more too and so the Lord shall bee iustified by the Reprobates themselues The third booke is the book of life that is of mans Election Reuel 20. 12. 15. mentioned also in Psal. 69. 92. Dan. 12. 1. Philip. 4. 3. Reu. 3. 5. and 13. 8. and 17. 8. and 21. 27. and 22. 19. Ex. 32. 32. 34. Isa. 34. 16. Now according to these three bookes the world shall bee iudged whereto may bee added the fourth booke which is the booke of Gods workes which for 2000. yeares instructed the world and by which the holy Patriarkes profited exceedingly witnesse the Patriarkes all from Adam to Moses and also the booke of Iob and that this shall be iudge may be gathered out of Rom. 1. 19. to 26. Psal. 19. 1. c. and 8. 2. c. and these bookes may properly be said to be so many witnesses for or against them that day The Vses then wee are to make of these bookes are these 1. That euery man bee watchfull to study the whole booke of Gods worde seeing we must be iudged by the same that so they may know what to doe and what to leaue vndone wee see theeues though they regard no Lawes nor equity yet vvhen they be attached and see they must appeare at the Assises they vvill be very carefull to peruse vvhat statutes make for them or against them that so they may in that day be able to answer according to Law and by Law plead defend and free themselues and how much more should vve doe so seeing the danger is greater and we know wee shall bee iudged by this booke of bookes especially seeing we are before-hand fore-told and commanded so to doe as Deut. 6. 6. c. Iosh. 1. 7. 8. 2. Then in that wee shall be iudged by the booke of Conscience the great Chancery booke we must be carefull so to liue according to the prescript rule of Gods word that vvee sinne not against our consciences nor knowledge in the word of God for there is no burthen to the burthen of a wounded conscience euer forecasting fearefull things iudgeing and condemning himselfe as Iudas who seeing the greatnesse of his sinne and not of Gods mercy accused and hanged himselfe not able to abide the horror thereof and therfore if our conscience controule vs let vs in prayer reperitance faith new obedience speedily be reformed and quiet it else let vs assure our selues that howsoeuer worldlings say that Conscience is hanged it will reuiue and hang vs for it is resembled to a bawling Mastiffe which thogh at his Masters doore it fall asleepe yet if any awake him he will take him by the throat and so will a wounded Conscience awake when the Lord by any iudgement toucheth it and cause vs destroy our selues for the Conscience is choyce and tender like the Apple of a mans eye the least moate will chafe it and disquiet the whole man and therefore must we charily keepe it as the apple of our eye which is done by eschewing all euill and doing all good wee can to all men 3. In that vve shall be iudged by the booke of life that is if God hath before all vvorlds elected vs to saluation then shall we vndoubtedly be saued else not Now for the making our Electiō sure to our selues or rather for the assuring of our selues that we are elected vve must haue an earnest care to leade godly liues stored with all heauenly graces as Peter exhorteth saying Ioyne vertue with your faith and with vertue knowledge and with knowledge temperance and with temperance patience and with patience godlines c. Make your Calling and Election sure for if you doe these things you shall neuer fall 2. Pet. 1. 3. to 12. for vvee must know that as God called vs to the end that is to bee saued of his owne vndeserued mercy so hee calleth vs to the meanes whereby vvee may come to this end vvhich is by leading a godly life as Rom. 8. 29. 30. Eph. 1. 3. 4. and therefore must vve labour by hearing reading and practising Gods word to serue Gods election and make it sure to our selues that vvee are elected and shall questionlesse be saued but if we contemn the word resist the spirit and regard not to leade a godly life but follow the torrent of the wicked it is plaine we vvere neuer elected and neuer shall be saued but be put out of the booke of life as the Lord said to Moses whosoeuer hath sinned against mee I will put him out of my booke Exod. 32. 33. that is it shall bee euident his name vvas neuer written there and the like speech is in 1. Sam. 2. 30. vvherefore the Lord God of Israell said to Eli I said that thy house and the house of thy Father should walke before me for euer But now the Lord saith it shall not be so for them that honour me I will honor and they that despise me shall be despised So that we need not climbe vp to heauen to see if our names bee written in the booke of life but descend into our selues and examine our liues if wee lead godly liues we are surely elected for else vve could neuer haue the grace to be godly and contrarily The fourth Vse is to contemplate and meditate in a deuout and thankefull heart vpon all the vvorkes of God and abuse them not but conuert them all to the glory of God 1. Cor. 10. 