Commentary on 2 Peter, Commentary on 2 Peter volume 2 · Chapter 3 · Verse 10

Commentary on 2 Peter · Commentary on 2 Peter volume 2 · Chapter 3 · Verse 10

p. 12992 PET. 3.10.

But the Day of the Lord ſhall come as a theefe in the night; in which the heavens ſhall paſſe away with a great noiſe, and the elements ſhall melt with fervent heat, the earth alſo, and the workes that are therein, ſhall be burnt up.

WHen God made this lower World, hee did not intend it for perpe…uitie; but ſubjected it to mutations, to alterations, to ſucceſſions: albeit theſe changes may challenge ſinne for the cauſe, which G…d did foreſee but not predetermine: yet after his fore-ſight of ſinne, he did fore-appoint this mortalitie for puniſhment. One thing thruſts out another, this age hath diſpoſſeſſed the former, and ſhall bee diſpoſſeſſed by the future. Adam reſignes to Noah, Abraham to David, the Iewes to the Babylonians, they to the Perſians, the Perſians to the Grecians, the Grecians to the Romanes. As it is in the generall, ſo in all particulars: How hath this little Iland beene uſurped, mixed, metamorphoſed, even to the utter extinction of her firſt natives? Kingdomes have their periods: yea, the earth it ſelfe, though it continually lie ſtill, is not conſtant, becauſe it continually changes, and melts in all parts thereof. Man is the nobleſt part of the earth, and hee ſo melts and moulders away, as if hee were a ſtatue, not of earth, but of Snow. His owne envie m…kes h…, and he growes leane with that: anothers beautie melts him, and h… languiſheth away in the fruitleſſe contemplation of that. But a ſickneſſe ſo melts him, as if lead were molten in a fornace: and death ſo melts him, that it c…lcin…s him, and reduceth him to Atomes and aſhes. In the Nature of ſenſitive …ungs, Children out live their Parents; and ſo there is a ſu…ceſſive propag…tion, one begets another. But in ſome things, the Mother outlives the Children: the fruites of the Earth die yeerely, the mother remaines. Wee are alſo her Children, and dayly doth ſhe receive us backe into her wombe: One generation paſſeth, and another commeth; but the Earth abideth for ever. Eccl. 1.4.Eccl 1:4Yet this old gran-dame muſt have her day: there is a funerall fire ordained for her aged bones. In the World one thing devoures another; Fiſhes devoure Fiſhes, and Beaſts devoure Beaſts, yea and Men alſo devoure Men, till they even become Monſters. Wee feede upon the Creatures, the Wormes ſhall feede upon us, the Earth ſhall conſume thoſe Wormes, time ſhall waſte the Earth: but the day of the Lord ſhall conſume even time; this ſhall put an end to all. This Mountaine is bigger than that; this Cedar taller than that, this River longer than that; this Man nobler than that: yet all have one Earth for their foundation, and the ſame orbicular Heavens for their roofe: But the day of the Lord, ſhall make all even; in the which, the Heavens ſhall paſſe away roaring, the Elements vaniſh melting, the Earth with her works ſtand burning; Hell ſhall open ſhrieking, and all mankinde appeare trembling, at the Archangels Trumpet ſummoning, no leſſe than all the World to this laſt univerſall audite.

p. 1300But the day of the Lord ſhall come, &c.] You may eaſily apprehend the parts; they are generally but two; An Advent, and an Event: a comming, and what ſhall happen in that comming. Firſt, The day of the Lord ſhall come as a theefe in the night: there is the Advent. Secondly, In which the heavens ſhall paſſe away, &c. there is the Event. The fruit of the particular branches will be gathered in their due places. In the Advent, we have two conſiderations; The matter; and the manner: What ſhall come, and How. Firſt, the matter is, The day of the Lord ſhall come. Secondly, the manner is, Like a theefe in the night. To proceede in order.

1The day of the Lord.] Every day is the Lords; all times are his: and hee hath ſoaaAct. 1.7.Acts 1:7 Put them in his owne Power, that hee hath not communicated that Power, not imparted the knowledge of that diſpoſition, to any Creature.bbPſal. 74.16.Ps 74:16 The day is thine, O Lord, and the night is thine. But ſome dayes are the Lords, by a more ſpeciall right, and peculiar intereſt: ſuch as he hath culled out of the common heape of dayes, and ſet his owne royall ſtampe upon them. So the Sabbath is called The Lords day; ſanctified, and ſet apart by his owne Ordinance, for his extraordinary worſhip. In no day muſt we forget him, on this day we muſt forget all things beſides him. The ſame Sunne enlightens other dayes, equally with this: but it hath a better light, by the riſing of a nobler Sunne; Ieſus Chriſt doth enlighten it: this is the honour of it: For this cauſe, beſides the morall Precept, it is called The Lords day. Shall we thinke that this Day of the Lord ſhall fall upon The Lords day? It was Chriſts Caution to the Iewes; Pray that your flight be not in the Winter, nor on the Sabbath day. We may not pray ſo, concerning this day of the Lord. But this we know, that as when God had made ſixe day, and all the world in them, he depoſited them in the hands of a Sabbath: ſo in this Day of the Lord, we that are in Chriſt, ſhall enter into that everlaſting Sabbath, the glorious reſt in Heaven. There be other dayes which God hath conſecrated to himſelfe, and commanded a ſolemne celebration of them to us, ennobled with the memory of ſome famous workes of his MercieMercy: Concerning every one of theſe we may ſay,Pſal. 118.Ps 118 This is the day that the Lord hath made: He made it, he made us happy by it, and hee would have us remember him in it: This is alſo The day of the Lord. Potentates, and great Perſons have their ſolemne dayes:ccMat. 14.6.Matt 14:6 Herod had his Birthday: and Kings doe ceremoniouſly keepe their Coronation-dayes. The Lord will alſo have His day: once the people would have crowned him, but hee refuſed it: that was not his day. Now hee will receive that glorious Crowne at the hands of his Father; to the Comfort of his loyall Subjects, and the everlaſting confuſion of thoſe rebels,ddLuk. 19.27.Luke 19:27 That would not have him raigne over them: this is The Lords day. The Saints have their dayes of Commemoration; and ſo wee call them; Saint Iohns day, Saint Peters day: Not that we dedicate theſe dayes to the worſhip of the Saints, like our ſuperſtitious adverſaries: Wee honour the Saints more than they;Aug. Charitate, non ſervitute: with approbation, not adoration; with imitation of their lives, not invocation of their loves. On thoſe dayes wee remember their Graces, and the Benefits God hath done to his Church by their ſervice: ſo that they are more properly The Lords dayes, than theirs. But the eeAct. 17.31.Acts 17:31Lord hath appointed a day, in the which hee will judge the world with righteouſneſſe: This is emphatically, The Lords day.

2Firſt, wee have our day, and then the Lord hath His. O Ieruſalem, ffLuk. 19 42.Luke 19:42that thou hadſt knowne theſe things, in this thy day. The ungodly have their day, wherein they may doe their owne pleaſures, as it were without the controlment of the ſupreme Iudge: The Adverſaries of Chriſt had their day: when the State was incenſed againſt Him, the Herodians came to tempt Him in the dangerous queſtion of Tribute: that was their day. ggMat. 22.15.23.34.Matt 22:15Matt 22:23Matt 22:34The Sadduces oppoſe Him about the Reſurrection: that was their day. The Scribe, expert in the Law, that thought himſelfe learneder than Herodian, Sadducee, or Phariſee; tempts Him about the Great p. 1301Commandement, that was his day. Iudas betrayed Him for mony; that was his day: the Iewes accuſe Him for envy; that was their day: Pilate condemnes Him for policy, that was his day: Herode diſmiſſeth Him in mockery: the Souldiers put Him to death with cruelty: this was their day. But ſhall not Chriſt have alſo his Day, to bee avenged for all theſe injuries? Muſt Hee ſuffer unjuſtly, and not be openly juſtified? Had Pilate a day for his Tribunall, and ſhall not the Maker and Iudge of Pilate and all the world, have a Day to ſit on his Throne? The Kings of the earth have their yearely Audites, and ſhall not the King of Heaven and Earth have one Day for his? Shall luxurious men riot, the covetous oppreſſe the uncleane wallow in their turpitudes, ſwearers rend that dreadfull Name of God, and perſecutors triumph in the ſufferings of the innocent; and never be called to a Reckoning? Chriſt did put off divers Sutors; his kindred, his Mother, with this;hhIoh. 7.6. & 2.4John 7:6John 2:4 My time is not yet come. Hee did put off his Oppoſers, his malicious Adverſaries, with this;kkIoh. 7.30. and 8.20.John 7:30John 8:20 Mine houre is not yet come. But certainely, his time, his houre, his day will come. Thoſe ſoules under the Altar cry with a loud voice.llRev. 6.11.Rev 6:11 How long, O Lord, holy, and true? And are anſwered in effect, My day is not yet come.

There is to every man amm2 Cor. 6.2.2 Cor 6:2 day of Salvation: we have not onelyonly the firſt dayes, wherein God ſp…ke by his Prophets; but the laſt dayes,nnHeb. 1.2.Heb 1:2 Wherein he hath ſpoken to us by his Sonne. There be ſome that are of the night; a night which they have ſup …duced upon themſelves: but wee areoo1 Theſ. 5.8.1 Thess 5:8 The Children of the day; and the Lord hath ſhined upon us in a full Noone. The Goſpell is the day of G…ace, whereof the Word and Sacraments are the bright B…ames; In this day there any be ſome darke paſſages, to them that will entangle themſelves in unneceſſary diſputations: But to our modeſt and humble Faith, the houres …re light enough, and wee may eaſily goe our whole journey. That Faith and Repentance ſhall bring us to Salvation by Ieſus Chriſt: this is a cleare light. That the Bread and Wine in the Sacrament, is not more aſſimulated to our body and bloud, than the Body and Bloud of Chriſt is communicated to us in that action: this is a cleare light. There may be darkneſſe in us, there is nothing but light in the Goſpell. This is our day; let us walke in it? Hee that isppDan. 7.9.Dan 7:9 he ancient of dayes, will call us to an account for our dayes:qqMat. 20.6.Matt 20:6 Why doe wee ſtand here idle all the day, that are n…t ſure of more dayes to make up our Harveſt? There are evill d…yes, and ſtill the latter the worſe: Temporum posteriora, deteriora: therefore let us put on th… Armour of God,rrEph. 6.13.Eph 6:13 That we may be able to ſtand in the evill day. But there is a m…r… fatall day than all the reſt;ſſRev. 6.17.Rev 6:17 The great day of his wrath, in which no man ſhal be able to ſtand. This is our day, the next is the Lords: If we doe not in this day provide for that: that day ſhall condemne us for the loſſe of this. When the Sunne ſhines upon the Dyall, it reflects a ſhadow, whereby we obſerve how the d…y paſſeth: for although the Sunne, not the ſhaddow, makes the day; yet we know not how the day goes, by the Sunne, but by the ſhaddow. The Sonne of MercieMercy ſhining upon our prepared hearts, refl cts a ſhaddow, which is our pious converſation. The light of Grace makes the day: but the ſhadow, or anſwerable reflection of our holy Life, ſhewes us how the day goes with our ſelves; and in what forwardneſſe we are toward the end of our journey, the conſummation of our hopes, even the Salvation of our Soules.

