that was attributed vnto men and Saincts departed out of this life If he haue reuealed that man of sinne that taketh the whole office of Christ vpon him If he haue sent all the plagues and famines and earthquakes that his wisedome and counsell deuised best for the fatherly correction of his people before the iudgement If nations and kingdomes which are either enemies to his Gospell or straungers from his Church haue banded themselues against the Lord and against the generation of the godlie If the father haue been against the sonne and the mother against the daughter and brother against brother for the name of Christ If many false Prophets haue come in the name of Christ taught the people shameful forgeries when the Lord neuer sent them If men betray one another and hate and persecute one another for their conscience sake If iniquitie be so filled vp with the measure of it selfe as it can hardly bee any more augmented Finally if the preaching of the Gospell be at this day carried from one kingdome to another welneere vnto the ende of the world and all these things to be the tokens of Christes comming And if so manie straunge thinges haue happened besides in these our daies that haue not done the like in manie ages before and all these in the Church and concerning the Church and most agreeable to the time of Christes owne prophesie Then is the second warning of the Trompet sounded vnto iudgement It is high time therefore to awake out of sleepe and to slumber no more in the cogitations of vngodlinesse It is time that wee should cast off the cares of this life and make our selues readie for the daie of the Lord It is time yea more then time that wee should cast away the workes of darknesse and put on the armour of light It is time that wee should laie awaie all filthinesse and sinne for now is our saluation neerer then when wee first beleeued The axe is now put to the roote of the tree that euen now wee must either bring foorth fruite or els bee cut downe and cast into the fire Behold now is the acceptable time now is the daie of saluation now will the Lorde shewe himselfe a mightie GOD and his name shall be magnified in all the world He came at the first and wee knewe him not beholde he commeth againe and all men shall knowe him he came before simplie to take our nature vpon him and to dye for our sinnes but he cōmeth againe as a conquerour to be reuenged of his enemies and as a bountifull Prince to reward his Subiects He came into the world which he himselfe had made but the world would not receiue him because it was not worthv of him Wherfore hauing wrought the work of our redemption he ascēded vp vnto his Father where by his holie spirit he hath gouerned kept and preserued his Church one thousand and well neere sixe hundred yeares and now he commeth in his own person to call all men to an accompt and to cite all men to his Iudgement and those that haue vsed their talents well in this life shall be sure of an eternall reward in his kingdome Math. 25. but if they haue been negligent and vnprofitable seruants and without care of the Lords comming he will cast them into the vttermost darknes where shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth There shall be no Lord no King no Emperour nor Pope vpon the earth that shall bee exempt from this Iudgement Can any Prince or Magistrate of the world compare himselfe in brightnes and glorie vnto Lucifer that glorious Angell yet he might not escape the iudgement of GOD but the higher he was in glorie the greater was the shame of his fall Remember therefore O ye Christian Princes and Magistrates and ye that haue charge and rule of Gods people whom God hath made his Liutenants generall within your owne dominions remember that the Lord is comming and will call you to an accompt before the throne of his Iudgement The greater your Kingdomes and Territories be the greater is the reckoning that he requireth of you and the more absolute you bee in commaunding all the more are you bound to giue an accompt for Ye are the Caesars to whom Paule appealed from you lieth no appeale to anie superior in this life As the Lord hath deliuered vnto your custodie the greatest number of Talents so he looketh to reape at your hands the greatest gaines It pitieth me to temember the woful and greeuous state of all mortall men in this miserable life the desperate and dangerous case wherein they liue the often and imminent perills that they fall into the manifold temptations vexations and disquietnes of mind that they are brought into the continuall inticements of the flesh and the diuell that they enter into besides the rash and furious and vngodlie actions that they desperatelie runne into That when they shall shortlie stand before the Tribunall seate and their owne conscience iustlie accusing them thereof there shal be no wisedome no policie no counsell no eloquence of the tongue that can excuse or satisfie the least offence of this life This is the generall state of all mankinde But alas for griefe that Princes should both nowe and then also before the Iudgement seate be in more wofull case than all other persons and subiects of this mortall life That they should bee in greater daunger than all men liuing that they shoulde bee subiect to more miscarying and mishaps than all men liuing