The first part.

TOuching the substaunce of that doctrine, which here is deliuered by the Apostle, it was prophesied long since by S. Peter, that towards the letter end of the world, this doctrine of the generall iudgement and resurrec­tion of all flesh should of all other to the opinions of the wicked seeme most ab­surd, ridiculous and foolish. 2. Peter. 3. 3. There shall come in the last dayes mockers Iud. 18. (saith he) 1. Tim. 4. 1. which will walke after their lustes, 2 Tim. 3. 1. and saye, 2. Peter. 2. 1. where is the promise of his com­ming? For since the Fathers dayed, all [Page] thinges continue a like from the beginning of the creation. He termeth the de­spisers and contemners of this doctrine mockers, he saith, the dais they shal liue in shalbe the last: the manner, how they shall mocke it, will appeare both in their liues and speeches, in their liues for that they shall not walke after the lawes of God, but after the lawes of their fleshe, fulfilling the lustes therof, as prophane and rechles persons void of al godlines, and giuen ouer to all sinne and iuniqui­rye. In speeches not ashamed to profes, that they beleue nothing lesse, then that, that should be performed, which is pro­mised in the scriptures concerning the comming of Christ in iudgement. The reason, that moue them to thinke and say so, is the obseruation of nature his con­stant course in all the workes and crea­tures of God continuing in y ^e same state, wherein they were first created with­oute any alteration or chaunge in any of them, as those great lights, the sunne and the Moone obseruing their vsuall and ordinarye time of their vprising and downe sitting, Gene. 1. 16. according to the seuerall [Page] seales and tymes of the yeare, the one ruling and giuing light to the daye, Gen. 1. 18. the other in the night, the starrs remaining firme and fixed as lightes in the firma­ment of heauen, where they were firste planted in the beginning to diuide y ^e day and the night, and to bee as signes and seasons for daies and yeares: the earth being vnremooueable vnder our feete, bringing forth budde and greene hearbe apt to seede, and fruitfull trees, euerye one yeilding fruites after his kinde, and all these together with the beasts of the field, foules of the ayre, and fishes of the sea to be subiect to man, who likewise according to Gods firste ordinaunce is borne at his appointed time, and at his appointed time also returneth againe to duste, from whence he came, and so obseruing all the workes of God to holde on that course of nature at this daye with­out any change, which he gaue to euery one of them in their kind & at their first creation many yeares since, thereupon they promise and presume of an eternall perpetuitie in all thinges, concluding with the Precher, Mundus durauit ha­ctenus, [Page] ergo finem non habebit, The wor [...] hath endured hitherto, ergo it shall haue no ende, and thus (as much as in them lyeth) both in the examples of their liues, and wordes of their lippes discre­dyting, nay deriding the promise of the comming of Christe, and mocking the threatninges of God his iudgementes. Such mockers in these dayes of ours, Mockers. which the Apostle termeth the last, are manye. Psal. 14. 1. One sort of them saye in their heartes, there is no God. In which num­ber the moste and greatest part of vs (I feare me) may be comprehended, we are not so impudent to say with our tonges, there is no God, but loke into our liues, our offices and functions, marke how euery man walketh in that state of lyfe, wherein he is placed of the Lorde, and you shall see, we are not ashamed to say in our heartes, There is no God. We all saye with our tongues, that we e­steeme our soules a thousande times more deare then our bodies, but com­pare that which we do to the one with that which we say of the other, and you shall see, that in our heartes we haue [Page] a greater care to preserue our filthye carcase, then to instruct our conscience we all say with our mouthes, we would goe to heauen, if wishing would bringe vs to heauen, but we frame our lyues, as though in our hearts we neither ho­ped for heauen, nor beleeued there is a hell, but looked alwayes to liue vppon earth. Wee cry out with our mouthes, fie of the flesh, and we defte the Diuell in our wordes, but we are ready to take his part in our workes, and the least temptation that is offered vs, is able to vanquishe vs, and cause vs to giue the Diuell our consent with our heartes. Thus we mocke God, and we deceaue our selues, but the Diuell he will nei­ther be deceiued nor mocked of vs, when time shall bee, that the secreats of all hearts shall be opened, and the deedes of all men iudged, he will challenge that, which is his, and bring in good and suf­ficient euidence to prooue vs to bee his, then by our owne workes, and not his. whose now we pretend to be with oure mouthes. Then shall we finde that in earnest, which now beeing preached to [Page] vs, and yet not felt of vs, we esteeme but as a mocke or iest.

A second sort of mockers there is who although they confes there is a God, yet saye they, non veniet dies iudicii, that God will neuer come in iudgement. Esai. 22. 13. Let vs therefore cate and drinke, 1. cor. 15. 32. for to mor­row we shall die, there is noman known to haue returned from the graue. Sap. 2. 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. & 10. We are borne at all aduenture, and wee shall bee hereafter, as though we had neuer bene, our breath is like a smoke in our nostrels, and words like a sparke raised out of our hartes, which being extinguished, oure bodie shall be turned into ashes, and our spirite shall vanishe as the softe aire, our life shall passe awaye as the trace of a cloude, and come to naught as the miste that is driuen awaye with the beames of the same, and put downe with the heate thereof: our name also shalbe forgotten by litle and litle, and no man shall haue our works in remembrance, for our time is a day shadowe, that passeth away, and after oure ende, there is no returning. Come on therfore, let vs enioy the plea­sures, that are present, and let vs cheere­fullye [Page] vse the creatures like as in youthe. Let euery one of vs bee partakers of oure voluptuousnesse, let vs leaue some token of our pleasure in euery place: for this is our portion, and this onely our lot. Let vs oppresse the pore righteous, let vs not spare the widowe or old man, let vs not regard the heads, that are graye for age, and so forth as it followeth in the booke of wisedome, where the life and manner of these second sorts of moekers and epi­tures is liuely described and set foorth at large. The Apostle tearmeth them Phil. 3. 17. & 19 [...] ennemies to the crosse of Christ, whose end is damnation, Rom. 16. 18. whose God is their belly, and glory to their shame, minding onely earthly things, and not seeking af­ter those thinges that are aboue. col. 3. 1. & 2.

The third sort of mockers there is, which saye with the ill seruant Tardat dominus venire, these proue there is agod, & that God wil at last come in iudge­ment, but yet presuming of his mercy, & life they differ their repentaunce to the houre of death, thinking they may repēt them, when they will, & that they shall haue leisure enough when they are old & [Page] ready to dye. But O ye fooles and moc­kers of God remēber with your selues, that like as God is mercifull, so goeth wrath from him also, & his indignation commeth downe vppon sinners. Ec. 5. 6. & 7. Make no tarrying therfore to turne to the Lord, and put not off from day to daye, for so­denlye shall his wrath come, and in the time of vengeance he shall destroy thee. Put not of thy repentance therefore in hope to attaine to old age, or to find God mercifull at the laste houre. For thou knowest not, whether thou shalt liue, till thou arte olde, and death when he com­meth, hee asketh not, howe long a man hath liued, but as hee findeth him, so hee taketh him. But suppose, Eccl. 4. 1. thou liuest, till thou art old, how art thou sure, that thou shalt haue the space of an houre, on quarter, or minute of an houre, before that death doth strike thee with his dart. Olde father Isaac confessed, Gen. 27. 2. hee knewe not the day of his death, much lesse dost thou knowe, Prech. 9. 11. the howre of thy death. For as fishes are taken with the angle, and birdes cought in the share, euen so are men ouertaken with death. But when [Page] thou dost sicken, what if thou doste liue an houre, a day, a weeke before thou die, art thou sure in y ^e howre, day, or weeke to haue a mind to call for God his grace and repente thee of thy life misliked: Or dost thou thinke, that a wicked man can repent him, when he will, and when he list? why then did not Caine repent, why did not Saul, why Iudas, why E­sau? who (as the apostle saith) founde no place of repentance, though he sought it carefully with teares. Heb. 12. 17. No repentance is the free gift of the grace of God, who giueth it to euery man, when he will, to whom he will, and in what measure hee will according to the riches of his mer­cie, which is free, and not tyed to the will and pleasure of man. And common­ly the iudgemente of God is suche, they forget themselues at the howre of death, who in their liues thought not vppon GOD.

