Christ shall iudge the quicke and dead at his appearing Wherby it is manifest that neither the Saints nor the Angels not God himselfe but mediante Christo by Christ into whose hands hee hath resigned all power and authority shal iudge all the world at the last day Whereunto if any obiect the words of the Apostle in the first to the Corinthians the 6. c. v. 2.3 The Saints shall iudge the world and not onely the world but the Angels too I answere that there is such a narrow band and strict vnion betwixt Christ and the Saints that they make one body so that which is granted vnto the head is not denied vnto the body Christ as the chiefe principall vpon that Bench doth pronounce that sentence already reuealed vnto vs in the Gospel Matth. 25. v. 41. and the Saints as witnesses shall subscribe vnto that sentence and triumph at the iust condemnation of the wicked This is manifest by the mouth of our Sauiour Christ Ye which haue followed me in the regeneration shal sit vpon twelue Thrones and iudge the twelue tribes of Israel Matth. 19. v. 28. or as some of the Fathers doe expound the place Amb. Chry. in hunc locum The Saints shall iudge the world Quia exemplo fidei perfidiam mundi damnabunt as our Sauiour speaketh of the Niniuites and of the Queen of the South that they should rise vp against the Iewes to condemne them at the day of Iudgement that is by the example of their faith they shall condemne them of infidelity Thus Noah is said by preparing the Arke to saue him and his posterity from the generall Deluge of water to condemne the world of infidelity who would not beleeue at the preaching of Noah that the world should bee destroyed with water as many Atheists and Epicures now a dayes at our preaching will not beleeue that the world shall be destroyed with fire Heb. 11. vers 7. and vnto this Origen saith well Orig. Hom. in Numb Non Paulus ipse sed opus Pauli quod faciebat in Euangelio iudicabit mundum So that to conclude the Faith the Life the Doctrine the Death of the Saints for the testimony of the truth shal condemne the wicked at the last day And whereas it is said the Saints shall iudge the Angels leauing Saint Chrysostomes opinion In hunc locum who would by Angels to bee vnderstood Ministers who are called Angels Apoc. 2.1 and so the Bishops of the Churches of Asia are called Angels wee may safely and most truly vnderstand the spirituall powers Angels that fell from their first estate and so are become reprobate Deuils these cursed crue I say that are reserued in euerlasting chaines vnder darknes vnto the iudgement of the great day Iude 6. shall yeeld themselues subiect vnto the censure and sentence of the Saints Thus hauing shewed who that Iudge shall be it remaines that I speake of his Maiesty as farre as it is reuealed vnto vs in his word As a King prouiding for warre maketh choise of such men as may best serue to set forth the royalty of a King and for their valour able to encounter with the best of his approching enemies So Christ when he comes riding vpon the cloudes to encounter with the inhabitants of the earth for sinne he will come in power and great glory Luke 21.27 and this his power doth consist in a glorious multitude of heauenly attendants not silly Fishermen as in the dayes of his infirmity but a glorious troupe of holy Saints and blessed Angels as consorting with him at the appearing of his Maiesty Behold 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Iude 14 he commeth saith S. Iude with thousand of his Saints to giue iudgement against all men and to rebuke all the vngodly and as Christ shall come with his many Saints so shall he appeare with his infinite troupe and traine of Angels For thousand thousands shall minister vnto him and ten thousand thousands shall stand before him yea he shall come with all his holy Angels Dan. 7.10 which is to be vnderstood of Christ his comming to Iudgement for in the ninth verse mention is made of the Ancient of dayes sitting downe vpon his Throne that is God the Father and in the thirteenth verse it is added that the Sonne of man approched vnto the Ancient of daies which gaue vnto him power honor and a Kingdome that is Christ into whose hāds God the Father hath giuen power and authority of iudging the quick and the dead at the last day Now if Iehoram was halfe astonished at the furious marching of Iehu his company therefore sent forth horsemen to meet him and enquire whether it were peace or no 2. King 9.16 how much more will it strike the wicked with amazement and dreadfull astonishment when they shall see Christ comming against them with millions of Saints and Legions of Angels and no conditions of peace will be accepted of but he will bruise them with a rod of iron and breake them in peeces like a Potters Vessel