that they shoulde haue more vexations disquietnesse and cares of minde than all men liuing that temptations of the flesh that prouocations vnto lust and desire of pleasures shoulde take more holde of them than of all men liuing and that the way vnto all vngodlie actions should be more open vnto them than to all men liuing And of all these thinges must they shortlie yeelde an account together with all men liuing And yet beholde when the Awdit is ended for this a Quietus est for all matters concerning themselues there is a new inditement framed against them wherein they must bee called to an other reckoning Then shall the Register of all their gouernement bee read before them then will it be seene whether they haue ministred Iustice vnto their people That is to say Whether they haue hearde the fatherlesse and oppressed when they haue cried vnto them Whether they haue taken notice of such appeales as haue ben made vnto them Whether they haue punished vngodlie and corrupt Iudges which solde their subiectes for siluer and the righteous for a poore rewarde Whether they haue spared the innocent bloud and not pardoned them that runne on still in wickednesse Whether in all their publique enterprises they haue respected the glorie of GOD more than their owne commodities Whether they haue nursed protected and defended the Churche of GOD to the vttermost of their power Whether they haue preserued it from all heresies errours
one dish but once in a day of them that haue manie dainties at their table woulde satisfie the poore that lie in miserie at their gate The superfluitie of fare that is spent in one dayes interteinment would giue reliefe to all that be lame and impotent The monie that is spent in strong and needlesse drinke would pay all the duties that belong to a Prince Neuerthelesse so vile and corrupt is the nature of man so desperately doeth hee runne into his owne fleshly desires that though hee knewe his poore and needie brother shoulde perish for want that his Countrie and Common weale should be in distresse nay that his own life should lye vpon the abstinence of one meale or forbearing of one match at drinking he would not leaue his greedie appetite Although men at this day are ashamed to see such beastlinesse in others Albeit they are greeued when they heare of the drunkennesse of Noah when his two sonnes couered him of Lot when he lay with his own daughters Although they know that death was pronounced against Aaron Leuit. 10. if he dronke wine or strong drink Gen. 25. That Esau lost his birth-right for the greedinesse of a messe of potage That Balthazar in his dronkennesse sawe a finger vpon the wall Dan 5. that wrote the finall ende both of him and his kingdome and that the drunken banquet of Benadab 4. King 20. was the destruction 32. Kings with all their Armie Albeit that wo is pronounced to them Esay 5. that rise vp early to follow dronkennesse that wine maketh a man scornfull and vnquiet Pro 20. Ezech. 16. Gal. 5. that fulnesse of meate was one of the great causes why Sodom was destroyed and finally that no drunkard nor glutton shall inherite the kingdome of heauen yet are not men by al these warnings moued yet doe they follow the wickednesse thereof and that with more greedinesse than euer before All their felicitie is in banqueting all their pleasure is in drinking all their delight is in their belly all the pastime of their life is in gluttonie good cheere Esay 22.13 Come say they let vs eate and drinke and bee merie for to morrow we shall die Nothing at this day but eating nothing but drinking nothing but powring in of cups from morning to night and from night to morning and so al their life long without respect of time or place or holie dya or Sabboth day without feare of lawes without feare of life without feare of God and without feare of damnation or any hope of saluation Wherefore this vice beeing greater than euer requireth a greater vengeance and speedier comming vnto iudgement than euer But I tremble at this day with horrour and greefe when I heare the name of the Lorde to bee so commonly and continually taken in vayne and to bee dishonored in euery corner For wheras we are straightly charged that we should not sweare neither by heauen nor by the earth nor by any other othe so wicked and peruerse is the nature of man so crosse and contratie to the will and commaundement of God so vntoward to that he should and so readie to that hee should not that whatsoeuer he is most forbidden that doth he most insue If there bee any corner whereinto he may start from the impunitie of mans lawe thether doth he runne headlong without regarde of any diuine prohibition and without feare of Gods terrible iudgement and condemnation And for this cause where a publike weale hath made no expresse lawe for the punishment of swearing there men make no conscience of any othe in the world there heauen and earth is no othe with them there the creatures of God are nothing with them there the Lord of hoasts is nothing with them the name of his blessed Sonne is nothing with them nay all the precious members of our Sauiour that suffered for vs are too little for them to bee a testimonie of all their vntruthes of all their vilanies of all their abhominations that they worke in the worlde But if they promise or vowe