SOME there are that understand these words of the first Coming of Christ in the Flesh, which though it was a Day of Salvation to God's People, yet to others it was terrible. But I shall treat of them at present as they relate to the day of Judg­ment. And if we consult the answer which the Angel gave to Esdras, enquiring of him about the day of Judgment, we shall find this to be part of it; And there shall Fires break forth in many places. I hope then I need not Apologize for my self, because I have made choice of this subject, as if a Word not in Season.

Now the two Columns on which I intend to build the Structure of my ensuing discourse, are only the two Epi­thetes here in the Text given by the Holy Ghost to the Day of the Lord; of which I shall speak first severally, and then jointly in the Application.

[Page 2] The day of the Lord is here stiled, Dies magnus, the Great day, and that not without great reason: For then there shall be such a Convention, such a huge meeting as never was before that day, and never will be after it.

For 1. Christ shall come from Heaven with Power and great Glory, as he himself expresseth it, Luke 21. 27. Saint Paul says as much, Titus 2. ver. 13. Looking for that blessed hope, and the glorious appearing of the great God, and our Sa­viour Jesus Christ. The first coming of Christ was in Hu­mility. The second time he shall come as the Great God with Power, and great Glory. All things shall be subject unto him. He shall have his feet upon the neck of all Rule, of all Authority, and of all Power: And the knees of all things in Heaven, in Earth, and under the Earth shall bow down to him: and every Tongue confess him to be the Lord, to the Glory of God the Father, as Saint Paul hath it, Phil. 2 11.

2. All the Angels shall be present, attending like so many Courtiers upon him; for he himself hath said it, The Son of man shall come in his Glory, and all the Holy Angels with him, Mat. 25. He shall not leave one behind him in Hea­ven. The vast Regions of the Air that that multitude must needs fill! Oh what a brave, glorious, great day must that needs be, when so many glorious Suns shall shine in the Firmament, and among, and above them all Christ the Sun of Righteousness! Some think the Angels at that day will bear him aloft with their natural strength as on their shoulders, that his Glory and Power might be the more vi­sible to the greater terrour of the wicked.

3. All the Elect will be present with him in glorious glo­rified Bodies, as his Children, and dearest Friends, accord­ing to that Prophecy of Enoch, mentioned by Saint Jude, Behold the Lord comes with ten thousand of his Saints: that is, with an innumerable company, who together with Christ shall judge the world.

[Page 3] 4. Before him on that day shall be gathered all Nations, Mat. 25. 32. even as many as ever were born into the world from the beginning to the end of it: Then shall Adam see all his off-spring at once, none shall be exempted from ap­pearing at this general Assizes; neither shall any appear by Proxy, but every one in person; neither shall men only, but all the Legions of the Devils, how many soever they be, they shall then appear, and that (as it is thought) in a corporeal shape to be seen. Lord! what a great, wonder­ful, stupendious sight must that needs be, to see the whole Hemisphere above embroidered with Saints and Angels reaching unto Heaven; and beneath an innumerable mul­titude of the Damned covering the face of the Earth far and near, howling, and weeping, and sighing: but in the midst of these two vast Bodies wonderfully rallied together, Christ the Judge. Ought not this to be stiled a Great day? who ever saw at any time such a Convention, such a Meeting, such an Assembly? Great, confessedly great will this day of Jesreel be, that is, of the Seed of God; for Christ shall then separate his Seed from the Seed of the Devil. As in an Amphitheatre, such as the Romans had, innumerable spe­ctators sate round about it above, and below on the floor were the poor persons condemned to be devoured by Beasts, ruefully expecting them to be turn'd loose upon them. Thus all the Saints will be as so many spectators plac'd in the Region of the Air above; but on the Earth the Dam­ned that are by the Devils (when the sentence shall be gi­ven) to be drag'd to Hell.

2. It may be call'd the Great Day, because on that day business of the greatest Concernment shall be Transacted. Not about the Affairs of one single Empire, or of some certain Kingdoms, but the work of that day will be about the business of the whole World: About the chiefest and eternal Good, about the chiefest and eternal Evil. At that day it will be known what condition every particular per­son [Page 4] shall abide, and continue in to all Eternity. For then as the Tree falls, whether toward the South, or toward the North, in the place where the Tree falls there it shall be, Eccles. 11. 3. which denotes an Eternity of Bliss or Tor­ment.

3. It may be call'd the Great Day, because that day will comprehend the past days of all Ages: it will be as a Re­capitulation of all days, from the first day that ever dawn'd; and on it, as in the last Scene of a Comedy, whatsoever at any time was acted on the Stage of the World, shall then be exhibited to view.

1. For all the actions of mortals shall be laid open, and survey'd as at one view. There is not an idle word, but we shall give an account of it, Mat. 12. 36. Saint Paul goes somewhat farther then this, Rom. 2. 16. In that day God shall judge, [...]. The secrets of mens hearts.

2. Those Thoughts, Words, and Actions shall be exami­ned by Christ—

as one hath it: Who will suffer no Person, or Thing to es­cape his most exact Scrutiny.

