Christ in the Clouds Coming to Judgment

by Ebenezer Erskine

CHRIST IN THE CLOUDS

COMING TO

JUDGEMENT.

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A

SERMON

from Matthew xvi. 27.

Then shall be reward every man according to his Works.

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by the Rev. Mr. Ebenezer Erskine,
Minister at Stirling.

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STIRLING:

PRINTED BY C. RANDALL

1801.

CHRIST IN THE CLOUDS

COMING ΤΟ

JUDGEMENT.

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Matthew xvi. 27. Then shall be reward every man according to his works.

THE text gives us an account of the day of doom, which is the last day of assize, wherein every man shall be tried at the bar of God's justice, and every man shall then and there, receive according to his works, whether they be good, or whether they be evil.

I shall not trouble myself nor you with the terrors of this day, because I have not time, but will proceed.

It is most certain the day of judgement will come; and that it will be dreadful to all the wicked. But seeing these things must be, what sort of persons ought we to be in all manner of conversation, always looking for the coming of Christ, at whose coming, the sun shall be darkened, and the moon shall not give her light, the stars shall fall from heaven the powers of heaven shall be shaken, the elements shall melt with fervent heatǃ Who can hear all this, and not be wonderfully dismayed! Oh! who dares eat, drink. or sleep, or take a minute's rest! Be sure that day shall come. O awake ye drunkards, and weep all ye drinkers of wine, because of the new wine; for it shall be pulled from your mouth. Gird yourselves and lament, ye priests; howl ye ministers of the altar, alas! The sore and terrible day of the Lord is at hand.

The DOCTRINE is this,

'This is a gospel truth, that Christ, who came into the world in the form of a servant, will one day come as a Judge, attended with his holy angels'

And if this be so, then first for an use of exhortation.

1st, Let us all be warned, and while we have time, provide for that day: Yet the weather is fair, we may frame an ark to save us from the flood: Yet are the angels at the gate of Sodom, and yet is Jonah in the streets of Nineveh: yet the prophet laments, crying, 'O Judah! how shall I intreat thee?' Yea, the apostle prays, nay, we pray in Christ's stead, 'that ye be reconciled unto God,' But, here a question will arise, How will Christ appear?

I answer. He, who as a man once appeared to be judged, will then appear to judge all mankind. Consider this, ye that are going to the bar; what a dreadful sight will this be to the faithless Jews, stubborn Gentiles and wicked Christians, when every eye shall see him, and they also that pierced him? This is the man, shall they say. that was crucified for us and again crucified by us. Why, alas! every sin is a cross, and every oath is a spear, and when that day is come, you must behold the man, who thus you do crucify by your daily sin, sure this will be a fearful sight. Where is the bloody swearer, that can tear his wounds, heart and blood? At that day all these words will appear, the heart be visible, and the body, and the blood be sensible of good and evil, then all the fearful voice proceed from his throne: Where is the blood thou hast spilled! Here is the woful and terrible Judgement, when thou that art the murderer, shall see the slain Man be thy Judge! What favours canst thou think to expect at his hand, whom thou hast so vilely and treacherously used by thy daily sins: Be sure the Son of Man will come as it is written, 'But woe unto that man by whom the Son of Man is betrayed; it had been better for that man he had never been born,' Mat. xxvi. 24.

As Christ shall appear in the form of a man, so this Man shall appear in a glorious form. Oh! sinner, look about you, the Judge is coming: 'A fire devours before him, and behind him a flame burns;' on every side, the people tremble, and all faces shall gather blackness. Here is a change indeed! he that was at the bar, now sits on the throne, and that for ever and ever. Then Christ stood as a lamb before Pilate, now Pilate stands as a malefactor before Christ, "He that was made the footstool of his enemies, must now judge till he has made his enemies his footstool." Where shall they run, and how shall they seek the clefts of the rocks and hollow places? The glory of his Majesty will kindle a flame, while the heaven and the earth shall flee away from the presence of the powerful judge.

