Quatuor Novissima OR MEDITATIONS UPON The Four Last Things DELIVERED In four COMMON-PLACE DISCOURSES BY Thomas Longland M.A. and Fellow of S. JOHNS College in Cambridge O that they were wise that they understood this that they would consider their latter end Deut 32.29 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Eccles 7. Haec spirituatis est exercitii summa haec forma studii spiritualis ut sapientèr disponamus praesentia nostra recogitemus in amaritudine animae nostrae praeterita futura quoque solicitè provideamus Bern. in Solen Pet. Paul Ser. 2. London Printed by A. Maxey for J. Rothwell at the Fountain in Goldsmiths-Row Cheapside 1657. TO THE REVEREND AND LEARNED Anthony Tuckney D. D. Regius Professor And Master of S. JOHNS College in Cambridge Reverend SIR THese few Discourses which next to their being Gods Sacred Truth derive all their Worth from your vouchsafing an Acceptance of them had not seen the light unless you had cast a smiling Aspect upon them and their Author ⸪ Eccl. 1.7 The gratefull Rivers acknowledg their Homage by sending their Streams to the Ocean from whence they were received Dumb Creatures teach me to speak and thankfully to acknowledge That next to God you are One to whom I owe what I have or can do You have been the Conduit through which he hath conveyed much good to my outward many Mercies to my inward Man I desire to praise him to testifie my Thanks to you by Devoting these Meditations to His Honour your Patronage and Perusing Let others commend their Patrons desire of Praise implieth weakness in the Subject your Brighter Name stands not in need of such a shadow as mens Applause to make it more Renowned in the world Native Worth is ever more respected than Adventitious Glory Yet excuse me if I say you are one who in these last dayes delight to Meditate of the last things who in these worst dayes put not the evil day far from you or him who presents it to your view Your Acceptance of these Papers doth make them more welcome to those who are looking Sion-ward and doth encourage him in what may promote his own or their journey thither who is St. Johns Col Camb. March 30. 1657. Yours In all Obligations Christian and Civil Thomas Longland Christian READER SUch thou art or my desire is thou shouldst be into whose hands these Papers are fallen I did once think to have saved my self the pains in writing though not thee the trouble in the perusal of an Epistle But being most privy to my own thoughts in the publishing these Discourses to the World and also the best Judge of my own Intentions in their composure I thought it convenient to acquaint thee That these Meditations were the Result of some vacant hours the occasion of which was what I pray may be their effect upon thee namely A desire so to number my dayes that I might apply my heart to wisdome Which afterwards I did deliver in a Learned Auditory yet contrary to my first thoughts I since resolved to communicate them unto others not doubting but they may through Gods Blessing be useful in the World and may in some measure testifie my desire to acknowledge my Obligations to him who hath Honoured me in the Acceptance of them to his Patronage These and such like were the Reasons of adventuring this small Essay of my Studies to vulgar view If any ambiguity in the Expressions be taken notice of know The safest Interpretation was my intention If any obscurity appeareth in the Phrase consider They were not delivered much less suited Ad Populum To the Vulgar And should I have altered the phrase in some places the sense would have been inverted If any thing else want an Apologie let thy Charity finde an Excuse Psal 30.12 Remember thy Tongue is thy Glory and is better used in Praying for than Censaring of him who is Cambridge March 30. 1657. Thine To promote thy Eternal Welfare T. L. HEB. 9.27 It is appointed to men once to die but after this the Judgment COnsiderations of death to living men Charron of Wisdom lib. 2. c. 11. Sect. 2. though usually most unwelcome yet are the most profitable to promote the Duty of Preparation thereunto for which purpose I have made choise of these words And because I will not build without a Foundation lest I erect a tottering Structure I wil first speak something to the scope of these words and then deduce a Proposition which shall be the Basis of my future Discourse These words as a Learned man notes are alledged by the Author to the Hebrewes Paraeus in locum as an Argument to evince or reason to prove that Christ neither could nor should offer oftner then once which is clear if we consult the precedent and subsequent words of the Text. But it being not my intention to speak to them as they stand in relation to the Context but as they make an intire Proposition I shall not be solicitous after any inquiry of their relative connexion but as they are in Thesi they are the declaration of the Decree of Heaven concerning