This is The Lords day, becauſe hee will then ſhew himſelfe in a more glorious 3forme, than ever the world before ſaw, or apprehended him. The day of …his birth was a day of humility Suſcepta à majestate humilitas, à virtute infirmitas, ab aeternitate mortalitas. The day of his death was a day of ſorrow; wee cannot thinke of it without remorſe: the whole frame of nature did put on mourning garments, to write upon the Funerall of their Maker: His reſurrection was a day of triumph indeed; but becauſe not viſible, therefore not credible to the ſinfull and obſtinate world. To us, it is a day of joy; and that traditionall report of the p. 1302Sunnes dancing, upon every Eaſter day morning, had more than a literall ſenſe in the Authors meaning. But the Iewes pretended the every; His Diſciples ſtole him away. Him, what him alone. They were very favourable theeves, that would ſteale the body, and leave the clothes. I have heard of ſacrilegious robbers, that hauehave violated the monuments of the dead; ſtealing the clothes when they have left the body behinde: But to filch the bodie, and refuſe the booty, was a ſenceleſſe kinde of robbery. No, the Diſciples did not ſteale his Body out of the Sepulcher; but the Divell hath ſtollen the beleefe of his reſurrection out of thoſe Iewiſh hearts. The day of his Aſcenſion was a glorious day, but ſeen onelyonly by ſome few of his friends: His glory ſhall be the ſame at histtAct. 1.11:Acts 1:11 comming downe, that it was at his going up: but the manifeſtation of his glory at his going up, was farre leſſe than it ſhall be at his comming downe. But in this day of the Lord,uuRev. 1.7.Rev 1:7 Every eye ſhall ſee him, even they that have pierced him through. In the plague of Egyptian darkeneſſe, there was light enough in Goſhen: ſo in this terrible day of the Lord, when darkeneſſe ſhall overwhelme the reprobates, the faithfull ſhall be in a ſhining light; they ſhall ſhine as the light. To theſe,xxEſa. 30.26.Isa 30:26 The light of the Moone ſhall be as the light of the Sunne, and the light of the Sunne ſhall be ſevenfold. To the other,aaMat. 24.29.Matt 24:29 The Sunne ſhall bee darkened, and the Moone ſhall not give her light: Woe unto ſuch that deſire the day of the Lord: to what end is it for them?bbAmos 5.18.Amos 5:18 The day of the Lord is darkeneſſe and not light. How then ſhall they diſcerne one another? Saint Chryſostome examines the reaſon, how the rich man could ſee Lazarus in Abrahams boſome; whereas it is not ſaid, that Lazarus ſaw the rich man in hell-torments: and he anſweres it thus: A man that is in darkeneſſe, can eaſily ſee him that is in the light; but he that is in light, cannot ſo eaſily diſcerne him that is in darkneſſe: The light of Lazarus help'd Dives to the ſight of him; but the darknes of Dives hindred Lazarus from the ſight of him. But this day ſhall make all manifeſt: the damnable darkenes of the wicked ſhall be viſible to the righteous: and the bleſſed glory of the righteous ſhal be apparant to the wicked. Every one ſhall ſee another, and all ſhall behold the Lord: they that have rejected him, to their horrour: they that have embraced him, to their everlaſting comfort.

The Scripture abounds with expreſſions of the deſperate fatality of this day. It is terrible, Ioel. 2.11. Zeph 2.3. 1 Cor. 5 5. 2 Cor. 1.14. Ph. 1.6. 2 Theſſ. 5.2.Joel 2:11Zeph 2:31 Cor 5:52 Cor 1:14who can abide it? Happy is hee that is bid in the day of the Lords anger. Innumerable are the places, wherein it is called The day of the Lord Ieſus. He was put to publike diſgrace before, and inſulted upon by Men and Divels: Now his goodneſſe ſhall bee juſtified, and his glory publiſhed before Men and Angels. Then his attendants were poore fiſhers; now his Throne ſhall bee waited upon by celeſtiall ſpirits. Then he ſprang from the low eſtate of his Mother; now he ſhall come in the glory of his Father. Then Herod had a fling at his Infancy, now hee ſhall tremble to behold his Majeſty. Then they cried, Crucifie him, crucifie him: Now they ſhall ſay, Glorifie him, glorifie him. Then they laughed at his ſorrowes, now they ſhall mourne at his ſentence. Then they faſtned him to the Croſſe, now they ſhall doe homage to his Crowne. Then hee was a Lambe, bearing the ſinnes of the world: now hee ſhall be a Iudge, condemning the world for ſinne. Then he was made a ſacrifice for all men; now all men ſhall be made a ſacrifice to him; either to his mercy in their ſalvation, or to his juſtice in their perdition. Then he rode to Ieruſalem upon a beaſt; his cloth of ſtate being the peoples garments: now hee ſhall come riding on the wings of the winde, and the Cloudes ſhall bee the duſt of his feete. Then a little Starre waited on his Nativity: now the Sunne and Moone ſhall bee drowned in his clarity. All honour ſhall bee ſwallowed up in the honour of Chriſt: As Philoſophers ſay of heat; that it does not onelyonly expell cold, but alſo avocate and call out a leſſer heat: And light does not onelyonly expell darkeneſſe, but alſo extinguiſh a leſſer light: Or as Iohn the Baptiſt ſaid of Chriſt;ccIohn 3.30.John 3:30 He muſt increaſe, and I muſt decreaſe: So that Matth. 3. almoſt in every verſe, p. 1303there is a mention, there is a repetition of Iohn: Iohn baptized, Iohn preached, Iohn was thus clothed; untill Chriſts Baptiſme is finiſhed, and then there is no more mention of Iohn. all is now referred to Ieſus, and Ieſus hath extinguiſhed Iohn. So now ſtrong men have their powers, great men have their honours, Lords have their Commands, and Kings have their Crownes: But in this day they ſhall all reſigne to this Almighty King: all honours ſhall bee ſwallowed up in the honour of Chriſt: all dignities, all titles ſhall bee concentred in him; as at the Creation, all that diſperſed light was reduced to the one great luminary, and treaſured up in the S…nne: all Crownes ſhall bee caſt at his feete: and all Glory and Praiſe ſhall be given to his bleſſed Name for ever.

The Day of the Lord will come] For Iugdement, that is the intent of his Comming: 4yet it is his eſpeciall Mercy, to give us warning. Hee might come, and never tell us ſo: yet He doth tell us of it, before He will come.dd1 Pet. 4.7.1 Pet 4:7 The End of all things is at hand. What then? Therefore bee ſober, and watch unto Praier. The Son of man comes in a Cloud, with Power and Glory: What of that?eeLuk. 21.34.Luke 21:34 Therefore take heed to your ſelves, that that Day may not come upon you unawares. Why doth Hee tell us that He will come, but that wee might be in readineſſe to entertaine Him? In all Gods proceedings to Iudgement, whither particular, or this univerſall; Hee ever leaves a latitude betweene his ſentence and execution: and that Interim is Sphaera activitatis, the Sphere in which our Repentance and his Mercy move, and direct themſelves in a benigne aſpect towards one another. God ſeldome comes to that diſpatch; a word and a blow: but to a blow without a word, to an execution without a warning, never. Cain embrewes his hands in the bloud of his owne brother: God takes upon Him the quarrell; (and indeed it was for his ſake that Abel ſuffred) Hee could have ſurpriſed and killed Cain: He does not, but onelyonly gives him warning:ffGen. 4.10.Gen 4:10 Why is thy Countenance cast downe? If thou doeſt not well, ſinne lies at the Doore: you may proceed, but if you will needs, you will loſe by it at laſt. Saul perſecutes Chriſtians; Chriſt meets upon the way, ſpeakes to him, ſtrikes him to the ground tels him vocally, and tels him actually; that he had undertaken an ill buſineſſe in oppoſing Him. This which God did to Saul, converts him: That which He did to Cain, wrought not upon him: but ſtill God went his owne way in both; to ſpeake before He ſtrikes, to lighten before Hee thunders, to warne before Hee wounds. Antequam vulneremur, Origenmonemur. In the caſe of Corah, God may ſeeme to proceed apace towards execution, yet not without divers Reprieves. Firſt, when Moſes heard of their rebellious chalenge, hee fals not upon them, butggNumb. 16.4.Num 16:4 fals upon his face before God for them; hee laments and deprecates in their behalfe. Secondly, Hee cals them to a faire Triall, the next day: To morrow the Lord will ſhew who are his, verſ. 5.and who are holy: Take your Cenſors, and come, that it may bee examined: and they ſaid, We will not come. Thirdly, it is likely that Moſes cited them againe,verſ. 14. becauſe againe they peremptorily replied; Wee will not come. Fourthly, upon this contumacy,verſ. 21. God reſolves to conſume them in a moment: but Moſes and Aaron redouble their petitions; O God, ſhall one man ſinne, verſ. 25.and wilt thou be wrath with the whole Congregation? Fifthly, Moſes went up to them againe, and the Elders of Iſrael followed; verſ. 25.and yet all prevailed not. Sixthly, Hee makes a ſeparation of the people from them, Depart from the Tents of theſe wicked men: hoping that the ſight of the reſt running from them, as from monſters, would have made their hearts miſ-give them. Seventhly, when they ſtill impudently perſiſted to out-face Gods vengeance, Moſes comes to pronounce the Sentence;verſ. 20. Theſe men ſhall not die a common death. Eighthly, then after, and yet not inſtantly after this Iudgement, Execution followeth; The earth opened and ſwallowed them. But God begun not there: God opened his mouth, and Moſes his, and Aaron his, and the Elders theirs, before the Earth opened hers. All concludes in this; Gods Iudgements and Executions are not ſuddaine, there is alwaies roome for Repentance and Mercy: p. 1304but his Iudgements and Executions are certaine, there is no roome for Preſumption or Security. The day of the Lord will come; it is certaine: and like a Theefe in the night; it is ſuddaine: yet Hee that gives us this premonition, intends our holy preparation, that wee may finde Mercy in that great Day of Retribution.

5Will come.] As no importunity can delay it, no ſecrecy avoid it, no policy corrupt it, ſo nothing but ſanctification can give us comfort in it. The ſuddaine beating up of a drumme may make a very valiant Souldier ſtartle;Auguſt. and the ſounding of the laſt Trumpe may ſtrike a feare into the holieſt body, that wakens out of his grave. It is ſome terrour for a man to be awakened, when the whole world is on fire about his eares: though himſelfe bee Titio ereptus, a brand ſnatched out of the fire.Heb. 10.31.Heb 10:31 It is a fearefull thing to fall into the hands of the living God: Which words a Chriſtian conſidering, wiſhed that he might fall into the hands of a dead God. He meant into the hands of that Perſon, who is both God and Man: who even whilſt he was a dead man, was ſtill a living God. In death, his hands were nailed to the Croſſe: then he could not ſtrike us for our ſinnes, becauſe then he was ſtricken for our ſinnes. As that priſoner appealed from Philip, to Philip: ſo let us appeale from Chriſt as he is a living Iudge, to Chriſt as he was our dying Saviour: that for his ſake who once died for us, this living God may for ever acquite us. But it is a ſweet thing, when a man hath ſlept quietly all night, to be waked in the morning with muſicke. The body that hath ſlept in Chriſt, ſhall be called up with Heavenly muſicke at the reſurrection: The teſtimony of our owne conſcience, the Halleluiahs of Saints, the Quire of Angells, yea the very ſound of that Trumpet ſhall conſent in this Antheme: And that which makes up the perfect harmonie, as the voice of Chriſt himſelfe; Come ye bleſſed.

Like a theefe in the night.] Similitudes may illuſtrate the things which are to be proved; but they do not juſtifie the things from which they are borrowd. Chriſts comming like a theefe, is no warrant for theeves; no more than his cōpariſon taken from piping and dauncing, is a licence for fidlers and dauncers. That God, who would be underſtood literally, according to the direct and plaine ſenſe of all that he ſaith; doth not refuſe alſo to ſpeake by figures and metaphores. The inſtitution of his whole worſhip in the old law, was a continuall allegory: types and figures overſpread all, and figures flowed into figures, and powred themſelves out into farther figures. Circumciſion carried a figure of Baptiſme, and Baptiſme carries a figure of that purity, which wee ſhall have in the perfection of glory. Nor did he onelyonly ſpeake in this language by his Prophets, but even by his Sonne too. He calls himſelfe a Way, and a Light, and a Gate, and a Vine, and Bread, oftner than the Sonne of God, or the Sonne of Man. But that hee ſhould liken himſelfe to a Theefe, is the wonder. Hee is the judge of theeves, and will that Iudge aſſume any likeneſſe unto theeves? Theeves will breake into houſes, violently take away other mens goods, and bloodily cut their throates: and will the righteous Iudge of all doe ſo? It was he that cut out mens ſeverall proprieties; for there can bee no Theft, where is no diſtinction of ownages. And the ſtate which had once allowed a community, found by experience quickly, that the common Aſſe was never well ſadled; and therefore were driven to make lawes for the deſignation of every ones proper portion: — Meus eſt his ager, ille tuus. Yea, the chiefe Lord of all, hath beene no leſſe carefull of fencing in his Tenants poſſeſſions, than in the maintenance of his owne homage and ſervice: For he wrote with the ſelfe ſame hand: Thou ſhalt not ſteale, with which he wrote, Thou ſhalt have none other Gods but me. He well knew the corrupt inclinations of men, and their itching deſires to finger the peculiars of others: In whoſe judgement, Stollen waters are ſweet: Aliena nobis, nostra plus alijs placent: And therefore made a law againſt it: and will hee now ſo ſeeme to favour it, as to admit a likeneſſe to it? I might anſwere, that Nullum ſimile eſt idem. No like is the p. 1305ſame: Similitude, and Identitie are different things: He that is like me, is not my ſelfe. When Chriſt reſembles himſelfe by ſome good thing, that good thing he calls himſelfe. Bread is good; therefore hee does not ſay, I am like to Bread, but I am Bread. The light is good, therefore he does not ſay, I am like unto light, but I am the Light. But when hee fetcheth a compariſon from ſome queſtionable or unwarrantable things, he ſets it downe with a Sicut: which imports a Similitude, not a Truth. A ſnare is hurtfull; therefore his comming is not called a ſnare, but Tanquam laqueus, hhLuk 21.35.Luke 21:35As a ſnare. A theefe is miſchievous; therefore it is not called a theefe, but Sicut fur, like a theefe. Chriſt cannot bee a theefe, for what is there for him to ſteale? The principall right of all things he hath reſerved to himſelfe: therefore the Iſraelites did not properly robbe the Egyptians? Deo ministerium praebuerunt. God himſelfe by a ſpeciall commiſſion, intitled them thereunto. Our goods are his, our bodies are his, our ſoules are his, the world is his; what then can he ſteale? yet I will tell you what he hath ſtollen, and wherein he hath played the theefe: (let no profane miſinterpreter abuſe it to his diminution or diſhonour, which I intend to the glory of his goodneſſe.) Hee entred into the houſe of mortality, and ſtole from us our ſinnes: He entred into the houſe of the grave, and ſtole from us the ſting of death: He broke open the gates of Hell, and ſtole from us damnation: Of theſe ſorrowes Hee hath robbed us, and with theſe robberies Hee was clothed, even when hee hung naked upon the Croſſe: If this bee theft, it is ſo gratious a one, as merits praiſe to his holy Name for evermore.