any thing which they haue any minde to perfourme or if they would iustifie themselues in any thing wherein their conscience cleereth them that will they affirme by that little trueth and faith which they haue But if they be stirred vp vnto furie if their bloud be warmed with surfeting and drunkennesse if they be greedie of reuenge agaynst such as haue offended them if they promise to meete vpon any wicked enterprise if it be for the sauing of a small penie in their purse or for defence of their credite in a playne vntruth in euery trifling matter in euery vayne enterprise in euery idle game and communication and action that will they confirme with the most vehement and mightie othes that they can deuise The blessed and diuine soule of Christ the precious and deere bloud of the Lambe immaculat and all the glorious and excellent members of Christ nay be Maiestie of Christ and of the Father himselfe are nothing in their vile and vnpurre lippes This I say is the naughtie nature of man to bee euer contrarie to the commaundements of God If GOD had commaunded vs that whatsoeuer wee promise or affirme or answere or iustifie in this life wee should call heauen and earth to record or his creatures or himselfe or some of his bodily members we should neuer haue heard an othe in this worlde But because hee forbad vs all these thinges and that our affirmation should bee nothing but yea and nay therefore wee most impudentlie abuse all his creatures and most shamefully blaspheme the name of GOD in all our wordes in all our affirmations iustifications and actions and therfore shall all these bee a testimonie agaynst vs in the day of iudgement Looke well vnto it therfore ye that be these luftie and wilfull swearers in the world ye that call the Lorde of hostes so often to witnesse with your vntruths and vanities bee yee sure that the Lorde is not deafe but doth heare you hee hath registred written vp all the idle words that ye haue spoken in your banqueting in your surfetings in your gaming 's and in al the loose and lewd behauiour of your liues hee hath written in the face of euerie creature all the testimonies that ye called them to witnesse with you much more shall yee finde printed in his presence nay yee shall haue it engrauen both in your owne conscience and in the Maiestie of his person all the wilfull and rash othes wherby ye haue called him to record and vnlesse you speedely repent you in this life and cease for euer to blaspheme the name of God as yee haue done yee shall shortly come before the supreme Iudge where it shall be so hardly layd to your charge as ye shal wish that the mountaines might couer you and the earth shadow you from the presence of God whom you haue so highly displeased For the horrible sinne
of swearing is so continually accustomed in your mouths and the name of God and of his holy members is so abused in your actions as he can no longer indure the wickednesse thereof but wil hasten himselfe vnto iudgement Now if these sinnes besides manie others that I might recite doe so abound at this day in the hearts of men and doe breake out so mightily in their actions as the things themselues declare that the day of iudgment is at hand what shall we say of the sinne of couetousnesse the roote and welspring of all other mischiefes Wherein men at this day doe so farre exceed the measure of our forefathers as the later wee are borne the more corruption we haue receiued the neerer to the day of the Lord the lesse affection haue we to heauenly things and the more desire of worldlie vanities And albeit this sinne of coueting bee set downe as a capital crime in the holy Scriptures yet do we make small account of the same Howbeit if the children of Israel fled before their enimies Iosu 7. onely for the couetousnesse of Achan and that Achan himselfe was iudicially and formally executed because he had hidden to his owne vse some thinges that were accursed if Nabal the Carmelite for his couetous minde 1. Sam. 25. in denying some sustenance vnto Dauid and his seruants in time of necessitie was striken by God that he died finally if Gehezi the seruant of Elizeus 4. Kings 5. was punished with a foule leprosie for requiring and taking but a small gifte of Naaman the Sirian whome his Master had frankly freely a litle before healed of the same disease what deserueth the vnsatiable mind of Christians in our time that without all measure or ende without feare of God without regard of religiō with out remorse of cōscience without sense of other mēs griefes be it right or wrong whether it cōcerne God or the Church the Prince or the Commonweale the father or the sonne neighbour or straunger friend or foe life or death if it may turne to our owneprofit commoditie we seeke by all manner of meanes to attaine therevnto though we die for it in this life and be sure of damnation in the life to come without all remorse of conscience or anie care of restitution Howbeit all this commeth to passe that the word of God may not be frustrate which saith that in the latter day iniquitie shall abound and the loue towardes God and man shall decaie And the abundance of all sinne doth grow from this verie roote of coueting greedinesse of riches But in verie deede the meanes that this sinne hath had to come to such ripenesse in these our dayes