be placed in the heauenly Ierusalem and reckoned amōg the saints of God that the day of iudgement may not be a day of eternall condemnation vnto vs but euen the perfection of our saluation and redemption and the beginning of all ioy comfort While we liue here in this world let vs be alwayes ready by spending the time well For as we sowe so shall we reape As the holy Apostle doth put vs in minde Gal. 6.7.8 Bee not deceiued God is not mocked For he that soweth to the flesh by practising the workes of the flesh shall therefore reape corruption or rather as if he had said condemnation But he that soweth to the spirit by mortifying the deeds of the flesh by the good motions of Gods spirit shall there hence reape euerlasting life Which sentence I pray God print in all our hearts and so graciously prepare vs vnto the day of iudgement Now the very God of peace keepe vs in all well doing and in all good workes to do his will working in vs that which is pleasant in his sight through Iesus Christ to whom be praise for euermore Amen 2. Pet. 36. The world that then was perished ouerflowed with water 2. Pet. 3.7 But the heauens and earth which are now are kept by the same word in store and reserued vnto fire against the day of iudgement and of the destruction of vngodly men vers 9. The Lord is not slack but patient vers 10. Howbeit the day of the Lord will come as a theefe in the night in the which the heauens shall passe away with a noyse and the elements shall melt with heate and the earth with the workes therein shall be burnt vp Seeing therefore that all these things must be dissolued what manner persons ought ye to be in holy conuersation and godlynesse Looking for and hasting vnto the comming of the day of God by the which the heauens being on fire shal be dissolued But we looke for new heauens and a new earth according to his promise wherein dwelleth righteousnesse Wherefore beloued since ye looke for such things be diligent that ye may be found of him in peace without spot and blamelesse And suppose that the long suffering of our Lord is saluation 1. Pet. 4.7 Now the end of all things is at hand Be ye therefore sober and watching in prayer Luk. 21.34 Take heed to your selues least at any time your hearts be oppressed with surfetting and drunkennesse and cares of this life and least that day come on you at vnawares For as a snare shall it come on all them that dwell on the face of the whole earth Watch therefore and pray continually that ye may be counted worthy to escape all these things that shall come to passe and that ye may stand before the Sonne of man Arise ye dead and come to iudgement The end of the first Treatise A TREATISE OF the Ioyes of Heauen 1. Cor. 2.9 But as it is written The things which eye hath not seene neither eare hath heard neither came into mans heart are which God hath prepared for them that loue him IF the holy Apostle S. Paul being taken vp into Paradice heard such words which cannot bee spoken and are not possible for man to vtter as he testifieth of himselfe 2. Cor. 12.3 How should I take vpon mee to shewe you those Ioyes which neither eye hath scene nor eare hath heard nor euer entred into the heart of man Herein I know mens mindes wil run vpon needlesse curiosities which is no part of my dutie to satisfie as also to shew you mine owne deuices and imaginations were a thing to set forth my owne folly But so far forth as mans reason may search but there we must stay for mans reason in spirituall affaires is altogether foolishnesse nay rather so far forth as Gods word doth instruct vs we may be desirous to learne as also to be content although many things bee hid from vs. Let it therefore be sufficient vnto vs if wee may haue but a taste of those Ioyes and that it pleaseth God in a measure to graunt vs some knowledge of them Adam beeing in the earthly paradice knewe not all the secrets and commodities thereof and how shall wee thinke to attaine to the full knowledge of heauenly Paradice But seeing God doth graunt vs the vnderstanding of these matters but after a sort he doth it for our good that seeing those ioyes that we can conceiue are surpassing excellent and yet the heauenly ioyes do surmount our cōceits by many degrees further we might the more be drawne in loue with God himselfe who hath ordained such rare vnspeakeable incomprehensible and endlesse excellencies for them that loue him and liue in his obedience As also considering our own great vnworthinesse we might with the Prophet Dauid breake foorth into the praises of God 14.4.3 and say Lord what is man that thou hast such respect vnto him or the sonne of man that thou so regardest him Now as the Prophets doo stir vp the peoples mindes to serue and honor God by setting before them the temporal blessings of this life and thereby giuing them an earnest of greater blessings to come so is the happie estate of euerlasting life described vnto vs by such earthly comparisons as our natural capacitie can conceiue That we beholding in minde and contemplation those wonderfull Ioyes which we can conceiue we may grow into admiration of those heauenly and incredible excellencies which are altogether past