and him that serveth him not Mal. 3.17 18. I confesse the wicked are sometimes punished in this world to assure us there is a God yet it is but sometimes to assure us there is a day of judgment Verily there is a reward for the righteous verily there is a God that judgeth the earth Psal 58.11 CAP. II. An Objection answered IT is certain that the soul so soon as it is separated from the body is presented to God and receives an irrevocable doome either of woe or weal. The rich man died and presently was in hell in torments the begger died and was immediately carried by Angels into Abrahams bosome Luke 16.22 23. So that it may be demanded What need is there of a general day of judgment seeing every man is judged at the day of his death Answ 1. Every man consists of a Soul and a Body The Soul is judged at the day of death the Body also at the day of judgment For as these two doe either sin together or serve God together so they shall either burn together or reign together Every man must receive the things done in his Body according to that he hath done whether it be good or bad 2 Cor. 5.10 Yet because the Soul may and often doth sin or serve God without the Body it may in the state of separation be either punished or rewarded though the Body rest in the grave Answ 2. There must be a general Judgment for the manifestation of Gods Justice God disposes of every man at the day of his death that according to the rule of Justice yet that which he did in secret he will doe in the view of the whole world that so the generall Assembly of men and Angels may give this testimony and applause of his just proceedings Righteous art thou O Lord and righteous are thy judgments Psal 119.137 Answ 3. There must be a judgment besides that at the day of death because men after they be dead may be Instruments and occasions either of vice or vertue of sin or the service of God The Patriarchs Prophets Apostles Martyrs and Fathers of the Church are dead and gone yet still they doe good in the Church of God by their godly examples and holy writings Jeroboam Machiavel Marcion all Heriticks and prophane persons die yet they poison the air with ill example wicked books divelish principles and after their death infect posterity for many generations Their word eats as doth a canker or gangrene 2 Tim. 2.17 Hence it is that as there is a particular Judgment to reward the good or punish the evil they have done themselves in their life time so there shall be a generall Judgment to reward or punish them for that which after their death they have occasioned to be done by others V.S. Basil in l. de vera virginit CAP. III. The Names given to this Day THis day is called in the Scripture The day of the Lord. Alas for the day for the day of the Lord is at hand Joel 1.15 Your selves know perfectly that the day of the Lord so cometh as a thief in the night 1 Thes 5.2 Looking for and hastning unto the coming of the day of GOD 2 Pet. 3.12 This life is called Our Day O Jerusalem if thou hadst known at least in this Thy day the things that belong to thy peace Luke 19.42 For we think our own thoughts speak our own words and doe our own pleasure But that shall be the Lords day for the lofty looks of man shall be humbled the haughtiness of men shal be bowed down and the Lord alone shall be exalted in that day Isa 2.11 Secondly it is called a Day of Revelation or Opening Rom. 2.5 Never was there such an opening as will be at that day The heavens shall be opened and those everlasting doors shall be lift up that the King of glory may go forth with his Angels to judge the world and return back again with his Saints when he hath judged it The Earth shall be opened for the stone shall be rolled from the mouth of every Sepulchre and the graves shall give up their dead The Books shall be opened I saw the dead small and great stand before the Lord and the books were opened and another book was opened which was the book of life and the dead were judged out of those things which were written in the books according to their works Rev. 20.12 The secrets of all hearts shall be opened There is nothing hid that shall not be manifested neither any thing kept secret that shall not come abroad Mar. 4.22 In the day when God shall judge the secrets of men by Jesus Christ according to my Gospell Rom. 2.16 Hell shall be opened to receive those wretches to whom it shall be said Goe ye cursed into everlasting fire prepared for the divel and his angels Thirdly it is called a Day of refreshing Repent ye therefore and be converted that your sins may be blotted out when the times of refreshing shall come from the presence of the Lord Acts 3.19 What a refreshing wil it be when our rotten and worm-eaten carkasses shall rise up in honor and in incorruption as flowers after a long winter What a refreshing wil it