St. Hillaries Advice in all the course of our Lives the Memory of the Last and Great Iudgment is to be planted and grafted in our hearts For happy is the man that doth what he must do in Remembrance of the Last day And why Hear the words of Jesus the Son of Sirach VVhatsoever thou takest in hand remember thy end and thou shalt never do amiss Thus much shall suffice that there shall be a Day of Iudgment and that that day is near Now somewhat remaineth to be spoken of the manner of this day and the Terrour thereof that the Wicked being touched with the understanding of the same might be driven nearer to God In that Day saith St. Paul every mans Work shall be made manifest for the day shall declare it because it shall be revealed by the fire and the fire shall try every mans Work what sort it is The Time is now come when Iudgment shall begin at the house of GOD and if it first begins with us what shall the end be of them that Obey not the Gospel of God And if the Righteous scarcely be saved where shall the Vngodly and Sinners appear Where will they hide themselves in that terrible Day wherein there shall be nothing but wéeping and â—nashing of Teeth Howling Lamentation and Repentance too too late when the Foundations of the Mountains shall be moved and the Land be burnt with Fire When as St. Peter saith the Heavens shall pass away with a great noise and the Firmament shall melt with fervent heat the Earth also and the Works that are therein shall be burnt up When as God himself said in the Gospel Mat. 24. The Sun shall be darkned the Moon shall not give her Light the Stars shall fall from Heaven and the Powers thereof shall be shaken Where will the Wicked then betake themselves Where will Adulterers Drunkards where will Cursers and Swearers appear Where will the Luxurious Deceivers Proud Unclean and filthy Persons be found What imhappy as they are can they then plead for themselves to appease the Anger of a Iust Iudge of Heaven and Earth Surely nothing Howl ye therefore O ye wicked that forget GOD For the day of the Lord is at hand it shall come as a Destruction from the Almighty For the Lord shall lay the Land as desolate and shall destroy the sinners thereof out of it He will punish the World for their Evil and the Wicked for their iniquity He will cause the Arrogancy of the Proud to cease and will lay low the Haughtiness of the Ambitious Worldling What fear and what horror what terrour and amazement shall there seize upon and possess those that are marked out for eternal Destruction In the name of God let us therefore while we have time rouze our selves up while there is time set us correct and amend our selves that were never brought to these tortures of Body and Soul Let us rather preferr the simplicity of the Dove and the chastity of the Turtle the Spiritual feathers of Graces lift up your Souls up to Heaven by your Prayers that so we may be always ready to resign our Souls and Bodies into the hand of our Redeemer with Ioy and Alacrity of Spirit But that we may the better hear understand the terror of that day to avoid the same we will hear the Prophets what they foretell Gird your selves and lament you Priests howl ye Ministers of the Altar lye all night in sackcloth ye Ministers of my God for the meat-offering and the drink-offering is with-holden from the House of God Alas for the day of the Lord is at hand and as destruction from the Almighty shall it come Blow a Trumpet in Zion and sound an Alarm in the holy Mountain let all the Inhabitants of the Land tremble For the day of the Lord cometh for it is nigh at hand A day of darkness and gloominess a day of clouds and thick darkness For great is the day of the Lord and very terrible sure 't is a great day wherein so great a God greatly to be praised to be above all gods shall come to Judgment to reward all men for their doings 'T is a great day after which there shall be no change of clime no course of dates shall follow which day in it self shall contiue either everlasting Condomnation or Salvation without end It is a very terrible day and the Prophet Malachi seems to give the reason of it For behold the day cometh that shall burn as an Oven and all the Proud and all that do wickedly shall be as stuâ—ble and that day that cometh shall burn them up saith the Lord of Hosts Leaving them neither Root nor Branch And as the Prophet David hath it Our God shall come and shall not keep silence a Fire shall devour before him and it shall be very tempestuous round about him he shall call to the Heaven from above and to the Earth below that he may judge his People For God is Judge himself who therefore will endure the fury of this day where the Strong shall be thus weakned and oppressed and where the Proud and all that do wickedly shall be burnt us as stubble Whe wist not stand astonished where the Root with the Branch shall de pluckâ— up and consumed what wicked man what sinner even dareth to appear where the â—ust shall scarce be saved 1 Pet. 4.18 ver But many men partly out of dull Stupidity and partly being oppressed with crosses and vocations of this Life do little esteem of the Tercour of this fast day very earnestly to will and desire the 〈◊〉 But the