come Ye know not wâ—en the time is But 〈◊〉 it is not farre of we are sure So Paul teacheth To admonisâ— vs vpon whom the ends of the world are come Saint Iohn is as plaine It is the last time Augustine saith vnto Hesychius who was curiously inquisitiue of the worldes end That he dare not giue the aduenture to measure the length and the scope theref seeing the Angels and Sonne of man himselfe are ignorant hereof But in his first â—ocke vppon Genesis against the Manichies hee giueth sixe ages to the life of the worlde as the life of man is disposed and diuided into seuerall sundrie ages through which as his life passe so the life of the worlde goeth away By casting the worlde into sire ages hee followeth the set number of dayes which were sire wherein the whole forme and frame of heauen and earth were made and finished The first age is the time from Adam to Noah or to the stood which hee compareth to our infancie The seconde is all the time from the flood to Abrahams dayes which hee likeneth to our childehoode The third is all the time from Abraham to Dauid which he suteth to our youthfull age The fourth is all the time from Dauid to the transportation of the people into Babylon which is answerable to our mans estate The fift is all the time from the captiuitie to the Incarnation of Christ which hath reference is our olde age The sixt is all the time from Christ to the verie ende it selfe which is our decrepit estate and condition which is called by Saint Iohn The last houre After which followeth the seauenth day euen the Sabboth of our endlesse rest But in regarde of the notable chaunges thereof the worlde may be drawne to a narrower roome and more simplie be destributed into foure ages onely The first is the time from the Creation to the Flood which wee may rightly tearme the infancie and Child-hoode of the worlde for that theu Artes were first founde out and that with the first principles and promises of saluation the godly were satisfied and they worshipped God after a simple and plaine manner The second from the Flood extendeth it selfe to the promulgation and publication of the Lawe which for verie good causes wee may woorthily call the youthfull age of it For then were men farre and wide diuided throughout all partes of the earth Common-wealths were first founded and the beginning of the first Monarchie instituted and the couenant of saluation by God with Abraham our father indented the linage and descent of the Messiah designed and our vniuersall redemption in the deliuerance of the Israelites from the Egyptian thraldome typicallie represented The thirde age comprehendeth the whole time that was spent vnder the time of the Lawe vnto the comming of our Sauiour in the flesh as wee finde it diuided by our Sauiour Christ himselfe saying The Lawe and the Prophets are vnto Iohn c. That was the ripe age and manhoods of the Worlde it being then come to his perfect growth for then came in Magna Charta the plenarie enrolment of the will of God making the consignement of the promises of God by sundrye Ceremonies and opening them at large by the Commentaries of the Prophets Nowe as sorrowes encrease with yeares and the full age hath fulnesse of troubles accompanying it so manie perturbations did fall vppon these tymes and the whole worlde was as it were set vppon Wheeles and vp and downe rolled with tragicall commâ—tions The fourth age ranne vppon the necke of this wherein the Senne of God in flesh was manifested which to the consummation of the worlde shall be continued This as wee noted before out of Iohn is called The last houre otherwise called by the Apostle Paul to the same effect The fulnesse of time so tearmed because all the promises of God excepting the generall resurrection and iudgement are absolutely fulfilled and shall make a full end of the Worlde Nowe it agreeth fulâ—ie with the nature of olde age For as olde men can not liue long though young men may die soone and they spende their remainder of time with cares infirmityes and diseases enough so wee can not promise to the worlde beeing in his olde age any long continuance or that it shall bee better then it is but rather that the age of it shall bee more burdensome vnto it and make it to be worsser This knowledge howsoeuer sufficient for vs satisfieth not others folishly curious ayming at the verie exact time of his dissolution by these â—riuolous coniectures These haue found out a simple shift for themselues to answer Christs words The day and houre knoweth no man instnuating that we may haue a gesse at the time though wée knowe not the nicke and exact part of the time But their sophistrie will not serue theÌ„ For Christs â—â—plie to the â—psie quâ—stion of the Apostles in these words It is not for you to know the times cutleth off their cauilling â—â—stinction of time it beeing in the Greeke 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Times and seasons wherefore their cunning commeth out of time Neither will that out of Mathew