us take Saint Paul's golden Counsel which he gives to his Corinthians Let us judge nothing before the time until the Lord come who will bring to light the hidden things of darkness and will make manifest the counsels of the heart 1 Cor. 4. 5. Let no man anticipate this Judge take his office out of his hand by judging his brethren Exact knowledge is requisite in a Judge the eyes of Man are too dim to judge of the Actions of others because they cannot see into the heart their root or fountain for God alone is the searcher of the Heart Hence it is that holy men in this life are oft judg'd to be Hypocrites when as on the contrary the glistring Glow-worm of morality in this dark night of the world goes under the the notion of holiness and integrity Thus the righteous are condemn'd and the wicked ustified by those who judge after the light of their eyes according to appearance and not righteous judgment 2. Is this day coming The thought of this should take off the wheels of their Chariots make them drive heavily who walk not only but run in the way of their hearts and in the sight of their eyes those windows of wickedness and loop-holes of lust Know this whosoever thou art thac takest thy swing in sinful courses that God will bring the to judgment either in this life as he did Hophni and Phineas Nadah and Abihu or infallibly at thy Death's day which is thy Dooms-day then God will bring thee per force be thou never so loath to come to it he will hale thee to his Tribunal be it never so much against the heart and against the hair of thee To contract will this Day of the Lord which is coming be a great and terrible or dreadful day in so many respects as you have heard Then as you tender the safety of your immortal Souls in that Day soak them before in the consideration of it and to this end suffer me to furnish you with a few Meditations which may conduce to the farther setting home of what hath been already said on this subject As Almighty God hath shar'd his Pow'r in the creating of things his Wisdom in the Government of them his Mercy in the Restauration of faln man so he hath reserved his justice in punishing of wicked to be declared eminently on this Day 'T is true the wicked meet often with some of Gods vengeance here in this life but that is only as the heat-drops to the swinging shower of Gods wrath and indignation which on this day will take hold upon them 't is but the brief Preface to the huge Volume of misery that then will attain them For if he made such variety of things to shew his power so wonderfully hath qualified them as he hath done to shew his wisdom If he hath done and suffer'd so much as he hath done that he might manifest his mercy to all what think you will he do when he sets himself about it makes it his business to manifest the greatness of his justice Or if you will thus to make this day appear somewhat more dreadful yet If when he intended to shew the greatness of his mercy He the Son of God would be born in a Stable lye in a Manger converse with sinners here in the world and at length for wretched sinners be apprehended bound spit upon buffeted crown'd with thorns ridiculously array'd bear his Massy Cross on his own shoulders and at last on it be Crucified between two Malefactors if I say the Son of God deigned to undergo such things to the astonishment of Heaven and Earth Men and Angels and this to declare the greatness of his Goodness and Mercy Then conceive if you can what he will do when he intends fully to declare the greatness of his Justice kept with much long-suffering and patience till this Great Day If you would have this farther illustrated then thus Saint Luke in his relation of the manner of Saint Paul's Conversion tells us in the 9. Chap. of the Acts that after he was dismounted he heard a voice saying Saul Saul why persecutest thou me and he said who art thou Lord and the Lord said I am Jesus whom thou persecutest and he trembling and astonished said Lord what wilt thou have me to do To apply this to our purpose If the Apostle was struck with such trembling and astonishment when he did but come to the knowledge that it was Jesus whom he persecuted crying out Lord what wilt thou have to do as if he should have said behold I am ready to believe ready to obey ready to dye for thee ready to suffer any thing at thy hand for what I have ignorantly done Oh what fear what trembling what amazement what horror will take hold of the wicked when they shall see Christ coming in such Glory and Majesty and Power whom they for them embracing of most vile things have neglected contemned and despis'd to speak the best of it whose Ministers they have scoft at and abused whose menaces and threats they have vilified whose precious Pearls of Promises and wholsome Admonitions they like Swine have trampled on whose Livery they have worn but have serv'd themselves Neither is it to be past by without wonder that so much trembling and astonishment should surprize Saint Paul for what dreadfulness could there be in that voice that courteously call'd him so vile a person by his name brought life to him that persecuted the Lord of life and Glory promised Salvation to one that breath'd forth nothing but malice and hatred kindly received so cruel an Enemy And yet being not able to bear up under the weight of this voice from Heaven nor to endure that beam or glympse of the Divine