our conceit and farre beyond our reach and vnderstanding For as spiritual blessings do far surpasse corporall blessings so heauenly ioyes do far exceed al earthly glory Yea and these stately secrets of an other life are so much hidden from flesh and bloud that all the learning of the wise men of the world can come nothing neare them That in this case they may truly say with the Astrologers of King Nabuchadnezzer Dan. 2. It is a rare thing and there is no other that can declare them but God himselfe whose dwelling is not with flesh The Turkish Paradice But let vs a little behold what flesh and bloud hath set downe concerning these ioyes of heauen In the Turkish Alcoran that is a booke which they vse in stead of a Bible which Booke Mahomet their Prophet left vnto them as the learned haue searched out thus the ioyes of heauen are set downe Their Prophet promiseth them garments of silke of all sorts of colours bracelets of gold and amber parlours and banquetting houses vpon flouds and riuers vessels of gold and siluer Angels seruing thē bringing in gold milk in siluer wine lodgings furnished cushens pillows and downe beds most bewtifull women to accompany them gardens and orchards with harbors fountains springs and all manner of pleasant fruits riuers of milk honey and spiced wine all manner of sweet odours perfumes fragrant sents and to be short whatsoeuer the flesh shall desire to eate Thus fleshly people haue a fleshly religion
say they is a day of blacknes darknes the earth shal tremble before him the heauens shall shake the Sun the Moone shal be dark and the stars shal withdraw their shining This day is great and very terrible and who can abide it it commeth cruelly with wrath as fierce anger and hee shall destroy the sinners out of the earth And because the world should haue some time to forethink themselues our Sauiour Christ hath giuen some warning by the signes that shall come before this iudgement day As that there shall be false reachers abroad in the world who shal deceiue if it were possible the very elect and chose children of God Math. 24.24 Warres and seditions Nation shall rise against Nation and Kingdome against Kingdome the father in matters of religion shal be against the sonne and the sonne against the father the mother against the daughter one friend against an other great earthquakes in diuers places hunger pestilence bitter persecution of them that shall professe Christ and his Gospell Charitie shall waxe cold among men men shall leade a leaud and sinfull life altogether carelesse of the Iudgement to come The Gospell shall be published and fewe shal regard it it shall bee preached through the whole world for a witnesse vnto all Nations to make them without all excuse and then shall the end come Feareful things shall be seene the sea and the waters shall roare and mens hearts shall faile them for feare and for looking after those things which shal come on the world The Sunne shall be darkened and the Moone shall not giue her light the starres shal fall from heauen and the powers of heauen shal be shaken wherby the horrible trembling of the world is meant together with the alteration and ouerturning of the whole course of nature And after all these things then shall appeare the signe of the Sunne of man in heauen What effects the signes of the latter day shal worke in the mindes of men The consideration of which signes shall worke diuersly both in the godly and in the wicked For the hearts of the wicked shall be hardned made worse by these signes as King Pharaohs hart by Gods strange punishmēts was more and more hardned vntill the time of his destructiō and that he was vtterly ouerthrowne in the red sea These signes as they shal moue the godly minded partly to repentance in consideration of theyr sinnes and partly to comfort in respect of ioyes to come so the wicked contrariwise shall be giuen to dispaire and to curse the houre that euer they were borne And this is a secret iudgement vpon them that they shall be blinded euen vntill the very houre of their destruction so that when they would seek for remedy there shal be none The godly they wish for the comming of the Lord Come Lord Iesus come quickly for they know that his comming shall end their miseries and begin their ioyes as Christ himselfe doth comfort them Luk. 21.28 And when these things begin to come to passe then looke vp and lift vp your heads for your redemption that is the full accomplishment of the same draweth neare For then as saith the Apostle 1. Thes 4.17 Shall wee bee caught in the cloudes to meete the Lord in the aire and so shall we be euer with the Lord. The last circumstance of this iudgement is Sudden that it shall come vpon the sudden and that most fearefully to the wicked 1. Thes 5.3 For when they shall say peace peace and all in safetie then shal come vpon them sudden destruction as the trauel vpon a woman with child and they shall not escape As it fell out to the rich man in the Gospell Luk. 12.20 Soule saith he take thy ease eat and drinke take thy pastime for thou hast much good laid vp for many yeares But he heard doleful words O foole this night will they fetch away thy