Mankind and say to the Sea Give back and to the Winds Restore though the Summon'd Members lye Scatter'd in several Shires and Countreys yet Bone as was say'd shall return to it's Fellow-bone each Vein shall Glide along the Old Channel The right Foot shall not Miss its way and Run to the Left the Right Eye shall not mistake its own place but be Lighted the Way to the Right Socket In a word not an Hair of our head shall be Lost or Misplac'd but when God shall Renew the Face of This Earth and Set forth a Second Edition of Mankind all our Limbs those Loose and Dispersed Leaves shall be Carefully sought out and bound up together so that we shall Come forth the same Volume though in a much Exacter Print and Clearer Letter The Glory of the Second Temple shall be farre greater than the Glory of the First provided it prove indeed to be Such a Faire Temple and not a Filthy Prison which the following Judgment shall soon determine And so I pass on to the Third Proposition viz. That Prop. 3. after the Death and Rising again of all men then comes the Judgment imply'd in these words And the Books were Opened Wherein according to the method proposed we are first to consider the Universality of this Judgment He saw the Dead i. e. All the dead stand before God c. Here I shall Endeavour not to be so Impertinent as to trouble you with those Intricate enquiries concerning the Time and Place of Judgment the Form and habit of the Judge the manner of Citation the Method 1 Forma illa it Judex quâ tit sub Juâ—ce Illa Iu â—cabit quae Iu cata est Aug. of particular Trials the Execution of the General Sentence c. These things and what else of the like nature I shall either wholly omit or else if it fall in my way to make some little reflections upon any of them I shall doe it very sparingly and tread as Lightly as he does that passes over an unsound piece of Earth that shakes and trembles under him Thus much I take for granted that although some say it was the occasion of Cain's and Abel's quarrel whether there were such a thing as a Judgement to come or no yet that shall be no matter of Dispute among us but without further stay to prove That I may freely proceed to the Universality of the said Judgment which now we are to consider If the Judges have past Sentence upon Socrates Nature has past Sentence upon those Judges and in that Circumâ—â—ance respect we are all a company of condemned Creatures as well as Socrates We must all appear before the Cor. 5. 10. Iudgment seat of Christ c. and then as God said to Abraham when he had brought him abroad Look now towards Heaven and tell the Stars c. I may say to you since God has also brought you Abroad Look ye now toward the Earth tell the Grass that is ready for the Sythe or the Corne ye have seen almost ripe for the Sickle and consider ye of the worlds great Harvest What All that have been All that now are All that ever shall be must all and every one Appear O what Throne will be able to hold that Judge What Benches will be enough for those Assessors even even those infinite numbers of Saints and Angels which he brings along with him what Dungeon is deep enough to contain the already condemned Devils or what Bar will be big enough to hold the now Arraigned Prisoners Some speak of the Valley of Iehoshaphat as the most convenient place being near unto Mount Olivet where Christ Ascended and whereabouts it is expected he should also descend again according to the Collection they make from that passage This same Iesus Act. 1. 11. shall so come in like manner as ye have seen him goe into heaven But for that supposing as some think the better sort shall be caught up in the clouds to meet the Lord in the Aire and so not at all trouble that Valley yet as to the Wicked alone and their numbers what was spoken of Samaria may likewise be said of this Valley Surely the dust thereof will not suffice for every self-condemned Soul to take an handful and stop his own 1 King 20. 1 Mouth withall when he appears in a guilty silence before his Judge No wonder An heaven of heavens cannot contain an 1 King 8. 2 infinitely Blessed God when a Hell of Hells is little enough to hold a company of his accursed Creatures and if the Gaol be so well fill'd the Bar must be sadly Throng'd For however many Angells they say may rest in one Point as that Legion in one man yet raised Bodies sure shall not lose their former Dimensions so as one of them may be Unconfinedly in any place or many of them crowded uncircumscribedly into one Place Then reckoning from the First Adam to the last Son of Adam could we but consider what those Slaughter-Weapons of War Famine Plagues and Pestilential diseases have done and shall yet do not to speak of the daily work of common Mortality still kept a going did we but cast up what Hecatombs have been offered up to Earthquakes Fires and Floods viz. an entire Countrey swallowed at one morsell by an Earthquake many Lebanons have not been sufficient for one of these burnt Sacrifices whole Mountains of men suddainly carried into the Depths of the Sea and there drowned forever Beside those many other Besoms of Destruction all mankind but Eight persons was at once we know Swept off the Common stage by one deluge And if the Flames have often Practised upon Lesser Parcells and thereby given us some cast as it were of their consuming-skill aforehand against the great burning at the last day neither have the Waters been wanting by frequent and violent Inundations to let us know they have not quite forgotten their Former over-flowings So for all those that are already Come Gone in these Wayes all those that are now a Going and Every One that is yet for to Come and Goe for All these at once to Appear in the Same Place and fall under One and the Same Prospect we must needs say S. John here was mightily assisted with Those Divine Opticks The Lesser could not Shrowd themselves under the Greater so as to Escape him the Greater cannot Over-shadow the Lesser so as to Hinder him Habes Tu literas meas Ego Tuas ante Tribunal â—ypr Ep. 69 Christi Utraeque recitabuntur the True Catholick and the Perverse Schismatick the Church-Governour and the Church-Despiser shall both stand before Christ's Tribunal where it will be Impartially sifted what Letters either of them have Brought in their Bosomes Which leads me to the Second Circumstance considerable in this Judgment viz. the Impartiality thereof contain'd in those words Small and Great I saw the Dead Small and Great Stand c. The Great as well
