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ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A79832	Seventeen sermons preach'd upon several occasions By William Clagett, D.D. late preacher to the Honourable Society of Grays Inn, and one of His Majesty's chaplains in ordinary. With the summ of a conference, on February 21, 1686. between Dr. Clagett and Father Gooden, about the point of transubstantiation. The third edition. Vol. I.	Clagett, William, 1646-1688.; Gooden, Peter, d. 1695. aut; Sharp, John, 1645-1714.	1699 (1699)	Wing C4398; ESTC R230511	209,157	515

SEVENTEEN SERMONS Preach'd upon Several Occasions By WILLIAM CLAGETT D. D. Late PREACHER to the Honourable Society of Grays-Inn and one of his Majesty's Chaplains in Ordinary With the SUMM of a CONFERENCE on February 21 1686. between Dr. Clagett and Father Gooden about the Point of Transubstantiation The Third Edition VOL. I. London Printed for W. Rogers at the Sun against St. Dunstan's Church in Fleetstreet MDCXCIX THE PREFACE THere will need no more to Recommend the following Discourses to the Reader than only to assure him he is not imposed upon by the Title Page but what is here presented to him as Dr. Clagett's Sermons are really so being published from his own Papers and by his own Brother And indeed the Sermons themselves do sufficiently speak their Author for they every where express the Spirit the Judgment and the Reasoning of that Excellent Man though some of them perhaps want that Finishing which his Masterly Hand would have given them had he been to have published them himself The first of these Sermons he meant to have Printed if God had given him Life being prevailed upon by the Importunity of several of his Friends who then judged it very seasonable The last in this Collection was the last Sermon he Preached It was Preached at St. Martins in the Fields on the day of his Lent-course there And that very Evening he fell into that Sickness which put a a period to his Life twelve days after No Man perhaps in this Age of so private a Condition died more lamented For as he had all the amiable charming Qualities to procure the Esteem and Love of every one that knew him So God had bestowed upon him so many great and useful Talents for the doing Service to Religion to the Church to all about him And he so faithfully and industriously employed those Talents to those purposes that he was really a publick Blessing and he had that Right done him as to be esteemed so He was Born at St. Edmunds-Bury Sept. 24. 1646. being the Son of Mr. Nicholas Clagett then Minister there His Vniversity Education was at Emanuel College in Cambridge His first publick appearance in the World was at his own Native Town of Bury where he was chosen one of the Preachers Which Office he discharged for several years with so universal a Reputation that it might be truly said as to him That a Prophet had Honour in his own Country From thence at the Instance of some considerable Men of the Long Robe whose Business at the Assizes there gave them Opportunities of being acquainted with his great Worth and Abilities he was prevailed with to remove to Grays-Inn And indeed it was no small Testimony given to his Merits that he was thought worthy by that Honourable Society to succeed the Eminent Dr. Cradock as their Preacher In this place he continued all the remainder of his Life and he behaved himself worthily in it and the Gentlemen of that House took all Occasions of declaring that he did so by the constant Kindness they expressed to him while he lived and the Respects they paid him at his Death He had indeed at the time of his Death two other Preferments besides that of Grays-Inn The Lord Keeper North his Wives Kinsman had given him a Living in Buckinghamshire but the other Place was that which he himself most valued next to Grays-Inn and that was the Lecture of Bassishaw to which he was chosen by that Parish about two years before his death It was the Lecture which Dr. Calamy had immediately held before him Never was there two greater Men successively Lecturers of one Parish nor ever was any Parish kinder to two Lecturers Dr. Clagett dyed of the Small-Pox March 28th and was buried in the Church of St. Michael Bassishaw His Wife Mrs. Thomasin North a most Vertuous and Accomplished Woman dyed eighteen days after him of the same Disease and was buried in the same Grave with him There is this little Passage not unfit to be mentioned here The last Sermon Dr. Clagett made tho not the last he preached was that which is the Sixteenth in this Collection upon this Text Shall we receive good at the hands of God and shall we not receive evil This Sermon he made upon occasion of the death of a Child of his that happened a little before And he had writ it fairly out I suppose for this end that his Wife might read it And accordingly she did so but upon a much sadder Occasion For it was after his death that she got this Sermon into her hands and then she made it her continual Entertainment and a seasonable one it was as long as her strength would suffer her But to return to Dr. Clagett We owe it to the Society of Grays-Inn that he was brought to this City But after he came hither his own Merits in a little time rendred him sufficiently conspicuous For so innocent and unblameable was his Life such an unaffected Honesty and Simplicity appeared in all his Conversation so obliging he was in his Temper so sincere in all his Friendships so ready to do all sorts of good Offices that came in his way and withal so prudent a Man so good a Preacher so dexterous in untying Knots