soule from thee Or as when Nabuchadnezer vaunted himselfe of his stately buildings a fearefull voyce came suddenly vnto him O King Nabuchadnezer to thee be it spoken thy kingdome is departed from thee Or as when his sonne King Belshasar Dan. 5.6 feasting and hanquetting among his Concubines suddenly there appeared a hand writing vpon a wall declaring the end of his Kingdome and his death This sudden destruction shall worthily fall vpon them who haue made a mock of this iudgement who then shall feele the dint of Gods reuenging sword and they that imboldned themselues in all wicked waies and euill naughtie practises shall then know how far they went a stray The wicked whom no lawe could refraine from their licentious life and who haue died to the sight of men in peace after they haue long enioyed their lusts and diuers pleasures after much violence and wrong which they haue offered after many misdeeds which mans lawes should haue corrected and yet let passe although they haue escaped the iudgement of man yet then shall they receiue according to their deedes But to the good and well disposed it is a watch-word when they heare that the Iudgement day shall be vpon a sudden Let vs therefore with the fiue wise virgins haue oyle in our Lampes remembring Christ his forewarning That which I say vnto you I say vnto all men watch And so much briefly for the second part of the diuision of this Text namely of the description and declaration of the latter Iudgement Who shall be the Iudge The third generall matter which I proposed vnto you was concerning the Iudge and who it should be And as it was said of the Iudgement that it should be sudden so also shall the comming of the Iudge be Mat. 24.27 For as the lightning commeth out of the East and shineth into the West so shall also the comming of the sonne of man be He that was equall with God and tooke vpon him the shape of a seruant hee that was abased despised and persecuted of sinfull men hee shall come in power and great glory to iudge the world and to be reuenged of his enemies He whom God hath placed at his right hand farre aboue all principallitie power might domination and euery name that is named not in this world onely but also in that that is to come hee it is that is ordained of God a Iudge of quicke and dead Whose comming shall not be as at the first poorely and basely but with great maiestie and after a most glorious wonderfull and most dreadfull maner He shall descend from heauen not to come downe on the earth but to sit on the cloudes as his tribunall seate and throne of Iudgement hee shall come with a shout and a maruellous great noise with the voyce of the Archangel and with the sound of the last Trumpet For the Trumpet shall blowe and the dead shall be raised 1. Cor. 15. and hee shall shewe himselfe with thousands of his mighty Angels and that in flaming fire rendring vengeance vnto them
good treasure of the heart we bring forth good But I say vnto you saith Christ that of euery idle word that men shall speake they stall giue account thereof at the day of Iudgement When as wee shall aunswere for our selues beeing altogether vnable to aunswere one for a thousand Yea so much the more grieuous it shall bee because wee shall open all the secrets of our heart and bee enforced to confesse our misdeeds and to keepe backe nothing all must bee manifest And not as it is in this world when vpon the humble confession of our sinnes to God wee may cry for pardon and hope to be forgiuen but then shall but confession be to our open shame confusion and endlesse destruction Wherefore this day of iudgement may well bee called the day of Reuelation when as all things that are now hid shall then be reuealed and made known Secrets opened Here on earth many things are kept close hid and hudled vp But God shall tighten faith the Apostle things that are hid in darknesse 1. Cor. 4.5 and make the counsels of the heart manifest And at that day Ro. 2.16 God shall iudge the secrets of men by Iesus Christ. In this life many great and sinfull deedes are not punished but remaine hid and vnknowne and the parties passe as guilolesse and without all faulte who thinke themselues cleare inough so long as they can keepe their owne counsell But our Sauiour Christ Luke 8.17 sheweth the matter to be cleane contrary Nothing is secret that shall not bee euident neyther any thing hid that shall not be knowne and come to light The which in Eccle. 