Psal 2.9 And hee will not onely come in power but in glory in great glory and no maruaile for the Father hath glorified him will glorifie him againe when he hath gathered together the Elect from the foure corners of the earth and both shall make one glorious body in that Kingdome so full of glory where their Hymnes and Haleluiahs shal be glory and honor c. for euer and for euer It is the obseruation of some vpon the 24. of Matth. that the Sunne shall bee darkned Ferus Spangin and the Moone shall not giue her light at the bright shining glorious appearing of Christ Iesus As greater lights are wont to obscure the lesser as the bright beames of the Sun the glimmering light of a Candle so the exceeding brightnesse and transcendent glory of Christ at his appearing shall darken all those glorious lamps and lights of heauen whose sweet influence cōfortable beames wee now enioy day by day To this S. Iohn the Diuine alludeth 1. Thes 1.7 Act. 1.11 He had in his right hand seuen starres and out of his mouth went a sharp two-edged sword and his face shone as the Sunne shineth in his strength Reuel 1.16 S. Paul setting forth the glory of his comming saith He shall come in flaming fire with the sound of an Archangell he shall come in the cloudes and ride vpon the wings of the winde Saint Matthew thus Then shall he sit vpon a Throne of glory and before him shall bee gathered all Nations Matth. 24.31 The gloriousnesse of which Throne Daniel describeth saying His Throne was like a fiery flame and the wheeles like burning fire Dan. 7.6 And if the Earth and the Sea doe reele too and fro start and stagger and flye away Reuel 20.11 as not being able to behold the glory nor endure the face of this approching Iudge how much lesse shall the wicked bee able to stand which are inutile
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
only bee made of the thoughts of the heart but wee must also giue an account of the words of the mouth They are the words of him that is the word of truth Of euery idle word that men shall speake they shall giue an account thereof at the day of Iudgement Matth. 12.36 If a man might be called to an account but for his grosser sort of sinnes as for his Whoredom Swearing Cheating Stealing Vsuries Briberies Extortions dishallowing of Sabbaths and the like there were some hope of safety although God knowes there is no hope of the saluation of such without a speedy and vnfained repentance which doth consist in an holy confession of their sinnes in an hearty sorrowing for the same Sermonem otiosum vocat inanem nullius vtilitatis qui sc nihil aedificatienis vel fructus adfert Marlor ex Cal◠in a faithfull restitution of that which hee hath taken from any man by falsity and wrong and in a godly reformation of his forepast life but God will bring into iudgemēt not onely euery secret thought but euery idle word and who alas shall be able to answere him one of a thousand Iob 9.3 Now an idle word is that which is spoken without a fruitfull edification of the hearers for our wordes ought not onely to be few but also they must be good and gracious they must be sauoury and well seasoned with the salt of the Sanctuary and therefore Iob cals the eare the taster of the Word that as we in the common foode of our body swallow not any thing downe into the stomack but what the pallat approues to be good and the grinders prepare for digestion so the eare will not giue passage vnto any word vnlesse it rellish of the Spirit of sanctification and bee truely good to the vse of edifying and may conuay some spiritual nourishmēt vnto the soule and therefore it is the exhortation of the blessed Apostle Let no cōmunication proceed out of the mouth but that which is good to the vse of edifying that it may minister grace vnto the hearers Ephes 4.29 The tongue is the Harbinger of the heart and the truest Ambassador both of the minde and meaning it will soone discry and make manifest vnto others what Countreymen we are whether we belong vnto the Prouince of Babel or the Land of Canaan If wee belong vnto the Prouince of Heauen then our speech is of this Countrey our language is heauenly we are frequent in praising of God in talking of his Word and in telling forth what great things the Lord hath done vnto our soules as our affections are in heauen so is our talke of heauen and heauenly things But if we belong vnto that infernall Kingdome then is the speech carnall sensuall diabolicall then is the tongue exercised in the language of that Countrey in swearing false-swearing cursing banning and blaspheming then is our communication such as may helpe to aduance the Kingdome of Satan whereof wee our selues are limmes and whereof hereafter without repentance wee shall be euerlastingly burning and neuer consuming