Age poenitentiam ergo (sayth Augu­stine) dum sanus [...]. Nam si poenitentiam agis, quando peccare non potes peccatate demiserunt non tu illa. Repent thee there­fore in time of thy health: For if thou dost [Page] repent thee in tyme of sicknesse, when thon canst not sin, Math. 9. thy sinnes haue there left thee, and not thou them. Such was the repentaunce of that same blasphe­mous Antiochus, who in despight of God (as it were) had vowed to make Hierusalem a heape of stones, woulde take vpon him to commaund the flouds of the sea, weigh the mountaines in a payre of ballance, reach vp to the stars, and pull God out of heauen: yet soden­ly in his greatest brauery God cast him violently down from his chariot, smote him with an incurable plague, a horri­ble payne of his bowels, and inwarde partes, in so muth, that the woormes came serauling out of his guts, his flesh rotted, and fell from his bones, which stancke so horriblye that no man coulde abyde the sauour of him, nor he of him­selfe, and thus with extremitie of paine eyther the remorse of conscience he was brought to this point, that he confessed, It is reason to be obedient to God, and that man which is mortall, thinke not through pride to be equall with God. A like kinde of repentaunce did the Lorde [Page] wringe oute of harde harted Pharao who in time of his prosperitye and wel­fare Exo. 5. was nota shamed to extoll himselfe aboue God, acknowledging no Lorde better then himselfe, and therefore des­pising God, and his messengers Moses and Aaron, who were sent in embas­sage to him. But in the end when hee felte suche plagues layde vppon him, as hee coulde neyther driue them awaye with tyrannycall courage, asswage them by counsell, put them from him by pollicye, nor resiste them with power, he was so humbled and brought downe therby for the present time, as he confessed, The lord is righteouse, and I & my people vngodly. Exod. 9. 27. But when the lord ceased to plague him, by and by did hee cease to remember him, muche lyke to those same backeslyding people of Isra­ell, who, when the lord slue them, sought him, and enquired after GOD remem­bring that hee was their strengthe and redeemer. But they did but flatter him with their lyppes, and dissembled in their tongue, for their hartes were not whole with him, neyther continued [Page] they stedfast in his couenaunte. So that we may set, that euen hipocrites and [...]i­rauntes, suche as haue neyther caste of God his mercie, nor seare of his iustice, in time of their health, wealth and pres­peritie, are yet humbled and brought to knowledge of them selues, and con­strained to acknowledge the maie­stye and power of GOD with theire mouthes, when they feele the execution of his iudgementes laide vppon theire bodies.

But this manner of repentance as it is but hipocriticall & dissembled and not proceeding from the harte in vs, so ney­ther doth it moue the lord, who lercheth the harte, to haue pittie and compassion vpon vs, but doth [...]ther aggrauate his heauie wrath and displeasure againste vs. who desposing the riches of his goodnesse, patience, & long sufferance, wher­by he leadeth vs to repētance, Rom. 3. 4. 5. & 6. according to our hardnes and harts, who cannot re­pent doe heape vp wrath to our selues a­gainst the day of wrath, and declaration of the righteouse iudgements of GOD, who will rewarde euerie man according [Page] to his deedes. Let vs take heede there­fore, mocke not with God, but alwayes endeuoure oure selues by the example of the Apostle heere, to bee the same men inwardlye in conscience beefore GOD, which wee will seeme to bee outwardlye in conuersation before the worlde, least in the ende wee bee accounted among those mocking sooles, which say in their hartes, 1. Iohn. 23 there is no God. If our hartes condemne vs, God is greater then our harts, and knoweth all thinges. Neyther let vs thinke with our selues, that bycause the Lorde doth not as yet come in iudgement, therefore wee maye liue in securitye withont all feare or dread of his iudgemente, as the se­conde sort of mockers doe, which thinke he will neuer come in iudgement, but rather as it becommeth good christiās. Semper vigilemus bene viuendo, ne nouissi­mus dies cuiusque nostrum inueuiat nos im­paratos. Let vs watche and waite for hys comming in honeste conuer­sation of lyfe, that the latter daye of euerye one of vs finde vs not vn­prepared, beeleeuing allwayes that [Page] he will come, whom wee are ignorant, when he wil come. Neither let vs think the lord is slacke in cōming, as the third sort of mockers due. 2. Pet. 3. 9. For he is not slacke, as they count slackenesse, but hee is pati­ent to vs ward, bicause hee woulde haue mercie of all and none to perish. How­soeuer we mocke with him, or how mer­cifully soeuer he dealeth with vs, or how long soeuer hee deferreth his comming to vs, yet in the ende, hee will come, and wil not tarrie, at which time of his com­ming Wee muste appeare beefore his iudgement seate, &c. whereof that wee should be the more assuredly perswaded, the apostle not without great vehemen­cie of spirite aswell as of speche, telleth vs that we must appeare. As though he should saye, how long soeuer the Lorde may seeme to linger his comming, and howe lothe soeuer wee bee to haue him come, yet in the ende come hee will, and necessitie of his comming is ineschua­ble, it cannot any waye, or of anye crea­ture be auoyded.

This Oportet or must, in this place is suppriced by diuerse reasons, Oportet. whereof [Page] the first is grounded of the eternal pur­pose, decree, & counsel of God, and ther­fore of necessitye it must bee accompli­shed. If it were the counsell, purpose, or determination of man, it were possi­ble either to frustrate it, or at least to al­ter and chaunge it. Men are men, con­stant in nothing so much as inconstancy, which they will to day they wil to mor­row, that whiche they fullye purpose at one tyme, vppon better aduise, they will dispose themselues to the contrary at an other. But this is the purpose of God. If the Lorde of hostes determine a thing, who is able to disanull it. Esai. 14. 27. Since this therefore is determined by God, it fol­loweth of necessitie that wee muste ap­peare, &c.

The seconde reason is taken from the vndoubted truthe, and vertue of his woorde and promise, whereup­pon wee grounded our faythe, and whiche in all poyntes shall bee fulfil­led and perfourmed accordingly as hee hath spoken it. Mat. 2 [...]. 64. Heereafter shall yee see the Sonne of man sittinge on the righte hande of the power of God, [Page] and comming in the cloudes of the skye. His Apostles seeing him ta­ken vp into heauen in a cloude, were promied by twoo Angelles, whiche stoode by them that the man Iesus, Act. [...]. 11. which was taken vppe from them into hea­uen, shoulde so come as they had seene him goe into heauen, at whose com­ming all men shall rise agayne with their bodies, and shall giue accompte for their owne workes.

It is of necessitie therefore, that wee must appeare, 1. Cor. 15 15 10. 17. & 18. &c. Otherwise (saithe the Apostle) our prearching is in vayne, youre faithe is also vaine, yea and we are founde false witnesses of God, because wee haue testifyed of God, howe that hee raised vp Christe, whom hee raysed not vppe, if so bee the deade rise not: be­f [...]es you are yet in youre sinnes, and they whiche are fallen a sleepe are peri­shed. But the preaching of the A­postles is true, oure faythe groun­ded vppon the doctryne of Christe and his Apostles is true, and wee bee­leeue and receaue it for an vndoubted [Page] trueth, that GOD hathe rayfed vp Iesus from the dead and that by vertue of his resurrection wee all must ryse a­gayne, and they lykewise Muste ap­peare.

A thirde reason maye be taken from the iustice of GOD. For (as the Apo­stle sayth) if in this life onely we haue hope in Christe, then are wee of all men moste miserable. 1. cor. 15. 19. The best Christians are and alwayes shall bee moste hated. The worlde shall hate you, in the world you shall haue tribulation, 2. T [...]. 3. 12. and aga [...]e, They that will liue godlye shall suster persecution. And therefore theire state, who will [...]iue godlye of all o­ther maye seeme to bee moste misera­ble and vnhappye, and contrariwise the state of the wicked moste hap­pye and blessed. For they for the most part are in no perill of death, but lu­sty and strong, they come in no suche misfortune as other folke, neither are they plagued as other men, they prosper in the lande, and haue ryd [...] in pos­session. They come to oulde age, thi [...]e [Page] children liue in their sighte, and theirc generation beefore theyr eyes, theire houses are safe from all feare, and the rodde of GOD is not vppon them, their bullocke ingendereth, and that not oute of tyme, their Cowe caluethe, and is not vnfruitefull, they send foorth their children by flockes, and their sonns daunce, they beare with them ta­bretes, and harpes, and reioyce in the iustrumentes of musicke, &c. What shall wee saye to this. Is God vniust, whiche thus heapeth his benefites and blessinges vppon the wicked? Or is hee vnfaithfull of his promise, that forget­teth the poore whome hee hath receaued into his charge? God forbid, yea let God bee true and euerye man a lyer. mee hath promised, Rom. 3. 4. that no good deede shalbe vnrewarded nor no ill deede vn­punished, and bee will performe it. I graunte, wee see it fall oute contrarye manye tymes in this lyfe, but yet her that hathe, promised, is faythfull, hee cannot denye himselfe, and thoughe sometyme he doth dissemble him selfe to his children in this life, yet the truth [Page] & consideration of his iustice do preache vnto vs the performance thereof shall be in an other lyfe, And therefore Wee must appeare, &c.