Pronhet Amo. 5.18 doth threaten these men saying Woe unto you that desire the Day of the Lord to what and is it for you The Day of the Lord is darkness and nor sight as if a man did fly from a Lyon and a Lear meet him or went into the house and leâ—ned his hand on the Wall and a Serpent hite him You do saith he â—pery evil to your selves in that you do rashly desire the Day of the Lord for ye shall not walk in the light of God's countenance because ye have not been Children of the light but Children of darkness There noysome darkness shall come upon you whatsoever you shall then assay you shall not shun Terror you cannot abide Horeor And if you may shun the face of the Lyon of the Tribe of Judab that you render not account for your sins Yet that Bear the Devil will run upon you meâ—t you and punish you for the same Or if you escape this Bear and enter into the house of your conscience to consider the Evils you have committed and the Good you have omitted the tormenting worm will seize upon your conscience The Worm that Esaiah 66. speaâ—eth of The VVorm shall never dye and the Evangelish Mark 9 did testifie the same The VVorm dyeth not there Fire never goeth ours there torments are endless Neither is there in that Day
and the minds For now if ever is the perfection or rather imperfection of all the sins the Apostle names to be the fore-runners of the end Why doubt we then that the â—nd is not at hand Or why fear we not rather that a sudden end will prevent our procrastinated repentance As bodies are sick before death and as Iufirmities and Sickness are the true forerunners of a separation between the â—ody and the Soul even so fareth it with the World it now languisheth and is corrupt it now lies sick and therefore it must needs come to Confusion and to an end For deadly sickness is a forerunner of death all things now suffer their defect and let no man wonder at it for man is now born in such defect in respect of the birth of man in former times but what is wanting in the present-condition of mans Body is supplyed in the faculties of mind and what is defective in the strength of his Members is compleat in the ripeness of his understanding which is for the most part imployed not in liberal but in devilish Arts not in the study of Learning but in pleasure Only Wit and Maturity is resident in Man the only Idea and representment of the Image of God in Man What can we otherwise but think that the Time is at hand wherein Mortality shall put on Immortality wherein the burthen of the flesh being laid aside the Glorious Body of the Church shall be coupled to her Glorious Head The Communion of Saints shall be consummate and Christ shall enjoy his Spouse in continual Love and Vnion In the mean time with Paul Unhappy men that we are who shall deliver us from the Body of death that we may pass secure to the Body of Life Then let every good Christian in these Wicked times wherein destruction hangs over our heads with good Hezekiah Pray Lord I am oppressed do thou undertake for me and since the day of destruction is so near us we intreat thee since it is expedient for us that thou wouldest teach us So to number our days that we may apply our hearts to Wisdom And since thou hast pronounced that Servant happy whom his Master when he came found Vigilant and Watchful Grant Lord we beseech thee that since it is manifest that long it cannot be before theâ— come that we may be fitted and prepared foâ— thy Coming and may be found with Oyl iâ— our Lamps and so in Holiness enter thâ— Bride-Chamber with Ioy And let us good Lord think the day most near least whilest the Day of Death or Iudgment be thought to bâ—afar off it prevent the improvement and while long life is expected it quickly forsake the Wicked and Guilty persons Our minds are very destrous if we could to know the Day of Death and Desolation But if we could attain to the knowledg thereof what would it profit us Suppose the Consumation of this World to be after Ten Twenty or Forty or an Hundred years what is this material Is not the Term of Life the Consummation of each Man Why then art thou so troubled about the last day of Iudgment Since as thy end leaves thee Iudgment shâ—ll find thee And how suddenly Death shall find thee thou art altogether ignorant For as in other things noâ—regarding things pertaining to our Souls we altogether are busted in things common saying this man is an Adulterer this man a Thief this man a false-hearted fellow that man proud But no man hath a care far feeling his own sins far worse So doth every man neglect his own end he would fain learn when the general day of Dissolution shall be Which Day whether it be near or far off it doth nothing concern us so each man regard his several end for since thou art Born 't is most certain thou must Dye And it is certain after Death cometh Iudgment that may be far off yet thy last day is at hand Therefore prepare thee for this day For if this day find ther unprovided the day of Iudgment shall find thee so likewise when thou shalt rue for it Consider this all ye that forget God least he tear you in pieces and there be none to help For our God shall go and shall not keep silence a Fire shall come before