4.00 the Danger of dl'known bosh from VOI. j. .So that the Gofpel hath not only declared the thing to us, that there be a future Judgment; but for our farther affurance and fatisfa &ion in this Mat.. ter, and that thole things might make a deep impreffion, and firike a great 'Awe upon our Minds, God hath been pleafed to reveal it to us with a great ma- ny particular Circumftances, fuch as are very worthy of God, and aptc[ä .fill theMinds of Men with dread and aftonifhment, as often as they think of them. For the Circumflances of this judgment revealed to us in the Gofpel, are very folewn andawful, not Inch as the wild fancies and imaginations of Men would have beenapt to have drefl it up withal, fuch as are the Fi &ions of theHeathen poets, and the extravagancies ofMahomet 5 which tho' they be terrible enough, yet they arewithal ridiculous ; but loch as are every way becoming the Majeffy of the great God, and the Solemnity of the great Day, and fuchas do not in thé leaft favour of the vanity and lightnefsof humane imagination. For what more fair and equal, than that Men fhould be tried 'by a Man like themfelves, one of the fame Rank and Condition, that had experience of the Infirmities and TemptationsofHumane Nature ? So our Lord tells us, that the Father hath committed all judgment to the Son, becanfe he is the Son of Man, and therefore cannot be excepted againfi, as not being a fit and equal Judge. And this St. Paul offers as a clear proof of the equitable proceedings of that Day ; :aGód (jays he) bath appointed a Day, in which he will judge the World in Righteoufnept by that Man whom he bath ordained. And then what more congruous than that the Son ofGod, who had taken Iii much pains for the Salvation of Men, and came into the World for that purpofi; and had ufed all imaginable means for the Reformation of Mankind. I fay what more congruous, than that this very Perlon fhould be honoured by God to fit judgment upon the World, and to Condemn thofe, who after all the means that had been tried for their Recovery, would not Repent and be Saved. And whhät more proper, thanthat Men, who are to be judged for things done in the Body, fhould be judged in the Body, and confequently that the Refurre&ion of the Dead fhould precede the general Judgment ? And what more Magnificent and fuitable to this glorious Solemnity, than the awful Circumftances which the Scripture mentions of the appearanceof this great Judge ; that he (hall defcend from Heaven in great Majefly and Glory, attended with his mighty Angels, and that every eye (hall fee him; that upon his appearance, the frame of Nature thall be in an agony, and the whole World in Flame and Canfirfon ; that thofe great and Glorious Bodies of Light (hall be obfcured, and by degrees extingui(h'd ; the Sun fhallbe dar4ned, and the Moon turned into Blood, and all the Powers of Heavenfhaken ; yea, the Heavens themfelves (ball pafr away with a great noife, and the Elements diffalve withfervent heat; the Earth alfa, and all the Works that are therein fhall be beret up. I appeal to any Man, whether this be not a Reprefentation of things very proper and fuitable to that.great Day, wherein he who made the World (hall come to Judge it ? and whether the Wit of Man everdeviled any thing fo awful, and fo agreeable to the Maje- flyof God, and the Colemn Judgment of the whole World? The defcription which Virgil makes of the Judgment of. another World, of the Elifsan Fields; and the Infernal Regions how infinitely do, they fall (hort of the Majeflyof the Holy Scripture, and the defcription there made of Heaven and Hell,: and of the Great and Terrible Day of the Lord! fo that in Compárifon they are Childilif and Trifling; and yet perhaps he had the molt regular and molt!govern'd ima? ginationof any Man that ever lived,; and obferved the greateft decorum in-his Chara&ers and. Defcriptions. But whocan declare the great things of God, but he to whomGod fhall reveal them ! Secondly, This Expreflïon of the wrath of God being Revealed from Heaven; doth not only imply the clear difcovery of the'thing, but_likewife tome- "thing extraordinary in the manner of the Dffcovery. It is not only a Natural am. preffion upon the Minds of Men, that God will feverely puni(h Sinners; but he hath
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