doe them good whereby they would take a measure of the time when 〈◊〉 world should haue 〈◊〉 in these words And this Gospell of the kingdome shall bee preached thorough the whole world for a witnes to all natiâ—ns and then shall the end come Augustine answereth them thus the Lords comming shal not be vntill the Gospell be dispersed throughout the world But how soone he shal come after this is thus published it is not from hence gathered The Gospel was generally notified to the world in the Apostles time who by their coÌ„tinual tedious perambulations had sent the sound thereof into all lands as Paul in his letter to the Colossians writeth thus Which is come vnto you euen as it is vnto all the world and is fruitful as it is also among you and yet euer since the world hath continued But there are many relie vpon idle dreames as vpon familiar deuiles The Mathematicians doe looke for a great yeere as Cicero sheweth after which al the starres shal returne to their beginnings and then the end of the world shal be Baldus in Cicero putteth in this spoake This conuersion howe long it will bée is a great question but it is necessarily certaine and definite Macrobius out of the opinion of naturall philosophers doth set downe a great yeere which hee calleth the worldes yeere Making it to confist of fiftéene thousand yeeres as the Sunne measureth them Augustine acquainteth vs with the fancies of some in his time who assigned fower hundred yéeres after the assention of Christ vnto heauen of others who â—â—crâ—ed fiue huÌ„dred of others who spake of a thousand after the expiration whereof the world should haue an absolute vastation But their vttermost prefixed time hauing long beene out of date their vaine assertions are sufficiently reproued
pregnant proofes The EuaÌ„gelists are flat for it Christ saith in Math. The Son of man shal come in the glory of his father with his Angels then shal he giue to euery man according to his deeds Againe by the same Euangelist he saith thus They shall see the sonne of man come in the cloudes of heauen with power and great glory c. Also by the same pen-man thus when the Son of man commeth in his glory and all the holly Angells with him then shal he sit vpon the throne of his glory Luke recordeth the like wordes of our Sauiour Then shall they see the Sonne of man come in a cloude with power and great glorie beheaded and Peter to be crucified the Saints of God from time to time by all exquisite torments to be tortured if there were not a reuersion of times wherein they might be glorified Wherfore it was necessarie that a generall assise should bee holden for Gaile deliuerie and the consummation of their endlesse felicitie 3. When should this fore denuntiation of Christ sake effect Nothing is secret that shall not be euident neither anie thing hid that shall not be knowne and come to light As also these like predâ—ctions of holie Scripture God shall iudge the secretes of men by Iesus Christ Euerie mans worke shall bee made manifest if our expectation of the iudgement hath not due effect For seeing heere many thinges are smothered which neuer are detected Bee we assured that God keepeth a Kalender of our doings and noteth euerie thing exactly in his Register and that the bookes shall be opened and set before vs the eternall counsaile of God reuealing to euerie one his sinnes in particular 4 Albeit the two edged sword of Gods iustice resteth and rusteth in the Scabbard of his patience because he would haue no man to perish but would all men to come to repentance yet that this conniuencie might not cast vs vpon a bed of securitie he hath made some examples to vs in this life to set vs vpon our feet and to make vs vigilant that we fall not into the iudgement As those whom the Deluge did absorpe and sweepe away wherin all the Inhabitants of the world Noah his famille dedicted the remnant of the olde and the seede of the newe Worlde being destroyed Vnder this iudgement the future finall iudgement wherein onelie a remnant shall be saued euen the little Arke and Barke of Christs Church is luculently portended As also the fearefull conflagration of Sodome giueth faire admonition of a iudging God the breath of Gods anger hauing blowne the fire that will lick vp all the vngodly like stubble and consume them like drosse Heereupon Augustine thus sweetely speaketh Lot a iust man and a good house-keeper in Sodome pure and vndefiled from the filthinesse of the Sodomites was saued from the fire which was the image of hell fire being the type of the bodie of Christ which in all the Saints and now among the wicked wayleth by whose badde conuersation it is not corrupted and from whose consociation it shall bee deliuered in the ende of the worlde those being adindged to Hell fire c. Finally the repudiation of the Iewes the inheritance royall Nation and peculiar people of God is a memorable and dreadfull example of Gods iudgement who for their disobedience to the Lordes Prophets were the declamation and a