Majesty 't is said he fell on the Earth as if destitute of life and spirit What then will their Torment and Destraction be whom the same Majesty of God shall entertain not with smiles but frowns not with life but death and destruction not with any token of love but with a drawn sword and all manner of cruelty certainly they that cannot endure him calling them to Repentance will not be able to endure him coming to take Vengeance they that cannot bear the guilt of their sins will never endure to look the Avenger of sin in the face Mountainous sâ—nners at this Great and Dreadful day will be forc'd to call upon the Mountains to fall upon them and the Hills to hide them from the presence of him that shall sit as Judge on his Throne I shall shut up my discourse with this story When Sapores King of Persia rais'd a violent Persecution against the Christians one Vsthazanes an old Nobleman a Courtier that had Sapores Government in his Minority being a Christian was so terrified that he left off his Profession but he sitting at the Court-gate when Simeon an aged Bishop frown'd upon him and turn'd away his face with indignation as being loth to
MERCY In the midst of JUDGMENT WITH A GLYMPSE of OR A GLANCE on LONDON'S GLORIOUS RESURRECTION Like a Phoenix out of it's Ashes Delivered in a Sermon Preach'd at St Dunstans in the West Sept. 2. 1669. Being the day of Publick Fasting and Humiliation in consideration of the late Dreadful Fire By CHR. FLOWER Master of Arts and Rector of St Margaret Loathbury London LONDON Printed for Nath. Brooke at the Sign of the Angel in Cornhill MDCLXIX To the Right Honourable Sir Samuel Starling Knight Lord Mayor of the City of London and the Honourable Court of Aldermen Right Honourable THrough the Conduct of Divine Providence having attain'd the place of my Nativity some few days before the Anniversary Fast for that Dreadful Fire Nigro Carbone Notandus which cannot be markt with too black a coal being desir'd by a Reverend Brother of mine in the Ministry to Preach for him on the fore-mentioned day never to be forgotten Though my unpreparedness for so great a Task might have furnished me with a denyal yet I entertain'd the motion having only that of the Divine Proverbialist to Apologize for my Presumption if it may merit such an Appellation The preparations of the heart are in man but the Answer of the tongue is from the Lord. Having spoke a word in season as it was thought and being desir'd to Publish it how could I having received so great a wound in my Temporals but shelter my self and this weak Birth of my Brain under your Honours Patronage Those Stars of the greatest Magnitude that shine so bright in the Firmament of the Metropolis of this Nation whose care and vigilancy hath been so influential to the carrying on of the re-edifying of it even to Admiration That a City so great a City should be burnt down in three days and re-built in respect of the Diamond in the Ring of the Ornamentals of it the Royal Exchange and in respect of the chief Streets of it within the space of three years I had almost said two years and a little more this cannot but create wonder in all that shall either see it or hear of it As if that in the Prophet Isaiah were now fulfill'd in a good sense every one helped his Neighbour and every one said to his Brother be of good courage So the Carpenter encourag'd the Goldsmith and he that smootheth with the Hammer him that smote the Anvil saying it is ready for the Sodering and he fastned it with Nails so that it could not be moved And think it no small thing to be instruments in Gods hand to make up those Breaches in our Ruinated Jerusalem which our sins have made You may suppose me Noble Senators if you please to present you with a Sprig of Rosemary in one hand and a Branch of Laurel in the other or if you will to present you with the City in its Ruines and Ashes and like a Phoenix gloriously rising out of them May it never be said that the Re-builders of it held a Trowel in one hand and a Sword in the other but may a Continuation of Peace Crown the endeavours of all those that are employ'd in so Noble an Enterprise This is his hearty and daily Prayer who is Yours Honours most humble Servant in Christ Chr. Flower MALACHI IV. 5. And behold I will send Elijah the Prophet before the Coming of the Great and Dreadful Day of the Lord. SOME there are that understand these words of the first Coming of Christ in the Flesh which though it was a Day of Salvation to God's People yet to others it was terrible But I shall treat of them at present as they relate to the day of Judgment And if we consult the answer which the Angel gave to Esdras enquiring of him about the day of Judgment we shall find this to be part of it And there shall Fires break forth in many places I hope then I need not Apologize for my self because I have made choice of this subject as if a Word not in Season Now the two Columns on which I intend to build the Structure of my ensuing discourse are only the two Epithetes here in the Text given by the Holy Ghost to the Day of the Lord of which I shall speak first severally and then jointly in the Application The day of the Lord is here stiled Dies magnus the Great day and that not without great reason For then there shall be such a Convention such a huge meeting as never was before that day and never will be after it For 1. Christ shall come from Heaven with Power and great Glory as he himself expresseth it Luke 21. 