Ver. 3 I, 3 2, &C. xxvth Chapter of St. MATTHEW. 143 (z.) 7uflice is required, or a conftant and unbiaffed Will to determine and pats Sentence, ex aquo, & bono ; as Right and. Truth (hall require. He that giveth wrong Judgment, becaufe he Both not accurately understand a thing, is imprudent, which an xhisbufinefs is a great Fault : But he that Both rightly underhand a Matter, and yet is byafs'd by pervesfe Affè &ions and Aims., and giveth wrong Judgment in the Cause brought before him ; that is highly impious and flagitious : Therefore, the Judge muff be Jr ít and incorrupt. (3.) Prover is neceffary, that he may compell the .Parties judged to hand to his Judgment, and the Offenders may receive their due Punishment : For otherwife, all is but precarious and arbitrary ; and the Judgment given will be but a' vain and fò- le:nn Pageantry. (4.) There is required Authority : For otherwife, if a Man should obtrude himfelf of his own accord, they may fay to him, Who made thee a 'fudge over our? Or if he by meer force should allume this Power to himfelf, the Parties impleaded have a pretence of Right to decline his Tribunal, and appeal from him. Certainly, he that rewards muff be Superiour ; and much more he that punifheth : For he that puniflt- eth another, bringeth fome notable Evil and Dammage upon him ; but for one ro bring Evil upon another, unless he bath right to do it, is unjuff. Therefore, good Authority is required in him that alts the Part of a Judge. These things, as they ftand upon evident Reafon, and are neceffary in all Judicial Proceedings between Man and Man, fo much more in this great and folemn Tranfa &ion of the Laft Judg- ment. For this will be the greatef1 Court that ever was kept ; both in refile& of the Perlons to be judged, which (hall be all Men, and eyil Angels ; high and low, small and great, rich and poor, Princes and Subje &s ; and in ref-pea of the Caules that shall be produced, the whole Bufrnefs of the World for lift ehoufand Years, or there- abouts ; or the Retributions made, which final' be Punifhments and Rewards of the highest Nature and Degree, becaufe Everlafting. And therefore, there mull be a Judge fought out, that is exaaly knowing not only of Laws, but of all Perlons and Causes : That all things fhould be naked, and open to him with whom we have to do, Heb. 4. a z, s.3. and i yoh. 3.20. Again, exceeding Just, without the leali spot and blemtfh of wrong Dealing : Gen. 18. z 5. Shall not the fudge of all the Earth do right ? And, Rnrn. 3. 5, 6. Is God unrighteous, that taketh Vengeance ? God forbid : For then hop fhall God judge the World? It cannot be, that the univerfal and final Judg- ment of all the World should be committed to hitn, that bath or can do any thing wrongful and amifs. And then, that Power is neceffary both to fummon Offenders, and make them appear, and ftand'to the Judgment which he shall award, without any hope of efcaping or refilling ; will as eafily appear : Becaufe the Offenders are many, and they would fain hide their guilty Heads, and lhun this Tribunal, if it were poflible. Rev. 6.16. Say to the Mountains and Rocks, fall on us, and hide us from the Face of him that fatteth upon the Throne, and from the Wrath of the Lamb e But that mull not, cannot be : Pfal. go. r 1. Who kmpa'eth the Poner of thine Anger? According to thy Fear, fo is thy Wrath. Authority- is neceffary alto, or a Right to Go- vern, and to di pofe of the Perfons judged into their Everlafling Eltate ; which being all the World, belongeth' only to the Universal King, who hath made all things, and preferveth all things, and governeth and dilpofeth all things for his own Glory. Legrfletion and Execution both belong to the fame Power : Judgment is a part of Government : Laws are but Shadows, if no Execution follow. Now let us par- ticularly fee how all this belongeth to Christ. (r.) For Wifdom and "t)nderflanding. 'Tis in Christ two -fold, Divine and Humane ; for each Nature bats its particular and proper Wifdom belonging to it. As God, 'ris Infinite : Pfal. 147. 15. His Vnderflanding is Infinite. And fo by one Infinite View, or by one All of Underflanding, he knoweth all things that are, have been, or (hall be, yea or may be, by his Divine Power and All- fuf$ciency. They are all. before his Eyes, as if naked and cut down by the'Chine -bone. We know things fuccesf ve- ly ; as 'a Man readeth a Book, line after line, and Page after Page ; but God at one View.. Now his Humane Wisdom cannot be equal to this : A Finite Nature can- not be capable of an Infinite Underffanding ; but yet it is fuch as it doth far exceed the Knowledge of all Men, and all Angels. When Christ was upon Earth, though the hórms of things could, not but fucceffively come into his Mind or Underhand- Mg, becaufe of the limited Nature of that And and Llnc:erftanding; yet then he could know whatever he would ; and to whatfoever thing he would apply his Mind, Ate ill111111miir
RkJQdWJsaXNoZXIy OTcyMjk=