31. and to the good of his Church The next Vse serues for terror to the wicked vvho vvhen these bookes be open and first the booke of life be shut against them that they haue no hope nor helpe to be saued and next vvhen the bookes of Gods vvord be opened and it testifie what a great despiser and persecutor thereof and of all the Articles of the Couenant of Grace therein registred thou hast beene as also of the Preachers and Professors thereof reuiling all good men and blaspheming thy Iudge extinguishing and spiting the very spirit of grace and heereunto thy Conscience as a thousand witnesses will giue testimony and cry vnto God for iudgement and the booke of Gods works yea all Gods creatures but specially the poore widdow fatherlesse and stranger cry against thee for spilling innocent bloud for detaining the hirelings wages for oppressing the impotent and for thy Sodomitry and all creatures rise in iudgment against thee what wilt thou doe for shame and sorrow yea what paine and confusion of face will it be to thee when by the wide and broad opening of these bookes all thy sinnes of omission and commission all thy mischiefes and treacheries thy blasphemies scornings scoffings reuilings buffetings persecutings and all thy indignities done formerly against the Iudge himselfe his Church his Ministers and people with the Sacriledge Oppressions Thefts and Robberies c. shall be all discouered and laid open in the face of all the world yea besides these the villenies which hitherto thou
regard the ioyes of this sinfull troublesome world but still will call Come Lord Iesu. The third Vse should serue for a warning to the wicked who cannot abide in his heart any of Gods Elect if hee beare the name of a godly man nor yet of his Ministers if he be a strict reproouer of his sinnes but euer rideth and derideth them slanders reuiles and abuseth them with all indignities and ioyeth in nothing more then in spoyling beggering and persecuting them but one day they shall heare our Sauiour their Iudge name them the blessed of his Father call them cheerefully to him to iudge them Math. 19. 28. Luke 22. 30. and 1. Cor 9. 1. 2. and doe they not now make a faire hand to mis-â—all such as Christ calleth blessed that is intire and dearely beloued to him to his Father precious and glorious in his sight what welcome and entertainment doe they hope for this day when they stand before the Ministers they reuiled robbed and persecuted what fauour canst thou O bloudy persecutor and robber of Christ and his Ministers expect at their hands or with what face canst thou desire them speake a good word for thee that thou maist be receiued to heauenly Tabernacles but rather looke that they will aggrauate thy sinnes to the Iudge to reward thee as thou didst serue them and to execute iudgement mercilesse to thee that shewedst them no mercy loue nor kindenesse not so much as to a dogge Be wise then in time and make them thy friends that as Abraham for Abimâ—lech and Iob for his three friends they may now pray for thee and then giue testimony of thy reformed godly life else thou art like to finde as little fauour from them as the rich glutton found of Lazarus Luke 16. 25. 26. but aboue all humble thy soule in true faith and repentance and make now whilest thou heere liuest the chiefe Iudge himselfe thy friend and he will fully secure thee and if the chiefe Iudge take thy part all the bench will and whom the King fauours all the Court will doe so likewise And so farre of the tenth Motiue The eleuenth Motiue to watchfulnesse is to consider the manner of Christs proceeding in iudgement vpon the Elect and Reprobate which shall be by a true and iust triall of euery mans particular life heere ledde be it good or euill none shall complaine of partiality or want of due triall not indifferent â—earing for shall not the Iudge of all the world doe right Gen. 18. 25. Psal. 96. 13. yes Christs proceedings that day with all the world shall bee most righteous sincere and vpright for as at the barre of an earthly Iudge the prisoners are from the goale brought forth and presented before the Iudge and there the bookes are opened their causes examined and they according to the produced euidences acquitted or condemned so in that great day shall euery man without exception be brought before Gods tribunall to be tried according to their workes 2. Cor. 5. 10. Math. 25. 35. 42. because their outward works are plaine euidences of their hearts and inward graces or vices Now the manner of this manifestation is two-fold first their workes must be made known what they be secondly they must be prooued to be good or euill The reuealing of the workes is said in Dan. 7. 10. Reuel 20. 