Reflections on the Duty of improving our Talents. 407 Acceptance and Reward will be proportionable to our Diligence; nor will Sect. 165. any be blamed, because he has not received Five, tho' many will be con demned for neglecting One. Yet a little while, and our Lord comes to reckon with us, and even now Ver. 19. his Eye is continually upon us. Let us afk our own Souls, with what Temper, with what Courage, with what Chearfulness, fhall we appear before him? Let us think of that Appearance with Awe, but not with Terror. Away with every unjuft Thought and Reasoning, (with whatever Ver. 24. Artifice it be excufed, with whatever honourable Name it be dignified,) that would reprefent him as a rigorous and fevere Mafter, and produce a fervile Dread, which would cut the Sinews of Induftry, and fink the Soul into a fullen negligent Defpair. Whatever our particular Snares in Life may be, let us think of the Ver. 30. Doom of the flothful Servant, to awaken our Souls, and to deter us from every Degree of Unfaithfulness. And, on the other hand, let us often reflect on that unutterable Transport, which will overflow the Breast of every real Chriftian, when his gracious Mafter thall condefcend, in fo Ver. 21, 23. honourable a Manner, to commemorate his honeft, tho' feeble Attempts of Service; and fhall fay, Well done, thou good and faithful Servant : Thou hast been faithful in a few Things, I will make thee Ruler over many Things: Enter thou into the Joy of thy Lord! May that Joy be the great Object of our Hopes and Pursuits! and may our daily Care in the Improvement of every Talent lodged in our Hands, be a Token to us, that it will be fure, and great! CHRIST concludes this important Difcourfe, with a plain and affecting Defcription of the Laft Judgment, and of the different Sentences then to be passed, and executed, on the Righteous, and the Wicked. Mat. XXV. 31, to the End. MAT. XXV. 31. WHEN the Son of Man fhall come in his Glo ry, O it MAT. XXV. 31. UR Lord having hitherto defcribed his laft Sect. 166. Coming in a Parabolical Manner, thought proper to conclude his Difcourfe with a plainer Mat. XXV. Account of it, which might ferve as a Key to 31. many preceding Paffages; and he added, When that great and illuftrious Perfon, whom you have fo often heard of, and fo well known, by the Title of 408 31. 32 CHRIST gives a Defcription of the Laft Judgment. upon Glory. the Throne of his 32 And before him shall be gathered all Nations; and he fhall feparate them one from another, as a Shepherd divideth his Sheep from the Goats: Sect. 166. of the Son of Man, fhall come in all his final ry, and all the holy Angels Glory (a), in the most publick Honours of his with him, then shall he fit Mat. XXV. Mediatorial Kingdom, to which all Things fhall then be compleatly fubjected; (1 Cor. xv. 25, 28.) and all the Holy Angels, who have long been fubjected to him as his miniftring Servants, shall come with him; then fhall he fit upon his glorious and majestic Throne, confpicuous in the Eyes of the And whole World, as the univerfal Judge. all the Nations of Men, who have lived on Earth from the remotest Ages of Time, fhall be affembled before him (b); and he shall feparate them from each other, according to their different Characters, which he most perfectly knows, with as much Eafe as a Shepherd feparates the Sheep which belong to his Flock, from the Goats which may be mingled with them, and places them in diftinct 33 Companies. And he fhall fet the Sheep, that is, the Righteous, whom he will own as fuch, and whofe Characters resemble the Innocence, Meekness, and Usefulness of that Animal on his Right Hand, in Token of his Favour to them, and of the farther Honours he will bestow upon them: But the Goats, that is, the Wicked, who are fo offenfive to him, that they may justly be reprefented by Goats, he fhall place on [his] Left, to intimate his Difpleasure against them, and their final Removal from amongst his People; nor fhall the haughtiest and mightiest Sinner be able to refift that Appointment, by which he is in this Situation 33 And he shall fet the Sheep on his Right Hand, but the Goats on the Left. (a) When the Son of Man fhall come in his Glory.] If we obferve the Correspondence between thefe Words, and those in Chap. xxiv. 30, 31. (pag. 389.) it may feem probable, that Chrift intended to teach his Difciples, to conceive of his firft Coming to the Deftruction of Jerufalem, as a Kind of Emblem of his final Appearance to Judgment; and consequently it will authorise us to use fome of the Texts in the former Chapter, when difcourfing of that great and important Day.I hope every Reader will obferve, with what Majesty and Grandeur our Lord fpeaks of himself in this Section, which is one of the noblest Inftances of the true Sublime, that I have any where read; and indeed few Paffages even in the Sacred Writings themselves feem to equal it. Methinks we can hardly read it, without imagining ourfelves before the awful Tribunal it defcribes. (b) All the Nations fhall be affembled before him.] Had the Notion which prevailed among fome later Jews, that the Gentiles fhould have no Part in the Refurrection, been as old as our Lord's Time, thefe Words might have been understood as a direct intended Oppofition to it. (c) Nor He will reward the Righteous for their Kindness to him: Situation to await his Sentence (c). . 409 (Compare Sect. 166. 