27. Saint Paul says as much Titus 2. ver 13. Looking for that blessed hope and the glorious appearing of the great God and our Saviour Jesus Christ The first coming of Christ was in Humility The second time he shall come as the Great God with Power and great Glory All things shall be subject unto him He shall have his feet upon the neck of all Rule of all Authority and of all Power And the knees of all things in Heaven in Earth and under the Earth shall bow down to him and every Tongue confess him to be the Lord to the Glory of God the Father as Saint Paul hath it Phil. 2 11. 2. All the Angels shall be present attending like so many Courtiers upon him for he himself hath said it The Son of man shall come in his Glory and all the Holy Angels with him Mat. 25. He shall not leave one behind him in Heaven The vast Regions of the Air that that multitude must needs fill Oh what a brave glorious great day must that needs be when so many glorious Suns shall shine in the Firmament and among and above them all Christ the Sun of Righteousness Some think the Angels at that day will bear him aloft with their natural strength as on their shoulders that his Glory and Power might be the more visible to the greater terrour of the wicked 3. All the Elect will be present with him in glorious glorified Bodies as his Children and dearest Friends according to that Prophecy of Enoch mentioned by Saint Jude Behold the Lord comes with ten thousand of his Saints that is with an innumerable company who together with Christ shall judge the world 4. Before him on that day shall be gathered all Nations Mat. 25. 32. even as many as ever were born into the world from the beginning to the end of it Then shall Adam see all his off-spring at once none shall be exempted from appearing at this general Assizes neither shall any appear by Proxy but every one in person neither shall men only but all the Legions of the Devils how many soever they be they shall then appear and that as it is thought in a corporeal shape to be seen Lord what a great wonderful stupendious sight must that needs be to see the whole Hemisphere above embroidered with Saints and
of the Lord. Certainly Beloved the Dreadfulness of that Day will consist chiefly in the Judge As 1. In his Dreadful coming to Judgment which Saint John therefore ushers in with an Ecce Rev. 1. 7. Behold he comes with Clouds and every eye shall see him The Royal Chariot then of this Judge will be a Cloud But what kind of Cloud think you such a one as was that which defended the Israelites from extremity of heat in the day and gave them light by night Or like that little Cloud in the days of Elias no bigger at first then a mans hand which increasing brought rain to the parched Earth certainly no The Clouds that are for this service will not be such as our eyes may often behold coasting about the Regions of the Air as they are driven by the Winds and employing themselves to the refreshment of the Earth but stormy tempestuous Clouds breathing Fire and casting forth hot Thunder-bolts hence is that Psalm 50. 3. Our God shall come and shall not keep silence a Fire shall devour before him and it shall be very tempestuous round about him Not before him only but which is very observable round about him lest the wicked should hope to escape by creeping behind him That was a terrible Tempest I read of that befel Alexander the Great and his Army marching into the Country of Gabiza when by reason of continual Thundring and Lightning with Hail-Stones and Light-Bolts the Army was dis-ranked so that they wandred many ways but alas that was nothing to the rout that will be at the coming of this Judge Saint Paul in his first Epistle to the Thessalonians Chap. 1. 8. he says that he will come in flaming fire taking vengeance on them that know not God 't is true our Saviour hath appeared comfortably to his though over-shadow'd with a Cloud as at his Transfiguration but when he comes in a warlike manner against his Enemies as he will do then his appearance must needs be Dreadful 2. This Dreadfulness will consist in his being known Revelations 1. ver 13. we may read of one in the midst of the seven Golden Candlesticks like to the Son of man which shews that Christ the Judge of the world will be so manifest as to be acknowledg'd Then there shall be no contest about him as whether he be Elias or Jeremias or the Baptist such questions as these shall then be put out of question Neither shall he come obscurely as when he came first in the flesh But why is he said to be like the Son of man only and is not call'd the Son of man as he was call'd when he liv'd on Earth because saith one Sicut in Christo aliquando Divinitatis suae gloriam occultabai Humanitas c. As the Humanity once obscur'd in Christ the Glory of his Divinity so now the meanness of his Humanity will seem to be swallow'd up of the Glory of his Majesty as then at first he appear'd so meanly that little or nothing of his Divinity externally shew'd it self so at his coming to Judgment he will appear so splendent and glorious that he will be believed by all to be the Son of God Suffer me here a little to expostulate If powerful Herod fear'd him lying in the Manger will he not be much more fear'd sitting upon his Throne If the Buyers and Sellers were drove out of the Temple