Selected quad for the lemma: judgement_n

Word A	Word B	Word C	Word D	Occurrence	Frequency Band	MI	MI Band	Prominent
judgement_n	appear_v	day_n	great_a	2,710	5	3.1342	3	true

Text snippets containing the quad

ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A41441	The old religion demonstrated in its principles, and described in the life and practice thereof	Goodman, John, 1625 or 6-1690.	1684 (1684)	Wing G1111; ESTC R2856	107,253	396

binds them over to answer for them another day now all these things being the hand-writing of our Creator upon our Souls are more than probable Arguments of another World 6. God hath declared there shall be such a state He that created Mankind at first hath assured them he will revive them after Death and reward and punish them in another World proportionably to their carriage towards himself in this This comes home to the purpose whereas all that which hath been said hitherto how reasonable soever depends upon the uncertain and fluctuating Discourses of men though it is very true that wherever there hath been wisdom and virtue in conjunction they have seldom failed to render this great point competently clear to those who had no other light But some are more stagger'd with a trifling objection than convinced by a demonstration and others are not able to follow so long a train of consequences as is necessary to make out so great a Question But now we come into the Day-light and have divine Revelation for our guide and Gods veracity for our assurance I confess I might have fallen upon this way of proof at first and so have saved all the labour of what I have been saying hitherto but that I partly thought it useful to shew how far natural Theology would go in this business and principally I took this method to the intent that this great Doctrine of Christianity might not seem strange to any one but might be the more readily entertained when it is prefaced to and usher'd in with so much probability of humane reason Now I say God Almighty hath himself assur'd us that our labour shall not be in vain in the Lord that Piety shall not go unrewarded in another World nor Impiety unpunished this he hath innumerable times expresly affirmed in the Gospel and with such circumstances as may both best assure our judgments and awaken our affections He hath told us he will hold a solemn Judgment at the end of the World at which all men shall appear and receive their Doom he hath declared who shall be the Judge and confirmed him to be so by that wonderful instance of raising him from the Dead He hath foretold the circumstances and the manner of proceeding at that great day he hath described as well as words could admit it the Joy and Glory that holy and good men shall thenceforth be put into the Everlasting possession of and set out the torments and anguish that shall be inflicted upon the Ungodly I shall not need to go about to aggrandize these things since they are so vastly great and concerning that there is no way to despise them but by disbelieving them But what colour or pretence can there be for that after God hath said it and sent his Son to declare this great news to the World Will men be so wretchedly absurd as to say still it is impossible that men should live again after they are once dead when there is plain matter of fact against this suggestion which is beyond all the arguments in the World for was not our Saviour most certainly put to Death and did he not also exhibit himself alive afterwards to the Eyes and Ears and very feeling of his Apostles and many others Will men say Heaven is but a Dream or a Romantick fancy when there were so many Eye Witnesses of our Saviours Ascension to Heaven and that he was alive and in power there there was that glorious proof the descent of the Holy Ghost upon his Apostles on the famous day of Pentecost according to his promise made whilst he was upon Earth Will they say God hath a mind to impose upon men when he hath no ends to serve by it when he can compass his designs without it and when he hath it in his power to dissolve a World that would not comply with him and make another in its stead Or Will they say that men impose upon one another and there was never any such matters of fact as we have here supposed But why do they not then disbelive all History all antient Records give the lie to all great actions and abrogate all Faith amongst men yea although there be never so plain never so numerous so concurrent and so disinteressed testimonies all this and more than this they must do that deny the matters of fact we speak of and if they do not do so they must of necessity believe another Life an Hell and an Heaven And then if those be believed Piety will be the best Wisdom and Religion the greatest Truth Sin will then be the greatest Folly and trifling with God and Religion the most dangerous thing imaginable but that we shall more particularly make out in the next Chapter CHAP. IV. Of the great influence and mighty force of believing Heaven and Hell or rewards and punishments in another World THere are a sort of men who being too much in love with this World to have any great mind to the other will pretend that the grounds to believe these things are not sufficient and that there are as the case stands neither incouragements enough to make a man Religious nor Arguments powerful enough to restrain Vice because we are only prest upon by hopes and fears of hereafter but nothing befals presently These men require that for the countenance of Religion there should be a present discrimination between him that serves God and him that despises him that the Sinner should be taken and Executed in the very fact and the good man Crowned upon the spot or at least they think it not an unreasonable demand that if it be the will of God that evil men should be reprieved and good men kept in suspence till another World yet he should give Mankind a view of what shall befal hereafter that they might have a sight of Heaven and Hell and so dispose themselves accordingly The former part of this phancy was taken notice of by Solomon Eccles 8. 11. Because Sentence against an evil work is not speedily executed therefore the heart of man is fully set to do wickedly The other part of it is much like that of the Forlorn wretch in the Gospel Luke 16. 30. who thought it reasonable to ask that one might be sent from the dead to convince his relations of the reality of another World But all these men as they do too palpably betray they have no love to Religion nor no desire it should be true so they evidently discover that they neither understand what satisfaction is fit for God to give in these matters or for man to require nor do they consider what the nature of Virtue and Religion will admit of no nor do they understand themselves so well as to know what motives will work upon men nor lastly have they applied their minds to take a just estimate of the value and efficacy of these motives of hopes and fear which it pleases God to set before them First They