fire-brands To conclude therefore if euery man must giue-an account of euery idle word not tending to the edification of himselfe and others and of all corrupt and filthy cōmunication whereby hee hath grieued the holy Spirit of God Ephos 4.30 Tremble then thou swearing and false swearing tongue whose Rhetorick and Eloquence of cōmon talke is an execrable oth nay as many othes as wordes thou that canst not sell a penny worth or a pound weight without dozens of othes we haue a world full of such tongues and because of such kind of tongues the lād mournes Gods heauy iudgements are gone out against it if account must bee made of euery idle word what shall become of that tongue that hath pleaded an vniust cause to the peruerting of Iustice wresting the Law to the vtter vndoing of the fatherlesse widdowes what shall become of that tongue that cannot speake a word in the defence of the poore vnlesse it be well tipt with gold the oyle that makes euery ioynt to bee nimble and euery bad cause to goe for current If account must bee made of euery idle word then stand amazed thou vaine and wanton tongue vnderstand and quake when thou hearest mentioned the terrible day of Iudgement thou whose words doe not only not tend to edification but to disgrace the Scripture the word of God it selfe thou that thinkest no iest wil goe for current vnlesse it be seasoned with the salt of the Sanctuary such is the profanenesse of the age in which wee liue that euery Actor vpon the stage euery profane Swaggerer and euery mincing Minion cānot speake a word but must haue a fling and gird at sanctified Scripture assuredly thine account is the greatest thy case fearefull thy iudgement intolerable Let euery man therefore take heede vnto his waies that he offend not in his tongue let him refraine his tongue from euill let him desire the Lord to set a watch before his lips that he may not speake his owne wordes but such as the Lord by his word cōmands him to speake for if our wordes are not such as they ought to be wee shall giue an account for them at the day of Iudgement 3. We shall not only be called vnto an account for our thoughts De operibus and wordes but also of our works wheresoeuer and whensoeuer committed whether by day or by night whether in the field or in the Citie whether in the City or in the house whether in the house or in our chamber whether in our chamber or in our bed there is nothing couered that shall not bee reuealed nothing hid that shall not bee knowne and made manifest before God before the Angels before Saints before the whole world at the day of Iudgemēt so saith the blessed Apostle We must all appeare before the Iudgement seate of Christ and there receiue according to our workes 2. Cor. 5.10 God will giue vnto euery man according to his waies and according to the fruit of his works they that haue done good shal goe into euerlasting life but they that haue done ill shal goe into euerlasting fire This God himselfe reuealed to S. Iohn for truth it selfe I saw the dead great and small stand before God and they were iudged according to their workes Apoc. 20.12 To this purpose saith August In quibus actibus quisque homo inuentus fuerit quando exierit de corpore in his iudicabitur in what sins soeuer man goes out of the body vnrepented of of the same hee shall be iudged at the day of Iudgement as the Preacher therefore concludes his Booke so will I conclude this point God will bring euery worke vnto Iudgement with euery secret thing whether it be good or euill Eccles 12. v. 14. 4. Neither shall we bee onely called vnto an account for our thoughts our words and workes but also for our goods and possessions how we haue gotten them how
THE GREAT DAY OR A SERMON SETTING forth the desperate estate and condition of the wicked at the day of Iudgement Preached at Saint Andrews in Holborne at London By Nathaniel Grenfeild Master of Artes and Preacher of the Word of God at Whit-feild in Oxfordshire LONDON Printed by W. Stansby for Iosias Harrison and are to be sold at the Golden Anchor in Pater-noster row 1615. TO THE RIGHT WORSHIPFVLL SIR GEORGE SPEAKE Knight N. G. wisheth heartily all happinesse SIR THe Wise mans censure concerning the many Booke-makers of his time Morbus insanabilie scribendi cacoëthes Iuuenal Quod de scriptis sacris authore spiritu sanctâ—dici non potest veruÌ„ de illis quae vanitas humana exculpit quotidie Fayius Traditiones decreta Pontificum Canones generalium consiliorum quoad obsequij fidei necessitatem praesertim refelluntur mee thinks as much taxeth this Writing world of ours wherein men are almost no men vnlesse they be men in print all is but a CoÌ„mentarie vpon the Preachers words Of making many bookes there is no end Eccl. 12.12 I wish to God that there were once