Part 72

But if thou do it graciously, then a reward followeth; "for what is our hope, or joy, or crown of rejoicing? Are not even ye," says Paul, "in the presence of our Lord Jesus Christ at his coming? For ye are our glory and joy."

Let him therefore that Christ has put into his harvest, take comfort in the midst of all his sorrows; and know that God acknowledges that he that converteth a sinner from the error of his way, doth even save that soul from death, and covereth a multitude of sins. Wherefore, labor to convert, labor to water, labor to build up and to feed the flock of God which is among you, taking the oversight thereof not by constraint, but willingly; not for filthy lucre, but of a ready mind; and when the chief Shepherd shall appear, ye shall receive a crown of glory that fadeth not away.

2. And as the ministers of Christ's gospel shall at this day be recompensed, so shall also those more private saints be with tender affections and love looked on and rewarded for all their work and labor of love which they have showed to the name of Christ, in ministering to his saints and suffering for his sake. "Whatsoever good thing any man doeth, the same shall he receive of the Lord, whether he be bond or free."

Ah, little do the people of God think how largely and thoroughly God will at that day own and recompense all the good and holy acts of his people. Every bit, every drop, every rag, and every night's harbor though but in a wisp of straw, shall be rewarded in that day before men and angels: "Whosoever shall give to drink to one of these little ones, a cup of cold water only, in the name of a disciple, verily I say unto you," saith Christ, "he shall in no wise lose his reward." "Therefore, when thou makest a feast," saith he, "call the poor, the maimed, the lame, and the blind, and thou shalt be blessed; for they cannot recompense thee; for thou shalt be recompensed at the resurrection of the just."

If there be any repentance among the godly at that day, it will be because the Lord Jesus, in his person, members, and word, was no more owned, honored, entertained, and provided for by them, when they were in this world; for it will be ravishing to all to see what notice the Lord Jesus will then take of every widow's mite. He will call to mind even all those acts of mercy and kindness which thou hast showed to him when thou wast among men. He will remember, cry up, and proclaim before angels and saints those very acts of thine which thou hast either forgotten or through bashfulness wilt not at that day count worth the owning. He will reckon them up so fast and so fully that thou wilt cry, "Lord, when did I do this, and when did I do the other? When saw we thee hungry and fed thee. or athirst and gave thee drink? When saw we thee a stranger and took thee in, or naked and clothed thee? Or when saw we thee sick or in a prison, and came unto thee?" And the King shall answer and say unto them, "Verily I say unto you, inasmuch as ye did it unto one of the least of these my brethren, ye did it unto me. The good works of some are manifest beforehand, and they that are otherwise cannot be hid. Whatever thou hast done to one of the least of these my brethren, thou hast done it unto me. I felt the nourishment of thy food and the warmth of thy fleece; I remember thy loving and holy visits, when my poor members were sick and in prison and the like. When they were strangers and wanderers in the world, thou tookest them in. Well done, thou good and faithful servant; enter thou into the joy of thy Lord."

3. Here also will be a reward for all that hardness and Christian enduring of affliction that thou hast met with for thy Lord, while thou wast in the world. Here now will Christ begin from the greatest suffering even unto the least, and bestow a reward on them all, from the blood of the suffering saint to the loss of a hair.

4. There is also a reward at this day for all the more, secret and more retired works of Christianity. 1. There is not now one act of faith in thy soul, either upon Christ or against the devil and antichrist, but it shall in this day be found out, and praised, honored, and glorified in the face of heaven. 2. There is not one groan to God in secret against thy own lusts, and for more grace, light, Spirit, sanctification, and strength to go through this world like a Christian, but it shall even at the coming of Christ he rewarded openly. 3. There has not one tear dropped from thy tender eye against thy lusts, the love of the world, or for more communion with Jesus Christ, but as it is now in the bottle of God, so then it shall bring forth such plenty of reward, that it shall return upon thee with abundance of increase. "Blessed are ye that weep now, for ye shall laugh." "Thou tellest my wanderings and puttest my tears in thy bottle; are they not in thy book?" "They that sow in tears shall reap in joy. He that goeth forth and weepeth, bearing precious seed, shall doubtless come again with rejoicing, bringing his sheaves with him."

