aspexit Remember Lots wife how she was brought indeed out of Sodome because she beleeued God but was changed by the way into a pillar of salt because she looked backe God hath commaunded vs as he did Lot and his wife that wee should come out of Sodome that is that we should forsake our sinnes and not so much as looke back vnto sinne but runne in hast till we come into heauen which is our Zoar. If therefore with Lots wife we wil looke backe in our way to the pleasantnesse of sinne we shall be sure with her to tast the bitternesse of her punishment for as she vbi respexit Gen. 19.26 ibi remansit where she looked backe there she stood still and came not vnto Zoar where her life should haue bene saued so if once we haue abandoned sinne which is the broade way that leadeth vnto death and haue entred into a holy and religious course which is this narrow way that leadeth vnto life if then with Lots wife we go not forward but looke backward to our former delights of sin it is impossible for vs to come to Zoar that is vnto heauen where our soules and bodies should be saued They are our Sauiour Christ his own words in the ninth of Luke and the last verse No man putting his hand vnto the plough and looking backe is fit for the kingdome of God Exod. 16.26 The Israelites were commanded not once in a moneth nor once in a weeke but euery day to gather Manna except vpon the Sabboth day to teach them and to teach vs that till such time as we come vnto that eternall Sabboth of our euerlasting rest in heauen we must neuer stand still in the way of a godly life but euery day be going forward Apelles posie was Nulla dies sine linea Let no day passe from me without drawing one line at the least and Titus the Emperor was wont to say Sueton. in Tit. Amici diem perdidimus Ezech. 47.4 that he had lost that day in which he did no good As the waters in Ezechiel rose by degrees first to the ankles then vnto the knees then vnto the loines and lastly to the head and as the wheate which Christ speakes of Mark 4.28 grew vp riper and riper first there was a blade then the eare then the full corne and lastly came the haruest so like those waters we must grow higher and higher till we come vnto our head Christ and like that wheate we must grow riper and riper til we come to the haruest which is the end of the world There is in Persia a stone called Selenites Plin. lib. vlt. cuius interior candor cum Luna crescit decrescit whose inward whitenesse increaseth and decreaseth as the Moone The deuotion of Christians must not be like this stone still changing and continuing no longer in one moode then a sparrow lights vpon the ground but we must proceed in the way of righteousnesse euen as Abraham went to Canaan that is we must eundo pergere still be going and as those kine of the Philistines which bare the Arke of God 1. Sam. 6. though they were milch had calues at home yet without turning either to the right or left hand they kept on their way to Bethshemesh so hauing once ioyned ourselues vnto the yoke of Christ and bearing the arke of his law vpon our shoulders in the way of a vertuous life though we haue many allurements to draw vs backe as those kine had their calues yet without turning either to the right or left hand we must keepe our way to Bethshemesh that is vnto the house of the Sunne for so the word signifieth where the Son of God raigneth In the 13. of Saint Matthew the kingdome of God is described in this manner It is as a grain of Musterdseed at first the least of al seeds Math. 13.31 but when a man hath sowne it in his field it becometh first an herbe then the greatest of herbs thirdly a tree lastly the birdes make arbours and shades in the bowes of it Now why should the kingdome of God be compared vnto this seede which is still increasing verily no better reason can be giuen for it then this that we may all learne not to stand still in our Christian growth but to preseuere and go on from grace vnto grace till we become perfect men in Christ Iesus As the star neuer ceased going Math. 2.9 till it came vnto the house where Christ was so if we be once entred into the way of a holy and religious life we must neuer stand still but continue still going till we come vnto heauen where God is If we haue faith we must then go from faith to faith if we haue loue we must continue and abide in loue if we haue zeale we must labor to be consumed with zeale if we giue almes we must go a step further and giue it with chearfulnesse and as God hath continued a chaine of his good graces vnto vs first by predestinating secondly by calling Rom. 8.30 thirdly by iustifying fourthly by glorifying vs so must we continue a chain of our graces towards God by giuing al diligence 2. Pet. 1.5.6 as the Apostle Saint Peter speaketh to ioine vertue with our faith and with our vertue knowledge and with