But first of the time of iudgement. Some like forward Marchants, and bold aduenturers, haue presumed to define and determine the terme and precise time of iudgement: of which some prefixe the yeare, saying it shall bee in [Page 8] the immediate end of the sixe thousand yeare; and there ground is this, because a thousand yeares are with the Lord as one day; whence they inferre, that as God made the world in six daies, so hee will destroy it in six thousand yeares. Others out of the Prophet Malachy, Ecce dies domini; Malac. Behold the day of the Lord, auerr that God will come to Iudgement in the day. Others out of the Apostle, Veniet quasi fur nocte, S. Matth. Hee will come like a Theefe in the night; affirme that the Iudgement shall be in the night;S. August. And Saint Augustine consents thus farre to these, that it shall be, nocte rerum, non temporum, in a night and darknes of know­ing, and good liuing, not of seeing: Some go further and designe the very point & moment of the night, for out of that of Saint Mathew, factus est clamor media nocte, S. Mat. there was a cry in the midst of the night, they collect, that God will iudge at midnight; and Cassiodore hath the same building, though on another ground, for on that, percussit primogenita, God strucke the first borne of Egypt at midnight, he concludes, that the iudgement shall bee in the middle of night.

There bee yet some more fancifull and cu­rious then these, conceiting that the iudge­ment shall be in the fourth watch of the night, because it must dissolue the foure elements, and what was compacted or composed of the foure [Page 9] Elements. Others imagine that it shall be in the third watch, for that it is the worke not of the first, or second person alone, but the ioynt worke of the blessed Trinity. Some deferre it to the second watch of the night, for that the Sonne of God, the second person in heauen, is appointed to bee the iudge of all the earth: and lastly some tie it to the first watch of the night, because it is said, that Christ is the first fruites of them that sleepe.

Now to these vaine curiosities, and curious vanities, what haue we to oppose; namely first that of the scripture, Non nobis datum, S. Iohn. it is not giuen vnto vs to know the times and seasons, which God hath reserued in his owne power: Secondly, of that day and howre knoweth no Man, no nor the Angels, no nor the Son,S. Augustine but the father onely. Thirdly, as St. Augustine hath it, Qui ante tempora, he that was before al time, and gaue beginning to time, will come to iudge vs in due time;Reuel. when that of the Reuela­tion shall be true, Tempas not erit amplius, there shall bee no longer time.

And heere me thinkes I may fitly gather one question out of S. Augustine, S. August. for where he saith tam occultas dies iudieii, vt lateat ipsum tudicem, the day of iudgement is so secret and close, that it is vnknowne euen to the iudge, it may seeme perhaps to some, not fully Orthodoxe and good; for what, hath the father committed [Page 10] iudicium filio, all iudgement to the Sonne, and yet retained, diem iudicii, the day of iudgement vnto himselfe? I will not, either dispute or de­fine this poynt, onely I will poynt out, what o­thers say.S. August. Some affirme that the Sonne knowes not the day of iudgement, quà homo sed quà Deus, Bellar. as hee is man, but as he is God: Others that hee knew it as man, but not to reueale it vnto men: others that he knew it not as a Saui­our, qui tum erat, which he onely was while he was in the world;S. August. but as a iudge, qui nondum e­rat, which he is not till he shall come to iudge the world: Sed satis temporis in tempore, I haue spent time enough in bolting out the iudge­ment time, I will therefore conclude this point with some few moralls.S. Greg. And first that of S. Gregory, Latet dies vltimus, vt omnes obseruen­tur dies, The last day is not specified to man, that man might iudge euery day his last: Se­condly, that of S. Augustine, S. August. latet iudicium, sed vniuersale, non tuum; quia mors tua, iudicium tu­um: The day of the generall iudgement thou canst not find, but thy particular iudgement will find thee in the day of thy death. Thirdly that of the same S. Augustine, S August. Latet iudicium, ta­men piorum fidem non latet, iustum esse vt lateret, The day of iudgement is obscure, yet they that are enlightened by faith, see reason why it should not see the light. Lastly that of Saint Bernard, S. Bernard. Incertus dies quo veniet, vt sic viueres [Page 11] quasi hodie veniret, the day of Christs com­ming is vncertaine, because it might learne thee so to liue, as if he would certainely come this present day: and then blessed is hee, that shall heare; Hodie mecum eris in paradiso, S. Luke. this day shalt thou bee with mee in Paradice; so I come from the time when, to the person who; when God.

2 God might haue sent forth his summons; haue commanded both by earthly and hea­uenly warrants; he might haue made both An­gels, and Saints, and the soules of iust men, as his apparitors, and officials to conuent vs to iudgement; but to shew his Maiestie, and re­lease his out of misery, apparebit ipse, God him­selfe will appeare in iudgement: And if GOD come to be our iudge, then doubtless there will be, rectum iudicium, a right & true iudgement;Psal. for God is truth, & he cannot faile; either igno­rantiâ iuris, as not knowing the law, for he gaue the law, & will iudge, as S. Iohn intimates,S. Iohn. acor­ding to Moses, and the law; nor yet ignorantiâ facti, as not seeing the fact, for hee knowes our thoughts long before, and therfore much more are our facts and deeds before him.

Againe, if it be God that will iudge the earth, then sure, aequum iudicium, his iudgement will be righteous and good; for, nec errat ipse, nec sustinet errantem, hee cannot sinne him­selfe, neither yet endure a wilfull sinner; [Page 12] and we cannot corrupt him with presents and goods, for, bonorum non indiget, as the Psal­mistPsal. hath it, he hath no need of our goods: we cannot win him with personall fauour, for God is no accepter of persons: and lastly wee can­not moue him to malice or hate, for, nihil odit eorum quae fecit, the maker of all, hateth nothing that he did make.

And here I must craue leaue to question, and resolue some doubts, First, multi dicuntur Dii, since many be called Gods, in holy Writ, it may be questioned, which of those gods shall bee our iudge: For the Angels they are called gods, GOD stood in the assemblie of gods, saith the Psalme;Psal. and yet the Angels shall not iudge vs, since Saint Paul tels vs, that wee shall iudge the Angels: Secondly, the diuels are called gods,Psal. but the gods of the Gentiles, Dii genti­um Daemonia, the gods of the Gentiles are diuels; neither yet shall these bee our iudges, for the Prince of this world (that is the Diuell) is iud­ged already:Psal. Thirdly, the iust and righteous men are called gods, I haue said you are gods: and yet these shall not iudge vs, for, vix stabit iustus in iudicio, the iust shall scarse stand out, nay vp, in iudgement. Fourthly, Kings are called gods, the gods of the earth are lifted vp; and yet though these be Kings in this world, they shall not be Iudges in another: but, as it is in the booke of Wisedome,Wisedome. Potentes potenter, [Page 13] mighty Kings shal be mightily punished, if they sinne against the Almightie. Fiftly, Priests are called gods, offerte Dii, let the Priests offer, and yet these shall not iudge vs; for both Priest and people, congregetur coram Deo, must stand be­fore the tribunall of God. Sixtly, Magistrates are called gods, Diis ne detrahas, speake not euill of the Magistrates, and yet nor they shall be our iudges, for they are but Gods stewards, vnder God, and must render, rationem villica­tionis, an exact account of their Stewardships vnto God. Lastly, Iudges they are called gods, the cause was brought, ad Deos, vnto the Iud­ges, and yet though these execute the iudge­ments of God vpon earth, God himselfe shall come from heauen to iudge them. For, habent vel supremi iudices superiorem iudicem, the Lord chiefe Iustices of this world, haue there Lord aboue, that shall doe them iustice: So then we must now, excluding al these, conclude all, Iudex vniuersalis, deus vniuersi, that hee that made all, will iudge all. Hee that is God will iudge the gods: hee that is the Angell of the great counsell, will iudge the Angels: hee that is a King, will iudge the Kings: hee that is a Priest, will iudge the Priests: Iudex iudices, homo homines, Christus omnes iudicabit; Hee is Iudge, that will censure and sentence Iudges: hee that is man, will conuent and conuict man; and yet there shall bee but one iudge of all [Page 14] men, euen IESVS CHRIST God and Man.

