge the World, is a Work of great Wisdom and Counsel: Before God judges the World, it is fit for him to display all the various Scenes of Wisdom, and Goodness, and Power, and Justice in the Government of the World; to exercise great Patience to∣wards Sinners, and to make the utmost Experiments to reform them, as St. Peter

tells us, The Lord is not slack concer••i•••• his promise, (as some men count slackness) but is patient to us-ward, not willing th•• any should perish, but that all should co•••• to repentance, v. 9.

4. When God finally judges the Worl••▪ he destroys this present Frame of Things as it follows in the next Verse, The day 〈◊〉〈◊〉 the Lord will come 〈◊〉〈◊〉 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, and the earth also▪ and the works that are therein shall 〈◊〉〈◊〉 burnt up. Now it does not become •• wise and a good God, to be hasty in d••∣stroying a World that he has made.

And therefore to reconcile God's d••∣stroying the World with his Essential At∣tributes of Wisdom and Goodness, ther•• are two things necessary:

1st, The incorrigible Wickedness of Mankind. A wise Man will not imme∣diately pull down a House he has buil••▪ till he discovers some irreparable decay•• in it: thus God justifies his Destructio•• of the Old World from the Universal Corruption of Manners, and the incurable Wickedness of it: God saw the wickedne•••• of man that it was great upon the earth, a••••

that every imagination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually. And it repented the Lord that he had made man on the earth, and it grieved him at his heart. And the Lord said, I will de∣stroy man, whom I have created, from the face of the earth, 6 Gen. 5, 6, 7. And this was the only reason, that could be given to justifie so universal a Destruction of Mankind, that they were universally wick∣ed, excepting one righteous Family, which God preserved: and it seems very prob∣able, that the general State of the World will be very wicked and corrupt before the final Destruction of the World by Fire; for we can conceive no other rea∣son, why God should finally destroy this World, but to put an end to the incurable Wickedness of Men. And this is the Ac∣count the Scripture gives us of it; we find every-where a deplorable Description of the Wickedness of the last Days; In the last days perillous times shall come: For men (that is, the generality of Man∣kind;) shall be lovers of their ownselves, covetous, boasters, proud, blasphemers, diso∣bedient to parents, unthankful, unholy, with∣out natural affection, truce-breakers, false accusers, incontinent, fierce, despisers of those that are good, traytors, heady, high-minded,

lovers of pleasures more then lovers of God; having a form of godliness, but denying the power thereof, 2 Tim. 3.1, 2, 3, 4, 5. Thus St. Iude tells us, There shall be mockers i•• the last times, who should walk after their own ungodly lusts, v. 18. And St. Peter, as you heard, that in the last Days there shall be Scoffers, saying, Where is the pro∣mise of his coming? And our Saviour himself plainly intimates what an univer∣sal Decay there shall be of Piety and Faith, when he comes to judge the World, Nevertheless, when the Son of man cometh▪ shall he find faith on the earth, 18 Luke 8. Atheism and Infidelity shall greatly pre∣vail in the World before the Day of Judge∣ment: and by this as St. Iohn said long since, We know that is the last time. And this is one of the signs both of the De∣struction of Ierusalem, and of the Day of Judgment, Then shall many be offended, and shall betray one another, and shall hate one another. And many false prophets shall rise, and shall deceive many. And because iniquity shall abound, the love of many shall wax cold. But he that shall endure to the end, the same shall be saved, 24 Matth. 10, 11, 12, 13.

And therefore the Destruction of this World by Fire, which is the Preparation

to the final Judgment, is represented as an immediate Vengeance on the wicked∣ness of that Generation of Men, who shall then be living on the Earth: though at the same time, the Dead shall be raised, and all ungodly men involved in the same ruin. The Lord Iesus shall be revealed from heaven with his mighty Angels in fla∣ming fire, taking vengeance on them that know not God, and that obey not the Gospel of our Lord Iesus Christ, 2 Thess. 1.8. And 10 Hebr. 27. it is called a fiery in∣dignation, which shall devour the Adver∣saries.