12.14 is more manifest God will bring euery worke vnto iudgement with euery secret thing whether it be good or euill Which is not set downe to driue vs to dispaire although no doubt we are priuie to many hainous sinnes the which we would not for all the worlds good should bee knowne abroade and in euery mans mouth yea such sin that are forcible inough to driue vs to dispaire yet seeing at the iudgement day they shall be reuealed be they neuer so secret wee are moued hereby to call for mercy while God doth graunt vs life and to pray with the Prophet O Lord deliuer mee from my secret faults from my secret sinnes from my secret offences This therefore that our secret hidden faults shall come to light iudgement is a very profitable lesson for vs whereby we may learn to feare what we do although wee may keepe it close from men as also that we may bethinke our selues of that which is past and pray for forgiuenesse and be more warie and circumspect in time to come so that it keepeth vs in the feare of God so long as we liue and let this be vnto vs in stead of Auricular confession in remembrance whereof in euery time and place wee may flye and auoyd all sinne whether it be secret or open whereof if we take not heed we may incurre the daunger of Gods wrath and heauy iudgement And at the day of iudgement shall God bring all matters to light as we may read Reue. 20.12 And I sawe the dead both great and small stand before God and the bookes were opened that is their conscience and another booke was opened which is the booke of life And the dead were iudged of those things which were written in the bookes according to their workes It is not onely God Conscience that shall bring our secret sinnes to light but euen our owne consciences shall bewray vs as the last place of Scripture alleadged Reue. 20.12 dooth testifie where by the bookes that were opened our owne consciences are vnderstood which shall be most ready to reueale all things According to that in the Epistle to the Romaines Chap. 2.15 Which shew the effect of the law written in their hearts their conscience also bearing witnesse and theyr thoughts accusing one another or excusing at that day when God shall iudge the secrets of men by Iesus Christ. And full truly is it spoken that a mans conscience is in steed of a thousand witnesses For when time shall serue there shall not neede many accusers or store of euidences to be giuen vp against vs seeing that our conscience which is our secret storehoue shall declare all although it bee neuer so much against our will and that without any cōstraint or comparison Wherof we haue a sufficient and manifest tryall euen in this life For tell me who is it among vs but must of force confesse and dooth perceiue so much in himselfe that hee cannot no nor may not forget his sinnes and misdeedes for our conscience will not suffer it and especially the more notorious bad and wicked our deedes haue beene the more fresh and fresh they are and will bee in our remembrance They will come into our mindes when wee little thinke of any such matter and if wee would neuer so faine wee cannot put them away from vs and when they come into our mindes and remembrance they bring dumps and sorrow inough Which is a token and a most apparant signe and proofe of the iudgement day vnto the which time all our sinnes are reserued to bee iudged Before we commit any wicked or notorious deed our conscience within vs doth grudge against it and would full faine bridle and restraine vs from it if it were possible but after wee haue done the deed it is a torment vnto vs and that more grieuous inwardly to our mindes then any whip or scourge to the body can bee because the one is but for a time the other lasteth long and shall endure By which inward griefe conceiued and sorrowe of conscience many are driuen to dispaire and doo thinke so bad of themselues for theyr wicked vnlawful vngodly deeds that they are desirous to reuenge the matter vpon themselues and to be their owne tormenters before the iudgement day come But if there be any that can say their conscience is cleare let thē reioyce and giue God the praise and thankes who hath preuented them with his grace and preserued them from euill And as a guiltie conscience is his owne tormenter so a good conscience is a continuall feast He or shee that is not charged or rather ouercharged by their owne conscience they haue a continuall ioy within them so if our owne hearts condemne vs God is greater then our hearts and knoweth all things And what miserie trowe we doo the wicked of the world liue in For the Lord hath said There is no peace vnto the wicked when in all their life is feare and terror carrying in their breasts tormenting furies to hold them day night in feare of endlesse destruction And what should those heauy dumps and inward feares signifie but that there is a iudgement and that there is a hell as well as a heauen Their hearts doo droope and their consciences are affrighted and God by his secret power dooth worke this feare and
no doubt they feele that there is giuen to them a spirit of bondage and feare through which they tremble at their owne estate They are in mount Sinay where is the burning fire blacknesse darknesse tempest and the sound of a Trumpet in consideration whereof they tremble and are inwardly tormented But thou wilt say the wicked prosper and reioyce in their dayes they are bound in no such bondage nor feare no such feare Thou canst not tell neither doest thou know the heart of wicked man howsoeuer hee boast in his substance and outward prosperitie and seemeth to haue peace peraduenture there is a bitter remembrance within him of the iudgement to come He may delight and sport himselfe but in that laughing the heart is sorrowfull and that myrth doth end in heauinesse And albeit they striue maruellously to cast out this feare yet if they could cast it out from them