be when these two ancient friends the soul and the body after so long a separation shall imbrace and kisse each other What a refreshing will it be to see the Divel our worst enemy and Death our last enemy cast into the lake of fire What a refreshing wil it be to see Jesus Christ the Savior of the world and the head of his Church come in his glory attended with an innumerable company of Angels What a refreshing wil it be to hear those sweet sentences of absolution Well done good and faithfull servant enter thou into thy Masters joy Come ye blessed of my Father inherit the Kingdome prepared for you Fourthly in respect of the wicked it is called a day of wrath After thy hardnesse and impenitent heart thou treasurest up for thy self wrath against the day of wrath Rom. 2.5 As also a day of darknesse and gloominesse a day of clouds and of thick darknesse Joel 2.2 The Sun is pleasing to a good eye but offensive to an eye that is ill affected The day of judgment is a bath of refreshing to the godly but a burning Oven to the wicked Behold the day cometh that shall burn as an Oven and all the proud yea and all that doe wickedly shall be stubble Mal. 4.1 Fiftly it is called a great day The Angels which kept not their first estate but left their own habitation he hath reserved in everlasting chains of darknesse unto the judgment of the Great day Jude 6. The Sun shall be turned into darknesse and the Moon into blood before that great and notable day of the Lord come Acts 2.20 It is a great day indeed sith so many great and notable things shall be done in it For the Lord himself shall descend
and most secret passages of nature may be discerned These things hast thou done and I kept silence thou thoughtest I was altogether such a one as thy self but I will reprove thee and set them in order before thine eys Psal 50.21 Hence it is that he is said to keep a book of remembrance by him Mal. 3.16 Some sins are said to be secret in respect of him that commits them Who can understand his errours Cleanse thou me from my secret faults Ps 19.12 Or in respect of the world The Adulterer eats his pleasant bread in secret Prov. 9.17 But no sins are secret in respect of God for He sets our iniquities before him even our secret sins in the sight of his countenance Psal 90.8 At that day then in vain will it be for us to deny the fact or to excuse it or to shift and transferre it from one to another for The Lord seeth not as man seeth 1 Sam. 16.7 CAP. V. Christ is an inexorable Judg. AS this Iudge cannot be corrupted nor deceived so neither can he be intreated Now is the accepted time now is the day of salvation 2 Cor. 6.2 Seek the Lord whilst he may be found call upon him whilst he is near Isa 55.6 That is a time of judgment and though we cry as loud as thunder he will not hear us though we cut our selves with lancers as Baals Priests till the blood gush out he will not regard us Wil God hear his cry when trouble cometh upon him Job 27.9 Because I have called and ye refused I have stretched out my hand and no man regarded I also will laugh at your calamity and mock when your fear cometh Then shall they call upon me but I will not answer they shall seek me early but they shall not find me Prov. 1.24 26 28. The foolish Virgins knock at the door of mercy but it is shut against them Mat. 25.11 Then will I professe unto them I never knew you depart from me ye that work iniquity Mat. 7.23 SECTION III. HAving now seen who and what manner of Judge thou shalt have suppose him now set upon the judgment seat attended with his glorious Angels and calling thee up to answer these Interrogatories CAP. I. Who art thou TO this thy answer wil be that thou art a Man Christ wilâ— reply unto thee If a man shew me my Image wherein I created thee Caesars peny was known by Caesars Image and superscription When Jacob saw the coat of his son Joseph It is my sons coat says he but an evil beast hath devoured him Gen. 37.33 So Christ will say to us at the day of judgement This is the face and figure of a man but an evil beast hath devoured my Image The Drunkard hath lost the Image of God and laid a swine in the room of it The Covetous hath lost the Image of God and laid a ravenous wolf in the room of it The Adulterer hath lost the Image of God and laid a goat or an horse in the room of it The crafty and contentious person hath lost the Image of God and laid a fox and a dog in the room of it They have corrupted themselves and their spot is not the spot of his children Deut. 32.5 Man that is in honour and understandeth not may be compared to the beasts that perish Psal 49.20 And no beast shall enter into the new Jerusalem for Without are dogs Rev. 22.15 CAP. II. Of what Religion The next Interrogatory will be Of what Religion art thou TO passe by Turks Iewes Infidels thy answer will be