our knowledge tēperance and with our temperance patience and with our patience godlinesse and neuer leaue ioyning the linkes of that golden chaine there ioyned till our bodies and soules come to be disioined But beloued if the want of any vertue is to be lamented in this age it is the want of this vertue of all vertues perseuerance For if we take a view of all estates of men euen from the highest to the lowest shall we not be so far frō finding any increase or growth in Christian duties any going forward in the way of righteousnesse from grace vnto grace Indies deficit in agris agricola Cyp. con Deme. and from strength vnto strength that we shall rather finde an vniuersall falling away and defection in them Is there not now as S. Cyprian iustly complained in his time a daily defectiō in the world both of men and of mens manners Is there not a defection of the husbandman in the field of the marriner at the sea of citizens in townes of townsemen in villages Is there not a defection of innocency in the court of iustice in iudgement of concord in friendship of workmanship in arts of discipline in manners Where is that zeale vnto the word that hunger thirst after the waters of the wel of life that was wont to be amōg vs Do we still thirst after these waters of the well of life 2. Sam. 23. as Dauid for the waters of the well of Bethlem Nay rather are we not come vnto that fulnesse and satietie Numb 11.7 that we euen loath these waters of life as Israel loathed Manna If it were not so
a sinner they apply either one or both these comforts to them first that nullum tempus poenitentiae inidoneum that no time is too late to come vnto God by repentance and if they stagger in their hope notwithstanding this first comfort then is it commonly backed with this second that God is Deus misericordiae a God of mercie and will forgiue them And in this for the most part we are all like vnto Benhadad 2. King 20. For as he fled from the King of Israel from place vnto place till he was forced into a chamber and when he could go no farther thus he was comforted Reges Israel sunt Reges misericordes The Kings of Israel are mercifull Kings So men commonly when they are in health and strength of bodie they run on in iniquitie and sinne and are impiously rebellious against the holy one of Israel but when they are chased as it were into their chambers either by sicknesse or old age and when there is no way but one as we say but death with them then this is their comfort that Deus Israel est Deus misericordiae that the God of Israel wil be then vnto them a God of mercy But beloued let vs neither flatter our selues with vaine hopes nor deceiue our neighbours with false comforts for though God accepteth of him who cometh vnto him in his old age which is the euening of his life as you may see by him who had a penie giuen him Math. 20.9 though he came at the end of the day to the vineyard and by the theefe Luke 25.43 who was posted euen from the crosse vnto Paradise yet God had rather thou shouldest come vnto him in thy youth which is the morning of thy age And to that end saith the wise man Eccles 12.1 Remember now thy Creator in the dayes of thy youth least our comming vnto God should be put off and deferred he saith Remember now and least we should put off till old age or death he addeth in the dayes of thy youth And â—â—rely if there were no other reason for it or if we had not the lamentable example of the fiue foolish virgins in this chapter to direct vs who calling Lord Lord open vnto vs when it was too late were shut out and excluded from the kingdome of heauen yet this may be sufficient that we see commonly in our experience carnall and carelesse sinners Justo Dei iudictio hac poena punitur peccator vt mortens obliuiscatur sui qui cuÌ„ viueret oblitus est Dei Augustin by the iust iudgement of God to be punished with this kinde of punishment namely in old age and at the houre of death to forget both themselues and God as before in their youth they had no care to remember him And for the second comfort that God is Deus misericordiae a mercifull God sure it is that as the women sung concerning Saul and Dauid 1. Sam. 18.7 Saul hath slaine his thousand but Dauid his teÌ„ thousands So we may sorowfully sing and say truly that the despaire of Gods mercie hath slaine thousands but the grosse presumption of his mercie hath slaine ten thousands it hath sent ten times as many more vnto hell as the despaire of his mercie And therefore let vs not suffer our selues any longer to be deceiued for as it is true of God which the Prophet Dauid hath Psalm 86.15 that the Lord is a pitifull God mercifull slow to anger and great in kindnesse for all these doth be heape together in that verse yet haue we no reason to be presumptuous vpon these his mercies but we should rather looke backe vnto