an end which I feare me will not bee vntill the world ends of making such books as serue to no end but to the corrupting of maners infecting the hart weakening zeale and that some good Augustus would banish them as hee did fleshly * Amatoriae Nafonis in quibus non est tutum rudem exerceri Erasmus Ouid out of our Bethel Christian England into some Bethauen into some Idolatrous Superstitious and Heathenish Nation that worship the Sunne and the Moone Castor and Pollux Rats and Mice in stead of the true God of Heauen or sent backe for Vagrants into Italy or the Stewes of Rome where like an adulterous broode they were first borne and bred or that they were all serued with the same sauce Stapleton Praefat. Moral as by Stapletons report Saint Ephraim wittily vsed two bookes of Apollinaris who finding them in a womans keeping borrowed them of her and glued the leaues so hard together as the booke could neuer after be opened For as one saith well ten Sermons at Pauls Crosse doe not so much good for moouing men to true doctrine as one of these bookes doe harme with entising men to ill liuing and that more Papists are made by the merry bookes of Italy then by the earnest bookes of Louaine so that they doe not only win the wils of the weake vnto wantonnesse but tend something to the corrupting of true religion Saint Iames reprooues very sharply those that with the same tongue blesse God curse man Iam. 3.9 why then should the same Caracters set foorth Machiauels workes and Moses writings Christ and Belial the vnchast loue of wanton Heathens and the chast and reciprocall loue of Christ and his Church But as for such bookes as haue our Sauiour for their subiect the holy Ghost for their Author Gods glory for their end that are like so many Cannons planted against the Gates of hel that tend wholly to the demolishing of Satans Kingdome vndermining the Bulwarks of Babylon but building vp the Walles of Ierusalem why should not the sound of such goe foorth into the ends of the world and when they sound foorth the end of the world To which end I haue preacht pend and through the importunitie of others contrarie to mine owne minde and meaning when I preached now imprinted this little Tract and Treatise how free I am from Salomons censure of such as print themselues let him that is wiser then Salomon bee a witnesse I am bold to fly vnto your Worship and to entreate you that you would vouchsafe to bee cald a Patron vnto it as you are to learning though farre I must confesse below your worthinesse The many testimonies of your loue from time to time toward my eldest Brother and my selfe doe challenge more at our hands then my penne can expresse or the weakenesse of our vtmost power make the least requitall A handfull of water was fitter to be powred into a Beggars dish then to be presented vnto a King yet a King accepted of it though a beggar gaue it because he gaue what he had and had no better to giue nay it is acceptable to God if we haue no greater gift to offer to cast a mite into the Lords Treasurie whereby I am induced to conceiue that you will no lesse willingly accept of this Paper gift of mine a Schollars Mite the truest testimoniall of mine intimate affections and manifestation of my duty what is wanting shall bee supplied in praying for you vnto God for your preseruation and for an encrease in all spirituall graces namely of faith which may keepe you from trembling at the day of your death and in the day of Iudgement From Whitfield Iuly the 10. Your Worships to be commanded in the Lord NATH GRENFEILD THE GREAT DAY REVEL 6.15.16.17 verse 15 And the Kings of the earth and the great men and the chiefe Captains and the mighty men and euery bondman and euery free man hid themselues in the dennes and in the rockes of mountaines verse 16 And said to the mountaines and rocks Fall on vs and hide vs from the presence of him that fitteth vpon the Throne and from the wrath of the Lambe verse 17 For the great day of his wrath is come and who can stand THis Chapter contains in it sixe parts and euery part the opening of a Seale by the Lambe and euerie seale a distinct mystery the foure first Seales being opened mention is made of foure Riders riding vpon foure horses of foure different colours a white vers 2. a red vers 4. a blacke vers 5. a pale verse 8. vnto the beholding whereof Saint Iohn was inuited The first Rider is described by two adiuncts Adiunctis Arcu Corona Effectu Fine a Bow and a Crowne was giuen vnto him vers 2. Secondly by the effect conquering Thirdly by the end to conquer vers 2. The second Seale being opened the second Rider which Saint Iohn was willed for to come and see is described Potestate Instrumento first by his power power was giuen vnto him c. vers 4. Secondly by an instrument