TWO TREATISES One of the Latter day of Iudgement The other of the Ioyes of Heauen 1. Cor. 15.52 In a moment in the twinckling of an eye shall the Trumpet blow and the dead shal be raised and we shal be chaunged that are found aliue Mat. 24.22 Except those dayes should bee shortened no flesh should be saued but for the elects sake those dayes shal be shortned Imprinted at London by Thomas Creed and are to be solde at his house in the Olde Change at the signe of the Eagle and Childe 1600. The Epistle to the Reader GEntle Reader my desire hath bene of a long time to set downe vnto thee the Excellent the Decaied and the Restored Estate of man if by Gods grace I might or may as yet in good time performe it Wherof I haue finished a great part the which if God giue good successe in due time shall be added to that which is alreadie published wherein I haue set downe the Excellent Estate of man by declaring how God created him after his Image The thing that I haue aimed at both in that and this or any thing else that hereafter I shall do is only to profit and to do good And therefore at this time and according to this time and troublesome dangerous dayes of this world prognosticating the vtter ruine and decay thereof I haue thought good by this Treatise of the Latter Iudgement to put you in remembrance that you may be ready and prepared when the Trumpet shall blowe and when we shall be called to our account That euery one of vs in the meane time may haue this in our minde and in our mouth Good Lord prepare vs to thy kingdom and shorten the daies of sinne Ezekias desired to haue his dayes prolonged And vnto Iosias it was pronounced for a blessing that his time should be shortned Which of these two was the better choyce that I leaue to thy resolutiō perswading thee to that which I take to be best Suprema cogita Cor sit in aethere Foelix qui potuit mundum contemnere Thine to his power S. I. A TREATISE OF the latter day of iudgement Act. 10.36 to 43. Ye know the word which God hath sent to the children of Israel preaching peace by Iesus Christ which is Lord of all Euen the word which came through all Iudea beginning in Galile after the Baptisme which Iohn preached To wit how God annointed Iesus of Nazareth with the holy Ghost and with power who went about doing good and healing all that were oppressed of the diuell for God was with him And wee are witnesses of all things which hee did both in the land of the Iewes and in Ierusalem whom they slew hanging him on a tree Him God raised vp the third day and caused that he was shewed openly not to all the people but vnto the witnesses chosen before of God euen to vs which did eate and drinke with him after he arose from the dead And he commaunded vs to preach vnto the people to testifie that it is hee that is ordained of God a Iudge of quicke and dead EVery one no doubt is desirous to know what shall bee done at the latter day at the day of doome and iudgement A doctrine very necessary to them that haue any care of themselues and of their owne saluation and very profitable also to prouoke vs to the loue knowledge and feare of God And so much the more profitable and necessary it is by how much the nearer that day is at hand and approacheth beeing as our Sauiour Christ saith hard at the doores Concerning these words which I haue read vnto you I shall require you to haue regard vnto these principall matters First what is the cause why this generall iudgement shal be Diuision Secondly the declaration of this iudgement Thirdly who shall be the iudge Lastly how it pertaineth to the wicked to the godly wherunto I haue thought good to ad an exhortatiō the better to be prepared The cause wherfore Christ shal come to iudgement principally is no other but that which procured death vnto vs and the last generall iudgement shall make that matter more certain not only that this bodily death which is a seperation of our soule body for a time shal not serue the turne be inough to satisfie that punishment which we haue deserued but also that some shall be deliuered to eternal death both of body and soule as indeed we should be all in that estate were it not for the benefite of Christ his death The sinne transgression of Adam as also the sins and transgressions of vs al was is the cause why God is displeased with vs and why his wrath is vpon vs and why we are subiect vnto death and why wee shall appeare before the iudgement seate of God Psal 90.9 For when thou art angry saith the Prophet All our dayes are gone we bring our yeares to an end as it were a tale that is told wee consume away in thy displeasure Thou wilt set our misdeeds before thee and our secret sinnes in the sight of thy countenance Our misdeeds haue procured death had not Christ died for vs and rose againe from death to deliuer vs from feare They were the cause why we were shut out from heauen had not Christ ascended vp into heauen to procure vs an