qui exaudiet In hell there is sorrow mourning crying and yet none that will heare Then shall the wicked wish that they had neuer been borne or that God in their first creation had made them some creatures of another kinde as Todes Serpents or Cockatrices for then their miseries and shame should haue ended with their liues Then shall the rent-racking Lādlord wish that he had neuer oppressed his poore Tenāts Then shall the couetous Patron wish that hee had neuer made a prey of the Leuites portion Then shall the carelesse Pastor wish that he had neuer left his flock vnto the hyrelings who instead of Preaching the word of God in season and cut of season doe tye their flock vnto a slender dyet either a few cold dead Homilies or some certayne monethly Sermons yet thinke their charge is very sufficiently discharged Then shall the couetous Lawyer wish that hee had neuer sold his tongue for bribes to pleade against the fatherlesse and widdowes Then shall the gourmandizing Epicure wish that hee had neuer surfetted at his table and suffer the poore to starue at his gate Then shall the carnall Protestant wish that he had neuer prattled so much of Religion and practised so little Then shall the drunkard wish that hee had neuer turned so much liquor ouer his tongue wantonly wastfully and now want a drop of cold water for to coole his tongue Then shall the wanton fornicator wish that hee had neuer wasted his body and his goods vpon the body of a strange woman and withall shall confesse that breuis est volupt as fornicationis sed perpetua est poena fornicatoris short is the pleasure of fornication but perpetuall is the payne of the fornicator O consider this in time all ye that forget God! I will conclude with Chrysostomes meditation Vtinam homines Hom. 13. in Epist ad Rom. in tabernis vinarijs reliquisque commessationibus balneis imo vbique de gehenna disputarent I would to God that men euen in wine Tauernes Ale-houses in their bāquets in their baths I will adde in bawdy houses yea euery where would dispute of Hell Non enim sinet in Gehennam incidere Gehennae meminisse Men would not run so headlong to hell did they but remember hell did they but meditate on that fire our common kinde of fire is but painted fire in respect of that and yet how hardly can we endure our finger neere it an houre how much lesse shall wee be able to dwell eternally in that euerlastingly burning Lake of fire and brimstone With the Deuil and his Angels The wicked haue serued the Deuill all the dayes of their life and therefore now they must haue an irksome habitation with the Deuils and portion of torments with his Angels as it is said that the beast and the false Prophet were cast into the place of eternall torments with the Deuil Reuel 20.10 And indeede this conclusion of the wicked doth agree well with their conuersation as they haue forsaken God and followed Satan in obeying his sinnefull suggestions now therefore they shall goe their way with Satan as companions in sinne so partakers in suffering The body shall bee tormented because it would not obey the soule the soule because it would follow the rebellious body both soule and body because they obeyed the instigation of Satan and left the directions of Gods holy Spirit Secondly this Iudge is so vpright in iudgement that in giuing of sentence against the wicked first hee cannot erre through ignorance for he searcheth the heart and tryeth the reines to giue vnto euery man according to his wayes and according to the fruit of his workes Heb. 4.13 Ierem. 17.10 Yea all things are naked and open to his eyes before whom we must appeare Hee that knew Iohn the Baptist in the wombe and saw Nathanael vnder the Fig-tree doth also know and see our goings out and our commings in he discernes Esau from Iacob and knowes faire Rahel from bleare-eyed Leah hee knowes the thoughts and intents of our hearts the words of our mouthes and the workes of our hands Psal 139.1.2.3.4 and is able to set before vs euen our most secret sinnes Secondly he cannot be ouer-swayed with fauour or friendship Indeede in earthly Courts amongst the sonnes of men wickednesse may bee in the place of Iudgement Eccles 3. ver 16. but in this great Court of heauen the Iudge will not be parciall to any God hath no respect of persons Rom. 2. v. 21. but euery one that feareth God and worketh righteousnesse shall bee accepted at that day Nothing will then preuaile but a pure heart and an vpright spirit and as for the Iudge with righteousnesse will hee iudge the world Causa non persona iudicabitur Martyr and the people with equity Psal 58.9 If great men bee found in great sinnes they shall be adiudged vnto great torments Tophet is prepared for the King and the poorest begger shall then haue as good audience in this Court of Iustice as the mightiest Monarch in the world Thirdly this Iudge cannot be ouercome with power Indeede amongst the sonnes of men might oftentimes ouer-comes the right but vnto this Iudge all power is giuen both in heauen and earth Matth. 28.18 He it was that threw the Angels out of heauen Adam out of Paradise Saul out of his Kingdome Nebuchadnezzar out of mens society to conuerse with beasts and he it is that wil humble the high lookes of man and abase the loftinesse of men in that day Isa 2.11 As this Iudge cannot be ouer-swayed with power so can he not be bowed with pity and compassion The time was indeede when our Sauiour wept ouer Ierusalem and made a Sermon full of teares O Ierusalem Ierusalem Luke 19.41 But now alas there is no place for pardon though Ierusalem should seek it with teares Could thine eyes then shead as many teares as there are drops of water in the Sea yet thou couldest not bee able to moue Christ vnto compassion The day before the trumpet sound mercy shal be preached to the penitent and beleeuers by the Gospell but from the time that the sentence is once giuen there shall neuer be more offring of mercy the dore shall be closed though the wicked cry for mercy with Esau seeke the blessing with many teares yet shall they neuer finde it But as Christ doth now weepe for the sinners conuersion so wil hee then laugh at the sinners destruction 5. Lastly this Iudge cannot be corrupted with bribes which amongst the sonnes of men peruert iustice blinde the eyes of those that sit in Iudgement for the richest in the world must appeare naked and empty-hāded before Christ as naked as euer wee came into the world and nakeder then euer we went out of the world by as much as a winding sheet comes vnto Riches Pro. 11.4 gold and siluer auaileth not in the day of wrath but righteousnes saueth the soule I will conclude