our latter end Statutum est c It is appointed to men once to die but after this the Judgement I shall speak to them in order 1. Death 2. Judgment I. Of DEATH Doct. FRom the First they suggest to our Meditations this Doctrine That Death is inevitable A short yet sure Truth as we shall see in the sequel of this Discourse Were it not that the daily spectacles of mortalitie which we see the deep groans of dying men 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Chrysost Serm. de Fid. leg Naturali Immortalia ne speres monet annus almum quae rapit hora diem Horat lib. 4. Od. 7. which eccho again which was the usual Salutation of one to Philip of Macedon That he was a man I say If these did not convince us of the truth of this Doctrine I might appeal to those sudden fits and fainting distempers the most healthful body doth sometimes perceive in it self To the course of Nature which shewes us as the longest day hath its closure in the night even so the longest life must have its period by death But as I do believe there is not amongst us such an Epicure who believeth not a life to come after death so I in charity hope there is not such an Atheist as doth believe he shall not die I will passe this therefore and proceed to discover the nature of death which I shall endeavour in the resolution of these Questions 1. Quid sit What it is 2. Quot uplex sit Of how many sorts it is 3. Quare sit Wherefore it is For the First In the resolution of this Question What death is Because it is a privation I shall not curiously seek out a positive definition but speak to it as it may be considered 1. Formaliter in se 2. Accidentaliter ad aliud First What it is formally
and in it self Death is the separation of life from its subject Death is not only a cessation from action but a negation of existence for the soul may in a swooning fit cease to operate not to animate There may be a suspension of action where there is not a privation of its principle but death separateth the soul the fountaine of vital action from the body the subject thereof Secondly We will view death in what it is Accidentaliter ad aliud Accidentally and in reference to somthing without it self And that to 1 The Godly 2 The Wicked First To the Godly And so it is a rest from their labours 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Chrysost Hom. 51. de Sanct. Mar. Boren Proâ—â—â—c Blessed are they that die in the Lord from henceforth yea saith the Spirit that they may rest from their labours and their works follow them Rev. 14.13 They rest from 1 Sin 2 Sorrows Both which the holiest of men are exercised with and subject to whilst they live in the world they labour under the former in the latter whilst in this dying life But when they dye that which doth separate them from their bodies doth unite them closer unto God Their death is the Funeral of their sins the resurrection of their Graces that which doth unpinion them of mortality doth also translate them into the glorious liberty of the Sons of God So that Death is but a change to a holy Job Job 14.14 Act. 7.60 2 Cor. 5.10 a sleep to a blessed Steven a dissolution of the earthly house to a holy Paul whilst by it he accounteth not to be found naked but to be cloathed upon with his house which is from heaven to have mortality swallowed up of life and by the death of his body Rom. 7.24 to enjoy his wisht for deliverance from the body of death And this for the first Death to the godly is a rest from their sins 2. It is a rest from their sorrowes Josephs feet shal no longer be detained in the stocks neither shal he complain of the iron which entred into his soulâ— Nor any of the Saints and holy Martyrs shall at all complain of the incessant malice of their enemies Death shal give them a resting-place for in the grave the weary shall be at rest There the prisoners rest together they hear not the voice of the oppressor Job 3.17 18 And all this shall not be the effect of a Stoical apathy or stupefactive cessation from sense and motion But by an introduction into real joy That soul which was before glewed unto the body shal therefore be dissolved that it may be with Christ and that which whilst it was in the world was but at best a prisoner of hope shall then be set at libertie and have eternity wherein to expatiate in the enjoyment of those mansions of glory which God hath provided for such whom he shall account worthy to be partakers of the inheritance of the Saints in light 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Vâ—ri Septu The righteous also are taken away from the evil to come Isai 57.1 and their graves are but beds wherein they rest in the evening of their dayes And thus you see that as to live is Christ so to die is gain to believers whilst by it they rest from sin and sorrow Our next work is to consider death in its reference to the Wicked And to them it is the beginning of evil the entry of