12. to bee by opening of the books not that God hath or needeth bookes to register all mens workes for this would imply that his memory were defectiue brittle and failing as mans and so were hee not a most wife perfect omniscient and an all knowing God in and of himselfe but it is so said in respect of the weakenesse of our capacity which otherwise cannot conceiue Gods mysteries but by earthly similitudâ— and comparisons as Isa. 28. 9. for we are very children in heauenly things tell a childe of the latter iudgement and the circumstances therof and he vnderstandeth nothing therof at all no more then if you tould him parables and why but because hee is a childe and this booke is to him as clasped or sealed as that in Reuel 5. 2. 3. so the naturall man perceiueth not the things of the Spirit of God for they are foolishnesse vnto him neyther can hee know them because they are spiritually discerned 1. Cor. 2. 14. Therefore the Lord in mercie humbleth himselfe lispeth and speaketh after the manner of men for as Iudges when they come to the bench and the prisoners are set before them then the bookes of their information euidences and inditements c. are opened and read before them whereupon a Iury is impanelled to determine whether the parties be guilty or not and then accordingly the Iudge giueth sentence so shall it be heere that albeit all things are open in his sight and hee euer knoweth all mens workes as if hee had written and read them out of a booke Psal. 139. 16. Ier. 23. 23. yet it is said that then the bookes shall bee opened These books be first the Word of God which is the ground and foundation of all for as the Law was deliuered at Sinai to be a rule for euery mans life and the Gospell a rule for faith so now must all bee iudged according to that booke So our Sauiour affirmeth in Iohn 12. 48. and 17. 20. The word that I haue spoken shall iudge him in the last day and saith Paul Rom. 2. 16. At the day when God shall iudge the secrets of men by Iesus Christ according to my Gospell The second booke is the booke of euery mans Conscience Rom. 2. 12. 14. 15. They shall shew the effect of the Law written in their hearts their Consciences also bearing them witnesse and their thoughts accusing one another or excusing for the Lord by his secrets and omnipotent power shall in that day so awake and touch euery mans conscience with the guilt of their sinnes which now is rocked in the cradle of security and sleepeth as a snorting dogge or as a clasped booke is shut vp that it dare not peepe nor mutter that they all shal be brought as fresh and perfect into their remembrance as they were the very day they were done with all the circumstances thereof that possibly they cannot bee denied 1. Cor. 4. 5. So that being left excuseless needs they must confesse them as men at the gallowes and holding vp their hands cry guilty as Gen. â— 13. Iob 20. 20. Math. 27. 4. Iohn 8. 7. 9. for their Consciences shal be as a thousand witnesses enforcing them to accuse iudge and vtterly condemne themselues before the Iudge doe iudge or condemn them which will be the cause that they shall not bee able as wicked as they be to finde any fault with the Iudges proceeding against them for they confounded at the sight of their sinnes will abhorre themselues and confesse they deserued all punishments as God will put vpon them and
there bee in that hellish city and if the Diuels themselues being spirits cannot abide this burning how much lesse shall corporall men doe it all feares be nothing to this terror al torments be but sports to this death what then shall wee doe to preuent all this but as is aboue-said and euen as Isaiah chap. 33. 14. 15. aduiseth saying who among vs shall dwell with the euerlasting burnings Hee that walketh in iustice and speaketh righteous things refusing gaine of oppression shaking his hands from taking of gifts stopping his eares from hearing of bloud and shutting his eyes from seeing euill Hee shall dwell on high c. and so much of the throne of God And so farre of the ninth Motiue The tenth Motiue to watchfulnesse is the manner of Christs proceeding in iudgement for first before him shall bee gathered all Nations Hee being set vpon the throne of his glory and he shall separate them one from another as a Shepheard separateth the sheepe from the goates and hee shall set the sheep on his right hand and the goates on the left Math. 25. 31. 32. 33. Where first note heere is no producing of Witnesses nor impanelling of Iuries because the Iudge himselfe knoweth the very secrets of all hearts and is perfectly priuy to euery mans waies according to Reuel 2. 23. All the Churches shall know that I am hee which search the reynes and hearts and I will giue vnto euery one of you according to your workes And besides this euery mans guilty conscience shall be as a thousand witnesses and as a booke of inditements and euidences against him assenting and consenting to this proceeding of his Iudge Rom. 2. 15. 16. and 1. Cor. 4. 5. Math. 16. 19. Reuel 20. 