vice the gainer An unsound conscience is large and can swallow downe any thing the sincere conscience is strait and the least bone though but such as are in little fishes will sticke in her throat Neglect of smaller matters may justly bring our obedience in greater matters in suspition the same God that requires our fidelity in the one requires it also in the other A gracious heart is like the eye troubled with the least more certainly hee that is unjust in a little will bee also unjust in much Is the uprightnesse of others of Gods servants more highly esteemed by thee than thine owne Doest thou see greater excellencies in them than in thy selfe Feelest thou no bottome in other mens praises when thy heart tells all is not well within An humble Christian hides himselfe in the closet and as in prayer so in all good duties shuts the doore he is much affected with a sense of his owne infirmities resting it selfe wholly upon the power of God to be perfected in her weaknesse and is many times more humbled for the mixtures and defilements of good workes than for some workes simply evill in themselves he desires to be good rather then to be thought so Are the sinnes of others and the sorrowes of the Church as sensible and bitter to thy soule as thine owne Canst thou forget thy selfe and thy particular businesse to lay these to heart Doest thou rejoyce alwayes to be crossing and thwarting thy selfe in those succours and supports of sinne which thy corruption suggests Is that experience which thou hast of sinne and of grace no dead but a stirring experieÌ„ce quickening thee to duty and mortifying corruption in thee so as not onely knowledge but conscience also swayes thee to Christian duties and art thou as carefull to persevere in grace as once to imbrace it these are good signes Cheere up therefore thy drooping spirit the Lord by the power of his grace hath tooke possession of thee Nothing but grace alone is able to keep the love of sinne out of the heart though peradventure some other thing may keepe it out of thy hand Civility and hypocrisie may a little snib sinne or bid it for a while stand aside and give way to better things but it is onely grace that strikes this Goliah dead It is onely the spirit which subdues the flesh But wee must know there is a great deale of difference betweene forsaking of sinne through the strength and power of grace and for other carnall ends and by-respects for an hypocrite may sometimes forsake sinne not out of any love to God or hatred of ill but because sinne leaves him happily hee feares it will bee some losse or discredit to him or else fit meanes and opportunity of committing it serve not his turne and therefore hee forbeares It is nothing for a man to bee chast where there is no provocation to uncleanenesse Here was the tryall of Iosephs integrity that though the occasion were offered by his owne Mistresse to doe the deed in such secresie and security that no eye perceived it yet the feare of God overruled him Many seem to bee meeke and moderate men while they are well dealt with but let some injury bee offered and the contrary will appeare That wee are indeed which wee are in temptation Examine thy heart then in this particular what is the ground of that divorce which seems to bee betwixt thee and thy olde lusts If it flowes from any thing in the world but the love of God and goodnesse thou art in a wretched conditioÌ„ be thy thoughts of thy selfe never so pleasing Art thou one whose heart likes well of sinne though thou canst not or darest not commit it Art thou one who when thou art convinced and rebuked of thy failings thy heart riseth against the reproofe though for thy credit and profit sake thou seemest to welcome and thankfully entertaine the same I tell thee thou art in a dangerous condition thou hast but weake and slender evidence of the spirits prevailing in thy heart But why saith the Apostle here yee shall dye and not yee shall be damned in as much as that is chiefly meant Because the Spirit of God would drive men from sinne by that which is most fearefull to their present apprehension the remembrance of death doth more forcibly move the minde than the remeÌ„brance of Hell though hell bee a thousand times more grievous then death for our affection is moved according to our knowledge of the thing that which most wayes is knowne affecteth most wee know hell onely by faith but we know death to bee fearefull by reason and sense because we feel it growing upon us eveâ—y day The opposition made here by the Apostle warnes us that a necessity lyes upon us to mortifie our sinfull lusts It stands upon our lives unlesse we slay sinne sinne will not faile to slay us It is like a Serpent in our bosome which cannot live but by sucking out that blood whereby wee live What pittiful folly is this we hate them which pursue our bodily life we eschew them by all meanes that would spoile us of our worldly goods onely wee cannot hate Sathan to the death who seekes by sinne to spoyle us of eternall life That same commandement which was given to Adam and Eve If ye eate of the forbidden tree ye shall dye is in effect here given to us all If you live after the flesh you shall dye let not us make an exception where God hath made none every sinne to us is that forbidden tree to Adam if wee meddle with it we shall finde no better fruit than he found Bitter death growes upon the pleasant tree of sinne for the wages of sinne is death It is therefore a point of great wisdome to discerne betweene the deceit of sinne and the