34. Then, when by the Miniftry of the Angelic Mat. XXV. Attendants they are thus feparated from each other, the great King of Glory and of Grace, who prefides over this grand Solemnity, fhall with the most condefcending Indearment fay to them on his Right Hand, Come, ye blessed and favourite People of my Father, approach yet nearer to me, that having been Affeffors with me in what yet remains of this Day's awful Proceedings, (1 Cor. vi. 2, 3.) you may go in with me, to inherit the Kingdom of Holiness, Glory, and Joy, which was prepared for you from the Foundation of the World in the Divine Purpose and Decree. And I am now 35 defcended to receive you to this Kingdom with all thefe publick Marks of Approbation and Honour; for I well remember your good Deeds in the Days of your Flesh, and felt my own Bowels refreshed by them, when I was hungry, and ye gave me [Food] to eat; when I was thirsty, and ye caufed me to drink; when I was a Stranger, and ye took me in like one of your own Families; When [I was] naked, and ye clothed me; 36 when I was fick, and ye looked after me (a); when I was shut up in the Solitude, Confinement, and Affliction of a Prifon, and ye came kindly to condole with me in my Sufferings, and to relieve my Neceffities there. Then fhall the Righteous in humble Amazement be ready to answer him and fay, Lord, when did we ever fee thee hungry, and fed [thee?] or thirsty, and caused [thee] to drink? Or (c) Nor fhall the haughtieft Sinner &c.] I can imagine no more magnificent Image than this; the affembled World diftinguished with fuch unerring Penetration, and diftributed into Two grand Claffes, with as much Eafe, as Sheep aud Goats are ranged by a Shepherd in different Companies.- -The Propriety, with which our Lord fpeaks of himself in the following Words, by the Title of the King, is very obfervable; and it adds unutterable Beauty to the condefcending Words, he is reprefented as fpeaking on this great Occafion. (d) I was fick, and ye looked after me.] This feems the exact Senfe of Texas μE, which in general fignifies, to take the Overfight and Care of any thing, that requires diligent Infpection and Attendance; (compare Fam. i. 27. and Elfner, Obferv. Vol. i. pag. 117.) and it ftrongly intimates, that fuch an Attendance on the Poor in their Illnefs, is a very acceptable Charity: And this is what many may have an Opportunity of doing, who have very little Money to spare. VOL. II. Fff (e) Ye 37 410 Mat. XXV. 38, 39. But the Wicked fhall be punished for neglecting him. Or Sect. 166. Or when did we ever fee thee a Stranger, and took 40 41 And the King anfwering with renewed Condefcenfion from his exalted Throne, fall not difdain to fay unto them, I well know that ye abounded in fuch kind and compaffionate Actions to the neceffitous and afflicted Saints around you; and verily I fay unto you, In as much as ye did [it] unto one of the leaft and poorest of these my dear Brethren, who now ftand with you in this happy Company, ye in effect did [it] to me (e): And I declare it in the Face of all the World, that I take, and reward it, as if I had been relieved in Perfon, and joyfully welcome you to that blessed World, where you fhall be for ever reaping the Harvest of thefe Labours of Love. And then, when his faithful Servants are thus acquitted and honoured, he shall turn and fay alfo to them on the Left Hand, Depart from me, ye curfed and deteftable Creatures, into the Agonies of that everlasting and unquenchable Fire, which was originally prepared for the Devil and his Angels (f), whofe Companions you must for ever be in the Regions of Horror and Despair. And ye cannot but know in your own Confciences, well deserve it; for I was hungry, and ye did not give me fo much as Bread to eat ; I was thirfty, and ye did not give me fo much 43 as Water to drink; I was wandering among 42 that ye you (e) Ye did it to me.] That Alms-deeds fhould be remembered with peculiar Regard in the Day of Judgment, was a Notion that early prevailed among the Jews; as appears by the Chaldee Paraphrafe on Ecclef. ix. 7. which bears a remarkable Refemblance to thefe Words of Chrift, and might perhaps be an Imitation of them. See Mede's Works, pag. 81. (f) Prepared for the Devil and his Angels.] There is a remarkable Difference between our Lord's Expreffion here, and ver. 34. The Kingdom is faid, to have been prepared for the Righteous from the Foundation of the World: The everlasting Fire is not faid, to have been prepared for the Wicked, but for the Devil and his Angels. Compare Rom. ix. 22, 23. (8) Then What is done to his Brethren, be accounts as done to himself. ye took me not in: naked, and ye clothed me not: fick, and in Prifon, and ye vifited me not. 44 Then fhall they alfo anfwer him, faying, Lord, gred, or athirst, or a Stranger, or naked, or fick, or in Prifon, and did not mini when faw we thee an hun fter unto thee? 45 Then fhall he answer them, faying, Verily I fay unto you, In as much as ye did it not to one of the leaft of thefe, ye did it not to me. 46 And these shall go away into everlafting Pu ous into Life eternal. 4II Mat. XXV. you as a poor helpless Stranger, and ye did not Sect, 166. Then fhall they also answer and fay unto him (g), 44 And then fhall be anfwer them, faying, Verily 45 And fo, to conclude all, thefe miferable Wretches, 46 nishment: but the Righte- notwithstanding all the Excufes they can urge, Shall go away into a moft dreadful State of everlafting Punishment; but the Righteous, thro' the abundant Grace of GoD manifefted by his Son, shall enter into everlasting Life (h): And thus the great Scene fhall clofe, in the eternal Happiness, or Mifery, of every Human Creature, who has ever lived on the Face of this Earth. (8) Then fhall they alfo anfwer, &c.] Perhaps it may only intimate, this fhall be the Language of their Hearts, which Chrift perceiving, will reply to it. I fee no Neceffity for fuppofing, they fhall actually plead thus. Multitudes will no doubt remember, they have often heard the Answer. GOD grant, that none who read it here, may be in the Number of those to whom it will be made! (b) Everlasting Punishment,—everlasting Life.] As the original Word is the fame in both Places, I thought it proper to ufe the fame Word in the Tranflation of both; and miferable are they, that dare venture their Souls on its fignifying a limited Duration in either. |