Disciples It is not for you to know the times and the seasons Act. 1.7 I will conclude with the saying of Augustine Ne nos addamus inquirere quòd ille non addidit dicere Aug. Epist 146. Secret things belong vnto the Lord reuealed things vnto vs Deu. 29. verse 29. Let vs not dare to pry into the Arke of the Lord striuing to know that which is impossible for vs to know it being reserued vnreuealed within the secret bosome of his sacred Maiesty The word of God affoordeth vs certayne signes and prognosticks whereby wee may conclude of a certainty that that day is not farre off the first is this The reuealing and comming of Antichrist Antichrist must first come Antichrist the forerunner of the end of the world so saith the Apostle That Man of sin must first bee reuealed before that day come that sonne of perdition 2. Thess 2. ver 3. Little children saith S. Iohn it is the last time and as you haue heard Antichrist shall come euen now are there many Antichrists whereby we may know that it is the last time 1. Ioh. 2.18 I neede not proue that the Pope of Rome is Antichrist many by their writings haue made this plaine and apparent and discouered that Man of sinne vnto the whole world as manifest to bee Antichrist as he is Pope The second signe that the day is at hand is an Apostasie from Faith and from sound Doctrine of which the Apostle speaketh Now the Spirit speaketh expresly that in the latter times some shall depart from the faith giuing heed to seducing spirits and doctrines of Deuils 1. Tim. 4.1 And is not this time come to passe already are not many carryed about like vapours in the ayre with euery blast of vaine Doctrine hauing itching eares affecting alwayes some new fangled point or other what a dispute beginnes there to bee about that Twinne of our saluation Faith and Repentance touching the priority of them which makes me thinke that either men haue no repentance or else no faith vnlesse both consist vpon the tippe of the tongue in prattling not in practice The third is the promulgation of the Gospell 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 throughout the whole world So saith our Sauiour Christ And this Gospell of the Kingdom shall bee preached throughout the whole world and then shall the end come Mat. 24.14 It must bee published among all Nations Mar. 13.10 And is not the sound thereof already gone forth into the ends of the earth is it not spred already from Dan euen vnto Beersheba from one Sea coast vnto another The fourth is the rising vp of false Christs and false Prophets Many shall come in my name saith our Sauiour Christ saying I am Christ and the time draweth neere Luke 21.8 And many false Prophets shall arise and deceiue many Matth. 24.11 The fift signe is Iniquity shal abound The fift signe is the generality of sinne Matth. 24.12 There shall bee such a generall infection of sinne Men shall be louers of their owne selues couetous bosters proude blasphemers disobedient to parents vnthankefull vnholy without naturall affection truce-breakers false accusers incontinent fierce despisers of those that are good Traytors heady high minded louers of pleasures more then louers of God hauing a forme of godlines but deny the power thereof 2. Tim. 3.1.2.3.4 And this is Gods ordinary proceeding against sinne hee doth neuer punish generall vntill sinne bee growne generall God neuer washt away the inhabitants of the earth with the waters of his wrath vntill all flesh had corrupted his way vpon the earth vntill the earth was filled with cruelty and all the imaginations of the thoughts of mans heart were euill onely euill continually euill Gen. 6.5.11.12 The Lord neuer rayned downe fire and brimstone from the Lord out of heauen vpon those two Cities Simeon and Leui like sisters in sinne vntill hee had made enquiry whether there were any righteous men amongst them for the Lord had it not derogated from his Iustice and so consequently from his glory in not being a iust reuenger of sinne was as willing and as well contented as Abraham that Sodom should be saued for euery petition returned vnto Abraham with some aduantage and most comfortable is it the Lord neuer ceased graunting till Abraham ceased asking but in the end there being such a penury such a scarcity such a nullity of good men that the Lord destroyed them with fire and brimstone and so it remaines vntill this day as a monument of Gods wrath Mare mortuum a Sea of fire and brimstone If we trauell vnto that great City Ierusalem the Metropolis of the world the Lady of the earth the perfection of beauty wee shall finde it but a heape of stones But what did moue the Lord to destroy so famous a City called the City of God the habitation of the most Highest a place where he did delight to dwell yet sin had made her infamous and odious in the sight of God the contagion and infection of sinne was generall and that not only some kinde of sinnes but all sinne all oppression that is all kinde of sinne Synechdoche speciei and well may it bee for oppression is a crying sinne and they that make no conscience of great sinnes surely will not make conscience of lesser and these sinnes were not committed in corners or by-lanes but in the open streets in the market place men were growne impudent in sinne all oppression was in the midst of Ierusalem Ierem. 