the 18. Psalme and 26. verse where the Prophet speaking of God he saith thus With the pure thou wilt shew thy selfe pure and with the froward thou wilt shew thy selfe froward that is as he wil mercifully receiue and pardon those that are penitent so he will iustly repell and seuerely punish those that are impenitent In the verses which go before from the beginning of this Chapter we haue the truth and proofe of this doctrine in the parable of the ten virgins For as we see the fiue wise virgins who had oyle in their lampes that is whose good workes and godly liues did shine and giue light vnto others as a lampe giues light vnto those that are in darknesse as we see these most mercifully to be receiued and to enter in with the bridegroome so the fiue foolish virgins who did slumber and sleepe and had no care to expect the bridegroomes coÌ„ming by a vertuous and godly life those we see most iustly to be shut out And our Sauiour Christ concludeth and shutteth vp that parable with this comfortable sweet caueat vnto vs Watch therefore for you know neither the day nor the houre when the Sonne of man will come As if he should haue said seeing there will be a comming of the Sonne of man to iudgement and his comming as it wil be ioyfull and comfortable to the godly so it will be fearfull and terrible to the wicked and we know neither the day nor the houre when he wil come therfore slumber not sleepe not be not carelesse be not secure in your sinnes but watch that is be prepared by a vertuous and godly life against his comming that so when he shal come you may be receiued into heauen with the fiue wise virgins and not be excluded and shut out of heauen with the fiue foolish Watch therfore for you know neither the day nor the houre when the Sonne of man will come In the right opening handling of which words I beseech you to obserue carefully with me these foure particular considerations First that there will be a comming of the Sonne of man to iudgement He wil come Secondly that because he commeth to iudgement therfore his comming wil be fearful terrible Thirdly that the time of his fearfull and terrible comming vnto iudgement is vncertaine We neither know the day nor the houre when he wil come And lastly the vse which we are to make of all these this is a careful vigilant preparation of our selues against his coÌ„ming in the first words Vigilate igitur Watch therefore Watch therefore for you know neither the day nor the houre when the Sonne of man will come Now of all these in their order And first for the first consideration 1. That there wil be a comming of the Sonne of man to iudgement He will come It was the fond opinion of Aristotle that great Philosopher that the world had no beginning Lib. 1. de coelo cap. 10. and so consequently shall haue no end and that mankind with all other creatures in the world were alwayes and should be alwayes The which opinion of his if it were true then might men lawfully doubt whether there should be a general Sessions a generall calling or no of men vnto iudgement But the best way to confute a heathen is by a heathen Plinius
5.22 The Father iudgeth no man but hath commited all iudgement to the Sonne So Saint Paul saith Rom. 14.10 We must all of vs appeare befor the iudgement seat of Christ And Saint Austin giueth a reason of it thus Vt ea natura iudicem agat quae sub iudice stetit That he may act the office of a iudge in that nature in which he stood before a iudge Secondly for his assistants vpon the bench they are his disciples Math. 19.28 For when the sonne of man saith Christ shall sit in the throne of his maiestie yee which haue followed me in the regeneration shall sit also vpon twelue thrones and iudge the twelue tribes of Israel And thirdly for the bringing of the prisoners to the bar yee haue it in the 5. of Iohn and 28. vers The houre shall come in which all that are in the graues shall heare the voice of the sonne of God and they shal come forth that haue done good vnto the resurrection of life but they which haue done euill vnto the resurrection of condemnation At which time the prisoner shall haue free liberty to speake what he can for himselfe for so they on the left hand pleade not guilty Math. 25.44 Lord when haue we seene thee an huÌ„gred or athirst or a stranger or naked or sicke or in prison did not minister vnto thee And fourthly for the witnesses they are more then two For first Christ who is the Iudge he will witnesse against vs. Ier. 29.23 Ego sum iudex testis I am both a iudge and a witnesse And whereas men are often compelled and enforced to beare witnesse to the truth in the third of Malachy and fift verse Ego sum testis velox I am a swift witnesse And if Christ should faile in his testimonie against vs yet his law-giuer Moses wil not faile for so Christ saith Ioh. 5.45 Do not thinke that I