SHALL JUDGE THE EVIL ANGELS, AND THE WHOLE RACE OF MANKIND.2 ARRAYED IN THE GLORY AND POWER OF THE FATHER. John v. 22. "the Father judgeth no man, but hath committed all judgement unto the Son." v. 27. "he hath given him authority to execute judgement also, because he is the Son of man;" that is, because he is himself man. 3 So Acts xvii. 31. "he will judge the world in righteousness by that man—. Rom. ii. 16. "in the day when God shall judge the secrets of men by Jesus Christ, according to my gospel.' WITH THE SAINTS. Matt. xix. 28. "ye which have followed me in the regeneration, when the Son of man shall sit in the throne of his glory, ye also shall sit upon twelve thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel." See also Luke xxii. 30. 1 Cor. vi. 2, 3. "do ye not know that the saints shall judge the world?.... know ye not that we shall judge angels?" SHALL JUDGE. Eccles. xii. 14. "God shall bring every work into judgement, with every secret thing, whether it be good 2 When thou attended gloriously from heav'n Shall hasten; such a peal shall rouse their sleep. Paradise Lost, II. 323. Thence shall come When this world's dissolution shall be ripe, With glory and power to judge both quick and dead. Last in the clouds from heav'n to be reveal'd Satan with his perverted world. Vicegerent Son, to thee I have transferr'd XII. 458. Ibid. 545 All judgement, whether in heav'n, or earth, or hell. Easy it may be seen that I intend Mercy colleague with justice, sending thee And destin'd man himself to judge man fall'n. Paradise Lost, X. 56. or whether it be evil." Matt. xii. 36, 37. "every idle word that men shall speak, they shall give account thereof in the day of judgement; for by thy words thou shalt be justified, and by thy words thou shalt be condemned;" that is to say, where our actions do not correspond with our words.* Rom. xiv. 12. "so then every one of us shall give account of himself to God." 1 Cor. iv. 5. "until the Lord come, who both will bring to light the hidden things of darkness, and will make manifest the counsels of the hearts; and then shall every man have praise of God." 2 Cor. v. 10. "that every one may receive the things done in his body, according to that he hath done, whether it be good or bad." THE EVIL ANGELS. 1 Cor. vi. 2, 3, as above. THE WHOLE RACE OF MANKIND. Matt. xxiv. 31. "he shall send his angels with a great shout of a trumpet, and they shall gather together his elect from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other." xxv. 32, &c. "before him shall be gathered all nations; and he shall separate them one from another, as a shepherd divideth his sheep from the goats.' Rom. xiv. 10. "we shall all stand before the judgement-seat of Christ." 2 Cor. v. 10. "we must all appear before the judgement-seat of Christ." Rev. xx. 12, 13. "I saw the dead, small and great, stand before God.... and the sea gave the dead which were in it, and death and hell delivered up the dead which were in them." up (The rule of judgement will be the conscience of each individual, according to the measure of light which he has enjoyed.) John xii. 48. "he that rejecteth me, and receiveth not my words, hath one that judgeth him; the word that I have spoken, the same shall judge him at the last day." Rom. ii. 12.“ as many as have sinned without law, shall also perish without law; and as many as have sinned in the law shall be judged by the law." v. 14. "when the Gentiles, which have not the law, do by nature the things contained in the law, these having not the law, are a law unto themselves: which shew the work of the law written in their hearts, their con Deeds to thy knowledge answerable. Par. Lost, XII. 581. 'He who from such a kind of psalmistry, or any other ve bal devotion without the pledge and earnest of suitable deeds, can be persuaded of a real and true righteousness in the person, hath yet much to learn.' Answer to Eikon Basilike. Prose Works, 1. 325. وو sciences also bearing witness, and their thoughts the meanwhile accusing or else excusing one another; in the day when God shall judge the secrets of men by Jesus Christ, according to my gospel.' James ii. 12. 66 as they that shall be judged by the law of liberty." Rev. xx. 12. "the books were opened, and another book was opened, which is the book of life; and the dead were judged out of those things which were written in the books, according to their works.' Coincident, as appears, with the time of this last judgement (I use the indefinite expression time, as the word day is often employed to denote any given period, and as it is not easily imaginable that so many myriads of men and angels should be assembled and sentenced within a single day), beginning with its commencement, and extending a little beyond its conclusion, will take place that glorious reign of Christ on earth with his saints, so often promised in Scripture. even until all his enemies shall be subdued. His kingdom of grace, indeed, which is also called the kingdom of heaven, began with his 5 The Millenarians or Fifth Monarchy men of the 17th century were sufficiently numerous to occupy a place in the history of Milton's times. It appears from this treatise, that he himself was far from holding the extravagant and fanatical opinions which characterized the greater part of this sect. He believes, in common with _Irenæus and Lactantius among the fathers, and with Joseph Mede and Bp. Newton among the moderns, that Christ will reign on earth with his saints, until all his enemies shall be subdued.' Allusions to this belief are frequent in all his works. Iren. lib. v. cap. 35. Lactan. lib. v. cap. 24. Mede Book iii. p. 571, 602—605. Book iv. 836, &c. edit. 1672. fol. London. Newton On the Prophecies, Vol. ii. 348-394. Lardner's