6. vers 6. sinne was growne generall Ierusalem was a denne of Theeues there was no righteous man found throughout the whole City that executed iudgement and sought the truth No nor at the Court amongst the great Men amōgst the Rulers amongst the Noblemen These haue altogether broken the yoke and burst the bond no nor yet amongst the Prophets for they prophesie falsely and the Priests beare rule by their meanes that is both agree together in a mutuall and meere collusion of the people as the Pope with his orders of begging Fryers first they robbe and deceiue the people and then they diuide the spoile Ierem. 5.1.5.31 To conclude sinne was as generall in Ierusalem as euer it was in the old world when it was destroyed with water or in Sodome that City of pride luxury idlenesse when it was burnt with fire so Ierusalems punishments were paralell to her sinnes her sinnes were generall her iudgements were as generall There is not one stone left vpon another of so many stately buildings on which the Iewes so confidently presumed Ioseph l. 6. hist Iud. and so presumptuously insulted ouer the Romanes saying that if the Romans had wings yet they could not flye ouer their wals and inuade their City And is not sinne growne as generall in this world as euer 't was in the old world or in Sodome or in Ierusalem may we not as iustly take vp the complaint of Isay in his time Both head is sicke
chiefest nursing mother beene bereaued of her life and we her children should neuer haue inioyed these Halcyonian dayes wherein the Gospel flourisheth in despite eyther of Pope or Turke During the time of whose raigne which was but for the space of fiue yeeres there were aboue forty thousand liuing bodies of the most choisest Martyrs most cruelly burnt I say the liuing bodies to aggrauate the depth of their inraged enuy for they would not suffer the bones of the dead to rest in their graues but they must be burnt to ashes when they were almost rotten to the dust The tenth was vnder Philip in Spaine and Flaunders as in the Spanish Inquisition we may read more at large nay almost what part of the earth hath not that drunken VVhore of Rome moystned with the bloud of Saints And yet heere is not an end but still shee is plodding and plotting some secret mischiefe vpon the bed of her fornications and hatching still a malicious brood of Serpents and Cockatrices Men and Deuils hellish conspiratours still machinating the workes of darknesse their fellow-helper being the Deuill which is the Prince of darknes and therefore no maruell though the Church triumphant in heauen and the Church militant vpon earth doe daily cry for reuenge vpon that VVhere of Babylon and the Lord hearing the lowd cry of the Saints whose bloud cryes as lowd as euer Abels did against his brother Cain at the length awaketh as one out of sleepe commeth forth as a Giant refreshed with wine strikes their enemies vpon the thigh and puts them vnto a perpetuall shame as you may see at the opening of the sixt seale when God in the seuerity of his wrath summons all Kings and Princes of the earth which haue been bloudy agents in massacring of Saints vnto the trembling Tribunal of his generall Iudgement where the first thing that we may take notice of is the fearefull alteration of naturall things both in heauen and earth ver 12.13.14 In the Sunne blacknesse the Moone became as bloud and the Starres fell from heauen heauen departed as a scrowle the earth shooke mountaines and Ilands were moued out of their place All which are euident demonstrations of that great and fearefull Day Mark 13. v. 24.25 Matth. 24. v. 29. Luk. 21.25 The second is the feare and amazednesse of men Kings great men rich men chiefe Captaines bond and free their hearts did faile them for feare Luk. 21.26 desiring rather that the earth would swallow them vp aliue as it did Corah Dathan and Abiram then to behold the countenance of so angry a Iudge and breathing forth such bootlesse exclamations vnto the senselesse Rocks and helplesse Mountaines Fall vpon vs couer vs from the wrath of the Lambe v. 15.16 All which doe immediately goe before the day of Iudgement vers 17.11 I had rather wade with the Lambe in the shallow lest with the Elephant plunging my selfe into the depth I should be drowned in the depth which is a iust iudgement of God vpon all rash enterprizing spirits and curious inquisitors into the vnsearchable secrets and mysteries past finding out of almighty God to be giuen ouer vnto their owne priuate spirits and to lose themselues in the Labyrinth of their owne selfe motions and all because they will not confesse their ignorance and content themselues with a sober knowledge Rom. 12.3 but wil be wise aboue what is written Once sure I am of this that the Scriptures doe containe in them all things necessary to saluation and that they are riddles and mysteries darke and obscure vnto none but vnto those that perish Amidst variety of Interpretors some inclining vnto a Litterall some vnto an Allegorical some vnto a Tropological sense I doubt not but that I may safely lay downe this plaine and litterall exposition viz. That this Text setteth forth the desperate estate and condition of the wicked at the dreadfull day of Iudgement wherein I obserue these parts First an enumeration of particulars concluding an vniuersall Kings great men rich men chiefe Captaines mighty men bond men free men that is some of all sorts and sexes all the wicked Secondly their straight desperate estate in seeking such bootlesse refuges They hid themselues in dens and in the rockes of