TWO TREATISES One of the Latter day of Iudgement The other of the Ioyes of Heauen 1. Cor. 15.52 In a moment in the twinckling of an eye shall the Trumpet blow and the dead shal be raised and we shal be chaunged that are found aliue Mat. 24.22 Except those dayes should bee shortened no flesh should be saued but for the elects sake those dayes shal be shortned Imprinted at London by Thomas Creed and are to be solde at his house in the Olde Change at the signe of the Eagle and Childe 1600. The Epistle to the Reader GEntle Reader my desire hath bene of a long time to set downe vnto thee the Excellent the Decaied and the Restored Estate of man if by Gods grace I might or may as yet in good time performe it Wherof I haue finished a great part the which if God giue good successe in due time shall be added to that which is alreadie published wherein I haue set downe the Excellent Estate of man by declaring how God created him after his Image The thing that I haue aimed at both in that and this or any thing else that hereafter I shall do is only to profit and to do good And therefore at this time and according to this time and troublesome dangerous dayes of this world prognosticating the vtter ruine and decay thereof I haue thought good by this Treatise of the Latter Iudgement to put you in remembrance that you may be ready and prepared when the Trumpet shall blowe and when we shall be called to our account That euery one of vs in the meane time may haue this in our minde and in our mouth Good Lord prepare vs to thy kingdom and shorten the daies of sinne Ezekias desired to haue his dayes prolonged And vnto Iosias it was pronounced for a blessing that his time should be shortned Which of these two was the better choyce that I leaue to thy resolutiō perswading thee to that which I take to be best Suprema cogita Cor sit in aethere Foelix qui potuit mundum contemnere Thine to his power S. I. A TREATISE OF the latter day of iudgement Act. 10.36 to 43. Ye know the word which God hath sent to the children of Israel preaching peace by Iesus Christ which is Lord of all Euen the word which came through all Iudea beginning in Galile after the Baptisme which Iohn preached To wit how God annointed Iesus of Nazareth with the holy Ghost and with power who went about doing good and healing all that were oppressed of the diuell for God was with him And wee are witnesses of all things which hee did both in the land of the Iewes and in Ierusalem whom they slew hanging him on a tree Him God raised vp the third day and caused that he was shewed openly not to all the people but vnto the witnesses chosen before of God euen to vs which did eate and drinke with him after he arose from the dead And he commaunded vs to preach vnto the people to testifie that it is hee that is ordained of God a Iudge of quicke and dead EVery one no doubt is desirous to know what shall bee done at the latter day at the day of doome and iudgement A doctrine very necessary to them that haue any care of themselues and of their owne saluation and very profitable also to prouoke vs to the loue knowledge and feare of God And so much the more profitable and necessary it is by how much the nearer that day is at hand and approacheth beeing as our Sauiour Christ saith hard at the doores Concerning these words which I haue read vnto you I shall require you to haue regard vnto these principall matters First what is the cause why this generall iudgement shal be Diuision Secondly the declaration of this iudgement Thirdly who shall be the iudge Lastly how it pertaineth to the wicked to the godly wherunto I haue thought good to ad an exhortatiō the better to be prepared The cause wherfore Christ shal come to iudgement principally is no other but that which procured death vnto vs and the last generall iudgement shall make that matter more certain not only that this bodily death which is a seperation of our soule body for a time shal not serue the turne be inough to satisfie that punishment which we haue deserued but also that some shall be deliuered to eternal death both of body and soule as indeed we should be all in that estate were it not for the benefite of Christ his death The sinne transgression of Adam as also the sins and transgressions of vs al was is the cause why God is displeased with vs and why his wrath is vpon vs and why we are subiect vnto death and why wee shall appeare before the iudgement seate of God Psal 90.9 For when thou art angry saith the Prophet All our dayes are gone we bring our yeares to an end as it were a tale that is told wee consume away in thy displeasure Thou wilt set our misdeeds before thee and our secret sinnes in the sight of thy countenance Our misdeeds haue procured death had not Christ died for vs and rose againe from death to deliuer vs from feare They were the cause why we were shut out from heauen had not Christ ascended vp into heauen to