Againe, since God shall iudge, and there be, though but one God, yet three persons, it may be questioned, which of the three persons shall be our Iudge? And this the Psalmist seemes to answere,Psal. when hee saith, Deus vester veniet, Hee shall bee your Iudge that is most yours; Now the second person is most ours; for hee was borne to vs, he liued with vs; hee died for vs; and what he either did or suffered, it was all for the good of vs.

But why doth the second person iudge and not the first?S. Iohn Why the Sonne and not the Fa­ther? First, because Saint Iohn tels vs, the Fa­ther hath giuen all iudgement to the Sonne; and to the Sonne,S. Bern. as Saint Bernard expounds it, non quà filius suus, sed hominis filius, not as hee is the Sonne of God begotten before the world, but as he is the Son of the blessed Vir­gin, borne in the world; Secondly, the Son iud­geth, and not the Father, because it best fitteth a King to iudge his owne Subiects; and we are now the immediate subiects of the Son: In­deed in our Creation, wee were absolutely the subiects of God; but by rebelling against God, wee became the slaues and vassals of Satan, and not the Subiects of our God; yet now beeing bought out of the subiection of Satan, by the precious bloud of the Sonne of God, wee become the subiects of the Sonne: Not [Page 15] that this is to be vnderstood, exclusiue, as exclu­ding from the worke of our Redemption, the Father, or the Holy Ghost: Sed appretiatiue, as the Schoolemen speake, but because the price of our Redemption, was paide by the Sonne, and not the person of the Father, or ho­ly Ghost; and in that the Sonne did, sustinere poenas, vndergoe our punishment, & procu­rare praemia, and purchase our reward, he must, dispensare praemia & poenas, both dispose of our punishment and reward.

Yet once more, since in the Sonne there is a double forme, a Diuine, an humane nature, it may bee questioned, in what forme, and na­ture he shall iudge. Saint Augustine answeres,S. August. eâdem formâ iudicabit nos, Hee shall iudge vs in the same forme, wherein he stood before the iudge for vs; he shall iudge vs, not as God, but as Man: according to that of the Scripture, yee shall see, filium hominis, the Sonne, not of God, but of Man, cōming in the clouds. Veniet qui deus, non quà deus, He that shall iudge vs is God, but he shal not iudg vs as he is God: not as he is God, because, as Esay hath it,Esay tollatur impi­us, the wicked must be taken away, that he neuer see the glory of God; but as man, vt homines vi­deant, that men may see, & behold the iudge of men. The Papists ad, that not only the iudg shal be visible, but out of that of the gospel, they shal see, signum filii hominis, S. Matth. the signe of the Son of [Page 16] Man, they would euict, that the crosse shall come before him, as a verge, rodde, and scep­ter vnto iudgement: but this opinion deserues correction and a rod; for though with Saint Paul, we preach Christum crucifixum, Christ cru­cifide vpon earth, yet I neuer finde, that the crosse and crucifixe of Christ, was euer taken, as Saint Paul was, vp to Heauen.

Lastly, since Christ shall Iudge vs as hee is Man, it may be questioned, whither there shall be no difference, betweene the man Christ li­uing vpon earth, and the man Christ as hee shall come a Iudge from Heauen. Yes doubt­lesse, much difference, not in substance, but in qualitie; for he that was here a man, natus praesepio, borne in a stable, is there also a man, Sed regnans coelo, but commanding in the hea­uens. Hee that was here, inter homines, a man amongst men, is there, supra Angelos, a man aboue the Angels: Hee that was here, corpore infirmo, in a bodie of frailty, is there corpore glorioso, in a bodie of glorie: He that was here, Salu [...]tor verus, a true Sauiour, is there, iudex seuerus, a sharpe iudge: Hee that came here, pati pro dilectis, to suffer for his beloued, sits there, triumphare cum electis, to triumph with his chosen and elect: he that came here, mori ad tempus, to die for a time, is there, deus vi­uens, liuing with God for euer; and the euerli­uing God.

Yet (graue and Reuerend Iudges,) before I close vp this point, I must say one thing that concernes you, that toucheth your scarlet, and your iudgement seates. For where it is said, the Father hath giuen all iudgement to the Son, then, the Anabaptists inferre,S. Iohn. why then doe other the Sonnes of men iudge? and so learned Fathers of the Law, would they wound, nay ded you, who are the pillars of truth, the life of the liuing, and the defence of men appointed vnto death: But I answere, God hath giuen all iudgement to the Sonne, that is, omne futurum iudicium, all the generall, vniuersall, and future iudgement: and second­ly for you, non tam vos, quam deus per vos iudi­cat, it is not so much you, as God that iudgeth in, and by you; according to that of Deutero. Deut. you exercise the iudgements, not of man, but of God: and thirdly, Iudicat homo hominem in opere, sed deus in corde, that though God onely iudge the heart, yet man may iudge, of the fact of man. And so I come to my third part, will come; when God shall come.

In God rising (for so reades the vulgate) and comming, (for so hath the English) vnto iudgement, I obserue two things: First, the certaintie, then the vicinitie of the iudgement: It is not said, Deus venit, God doth, or hath come, but, Deus veniet, God will come; and yet according to the rule of the Schoole, [Page 18] Futurum in Deo aeque certum, quam aut praesens aut praeteritum, that which is to come in God, is as sure, as if it were either present, or past. And God wil come to iudgement both for the glorie of God, and of Man, and of Christ both God and Man: First, for the glorie of God; for God hath promised a iudgement, and all the promises of God are yea, and Amen: The Prophets and the Apostles, both the Law, and the Gospell beare witnes of a iudgement: I wil contend with thee in iudgement, saith God in Ieremie: Ier. The Nations shall see my iudge­ment,Ezek. saith God in Ezekiel: I will sit and iudge all people,Ioel. saith God in Ioel. In Saint Paul wee reade Statutum est, Death is appointed, and af­ter it commeth the iudgement: And in Saint Peter wee finde a Iudicaturus est, S. Pet. that, as if God had put on his robes, and were set on his iudg­ment seate, hee is now ready to iudge the quicke and dead: God promised a floud and it came, Et qui verus diluu [...]o, cur non iudicio? hee that performed in the particular, shall he not also performe in a generall iudgement? In Phi­losophie, posito vno contrariorum, if we grant one contrarie, the other will follow: but wee haue had experience of Gods mercie, which is opposite to iudgement, and shall wee not also haue a triall and a iudgement? GOD hath shewed iustice in Heauen, on rebelli­ous Angels, and will hee not shew iustice on [Page 19] men, if they rebell vpon earth?

Secondly, there must be a iudgement for the good of man: for here the holiest and most heauenly men be in most heauiness: Hic optimi pessime agunt; here the righteous man hath most wrong; and therefore God will iudge, and do him right. Here Iezabel sits brauing in a window, while Ieremie lies sticking in the mudd. Here Diues sits in his pallace,S. Luke. clothed richly, faring daintily, while Lazarus lies at his gate naked and hungry. Here Herod wil please his Herodias, though it be with the head of Iohn the Baptist; Nonne visitabit, shall not God vi­site, and come to iudgement for these things? Here the condition of the godly Christian, is much like to the state of Christ his maister, nec viuus domum, nec mortuus sepulcrum habet, they haue scarse a house wherein to liue, and (such hath been the Popish furie) their bones haue not had rest after their death: while they liued they found exilium, & equuleum, banish­ment, and the racke: and being dead, the wicked did, saeuire in manes, not let them rest when they were at rest:Euseb. Much like to the storie in Eusebi­us, where they were not content to burne the bodies of the Saints, but they cast there ashes vppon the water, with this obloquie, colligat Deus, Reuel. let the Lord gather them if hee will haue them. But O LORD, holy, and true, how long, how long? the bloud of thy [Page 20] Saints is shed round about this round world, and they are cut in peeces, euen as men cut and hew wood, and wilt thou not yet come, to be auenged on such a people as this? Yes, saith the Psalme,Psal. the Lord will come, and not keepe silence: and, as it is in another Psalme, Doubtlesse there is a God that will iudge the earth.Psal. And as in a balance, or a scale, that which is lightest mounteth highest, so those that were of light, or no esteeme in the world; shall then be taken vp vnto the highest: Ge­munt boni, though the godly, mourne here like a Doue, yet fruentur summo bono, then they shall be comforted, by that Spirit, who appeared in the likenes of a Doue: Though the good haue, pressuram in terrâ, griefe, and oppression vpon earth; yet they shall finde, vsuram in coelo, interest and increase of glorie in the Kingdome of heauen.