Prouerbe vnto all the worlde and were pittifully entreated of the Assyrians and Babylonians and lastly by the Romans so spoyled as they were no more a people 5 Our consciences witnesse the certaintie of the iudgement which tremble and quake al the remembrance thereof as Faelix dâ—d at the Sermon oâ— Paul dilating vpon these points righteousnesse temperance iudgement to come But for as much as wee are called to reckoning immediately after the Dissolution of our bodies and with our death come in the Ticâ—ets and Bell of account of the by-past actions of the whole life the vniuersall generall Audit day seemeth needlesse but in a double respect it is more then necessarie First of God second of our selues 1 Of God that he might be iustified in his sayings and cleare when he is iudged God is so good as being infinite and omnipotent and we being little more then nothing hee yeeldeth to a iudiciall hearing that no man may complaine that iustice is not giuen him Therefore that thou mayest not charge him with wrong intended of his side towardes thee thou shalt haue thy open verie honourable tryull 2 In regarde of our selues it is also requisite that our shamelesse sinnes might come to more confusion and our good beâ—des might the more bee dignifyed Wherefore our prouinâ—â—ll Lawes punish theeues and malefactors openly to adde more shame vnto them If a Magistrate shall in pittie to couer his shame execute a felon closely in the Gaile hee shoulde not doe iustice because hee doth not the plenarie punishment the Lawe awarded him For the disgrace ignominie and reproch that followeth such a iudgement is the greatest part of the iudgement Hence it is that man tendring his credite had rather die then be oâ—â—gâ—aced Secular Iudges and Ecclesiasticall Officers bring foorth their delinquents to doe their peuance in the Market dayes and Sabaoth that the great apparance of people which such times do giue might inlarge their shame So God reserueth an impenitent sinner to that generall day to adde more affliction to his heauinesse being made as a spectaclâ— set vppon a stage for all the Worlde to wonder at This is that hee threatneth him by his Prophet Nahum Beholde I will discouer thy skiâ—s vpon thy face and will shew the nations thy filthinesse and the Kingdoms thy shame And I will cast filth vpon thee and make thee vile and will set thee as a gasing stocke Now what an exquisite iudgement is this consider by this which hath some similitude hereunto Put the case that an honest and shamefast Matrone shoulde bee stripped of her rayment and shewed naked to all that woulde beholde her woulde not this bee as a knife set at the heart or her and woulde shee not die through the anguish of soule for this vnspeakeable shame brought vppon her No question shee would But in what case is a sinner in respâ—ct of her who shall haue all his abhominations set before the viewe of the worlde the filthie workes wordes thoughts oâ— his â—â—â—de read in the audience of all A thousande to one that â—eheâ—â—e her nakednesse shall see his filthinesse by infinite degrees â—â—ereâ—ore the vexation of the one shall exceede the veration of the other For he shall call out heauen and earth to record against them as Moses against the people Angels and Diueâ—s shall goe against them and condemne them and what 〈◊〉 oâ— the sinnes of the Saints be spoken of Yes doubâ—â—s But rather to dignifie then damnifie them For they shall bee vnto them as rents of Garments
the siluer Smith with the Apprentises to that trade had raised is said to haue dismissed the church but the force of the word signifieth a companie called out from the common companie And truely such as are of the Church indeede are called out of the world into one companye and bodye into a holy common wealth by themselues Wherefore God when hee first founded his Church heere in earth hee did cast out Cain from the face of the earth and surrogated Seâ—h from whome lineally the Sonnes of God should haue distent So Abraham was called out of Chaldea and seperated from among them and the faithfull Sonnes of Abraham are peremptorily commaunded to goe out of Babilon Thus was Paul called from the companie of Pharises when hee was to her a Church man and hee nameth such as are Saintes called as the Romans To you that bee at Rome beloued of God called to bee Saints The Corinthians vnto the Church of God which is at Corinthus to them that are sanctified in Christ Iesus Saintes by calling And Christ saith that hee came not to call the righteous Wherfore such as are called are of the Church and such as are not called are not of the Church We will sift euerie word of the sentence one by one But we will first marke the difference that this Iudiciall proceeding shal haue from the definitiue doomes of men In the trybunals of earthly Iudges an enditement is put in an euidence vpon the Indicement is giuen witnesses are produced and sworne the guiltie person hath his aduocate and Counsellor to plead his cause a Iurye is