procure vs an entrance they had brought vs to the fearefull iudgement of God and to the heauy and wofull sentence of euerlasting condemnation and endlesse destruction if by the meanes of our Sauiour Christ we might not be deliuered from it For when we were at hell gates and appointed to destruction he came with this ioyfull message Come againe ye children of men As indeed his first comming here on earth was to saue and not to destroy and to call sinners to repentance that they might bee receiued into the fauour of God and haue their sinnes forgiuen them but this his second comming at the latter end of the world shall be to iudge to tender vengeance and to destroy those sinners who in this life were against his glory and their owne saluation to call them now to account whom when time was he called to repentance and who now shall be punished by the extremitie of the wrath of God Who if they had well regarded it in their life time might haue bene receiued into fauour their sinnes being forgiuen so that at the day of iudgement they should not haue beene put to any hazard for them nor ventured the daunger of losse of body and soule for them Here in this life they might haue escaped that which in that day they shall not be able to auoyd We see in all well ordered Realmes that if it were not for offences committed and for the manifold outrages of robbers theeues and murderers the Iudges needed not ride their circuit neither shuld there be any iudgement heard of But as before that man had disobeied God this sentence was
day of iudgement they shall not escape though his iudgement doo not presently take hold on them They cannot slip from God or auoyd him but are bound as it were with secret chaines so that in time to come they shall bee drawne do iudgement who are kept vntill that time to be punished euen as the oxe which is fed fatted to the slaughter So that it behoueth vs to wayt vpon the time of the last iudgement which God hath appointed and so to continue in hope and patience vnto the ende of our liues and not to be offended thogh the wicked be not punished But euery one of vs ought to haue respect to our owne wayes to keepe our selues within the compasse of Gods feare least that fall vpon vs which we thinke and looke should fal vpon other and wonder with our selues why it is not so Againe as the word of God dooth instruct vs let vs cōsider these two principall causes why God delayeth this day of iudgement One is that the day of iudgement shall not come vntill the number of the elect be fulfilled as we may reade Reu. 7.2 And I saw another Angel come vp from the East which had the seale of the liuing God and he cried with a loud voyce to the foure Angels to whom power was giuen to hurt the earth and the sea saying Hurt ye not the earth neither the sea neither the trees till we haue sealed the seruants of our God in their foreheade And then shall the iudgement be as we reade Math. 24.22 Except those daies should be shortned there should no flesh be saued but for the elects sake those dayes shal be shortned Secondly this Iudgement is delaied that the stubborne and vngodly may be thereby without excuse For they haue warning inough exhortations threatnings at all times what their sinnes deserue and what they are to looke for so that they cannot be ignorant of the iudgemēt day neither can they say that they are oppressed at vnawares And this may suffice to proue not onely that sinne and our offences is and shal be the cause of iudgement but also they that sin of set purpose in scoffing and mocking sort think that there shall be no iudgement or rather do suppresse and bury within thēselues if it might be the inward feeling knowledge of the same that to their great hurt shal not escape that heauy vēgeance of God thogh yet they be forborn Also that the minds of the godly be not troubled although they do not presently see that god doth exercise his iudgments punishments vpon them and that they faint not in wel doing but still hold on their course remembring that God hath appointed a day of iudgement vpon the which they must stay and depend and vnto the which they must referre all matters and then shall all their causes be heard and all their griefes eased Notorious sinnes procure notorious punishments in this world but especially at the iudgement day shall the full measure of all plagues and punishments be fulfilled And so much the more because that in this world many rule and raigne in their wickednesse and are as it were scotfree and as the Prophet saith They come in no misfortune like other men neither are they plagued according to their deserts But the latter day the day of doome and iudgement is and shall bee their day of assises and of their perpetuall execution Wherefore let none of vs all suppresse and banish the inward feeling and knowledge of this iudgement day seeing that by nature it is engraffed into our hearts