Lastly, as there must be a iudgement for the glorie of God, and good of man: so it must also bee for the honour of Christ Iesus, God and Man. For the world did not beleeue Christ to bee the Messias: the Iew held him but a meere, and miserable man: the Gentiles derided him, as a crucified God; and there­fore will hee call heauen, and earth, and come and iudge his people; and hee will come in such power, and maiestie, that the whole world shall confesse him a Messias; that the [Page 21] Iew shall acknowledge him a God; and that both Iew and Gentile shall feare, and grieue, to see him so highly glorified, whom they basely slew and crucified.

Secondly, I obserued the neerenes and vici­nitie of the iudgement: It is not said in the Apostles Creede, veniet, Symbo. Aposto. sea venturus est iu­dicare, hee will come, but hee is at hand, he hath, as it were, set forth, and is on his way comming to iudgement. Non instat iudiciam, sed ferè extat, the day of iudgement is not so much future and to come, as it is already pre­sent and in sight. Iudex adianuam, now is the iudge riding his circuite, now hath hee sent forth his summons, now hath hee put on his robe, now is he set vpon his throne now is thy inditement reading, now is thy cause plead­ing, and now, euen now, the sentence of thy eternall life, or death, may bee passing: wit­nes that of the Apostle, Nunc est iudicium, hee doth not say, nunc erit, now the iudgement shall bee, as if it were comming, but nunc est, now is the iudgement of this world, as if this moment, this instant, and present now, were allotted for the iudgement. The world, that great man, hath the throwes and panges of death now seazing on him: And as man, the little world, when hee hath liued many yeares, draweth then neere vnto his end, so the world, that hath liued now almost six [Page 22] thousand yeares, must needes consume and haue an end: In the time of the Apostles the Kingdome of God was at hand, and now after so long a time as from the Apostles, is it yet farre off?

When the Sunne hath passed the twelue signes,Malac. wee know then the yeare ends: Now Christ, our Sunne, hath passed through these signes, and therefore the yeare of the world must haue an end. Christ in his birth passed through Virgo, for hee was borne of a pure and blessed Virgin:Inchino. He passed Gemini, in his incarnation, for there was both a Diuine and humane Nature: Hee passed Cancer, in his descension, for hee descended, and came, as it were backe, from God to man. He passed Libra in his Passion, where his mercie, and his merits, ouer-wayed our misery and sinne: And (not to be, although I might bee, curi­ous in all) hee passed Leo in his resurrection, when hee rose strong as a Lyon, and ouer­came the graue, death, and hell, and that hellish, roaring, and deuouring Lyon. Now then that Christ hath passed all these signes, it is a signe that the world, and all must passe away.

Alas then why doe some, and some Chri­stian men so liue, as if there were no iudge­ment after this life? Nay more, as if they were Aduocates, and Orators, and Sophisters for [Page 23] the Diuell, why doe they dispute against the iudgement of our God? For say some, why should God iudge man after his death, since hee hath his iudgement at his death? I an­swere,S. August. that in death wee haue a particular iudgement, but God will also haue a generall: Secondly, S. Bern. in death we haue the iudgement of the Soule, but God will iudge both Body, and Soule: Lastly, S. Hiero. in death wee haue a secret doome, but God will haue an open assise, a publike Sessions, and a manifest iudgement: O then put not farre from you the euill day, but so liue, as if you were to make, your perso­nall appearance before your God, this present day. For be you sure, if any heare mee this day, and regard not in his heart the iudgment day, that euen this Text, these words, this Sermon of iudgement, will rise vp against them in the day of iudgement. So I come to my fourth obseruation, the end of Christs comming, it is to iudgement.

4 And here I note these things: First, the multiplicitie of iudgement▪ Secondly, the qua­litie of Gods iudgement: Thirdly, the pro­dromi and fore-runners of the iudgement: Lastly, the followers and attendants on this iudgement.

There is a manifold and various iudgement:Bonauen. For, (as Bonauenture notes) their is in God▪ iudi­cium praescienti [...], a iudgement for those sinnes [Page 24] that were but intended: Secondly, there is, iu­dicium causae, a iudgment for the cause whence they sprang, and the end wherevnto they ten­ded: Thirdly, there is, iudicium operationis, a iudgement for euerie euill act committed; And lastly, iudicium approbationis, a iudge­ment of euery iust punishment inflicted. There is a iudgement of retribution for the good: a iudgement of reprobation for the euill: and a iudgement of discussion both for good and euill.

There hath beene already a iudgement of water, S. Peter. which did wash away sinners, but not sinne: and there shall bee a iudgement of fire, which shall burne away both sinne and sinners.

Secondly, I noted the qualitie of Gods iudge­ment: and first, it is full of Maiestie: for the King of heauen shall come, cum militia caele­sti, with all the armie, troupe, and traine of heauen: He shall send forth, as it were, his He­rald and Beedle, and call a Conuocation, of Angels, and Saints, heauen and earth, to cull, and seuer, and marke out his sheepe from the goates. Posuit thronum, God is come, as it were to the Kings Bench of his iustice; hee hath opened a booke, and another booke, as it is in the Reuelation,Reuel. to wit the booke, scien­tiae diuinae, of diuine knowledge and science, and a booke, humana conscientiae, of mans guilty [Page 25] and accusing conscience. O wretched man, saith a good Father, tanta contra te fit praepara­tio, doth God so prepare, so muster vp his men for thy iudgement, and wilt thou, either not feele thy imminent iudgement, or if thou feele it, not amend thy life, that thou maiest escape in that fierie triall, and fierce iudge­ment?

If our gracious King, (whom the King of Kings set for euer as a signet vppon his right hand) should take his Peeres, and Nobles, Bishops, and Iudges, to iudge a rebell, or a malefactor, how would the countenance of that Traitor fall, his tongue faulter, his bodie tremble, and his heart and spirit euen thawe and melt away! And yet (good God) such is our frailtie, that though we be traitors, to our iudge, our Sauior, and our own soules, yet we more awe & feare, a temporall, then an eter­nall iudgement: and are more daunted with him that can but kill the bodie, and that for a time; then with him that can destroy both bo­die and soule, and that for euer.

Secondly, there is mercie in this iudgement. For Christ will iudge vs, not by the letter and rigor of the Law, but as it were in a Court of Conscience. Et Conscientia qualis, sententia ta­lis, and our verdict shall bee giuen in, accor­ding and agreeing with the Conscience wee haue within. Neither will our mercifull iudge [Page 26] proceed against vs without witnesse; nay not without a thousand witnesses; and those no forraine, aliene, or strange witnesses, but such as are in our owne bosome; such as are more inward with vs, then that soule which is within vs: For vnlesse our conscience, which is as the soule of the soule, doe like another Cerberus barke within vs, we shall escape that true Cer­berus and dog of hell.

Besides our mercifull iudge will not con­demne vs for one accuser: for except Moses and the Law accuse vs,S. Iohn. as Saint Iohn hath it; except Singuli errores, our particular and singular er­rors, single vs out, and become, singuli accusato­res, ech of them accusers of vs; nay more, except man himselfe doe condemne himselfe, Christ who is God and Man, will not condemne. Nay more, except Sin and Satan come with plaine, direct, and vnauoidable euidence against vs, it shall yet, maugre all their malice, goe well with vs. And, Lord, how will that accuser of his bre­thren in that day accuse vs!S. August. S. Augustine brings him in thus inditing man, Iuste iudex, marke, he doth not say, Bone Deus, good God, to mooue clemencie and mercie; but iust iudge, to whet and sharpen him on to rigor and seueritie; and the bill of his enditement runnes thus, Indeed iust iudge these sinners were thine per gratiam, by thy grace to them committed, but they are become mine, per culpam, by that sin which they [Page 27] committed: They were thine, per misericordiam in thy mercie; but they are become mine through their own misery. They were thine, per passionem, through thy crosse and passion; but they are become mine, per persuasionem, by my slie & subtle perswasion. They were thine, crea­tione, in the creation; but they are become mine, destructione, since they haue brought themselues to their destruction. They haue for­saken, Sacramenta tua, thy Sacraments, & haue followed blandimenta mea my allurements, and therefore iust iudge, since they belong to mee, let them bee condemned with me. Alas good Christians, being thus arraigned at the barr of Gods iustice, by whom will you bee tried? By your God? Why he must be iust: by a Iurie of Angels, and Saints? why they cannot quit you: For it is God that condemnes, and who can iu­stifie? by your owne hearts? Why they cannot cleare you: What then remaines, but before we hold vp our hands at this barre, to cry guil­tie; And, Lord Iesus, wee are guiltie of many, and manifold sinnes, but remember sweet Iesus, that thy bloud was shed for sinners. Wee haue committed that, quod damnet, which might send vs to a thousand hels, but in thee there is such store of mercie, quae saluet, as may saue vs,S. Augustine and ten thousand worlds.

