• c .H R I s T THE Ju D G E OF A L L. Book II. SIMILE. I!I. The Coming of a Thief is but to a few, and thr Damage he does is but to a few Families. D l SPAR IT Y. Ill. The Coming of the Day of the Lord, and the difmal Effects of it will be to all the Wicked: 'I'he Lord cometh with ten 'I'houfand of his Saints, to execute Judgmmt upon ail, and to con7Jince all that are ungodly, &c. Jude 14, 15. I N F E R E N C E ~ r. REPROOF. 2 . Caution. 3· Exhortation. .(t.) .Reproof to u~¥odly Men; that there fi1ould be fuch a Day to come, and Notice g1ven of fuch a I htng, and they fo heedlefs and carelefs about it. (2 .) Caution to the Godly, to tal(e heed, and carefully mind the Counfel of Chrift, and Warntngs of hiS Servants, unto fllch a dlle Watchfulnefs, as may prevent the Danger of being found fieeping, and fo the D ay come upon them unawares, Mark xiii. 35, 36, 37· Luke xxi. 34, 36. (3.) Exhortation to al!, both good and bad, to make ready; for only they that lhall be found ready will go in with him into the Marriage·Chamber; the Door will be lhut againft all others, whether Profdfors or Prophane: Be ye therefore ready,for at an Hour you think not of the Son of Man cometh, Matt. xxv. to. and xxiv. <~+ c H R I s T THE Ju D G E OF A L L. And he commanded us to preach u~tto the People, and to tejlify, that it was He that was ordained of God, to be the Judge of the f<..uick and Dead, Afls x. 42. THE Term "fiT"'' a Judge, is derived of •e'""• tojudge, which Word has various Significations. And though the Word [Judge] 1s not brought here as a Meta– phor, Cluift being really and properly a Judge, yet it being a Phrafe alluding to earth– ly Judges, wt Jhall, for Edification fake, run the Parallel, wherein are amply fet forth the ~1alifications and Properties, as well as the Authority of a temporal Judge, with 'the correfpondent Analogy and Difparity, when applied to Chrift, the Judge of (Tw• ~w•?w• ""'' >Expw•) the Livi11g and the Dead. METAPHOR. I. A Judge necdfarily fuppofes a People under a Law to be judged by ; for there can he no ACtion where there is no ObjeCt, nor any Exercife of Power, or judicial ·Proceeding, without a Subject. PARALLEL. I. CHRIST's being called aJudge, doth clearly hold forth, that there are a People to be judged by him; Before bimjhall begathered a/JNa– tions, Mark xxv. 32. We mujl all appear before the Judgment-Seat of Chrift, 2 Cor. v. 10. I Jaw tbe Dead, both Jnzall andgreat, jfa11d before God, Rev. xx. 12, 13· II. A Judge is, or ought to be IL Jefus Chrift infinitely excels other Judges a Perfon fit for the Place and Ofin refpec1: of Fitnefs to this Office, or Excelkncy fice whereto he is called. of Q!alifications, as will appear by what follows. t. A Judge ought to be a Man t. Chrift is wife, not only far beyond David of great Wifdom and Prudence. and SolomM, bot all the Angels in Heaven; the . Learned amongft the Jews admired his Wifdom: He is called, as harh been often hinted, the Wifdom of God, • Cor. i. 24. 2. A .J udgc is a Man of Know2. Jefus Chrift fully knows all Divine Laws, as !edge, it is neceiEuy that he lhould well that wh1ch JS wntten m the Heart of Man, be well acquainted wirh all the as that wh1ch was wntten m Tables of Stone; Laws of his Sovereign. ar.d then as to the Law of theGolpel, that 1s called the Law, of Chrift, becaufe he gavr forth all the 3· A Judge is, or ought to be, a Man of (,oodnl'fs, not fu bjeCt to Anger, i\rlalJC<', or Rt:vengt; and it is very rtyuifi,c ir fhould be fo, othenvifc great Damage might c::nPrecepts contained themn, Matt.''· 6, 7· . 3· The Lord Jefu& Chrill: is full of Goodnefs, full Proofs of which he gave before his Advance– ment ro his Dignity. He is not forward to ac– cufe, is free from Anger, not fubject to take Ad– vantage by the Weaknefs of an Offen<ier, but ready
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