Luke 21.33 Heauen and earth shall passe but one word or title that is spoken out of the mouth of God shall not fall to the ground vneffected For it must be 2 Propter Iustitiam Dei because it standeth with Gods Iustice All the wicked are not punished in this life for although Caine Pharaoh Saul and Iudas Iob. 21.23 receiued some temporall punishment in this life yet Iob tels vs that many wicked men spend their daies in iollitie and suddenly go downe to their graues without any punishment at all 1. King 21.29 Wicked Ahab did not see the euill threatned vpon his house in his dayes Againe the godly for the most part receiue no great comfort in this life That I haue fought at Ephesus with beasts after the manner of men 1. Cor. 15.32 What adnantageth it me if the dead rise not at all saith our blessed Apostle therefore it standeth with the Iustice of God to summon a day wherein euery one may receiue according to their actions And it must be so Nam oportet 3 Propter nostram corruptionem because of our corruption for flesh and blood cannot inherite the kingdome of God 1. Cor. 15.50 neither can corruption inherite incorruption There must bee a day of purging Apoc. 21.27 for no vncleane thing can enter into the kingdome of heauen a day when the fire must be put to the mettall the fanne to the corne that the drosse and chaffe being done away the pure mettall may appeare more glorious and the corne finer on the floore 1 Cor. 15.54 When mortalitie is swallowed vp of immortalitie and that which was sowen a naturall bodie shall bee made a spirituall bodie Ibidem 44. then shall bee brought to passe this faying that is written by him that is able to bring all things topasse Nam oportet for it must be 4 Propter nostram manifestationem as it is in my text because of our manifestation to shew publikly what we are and what wee haue beene A man cannot iudge of a thing vntill hee see the end of it Exitus acta probat no man can iudge of a mans life to bee good or euill as long as he liueth but by the outward appearance Dicique beatus ante obitum nemo supremaque iudicia debet Nabal dyed like a lambe 1. Sam. 25.37.38 had no reluctation no bands in death and yet the Scripture pointeth him out for a wicked man Many of Gods children are stricken sodainly with death so was old father Eli who is accounted to be a godly old man in Scripture Therefore there must be a day wherein the Iudge of all the world will shew his righteous iudgments to the world and giue vnto euery one according to that which they haue done in their body whether it be good or bad as it followeth in my text For wee must all appeare Vse 1 This must seemeth to be so strict a charge I◠〈◊〉 that I doubt will not sound well in a young mans â—are that liueth in pleasure and runneth vp and downe after his delight An heathen Author doth tell vs that this age meaning youth will endure no admonition much lesse this to tell them that they must come to iudgment 1. Sam. 14.29 Ionathan will needs taste of the hony although his father hath forbidden it We reade of purple sinnes and crimson sinnes in Scripture colours that will not lightly fade for they are both dyed in the wooll and in the cloth Young men wil be sure not to forsake their wicked waies when they are old they will be so perfect in them while they are young but let them reioyce neuer so much in their youth Eccles. 11.9 although their hearts cheare them with delight and they walke in the wayes of their heart and after the lust of their eyes whereby they may swimme in pleasure by the Deuils perswasions yet let me tell them Ibidem 12.1 That for all these things God will bring them to Iudgement Remember thy Creator now in the daies of thy youth whilest the euill daies come not wherein thou shalt say thou hast no pleasure in them for in that day of Christs appearance thou shall bee brought forth into Indgement Oportet enim It must be so Againe I beleeue it will not sound well in a couetous rich mans eare In 〈◊〉 that taketh pleasure in his riches and setteth his minde vpon the world No doubt that speech which the Spirit of God spake vnto the rich man in the Gospell Hac nocte Luk. 12.20 that he should suddainely depart from his riches which he so much loued was terrible vnto him and this will be as grieuous vnto any wretched worldling to tell him he must come to Iudgement I thinke this sound neuer doth enter into his eares there is maius sensibile another thing giues a greater sound Pro. 30.14 it is the voyce of the Horseleach giue giue It is no maruell that they cry vnto the Mountaines in that day to fall on them for it is readiest in their hearts and mouthes they thinke of nothing speake of nothing nor dreame of nothing else all their life long but mountaines of gold and siluer Concerning his temporall estate and the prouision belonging thereunto hee is wise and politicke enough witnesse