will accuse you to my Father there is one that accuseth you euen Moses in whoÌ„ you trust And though Christ and Moses both do faile in their witnesse yet is there another who will not be wanting euen the diuell in whoÌ„ many haue trusted too much For in the 12. of the Reuel 10. v. Sathan the accuser of the brethren is cast downe who accuseth them before God day and night And thus saith Saint Augustine will he vrge in the last day and enforce his accusation before God Thine they were O king of heauen by creation but mine they are by transgression Tui per gratiam quam amiserunt mei per culpam in qua decesserunt Thine they were by grace which wilfully they haue cast away mine they are by sins which hath cast them away thine they were by the glorious merit of thy passion mine they are for want of charitable compassion thine they were because thou diedst for their sins mine they they are because they died not but liued vnto sin Nobis ergo associentur in poenis qui coÌ„formati sunt in culpis and therfore ô supreme iudge it stands with equitie iustice that these shold be partakers in our punishments who while they liued in the world were companions in our sinnes But if Christ and Moses and the diuel should faile in their witnesse though neither of these did know of thy sinne and so consequently could not iustly accuse thee yet as Lactantius well saith Quid prodest tibi non habere conscium habenti conscientiaÌ„ What will the ignorance of others auaile thee when as the testimony of thy owne conscience wil preuaile against thee For as there are some which haue a good conscience Heb. 13.18 so there are others which haue a bad conscience a conscience seared with a hot iron 1. Timoth. 4.4 And as they who in godly purenesse and not in fleshly wisedome haue their conuersation in this world the testimony of their conscience shal cause them to reioyce 1. Cor. 1.12 so they which haue followed the vaine pleasures the pleasing vanities of this world the testimony of their conscience shall cause theÌ„ to lament And then a mans owne coÌ„science acccusing him there needeth no iury to be impannelled for the party confessing the action the Iudge will immediatly proceed to sentence the which sentence shall not be like the Roman * Romani tabellas seu literas in vrnam solebant conijcere literae fueruÌ„t A.C. A litera Absolutionis C litera condemnationis talis in iudâ—cijs consuetudo apud Graecos 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 respoÌ„debat Romanorum C. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Romanorum A. A a sentence of Absolution whereof mention is made Math. 25.34 Venite benedicti Come ye blessed of my Father inherit the kingdome prepared for you from the foundation of the world But it shall be like that nigrum 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 of the Greeks a sentence of condemnation whereof mention is made in the same chapter and 41. verse Ite maledicti Go ye cursed into euerlasting fire which is prepared for the diuell and his Angels And then last of all followeth the executioÌ„ of the sentence the charge whereof shall be committed to the Angels For so saith our Sauiour Math. 13.49 At the end of the world the Angels shal go forth and seuer the bad from among the iust and shall cast them into a fornace of fire where shall be wailing and gnashing of teeth So then to conclude this with that of the Preacher Eccl. 11.9 Reioyce ô young man in thy youth let thy heart cheere thee in the dayes of thy youth walke in the wayes of thy heart and in the lusts of thine owne eyes but yet know that for all these things God shall bring thee vnto iudgement Be not therefore deceiued neither flatter your selues with this vaine imagination that though you commit sinne with greedinesse yet there will be no reckoning and account for it Say not within your selues as it is in the 5. of Eccle. 4. I haue sinned and what euill hath come vnto me For as it followeth in the same place Dominus est * Patiens redditor dicitur quia peccata hominâ—m patitur reddit Nam quos Diu vt conuertantur tolerat non conuersos duriùs damnat Greg. Hom. 13. in Euang patiens redditor The Lord is a patient rewarder that is as he is patient for a time and expecteth thy returne from sinne so he is a rewarder will not leaue thee vnpunished Lento gradu ad vindictam ira diuina procedit sed tarditatem supplicij grauitate iudicij recompensat The iustice of God goes slowly indeed but it recompenseth the slacknesse of iudgement with the heauinesse thereof And therefore as Abraham said vnto the rich man Luke 16.25 Hîc bona sed illîc mala Here thou receiuedst good things but now thou art tormented so haply without any checke or controlement thou maiest follow thy sinfull pleasures and delights here in this world but there will one day come a time when for those thou shalt