Like a theefe.] The maſter begunne this compariſon of himſelfe,Mat. 24.43. 1 Theſſ. 5.2. Rev. 3.3.Matt 24:431 Thess 5:2Rev 3:3 and the ſervants made bold to follow it; Paul, Iohn and Peter, all concurre in the ſame ſimilitude. But why like a theefe? that is now our Quaere. Firſt, for the uncertainty of his comming. Secondly, for the ſuddenneſſe of that uncertainty. Thirdly, for the perill of that ſuddenneſſe. Fourthly, for the Fatality of that perill. Fifthly, For the Irremediableneſſe of that Fatality.

1 For the uncertaine time of his comming, he is Tanquam fur inſidians. Luk. 12.39.Luke 12:39The theefe doth not tell the maſter of the houſe what time he will come, for then he would prevent him, and fortifie himſelfe againſt his moſt ſubtile violence. Nor does the Lord impart to his Creatures, upon what day his Day ſhall fall. He hath not ſaid when he will come, though hee hath given us ſome precedent ſignes before the accompliſhment whereof hee will not come. Things quaerible, are in the number of things cognoſcible. Why doe we ſtudy that, which is impoſſible to learne? what kinde of fruite ſoever that was, for which our firſt Parents ſold their Birth-right in Paradiſe, I am ſure there was not juyce enough in it to quench that hote thirſt of forbidden knowledge, which they derived to their poſterity. But that which like a corne of Salt, onelyonly diſtempered Adams taſte, is now become a ſalt hydopricall phlegme in mankinde: that the more they doe know, the more they deſire; and the admitting them to one ſecret, doth but hearten them on to ſeeke for another. Wee all take after our Grandmother, and ſetting our ſhoulders to the very Portall of GODS privie Chamber, inn we muſt, and be made acquainted with the Divine Counſell. The eye ſo itcheth after variety of ſights, and the eare of ſounds, that neither the oneiiEccl. 1.8.Eccl 1:8 Is ſatisfied with ſeeing, nor the other with hearing.

There bee two queſtions that much trouble ſuch ſcrupulous braines: where and when, this judgement ſhall be. For the former; Chriſt ſpeakes of a ſeparation that ſhould bee made, betweene two in one bed, and two in one field, and two at one Mill; whereof the one ſhall be received, the other refuſed: unto this the Diſciples preſently reply,kkLuk. 17.37.Luke 17:37 Where Lord? Some conceive two demands in that one word, becauſe foreign is taken in a twofold ſenſe; which they gather from a verſe of Sophocles, foreign, &c. Importing both a place, where, and the motion to a place, whither. Where ſhall this place of ſeparation bee, and whither p. 1306ſhall the ſeparated paſſe? To what Barre ſhall they repaire for their doome, and whither ſhall that doome ſend them? Chriſt accordingly anſweres them with a whereſoever, and a thither; including both locum and terminum. Duo quarentibus unum reſpondet: He gives them but one anſwere to their two queſtions; but ſuch a one, as the Perſpectives ſpeake of a Sun-beame, which is made of two beames gathered into one: or as we ſay of two friends, which are one in heart, but two in ſtrength. This anſwere may reſolve them ſo farre as their ſalvation needed, though not ſo fully as their humours deſired. There can be no queſtion moved by a creature, to which God is not able to make a ſufficient anſwere. The Epitomizer of tenne into two, the Digeſter of ſo large a volume, as the whole Law, into ſo briefe a ſumme as Love; will bee as plentifull in his ſatisfaction, as fleſh and blood can be in a queſtion. Doe they aske, where they ſhall appeare? Hee anſweres, whereſoever he ſhall keepe his Court. Doe they demand whither they ſhall be tranſlated? Hee anſweres, whither hee hath gone before to prepare the place. For the other, Chriſt ſpake of Ieruſalems downefall, and the Diſciples came unto him privately: It was their boldneſſe to preſſe upon him; but that it was done privately, argued ſome modeſty:llMat. 24.3.Matt 24:3 Tell us, when ſhall theſe things bee? What ſhall be the ſigne of thy comming, and of the end of the world? Our Saviour, to leave a teſtimony, how ill he liked of this curioſity; gives them no directer than an indefinite anſwere: And as before hee would not vouchſafe their where, ſo much as a Here, or There; but did put it by as a demand not pleaſing to him, with an unreſolving whereſoever: So here he doth not ſatisfie their when, with a Now, or Then: but cleane diſcourageth ſuch an inquiry; telling them, that though they were Apoſtles, and had the priviledge to bee made acquainted with the heavenly myſteries; yet they muſt not looke to know that which is concealed from the verymmMark. 13.32.Mark 13:32 Angels. The Divine nature, as it is mercy it ſelfe, ſo it is wiſedome it ſelfe. It is his mercy to impart unto us, that one day we ſhall be brought to judgement: but when this Day ſhall bee, and where this judgement, his wiſedome thought good to conceale. To be ſure he will come, may well deterre us from offending: but to be ſure when hee will come, would breed a ſecurity of ſinne upon the vaine hope of timely repenting.

In other things, knowledge is better than ignorance: but in this, ignorance is better than knowledge. Scholers that know their maſter will not returne before ſuch a day, are apt to play the truants: but when they are not ſure where he is, nor how ſoone he will come, feare will make them ply their bookes. Give over thy proud inquiry, that may doe thee hurt: fall to penitent humility, this will doe thee good. Expect him every day, that may come any day. Let Gods ſecret alone, it is too high for thee: but be wiſe, and looke unto the ſecret withwithin thee. Thou haſt a ſecret pride, roote up that: thou haſt a ſecret infidelity, caſt out that. Let it not be our buſineſſe, to know where or when we ſhall be judged: but how we may anſwer for our ſelves when the judgement comes. Did wee know the place and time, wee could not hide our ſelves; appeare we muſt. But knowing what will bee ſaid againſt us, and what may bee pleaded for us, and how well the cauſe ſhall goe with us, we reſt in peace. If were bound over to anſwere for ſome pretended crime, at a humane barre, would wee ſpend the time in hearkening after the day of Seſſion, or place of execution? Were it not more wiſedome, to furniſh our ſelves with friends and anſweres for that triall? There be three queſtions, Vbi, Quando, Quomodo? Where, when and how? The two former, in this argument, be idle: the laſt is neceſſary. When ſhall this Audite come, and where ſhall it bee kept? be quaeres of fooliſh preſumption. But how, how ſhall we provide for our account at that Audite? this is the quare of wiſe devotion.nnLuk. 10.42.Luke 10:42 Martha thought, when ſhe had ſet herſelfe on worke, that Chriſt would pay her her wages, or at leaſt con her thankes: ſhe puts herſelfe to many troubles, and lookes for many commendations. But expecting the reward p. 1307of her cookery, all the fat was in the fire: Maries breake-faſt was better than Martha's dinner. Let us minde that one thing which is neceſſary; and then one of the Three which beare Witneſſe in Heaven, ſhall give us the teſtimony of ſo much diſcretion, as to chuſe that good part, which ſhall never be taken from us. Thy impertinent queſtions like thy Saviour as ill, as that of Peters did, What ſhould become of Iohn? Propoſe it when thou liſt, thou ſhalt heare the ſame Reply: Buſi-body,ffIoh. 21.22.John 21:22 What is that to thee? Follow thou me. This is the uncertainty.

2. As it is uncertaine for the time, ſo it is ſuddaine for the event. The Theefe does not give a ſignall to the houſe, before his irruption: he is entred as ſoone as he is heard: his violence and his noiſe come both in an inſtant. The Trumpet ſhall ſound, the Iudge ſhall appeare, the Graves ſhall open, the Dead ſhall riſe, the Sentence ſhall be given, the World ſhall burne; all in an inſtant. The Summons, and the Sentence, though they differ in Order and Number, ſhall ſeeme in regard of Time but one Act. Saint Augustine ſpends two Chapters in the Manifeſtation of this ſuddaine Proceeding. The great Buildings of Nature,Civit. Dei. Lib. 20. cap. 14. & 16. Ioſh. 6.10.Josh 6:10 like the wals of Iericho, ſhall fall together. If onelyonly one breach had been made in that Citie, as it uſes in other ſieges, for the entrance of the enemy: perhaps new ſupplies might have made it up by their forces; or for want of materials, they might have ſtopp'd it with ſlaughtered carcaſes: But now, that at once Iericho is turned into a plaine field, every Iſraelite without reſiſtance might run to the next booty: and the throtes of their enemies ſeemed to invite their ſwords, to a diſpatch. Such a deſtitution of ſuccour, and denudation of all refuge, ſhall, in this Day, befall the Reprobates, that they ſhall have neither meanes nor will to reſiſt. Some men are ſicke of a prepoſterous deſire of the laſt Day: and would have the Lord come preſently. Others are lethargiz'd with a drouſie dulneſſe: and they care not how long it be ere He comes. As the Apoſtle hath (in the former Verſe) corrected the fervour of the one, by commending the divine Patience: ſo here He rowſeth the torpour of the other, by threatning the laſt Daies Suddenneſſe. Theſe require the ſpurre, as the former need a bridle: both are inſtructed, directed, here.