Neither must any man thinke him selfe Math. 25. exempted from the generall necessity of this iudgement, challenging any prero­gatiue as priuiledged from it by his pe­tegree, parentage, person, power, riches, honour, learning, wisedom or authority. For saithe the Apostle, this necessitye is common to all. We must al appeare, &c. All. All flesh, all Nations, Iewes, Gen­tils, Turks, insidels & Christians, high and lowe, Princes aswell as their sub­iectes, Magistrates and meane men, rich and poore, men and women, fathers and mothers, maisters and seruauntes, young and olde. I saw the deade (sayth Iohn in his reuelation) both small and great standing before God, Apoc. 20 21 Not smal in respect of their stature, nor great in re­spect of kodilye proportion, but in re­spect of the great or small credite they carry in the world. Math. 25. These All the scrip­ture deuideth into two sortes foolishe or virginswise, Math. 3. chaffe or wheate, Math. 13. corne [Page] or els cockell, good stshes or bad, sheep or goaces, the children of this world or the children of hight: which two sorts onely shall appeare in iudgement, Math. 25. wherof one is blessed, the other cursed, y ^e one chosen before the foundacion of the worlde, the other reiected, as also there shall be but [...] formes of iudgement, Come and goe, but two places mencioned for these two sortes to goe vnto, heauen or hell, no mencion of anye third, either before iudgement or after iudgement, which were requisite, if there were anye col­lects or third sore of people, as they fand­ly imagine to them selues, which dream of a third place. And these two sortes shall all be found aliue or dead (not halfe aliue or halfe dead, as they may seeme to be, which are supposed to be in the third place) according to the articles of our Christian faith, wherein we beleeue, that hee shall come to iudge the quicke and the deade, which the Apostle also witnesseth, when he sayth, We shall not all dye, but we shall all be chaunged, not meaning, that we shall hee chaunged in substaunce or qualitie of oure bodyes, 1. Cor. 15. 51. [Page] but in the qualitye and nature of oure bodyes, Psa [...]. 25. 81 The teares beeyng wyped from our eyes, Apoc. 21 4. all sorrow and griefe taken out of our myndes, Apoc. 7. 17. All infirmities and ble­mishes out of our bodies and cur hearts replenished with such, psalmes of ioye, as no man can take from vs. Besides this corruptible must put on incorrupti­on, this mortall must put on immortali­lye, and as wee haue borne the image of earth, so wee shall be are the image of heauen. Our bodles are sowen in cor­ruption, they shall rise agayne in incor­ruption, 1. Cor. 15. 53 & 54. they are sowen in dishonoure, they shall ryse agayn in honour, they are sowen in weakenesse, they shall rise a­gayne in power, they are sowen naturall bodyes, they shall rise agayne spirituall bodyes, and death shall be swallowed vp into victory. If any man be so curious to aske, whether those, that shall bee founde alyue, or those, which shall bee dead, shall appeare first, 1. Thes. 4. [...]5 1 [...]. & 17. the Apostle doth aunswere him, That those which be a­liue, and which remaine vnto the com­ming of the Lorde, shall not preuent them that sleepe.