pannelled against the Prisoner But here are none of these circumstances vsed for here the conscience shall accuse and excuse all Christ shall not need witnesses as knowing the verie secrets of the heart and vnderstanding the thoughts long before Whâ— by his presence shall comfort the elect and confound the reprobate Against whom the diuell shall vrge the Lawe and call for iustice out of hand thus yelling like a woolf against the damned ones as Eusebius Emissenus notablie thus deliuereth O thou iust Iudge these were thine by creation but they are mine by corruption thine by nature but mine by disobedience who héeded more my seduction then thy wholsome instruction thine by Law mine by fact thine by worke mine by will Then the king speaketh He calleth himselfe a king who before named himselfe the sonne of man to shew that his incarnation and humiliation shall bee nothing derogatorie from his Diuinitie and Maiestie when he shall come in the forme of a man true man to bee King of glorie and Iudge generall of all men He diuideth his speech into two partes suting them to the two sortes of people that shall stande before him 1 The elect 2 reprobate To the first he readeth sentence of Absolution to the second the sentence of Condemnation In the first wee will handle these points 1 Their calling 2 Who are called 3 To what they are called 4 Wherefore they are so called The first which is their calling is abridged in this word Come He giueth vs frée accesse vnto himselfe without the mediation of Saints Angels as the Church of Rome fancieth He is the same in heauen in the height of his Maiestie as he was in earth in the height of his humilitie This was his Proclaimation in earth Come vnto me all ye that are wearie laden and I will refresh you All ye that are thirstie come vnto the waters The same he will proclaime at the standard in the ayre Come yee blessed And why Because his pleasure is yâ— we he where he is according to that which he saith in Iohn I will that where I am there my seruants be also And after this saying I goe to prepare you a place and when I shall goe and prepare you a place I will come againe and take you vnto me that where I am there may you be also 2 The persons that are called are pricked out in these wordes Ye blessed of my father By which tytle wee see the whole conueyance of our heauenlye inheritance as descending vnto vs by the meere blessing of heauenly grace Wée being by Adams vngraciousnesse sentenced to a cursse By Christ therfore the case is altered a cursse is turned into a blessing he being that blessed promised seede that should bruse the Serpents head the original of our cursse hee being the â—eed of Abraham in whome all the nations of the earth are blessed Wherfore we sing the Apostle Paules song Blessed bee God the Father of our Lord Iesus Christ which hath blessed vs with all spirituall blessings in heauenly thinges in Christ Wherefore this blessing came not by the lawe but by grace If the law of Moses could not make vs blessed much lesse can the lawes of Mahomet or the Pope make vs blessed Wherefore by grace wee are onelye gracious 3. Whether and to what wee are called is shewed in these wordes Possesse the Kingdome of Heauen prepared for you from the beginning of the worlde The Greeke word signifieth not simply to possesse but inherite which word inherit dooth vtterly vannish merrit For as the Infant is borne an heyre before hee can merrit the inheritance so God hath made vs inheritors before wee were able to doe any thing eyther good or euill as Paul by the examples of Iacob and Esau plainely teacheth vs. Againe the preparation and ordination of the Kingdome heere spoken of concludeth that it was ours before we were our owne wherefore wee come not to it by anye worthinesse of our owne 4. The answere wherefore wee are so called is giuen in the sequell I was a hungrie and you gaue me meate As if hee should haue said I call you the blessed of my Father and ioynt heires with mee in his Kingdome Because by effectuall workes and liuelye fruites thereof yee haue testified your faith The workes that are heere specified are workes of Charitie not of vanitie as monasticall vowes and such as haue foundation from humain traditions These containe all whatsoeuer else may be named For they that performe these doubtlesse will by hurtfull to none vse deceit towards none and be negligent towardes none who are commended to their charge by God In the next place followeth the condemnatorie sentence pronounced against the wicked which would make a mans blood cold and coâ—gealed within him Departe from mee Heereupon shall the damned say Lord seeing wee must so doe yet blesse vs before wee departe as Esau saide to his Father Isaac But with their departure is the blessing departed from them likewise Iacob haue I blessed and hee shall be blessed saith Father Isaac to Esau so the godly haue I blessed and they shall be blessed saith God our Father to the wicked therefore hee addeth this word Curssed