their woe They are the men who have hope only in this life and therefore are of all men the most miserable That death which in its intention is to put out the candle of a good mans life doth but snuff it and make it burne the brighter whilst their life of grace is consummate by being swallowed up in a never-ending life of Glory This shall cause the candle of the wicked to go out in a stench their Sun to set in a cloud their flattering day of prosperity to end in a dismal night of black eternal horror whilst by it they shall at once be separated from their bodies and from the presence of God in whose favour is life and from his right hand where are pleasures for evermore And thus I have answered this Question Quid sit What death is Secondly Quotuplex sit Of how many sorts it is And Death in its complexe notion represents it self under a threefold respect 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Chrysost Serm. 56. 1 Corporal 2 Spiritual 3 Eternal These three unnatural branches spring from one root to wit Sin The First is by sin The Second in sin The Third for sin The First is competent to both the Godly the wicked and hath been spoken to already Let us consider a little the second Spiritual Death and this also hatha double consideration 1. A Death in sin 2. A Death to sin The Apostle speaks of the former to the believing Colossians Col. 3.13 where he tells them that they being dead in sins and trespasses God hath quickned them together with Christ And thus the wicked are said to be dead whilst they live there being a separation between God the Author of Spiritual life and their souls the due subjects thereof by reason of their sins Psal 59.2 And this is the estate of every one of us until God saith unto us Live A Death to sin Secundum Spiritum â— mors est non credere vina quae câ—edebâ—t non jacere vana quae faciebat August Serm. 121. de Resurrect more And this is the estate of a lively Christian of one who is passed from death to life This is to be dead with Christ and is a testimony to him in whom it is that he shall live with him Rom. 6.8 This is not as the former the result of sin but the gift of God and of this death there is a twofold testimony First A death to the Law That is to say when we are brought by the threatnings in the Law to know that there is no salvation or life to be found by the Law but in Christ and this I doubt not to assert for the meaning of S. Paul Gal. 2.19 For I through the Law am dead to the Law that I might live unto God Secondly A dying to the World A deâ—pising all things therein or whatsoever it counteth admirable for the excellencie of the knowledg of Christ And thus to do is to be made conformable to the death of Christ Phil. 3.8 9 10. But I haste to passe over these which though fair fruit yet never grew on this tree profitable Doctrine but not arising from the present Text spoken to by transition rather then regular deduction from the subject I am upon I proceed to consider death in its third acception Eternal Death This is the in-let of Hell the sum of misery the second death which I suppose is not excluded yet not primarily intended in the words and hath power over none but such as have had
think of being covered up in dust A bird in the hand is worth two in the bush and men are not easily perswaded to part with present delights for an expectation of future happinesse The man who fareth deliciously every day will not willingly hear of being meat for worms He who is gorgeously arrayed as the rich man in the Gospel will not easily strip himself to a winding-sheet or they that stretch themselves upon their couches will be willing to be laid in the grave Charies the Fifth Haec sunt que faciunt invitos mori These are the things which make us unwilling to die was a sober answer of that prudent Emperor to a magnificent Duke of Venice in the like case But now a child of God whose Treasure is in Heaven desireth to be there himself also leaving the world 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 as the Apostle his phrase is Phil. 1.23 having a desire to be dissolved and to be with Christ who by his death doth enable his to die to earthly things that their heart may soar a ofâ— and aspire to that place where he their treasure is where their souls being sequestred from earthly comforts they drink no longer at the broken cisterns of the Creature but derive all their happinesse from him with whom their springs are found Thus those precious Jewels their immortal souls shall there shine in their native lustre where not trampled upon by filthy sense they approach to God and are made more like to him from whom their essence was received And thus much shall serve for the first use Is Death inevitable Vse 2 then let this be a cordial to cheer us up under to strengthen us against the losse of friends we usually say patience perforce is small hearts ease but yet we may make a virtue 