by him having a scourge of small cords only in his hand who shall stand before him punishing to death with Scorpions If he so stun'd a whole Troop of his Enemies in the Garden at the speaking of one word that they fell backward what Terror will it be to hear him pronounce the last Sentence of Damnation What amazement and shame will take hold of them who either believ'd him not to be God or did not believe in him aright or honour'd him not with a good life who yet confess'd him to be God with their lips Then Herod will look upon him with astonishment as the wisest whom when on Earth he did cause to be gorgeously attir'd like a fool on purpose to laugh at him and deride him Then Caiphas will behold him coming in the Clouds of Heaven as he himself told him to his head whom therefore he did pronounce a Blasphemer Then will Pilate see him whom he expos'd to the People to be seen nay deliver'd up to their brutish will Then will the Jews know whether he was their King whom they deny'd and then shall all wicked wretches who said in the pride of their hearts Nolumus hunc regnare we will not have this Christ to Reign over us see him Reigning over them and Arraigning them both as King and Judge 3. In the Authority and Power he shall be invested with shadow'd forth by the Garment he was cloath'd with which reach'd down to his feet Rev. 1. 13. Kings saith the Proverb have long hands but they are not so long but some sometimes escape unpunish'd in some blind places of their Kingdoms From this Judge there is no flinching every Transgression and Transgressor from him shall receive a just recompence of reward even those Corruptions that are most inward and lye up in the heart of the Country as it were those Pollutions not of flesh only that is worldly lusts and gross evils but of spirit also more spiritual lusts come within his cognizance He eyes not only the act but the intention 4. The Dreadfulness of this Day of the Lord consists in the rigorousness of the Judge 'T is true he is said to be girt about the paps with a golden girdle but this denotes severity as well as mercy The pardoning of the Thief on the Cross the long waiting for the Conversion of the Jews and the patience of his which we daily exercise shews that he hath paps But a time will come I mean the Day of Judgment when he will shut up his bosome and girt it close about with a girdle of gold to shew the justice of such a proceeding they being deservedly despis'd then who despise him now when he offers the milk of Grace and Mercy unto them 5. In the Equity of the Judge this Dreadfulness will consist his head and his hairs 't is said were white like Wool as white as Snow Rev. 1. 14 that is the Decisions or Conclusions of this Judge will be most pure most true and most just 'T is confest in the Fifth Chapter of the Canticles where he is describ'd resembling one that is young his locks are said to be bushy and black as a Raven Because here in this life we experience Christ benign and liberal for he rewards true repentance with receiving into his favour gives Heaven for a few Cordial Sighs or Groans proceeding from an humble and a contrite Heart but the case will be alter'd when he comes to sit in Judgment then he will appear white as Snow the Ancient of days not to be wrought upon to shew favour Youth you know
is more liberal then old Age Ancient people hardly part with any thing as knowing the difficulty of getting what youth freely gives 6. His Eyes 't is said were like a Flame of Fire that is agile nimble and able to penetrate any thing hence is that of the Apostle Heb. 4. 13. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 There is not any creature that is not manifest in his sight but all things are naked 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and opened unto the eyes of him with whom we have to do naked for the out-side dissected quartered cleft in the back-bone for the in-side Erasmus renders it resupinata making it a Metaphor from those that lye with their faces upward that all Passengers may see who they are Thou numbrest my steps saith Job he did no less then confess that he kept an exact account of every sin of his of every step that he trod awry yea though it were but some wry motion of his mind so curious and critical he is in his observation even then when to many he seems to sleep and to shut his eyes and to see nothing he takes notice of every thing Of this Judge it is said Psalm 11. His eyes behold his eye-lids try the Children of men Where his eye points out his knowledge and his eye-lids his critical descant Those Creatures that have fiery eyes can see in the night and there is nothing but is open to the sight of this Judge Again 'T is said his Feet were like fine Brass as if burned in a Furnace which may signifie the inflexibleness of this Judge proceeding from an ardent zeal to do justice while life lasts he is pleased to bend his feet and bow them going forth in a way of Commiseration and compassion towards the Sons of Men but it shall not be so when he acts the Judge Then his Legs will be Marble and his Feet Brass where he placeth his Foot there it shall inflexibly stand This very thing is signified likewise by the twofold Rod which the Scripture speaks of the one is a Rod of Wood mentioned Psalm 23. which Rod is easily bow'd if any thing of weight be fastned to the end of it but the other altogether