of Hosts For as the Kings Sâ—m 11. 1. â—ebr of the Earth Goe forth to Battell in the Spring So also doe those Princes of Darkness Not that they are Idle all the Autumne and Winter of our years but now in the Spring and Prime of our dayes now is the chief time wherein they choose to Lead forth their Armies against us The Unclean Spirit findes no rest in Dry places â—at 12. 43. such was Christ the Prince of this world comes and has nothing in me But when the Breasts are full of â—ohn 4 30. Milk and the Bones of Marrow there he comes and finds forrage sits down and layes siege to the Soul And now what shall we doe Per Baptismum regeneramur in vitam post Bapt. Confirmamur in pugnam now is the time we are making ready to Battell If others use Crosses Chrismes Balsams and I know not what mixtures Nobis sufficit quod Spiritu inungimur with us the Spiritual Oyntment is Preparative enough for a Spiritual Combate And so though we have no Anoynting with Oyle yet if we have the Anoynting with the Spirit 't is enough Here is no Chrism indeed but yet a Ghostly Combate and a Good Christ to Conduct us through it No sweet-breath'd Balsams but Fragrant prayers and Devotions No other Indelible Character we own but that of Love No Oyly mark upon the Head or Forehead but yet a Deep impression upon the Heart a New life we hope though not a New garment Let those of Rome like Martha Cumber themselves with those many things while we with Mary choose the Better part and so sit down at the Feet of JESUS It was an antient Canon Ad Confirmationem non Caraâ—za de Concil nisi Jejuni accederent Fasting should accompany Confirming however we doe by the Literal pray God we all come with a Spiritual fast to this holy Ordinance If haply you have taken food into your Stomachs yet I hope no rancor nor malice into your minds and then though you have not Fasting bodies yet if truly Hungring souls I doubt not but we shall Conform to the Intent of that Canon Thou tookst me out of my Mothers Bowels saith the Psal 71. 6. Psalmist You that are yet Unconfirm'd Christians if you consider the Churches care and mercy in providing for you sufficient Sureties when you could not provide for your selves where have you been all this while but in the Bowels of a Tender Mother But now God is taking you out of the Bowels and allowing you to Hang upon the Breasts of your Mother Those Breasts of Consolation there fully and freely to Suck the Sweetness of the Word and both her Sacraments In regard whereof we should all be Infants of Dayes â—sa 65 2â— even as New-born Babes all our Dayes still desiring that sincere Milk still drawing like a Childe feeding like a Childe and when we are Men yet we should never put away this Childish thing Many like Nero have ripp'd up their Mothers Bowels yet with a purpose contrary to His viz Never more to see that place where once they lay but rather to Curse the Womb that bare them and the Paps that gave them suck Thus if the Great ones have gone astray like lost sheep it concerns the Churches care to gather the Lambs into her bosome Indeed what with those nipping Northerly winds many of our old Fruit-bearing Trees have been so blasted and Inrecoverably shattered from that cold Corner that now our greatest hopes are in the Succesful Growings up of Gods Nursery Ye are Gods Nursery and the Growing hopes of the Church and however some of you may be but Children in understanding yet I trust you are not men in malice men in mischeife nor I hope ever will be Ye have Born the yoke of Christ in your youth 't is well But yet whereas David beseeches God O cast me not off when I am old forsake me not when I am Gray-headed Let me beg of you O cast not God â—sal 71. 9. off in the time of your old age and yâ—u that are Green proselytes beware you prove not Gray-headed Apostatates THE END Doom's-day Books OPENED A SERMON PREACHED Before the Honourable JUDGES the last Assizes at Warwick July the 2 d. 1662. BY John Riland Arch-Deacon of Coventry and heretofore Fellow of St. Mary Magdalen-College in Oxon. Psal 96. 13. For He Cometh for He Cometh to Judge the Earth LONDON Printed by I. G. for Richard Royston Book-seller to His sacred Majesty 1663. DOOM'S-DAY BOOKS OPENED Rev. 20. 12. And I saw the dead small and great stand before God and the bookes were opened BEing resolved what in me lies to decline all particular reflections I made choice of this Subject which is of equal concern to all for that all must dye all must rise all must appear and stand before God and those bosome-bosome-Books of ours which are now fast shut all must be opened That Day will discover all 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 1 Cor. 3. 13. The Text represents us with one Judge and a Great Many Prisoners the behaviour on this side the manner of Proceedings on that together with the clear and undoubted evidence of the whole matter The Judge is God before God the Prisoners are all mankind the dead small and great Their Behaviour submissive and such as becomes Prisoners they stood the manner of Proceedings upon them the Books were opened Lastly the Evidence made good by a Divine and Infallible Affaedavit S. John saw it I saw the dead c. And now were I so Fit for this Text as this Text you see might be Fitted for this time perhaps somewhat would be done upon it But my encumbrances have of late been very many and the going off of one beckoned the coming on of this other Service Many that are here this day cannot but know that Publique Engagement to the which but a few daies since I was elsewere commanded and that upon a * Subject not to speak of it's Novelty or Difficulty A Sermon â—pon Confirmation in â—oventry every way remote from the present occasion And although the Womb of one Cloud may at once be big with Dark Waters and Bright flashes Thunders and Lightnings Hailestones and Coales of fire and contain them all at one and the same time â—s 18. 11 12 yet I must needs acknowledge my Narrowness not at all Receptive at once of such Contrarieties VVhatever that Fruitful Creature may Performe or the more Fruitful Phancy of Pliny be allowd to Imagine I am sure I never could hope with any the least Pregnancy to receive a Later till fairly rid of a Former Burthen Beside I have been strangely cut short of the expected allowance for time The Judges stood at our door when we did not think them gotten o're their own Threshold And indeed the unexpected suddainness of this Assize has much disabled me from Discoursing as I ought of that other here before us So that I