〈◊〉 this necessity of mortality imposed upon us to help our patience in this particular The wise heathen could comfort himself under the losse of his sons with this expression Scio me mortales genuisse 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Laert. Diog vita Anaxag I know I have begot such who are mortal But a holy Christian who knoweth that God hath appointed and not fate imposed a necessity of Death to all may with greater comfort support himself with a Scio Deum hoc decrevisse I know God hath appointed it and with the Psalmist hold his peace seeing the Lord hath done it David hath learned this lesson exceeding well and we see him take it out to the amazement of his Servants 2 Sam. 12.21 22 23. even to their saying with admiration What thing is this that thou hast done Much more may we comfort our selves if we know they did die in the Lord The doubt of which possibly might be one reason of the impatience and immoderate grief of the aforesaid holy man for the death of Absalon Were our relations holy in their lives they are happy after death They have left us we have not lost them but shall receive them or rather be received to them at the last day when death shall be swallowed up into victory 'T is the Apostle his comparison That which thou sowest is not quickned except it die neither is the body raised in glory except sown in dishonour 1 Cor. 15.36 43. This is rather envy than piety to bewail the death of such Charron of Wisdom lib. 3. c. 27. seeing their absence from us speaks their presence with their and our chiefest good Their death is but a departure to a better life Hence St. Paul when he speaketh of his death for the cause of his blessed Saviour 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Châ—ysost in Phil. 2.12 and the service of the Church Phil. 2.12 doth not call for their tears but rejoying The serious belief of a Resurrection and this life which is to come would be then a great support under our loss of friends for the present 1 Thess 4.14 or else the Apostle shewed himself no good Rhetorician when he maketh use of such an Argument to perswade believers from sorrowing as others which have no such hope But whilst I speak for this Humanitatis vero officia misericordiae opera quod alibi monuimus per hoc non damnantur c. Bulling in 1 Thess 4.13 14. I would not seem the least to countenance or insinuate the other extreme I mean that 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 which is more common in the world Many men who would not be counted 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 men without hope yet are 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 without natural affection who never think they shall live till their relations die and follow them with less sorrow to their graves then they return with laughter to their Chests The which though they labour to conceal yet their neglect of Funeral Rites to their deceased friends doth give others occasion to suspect it If you ask them a reason of this omission their answer is at hand and because you shall know they speak not without the book you shall have the sense if not the words of the Father O mnis ista curatio funeris August de Civit. Dei lib. 2. c. 12. conditio sepulturae pompa exequiarum magis sunt vivorum solatia quam subsidia mortuorum Funeral soâ—â—mnities are rather for the comfort of the living than the advantage of the dead and therefore are with less trouble omitted than cost performed But I could wish such to look a little further and they shall soon perceive what ill use they make of that Doctrine Nec ideo tamen contemnenda August de Civit. Dei lib. 1. c. 13. abjicienda sunt corpora defunctorum c. We must not therefore cast those away from whom God hath withdrawn his breath especially those bodies which have been the organs of the Holy Spirit to every good work God will not be well pleased that men should respect those bodies that were the Temples of the Holy Spirit no more than dung which is cast forth into the open Air That the Stones of the Sanctuary should be poured forth in the top of every street that the precious Sons of Zion comparable to fine gold should be esteemed as earthen pitchers nor that the Body of a man should be buried as the Carcase of a dog The same God who hath commanded us not to sorrow as men without hope doth yet allow we should mourn as those in whose hearts resideth love That we weep Vid. Bullin optimè de hac re disserentem Dec. 3. Ser. 10. de Inst Eccles Mat. 23.27 29. will speak us men that in this case we grieve with moderation will shew us Christians Indeed our Saviour seems to chide such who did build the Tombs of the Prophets and garnish the Sepulchers of the righteous but take notice they were such who themselves were as graves that did not appear and like unto whited Sepulchers Luk. 11.44 47. seeing it was not affection to the persons of the