If thou indeed and in truth close in with Jesus, thou shalt be lovingly received and tenderly embraced of Christ at that day, when he hath thousands of noble saints, as Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, David, Isaiah, Jeremiah, with all the prophets, apostles, and martyrs, attending on him; and many thousands of glittering angels ministering before him. When the ungodly shall appear there, with their pale faces, with their guilty consciences and trembling souls--who would then give thousands of worlds, if they had so many, if they could enjoy but one loving look from Christ--then shalt thou have the hand of Christ reached to receive thee, saying, Come, thou blessed, step up hither; thou wast willing to leave all for me, and now I will give all to thee. Here is a throne, a crown, a kingdom; take them. Thou wast not ashamed of me when thou wast in the world among my enemies, and now will not I be ashamed of thee before thine enemies, but will, in the view of all these devils and damned reprobates, promote thee to honor and dignity. Come, ye blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world. Thou shalt see that those who have served me in truth shall lose nothing, but they shall be as pillars in my temple and inheritors of my glory, and shall have place to walk in among my saints and angels. Oh, who would not be in this condition? who would not be in this glory?

At the day of judgment, Israel will be sufficiently weary of this world; they will even as it were inexpressibly groan to be taken up from hence: wherefore the Lord will come, as making use of the weariness and groaning of his people, and will take them up into his chambers of rest, and will wipe away all tears from their eyes.

That we are justified in the sight of the divine Majesty by free grace, through that one offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all, I bless God I believe it; and that we shall be brought to glory by the same grace, through the same most blessed Jesus, I thank God I believe that also Again, that the glory to which we shall be brought by free grace through the only merits of Jesus, is unspeakably glorious and complete, I question no more than I question the blessed truths but now confessed.

But notwithstanding all this, there is a reward for the righteous, a reward for their works of faith and love, whether in a doing or in a suffering way, and that not principally to be enjoyed here, but hereafter: "Great is your reward in heaven."

Paul was as great a maintainer of the doctrine of God's free grace, and of justification from sin by the righteousness of Christ imputed by grace, as any one that ever lived in Christ's service from the world's beginning till now; and yet he was for this doctrine: he expected himself, and encouraged others also to look for such a reward for doing and suffering for Christ, which he calls "a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory." Surely, as Christ says in a case not distant from this in hand, "If it were not so, he would have told us."

Wherefore a reward I find, and that laid up in heaven; but what it is I know not, neither is it possible for any here to know it any further than by certain general words of God, such as these: "Praise, honor, glory, a crown of righteousness, a crown of glory, thrones, judging of angels, a kingdom, with a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory."

Wherefore, though in the day of judgment thou shouldst there slight all thou didst on earth for thy Lord, saying, "When, Lord, when did we do it?" he will answer, "Then, even then when ye did it to the least of these my brethren, ye did it unto me."

SINNERS JUDGED.

"There shall be a resurrection of the dead, both of the just and unjust." For as the just go before the unjust in name and dignity and honor, so they shall, in the last day, go before them in the resurrection.

Now then, when the saints have risen out of their graves, given up their accounts, received their glory, and are set upon their thrones--when they are all of them in their royal apparel, with crowns of glory, every one presenting the person of a king, then come the unjust out of their graves, to receive their judgment for what they have done in the body. "We must all appear before the judgment-seat of Christ, that every one," both saints and sinners, "may receive the things done in his body, according to that he hath done, whether it be good or bad."