a sinner in the day of iudgement Our first mother Eue so much as in her lay she did hide her sin from God and so did Cain the death of Abel and haply saith S. Ambrose Ambros in Psa 118. in affectu habemus abscondere non in effectu we may with them affect the hiding of our sins from God but we neuer can effect it In the 20. of S. Luke and the 20. verse the Scribes and Pharises come with cunning contriued speeches vnto Christ hoping to intrap him but as cunning as they were our Sauiour was too cunning for them for in the 23. verse Quid tentatis hypocritae Why tempt you me ye hypocrites And surely if craft and subtiltie could not ouertake our Sauiour when he came in humilitie much lesse shall he be ouertaken thereby when he shall come in glory And fourthly though neither of these three doe happen in our earthly iudgements yet we see by experience that witnesses are oft kept backe and by that meanes the prisoner is set free but at Christ his comming vnto iudgement there is no such aduantage to be expected For as Saint Bernard well obserues in a mans owne house and in a mans owne family Deuotis medit cap. 13. he shal not faile of his accuser his witnesse and his iudge Accusat conscientia testis est memoria ratio index his conscience that will be his accuser his memory that will be his witnesse and his reason that will be his iudge to condemne him And least it should be obiected that a mans memory may faile and so consequently the witnesse behold then a witnesse whom nothing can cause to faile Because they haue done villany in Israel and committed adultery with their neighbours wiues euen I see it and I testifie it saith the Lord. Ier. 29.23 And fiftly though neither of these fall out yet if a man be nobly borne descend from honorable and princely parents then none almost dare meddle with him or once call his sinnes in question But as Mordocay in the fourth of Ester and 15. verse said vnto the Queene when as the sentence of death was past vpon all the people of the Iewes in the kingdomes of Assuerus thinke not with thy selfe that thou shalt escape in the Kings house more then all the Iewes so at the day of iudgement when all our sins shall be layd open before God men and Angels it is not our noble and honorable bloud it is not a Kings house nor a Kings linage that can exempt vs. But may not mony procure vs fauour with the Iudge and be a meanes to stay the course of iustice Indeed I confesse that mony may do much with earthly Iudges it may turne iudgement into mercy and mercy into iudgement but it is not the multitude of gifts saith Iob in his 36. chap. and 18. verse that can deliuer thee frō the wrath of the Iudge of heauen But say none of all these do preuaile in our earthly iudgements yet either by the conniuencie of the Iailor or the weaknesse of the prison a condemned man may escape but after the sentence is once pronounced in this last iudgement both these comforts will faile a sinner For first the diuell who is Iaylor will be so vigilant as no prisoner committed to his iayle shall haue leaue to depart And for the second which is breaking of prison that is impossible for those who are bound hand and foote and so are sinners bound after iudgement Matth. 22.13 Take him and bind him hand and foote and cast him into vtter darknesse And yet suppose that they could vnloose themselues as some that are bound may do yet is there no hope of euasion for in the 16. of Luke and 26. verse it is Abrahams speech vnto the rich man in hell Betweene you and vs there is a great gulfe so that we cannot come vnto you neither can you come vnto vs. So that hitherto you see this comming of Christ vnto iudgement to be terrible But if we shall now a little farther consider the rigor seueritie of the sentence which shall be thundered from the mouth of the Iudge against the wicked I make no question but the terror thereof wil appeare much greater The sentence is set downe in the 25. of Mathew and 41. verse Depart from me ye cursed into euerlasting fire which is prepared for the Diuell and his Angels In which words Poena damni first the punishment of losse as the Diuines terme it contained in these words Depart from me doth declare the seueritie of the sentence For if one day in Gods courts be better then a thousand elsewhere as the Prophet Dauid saith in the 84. Psalme and 10. verse then to be not onely a thousand yeares but for euer elsewhere and not one day in the courts of God it must needs be a grieuous and a great punishment For a man to lose his lands here in this world what a vexation and griefe is it to many men it doth oft times driue men vnto their wits end how then thinke we will sinners be affected and afflicted in mind who when Christ Iesus by his most precious bloud hath purchased for them no worse land then the land of the liuing the kingdome of heauen they by