and secret knowledge but rather let in haue that effect in vs that of right it ought to haue We see it true in worldly matters and I would to God it were as true in heauenly matters For questionlesse the forethought of the assises and of the execution doth feare many from their wicked purposes and makes them take an other course And so no doubt would the remembrance of the iudgement day preuaile with vs but that wee are carelesly perswaded that it is farre hence and that we shall neuer see it nay more then that many thinke it shall neuer be Well how far off the iudgement day is God knowes and wee may euery day looke for but by the way take this for thy learning that thy dying day is and shall be thy iudgement day and assure thy selfe that thou shalt so find it For when thy soule is parted from thy body then shalt thou presently appeare before Gods iudgement seate to giue thy account and pray that it may be to thy comfort and not to thy destruction Heb. 9.27 2 Now for the description and declaration of this generall iudgement which is the second principal matter in this text that both they which either mocke or doubt of the iudgement to come and they also which are well neare perswaded thereof might be throughly perfectly and certainly enformed therefore the order and maner of this iudgement is set downe in the scriptures and word of God principally and especially in the 25. Chap. of Mat. vers 31. and so forth in these words And when the Sonne of man commeth in his glory and all the holy Angels with him then shall hee sit vpon the throne of his glory And before him shall be gathered all Nations and hee shall separate them one from an other as a shepheard separateth the sheepe from the goates And he shall set the sheep on his right hand and the goates on the left Then shall the King say to them on his right hand Come ye blessed of my father inherite the kingdome prepared for you from the foundations of the world Vnto them on the left hand he shall say Depart fro me ye cursed into euerlasting fire which is prepared for the diuel and his Angels And these shall go into euerlasting paine and the righteous into life eternall Which description and declaration cannot be more plainely euidently and briefly set downe setting forth vnto vs First the comming of the Iudge with his company that is al the holy Angels Secondly the general appearance of all the people of the world Thirdly the office of the Iudge in separating the good from the bad And lastly the pronouncing of iudgemēt by definitiue sentence without all reuocatiō Al which matters God willing shall be handled when I come to entreate of the Iudge so that I need not to stand vpon this point but to referre you thither where in a more fit place it may be considered And as here the order of the iudgement is expressed so in other places of scripture other matters are specified which are very necessary to giue vs further vnderstanding herein As first concerning the day when this iudgement shall be the signes that shall go before this day as also how suddenly it shall come vpō the world Cōcerning the day the Prophets do foretell how terrible it is likely to be The day The day of the Lord
that he hath done whether it be good or euill Whereof S. Iohn had a manifest demonstration as we reade in his Reuelation Chap. 20.11.12 And I saw saith he a great white throne and one that sate on it from whose face fled away both the earth and the heauen and there place was no more found And I sawe the dead both great and smal stand before God who shall iudge both the quicke and the dead euen all that euer haue beene are and shal be to the end of the world as well those that are dead and rotten in the earth as those which shall be found aliue at his comming who shal be changed in a moment which change shal be in stead of death In iudgements that are practised among men there are diuers conueiances vsed not to appeare in iudgement and for fauour feare bribes and such like matters malefactors are bayled out of prison and bonds forfeyted and they kept from the barre and from the presence of the Iudge and quitte by Proclamation But here the ministers of this heauenly iudgement to wit the Angels shall not be blinded by any earthly considerations There shall be no entreaty no way to auoyd no other remedy but that they shall and must appeare It is a straunge matter and not to be seene that any Emperour King Prince or any such mightie Potentate should be called to iudgement or shuld bee subiect vnto the sentence of the Iudge For why as they say the Prince is aboue his law and not to be censured by any Subiects are vnder the penalty of lawes and iudgement may passe vpon them but as for the Prince and the highest in a Realme who dare controll him if he do ill But from this iudgement of this mighty heauenly Iudge whom no power can resist shall neither Emperour King Prince nor mighty Potentate be exempted