haue been farre greater than euer in anie Age before For euen since the time that it pleased God to shewe foorth all other signes and tokens which hee had promised to come against the ende of the world what wayes haue men attempted what artes haue they deuised to fulfill their greedie appetite and desire Be there anie lands that they haue not searched or anie seas that they haue not sayled Bee there anie dangers that they haue not ventured Is there anie colde or heate that they haue not indured Is there anie world that they haue not compassed anie myne that they haue not opened anie bloud that they haue not spilled nay anie people that they haue not destroyed to attaine to their desire Doe they not trauell more willinglie more often and farther from the vppermost face of the earth to the nethermost part of the same from the Sunne rising to the Sunne setting from the South to the North and to all the endes of the world and all for the insatiable desire of golde siluer redde claie and white than they woulde doe for the sauegard of their owne life And yet the more they haue the more they want the more they want the more they couet In such sort as if the earth and sea were emptied of their treasures I suppose that they woulde seeke to Heauen for temporall riches which they cannot beelead vnto for the saluation of their soules Wherefore this vice of couetousnesse is now so primie full as it craueth an ende and dissolution of the world Now come wee to the last token and restimonie of the comming of Christ namelie That the Gospell shal be preached in all the world for a witnes vnto all nations and then shall the ende come As I wrote before that the reuealing of Antichrist and man of sinne which sitteth in the Temple of God should be the first token of that secōd comming of Christ so the preaching of the Gospell ouer all the world both by the circumstance of the Euangelicall historie and by the consequence of the thinges themselues must of necessitie bee the last token before his comming And this is also confirmed by Iohn in the Reuelation when he saith Apoc 14. That he sawe an Angell flie in the midst of heauen hauing the euerlasting gospell to preach to all nations kindreds and people and saying Giue glorie to God for the hower of his iudgment is come And immediatelie after this preaching of the word an other Angell crieth Babylon is falne that great Citie is falne that made all Nations drinke of the Cup of her fornication For if there bee no other way to make Babylon to fall to reueale Antichrist the enimie of Christ and to banish the Apostasie of the Church procured by the same Antichrist but the preaching of the word and free course of the Gospek thē is there also no other way to inlarge the kingdom of Christ to gather the Saints of God into one but onely the free course and publication of the Gospell which by litle and litle shall consume as it hath gebun the spirite of error and apostasie of the Church till the brightnes of Christes presence haue vtterly destroyed the same al the authors abettors thereof Wherfore whatsoeuer other tokens shal be at the verie comming of Christ as no doubt but ther shal be many both in the Sunne and Moone and starres and in al the creatures of God as behoueth in so great an alteration consummation of the worlde Mat. 24. Mark 13. and as Christ himselfe hath most effectually set downe in his holy word yet this publishing of the Gospel in all the world shall vndoubtedly be the very last token before his comming as it is euidently set down by the holy Ghost himself when he saith And then shal the ende come And when the Angels after preaching of the word said Apoc 14. The houre of iudgement is come thrust in thy sythe and reape for the haruest is ripe As if he should say When Antichrist of Rome which exalteth himselfe aboue me shal be reuealed to be the principal head that hath caused so great a falling away from the truth in my Church hee shall trouble and persecute you to the death he shall make
nation to rise against nation for vpholding of his damnable heresie and hee shall cause you to bee hated for my sake but feare not my little ones for when yee shall see all these troubles to happen bee ye sure that my comming and your redemption draweth nigh For my word shall runne out very swiftly and in a short space consume that which he by his hypocrisie and tyrannie had in many yeares contriued He that hath caused al Princes to drinke of the poysoned cuppe of his fornication him will I sodainly destroy with the breath of my mouth Yea and least ye should any longer bee deceiued by his false signes and deceiuable errors my word shall be published in all the world and then is the time of my comming then is the haruest of the earth ripe and then will I thrust in my sickle and reape And this publication of the Gospell ouer all the world is the second sound vnto iudgment For as our Sauiour Christ gaue the first sound when he sent foorth his Apostles and commaunded them to teach all nations Math. 2◠and to baptize them in the name of the Father of the Sonne and of the holy Ghost and to plant Churches in al those places which receiued the word of truth that the fame of Christ and sound of the Gospell went foorth at that time to all lands where any people did inhabite So now all things being