[Page] For the Lorde him selfe shall descende from heauen in a shoute, and in the voice of the archangell, and in the trumpe of God, Mat. 24. 31. and the deade in Christe shall rise first, 1. Cor. 15. 52 then we, which liue, and which re­mayne, shall be caught vp together with them in the cloudes to meet the Lord in the ayer, to remaine and liue with him for euer. So that whether we remaine aliue, or be found dead at his comming, We must all appeare, &c. All, whether we died at home or abroad, in our beds, or in the field, whether we were drow­ned in the sea, or slaine on the lande, or whatsoeuer becommeth of our bodyes in this life to come. Apoc. 20. 13 We must all appeare &c. I saw the sea giue vp her dead, death and hell (saith S. Iohn) deliuered vp the dead, that were in them, and al stood before God. Manye thinke, that those bodyes, which are buried in Christian buriall (as they tearme it) that is, such as are laid in graues and included with in Church walles-shall rise againe, but as for those bodies, which haue beene brent and consumed to ashes, slayne in fieldes, and veuoured of wild beastes, or [Page] corne in peeces with vermine, or which haue miscarried on the seas, they thinke it impossible, that those bodies should be brought againe. But that which is im­possible to man is possible with God, & al is one with him, whether the sea hath receaued vs or lande, the Church or the Chancel, earth or water, and as easie it is for him to raise vp our bodies out of the earth, sea, or land, as it was easie for him at the firste of nothing to make vs something, and with the breath of his spirite to breath into vs a liuing soule, which before were boyde of life. Dost [...]oe thou see, it is possible for thee being but a man and the creatour of God, to strike ster out of the harde flint, where before thou flindest it, it may seeme im­possible to haue fier? And why shouldest thou thinke it were impossible thy cre­ator and maker, which hath giuen that nature to the stone, & that power to thee, himselfe hauing greater power to raise thy body out of y ^e dust, water or cinders, seeing at first he gaue thee thy bodye. Those that finde not them selues thus satisfied with the consideration of the [Page] omnipotent power of God, but requyre to be further satisfied with reason, 1. Cor. 15. 36 the a­postle saith there are fooles & mad men, as thaugh he should say, the resurrectiō of the body is either to be beleeued that it shalbe, then to be reasoned vpon, how it can be & they but fooles & madd men, that will stand reasoning about it, when they are bound simply to beleue it. Nay he, that will call in question euery kind of doctrine in the scriptures, wherof he cannot conceaue or giue a reason, maye chaunce to doubt of the highest points of a christian mans faith and religion. For what reson in there, that there should be one, and one three, as that the Father shoulde be God, the sonne God, and the holye Ghoste God, & yet not three Gods, but one God, a trinity in vnity, and an vnitye in trinitye. What reason is there, that a Virgine shoulde conceiue with childe, beare a childe, and yet after her conception and birth, remain a pure and vndefiled virgine stil? What rea­son is there, that a man deade, buried, & laid in his graue three daies, should rise again aliue? Or what is he, that baring [Page] the name of a Christian dare denye, or doubt of the truth of these thinges, be­cause he seeth not the reason of thē. No God almighty his misteries are hid and inserchable, not to be construed by rea­son, but conceiued by faith. And we are taught in the scriptures, & bound to be­leeue many things, whereof our reason can conceiue but few. I come to the lord his table, who hath hidden me vnder the signe of bread & wine to receiue his bo­dye and drincke his bloud and I doe no­thing doubt, but he doth truly offer him selfe to me, and I do truely receiue him. Howbeit if anye man aske me, how hee beeing in heauen shoulde be receiued in earth. I aunswere as Maister Caluine. De modo si quis me interrogat, 4. Instit. cap 17. sect 32. fateri me non pudebit, sublimius esse attamen, quam vt vel meo ingenio comprehendi vel enarra­ri verbis queat, atque vt apertius dicam, experior magis quam intelligam: Itaque veritatem dei, in qua acquiescere tuti licet, hic sine controuersia amplector. That is, If anye man aske me of the maner howe Christe is present in the Sacrament, [Page] I will not shame to confesse, that it is a higher mistery, than can either bee con­ceiued with my wit, or expressed with my tongue, and to speake more plainely, I rather feele it, then vnderstande it, And therefore in this poynt I doe willinglye embrace God his truth, wherein I doe safely rest & stay. So for the resurrecti­on of the dead, though I see no reason in it, or that the reason is hid from me, yet I doe acknowledge it to be an article of my Christian faith, and therefore do vn­doubtedly beleeue, that the spirit of him that raysed Iesus from the dead shall raise my mortall and corruptible bodye, and that my bodie, and all mens bodies, throughe his omnipotente power and myght being so raised Must appeare be­fore the iudgement seate of Christe, &c. But heere now leaste anye man shoulde thinke, that among such a multitude as must then appeare, it were possible for some to hide themselues, from the pre­sence of their iudge, and so escape the se­ueritie of his sentence, therefore the A­postle saith we shal not onely be summo­ned by the trumpe of the Lorde, and so [Page] dismissed agayne, but of necessitye We must ad appeare before him, and can no waye hide our selues from him. The worde Apparere, that is, appeare, is very emphaticall in this place, notinge vnto vs the appearaunce of the soule as the bodye, the inwarde heart and consci­ence, as well as the outward man. And because the nature of the wicked is to promise themselues perpetuall impuni­tie of those simes before God, whereof they can not bee detected before the world, to confute and confound that vain hope of theirs, the Apostle telleth them plainly, they must then appeare. Which importeth so much, as if he should saye, whereas we haue heere played the Hi­pocrites, dissembled our selues and oure sinnes before men with a counterfaite show of vprightnes not beeing the same men before God in our consciences, now we must haue the vizardes pulled of frō our faces and be vncased, laid wide open to the whole world, Euen as though our bodyes were ript in peeces for euerye man to view vs, to looke ouer vs, vnder vs, round about vs, and into vs. Naie [Page] either the verye heartes in our bodyes, which now we [...] count the most feereat partes of vs shal be so [...] sought and searched into; as if they were [...] in smell peeres, for euerye [...], and discerne the secreates thereof, which now are onelye knowne to oure selues. Let vs take herd therefore we be no bes­cher incouraged to bee [...] for the [...] of our [...], or the [...] [...] of the place, wherein we doe [...]. For how [...] we be in our selues, or how [...], yet will our wickednesse one daye appe [...] when nothing can hide it. Luk. 8. 17. Nothing so secreat; but it shall [...], Sayth Christ it is not alwayes reuealed; as it is done but it shall be. The wicked pre­sumptuous sinner, who [...] [...]he world with his glosing speech and [...]oc­keth God with his abhominable lyfe, thinking that his hipocrisie shall neuer be found out, because it is not alwayes pi [...]nished and detected of God. But God by the Prophet telleth him an o­ther ca [...]e. Psal 5 [...]. 19. 20. 21. & 22. When thou sawest a theife, thou diddest consent to him, and haste [Page] bene partaker with the adulterers. Thou hast let thy mouth speake wickednesse, and with thy tongue thou hast set foorth deceit. Rom. 2. 5. Thou sattest and spakest againste thy brother, yea thou hast slaundered thy owne mothers sonne, these thinge haste thou done, and I heid my tongue, and thou thoughtst wickedly, that I was suen a one, as thou thy selfe, but I will reproue thee, and lay before thee the things that thou hast don. Let vs not flatter our sel­ues in our sins therfore, thinking bicaus God doth dissemble thē; & make as thogh he saw them not, that therefore be doth forges them, or allow of them, but assure our selues, that one day he will reproue vs, and laye our faultes before our eyes, We do many thinges in secret and hug­germugger, which for shame we woulde not if we knew we were seen of anye how much lesse ought we to do thē, since we are seene of God. We haue many se­cret thoughts, & phantasticall imagina­ciōs, wherin we much please our selues and delight our flesh, and would blushe to haue them knowne of others, which one daye the Lorde will make knowne [Page] to our neighbours, 1. Corr. 4. 5. when he shall make manifest the thinges of the darcke, and open the secreates of all heartes. I will search Hierusalem (sayth the Lorde) in that day with a lanterne. Sop [...]o. 1. 4. Alas who can hide him selfe so secretlye, or dissemble so deeply, but the Lord wil find him, and found euen the vnserchable depth of his heart, when he shall search Hierusalem with a lanterne? Let vs remember this all the sort of vs (least as the Prophet Dauid sayth) Psal 53. 20. we forget God and perish from the right waye. The witnesses, which shall come in againste vs, shall be especiallye the testimonye of our owne heartes and consciences. Dan. 12. 2. The bookes shal be opened, and the dead shalbe iud­ged of these things which are written in the bookes. Apoc. 20. 12 These bookes are the consci­ences of our good deeds and bad, which (as the Apostle witnesseth) shall then excuse vs, or accuse vs, iustiste vs or con­demne vs, Rom. 2. 15. make with vs, or against vs. And there is no man, to whom God hath not giuen one of these bookes to carrye with him alwayes in his bosome, ney­ther is anye man so ignoraunt, but the [Page] Lorde hath giuen him knowledge to reade them. But most men are so care­lesse to vnclapse them, as they neuer read or marke the contents of them, till it is to late for them. When God had placed Adam in Paradise, forbidding him to eate of the fruit in the middest of the garden, hee gaue him a booke, and for his memories sake hee wrote in it, What day soeuer thou eat thereof, thou shalt dye the death, Gen. 2. 1 [...]. But Adam neuer vnclaspt this booke, till he had in deede transgressed Goods commandement, and then his booke beeing opened, he sawe the vglesome deformitie of this sinne, whereto he had brought him selfe, Exo [...]. 2 [...]. [...] and his posterity, but it was too late. Caine carried this booke in his bosome, but he neuer opened it, til he had murdered his brother, and then vnclasping it, he found written in it, Thou shalt not kill, but thou hast killed thy brother, ergo sayth he, My su [...]e is greater, than that it can be forgiuen. That same frantike [...], of whom mencion is made in Euripides, Gen. 4. 15. after he had staine adulterou [...] Egisthus, aud Clytemnestra his owne mother, ha­uing [Page] no man to accuse him, but his own conscience, he looked in his booke, and there he found written, Bloud will haue bloud, and therevpon though he was ac­quit by the law, he presemlye ran mad, and was neuer his own man afterward. One demaunding the cause thereof in Euripides, Quid muli te perdidit Orestes, What ill hath betide, or what hath cau­sed thee lose thy wits, Orestes? He aun­swereth him, conscientia, my conscience. for Quid si omnes excusant; & sola consc [...] ­en [...]ia accusat, what if all mē in the world excuse a man, if his owne conscience ac­cuse him, which is insteed of a thousand witnesses, & shal more & fo [...]er confound him, then they al. S [...]neca. And therfore, Nullam peccatorū tuorū conscium magis timueris, quā teipsum, aliū potes effuger [...], teipsum nun quam, feare no mā y ^• in priuie to thy sins so much as thy selfe: thou maist auoyd an other mā, but thou canst not flee frō thy self nor thy own knowledg & conscience, which (according to the Etimologye of the worde) is nothing els, but a ioynts knowledge, which an other hath with thee, and thou with him, which is God [Page] and thy self, and is very aptly termed of Chrisostom in psal. 50. Coae [...], in quo con­scriban [...] quotidiana peccata. A booke, wherin is recorded our daily sins, which howsoeuer they be dissembled of vs now shall then be reuealed, brought to light, and punished, when we must appear, &c. And therfore is this day and time of our appearaunce termed of the Apostle, dies declarationis, the daye of declaration, not that anye thing shall then be declared to the Lord more then he knoweth already (For he that planes the care, how can he but heare? he that made the eie how can he but see? heauen is his seate, earth is his footstoole, what can be d [...]n in heauen or earth, Psa. 139. 2. 3. 4 5. 8. 9. 10. & 12 wherof he hath not knowledg? he knoweth our down sitting, our vprising, he vnderstandeth all our thoughtes long before, he spieth out all our waies, not a word in our tong, but he knoweth it altogether, if we climbe vp into heauen, he is there, if we go down into hell, he is there, if we remaine in the vttermost partes of the sea, he is there also, if we think dark­nes shal hid vs, the darknes is no darknes with him, but the night is as cleare as the day, darknes & light are both alike. [Page] To conclude, all thinges are naked and open to his eies, and there is no creature, that is not manifest in his sight, but wher­fore is the daye of iudgemente tearmed of the Apostle, Hebr. 4. 13. the day of declaration, for that nothing is so secretlye concealed of vs nowe, Rom. 2. 5. but it shall be manifestly reuea­led then. Mar. 4. 22. The daye of this lyfe, is one daie, and may be tearmed, the day of our dissimulation, the day, which followeth immediately after this life, is the lords, and is tearmed, the daye of declaration. For then the verye heauens (saith Iob) Lib. 20. 2 [...]. shall declare the wickednes of the wic­ked, and the earthe, whiche nowe doeth beare him, shall then take parte againste him. Now the ten virgins go together, walke together, talke together, eat and drinke together: but at that day, it shall appeare, who are wise, who foolish, who haue slept, & who haue watched, whiche of them had oyle in their Lampes, and which way, which of them shalbe admit­ted vnto the marriage, Matth. 25. and whiche ex­cluded and shut oute. Now the corne & chaffe lie together on a heape in one flo­wre, and are not yet scucrd, but at that [Page] dtye, Matt. 3. 12. the Lorde shall come with his [...]ari in his hande, and purge his flower thoro­wlye, carrye his wheate into his garner, but burne his chaffe with vnquenchable fier, Now the wheate and tares growe together in one fielde, and are not yet weeded out, Mat. 13. 30. but at the daye the lorde of the haruest, will saye to the reapers, ga­ther the eares, and bind them vp in bun­dels to burne them, but carry the wheate into the barne. Nowe the sheepe and goates go together, feede together, and are foulded together, but at that daye shall the chiefe sheapehard seperate the sheepe from the gouts, placing the shepe one his righte hande, and the goates on the left. Now the world doth deride, and the children of GOD doe weepe and la­ment, but at that day they shall be com­forted, and the other shall be tormented. Rom. 8. 19. & 21. Nowe all the creatures of God do grone and trauaile in paine with vs, looking when the sonnes of God shall appeare but at that daye they shall bee freed of the bondage of corruption, and vanitye, whereunto they are now subiect. Nowe the very heauens are not pure in his sight, [Page] but at that day the heauens being on fire shalbe dissolued, and the elements shall melt with heate, and wee looke for a newe heauen and a newe earthe, 2. Pet. 3. 12. &. 13. ac­cording to his promise, wherein dwel­leth righteousnesse. Luk. 21. 19. In the meane time let vs possesse our soules in patience, and reioyce to be partakers of Christe his sufferinges, 1. Pet. 4. 13. that when his glorie shall ap­peare, we may be glad and reioyce be­ing certainly perswaded, Rom. 8. 18. that the afflicti­ons of this life are not worthy of that glo­ry which shall then bee shewed vppon vs. 2. Pe. 3. 14. Onely let vs be dilligent, that wee maye be found of him in peace, without spot, and blameles in holy conuersation and godlines, Heb. 10. 22. & 5. our hartes being pure from an ill conscience washed in oure bodies with pure wator, and that so much the ra­ther, bicause we see the end of al things to drawe neere, and the daye of oure appearaunce to bee euen at hande. Thus much of the first part.

The second part. Where and before whome we must appeare.

THe place, where wee shall appeare the apostle calleth it, The iudgemente seate. The person, before whome we must appeare, is Christ, For the father hath giuen all iudgement to the son, & the articles of our Christi­on faith do teache vs to be leeue, Iohn. 5. 22. that hee shall come to iudge the quicke and the deade, not that God the father and God the holy ghost shall then be excluded and not ioyned in iudgement with him, but for that the visible execution of this iudgemente shall bee doone by the se­cond person in trynitye God the sonne, who shall then sitte one his seate of iudgemente to giue euerye man &c. Nowe hee sitteth one his seate of mer­cy as oure mediator and aduocare ma­king continuall intercession, to God his [Page] Father for vs: Sitting on his seate of iudgement hee shall pronounce the sen­tence of condemnation against vs. Now be offereth himselfe to be intertained & calleth al men to be his clientes, that are opressed with their ennemies, the world, flesh or diuell, come to me all ye that la­bour and are laden, and I will refresh, Mat. 11. 28. & giue ease to your soules. Those, which now resist to come, when he thus calleth them in mercy he wil refuse them, when he shall come in iudgement and whereas now he biddeth them come, & they will not come, he will then commaund them to depart. Now he knoweth those, that are his: but those, that nowe will not knowe him, be will not knowe them.