"And the windows," or floodgates, "of heaven were opened." This opening of the floodgates of heaven was a type of the way that shall be made for the justice of God upon ungodly men, when Christ has laid aside his mediatorship; for he indeed is the sluice that stops this justice of God from its dealing according to its infinite power and severity with men. He stands like Moses, and as it were holdeth the hands of God. Oh, but when he shall be taken away, when he shall have finished his mediatorial work, then will the floodgates of heaven be opened, and then will the justice and holiness of God deal with men without stint or diminution, even till it has filled the vessels of wrath with vengeance till they run over. "It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God,"

The Judge is the almighty and eternal God: the law broken is the holy and perfect rule of God, in itself a consuming fire: sin is so odious, and a thing so abominable, that it is enough to make all the angels blush to hear it but so much as once mentioned in so holy a place as that is, where the great God doth sit to judge. This sin now hangs about the neck of him that has committed it, yea, it covers him as doth a mantle.

Doubtless before the flood had carried off the ark, others besides would with gladness have had there a lodgingroom though no better than a dog-kennel; but now it was too late, "The Lord had shut the door."

As the just shall rise in power, so the wicked and unjust in weakness and astonishment. Sin and guilt bring weakness and faintness in this life; how much more when both, with all their force and power, like a giant fasten on them? As God saith, "Can thy hands be strong, and can thy heart endure in the day that I shall deal with thee?" Now will the ghastly jaws of despair gape upon thee, and now will condemnings of conscience, like thunderclaps, continually batter against thy weary spirit. It is the godly that have boldness in the day of judgment; but the wicked will be like the chaff which the wind driveth away.

Now when the wicked are thus raised out of their graves,'they shall, together with all the angels of darkness, their fellow-prisoners, be brought up, being shackled in their sins, to the place of judgment; where there shall sit upon them Jesus Christ, the King of kings and Lord of lords, the Lord Chief-judge of things in heaven, and earth, and things under the earth. On whose right hand and left shall sit all the princes and heavenly nobles, the saints and prophets, the apostles and witnesses of Jesus; every one in his kingly attire upon the throne of his glory. Then shall be fulfilled that which is written, "But those my enemies, which would not that I should reign over them, bring hither and slay them before me."

When every one is thus set in his proper place, the Judge on his throne with his attendants, and the prisoners coming up to judgment, forthwith there shall issue forth a mighty fire and tempest from before the throne, which shall compass it round about. Which fire shall be as bars and bounds to the wicked, to keep them at a certain distance from the heavenly Majesty. "Our God will come and not keep silence; a fire shall devour before him, and it shall be very tempestuous round about him." "His throne was like the fiery flame, and his wheels like burning fire. A fiery stream issued, and came forth from before him."

This preparation being made--to wit, the Judge with his attendants on the throne, the bar for the prisoners, and the rebels all standing with ghastly faces to look for what comes after--presently the books are brought forth, the books both of death and life, and every one of them opened before the sinners now to be judged and condemned; for after that he had said, "A fiery stream issued, and came forth from before him," he adds, "Thousands, thousands ministered to him, and ten thousand times ten thousand stood before him. The judgment was set, and the book was opened." And again, "I saw a great white throne and him that sat upon it, from whose face the earth and the heaven fled away, and there was found no more place for them', and I saw the dead, small and great, stand before God; and the books were opened; and another book was opened, which is the book of life. And the dead were judged out of the things that were written in the books, according to their works."

"For many will seek to enter in, and shall not be able." They will put on all the confidence they can; they will trick and trim up their profession, and adorn it with what bravery they can. Thus the foolish virgins sought to enter in; they did trim up their lamps, and made themselves as fine as they could. They made shift to make their lamps to shine a while; but the Son of God discovering himself, their confidence failed, their lamps went out, the door was shut upon them, and they were kept out.

They will make a stop at this gate, this beautiful gate of heaven; they will begin to stand without at the gate, as being loath to go any further. Never did malefactor so unwillingly turn off the ladder when the rope was about his neck, as these will turn away in that day from the gates of heaven to hell.

It may be that when thou hearest that the dust of the street, that cleaveth to a minister of the gospel while thou rejectest his word of salvation, shall be a witness against thee at the day of judgment, thou wilt be apt to laugh, and say, The dust a witness! witnesses will be scarce when dust is forced to come in to plead against a man.

Well, sinner, mock not; God doth use to confound the great and mighty by things that are not, and that are despised.