Thirdly, this iudgement is intolerable. For who can endure, when as aboue, our iudge is [Page 28] angry with vs; and belowe hell is gaping for vs: when within our vultur conscience gnawes vs; and without the flame is ready for to burne vs: when on our right hand sin oppresseth vs; and on the left the Diuel frights vs: When we haue God, and his Angels all against vs; & none but desperate men, and damned spirits with vs.

Lastly, this iudgement is vnauoidable: for the hils cannot hide vs, nor mountaines couer vs from the presence of the iudge: And whither can we fly from him, who is, not only here and there, but euery where? if we mount and soare vp to heauen he is there;Psal. if we goe into hell, he is there too; if we take the wings of a Doue, and flye to the vtmost part of the earth, he is there: and if we lye downe in the deep & bottomeless sea, he is there also. If we say, peraduenture the night shall couer vs, we must know that the day and the night are to him alike. So that, pati in­tolerabile, & latere impossibile, it is not possible to endure, nor possible to auoide the iudge­ment.

Thirdly, I obserued the precurrents, and fore­runners of the iudgement: S. Gregorie notes that the last tribulation hath many antecedent troubles,S. Greg. vt per crebra mala, caueantur aeterna ma­la, that by the sight and sense of frequent euils, wee might escape the eternall euill. And first, the Sunne and Moone shall bee darkned: Now this may admit, either a litterall, or misticall ex­position: [Page 29] if we expresse it by the letter, then these visible lights, the Sun & Moone, shall bee darkned; yet not, (as some schoolemen hold,) priuatione luminis, as being depriued & spoiled of their light, sed superveniente maiore lumine, but as being dimmed and ouershadowed with a greater light: And if wee runne from the letter to the spirit, then this Sunne is Christ, and the Moone is the Church of Christ; and both these haue been darkned; For Christ hath beene sup­posed to be but a meere man; and the Church hath been dimmed, not by interpositiō of earth and land, but by ablation and taking away the Church land: and in this case may it not bee said; non deletur peccatum, nisi restituitur ablatum, our sins will hardly find remission, if wee make no restitution. Pulcrum fuit, in the time of su­perstition it was thought the glory, and the me­rite of the Papist, to inrich, and endowe the church; yet herein their luxury did abound, & they offend; but, (as the Moralist hath it,) it was on the safer part, being, in excessu, in making the church exceed in riches; and I wish that there Excesse doe not in the day of iudgement, con­demne the defect of them, who doe, non tondere, not onely fleece, sed deglubere, but flea the church. S. Mathew hath eight signes that must,S. Mat. as it were, vsher in the iudgement. First, many shall come in Christs name, saying; Ego Christus, I am Christ: and haue not, Batcabas, Inchino. and Tabicula­nus [Page 30] done this abroad; nay would this had not been done at home in this honorable Citie.

S. Matth. Secondly, Nation shall rise against nation: And is not this now true, almost in euery nation? for hath not the Turke risen against the Christian; yea and Christians too against Christians; but, sweet Christ, from whence wee Christians deriue our name, let it at length be thy will, that Christians may shed no more Christian bloud, but that all may iointly concur, to let the Turk bloud, and that euen in the heart veine.

S. Matth. Thirdly, there shall be plague and famine, and they shall kill you. And, not to goe out of the gates of your Citie, haue not these things been found within your wals? Hath not the punish­ing Angell strooke heere? and the rod of pe­stilence drawne out, not onely the bloud and marrow, but the life and spirit of many, many thousands in this Citie? haue not yong & old, mothers and babes, men, and virgins, fainted and fallen downe, before your eyes, both in the corners, & the open places of this place? Hath not the staffe of your bread been broken? Hath there not been blacknes of face, and cleanness of teeth in this Citie? London, London, thou pride of nations, and glory of the earth, blesse thy God, that there is peace within thy walles, and plentiousnes within thy pallaces; and that the rod of plague and famine is not so much as shaken ouer thee; but take heed, least pride, and [Page 31] fulnes of bread, and the sins of Sodome, bring not onely a plague of the bodie, and a famine of bread: but a plague of the soule, & a famine of the word vpon thy head. Againe, hath not the same, occident vos, they shall kill you, beene found here? witnes Mariana tempora, that quin­quennium of Queene Mary, when our Martyrs were made faggots for the fire, and the verie stones and pauements of your streets were wa­shed with their bloud. But Lord God, our hea­uenly, and holy Father, let no such holy father as the Pope, no such bloud-sucker as Boner, mar­tirize and massacre againe, in this our Ile; And if there bee any in this land, that wish they might, let them haue my wish with them, would all their heads stood but on one neck, that one faire blow might strike them off; and let all that fauour this my wish, say Amen.

Fourthly, you shall be hated for my name: S. Mat. And when euer more then now were Christs Apo­stles hated and despised? Are not we held, om­nium peripsema, 1. Cor. 4. the very refuse and of-scouring of the people? And as the boyes cried after the Prophet, Come vp thou bald pate, come vp thou bald pate, so doth not the world cry after vs, come vp thou Priest, come vp thou Priest: In the law none that was lame, or deformed, but the choisest of the people were made Priests; but now Priesthood, & Christ our high Priest is so contemned, that if one haue but one defor­med [Page 32] sonne, they hold him fit enough to make a Priest:1. Cor. 1. Thus are we made, purgamenta mundi, as the filth of the world vnto this day: I speake not this to shame you, for though it were the shame of Ierusalem to kill her Prophets, yet it is, and hath euer been your honor of this impe­riall City, to cherish vp the messengers of God: yet am I bold to tell you here at home, what fa­uour we and our calling find abroad.

S. Matth. Fiftly, there shall bee false Prophets, and false Christs; and this is verified euen in our daies: For who can be a falser Christ, then the sonne of perdition Antichrist? And need wee goe far for false Prophets, when the Prophets of Rhemes, and Rome, nest and swarme, I will not say onely at Rome, but almost in euery roome?

S. Mat. Sixtly, iniquitie shall abound, and charitie wax cold: And alas that our sin were but greene; and our iniquitie but in the blade; would wee were not growne ripe in sin, and that wee were not ready for the sickle: would our offences, like Nabucodonosors tree, were not grown vp to hea­uen, and did not couer the whole land! O that there were but a plenty, and not an excesse of sinning! Oh that, that sinne of excesse did but remaine, and not raigne among vs! But alas our age hath now another deluge, not of wa­ter, but of wine: And though Lucifer lie bound in hell, yet walkes hee loose and free vpon the carth. Nay more, wee may take vp that of the [Page 33] Orator, ferae propria, homo omnia habet vitia; Beasts are faultie in some things, but men in all things are most vitious. Abundauit iniquitas, iniquitie hath abounded. And as for charitie, that is not cold, but ded; nay twise ded, and pluck'd vp by the root: For men will feede their hawkes, and hounds, and horses, and that with diet, and with their owne hands; and yet suffer poore soules, whose soules were as dearely bought as theirs, to pine and die for want of foode.