3. Every one shall be rewarded by Christ according to what he hath acted in the Flesh. Then the Lord will o­pen his Treasures both of Rewards and Punishments, which he heaped up together till that day, then to be distributed; hence is that, Deut. 32. 32. Is not this laid up in store with me, and sealed up among my Treasures? A Treasure, you know, is a great heap, or heaps of Money that hath been a great while a gathering; and such are the actions of men, and the deserts of them lockt up from the beginning of the world in the mind and memory of Al­mighty God, which he will open on that day, and reward every one according to his doings. Saint Peter calls this [Page 5] day the day of Restitution of all things, saying, that the Hea­ven must receive Christ, [...], till the times of Restitution of all things, Acts 3. 21. meaning, he shall then restore whatsoever any committed to him, or deposited as in his hand. The Apostle using that Expres­sion, minds me of Razis, of whom we may read in the 2. Book of Machabees, Chap. 14. who that he might ani­mate and encourage the Jews to stand for their Laws, fatally wounded himself being over-zealous, rather then he would give himself into the hands of wicked men; so when his blood was utterly gone, saith the History, he took out his own Bowels with his hands, and threw them upon the Peo­ple, calling upon the Lord of Life and Spirit, that he would restore them again unto him, viz. at the last and Great Day, and so he dyed. The same reason holds for evil actions, witness that expression of Saint Paul, Rom. 2. 5. But after thy hardness and impenitent heart, treasurest up unto thy self wrath against the day of wrath. Now in treasuring, as one hath well observed, there is, 1. A lay­ing in. 2. A lying hid. 3. A bringing out again, as there is occasion. Thus wicked profligate persons, while by following of their Lusts they think they do somewhat to the furthering of their happiness, they shall in the end find, pro Thesauro Carbones, instead of other Treasure, hot burn­ing coals. And if it will be thus, what is there hid that shall not be made manifest, that it may have its reward? The Adulterer who waits for the twilight, and to whom the morning is as the shadow of death, shall in that day be manifest at Noontide to the view of Men and Angels; and if his being known here puts him in the terror of the sha­dow of death; how terrible shall that day be to him, when what he hath done in secret shall be proclaimed on the house top!

4. It merits to be call'd the Great Day, because it will be a day of the gretest combat and conquest. For behold, saith [Page 6] the Lord, by the Prophet Joel, In those days, and at that time, I will gather all Nations, and will bring them down into the valley of Jehosaphat, and will plead with them there, Joel 3. 2. Behold here the Warriour, and the Triumphant Conquerour. But with what Weapons will he wage War? I answer, with no other then the two edg'd Sword of the Word of his mouth, with which he will object against the wicked their abominable ingratitude; so that they shall have nothing to say for themselves, no more then he in the Gospel who had not on his wedding garment; 'tis said of him, he was speechless, Mat. 22. Suppose we Christ sitting in the Air near Jerusalem judging the world there where himself was judged, and using this, or the like language.

Behold me sitting over against that place where first I la­bour'd, and began my Passion; here, here in Gethsemani I did sweat blood for you; here I was betray'd, and taken, and led like some notorious Thief, or Robber into the City, where I was hurried from one Tribunal to another, scourg'd, buffeted, abused, and at length unjustly con­demn'd; after that, lugging my Cross, I came to Mount Cal­vary, where I was Crucified for you. Behold the very place where hanging between Heaven and Earth, (being plac'd between two Thieves) I offer'd my self a Sacrifice for you to the Father: you Pilat can witness this, and you He­rod, Caiphas, Annas, Judas, and ye ô Jews that opened thus like a pack of Blood-hounds upon me, Away with him, away with him, he is not worthy to live; Cruci­fie him, Crucifie him: Heaven and Earth can witness as much, for the Heaven that was darkened▪ all the face of it, and the Earth opened, and did cleave asunder the most rocky part of it: Nay, these very scars that your eyes see in my body testifie no less: After this being risen from the dead, I ascended up into Heaven from this very Mount of Olives, in the publick view of my Apostles and many other Disciples, to shew that I came down from Heaven for [Page 7] your Salvation, and my Embassy being done was to return to my Father. The Angels at my Ascension were heard to say, that I should so come in like manner as you saw me go into Heaven; and I my self spake of it to Caiphas, the chief Priests, and the Jews, using this very Language; Ye shall see the Son of man sitting on the right hand of Power, and coming in the Clouds of Heaven: why then did ye not credit so great, and so good Testimony? Behold now my condition is chang'd with yours, ye sate once as Judges, and I was the Prisoner at the Bar, now ye are the Malefa­ctors, and I am the Judge; see my hands and my feet, that it is I my self; see the very holes that ye dig'd with your in­struments of cruelty in this Body of mine. These like so many mouths cry out against you, these accuse and condemn you▪ go ye unworthy Wretches, ye Christ-Killers, get ye packing into unquenchable fire; and ye ô Infidels, Turks, and profligate Christians, who know these things, or might have known them, but ye have neglected, but ye have de­spised, and contemned whatsoever I did, and suffer'd; ye ac­counted the Blood of the Covenant an unholy thing, ye chose rather to follow the dictates of your own Lusts then of my Law: ye preferr'd Riches, and sensual Pleasures, and mo­mentary Preferments, before Eternal Salvation promis'd by me; ye made a mock of me when I threatned Eternal Tor­ments: now ye see him whom ye have despised, now ye find my words to be more then wind; my Threatnings not to be vain, but true; my Promises not to be Chimera's, but realities; now ye experience your Delights and Dignities, and sinful Pleasures ye so much magnified, to be vain and fallacious: now ye see how foolish, and sottish, and senseless ye have been in your love; ye now lament and bewail with a passionate wringing of your hands, and beating of your breasts, but too late, and therefore all in vain. Go there­fore ye Wicked, go ye Ingrateful, go ye Infidels, go ye Cur­sed into everlasting Fire prepared for the Devil and his An­gels; [Page 8] but for you my Apostles, who saw me in this place Condemn'd, Scourg'd, Crucifi'd, Murther'd, and yet be­liev'd in me, followed me throw the same Red Sea of Blood; and you Apostolical, and Religious Persons, who did con­temn the world, and were not asham'd of my Cross, es­pous'd my Poverty and Humility, propagating my Doctrine and Faith throughout the whole world: and as for you, O ye Faithful ones, who did believe in me your Redeemer, hope in me, love, worship, and obey me, leading a life worthy of me, a sober, righteous, and a godly life, who did look for that blessed hope, and this my second coming to judgment; Come ye, come ye my Elect, come ye blessed of my Father, inherit the Kingdom prepared for you, from the Foundation of the world. That then must needs be a Great Day that determines business of such great Concern­ment.