see plainly I must of necessity take my leave of the Judge upon his Throne and the Prisoners at the Bar the Deportment of the one and the Proceedings of the other with the like passages of that fair road into which the words did at first spread themselves the exact following whereof I confess is a business above my power at present and so without any more Prefacing betake my self wholly to that other matter the Text affords us The which being very Plain and Serious I hope it will not be expected the discourse should come forth in any other habit but be suffered to go Plain and every way suitable to the Subject it treats of which is Death the Resurrection and Judgement It were too much Pharisaical to Paint a Sepulcre why should we trouble our selves to make a Coffin of VVrought Carved work 'T is but lost labour methinks to stick and dress a Dead Corpse with Rose-budds and throw Flowres into a Grave VVho would be at the cost to Enamell and Gild a Death-head or overlay a Charnel-house with Gold And as Death can well spare all kind of Pompe as Superfluous so in regard of the Resurrection or Judgment it is not all requisite It is not the merry Dulcimer the VVarbling Harp or the Lute but the shrill and doleful Trump that bidds us Rise at the last day when we shall behold Christ Jesus come down not in a Sun-beam but on a Cloud to Iudgment All which things seem to bespeak our greatest Seriousness in the Subject now before us Concerning which what we have to say is wrapt up in these three propositions The First presents us with the Worlds Funeral I â—rop 1. wish the Sermon might be clad in a Suit of Mourning fit for it thus That we and all that were before us except Two or Three and all that shall come after us except those that shall be found alive at Christs coming For they shall not sleep at all but be changed Cor. 15. 51. all I say in the eye of Prophecy are but a company of dead men I saw the dead c. Secondly These dead men shall live with their â—rop 2. Dead bodies shall they Arise again at the last day which is expresly set down elsewhere and here also Implied â— 16. 19. in that though they were Dead and are so styled yet they are seen standing before God which supposes they were Alive and Risen again I saw the dead stand before God Thirdly As there is an appointed time for all men â—rop 3. once to Dye and for all those same men once to Rise againe So it is most certain that after those Appointed times are come then comes the Judgement as here no sooner did the Dead Arise and stand before God but presently the Books were opened Concerning which Iudgement being most proper and agreable to the present occasion I shall enlarge upon these following Considerations as they lye before us in the Text. First We shall consider the Generality of this Iudgment The dead that is All at one time All in one place All were presented at once to the View of S. Iohn That Divine Eagle who Soaring a loft upon the Wings of an Extaticall Spirit beheld a whole VVorld of Carkasses underneath him He saw the dead c. Secondly The Impartiality of this Iudgment High and Low Rich and Poor the Mean man and the Mighty man one with another one as well as another All must come and stand before the same Iudge all must abide the Doom of the same Books all must equally pass through the Severities of the same Triall The dead both small and Great Thirdly The Over-ruling Authority of this Iudgment here intimated in that High and Low Poor and Rich the Mighty as well as the Mean man all appear in the self same Humble deportment in such a posture as becomes Prisoners they all stood before God Fourthly The deliberate and convincing Legality in all the Proceedings of this Iudgment matters were not transacted and huddled over in the Dark but all must be done above-board No arbitrary Power nor extravagant Humour no adventurous Rashness nor supine Negligence must carry businesses without-without-Book but as all must go by the Book so those Books shall be opened that every one may read his own Endictment the Books were opened Lastly the Certainty and Importance of the whole the Certainty the highest that may be no less then ocular Demonstration attested by no meaner a person then S. Iohn whom we have here though in a Higher Place yet still in the old Posture Leaning upon Iesu's Bosome thence drawing and declaring all these secrets unto us I saw thus for the Certainty As for the Importance It seems of no small concernement to us for whom and not for himself alone he saw whatever things he did see the which 't is apparent he saw so as you and I and all the Christian VVorld might both hear and see as we do this day and if possible become better thereby Thus we have laid our Foundation large enough be sure but how we shall be able to Finish God knows I much fear my Lot may lye in that Verse of the second Lesson for this Morning Prayer even now read unto us This man began to Build and was not able to Finish Luc. 14. 30. The disciples said Whence should we have bread Mat. 15. 33. in the Wilderness to Fill so great a Multitude I may well say on the contrary whence should I have matter amongst Crowdes and Throngs so as to satisfy the just and natural Cravings of these several Parts and Propositions However every Mouth must have its Meat and God who has made the One I trust will provide the other Not to answer those Lustfull expectations that look for Quailes yet if we can be furnisht with Bread we must not talk of Philip's 100 or 200 penny-worths but with some few Pennyworths of wholsorne Bread though it be but small Dole at the Worlds Joh. 6. Great Funerall Every one must be content to take a Little â—b v 7. And that our Distribution though but Mean may yet be Methodical I begin with the First Proposition viz. That however in our own Dim-sightedness we may seem to Live Move c. yet in the view of this Prop. 1. Eagle-Ey'd Prophet we are all but a Company of Carkasses a multitude of dead men I saw the dead c. The Dead he saw and no doubt all us that are here Alive yea and himself too in the number all helping to make up that great Congregation of the dead then before him Although there went abroad this saying among the brethren that this Disciple should not dye â—o 21. 23. yet he professeth whom it most concerned to know the truth thereof that Jesus said not to him that he should not dye but if I will that he tarry till I come Ibid. what is that to thee Indeed Christ was neer