as out of a cannon and fieldpeece yet would it euermore returne vnto them againe and vexe their heart that so flyeth from it If they would full faine seare vp their consciences as with a hot and glowing Iron yet sometime it will awake them as out of a sleepe so â—aht vpon a sudden they shall see a fearfull sight of death and iudgement And as we read Rom. 8.19 That the feruent desire of the creature wayteth when the sonnes of God shall be reuealed so also we may well say that the consciences of men do groane as it were vnder the burthen of sinne and earnestly desire to be diâ—burthened and yet they shall not For at the iudgement day when all the creatures of the earth shall haue their desire then shall the consciences of the wicked torment them a fresh and that more fiercely then euer they did before For then shall the time be that we shall giue account and God shall bring all our secret sinnes to light our consciences bearing witnesse against vs. The diuell shall accuse And yet there remaineth an other accuser beside God and our owne conscience and that is the diuell who alwayes sought our destruction and brought vs vnto it by diuers temptations and sugered baytes The diuel shal be at hand to accuse vs to call for iudgement against vs who after our iudgement is giuen and the sentence past shal be ready most terribly to torment vs world without end And to bring this to passe then shall he lay deeply to our charge and call for iudgement against vs reioycing and triumphing that he hath so good a cause before so righteous a Iudge earnestly crauing that hee will iudge vprightly because iustice and iudgement is the preparation of his seat and his throne is established by it I pray thee therefore will this accuser say giue sentence with me and iudge him to bee mine which while hee liued would be none of thine mine he or she whosoeuer is by right and they haue deseâ—erued to suffer torments with me and seeing they haue followed my wayes in theyr liues now let them be partakers of my punishments And shall not the Iudge of the world doo right saith Abraham and minister righteous iudgement yea doubtlesse as the Apostle S. Iude vers 14. hath set it downe Behold the Lord commeth with thousands of Saints to giue iudgement against all men and to rebuke all the vngodly among them of all their wicked deeds which they haue vngodly committed and of all their cruell speakings which wicked sinners haue spoken against him When all matters are thus made manifest all shall be iudged partly according to the confession of their owne guiltie conscience and partly by the word of God which they haue hard and which they haue either neglected or despised euen by the selfesame word shal they be iudged For by that shall they be made without excuse and the more culpable before Gods iudgement seate As we may reade in the Gospell of S. Iohn Word Chap. 12.48 He that refuseth me and receiueth not my words hath one that iudgeth him the word that I haue spoken it shall iudge him in the last day Where by the way we are taught to haue the more regard of the word of God and with reuerence to heare it with remembrance to keepe it in our hearts and with care to expresse it in our liues and conuersation that it may be a helpe to our saluation whereas otherwise it is like to bee our Iudge to our condemnation Which is further declared by that which is set downe Acts 13.40.41 Beware therefore least that come vpon you which is spoken of in the Prophets Behold the despisers and wonder and vanish away For I worke a worke in their dayes a work which yee shall not beleeue if a man would declare it vnto you Which worke by the interpretation of the learned is the vnspeakable vengeance of God vpon those that contemne his word Thus then beeing in his presence and after the generall trial of our cause and after we haue giuen our account shall Iesus Christ who is appointed to be the Iudge of quick and dead proceed to Iudgement in seperating the iust from the vniust the good from the bad the wheat from the chaffe the sheepe from the goates For in this world they are mingled together the good with bad and God suffereth his raine to fall as well vpon the vniust as the iust neither is he hasty to separat them the one from the other in this life To the end that he may shewe his patience toward the wicked in giuing them time and space to repent as also by their meanes he exerciseth his Church and people to teach them patience and to try whether they will stand stedfast vnto him or fall away from him with the rest of the world And as he rebuked his Disciples because they desired that fire should come downe from heauen to consume the Samaritanes so also he findeth fault with them that would haue a seperation before the iust time come According as we read in the Epistle to the Romans Chap. 12.19 Vengeance is mine I will repay it saith the Lord. God knoweth his iust time and his appointed time is the end of the world Which matter is very effectually set downe in a Parable Mat. 13.12 For after the good feede was sowne and the blade sproong vp and brought forth fruite then appeared also tares Then came the seruants of the housholder and said vnto the maister Maister sowedst not thou good seed in thy field from whence then hath it tares And hee said to them the enuious man hath done this Then the seruants said vnto him Wilt thou then that we goe and gather them vp But hee said nay least while ye go about to gather the tares yee pluck vp also with them the wheat Let both grow together vntill the haruest and in time of haruest I will say to the reapers gather ye first the tares and bind them in sheaues to burne them but gather the wheat into my barne The