inflexible as being a Rod of Iren spoken of Psalm 2. which the Holy Ghost there puts into the hand of this Judge 'T is possible that the Rods of earthly Judges may be bow'd if a Purse of Money be ty'd at the end of them but the Rod of this Judge is not of Wood but Iron and so is inflexible To proceed His voice is said to be as the sound of many Waters terrible suppose as the noyse of a whole Army that is heard far and near A River or Stream that is damm'd up for a time when once it breaks forth the noyse it makes is inutterable not to be exprest No wonder then if the Ocean of the wrath of God streightned as it were for so many thousand years at length breaks forth like the sound of many Waters I have a long time held my Peace saith the Lord himself I have been still and refrain'd my self now will I cry like a travelling Woman I will destroy and devour at once Isaiah 42. 14. If Job was forc'd to say Destruction from God was a terrour to me and by reason of his Highness I could not endure How will the Damned be able to bear the weight of that Sentence Arise ye Dead and come to Judgment or of that I was an Hungry and ye gave me no meat I was thirsty and ye gave me no drink c. And if these whisperings as I may say be so terrible how terrible and insupportable will the pronouncing of this Sentence be Ite maledicti Go or Depart from me ye cursed into everlasting fire words which breath nothing but fire and brimstone stings and horrors Neither is this all for 't is said out of his mouth went a sharp two edged Sword which some interpret of the definitive Sentence of the Judge and its Executiâ—n citing that passage in Deuteronomy Chap. 32. 41. If I whet my glittering Sword and my hand take hold of Judgment I will make mine Arrows drunk with Blood and my Sword shall devour flesh that is say they shall consume all the Corruptibility of the flesh so that the bad as well as the good shall be incapable of dying any more The Sword was two edg'd to shew the 〈…〉 fulness of this doubtless to the Bad yea and to the Good also at first till they have recollected or 〈…〉 thought themselves terrible it will be to the Bad because they know themselves guilty and terrible to the Good too since they know they cannot stand in judgment without God's Grace cannot by any strength of their own escape Thus while the Parent corrects a refractory Child the more ingenuous and obedient fear and tremble because they think they may commit the same fault for which the other is beaten As the wicked shall be sure to be condemned that are on the left hand so the righteous shall hardly be saved that are on the right hand 'T is added by Saint John in his Description of this Judge That his Countenance was as the Sun in his strength or in its Zenith If the righteous shall shine as the Sun in the Kingdom of their Father as they shall Mat. 13. 43. how much more bright shall Christ shine who will appear in the strength of his own glory Christ was a Sun on Earth who rose as I may say at his Nativity and set or went down at his Death But alas how few minded that Day of his because that Sun was obscur'd with the Cloud of his Humanity much more by the darkness of the Jews obstinate blindness He rose again at his Resurrection beginning as it were another day was in the Ascendant when he Ascended at the Day of Judgment he will be in the Meridian and will never set again unless it be to the wicked from whom he will for ever obscure himself not vouchsafing them the least ray of the light of his Countenance to all Eternity Thus I have shew'd you in what respects the Day of the Lord may stil'd Dies Magnus the Great Day and in what respects the Dreadful Day As in respect of the Judges dreadful coming to judgment mounted on the Clouds in respect of his being well known to all to be the same as was judg'd and unjustly condemn'd in respect of his Authority rigour and strict justice that he will execute in respect of his piercing eye his inexorableness his dreadful denouncing of Sentence and in respect of his brightness every Ray of which will be as a Dagger to stab the Reprobates at the very heart I come now according to my promise to speak jointly of these two Epithites by way of Application to our selves of what hath been already said 1. Then is there a day that the Lord hath appointed to judge the world in Then let
the Earth opened and did cleave asunder the most rocky part of it Nay these very scars that your eyes see in my body testifie no less After this being risen from the dead I ascended up into Heaven from this very Mount of Olives in the publick view of my Apostles and many other Disciples to shew that I came down from Heaven for your Salvation and my Embassy being done was to return to my Father The Angels at my Ascension were heard to say that I should so come in like manner as you saw me go into Heaven and I my self spake of it to Caiphas the chief Priests and the Jews using this very Language Ye shall see the Son of man sitting on the right hand of Power and coming in the Clouds of Heaven why then did ye not credit so great and so good Testimony Behold now my condition is chang'd with yours ye sate once as Judges and I was the Prisoner at the Bar now ye are the Malefactors and I am the Judge see my hands and my feet that it is I my self see the very holes that ye dig'd with your instruments of cruelty in this Body of mine These like so