Seuenthly, the Gospel shal be preached to al the world: S. Matth. And hath not the sound thereof gone through the earth? Hath not Asia had her seuen churches? Hath not S. Peter been the Tutor of the Iew, and S. Paul the Doctor of the Gentiles? Did not the Apostles, those seeds-men of the word, preach the Gospel to euery creature? And though they call vs, Et penitus toto diuisos orbe Britannos, Brit­taines set apart from all parts of the world, yet hath the Gospell sounded vnto vs; and that so lowd, that there is no nooke, nor angle of this Ile, where the language of the gospel is not heard: And, O Lord, let the light of thy Gospel shine for euer in this our little Goshen: Let our candle­sticke neuer be remoued, not our candle put vn­der a bushell: Let not darknes couer this Land, nor grosse blindness our people, but let thy truth, like the Sunne, breake forth dayly more & more, till it come to her full brightnes.

Lastly, S. Matth. the abomination of desolation shall bee set [Page 34] vp in the holy place. And though Rome were once the holy citie; though her faith, as then it was, were famous throughout the world, yet is not the abomination of desolation set vp in hir?Rom. Looke into the liues of the Popes, and Cardinals, how some haue beene idolaters, some sorcerers some Sodomites, some adulterous, some incestuous, all, or the most, more or lesse impious, & tell mee where abomination can be, if it be not here? Hol­kot, Holkot. one of their own, cōfesseth, that among them, they who in the morning did worship, virginem matrem, the blessed Virgin-mother, did at night make, virgines matres, of maides mothers. O double abomination! Thus you see, that these eight fore-running signes are past already, and haue ouerrun vs; and therefore what remaines now,1. Tim. 4. but a fearefull expectation of iudgement?

We reade in Timothy, that in the last daies, Qui­dam discedent, some shall depart from the faith: Et quidam transfugae, and some of our runnagates of Rhemes, and Rome, that were in, but not of our church, haue fled to the Popish sinagogue, from our christian Catholique church: but they were, Quidam, but certain vncertaine men, that hauing nothing but hope & fortune, to be their guides, would venter vpon any fortune:S. Bern. so that, as S. Ber­nard speakes, desperatio fecit Monachos, they be­came Mōkish not out of iudgment but despaire.

Secondly, saith Timothy, some shall attend to the Spirit of errours; 1. Tim. 4. and our Separists of [Page 35] Amsterdam haue clothed euery naked, and reuiued almost euery ded errour: These bee those our English Pharisees, which will not bee, sicut reliqui, as others; but diuiding them­selues from all, they onely will bee the singu­lar and elected brethren: but to these I say, that God is the God of vnitie; and that Christ was neuer the author of diuision.

Thirdly, 1. Tim. 4. some shall maintaine doctrine of Diuels: and doe not the Papists while they de­ny marriage, and allow stewes, and simple for­nication, in the one teach, in the other tolerate a doctrine vnfit for any but a Diuell?

Lastly, saith Timothie, in the last dayes,1. Tim. 4. men shall haue their consciences seared; and had wee but windowes in our breasts, mutually to behold each others conscience, I feare mee we should see, the conscience of the rich man seared with pride: the yong mans conscience seared with wrath: the old mans with auarice: the great mans with vaine-glorie: and all men, both great and small, with some greater or lesse impietie. Thus then as Christ our iudge came to fulfill all, so wee may conclude, that all, that should come before the comming of Christ, is now fulfilled. Therefore I will now speake of that which shall follow the iudge­ment.

Here I obserue, that there shall bee two at­tendants and followers of the iudgement, prae­mium, [Page 36] & poena, reward and ruine: The reward shall bee euery way absolute: First in place, as being in Heauen, not on Earth: Secondly in continuance, as beeing not for time, but for euer: Thirdly, in essence, as being not in body onely, or in soule onely, but in soule and bo­die. In the bodie glorified and rewarded shall bee (as the Schoole obserues) foure things.Thomas. First, claritas, beautie and clearenes: insomuch that Saint Chrysostome saith,S. Chrysostome. that the bodies of the Saints shall be, septies clariora sole, seuen times brighter then the Sunne. Secondly, in bodies glorified, there shall be spirituall agili­tie; and hence it is that some ascribe, the acti­uitie and quicknes of our soule, and spirit, to a glorifide bodie; saying, that such bodies are not spirits, but spiritualized bodies. Thirdly in a glorifide body there is, imp [...]ssibilitie; for though here wee suffer of euery thing, yet there we shall be subiect to no corruptiue pas­sion or suffering. Lastly, there shall be in a glori­ous bodie,S. August. immortality; here indeed, orimur, & morimur, at our birth we begin to die; acce­dimus, we enter into the world: succedimus, we succeed one another in the world: and at last, decedimus, Iob. we depart all out of the world: but when wee shall see God in our bodie, as Iob speakes, we shall haue immortall bodies.

Secondly after iudgement there is a reward for the soule: and that reward consists princi­pally [Page 37] in two things; in our vnion with GOD: and our vision of God: both these may bee ga­thered out of that of Saint Iohn, S. Iohn. when he shal appeare we shall be like vnto him, and shall see him as he is: we shall bee like vnto him, there is our vnion; and shall see him as hee is, there is our vision. Others adde to the beatitude of the soule, two other actes; one the frui­tion; another the eternall retention of God. And it is controuers'd among the learned, in which of these foure actes, the felicitie of the soule doth consist.Henri. Ganda. Henricus Ganda­uensis thinkes the soules happinesse, resides, in her vnion with GOD, because that v­nion doth deifie the essence of the Soule. Tho­mas laies it to the vision of the Soule, because,Aquin. that vision doth blesse and beatifie the vnder­standing of the Soule: Scotus Scotus. drawes it to the fruition of the Soule, because, that fruition doth satisfie the will of the Soule:Aureo. Aureolus puts it to the retention of the Soule, because that, and that only, doth fully glad and reioice the Soule. I will not determine: Onely I say, blessed soules and bodies shall haue, trium­phum, & gaudium, triumph and ioy. They shall haue triumph, first, ouer death, for death shall be no more. Secondly, ouer him that hath the power of death, that is the Diuell, for they shall be freed from his power. Againe they shal haue ioy, first in the Maiestie of God, secondly [Page 38] in the humanity of Christ, and thirdly in the so­cietie of Angels and Saints.

There is also after iudgement, poena, a pu­nishment for wicked soules. And this punish­ment is double,Aquin. sensus & damni, of sense, and losse: of sense: for there the wanton eye shall see fearefull obiects: the delicate smell feele fil­thy odors: the dainty eare heare ghastly how­lings: In so much that a good Father breakes out thus, O si, O that we could lay our eares to the mouth of hell; O that we could heare and see what men suffer in hell, doubtless we would descend, viui ad inferos, to a liuely considera­tion of hell in this life, that so we might escape it after this life. For there is a fire for the body, and a spirituall worme for the soule, and both these eternall. For well were it with the dam­ned, if they might bee no longer in hell, but till a Doue could take vp all the sand of the shore; or a Wren drinke vp all the water of the Sea; or a Child gather all the grasse of the earth; or a man count all the starres of heauen; for then there might be at length some hope of release; but this is Orcus orci, the hell of hell, that the wicked must reside for euer in hell. So I come to the order that God will vse in iudgement, Quaeret, hee will question all our wayes and workes.

God will resolue foure questions in the day of iudgement; First the question, An sit Deus, [Page 39] against the Atheist, who shall then finde that there is a God: Secondly, the question, Quid sit Deus, against the Papist, who shall then see, that stockes and stones are not God: Thirdly, the question, Quotuplex Deus, against the pre­sumers, and despairers; for then the presumer shall feele, that God is iust, as well as merci­full: and the despairefull behold, that God is mercifull as well as just. Lastly, the question Propter quid homo, against all the wicked, who shall then know; that though God made the world for man, yet hee made man for himselfe and not the world.

And in this Quaere, and inquisition of the iudge, though it will extend to all things, yet suffer me to obserue but two things: Quid, & Quos, what, and whom God will then visite and enquire of. First, Quid, what will God visite? Man, and the estate of man. Man, to see if man remember, whence he was, and had his crea­tion: and whither hee haue not lost the image of his Creator. God will demand of man, what he was by nature: who hee was in person: of what ranke and order hee was in life and conuersation. Nay God will scan, and sift all that is in man: He wil demand if our wisedome haue not beene craft: our seueritie rigor:Musso. our iustice crueltie: and our gouernment tyranny. Hee will aske if our autoritie haue not beene oppression; and our zeale contention: He will [Page 40] visite and see, if our humblenes haue not been basenes; and our curtesie haue not beene flat­terie, our iesting scurrilitie, our free life disho­nestie, and our silence singularitie. He will de­mand if our simplenes were not folly, and our feruor in religion, formall hypocrisie.