liues that godly religious care of the life to come That which we are so greatly in loue withall the Apostle giues vs counsel to the quite contrary Loue not the world neither the things that are in the world 1. Ioh. 2 he addeth the reason because the world passeth away But he that fulfilleth the will of God abideth for euer Heauen is not in this life and we must looke to bee weaned from this world if euer we wil looke to be in heauen The ioyes of heauen and the desires of the world are quite contrary for they are too heauy a burthen and doo hinder vs from mounting vp so high And herein for the most part wee may be resembled vnto the Grashopper which is borne and bred liueth and dyeth in the same ground The Grashopper hath wings and hoppeth vp a litle but presently falleth downe againe So many of vs haue often good motions vnto godlinesse and the life to come and againe all is gone in a moment and we returne to our olde affections in this world as though all our portion were onely in this life Those foules that feede grosly neuer flye high and they which feed their hearts with things belowe cannot haue their affections in heauen The ioyes of heauen being so rare and excellent and so surpassing woonderfull that they might remoue these heauy lumpish and grouelling desires of this world The carelesse earthly and worldly minde hath no sight nor sence nor feeling of these ioyes But as the oxe is fatted in the pasture and the byrd singeth sweetly and feedeth without feare and suddenly the one is driuen to the slaughter and the other is taken in the snare So they that are giuen to the world are lulled a sleep in securitie vntil the time that death striketh with his dart and endlesse destruction ouerwhelmeth thē But where is that man or woman which can say with the Apostle I desire to bee dissolued and to be with Christ which is best of all Phil. 1. For they that say such things declare plainely that they seeke a countrey Heb. 11.14 Desiring a better counttey then is to be found in this world that is a heauenly and for them hath God prepared a Citie Heb. 13.14 For here we haue no continuing Citie no continuing habitation let vs therefore seeke a better habitation to come which is of longer continuance and free from all miseries The next fruite is that the remembrance of these ioyes These ioyes teach vs patience teacheth vs patience in affictions in troubles and didistresses For how troublesome soeuer this life is here yet there shal al troubles miseries and wrongs be aboundantly recompenced And the Apostle speaketh truly Rom. 8.18 The afflictions of this present time are not worthy of the glory which shall bee shewed vnto vs. In the 126. Psal They that sowe in teares saith the Prophet shall reape in ioy And hee that now goeth on his way weeping and beareth foorth good seed shall doubtlesse come againe with ioy and bring his sheaues with him Woe bee to you saith Christ that now laugh for you shall waile and weepe Luke 6.25 And therefore happy shall they bee in an other worlde who haue in good causes suffered wrongs committing themselues vnto God This time of heauenly ioyes Heauenly ioyes compared to a haruest is compared vnto haruest and what care dooth euery one take to prouide good and choise seede that theyr haruest may fall out accordingly Thy seede is thy thoughts thy words thy deedes and conuersation Therefore let mee exhort you as the Apostle dooth Galla. 6.7 Bee not deceiued GOD is not mocked for whatsoeuer a man soweth that shall hee also reape For hee that soweth to his flesh shall of the flesh reape corruption but hee that soweth to the spirit shall of the spirit reape life euerlasting Looke how wee sowe so shall wee reape such as our seede is such also shall bee our haruest The date of this our life is but short but the remembrance of a life well ledde shall bee comfortable for euer and this shall for euer and euer bee our endlesse haruest still gathering still encreasing and neuer payring The last thing in the aforesaid 21. Holinesse Chapter of the Reuelation is that there shall enter into this heauenly Ierusalem no vncleane thing And as it is in the Prophecie of Zechariah Chap. 14.21 In that day there shall bee no more the Canaanite in the house of the Lord of Hostes The Canaanites were a lewde people and for the same were driuen out of the land and if they were not worthy to dwell on earth much lesse shall they be worthy to be receiued in heauen Dearely beloued saith the Apostle S. Peter 1. Epist. 