many mouths cry out against you these accuse and condemn you go ye unworthy Wretches ye Christ-Killers get ye packing into unquenchable fire and ye ô Infidels Turks and profligate Christians who know these things or might have known them but ye have neglected but ye have despised and contemned whatsoever I did and suffer'd ye accounted the Blood of the Covenant an unholy thing ye chose rather to follow the dictates of your own Lusts then of my Law ye preferr'd Riches and sensual Pleasures and momentary Preferments before Eternal Salvation promis'd by me ye made a mock of me when I threatned Eternal Torments now ye see him whom ye have despised now ye find my words to be more then wind my Threatnings not to be vain but true my Promises not to be Chimera's but realities now ye experience your Delights and Dignities and sinful Pleasures ye so much magnified to be vain and fallacious now ye see how foolish and sottish and senseless ye have been in your love ye now lament and bewail with a passionate wringing of your hands and beating of your breasts but too late and therefore all in vain Go therefore ye Wicked go ye Ingrateful go ye Infidels go ye Cursed into everlasting Fire prepared for the Devil and his Angels but for you my Apostles who saw me in this place Condemn'd Scourg'd Crucifi'd Murther'd and yet believ'd in me followed me throw the same Red Sea of Blood and you Apostolical and Religious Persons who did contemn the world and were not asham'd of my Cross espous'd my Poverty and Humility propagating my Doctrine and Faith throughout the whole world and as for you O ye Faithful ones who did believe in me your Redeemer hope in me love worship and obey me leading a life worthy of me a sober righteous and a godly life who did look for that blessed hope and this my second coming to judgment Come ye come ye my Elect come ye blessed of my Father inherit the Kingdom prepared for you from the Foundation of the world That then must needs be a Great Day that determines business of such great Concernment 5. It may be stil'd the Great Day because that day will put an end to the world will put a period to time to troubles and all kind of impieties and to all the labours and endeavours of men Thus those days among the Romans were call'd Great Days which did put an end to great and grievous Troubles Alexander got the Appellation of Great in that he won strong holds and slew the Kings of the Earth so that the whole world stood in awe of him it was hush and silent but that silence continued not long but till his death which soon came to pass But Christ the King of Kings in that Great Day when he hath destroy'd all the wicked he shall impose a perpetual and universal silence on the whole world Then the Heavens shall be silent because their motion shall cease and so consequently the vicissitude of day and night winter and summer must cease too The motion of the Elements shall cease and so consequently Clouds Winds Rain Hail Tempests and Earthquakes will be no more All Creatures will be silent because there will be none to make any disturbance All the Studies Arts Disciplines Desires Quarrels and Contentions of Men will be silent because all things that were in motion will obtain their period methinks our Saviour pointed at this as it were with his finger for when he read that place in the Prophet Isaiah which runs thus The Spirit of the Lord is upon me c. to Preach the acceptable year of the Lord Et Diem retributionis and the Day of Retribution 't is said he clos'd the Book Luke 4. 18. hinting thus much to us that in that Great Day of Restitution or Retribution all things shall have an end and the Heavens be roll'd up like a Book or Scroll once more This Day of the Lord it may be stil'd the Great Day because the beginning of that Great Day call'd Eternity A Type of which Day we may read of in the Book of Josuah Chap. 10. when Josuah that he might pursue his Enemies to purpose caus'd the Sun to stand still The Sun and Moon stood still the space of one whole day so that one day was as long as two saith the Son of Syrach there was no day like that before it or after it saith the Holy Ghost Josuah 10. 14. Thus when Christ shall encounter his Enemies he will make the Sun and Moon to stand still till he hath reveng'd himself upon them But because that vengeance is to be Eternal the Day must be Eternal too I may adde as in the Day of Josuah's victory one part of the Heaven was always bright and the other dark thus in that Day it will be eternally light to the Elect but as long darkness with the Damned What shall we think those People thought in the time of Josuah who in the opposite part of the Heavens had so long night with what a deal of perplexity did they expect day and if so what will an Eternal night be but if to an Eternal Night be added an Eternal Prison everlasting Hunger and Thirst a never-dying Worm an Eternal Stink an Eternal Horrour Eternal Weeping and Wailing an Eternal Fire and whatever misery the mind of man is able to think of Qualis illa nox erit Tell me if you are able what a Night that will be Good reason then there is that this Day of the Lord spoken of here in my Text should be styl'd Dies Magnus the Great Day That which remains for me to shew you is in what respect it will be Terrible or Dreadful Behold I will send you Elijah the Prophet before the Coming of the Great and Dreadful Day