and making hard things plain so happy in treating of common Subjects in an uncommon and yet useful way So able a Champion for the True Religion against all Opposers whatsoever and lastly so ready upon all occasions to Advise to Direct to Encourage any work that was undertaken for the promoting or defending the Cause of God I say all these Qualities were so eminent in Dr. Clagett that it was impossible they should be hid The Town soon took Notice of him and none that intimately knew him could forbear to love and admire him and scarce any that had heard of him to esteem and honour him If the Reader would know more of Doctor Clagett let him peruse those Writings of his which he published himself By them he will in some measure be able to make a Judgment of the Genius and Abilities of the Man If a Friend can speak without partiality there doth in those Writings appear so strong a Judgment such an admirable Faculty of Reasoning so much Honesty and Candor of Temper so great plainness and perspicuity and withal so much spirit and quickness and in a word all the Qualities that can recommend an Author or render his Books Excellent in their kind that I should not scruple to give Dr. Clagett a place among the most Eminent and Celebrated Writers of this Church And if he may be allowed that it is as great an Honour as can be done him For perhaps from the Inspired Age to this the World did never see more Accurate and more Judicoous Composures in matters of Religion than the Church of England has produced in our days The Discourses writ and published by Dr. Clagett are these that follow A Discourse concerning the Operations of

is disgraced with the company of Follies and Lies Thus the Pharisees recommended their absurd Traditions to the People because in the same breath they taught them the Law of Moses Thus some of the Gentiles were ready to reject Christianity when they were made to believe it necessary for them also to observe the Mosaical Law if they would be Christians And this is one of the common Scandals of the World that Truth is so often insincerely represented and false Doctrines propounded still by the same Authority that holds forth some necessary Truths And for this reason the Gospel does not allow but command us to use a Judgment of Discretion not to reject that which is good because it comes from the same Authority that requires evil nor to admit Error because it is accompanied with Truth but to prove all things and to hold fast that which is good 4. All Popular Artifices that are used to recommend either wicked Errors or Practices are also great Offences and lead many silly Souls astray of which kind the most obvious are these An external shew of Strictness and Piety without real Virtue and Godliness at the bottom of it And of this the Pharisees were the first notable Instance who placing Religion in abundance of nice Observations seemed to be the most strict and devout People in the World and therefore our Saviour knowing the wickedness of their Hearts and Lives compared them to whited sepulchres that within were full of dead mens bones and all uncleanness And this Offence would be so powerful whenever it should happen that it seemed good to the Spirit to foretell it expresly viz. That in the latter times some should depart from the faith giving heed to seducing spirits forbidding to marry and commanding to abstain from meats 1 Tim. 4.1 2 3. Another Offence of this kind which was also expresly foretold is pretending the Testimony of Miracles For says our Saviour himself There shall arise false Christs and false prophets and shall shew great signs and wonders insomuch that if it were possible they should deceive the very elect Behold says he I have told you before Matth. 24.24 25. And thus St. Paul foretold that when that wicked one should be revealed his coming should be after the working of Satan with power and signs and lying wonders and with all deceivableness of unrighteousness I shall name but one other popular Device for the supporting of Error and that is to denounce Damnation peremptory against all Gainsayers with which Artifice the Judaizers secured themselves against the Gentile Christians saying Except ye be circumcised and keep the law of Moses ye cannot be saved Now although every man that has a Tongue may if he please lay this weight upon his Cause as to exclude all from Salvation that are not of his way and therefore the Threatning be not worthy of a wise man's thought till the Merits of the Cause be examined yet it has two notable advantages that it is framed to work upon the Passions of men more than upon their Judgment and in most men their Passion is stronger than their Reason and it may be so used as to bear the World in hand that 't is not Uncharitableness but mere Pity and Tenderness to the Souls of men that compels them to speak so harsh but so necessary a Truth And 't is a wonderful thing to observe how easy men are to be managed when on the one side there is a positive Sentence of Damnation to work upon their fears and on the other an appearance of serious Charity to win their Affections for by this Art men of contrary Parties have with strange success served contrary Opinions and Practices I cannot if I were willing reckon all the Offences of this kind that is popular and plausible ways of deceiving But that there would be such our Saviour did not only foretell in the general when he said It must needs be that offences come but in particular also when he said Beware of false prophets which come to you in sheeps cloathing Matth. 