their wilfull rebellion will be the occasion of the losse of it Were not the Israelites grieued thinke you when from a sorrowfull heart they told Moses that he had brought them from a land which flowed with milke and honey into a barren wildernesse to destroy them with famine And will it not be a greater torment to the wicked in the last day when they shall heare and see themselues banished from heauen and the presence of God in whose presence as the Psalmist saith Psal 16. and last verse there is fulnesse of ioy and at whose right hand there are pleasures for euermore and then sent into a place where there is a famine of all good things a famine of ioy a famine of ease a famine of the comfortable presence of God Surely if the Apostles for that litle time that Christ told them he was to be absent from them they were so sorowfull and sad Iohn 16.21 that Christ himselfe measureth their mourning by the mourning of a woman in her trauell And if Peter to whom Christ had said Iohn 13.8 If I wash thee not thou shalt haue no part with me was so loth to part with Christ that he said Lord not my feete onely but my hands and my head also in what case shall miserable and accursed sinners be who not for a time onely but for all eternitie are shut out and banished from the sight of God As then the rigor and seueritie of the Iudiciall sentence appeareth in the punishment of losse so is it greatly amplified by the punishment of sense Poena sensus for they are not only banished by the Iudge from heauen Depart from me but they are sent into a place of
punishment into hell fire The Epicure saith Tertullian doth estimate all sorrow and punishment after this maner Modicus cruciatus est contemptibilis Tertul. aduers Gentes cap. 45. magnus non est diuturnus If the punishment be but small then a man of any spirit will contemne it and if it be great this is the comfort that it cannot last long But saith he the Epicure deceiues himselfe because the lawes of God do promise either an euerlasting reward to the obseruers or a perpetuall punishment to the breakers And therfore the sentence runs not thus Ite in ignem Go into fire though that had bin a great and a grieuous punishment but to make it the more grieuous and the more terrible they are commended in ignem aeternum into euerlasting fire Grieuous were the punishments that were inflicted vpon Adam for his sin Gen. 3. for first he was cast out of Paradise and then he was sent into a place of thornes and thistles there to eate his bread in the sweat of his brow all the dayes of his life but far more grieuous wil be the punishmēt of Adams wicked children at the day of iudgement for first they shall be depriued of heauen a place more beautifull then Paradise and then they shall be cast into a burning lake which is a farre worse place then a place of thornes and thistles And whereas Adam found this comfort in his punishment that there was a donec in terram in it that at last there wold be an end the end of his life was the period of his punishment yet the punishment of his wicked posteritie shall admit no limitation of time but they shall go saith the Iudge into euerlasting fire that is they shall burne for euer and euer in that lake of fire Indeed is were some comfort if they were to suffer this punishment no more thousands of yeares then there be sands on the sea shore or grasse piles vpon the ground or no more millions of ages then there are creatures in heauen in earth and in the sea for then were there some hope that at last there would be an end But to be sent in ignem aeternum into euerlasting fire that is continually to burne and neuer to be burned vp and after infinite millions of ages to be as farre from an end as at the first entrance into this torment this is so seuere and rigorous a doome as neither the tongues of Angels or of men are able to expresse it And as the rigor of the doome appeares first by the punishment of losse in that they are commaunded out of Gods presence Depart from me and secondly by the punishment of sense in that they are sent not onely into fire but into euerlasting fire So to make it euery way complete that nothing more might be added to it vnto the former words of this sentence Depart frō me into euerlasting fire the Iudge doth adioyne these latter which is prepared for the Diuell and his Angels Men that are in misery they are commonly of this mind and nature that they would not haue their friends and acquaintance come into the like misery and therefore the purple glutton Luke 16.27 being in hell maketh this request vnto Abraham Father Abraham send Lazarus I pray thee to my fathers house that he may testifie vnto my fiue brethren least they also come into this place of torment And as men are loth to haue their friends companions in their misery so are they as loth to haue those their