When Chriſt compared his ſecond Comming in Fire, to that former IudgmentggLuk. 27.27. of Water: Did He meane there ſhould be the ſame pauſes and degrees in burning this World, that there were in drowning that? Shall this hot element be as long a diſpatching the one, as that cold element was a deſtroying the other? No, the ſimilitude intends not the ſame ſpeed of execution, but the ſame dulneſſe of expectation: the World ſhall bee as ſecure now, as it was then. When the Apoſtle ſaies,hh1 Theſ. 5.3.1 Thess 5:3 It ſhall come upon them, as travell upon a woman with childe: Does Hee meane, with the ſame proportion of haſte? A woman reckons out her nine moneths, and can gueſſe neare to the day of her comming; and ſaies, that at ſuch a time ſhe lookes her: but can wee by any probable conjecture, aime at the Day of the Lord? Saint Paul… purpoſe there, is not ſo much to expreſſe the Suddenneſſe, as the inevitable…ſſe: Sinfull men can no more eſcape their triall, than pregnant women can avoid their travell. The Day of doome ſhall come as unavoidably, but more unexpectedly. When they leaſt looke for it, then they ſhall finde it; or rather; it ſhall finde them.ii1 Theſ. 5.3.1 Thess 5:3 When they ſay, Peace, Peace and ſafety; Then ſhall they be overtaken with this extremity. As the Theefe watcheth his advantages, and when hee findes the weakeſt prevention, gives the fierceſt invaſion. If the Maſter be a-ſleepe, the Servants abroad, the doores unbarred, or the houſe unguarded; there is the opportunity hee lookes for. When the Servants of man, his Affections bee wandring abroad: when his Senſes, his Centinels, bee ſtupefied: when the Miſtreſſe, Conſcience, is commanded ſilence: when the Maſter, Reaſon, is rock'd into a ſlumber: and eſpecially above all the reſt, when Religion is put out of her lodging: then is the ſeaſon of this wofull ſurpriſall. Chriſt hath not promiſed ſinners, to come at their fitteſt times: this p. 1308Day of the Lord commonly takes them at the worſt. Cain was not in ſo bad a caſe when he was borne of his mother, as after he had murdered his brother. Saul was pious, and begunne his raigne with God: but his proceeding was bloudy; and the farther hee went, the worſe he was; till even the night before hee died, hee conſulted with a Witch, and ended his raigne with the Divell. Abſalom begun with Pride, but ſhut up his life with Treaſon. Pharaoh was never good: but never ſo bad as at his drowning. Iudas had been long a ſecret Robber; then he became a prodigious Traitor, and yet his Catastrophe muſt bee in a deſperate ſelfe murder. Such is the fatall ſuddenneſſe of this day, to come upon men at their worſt. The greateſt ſinner hath ſome remiſſion, ſome intermiſſion of his wickedneſſe:kkLuk. 8.29.Luke 8:29 Oftentimes Satan caught the Demoniacke: Oft-times Hee caught him; therefore ſometimes, in that violence, he caught him not. He had his lightſome reſpites; not ever tortured, not ever furious: betwixt whiles hee might looke ſoberly, talke ſenſibly, move regularly. It is a wofull comfort, that wee are not alwaies ſinning. If God were bound to accommodate his reſpect of times to thoſe Lucida intervalla, thoſe diſtances and ſhort vacations of ſinne, there were hope; but who can looke that the Divine Iuſtice ſhould waite upon the pleaſure of man? I am going to ſinne, Lord ſpare me now: there is mickle pleaſure or benefit in it, call me not away at this time: Whoſe voice is this? A mortall mans? Preſumptuous Foole, in vaine doſt thou appoint God, for God can diſappoint thee. At all times feare to ſinne, if ever thou feareſt to die to die thy ſinne. Thou canſt not bee ſo quicke to diſpatch thy ſinne, as God can bee to diſpatch thy ſoule. The Theefe watches all night to breake in: if at any houre thou take liberty to ſleepe, hee will hardly be kept out.llEpheſ. 4.27.Eph 4:27 Give no place to the Devill. What, not in Youth? Not in the heat of bloud? Not in the height of pleaſure? No. Give no place, at no time.mmEccleſ. 3.3.Eccl 3:3 There is a time for all things: A time to be burne, and a time to die: a time to kill, and a time to heale: a time to weepe, and a time to laugh: a time to get, and a time to loſe: a time to rent, and a time to ſowe: a time to love, and a time to hate: a time of warre, and a time of peace: a time to ſigh, and a time to ſing: a time to marry, and a time to bury: But of all theſe times, and many moe, There is no time to ſinne. Of all the exhibitions and allowances of God to man, Hee hath allowed no time for ſinne. Wee commonly kill our beaſts, when they are at the fatteſt: but Iudgement ſurprizeth ſinners, when they are at the leaneſt; in that point of their life, which is of the remoteſt diſtance from goodneſſe.

Obſerv.God is ſlow to wrath untill the laſt Day, and then He is quickeſt. Before, if we pray, He heares us: if wee repent, He pardons us: when wee amend our life, He ſaves us. But in this Day of the Lord, there is no time for petition, no place for converſion, no meanes of pacification. If we have done theſe things before, well and good; our ſalvation is ſure: but if they bee then to doe, they are debarred for ever. As the lightning flaſheth from one part of Heaven to the other,nnLuk. 17.24.Luke 17:24 So ſhall the Sonne of man be in his Day. Hee compares his Comming to the Lightening. Firſt, for Manifeſtation; His firſt Comming was privately; ſome few acknowledged Him: this laſt ſhall bee publike and apparent; Every eye ſhall ſee Him. Secondly, for terror, the Sunne gives a greater light than the Lightning; but Hee is welcome to all eyes, as the Meſſenger of joy, health, and comfort: He does not affright us with his Beames, but cheriſh us with his Influence. But the Lightening is terrible, and makes the ſtouteſt heart to ſhudder, eſpecially when it is accompanied with Thunder. Chriſts firſt Comming was in ſoft ſilence, like theooPſalm. 72.6.Ps 72:6 gentle Deaw upon the tender Graſſe: but his ſecond Comming will be with a dreadfull noiſe; the Trumpet ſounding, the Earth trembling, the Seas roaring, the Angels ſhowting, the Wicked ſhrieking, and the Iudge thundring out his finall Sentence.Exod. 19.Exod 19 For that extraordinary terrour at the Law-giving, was a little image of this which ſhall bee at the Law-requiring. Thirdly, eſpecially p. 1309for the Suddenneſſe: the Sunne compaſſeth the world by degrees; He keepes a certaine courſe, his wonted motion: But the Lightening, though it move through the Aire, does not appeare ſucceſſively, or by graduall approaches: but ſuddenly, inſtantly, it flies from Eaſt to Weſt, and darts through the Hemiſphere, wherein it is begotten. So ſudden will the Lord be in his Day: Time was when Hee ſtayed for the firſt World an hundred and twenty yeares; He ſtayed for a rebellious nation forty yeares; He ſtayed for a diſſolute City forty daies: now He will not tarry a Yeare, a Weeke, a Day, an Houre, a Minute for any man. He was not wont to come in Whirlewindes, or Earthquakes; or violent fires, butpp1 King. 19.12.1 Kgs 19:12 in a ſtill Voice, in a ſoft and gentle Aire. Now, no imagination of man can conceive the Terrour, the ſuddeneſſe of his Appearance. He will make his Proceſſe and his Decree; his Citation and his Iudgement, but one Act: His Summons, his Battell, his Victory, and his Triumph, ſhall ſeeme all but one thing. Hee will lead ſinners captive, and deliver them captive to Hell, as ſoone as He hath decla- them to bee Enemies; and cut them off, as it were, without drawing his Sword out of the ſcabberd. A Diſeaſe may make haſte, and Death bee quicke of diſpatch, in diſſolving the body: But much more haſte, and quicker diſpatch, will God uſe, in recollecting and reuniting the duſt of that body at the Reſurrection? Then ſhall wee all heare his Angels proclaime the Surgite mortui, Riſe yee dead: Though we be dead, we ſhall heare the Voice: the ſound of the Voice, and the working of the Voice ſhall be all one; and all ſhall riſe in a leſſe minute there, than any one dies here.

They vainely flatter themſelves,Applicat. that thinke it is enough to doe good ſometimes: if they ſerve God on the Sabbath, it is no matter for all the Weeke. As if they might not die upon a worky-day; as if God were bound to wait their times; till the good mood came on them. Thoſe Levites, Numb. 16.Num 16which once drew their ſwords, for God and Moſes, againſt the Idolaters; and for that deed, won both praiſe and bleſſing; become afterward the forwardeſt in a rebellion againſt them. There is no aſſurance of a man for one act: whom one ſinne cannot faſten upon, another may. Yea, the ſame ſinne may finde a repulſe one while, from the ſame hand, which another time gives it entertainment: and that yeelding loſeth all the thankes of the former reſiſtance. It is no praiſe to have done once well, unleſſe we continue. If a man turne from his righteouſneſſe, all that righteouſneſſe ſhall be forgotten:qqEzek. 18.24.Ezek 18:24 and in the ſinne that he hath ſinned, hee ſhall die. If we knew what houre the Lord would come, How eaſie were it, thinke we, to repent the houre before? If we were ſure what day, what monethmonth, what yeare; wee would not grudge that daies, that moneths, that yeares preparation. Yet, now we wantonize, as if the Iudge were an hundred leagues off; Who, it may be,rrIam. 5.9.Jas 5:9 ſtands at the very doore. Suppoſe a man hath ſeven breaches or holes in his houſe, and knowes the Theefe will enter at one of them: Will hee guard this, and not that? Will he watch at ſixe of them, and neglect the ſeventh? Thou haſt ſeven daies in the weeke, like ſo may in-lets for this Iudgement: Wilt thou watch onelyonly on the Sabbath, the ſeventh day, and leave the other ſixe unregarded? Or be ſober one day, and drunke another? Then, at the breach which thou mindeſt not, on the day thou leaſt ſuſpecteſt, this great Iudge will come upon thee, and then, What ſhall become of thee? Thy particular Iudgement followes immediately upon thy death: Is there no Impoſtume, no Apoplexy within thee? No Sword, no Inſtrument within thee? No Thunder, no Iudgement above thee? No Element, no Fiend under thee, that may in a moment diſpatch thee? Gods Doore is ever open to let in our Repentance, and our Doore is ever open to let in his Vengeance: The only way to eſcape future malediction, is by preſent humiliation: now let us be converted, and we are ſure to be ſaved.

3. The perill by this Suddenneſſe is very dreadfull, for our everlaſting ſtate lies upon it. Thou haſt a triall at the Law, and knoweſt a famous and gracious p. 1310Advocate, who if hee undertake thy cauſe, will carry it for thee: but flattering thy ſelfe that the day of hearing is farre off, thou forbeareſt to acquaint him with it, or ſollicite his councell and aſſiſtance: In the meane time, the king preferres this Advocate to the place of a Iudge. The Seſſion is come, and then thou humbly proſtrateſt thy ſelfe before him, beſeeching him to favour thy cauſe. But he anſwereth, That requeſt comes too late, I am not now an Advocate to plead for my Clients, but a Iudge to give righteous Sentence. If we ſinne, we may Now have an Advocate, 1 Ioh. 2.1.1 John 2:1to propitiate for vsus: But in this laſt Aſſiſes, at the tryall of all the world, that Advocate is turned into a Iudge: and then they that have not formerly …ne him to be their Mediator, can have ſmall hope to finde him their Saviour. The theefe does not breake into the houſe, and ſo come his way, forbearing to touch the goods: no, but all that is precious and portable becomes his bootie, and hee lookes for thankes if hee ſpare the blood of the familie. If this impartiall day did onelyonly ranſacke our Wardrobes, empty our Cheſts and Cabinets, fire our cottages, ſtrip our bodies of their garments, or our ſoules of our bodies, and doe us no more harme; it were very favourable: Death it ſelfe, which is but Gods VnderUnder-ſheriffe, can doe all this, by vertue of his Office and Commiſſion: Let but the Soule eſcape, ſuffer not that to bleed or periſh, and ſacilis Iactura, all were but an eaſie loſſe. But this theefe (like the Robbers in ſome Countries, who breake both the Commandements together) never ſteales without killing. When a Paſſenger complained to a Captaine, that ſome of his ſouldiers had robbed him of all that he had: the Captaine asked him, Whether he had thoſe clothes on when they robbed him: Hee anſwered, Yes: Then ſaies the Captaine, I am ſure they are none of my Souldiers that did it: for had they beene mine, they would not have left you a ragge to your backe. This day ſhall robbe the wicked of all that ever they had, and leave them not ſo much as a rag to cover their ſhamefull nakedneſſe. They ſhall ſpeed worſe, than hee did among thoſe high-way cutters:Luk. 10.30.Luke 10:30 for they ſhall be left robbed, and naked, and wounded, and more than halfe dead: without hope of any charitable Samaritane, to cure or comfort them. The Danite-theeves ſtole away Micha's idols: the goods of a worldling are his gods: Ye have taken away my gods, and what have I more to loſe? What more?Iudg. 18.24.Judg 18:24 Yes, thou miſtaken Idolater, This Theefe ſhall ſteale away thy ſelfe: as Micha was there threatned; Let not thy voice be heard, lest they take away thy Life with thy gods. I might paralell the the every of thoſe Danites, with the avarice of many Chriſtians: As thoſe Images appeared to thoſe Iſraelites, ſo doe riches to theſe worldlings; in their Imagination no leſſe than gods: and they will have them, though they ſteale them. A ſuperſtitious Levite was the Prieſt to thoſe, a covetous heart is the Prieſt to theſe. There, becauſe the gods without the Prieſt could doe them leſſe ſervice, than the Prieſt without the gods, therefore they ſteale the Prieſt with the gods. Here, the Prieſt ſteales the gods, and the gods ſteale the Prieſt: the heart purloineth riches, and thoſe riches filch the heart; and both are contented with this mutuall the every. O miſerable Danites, that could eſteeme that a God, which might be ſtollen: that could looke for protection from that, which could not keepe it ſelfe from ſtealing: which was wonne by their theft, not by their devotion! Could they worſhip thoſe idols more devoutely, than Micha that made them? If they could not protect their Maker from robberie, how ſhall they protect their theeves? yet their ſuperſtition hath made them mad upon a god, and have him they muſt, by what meanes they care not; though they offend the true God, by ſtealing a falſe. Riches are the gods of the world, mens hearts are the theeves; they make no Conſcience from whom they ſteale them, ſo they have them. Still one theefe robbes another, till this laſt Theefe comes, and he robbes all of all. The oppreſſor robbes the innocent, the Lawyer robbes the oppreſſor, the Tyrant robbes the Lawyer, death robbes the tyrant, and the Day of Iudgement robs death: But p. 1311if a traveller, having ſtore of money about him, and one Iewell more worth than all the reſt, ſuſpect to be ſet upon and rifled by theeves; hee will ſo ſurely and ſecretly convey his Iewell, that they ſhall never finde it: Our Soule is our Iewell, and this ſubtle Theefe will narrowly examine us: Let him take all, ſo we may ſave our Iewell; and there is but one way to ſave it, that is, by hiding it in the wounded ſide of Ieſus Christ.