7.15 5. To this I may add what St. Paul observes 1 Tim. 6.5 Perverse disputings of men of corrupt minds and destitute of the truth supposing that gain is godliness That any thing may be defended as a part of Religion which makes for worldly Interest It is no such hard matter to perplex things that are plain to find colours for denying things that are evident to hide the weakness or the strength of an Argument to divert from the Cause to the Person so artificially as if the Cause went on still to lose the matter in debate to make Truth look like Error and Error like Truth to those that are willing to be deceived if a man is resolved to bend all his Wit this way for something may be said for any thing 6. And lastly Bad Examples of men professing the true Religion are another most dangerous Offence since I doubt most men are so framed as to take up their Opinions more easily from Authority than from other Arguments and they understand more easily the difference between good and evil Manners than between strong and weak Reasons And then they will be apt to judge of the Truth or Falshood of a Way of Religion by the good or bad Fruits of Practice it brings forth in those that profess it Which doubtless our Saviour intimated in those words Let your light so shine before men that others seeing your good works may glorify your Father which is in heaven But to hold the Truth in Unrighteousness is not only a Scandal to those that are in Error confirming them that are in the wrong way but likewise to those that are in the way of Truth by encouraging them to Sin in like manner especially when Evil Examples are set by those that are particularly obliged to set none but good ones whose Place or Office Wealth or Quality makes them more conspicuous and gives others any kind of dependance upon them And because of the pernicious Influence of Bad Examples we find St. Paul often calling upon the Christians with whom he had to do to fix their observation upon those that were good Brethren says he be followers together of me and mark them which walk so as ye have us for an ensample For many walk of whom I have often told you and now tell you even weeping that they are the enemies of the cross of Christ Thus I have very briefly considering the largeness of the Subject shewn what Offences were to come by laying before you the principal and most obvious Offences which we know by the Predictions of the Scripture and alas for the World by too sad experience And now I proceed to the second Point which was to consider why it must needs be that Offences should come that is why it was not to be expected but that these or such Scandals as these would be given to the World And this Enquiry is necessary to be

be obeyed in matters of Prudence and Expedience Religion has been made to run out into Shews and Ceremonies and this has begotten prejudices against all appearance of Beauty and Reverence in the external Worship of God And on the other side the excesses of men in departing from one extreme are scandalous to those whom they left and do confirm them in their Errors Thus because there are some who abuse the Liberty this Church gives to all of using the Holy Scriptures and who reject the assistance of their Guides they that are concerned the People should know as little of the Bible as is possible argue from the Folly and Vanity of the former how dangerous an Instrument it is in the hands of the Laity And because 't is impossible but that a Judgment of Discretion in matters of Religion being allowed to all must be liable to be abused they that abuse it to the making of Sects and Parties and the bringing in of Innovations give a Candle to that Church to glory in her Dissention which provides that all should believe as she believes because of her Authority and that no man judges of the particulars of his Faith for himself The truth is the Instances of this mischief are so many and so undeniable that whenever any great Scandal is given by Communities or Churches that consists in one Extreme a man may without the Spirit of Prophecy foretel that if the great Mercy of God prevent it not it will in time beget the other Extreme It is the great unhappiness of Mankind that opposite Errors which look as if one would destroy the other do really strive to support one another And yet there is hardly any foolish Advice more frequent than to run from an Extreme as far as is possible as if that were the way to make an end of it But by this means woful Mischiefs have happen'd in the world Divisions have been multiplied Uncharitableness increased and men more and more hardned in their ways of Error and Sin 6. The Scandal of mixing absurd and impious Doctrines with the Truth and unjustifiable Practices with such as are to be commended has this notorious mischief still attending it that it hinders the Conversion of Infidels and is a terrible obstruction to the propagating of Christianity Averroes did not speak his own sense alone when he said Since the Christians eat their God let my Soul be with the Philosophers The Scandals that are given to Jews and Turks I need not name But to make an end of this unpleasing Argument 7. And lastly The mischief of these and all other Offences is so much the greater because when once Offence is given no man can tell where the mischief will end For instance Suppose by my Example I animate another to sin in like manner or that I do not only corrupt his Manners but his Principles too and so do him all the hurt I can Who can say that this is all the mischief I have done Is it not likely that he will infect others as I have infected him And that they