entrance they had brought vs to the fearefull iudgement of God and to the heauy and wofull sentence of euerlasting condemnation and endlesse destruction if by the meanes of our Sauiour Christ we might not be deliuered from it For when we were at hell gates and appointed to destruction he came with this ioyfull message Come againe ye children of men As indeed his first comming here on earth was to saue and not to destroy and to call sinners to repentance that they might bee receiued into the fauour of God and haue their sinnes forgiuen them but this his second comming at the latter end of the world shall be to iudge to tender vengeance and to destroy those sinners who in this life were against his glory and their owne saluation to call them now to account whom when time was he called to repentance and who now shall be punished by the extremitie of the wrath of God Who if they had well regarded it in their life time might haue bene receiued into fauour their sinnes being forgiuen so that at the day of iudgement they should not haue beene put to any hazard for them nor ventured the daunger of losse of body and soule for them Here in this life they might haue escaped that which in that day they shall not be able to auoyd We see in all well ordered Realmes that if it were not for offences committed and for the manifold outrages of robbers theeues and murderers the Iudges needed not ride their circuit neither shuld there be any iudgement heard of But as before that man had disobeied God this sentence was
say they is a day of blacknes darknes the earth shal tremble before him the heauens shall shake the Sun the Moone shal be dark and the stars shal withdraw their shining This day is great and very terrible and who can abide it it commeth cruelly with wrath as fierce anger and hee shall destroy the sinners out of the earth And because the world should haue some time to forethink themselues our Sauiour Christ hath giuen some warning by the signes that shall come before this iudgement day As that there shall be false reachers abroad in the world who shal deceiue if it were possible the very elect and chose children of God Math. 24.24 Warres and seditions Nation shall rise against Nation and Kingdome against Kingdome the father in matters of religion shal be against the sonne and the sonne against the father the mother against the daughter one friend against an other great earthquakes in diuers places hunger pestilence bitter persecution of them that shall professe Christ and his Gospell Charitie shall waxe cold among men men shall leade a leaud and sinfull life altogether carelesse of the Iudgement to come The Gospell shall be published and fewe shal regard it it shall bee preached through the whole world for a witnesse vnto all Nations to make them without all excuse and then shall the end come Feareful things shall be seene the sea and the waters shall roare and mens hearts shall faile them for feare and for looking after those things which shal come on the world The Sunne shall be darkened and the Moone shall not giue her light the starres shal fall from heauen and the powers of heauen shal be shaken wherby the horrible trembling of the world is meant together with the alteration and ouerturning of the whole course of nature And after all these things then shall appeare the signe of the Sunne of man in heauen What effects the signes of the latter day shal worke in the mindes of men The consideration of which signes shall worke diuersly both in the godly and in the wicked For the hearts of the wicked shall be hardned made worse by these signes as King Pharaohs hart by Gods strange punishmēts was more and more hardned vntill the time of his destructiō and that he was vtterly ouerthrowne in the red sea These signes as they shal moue the godly minded partly to repentance in consideration of theyr sinnes and partly to comfort in respect of ioyes to come so the wicked contrariwise shall be giuen to dispaire and to curse the houre that euer they were borne And this is a secret iudgement vpon them that they shall be blinded euen vntill the very houre of their destruction so that when they would seek for remedy there shal be none The godly they wish for the comming of the Lord Come Lord Iesus come quickly for they know that his comming shall end their miseries and begin their ioyes as Christ himselfe doth comfort them Luk. 21.28 And when these things begin to come to passe then looke vp and lift vp your heads for your redemption that is the full accomplishment of the same draweth neare For then as saith the Apostle 1. Thes 4.17 Shall wee bee caught in the cloudes to meete the Lord in the aire and so shall we be euer with the Lord. The last circumstance of this iudgement is Sudden that it shall come vpon the sudden and that most fearefully to the wicked 1. Thes 5.3 For when they shall say peace peace and all in safetie then shal come vpon