neither can they be dispenced withall but that of force and necessitie they must make their personnall appearance There shal be no respect of persons high and and lowe rich and poore all shall appeare Yea then it shal be far better with the poorest begger that hath liued in the feare of God then with the mightiest Emperour that in his life time hath had little or no regard to serue God For true it is that the mighty shall be mightily punished All prophane persons leaud liuers Atheists persecutors which haue beene enemies to God to his word and to his ministers who haue wished in their hearts there were no God nor any iudgement who haue made a scoffe and contempt of all goodnesse and of the professours and Ministers thereof they shall of force bee brought to this Iudgement But what To speake in theyr owne behalfe No they shall not bee able For at that time and there they shall confesse theyr faultes and haynous offences and make bitter lamentation but all too late and there shall they waight in trembling sort to heare their iudgement And who is it amongst vs No excuses shall serue that knowes himself guiltie that will declare the truth being called before a Iudge but rather our mindes runne vpon deuices and excuses how wee may blinde the Iudge and defend our selues and auoyd that which is toward vs. And so long as wee haue to deale with mortall men it may so fall out that our excuses may serue the turne and set vs cleare But when our cause commeth to be tried before GOD from whom nothing is or can be hidde and vnto whom nothing can bee secrete then no excuses can preuaile neither shall any deuices helpe vs or blinde the Iudge Our first parents when God called them to their tryall for transgressing his commaundement and when the fled from God and his themselues although they were still in Gods presence but foolishly they thought otherwise how did they aunswere for themselues but by excuses Adam hee speakes for himselfe Gene. 3.12 and saith The Woman which thou gauest to be with me she gaue me of the tree and I did eate The woman likewise she thinkes to escape by that meanes Eue saith The Serpent beguiled me and I did eate When King Saul had disobeied Gods commaundement running after the pray being called to an account he deuiseth a currant excuse and saith Yea I haue obeyed the voyce of the Lord and haue gone the way which the Lord sent me and haue brought Agag the King of Amelek and haue destroyed the Amalekites But the people tooke of the spoyle sheep and oxen the chiefest of the things which should haue bene destroyed to offer vnto the Lord. Amongst these may Pilat be reckoned who against his owne conscience condemned Christ to death and yet would excuse himselfe as though he were innocent in the cause Math. 27.24 When Pilat sawe that hee auailed nothing but that more tumult was made hee tooke water and washed his hands shaying I am innocent of the blood of this iust mum In the description of the latter iudgement Math 25.44 wee read that some began to excuse themselues saying Lord when sawe we thee an hungred or a thirst or a straunger or naked or sick or in prison and did not minister vnto thee Neuerthelesse all this serued not but vnto them it was said Depart from me ye cursed into euer lasting fire And such part is Pilat like to receiue for all his excuse King Saul his excuse was not taken our first parents escaped not for all their excuses but dyed the death and shall wee thinke our case to be better then theirse howsoeuer wee thinke we shall not so finde it There shall we appeare when as no friend nor and body shal be suffered to speake for vs and in our defence and when a faire glosing tale shall not bee heard for the plaine and naked truth must then come in place and we shal be enforced to giue our account euery one of vs by our selues This is the principall matter that must be done before the Iudge We must giue accoūt that we must giue account of our selues and of our deedes done in this life And most shall haue sorrowfull hearts because they shal be called to their accounts As it was said to the euill steward Come giue account of thy stewarship so shall euery one of vs be called to our account haue vsed those benefites gifts and graces which God hath endued vs withall whether to Gods glory and to the benefit of other or after our owne pleasures and to the hurt of others In the Epistle to the Romaines Chap. 14.10.12 We shall all appeare before the iudgement seate of Christ and then euery one of us shall giue accounts of himselfe to God The wicked which lightly cānot be brought to any accounts they shal giue accounts to him that is ready to iudge quick and dead 1. Pet. 4.5 Not only most notorious and wicked deedes shal be called to account but we shall giue a reckoning for euery idle word So we read Math. 12.36 Out of the