2.11 Abstaine from fleshly lusts bridle them keepe them vnder for they fight against the soule Collo 3.1 If ye be risen with Christ seeke those things which are aboue where Christ sitteth at the right hand of God Set your affections on things which are aboue and not on things which are on earth and mortifie your immoderate affection and euill concupiscence Remember this peremptory word No vncleane thing shall enter there Mat. 5.8 Blessed are the pure in heart for they shall see God Heb. 12.14 Follow holynesse without the which no man can see God And God graunt vs this wedding garment of holynesse that we may goe in with the bridegroome for we know what befell to him that wanted it Mat. 22.11 Let vs worke our owne saluation with feare and trembling being desirous to receiue a kingdome which cannot bee shaken let vs pray for grace whereby we may so serue God that we may please him with reuerence feare And seeing we haue precious promises 2. Cor. 7.1.2 Pet. 1.4 and that more surer then the heauen and the earth Heb. 6.13.18 let vs cleanse our selues from all filthinesse of the flesh spirit and grow vp into ful holinesse in the fear of God For as they that thus do his will shal enter in through the gates into the Cittie and their right shal be in the tree of life So without shal be dogs and all vnclean persons Reu. 22.14 Let not my last exhortation be forgotten among you Enter in at the strait gate for it is the wide gate and broad way that leadeth to destruction and many there be which goe in thereat Because the gate is straight and the way narrow that leadeth vnto life fewe there be that finde it To adde vnto these Gods mercie one of the greatest ioyes one of the greatest ioyes among all is Gods mercie whereof wee haue a sweete taste in this life For were it not for that none of vs all should enter into that place where thosse ioyes are to be found For as our first parents by Gods iust anger according to their due desert were cast out of Paradice and an Angel set with a sword drawne to keepe the way that no flesh should return thither so the onely gate to let vs in again is Gods mercy Wherof as the godly and most righteous that are stand in great need so let none of vs all either abuse Gods mercy or presume of his mercy least we misse of the same This mercy is called the rich mercy of God for no treasure is comparable vnto it and as it passeth all vnderstanding so cannot the deepest reach of man conceiue any part of the depth or height therof the compasse the largenesse the widenesse and breadth of it is such that it cannot bee measured and therefore may it well be called as it is indeed both infinit and incomprehensible And because no tongue of man can speake it let Angels bring the message As we reade Luk. 2.14 Glory be to God in the high heauens and peace in earth and towards men good will The Lord of his goodnesse direct our steppes to this throne of mercy and cloath vs with the garment of mercy And the Lord this day set his print and seale vpon you Thus I perswade my self I haue now wonne some and whom I haue wonne the Lord in mercy keepe and so I discharge my selfe For we are all by our owne disposition like vnto tottering walles still readie to slide still readie to fall And therefore I would I might say as it was saide to him that suffered with Christ This day shall ye be in Paradice And if this day your hatts be throughly conuerted surely this day you are in Paradice It was no comfort to Adam and Eue to remember they wer in Paradice seeing themselues now cast out And if we be once placed in Paradice then let vs looke to our standing that we fal not For as we are mortal so are we mutable and nothing so familiar with vs as to chaunge Deu. 5.29 Vnconstant God knowes we are the Lord make vs stedfast And the remembrance of these heauenly ioyes which wee haue now heard let that make vs stedfast euen to the end Deo soli omnis laus fit gloria Et gratia in seculum FINIS
day of iudgement they shall not escape though his iudgement doo not presently take hold on them They cannot slip from God or auoyd him but are bound as it were with secret chaines so that in time to come they shall bee drawne do iudgement who are kept vntill that time to be punished euen as the oxe which is fed fatted to the slaughter So that it behoueth vs to wayt vpon the time of the last iudgement which God hath appointed and so to continue in hope and patience vnto the ende of our liues and not to be offended thogh the wicked be not punished But euery one of vs ought to haue respect to our owne wayes to keepe our selues within the compasse of Gods feare least that fall vpon vs which we thinke and looke should fal vpon other and wonder with our selues why it is not so Againe as the word of God dooth instruct vs let vs cōsider these two principall causes why God delayeth this day of iudgement One is that the day of iudgement shall not come vntill the number of the elect be fulfilled as we may reade Reu. 7.2 And I saw another Angel come vp from the East which had the seale of the liuing God and he cried with a loud voyce to the foure Angels to whom power was giuen to hurt the earth and the sea saying Hurt ye not the earth neither the sea neither the trees till we haue sealed the seruants of our God in their foreheade And then shall the iudgement be as we reade