And if we dare contest with God, and say, Quid mali? What euill haue I done? the Lord will aske, at quid boni, but hast thou not left much good vndone? If thou say I haue not hin­dered, alienaā vitam, the life of another: he wil aske, at qutuam, but how hast thou ordered thy owne life? If thou say, non blasphemaui Christum, I haue not blasphemed Christ, hee will aske, nonne blasphemasti Christianum, but what, didst thou neuer speake ill of any Christian? If thou say, Neminem occidi, I haue kild no man; hee will aske, but hast thou not hated, & so kil­led thy brother in thy hart?S. Luke. If thou say I fast; God will visite and see, whether thou fast for thy purse, or for the poore: if thou say as did the Pharisee, I giue almes; God will visite, and see if thou haue giuen them for his glorie, or thy owne pride and vaine-glorie.

Secondly I obserued, Quos visitabit, whom God will visite: Indeed God will visite all sin­ners: but because a world of time would not serue me, to open all the sinnes of the world, suffer me to set but three regnant, and praedo­minant sinnes before you:

First, then God will visite the Vsurer: Thesaur nonus. and if that of the Postill be true, this will be a heauy Visitation for him; For he is a bloudy, a crim­son, a scarlet sinner, nay wurse then any other sinner: Hee is wurse then the thiefe, for the theefe takes it priuily, and in the night: but the Vsurer takes openly and in the day; nay hee takes both night and day. Secondly a Vsurer is wurse then the graue, for the graue restor'd hirded at the Passion of Christ: but hee neuer re­stores, though the poore bee ready to fall into many, and many a bitter passion. Thirdly, a V­surer is wurse then hell, for hell tormenteth on­ly the euill, but hee crusheth, and oppresseth both good and euill. Fourthly a Vsurer is wurse then a Iew, for a Iew will not take of a Iew: but a Christian Vsurer will take, and ouer-take a Christian. Fiftly a Vsurer is wurse then death, for death kils but the body, but hee pines and kils both body and soule. Sixthly a Vsurer is wurse then Iudas, for Iudas sold Christ but once, but he buyes and sels Christ, in his Chri­stians, euery day. Lastly, the Vsurer is wurse then any sinner, for the Glutton will sometime fast, the proud man wil sometime be humble, & euery sinner, wil sometime leaue of, & rest from his deare & darling sin, but the vsurer wil neuer rest frō taking interest. Nay more, the house of a Vsurer, is the bank of the Diuel; & the purse of a Vsurer, it is, Os diaboli, the mouth of the Diuel.

Secondly, God will visite the Temple-pirate, and the Church-robber: for he can dispute from Christ against the Ministers of Christ: Christ saith he was poore and naked, and why then do the Ministers of Christ ruffle it in silkes, & strut it in their sattin? Christ was a foote man, and neuer rid but to Ierusalem on an Asse, why then are the Ministers of Christ growne so gay, that they must haue their change and choise of horses? Christ had not a place where to lay his head, why then haue the Messengers of Christ not onely places, but Lordly pallaces? Yea, yea, hoc vrit homines, it is this that grieues the harts of some, to see the Church hold vp her head: not that they so malice the Church, but be­cause they would also inclose the land of the Church. But tell mee, haue the Legates and Embassadors of earthly Kings, and that iustly, their honour and place, and shall the Legates of the King of heauen, haue no place, no honour? or because the Infant-church nedd not so large, so faire a garment, shall now the church, being in her full growth, goe more then halfe bare and naked? You make your Sonnes and Daughters clothes according to their stature, and their growth, and shall the Kings Daughter, grow shee neuer so high, goe alwaies in the same attire? No, no, since wee giue you spirituall things, and that in abundance, you should not pare, [Page 43] nor lop, nor cut off our temporall estates.

Thirdly, God will visite the Simonist; for he enters into the Church, not by the doore, as Christ the head did, but he betrayes Christ for money as Iudas did: Hee comes,Thesaur: nouus. in locum spiritus, into a spirituall place, but it is, respectu carnis, for some carnall respect: so that hee may be, collector pecuntae, well monied: but he can neuer be, rector animae, well minded. And heere me thinkes I see a couetous patron, that like Iudas sels CHRIST for, Quid mihi dabitis, what will you giue me? and a sacrilegious per­son, that thinkes Christ can bee bought, with that of the Diuell, Haec omnia dabo, S. Iohn. all this will I giue. We reade in Saint Iohn, that Saint Peter was, victus per ancillam, ouercome of a Maide, and I feare there bee some patrons in the world, that will not giue liuings, before they be, victi pro filiis, & filiabus, ouercome for the good of their wiues, and children: yet the Prophet Micha pronounceth a woe to them,Micha. qui aedificant Sion sanguinibus, (I know the sense litterall, but giue me leaue to apply) that giue the goods of Sion and the Church, to those onely of their owne bloud: as if the possession of the Lord went by descent, and not desert. Visitabit Deus, God, the great Bishop of the whole earth, will visite for these things. So much of the Maiestie of the iudge, & iudge­ment; now of the miserie, and state of those [Page 44] that must stand in iudgement: and that shall be so great, that they shall not know, what to doe, or say. First, Quid faciam, what shall I doe?

1 This part of my speech must be reall, and personall: Reall, and then what will those doe that make the world, and the things of the world their stay,S. Bernard. when the world, Et res, & re­culae mundi, and all the wealth and substance of the world must passe away? What will the penny-father, and couetous person doe, who, like the Serpent,Gen. is euer licking vp the dust of the earth, and scraping vp gold and siluer, that red, S. Bernard. and white earth, when siluer and gold, and earth shall be no more? What will the proud ones doe, that fold themselues in silkes, and loade themselues with pearles, S. Hiero. and iewels, when iewels and pearles shall be no more? what will the wantons doe that crowne themselues with buds of Roses,Prou. when there shall be no budde nor Rose? What will the bibber doe that wa­sheth away his soule in Wine, when there shall bee nor Vine, nor grape? How will the magnificent and stately builder doe, when building and state shall fall to the ground? What will the grand purchaser doe, that layes house to house, and land to land, when he shall see nor house, nor land? In a word, what will any worldling doe, when the world it selfe must be vndone? when there shall be no earth [Page 45] to beare vs, no skie to please vs, no fountaines to coole vs, no shades to hide vs, no sunne to warme and light vs, no foule or fish, no hearb or beast, for to feede vs; no houses to receiue vs, no Temples or Churches to instruct vs: in this Chaos and confusion of all things, what ioy can there be in any thing?

And now must I turne my topicke place, a rebus ad personas, from beeing a Reall to be personall. First therefore (you graue and re­uerend Iudges,) suffer, not me, for who am I, or what is the house of my father, that I should speake before you? yet suffer my text to speake, not onely to your eares, but to your hearts.

Then (graue and reuerend Iudges,) you that are the fortresses of this Land for securitie; the walles of this land for strength, the flowers of this land for fairenes: Et faui, and the hunny-combes of this land for sweetnes, if you that bee called gods, iudge against God: if you iudge not as God doth with tranquillitie; Wisedome. but as the wicked iudge did, for importunitie: if you, that be, (as Hugo speakes) homines primi, Hugo the first and chiefest men, iudge not your selues first, before you iudge other men: if in iudge­ment, you beate downe,S. August. aegrotum potius quam morbum, rather the offender then the offence: if you be, iudices quasi ius dicentes, Cyprian rather spea­kers then dooers of the Law: if you that sit to [Page 46] condemne sinne, haue either the same, or a greater sinne: if you bee pricers, non iuris sed muneris, not of the cause but of the coine: if you iudge for fauour, or feare, or faction, or af­fection; if you delay, or hasten; inuert, or per­uert iudgement, here is a Quid facietis for you, what will you doe, when God shall call you to iudgement, and shall visite, as it is in the Pro­phet Osee, Osee. the Iudges and their wayes?