Prophets but respect to their own praise which put them upon that Religious shew yet Hypocritical action they persecuting the Lords anointed whilst they pretend to do his Prophets no harm yea to reverence their memory after death whom their Parents not onely hated but attempted to kill when alive Notwithstanding this we finde it the practice of the Saints to bewail the loss of their friends and decently to interre them Even the Father of the faithful Gen. 23.2 when Sarah is dead cometh to mourn and to weep and with no less care than love doth provide a Burial-place for her Thus when Jacob had yielded up the ghost the youngest Joseph shews the strongest love and fell upon his fathers face and wept upon him and kissed him and commandeth his servants the Physicians to embalm him Gen. 50.1 2. and made a mourning for his father ver 10. There was his natural affection as a Son yet but seven dayes there his moderation as a Christian 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Eus Eccles hist l. 1. c. 4. who had hopes of a Resurrection which the Egyptians not expecting were more extravagant in their sorrow and mourned for him seventy dayes We finde it also promised as a blessing to Abijah the Son of Jeroboam that all Israel should mourn for him and bury him which was performed as to him so to good Josiah whom the Prophet Jeremiah lamented for and all the singing-men and the singing-women spake of and that not for once but made it an Ordinance in Israel to this day composing Elegies upon him when-as wicked Jehoiakim 2 Chron. 35.25 as a curse upon him had no other Monument but the burial of an Ass drawn forth and cast beyond the gates of Jerusalem neither did any lament for him saying Jer. 22.18 19. Ah Lord or Ah his glory Not to multiply Examples let that of our Saviour be the last who was decently interr'd as for otehrs so this account Vid. Polan Syntag l. 6. c. 19. That we might be careful that our burials of the dead may be so comely that it may answer somewhat the hopes we have of a Resurrection unto life Fear of Superstition must not thrust us upon a certainty of Inhumanity the former is not to be allowed the latter must ever be avoided The Medium is A due respect to those after their deaths whom we have loved in their lives which will testifie to the world they liv'd desired whilst they die lamented We in the mean time moderating our grief with this Consideration It is appointed unto men once to die HEB. 9.27 But after this the Judgement II. Of JUDGEMENT HAving spoken of Death out of this place I now come to speak of what is after it to wit Judgement Although possibly by Judgement may be here meant the particular Judgement of every man to wit immediately after the separation of his Soul and Body by Death Yet where God hath not expresly set us bounds I suppose it is not necessary for us to confine our selves There being therefore no such necessity of that restriction I shall take my liberty to speak of the general Judgement at the end of the World In my ensuing Discourse I shall not attempt any Division in this intire Proposition but deduce this Doctrine Doct. That God hath appointed a Day in which he will Judge the World The express words of the Apostle Act. 17.31 I shall not heap up many Arguments either from Scripture or Reason 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Chrysost de Laz. Con 4. to prove the truth of this Proposition though upon due consideration many from both would crowd into my thoughts But I wave them for I suppose my self to speak to Christians who believe not to Infidels who may deny at least doubt of this truth But if I must needs prove it I will go no further than that usual expression of men to put an end to strife As God shall judge me The frequency of which in mens mouthes doth testifie to their faces that God hath appointed a day wherein to judge the world For the due understanding of which Truth let these particulars be considered 1 Judex The Judge 2 Judicandi The persons to be judged 3 Modus Judicii The manner of Judgement 4 Judicii Eventus The Event of the Judgement For the first we will consider who shall be the Judge We finde in Scripture this Title The Judge of the World attributed sometimes to God sometimes to Jesus Christ To God as Gen 18.23 Shall not the Judge of all the Earth do right Eccles 3.17 I said in my heart God shall judge the righteous and the wicked But I suppose those and the like places may be understood of Gods Providential Exercise of Judgement in the World as being the Moderator and Governour thereof and not of the Vltimate and Definitive Sentence at the last Day Ideo antem cum diem Judicii Dci dicimus addimus ultimum vcl novissimum quia nunc judicat ab humani generis initio judicavit August de Cir. Dei lib. 20. c. 1. for thus the Father judgeth no man but hath committed all judgement unto the Son Joh. 5.22 not but that the whole Trinity do exercise this Work for