there was giuen vnto him a great sword The third Rider is described by a paire of Ballances he that sate on this horse had a paire of Ballances in his hand vers 5. the mystery whereof is vnfolded by a sounding voice vers 6. The fourth Seale being opened there came foorth a Rider vpon a pale horse and the Rider is described first by his name death Secondly by a companion hell followed with him and both are described by their power power was giuen vnto them c. vers 8. The interpretation of these foure horses is as mysticall as Nebuchadnezzars dreame and may very well beare the selfe same interpretation which Daniel gaue of that great Image whose head was of gold brest and armes of siluer belly and thighes of brasse
Sonne of God the Sauiour of the world the Redeemer of Israel For the great day of his wrath is come 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Iude 6. the great day where we may note the vniuersality of it all the dayes of iudgement going before were but types and figures but Epitomes and compends of that day that great day that is to come the drowning of the old world was a great day the burning of Sodome and Gomorrah a great day the ransacking of Ierusalem a great day yet all these together will not expresse and shew forth the least part of that dreadfully incomparable great day that is to come And who can stand It is a Metaphor drawne from those that whiles some eminent danger hangeth ouer their heads cannot looke vp but speedily they flie away vntill they are out of breath their spirits spent so they fall groueling to the ground so saith our Sauiour Christ mens hearts shall faile them for feare and for looking after those things that shall come to the world Luke 21.16 The cause of this their flying is not only the fearefull apparitions of heauen as presages and prognostications of their dismall doome but Erynnis conscientiae as Melancthon cals it the sting of conscience like a fiend of hell dogs and driues them for the wicked flie when none pursueth them Pro. 28.1 They therefore are said to stand that are not terrified appaled which are not cast downe neither in body nor minde but doe confidently expect and wait their Masters comming therefore it was our Sauiours counsaile vnto his Disciples and in them vnto his whole Church hauing forewarned them that he would come vpon them at a time that they wote not of as trauell vpon a woman as a thiefe in the night he doth fore-arme them too by willing them to be frequent in watching feruent in prayer Watch therefore pray continually that you may be counted worthy to escape all these things that shall come to passe and that you may bee able to stand before the Sonne of man Luke 21.36 Thus hauing Analysed the whole Chapter diuided my Text and expounded the wordes I draw forth this generall doctrine and it flowes naturall of its owne accord without any violent strayning or iniury vnto the Text this is the doctrine 1. Doct. that the state and condition of the wicked is full of horror at the day of iudgement This is proued by phrases of Scripture First It is called the Lords day the day of the Lord intimating thereby that as the wicked haue had their day the terme of their life wherein they dare as boldly to commit sinne as if they should neuer come to iudgement and as the Prophet Amos speaketh putting farre off the euill day and approching to the seat of iniquity Amos 6.3 so likewise the Lord will haue his day and these are the dayes of vengeance saith our Sauiour Christ Luke 21. v. 22. wherein the Lord will execute the seuerity of his wrath vpon sinne and sinners Secondly it is called the day of wrath now the wrath of a King is the messenger of death how much more the wrath of the Lord of Hosts the breath of whose nostrils kindleth that euerlastingly burning Tophet and his wrath abideth for euer vpon the children of disobedience in that burning Lake of hell fire for they that haue iustly prouoked the Lord vnto wrath in this their life time by fornication by vncleannesse by inordinate affection by euill concupiscence by couetousnesse which is Idolatry by wrath by anger by maliciousnesse by cursed and filthy speaking Colos 3.5.8 shall be sure to finde the recompence and their reward wrath for wrath the very fruit of their owne fruitlesse works for for these things sake the wrath of God commeth vpon the children of disobedience Colos 3.6 temporally by manifest iudgements of his wrath and eternally in hell where his wrath abideth for euer and for euer in that dungeon of Dogs that is among the wicked whose estate is worse then a Dogs as namely Inchanters Whoremongers Murtherers Idolaters and whosoeuer loueth or maketh lyes Reuel 22.15 Thirdly our Sauiour Christ speaking of that day saith that it should come vpon the