And you the Right Honorable Lord Ma­ior of this honored and admired Citie, you that are the head the eye, the hand, and heart of this great bodie; if you cut not off the head of sinne; if you strike it not euen to the heart; if your eye spare, and will not finde offenders; or your hand be shortned and will not reach them: if you put not to death those dedly sinnes, which haue too much life in this your Citie: if you be not a father to the Orphane; a righter of the Widdow and the Poore: if you that beare the name, and office, and sword of God, faint in your office, and protect not with Gods sword the Name of God: if you doe not iustifie, and condemne, those good, and bad, that appeare before you, here is a Quid facies for you, what will you doe, when you shall appeare before the Lord?

And you learned Counsellers of the Law, you that are factors for the truth, and the a­gents and instruments of peace, if you hinder, [Page 47] as it is in Zacharie, Zacha. the iudgement of peace and truth: if you kindle debate, and bee as the seeds-men of sedition:Plutar. if like Camels you trou­ble the water, that you your selues may drink the better: if your Counsels, infringe Gods precepts: if you come sometime with querkes and trickes of Law, sometime with color and pretext of conscience, but to subuert both law and conscience: if you that should plead for right and iustice, make iustice a stranger in hir owne Court, here is a Quid facietis for you, what will you doe when you are called to that heauenly Court? Take heed, periculosum est, S. Ambro. saith Saint Ambrose, in foro versari, it is great danger to follow Courts: for Iudas, in foro, in a Law-Court sold Christ; and Simon Magus, in foro, in a Law-Court would haue bought the holy Ghost.

You the holy Ministers of the holiest, you that bee the Angels and Embassadors of GOD: the seruants of the Lord, and the tongue of the LORD vnto his seruants; if you haue before your mouth, non ostium, not a doore which may open and shut, sed obstacu­lum, but a wall which will neuer open; if you affect to ouersee Christs flocke, not as it is, opus bonum, a good worke,1. Tim. 3. but as it may gaine you, opes & bona, goods and wealth: if you take the houses of the Lord in possessi­on, and take no care to build vp the Lords [Page 48] house: if you say and doe not: if you bee not like cockes, S. Greg. first beating downe sinne in your selues, and then crowing out against the sinne of others: if you that be, sal terrae, the salt of the earth, loose your sauour: if you that bee sol mundi, the light of the world, giue no light, here is a Quid facietis for you, what will you doe, when God shall bring euery thing to light?

Eccl.You Gentles, and Gallants of this age, that be in the very pride and glorie of your time, and the May and Floure of your youth, if you remember not, that remember thy crea­tor in the dayes of thy youth, but make your selues vassals to any, euen the fayrest crea­ture: if you seeke for, not the true glorie of GOD, but the vaine glorie of this vainest world: if you desire rather a gorgeous & rich back, then with true valour, and vertue, to en­rich your minde: if you bee hot and feruent spirits, and yet more forward for the flesh, then for the spirit, here is a Quid facietis for you, what will you doe, when you shall bee stripped of flesh and spirit?

You beauteous Ladies; and faire matrons, and damzels of this Honorable Citie, you that are the obiect of euery eye, and perhaps the desire of many hearts: if you come hither clothed like Salomon in his royaltie, rather to draw the eyes, and chaine the hearts of others [Page 49] vnto you, then to lift vp your owne eyes and hearts vnto your God: if you take more care to powder the haire, and plaister the face, then to seeke God and his face; if you make the hayre of ded men and women to liue a­gaine vpon your heads: if you make,Esay as the Prophet speakes, a tinckling with your feet, and thinke the ground too base for you to goe on: if any of you be, (as I hope none is) either like Semiramis lasciuious, or like Cleopatra proud and ambitious: if like Thamar you sit in the way for to ensnare, or like Dalila you offer a bo­some but to murther: if like Herodias you loue to daunce, and striue, rather to keepe measure in your footing, then your liuing: if you more regard a glittering, and garish suite, then a gracious, and godly soule: if you more weigh a light feather, then the Law of your heauen­ly Father, here is a Quid facietis for you, what will you doe when you shall be excluded from God your Father? And if, as ashamed of Gods image, and scorning that forme and face which hee hath lent you, you picture and paint out to your selues annointed faces; suffer, not mee, but Saint Ambrose to tell you,S. Ambrose. that this daw­bing and parjetting of the face, is in some res­pect wurse then adulterie it selfe: For in that foule act, persona vitiatur, onely the person is polluted; but in this vngodly and vnnaturall painting, natura laeditur, euen nature her selfe is [Page 50] more then too much corrupted.

To summe vp all in a word: you who like Absalon stand faire, yet bee ambitious: you who like Achab be rich and yet be couetous: you that like Achitophel be wise and yet maliti­ous. You Marchants that venter more for gold, then for God: you artizans in generall, that loue more the gaining of a noble, or a crowne, then you feare the losse of a heauenly and eter­nall crowne, here is a Quid facietis for you all, what will you doe, when you shall stand before the iudge of all?

2 Secondly, we shall not know what to an­swere: Quid respondebo? What shall I answere? It is in the singular, what shall I answer, to shew that God will single out, and set apart euerie one to answere for himselfe. In this iudgement we cannot answere by a proxie, a deputie, a sollicitor, or atturney; nay the Kings of the earth, cannot send their Vice-royes, and Le­gates, to answere for them, before the King of Heauen. For God will send out his atach­ment, and as it were his sub poenâ, to make euery one appeare, either to paine, or rest, in his owne person. Let vs then follow that coun­sell which Moses gaue vnto the Hebrew, at­tende tibi, looke vnto thy selfe, since euerie man must answere for himselfe. Let vs remem­ber that,S. Matth. 9. of Christ in the Gospel, vade in do­mum tuam, goe into thy owne house: the house [Page 51] of thy familie; the house of thy bodie; the house of thy soule; and the house of thy con­science which is kept within thy soule; for eue­rie man must answere, for the order, or disor­der of his owne house. And, domus tua, Musso. ipse tu, man himselfe is the house of man. There­fore if the head of this house rebell, it must submit: if the eyes, those windowes of this house be vaine, they must be shut: if the sen­ses, those doores and gates of this house bee loose, they must be kept: if the flesh, the wall of this house be weake, it must, by being more weakned in the outward man, bee made stron­ger to Christ, who is God and Man. And if any part of this house bee out of order, wee must labour to order it, and that well, and in euery part.Esay 38. Else when it shall bee said to thee, as it was to Ezekias, thou shalt die, what wilt thou answere to the liuing God, in that iudgement which must follow after death?

What will the hypocrite answere then, who doth now couer, Luciferum suum, his pride vnder the mantle of humilitie, when after death hee shall haue no part in Christ, that humbled himselfe vnto the death? what will the blasphemer answere then, who now comes too neere vnto God with his lips, and sweares him ouer, from head to foot, part after part, when in the sweet mercies of his God, [Page 52] hee cannot haue the least part? What will the furious spirits, and vnmanly manhood answere then, who now count it their greatest grace, to mangle and murther a man, for a lie, or a lesse disgrace, and cannot stay till they wash their hands in bloud, when they shall bee bard the benefit and blessing of Christ, and his most precious bloud?

In this strict Visitation of the Lord, the malitious cannot answere, wee are men, and cannot forgiue our enemies: for they shall see Saint Steuen a man,Acts not onely pardoning, but praying for his enemies. In this visitation the deuouring gluttons, who doe nothing but feast, and ryot, cannot say wee were men and could not fast: for they shall see Iohn Baptist a man,S. Hierome. whose life was a perpetuall fast. What then shall wee answere? Wilt thou say with Saint Paul, nihil sum conscius, I know nothing against my selfe: alas thou canst not. For as Saint Iames speakes,S. Iames. in many things we offend all: yet if thou couldst, this will not acquit thee, this will not iustifie. Better were it with the Publicane to stand farre off, S. Luke. as knowing thy filthinesse: to looke on the ground, as confessing thy vnworthinesse; to knocke thy brest, as shewing thy pensiuenes; to cry, miserere, Lord haue mercie, as being guiltie: and that, on me a sinner, as beeing laden with miserie. Or wilt thou answere with Saint Peter. Non noui homi­nem, [Page 53] I know not the man; when euer did I see Christ hungry, and did not feede him? or na­ked, and did not cloth him? alas good Christi­ans, Christ himselfe will reply thus against this answere; inasmuch as you haue not fedde the hungry Christian, you haue not fed Christ [...] in that you haue not clothed the naked Chri­stian, you haue not clothed me: as then in him you haue not knowne me, so now, Nescio vos, I know you not, you shall not raigne with me? And here, like him in the Gospel, that wanted his wedding garment, wee must needes stand speechlesse: and no maruell. For if we be not able to answere sicknes, when it speakes vnto vs, how then shall wee answere, saluti nostrae, that iudge, that Iesus, who is the Lord both of sicknes and health? If wee bee not able to an­swere death, when it shall question, and arrest vs, how then shall we answere the God both of life and death?