Mountaines v. 15. Thirdly their lamentable yet fruitlesse exclamations They said vnto the Mountaines and Rockes Fal vpon vs hide vs from the presence of him c. v. 16. Lastly the reason of all For the Great day of his wrath is come and who can stand The Kings of the earth not Romani Principes the Princes of Rome that had bin too plaine and it had bin a meanes to haue exasperated the malice of those bloudy Emperours more cruelly to imbrue their hands in the bloud of Saints for Kings that are Tyrants and rich men that are wedded to the world can hardly indure to heare of their downefall and destruction but they will rage more furiously and redouble their cruelty so Herod slew all the children that were in Bethlem and in all the coasts therof from two yeeres old and vnder when the Wise-men told him that Iesus was borne and that He should be the King of the Iewes Matth. 2. v. 2.16 Therefore Saint Iohn noting their power and malice being that they are Kings and rich men doth for the Churches safety of set purpose conceale their names so the Apostle Saint Paul in the second to the Thessalonians c. 2. v. 3.4 describing the downefall of the Pope of Rome hee calls him not in plaine and direct tearmes Antichrist or the Pope but 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 That man of sin 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 That sonne of perdition which exalteth himselfe 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Aboue all that is called God describing the nature of him so that it can be competent vnto none but vnto the Pope of Rome 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Vegetius l. 2. c. 2. dere militari Tribuni the chiefe Captaines such as were set ouer a thousand souldiers such amongst the Romans were called Tribunes and a Romane Legion consisted of six thousand souldiers by which finite agnomination the Deuils shewed that the number of their infernall Kingdome was infinite My name is Legion for we are many Euery bond and euery free-man that is all the wicked but especially those that haue beene actors of the Kings decrees and executioners of new deuised tortures in the persecution of the Saints Hid themselues in dennes Some there are and that not a few that would haue this to bee vnderstood figuratiuely of the corrupt estate of the Church and of the last persecution of Antichrist when the Popish Prelacy had gotten the supremacy The Sunne say they is Christ blacke and obscured not in himselfe but in the hearts of men The Moone is the Church which resembles the Moone waxing and waning and shee borrowes her light from Christ The Starres are the Doctors of the Church Teachers and Preachers of the Word Falling to the earth i. slaine
by the wicked which seeme to men to fall to the earth when as indeede if faithfull in their indeuours to worke a sinners conuersion they shine like starres for euer and euer Dan. 1 2. v. 3. The Heauen say they is the sacred Bible and Canonicall Scripture containing in it the reuealed will of the King of Heauen by meanes whereof we are led vnto Heauen as the Wise-men were to Christ by the conduct of a Star Ioh. 5.39 Matth. 2. v. 9. Within the Pages of this holy Writ Christ the Church the Ministers are placed like the Sunne Moone and Starres in the Firmament of Heauen This Heauen departed in the raigne of Antichrist and became as a clasped Booke in respect of the vse of it for almost as good as if it had not beene at all then the people neuer a iot the better by it when the Laiety might not read it but through the Priests spectacles when Images were Lay-mens Bookes and sacred Scripture departed like a scrole that is lockt vp in an vnknowne tongue Earthquakes doe signifie seditions alterations mutations of Kingdomes and Empires such as began in the Papacy and doe not end as yet but still doth that exceeding dreadfull beast Daniel 7. v. 19. stirre vp seditions disturbe cōmon peace shake Kingdomes blowe vp Parliaments cut off and anathemize Kings by the thunder-bolt of excommunication yea and afterwards Canonize Deuils for Saints if they would aduenture to kill Kings The Mountaynes are say they the Prophets whom the breath of Antichrist doth ouer-turne and by the same breath of that not erring Man of sinne doe the Schole-Doctors by their false glosses and peruerse interpretations corrupt depraue and ouer-throw the sense of the Prophets The Ilands say they are the workes and writings of Philosophers which the same Doctors doe peruert some other way beyond the minde and meaning of Philosophers so that there is nothing cōmon with the Prophets nor with true Philosophie Kings and rich men c. are the Monarchs of the world and other priuate men made subiect to the Popes Catholicall and Vniuersall Supremacy when Kings must hold the stirrup and kisse the greasy feet of that triple-crownd Monster Hid themselues in dennes that is say they the Cels Cloysters Solitary places Nests of Nunnes and vnsociable Monkes I will not disallow of this allegorizing interpretation for it may very well stand for current but according to the simple sense and meaning of the words as they lye nakedly to be considered and if Scripture may interpret Scripture the Prophet Isaiah maketh them playne expounding this place in the selfe same termes or this place expounding that both setting forth the narrow strait and desperate perplexity which the wicked are brought vnto They shall goe into the holes of the Rocks and into the Caues of the earth for feare of the Lord and for the glory of his Maiesty when he ariseth to shake terribly the earth Isaiah 2.19 yea and to strike a deeper dread and horror into the hearts of the wicked he doth ingeminate it like that triple woe in the eight of the Reuelation vers 21. And said to the Mountaynes Rocks Fall on vs c. Here the holy Ghost doth allude vnto two