Opera Trinitatis ad extra sunt indivisa but in a more singular manner Christ as he is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and that upon these Accounts 1 As it is a part of his Regal Office 2 As he is iDELEGATUS DEI to this Work FIRST As it is a part of his Kingly Office to judge others to absolve the Innocent to condemn the Nocent this is a Kingly Work And that Christ hath Authority to do this is evident for in the day of his Inauguration when the Diadem of Glory was first set upon his head to wit after his Resurrection he tells us All Power is given unto him both in Heaven and in Earth He drunk of the Brook in the way and here he did lift up his head But in the last Day he shall much more be higher than his enemies when they who in their popular fury cried out We have no King but Caesar Videbunt ergo Judaei Deum hominem semper regnantem quem negande desperaverunt morientem Aug. de Sym. ad Catech. tract 4. c. 8. and would not have him to rule over them shall be brought before him and slain before his face They who would not kiss the Scepter of his Grace shall be bruised like a potters vessel by the iron Rod of his Justice Secondly As he is DELEGATUS DEI to this Work as God hath assigned substituted appointed him to or committed to him the Judgement of the World See Act. 17.31 He hath appointed a day wherein he will judge the World in Righteousness by that man whom he hath ordained And so Rom. 2.16 God shall judge the secrets of men by Jesus Christ Rom. 14.10 2. Cor. 3.10 And hence Gods Tribunal is called the Judgement-seat
of Christ And thus we see Quis Judex SECONDLY Quinam Judicandi Who are to be judged The Doctrine tells us in general the World but more particularly 1 Angels 2 Men. FIRST Angels that is to say The evil ones they shall be judged for therefore is it they are reserved in everlasting chains under darkness unto the Judgement of the great day Jude 6. This the Devils believe Mat. 9.29 and tremble because of and therefore was that cry Art thou come to torment us before the time But SECONDLY Man and that 1 Good Men 2 Evil Men. For saith the Apostle 2 Corinth 5.10 We must all appear before the Judgement-seat of Christ But yet this shall be after a diverse manner THE former to be declared just THE latter to be condemned as wicked The former shall have Confidence when he shall appear 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Chrysost in Gen. 1. Hom. 8. 1 Joh. 2.28 The latter shall not onely be ashamed but shall not stand in the Judgement Psal 1.5 I now proceed to the third thing to be considered which is MODUS JUDICII The manner of this Judgement And in the right stating of this these things must be observed 1 Res Judicandae The things judged 2 Norma Judicii The Rule of Justice 3 Assessores in Judicio The Assessors in Judgement FIRST The things to be iudged The matters to be inquired after in this great Assizes at this general Audit and what they are is resolved Eccles 12.14 God shall bring every work into Judgement with every secret thing whether it be evil or whether it be good This Judge of Heaven and Earth is Sagax animi 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Chrysost Hom. 25. de fut Judic tom 6. He will suffer no person no thing to escape his most exact scrutiny to avoid his uncontrolled Sentence He himself tells us Mat. 12.36 There is not an idle word but we shall give an account of it The Apostle Paul goes somewhat further than this Rom. 2.16 In that day when God shall judge 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the secrets of mens hearts And if God do so what is there hid that shall not be made manifest The Adulterer who waiteth for the twilight and to whom the morning is as the shadow of death shall in that day be made manifest at noontide to the view of Men and Angels And if his being known here put him in the terrors of the shadow of death Iob 24.17 how terrible shall that day be unto him when what he hath done in secret shall be proclaimed upon the house-top For look as the Apostle saith Heb. 4.13 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 c. There is not any creature that is not manifest in his sight but all things are naked 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Oeâ—umen in locum 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and opened unto the eyes of him with whom we have to do So shall they be to all the world at the day of Judgment for there is nothing covered which shall not be revealed and hid that shall not be known Matth. 