fruit of sinne Hee that would rightly know the face of sinne when it stands before him to tempt him let him looke backe to the taile of that sinne which he hath already committed and the sting which it leaves behinde it The perishing pleasures of sin are paid home with everlasting perdition it is done in a moment but brings forth death and breeds a worme that will never die Men may sleep in their sinne but their damnation sleepes not Every mans state in this life is a prediction of that condition which hee shall have hereafter Hee that soweth to the flesh shall of the flesh reape corruption but hee that soweth to the spirit shall reape immortality and life No man commeth to heaven or hell but by the way that leads thereunto A wicked life is a thorow-way to the place of darknesse But a godly life is the direct path to salvation As the tree fals so it lyes and it commonly falls on that side which did most bend towards the earth before if the greatest growth of our affections and actions spring out after the spirit no doubt we shall fall on the right
having thy hand in every impious action with this imperious style sic volo sic jubeo I will and command it to bee so not respecting whether the thing bee crooked or straight right or wrong good or bad then is thy will meerely carnall and doth dominere like a blinde King or ignorant Pilot sitting at the sterne of the whole man and yet not skilled in one starre nor knowing one point of the card nor respecting the Compasse nor regarding the point of the diamond but downe the river with the full saile of affections and tempests of sudden passions no regard to the country whither wee saile no respect of the hidden rockes no consideration of fearefull gulfes no casting of anchor no notice of the Climate c. no marvell then if blinde will make in the end a sudden and fearefull shipwracke both of soule and body Heart To conclude if in thy heart as in a cage thou finde the uncleane birds of adultery and fornication the viper of malice and cockatrice of envy the hydra of covetousnesse consisting of many heads having in their fronts the superscriptions of thee very violence perjury murther and idolatry If in thy heart thou find infidelity security pride confidence in the creature c. If it bee full of hardnes so as no sinnes no judgements no hopes no feares no promises no instructions are able to awaken and melt the same If it bee full of impotency not altered by the invitations and intreaties of God to returne unto him not perswaded by the fruitlessenesse of all sinnefull lusts to forsake them If it be full of folly and madnesse so as all the creatures in the world are not able to cure it full of infidelity ready to depart from the living God under-valuing his precious promises and mistrusting his power full of pollution and uncleanenesse full of unsearchable deceit and wickednesse a very forge and mint wherein all manner of sinnes are framed in secret purposes and desires from whence they spring forth into life and action then is thy heart also nothing but flesh thy whole man nothing but rottennesse and corruption If it bee asked herein how I distinguish betwixt the Elect and the Reprobate for albeit Gods children bee purged through the blood of Christ yea and the force of sinne in some measure weakened in them and inherent sanctity begun in all the parts of their soules by the holy Ghost even in this life yet fleshly corruption is still harboured and the roote of every sinne remaines in the best putting forth the hemlocke of a wicked practice in their Christian course I answer yet can they not be said to live according to the flesh seeing the substance as it were and principall tenour of their lives is directed according to the Spirit As the aire in the dawning of the day is not wholly so dark nor wholly so light as at night and noone day So is the estate of the regenerate not all flesh as the wicked nor all Spirit as them that are glorified but partly flesh and partly spirit grace and corruption not severall in place but in reason to be distinguished yea the flesh is more in measure than the spirit and therefore Paul calls the Corinthians otherwise justified and sanctified yet carnall and we are said to receive but the first fruits of the Spirit whilest we are here Notwithstanding for all this such is the power of the Spirit that albeit it be small like David yet it is able ordinarily to prevaile against that uncircumcised Philistim the flesh And further it is of such inestimable vertue that as one graine of muske giveth a stronger perfume than many other grosse smells So doth that sweeten all our actions in the nostrils of God And as a man albeit all the parts of his body be dead so that he neither knowes nor sees nor can speake yet if he have any life in a corner of his heart any breath or any motion remaining none will be so hard hearted as to pull him out of his bed and bury him as a dead man So although in this life we have many a dead palsie many a dint many a dry buffet by the hand of Sathan yet so long as the breath of God is in us and we keepe the truth of the spirit like the star of a diamond it will cause us to shine in this darknes of our corruption and like an antidote preserve us against eternall death A word of application to two sorts and I proceed First to the Ministers of Gods word let mee speake my thoughts with griefe of heart Such is the universall impiety of this decayed age so apparent to the spiritual eye so weighty in the hand of him that wisely pondereth it that I feare me the