I am a Christian. Jacob professes to his Father that he was his very son Esau and yet was not The Church of Sardis had a name to be alive yet was dead Rev. 3.1 Many shall say at that day Lord Lord we have been baptized in thy Name we have called upon thy Name we have prophesied in thy Name who notwithstanding are workers of iniquity A Christian is a name of Duty as well as of Dignity You are my Friends if you doe whatsoever I command you Ioh. 15.14 By this shall all men know that you are my Disciples if ye love one another Iohn 13.35 As many of you as have been baptized into Christ have put on Christ Gal. 3.27 They that are Christs have crucified the flesh with the affections and lusts Gal. 5.24 Art thou a Christian who hast taken the members of Christ and made them the members of an harlot 1 Cor. 6.15 Art thou a Christian who hast seen Christ naked hast not clothed him hungry and hast not fed him thirsty and hast given him no drink sick and in prison and hast not visited him In a word art thou a Christian that hast lived in the practice of grosse and known sins What Communion is there betwixt Christ and Belial betwixt light and darknesse betwixt righteousnesse unrighteousness 2 Cor. 6.15 The Jews boasted they were the children of Abraham but Christ tels them they were the children of the Divell because they did his works John 8.44 If thou beest not a true but a titular Christian having a form of godlinesse but not the power of it thy judgment wil be more heavy and intolerable then that of Turks and Infidels The Servant that knows his Masters will and does it not shall be beaten with many stripes Unto whomsoever much is given of him shall much be required Luke 12.47 48. Verily I say unto you it shall be more tolerable for Sodom and Gomorrah at the day of judgement then for you Mat. 10.15 It had been better for them not to have known the way of righteousness then after they have known it to turn from the holy commandment delivered unto them 2 Pet. 2.21 I therefore beseech you to walk worthy of the vocation wherewith ye are called Ephes 4.1 And let every one that nameth the name of Christ depart from iniquity 2 Tim. 2.19 And let us pray as our Church teaches us in the Collect for the third Sunday after Easter ALmighty God c. Grant unto all them that be admitted into the fellowship of Christs Religion that they may eschew those things that be contrary to their profession and follow all such things as be agreeable to the same through our Lord Iesus Christ Amen CAP. III. Of what Profession THe next Interrogatory will be the same that the Marriners put to Jonas What is thine occupation Jonah 1.8 Art thou a Magistrate Supreme an Emperour King c. or subordinate an inferiour officer Governor 1 Pet. 2.13 14. Thou shalt be examined First if thou hast maintained Gods true Religion and beene a nursing Father to the Church Isa 49.23 If thou hast rooted out Heresie Idolatry superstition 1 King 15.12 If thou hast provided Ministers to instruct the people and maintenance for those Ministers Jehoshaphat sent the Priests and Levites and the Book of the Law of the Lord with them and they went about throughout all the Cities of Iudah and taught the
people 2 Chron. 17.9 Hezekiah commanded the people that dwelt in Jerusalem to give the portion of the Priests the Levites that they might be encouraged in the Law of the Lord 2 Chron. 31.4 If thou hast built and repaired the house of God and places of his worship as did Solomon Josiah Secondly if thou hast been an example of vertue and godlinesse to thy people David himself dances before the Ark and the house of Israel follow him 2 Sam. 6.14 The King of Ninivie was the first that humbled himself in sackcloth and ashes and then the inhabitants of the City did likewise Examples of great personages have a strong influence nay as it were a violence upon inferiors Caesar filled the Empire with Soldiers Augustus with Scholars c. Thirdly if they have provided good Laws executed them that such as live under them may be godly and quietly governed Good Laws are such as are agreeable to the Law of Nature and the word of God And they are then executed when great flies are taken as well as small ones Fourthly if thou hast punished the wicked and cherished the good Mine eyes shall be upon the faithfull of the Land that they may dwell with me he that walketh in a perfect way shall be my servant But I will early destroy all the wicked of the Land that I may cut off all wicked doers from the City of God Psal 101.6 8. Kings and Governors are sent by God for the punishment of evill doers and for the praise of them that doe well 1 Pet. 2.14 It cannot be wel then if Crows be pardoned Pigeons punished Fiftly if thou hast heard the cries of the poor received their petitions redressed their wrongs Defend the poor and