them sudden destruction as the trauel vpon a woman with child and they shall not escape As it fell out to the rich man in the Gospell Luk. 12.20 Soule saith he take thy ease eat and drinke take thy pastime for thou hast much good laid vp for many yeares But he heard doleful words O foole this night will they fetch away thy soule from thee Or as when Nabuchadnezer vaunted himselfe of his stately buildings a fearefull voyce came suddenly vnto him O King Nabuchadnezer to thee be it spoken thy kingdome is departed from thee Or as when his sonne King Belshasar Dan. 5.6 feasting and hanquetting among his Concubines suddenly there appeared a hand writing vpon a wall declaring the end of his Kingdome and his death This sudden destruction shall worthily fall vpon them who haue made a mock of this iudgement who then shall feele the dint of Gods reuenging sword and they that imboldned themselues in all wicked waies and euill naughtie practises shall then know how far they went a stray The wicked whom no lawe could refraine from their licentious life and who haue died to the sight of men in peace after they haue long enioyed their lusts and diuers pleasures after much violence and wrong which they haue offered after many misdeeds which mans lawes should haue corrected and yet let passe although they haue escaped the iudgement of man yet then shall they receiue according to their deedes But to the good and well disposed it is a watch-word when they heare that the Iudgement day shall be vpon a sudden Let vs therefore with the fiue wise virgins haue oyle in our Lampes remembring Christ his forewarning That which I say vnto you I say vnto all men watch And so much briefly for the second part of the diuision of this Text namely of the description and declaration of the latter Iudgement Who shall be the Iudge The third generall matter which I proposed vnto you was concerning the Iudge and who it should be And as it was said of the Iudgement that it should be sudden so also shall the comming of the Iudge be Mat. 24.27 For as the lightning commeth out of the East and shineth into the West so shall also the comming of the sonne of man be He that was equall with God and tooke vpon him the shape of a seruant hee that was abased despised and persecuted of sinfull men hee shall come in power and great glory to iudge the world and to be reuenged of his enemies He whom God hath placed at his right hand farre aboue all principallitie power might domination and euery name that is named not in this world onely but also in that that is to come hee it is that is ordained of God a Iudge of quicke and dead Whose comming shall not be as at the first poorely and basely but with great maiestie and after a most glorious wonderfull and most dreadfull maner He shall descend from heauen not to come downe on the earth but to sit on the cloudes as his tribunall seate and throne of Iudgement hee shall come with a shout and a maruellous great noise with the voyce of the Archangel and with the sound of the last Trumpet For the Trumpet shall blowe and the dead shall be raised 1. Cor. 15. and hee shall shewe himselfe with thousands of his mighty Angels and that in flaming fire rendring vengeance vnto them
be placed in the heauenly Ierusalem and reckoned amōg the saints of God that the day of iudgement may not be a day of eternall condemnation vnto vs but euen the perfection of our saluation and redemption and the beginning of all ioy comfort While we liue here in this world let vs be alwayes ready by spending the time well For as we sowe so shall we reape As the holy Apostle doth put vs in minde Gal. 6.7.8 Bee not deceiued God is not mocked For he that soweth to the flesh by practising the workes of the flesh shall therefore reape corruption or rather as if he had said condemnation But he that soweth to the spirit by mortifying the deeds of the flesh by the good motions of Gods spirit shall there hence reape euerlasting life Which sentence I pray God print in all our hearts and so graciously prepare vs vnto the day of iudgement Now the very God of peace keepe vs in all well doing and in all good workes to do his will working in vs that which is pleasant in his sight through Iesus Christ to whom be praise for euermore Amen 2. Pet. 36. The world that then was perished ouerflowed with water 2. Pet. 3.7 But the heauens and earth which are now are kept by the same word in store and reserued vnto fire against the day of iudgement and of the destruction of vngodly men vers 9. The Lord is not slack but patient vers 10. Howbeit the day of the Lord will come as a theefe in the night in the which the heauens shall passe away with a noyse and the elements shall melt with heate and the earth with the workes therein shall be burnt vp Seeing therefore that all these things must be dissolued what manner persons ought ye to be in holy conuersation and godlynesse Looking for and hasting vnto