that rich man in the Gospell he can haue his bils and bonds well noted in a booke and make all his accounts readie for his worldly estate But concerning his spirituall estate he is altogether ignorant neither doth he expect any day of account and to learne he will not frame himselfe nor yet will be instructed Let God doe to himso and more also for he will not giue to the poore feed the hungry nor clothe the naked he will rather haue good securitie for ten in the hundred for the present then haue an hundred for ten in expectation But let al such earthly Muckwormes know that they must bee manifested before the seat of Iudgement Oportet enim For we must appeare c. Thirdly Insacrilegos it will not â—ound in the eare of a sacrilegious Church-Robber that taketh away succum Pastori maintenance from the Minister Whereupon it followeth that lac subducitur agnis there the people must needs perish for want of milke such as would haue the Kings daughter all glorious within Psal 45.13 but would not haue her outward garments of wrought gold nor of needle worke such as would allow but Michas wages to the Cleargie for so it is that the fat Buls of Bason would beate out of the manger the oxen that tread out the corne but let all such know that they shall be manifested in Iudgment And finally let all the wicked in the land know this that oportet illos omnes they must all appeare to receiue according to their deeds I will conclude this with an Ode which I found an auncient singing concerning this last Iudgement Quis orabit pro delicto Quis spondebit
TO THE RIGHT HONOVRABLE FRANCIS Lord VERVLAM Lord high Chancellor of England and one of his MAIESTIES most Honourable priuie Counsell Grace and peace from God the Father in the mediation of his Sonne Iesu Christ and by the operation of the blessed Spirit for euer Amen Right Honorable WHen Paul and Barnabas did preach the word of God at Antioch Act. 13.14 the people seemed to giue such attendance vnto their words of exhortation that they desired to heare the same the next Sabboath day When I preached this Sermon at Court the auditors did seeme to giue such attention vnto what was spoken although vnworthy of their meanest attention that they did earnestly desire to see in writing what that day they had heard by preaching Visus enim est perfectior sensus so that my weake labours through Gods blessing passed along the Court like plaine honestie with euery mans good leaue and liking and if this place had beene the furthest period ◠had beene eased of some future paines But then it pleased some Honorable and worthy friends to impose vpon mee this second view and surely pruritus scribendi the disease of our age had almost hindered me for I know litera scripta manet and is more subiect to censure then quod auribus auditur for which cause I did not at the first yeelde Yet at last vpon more serious deliberation least I should haue encurred the breach of loue of some worthy and much respected friends as also the censorious conceit of some supercilious Stoickes I resolued prodere in vulgus to lye Noah-like in the Tent doore that euery scoffing Cham may smile at my nakednesse And because that a seruant of meane birth and qualitie is many times preferred aboue his worth for his Lord and Masters sake I haue therefore made choise of your Honorable Patronage being at that time when it was deliuered one of my most Noble Auditors Vtinam esset possibile me vnum esse ex principibus offerre genimas ad ornamentum Pontificis sed quia haec supra me sunt certe vel pilos caprarum habere merear in Tabernaculo Dei as Origen elegantly I wish that I could speak any thing worthy of this Text or your Honours Dedication A day it is and that a great one when not onely all criminall causes will be heard as in the Court of the Kings Bench as also euery mans case shall be adiudged as at the Common-pleas barre but when and where the iust Iudge of all the world will according to the euidence of euery mans conscience distribute righteous Iudgement and therefore more properly I call it The great day of Chancery plaine it is that the rudest and most Ignorant may vnderstand it yet as I thinke profitable that the most wise and learned may reape some instruction by it the best Remembrancer that Iudges can haue about them is to remember the day of Iudgement Summus enim iudex iudicata reiudicabit and vnto whom much is giuen of him much shall bee required in that day wherefore I beseech the Lord of heauen and earth to assist your Honour with his grace and holy Spirit that you may Honourably long continue as hitherto a good Iusticiar in that place whereunto you are worthily called to his glory and your eternall comfort that you may stand boldly before the Tribunall in that day Amen Your Honours in all seruice in the Lord IAMES FORSITH TO THE READER EXpect not courteous and gentle READER Critical