5. It may be stil'd the Great Day, because that day will put an end to the world, will put a period to time, to trou­bles, and all kind of impieties, and to all the labours and endeavours of men. Thus those days among the Romans were call'd Great Days, which did put an end to great and grievous Troubles: Alexander got the Appellation of Great in that he won strong holds, and slew the Kings of the Earth, so that the whole world stood in awe of him, it was hush and silent, but that silence continued not long, but till his death, which soon came to pass. But Christ the King of Kings in that Great Day, when he hath destroy'd all the wicked, he shall impose a perpetual and universal silence on the whole world. Then the Heavens shall be silent because their motion shall cease, and so consequently the vicissitude of day and night, winter and summer must cease too: The motion of the Elements shall cease, and so consequently Clouds, Winds, Rain, Hail, Tempests, and Earthquakes will be no more: All Creatures will be silent, because there will be none to make any disturbance: All the Studies, [Page 9] Arts, Disciplines, Desires, Quarrels, and Contentions of Men will be silent, because all things that were in motion will obtain their period; methinks our Saviour pointed at this (as it were) with his finger; for when he read that place in the Prophet Isaiah, which runs thus, The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, &c. to Preach the acceptable year of the Lord; Et Diem retributionis, and the Day of Retribu­tion, 'tis said, he clos'd the Book, Luke 4. 18. hinting thus much to us, that in that Great Day of Restitution, or Retri­bution, all things shall have an end, and the Heavens be roll'd up like a Book or Scroll once more. This Day of the Lord it may be stil'd the Great Day, because the be­ginning of that Great Day call'd Eternity: A Type of which Day we may read of in the Book of Josuah, Chap. 10. when Josuah that he might pursue his Enemies to purpose, caus'd the Sun to stand still: The Sun and Moon stood still the space of one whole day, so that one day was as long as two, saith the Son of Syrach; there was no day like that, before it or after it, saith the Holy Ghost, Josuah 10. 14. Thus when Christ shall encounter his Enemies, he will make the Sun and Moon to stand still till he hath reveng'd him­self upon them: But because that vengeance is to be Eter­nal, the Day must be Eternal too: I may adde, as in the Day of Josuah's victory one part of the Heaven was always bright, and the other dark; thus in that Day it will be eternally light to the Elect, but as long darkness with the Damned: What shall we think those People thought in the time of Josuah, who in the opposite part of the Heavens had so long night, with what a deal of perplexity did they expect day? and if so, what will an Eternal night be? but if to an Eternal Night be added an Eternal Prison, ever­lasting Hunger, and Thirst, a never-dying Worm, an Eternal Stink, an Eternal Horrour, Eternal Weeping, and Wailing, an Eternal Fire, and whatever misery the mind of man is able to think of: Qualis illa nox erit! Tell me, [Page 10] if you are able, what a Night that will be? Good reason then there is that this Day of the Lord spoken of here in my Text should be styl'd Dies Magnus, the Great Day.

That which remains for me to shew you, is, in what re­spect it will be Terrible, or Dreadful. Behold I will send you Elijah the Prophet, before the Coming of the Great and Dreadful Day of the Lord.

Certainly, Beloved, the Dreadfulness of that Day will consist chiefly in the Judge: As,