4. The Fatalitie of this perill may yet be further amplified, by the inſulting tyrannie of this implacable Theefe. It does not onelyonly robbe ſinners of all, and that ſuddenly; but domineeres over them with painefull deriſion.aaProv. 1.26.Prov 1:26 It mockes their feare, and laughs at their destruction. Bloudy theeves, when they are once Maſters of the houſe, firſt binde the familie, then put them to rackes and tortures, to force out a Confeſſion of their concealed treaſure: to all this agonie, they aide ſcorne and contempt, which is a racke upon the racke, a mercieleſſe aggravation of their torments. The Day of the Lord doth not onelyonly binde reprobates with the everlaſting chaines of darkeneſſe, that they cannotbbMat. 22.13.Matt 22:13 move hand not foot: but delivers them over to thoſe tormentors, who will never ceaſe torturing of them, till they have both confeſſed andccMat. 18.34.Matt 18:34 payed the uttermost penny. Their temporall goods they call their moveables; their bodies are alſo their moveables; and both theſe may be removed without prejudice to their ſoules. When theeves in the night had robbed a Merchants houſe of ſome bedding and ſuch houſhold-ſtuffe; he hearing the noiſe, roſe and went downe, and finding them but new gone, followed to ſee what would become of his goods: the theeves eſpying him, threatned him for dogging them: But the Merchant anſwered, I onelyonly come to ſee whither you remove me. If the ſoule could be ſafe, as that Merchant was, whileſt it ſaw miſſe-fortune remove her goods to the ſtranger, or death remove her body to the grave; there were but a ſlight ground of complaint. But as nothing but the diſhonour and rape of Thamar, could pleaſe Am…, and nothing but the bloud of Amnon could ſatisfie Abſalom, and nothing but the heart of Abſalom could content Ioab, and nothing but the death of Ioab could pacifie Salomon: So nothing but the Soule of an impenitent ſinner can appeaſe the juſt wrath of this Day. Deſperate theeves breake three of the Divine Precepts at once: they doe not onelyonly ſteale and kill, but they binde three tranſgreſſions together, committing adulteries, deflouring Virgins, and raviſhing Marrons. The carnall Soules Pleaſure is his wife, to which he is ſo uxorious, that he neglects Chriſt;ddLuk. 14.20.Luke 14:20 I have married a wife, and I cannot come: His daughters bee the fruit and iſſue of both; ſuch vanities and ſinnes as hee hath begotten upon this concubine. This miſtreſſe of his affections ſhall be raviſhed from his ſide, and theſe Children ſhall be daſhed againſt the ſtones before his eyes: Not unlike that fearefull doome of Zedekiah: firſt his ſonnes are ſlaine before his eyes, and then thoſe eyes of his (as if they had ſeene enough, when they had ſeene himſelfe childleſſe) are put out.

The Reprobates ſhall cry at the laſt day,eeRev. 6.16.Rev 6:16 Hide us from the Face of him that ſits on the Throne, and from the wrath of the Lambe. Can the Lambe bee angry? or is there ſuch Lion-like terrour in that milde face, ſo full of beautie and ſweetneſſe, when it lookes upon wickedneſſe? Why would they be hidden? and hidden from the Lambe? O, guiltineſſe would faine keepe out of ſight: the Limbes of that infernall head, ſhall not eſteeme it the leaſt part of their torment at that day, to ſee the moſt lovely ſpectacle that Heaven can afford. Hee, from whom they fled in his offers of Grace, ſhall be ſo much more terrible, as hee was and is more gracious. When Chriſt was in his humbled eſtate, that Prince of darkeneſſe was ſo humble as to kneele to him: and though he had ſo much boldneſſe as to expoſtulate,ffMat. 8.29.Matt 8:29 Art thou come to torment us before our time? yet withall hee had ſo much feare as to deprecate,ggLuk. 8.28.Luke 8:28 I beſeech thee torment me not. For the former; whether it were muſicke to Satan to heare the ſhriekes and roarings of ſinners, p. 1312becauſe he uſeth to enjoy their torments: and therefore held it a peece of his owne torture, to bee reſtrained in the exerciſe of his tyrannie. Or whether, as himſelfe profeſſeth, he were now in a fearefull expectation of being commanded downe into the deepe, for a further degree of actuall execution. Or whether the very Preſence of Chriſt was his racke; for the guilty ſpirit cannot behold the Iudge, or the Executioner, without a renovation of horrour: Howſoever, he deprecates a greater infelicitie. Yet what a thing is this, to heare the devill at his Prayers? I beſeech thee torment me not. Nature teaches every Creature to wiſh a freedome from paine: the ſouleſt ſpirits cannot but love themſelves, and this love muſt needs produce a deprecation of evill. Devotion is not guilty of this prayer, but feare. There is no Grace in the ſuit of Devils, but nature: no reſpect of Gods Glory, but of their owne eaſe: They cannot pray againſt ſinne, but againſt torment for ſinne. It can be no newes to heare the profaneſt mouth, in extremitie, imploring that ſacred Name, when even the Devils doe ſo. The worſt of all Creatures hates puniſhment, and can ſay, Lead me not into paine: onelyonly the good heart can ſay, Lead me not into temptation. If wee can as heartily pray againſt ſinne, for the avoiding of diſpleaſure, as againſt puniſhment, when wee have diſpleaſed; there is true Grace in the Soule.

The Concluſion is; If thoſe wicked ſpirits trembled to come before Chriſt in his Humiliation, when he was to Suffer: how ſhall ſinfull duſt appeare before him in his glory, when he comes to Iudge? As one and the ſame thing workes diverſly upon divers conſtitutions, and the nouriſhment of one, is the offenſe of another:2 Theſ. 1.6, 7.2 Thess 1:62 Thess 1:7 So this Day brings contrary Effects to contrary diſpoſitions; and that which is the greateſt joy to ſome, is moſt terrible to the reſt. The Goates on the left hand never apprehended ſo dreadfull a ſound, as that of the laſt Trumpe: The Sheepe on the right hand never heard ſuch muſicke. For the diſſolution of temporall things, Communis terminus, there is the ſame end to all. Men dealing in the world for riches, are but like ſcolars playing at dice for counters; which come and goe; now the heape is on this ſide, by and by on that: on a ſuddaine comes in the Maſter, and he ſwoopes all, both dice and counters; not without ſome juſt correction of the gameſters. So men tug, and ſcramble, and wrangle for theſe paltry vanities, wealth and honours: This Fountaine dryes, that Ciſterne fils: one noble houſe withers, whiles another of low degree ſwels up to a Lord: to day this Merchant hath the caſh, to morrow that: But the Lords Day confiſcates all; and then who is the richer man? This world is like a broad Table with a ſcant or narrow Table-cloth; which every man is ſtill drawing to his owne ſide, though he plucke his neighbours part from him: this Day comes with a fatall voider, and takes away all, cloth, meat, table, and gueſts too. Thus farre together, all are ſerved alike: but then comes the difference. All men hope well, and thinke themſelves good: but let mee tell them of this Day, as Moſes did thoſe rebellious Levites; Numb. 16.5.Num 16:5To morrow the Lord will ſhew, who are his, and who are holy. A common Hen, together with her owne Egges, may hatch the egges of Eagles that are layed under her: but when they are growne up, while her owne brood keepe the baſe earth, thoſe of a higher kind flie upwards. This world breeds us all, and is both to good and bad a common mother: but when that great day of ſeparation comes, all they that are begotten of immortall ſeed ſhall leave their mother, and take after their Father; and while their kindred in the fleſh ſinke downe under their naturall corruptions, theſe Eagles that are ſprung from above, ſhall mount up to the Eternall neſt of Glory.

5. The irremediableneſſe of that fatality ſhuts up the terrour of this point. Theeves may have ſome merciemercy, in the proſtration of their bootie. Firſt, either they will not take all the goods of the houſe. If Grape-gatherers come unto thee, will they not leave ſome gleaning Grapes? Ier. 49.9. Ob. ver. 5.Jer 49:9If Theeves come by night, they will but destroy till they have enough. They will not, or, if they would, they cannot carry away p. 1313all. Secondly, or they may bee overcome with perſwaſions, and melted with the pitifull complaint of their undone Clients: It was the little Childrens cries and teares that made Theodoſius weepe too, and reverſe the ſentence. Thirdly, or if they ſeaze on the goods, they may ſpare the life: It is a rare cruelty, in this land, to cut the throats of the yeelding; to ſecond, and ſecure theft with blood. Fourthly, or if they ſpill ſome blood in the conflict, they will not take the reſt after the conqueſt: Thoſe theeves had ſo much pitie, as though they proceeded to wound the traveller, yet theyllLuk. 10.30.Luke 10:30 Left him but halfe dead. Fifthly, or if nothing but both eſtate and life can ſatisfie them, yet their rage can extend no further: all the malice of man is there determined: Death is the end of all the ſufferers miſerie, and murderers crueltie. But the Iudgement of this day is not confined to theſe weake limits: It will not take away ſome of their riches, but all; not riches onelyonly, but their lives; not lives onelyonly, but their ſoules: nor their ſoules for a time only, but for ever: nor to repoſe them in tranquillitie and eaſe, but in the extremitie of torments. Povertie, or caſualtie of loſſes is a theefe; but it can onelyonly ſteale away thy riches temporall: and that is often no more than depriving a Girle of Chalke or Oatmeale, that is troubled with the greene ſickneſſe, or diſarming a mad man of the weapon, wherewith hee would wound both himſelfe and others. Infamie or diſgrace is a theefe; but it can only ſteale away an aiery title, an imaginary Crowne: which makes men prouder than they ſhould be, becauſe they thinke themſelves better than they are. Humility hath made many good, Promotion can only make them great. Advancement may thanke God for the beginning; but if it ſwell into pride, the Divell is at the ending. There is no ſinne doth more aſſimilate men to that curſed nature: for all other ſinnes the Divell made, onelyonly Pride made the Divell. Sickeneſſe is a theefe; but it can onelyonly ſteale away health: and how many a man ſpeeds like that Souldier with the inveterate ulcer; who receiving a hurt in the place ſo deſperately affected, was made whole of the griefe, which before could not bee cured. The ſoule hath growne healthfull by the bodies ſickneſſe, and one diſeaſe hath done more good upon them, than many Sermons. Death is a theefe too, yet what can it robbe a man of, but a long, tedious, and troubleſome way? Theeves take away from the traveller ſome of his money; this theefe doth but robbe him of ſome of his journey. When a yong man is bereaved of life, hee is but deprived of a Die, wherewith hee might either winne or loſe. Our life is not more uncertaine, whether it will be long or ſhort, than the uſe of it is, whether we will ſpend it well or ill. When one wiſhed the ſonne to proove like the father, Cato replied, is this a bleſsing, or a curſe? When long life is apprecated to a childe, it may be demanded, Whether is this a bleſsing or a curſe? When it is ſaid, Every man ſhall bee rewarded according to his workes, it may bee doubted, whether this is a bleſſing, or a curſe. If death takes a man from his Lands, Houſes, Coyne, and helps him to a ſtarry Throne, a robe of immortality, a glorious kingdome; he rather rights him like a friend, than robs him like a theefe. All the good that may be found in death (as the ceſſation of trouble, the extinction of ſinne, the deliverance from Satan, the quiet reſt of the body, and infranchiſement of the ſoule) the good man ſteales from death; and ſo in effect, doth but robbe the theefe: That which is not worth his reſpect or keeping; as his moleſtations, ſickeneſſes, ſorrowes; of theſe death robbes him, and much good do't him with them.