Credibility, &c. Part ii. Chap. 43. .till...... Earth be chang'd to heav'n, and heav'n to earth, .... He shall ascend Paradise Lost, VII. 160. The throne hereditary, bound his reign With earth's wide bounds, his glory with the heaven. XII. 369. And again, in a splendid passage near the end of the treatise On Reformation in England: Thou, the eternal and shortly expected King, shalt open the clouds to judge the several kingdoms of the world, and distri buting national honours and rewards to religious and just commonwealths, shall put an end to all earthly tyrannies, proclaiming thy universal and mild monarchy through heaven and earth; where they undoubtedly, that by their labours, counsels, and prayers, have been earnest for the common good of religion and their country, shall receive above the inferior orders first advent, when its beginning was proclaimed by John the Baptist, as appears from testimony of Scripture; but his kingdom of glory will not commence till his second advent. Dan. vii. 13, 14. "behold, one like the Son of man came with the clouds of heaven.... and there was given him dominion, and glory, and a kingdom;" given him, that is, from the time when he came with the clouds of heaven (in which manner his final advent is uniformly described) not to assume our nature, as Junius interprets it," (for then he would have been like the Son of man before he became man, which would be an incongruity) but to execute judgment; from the period so indicated, to the time when he should lay down the kingdom, 1 Cor. xv. 24. "then cometh the end," of which more shortly. That this reign will be on earth, is evident from many passages. Psal. ii. 8, 9. compared with Rev. ii. 25—27.“I shall give the heathen for thine inheritance, and the uttermost parts of the earth for thy possession; thou shalt break them with a rod of iron; thou shalt dash them in pieces like a potter's vessel." cx. 5, 6. "Jehovah at thy right hand shall strike through kings in the day of his wrath: he shall judge among the heathen, he shall fill the places with the dead bodies, he shall wound the heads over many countries." Isai. ix. 7. " of the increase of his government and peace there shall be no end, upon the throne of David and upon his kingdom." Dan. vii. 22. "until the Ancient of days came, and judgment was given to the saints of the most High, and the time came that the saints possessed the kingdom.' v. 27. "the kingdom, and dominion, and the greatness of the kingdom under the whole heaven, shall be given to the people of the saints of the most High-." Luke i. 32, 33. "the Lord God shall give unto him the throne of his father David; and he shall reign over the house of Jacob for ever, and of his kingdom there shall be no end." Matt. xix. 28. "ye which have followed me, in the regeneration, when the Son of man shall sit in the throne of his glory, ye also shall sit of the blessed, the regal addition of principalities, legions, and thrones into their glorious titles, and in supereminence of beatific vision, progressing the dateless and irrevoluble circle of eternity, shall clasp inseparable hands with joy and bliss, in over-measure for ever.' Prose Works, II. 419. Veniebat; perfecturus in terris mysterium redemptionis nostræ.' Junius on Dan. vii. 13. upon twelve thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel." Luke xxii. 29, 30. "I appoint unto you a kingdom, as my Father hath appointed unto me; that ye may eat and drink at my table in my kingdom, and sit on thrones judging the twelve tribes of Israel." It appears that the judgement here spoken of will not be confined to a single day, but will extend through a great space of time; and that the word is used to denote, not so much a judicial inquiry properly so called, as an exercise of dominion; in which sense Gideon, Jephthah, and the other judges are said to have judged Israel during many years. 1 Cor. xv. 23-26. "every man in his own order; Christ the first-fruits, afterward they that are Christ's, at his coming: then cometh the end.” Rev. v. 10. "thou hast made us unto our God kings and priests, and we shall reign on the earth.” xi. 15. "the kingdoms of this world are become the kingdoms of our Lord, and of his Christ; and he shall reign for ever and ever." xx. 1—7. “I saw thrones, and they sat upon them, and judgement was given unto them.... and they lived and reigned with Christ a thousand years: but the rest of the dead lived not again until the thousand years were finished: this is the first resurrection; blessed and holy is he that hath part in the first resurrection; on such the second death hath no power, but they shall be priests of God and of Christ, and shall reign with him a thousand years." After the expiration of the thousand years Satan will rage again, and assail the church at the head of an immense confederacy of its enemies; but will be overthrown by fire from heaven, and condemned to everlasting punishment. Rev. xx. 7-9. "when the thousand years are expired, Satan shall be loosed out of his prison, and shall go out to deceive the nations which are in the four quarters of the earth, Gog and Magog, to gather them together to battle.... and they compassed the camp of the saints about, and the beloved city and fire came down from God out of heaven, and devoured them." 2 Thess. ii. 8. "then shall that wicked be revealed, whom the Lord shall consume with the spirit of his mouth, and shall destroy with the brightness of his coming." 7 It is evident from this application of the text that Milton adopted a different punctuation from our translators, who join the words in the regeneration with the first member of the sentence. But see Wolfi Cura Philol. in loc. where references may be found to the authorities for both interpretations. |