no doubt they feele that there is giuen to them a spirit of bondage and feare through which they tremble at their owne estate They are in mount Sinay where is the burning fire blacknesse darknesse tempest and the sound of a Trumpet in consideration whereof they tremble and are inwardly tormented But thou wilt say the wicked prosper and reioyce in their dayes they are bound in no such bondage nor feare no such feare Thou canst not tell neither doest thou know the heart of wicked man howsoeuer hee boast in his substance and outward prosperitie and seemeth to haue peace peraduenture there is a bitter remembrance within him of the iudgement to come He may delight and sport himselfe but in that laughing the heart is sorrowfull and that myrth doth end in heauinesse And albeit they striue maruellously to cast out this feare yet if they could cast it out from them as out of a cannon and fieldpeece yet would it euermore returne vnto them againe and vexe their heart that so flyeth from it If they would full faine seare vp their consciences as with a hot and glowing Iron yet sometime it will awake them as out of a sleepe so â—aht vpon a sudden they shall see a fearfull sight of death and iudgement And as we read Rom. 8.19 That the feruent desire of the creature wayteth when the sonnes of God shall be reuealed so also we may well say that the consciences of men do groane as it were vnder the burthen of sinne and earnestly desire to be diâ—burthened and yet they shall not For at the iudgement day when all the creatures of the earth shall haue their desire then shall the consciences of the wicked torment them a fresh and that more fiercely then euer they did before For then shall the time be that we shall giue account and God shall bring all our secret sinnes to light our consciences bearing witnesse against vs. The diuell shall accuse And yet there remaineth an other accuser beside God and our owne conscience and that is the diuell who alwayes sought our destruction and brought vs vnto it by diuers temptations and sugered baytes The diuel shal be at hand to accuse vs to call for iudgement against vs who after our iudgement is giuen and the sentence past shal be ready most terribly to torment vs world without end And to bring this to passe then shall he lay deeply to our charge and call for iudgement against vs reioycing and triumphing that he hath so good a cause before so righteous a Iudge earnestly crauing that hee will iudge vprightly because iustice and iudgement is the preparation of his seat and his throne is established by it I pray thee therefore will this accuser say giue sentence with me and iudge him to bee mine which while hee liued would be none of thine mine he or she whosoeuer is by right and they haue deseâ—erued to suffer torments with me and seeing they haue followed my wayes in theyr liues now let them be partakers of my punishments And shall not the Iudge of the world doo right saith Abraham and minister righteous iudgement yea doubtlesse as the Apostle S. Iude vers 14. hath set it downe Behold the Lord commeth with thousands of Saints to giue iudgement against all men and to rebuke all the vngodly among them of all their wicked deeds which they haue vngodly committed and of all their cruell speakings which wicked sinners haue spoken against him When all matters are thus made manifest all shall be iudged partly according to the confession of their owne guiltie conscience and partly by the word of God which they haue hard and which they haue either neglected or despised euen by the selfesame word shal they be iudged For by that shall they be made without excuse and the more culpable before Gods iudgement seate As we may reade in the Gospell of S. Iohn Word Chap. 12.48 He that refuseth me and receiueth not my words hath one that iudgeth him the word that I haue spoken it shall iudge him in the last day Where by the way we are taught to haue the more regard of the word of God and with reuerence to heare it with remembrance to keepe it in our hearts and with care to expresse it in our liues and conuersation that it may be a helpe to our saluation whereas otherwise it is like to bee our Iudge to our condemnation Which is further declared by that which is set downe Acts 13.40.41 Beware therefore least that come vpon you which is spoken of in the Prophets Behold the despisers and wonder and vanish away For I worke a worke in their dayes a work which yee shall not beleeue if a man would declare it vnto you Which worke by the interpretation of the learned is the vnspeakable vengeance of God vpon those that contemne his word Thus then beeing in his presence and after the generall trial of our cause and after we haue giuen our account shall Iesus Christ who is appointed to be the Iudge of quick and dead proceed to Iudgement in seperating the iust from the vniust the good from the bad the wheat from the chaffe the sheepe from the goates For in this world they are mingled together the good with