But this day of the Lord is like a ſeverer theefe: not onelyonly robbing the wicked of all their delightfull good, bvt lodging them with all ſorrowfull evill. Other theeves may be brought to a reſtitution: this onelyonly yeelds to a permutation; exchanging paines for pleaſures, torment for ſinne; If a man take away thy ruſſet, and give the velvet; we uſe to ſay, that change is no robbery: But if thou loſe thy cordials for corroſives, thy peace and comfort for deſpaire and puniſhment; ſurely this change is a robbery. A paſſenger ſtripped of his whole eſtate by theeves, p. 1314may yet recover a greater fortune by the divine bleſſing upon his induſtry. But alas, the happineſſe which this theefe ſteales, is irrecoverable: millions of yeers cannot weare it out, nor myriads of teares buy off, that everlaſting loſſe. Conſider the vaſtneſſe of the Ocean, and conceive that a Sparrow were allowed, every hundred thouſandth yeere to drinke a draught of it, together with a promiſe to the damned, that when that little Bird had thus drunke up this great Sea, they ſhould be releaſed; here were ſome hope of an end, and ſome comfort from that hope, and ſome eaſe from the expectation of that comfort: But eternity cancells all, and puts out their light for ever.mmMark. 9.44.Mark 9:44 Their worme dieth not, and the fire never goes out. It was a fearefull fire that deſtroyed Sodome, yet it ceaſed with that deſtruction: but the fire of Tophet can never be quenched. Our bodies dy, and when the wormes have devoured them, even thoſe wormes ſhall die too: but the worme bred in our ſoules is not capable of death. Wee are Gods creatures, yet we are mortall: but there is a creature of our owne which ſhall be immortall. We muſt die, but thennEſa 66.24.Isa 66:24 Worme of our owne conſcience muſt never die. In our mortall life, this is but a mortall worme: the blood of Chriſt hath vertue enough to kill it: If now we mortifie it, we ſhall feele it never: if it out-live us here, it will live with us for ever. Let our faithfull repentance, without pity, put it to death: and our bleſſed Redeemer will in mercy give us life.

To make ſome uſefull application of all this; If we would eſcape the danger of this great Theefe, let us take heed of a little theefe, Sinne: this is the theefe that does all the miſchiefe. Could wee fervently pray againſt ſinne, wee neede not pray againſt puniſhment; which is no other than the inſeparable ſhadow of that body: But if wee have not watched againſt this privie theefe, Sinne; in vaine doe wee pray againſt the publike theefe, judgement: God muſt be juſt, and the wages of ſinne is death. This is a ſlie cunning theefe, inſinuating it ſelfe into all places, into all actions. It robbed man, in Paradiſe, of Paradiſe, of Innocencie, of Peace, of Earth, of Heaven, It ſtole into that Garden like a theefe, in the body of a Serpent: it ſtole into the eye of Eve, like a theeefe in the ſhape of an apple: it ſtole into her minde, in the forme of an ambitious advancement: it ſtole into the heart of Adam like a theefe, involved in an uxorious indulgence: from their tranſgreſſion, it ſtole like a theefe into the loynes of all their poſterity, by a ſecret, but certaine way: wee have it, and can ſcarce tell how we got it. It is a vaine quaere, How came this theefe in? Let it bee our ſtudy to caſt him out. No barres nor barricado's can preclude his entrance: the Monke in his Cell, the Hermite in his ſolitude, the Anachorete mued up in a wall, cannot forbid acceſſe to this theefe. The very Temple is not free from him: there he robbes men of their attention, of their deuotion, and tranſports their mindes into a wilderneſſe of vaine thoughts. It ſteales into our beſt works, and robbes them of their perfection and integrity; I dare not ſay, the action is ſinne, I dare ſay there is ſinne in the action. It laies ſnares in every materiall; Laqueos in cibo, Auguſt.in potu, in vultu, in veſte. It takes all formes, that it may be filching at all times: Fit fera, fit volucris, fit toto corpore ſerpens. Like a Cameleon, it can turne to all colours, but white the ſymbole of purity: it can be any thing but innocent. Like a Theefe, it creepes into the eares of the wavering, and robbes them of their religion: it creepes into the eyes of the wanton, and robs them of their chaſtity: it creepes into the mouth of the drunkard, and robbes him of his witte: It creepes into the breſt of the malicious, and robbes him of his charity. it ſits in the braine of the ignorant, puts out the light of underſtanding, and rifles the houſe at pleaſure. It ſits at the doore of the ſwearer, and flies fiercely at the majeſty of our Maker: This theefe hath broken into the heart of the proud, of the covetous, of the prophane, of the hypocrite, and there keepes poſſeſſion, yea, pleads preſcription: challenging the houſe, not as a ſtrong uſurper, but as the right owner. It cannot rob God of us, it may robbe us of God.

p. 1315The day of the Lord is but like a theefe;] but this is a theefe indeed. No wiſe man, at leaſt no honeſt man will entertaine a knowne theefe: ſhall wee bid him welcome, make him good cheare, lodge him in our beſt chamber, and thinke nothing too coſtly for him, that wee know comes on purpoſe to robbe us? Yet ſuch is our madneſſe, to give ſinne not onelyonly admiſſion, but indulgence; to invite it home to our houſes, to honour it with bankets, to allow it the command of our ſervants, and to let it ſleepe in the ſoft bed of our hearts: our ſenſes receive it, our affections waite upon it, our ſoules make much of it, as if it were a deare friend, and no dangerous theefe. This is that little theefe within, that opens the doore to the great theefe without: this is the Divels intelligencer, his agent, his picke locke, his engine, his truſty vaſſall, that betrayes the whole world to his invaſion. The theefe robs the paſſenger, and if hee ſcape apprehenſion, hee applauds himſelfe: but the ſinne of that act hath beene a worſe theefe to him, and robbed him of the peace of conſcience. Sacriledge preſumes to robbe the Church, and therein the Lord himſelfe; yet is ſo impudent as to expoſtulateooMal. 3.8.Mal 3:8 Wherein have we robbed thee? Alas poore theeves! they do but robbe us of our temporary proviſion: but in the meane time, ſacriledge is a theefe that …ob…es them of their eternall ſalvation. It is juſt, that theft ſhould bee puniſh… …ith theft, that one theefe ſhould robbe another. Oppreſſors rob us, ſin robbes them, death robbes ſinne, and the Divell robbes them all.

Our bleſſed Saviour once challenged the people, that theyppMat. 26.55.Matt 26:55 came out againſt him, as againſt a theefe, with ſwords and ſtaves. Hee charged his Diſciples, to be ſo unfurniſhed of weapons, whereby they might doe violence, as not to take with them ſo muchqqMat. 10.10.Matt 10:10 as ſtaves: And yet in another place, hee allowes them nothing toward their journey,rrMark. 6.8.Mark 6:8 but ſtaves: As a ſtaffe is a weapon, it was forbidden, not as it is for ſupportation. The maſter was taken as a theefe; the ſervants may not be ſuſpected. When they crucified him, it wasſſMat. 27.38.Matt 27:38 betweene two theeves; one on his right hand, and the other on his left. Still he is crucified betweene theeves, in his afflicted members: The Client, betweene the corrupt Iudge and the Lawyer: the Patient, betweene the ignorant Phyſician and Apothecary; the landed debtor, betweene the Uſurer and Scrivener: the poore Miniſter, betweene the Simoniacall Patrone and ſacrilegious pariſhioner: in all theſe hee is crucified betweene two theeves. All this while they have beene theeves to him: but in the laſt day he ſhall come like a theefe againſt them; and his juſt fury cannot be avoided. It is a happineſſe, when we ſhall meete with this great Theefe, to have our goods ſafe in another place. Hee that ſhall ſay in this ſenſe, Omnia mea mecum port…, I have all my wealth about me, ſhall bee ſtripped of all by this impartiall Robber. But ifttMat. 6.20.Matt 6:20 Our Treaſure be laid up in Heaven, if our Riches bee the merits of Ieſus Chriſt, No theefe can breake through, and ſteale it. Then Cantabit vacuus coram latrone viator, the empty traveller ſings before the theefe. Our wealth is at home, in the hands of Him that will never ſuffer it to miſcarry.

Like a theefe.] That naturall dependance, which the moſt wiſe Creator of all things, hath made betweene all things: may, by way of Paradoxe, bee called a kinde of theft. The ſea doth robbe the land of ſome territories, and the land robbes the ſea of her waters. The Earth ſteales from the Heavens their influence, and Plants ſteale from the Earth her moiſture: Among trees, one robbes another; and the great Oke pines the Underwood. Flowers ſteale from the ground her fatneſſe, Bees ſteale from the flowers their ſweetneſſe, Men ſteale from the Bees their honey. Wee are the univerſall theeves in this ſenſe; for wee ſteale from all: Our light from the Sunne, our breath from the Aire, our Phiſicke from Plants and Mineralls, our food from Beaſts, Fowles and Fiſhes: we robbe the Sheep of their wooll, and the Wormes of their ſilkes, to cloth us: we ſteale warmth from the Fire, and cooleneſſe from the Aire or water: wee robbe the Vine of her vitall juyce, and the Olive of her iunctuous fruite. Wee are the p. 1316theeves in all this, and yet in all this we are no theeves; becauſe the great owner of all things hath ordained all theſe benefits for us. OnelyOnly then we are theeves, when we robbe our ſelves of their comfortable uſe, or of our thankefull obedience by their abuſe.August. Quod Deo donante fit nostrum, hoc nobis abutentibus fit alienum. In all this our taking away from the Creatures, wee are rather borrowers than theeves; yea rather owners than borrowers. By that Patent ſealed by the Father, firſt; then renewed by the Sonne, and now confirmed by the Holy Ghoſt; we are Lords of theſe things, not uſurpers; not theeves, but proprietaries.

Here is then no warrant for that Theft, which is the unlawfull uſurpation of another mans goods: therefore unlawfull, becauſe the owner was unwilling: whether deprived of his ſubſtance without his knowledge, by fraud and cloſe carriage: or with his privitie, but againſt his conſent: and that either his full conſent, as by violence and oppreſſion; or his conſent in part, as in the exaction of covenanted intereſt from diſtreſſed debters. For howſoever they be driven by neceſſitie, into that dangerous gulfe of Uſurie, they wiſh with all their hearts, that creditors would lend according to the Nature of Loane, which is a contract of meere gratuitie, their money according to the nature of money, which is ordained for an inſtrument of exchange, uncapable of ſuch monſtrous improvement. Certainely, Me nemo Magistro Fur erit — I will teach no man to be a theefe; nor give the leaſt countenance to that legall robber, the ſoule-robbed Uſurer. My tongue ſhall be as farre from recanting that ſpeech of Leo; Foenus pecuniae, funus animae; as my heart is from diſliking that fire, than which Ageſilaus never ſaw clearer, when bon-fires were made of Obligations. God hath committed to the ſonnes of men a right of uſe and diſpenſation; whereunto, for the avoiding of diſorder, a generall diſtinction of owneages, was added by the Law of Nations. Whatſoever the Lacedemonians did thinke of Theft; that it was an allowable exerciſe of martiall Diſcipline: or others have ſaid even of Kingdomes themſelves, that they are but Magna latrocinia: whereas indeed, they are Magna Patrocinia; not Theeveries, but protections againſt Theeveries: Or Alciatus dreamed, that Theft was not a reproach in Nature, becauſe it was forbidden by the Law; as if the Law, and Nature had not both one Author: Or other querulous diſpoſitions have objected, that the Lawes of men are written in bloud; becauſe in the cenſure of this unjuſt and uncharitable ſinne, they have exceeded the puniſhment of Moſes Iudicials: forgetting the Multitude of offenders, which is cauſed not onelyonly by the fierceneſſe of a wilde Nation, but even by the wantonneſſe of a peaceable Nation: for the latter is no leſſe powerfull than the former, to quicken our originall corruptions. This wee muſt conclude;Zach. 5.4.Zech 5:4 beſides our Makers expreſſe prohibition of Theft, and the ſevere vengeance he hath threatned againſt it: it is againſt Nature, to rejoyce in the ſpoiles one of another: And the very Law of Charitie being troden under foot, ſeemes in a grieving accent to demand; Si ſterilitas in ignem mittitur, rapacitas quid meretur? And whether men ſteale in their owne perſons, or teach others ſo to doe, as Anabaptiſts, and thoſe elder Heretickes called Apostolici: the bounds of proprietie are ancient bounds, and the killing curſe of that Flying booke ſhall deſtroy their houſes, that dare remove them. A theefe at the gallowes is none of the worſt ſights in a countrey.

In Concluſion, Theft can finde no ſhelter under the ſhadow of this Compariſon: The day of the Lord will come like a theefe, and where it findes a theefe, will ſentence him to condemnation. Theeves? there are few or none amongſt us: we will be all bound for one anothers truth and honeſtie: But may I not ſay in the Prophets ſenſe, All men are lyers, ſo All men are theeves? The receiver, we ſay, is worſe than the theefe: therefore ſaid one, Shew mee a Sinner, and I will ſhew thee a Theefe. The Oppreſſor hath a theeviſh hand, the covetous hath a theeviſh eye, the ſlanderer hath a theeviſh tongue, the drunkard hath a theeviſh p. 1317throat, the Harlot hath a theeviſh lip, the Idolater hath a theeviſh knee, the Flatterer hath a theeviſh geſture; every Sinner hath a theeviſh heart. Doe not hold it impoſſible for you, to diſcover and attach a Theefe in your owne boſomes. Our naturall corrupt Lust is a Theefe within us: if wee examine him ſtrictly, wee may finde out his haunts, and fetches, his ſhifts, and devices. Beleeve him not, for he will lie: ſpare him not, for he will ſteale: ſhrieve him to the proofe, for he will hardly confeſſe: arraigne him at the barre of the conſcience, condemne him with a penitent ſentence, puniſh him with an impartiall execution: puniſh him in the body, by faſting and mortification: puniſh him in the ſoule, by repentance and contrition: puniſh him in the purſe, by the workes of charity and reſtitution. If wee can get quit of this Theefe, that ſinne be mortified in us; the comming of the Lords Day (though it be like a Theefe) ſhall not hurt us.