the comming of the day of God by the which the heauens being on fire shal be dissolued But we looke for new heauens and a new earth according to his promise wherein dwelleth righteousnesse Wherefore beloued since ye looke for such things be diligent that ye may be found of him in peace without spot and blamelesse And suppose that the long suffering of our Lord is saluation 1. Pet. 4.7 Now the end of all things is at hand Be ye therefore sober and watching in prayer Luk. 21.34 Take heed to your selues least at any time your hearts be oppressed with surfetting and drunkennesse and cares of this life and least that day come on you at vnawares For as a snare shall it come on all them that dwell on the face of the whole earth Watch therefore and pray continually that ye may be counted worthy to escape all these things that shall come to passe and that ye may stand before the Sonne of man Arise ye dead and come to iudgement The end of the first Treatise A TREATISE OF the Ioyes of Heauen 1. Cor. 2.9 But as it is written The things which eye hath not seene neither eare hath heard neither came into mans heart are which God hath prepared for them that loue him IF the holy Apostle S. Paul being taken vp into Paradice heard such words which cannot bee spoken and are not possible for man to vtter as he testifieth of himselfe 2. Cor. 12.3 How should I take vpon mee to shewe you those Ioyes which neither eye hath scene nor eare hath heard nor euer entred into the heart of man Herein I know mens mindes wil run vpon needlesse curiosities which is no part of my dutie to satisfie as also to shew you mine owne deuices and imaginations were a thing to set forth my owne folly But so far forth as mans reason may search but there we must stay for mans reason in spirituall affaires is altogether foolishnesse nay rather so far forth as Gods word doth instruct vs we may be desirous to learne as also to be content although many things bee hid from vs. Let it therefore be sufficient vnto vs if wee may haue but a taste of those Ioyes and that it pleaseth God in a measure to graunt vs some knowledge of them Adam beeing in the earthly paradice knewe not all the secrets and commodities thereof and how shall wee thinke to attaine to the full knowledge of heauenly Paradice But seeing God doth graunt vs the vnderstanding of these matters but after a sort he doth it for our good that seeing those ioyes that we can conceiue are surpassing excellent and yet the heauenly ioyes do surmount our cōceits by many degrees further we might the more be drawne in loue with God himselfe who hath ordained such rare vnspeakeable incomprehensible and endlesse excellencies for them that loue him and liue in his obedience As also considering our own great vnworthinesse we might with the Prophet Dauid breake foorth into the praises of God 14.4.3 and say Lord what is man that thou hast such respect vnto him or the sonne of man that thou so regardest him Now as the Prophets doo stir vp the peoples mindes to serue and honor God by setting before them the temporal blessings of this life and thereby giuing them an earnest of greater blessings to come so is the happie estate of euerlasting life described vnto vs by such earthly comparisons as our natural capacitie can conceiue That we beholding in minde and contemplation those wonderfull Ioyes which we can conceiue we may grow into admiration of those heauenly and incredible excellencies which are altogether past our conceit and farre beyond our reach and vnderstanding For as spiritual blessings do far surpasse corporall blessings so heauenly ioyes do far exceed al earthly glory Yea and these stately secrets of an other life are so much hidden from flesh and bloud that all the learning of the wise men of the world can come nothing neare them That in this case they may truly say with the Astrologers of King Nabuchadnezzer Dan. 2. It is a rare thing and there is no other that can declare them but God himselfe whose dwelling is not with flesh The Turkish Paradice But let vs a little behold what flesh and bloud hath set downe concerning these ioyes of heauen In the Turkish Alcoran that is a booke which they vse in stead of a Bible which Booke Mahomet their Prophet left vnto them as the learned haue searched out thus the ioyes of heauen are set downe Their Prophet promiseth them garments of silke of all sorts of colours bracelets of gold and amber parlours and banquetting houses vpon flouds and riuers vessels of gold and siluer Angels seruing thē bringing in gold milk in siluer wine lodgings furnished cushens pillows and downe beds most bewtifull women to accompany them gardens and orchards with harbors fountains springs and all manner of pleasant fruits riuers of milk honey and spiced wine all manner of sweet odours perfumes fragrant sents and to be short whatsoeuer the flesh shall desire to eate Thus fleshly people haue a fleshly religion