10.26 The hand of Justice at that time shall wipe away many a blot which hath been cast upon the people of God their name actions cause by the ungrateful world and shall pluck off many a Mask from the face of such 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 c. Chrysost de Pro. lib. 1. who have covered hatred by deceit and make them known in the midst of the congregation He shall then by the Touchstone of his Truth distinguish gold from that which glisters and is not such and shall take every piece of reprobate silver and cast it into a furnace of unquenchable fire not to purifie but to consume it In this world Saul is sporting in his Palace while David is flying as a Partridge upon the Mountains Ahab is stretching himself upon his Couch whilst righteous Naboth is breathing his last under a heap of stones Ahasuerus and his Courtiers are drinking wine in bowls whilst holy Esther with the Church of God are weeping and wailing covered in sackcloth and ashes Ps 37.6 7. Heb. 11.37 VIOLENCE covereth the wicked as a garment their eyes stand out with fatness they have more than heart can wish whilst the godly wander about in sheepskins and goat-skins being destitute afflicted tormented The proud are called happy yea they that work wickedness are exalted Vide Aug. de civ Dei l. 20. c. 2 3. The Chaff and the Corn are mixt together in the same floor the Wheat and the Tares grow together in the same field But in that great and notable day of the Lord when God shall appear with his fan and throughly purge his floor Mal. 4.1 Hic est qui dicitur dies judicii August de civ Dei l. 18. c. 35. he will separate the precious from the vile and all the proud yea all that do wickedly shall be stubble and that day shall burn them up Then shall the world discern between the righteous and the wicked between him that serveth God and him that serveth him not Mal. 3.18 Secondly NORMA JUDICII The Rule of Justice This also must be considered in Courts of Judicature and because that Lex est norma Judicii we shall see that God will proceed legally also for as for heathens who having not the law are a law unto themselves if they sin without the law they shall perish without the law Rom. 2.12 They then shall be judged by this Rule to wit the law of Nature As for such Secondly who have sinned in the law they shall be judged by the law Rom. 2.12 and so that law which was ordained unto life through their breach thereof shall be found to death as the Apostle speaks in his own person elsewhere in another case For such then who have heard of the Moral Law it shall be the Rule of their Judgement but yet closer Revel 20.12 The Apostle John speaking of the last Judgement he saw in a Vision he tells us The dead were judged out of those things which were in the Books c. Now there are three Books out of which the Dead shall chiefly be judged 1 The Book of Conscience 2 The Book of Gods Omnisciency 3 The Book of the Scriptures For the first The Book of Conscience The Book spoken of Rev. 20.12 which is the Book of Life LIBER VITAE UNIUSCU jusque The Book of each mans Life as one * translates it Vide Aug. de civ Dei l. 20. c. 14. and that is as he interprets it Conscience into which God shall infuse a supernatural Light whereby all the actions of men which have been written in it shall appear however formerly they may have seem'd rased out by Oblivion Conscience shall then awake however it hath been stifled or seared by counter-checks to the dictates of an inlightned minde Truth though imprisoned before in unrighteousness shall now have its freedom to accuse yea to condemn the sinner and will
he nill he shall set those sins before his eyes Psa 50.21 51.9 from which God hath not hid his face Secondly not onely Conscience which is the Clerk of the Assizes but God who is the great Custos Rotulorum shall produce and prefer all the Bills of Indictment that can be brought against a sinner and reade all the Pardons which have been sealed to a Saint who stands now at Gods Tribunal for his Trial upon Life and Death Thirdly The Book of the Scriptures This shall be NORMA JVDICII The Rule of Judgment And so we hear the Judge himself say Joh. 12.48 The word that I have spoken the same shall judge him at the last day And one of his chief Retinue tells us the same God shall judge the secrets of men by Jesus Christ saith he 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Rom. 2.16 according to his Gospel delivered by me Men shall be judged according to their Works their Works according to the Gospel The wicked shall be judged SECVNDVM ET PROPTER OPERA according and for their Works by the Law The godly SECVNDVM SED NON PROPTER OPERA according but not for their Works by the Gospel Which Gospel shall condemn the wicked for their neglect of so great Salvation and shall acquit the godly of their sins against the Law Praeveniunt judicium fide suā Aug. Serm. 121. de resur mort by reason of this that they believe in Christ and so have accepted the Reconciliation tendred in the Gospel THE third thing in this manner of Judgement considerable is ASSESSORES IN JVDCIO the Assistants or Associates in the Judgment and these God doth use out of indulgence not indigency to honour them not to help him And they are 1 Holy Angels 2 Glorified Saints Christ formally the Angels instrumentally the Saints declaratively shall Judge the Word FOR the first I have touched somewhat upon this already onely let me adde He is said formally to Judge who passeth the definitive Sentence of Life or Death Absolution or Condemnation upon the Innocent or Nocent and that Christ with his own mouth shall do this and that as I have said as a part of his Regal Office see Matth. 