him and it shall be very tempestuous round about him For God himself is Iudge and the day of Iudgment will quickly have an end prevent the speed thereof It will speedily come prevent it I say be thou speedily converted And as the Prophet David adviseth us Let us run before the face of the Iudge with Confession of Our Faults and true Contrition of the same And the reason why thou knowest not his coming is that thou mayest alwaies be prepared for it For it is in thine own power now thou maist expect his Comming He therefore deferrs his Comming that when he comes he may not daunt thée Behold he is not yet conte he is in Heaven thou art on Earth He deferrs his Comming do not thou deferr this time of Repentance lest thou for ever then too late Repent thee of his Comming For in that day it will be too late to Repent Therefore pray not that his Kingdom come which thou fearest comming but rather correct thy self that thou pray not against thy self So dayly he calls upon thee that he may not that day contemn thee He that shall then be thy Iudge is now thy Advocate and he now calls upon thee that thou wouldst lead a Godly Life Let us therefore set the day of Iudgment before our Eyes which way soever we go let us carry the Memory of it with us and it will bring this profit with it that we shall not only meditate on the Horror and Destruction of that day but also wish for the accomplishment of the same which makes the Wicked to tremble when they hear it approaches Thus S. Chrysostom saith Let us from among our selves repeat these things and with others There shall be a Resurrection a day of Iudgment and a Time of Examination of our Works whether good or bad And this will cause the minds both of good and bad be not conversant in the Vanities and Pleasures of this World and be not tempted to any Wickedness but rather to undergo any Thing to be imposed upon them here than to incurr the intolerable punishments of everlasting Fire hereafter This made David cry out Establish my Flesh in thy fear for I have been afraid to hear of thy Judgments To conclude this Point since we must all appear before the Iudgment-Seat of Christ that every one may Receive the things done in his Body according to that he hath done whether it be good or bad and knowing the Terror and Iustice of the Iudge of all Men that shall Iudge the world in Righteousness and considering the punishment that then shall be imposed on the Wicked that shall be turned into Hell with them that forget God Let us hear and follow
any Partiality to be used For the Kings of the Earth Gentlemen Rich men the great and chief Captains the Mighty men every Bond-man and every Freeman shall hide themselves in the Dens and in the Rocks of the Mountains and shall say to the Rocks and Mountains fall upon us and hide us from the Face of him that litteth upon the Thâ—one and from the wrath of the Lamb for the great Day of wrath is come and who shall be able to stand But when the Son of man shall come in the Majesty of his Glory and the Holy Angels with him before whom all Nations shall be gathered he shall then seperate them one from another as the Shepherd divideth the Sheep from the Goats and he shall set his sheep on his Right hand and the Goats on the Left-hand and the Ring shall say to them on the Right-hand Matt. 25. Come ye Blessed of my Father inherit the Kingdome prepared for you from the beginning of the VVorld But to them on the Left-hand he shall say Go ye Cursed into Everlasting Fire prepared for the Devil and his Angels And these shall go into Everlasting Punishment but the Righteous into Life Eternal To Conclude this point hear the Counsel of our Saviour Christ Luke 31.24 Take heed least at any time your Heart be over-charged with Surfeiting and Drunkenness and cares of this Life and so that Day come upon you unawares For as a Snare it shall come on all them that dwell on the face of the whole Earth Watch ye and Pray alwaies that ye may be accounted worthy to escape all these things that shall come to pass and to stand before the Son of Man Since therefore all these things are fuddenly expected to be fulfilled and all that read the Scriptures may hear this both from Prophets and Apostles Nay and Christ himself That it is a terrible thing to fall into the Hands of the Living God It is a wonder that since all things as the Apostle saith shall be dissolved that now at length we become not pure and walk in the Holy conversation and Godliness looking for and hasting unto the coming of the Day of God wherein the Heavens being on Fire shall be dissolveâ— and the Element shall melt with Fervert heat 2 Pet. 3.2 It is a Wonder that we do not deny all ungodliness and worldly desires and Lusts of the uesh the Glory of the world the deceitfulness of Riches and the choaking cares of all Earthly things and exercise our selves in all Sobriety and Goodness looking for the Blessed hope and the Glorious appearance of that great God and our Saviour Iesus Christ It ought therefore to be our first and chief rate in these dangerous and wicked Times not being drown'd in the Imploiments of this World to have a care of our Salvation and to make sure the Anchor of our hope and Faith That our