Laſtly, there is an holy Theft, which I would commend to your practiſe. There be five waies to get the Kingdome of Heaven: Some innocently finde it, ſome violently ſnatch it, ſome are compulſorily driven to it, ſome expenſively purchaſe it, and others politickely ſteale it. Firſt, they that light upon it unlooked for, are Infants dying ſoone after their Baptiſme. They are Candidati fidei, of the Livery of Faith: and as they live in the Wombe by the life of their naturall mother: ſo they live in the Covenant by the Faith of their ſpirituall Mother, the Church. Theſe finde ſalvation without trouble: they labour not in the vineyard, they grone not in prayer, they are not exerciſed with trials, they weepe not remorſefull teares, they are not charged with many duties; yet the Blood of Chriſt clenſeth them from all their ſinnes.uuMatth. 19.14.Matt 19:14 Suffer little children to come …nto me, for of ſuch is the kingdome of He…ven: it belongs to them, and they belong to it; and there they are, before they know where they were: theſe finde it. Secondly, theyxxMatth. 11.12.Matt 11:12 take it by violence, are ſuch as by an utter abdication of the world, doe wholly dedicate themſelves to God: that, by their continuall praiers and pious actions, lay ſiege to that glorious Kingdome; and in the fervent deſire of Gods ſervice, offer up themſelves a living ſacrifice. Such are thoſe Martyrs, that ſwimme thither in the ſtreame of their owne bloods, whoſe ſoules mount up to Heaven in acceptable flames. There bee three ſorts of Martyrs; Re & intentione, Intentione non re, re non intentione: in both deed and intention, as was Saint Stephen: in intention not deed, as was Saint Iohn: in deed not in intention, as were thoſe Innocents: And three annuall holy-daies are dedicated by the Church, to the memory of theſe three kindes of Martyrs: all which together, in their order, immediately follow the great Feaſt of our Saviours Nativity. But the Pontificians have found out a fourth kinde of Martyrdome: which is nec re, nec voluntate, vel intentione; neither in deed nor intention: Of which ſupernumerary number was their Saint, Thomas Becket; whoſe day they celebrate next after the three former. It is ſtrange, they take him for a Matyr, whom thoſe daies never found but for a Traitor. But the Martyrs of Chriſt are led by another Spirit, who puts ſuch courage into their hearts, that like noble Champions, they breake through all difficulties to the Kingdome of Heaven. Thirdly, they that are driven to it, are beholding to compulſory meanes: they have ſhipp'd themſelves in a Man of warre, and would proſecute their licentious miſchiefes, but are beaten into the Harbour with ſtormes. The Lord often clips our wings, leaſt we ſhould ſtraggle abroad after our boundleſſe and tranſportive fancies: Hee ſtrippes the body of pleaſures, to clothe the ſoule with righteouſneſſe: and by impoveriſhing our temporall eſtate, Hee ſtrengthens our ſtate of grace. Not that wee are therefore ſaved, becauſe we are afflicted: but wee are afflicted, as proper to them that ſhall bee ſaved.aaAct. 14.2….Acts 14:2 Through much Tribulation wee must enter into the Kingdome of God: It is not Propter, but per tribulationes. Affliction cannot worke grace of it ſelfe; for ſorrow can no more bring comfort, than Thornes can beare Grapes: but it is the needle that drawes in the threed. p. 1318There is no fault to bee found with that neceſſity, which conſtraines us to bee good.bbLuk. 14.21.Luke 14:21 Bring hither the poore, the maimed, halt, and blinde: yea, their owne poverty ſhall bring them; their owne blindeneſſe ſhall make them ſee the way, and their owne lameneſſe ſhall enable them to goe. If they yet linger, there is a Mandamus of farther conſtraint; Compell them to come in, that my houſe may bee filled. Affliction is to us, as the Whale was to the Prophet: wee goe in Fugitives, we come forth Converts: we goe in Rebels, we come out Penitents: wee goe in Sinners, and come out Saints. Fourthly, they that purchaſe it, lay out all they have upon Earth, for an habitation in Heaven. Let this ground bee laid firme; that onelyonly the blood of Chriſt is the price of ſalvation: and hee that confides in the merit of his owne workes, ſhall ſit howling without doores. Yet, though Faith alone doth ſave us, it muſt not deſtroy Charity: and to our good deeds, there is a reward of Mercy. There is a way, byccMatth. 13.44, 46.Matt 13:44Matt 13:46 ſelling all we have, to buy that incomparable Pearle, that ineſtimable Treaſure. There is a policy, to make ſuchddLuk. 16.9.Luke 16:9 Friends of our riches, as may let us into thoſe everlaſting Manſions. After,eeMatth. 25.21.Matt 25:21 Well done good Servant, there followes, Enter thou into the joy of thy Master. How deare doe men buy a ſmall turfe of earth, and yet how cheape doe they value Heaven? They will venture their ſoules to get a little money, they will not venture a little money to ſave their ſoules. They can oppreſſe the poore, to make their children rich: they will not releeve the poore, to make their children bleſſed. But as when a miſerly Dung-worme excuſed his oppreſſions, becauſe hee had eighteene children; another replied, but eighteene? Beleeve me, if you had eight and forty, the Countrey hath curſes enough for them all: So let mee aſſure the charitable Benefactor, how many children ſoever he hath, Heaven hath bleſſings enough for them all. Fifthly, and laſtly, there be ſome that ſteale this glorious Kingdome: under the vaile of humility, an holy dejection, and under-valuing of themſelves, they lay hold on eternall life. Though the wals of that celeſtiall City bee too high to climbe over, too ſtrong for anyffMatth. 6.20.Matt 6:20 Theefe to breake through, and ſteale: yet there is a way for this pious Theefe to get in: this is neither over, nor through the wals, butggRev. 22.14.Rev 22:14 through the Gates. He is fitted for entrance; the Gate is low, and hee is humble: the Gate is narrow, and he is little: ſo little in his owne eyes, that he can eaſily creepe in, and being once in, he ſhall never be turned out. Such a Theefe was that modeſt woman, waſted with an iſſue of blood, reſolving within her ſelfe;hhMatth. 9.21.Matt 9:21 If I may but touch his garment, I ſhall be whole: Shee ſtole vertue from him by a touch. Such a Theefe was that penitent Sinner upon the Croſſe;Luk. 23.42. Athanaſ.Luke 23:42 who both lived and dyed a Theefe: He ſtole their temporall goods from men, for which hee dyed: and hee ſtole Paradiſe from Chriſt, when Hee dyed. Paul ſaies, Give your bodies a living ſacrifice to God: but there God accepted of a dying ſacrifice. Iudas had ſerved Chriſt three yeares, and played the Theefe with his purſe: he could ſteale his Lords coine: but this man had ſcarce ſerved Him three houres, yet had learned a better way of theft, and ſtole from Him Salvation. Iacob wraſtled with God, and by an holy kinde of force, robbed Him of a Bleſsing. And the God of comfort thus encouraged that ſhamefaſt and trembling Patient, that touched the border of his garment;iiLuk. 8.48.Luke 8:48 Daughter, bee of good cheere, thy faith hath made thee whole: ſince thou haſt ſtollen vertue from me, take it, and much good do't thee with it. Other theft ſhall be condignely puniſhed; but ſuch a penitent, humble, and pious Theefe (whom the world condemnes for a ſinner, but inward ſorrow and compunction preſents to God for a Saint) ſhall not onelyonly be mercifully pardoned, but even gloriouſly crowned in the Day of Ieſus Christ.

Gellius l. 1. cap. 18. Hor. lib. 1. Ep. 2.In the night] Fur à furvo, ſay ſome; becauſe that art requires the ſecrecy of darkeneſſe. Vt jugulent homines, ſurgunt de nocte Latrones. Night is the ſeaſon for Theeves and Harlots: The Adulterer waits for the twy-light, ſaying, no eye ſhall ſee me. If the night ſhould ſpeake all it knowes, it would put millions to the bluſh, p. 1319in the day.kkIob 24.16.Job 24:16 Theeves in the darke digge through houſes, which they had marked for themſelves in the day. The night payes the Devill no leſſe cuſtome than the day. Why elſe are ſinnes called Opera tenebrarum, The workes of darkeneſſe? Castè, Hor. lib. 1. Epist. 16.ſi non caute, was a Rule to ſave their Credites, though not their Conſcience. Noctem peccatis, & fraudibus obijce nubem. There bee indeed ſome ſinnes peculiar to the day, becauſe they are done onelyonly to bee ſeene, and if they might not bee ſeene, would not be done. But commonlyllIoh. 3.19. Ovid.John 3:19 Evill doers love the darkeneſſe, and deſire to ſinne out of ſight. The whore loves the blacke and darke night: Nox, & amor, vinumque nihil moderabile ſuadent: Illa pudore vacat, liber amorque metu. mmEph. 5.12.Eph 5:12It is a ſhame even to ſpeake of thoſe things which are done of them in ſecret. Darkeneſſe cauſeth boldneſſe, and Secrecie is the mother of Securitie: They thinke Impunè fit, quod fit in abdito. Therefore it is proverbially ſpoken, Nox commoda ſceleribus: iniquitie is beholding to the night, and the Devill is a great noctivagant. The fouleſt fact of the world, Iudas his treaſon, was a night-peece.

Of all, the Theefe longs for the night: then he hopes that ſleepe hath ſhut the eyes, and locked up the ſenſes of the whole familie. So the laſt judgement ſhall breake in upon men, when they are poſſeſſed with a Lethargie, and drowzie negligence; not minding, not dreaming of this ſudden Audite. But why doth this ſentence begin with, The day of the Lord; and ſubjoyne, Like a Theefe in the night: Day, and Night are oppoſites: if it bee the Lord's Day, how ſhould it come in the night? If it come in the Night, why is it called the Day? Or ſhall we ſay, it is Quiddam tertium; a thing mixt, betweene both, partaking of both, or compounded of both? As in Diluculis & Crepuſculis, there is a Twy-light: The dawning of the Day in the Morning, and the ſhutting in of the Day in the Evening make day and night ſo much one, as ſometimes you cannot tell which to call them. It is ſo much Day, that we cannot call it night; and ſo much night, that we cannot call it day. It is true, thatnn2 Cor. 6.14.2 Cor 6:14 Light hath no communion with darkneſſe: Lux & tenebrae, midnight and noone never met, never joyned. In the regenerate man there is bothooGal. 5.17.Gal 5:17 fleſh and Spirit: the ſpirit is not the fleſh, the fleſh is not the ſpirit: and yet both are in the ſame man. There is darkeneſſe in his underſtanding, and in his underſtanding there is light alſo: There is corruption in his affections, and yet in his affections there is holineſſe too. As in a veſſell of lukewarme water, there is both heat and cold together: Wee cannot ſay, This part of the liquour is hot, and that other cold: but cold and heat is confuſed throughout the whole veſſell. In the twy-light, wee cannot ſay, This part of the aire is light, and that other darke: but darkneſſe and light is ſhed, ſpred, and mingled throughout the whole aire. Shall we conjecture by ſuch a ſimilitude, that this Iudgement ſhall be in the Twy-light; when the ſeaſon may be called either, or neither Day or Night? Certainely, theſe fancies of men have ſo much darkneſſe in them, as to be called Night: but no raye or ſtreake of light, to give them a name of Day.