may go on to propagate the mischief which had its beginning from me And that the next Age may be the worse for me And that my Guilt may be growing Ages after I am dead Apply this to all the Offences that are given in the world and consider not only the greatness of the mischief they do but the spreading nature of it and we shall find great reason in those sad words of our Lord Wo to the world because of offences But 2. Whence comes it that Offences are taken and so all this mischief done by them In general it might be sufficient to answer That for whatever Causes some men are apt to give Offence for the same others are apt to take it and therefore it would not be impertinent to call over in this place the unsuitableness of the Gospel to the Lusts and to the Vanity of mankind whether it be considered as a Rule of Faith or Manners or Worship But to this it may be added 1. That there are a great many in the world who for want of either good natural Abilities or good Education have little ability to judge for themselves and therefore the most part take their Impressions from the Authority of other mens Examples or Instructions And therefore when they fall into ill hands they fare accordingly to which our Saviour seemed to have a particular regard in the Verse before the Text Whosoever shall offend one of these little ones which believe in me it were better for him that a milstone were hanged about his neck and that he were drowned in the depth of the sea So that because there would be some Persons sincerely disposed who in many things could not judge for themselves but must be led by Authority our Saviour for their greater security provided this frightful Threatning to deter all men from taking the advantage of their weakness to mislead them 2. Some stumble at Offences laid before them and take up pernicious Doctrines merely from impatience of considering and taking time to lay things together He that judges rashly and hastily may by chance make a true Judgment but he shall as often judge falsly it being no difficult thing as I observed last time to lay such colours upon Error as will require some leisure to see through them And in such cases if a man be unwilling to take pains and desires to come presently and easily to the Conclusion he gives the Seducer all the advantage he could desire and is indeed just the Person he desired to meet with one easily deceived by a false appearance of Reason 3. The strange Influence which the carnal Affections of men and their worldly Interests have upon their Judgments is a fatal cause of laying them open to the mischief of Scandals We are too apt to desire Doctrines and Examples in favour of liberty to sin and therefore when they are offered we are not so apt as we should be to guard our selves against them Thus it was among the Jews as God said by Jeremy Jer. 5.31 The prophets prophesie falsly and my people love to have it so To these I might add other Causes viz. The prejudice of Education undue admiration of mens Persons prejudice against Truth arising from prejudice against Persons an Inclination to Opinions suitable to our own Temper and Complexion love of Novelty on the one side and on the other hatred to change though it be for the better all which Dispositions and Circumstances expose those that are under them to the mischief of Offences But I should be over-tedious to run into all the Particulars under this Head which may also be more profitably supplied by Directions in the Close of all And so I come to the third intention which was to reduce what has been said to matter of Exhortation And I shall leave with you these two necessary Cautions I. Be careful to give no Offence II. Be

to be trained up to the perfection of Virtue in the School of Christ and therefore our Saviour took a particular care of them and bore with all their Infirmities Mistakes and Follies till he had brought them to perfection Whereas Judas whom he excepted out of this Commendation Ye are clean was a man false and close covetous and treacherous and for the compassing of his Ends ready for any mischief he was a Thief and kept himself a Follower of Jesus longer in all likelihood than he would have done otherwise because he bore the Bag He seemed to have become his Disciple at first for no other reason but because he expected to have been some great man in the world under Jesus whose Miracles had convinced him that he was the Christ but when by the constant tenor of Christ's Doctrine and by his Example he found he was likely to be deceived in that expectation of Worldly Greatness he was resolved to make the best he could of his being one of our Lord's Disciples and that by making use of the opportunity he had to get both Money and Favour from the Rulers by betraying him This was the Character of Judas whom our Lord knew full well before he betrayed him and he being such a vicious Hypocrite so great a Villain as he was Jesus seemed not to regard him at all nor to take any particular care of him but did e'en let him go from one wickedness to another till he came to utter Ruin and for what reason should we think but because he had nothing at all of a Spirit of Honesty in him and was therefore incapable of being improved in any degree of Virtue This I say is the Argument whereby I would recommend to all men that simplicity and honesty of Spirit which was discernable in the rest of the Apostles whilst though they were but very imperfect in Religion and Virtue in comparison to what they were afterwards yet our Saviour did not cast them off for every fault they were guilty of for every