CONFIRMATION REVIVED AND DOOM'S-DAY BOOKS OPENED In two SERMONS The one Preach'd at Coventry before the Right Reverend Father in God JOHN Lord Bishop of Lichfield and Coventry Upon his first performance of CONFIRMATION in that City June 23. 1662. The other Preach'd at Warwick before the Right Honourable the JUDGES of Assize for that Circuit upon the 2d. of July next following By John Riland Arch-Deacon of Coventry and sometime Fellow of St. Mary Magdalen-College in Oxon. LONDON Printed by J. G. for Richard Royston Book-seller to His sacred Majesty 1663. To the READER THE World is bad enough already but if reproved becomes much Worse That which was of God ordained to work the Cure now serving for little else but to Enflame the Disease Every slight Sore by a reproof is presently Anger'd into an Incurable Ulcer and as if all our Patients had been formerly Disciples trained up in the School of one Tyrannus the Doctors must Suffer not because these cannot heal but those will not be healed whilest in lieu of a Servâstis nothing is returned but me Occidistis amici If the Sea be not more merciful to S. Paul than the Souldiers for all his faithfulness in Predicting and care in Preserving he may Act. 27. 42. drown in his own Blood and save the hazard of any other ship-wreck All Scripture is profitable for Correction c. 2 Tim. 3. 16. But our strange Incorrigibleness seems to make that Scripture Unprofitable which saith so For as it is with Scythians if they Breathe a Vein under the Tongue so is it with Christians if we draw the least Blood from under the Ear it produceth a Perpetual Barrenness Those that can Laugh and Grin when they hear Others will as certainly Gnash upon the Preacher when they hear themselves reproved Therefore was it of late most * Dean of Wells Seasonably observed concerning that Solemn Protestation of the Apostle viz. I call God for a record upon my 2 Cor. 1. 23. Soul that to spare you I came not as yet to Corinth The reason whereof was because if he had come he must have been constrained to use Severities upon their Disorders which if Ineffectual his coming had Encreased not their Sins only but their Judgments Indeed upon that very account it was that the Author of these Sermons being Commanded to these Publique Services made it his care to Fix upon the most Sparing and Merciful Themes he could meet withal Two arrows he shot and sent abroad heretofore what ever those did these that are now Sending after them are far enough over from hitting or hurting any Balms if any here be certainly they are such as will not break mens Heads When Moses could be no longer hid look what his Mother did by him the same is our Church put to do by her too-big-grown Children Only to set some to observe their Floatings and Exod. 2. 3 4. see if any unexpected Hand of Providence may yet pull them on shoar Thus thoughour Ship-men doe still Abide in the Ship yet are they forc'd to let her Drive And the Philistine Kine must be turned up to 1 Sam. 6. 12. see if of themselves they will take the straight way to Beth-shemesh He whose Power it was of old to turn the hearts of the Fathers to the Children might it be his Work in our Dayes to turn the hearts of the Children to the Fathers and at last perswade Japhet to dwell in the Tents of Shem which as it should be the endeavour of our Souls so also the cheif desire of our Eyes and would be a spectacle full as Pleasing as S. Paul in the Pulpit but far more then Rome in her Flourishing To the Hindering of the one according to our present measure and the hastening of the other nothing does more contribute than these our divided dwellings Imprimatur Jan. 17. 1662 3. M. FRANCK S. T. P. Ro. in Christo Patri Dom. Episc Lond. à Sacr. Dom. CONFIRMATION REVIVED Psal 1. 3. And he shall be like a tree planted by the Rivers of Waters which bringeth forth his fruit in his Season THE Scripture saith a Father is like unto a large compleat City wherein are many stately houses and every house has it's severall Door and each Door it 's proper Key which alone can open it and give the Commer a free and fair Admission But what if all these Keys be clapt together in one cluster then out of the whole Bunch to single and find out Illam aptam propriam congruam clavem Hilar. Proloâ— in Psalm explan as the same Father hath it to hit upon the right Key Maxima ignaro affertur difficultas it must needs be matter of very much puzzle and perplexity unto the Ignorant and unskilfull Attempter Now we all know this Book of Psalms to be one of the Goodliest Buildings in all this great City of God and our business at present lying in this first Psalm which is the Fore-gate as it were to the rest of this Harmonious Range amongst those many Bunches of Keyes which are brought by several Interpreters to unlock the door of this one Verse we that are yet sadly ignorant God knows and too much unacquainted with his Mysteries alas how shall we be ever able to find out the Right Key whereby we might un-erringly follow the Recesses of God's Spirit in this Scripture unless the Great Key-Keeper of Scripture He that has the Key of David be pleased to put David's own Key Rev. 3. 7. into our hands and open unto us Therefore it is good for us to draw nigh unto God yea that 's certain but how shall we get neer him why the best way is to stand at the Door and knock Though we have done it already let us doe it again and having no Key of our own unless he please to lend us one Let us earnestly beseech him who is within to open and take us in who are without and as the Spouse begs to Tell us where he makes his rest at Noon i. e. whereabouts and in which sence is his Can. 1. 7. brightest abode and what may be the fullest and cleerest importance of the words now read unto you And he shall be like a tree c. The whole Psalm as S. Hilary affirms contains in it many Articles and grand points of the Christian Faith Sacramentum Dei corporati docet c. Hil. in prolog It acquaints us with the mystery of Christ Incarnate promises the â—â—mmunion of Saints in glory affirms the Resurrection both of the Righteous and of the ungodly and lastly it assures a Reward to the one and denounceth an heavy Judgment upon the other and all this on purpose to perswade men to holiness of life Blessed is the man that hath not walked in the Counsel c. without which holiness as 't is there described in the Verse 1. two first Verses non shall see the Lord. But we shall not need to