bad and God suffereth his raine to fall as well vpon the vniust as the iust neither is he hasty to separat them the one from the other in this life To the end that he may shewe his patience toward the wicked in giuing them time and space to repent as also by their meanes he exerciseth his Church and people to teach them patience and to try whether they will stand stedfast vnto him or fall away from him with the rest of the world And as he rebuked his Disciples because they desired that fire should come downe from heauen to consume the Samaritanes so also he findeth fault with them that would haue a seperation before the iust time come According as we read in the Epistle to the Romans Chap. 12.19 Vengeance is mine I will repay it saith the Lord. God knoweth his iust time and his appointed time is the end of the world Which matter is very effectually set downe in a Parable Mat. 13.12 For after the good feede was sowne and the blade sproong vp and brought forth fruite then appeared also tares Then came the seruants of the housholder and said vnto the maister Maister sowedst not thou good seed in thy field from whence then hath it tares And hee said to them the enuious man hath done this Then the seruants said vnto him Wilt thou then that we goe and gather them vp But hee said nay least while ye go about to gather the tares yee pluck vp also with them the wheat Let both grow together vntill the haruest and in time of haruest I will say to the reapers gather ye first the tares and bind them in sheaues to burne them but gather the wheat into my barne The
godly therefore may comfort themselues with this that in time to come though not presently and out of hand there shal be a seperation The kingdome of heauen is likened vnto a drawe net cast into the sea that gathereth of all kindes of things which when it is full men draw to land and sit and gather the good into vessels and cast the bad away So shall it bee at the end of the world the good and the bad shall be parted after that the trumpet hath blowne and the dead bee raised Againe the seed sowne is the word of God preached The field wherein it is sowne is the world the good seed are they which with an honest heart heare the word and keep it and bring forth fruite and these be the children of the Kingdome and the tares are the children of the wicked and the enemie that soweth them is the diuell and the haruest is the end of the world and the reapers be the Angels As then the tares are gathered and brent in the fire so shall it be in the end of the world The sonne of man shall send forth his Angels and they shal gather and they shall seperate Math. 13.39 When the regions and parts of the earth are white then is the time of haruest As we read in the Reue. 14.15 That the Angel cried with a loud voyce to him that sate on the cloud Thrust in thy sickle and reape for the time is come to reape for the haruest of the earth is ripe As though he saw the time when the number of Gods elect and chosen children should bee fulfilled and the sinnes of the vngodly and wicked come to a full measure And the Angel thrust in his sharpe sickle on the earth and cut downe the vines of the vineyard of the earth and cast them into the great Wine-presse of the wrath of God So shall the bad bee seperated from the good as a shepheard seperateth the sheepe from the goates and the Iudge who is meant by the shepheard shall commaund the sheepe to be set on his right hand and the goates on the left the good and the bad And then will hee addresse himselfe to giue sententence and to take order for the execution of his iudgement And who shall stay or hinder this iudgement Sentence or who shall auoyd the fiercenesse furiousnesse of his wrath Shall the king be deliuered by the multitude of an host No he shal be but as one man naked and vnarmed and without helpe and hee that shall come to iudge him commeth with infinite thousands of Angels The strength of the strong man shall then stand him in no stead but in stead of strength he shall bee resolued into feare and weaknesse The wealth of the rich man shall not ransome him for riches shall not preuaile in the day of wrath Before so wise so vpright such a Iudge of that courage thou shalt stand whom neither feare shall daunt nor fauour shall moue nor gold shal bribe and corrupt him neither any entreaty or prayer then at that time shall perswade him There shal be no respect of persons no falsifying of the cause no colours nor excuse to blinde him no learning no men of lawe shall defend thee no wit nor pollicie shall go beyond this Iudge no speech nor flattery shall preuaile with him in a word what shall worldly helpes doo when the world it self shal vanish awaye Nothing that shall be deuised shall turn his mind nothing shall alter or reuerse his iudgement it shall passe without deniall and without all reuocation For then shall hee come to iudge the world righteously