Lord is neere and the day of visitation approacheth Is it not a strange thing to consider our Ministers how ignorant how arrogant how dissolute and carelesse many of them are to omit the empty caske the idoll minister what strange children doth our mother the Universitie nourish in her bosome how wanton how unbroken proud and licencious Theologie a science of living well and blessedly for ever is made a stepping stone to promotion a matter of disputation and idle speculation and the meere stuffe wherewithall to make a sermon Practice and obedience is commended to the people but as for the Clerke that belongs not to him It is well if hee reprove sinne soundly in the pulpit though he be utterly dissolute in his owne person Beloved to speake according to the spirit and yet live after the flesh is an infallible note of an hypocrite let men make what they can of it Not that I byte the faithfull shepheards of Gods flocke in any place whatsoever seated in this our Church so farre is it from mee to touch the Lords annointed or to harme his Prophets But the licencious preacher is the man I taxe as being the shame and discredit of the Lords Ministery As concerning the people to undertake to single out all the fleshly and carnall professors of the Gospell were to number the drops of the great Ocean to tell the starres and to cypher the sands of the sea shore The sonnes of Adam have so covered the earth that a righteous man is scarce to be found a man that indeede warreth against the flesh grieveth at the times and sigheth for our sins Are there not many among us which beginne in the Spirit and end in the flesh that faint in the race and embrace the world hot in the beginning key-cold in the ending stayning their names and defiling their soules I speake of the better sort which as it seemes thinke the Lord too long a comming and therefore will fall too and stay no longer Is it not a grievous thing to behold many an ancient in Israel to be so sowly overseene as to sell their birthright for a messe of pottage their God for a peece of bread and the unspeakable
upon them yet shall they escape no more then a beast taken in a trappe or the prisoner included in a strong tower When the Lord shall come in the clouds with his holy Angels the assises shall bee kept in the aire the prisoners of the earth notwithstanding their boasting among their fellows shall all be arraigned before him and then shall ensue the verdict of the conscience upon them even that fearefull sentence of death Goe ye cursed into everlasting fire prepared for the devill and 〈◊〉 angells This may teach us to give small credit to the glittering face and flattering countenance of outward things Let us cheere our selves never so much in our youth and walke forth-right in the wayes of our owne hearts and sight of our owne eyes yet for all that God shall bring us to iudgement The waters are deepest where they are stillest upon a hot gload there followeth a violent storme the terrors of Gods wrath shall assault the wicked man as a sudden tempest and carry him away by night In this one word Yee shall die is contained the infinite volumne of all misery the great Ocean of all sorrow it being an Epitome of mans future calamity Did a man certainely know that hee should lose all his goods friends honor and credit if hee committed this or that particular action I suppose he would shrinke from doing it If the adulterer should know that he was watched and that one behinde the doore stands ready with a polaxe to choppe off one of his legges or armes mee thinkes the feare of that mischiefe should bee too strong for his bruitish affections and conquer his lustfull passions If the drunkard should know that in such a taverne whither he usually goeth posting with his cup companions there standeth in one of the drinking places a man with a pistoll charged with white powder of purpose to shoote him through I imagine how gladly hee would leave his wine and sugar and betake himselfe to his heeles yea and account him his friend that would push him over the threshold and thrust the doore after him And this not without reason for as a man would bee willing to give all that he hath yea and to lose some of his limbes to redeeme his life Skinne for skinne and all that a man hath will be give for his life So will hee be contented to deny his pleasures and profits if in case they prejudice that unlesse it bee those wherein the temerarious rashnesse of affection preventeth reason and enforceth the body to commit the action before the minde hath given any counsell Now if reason can thus prevaile against corrupt passions when hurt is intended against the body why should it not much more perswade the understanding conscience and will to endeavour themselves against fleshly corruptions which are pernicious to the soule and not onely temporall but eternall death to the whole man By death in this place is understood not the first but the second death as appeareth plainely by the antithesis and opposition of eternall happinesse against this everlasting death and misery And so it is taken in many places of scripture Hee that overcommeth shall not be hurt of the second death The fearefull and unbeleeving c. shall have their part in the lake which burneth with fire and brimstone which is the second death What need many proofes as if every scripture were not given by divine inspiration Here wee see the Tragedy that must follow the pleasant Comedy of worldly joyes and the hard reckoning that is given after all the junkets of fleshly