as the Small it seems they all 2 Circumstance must Stand before God And if S. John sees them all here in the same posture of poor and wretched Prisoners GOD no doubt beholds them all with the same Eye of a Just and Impartial Judge There is not a Chaire afforded for the Ease of a Prisoner of quality while the Poor man his Fellow-Prisoner bears upon his Legs till he grows to the ground he stands on No they all stand before God The Athenians had a liberty to question their chiefest Magistrates though not in yet after their Office And the Egyptians they sate upon the Carcases of Diod. Sic. their greatest Commanders Here the Books were all Indifferently Opened and the Volume-Accounts of the Greatest were read and duely Stated as well as the Smaller Papers of the Meanest person were produced Books they say are the Uprightest Iudges and the most Faithful Counsellours which whatever men may doe understand nothing of any Personal Distinctions or Favourable Indulgencies unto any in which regard the Text here makes use of them in the setting forth of this Judgment The Great mans Charge wrote in Court-hand or Characters is not charily folded up with a Seal of Favour clapt upon it or a clasp of Gold while the lesser bills of a mean person drawn at length are laid open to publick View so that he that runs may read them No but the Books of all as they were equally view'd by the same Eye so were they exactly Wrote and Impartially opened by the same hand of Justice I have heard of one who was content to have his Picture drawn on condition he might hold his Finger over the Wart he had upon his face while it was a drawing Too many such Imperfect Pieces we meet withall even from those Pencils which should draw Justice to the Life while the Soft Finger of affection is suffered to cover the deformities of the Foulest matters But when God once to shame our deficiencies undertakes to give us this exact draught of Judgment he will put by the Kindness of the Finger The narrow covering thereof must be removed in that day and Blemishes as well as Beauties all must be naked before him with whom we have then to do If as some are of opinion the renew'd Heavens â—ixa â—runâ— omâ—ia quae nunc â—â—ventur ad â—â—rvitium hoâ—inum Ansel and all the luminaries thereof shall then leave off their rolling and be still It may give us somewhat to conceive of that unmoved stillness there will be in the Lord of Heaven and steadiness in the Father of those Lights even in the Unchangeable God who shall not suffer the least sway of Affection or shadow of Turning Look not on his Countenance nor the Heighth of his Sam 16. 7. stature for I have refused him saith the Lord concerning Eliab where also we have the reason of that refusal For the Lord seeth not as man seeth c. â—bid On the other side when God had said By me Princes rule as doubtless they doe and Nobles and all â—rov 8. 16. â— 17. Iudges of the Earth it follows at the 17th vers I love them that love me 'T is not provided they be Nobles or Iudges or the like before spoken of but them indifferently who ere they are I love them that love me Justice may well be allow'd to Wear when in some regards she is a pair of Balances he that weighs with them indeed distinguisheth of the worth but the Balances themselves make no Difference in the weight of Gold or Lead And as it is in Weights so is it in Measures the same I think may serve as well for Silks as Sackcloths In both which we have the Resemblance of an Even-handed and Unbyassed Justice Thus God himself sets an Equal Rate upon the Atonement of all Souls The Rich shall not give more the Exod. 30. 15. Poor shall not give less than half a Shekell For as the Heavens keep an Equi-distance from the Earth however they seem yet they doe not stoop to Kiss the Tops of the Loftiest Mountains nor doe they quite Disdain and look aloof off from the Lower Valleys So it is with the GOD of Heaven He is no Respecter of persons but in every nation and of every Act. 10. 34 Condition He that fears him is accepted of Him If he does draw nigh to the humble 't is the Grace and not the Man that bowes him and Inclines him If He does behold the proud afarre off 't is the Sin and not the Psal 138. 6. Soul that estranges Him Whatever Others may think I doe not believe we shall all Rise in the same stature but Rise we must and the Lofty-siz'd man jutt's no nearer to Him nor doe those of Lower Measures sink at all the further from Him The Sun-beams can assoon reach the depths of the most Depressed Hollows as the heights of the most Exalted Mountains Nil apud Deum Magnum est quod vel à Minimo dari S. Anselm nequeat the greatest Present to God may be offered by the meanest Hand In the acceptance whereof He looks not at the Fine Glove the Rich Perfume or the Gold Ring upon the Finger but only The Cleanness of the Hand in His Eye-sight Psal 18. 24. Pharaoh's Butler and Baker the Heads of Both are Lifted up though to a Several kind of Advancement Gen. 40. 20. yet not for the Diversity of their Dreams the Gayest and Best things in this World are little better but according to the Difference of their demerits Ioseph and Agag must both be brought out of Prison but for several purposes and designations Ioseph shaves and shifts himself but Agag appears in delicate apparel Gen. 41. 