Souls suffer not Eternal Shipwrack 2 Timm 3 5. Let us noâ—perswade our selves that the Lord is not near let us not say with them that Peter reprehended where is the promise of his coming For since the Fathers â—ell asleep all things continue as they were since the Creation For how long those things shall continue the Lord of Hosts by the Propher Haggaâ— doth declare Yet once it is a little while and I will shake the Heavens and the Earth the Sea and the dry Land Now the Apostle Peter gives the reason why he is not yet come Pet. 1.9 'T is his long-suffering saith he to us ward not 〈◊〉 that any should perish but that all should come to Repentance Wherefore account that the long-suffering of the Lord is Salvation and the diligent that you may be found of him in fear without Spot and â—anâ—eâ—ess We must be diligent and watchful The Greâ—ians are gone aside we have a Simon in us that will yield the place to them We must continually watch and have alwaies an Eye to the watch holding our Weapons 〈◊〉 our hands unless we be minâ—â—d at all time to be surprised and yeild at the pleasure of 〈◊〉 Enemy For The Day of the Lord cometh as a thief in the Night in which thâ— Heavens shall pass away with a great noise and the Element shall melt with fervent heat Therefore be ye ready for in such an hour as you think not the Son of maâ— cometh Now they that defer the coming of the Lord and say with that Evil servant my Lord delayeth his coming let us Eat and Drink and be Drunken Tell them the Lord will come in a day when they look not for him and in an hour when they are not aware and will cut them asunder and will give them their portion with the Vnbelievers and Hypocrites where there shall be weeping and waiting and gnashing of teeth Luke 12.47 Now they that know these things and prepare not themselves neither do according to the will of God shall be beaten with many stripes as the Apostle St. Luke hath in his Gospel pronounced Let us endeavour therefore that when the last day cometh we may say with St. Paul Tim. 4.7 I have fought a good fight I have finished my course I have kept the Faith Hence-forth there is laid up for me a Crown of Righteousness which the Lord that Righteous Iudge shall give me that day But is this Crown laid up for thee alone O Paul not only for me saith he but also for them that love the Lord Iesus and expect his appearance O that this would take some impression in the heardest of hearts that do sing a temporal Requiem here unto their Souls least while they think the Day of the Lord is farthest from them it on the suddain come unto them and so they be found in a condition too late to be amended and by no means whatsoever to be avoided To conclude all gird up the Loyns of your minds be sober and hope to the end For the Glory that is to be brought to you at the Revelation of Iesus Christ as obedient Children not walking after your former Iusts of Ignorance Let your Loyns I say be girded and your lights burning and you your selves like unto them that wait for the Lord when he will return from the wedding that when he cometh and knocketh you may open immediately Luke 12.36 Blessed is the Servant whom his Master when he cometh finds so doing Of a truth I say unto you he will make him Ruler over all he hath Take ye heed Watch and Pray for ye know 〈◊〉 when the time is For the Son of 〈◊〉 Man taking a far journey who left his 〈◊〉 and gave Authority to his Servant 〈◊〉 every man his work commanding them wait Watch ye therefore for ye know when the time is for ye know not when master cometh at Even at midnight of the Cock crowing least coming suddenly finde you sleeping and so cast you into 〈◊〉 there to remain world without end From which the Lord Jesus keepâ— all and that for his Mercies 〈◊〉 alone To whom be rendredâ— Honour Glory Praise and Thaâ—â— giving now and for ever AMEN FINIS
CHRIST IN THE CLOUDS OR GOD's coming to Judgment A short Treatise very necessary in these evil and dangerous times for all those which desire that the day of the LORD may be their day of Joy Mark 13. Ver. 35.36 Watch for ye know not when the Master of the House will come Whether at Evening or at mid-night or at the Cock-crowing or at the Dawning least he come suddenly and find you sleeping LONDON Printed for J. Clark W. Thackeray and T. Passinger Christ in the Clouds OR GOD's coming to Judgment ATheisme and Epicurisme are two Sins most hainous and deadly the Atheist believes there is no God him David confutes Doubtless there is a God that Judgeth the Earth The Epicure believes there is no Judgment after Death him Solomon doth seem to instruct Remember that for all these things you must come to Judgment There is no Christian I think but believes that there shall be a day of Iudgment Mat. 24.30 But when this day shall come none knows for of that day and hour no man knoweth neither the Angels of Heaven but my Father only But although no mans reach is able to determine when that Day and Hour shall be yet may plainly be demonstrated and shown both from the Prophets and Apostles that this Judgment day is near at hand and will most suddenly come upon us It is the mercy of the Holy Ghost to men in Holy Writ to insert these Caveats to put