25.34 Then shall the King say unto them on his right hand c. SECONDLY The Holy Angels instrumentally or ministerially for with the sound of a Trumpet they shall gather together the Elect from the four winds from the one end of heaven unto the other Mat. 24.31 And whether or no Christ will use them as instruments to execute his Sentence I shall not here determine the Affirmative seems evident Mat. 13.49 56. The Saints declaratively shall judge the World 1 Cor. 6.2 Do ye not know that the saints shall judge the world This honour then shall the Saints have that they who are now trodden down as mire in the streets shall hereafter sit upon the Bench with the Judge of the Earth They shall judge the World how Not as Counsellors to this Judge For who hath been his Counsellor Rom. 11.24 but declaratively that is to say either by consenting to his Judgement as just and true as in Courts of Civil Judicature they are said to do when by rising up or some such sign they shew an assent to the Sentence pronounced by the Judge as the Judgement of the Court or else declaratively that is to say their Faith good Conscience Integriry shall then so appear that they shall make the wicked inexcusable And thus even in this life Noah is said by preparing an Ark Heb. 11.7 to have condemned the world And in the life to come our Saviour saith Mat. 12.41 The queen of the South shall rise up in judgement with that generation which heard him and his Gospel and shall condemn it And he also tells his Disciples Luk. 22.30 that they shall sit on Twelve Thrones and shall judge the Twelve Tribes of Israel that is to say the Faith of the Apostles Non est aliter intelligendum Marlorar in loc 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 1 Cor. 4.13 who were Israelites yea ignorant men and yet embraced Christ and were Ministers of his Kingdom shall take away all excuse from the Israelites O how shall the sparkling Beauty of a Saint who is but in this world accounted as the filth thereof and the off-scouring of all things break forth in that day when God shall make up his Jewels 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Cyri◠Catec 15. p. 382. even to the dazling of the eyes and tying the tongues of those whose malice or detraction did so far hinder them that they would or could not behold the Majesty of Heaven in their lives whilst in this world They shall then look upon them with an eye of envy whom before they viewed with supercilious contempt and disdain and with their tongues shall say We fools counted their lives madness but behold they are numbred amongst the righteous And thus much for this third Particular We shall next speak to JVDICII EVENTVM The Event of this general Judgement and it is set down Mat. 25.46 The wicked shall go away into everlasting punisment but the righteous into life eternal the former shall be punished with everlasting destruction from the presence of the Lord and the glory of his power 2 Thess 1.9 The latter shall meet the Lord in the air and so shall ever be with the Lord 1 Thess 4.17 It may be expected I should now speak somewhat to the LOCVS JVDICII The Place of Judgement And truly some have curiously disputed none I know of clearly determined this thing Some would have it in the Valley of Jehosaphat which is situated betwixt the City of Jerusalem and Mount Olivet which is toward the East which opinion is grounded from that of Joel 3.2 where God saith He will gather thither all Nations and plead with them there for his people and the Argument is enforced from Act. 1.11 where the Angel tells our Saviours Disciples whilst they stood gazing up into heaven that the same Jesus which was taken up from them into heaven should so come in like manner as they had seen him go into heaven Others think it shall be in the Air Grotius Amesius c. out of 1 Thess 4.7 For my part I I desire to be wise unto sobriety and till I better understand the aforesaid places of Scripture I shall believe if God will finde a time when he will also finde a place where to judge the World Temerè definire non audeo quod excogitare non valeo August de Civ Dei l. 21. c. 30. In the mean time I shall leave it amongst the 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the secret things which belong to God as knowing that those things which are revealed alone belong to us As for the TEMPVS JVDICII the particular time of this general Judgement some may possibly be inquisitive after and some with more confidence than success have undertaken to define it But I