world as trauell vpon a woman with child which is not onely to be vnderstood of the vncertainty of it when it will come yet as sure will it come as trauell vpon a woman with child but the similitude holds true in another sense that as a woman with child drawing neere to her trauell is in sorrow and cryeth in her paines Isay 26.17 a punishment peculiar to that sex by reason of our first Parents transgression Gen. 3.16 she doth oftentimes send foorth bitter sighes and sobbes grieuous grones lamentable cryes vncertayne whether her issue will bee a Beniamin the sonne of her right hand or a Benoni the sonne of her sorrow death yet still doth shee lift vp her eyes vnto the Hils from whence commeth her helpe so the wicked shall lift vp their eyes vnto the Hils for they shall cry vnto the Hils for helpe vnto the Mountaynes for succour and vnto the Rocks for safety yet they shall receiue none from neither Me thinkes I heare not onely Ieroms Trumpet sounding in mine * Surgite mortui venite ad iudicium eares but a horrible howling of a promiscuous multitude a greater mourning weeping and lamentation was neuer heard in Rama Matt. 2.18 Parents weeping for their children children for their parents the husband for the wife the wife for the husband yet can they not helpe one another but as they haue beene companions in sin so shal they be cōpanions in torments and such torments that are matchlesse farre beyond the paynes of women for her paynes end either with a happy birth or with as happy a buriall for better is the day of death then the day wherein we are borne but the paines of the wicked are endles easelesse remedilesse and as they haue conceiued iniquity so shall they receiue the fruit thereof Fourthly S. Iohn describing the miserable estate condition of the Church vnder Antichrist doth very liuely set forth the desperate estate and cōdition of the wicked at the day of iudgemēt they shall seeke for death in those dayes and shall not finde it they shall desire to dye and death shall flye from them Reuel 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Arist l. 3. Ethic. 9.6 Death according to the Philosopher is of all terribles the most terrible and vnto the naturall man it is euen death to remember death yet full glad would the wicked bee if they might returne to their graue againe neuer heare and feele that dreadfull doome of diuine iustice denounced and inflicted vpon them at that last euerlasting iudgement in Hell Gregor Moral Vbi erit miseris mors sine morte finis sine fine defectus sine defectu quia mors ibi semper incipit deficere nescit where the wicked shal be
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
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
from the al-discerning eie of Almightie God though in their life time they thinke that they shall neuer be remooued but are as seemingly safe as Nebuchadnezar or as secure from danger as Edom though now their greatnesse reacheth vnto heauen and their dominion to the ends of the earth Dan. 4.19 though now they build themselues stately houses for the honour of their Maiesty vers 27. Though now they seeme to dwell in the clefts of the rocks secure and farre inough remote out of danger mounting aloft like Eagles in the aire making their nest among the Starres Obad. v. 3. as though no danger should euer come nigh their dwellings Yet Kings with their Armies then shall flie and be discomfited and yet cannot flie from the presence of God nor from beyond the reach of his arme Thus you see that the truth of this doctrine is confirmed by many proofes that the estate and condition of the wicked is full of horror at the dreadfull day of Iudgement Reason 1 Ob signorum multitudinem Now the reasons of this doctrine are many the first is this by reason of the manifold signes and fearefull apparitions both in heauen and earth which will strike an horror dread and amazednesse into the hearts of the wicked Saint Matthew describes them thus the Sunne shall bee darkened and the Moone shall not giue her light the Stars shall fall from heauen and the Powers of heauen shall be shaken Mat. 24.29 The words are to be vnderstood not metaphorically but properly of the alteration of the works of nature as adiuncts circumstances and fearefull presages of that dismall day when the Sunne shall not stand still only as at the prayer of Iosuah Ios 10.12 neither shall it onely goe backward ten degrees as vpon Ahaz Diall Isa 38.8 but it shall be as blacke as a sackcloth of haire Reuel 6.12 We reade that there was an exceeding great darknesse of the Sunne at our Sauiours Passion throughout all the land and many bodies of the Saints which slept arose Matth. 