1. In his Dreadful coming to Judgment, which Saint John therefore ushers in with an Ecce, Rev. 1. 7. Behold he comes with Clouds, and every eye shall see him: The Royal Chariot then of this Judge will be a Cloud: But what kind of Cloud think you? such a one as was that, which de­fended the Israelites from extremity of heat in the day, and gave them light by night? Or like that little Cloud in the days of Elias, no bigger at first then a mans hand, which increasing brought rain to the parched Earth? cer­tainly no: The Clouds that are for this service will not be such as our eyes may often behold, coasting about the Re­gions of the Air as they are driven by the Winds, and em­ploying themselves to the refreshment of the Earth; but stormy tempestuous Clouds breathing Fire, and casting forth hot Thunder-bolts: hence is that, Psalm 50. 3. Our God shall come, and shall not keep silence, a Fire shall devour before him, and it shall be very tempestuous round about him: Not before him only, but, which is very observable, round about him, lest the wicked should hope to escape by creep­ing behind him. That was a terrible Tempest I read of that befel Alexander the Great, and his Army marching into the Country of Gabiza, when by reason of continual Thundring, and Lightning with Hail-Stones, and Light-Bolts, the Army was dis-ranked, so that they wandred [Page 11] many ways: but alas that was nothing to the rout that will be at the coming of this Judge; Saint Paul in his first Epistle to the Thessalonians, Chap. 1. 8. he says that he will come in flaming fire, taking vengeance on them that know not God; 'tis true, our Saviour hath appeared comfor­tably to his, though over-shadow'd with a Cloud, as at his Transfiguration; but when he comes in a warlike man­ner against his Enemies, as he will do then, his appearance must needs be Dreadful.

2. This Dreadfulness will consist in his being known, Revelations 1. ver. 13. we may read of one in the midst of the seven Golden Candlesticks like to the Son of man, which shews that Christ the Judge of the world will be so manifest as to be acknowledg'd: Then there shall be no contest about him, as whether he be Elias, or Jeremi­as, or the Baptist; such questions as these shall then be put out of question. Neither shall he come obscurely, as when he came first in the flesh: But why is he said to be like the Son of man only, and is not call'd the Son of man, as he was call'd when he liv'd on Earth? because, saith one, Sicut in Christo aliquando Divinitatis suae glo­riam occultabai Humanitas, &c. As the Humanity once obscur'd in Christ the Glory of his Divinity, so now the meanness of his Humanity will seem to be swallow'd up of the Glory of his Majesty; as then at first he appear'd so meanly, that little or nothing of his Divinity externally shew'd it self; so at his coming to Judgment he will ap­pear so splendent, and glorious, that he will be believed by all to be the Son of God. Suffer me here a little to expostulate; If powerful Herod fear'd him lying in the Manger, will he not be much more fear'd sitting upon his Throne? If the Buyers and Sellers were drove out of the Temple by him having a scourge of small cords only in his hand, who shall stand before him punishing to death [Page 12] with Scorpions? If he so stun'd a whole Troop of his Enemies in the Garden at the speaking of one word, that they fell backward, what Terror will it be to hear him pronounce the last Sentence of Damnation? What amazement and shame will take hold of them who either believ'd him not to be God, or did not believe in him a­right, or honour'd him not with a good life, who yet confess'd him to be God with their lips? Then Herod will look upon him with astonishment as the wisest, whom when on Earth he did cause to be gorgeously attir'd like a fool, on purpose to laugh at him, and deride him. Then Caiphas will behold him coming in the Clouds of Heaven, as he himself told him to his head, whom therefore he did pronounce a Blasphemer. Then will Pilate see him whom he expos'd to the People to be seen, nay, deliver'd up to their brutish will. Then will the Jews know whether he was their King whom they deny'd; and then shall all wick­ed wretches, who said in the pride of their hearts, Nolumus hunc regnare, we will not have this Christ to Reign over us, see him Reigning over them, and Arraigning them both as King and Judge.

3. In the Authority, and Power he shall be invested with, shadow'd forth by the Garment he was cloath'd with, which reach'd down to his feet, Rev. 1. 13. Kings, saith the Pro­verb, have long hands, but they are not so long, but some sometimes escape unpunish'd in some blind places of their Kingdoms. From this Judge there is no flinching; every Transgression, and Transgressor from him shall receive a just recompence of reward; even those Corruptions that are most inward, and lye up in the heart of the Country, as it were; those Pollutions, not of flesh only (that is, world­ly lusts, and gross evils) but of spirit also, more spiritual lusts come within his cognizance: He eyes not only the act but the intention.

[Page 13] 4. The Dreadfulness of this Day of the Lord consists in the rigorousness of the Judge. 'Tis true, he is said to be girt about the paps with a golden girdle, but this denotes severity as well as mercy: The pardoning of the Thief on the Cross; the long waiting for the Conversion of the Jews, and the patience of his which we daily ex­ercise, shews that he hath paps; But a time will come, I mean, the Day of Judgment, when he will shut up his bosome, and girt it close about with a girdle of gold, to shew the justice of such a proceeding, they being de­servedly despis'd then, who despise him now when he offers the milk of Grace, and Mercy unto them.

5. In the Equity of the Judge this Dreadfulness will con­sist; his head, and his hairs, 'tis said, were white like Wool, as white as Snow, Rev. 1. 14 that is, the Decisi­ons, or Conclusions of this Judge will be most pure, most true, and most just. 'Tis confest in the Fifth Chapter of the Canticles, where he is describ'd resembling one that is young; his locks are said to be bushy, and black as a Raven: Because here in this life we experience Christ be­nign, and liberal, for he rewards true repentance with receiving into his favour, gives Heaven for a few Cordial Sighs, or Groans, proceeding from an humble, and a contrite Heart; but the case will be alter'd when he comes to sit in Judgment, then he will appear white as Snow, the Ancient of days, not to be wrought upon to shew favour. Youth (you know) is more liberal then old Age: Ancient people hardly part with any thing, as knowing the difficulty of getting what youth freely gives.