Man in mind of the Iudgment day and that for three special causes 1. That we may be terrified from sin 2. That we might be admonished to the true and sincere worship of God 3. That we might be strengthened in our Faith lest the great terrible day should come upon us unawares and so find us unprovided Since the Foundation of the World we know the time when the Dissolution of the World shall be we are altogether ignorant yet we may justly Prophesie and Presage thus much since Sin and Impiety is now come to that height that it can by no succeeding Ages be aggravated and that Vertue and Godliness are so despised villifyed among impious men that they can never hereafter be less esteemed whe cannot then perceive or is so dust sighted that is not able to apprehend and fore-sée the Dissolution to be at hand Now is that Prophesie of Hosea verifyed There is no truth nor mercy nor knowledg of God in the Land which appeareth by the Cursing Lying Murthers Thefts and Adulterers which now abound So that now as the Prophet Micah hath it The Godly man is perisht from the Earth and there is no just man among the Sons of men Thus Hosea Micah nay all the Prophets do agree in one whereupon saith St. Ambrose When Righteous men perish from off the Face of the Earth the Earth must needs perish also because the godly are the Pith and Marrow of the Earth For as the Trée without Pith and Moisture soon dryeth up so the present World must néeds decay when the Righteous that should uphold it are not to be found in it For this cause as Esay hath it In the City is left Desolation and destruction is in the gates thereof because of their manifold iniquities Christ Iesus himself said As in the Dayes before the Flood they were eating and drinking and Marrying and giving in Marriage till the day of the Flood came and took them away So also shall the Coming of the Son of Man be by reason of the Prophaneness and too much Security Suppose that this Prophesse shall be fulfilled upon our present times and that GOD will say to us as he did to Noah I will destroy you with the World O how unhappy and miserable shall that Man be then that hath not God for his Guide But to the end we may the better discern that we are they upon whom the ends of the World must come there is no better a sign amongst those whom Christ himself gave before them this namely For the Gospel of the Kingdom shall be Preached in all the World for a Witness to all Nations and then shall the end come which is as much as to say according to St. Chrysostom To accuse and reprove those that would not believe the Gospel The same is that of Hilary Then the Apostles being dispersed throughout all the World and the Gospel Preached then shall the Fall of Ierusalem be Nevertheless there are both Learned and unlearned of this opinion that since the World so long after these Prophesies hath continued as before that the end is not near and that the World shall continue still immutable But let them persevere in their opinions for since S. Ambrose Cyprian Chryâ—ostom and S. Gregory were of opinion That since the Gospel in their time was Preached to all Nations long after their time the World could not indure Surely then it is most probable that this is the Age in which the end must come Now that we have some proof that the World cannot endure long because the Gospel is said to be preached to all Nations Here St. Jerome who was of opinion that there was in his time no Nation that was ignorant of the Gospel of Christ For he saith Although they have no Preacher yet they cannot but hear the Opinion of the Faith of their Neighbouring Nations This Prosper confirms No part of the World is without the Gospel of Christ some of all sorts and of all Nations have knowledg of Christ I could induce a Cloud of opinions but let Ambrose serve for them all The Gospel is Preached the World may be destroyed To conclude this point since probably by this great motive we are induced to believe that the end is at hand and that the day and hour thereof is uncertain it shall stir us up to a more holy course of life least that our Desolation and Confusion overtake us unawares But to the end that we may the better understand and believe what hath béen before shewed the Word of God is a most firm Argument to inform us of the truth of Christ's sudden Coming and that this present Age is the last Age of the World For the spirit expresly saith 1 Tim. 4. That in the later end some shall depart from the Faith giving heed to seducing spirits and Doctrine of Devils speaking Lyes in Hypocrisie and having their Conscience seared with a hot Iron c. And again know this also that in the last dayes perilous times shall come for men shall be Lovers of their own selves Covetous Boasters Proud Blasphemers disobedient to Parents unthankful unholy without natural affection truth-breakers false-accusers Innocent despisers of those that are good High-minded Lovers of Pleasure more than God having the form of Godliness but denying the power thereof Thus far the Apostle which-words St. Cyprian handling saith All things that were foretold are fulfilled and the end of the world draweth near the Prophesies are come to pass both in respect of the men