But if here be the Judge, where is the guard? Behold him coming from above with great power and glory! Would you know his habit! He is indeed clothed with Majesty. Would you know his attendance? They are an host of holy angels; nay, yet a much longer train, even the souls of the saints, descending from their imperial feats, and attending the Lamb with great glory Never was there any judge, Lord of such a circuit: His footstool is the clouds, his feet is the rainbow, his judges are saints, his officers, angels and arch-angels. The trumpet proclaims a silence, while a just sentence cometh from his mouth upon all the world Thus you see the assize begun: 'I beheld till the thrones were cast down, saith the Prophet, and the Ancient of Days did sit, whose garments were white as snow, and the hair of his head like pure wool: his throne was like the fiery flame, and the wheels as burning fire,' Dan. vii. 9.

This is the Judge, whose coming is so fearful, ushered in by a fiery cloud, and appareled in a snowy white, carried in his circuit on burning wheels, and attended with thousands of thousands. O ye Jews! behold the man whom before ye crucified as a malesactor; behold him on his throne, whom you said, his disciples had stolen away by night out of his grave, Mat xxviii. 12. Behold himn in his majesty; him upon whom you would not look in his humility. This is he, at whose appearance the kindreds of the earth should mourn. Such a shour of fury follows the fight of his Majesty, that the vaults shall echo, the hills resound, the earth shall shake, the heavens shall pass away, and be turned to consusion. Then shall the wicked mourn, then shall they weep and wail, yet their tears shall not serve their turn; their sins past betray them, their shame condemns them; and their torments to come confound them: Thus shall the wicked bewail their miserable, hapless, unfortunate birth, and cursed end. O fearful Judge! terrible as an army with banners: The Kings of the earth shall be astonished, and every eye shall see this Judge and tremble at his sight. Lo, but conceive the guilty prisoner come to his trial: Will not the red robes of this Judge make his heart bleed, for his blood shed: Thus have I shewed you how Christ will appear in a glorious manner.

1st, Think now O sinner! What shall be thy reward when thou shalt meet this Judge? The adulterer, for a while, may flatter beauty, swearers grace their words with oaths, the drunkards kiss their cups, and thank their bodily health till they drink their souls to ruin: But let them remember, 'For all these things God will bring them into judgement;' A sad comfort in the end. How shall the adulterer satisfy his lust, when he lies on a bed of flames! The swearer shall have enough of wounds and blood, when the devil shall torture his body, and rack his soul in hell. The drunkard shall have plenty of his cups when scalding lead shall be poured down his throat, and his breath draw flames of fire instead of air. As is thy sin, so is thy punishment: This Judge will give just measure in the balance of his indignation and wrath.

For comfort to all who are the Judge's favourites, Now is the day if ye are God's servants) that Satan shall be trodden under your feet, and you, with your Master, Christ, shall be carried into the holy of holies. You may remember how all the men of God, in their greatest anguish here below, have fetched comfort from the eyes of faith, it was at this mountain Job rejoiced, being cast on the dung-hill, that his Redeemer lived; and that he should see him at the last day stand on the earth, so likewise the Evangelist John longed and cried, 'Come Lord Jesus come quickly,' Rev. xxii. 20. 'Now little children abide in him, that when he shall appear, we may have confidence and not be ashamed at his coming. And this is the promise that he hath promised us even eternal life,' 1 John ii. 28, 25. But I proceed,

The perious to be judged, are a world of men. good and bad, elect and reprobate.

First, There is a summons, and this very man must hear, and this shall be the voice of the last trumpet, 'Arise ye dead, and come to Judgement!' O what a fearful and terrible voice will this be to all the wicked! How will they tremble at his voice which makes the earth to tremble! Even at this voice the graves of the dead shall be opened, and every soul re-united to his own body: the dark pit of hell shall be shaken, when the dreadful soul shall leave its place of terror, and once more re-enter into its stinking carrion, to receive a greater condemnation, John v. 28, 29. The voice of Christ is a powerful and strong voice, 'The dead shall hear his voice, and they shall come forth, they that have done good unto the resurrection of life, and they that have done evil to the resurrection of condemnation.'