Nowe hee hathe neyther beautie nor fauoure, Esai. 53. 2. & 3. nowe the worlde hath no lust to him, nowe hee is despised, and abhor­red of all men nowe hee is counted so vile, as men are ashamed of him, and hide their faces from him, nowe hee is recko­ned as a worme and no man, a reproche of men, & the verye [...]f coome of the peo­ple. But when hee shall come in iudgement as the sonne of God in glorie. [Page] of his father, accompanyed with a mul­titude of heauenlye souldiours, in the sound of the trumpe, Mat. 25. 31. and in flaming for to render vengeance to suche as know not God, nor beleeue not the gospell, 2. Thes. 1. 7. & 8. his presence shall bee so hotte, that no man shall be able to abide it, his lippes full of indignation, his tongue as a consuming fire, Esa. 30. 7.& 8. his breath is a vehement flood of wa­ter, that reacheth to the necke, insomuch that euen kinges of the earth, great men, rich persons, graund captaines and mighty men, Apoc. 6. 15. 16. & 17. euery bondman & freeman shall hide themselues in dennes and amongst rockes of the mountains, Isai. 2. 19. saying to them, fall on vs, Hose. 10. 8. and hide vs from the presence of him, Apoc. 6. 16. that sitteth on the throne, & from the wrath of the lambe, Apoc. 9. 6. for the great day of his wrath is come, Kuk. 23. 30. and who can stand, Now he appeareth in him little, then be shall appeare in maiestie, nowe wee see him in pouertie, then we shal see him in glorie. Now he seemeth to be but a man then shal be shew himselfe to be god. Now is hee iudged of all men, then shall hee come to iudge al men, Now he commeth as a lambe, then shal he come as a lyon, [Page] Now be commeth to call, then shall hee come to condemne▪ Now he comm [...]th in­treating of vs, then will he come thre a­ [...]e [...]nge of vs. Matt. 24. 6. The signes and tokens, which shall goe immediately before this his seas [...] comming, the scripture she­weth to be manie, Christ himselfe saithe you shall heare of warres, and rumoures of wares, Hearing hath relation to spea­king. And therefore when be saith, you shall heare of warres, he thereby signi­fieth vnto vs, that towards his cōming y ^e diuel shal disperse sediciously messēgers of newes into the world, which shal raise vp rumors & tales, filling y ^e peopls heads full of newes, & those no ioyfull or good newes (as y ^e angels reported at his firste cōming,) Luk. 20. 10. but heauie & troblesom newes, newes rending to sedicion, y ^e disturbāce of publique peace, & disquieting of peo­ples mindes, breeding disoledience in subiectes againste their souer [...]igues, in princes ielosie of their Subiertes, in Magistrates and men of honour secrete harted & disliking one of an other both in religion & gouernment. After which rumors & newes dispearsed abrod of war & that mens hartes are, (as it were) pre­pared [Page] to wars, wars shall flow indeede both forren, ciuell and domesticall. For nation shall rise against nation, realm a­gainst realm &c. Bitter contentions and contrarietie of opinions, & controuersies for matters of religion shall ensue & sol­low. They shal put you to troble and shal kill you, & you shal be hated of al nations for my names sake. Many shalbe offēded, Mat. 2. 6. & 10. betray & hate one another, & that which is wonderful, & against the cōmon course of nature, Mat. 10. 21. 35. & 36. a man shalbe at variance with his father, the daughter with the mother, Luk. 21. 16. the daughter in lawe with the mother in lawe, insomuch that the brother shal be­tray the brother vnto death, the father the son, childrē shal rise against their own parēts, & shal cause thē to dy, & a mans foes shalbe those of his own houshold. Micah. 7. 6. For nullu est [...] saith Hier [...]m, in [...] non sint infidele [...] & [...]. Ther is no hous, Hier. 11. 10. wher in they are not both infidels & bele [...]ers. Matth. And therfore no [...] though they be thus diuided in kingdōs, in cities, towns & houses. For non potest (saith he (eorum fi­dies esse affectus, quorum diuersa est fides: They cānot be true on to another in hart & affection, y ^e differ in faith & religion.

[Page] Another signe going before his com­ming is, The Gospell shall be preached in all the world for a witnesse of all nati­ons, whereby he noteth vnto vs, that to­wardes his comming the gospell shal be preached to all nations, professed also of many, but practised of a fewe, but be a witnes and testimony against him. For notwithstandinge the preaching of the Gospell, Tim. 4. 1. 2. & 3. some shall departe from the faith and shall giue heed to spirites of er­rour, 2. Tim. 3. 1. and doctrines of diuels, 2. Pet. 3. 3. which speak lyes through hypocrisie, lud. g18. and haue their consciences burned with a hot iron, for­bidding to marry, and commaunding to absteyne from meates, which God hath created to bee receaued with giuinge of thankes of them, which beleeue & know the truth.

An other signe is, that faith shall faile, charitie waxe could, and iniquitye abound. For men shall be louers of them selues, 2. Tim. 3. 2. 3. 4.& 5. couetous, proude boasters, cursed speakers, disobedient to parentes, vn­thankfull, without naturall affection, truthbreakers, false accusers, intempe­rate, fierce, no louers at all of those that [Page] are good, traitours, heady, high minded, louers of pleasures more then of GOD, hauing a shew of Godlines, but denying the power thereof. But for all this the ende is not yet, For that daye shall not come, except there come a departinge first, and that the man of sinne be disclo­sed, euen the sonne of perdition, which is an aduersary and exalteth him selfe a­gainste all that is called God, 2. Ehe. 2. 3. & 4. or that is worshipped sittinge as God in the tem­ple of God, shewing him selfe that he is God.

These are the heginninges of sor­rowes, the manifest demonstrations of his comming, and the experience of thē in our dayes do plainely Prognosticate vnto vs, that he can not be farre of. For daylye doe we heare of warres and tu­mors of warres: neuer was the world so full of newes, and fearefull rumors: na­tion doth rise against nation, and realme against realme. And euen now is the time, that the sonne is at variance with the father, the father with the sonne, &c. Euen now can one state hardly abyde a­nother without grudging, disliking or [Page] disdaine, or if they agree in matters of policy & gouerment, yet do they hardly agree in matters of faith and religion in one house, where they are nighly ioyned together, it is hard to finde twoo of one mind, & amonge those that seeme to con­sent in opinions, not to haue the selfe same man in some thinges to dissent frō them selues. Euen now is the Gospell preached, & yet euen now in the time of the Gospell doe some depart from the truth, giuing beede to spirites of errour and doctrine of Diuels, forbidding to marrye and eat meates, who the Lorde bath ordained to be receiued with thāks­giuing. Euen now also doth faith faile, faith in religion, faith in worde of pro­mise, in bargening, buying, and selling, and no truth to be found, charitye kaiecold, a care to eache man, common abu­ses remaines in many, pity, mercye, and compassion, and iudgement remayneth in few. Iniquity is growne to such per­fection in both sects, all states, ages and callinges, that it hath almost gotten the vpper hand. For when was there euer such selfe loue? when was there euer so [Page] liet len [...]ig h [...]orly loue? when were [...]ten­eue [...] so [...]? when were there eure such bosters & braggers? when was ther euer the like pride? when were mens mouthes fuller of cursing & bitternesse? where were Children so disobedient to their parents? when were men euer so vnthankfull? either to God, their prince or their priuate friends? when were men euer so voyd of compassion: when so fals harted? when so many false tongs? when so many riotous ruffiās & so fierce? whē was vertue, godlines & godly men more abhorted? when so many traitors pub­lique & priuate, open & secret? whē were there euer so many bayrebraines? when so many high minded marchauntes? In what age were pleasures in greater price, and God had in lesse honour? when was religion euer more in showe, when was there euer lesse among all men ge­nerally in truth? And to make iniquity consummate hath not the man of sin [...] long since beene disclosed? hath not the childe of perdition be [...]t manifestly de­uealed? are not his dangerous practises [Page] dayly discouered, and through the wan­derfull working of God miraculoustye confounded?

Since these thinges therfore are the sIgnes of his comming, and are gone be­fore, let vs assure our seLues, the time of his comming which they prognosticate, can not be farre of. And yet [...] not I speake this, as though A [...] scem [...] precisely to determine of the verye day or howre, weeke or yeare of his com­ming. I know what Christ answered his Apostles, when they [...] yred of his retourne. A [...]. 13. [...]. It is not for thee to know, the times and seasons, Mat 24. 32 which the father hath put in his owne power. And de die & hora, &c. Ma [...]k. 13. 32 Of thatday and that howre no man knoweth, not the angels in hea­uen, nor the sonne of man him selfe. But euen as lightninge: flash [...] in a mans face vnawares, and as the byed is [...] in the snare before he thinketh: himselfe within danger of the net, and as a chief enmmeth sodenly in the night, so shall the comming of the sonne of man be: yet because men are so sencelesse of their sinnes, and liue in such securitie of lyfe, [Page] crying peace, peace, safety, safetye, thinking least of those dangers which hang ouer their heades, giuing them selues wholy to eating and drinking, planting and building, buying and selling, chap­ping and chaunging, wyuing & marry­ing, &c. euen as they did in the dayes of [...], when the flouddes came and de­stroyed them all, and in the time of Lor, when fier and Brimstone came downe from heauen, and consumed them all vpon earth. This generall securitie, I say, and these peritous times of ours, whereas men liue, as though they were either wedded, or bewitched of this worlde without anye worde or remem­braunce of the worlde to come is a most plaine and manifest argument, that hee is at hande, euen at the doore, who com­meth to iudge the world.