12. and so remaine vpon the file that day this separation of the wheate from the tares of the sheepe from the goates and lambes from the wantonkyddes is the entrance beginning of the execution of Gods iudgement vpon the wicked which how gastfull and distastefull it will be to the diuels themselues as also to all Reprobates no heart can conceiue nor tongue relate In this life the goatish worldlings lord it and scorned to be set on the worser hand but now they are faine to stand below and giue place to their betters for the Iudge of all the world can easily discerne betweene the precious and the vile and place eyther of them in their proper rankes and now the wretches full of sorrow see how the day is like to goe with them for the Iudge himselfe many yeeres before told them vpon which hand the Reprobate should be placed though they regarded it not but applied it to others iudging others for left-handed men and not themselues but now the conscience gnaweth and crieth guilty formerly they were full of presumed faith and hope neuer doubting to say they doe it to be thus placed but now the wretches which they scorned to place vvith their dogges appeare cheerefully with great boldnesse on the better hand before the faces of such as tormented them and tooke away their labours this killeth the proud and haughty heart and casteth them downe to hell gates now could they wish they had neuer beene borne or being borne had ledde Lazarus life now with the Leaper they put their hands vpon their heads and cry I am vncleane I am vncleane Leuit. 13. 45. Now they see all the gates and well-springs of mercy locked and quite dried vp now the worme of Conscience as a greedy Wolfe Viper or Vulture beginneth a-fresh to gnaw their hearts and will neuer die and thus before the Iudge speakes a word they iudge themselues who would not doe it when they were required so to doe and now they see and for greefe eate their hearts and weepe in their soules that for so momentany shadowes of pleasures and profits they were so mad as to renounce God forfeit heauen sell themselues to hell torments and dispossesse themselues of eternall blisse which might easily be attained if in the time accepted they had accepted thereof Oh that they might but once againe but for a little time return to the world againe oh how would they knowing what they know repent fast pray yea doe all good workes specially to Christs brethren how deepely would they lament their sinnes reforme their liues and in all things obay the watch men of their soules who euer formerly they hated and whose hearts and soules of set purpose they vexed grieued with their drunken abhominations since the time their soules were separated from their bodies their case was euer lamontable yet desired to see this day in hope of some comfort when they receiued their bodies and when the Lord came to iudgement but now euery way the case is worse soule and body must together trudge to hell fire for euer and who is able to abide that burning they desired poore wretches to appear soule body this day before their iust Iudge and to come once more to hearing and to haue their causes more throughly heard and scanned but alas how are they repelled as vnknowne and workers of iniquity Math. 7. 22. 23. Now could they wish that soule and body had neuer come together but that the body had still rotted in the graue Alas now what shall they doe there is no place to hide them nor flee vnto for releefe seeing they haue so hainously prouoked the Lords wrath while time and tide serued they regarded it not now Gods turne commeth with his sword of Iustice to cut them off and so this day is turned vnto night woe bee vnto them that euer they sinned The vse we are to make now in good time of this dolefull appearance serues both for terror to the wicked to repent in time and for wholesome admonition to the godly to beware of hypocrisie or apostacie or backe-sliding from the Lord we see heere the lamentable perpleâ—ity of the wicked and reward of sinfulnesse and how the whole state is in one moment ouerturned and that such as tooke themselues in respect of their saluation cocke-sure doe fall to desperate ruine albeit in their life-time they thought they had such abundance of faith and the same so powerfull that they could not perish possibly and if faith failed yet entreaty and crying for mercy would effectit but now foolish had-I-wist commeth in too late as had I wist of this I had not made my belly my God my lands my heauen my 〈…〉 mon my master my goatish lecherie my solace this world my portion nor gloried in that whereof I am now confounded and euer shall be ashamed Now they repent and euer shall repent that they no sooner repented but this repentance is but the feeding of the worm of conscience now they though too late finde who is the greatest lyar Michaiah the true or Zedechiah the false Prophet the faithfull Preachers or deceitfull hypocrites the word of God or the perswasions of the world the counsell of