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 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
be brought before a Iudge and the iudge shall deliuer thee to a iaylour and the iaylour shall cast thee into prison from whence thou shalt neuer be released And therefore howsoeuer there hath heretofore bene no impression in our hearts of this iudgement to come yet hereafter as Saint Hierom confesseth of himselfe siue comedas siue bibas whether thou eatest or drinkest whether thou wakest or sleepest whether thou walkest abroad or stayest at home let that be euer sounding in thy eares which was euer sounding in his eares Surgite mortui venite ad iudicium Arise ô you dead and come to iudgement Thus much for the first consideration That there will be a comming of the Sonne of man to iudgement I come to the second 2. That this his comming vnto Iudgement will be terrible In the ninth of Esay and sixt verse the Prophet speaking of the coming of our Sauior Christ he saith thus Paruulus natus est nobis A child is borne vnto vs and his name shall be called Wonderful Counseller the euerlasting Father the Prince of peace and in the 21. of Matthew and fift verse there is the prophesie fulfilled Ecce Rex tuus venit tibi mansuetus Tel ye the daughter of Sion Behold thy King commeth vnto thee meek But that setteth out his first coming but now we are to lay opeÌ„ his second comming Then he came in humilitie but now we are to speake of his comming in glorie Then he came like milde and little Dauid 1. Sam. 17. to free vs from the Diuel that great Goliah but hereafter he wil come like angry and armed Dauid 2. Sam. 25. against ingratefull Nabals Then he came with comforts in his right hand for he came not to call the righteous Math. 9.13 Iohn 5.29 but sinners to repentance but hereafter he shall come with terrour in his left hand for he shall call the vnrepentant sinners vnto iudgement Then that the world might be crucified vnto vs and we vnto the world Christ Iesus vouchsafed to be crucified in the world but hereafter because the preaching of Christ his crosse is accounted foolishnesse by the wicked world therefore Iesus Christ wil come to crucifie the world Then the people shouted Mat. 21.9 Mat. 24.30 and distinctly cried Hosanna for ioy but hereafter the wicked shall yell make a confused noise for feare yea so fearfull wil this his second comming vnto iudgement be that Saint Paul disputing of it before Felix as I now before you it made the very heart of Felix to tremble Act. 24.26 And no maruell for if that first apparition of God was so fearfull and terrible to the people of the Iewes Exodus 20.18 that Moses himselfe said I feare and tremble and the people fled and stood a farre off and sayd to Moses Talke thou with vs and we will heare but let not God talke with vs least we die how fearfull then and terrible will his second comming be For at that first appearing he came onely to giue them lawes but at this second he will come to punish the transgressors of his lawes Hest 15.10 Surely if Hester fell vpon the ground and life for a time went out at the gates of her body when she beheld the maiestie of Assuerus the King Dan. 8.17 if Daniel in the eight chapter of his prophesie at the sight of an Angell trembled and was sore afraid Mat. 28.4 if the keepers of the sepulcher in the day of our Sauiour his resurrection were terrified and became as dead men if the Iewes comming armed into the garden to apprehend Iesus Iohn 18.6 when they heard him but say Ego sum I am the man if they fell backward vpon the ground and became as dead men O then what shall miserable men and women do when they shall see Iesus Christ not yeelding vp his body to be punished by sinners as then but comming in the clouds with power and great glorie to punish sinners Luke 21. â—9 Indeede if there were the same meanes and such hopes of preseruing men froÌ„ the iudgement to come as there are of preuenting iudgement and iustice here vpon the earth then the feare thereof were altogether needlesse but you shall see the case is farre different For first here vpon earth when men stand vpon life and death intercession is made by others for the procurement of their deliuery yea oftentimes speeches in commendation of the prisoner are admitted by the bench Plutarch for so was the custome among the Romanes till the law of Pompey tooke it away But in the day of the last iudgement there will be no place for intercession 2. Sam. 14. 1 Sam. 25 there shall then be no Ioab to intreate for Absolom there shall then be no Abigail to speake for Nabal The truth of which doctrine is most euident in the Scriptures for looke into the 22. of Matthew and 13. verse and you shall there see that the partie that had not on a wedding garment was commaunded out of the bride-house and cast into vtter darknesse and no man did once intreate for him Looke into the 25. of Matthew and 28. verse and you shall there likewise see that the seruant which had receiued but one talent and without any employment to his masters aduantage had hid it in the earth had his talent taken from him and was cast into vtter darknesse and no man intreated for him Nay looke but into the verse going next before my text and you shall heare the fiue foolish virgins crying Lord Lord open vnto vs. And receiuing this vncomfortable answer from the mouth of comfort it selfe Ini â—â—um Deus scit in examine nescit in amore Greg. in Iob lib. 11 cap 7. Nescio vos I know you not that is I haue reiected you I haue reprobated you and none no not their late familiar friends and companions the other wise virgins requested fauour for them Againe here vpon earth though no man intreate for an offender yet oftentimes the fresh memory of his ancestors good deeds and the good demerits of his friends that be liuing may moue the Iudge to pity and compassion but for a man to trust to this fauour in the day of iudgement were to leane vpon a broken reed for the men that do best fulfill the commandements of God are tearmed in the 17. of Saint Luke and 10. verse Serui inutiles Vnprofitable seruants And then as the fiue wise virgins answered the fiue foolish Mat. 25.9 We cannot giue you of our oile least peraduenture there will not be enough for vs you so the best men that be cannot lend their friends any of their good workes for if they do without all peraduenture they will leaue too few for themselues And thirdly though neither of these two do come to passe yet many times the subtiltie of the offender and his cunning contriued speech do ouer-reach the wisedome of the Iudge but this hope shall faile