And therefore, if thou will bee coun­ted worthye to stand before the sonne of man, and auoyd those daungers, which shall fall vppon them, that dwell on thē face of the earth, Luke. 21. [...]4. Take heede that your hearts be not at any time ouercome with surffeting and drunkenesse, and the eares [Page] of this lyfe, but beeing on earth let your conuersation be in heauen. Colo. 3. 1. 1. 2 Seeke those things that are aboue, wher christ sitteth on the right hand of god: set your affectiō on thinges aboue, and not on thinges on earth, and take vnto thee the whole ar­mour of God, Eph [...]s. 6. 13. 14. 15. 16. & 27. that thou maye bee able to resist in the euil day, that hauing finished all thinges thou maye stande fast, hauing youre loynes gyrte with truth, and the brest-plate of righteousnes, your feete shod in the preparation of the gospel of peace, your soules armed with the shield of faith, Luke. 12. 36. 37. & 36. your heade with the helmet of saluation, holdinge in the handes of our hearts the swoord of the spirit with your lights and lamps burning in your hands, and your selues like vnto men, which looke for their Lord, when he shall come from the wedding, Mat. 24. 46. that when soeuer he shall come and knock, Luk. 12. 43. whether at euen, or at midnight at the cocke crowing, or dawning of the day, thou may open vn­to to him immediately. Happy is that ser­uaunt, whome the Lorde, when he com­meth shall find so doing.

The third part. To what ende we must ap­peare.

THe ende of the appearing shall be To receaue euery man accordinge to that, which he hath done in his body, whether it be good or euill. Where first the Apostle noteth vnto vs the integrity and vprightnesse of him that shall be our iudge by twoo excellent points of iustice, one in that he will reward euery man, the other is in that he will rewarde them according to that, which they haue done.

The firste property, which the Apo­stle noteth, giueth vs to vnderstande, that he will respect no personnes, but minister iustice to all alyke without particularitye shewed to one, or extrea­mity to another, rewarding euerye man according, &c.

If anye man therefore liuing in the feare of God, and with the testimonye of a good conscience findeth him selfe [Page] vexed, iniuried, hurt or oppressed pow­ring forth his grieued soule before God without ease or release of these euils, let him not therefore faint, or thinke him­selfe forsaken of God, but patien [...]lye a­bide his leysure, till he rewarde euerye man, &c.

When Dauid saw Saule sought his life, 1. Sam. 29. Abner after Saules death to enioy 2. Sam. 2. his welfare and seeke to ouerthrow his state, and then Abso [...]on his owne childe to seeke his lyfe, and thirst for his king­dome before his death, with a number of such like calamities, wherewith all it pleased the Lord to trye him mithall, he was in that perplexitie, that he pro­testeth he had vtterlye fainted, but that he did verily beleeue to see the goodnes of the lord in the land of the liuing. As though he should say, the remembrance of the Lorde his goodnesse, which I was sure to see and taste of at last in the land of the liuing, was that which comforted me in the middest of all my troubles.

When the Lord had layd vpon Iob all those plagues, which might fall vppon man, robbed him of his riches, spoyled [Page] him of his goods and cattell, vereft him of his children, marked him with bot­ches and biles, that from the sole of the foote to the crown of the head he had not one cleane place, & that whiche was his greatest ge [...]e [...] plagues him w ^t vntrusty friendes vpbrayding him with the hip­pocrisie of his conscience, and the cala­mities of his lyfe, adding this moreouer to the perfection of his manifolde mise­ries, namely a wi [...]ust, froward, & wic­ked wise mocking and scoffing his mise­rie, yet saith he, The lorde gaue and the lorde hath taken awaye. If the Lorde should kill me, yet will I still trust in him. For I knowe that my redeemer liueth, Ioh. 19. 25. 26. & 27. & that I shalbe cloathed with my skin, and see God with these eyes, &c. As though he shoulde saye, as for these temporall blessings he hath taken them, that gaue them, blessed be his holy name for them, if he should take my lyfe with them too, yet haue I this hope left, that whatsoe­uer I lose, I haue a redeemer, whom I cannot leese, and who will not leese me, but in his time, reward mee and euerye man according, &c. In all thy troubles [Page] fore whatsoeuer looke vnto Iesus the captaine and finisher of thy faythe, who in the end will reward euery man, whe­ther he bee bounde or free I haue beene Ephes. 6. 8. yong (saith Dauid) and nowe am olde, yet did I neuer see the righteous man for saken, Psal. 37. 25. nor his seede beging their bread, confessing as it were, that hee had seene them, haue their crosses to be persecu­ted, hated and oppressed, but that he ne­uer saw them fully forsaken. For the patient abiding of the poore shall not al­wais be forgotten. The lord may dissēble his louing affection towardes them for a tyme, and seeme to forget them, but at last he will remēber them. Prea. 37. 3. 4. 5. & 6. Put thy trust in the lorde therfore, and be doing good and verily thou shalt be fed. Delight in the lord and he shall giue thee thy harts desire, commit thy words to him, and he shall make the righteous as cleare as the light, & thy iust dealing as the noone day when euery man shall receaue, &c. In the meane tyme fret not thy self, bicause of the vngodlye, neyther be thou enui­ous at euill doers, nor grieued at the wicked or vngodlye, whom thou seest [Page] in prosperitie. For prosperitie neyther commeth from the Easte, nor from the Weste, nor yet from the South, but the Lorde setteth vp one and pulleth downe an other.

And thoughe for a tyme the wic­ked florishe lyke a greene baye tree, Psal. 37. 35. 35. yet sodenlye doe they goe downe to the grounde, where they are kepte to the daye of destruction, and shall bee broughte foorthe to the daye of wrath, and come to a fearefull ende, and not bee able to stande in iudgement, Iob. 21. 30. 31. & 32. nor in the congregation of the righteous, Preach. 1. 5. but receaue according to that whiche they haue done, &c.

The seconde note of his vpright­nesse is in this, that hee will rewarde euerye man, and euerye man shall re­ceaue according to his doeing, where­by the holye Ghoste signifieth vnto vs, then he will proceede in iudge­mente accordinge to the circumstance euidence, and matter hanginge beefore hym in iudgement, nor respectynge the man, whose the cense is, but the matter [Page] what it is. For where the man is not respected & not the matter, their iustice is peruerted, but where the matter is weighed, & the man not regarded, there is iustice truly ministred. To shew ther­fore the exact and precise forme of God his iudgement, the Apostle saith, Euery man shall receaue according to that, which he hath done, &c. The iudges of this worlde they are men and no gods, and therefore as men they proceede in iudgement and giue sentence according to such euidence, as they see with their eyes, or heare with their eares, & ther­fore do erre many tymes in their iudge­ments, Esai. 11. 3. & 4. and swarue from the truth. But he that is lorde and iudge of al men, shal not giue iudgement after the thing that is brought before his his eyes, neither reproue after the hearing of his eares, but with righteousnesse & according to the truth of the hart shall he iudge the earth, & his people with equitie, euerie man re­ceiuing according to that which he hath done in his body &c. Let vs not deceiue our selues therefore being onely vaine speakers of the worde, and not dooers, [Page] thinking at last to win heauen w ^t spea­king heauenly, if we liue wickedly and vngodlye. For at the latter daye men shall receiue according to that, whiche they haue done, & not according to that whiche they haue professed and spoken. Manye shall saye vnto mee in that daye (saith Christ,) Lorde wee prophecyed in thy name, Matt. 7. 22. & 23. caste out diuels, and done many greate woorkes in thy name, and yet for all their so saying, Christe sayth, he will tearme them workers of inniqui­tie, ver. 21. and bid them depart from him. For not euery one that saith, Lord, Lord, shal enter into the kingdome of heauen, but he, that dothe the will of my father, shall enter into the kingdome of heauen, so that many good wordes shall bee found in hell, but good workes goe all to hea­uen. I speake not this as houlding, Rom. 11. 16. that wee are iustified by our woorkes. 2. Tim. 1. 9. No, Tit. 3. 5. we are saued by grace through faith, and that not of our selues, Ephes. 2. 8. it is the gift of god. But if thou braggest of faith shews me that saythe of this harte by the sruictes of thy life. for true christianitye consi­steth of owo parts, profession & practice, [Page] or, (to vse the phrase of the scripture,) of fayth and good woorkes, and to the per­fection of a christian man both are ne­cessarye, and each doth mutually accom­panye other as the shadowe goeth with the bodie. And as the bodye is knowne to haue lyfe by it mouing, so is the lyfe of faythe perceiued by working. The life of the bodye is the soule, and the life of faith is loue: and as the bodie is dead withoute the soule, so is fayth withoute loue, and as circumcision profited the Iewes nothing without the lawe, so neither doth faith profit vs without charitye. Whatsoeuer wee professe, howe muth soeuer we knowe, our Sauioure Christ pronounceth vs so farfoorth bles­sed, Ioh. 13. 17. as we doe that wee professe, and fol­lowe, Ioh. 15. 14. that we knowe. They that profes the fayth of christians, and doe not con­firme it with a Christian lyfe are like belles in the steeple whiche call others to churthe with their sounde, but neuer come into it them selues, lyke fayre paynted sepulchers, whiche are full of gaye golden pictures and immages without, but ful of dead carcases and fil­thie [Page] corruption within, like salte, which hath his colour, but lost his sauour, like a candell, whiche is lighte, but hidden vnder a bushell. But let youre lighte, (saith Christ, speaking to Christians.) so shine beefore men, Matth. 5 16. that they maye see your woorkes &c. Iohn. 8. 39. If you be the sonnes of Abraham, Math. 7. 21. doe the workes of Abraham. If ye call mee Lorde, Luke. 6. 46. Lorde, Iohn. 15. 14. dooe the woorkes that I commaunde you. Rom. 2. 23. The tree is not cōmended for bearing leaues but fruites, Iame. 1. 22. euen so the commendation of a Christian consisteth not in speaking but in dooinge They shall leaue their woordes beehinde them, but theire woorkes shall followe them, and they receaue according to that whiche they haue doone.