day of iudgement they shall not escape though his iudgement doo not presently take hold on them They cannot slip from God or auoyd him but are bound as it were with secret chaines so that in time to come they shall bee drawne do iudgement who are kept vntill that time to be punished euen as the oxe which is fed fatted to the slaughter So that it behoueth vs to wayt vpon the time of the last iudgement which God hath appointed and so to continue in hope and patience vnto the ende of our liues and not to be offended thogh the wicked be not punished But euery one of vs ought to haue respect to our owne wayes to keepe our selues within the compasse of Gods feare least that fall vpon vs which we thinke and looke should fal vpon other and wonder with our selues why it is not so Againe as the word of God dooth instruct vs let vs cōsider these two principall causes why God delayeth this day of iudgement One is that the day of iudgement shall not come vntill the number of the elect be fulfilled as we may reade Reu. 7.2 And I saw another Angel come vp from the East which had the seale of the liuing God and he cried with a loud voyce to the foure Angels to whom power was giuen to hurt the earth and the sea saying Hurt ye not the earth neither the sea neither the trees till we haue sealed the seruants of our God in their foreheade And then shall the iudgement be as we reade Math. 24.22 Except those daies should be shortned there should no flesh be saued but for the elects sake those dayes shal be shortned Secondly this Iudgement is delaied that the stubborne and vngodly may be thereby without excuse For they haue warning inough exhortations threatnings at all times what their sinnes deserue and what they are to looke for so that they cannot be ignorant of the iudgemēt day neither can they say that they are oppressed at vnawares And this may suffice to proue not onely that sinne and our offences is and shal be the cause of iudgement but also they that sin of set purpose in scoffing and mocking sort think that there shall be no iudgement or rather do suppresse and bury within thēselues if it might be the inward feeling knowledge of the same that to their great hurt shal not escape that heauy vēgeance of God thogh yet they be forborn Also that the minds of the godly be not troubled although they do not presently see that god doth exercise his iudgments punishments vpon them and that they faint not in wel doing but still hold on their course remembring that God hath appointed a day of iudgement vpon the which they must stay and depend and vnto the which they must referre all matters and then shall all their causes be heard and all their griefes eased Notorious sinnes procure notorious punishments in this world but especially at the iudgement day shall the full measure of all plagues and punishments be fulfilled And so much the more because that in this world many rule and raigne in their wickednesse and are as it were scotfree and as the Prophet saith They come in no misfortune like other men neither are they plagued according to their deserts But the latter day the day of doome and iudgement is and shall bee their day of assises and of their perpetuall execution Wherefore let none of vs all suppresse and banish the inward feeling and knowledge of this iudgement day seeing that by nature it is engraffed into our hearts and secret knowledge but rather let in haue that effect in vs that of right it ought to haue We see it true in worldly matters and I would to God it were as true in heauenly matters For questionlesse the forethought of the assises and of the execution doth feare many from their wicked purposes and makes them take an other course And so no doubt would the remembrance of the iudgement day preuaile with vs but that wee are carelesly perswaded that it is farre hence and that we shall neuer see it nay more then that many thinke it shall neuer be Well how far off the iudgement day is God knowes and wee may euery day looke for but by the way take this for thy learning that thy dying day is and shall be thy iudgement day and assure thy selfe that thou shalt so find it For when thy soule is parted from thy body then shalt thou presently appeare before Gods iudgement seate to giue thy account and pray that it may be to thy comfort and not to thy destruction Heb. 9.27 2 Now for the description and declaration of this generall iudgement which is the second principal matter in this text that both they which either mocke or doubt of the iudgement to come and they also which are well neare perswaded thereof might be throughly perfectly and certainly enformed therefore the order and maner of this iudgement is set downe in the scriptures and word of God principally and especially in the 25. Chap. of Mat. vers 31. and so forth in these words And when the Sonne of man commeth in his glory and all the holy Angels with him then shall hee sit vpon