6. His Eyes, 'tis said, were like a Flame of Fire, that is, agile, nimble, and able to penetrate any thing; hence is that of the Apostle, Heb. 4. 13. [...] [Page 14] [...]. There is not any creature that is not manifest in his sight, but all things are naked, [...] and opened unto the eyes of him with whom we have to do: naked for the out-side; dissected, quartered, cleft in the back-bone for the in-side; Erasmus renders it resu­pinata, making it a Metaphor from those that lye with their faces upward, that all Passengers may see who they are. Thou numbrest my steps, saith Job; he did no less then confess that he kept an exact account of every sin of his, of every step that he trod awry, yea, though it were but some wry motion of his mind, so curious and critical he is in his observation; even then when to many he seems to sleep, and to shut his eyes, and to see nothing, he takes notice of every thing. Of this Judge it is said, Psalm 11. His eyes behold, his eye-lids try the Children of men. Where his eye points out his knowledge, and his eye­lids his critical descant. Those Creatures that have fiery eyes can see in the night; and there is nothing but is open to the sight of this Judge. Again, 'Tis said, his Feet were like fine Brass, as if burned in a Furnace: which may signifie the inflexibleness of this Judge, proceeding from an ardent zeal to do justice: while life lasts he is pleased to bend his feet, and bow them going forth in a way of Commiseration, and compassion towards the Sons of Men: but it shall not be so, when he acts the Judge: Then his Legs will be Marble, and his Feet Brass; where he placeth his Foot, there it shall inflexibly stand. This very thing is signified likewise by the two­fold Rod, which the Scripture speaks of; the one is a Rod of Wood, mentioned Psalm 23. which Rod is easily bow'd if any thing of weight be fastned to the end of it; but the other altogether inflexible as being a Rod of Iren, spoken of, Psalm 2. which the Holy Ghost there puts into the hand of this Judge. 'Tis possible that the Rods of earthly Judges may be bow'd if a Purse of Money be [Page 15] ty'd at the end of them; but the Rod of this Judge is not of Wood, but Iron, and so is inflexible.

To proceed; His voice is said to be as the sound of ma­ny Waters, terrible; suppose, as the noyse of a whole Ar­my that is heard far, and near. A River or Stream that is damm'd up for a time, when once it breaks forth, the noyse it makes is inutterable, not to be exprest. No won­der then if the Ocean of the wrath of God streightned, as it were, for so many thousand years, at length breaks forth like the sound of many Waters. I have a long time held my Peace, saith the Lord himself, I have been still, and refrain'd my self, now will I cry like a travelling Wo­man, I will destroy, and devour at once, Isaiah 42. 14. If Job was forc'd to say, Destruction from God was a terrour to me, and by reason of his Highness I could not endure; How will the Damned be able to bear the weight of that Sentence, Arise ye Dead, and come to Judg­ment? or of that, I was an Hungry, and ye gave me no meat, I was thirsty, and ye gave me no drink, &c. And if these whisperings, as I may say, be so terrible, how terrible and insupportable will the pronouncing of this Sentence be; Ite maledicti, Go, or Depart from me ye cursed into everlasting fire? words which breath nothing but fire, and brimstone, stings, and horrors.

Neither is this all, for 'tis said, out of his mouth went a sharp two edged Sword, which some interpret of the definitive Sentence of the Judge, and its Executi [...]n: citing that passage in Deuteronomy, Chap. 32. 41. If I whet my glittering Sword, and my hand take hold of Judgment, I will make mine Arrows drunk with Blood, and my Sword shall devour flesh, that is, say they, shall consume all the Corruptibility of the flesh, so that the bad as well as the good shall be incapable of dying any [Page 16] more. The Sword was two edg'd, to shew the [...] fulness of this, doubtless, to the Bad, yea, and to the Good also at first, till they have recollected, or [...] thought themselves, terrible it will be to the Bad, because they know themselves guilty, and terrible to the Good too, since they know they cannot stand in judgment without God's Grace, cannot by any strength of their own escape. Thus while the Parent corrects a refractory Child, the more ingenuous, and obedient fear, and tremble, because they think they may commit the same fault for which the other is beaten: As the wicked shall be sure to be condemned, that are on the left hand; so the righte­ous shall hardly be saved, that are on the right hand.

'Tis added by Saint John in his Description of this Judge, That his Countenance was as the Sun in his strength, or in its Zenith. If the righteous shall shine as the Sun in the Kingdom of their Father, as they shall, Mat. 13. 43. how much more bright shall Christ shine, who will appear in the strength of his own glory? Christ was a Sun on Earth, who rose, as I may say, at his Nativity, and set or went down at his Death. But alas, how few minded that Day of his, because that Sun was obscur'd with the Cloud of his Humanity, much more by the darkness of the Jews obstinate blindness. He rose again at his Resurrection, beginning, as it were, ano­ther day; was in the Ascendant, when he Ascended; at the Day of Judgment he will be in the Meridian, and will never set again unless it be to the wicked, from whom he will for ever obscure himself, not vouchsafing them the least ray of the light of his Countenance to all Eternity.