companions who wil helpe to augment and increase their miseries but the wicked that their sentence of condemnation might appeare the greater they shal not only alwayes burne but their companions in this fire shall be the Diuell and his Angels When the Iewes sate in iudgement vpon our Sauiour Christ they resolued vpon these three things against him first that he must be taken from among them secondly that he must die the shamefull and ignominious death of the crosse and thirdly to do him the greater disgrace as they thought to vexe him the more he must die in the companie of two theeues And therefore hereafter when Christ shall come in his glory to iudge the sinnes both of Iewes and Gentiles he will resolue vpon three the like for them which they resolued for him For first as they could not abide his presence and therefore they cryed tollite take him away so he will not abide their presence but will say vnto them Discedite a me Depart from me And secondly as they resolued vpon no honorable death for him but such a death as was inflicted vpon vile and ignominious persons so the maner of dying which he allotteth vnto thē is such as belōgeth only vnto people that are cursed And last of all as they which did die with Christ were no better then theeues so their friends in tormēt are the fiends and their companions in fire are the diuell and his angels And therfore for the conclusion of this point remember onely that short but sweete caueat which S. Austin giueth writing vpon the 80. Psalme Si non times mitti quó vide cū quo If thou art not afraid to burn for thy sinnes in hell yet be afraid to burne with such hellish companions as are the diuell and his Angels And thus haue you seene the terror of Christ his cōming vnto iudgement as by other other circumstances so especially by the rigor seuerity of the Iudgement sentence which first depriueth them of heauen Depart from me and thē adiugeth them to hell Go into fire Thirdly there to burne not for a time but for euer into euerlasting fire and that with no better cōpanions then the diuell and his Angels I come now to the third point and this is 3. That the time of this terrible coming vnto iudgment is vncertaine For we know not saith my text either day or houre when it will be In the third verse of the chapter going before the 24. of Mathew the disciples of our Sauiour being desirous to be resolued of a double doubt first at what time the temple of Ierusalem shold be destroyed and secondly when his last coming vnto iudgment should be our Sauiour Christ for their better instruction telleth them that there shall be warres and rumours of warres that nation shall rise against nation and kingdome against kingdome that there shall be pestilence and famine earthquakes in diuers places All which signes with many other in that chapter though some haue restrained to the first question of the destruction of Ierusalem yet according to the iudgement of the most interpreters they containe a mixt answer vnto both and are signes not only of the particular desolation of Ierusalē but also of the finall dissolution of the whole world in the day of iudgemēt And grant this yet no other collectiō can fitly be gathered hence but that which Saint Austin long since obserued Modum patefecit tempus celare voluit He
concealeth the time and expresseth onely the manner of his coming And therefore for any man to thinke himselfe sufficiently instructed of the time of Christ his coming by reason of those prognosticke signes which our Sauiour hath set downe it is a grosse and a foolish impiety Yea saith Saint Austin Epist 7 8. to take a computation of times that therby we may know when the end of the world and Christ his coming shall be Nihil videtur aliud quà m scire velle quod Christus ait scire neminem posse It is nothing else but to be desirous to know that which our Sauiour Christ hath said no man can know For of that day and houre knoweth no man saith Christ Mat. 24.36 no not the Angels of heauen but my Father onely Nay in the 13. of Saint Marke and 32. verse he excepteth against himself to leue the high knowledge therof to his Father Of that day and houre knoweth no man no not the Angels which are in heauen neither the Sonne himselfe as he is man only saue the Father And therfore that the world might be the better resolued in this point in the vncertainty of his coming vnto iudgment besides those many watchwords of his to the world It is not for you to know the times and seasons which the father hath put in his owne power Math. 24.42 Math. 25.13 Mark 13.33 You know not what houre your maister will come You know not the day nor the houre when the Sonne of man will come Yee know not when the time is and the like He hath in the Gospell compared his coming vnto three things which come most sodainly and before we are aware and these are