conceits nec ipsum Ciceronem not any Rhetoricall fine phrases in this plaine Sermon for we ought to come to the people as Saint Paul speaketh not with the wisedome of words 1. Cor. 2.4 but plaine euidence of the Spirit to benefit and not to fit the humour is my desire not to please but to displease rather doe I seeke that their sorrow might bee godly against sinne to cause repentance not to bee repented of The dangerous securitie and damnable Impietie of these last and perillous times which euery true iudicious eye discerneth and euery good Christian lamenteth did cause mee to choose this Text that hereby I might rouze vp all carelesse sleepers and sluggish slumberers from their secured safety for some there be I pray God not too many that hardly entertaine at any time so much as any shew of desire or care how they shall appeare in that day as if they had made a couenant with death and hell Esa 28.15 or rather I thinke they beleeue that false Axiome of Atheisme that there is neither heauen nor hell nor yet such a day as is spoken of here for their actions seeme such as these in Iob bidding the Almightie to depart from them Iob. 21.14 for they desire not the knowledge of his waies and stand scoffing like these Mockers in Peter ◠Pet. 3.4 that aske Where is the promise of his comming Such monsters there bee vnder the habite of men worse then the very deuils themselues Ia. 2.19 for the deuils beleeue this day and tremble in remembrance of it for whose prosperitie I thinke charitably of all Psal 122.8 de viuo sperandum as for my brethren and companions sake I am bound to pray and he that is the searcher of the heart knoweth Ro. 10.1 that mine heart desireth their conuersion that all men and women that haue heard of the trueth may truly receiue this true doctrine concerning Christ and his comming to Iudgement that we all being in our liues reformed in our consciences cleared by true repentance of our sinnes and that euery day wee may be readie Luc. 1.17 as a people prepared for the Lord and my prayer dayly shall be vnto Almightie God with the blessed Apostle for my selfe and all Christians that he may grant vs according to the riches of his glorie that wee may be strengthened in the Inner man that Christ may dwell in our hearts by faith in this life so that in that day wee may bee freed from Iudgement and after that day continually dwell with Christ in glory Vnto that God that brought Iesus Christ againe from the dead and made him Iudge of quicke and dead Eph. 3.20 that is able to doe exceeding abundantly aboue all that wee aske or thinke according to the power that worketh in vs be praise in the Church by Christ Iesus throughout all generations Amen Thine in the Lord IAMES FORSITH S. Michaels in the Quern London 20. Nouemb. 1619. THE GREAT DAY of Chancery 2. COR. 5.10 We must all appeare or be manifested before the Tribunall seat of Christ. A Text as I thinke fit to be preached at all times and to all persons Recordare nouissima non peccabis in aeternū saith the Son of Syrach Ecclus. 7.36 Let any man or woman of what degree soeuer alwaies remember their last end and it will bridle them in their courses and curbe them in their waies the remembrance of death is the way to life and for
a man discreetly to consider the day of Iudgement will cause him Iudiciously to prepare his accompts against his Masters comming Amb. ad Virgin laps Cap. 8. Si mente cornerent peccatores quale Iudicium imminet mundo saith Saint Ambrose if sinners did consider what great Iudgement is to come vpon the world they would not hunt so much after worldly vanities and plunge themselues so deep into earthly dirt as they do Hierom. in Reg. Mona Cap. 30. Saint Hierome saith of himselfe that he was very carefull ouer his waies and fearefull in his carriage for saith he whether I eate or drinke or whatsoeuer I doe I continually thinke that I heare this sound in mine eare Rise vp ye dead and come vnto Iudgement It was Origens conceit that the Priest had bells in the lower parts of his garment to put the people in mind of Iudgment The cōsideration of which many times is a terror to the godly Psal 119.120 My flesh trembleth for feare of thee and I am afraid of thy Iudgements saith the sweete singer of Israel and the wicked often are curbed by it Oderuut peccare mali formidine poenae The Psalmist tels vs that this is a cause why the wicked man doth so much delight in sinne and make such a progresse in Iniquity because Gods Iudgements are farre out of his sight Psal 10.5 the remembrance of the Tribunall the feare of execution the consideration of the dungeon the darknesse and blacknesse of the bottomlesse pit the weeping wailing and gnashing of teeth are able to reclaime the most wicked and make them refraine their euill waies knowing that they must come to Iudgement Considering then the terror of the day we perswade