Thus I have shew'd you in what respects the Day of the Lord may stil'd, Dies Magnus, the Great Day, and [Page 17] in what respects the Dreadful Day. As in respect of the Judges dreadful coming to judgment mounted on the Clouds; in respect of his being well known to all to be the same as was judg'd, and unjustly condemn'd; in respect of his Authority, rigour, and strict justice that he will execute, in respect of his piercing eye, his inexorableness; his dreadful denouncing of Sentence; and in respect of his brightness, every Ray of which will be as a Dagger to stab the Reprobates at the very heart.

I come now (according to my promise) to speak joint­ly of these two Epithites by way of Application to our selves of what hath been already said.

1. Then is there a day, that the Lord hath appointed to judge the world in? Then let us take Saint Paul's gol­den Counsel which he gives to his Corinthians. Let us judge nothing before the time, until the Lord come, who will bring to light the hidden things of darkness, and will make manifest the counsels of the heart, 1 Cor. 4. 5. Let no man anticipate this Judge, take his office out of his hand by judging his brethren. Exact know­ledge is requisite in a Judge, the eyes of Man are too dim to judge of the Actions of others, because they can­not see into the heart, their root, or fountain, for God alone is the searcher of the Heart. Hence it is that holy men in this life are oft judg'd to be Hypocrites, when as on the contrary, the glistring Glow-worm of morality in this dark night of the world goes under the the notion of holiness, and integrity. Thus the righteous are condemn'd, and the wicked ustified by those who judge after the light of their eyes, according to appearance, and not righteous judgment.

2. Is this day coming? The thought of this should take off the wheels of their Chariots, make them drive hea­vily, [Page 18] who walk not only, but run in the way of their hearts, and in the sight of their eyes, those windows of wickedness, and loop-holes of lust. Know this whosoever thou art thac takest thy swing in sinful courses, that God will bring the to judgment, either in this life as he did Hophni, and Phineas, Nadah, and Abihu, or infallibly at thy Death's day, which is thy Dooms-day, then God will bring thee per force be thou never so loath to come to it, he will hale thee to his Tribunal be it never so much against the heart, and against the hair of thee.

To contract, will this Day of the Lord which is coming, be a great and terrible or dreadful day in so many respects as you have heard? Then as you tender the safety of your immortal Souls in that Day, soak them before in the consideration of it; and to this end suffer me to furnish you with a few Meditations, which may conduce to the far­ther setting home of what hath been already said on this subject As Almighty God hath shar'd his Pow'r in the creating of things, his Wisdom in the Government of them, his Mercy in the Restauration of faln man; so he hath reserved his justice in punishing of wicked to be de­clared eminently on this Day. 'Tis true, the wicked meet often with some of Gods vengeance here in this life; but that is only as the heat-drops to the swinging shower of Gods wrath, and indignation, which on this day will take hold upon them; 'tis but the brief Preface to the huge Volume of misery that then will attain them. For if he made such variety of things to shew his power, so wonderfully hath qualified them as he hath done to shew his wisdom: If he hath done, and suffer'd so much as he hath done that he might manifest his mercy to all, what think you will he do when he sets himself about it, makes it his business to manifest the greatness of his justice? Or if you will thus, to make this day appear somewhat more dread­ful [Page 19] yet; If when he intended to shew the greatness of his mercy, He the Son of God would be born in a Stable, lye in a Manger, converse with sinners here in the world, and at length for wretched sinners be apprehended, bound, spit upon, buffeted, crown'd with thorns, ridiculously ar­ray'd, bear his Massy Cross on his own shoulders, and at last on it be Crucified between two Malefactors; if, I say, the Son of God deigned to undergo such things to the asto­nishment of Heaven, and Earth, Men, and Angels, and this to declare the greatness of his Goodness, and Mercy: Then conceive, if you can, what he will do when he in­tends fully to declare the greatness of his Justice, kept with much long-suffering and patience till this Great Day. If you would have this farther illustrated, then thus: Saint Luke in his relation of the manner of Saint Paul's Conver­sion, tells us, in the 9. Chap. of the Acts, that after he was dismounted he heard a voice, saying, Saul, Saul, why persecutest thou me? and he said, who art thou Lord? and the Lord said, I am Jesus whom thou persecutest; and he trembling, and astonished, said, Lord what wilt thou have me to do? To apply this to our purpose, If the Apostle was struck with such trembling, and astonishment, when he did but come to the knowledge that it was Jesus whom he persecuted, crying out, Lord what wilt thou have to do? as if he should have said, behold I am rea­dy to believe, ready to obey, ready to dye for thee, ready to suffer any thing at thy hand for what I have ignorantly done: Oh what fear, what trembling, what amazement, what horror, will take hold of the wicked, when they shall see Christ coming in such Glory, and Ma­jesty, and Power, whom they for them embracing of most vile things have neglected, contemned, and despis'd, to speak the best of it; whose Ministers they have scoft at and abused, whose menaces, and threats they have vilified, whose precious Pearls of Promises, and wholsome Admo­nitions [Page 20] they like Swine have trampled on, whose Livery they have worn, but have serv'd themselves. Neither is it to be past by without wonder, that so much trembling, and astonishment should surprize Saint Paul; for what dreadfulness could there be in that voice that courteously call'd him (so vile a person) by his name; brought life to him that persecuted the Lord of life, and Glory; promi­sed Salvation to one that breath'd forth nothing but ma­lice and hatred; kindly received so cruel an Enemy? And yet being not able to bear up under the weight of this voice from Heaven, nor to endure that beam or glympse of the Divine Majesty; 'tis said, he fell on the Earth as if de­stitute of life and spirit: What then will their Torment, and Destraction, be whom the same Majesty of God shall entertain not with smiles, but frowns, not with life, but death and destruction; not with any token of love, but with a drawn sword, and all manner of cruelty? cer­tainly, they that cannot endure him calling them to Repen­tance, will not be able to endure him coming to take Vengeance; they that cannot bear the guilt of their sins, will never endure to look the Avenger of sin in the face. Mountainous s [...]nners at this Great and Dreadful day will be forc'd to call upon the Mountains to fall upon them, and the Hills to hide them from the presence of him that shall sit as Judge on his Throne. I shall shut up my discourse with this story: When Sapores King of Persia rais'd a vio­lent Persecution against the Christians; one Ʋsthazanes an old Nobleman, a Courtier, that had Sapores Government in his Minority, being a Christian, was so terrified, that he left off his Profession: but he sitting at the Court-gate when Simeon an aged Bishop frown'd upon him, and turn'd away his face with indignation, as being loth to look upon a man that had deny'd the Faith; Ʋsthazanes fell a weep­ing, saith my Author, went into his chamber, put off his Courtly attire, and brake out into these words, Ah! how [Page 21] shall I appear before the Great God of Heaven, whom I have deny'd, when Simeon but a man will not look on me? if he frown, how will God look upon me, when I come before his Tribunal? The thought of Gods Judgment Seat wrought so strongly upon him, that he recover'd his spiritual strength, and dyed a Glorious Martyr. Thus did but men consider, that they must one day stand before the Bar of Gods Tri­bunal, they would be casting up how things stand betwixt him and their own Souls: would any man loyter away the day when he knows he must shew his work to his Ma­ster at night? Let every man in all his doings remember his end, and so he shall never do amiss; remember that all must come to a reckoning in this Great and Dreadful day, and that though here in this world men may wear Vizard Masks of Hypocrisie, yet when they consider they shall be pluckt off in that day, it will be a means that they will order their lives so that their appearance may be with comfort.