Secundus August de ciu dei lib. 15. cap. 9. It was therfore the true sentence of another heathen man that the older the world waxeth the bodies of men naturally for stature are lesse and for strength are weaker and this was the opinion of Homer himselfe a great Poet and no small Philosopher For speaking of the battell which was fought betweene Aeneas and Diomedes he affirmeth that Diomedes cast a stone at Aeneas so heauy and of so great a weight as fourteen men saith he are not able to cast the like as men go now a dayes And if as the world waxeth in yeares so mans strength doth decrease then doubtlesse the world waxing still old it will at last come to nothing and so consequently euen in plaine reason the world and men in the world will haue an end But me thinks I heare some godlesse and prophane Atheist reply thus Suppose that the world and men in the world shall haue an end yet I am of opinion that there is the same end of a man that there is of a beast A beast when it dieth the flesh is consumed and the soule vanisheth into the aire and there is his full period and why may it not be so with man For the answer herunto It was Plato his opinion who deserued and that iustly the name of a diuine that the soules of men did not die but liue being separated frō their bodyes and that after this life ended they should giue an account of all their actions And those fictions in the Poets concerning the Elisian fields and places of pleasure for good men after this life and places of punishment for euil men what did they else shew but that there hath bene among the wisest of the heathen a certaine perswasion of the soules immortality and that after this life it should be iudged But because the prophane Atheist wil not be drawne to a beleef either of the soules immortality or of the bodies resurrection in the day of iudgment vnlesse we can win them therunto by the maine sway of reason let vs see whether in reason we commit any absurdity or no in beleeuing the resurrection of the body Tertullian propounding the question for them In Apol. cap. 45 Quomodo dissoluta materia exhiberi potest How is it possible that the matter of mās body being once dissolued as it shall be in the graue should euer rise againe and be perfectly exhibited before the iudgement seat of God he doth answer their question thus Quid tibi noui eueniet qui non eras factus es cum iterum non eris fies What strange or new wonder is this thou which once wert not wast made by God and so hereafter when thou shalt not be thou shalt be made again for God can as easily restore thee being dissolued into dust as he could create thee at the first being nothing In the first Psalme fifth verse we reade it thus The wicked shall not stand in iudgement but the Caldey paraphrase hath it thus They shal not rise in that great day the day of iudgmēt In regard of which words some Hebrew writers haue bene bold to make this collection that the wicked shal not rise but their bodies and soules at the houre of death shall perish and come to nothing But as in many points they are fantastically foolish so in this are they most erroneously hereticall For although it be there said that the wicked shal not rise in iudgmēt we must not thereby gather Carere eos resurgendi natura sed resurgendi in iudicium perdidisse ordinem We must not gather that the nature property of rising shal be wāting vnto thē but that they haue lost the order of rising vnto iudgmēt Now what the order of rising vnto iudgemēt is we may see in the third of Ioh. the 18. 19. ver where our Sauiour saith thus He that beleeueth in me shall not be iudged but he which beleeueth not Iam iudicatus est he is already iudged The which words of our Sauiour haply they may trouble the carelesse hearers and the negligent readers therof for in that he saith he that beleeueth in me shall not be iudged there he exempteth the faithful from iudgment and in that he saith he that beleeueth not is already iudged he seemes to teach that the Infidels shal not be admitted vnto iudgment And if the faithfull are exempted frō iudgemēt to come and the Infidels are already iudged why then Non videtur locus esse relictus iudicio It should seeme there is no place left for iudgement and that there are no persōs to be iudged Yes saith Hilary for in the 18. verse our Sauior hauing exēpted the beleeuers and vnbeleeuers the beleeuers à iudicio condemnationis from the iudgement of condemnation and the Infidels and vnbeleeuers because their iudgement of condemnation is so certain that it is in the eternall decree of God already past and there remaines onely at the last day but the publication thereof In the 19. verse he expresseth the parties to be iudged and the cause of their iudgement for thus he saith This is the condemnation that light is come into the world and men loued darkenesse rather then the light because their deeds are euill As if he had said There is a middle sort of people which are neither altogether without faith nor absolutely faithfull the feare of God containeth them in the Church but the vaine vanities of the world draw them vnto secular vices Orant quia timent peccant quia volunt they pray because they are afraid of God and his iudgements but withall they commit sinne because they take a pleasure and delight in it These then which do loue darkenesse rather then light that is which are content to loue Christ who is the light of the world but withall they preferre the euill deeds of darknesse these are they let the Hebrew writers fable what they wil which shal one day come to iudgement And that we may the better conceiue and beleeue this there are as you know in our assises and sessions here vpon earth certaine things necessarily required As first there is required the person and presence of the Iudge Secondly certaine vpright Iustices his assistants vpon the bench Thirdly the citation of the prisoners to the bar with leaue giuen them to pleade for thēselues Fourthly the allegation or accusatiō of the witnesses Fiftly the Iudges verdit Sixtly the proceeding to sentence either of absolution or condemnation And lastly the execution of the sentence cōmitted to the sheriffe or bayliffe Of al which beloued that we may the better beleeue that great sessions in that last and dreadfull day of iudgement we haue speciall mention in the Scriptures And first for the Iudge that is Iesus Christ the second person in Trinitie Forhowsoeuer the whole Trinitie haue a stroke in the action yet the execution thereof is committed by them to the second person So Christ himselfe saith Iohn the
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