14. Both come forth with their Rayment chang'd yet the One to be Advanc'd to the Throne the Other to be Hewn in pieces Now as the Eye of Pharaoh did not at all respect the shaved Face or the change of Rayment in the Promotion of Ioseph neither did the Sword of Samuel give any regard to those delicacyes of Habit in the Execution of Agag So shall it fare with all mankind in that Day Iosephs and Agags Slaves and Princes the exalted Butler and the condemned Baker rising men and declining men we are all Deaths Captives and at the Last day must all be brought forth of our several Prisons and change our Garments though in order to designs and purposes very farre distant one from another Some like Ioseph to be Exalted unto Thrones in Heaven Others like Agag to be Cut in pieces for those Infernal Cauldrons Some with the Baker to be made meat for those Hellish Fowles to Feed upon while Others are Preferr'd to be Cup-bearers to the Great King To tast again of the pure Blood of the Gen. â—0 19. Grape and Drink it anew with Christ in his kingdome Matth. 26. â— And all this not according to Honour Wealth Wit or any
outward Wearing but according to their outward and Inward Working as here it followes in the Text The dead were Judged according to their works Indeed during the Night of this Life one may chance to stumble and Dash against the Tomb-stone of a great Man and those Graves that are worth a Coffin we see for a time how they swell above their Fellows while the Poor bare Winding-sheet is quickly made Level with the Earth and sooner sinks into a Total dis-appearance But in the Day-light of the next Life it shall be far otherwise whatever difference there may seem in Graves those Prison-houses here there shall be no such distinction betwixt the Prisoners hereafter The Pharisee may Paint his Sepulchre to please Men but without the sad colours of a true repentant Sorrow he can never paint his Soul so as to please God Yea however in the respect aforesaid there may be some Inequality amongst Tombes yet none at all amongst the Bones therein contained and therefore death is called A land of Darkness and without any Job 10. 2â— order Could we go down into those Chambers of death look amongst that Rubbish of mortality and there behold those Pitifull Remaines of mans ruine Alas the Head of an Emperour retaines not the Print of the Imperial Diadem upon it we can see no Character at all no not of one of the three Crownes upon a dead Popes skull no signe of these formidable and Majestique Robes upon the bone of a Judges shoulder The renowned Ribband leaves no mark upon the back or Breast of Knights or Nobles Nor does the Honourable Garter make any Lasting Impression upon that shin-bone which used to wear it and be adorned with it Which Impartial and undistinguishing Indifferency in the next World is further imply'd in that as we are Sentenc'd by The Book so shall we be Summon'd by The Trumpet Both which contain in them some Secret significations of this Impartiality The former I have already touch'd upon For the Trumpet Aquinas observes a Three-fold use thereof amongst the Jewes Congregabantur ad Concilium â—p 3 aep q. 76. â—2 commovebantur ad Praelium vocabantur ad Festum They were Summon'd therewith in Council Incited in Set Battels Invited to Solemn Festivals To which we may adde a Three-fold use of it among Christians viz. At Ordinary Meales as in some Colledges and at your Sheriffs Tables At Church Assemblies as in some Countries at your General Assizes as in this and most other places all is done by the sound of the Trumpet We have all these met together in the Text before us Here is the Grand Council of the Kingdom to be kept * Christs last Battel to be Fought the Festivall of â—ene dicitur â—a Dei quia â—pugnam cùm â—mâ—cis decreâ—am venit â—â—s Lud. de â—a Christi â—b 12. 23. all Saints and Angels to be Solemniz'd The great Supper of the Lamb to be celebrated the general assembly and Church of the First-born to be congregated and the worlds great Assizes to be held by Christ the Judge of those Assizes And 't is not without cause that all is transacted by the Trumpet For as God is gone up with the sound of the Trumpet we doubt not but â—â—l 47. 5. he will come down again in the same manner Now we know the Jewes had not one kind of Note for the poor Pesant and another peculiar strain for the Princes of Israel but all were summoned by the same note of the Trumpet Nor with us Christians is there one kind of call for the Governour Another for the Servitour no but Tutor and Schollar to their Colledge-meales Master and Servant to Church-meetings the Commander and common Souldier to Field-Services the great Counsellour and the poorest Client to the general Assizes all must listen to the same sound and Summons of the Trumpet How much more at the blowing up of the last Trump by an impartial Severeness and all Personal Irrespectiveness will God be sure to maintain the Uniform and undistinguishing usage thereof when by the same blast of an Archangel Judges and Justices Counsellors and Clients Jurors and Prisoners Priest and People all shall be summoned to the same Triall all brought to the same Bar all Commanded to the same Posture Which invites me to the third Circumstance considerable in this Judgement viz. The Over-ruling Authority thereof here signified in that they all stood before God And so on to the fourth considerable viz. The deliberate and convincing Legality of this Judgment The Bookes were opened and thence to the certainty and Importance of all these passages I saw c. Indeed when I first began to consider of this Subject my main designes were set upon these last Observations and had thought to have practically reduced all to the present occasion Especially my Eye was much upon the opening of these Books in one whereof was wrote Quaecunque fecimus What we have done In the other Quaecunque fecisse debemus What we should have done And in them I saw was contained matter of most Pertinency to the business now before us First I should have enquired what 's meant by these Books and for that I had willingly sate down at the Feet of S. Austin Thomas Aquinas and our Pious and most learned Champion of the Church of England Dr. Hammond All which do unanimously agree that by these Books here are signified the Court-rolls of Conscience those bosom-records of all our thoughts words and actions there carefully reserved and then fully and faithfully to be Produced in that day Secondly I had observ'd that all things whatever are exactly Book'd down we neither think speak nor act any thing without Book If we can make a shift for Matter to fill those Books God will be sure to be Furnish'd with Books to hold that Matter whatever it be Which One thing if but duely consider'd as Judah said concerning Benjamin How shall I goe up to my Father and the Lad be not with me We may say â—en 44. 