and to minister true iudgement vnto the people And thus after that the sheepe be seperated from the goates shall iudgement be executed and sentence shall be giuen in such sort and order as we read it set down Mat. 25.34 Then shal the king that is the Iudge say to thē on his right hād Come ye blessed of my father inherit yee the kingdome prepared for you frō the foūdatiōs the world But to thē on his left hand he shal say Depart frō me ye cursed into euerlasting fire which is preparêd for the diuell and his angels And these shall go into euerlasting pain and the righteous into life eternall By reason of which fearefull sentence the wicked shall haue good cause to say to the mountaines and to the Rocks Reue. 6.15 Fall on vs and hide vs from the presence of him that sitteth on the throne and from the wrath of the lambe For the great day of his wrath is come and who can stand They shall desire to hide thēselues in dens amōg the Rocks and moūtains but yet shal they not auoid his presence they shal desire death shall not find it seeke after it and yet shall death fly frō them And as the diuels as we read in the Gospell besought Christ that he would not torment them before their time so now shal the time of the terrible wrath of God be whē the diuels together with all the people that haue either forgotten or not regarded and highly displeased God to the vtter hazard of their soules shal be cast into hell and throwne into endlesse torments And therefore shall his comming be in flaming fire to render vengeance against the sinners of the earth who not onely shall be depriued from the presence of God and from the glory of his power and frō the company of the blessed Angels and redeemed soules but that which is far worse and more grieuous and lamentable they shall be punished with euerlasting perdition and destruction And the Angels that seperat the good from the bad shal then gather out of his kingdome all things that offend and them which do iniquitie and shall cast them into a furnace of fire there shall be wailing and gnashing of teeth When as the iust and godly shall shine as the Sunne in the Kingdome of their father and when the accursed sort shall go downe by a by way a backe way and a blacke with many a sigh and sob from God from the Angel from the Saints from ioy from glory from blisse with the fiends of Hell to suppe in the pallace of darknesse with the princes of horror at the table of vengeance in the chaire of calamitie with the crowne of death vpon their head hauing nothing before their eyes but infinite torments prepared for them 4. By the sentence pronounced and last iudgement giuen How this iudgement pertaineth to the godly and to the wicked an entrance is laid open vnto me to declare vnto you how this iudgement pertaineth to the wicked and vnto the godly which was the last thing in this treatise of the latter iudgement that I purposed to speake vnto you of Vnto the which I haue thought good to adde an exhortation that wee may be prepared against the time hauing oyle in our lampes with the fiue wise virgines that waited for the comming of the
iudgement as though the iudgement seate were appointed for the defence and maintenance of them not that are oppressed but that do oppresse not for the reliefe and succour of them that are wronged but to countenance and bolster them out who as the Propher saith deuise mischiefe vpon their beds and practise it when they come abroad Therefore Salomon Eccle. 5.7 giueth instruction to the godly that they be not mooued and that they may be confirmed in patience looking for a day of heaâ—ing If in a countrey saith he thou seest the oppression of the poore the defrauding of iudgement and iustice bee not astonied at the matter and maruell not for hee that is higher then the highest regardeth and there bee higher then they Whereby they are put in mind both of a more vpright Iudge then is no earth to be seene and of a more righteous iudgement by the vertue and force whereof they shal be both righted and relieued Concerning which matter Esdras hath spoken very well 2. Esd 7.32 The earth shall restore those that haue slept in her and the most high shall appeare vpon the seate of iudgement and miseries shall vanish away and long suffering shall haue an end iustice onely shal coÌ„tinue the truth shall remain and vnrighteousnesse shall beare no more rule For the wicked thinketh not on the iudgement to come nay the are inwardly blinded and that by Gods secret appointment being so farre giuen vp to their owne lusts that they care not what villanie or violence they put in practice But the godly are willed to haue regard to this rightfull day when true iudgement shal onely haue the vpper hand againe they must take heed that when they suffer they suffer not as euill doers and malefactors for then they cannot looke for redresse an other day and then this earthly iudgement dooth lawfully