I have done with my Text, and it may now be expected that I should speak somewhat of the occasion. For you are to know we at present solemnize no less then the Fu­neral of the Metropolis of this Nation. But if you look that I (though present when it was on Fire, and a Fel­low-Sufferer with many of you) should present you with a Hypotyposis or Description of that most lamentable and devouring Fire, as it is deservedly stil'd; you must excuse me if I frustrate your expectation; that I conceive is more lively to be depainted by a Pensil, then a Pen, and better exprest on a Table or Draught then by the Tongue, only thus much I shall speak: As it is said concerning the roll of a Book given to Ezekiel, that it was written within and without, and there was written therein Lamentation and Mourning, and Woe, Ezek. 2. So in every circumstance that accompanied this dismal Conflagration, Judgment was writ as in Text Letters, whether we consider the Time [Page 22] when it first broke forth, the dead of night; or the Place, a close narrow Lane, where many Houses were burn'd down before any Engines could come to play in order to the extinguishing of it; or Manner of it, burn­ing against the wind so fiercely, that is spared no Fa­brick in its way though never so august and stately: Churches now prov'd no Sanctuaries as in the time of other Fires: I may adde, it was an amazing Judgment, which deluded People, and deprived them of the use of their reason. I believe there are some here present, who with my self, did not think that ever the Adversary and Ene­my, that Dreadful Fire would have entred into our Streets, the place where it began being so far distant from our Habitations: And so you'l say this Fire well deserves both the Epithetes in my Text, Great and Dread­ful; as if Almighty God had spoke to London in termi­nis, expresly under the name or notion of a Forrest, as once he did to Jerusalem, Ezek. 20 47. Behold, I will kindle a Fire in thee, and it shall devour every green Tree in thee, and every dry Tree in thee, the flaming flame shall not be quenched, &c. And all flesh shall see that I the Lord have kindled it, and it shall not be quenched: I the Lord who am a consuming Fire. 'Twas brought to pass then, Deo irato, & irritato, God being not only angry, but provok'd. It was not long before this Fire hapned that God visited this City with the Plague of Pestilence, which walkt in as much state along the Streets as ever the chief Magistrate of it did; its retinue wore a kind of Purple to the fatal spots being of that colour. O the high silence that I was witness of (to Gods Glory be it spoke) in many places of the City, at other times clamorous and tumultuous enough! Had it been askt where dwells such a one, the answer would have been, he is dead; where his Wife? dead; where his Chil­dren? dead; where his Man; his Maid? dead. Pale [Page 23] Death sate in the Windows, kept Shop, seal'd up Doors, so that none durst enter. But London soon forgat this Tra­gedy; her filthiness was in her skirts, she remembred not her last end, or rather how near to her end (in some sense) she was brought: God had no sooner turn'd her sor­row into joy; her sighing into singing; her mourning into melody; her prayers into praises; her Tears into Triumphs, but they, nay, we made a bad use of his mercy, till a Flood of Fire brake in upon us, as a Deluge of Water did on the old World. Hence it was that she came down wonderfully, to use that expression in the Lamentation of Jeremy, concerning Jerusalem. Londons incogitancy and and inconsiderateness, together with the licentious lewdness following thereupon, not to spare the place of my Na­tivity, brought her down with a vengeance to sit in Ashes, as Job's calamities brought him to the Dunghil. You may suppose her then as a disconsolate Matron using these words; Is it nothing to you all ye that pass by, be­hold, and see if there be any desolation like unto my desolation, which is done unto me, wherewith the Lord hath afflicted me in the day of his fierce, or fiery anger: He hath sent Fire among my buildings, and it hath pre­vailed against me, he hath made me desolate. Is it in the wishes of you the Inhabitants of this place, whose ha­bitations are yet standing, that they should not partake of Londons punishment? would you that your Bethel (in which through God [...]s goodness ye are assembled at this time) should never be turn'd into Bethaven? would you not have Iccobod written upon all that you can call Beau­tiful and Glorious? then see you decline such sins as are mentioned in the specifick Prayer for this occasion. Neither are we to forget that in the midst of judgment God re­membred mercy: not only in not consuming the whole Suburbs that were contiguous, but in sparing some of the City, and in blessing the endeavours of the Re-builders [Page 24] of it even to a miracle: The little time I have been in it, I have seen enough to be thankful for while I live: As if when in its rubbish it had been solemnly buried by some of her Ministers in several places of it, saying, since it hath pleas'd Almighty God in his righteousness to take away from us our dear Habitations in which we so much de­lighted, we commit them to the ground, Earth to Earth, Ashes to Ashes, Rubbish to Rubbish, in sure and certain hope to see them to have such a Glorious Resurrection (like a Phoenix out of its Ashes) as shall create wonder in all that shall behold it, and this through his Almighty Power who is able to subdue not persons only, but all things to himself, even the vastest Structures, and can with as much ease give them a being again. Or as if the whole Body of her Inhabitants, to the credit of us their Teachers, had said, seeing the Fire approaching their Habitations, well, Gods will be done, we brought nothing into this world, neither shall we carry any thing out of it, the Lord gave, and the Lord hath taken away, blessed be the name of the Lord. Nay, we know that if these earthly Houses of ours, these Candle-Rents, old Timber Buildings be dis­solv'd, be consum'd by Fire, we shall have buildings run up so strongly, and so suddenly, as if they had been made without hands; nay, we shall have buildings of Gods own making, for except the Lord build the house, they labour in vain that build it. There is no good to be done unless God set his Fiat to it, and say let it be done. If he blast and not bless mens endeavours and policies, they are all but Arena sine Calce, sand without lime, they will not hang together, but like untemper'd Mortar fall asunder. The Jews at this day when they build a house, they are, say the Rabbins, to leave one part of it unfurnisht, and lying rude, in remembrance that Jerusalem and the Temple are at pre­sent desolate; at least they use to leave about a yard square of the house unplaistred, on which they write in great [Page 25] letters that of the Psalmist, If I forget thee ô Jerusalem, let my right hand forget its cunning. I know not whether any of you that are Building or have Built your Houses, will be willing to leave a yard square of them unplaistred to write in it in great letters, If I forget thee O London, &c. this may be thought too great a blemish in your fair beautiful Buildings; but as ever you would have the Bricks laid in order to continue long so, and not to be burnt again, but to crumble away between the teeth of Time; let old London dreadfully consum'd by Fire have a room in your minds and memories, not forgetting the mercy God shew'd in the midst of that dreadful judgment.