Dooing is double and of two sortes.

• 1 Well dooing.
• 2 Ill dooing.

And boeth shall bee rewarded accor­dinglye. Hee that hathe doone well, shall receaue accordinge to his well [Page] doing, not that any man doth wel of him selfe. For all fleshe hath corrupted his way, and all the immaginations, of oure hartes is euill euerie daye, There is not one, that doth good, no not one, our lips are full of cursing and bitternesse, not apt or abell to vtter a good word, much lesse are we able to doe a good worke. Men doe not gather grapes of thornes, nor figges of thistles, & we beinge shapen in wickednes & conceiued in sinne are as vnapt & as vnable to bring foorth good fruites, as thornes are to bring foorth grapes, or thistles figges. But yet as the stocke of a sower crabbe may bring foorth a sweete apple, if the graffe bee good: so we being the children of wrath by nature may bring foorth good fruits by grace, if Christe bee ingraffed into our hartes by faith. For withoute mee (sayth hee) you can do nothing. I am the vine, Iohn. 15. 4. you are the braunches, he that abi­deth in me, and in whom I bide he brin­geth forth much fruit. But as the braunch cannor bring forth fruit of it self, except it abide in the vine, so neither can you, ex­cept you abide in me.

[Page] To make our workes good therefore it is necessarie to obserue these foure cir­cumstaunces, 1. Tim. 1 5. that we doe them in loue, with a pure hart, a good conscience, and faith vnfayned, Howe glorious a shewe of godlinesse or good intention soeuer our woorkes doe carrye before men, if these foure conditions bee not obserued in doing them, wee that are the doers of them (as saythe the Apostle,) are but vaine ianglers and no frutifull workers. 1. Tim. 1. 6. To make the woorke good (sayth Au­gustine). It is not onelye requisite, vt aliquid fiat, quod in suo genere bonum sit, sed pr [...]cipue vt bene fiat. 1. that the thinge whiche is donne, bee in his owne nature good, but especiallye that it is well done.

For many things being of their own nature good may be done, they notwith­standing not doeing them wel, of whom they are done. It is good to helpe anye man in necessitie, but he that seeketh the glory of men therby rather then of God, bonum facit non bene, saith Augustine, he doth that which is good, but he doth it not well, because hee doth it not with a [Page] good minde and conscience. Hence it is, M [...]t. 6. 1. & 2. that Christe condenmeth the prayers, fa­sting and almes of the scribes and phari­sees, who sought not to please God ther­in, but rather to procure themselues a name and credit before men. Many ex­cellent morall vertues were in the hea­then philosophers, which notwithstan­ding bicause they referred them not to God, were no hetter then sinnes before him, Amb. devo­catio [...]e gen­tia [...] lib. 10. cap. 3. Sine cultu veri dei, etiam quod virius videtur esse. peccatū est, nec placere vllus deo si deo non potest, that is, without the worship of the true God, that which seemeth a vertue is a sinne, neyther can any man please God without god. Omnis vita in­fidelium peccatorum est, Ansel. in 14. Rom. & nihil bonum sine summo hono. The whole lyfe of infidels is sinne, and nothing good without him, that is the perfection of all that is good. And to say all in one word, without faith it is impossible to please God. why (saith Iulianus to Augustine) if a Pagan should cloth a naked christian, bicause it is not of faith, were it sinne? yea indeede were it saith Augustine. Ipsa miserico dia per se opus est bonum, at hoc bonum malefacit, qui [Page] infideliter facit. i. non fideli sed infideli [...] Mercy it selfe is a good work, but this good work doth he euilly, which doth as infidels, that is, not with a faithfull, but an vnbeleeuing hart.

And whatsoeuer is not of faythe is sinne, Rom. 14 .23 Whereuppon Prosper de vita con­templatina lib. 30. cap. 10. Apostl. non di­cat quicquid non est ex fide, nihil est, sed dicend [...], peccatum est, declarauit, quod si non fuerint ex fide, non sunt aliqua bona credenda, sed vitia, que non iuuant suos ope­rarios, sed eadem mane, that is the Apo­stle saide not, whatsoeuer is not of faith is nothing, but saying, it is sin, declareth that whatsoeuer thinges are not of faith, they are not to be decided as good things, but as vices rather which iustify not the doers of them, but rather do condemne them. When the scripture therefore saythe in this place. Eue­rye man shall receaue according to that which he hath done, & in other places, that euery man shalbe rewarded accor­dinge to that, whiche hee hath doone, that manner of speaking is not ment of the merite of oure dooinges (for that [Page] wee shoulde all be rewarded with euer­lasting damnation and hell fier) but that we shall receiue and be euerie man re­warded according to the testimonye of that, which hee hath done bearing wit­nesse of our faith with vs, or of want of sayth against vs. If that which we haue done proceede of faith, then doth God accept it and impute it to vs for a good woorlie, not in respect of the woorke it selfe or for our sakes, or for oure faythe sake, but for Iesus Christes sake, in whome he is well pleased, and in whose name we do it, and he doth accept it, and in mercie reward it.

Now we are to consider, that the A­postle saith, Euery inan shall receiue ac­cording to his well doing, so likewise, E­uery man, that hath doone euil shall re­ceiue according to his doing ill, whiche must not be [...] con [...]ued of vs, as though man at the lātter iudgement shoulde re­ceiue onely according to that ill, whiche hee hath done, and not aunswere at all, nor receiue anye punishnent for that ill, whiche hee hath spoaken. For I tell you (saith our sauioure Christ) a man shall Mat. 12 36. [Page] giue accompte for euerye euell woorde. Psa. 5. 1. 1. 2. Quid ost in omni vit a nostra, cutus nos minus rationis habeamus, quam verborum. what is there in the whole course of our life: whereof we haue lesse regard, then of oure wordes and therefore in what daunger stand we before God, if we shal aunswere euery idell woorde, wherein we haue offended before men? Or if we shall aunswere euery idle worde. Alas how shall we answere euery idell word. If we must answere euery idell woorde, how shall we answer euery lying word, euery blasphemous word, euery flando­rous worde? Or if wee cannot answere our idell words, how shall we answere of one idell deedes, and time mispent? Or if we cānot answere our idel deedes, how shal we be able to susteine the puni­shment which we must receiue for our il deedes? Heere we may all crye out. and appeale from God his iustice, and oure deseruings, to his mercie, Enter not into iudgement with thy seruants O lorde for no flesh is righteus in thy sight, and haue mercie vppon me O God, not according to my merites but according to the mer­cie [Page] doe awaye my offences, &c. For o­therwise we must all prepare our selues to taste of the reward of sinne, which, be our sinne neuer so light or littell, com­mitted in thought, woorde, or deede, is death of bodye and death of soule to eue­ry one according to that, which he hath done. Vppon the vngodlye shall come snares, fier, & brimstone, stormie & tem­pest, this shalbe their portion to drinke. The Prophet vseth many words, wher of euery one may seeme more greeuous then other, to teache vs, that the grea­ter shalbe the punishment, which the sin­ner shal receiue according to that, which he saith in the second chapter to the Ro­maines, that the impenitent presumpti­ous sinner doth heap vp wrath to himself &c. as who should saye God will heape damnation vpon his head in life to come as he hath heaped one sinne vppon an o­ther in this life, not that there are many helles, or many siers in bell, Greg. sap. il­lus. but that the iustice of God re quireth to measure out y ^• grieuousnes of their punishment accor to the grieuousnes of their sines, Mat. Egeri­entur in te­nebras. &c. vt et ig­nem non dissimilem habeant & tamen eos­dem [Page] singulos exurat, Psa. 5. 1. 1. 2. that not hauing a di­uerse fire yet euery one to be tormented the same w ^t fire, euen as we feel in our do dies, wheras many stand together in the sun, & the sun hath like power of them, all alike, yet doe they not all feele the like heat, but some feele it hotter then other some, euery man according to the complexion and constitution of his bo­dy. Euen so according to the quality of his sinne shall euerye man receaue his punishment. And therefore in the daye of iudgement it shall hee easie for So­dome and Gomortha then for those Ci­ties. Townes and persons, which haue hard remission of sinnes preached in the name of Iesus, & yet haue not repented. For the seruant, that knew his maisters wil and did it not shalbe beaten with many stripes. If that reuerend and childish feare of God therefore cannot win vs to eschue euill and do good, yet let this ser­uile and slauishe feare, the feare of pu­nishement staie vs and make vs a fraide to perseuer in our ill, least accordinge to the greeuousnes of the same in oure soules, at last we reseaue double damna­tion in our bodyes.