Thus much for the summons, you hear it given, and every man must appear: Death must now give back all that he hath taken from the world. What a ghastly and locking fight shall this be, to see all the graves open, and to see dead men arise out of their graves, and the scattered flying on the wings of the wind, till they meet together in one body, Ezek. xxxvii. 6. 'The dry bones shall live.' Behold, the power of God Almighty, out of the grave and the dust of the earth from these chambers of death and darkness shall raise the bodies of the buried. Rev. xx. 12, 13. 'I saw the dead (saith St. John) small and great, stand before God, and the sea gave up the dead which were in it; and death and hell delivered up the dead that were in them, and they were judged every man according to his works.' He that said to corruption thou art my father, and to the worm thon art my sister and mother,' said also, 'I know that my Redeemer liveth, and mine eyes shall behold him.' O! good God, how wonderful is thy power, Joel. iii. 11, 12. 'Assemble yourselves and come, all ye heathen, to the valley of Jehoshaphat, for there will I sit to judge the heathen all round about.

Thus have ye an account of the dead being raised; they are all brought together, and now we must put them asunder, the sheep shall be put upon the right hand, and the goats on the left And now see the parties thus summoned, raised, gathered, and set apart. Is not here a world of men to be judged all in one day: All tongues, all nations and people of the earth shall appear in one day: We shall then behold each son of Adam, and Adam shall then see all his posterity. Consider this, ye that are high and low, rich and poor, one with another, 'for with God there is no respect of persons.' Hark, O begger! petitions are out of date, yet thou needest not fear, for thou shalt have justice done thee this day: All causes shall be heard, and thou, tho' ever so poor, and even despised in the world, must with the rest receive thy sentence. Hark, O farmer! now are the lives and leafes together finished, this day is the new harvest of the Judge, who gathers in his wheat, and burns up his chaff with fire unquenchable: No bribes, prayers nor tears; but as thou hast done, so thou art sentenced. Hark, O landlord! where is thy purchase to thee and thy heirs for ever? This day makes an end of all, and unhappy were thy soul, if thou hadst not better land than a barren rock to cover and shelter thee from the presence of thy Judge. Hark, O Captain! how vain is the hope of man to be saved by a multitude of an host. Thou hast commanded all the armies of the earth and hell, yet canst thou not resist the power of heaven. Hark, the trumpet sounds, and the alarm summons thee, thou must appear: All must appear, the beggar, the farmer, the captain, the prince and the greatest potentates of the world! Nay, all shall receive their reward according to their deserts.

2dly. This is for terror to the wicked! every man must appear; O! that every man would but think of it. Would you know the man that shall on this day be blessed? It is he that thinks on this day and prepares for it. O then, I beseech you, meditate every day, that you and every man must one day appear before the Judge of the quick and dead, and receive according to your works.

And now, having brought the prisoners to their trial, I must tell you what this trial must be: for your works, faith justifies, but it is by works we are judged. Mistake me not, he shall be judged according to his works, as being the best witness of his inward righteousness. But the better to acquaint you with this trial, we come to consider,

1st, How all mens' works shall be manifested to us.

2dly, How all mens' works will be examined by God.

First. Of the examination of every man's works, Rev. xx. 12. 'I saw the dead, small and great saith St. John stand before God: and the books were opened; and another book was opened, which was the book of life; and the dead were judged out of these things which were written in the books, according to their works. Remember this, O forgetful sinner, you may commit sin after sin, and multiply your sins; but be sure God keeps a just account, and none of your sins, tho' ever so secret, shall be forgotten. There is a book of God's memory, it is called a book of remembrance, Mal. iii 16. 'A book of remembrance was written before God, for them that feared the Lord and called upon his name.' This is that which manifests all secrets: This is that which reveals all doings, whether good or evil. In these records are found at large, Abel's sacrifice, and Cain's murder, Absalom's rebellion, and David's devotion, the Jews' cruelty, and the prophets' innocency. Nothing shall be hid when this book is opened, for all may run and read it, 'God will bring every work into judgement, with every secret thing, whether it be good, or whether it be evil, Eccles xii. 4. Wail, ye wicked and tremble in astonishment. Now your closet sins must be disclosed, and your private faults laid open.