Math. 24.22 Except those daies should be shortned there should no flesh be saued but for the elects sake those dayes shal be shortned Secondly this Iudgement is delaied that the stubborne and vngodly may be thereby without excuse For they haue warning inough exhortations threatnings at all times what their sinnes deserue and what they are to looke for so that they cannot be ignorant of the iudgemēt day neither can they say that they are oppressed at vnawares And this may suffice to proue not onely that sinne and our offences is and shal be the cause of iudgement but also they that sin of set purpose in scoffing and mocking sort think that there shall be no iudgement or rather do suppresse and bury within thēselues if it might be the inward feeling knowledge of the same that to their great hurt shal not escape that heauy vēgeance of God thogh yet they be forborn Also that the minds of the godly be not troubled although they do not presently see that god doth exercise his iudgments punishments vpon them and that they faint not in wel doing but still hold on their course remembring that God hath appointed a day of iudgement vpon the which they must stay and depend and vnto the which they must referre all matters and then shall all their causes be heard and all their griefes eased Notorious sinnes procure notorious punishments in this world but especially at the iudgement day shall the full measure of all plagues and punishments be fulfilled And so much the more because that in this world many rule and raigne in their wickednesse and are as it were scotfree and as the Prophet saith They come in no misfortune like other men neither are they plagued according to their deserts But the latter day the day of doome and iudgement is and shall bee their day of assises and of their perpetuall execution Wherefore let none of vs all suppresse and banish the inward feeling and knowledge of this iudgement day seeing that by nature it is engraffed into our hearts and secret knowledge but rather let in haue that effect in vs that of right it ought to haue We see it true in worldly matters and I would to God it were as true in heauenly matters For questionlesse the forethought of the assises and of the execution doth feare many from their wicked purposes and makes them take an other course And so no doubt would the remembrance of the iudgement day preuaile with vs but that wee are carelesly perswaded that it is farre hence and that we shall neuer see it nay more then that many thinke it shall neuer be Well how far off the iudgement day is God knowes and wee may euery day looke for but by the way take this for thy learning that thy dying day is and shall be thy iudgement day and assure thy selfe that thou shalt so find it For when thy soule is parted from thy body then shalt thou presently appeare before Gods iudgement seate to giue thy account and pray that it may be to thy comfort and not to thy destruction Heb. 9.27 2 Now for the description and declaration of this generall iudgement which is the second principal matter in this text that both they which either mocke or doubt of the iudgement to come and they also which are well neare perswaded thereof might be throughly perfectly and certainly enformed therefore the order and maner of this iudgement is set downe in the scriptures and word of God principally and especially in the 25. Chap. of Mat. vers 31. and so forth in these words And when the Sonne of man commeth in his glory and all the holy Angels with him then shall hee sit vpon the throne of his glory And before him shall be gathered all Nations and hee shall separate them one from an other as a shepheard separateth the sheepe from the goates And he shall set the sheep on his right hand and the goates on the left Then shall the King say to them on his right hand Come ye blessed of my father inherite the kingdome prepared for you from the foundations of the world Vnto them on the left hand he shall say Depart fro me ye cursed into euerlasting fire which is prepared for the diuel and his Angels And these shall go into euerlasting paine and the righteous into life eternall Which description and declaration cannot be more plainely euidently and briefly set downe setting forth vnto vs First the comming of the Iudge with his company that is al the holy Angels Secondly the general appearance of all the people of the world Thirdly the office of the Iudge in separating the good from the bad And lastly the pronouncing of iudgemēt by definitiue sentence without all reuocatiō Al which matters God willing shall be handled when I come to entreate of the Iudge so that I need not to stand vpon this point but to referre you thither where in a more fit place it may be considered And as here the order of the iudgement is expressed so in other places of scripture other matters are specified which are very necessary to giue vs further vnderstanding herein As first concerning the day when this iudgement shall be the signes that shall go before this day as also how suddenly it shall come vpō the world Cōcerning the day the Prophets do foretell how terrible it is likely to be The day The day of the Lord