[Page] For although euery man, so sone as the soule and body are parted by death, hath his particular iudgement, and recei­ueth in his soul (which presently moun­teth either to heauen, or is carryed to hell) the rewarde of ioye or paine, which either thorough sinne he hath deserued, or the Lorde in merrye doth freely giue him, yet doth he nor receiue the same in body (which remayneth in the graue) til the generall resurrection and iudge­ment of all flesh, at what time the bodye shall be vnited to the soule, and be made partaker of the same euerlasting ioyes in heauen, or eternall torments in hell, as it was partaker with the bodye in sin vpon earth. If any man therfore aske, wherefore and what there should neede to be a second iudgement, since euerie man hath his iudgement already, I an­swere out of the Apostle; that euery man may receaue in his body that which hee hath already receaued in his soule. L [...] vs forbeare therefore to iudge of [...] mens sinnes, to looke into other mens liues, and either euery man, that calleth vpon the name of the Lorde depart from [Page] iniquity, and learne to amend him selfe. For euery man shall receaue accordinge to that which he hath done in his body. I shall not receaue accordinge to that, which thou haste done in thy bodye, nor thou shalt not receaue according to that which I haue done in my bodye, but I according to that which I haue done in my bodye, and thou according to that, which thou [...] done in thy body, and so forth euery mā according to that, which he hath done in his own? bodye. That soule, that hath sinned, that soule shall dye the death. Though the father haue eaten sowre grapes, the childrens teeth shall not be set on edge. Ezech 18. 2. & 20. The sonne shall not beare the fathers iniquity, nor the fa­thers beare the sonnes. The righteous­nes of the righteous shall be vppon him, the wickednes of the wicked vpon him also,, and euery man shall die in his own sinne, or liue in his owne righteousnesse. Noe, Daniell, and Iob shall in their owne righteousnesse deliuer but their owne soules, not the soules of their sonnes, daughters, seruauntes or wyues, Ezech. 14. 14 & 16. but eue­ry man receiue his wages (sayth the A­postle) [Page] according to his own labour. Let no man therefore truste to other mens works & prayers after he is deade, thin­king to be releaued by them, as he that was sent for to the great supper though he might bee excused by the messenger, though he came not himself, & manye in these dayes hauing liued very wickedly thē selues, think to compound with God almighty for their sins & life mislead by almes deedes and prayers, not dooinge them selues in their own liues, but ma­king other men their factors, & posting them ouer to their executors to be done for thē after their deathes. But thou foolish man, then that good which after thy death is done by others, is theirs, and not thine, and they shall receaue for it and not thou. While thou hast time ther­fore, make sure thy saluation thy selfe, and as much, Gal. 6. 10. as in thee lyeth Doe good to all men, Preche. 12. 1 especially to the houshold of faith. Remember thy maker in thy youth before the dayes of aduersitye come, Prech. 9. 10. put thy righteousnesse before iudgement, & so shalt thou finde grace in the sight of the Lord. 1. cor. 9. 9. For the graue which thou go­est vnto, there is neither worke, counsell, [Page] nor wisedome, but what a man soweth now he shall reape then. Hebre. 6. 10. He that soweth sparingly, shall reape sparingly, Ephesi. 6. 8. he that soweth liberally, shall reape also liberal­ly. For God is not vnrighteous to forget our workes and labours of loue, But what soeuer good thing any man doth, he shal receaue of the Lorde at the resurrection of the righteous, Luke. 14. 14. where his reward shall be great in the kingdome of heauen, Math. 5. 12. and euerye man receaue accordinge to that, which he hath don. And thus we see the end & vse of this doctrine concerning the generall resurrection & iudgement, Iohn. 5. 28 & 29. the sum wherof is no more, but this. All that are in their graues shal heare the voice of God and shal come forth, Math. 25. 46 they that haue done good vnto the resurrection of lyfe, and they that haue done ill, vnto the re­surrection of damnation. They that by continuance in well doing seeke for glo­rie, honor & immortality, shall haue eter­nall lyfe: but vnto them that are conten­tious, & do not obey the truth, but obey vnrightousnes, shall come indignation. and wrath, tribulation and iniquitie A sweete and comfortable doctrine to [Page] the children of God, who then shal haue an end of all those miseries, whereto in this lyfe they were subiect, resting at last in ioye, peace, and tranquility with the angels and saintes in heauen. The sun shall be no more the daye light, Apo. 21. 23. the light of the Moone shal not shine to thē, Apoc. 22. 5. but the Lord himselfe shalbe their euer­lasting light, Isai. 60. 19. and God their glorie. Isai. 25. 8. Hee shall take the care from thine eyes, ney­ther shall they taste of death, heauinesse, sorrow, or paine, but freed from all suche calamities haue the full fruitiō of al those ioyes, Sap. 5. 16. which the lorde hath prepared for them that feare him, and looke for his comming. They shall receaue a glori­ous kingdome, and a beawtifull crowne at the lords hand, for with his right hand shall he carrie them, and with his arme shall he defend them. But on the con­trarye moste terrible and fearefull to the wicked. Sap. 5. 17. 18. 19. 20. 21. & 22. For the ielosie of the lord of hostes shall take on harnesse, and he shall arme the creature to be auenged of his enemyes. He shall put on righteous­nesse for a brest-plate, an stake vnfayned iudgement in stead of a helmet. His ferce [Page] wrath shal bee sharpen for a swoorde, and the whole compasse of the worlde shall fight with him against the vnwise. Then shall the thunder boultes go right out of the lightninges, and come as oute of the well bente bowe of the cloudes to the place appointed. And as from an angrie caster of stones their shal fal thick haile, and the water of the sea shall bee wroth against them and the winde shall stande vp againste them to scatter them abrode. Then shall the righteous stande in great boldnes before the face of such, as haue dealt extreamly with them, and taken away then labours. When the vn­godlye shall see it they shall bee vexed with horrible feare, and shall onder at their health so farre beyond all, that they looked for. And chaunging their opini­ons with groaning for redresse of minde, they shall say, this is he whom sometime we had in derision and iested vpon. We fooles thought his life very madnes, and his end to be without honour. But loe, how he is counted among the children of God, and his portion is amonge the saints. Therefore haue we erred from the [Page] way of truth, the light of righteousnesse hath not shined vnto vs, & the sun of vn­derstanding hath not rose vpon vs. We haue wearied ourselues in the waye of wickednes and destruction, but as for the way of the Lord, we haue not known it, What good hath pride done vnto vs? Or what profit hath the pompe of riches brought vnto vs. All these things are pas­sed like a shadow, and as a Post that ha­steth by, &c. As sone as we were borne, we began immediatlye to drawe to oure ende, and haue shewed no token of ver­tue, but are consumed in our owne wic­kednes. If they shoulde haue no other iudge to condemne them, if there were no diuel to watch for them, no hel to re­ceiue them, no fire in hell to torment them, what greater torment maye be i­magined, then this wofull complaint & mutuall accusing of the worme of their owne consciences, and the sensible fee­ling of their sinnes past, acknowledging with their own mouthes themselues de­serue [...]ly depriued of all those heauenlye ioyes, whereof they shal see the children of God to be made partakers. But not [Page] onely to be depriued of those heauenlye ioyes, but to be partakers of euerlasting tormentes, to bee tyed with perpetuall chaines, to be caste into palpable darke­nes of the Diuels dungeon, where the worme dyeth not, where the fire goeth not out, but continual weping and gna­shing of teeth, howling, yelling, and cri­yng without ease of payne, or comfort of minde, this is such endlesse miserye as the griefe thereof can neyther be con­ceaued of vs, that speaketh of it, nor ex­pressed of them that feele it.

The greatest crosse, that can be sayd vp­pon man in this life, is to bee caste into perpetuall prison, leese our landes and goodes, and want the companye of our wyues, our children & other our friends that loue vs. But yet in this case we al­waies liue in hope of liberty, and release of our punishment. Or if our hope be vaine, yet will God stirre vp the heartes of straungers to visite vs, to pittie vs, to comfort and relieue vs, some with meat, some with mony, some with cloth, some with counsell, euery man as he is [Page] able hath compassion of feeling of our state. But out of hell there is no redemp­tion, no hope of redemption, no hope of out paines to [...] euer ended or eased. No friendes to pitie vs, to see vs, to speake with vs, or comfort vs. Naie if No [...], Iob and Daniell, euen these three righteous persons, or anye other holye Patriarch, Prophet, Apostle, Saint, or Aungell should see their owne friendes, Father, mother, wyfe or children in that hellishe place of the damned, and woulde make intercession for them, they could not de­liuer their soules. Nay that which is more, and more lamentable, those that shall bee placed in the ioyes of heauen shall be so farre from hauing any natu­rall compassion, either the father, which shall be saued, of the child, which shal be damned, or the childe, which shall be sa­ued, of the father [...] which shall be dam­ned, Iohn. 15. 4. or the childe, which shalbe saued of the father, which shalbe damned, or the wife which shalbe saued, of the husband, whiche shalbe damned or the husbande, which shalbe saued of y ^e wife, which shal be damned, that they shal continue none [Page] more then these their friendes, whome they sawe giuen ouer to all sinne and wickednes in their liues, and by Gods iust iudgement to be now tormented in hell s [...]re after their deathes. Thus we see, there are but two wayes of all flesh, heauen or hell, two rewardes, the one of ioyes the other of paines, two rewar­ders God and the Diuell, twoo endes, good and euill, two sortes of people, the wretched in this life, and cursed in the life to come, the other happye thorough hope in this life, but most blessed in the life to come, when they shall enioye the full fruition of that they hoped for, in­heriting the kingdom, which hath been prepared for them from the foundation of the world through death, passion, and meditation of. Iesus Christ their sa­uiour, to whome with the father, and the holy Ghost, three persons and one God, &c.