the throne of his glory And before him shall be gathered all Nations and hee shall separate them one from an other as a shepheard separateth the sheepe from the goates And he shall set the sheep on his right hand and the goates on the left Then shall the King say to them on his right hand Come ye blessed of my father inherite the kingdome prepared for you from the foundations of the world Vnto them on the left hand he shall say Depart fro me ye cursed into euerlasting fire which is prepared for the diuel and his Angels And these shall go into euerlasting paine and the righteous into life eternall Which description and declaration cannot be more plainely euidently and briefly set downe setting forth vnto vs First the comming of the Iudge with his company that is al the holy Angels Secondly the general appearance of all the people of the world Thirdly the office of the Iudge in separating the good from the bad And lastly the pronouncing of iudgemēt by definitiue sentence without all reuocatiō Al which matters God willing shall be handled when I come to entreate of the Iudge so that I need not to stand vpon this point but to referre you thither where in a more fit place it may be considered And as here the order of the iudgement is expressed so in other places of scripture other matters are specified which are very necessary to giue vs further vnderstanding herein As first concerning the day when this iudgement shall be the signes that shall go before this day as also how suddenly it shall come vpō the world Cōcerning the day the Prophets do foretell how terrible it is likely to be The day The day of the Lord
no doubt they feele that there is giuen to them a spirit of bondage and feare through which they tremble at their owne estate They are in mount Sinay where is the burning fire blacknesse darknesse tempest and the sound of a Trumpet in consideration whereof they tremble and are inwardly tormented But thou wilt say the wicked prosper and reioyce in their dayes they are bound in no such bondage nor feare no such feare Thou canst not tell neither doest thou know the heart of wicked man howsoeuer hee boast in his substance and outward prosperitie and seemeth to haue peace peraduenture there is a bitter remembrance within him of the iudgement to come He may delight and sport himselfe but in that laughing the heart is sorrowfull and that myrth doth end in heauinesse And albeit they striue maruellously to cast out this feare yet if they could cast it out from them as out of a cannon and fieldpeece yet would it euermore returne vnto them againe and vexe their heart that so flyeth from it If they would full faine seare vp their consciences as with a hot and glowing Iron yet sometime it will awake them as out of a sleepe so â—aht vpon a sudden they shall see a fearfull sight of death and iudgement And as we read Rom. 8.19 That the feruent desire of the creature wayteth when the sonnes of God shall be reuealed so also we may well say that the consciences of men do groane as it were vnder the burthen of sinne and earnestly desire to be diâ—burthened and yet they shall not For at the iudgement day when all the creatures of the earth shall haue their desire then shall the consciences of the wicked torment them a fresh and that more fiercely then euer they did before For then shall the time be that we shall giue account and God shall bring all our secret sinnes to light our consciences bearing witnesse against vs. The diuell shall accuse And yet there remaineth an other accuser beside God and our owne conscience and that is the diuell who alwayes sought our destruction and brought vs vnto it by diuers temptations and sugered baytes The diuel shal be at hand to accuse vs to call for iudgement against vs who after our iudgement is giuen and the sentence past shal be ready most terribly to torment vs world without end And to bring this to passe then shall he lay deeply to our charge and call for iudgement against vs reioycing and triumphing that he hath so good a cause before so righteous a Iudge earnestly crauing that hee will iudge vprightly because iustice and iudgement is the preparation of his seat and his throne is established by it I pray thee therefore will this accuser say giue sentence with me and iudge him to bee mine which while hee liued would be none of thine mine he or she whosoeuer is by right and they haue deseâ—erued to suffer torments with me and seeing they haue followed my wayes in theyr liues now let them be partakers of my punishments And shall not the Iudge of the world doo right saith Abraham and minister righteous iudgement yea doubtlesse as the Apostle S. Iude vers 14. hath set it downe Behold the Lord commeth with thousands of Saints to giue iudgement against all men and to rebuke all the vngodly among them of all their wicked deeds which they haue vngodly committed and of all their cruell speakings which wicked