a snare a thiefe and the floud of Noah In the 21. of Luke and 34. verse he resembleth the day of his coming vnto iudgement to a snare Take heed vnto your selues least at any time your hearts be ouercome with surfetting and drunkennesse and the cares of this life and least that day come on you at vnawares for as a snare shall it come on all theÌ„ that dwell on the face of the whole earth A snare you know entaÌ„gleth on the sodaine and the birds and wilde beasts whilst fâ—arelesse of danger they are intentiue to their foode they sodainly fall into it And so it is with man saith Solomon he considereth not his end Eccles 9.12 But as the fishes which are taken in a net and as the birds which are caught in a snare so are the children of men snared in the euill when it falleth sodainly vpon them Men may feast it merrily with Iobs children Iob. 1.19 Dan. 5.3 and be frolick with their companions amidst their cups with Balthassar and as it is in the 21. of Iob they may call for the Tabret and the Harpe and reioyce in the sound of Organs but on the sodaine euen before they be aware August Epist 80. they go downe into the graue saith Iob that is they fal into the snare of death and so consequently into the snare of iudgement For Qualis in die isto quisque moritur talis in die illo iudicabitur as the day of mans death leaues him so the day of Gods last iudgement shall finde him And as Christ for the sodainesse vncertainty of his coming compareth it to a snare so he compareth it likewise to the coming of a theefe Math. 24.43 If the good man of the house did know at what houre the theefe would come he would surely watch and not suffer his house to be digged through And therefore be ye also ready for in the houre ye think not wil the son of man come The Apostle Peter in his second Epistle 3.10 makes the same resemblance The day of the Lord will come euen as a theefe in the night in the which the heauens shall passe away with a noyse and the elements shall melt with heat and the earth with the works that are therein shall be burnt vp And Saint Paule 1. Thess 5.2 handling the same argument hath the very same The day of the Lord shall come as a theefe in the night and when men shall say peace and safety then shall come vpon them sodaine destruction as the trauell vpon a woman with child and they shall not escape And as the day of Christ his comming is compared for the vncertaintie thereof vnto a snare and a theefe so for the same cause it is compared by him to the floud of Noah Math. 24.36 As the dayes of Noah were so likewise saith Christ shal the comming of the Sonne of man be For as in the dayes before the floud they did eate drink mary 〈◊〉 giue in mariage vnto the day that Noah entred into the Ark and knew nothing til the floud came and tooke them all away so shall also the comming of the sonne of man be And therefore â—hat answer which our Sauiour gaue to the Pharises question Luk. 17. and 20. vâ—â— may well be the conclusion of this point The kingdome of God cometh not with obseruation that is saith the Glosse it cometh not with the obseruation of the time as if he had said haply some Astronomer or other is so cunning as to tell you when the cloudes will drop but at what time the Sonne of man shall come to iudgement in the cloudes no Astronomer is so cunning as to tell you that for of that day houre knoweth no man no not the Angels in heauen nor the Sonne himselfe but the Father onely Well then beloued these three points being thus cleared First that their will be a comming of the Sonne of man to iudgement Secondly that this his comming vnto iudgement will be fearfull and terrible And thirdly that the time of this his comming is vncertaine we know not when what remaineth now but the vse which we are to make of all these and that is a vigilant and carefull preparation of our selues against his comming prescribed in the first words Vigilate igitur Watch therefore In the first of Ieremy the Prophet at the first saw nothing but a rod but after saith the text he beheld seething pot And so the wicked and vngodly people haply they may see and feele in this world nothing but rods light and slight punishments but the time will come when Salomons rods shall be turned into Rehoboams Scorpions and the Prophet Ieremies rod will proue a seething pot For as flesh is pâ—â— into a seething pot so the bodies and soules of men in regard of their sinnes committed in the flesh shall be cast into the seething and boyling lake of hell At which time they shall haue nothing to comfort them either aboue them or beneath them on the right hand or on the left within them or without them Aboue them shall be the angry Iudge for their wickednesse condemning them beneath them shal be hel open and the fornace boyling to receiue them on their right hand shal be their sinnes accusing them on