27.52 How fearefull then and how wonderfull shall the comming of Christ vnto Iudgement be when the Sunne the Moone and the Starres and all the powerfull influences of heauen shal grow blacke duskie and vtterly be obscured when all the dead Saints and sinners great and small both in Sea and land shall come forth of their graues whereof the first was a type and figure Mat. 24.31 when the Lord himselfe shall descend from heauen with a shoute and with the voice of the Archangell and with the trumpet of God 1. Thes 4.16 Saint Luke likewise describes the circumstances of that day thus There shall be signes in the Sunne and in the Moone and in the Starres the Sea and the waters shal roare mens harts shall faile them for feare and for looking after these things that shall come vpon the world Luk. 21. vers 25. An Earthquake of it selfe is very fearefull as threatning the ruines of Citties hazarding the subuersion of many stately buildings shaking the very foundations of Kings Palaces and the inundation of waters hath beene very terrible as our Westerne parts can very well witnesse when men euen wisht for Noahs Arke againe and sought the highest places for refuge against the mercilesse waues of the Sea some climbing the clifts of craggy rockes some steeples some the tops of houses some trees some floated vpon the waters like Paul his companions many were drowned But now when the Seas shall roare Rockes shall rent Mountaines shake and shiuer and the glorious Heauens become darke and dusky how shall the hearts of men be appaled with dread and terrour to behold the same and yet notwithstanding these things are but the beginning of sorrowes saith our Sauiour Christ but a Preamble but a Proem but a Prologue to the Tragedy I am not ignorant but that the darkning of the Sunne the Moone and the Starres in the holy Scripture may sometimes bee taken for some kind of calamity ready to fall vpon some particular Kingdome and that these signes doe not alway denotate properly the last day of Iudgement but may be referd to some other particular times of iudgement as the great ouerthrow of the Babylonish Kingdome Isa 13. or the last totall and finall destruction of the Iewes by the Romanes Luk. 21. or that celestiall and truely Diuine victory of Constantine the Great against Maxentius and the Romane Gouernours in the which the great power of almighty God miraculously shone from heauen in reuenging the precious bloud of the blessed Martyrs So the Wise-man exhorting vs to thinke on God in youth and not to deferre repentance vntill we be old drawes one of his motiues and arguments to induce vs thereunto ab incommodo from the manifold inconueniences and impediments accompanying old age that will hinder vs from the true performance of so waighty a worke Repent saith he and turne to God while the Sun is not darke nor the Moone nor the Starres Eccles 12.2 that is before old age approacheth when thou shalt haue no more pleasure in thy dayes then if thou wert shut vp in a darke dungeon and debard of the comfort and benefit of those great and glorious lights of Heauen The second reason Why the state and condition of the wicked is full of horrour at the day of Iudgement Ob Iudicis Maiestatem is the Maiesty of the Iudge the beholding of whose countenance so full of glory and maiesty shall possesse the hearts of the wicked with amazement and astonishment Now the Iudge at this great Assise and generall Audit is Christ himselfe he that once stood before the iudgement seat of Pontius Pilate to receiue his sentence shall now summon Pontius Piliate and all the Potentates of the earth vnto his Consistory to receiue their dreadful doome That Christ is the sole Iudge at the last day they are his owne words The Father iudgeth no man but hath committed all iudgement vnto the Sonne Iohn 5. v. 22. And hath committed vnto him all power and authority to execute iudgement because he is the Sonne of man v. 27. Because hee is the Sonne of man and this cause yeelds vs comfort else were we in a miserable case hee doth partake of our nature and therefore is pittifull compassionate yea farre beyond humane reach or reason the Apostles likewise were commanded to testifie this truth and to preach this point that Christ is ordained by God to bee Iudge of the quicke and dead Act. 10. v. 42. So likewise in the 17. Act. 31. Paul preaching to the Athenians presseth repentance and the argument which he vseth to prouoke them thereunto is the consideration of the day of Iudgement when God will iudge the world in righteousnesse by that man that is Christ whom hee hath ordained So likewise the Apostle in the second to the Romanes ver 16. God shall iudge the secrets of men by Iesus Christ And in the second to Timothy c. 4. vers 1. Iesus
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
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