So that one thing God has regard to in appointing the day of Judgment, is not to destroy the World, till the wicked∣ness of Mankind is grown incurable, and past Remedy; and till this is the state of the World, how much wickedness soever there be in it, it is too soon, for a wise and good God to destroy the World he made: But there seems, 2. to be some∣thing more than this, to justifie the final destruction of the World; not only that the present race of Mankind is so univer∣sally corrupt, that they deserve to be uni∣versally destroyed, which was the case of the old World, wherein there was but one Righteous Family; but that Mankind is

thus incurably wicked after all the wise Methods of God's Grace and Providence to reform the World; for then it is time to put a final end to the state of this World, and to the farther propagation of Man∣kind on it, and to Summon all Men to Judgment to receive according to their Works.

This seems to be the reason why Noah's Flood did not put a final end to the World, and why God did not at that time call all Mankind to Judgment; because tho' the wickedness of that Generation of Men was so universal and so incurable, that it justified their universal destruction, yet God had new Methods of Grace, and hidden Treasures of Wisdom in reserve for the reforming the World; and there∣fore though he purged the Earth from its wicked Inhabitants, he did not think fit to put an end to the race of Men, but pre∣served Noah and his Sons in the Ark (which was the only Righteous Fa∣mily then living) to propagate a new Generation of Men, whom he would try with new Methods of Grace; the last and most admirable, and most effectual Me∣thod of Grace was reserved for the last Times; the Mysterious Incarnation of the Son of God, and the Power of Gospel-Grace.

And when this also shall have lost its effect, when Atheism and Infidelity, and all manner of Wickedness shall pre∣vail, when the Church it self shall be over-run with Heresies, Schisms, and a meer external form of Religion without the power of it; when Men shall walk after their own Lusts, when Faith shall fail, Iniquity abound, and the Lo•••• of many wax cold, then the end is at hand; God has then tryed what Mankind will prove, long enough, and it is time to put a period to this World, and to the race of Mankind, and call them all to Judgment: If what some learned Men teach be true, that the Letters, St. Iohn was commanded to write to the seven Churches of Asia, were Prophetick of the seven different states of the Christian Church, from the time of Christ till the end of the World, we find that the very last state of the Church, when Christ will spew her out of his mouth; that is, when he will put a final end to the Church on Earth, is re∣presented by the Church of Laodicea, 3 Revel. 14, &c. And to the Angel of the Church of the Laodiceans write, these things saith the Amen, the faithful and true wit∣ness, the beginning of the Creation of God: I know thy works, that thou art neither

cold nor hot; I would thou wert cold or hot; so then because thou art Lukewarm, and neither cold nor hot, I will spew thee out of my mouth. When a true Zeal and Concernment for the Faith and Practice of Christianity fails in the Church, and Atheism, and Infidelity, and all manner of Wickedness prevails in the World, these are ••resages of the near approach of a final Judgment.

Now if this be a fair and reasonable account of the destruction of the World, and a Future Judgment, we need not wonder, that God has appointed so late a day for it: seven or eight thousand Years is no long time for the duration of the World; especially when we have had such a terrible Example of God's Justice and Vengeance in the destruction of the old World already.

We have reason to believe, that this World should never have been destroyed, but for the incurable wickedness of Man∣kind; for nothing else can justifie the Wisdom and Goodness of God in destroy∣ing what he had made: God could have judged, and rewarded, or punished par∣ticular Men, without destroying the World; but when Mankind is grown uni∣versally and incurably wicked, it does not

become God to suffer this Earth to be an eternal Nursery of Atheists and Rebels a∣gainst the Majesty of Heaven; and this makes it necessary for God to destroy it; but then the Wisdom and Goodness of God requires that this should be done with great patience and long-suffering, and after the disappointment of all the wise Methods of his Grace in reforming the World; and then no Man can say that God has hitherto too long delayed the final Judgment; some thousand years is no long tryal to save the World, and Mankind, whom he hath made, from final destruction.

(1.) And therefore let no Man laugh at a future Judgment, and final destru∣ction of this World, as if it would never be, because it is not yet; God is in no hast to destroy the World, but when he sees it ripe for Destruction, that is the day he has appointed for Judgment: Such Scoffers as these are certain fore-runners of that day, and unless there be still a new Resurrection of true Faith and Piety, (which we hope for) it cannot be far off: how long soever such Men may think God delays, yet their Iudgment lingreth not, and their Damnation slumbereth not, 2 Peter 2.3. Let us all remember what

our Saviour tells us, If that evil servant shall say in his heart, my Lord delayeth his coming, and shall begin to smite his fellow∣servants, and to eat and drink with the drunken, the Lord of that servant shall come in a day when he looketh not for him, and in an hour that he is not ware of, and shall cut him asunder, and shall appoint him his portion with the Hypocrites, there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth, 24 Matth. 48.