pleasure If you aske mee what this death is I thus define it When the aforesaid ignorant and unconscionable wretch hath played his pageants in City and Countrey upon the scafffold of this present earth and perhaps hath gotten him wealth wife and children builded a faire house borne office in the parishwhere he dwelleth purchased much land engrossed sundry commodities and mounted upon the proud foaming steede of all stumbling vanity of a sodaine when hee most wisheth and hopeth to live as a fish taken with a hooke or a bird with the snare he shall bee entrapped with death His fleshly body shall be cast into the earth for a time and his soule into the bottomeless pit of hell Now after that the soule and body hath for a certain season made their abode in the said places of the grave and hell as a Malefactor in the prison untill the Law day then shall they by the unspeakable power of God be united again into one man at the voice of an Archangell and trumpet of God and be summoned together with the rest of the dead to make their appearance before the Almighty to heare that fearefull sentence of condemnation pronounced against them Depart from mee yee cursed c. This is the truth which the Lord hath spoken let all flesh cover their faces lay their hands on their mouthes and stand agast hereat Mocke not at Gods judgements as commonly thou doest at the devil in a play It is fearful jesting with thy maker or playing the foole with edged tooles If further you demand what shall be the state of this creature thus cursed of God and condemned to death I answer if men may bee deceived in judging of the creature subject to sense and outward being much more hardly are they able to conceive of things invisible and made purposely of God in his wisdome to exceede the apprehension of any creature For which cause as the ioyes celestiall doe farre surpasse all earthly melody and therefore cannot be conceived truely because man wanteth a cleer spectacle wherein to behold them So the sorrowes of everlasting torment being transcendent all the glasse of humane misery cannot be sufficient in full conceit to expresse it or come neere it neither can it be knowne of any fleshly creature saving onely of such as feele it Yet least any man herein should be utterly ignorant and so waxe secure esteeming death eternall as a poeticall fury or vizzard to be playd withall thereby fearfully derogating from Gods power wisdome and glory in inflicting justice the holy Ghost hath given us some secret items concerning this point and slightly in comparison runne it over as a Painter with a little white lead drawing forth the great Elephant not so much teaching us what it is as what indeed it is not The first thing touching this matter to be considered briefly is the separation of these carnall men before spoken of from the presence and glory of God whose communion as it is the head and heart of all felicity so to bee deprived of his favourable presence is the very summe of all misery For as a grievous malefactor once in favour with his Prince bound in chains of iron hung up on the top of an hill debarred of all mortall helpe set apart to be consumed with famine night and day filleth the hils and
despaire and in the wicked to torment them before their time yet in respect of God a most friendly admonition for by this a man is suffered in a vision to see and feele the torment of hell to know the price of Christs blood to labour by all meanes possibly to make sure his election In the wicked also it hath this use I could never have thought it possible for a mortall man to have beene capable of that measure of distresse had not the Lord in his mercy for the further subduing also of my bedlame flesh suffered mee sometimes to behold and feele the flashings of hell through his grace causing me as a child to be stilled by the view of fearefull beasts If then in a dream or in a mans life time there may bee such an incredible horror that it may cause the eyes to stare the tongue to rave the haire to stand an end How much more hideous will it be when really and in deede with perfect knowledge sense broad waking we shall feele the strokes of the Almighty the terrours of God shall lay hold of us In consideration whereof in the name of God as you tender your eternall welfare enter into the examination of your selves and discerne of your estates whether they bee carnall or no cry out for the spirit you heare what the Holy Ghost saith If you walke after the flesh ye shall dye How strangely doth the sentence of Corporall death appall a man though pronounced by a wretch like himselfe and shall not the doome of death eternall given out by the Holy Ghost at all astonish you Oh let not Sathan harden your hearts resist the devill and he will flye from thee It is a Commandement and a promise What faire warnings doth God give unto men by himselfe and Ministers by the motions of his Spirit and checkes of our consciences from time to time and shall we bee so voide of grace as to make our selves a booty for Sathan to stand still while he deprives us of our lives and soules and all Me thinks reason should something prevaile with us in things so neerely concerning our best good But alas a hardened heart like Pharaohs a flint an adamant a marble spirit no admonition will serve its turn where grace is wanting no impression takes any roote Men will make triall and then beleeve A feareful experience this is thou maist first try in an earthly cause and then be warned but from hell thou canst not returne Remember Dives