Imprimis, For adultery, envy, blasphemy, drunkeness, oaths, violence, murder, sabbath-breaking, lying, and every other sin from the beginning to the end, from your birth to your death, the total sum is eternal death and damnaton. But there is another book, that shall give a more fearful evidence than the former, that is secretary in the soul of man: No man can commit a sin, but the soul that is privy to the fact will write it in his book: What a woful case will thy poor heart be then in? What a strong terror of trembling must it then stand possest with, when this book shall be opened and thy sins revealed? This book is now perhaps shut up and sealed? But in the day of judgment it shall be opened, and what will be the evidence that will be brought in? There is a private session to be held in the breast of every sinner, the memory is the record, truth is the law, damnation is the judgement, hell is the prison, devils the jailors, and conscience both the witness and the judge to pass sentence upon thee. What hopes can he have at the general assize, whole conscience hath condemned him before he appears: Consider this, O thou impenitent sinner!

But yet there is another book we read of, and that is the book of life, wherein is written all the names of God's elect, from the beginning of the world unto the end thereof. This is the precious book of heaven, wherein if we be registered, not all the powers of darkness, death or devils, can bolt us out again. Therefore, to make some useful applications.

1. Consider now, O sinner! what books one day must be set before thee. The time will come, when every word of thy mouth, every glance of thy eye, every moment of thy time, every sermon thou hast heard, every thing thou hast left undone, all shall be seen, and laid open before men, angels and devils; thou shalt then and there, be horribly and everlastingly ashamed. Never go about then to commit sin, tho' ever so secretly, tho' at midnight, and all the doors locked about thee, for at this great day it shall be brought to light.

2. As you intend the good of your souls, amend your lives, call yourselves to an account while it is called to day, search and examine all your thoughts, words, and deeds: prostrate yourselves before God, with broken and bleeding affections, pray that your name may be written in the book of life, and if you do so, God is not unrighteous to forget your labour of love, and all your good works: for at that great day, the book shall be opened, our works manifested, and as we have done, so we must be rewarded; for then shall he reward every man according to his works. But a little to recal ourselves.

The prisoners are tried, the verdict brought ⟨in⟩, the indictments are found, and the Judge ⟨n⟩ow sits upon life and death, even ready with ⟨spar⟩kling eyes to pronounce the sentence. The Lord grant, that when this day comes, the sen⟨te⟩nce may be for us, and we be saved, to our ⟨ev⟩erlasting comfort. Oh! now hold up your ⟨he⟩ads, all ye saints of the most high God, for ⟨th⟩is shall be a blessed day for you, for then ⟨sh⟩all ye hear the sweet heavenly voice of Christ, ⟨say⟩ing, 'Come ye blessed of my father, in⟨h⟩erit the kingdom prepared for you.' I ⟨can⟩not express what joy it will be to the righ⟨teo⟩us when they shall hear Christ say, "Come ye blessed souls who have been bathed in repenting tears. Here is a sentence able to ⟨rev⟩ive the dead, much more the afflicted. Are you sorrowing for your sins, leave it a while, ⟨and⟩ meditate with me on this ensuing melody, ⟨Har⟩k! yonder is the choir of angels sounding the Judge, while he is pronouncing the sentence. Now is the day of your coronation. now shall ye be made perfectly happy, and that for ever Come saith Christ, you that have suffered for me, now you shall have your reward: you shall have your souls filled to the brim with joy, such as is unspeakable, and full of glory.