It is no Argument that Judgment is a great way off, because Men are secure, and can laugh at the thoughts of it; for the more secure the World is, the nearer it is to Judgment: the very day that Judg∣ment shall overtake them, they shall least of all think of it, as it must needs be when the World shall be so over-run with Atheism and Infidelity; and therefore the day of Judgment is said to come like a thief in the night, that is suddenly, and by surprize, when we are asleep, and se∣cure, and least suspect it, 1 Thess. 5.2, 4. 2 Peter 3.10. As Christ threatens the Church of Sardis, 3 Revel. 3. If there∣fore thou shalt not watch, I will come on thee as a thief, and thou shalt not know what hour I will come upon thee. Thus 24 Matth. 37, &c. Christ tells us, that the

day of Judgment, or the coming of the Son of man, is like the days of Noah. For as in the days that were before the flood, they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day that Noah entred into the Ark, and knew not until the flood came and took them all away, so shall the coming of the Son of man be. The like we have 17 Luke 26, 27. to which he adds the destruction of Sodom; Likewise also it was in the days of Lot, they did eat, they drank, they bought, they sold, they planted, they built, but the same day that Lot went out of Sodom, it rained fire and brimstone from heaven, and destroy∣ed them all: even thus it shall be in the day, when the Son of man is revealed, 28, 29, 30.

(2.) This exactly agrees with what I have now discoursed, that God will not destroy the World, till the wickedness of Mankind is almost universal and incura∣ble; for if this be true, God cannot de∣stroy the World, till Men are secure and fearless of Judgment; that is, till they are such Atheists and Infidels, so immerst in sensual Pleasures, so given up to a Re∣probate sense, that they have no thoughts of God, and another World, nor any con∣cernment for a future Judgment.

Till the generality of Mankind are come to this secure state, they are not so hopeless, nor so outragiously, and irre••e∣verably wicked, as to provoke God to a final destruction of the World: a sense of God, and the fear of Judgment will re∣strain the wickedness of Mankind, and make them more modest and cautious, give check to their Vices, alarm and awa∣ken their Consciences whether they will or no; while this sense and belief is pre∣served in the World, there must be a great many good Men, and a great many more, who pretend to Piety and Vertue; and though there may be here and there an Atheist among them, this is not conside∣rable; this does not make the state of Mankind hopeless and desperate, and does not come up to the description of those times, when God will destroy and Judge the World.

And to observe this by the way, this is the true account why the Judgments of God in this World either upon private Persons or publick Societies, Kingdoms, and Nations, surprize Men, when they are most secure, and think least of Judgment; when as the Prophet Ieremy speaks, They cry peace, peace, when there is no peace, 6 Jer. 14. I need not tell you, that this

is not to take us at an advantage, as a weak Enemy sometimes does, who wants strength and power to hurt us, but upon a surprize; for no sinner, all the sinners of the World cannot resist God's Power, though they had never so much warning to make their defence.

Nor is it, that God takes so much plea∣sure in punishing us, and in executing his Judgments upon the World, that he will give us no warning of it, that we may not prevent it by a timely Repentance, and make our Peace with him; for he is infinitely good and merciful: he delights to do good, and to shew mercy, but Judg∣ment is his strange work; and he has suf∣ficiently denounced his Judgments against incorrigible sinners, if they would believe him, and take warning by it.

But the reason why the Judgments of God so often surprize Men in their Secu∣rity, while they are asleep, and dreaming of nothing but what is prosperous and hap∣py, of the return of Astroea and the Golden Age, is because their sins, which make them ripe for Judgment, and will not suf∣fer God to stay his hand any longer, have made them also secure: either they have sinned away all belief of God, and his Pro∣vidence, and a future Judgment; or have

sinned away the sense of those particular sins which they are guilty of; or to make themselves secure, they have, by the help of Enthusiasm and Superstition, reconci∣led the hopes of Heaven, and the sense of God's love and favour, with the practice of the most provoking Impieties: that is their love to sin has made them secure, and then there is little hope, that they will ever forsake their sins, and this makes them very fit to be the Examples of God's Justice and Displeasure.