To conclude; Let those of us that have been large sharers in this judgment, who are Christians not by Water only but by Fire, heartily bee of God that we may come forth of the Crucible of Affliction, as Gold doth out of the fire refin'd, that we may lose the dross only of our sins, not the gold of our patience, and holy submission to his will, and other graces. And you whose Habitations are stand­ing Monuments of Gods Goodness, be sure at least that you thus warble it on this solemn day, so often as it shall come about; If it had not been the Lord who was on our side, we may well say, if it had not been the Lord who was on our side when the Fire brake out most furiously upon us, then the Flames had consumed our Habitations, when the Fire of Gods wrath was kindled against us; but blessed be the Lord who hath not given our Habitations up to ruine, but hath mercifully pluckt them as so many brands out of the fire. Beloved, God hath many ways to make desolate, he can effect it by Fire, or Sword, or Pestilence, or Fa­mine, and there is but one safe way to avoid those out­goings of his judgment, and in the Prophet Jeremie's language is to take away the fore-skins of your heart, Jer. 4. 4. That place of Scripture is well worthy my ci­ting of it, and your diligent attention to it, it runs thus; [Page 26] Circumcise your selves unto the Lord, and take away the fore-skins of your hearts ye Men of Judah, and Inhabitants of Jerusalem, lest my fury come forth like fire, and burn that none can quench it. Begin at Adam's sin, heartily bewail that, and then set upon your beloved sin; out with that Eye, off with that Hand, cast away all your Transgressions, with as great indignation as angry Ziporah did her childs fore-skin; so will the Lord lengthen out your Tranquility, neither shall your iniquities be your ruine.