places of Scripture the first is the tenth of Hosea v. 8. the second is the 23. of Luke vers 30. both describing the desperate estate of the wicked where our Sauiour speaketh of a certayne time when these things should be after hee had spoken of the destruction of Ierusalem which was a type of the consummation of the world and dissolution of al things but in Hosea the Prophet speaketh of the captiuity of Israel which was a figure of Ierusalems vtter diuastation and the worlds finall destruction as Hierome obserueth vpon that place It was an old dotage of Aquinas vpon this place who as his custome is to turne all things into Allegories doth wrest this place of Kings and chiefe Captaines and would haue it to be vnderstood of the Romish Clergy the Bishops the Archbishops and the rest of that rabble cloistred Monks and Masse-muttering Priests crying vnto the Mountaines that is inuocating the Saints imploring their patrocinie and their safeguarding protection from the wrath that is to come But these cursed Crue that rob Christ of his honor who is that one only Mediator 1. Tim. 2.5 pro quo nullus interpellat sed ipse per omnibus as Augustine defines a Mediator by making as many Mediators as there are Saints departed shal at that day find the Saints no better then Iobs friends miserable comforters and that the inuocating of them shall be no more regarded then the shouting and crying of the Priests of Baal 1 King 18. v. 27. Hide vs from the face of him that sitteth vpon the Throne and from the voice of the Lambe Obiect But how shall the wicked and vnfaithfull bee able to speake these words when as they neuer knew Christ sitting in his Throne nor vnderstood him to be the Lamb of God that taketh away the sinnes of the World as Peter told the Iewes that through ignorance they did crucifie Christ as did also their Gouernours Acts 3. v. 17. for had they knowne they would neuer haue crucified the Lord of glory Sol. I will not insist vpon any curious distinction either of Logicians or Schole diuines concerning ignorance In briefe I answere thus that the wicked out of the horror and hellish despaire of a distracted conscience partly by reason of that imminent danger without them the guilt of cōscience within them they shall be compeld to acknowledge Christ to bee that Incarnated Word of truth sent out of the bosome of the Father and to be that Lambe of God slaine for as many as beleeue then they shall see know be made to acknowledge him though in their life time they called his sacred Deitie into question yet then shal they acknowledge him without all question As Pharaoh at the first answered Moses and Aaron intreating him from the Lord to let the children of Israel goe that they may celebrate a feast to the Lord in the wildernesse Quis est Deus Who is the Lord as though he had thought belike that there had bin no God as Atheists say in their heart There is no God Psal 14.1 or that he himselfe had beene God onely Exod. 5.2 yet afterward hee learned a new lesson being instructed by diuers sorts of afflictions which were as so many Sermons to conuict and conuince him of Atheisme and was compelled to acknowledge God to be the Authour of them Exod. 8. and he only to be prayed vnto Exod. 14. So shall the wicked at that day howsoeuer at this day they doe scorne deride and not beleeue in Christ to be Iesus a Messias a Sauiour but persecute him in his members Act. 9.4 when they see the truth of prophesies fulfilled the destruction at hand their owne dismall desolation drawing neer then shall they acknowledge Christ to be the
terrae pondus the very chaffe the drosse the off-scouring of the earth and therefore no maruaile though they goe into the holes of the Rocks and into the Caues of the earth from before the feare of the Lord and from the glory of his Maiesty when he shall arise to destroy the earth Isaiah 2.19 Mallent enim impij esse in inferno quà m videre faciem irati Iudicis The wicked had rather be throwne downe to hell where is vtter darkenesse then endure the glorious presence of so angry a Iudge If S. Iohn the blessed Reuelator of heauens secrets fell at the feet of Christ as dead when he beheld him Reu. 1. v. 17. If Moses that man of God could not indure the face of God but couered his eyes with a vaile If the Seraphins that stand about the Throne of God couer their faces with two of their wings as not being able to behold the glorious Maiesty of God how shall the Maiesty of this our great God euer our Sauiour Iesus Christ Tit. 2.13 daunt the hearts of the wicked at his appearing euen more then can be expressed The third reason why the estate and condition of the wicked is so full of horrour at the Day of Iudgement is by reason of the strict account that they must render All men without any exception Adam and all his posterity as many as haue beene dead before as many as are then liuing and they that are then liuing shall not preuent them that sleepe I say all men and so saith the Apostle Wee shall all appeare before the Iudgement seat of Christ Rom. 14. v. 10. Euery one of vs shall giue an account of himselfe to God v. 12. And euery man shall receiue the things which are done in his body according to that he hath done whether it bee good or euill 2. Cor. 5. v. 10. And not onely all men but all the Angels which kept not their first estate but left their owne habitation 2. Pet. 3.4 are reserued in euerlasting chaines vnder darknesse vnto the Iudgement of the Great Day Iude vers 6. This truth the Deuils themselues did confirme by their desperate crying out fearing their present executiō vnto the which they themselues know they are reserued Quid nobis tibi What haue we to doe with thee Iesus thou Sonne of God art thou come to torment vs before the time Matth. 