And the same account is to be given of the day of Judgment: it will surprize Men as a Thief in the Night, not because they never heard that God would Judge the World; for God has sufficiently declared this, and given us timely notice to prepare for it; but Men will at that time have sinned away the belief of a God, and of a Judgment to come, or have laid this belief asleep with some intoxicating Su∣perstitions and Formalities; and this is so hopeless and irrecoverable a state, that it makes it time forGod to Judge the World.

(3.) And this may give some probable account, both why the day of Judgment is deferred so long, as some Men are apt to speak (though God knows, they have little reason to think it long, considering

what Account they are able to give, and what Sentence they are like to receive) and why the particular time of Judgment is concealed from us.

While the sense of Judgment continues in the World it must make a great many good Men, and restrain the Wickedness and Impiety of bad Men, and as you have heard, God will not destroy the World, while it is in an hopeful and recoverable state; but the long delay of Judgment (as Men are apt to call it) wears off the sense and belief of it, and then Men grow wicked without fear and restraint; and then it is time for God to judge the World.

Thus if God fixes and determines the Day of Judgment upon the foresight of such a general Impiety, as will deserve a final excision, God cannot reveal this to the World: For one would think it im∣possible, did the World know this before∣hand, but the Age of Judgment should be the most Devout and Religious Age, that ever had been from the beginning of the World; and then that would not be a fit time to destroy the World: and God could not fore-see it the properest time of Judgment.

It is abundantly sufficient, that God gives us all reasonable Evidence and Assu∣rance, that he will Judge the World: but there is no reason to tell us, at what par∣ticular time he will judge the World; nay, it is not fitting that we should know it.

Had Men known some thousand Years ago, how long the Day of Judgmen•• should be deferred, it had so much weak∣ned the Argument of a Future Judgment, by removing it a great way off, that the World might much better have deserved to be destroyed at any other time than in likelihood it would do, if Men certainly knew the time when the Day of Judg∣ment comes: and if the general belief of Judgment will not make us good Men, it is not fit that we should certainly know the time of Judgment; no more than that we should know the time of our Death, or be converted by a sight of Heaven or Hell.

God reserves this as a Secret in his own Breast, which neither Men nor An∣gels shall know, which is the best way to make the belief of a Future Judgment ef∣fectual upon all Ages of the World, espe∣cially since that express revelation which the Gospel has made of it. This Instru∣ction our Saviour himself gives us, that

since we know not the Day of Judgment, we should always watch, and be ready prepared for it. Watch therefore, for ye know not what hour your Lord doth come: But know this, that if the good man of the house had known in what watch the thief would come, he would have watched, and would not have suffered his house to be broken up; therefore be ye also ready, for in such an hour as ye think not, the Son of man cometh, 24 Matth. 42, 43, 44. And if this was good Advice in our Saviour's days, it more nearly concerns us, on whom the end of the World is come.

(4.) There is one thing more I shall observe from this Discourse; not to be of∣fended, though you see Atheism and In∣fidelity prevail in the World, and the true Christian Faith begin to fail, and the love of many wax cold: thus it must be towards the end of the World, and if we now see the beginnings of it, it is no great won∣der.

This is indeed a great Temptation to Men, who are governed by Examples, to hear the first Principles of Religion called in Question, and the great Fundamental Articles of our Faith made Matter of Dis∣pute and Controversie; nay, the plainest Rules of Life ridiculed and exploded; but

if these things should not be, the World would never come to an end: God can∣not destroy a believing and righteous Na∣tion, much less a righteous World, a World of Believers and Saints. And if it be our Portion to fall into the dregs of Time, in∣to these last days, when there shall be Scof∣fers walking after their own ungodly Lusts, let us consider, that this is no more than was foretold; thus it must be towards the end of the World, and therefore this ought not to weaken the Credit of Reli∣gion, no more than the fulfilling of Pro∣phesies does: let us remember how Sacred this Faith has been for 1600 Years, how many Martyrs and Confessors it has had; how God has preserved it against all the Powers and Opposition of the World; how it has triumphed over Pagan Idola∣tries, and which is more than that, trium∣phed over the Lusts and Vices of the World, in the Exemplary Self-denial, Mor∣tification, and Divine and Heavenly Con∣versations of its Professors; and this I think is such an Argument of its Divinity, as may defend us against the Wit and Ral∣lery and Impudence of professed Atheists and Debauchees, who till of late, have themselves been the scorn and derision of Mankind.

Notes

• * 1.1

  2 Pet. 3.5, 6.