mistake they were under but rather was very tender of them and took all opportunities to set them right when they were wrong and to lead them from one degree of Virtue and Goodness to another till at length they became Teachers of Truth and Examples of Piety to all the World And this I believe verily is the meaning of those words of our Saviour that occur in the Sixth Chapter of St. John and in other places That Jesus would not cast away those that the Father had given him i. e. men of honest Minds and sincere Dispositions these words alluding to what is commonly seen amongst us of a Father's committing a Child of Probity and a towardly Disposition to a skilful Master to be educated and improved by him and his expecting a good account of him at last And therefore said our Saviour John 17.12 Of those thou hast given me or committed to my care I have lost none but the son of perdition i. e. Judas had utterly fallen off and miscarried because he was a man of a Reprobate Disposition but of those that God had committed to him i. e. men of teachable and willing Spirits he had lost none although they had a great many failings and were often in very great danger But I am to make out this Point from the circumstances of the Story in this Chapter and elsewhere which affords a remarkable Instance of it in St. Peter to wit How great is the care of God over a sincere man to save him from utter miscarrying notwithstanding many blameable defects And I the rather shall instance in St. Peter because upon every notable occasion of instructing the rest of his Disciples our Saviour still addressed himself to St. Peter not that the rest were unconcerned but that he was most of all concerned because he most of all needed his Instructions and Admonitions as you will plainly see 'T is true he had many notable good Qualities wherein he excelled the rest for in quickness of Apprehension in boldness of Spirit in concern for his Master in Activity and Industry in forward Undertaking and in contempt of Danger he seemed to outdo all his Brethren But this forward vigorous and active man made more Falls as far as we can find than any other of the Apostles did but being also sincere and honest he was therefore more watched and particularly instructed than the rest And I cannot but observe this by the way That the reason why our Saviour addressed himself in particular to Peter so much oftner than to the rest of the Apostles was not that he gave him a more singular Power and Authority than he did the rest but because being a man of a more forward and active Spirit than all the rest in doing well he commonly did better in doing ill he mostly did worse than the rest which is a sufficient account of that particular application of our Saviour to him either in commending or reproving him And thus when Peter's forwardness of Spirit led him to speak well before any of his Brethren were ready as when he confessed that Jesus was the Son of the living God That being what they all assented to Jesus in commending him commended all in encouraging him he encouraged all and though he alluded to his Name in particular by saying Thou art Peter yet that which followed and upon this rock will I build my church and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it was equally a commendation and encouragement of the Faith of the rest and of their professing that Faith upon which the Church was to be founded so surely that it should never be destroyed So likewise when he rebuked his Master for foretelling what he must suffer and had that severe Reprimand from him Get thee behind me Satan for thou savourest not the things that be of God c. Neither was this spoken so particularly to him as not to extend to the rest it was said also for their Reproof and Instruction who were as unwilling as Peter that Jesus should dye an ignominious Death and as ignorant as he what wise and good Ends Divine Providence would bring about by it Wherefore I mention Peter rather than any one of the rest of the Disciples as an Instance how a good and honest Heart a sincere Mind or as it is called in the Text a willing Spirit how this I say puts a man under the special Care and Protection of Divine Grace because this very Admonition of the Text though intended to all was particularly directed to Peter and it is very remarkable how our Saviour like a watchful and prudent Guide took all opportunities to set him right For 1. It is plain that Peter was one who presumed more than enough upon the strength of his own Resolutions He it was that upon our Lord 's foretelling the dangerous Temptation that was near did with some confidence in himself make this boast Though all men should

of the Jewish State and Religion which was to be accompanied with manifest Tokens of God's Favour to the Christians and of his indignation at their Enemies And thus we are to understand that passage in St. Peter The end of all things is at hand be ye therefore sober and watch unto prayer 1 Pet. 4.7 Not that this was in a strict and proper sense the Coming of Christ because he did not come in Person as he will do at the last day but in some sense it might be so called because he appeared by his Power and Providence to do the same work in part which will with incomparably greater perfection be done at the last i.e. to take Vengeance of the ungodly and to save his own People for the Incorrigibleness of the Jewish Nation and their incurable hatred of the Truth and obstinate Persecution of it was dreadfully punished in the destruction of Jerusalem and the Christians had not only all escaped out of it