fatherlesse do justice to the afflicted and needy Deliver the poor and needy rid them out of the hand of the wicked Psal 82.3 4. Be wise now therefore O ye kings be instructed ye that are Judges of the earth Psal 2.10 Remember there will be Deus dies ultionis A God and a day of vengeance But art thou a Minister Thou shalt be examined First if thou didst enter in at the doore or climb in at the window if thou wert called of God or intrudest thy self A man may know if he be called of God by those talents which are committed to him It is required that every Minister have scientiam competentem if not eminentem that is competent though not eminent knowledge For the Priests lips must keep knowledge the people must seek it at his lips Mal. 2.7 Secondly if thou hast taught and instructed the people committed to thee Feed my sheep John 21.16 I have not shunned to declare unto you all the counsell of God Take heed therefore unto your selves and to all the flock over the which the Lord hath made you overseers to feed the Church of God which he hath purchased with his own Blood Acts 20.27 28. It is required of a Minister that he be διδακτικὸς apt and able to teach 2 Tim. 2.24 He that is ignorant and cannot teach is a dumb dog He that can and will not is a dumb Divel unless lawfully detained Where no vision is there the people perish Prov. 29.18 His bloud will I require at thy hand Ezek. 33.6 Who then is a faithfull and wise servant whom his Lord hath made ruler over all his houshold to give them meat in due season Blessed is that servant whom his Lord when he cometh shall find so doing Mat. 24.45 46. Thirdly if thy life hath agreed with thy Doctrine He that was mis-shapen or had any blemish might not come nigh to offer the offerings of the Lord Lev. 21.21 Moses when he blesses the tribe of Levi desires of God that his Thummim and Urim might be with his Holy One i.e. integrity of life as well as the light of Learning Deut. 33.8 It is said of Christ that he was a Prophet mighty in deed and word before God and all the people Luke 24.19 Thou that teachest another teachest thou not thy self thou that preachest a man should not steal dost thou steal Thou that sayest a man should not commit adultery dost thou commit adultery thou that abhorrest Idols dost thou commit sacriledg Rom. 2.21 22. Be thou an example of the beleevers in word in conversation in charity in purity in spirit in faith 1 Tim. 4.12 Or art thou an Officer Thou shall be examined If thou hast not exacted more then was appointed for thee Luke 3.13 If thou hast not dealt with the poor as the servants of Elies sons did If thou wilt not give it me I will take it by force 1 Sam. 2.16 Or art thou a Souldier Thou shalt be examined If thou hast done violence to no man If thou hast not accused any falsly If thou hast been content with thy wages Luke 3.14 Or art thou a tradesman Thou shalt be examined If thou hast not used false weights deceitfull ballances unjust measures all which are an abomination to the Lord Prov. 20.10 If thou hast not sometimes taken the name of God in vain to obtrude a bad commodity upon thy neighbour sic de caeteris I may now say of our Judg as Jacobs sons said of the Governor of Egypt The man asked us straitly of our state Gen. 43.7 SECTION IV. WE have now seene how Christ will proceed with us in the day Judgment let us in the next place consider that final and irrevocable Sentence which shal pass upon us and it is either the Sentence of Absolution or Condemnation The sentence of Absolution THe sentence of Absolution shall be pronounced in these words Come ye blessed of my Father inherit the Kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world Mat 25.34 In which sentence there is not a word a syllable a letter but is musick to the care hony to the mouth and a Jubilee to the heart How wil our ears be ravished and our hearts dance within us to hear Christ pronounce us the blessed ones of his Father To hear that sweet cal invitation Come ye To hear the glory of that inheritāce to which we must come A Kingdome The Kingdome Prepared for us of old Blessed are the people that shall hear this joyfull sound Psal 89.15 CAP. II. The sentence of Absolution shall be first pronounced THE good Servant was rewarded admitted into his Masters joy and then the evil unprofitable servant was punished and cast into utter darkness Mat. 25. They on the right hand are called to a kingdome and then they on the left are cast into fire Mat. 25. God will not cast the wicked into hell till they have seen something of the happinesse of the Saints which increaseth their grief and torment The wicked shall see it be grieved he shall gnash with his teeth and melt away Psal 112.10 Or else it may bee Christ begins with the sentence of Absolution to shew that he had rather save us then damn us He