8. v. 29. And this feare is the chaines and fetters before mentioned in the which the Deuils are manacled vntill they bee brought forth vnto the full execution of the wrath of God in Hell the place of Deuils and all the damned And not onely men and Deuils but vnreasonable creatures the heauen and the earth and whatsoeuer is contained within this spacious Vniuerse shall be iudged also after their manner at that day So saith Saint Peter The heauens and the earth are reserued vnto fire against the day of Iudgement and of the destruction of vngodly men and the heauens shall passe away with a noise that is they shall passe away from a mutable condition vnto an immutable degree of perfection The Elements shall melt with heat and the earth with the workes that are therein shall bee burnt vp Not that the great Fabricke and glorious workmanship of heauen and earth shal be burnt and brought to nothing for the earth remaineth for euer Eccles 1. v. 3. Sed ab ea quae nunc habet specie per ignem tergetur ea tamen in sua natura seruatur Greg. l. 17. Moral c. 5. They shall bee purged of their corruptible qualities and purified from the filth of their imperfectiōs as the Sun Moon shall be no more eclipsed and sublunary things shall be no more subiect to generation and corruption but as the gold cast into the fire is purged frō the drosse whereby it becomes a refined substance so the heauens and the earth shall put on as it were new apparell adorned with a new fashion for the * 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 fashion of this world passeth away 1. Cor. 7.31 but not the nature and substance Hierom prooueth as much by that place Isa 30.26 The light of the Moone shall be as the light of the Sunne and the light of the Sunne shall be seuen-fold non interitum significat pristinorum sed commutationem in melius Whereby the holy Ghost doth signifie not a destruction of those lights which were before but a change into a better Caluin goeth farther saying that they shall bee fellowes with the Saints in that glorious estate And so saith the Apostle the * 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Non singula generum sed genera singulorum Ordi Gloss 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Creature that is the world shall be deliuered from the bondage of corruption into the glorious liberty of the Sonnes of God Rom. 8. v. 21. So Acts 3.21 there is promised a * 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Non singula generum sed genera singulorum Ordi Gloss 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 restauration of all things So Psal 10. The heauens shall all wax old as doth a garment and they shall be changed that is into a better forme and fashion So S. Iohn saw a new Heauen and a new earth Apo. 21.1 So S. Peter We looke for a new heauen and a new earth according to his promise c. v. 13. Hence is it that the perpetuity of Christ his spirituall Kingdome is shadowed out vnto vs by the continuance of the Sun and Moone His Throne shall be as the Sun Psal 89. v. 36.37 and shall be established for euermore as the Moone Psal 72. ve s 5. Gods children shall feare him so long as the Sunne and Moone indureth vers 7. And Christ his name shall indure so long as the Sunne vers 17. Therefore it must bee granted that these creatures shall be restored and so continue without decay or corruption or else it must must bee yeelded that Christs Kingdome must haue an end which may not bee granted But after what manner this instauration shall be it is not manifested vnto vs in the word of God and to what end they shall serue whether as Monuments of Gods glory it were curiosity to search or determine sufficient is it to know that they shall bee iudged after their kind But if any should obiect against what hath bin spoken as namely that al men shall giue an account The sixt verse of the first Psalme the wicked shall not stand in Iudgement And that of Iohn 5.24 He that beleeueth in him that sent me hath euerlasting life and shall not come into Iudgement Lombardus ex Gregorio binos facit ordines Iudicandorum alij iudicantur pereunt alij non iudicantur pereunt alij iudicantur regnant alij non iudicantur regnant Lomb. l. 4. dist 49. These places indeed haue much troubled the Fathers in so much that Hillarie and Origen were of opinion that neither the godly Faithfull nor the
with Augustine August de Symb. l. 3. Iudex ille nec gratiâ praeuenietur nec misericordiâ flectetur nec fletibus mitigabitur This Iudge will not be preuented with fauour moued with mercy nor mitigated with teares nec sententia eius lata vnquam reuocabitur neither will the sentence once past against them euer bee reuoked any more which is the third thing that I am to speake of This sentence is the more dreadfull because it is irreuocable sentence proceeding from the Iudgement seate of mortall men may be reuoked or stopped by sundry meanes as first by appealing vnto some higher Iudge as Paul appealed vnto Caesar but at this great Assise there is no higher Iudge for he is the onely and blessed Prince the King of Kings and Lord of Lords 1. Tim. 6.15 And the Father hath committed all Iudgement vnto him Ioh. 5.27 2. The Iudge vpon better and more mature deliberation may alter his opinion but there is no alteration of Iudgement when it is once gone forth from the Throne of the Lord whose Iudgements are more resolute then the Decrees of the Medes and Persians which might not bee altered When Esau came to his father for a blessing which was formerly past to Iacob his father said I haue blessed him and hee shall be blessed Gen. 27.33 So resolute shall the Lords sentence be at the day of Iudgement I haue cursed them and they shall bee cursed and as Balaam said vnto Balak The Lord hath blessed and he cannot reuerse it Numb 23.20 So say I The Lord will not reuerse this his sentence of malediction Goe ye cursed neither will hee alter the