men as it is in the next verse That we may couet that both dwelling at home and remouing from home we may be acceptable to him as it is in the verse precedent Thus I haue made way to the Tribunall where I intend to take vp my standing that I may take a full view of the great Assembly cited before the seate of Iustice and there orderly obserue this generall appearance and first obserue the persons cited to appeare and you shall finde them all we 2. marke the manner of their appearance which is well set forth in the word manifested 3. the necessitie of appearance in the word oportet must 4. the place where it shall be and it is said before the Tribunall 5. the Iudge what he is or who hee is before whom and he is Christ. In the first you may see a generalitie for number in the second a plaine euidence or Charitie of euidence in the manner in the third an ineuitabilitie and no resistance of the matter in the fourth the glory or maiestie of the place being a Tribunall and lastly in the Iudge equity and humanitie for he is Christ In the first place The persons summoned 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the persons are set downe in generall to be all we without exception Clergie Laitie King Priest and People it will not bee such an Assembly as that of king Ahashuerosh of his Nobles Princes and Captaines onely Ester 1.3 nor such as the biddings of rich men to their feasts of their rich neighbours Luke 14.12 kinsfolke and acquaintance but like the inuitation of that housholder in the Gospel that sent his seruants at supper time to compell all to come in Ibidem 23. In like manner shall it bee in that great day that all of what degree soeuer sort or sexe high or low rich or poore old or young that haue beene that are that shall be must generally appeare The howre shall come Ioh. 5.28.29 saith our blessed Sauiour in the which all that are in the graues shall heare his voyce and they shall come forth that haue done good vnto the resurrection of life and they that haue done euill vnto the resurrection of condemnation Behold he commeth with clouds and euery eye shall see him yea Apoc. 1.7 euen they which pierced him and all the kinreds of the earth shall waile before him Plinie reporteth of the Lyonesse that she brings forth her whelps dead and so remaine for the space of three dayes vntill the Lyon comming neere to the place where they lye lift vp his voyce and roare so fiercely that presently they are raised from death to life The Prophet Ieremy tels vs the like of the Lyon of the Tribe of Iudah Ier. 25.30.31 That hee shall roare from aboue and thrust out his voyce from his holy habitation he shall cry aloud as they that presse the Grapes his sound shall come to the ends of the earth and he will enter into Iudgement with all flesh so that with his voyce all that are dead shall bee raised to life and shall come and stand before him In that day none shall answer by a proxie no neighbour or friend answer for another no excuse nor pretence shall preuaile Apoc. 6.15.16 The Kings of the earth the great men the rich men the chiefe Captaines and the mightie men euery bondman and euery free man hid themselues in dens among the rockes of the mountaines and said vnto the hills fall on vs and to the rockes couer vs from the presence of the Lambe that sitteth on the Throne These you see would be couered but cannot they would haue others to stand for them but it will not be their authoritie although great in the world while they liued will not serue riches will not help nor honour auaile neither bribes nor friends can saue them from their appearance before that irefull Iudge that Iudge will admit no man to make way for malefactors that they should not bee brought forth into Iudgement neither shall their bee any standing by that dare for Money excuse any mans appearance or free him from the seate of Iustice I reade saith Chrysostome that the man that had not on a wedding garment Hom. 22. ad popul Antioch was thrust out from the feast but I read not saith hee that any made request for him I heare that hee that hid his talent in the earth was bound hand and foot and cast into vtter darknesse and none to speake for him I see the fiue foolish virgins shut out of the wedding chamber and none to make intercession for them Huius diei terror crit inexplicabilis veniet Iudex inexorabilis The terror and dread of this day is vnexplicable and the Iudge will come inexorable The Angels themselues will come out in feare and if in that day the Iust shall hardly be saued Where or how shall the sinner and vngodly appeare c But before I passe further Obiect I must answere an obiection that commeth in my way the Scripture saith That hee that beleeueth hath euerlasting life Ioh. 5.24 and shall not come to Iudgement but shall passe from death vnto life and that the wicked shall not rise vppe Psal 1.6 nor