But I must return to the left hand, and shew another crew prepared for another sentence. And Oh! what a terrible sentence will that be which will make all ears glow and tingle. 'His lips, saith the Prophet, are full of indignation and his tongue like a consuming fire, Isa XXX. 28. What fire is so hot as that fiery sentence, Mat XXV. 41 'Depart from me, y⟨e⟩ cursed, into everlasting fire, prepared for th⟨e⟩ devil and his angels

1. They must depart. This seems nothin⟨g⟩ to the wicked now; they are content to b⟨e⟩ gone; they have much more delight in sin than in God's service But whether must the⟨y⟩ go? From me. If from me, then from all m⟨y⟩ mercies, my glory and my salvation. But whither, O Lord, shall the cursed go that d⟨e⟩part from thee? Into what haven shall th⟨ey⟩arrive? What master that they serve? It ⟨is⟩ thought a great punishment to be banished fro⟨m⟩ our native soils; What is it then to be bani⟨sh⟩ed from the Almighty God? But whither m⟨ay⟩ they go? Into everlasting fire. O! what b⟨ed⟩ is this? No feathers but fire, no friends ⟨but⟩ furies no ease but fetters, no day-light ⟨but⟩ darkness, no clocks to pass away the time, endless eternity, fire eternal, always burn⟨ing⟩ and never dying. O who can endure everlasting flame! It shall not be quenched night nor day; the smoke thereof shall go up for ever and ever The wicked shall be crowded together like bricks in a fiery furnace: But for whom was this fire prepared? 'For the devil and his angels.' These must be your companions. The last sentence is now pronounced, What! Go. Who? Ye cursed, into everlasting fire, to crews of devils. O take heed that you live in the fear of God lest, that leaving his service, he give you this reward, 'Depart from me ye cursed, &c.'

2. Consider, then, what fearful trembling will seize on their souls that have their sen⟨t⟩ence for eternal flames: Oh! which way will they turn? How will they escape the Almigh⟨t⟩y's wrath? To go backward is impossible, to ⟨g⟩o forward is intolerable. Whose help will ⟨t⟩hey crave? God is their Judge, heaven their ⟨fo⟩e the saints deride them, angels hate them. Good Lord? What a world of miseries hath ⟨s⟩eized on miserable souls Their executioners ⟨ar⟩e devils, the dungeon, hell; the earth stands ⟨o⟩pen, and the furnace burning, ready to receive ⟨th⟩em. Ohǃ How will these poor souls quake ⟨an⟩d tremble? Every part of their body will ⟨b⟩ear a part in their doleful ditty: Eyes weep⟨in⟩g. hands wringing, breasts beating, hearts ⟨sig⟩hing, with voices crying. Now O man of ⟨th⟩e earth, what shall thy wealth avail thee? ⟨O⟩ne drop of water to cool thy tongue in the ⟨fla⟩mes, is worth more than all the pleasures in ⟨the⟩ world.

Thus you have heard the sentence of the just and wicked: And the Judge is risen from his glorious seat. The saints guard him along and the sentenced, prisoners are delivered to the jailors, shrieks of horror shall be heard What woes and lamentations shall be uttered when devils and reprobates, and all the damned crew of hell, shall be driven into hell never to return Down they go, howling shreiking and gnashing their teeth: The worl⟨d⟩ leaves then, the earth forsakes them, hel⟨l⟩ entertains them, there they must live, and ye⟨t⟩ not live nor die, but dying live, and living die.

Oh miserable must they be, if the drowning of the old world, the swallowing up ⟨of⟩ Korah, and the burning of Sodom with brimstone; were attended with such terror and h⟨i⟩deous outcries; how infinitely, to all possib⟨i⟩lity of conceit, or expression of belief, wi⟨ll⟩ be the confusion and trembling of that red fiery day: In a word, what wailing, weepin⟨g⟩ roaring, and yelling, filling both heaven, ear⟨th⟩ and hell! O most miserable wretches, Matt⟨h.⟩ xxii 11. 'Take them away, and cast them i⟨n⟩ to utter darkness: there shall be weepin⟨g⟩ and gnashing of teeth." A darkness indeed they must for ever be debarred from the lig⟨ht⟩ of heaven Sunshine never peeps within the walls, nothing is there but smoke and dar⟨k⟩ness; and such is the portion of sinners, a the reward of the wicked.

FINIS.