take place against them But in all well dooing let euery one commend this soule to God and commit his cause to that righteous Iudge This last iudgement therefore is for the benefite of the godly that it may go well with them whose cause in this life could not be heard nor any iustice done them Againe that not onely they may be righted in their cause but also that they may bee deliuered from that infamy and from those spitefull and approbrious speeches which the world hath giuen out against them dooing them more hurt and wrong and inward griefe thereby then by false iudgement which hath passed against them and whereby they haue had their willes of them and haue preuailed And as the restoring of theyr righteous cause and of their credit and good name which the world hath laboured to depriue them of shall be an occasion of Christ his coÌ„ming to iudgement so also is the condemnatioÌ„ of the wicked For in this life their coÌ„demnation is begun their conscience witnessing against them which then and at the iudgement day shall fully and perfectly be declared which is not spoken that the godly are cleare from iudgement by their desert for they are sinners and offenders as others though not perhaps in the same degree Who through repentance and a liuely faith taking hold of the mercies of God haue no need to feare this iudgement because God doth not impute their sinnes vnto them and also their consciences do in this sort declare them free although in respect of themselues they are greatly guilty So that Christ shal stand on their side and their conscience shall witnesse vnto them the exceeding loue of God and his gracious meercies which shal be the breath of life vnto theÌ„ an assuraÌ„ce of heaueÌ„ly ioyes But the wicked because they haue their coÌ„sciences accusing and condeÌ„ning theÌ„ the fierce couÌ„tenance of the Iudge to daunt them and fearfully to dismay them the diuel pleading against them and calling for iudgement to be done vpon theÌ„ therefore are they to look for nothing else but euen the seuerity of iudgemeÌ„t the fearful senteÌ„ce of coÌ„demnation which shal make them as it were to fall in peeces through quaking trembling and to be resolued to nothing but that by Gods appointment they are reserued to euerlasting punishment together with the diuell his angels Who also I mean the diuell and his angels shal be coÌ„demned by the sentence of Gods seuere iudgement not only because they haue highly offeÌ„ded god but also because they haue bene the authors of the ruine downfall of all mankind in prouoking and tempting them to all disobedience sin mischiefe When as the righteous shall liue for euer shall receiue a glorious kingdome a bewtifull crowne at the Lords hand Christ shall come again the second time as it is Iohn 14.3 and shal receiue vs vnto himself that where he is there may we be also And as it is said of our Sauiour Christ to the manifestation of his great glory that they shall then see him whom they haue pierced through whose presence shall be to the greater confusion of the wicked his enemies who shal be constrained to behold him to be their iudge and to abide his iudgement whom they haue in this life so greatly despised so cruelly handled so also shal Christ make his meÌ„bers the godly repentant faithfull partakers of this his glory as he himself hath promised Mat. 19.28 That they shal sit vpon twelue thrones and iudge the twelue Tribes of Israel not that they shal be Iudges but that they shal approue his iudgement A shadow wherof we haue in these our earthly iudgements whereas you see the iustices men of account sit with the Iudge not that they haue to do with pronouncing sentence or with the iudgement but that amongst the rest it is a token vnto them of honour and dignitie in the sight of the people According to the which meaning wee read Luk. 13.28 That there shal be weeping and gnashing of teeth when the vngodly shall see Abraham Isaac and Iacob meaning thereby they godly and faithfull and all the prophets in the kingdome of God and themselues thrust out at doores and heauen gates shut against them being in that taking as the rich man was spoken of in the Gospell who being in hell beheld Lazarus in Abrahams bosome himselfe crying out but for one drop of cold water to allay that burning and vnquenchable heate which he found himselfe to be in and could not haue it Then shall they begin to say with themselues when they shall see the righteous stand in great boldnesse so that they shall be vexed with horrible feare and wonderfully amazed then shall they chaunge their mindes and sigh with inward gitefe and say within themselues Wisd 5. These are they whom sometime we had in derision as indeede who are more derided and contemned in the world then they that be well disposed and to their power liue after the feare of God These are they whom wee had in derision in a parable of reproach We fooles thought their