34. concerning CHRIST How shall we dare to Goe up and stand before Our Father if The Holy Childe JESUS be not with us Lastly That although these Books in many secure Souls are kept close shut untill that Day Their opening now implies they were shut till now yet then they shall be suddainly perfectly and entirely opened Mira mentis celeritate c. saith S. Augustine All shall be clearly seen by one quick Glance of an Enlightned Soul Conscience being that Divining-Cup â—id 2. which God as it were has cramm'd within us at our First making and will one day as certainly discover our Thieveries as our own proper goods and Treasures whatever has been Bagg'd up in these our Mortall bodies this Treacherous Cup Betrayes all And yet as Benjamin's Sack cannot throughly be search'd till the Beast be unladed no more can these full Ibid. 11. discoveries be made within us till by death we have all laid down this Load
and Luggage of Mortality But you see I could not fairly come to this but by making a rude and immethodical climbing over those other Heads and time will not allow of that just discourse due unto all Therefore since we now cannot come so farre as the opening of these Books and a most dangerous thing it is to goe away and leave them shut Let us heartily beseech God to open them unto us in mercy here before He opens them to all the world in judgement hereafter Concerning which Judgement I have some few words of Application as to this dayes business and so I shall conclude We have spoken all this while of a Iudgment to come but what 's that may some say to this present day of judgment I answer thus We all profess to believe That Christ shall come again to Iudge both the Quick and the Dead c. yet did we indeed really believe those there would not be so much need of these Assizes Truth is they are for the most part a sort of Infidel certainly more than half-Heathen Christians that put our Honourable Judges to all this trouble Well but if those General Assizes must be in that Day as surely as These of ours are at this Day of what mutuall concernment are they one to another Briefly thus These should mind us of Those Those should guide us in These the Present should serve as a Prospect of the Future the Future should serve as a Patern of the Present Judgment Thus as Deep Calls unto Deep and One Dolefull Creature Cryes unto Another such Correspondency â—sa 34. 14. there might be betwixt This and That Judgment to come that by a good improvement The Lesser may be Blessed of the Greater For the First viz. that These should mind us of Those Who can hear mention of a Publick Gaol-delivery and the Iudges approach for that purpose and not think of the Resurrection in the One and the Coming of the Day of Iudgment in the Other Who can hear the Triumphant Sounding of the Sheriffs Trumpets or the Sad Clinking of the Prisoners Fetters but must needs make some reflections upon The Trump of God in the One and the Clattering of Those Everlasting Chains in the Other Who can be by at the Arraigning of the Prisoners and the Reading of their Indictments and not Contemplate what S. John here saw viz. The Dead Stand before God and the Books Opened In a word How can any one Stand and Observe the Witnesses Evidence the Prisoners Plea c. at This day without some apprehensions of Those our Thoughts Accusing or Excusing one another in That day â—om 2. 15. Or is it possible one should be present in Body at Mans Pronouncing of Iudgment upon Condemned Prisoners and at the same time not be present in Spirit at Gods Finall Sentence upon Damned Sinners Goe ye Cursed c Whoever he be that has the Advantage of the One and yet receives no Benefit by the Other is nothing more than a mere Idol that has Staring Eyes but Sees not wide Gaping Ears but Hears not and which is yet more an Immortal Soul but Understands not For the Second viz. that Those should Guide us in These To keep then to our Patern here before us First Let Judgment be done Universally Solomon denies not the doing of Justice to Harlots 1 King 3. 16 nor does God refuse to hear the pleadings of the Devil Job 1. 10. 'T is not well that Judgment should drop down like the Rain in Amos One peice was rained upon and the Amos 4. 7. piece whereon it rained not withered And yet as one of our reverend Bishops observes considering those infinite numbers of evil thoughts plots and purposes c. which go unpunisht of those many hundreds of sins that cry daily unto God scarce one or two are condemned by man Let our Judges make as clean work as they can 't is certain God and his Angels will find somewhat to Glean after their sickles else what need there Another Judgment if this were altogether exact and perfect But yet as the House of that Romane Magistrate stood continually open for all that came for Justice so should there ever be in the Frame and purpose of your Wills a readiness to Justice a Willingness to Mercy and in those regards the doors of your hearts should still stand open to receive all Commers That 's for the Generality Secondly Let it be done Impartially Of the Levites it is said Nec dextram nec sinistram cognoverunt Levitae Utinam nec Iuristae It were well if Lawyer Levite and all were unconcerned in this Right and Left hand Knowledge In works of Charity the Left must not know Mat 6. 3. what the Right hand does but in Works of Justice there should be neither right hand nor left and therefore with them of old the statue of a Judge was 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 i. e. a meer handless statue for what reason it is not hard to conjecture This we are sure of Better Herodot is it for us to Enter handless into Heaven then having two hands full of Corruption to be cast into Hell fire That 's the second Circumstance Let all be done Impartially Thirdly Let all be done Authoritatively I magnify mine office saith S. Paul As he did his Apostolical 't were well if all would magnify their Iudiciall Rom. 11. 