thing that is gone out of his lippes 3. By supplication but because the wicked turned away their cares from hearing the Lord whē he entreated them by his Word it shall bee iust with God not to lend an eare when they doe call and cry vnto him there is not any of that glorious Court of Heauen that will friend them so much as to speake a word in their behalfe Should the Saints whom they euer despised accounting their life madnesse and their end to be without honour Wis 5.4 Should the Angels whose Ministry they haue refused and abused if they did should God himselfe heare them whose Spirit they haue so oftentimes grieued And therefore Iob said well There is no vmpire when God and man are at oddes Iob 9.33 Reas 6 Now the last Reason which doth aggrauate the horrour of the wicked is the punishment of losse Schol. poena damni the consideration of Heauens banishment and Hels eternall imprisonment is a sufficient torture vnto the soule of the wicked and as Chrysostome iudgeth it to bee much more bitter and irksome then the paines of Hell Duplex est damnatorum poena nam mentem vrit tristitia corpus flamma Isidorus de meditatione Ignis gehennalis yea worse then a thousand Hells if there were so many Chrysost super Mat. Hom. 33. according to our Sauiours saying There shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth when they shall see Abraham Isaac and Iacob and all the Prophets in the Kingdome of God and they themselues thrust out of dore Luk. 13.18 VVhere shal be Dogges and Enchanters and VVhoremongers and Murtherers and Idolaters and whosoeuer loueth or maketh lies Reuel 22.15 And not only shall they be debard of the ioyes of Heauen and glory of the Saints but they shall be depriued of all Earthly comforts and all their former delights The Pome granat tree the Palm tree the Apple tree shall wither the Apples after which their soule lusted shall depart from them and they shall finde none Yea if a drop of cold water would comfort them it shall be denied them The Epicure shall bee depriued of his daintie dishes the Drunkard of his bowles of wine the Adulterer of his wanton Mistris the Couetous and Vsurer of their gold which they made their God To conclude they shall be depriued of all Heauenly ioyes of all earthly comforts But I will begin to sing a Song of melody and proclaime a yeere of Iubile vnto the children of God Consolemini consolemini Lift vp your heads saith our Sauiour Christ for your redemption draweth neere Luke 21.28 There is a great Emphasis in the Greeke 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 which doth signifie a freedome from captiuity a restoring vnto a former libertie As if our Sauiour should say The Church as lōg as she is in this world she is like Israel vnder Pharaoh held captiue in imprisonment and slauerie But now at this great Assise there shall be a gaole-deliuerie an euerlasting freedome from all euils whatsoeuer our life is wouen full of miseries Psal 90.10 Diu viuere est diu torqueri Aug. Tertul. vita carcer the best of it is but labour and griefe We are borne into the world weeping and bewailing as it were our owne ensuing miseries the progresse of our life is labor the end is griefe Ioseph was neuer wearier of the dungeon Daniel of the Den of Lions Dauid to dwel in the Tents of Kedar then the children of God are to remaine so long in the Land of Egypt in the Prison of this world and therefore it is said that they looke and long for a Citie to come whose Builder and Maker is God But then shall we be euerlastingly deliuered from all the miseries and calamities which now we are subiect vnto the soule shall be deliuered from disordred passions as hope feare ioy and sorrow the body from sundry outward calamities as sicknesse paine labour reproch from prouocations and intisements of the wicked world from the power of the deuil frō the slauery of sin from death from hell it is our marriage day when our rotten bones shall be raised out of the dust of the earth we shal be clad with glory shal meet Christ in the clouds 1. The. 4 1◠shal be euer with the Lord Where we shall haue an euerlasting Sabbath ioy vpon euery ones head sorrow sighing shal flee away Thē shal we see God face to face that with these eyes saith Iob. God shall wipe away all teares from our eyes there shall be nö more death neither sorrow nor crying neither shal there be any more paine Reuel 21.4 There shall be no more Winter nor Summer heat nor cold day nor night death nor hel But there shall be Vita sine morte Dies sine nocte securitas sine timore c. There shall be life without death day without night security without feare pleasure without paine tranquillity without labour beauty without deformity strength without weaknesse euery thing that is good without any thing that is bad To conclude Eye hath not seene nor eare heard neither hath it entred into the heart of man the things which God hath prepared for them that loue him Isa 64.4 1. Cor. 2.9 Let the faithfull soule sigh out this meditation with blessed Gregory Bone Iesu