credit not the multitude Olde Tophet is wide and large humble thy selfe therefore betime and repent of thy grievous sinnes 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 But if ye mortifie As before the Apostle described an infallible token of death so here he proceedeth to shew in like manner a teckmerion or a certaine signe of life and that is the killing and slaying of sinne which is called Mortification For as seed which thou sowest is not quickened before it die or this corruptible body glorified before it be for a season dead and buried So neither is the manâ—ramed â—ramed in us which according to God is created in righteousnesse and true holinesse untill the olde man bee wounded and laid for dead in us which like a gyant standeth up to expell and oppose the prosters and meanes of all holinesse And this is the cause that the holy Ghost maketh mention onely of this weakning of the force of sin through the death and buriall of Christ not excluding the other part of sanctification which is vivification viz. a vertue flowing from the resurrection of Christ causing us also to rise to newnesse of life It were to small purpose to bring place upon place to prove that which through the whole booke of God is so cleerely apparant How shall we that are dead to sin live yet therein They that are Christs have crucified the flesh with the affections and lusts thereof What can be plainer than this As the Physitian first purgeth before hee giveth a restorative so every one that shall be saved hereafter must first receive an allayer of his corruption here he must first be launced before he can be healed You may know the body of sinne in all his particular members by that which hath beene spoken touching the Flesh. Let every man woman here present examine himselfe from top to toe what cure is wrought by the spirit in his soul whether the kingdome of sinne and Sathan be demolished and weakned and the Kingdome of Jesus Christ advanced and built up in him whether corruption dyes and grace lives in his heart I beseech you deale faithfully with your owne soules and answer me directly to these interrogatories Are thy words which heretofore have beene full of prophanenesse and worldlinesse now directed to Gods glory and the good of those among whom thou livest Are thy thoughts which heretofore were loose and ungodly now bounded within a sacred compasse and spent wholly on heavenly things Is thy understanding informed of the mysteries of Christs Kingdome Is thy memory which heretofore hath beene stuffed with trash and toyes now capable and greedy of divine knowledge Doest thou order every passage of thy life by direction out of Gods word Art thou inwardly conscionable in the performance of holy duties Doth the tendernesse of thy coÌ„science smite thee not onely for grosse and open sinnes but even for vaine cogitations and the least appearance of any evill Art thou watchful against all occasions and temptations of sinne Doest thou feele thy selfe grow and increase in the wayes of holinesse Hast thou such a gracious taste of the glory of God and eternall life that thou desirest to meete thy Saviour in the clouds not so much to be rid out of the miseries of this life as to bee freed from the heavy burthen of sin which hangs so fast upon thee In a word doest thou so judge of things now as thou wouldest doe hereafter when thy soule is best able to judge as in the houre of death and the day of distresse Doest thou approve of things as they further thy last account as they commend thee more or lesse unto God and will bring true peace or sorow to thy soul at last and no otherwise then blessed and happy is thy condition and know this for the comfort of thy soule that thou art dearely beloved of God yea his peculiar one and precious in his eyes Sathan and all the powers of darknesse are fast chained up for ever doing thee any hurt Thou shalt never more bee afraid of evill tidings though the earth be moved and the mountaines fall into the midst of the Sea yet thy heart shall abide strong and comfortable I dare boldly pronounce that God is reconciled unto thee and that his sweete love which never changeth hath seized on thy soule What will it availe a man to say he is rich like the bragging Laodicean and yet be extreame miserable poore and naked what will it
hand and be blessed but if otherwise they grow downeward and thou live after the flesh assuredly thou shalt fall on the left hand and perish irrecoverably Wee shall not be judged according to the particular instant of our death but according to our general course of life 〈◊〉 according to our deeds in that present but according to the desires of our hearts before But seeing they who walke after the flesh are dead already why doth the Apostle say You shall die I answer both are true every ungodly person is now dead but yet a more fearefull death abides them For albeit they be dead in sinne and deprived of the favour of the Creator yet the vaine comforts of the creature doe so bewitch them that they know not how miserable and wretched they are but when the last sentence of damnation shall bee pronounced against them they shall not onely bee banished from the presence of God into everlasting perditiō where the fire of the Lords indignation shall perpetually torment them but they shall also bee stripped of all comfort and refreshment from the creature whatsoever The least degree of their punishment shall be a fearefull famine of worldly supportments Hee that knowes any thing of the narrow way to heaven of the