fulfilled that the Scriptures had promised should come to passe betweene the first warning and the second The Gospell of our Sauiour is begun agayne to be renewed published ouer al the world and that more freely and without perill then euer before by reason of the godly minds and good indeuors of Christian Magistrates And this I say is the second sound of the Trompet besides which wee are to expect no more till Christ himself enuyrond with thousands of Angels and in the Trompet of God voyce of an Archangell shal descend from heauen and commaund the dead to arise and shall gather his elect from the foure windes and from euery part of heauen and earth and from the deepe places And as this publishing of the Gospell is a most assured token of his comming so by reason of the effects thereof it is more notable then all the rest For it seemeth to bee but simple in shewe but it is wonderfull in operation It is contayned in playne and familiar termes but it searcheth the very roote of the heart It appeareth but foolishnesse to the vngodlie and to them that perish but it confoundeth the wisedome and craftines of this world It is but small and of no reputation amongst men but it driueth proud and mightie tyrants from their feates and exalteth into their places them which submit themselues vnto it It is but weake in sight of the world but it is the power of God vnto saluation in them that beleeue and it cutteth more sharp than a two edged sword ouerthrowing all the imaginations 2. Cor. 10. vers 4.5 6. and euery high thing that is exalted agaynst the knowledge of God bringing into captiuitie euery thought to the obedience of Christ and hauing readie vengeance against all disobedience And it is no new Gospell that is now preached but it is the old Gospell newly published It is the same that the Apostles taught planted but the ingratitude of the world left and contemned If any nation at this day haue been kept in blindnes if any haue been held frō the benefite of the Gospell their owne sinnes and abhominations haue been the cause thereof for that they haue wilfully withheld the truth in their own vnrighteousnes and haue despised both God the Father his Sonne haue wrought despite vnto the spirit of grace For the creation both of themselues and of all the visible things of the world might make both God and his eternitie manifest enough vnto thē yet would they not acknowledge him but haue followed their own imaginations haue turned the glory that is due vnto the only wise vncorruptible God either vnto creatures farre inferior to themselues or els they haue worshipped deuils damnable spirits forsaking the true God that made both them al the world Besides this they cannot pleade ignorance For vndoubtedly the sound of his Gospell hath first or last gon into all lands And though perhaps later into one countrie than into another that hath God done in his wonderfull wisedome and prouidence who beholdeth all the nations in the world at one view seeth into all their actions beholdeth all their hearts perceiueth who be inclined vnto any goodnes who haue giuen ouer themselues to a wilfull and reprobate mind And as he beholdeth all men so he calleth all men some at the first houre and some at the last that he may haue mercie on whom it pleaseth him and may shut vp vnder infidelitie those that are hard harted Neuerthelesse if there be any nation that heard not of Christ in the first sound of the Trompet by the Apostles nor in all this time that the preaching of the Gospell hath been discontinued yet now there is not doubt but in this second warning publication of the word of God through the prosperous successes of our blessed Soueraign by the care that she other godly Princes of the reformed Churches haue to aduaunce the kingdome of Christ there shall bee no corner within the whole circumference of the earth but in short space shall not only haue the sound of the Gospell but a perfect publication and spreading of the same with a full knowledge of Christ For the Gospell shall be published ouer all the world and then commeth the end And vndoubtedly if the Gospell had been preached and taught vnto the people of America and the lower India by the Spanyards and Portingalls when they first found out those nations with such plainnes and simplicitie as is done by vs in the reformed Churches without adding of Images or superstitions or vanities no lesse peeuish and vngodly then the abhominations that those Infidels themselues had before vsed the kingdome of Christ had long before this day been receiued and spread ouer all those large and ample Territories Wherefore the more greeuous shall bee their damnation that haue so mocked and deceiued them and the greater is the mercie of God if he impute not their ignorance vnto them Now that wee haue breefly declared all the signes and tokens which the holy Ghost hath promised in the Scriptures to come to passe before the ende of the world wee must also with the like perspicuitie examine whether this be not the time or very neere thervnto that Christ shall come agayne in glorie to iudge both the quick and the dead which is the second part of this discourse For albeit that he hath set downe all these tokens of his comming so exactly and in such order as it is vnpossible but that anie man capable of reason may