and heart is heauie Isai 1.5 where by head as Interpreters obserue is meant the King for the Prophet speaketh vnto the Iewes as if they were one body and when the Prophet complained of this sicknesse of the head he meant Ahaz who then was head of the Kingdome and his disease was not in the foote as Asa his gout but in the corruption of his life hee did nothing that was right in the sight of the Lord his God 2. K. 16.2 the hart is the Priests that if they be such as they should be may very well resemble the heart that as the heart communicateth vitall spirits vnto the whole body so the Ministers of God should endeuour to create the life of grace in euery mans soule But if like the heart they do not employ themselues in their peculiar office and dutie preaching the Word of God in season and out of season quickning the members that are dead in sin and endeuouring daily the conuersion of soules by wholsome doctrine and holy conuersation then are they not hearts any longer but harmes and in Gods due time they shall bee trodden vnder foote like clay in the streete or cast out with vnsauory salt to the dounghill The foot may not find fault with head or heart only I will ingeminate the Prophets words Both head is sick and hart is heauy The matter which I haue in hand forceth mee to shew the generalitie of sinne and so consequently the propinquity of the general Iudgement If God should look downe from heauen vpon the children of men and marke what is done amisse in this our sinful Sublunarie he may see that al are gone aside euen from the highest to the lowest from the youngest to the eldest from the richest to the poorest from the Eagle to the Wren They are altogether become abominable there is none that doth good no not one Psalme 14.3 The foundations of the Earth are out of course sinne hath gotten the vpper hand iniquity aboundeth vertue is disgraced vice aduanced Sin now adaies is growne vnto such a presumption and that notwithstanding the sword of Authoritie which vnlesse it lay vnsheathed in the hand of the Magistrate bearìng it in vaine were able to destroy this Hydra of sinne though new heads budded out continually It it recorded of a French Ambassador in the time of King Richard the third how he told the King that there were three great Whores in England Pride Couetousnesse Luxurie If this Ambassador were to come againe he may tell the King that there are more then tenne times three not a sinne but hath his mate Pride and Ambition Couetousnesse and Extortion Adultery and Fornication Flattery and Dissimulation Strife and Contention Swearing and Forswearing Lying and Cursed speaking Chambering and Wantonnesse Strife and Enuying nay more sinnes then I can name Si superbientibus angelis Deus nō pepercit quantò minùs tibi putredo vermis Bernard and such sinnes as are not to be named To insist a while vpon some particulars to begin first with the first that first sinne of Pride so hatefull in the highest Eye that it threw the Angels out of Heauen whereby they became reprobate Deuils and yet no sinne so common none growne more generall then this sinne of Pride Were the daughters of Zion euer more proud and haughtie then our Dames of England who are so farre from being like women that professe the feare of God 1. Tim. 2.10 that they scarce looke like the creatures of God being so miscreate ofttimes and so deformed with their French their Spanish and their foolish fashions with their Plumes Fannes Feathers and Fardingales Veluet Vizards that they looke rather like some Antickes Maskers May games Esaias Text of fashions is multiplied by the fancies of our time Their bonnets and their bracelets their slippers and their mufflers their vailes their wimples and their crisping pinnes their round tyers like the Moone Isaiah 3.19 Yet he makes no mention of the yellow Ruffes of their perfumed shagged haire which neuer grew vpon their ownehead nor of their painted faces a pretty artificiall meanes to mend the workmanship of their Maker But I thinke that the Mystery of this art may rather be reduced to the common place of whorishnesse or in a nearer tearme the attire of an harlot Prou. 7. that as Erasmus said of a Lyar Oftende mihi mendacem ostendam tibifurem shew me a Lyar and I wil shew thee a thiefe so shew mee a painted face may I say and I will shew thee a whore for shee dwels at the Signe of a painted face Neither is this sinne of pride peculiar vnto women onely but also to men for they are almost become like vnto women as though they were willing to change sexes with them In the time of Popery as one saies wittily England was made an Asse to beare the burthen of the Popes taxations but now England is metamorphosed into an Ape an imitator of all fashions of all Countries and Nations France Spaine and Italy c. To leaue pride as an vgly monster and to speake of the generalitie of the sinne of whoredom which deserues the second place in Satans Kingdome The base-begotten-bastard-broode that this sin brings foorth into the world manifests the generality of it for almost what Parish within this Kingdom nay almost in the whole world but hath an adulterous issue within it and wheras one hath none another hath two Beside how is the bed of honourable marriage abused by vnlawfull mixtures God that is vnus one as Bernard Vnissimus most one hath made vnam one woman vni for one man and one man for one woman so speakes the Prophet And did hee not make one where God sends vs backe to the coppie and first institution of marriage he made one man for one woman Adam for Eue and ioyned them both together in one inuiolable band of honorable wedlock Ge. 2.24 Yet had he abundance of spirit that is by that selfe same secret inspiration whereby Adam became a liuing soule by that same powerfull influence if I may so speake God could haue created more men for one woman yet he did not And why would he not Because he sought a godly seede that is as marriage is honourable so the fruite of this diuine ordinance should bee holy not illigitimate not bastards not a promiscuous seede Malach 2.15 But alas how is the ende of marriage peruerted how doth euery man neigh after his neighbours wife Ieremie 5.8 That is men are as shamelesse and as resolutely impudent in this filthy fact like welfed horses that haue no vnderstanding Psalm 32.9 which the Prophet calles the sinne of abomination Ezek. 22.11 How doth euery man lay waite at his neighbours doore Iob 31.4 that is by priuate stealth to warme anothers bed leauing their own cisternes the wife of their youth to embrace the bosome of the stranger Prou. 5. But I will leaue this sinne in secret where it is committed for