sinners haue spoken against him When all matters are thus made manifest all shall be iudged partly according to the confession of their owne guiltie conscience and partly by the word of God which they haue hard and which they haue either neglected or despised euen by the selfesame word shal they be iudged For by that shall they be made without excuse and the more culpable before Gods iudgement seate As we may reade in the Gospell of S. Iohn Word Chap. 12.48 He that refuseth me and receiueth not my words hath one that iudgeth him the word that I haue spoken it shall iudge him in the last day Where by the way we are taught to haue the more regard of the word of God and with reuerence to heare it with remembrance to keepe it in our hearts and with care to expresse it in our liues and conuersation that it may be a helpe to our saluation whereas otherwise it is like to bee our Iudge to our condemnation Which is further declared by that which is set downe Acts 13.40.41 Beware therefore least that come vpon you which is spoken of in the Prophets Behold the despisers and wonder and vanish away For I worke a worke in their dayes a work which yee shall not beleeue if a man would declare it vnto you Which worke by the interpretation of the learned is the vnspeakable vengeance of God vpon those that contemne his word Thus then beeing in his presence and after the generall trial of our cause and after we haue giuen our account shall Iesus Christ who is appointed to be the Iudge of quick and dead proceed to Iudgement in seperating the iust from the vniust the good from the bad the wheat from the chaffe the sheepe from the goates For in this world they are mingled together the good with bad and God suffereth his raine to fall as well vpon the vniust as the iust neither is he hasty to separat them the one from the other in this life To the end that he may shewe his patience toward the wicked in giuing them time and space to repent as also by their meanes he exerciseth his Church and people to teach them patience and to try whether they will stand stedfast vnto him or fall away from him with the rest of the world And as he rebuked his Disciples because they desired that fire should come downe from heauen to consume the Samaritanes so also he findeth fault with them that would haue a seperation before the iust time come According as we read in the Epistle to the Romans Chap. 12.19 Vengeance is mine I will repay it saith the Lord. God knoweth his iust time and his appointed time is the end of the world Which matter is very effectually set downe in a Parable Mat. 13.12 For after the good feede was sowne and the blade sproong vp and brought forth fruite then appeared also tares Then came the seruants of the housholder and said vnto the maister Maister sowedst not thou good seed in thy field from whence then hath it tares And hee said to them the enuious man hath done this Then the seruants said vnto him Wilt thou then that we goe and gather them vp But hee said nay least while ye go about to gather the tares yee pluck vp also with them the wheat Let both grow together vntill the haruest and in time of haruest I will say to the reapers gather ye first the tares and bind them in sheaues to burne them but gather the wheat into my barne The
clime into Gods vnsearchable counsell althogh it be denied vs. Wherefore let vs be content to keepe our selues within the bounds of modestie and not to be curious and desirous to knowe more then the Angels who are altogether ignorant hereof much lesse shal we be able to reach vnto it but the more we desire to know it the further off shal we be from it Some haue bene so bold as to set down the time and haue fained heauenly reuelations for the certaintie and assurance of their speeches yet their vanitie hath beene disprooued when the time hath beene expired How much better shall it bee for vs to lay aside all such vanitie which stands vpon vncertaintie and giue our selues to such a carefull meditation that wee may not bee vnprepared when wee shall bee called Curious searching can nothing profit vs but a wise and godly foresight and forecast may stand vs greatly in stead whereby wee shall not bee taken at vnawares as the vngodly are like to be who forecasting no danger shall suddenly fall into destruction If wee cannot sufficiently make answere vnto the Iudge Prayer before whose iudgement seate wee shall stand as doubtlesse wee shall not bee able to answere one for a thousand let vs prepare our hearts by confession of our sinnes and by prayer for forgiuenesse of them and let vs say with the Prophet Enter not into iudgement with vs O Lord for in thy sight shall no flesh bee iustified O Lord forgiue vs our sinnes and let not thy wrathfull displeasure light vpon vs. Who would be vnprepared against the time that shall come and yet it is vncertaine to teach vs to haue the more care seeing that after death hath arrested vs we