before the Roman Army came against it but by the destruction of it they gained also a very considerable rest from Persecution for some time after And now the reason why this wonderful Providence was called the Coming of Christ seems plainly to be this That after his Ascension into Heaven he set down at the right hand of God and had all Power put into his hands and therefore because it is he that governs the World as well as the Church such remarkable Revolutions as that was for the destruction of his enemies and the saving of his Servants are called the coming of Christ God hath given him to be head over all things to the Church and therefore such Passages as that was are called his coming to signifie that they are the effects of his Providence and Government for the good of his Church no less than if he had come in Person to order them as he will do at the end of the World to order all things then And for this reason then though in the proper sense of his coming he will come but once at the end of the World yet in this improper sense of it his appearance to destroy his Enemies and to save his People that trust in him nothing hinders but that he may be said to come often before the end of the World i. e. as often as his Providence doth signally and remarkably appear for this purpose And thus we are to understand the coming of the Lord in 2 Thes 2.8 where it is said of the Man of sin that wicked one That the Lord shall consume him with the spirit of his mouth and destroy him with the brightness of his coming which being to be done before the personal coming of Christ to Judgment the meaning must be that his destruction shall be so remarkably the Work of a Divine Providence that all shall confess it was not the effect of worldly Policy but no less the doing of the Lord than if himself had come in Person to destroy him And whenever the Kingdoms of the World become the Kingdoms of the Lord when the knowledge of God covers the earth as the waters cover the sea When those magnificent Predictions are fulfilled concerning the universal prevalence of Truth and Goodness amongst Men with which the Old and New Testament are plentifully furnished and which are to be fulfilled before the coming of Christ to the last Judgment then also is it true that the Lord comes i.e. by the Power of his Spirit and Providence to renew and reform a degenerate World that was running headlong into perdition And thus much concerning the sense of these Words when the son of man cometh which I have shewn do principally signifie that great and amazing revolution when he shall come by coming in his own Person at the last day to judge the World but in a secondary sense do also signifie the remarkable Works of his Providence in punishing some and saving others even in this Life Now 2. How are we to understand that other clause will he find Faith upon the Eartb The meaning of the Question is plainly this That he will not find Faith on the Earth or very little in comparison But what is here meant by Faith I answer that is easily discerned by the Parable and the Application of it that went before The design of both which was to infer the conclusion in the foregoing verse And shall not God avenge his own Elect which cry day and night unto him though he bear long with them I tell you he will avenge them speedily That is to say God would hear the Prayers of righteous Men and in a little time take their cause into his own hand and then says our Saviour Nevertheless when the son of man cometh shall he find faith on the earth i. e. notwithstanding the Promises of God to hear the Prayers of good Men and to interpose for them that depend upon him there will be but little Faith in these Promises found up-upon the Earth even when the Son of Man comes to fulfil them The greatest part will not be found to believe any thing at all of them and so will be surprized with that day without any preparation for it or expectation of it Many will yield to the Temptations of this present World and throwing off their dependance upon God will think to secure themselves by Flattery and Hypocrisie from the Violence of wicked Men others will despair of any better state of things and very few will lay to heart the promises which God hath made to hear the Prayers of his Servants and to save them Few will strengthen themselves in God by crying to him day and night and by putting their whole trust and confidence in him and this notwithstanding the clear and strong reasons they have from his Word so to do Nevertheless when the Son of Man cometh shall he find faith on the earth And thus we may from other places of Scripture observe that immediately before the Day of Judgment there will be a great falling away from Christian Piety and Charity nay and the World should begin once more to depart from the Purity of Faith many false Prophets shall arise and shall deceive many and because Iniquity shall abound the love of many shall wax cold But says our Saviour he that endures to the end shall be saved thereby intimating that it would be some matter of difficulty to endure to the end Thus also St. Peter tells us that there shall come in the last days scoffers walking after their own lusts and saying Where is the promise of his coming which is plainly meant of the Day of Judgment before which according to the Revelation of St. John Satan was to be loosed for a little time and to go out and to deceive the nations and to gather them together against the City of God And therefore it will be remarkably true at the day of Judgment that when the Son of Man cometh he will find but