nature of Gods justice and the cunning sleights of Satan of the difficulty of true repentance and how fearfully mans heart is hardned by custome and continuance in sinne would not delay making peace with God till his last houres for ten thousand worlds Which when I consider I cannot but deplore the iniquity of our times wherein not onely carnall men have set themselves to worke all manner of sinne with greedinesse but even they which heretofore have probably seemed to mortifie the deeds of the body doe now renue the battle and are in outward view reconciled and shake hands with the flesh Now are the dayes wherein the love of many shall waxe cold when men shall bee lovers of themselves lovers of pleasure more then lovers of God Oh how is the Spirit quenched and the flesh inflamed every where shew me the man that truly endeavours the suppressing of sinne Oh this is a hard taske it requireth much patience and vigilancie and will bring no small paine and sorrow to the flesh in the end What then be not dismayed thy future peace will more then recompense thy present trouble What availes a little outward flashy joy when the conscience is disquieted and vexed within who would redeeme a moment of pleasure with eternity of paine All is but bitter sweetes so long as sinne raignes What is the reason of these fearefull outcryes and desperate conclusions of Christians concerning their spiritual estate Whence is it that they taking Satans part in accusing and condemning themselves do utter such dolefull exclamations as these when conscience is throughly awakened Alas I have most wretchedly spent the prime and strength of mine age in vanity and pleasure in lewdnesse and lust The best of my time hath been wofully wasted in obeying Sathan and serving my selfe and therefore though I be weary of my former wayes and looke backe upon them with a trembling heart and grieved spirit yet I am affraid God will never vouchsafe to cast his eye of compassion upon my soule Though I have beene a professour long yet many times my heart is full of doubting when I call to minde the hainousnesse of my unregenerate life and see since I was enlightened and should have behaved my selfe in forwardnesse and fruitfulnesse for God answerable to my former folly and licentiousnesse in evill so many slips and imperfections every day and such weake distracted discharging of duties commanded both towards God and man that my very spirits sink within me Many times when I reach out the hand of my faith to fetch some speciall promise into my soule for refreshing and comfort comparing advisedly my owne vilenesse and nothingnesse with the riches of mercy and grace shining therein I am overwhelmed with admiration and thinke with my selfe how is it possible that this should bee Can such glorious things belong to such a wretch and worme as I am I cannot deny but there is mercy enough in God but for me such a notorious wicked liver as I am mercy for me surely it cannot be Alas I have beene no ordinary sinner my corruptions have carryed me beyond the villanies of the vilest creature you can name the enormity of my wayes have set an infamous brand upon mee in the sight of the world besides those secret pollutions and sinfull practises which no eye ever beheld save God alone Had I not beene extreamely outragious and gone on thus with a high hand I might have had some hope but now all expectation failes me I despaire of salvation c. Oh the feares and perplexities which pursue the soule when sinne is once committed conscience unpacified will rave and dragge a sinner before Gods tribunall The sting of an accusing conscience is like an Harlot more bitter then death Who so pleases God shall escape from it but the sinner shall bee taken in it Conscience being disquieted no earthly thing can asswage and mitigate it Yee shall live After that God hath called iustified and sanctified a poore sinner hee glorifieth him at last with himselfe in eternall blisse Death is but a sleepe to such as are in Christ wherein the body is separated from the soule rotting in the earth a while that it may bee the more capable of glory hereafter but the soule is immediately transported into heaven and there remaineth unto the last judgement praising God and expecting the consummation of the Kingdome of glory Before the comming of Christ the powers of heaven shall be shaken Sunne and Mooone shall suspend their light the starres shall seeme to fall from heaven the Elect shall rejoyce the reprobate shall tremble the whole universe shall bee consumed with fire and depart with a noise of the chariot wheeles the earth and elements with the workes thereof shall be consumed in a moment and brought to nothing At the same time shall the trumpet be heard soūded by an archangell Christ shall come in the clouds with great power glory with a troop of angels Then the Elect which were dead at the hearing of the trumpet shall rise with their bodies and the rest alive shall be changed in a moment and all of them shall bee made like the glorious body of Christ. After which they being gathered before the throne of God shall bee separated from the reprobate and caryed in the aire set upon the right hand of God where they shall heare this sentence Come ye blessed c. After which they shall enjoy everlasting happinesse the parts whereof is eternall life and perfect glory This eternall life is that fellowship with God whereby God of himself is life unto the Elect. They shall not need meat drinke sleepe aire heate cold breath physick apparell the light