But what? wilt thou flie from answere to pe­tition? and come with a supplicat to the iudge? Why in this dreadfull iudgement, and day of miserie, there is no place left for mer­cie: yet doth a good father, bring in thus, a sinner, and his iudge; sweet Sauiour (saith the sinner) remember now thy bitter passion: true (saith the iudge) but yet now there is nor time, nor place for cōpassion: yet Iesus, let me come vnto thee: no, for in thy life thou saidst, [Page 54] Depart thou maist not come neere vnto mee. Yet Iesus hast thou but one blessing, giue me a blessing before I part: no, thou art vnder the curse of the Law, and therefore goe from mee you cursed. Yet since wee are accursed, let vs feele, no other punishment, then thy curses: Yes, as you haue burnt with the fire of lust, so goe you cursed into the fire: ah, but who is able to endure this flame: Let it not sweet Ie­sus continue long: yes, as you would haue sin­ned for euer, so shall this fire last for euer, Go into euerlasting fire. Yet giue vs some com­fortable mates and fellowes, which may re­fresh vs in this flame: no, but as you were of your father the Diuell, so goe into that flame, which was prepared for the Diuell.

What now shall a soule thus surprized doe? whither shall it flye? from Christ vnto Christ: from Christ as hee will bee our iudge, vnto Christ as hee is yet our Iesus. It is a terme a­mong those that be graduates in the schoole, Respondebit pro me Aristoteles, that Aristotle, the eye of nature, and heart of Philosophie, shall answere for them: so wee that are blanke and dumbe of our selues, haue no other an­chor of hope but this, Respondebit pro nobis Ie­sus, that Iesus our blessed Sauior will intercede, and mediate for vs. And sweete Iesus let thy wisedome answere for our folly: thy humilitie for our pride: thy meeknes for our cruelty: thy [Page 55] righteousnes for our sinne: Thou, O Iesus, art a lambe without any spot, answere thou for vs, who like Iacobs Lambes are full of spots. And if God blessed Laban for Iacobs sake, much more will hee giue vs a blessing for Iesus sake:Gen. Ostende patri latus & vulnera, Present, sweet Iesus, to thy Father, thy side,S. Bernard. that as thy side was opened, so his heart may be open vnto vs: present also thy bleeding wounds, that those wounds may heale vs, from those sinnes, that like the bloud of Abel cry against vs. So I come to speake in a word, of the last word of my text, answere him.

3 We are but, vermiculi, little wormes that crawle and creepe on the face of the earth, and what can we answere him, who is Lord both of heauen & earth? We are but, vernaculae, S. Bernard. the vassals and slaues of sinne, and what can wee answere him, who in heauen, earth, and hell: angels, men, and diuels, hath punished, and will punish sin? The heauens melt, the moun­taines smoke, the earth quakes, and the Che­rubins couer their faces from him, and the foure and twenty Elders cast downe their crownes before him, Et quid coenum coelo, O then how shall we euer be able to answere him? He is goodnes it selfe, and we are euill: hee is wisedome it selfe, and wee are foolish: hee is powre it selfe, and wee are weake: non sumus respondendo, we cannot be able to answere him. [Page 56] For if that readie Philosopher were daunted and silenced at the sight of Hannibal, Plut. and his manly presence:Dan. if the Prophet Daniel were dismaied at the view of an Angell: how will the approch of him, who is the God both of Angell and Man, daunt, and dismay vs? When Christ came into the world to saue his people, yet then those that came to take him, fell down before him: how then will hee, as it were, fell and hew downe sinners, when he shall come to iudge his people? In the Reuelation, dilectus iudicis, Iohn the Disciple whom Iesus loued, fell on his face,Reuel. visione iudicis, when hee saw his iudge but in a vision: how great then will be the fall of those that loue not God, when they shall both see, and feele him, in his most rigorous and seuerest action?Cyprian. Saint Cyprian is said so much to feare, diem iudicii, the day of iudgement, that he cleane forgate, diem Mar­tirii, the day of his martyrdome and earthly torment: and no maruell neither, for, timor mortis, nihil ad timorem iudicis, the feare of a temporall death, is nothing to the feare of him, that hath power of eternall life and death. And if they be in such a maze, ad quos iudex, vn­to whom, and for whose glorie the iudge shall come: how then will they stand amazed, contra quos iudex, against whom, and for whose eter­nall shame, and paine the iudge shall come?

But because my houres are spent, and I am [Page 57] not as Iosua was, able to stay the Sunne, I will but perore of the Iudgement in a word, and so commit you to him that must bee our iudge, euen our God. You haue heard, first, of the day, & time of iudgment, how though some would haue it in the day, some in the night, some at midnight, some in one, some in another, watch of the night, yet latet dies & hora, that day and houre is not knowne, that wee might expect it euery houre both of day and night.

Secondly, you heard that God should iudge; and then, since many were called Gods, that, Deus vniuersi, the GOD of the whole world should iudge the world: and thirdly, that since in this one God there were three persons that God the Father had committed the iudgment to his Sonne, the second person: and fourth­ly, since in this second person, there were two natures, a diuine, a humane nature, you heard, that hee should iudge humanum genus, S. August. all man­kinde in his humanitie: otherwise periret hu­manum genus, si iudex non esset humanus, all men of euery kinde, might perish, if the iudge should not be humane and kinde.

Thirdly, you heard of the comming of this iudge; and therein two things: First, the cer­taintie of his comming; and that in respect of GOD, in respect of Man, in respect of Christ, who is God and Man. Secondly the vicinitie of his comming, non inslat sed extat iudicium, [Page 58] the iudgement is not neere, but euen so neere, that now is the iudgement of this world.

Fourthly, you heard of the iudgement it selfe; and there first the multiplicitie of iudge­ment; secondly, the qualitie of this iudgement; thirdly, the forerunners; and lastly, the followers of this iudgement.

Lastly, in the iudgement, you heard of the order by which God would proceed; it was, quaerendo, visitando, he will demaund, aske, and visite; and there I obserued two things, Quid, what hee would demaund; Et quos, and who they were that he would visite.

In those that must bee iudged, I noted three things; First they shall not know what to doe: secondly they shal not know what to answere: and thirdly, since they haue sinned against him that must bee their iudge, they shall not know what to answere him: For the summes of our sinnes are great, and we cannot crosse or cancell the hand-writing which is against vs; and therfore, blessed Iesus, naile this hand-writing vnto thy crosse; and the more thou seest our miseries to be, so much the more remember that we need thy great mercie. It was thy pleasure to weepe ouer Lazarus: and sweet Iesus, let it please thee, to giue vnto vs, gratiam lacrimarum, true peni­tentiall teares, to wash our sores, that are poore Lazares ouer-spred with sinne. Vnto Lazarus thou saidest, veni foras, Lazarus come forth; so [Page 59] vouchsafe, deere Iesus, to say to vs, and call vs forth of that sinne, wherein wee lye stinking, like rottennes, corruption, and the graue. Da­uid professed, that he was, mundus a sanguine, free and cleare from the bloud of Abner: but, gracious Iesus, let vs be, mundi per sanguinem, clensed & purged by thy most precious bloud.S August. For we haue no other refuge, but to flie, ab ira­to deo, ad placatum, Reuel. from Christ as hee shall bee our iudge to Christ as he is yet our Iesus: Veni domine Iesu, Come Lord Iesus; come quickly: Yet come, not as a rigorous iudge to condemn vs: but come as a Sauiour and a Iesus to re­lease vs. Now to this Iesus, the Sonne of God, with the Father and the holy Ghost, bee ascribed all honour, power, praise, and Maiestie, now and for euer.

Amen.