shal be broght into the court of Gods iudgement and then no other issue no other way but either heauen or hell And who would not haue a great regard to this matter For the tryall of this iudgement shal be seene in the anguish of death and as it were at the last gaspe when our consciences shall bring heauy things to our remembrance and the diuell by his accusations shall put vs in great feare and driue vs well-neare to dispaire And the nearer wee begin to approach to the tribunall seate of Gods iudgement the greater shall bee our feare and more grieuous vnto vs then the bitter pangs of death it selfe Watch therefore and pray that thou mayest be prepared against this time and against this iudgement Wherefore the Lord in mercie Conclusion graunt vs a godly and a peaceable passage and that throgh his desert that dyed for vs it would please him to mittigate and asswage all these terrorus and feares and let vs with all speede approach to the throne of grace to finde helpe in time of need Whereas the wicked which are carelesse in their lifetime at the poynt of death and at their last passage out of the world shal be so assaulted on euery side by their owne cōscience condemning them and the diuell accusing them and the horrour of euerlasting torments to come ouerwhelming them that they shall bee driuen to crie out against that iudgement that hangeth ouer their heads and wayteth for them at the doore Such shall the day of iudgement bee to vs as is the last day of our life and looke what the course of our life is when we are called vnto iudgement for after our death immediately commeth iudgement and so shall our iudgement be Neither are we therefore to thinke that our last deedes onely shall come to examination but wee ought to be prepared euery moment least death doo take vs vnprouided For they which in the anguish of death and in the vpshot of their liues shal be found vnready it is hardly to be thought that their resurrection shal be happy And therefore our Sauiour Christ hath said He that perseuereth Perseuere and holdeth out well to the end he shall be saued The which that we may do let vs be prudent Noahs to build the Arke of a good conscience before the floud of iudgement do ouerflowe prouident Iosephs to lay vp the graine of golinesse in the barns of our harts before the dearth of mercy shal be like vnto painful ants to prouide the food of the soule before the winter of iustice do approach tractable patients to take the preparatiue of repentance before the pangs of death doo come wise virgines to haue ready the lampe of faith and the oyle of vertue before the Bridgrome Christ Iesus shut vp the doores good stewards to prouide for the tabernacle of heauen before we loose the office of this life And let vs not straine curtesie to see who will go first but let vs remember that euery one is to answere for himself and God hath many messengers For either sicknesse will come or age will come nay death will come suddenly and speedily and after a while we shall rise againe and the Iudge will come who will neither be led by fauour or request nor blinded and stopped from proceeding with bribes and money nor then will allowe of too late repentance because then shall be the time of execution of his iustice The day of iudgement shall come in the which pure harts shall more preuaile then faire words and a good conscience then great treasure And though some may thinke that that day is far off yet let them be sure their last time will come on apace and wee knowe not how soone that houre shal be and when God wil appoint the time Good it were and most happy for vs if euery one of vs were so affected and so prepared as it is reported of a holy father S. Ierome whose words were these euen the declaration of his heart For out of the heart out of the abundance thereof the mouth speaketh Whether I eate sath he or drinke or whatsoeuer I do me think I heare this sound alwayes in my eares Arise ye dead and come to iudgement Arise ye dead and come to iudgement Let vs follow his example confirmed by the Apostles counsell Watch and pray withall perseuerance that wee may keepe the garment of innocencie and labour the worke of God in the day of this life Wherefore seeing that day shall bee comfortable to the godly which shal be fearefull to the wicked let vs endeuour before this iudgement come to be among the godly and the righteous and that our cōsciences may cleare vs so wel that wee may feele within our selues a desire of this second comming of Christ rather then any trēbling at the remembrāce of it The which let it not be done by any fained flattery of our selues but in sinceritie truth knowing this assuredly that whosoeuer shal not be found written in the booke of life shal be cast into the lake of fire where their portion shal be nothing else but weeping gnashing of teeth That wee may not bee caught in the flaming fire rendring vengeance but that we may