13. Proceedings Nothing but sin can Vilify them Facinus quos Inquinat aequat Sin is the greatest Lucan Leveller in the world It brings down the Bench and layes it even and level with the Lowest Barre If the giving of a Testimony may fetch down a Justice and set him amongst the Witnesses the Committing of Iniquity hales him yet lower and claps him up among the Prisoners Conscience Impleading the One all the while the Law Arraigns the Other That 's the third Circumstance Fourthly Let all be done Deliberately and with a convincing Legality together with what other merciful and holy considerations may be taken in by the opening of these Books there we have them both in one Psal 36. 6. Verse Thy Righteousness is like the Great Mountains Thy Iudgments are a great deep i. e. In all Gods proceedings there is a leisurable stilness like the great deep yet withall a Solid and Apparent Legalness like the great Mountains I 'l only speak of the First Do but observe here the Throne is prepared the Judge is come the Benches set the Boards filled the Barrs made ready witnesses prisoners and all brought forth yet no further proceedings till the Books be opened He that believes makes not haste nor does a Isa 28. 16. Wise man make too much haste in beleeving much less does a good man in condemning He dares not give credit much less Sentence without Book And in this the Iudges sword may learn of the Mowers Sythe which however as you come along you may hear them Whetting and Whetting again
yet not a blow is struck but where 't is fully ripe for Execution and then as we tear not off a Nayle no nor Pluck up an Hair without Pain no more should the Vilest Excrement of a Kingdome the most wretched Miscreant that is perish without Pity After the flood GOD can smell a sweet Savour Gen. 8. 21. amidst a World of carkasses that were spread like Dung upon the face of the Earth but yet that Savour Arises not from the Reaking of the Bodies but the burning of the Altar And should the sword of Justice be never so much bath'd in Blood yet 't is not the Carkasses Ibid. 20. of the dead which smell well with God but the holy burnings of the Living such as alwayes warmed S. Pauls bosome who is not to say destroyed but offended and 2 Cor. 11. 2 I burn not If the Heavens will not the Earth must weep because they will not the Tears of a compassionate Judge may in a sacred manner * 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Dr. Hammond out of Basil shame the dry Eyes of Heaven so that God can't chuse but make them * Then there had been a long time oâ— Drou 1â— Weep with them that Weep and melt in showres with them that melt in Teares Ita feri non ut se sed ut te sentiat mori so to strike that he may feel his own death that 's the part of cruel Tyrants but so to strike as if we our selves felt it that 's the part of good Iudges who as you came with so we hope you come like the * Yesterday's Thunder-Showre Thunder and â—ain at the â—udges inâ—â—ming not without a mixture of Majesty and Mercy But I see my self irrecoverably lost in this one leaf of Mercy what then will become of you your great Patience at present and your weighty Affaires now following all I doubt would be lost should we adventure upon the Turning over of the other leaves of these Books which in regard I perceive them of themselves most willingly opening at a Psalm of Mercy I shall here Fold down the Leaf for your more ready Finding and so at last close up the Books where First I found them open So much for the Text. An Address to the JVDGES WE have done Preaching and now must betake our selves to down-right Begging Indeed it falls out at such times as These that the Poor CLERGIE have this Advantage afforded them to become Publick Beggers And although our Honourable PARLIAMENT in their pious Care and Wisdome have Hedg'd up our Way with Thorns from all kind of Tumultuous Petitions yet here They have left us a Gap open and a faire passage to Touch the Top of The Royall Sceptre by our humble Approaches to You My Lords by whom That Sceptre is so Truly Represented Therefore Your patience and the Preacher having been Wrestling now This Hour We cannot yet let You Goe unless You Bless us with the grant of these particulars which so much concern the Honour of That Sceptre In order whereunto the First thing we beg and the Last we would be denied is that the Lord's Day may be more Religiously Observ'd and His Publick Worship more Devoutly Frequented 'T is sad to think that those who should alwayes be Ready for CHRIST'S Coming You know the Motto GALLUS SUPER TUBAM should never be more Unready then when we are chiefly to expect him as we should do on that day Heretofore Abuses of this nature were like the Pestilence that Walks in darkness Psal 91. 6. Betimes in the Morning or Late in the Evening but now Carts and Waggons c. are become daemonia Meridiana Destructions that Waste and reproach our Religion at Noon-day That condemnation must needs be grievous when Rebells shall rise up in Judgment against good Subjects Next we pray that all Perjuries Frauds Subornations c. which should not be named amongst Christian men may not be Impenally practised in Christian Courts That nothing be done through Strife or Revenge c. and that all lingring and Vexatious Suits be effectually prevented That the Poor be not oppressed in his Cause nor the face of any accepted against what is right That the sober and peaceable Learned and Loyal Clergie may still be Encouraged That the People those yet unsetled Souls be no longer poysoned for our * Sea-monsters â— Lam. 4. 3. â—uid lamias â—si Hereticos â—â—pâ—llat humaâ—am faciem sed â—eluina corda â—stantes qui â—nc Mammam â—udant cùm â—rorem liberé â—aedicant â—reg in loc still Draw out their Breasts and in secret Suckle their Young ones but the best Milk they can give is poyson Lastly that all Sedition with the close Seminaries thereof may if possible be Repressed Love Peace Order with all that is true Godliness be heartily Promoted that so the God of Love Peace and Order in all things may be Magnified through Jesus Christ our Lord to whom with the Father and the blessed Spirit c. THE END