Some very venturouſly gather from hence; that Chriſt will come to Iudgement in the Night: and they offer to prove it by many arguments: Firſt, becauſe the firſt borne in Egypt were ſmitten in the night.ppWiſ. 18.14.Wis 18:14 While all things were in quiet ſilence, and that night in the midst of her courſe; God's Almighty Word leap'd downe from Heaven, out of his royall Throne, as a fierce man of warre. This was indeed moſt fearefull and aſtoniſhing; when God called for the bloud they owed him, at ſo uncomfortable a ſeaſon. In one night, every houſe hath a carcaſe in it; and (which was more grievous) of their firſt borne; and (which was yet more dolefull) in an inſtant. No man could comfort another; every one was too full of his owne ſorrow; helping rather to make the noiſe more lamentable. But all this is no more than the cry of an Infant, to the diſmall ſhrieking at Chriſts appearance, when all the kindreds of the earth ſhall mourne before him. And why doth this Plague of Egypt prove that he will come in the Night, more than the burning p. 1320of Sodome makes it probable that he will come in the Day? Secondly, the opinions of the Fathers are alledged for it:qqChryſ. in Mat. 15.Matt 15 Saint Chryſostome thinkes it ſhall be in the night: Euthymius conſents with him:rrHieron. in Mat. 25.Matt 25 Hierome cals it an Apoſtolicall Tradition: andſſLactan. lib. 7. c. 19. Lactantius confirmes it by the Teſtimonie of a Sibyll: Cùm venerit ille, Ignis erit, mediaque horrenda in nocte tenebrae. In the darkeſt night, ſaith he, the heavens ſhall be opened, and the Lord ſhall deſcend like Lightning.ttPruden. ad laudes Feriae tertiae. To ſay nothing of thoſe Eccleſiaſticall hymnes, taken out of Prudentius anduuAmbroſ. ad laudes Sabb. Ambroſe, that ſeeme to favour it. Nor to examine the reaſons ofxxTho. Tert. part. in Addit. qu. 77. ar. 3. Aquinas, why he ſtateth this great Audite, in the twylight, betwixt day of night: they bee all but dreames of a night. Thirdly, they argue, that the Paſſeover was to be eaten at night, becauſe the comming of the Lord was expected in the night:aaExod. 12.42.Exod 12:42 It is a night to be much obſerved unto the Lord: and This is the night of the Lord to be obſerved: The Iewes are ſaid to looke for the Comming of their Meſsias, in the middeſt of the night: and about that time of the night, it is very probable that our bleſſed Saviour was borne. The Angels came to the ShepheardsbbLuk. 2.8.Luke 2:8 in the night, with this joyfull tydings. But what is all this to prove, that his ſecond comming ſhall be in the night too? That Paſchall-night, whoſe obſervation was ſo ſtrictly commanded, is alſo called a day?ccEx. 12.14, 17.Exod 12:14Exod 12:17 This day ſhall be unto you for a memoriall: and You ſhall obſerve this day in your generations, by an Ordinance for ever. And the night of our Lord's Comming in the fleſh, is not called a night by the Angels, but a day:ddLuk. 2.11.Luke 2:11 VntoUnto you is borne, This Day, a Saviour. The acceptation of Dayes for times is a figure frequently uſed.eeEph. 5.16.Eph 5:16 The dayes are evill; what? the dayes only? Are not the nights evill too? Yes, but by dayes are meant the Times. Whether Chriſt will come in the day or night, we cannot tell; but we are ſure, there is a time determined when he will come. Fourthly, they ſticke hard upon that ſpeech,ffMat. 25.6.Matt 25:6 At midnight there was a cry made: concluding out of it, that at midnight the Lord ſhall come. But why may we not as well inferre that it ſhall be in the day; becauſe the LordggAct. 17.31.Acts 17:31 hath appointed a day in which he will judge the world? Nocte latent mendae; ſay ſome, How ſhould all things bee revealed in the night? But they may be anſwered accordingly; That night cannot want light, when heaven and earth ſhall make one univerſall bonfire. Knowledge ſhould keepe her allowed bounds:August. Satius est dubitare de occultis, quàm litigare de incertis. When the poore Debter was adviſed by his friends to watch for his Creditors comming to towne, and to intreat their favour about a compoſition, he anſwered; I will not trouble my ſelfe to ſeeke out them, for I am ſure they will finde out me. But let it be our ſpeedy diligence, to implore the Mercy of our great Creditor, not for any compoſition that can bee made by our ſelves, but to accept the ſatisfaction made by our Surety, his Sonne Chriſt upon the Croſſe: Otherwiſe, though we ſeeke not after him, he will be ſure to finde out us; when wee are neither able to put in baile, nor have one penny toward the payment. Night and day let us be prepared; and then whether thou commeſt day or night, welcome our deare Lord Ieſus.

The Summe is this; The day of the Lord is not only uncertaine for the time, 4but then moſt likely to be, when it is leaſt expected. And to this center, the Fathers, and all faire expoſitors reduce their Meditations: So Theophylact, Hilarie, Hierome, Bede, and hhGreg. Hom. 12. in Evang.Gregory expound the Metaphor.iiAug. Ser. 22. De verbis Dom. S. Augustine moſt plainly: He ſhall come in the night, Cùm valdè obſcurum & occultum erit, & quando non ſperatur. Men ſleepe in the night, and looke neither for gueſts nor theeves. His appearing ſhall be in the night of mens ignorance, when their intellectuall eyes are ſealed up with the Spirit of Slumber; no more expecting his deſcent from Heaven, than He lookes to finde Faith on the earth. But let us pray that he doe not finde us out in ſuch a night; when wee are fallen into ſpirituall darkeneſſe, the Ignorance of Him, and inconſideration of our ſelves. Though he permitted Darkneſſe to be before Light in the Creation; yet in the making of Light p. 1321he did ſo multiply that Light, as that it enlightned not the day onelyonly, but the night too. So albeit ſome ſhadowes of dimneſſe, and clouds of diſconſolateneſſe have ſhed themſelves upon our ſoules; let us beſeech him to afford us the Light of his holy Spirit, againſt which the Prince of darkneſſe can never prevaile, nor hinder his Illumination of our darkeſt nights, our ſaddeſt thoughts. The Viſitation of the holy Ghoſt upon the bleſſed Virgin, is called an over-ſhadowing: There was the Preſence of God, the Fountaine of all Light, and yet an overſhadowing: Nay, except there were ſome Light, there could bee no ſhadow. It is happy for us, when thoſe ſhadowes within us ſhall bee overcome by Gods irreſiſtible Light: That when thoſe ſhadowes have done their office upon us, to let us ſee that of our ſelves we ſhould fall into irrecoverable darkneſſe; the Spirit of Grace may doe his Office upon thoſe ſhadowes, diſperſing them, and eſtabliſhing us in the aſſurance of comfort.

The laſcivious wife is glad of her husbands abſence,Auguſt. and abuſeth the time in unchaſte embraces, till his unexpected returne ſurprizeth her in the bed of adulterie, and turnes her over to juſt penaltie. But the conſtant Spouſe, that hates the leaſt violation of her Faith, (even ſo much as in a wiſh or thought) with earneſt longing lookes for her husbands comming, and knowes no ſolace like to his Preſence. The holy Soule, that hath kept her faith with Chriſt, deſires this Day, waites for it, and at laſt entertaines it, and is entertained with it, in a ſweet and bleſſed Peace. But the ſtraggling adultereſſe, that hath preferred her pleaſure before her Pietie, and flatters her ſelfe with the remoteneſſe of her Lords Comming, ſhall bee taken in the Night of her careleſeneſſe, in the Act of her wantonneſſe, and periſh without hope of Reeonciliation. This day,kkLuk. 12.39.Luke 12:39 like a Theefe in the Night, ſhall breake through into her houſe: She hath barred the doores, and fortified her houſe againſt his entrance, out of a conſcious feare, and unwillingneſſe to ſee him: therefore there is no remedie, her houſe muſt bee broken through, and that unfaithfull ſoule be pluck'd out by force. But the other lookes for the meſſenger, liſtens to the firſt knocke: there is no neede to breake open her houſe, for ſhee readily opens the doore, and yeelds up her ſelfe in joyfull peace to the armes of her lord and husbandllPhil. 1.23.Phil 1:23 Yea, ſhee longs for a diſſolution,mmRev. 22.20.Rev 22:20 prayes for the Conſummation, and cryes for the haſtening of his Kingdome. Behold, I come quickly. Amen. Even ſo, Come Lord Ieſus.

In the which the Heavens ſhall paſſe away with a great noiſe.] Concerning the manner and extent of the worlds diſſolution, there is a world of queſtion: the Schoole is full of perplexities, that tend more to the diſtraction, than ſatisfaction of their Readers. They doe indeed but throw a ſtone into the Well, and leave us to take it out. They lay ſuch toiles and nettes for him, that hunts after the Truth in their Forreſt, that ſoone hee is entangled; and being once in, let him get out as well as he can. Three circumſtances are conſiderable in this firſt paſſage. Firſt, the matter alterable; The Heavens. Secondly, the meaſure of their alteration; Shall paſſe away. Thirdly, the manner of this tranſition; with a great noiſe.

1 The Heavens.] Some extend it to all the Heavens, even to that higheſt, which is the glorious Court of God himſelfe: but Saint Paul ſaith, we have an houſe not made with hands,nn2 Cor. 5.1.2 Cor 5:1 Eternall in the Heavens: that which is Eternall, cannot bee deſtructible.ooHieron. Magius de exust. mundi. cap. 6.7. Others abridge the latitude of this combuſtion, and underſtand by the Heavens the lower part of the Aire; confining this fiery deluge to the ſame limits with the former watry: But if the inferiour Aire were t…e boundaries of it, why are the Elements afterwards, Namely, expreſſed? The Aire is an element. Others affirme, that they ſhall periſh according to their very ſubſtance; as if there ſhould be no more Heavens: but this croſſeth the Scriptures, which ſpeake of a new Heaven and Earth; and of them, not as Noua, but Novata: not newly created, but purgingly renewed. This then is our ſafeſt concluſion; p. 1322that this purgation by fire, ſhall reach as farre, as did the corruption of ſinne, and no further. The corruption of the Heavens ſhall vaniſh, the matter of the Heavens ſhall not periſh. To inquire further, may bee dangerous, it cannot be profitable. Gods Power appeared in the creation of the World, his Wiſedome in the governement and diſpoſition of it, his indignation in the Flood that drowned it, his Mercy in ſaving thoſe eight that repleniſhed it, his Grace in the miſſion of his Sonne that redeemed it, and his Iuſtice will appeare in the re-ſending of that Sonne to judge it.ppPſal. 19.1.Ps 19:1 The Heavens declare the Glory of God: things or perſons may teach two wayes: either materially or occaſionally; ſo the inſenſible creatures teach man: or morally and vocally, by doctrine and example; as we ought to teach one another. The Heavens can teach us to looke unto our owne preparation; they cannot teach us the time or manner of their owne diſſolution.

2 Shall paſſe away.] There be two errors about this tranſition of the Heavens. Firſt, of ſome Theologicall Philoſophers, who attribute to the Heavens an incorruptible nature: From which figment being beaten by the Truth, they labor to evade by diſtinction;Lucan. lib. 9. Pharſ. Plin. lib. 2. cap. 9. that though the Heavens are in their owne nature capable of corruption, yet they may bee Intrinſecè incorruptibiles, becauſe they can never bee corrupted. Secondly, the other ſort hold them ſo corruptible, that they ſhall bee utterly aboliſhed. That the Heavenly bodies are maintained by vapours, was but the dreame of ſome Poets and Philoſophers: for certainely, if the Sunne, Moone and Starres were onelyonly nouriſhed by waters and vapours, they would long ere this, have bidden the world good night.qqMat. 24.29.Matt 24:29 Our Saviour foretold us, that the Powers of Heaven ſhall bee ſhaken: rrLib. 7. cap. 16. Baſil. Hom. in Hyperi. Greg. Nyſſen. lib. de creat. Hom. cap. 4.Lactantius thinkes theſe powers of Heaven to bee the Angells, who ſhall then change the order of their motions: They are indeed ſpirituall and ſeparated ſubſtances, quae non habent molem, ſed virtutem; not united to any matter, as the ſoules of men to their bodies; and ſo are Powers or Vertues: but how thoſe Powers ſhall then bee ſhaken, ſeemes a forced collection. Chryſoſtome ſpeakes peremptorily of ſuch a ſhaking, as ſhall be an utter abolition; which he calls omnimodam perditionem. Of the ſame opinion were diverſe of the Greeke fathers; Theodoret, Theophylact, Oecumenius; grounding it upon the miſ-interpretation of this and the like places.ſſPſal. 102.27.Ps 102:27 They ſhall periſh, but Thou ſhalt endure: whereas the Prophet there expounds his meaning of a permutation, not annihilation of the Heavens: As a vesture ſhalt thou change them, and they ſhall be changed. So ſaint Paul, tt1 Cor. 7.31.1 Cor 7:31the faſhion of this world paſſeth away: Figura non Natura. uuGreg. mor. lib. 17. c. 5.Wee conclude therefore with ſaint Gregory, that the Heavens ſhall paſſe away, and they ſhall not paſſe away: Ea quam habent imago, tergetur: Ea quam habent natura, ſervabitur: The ſubſtance ſhall not bee deſtroyed, onelyonly the quality ſhall be changed. As wee weed our Gardens, to ſuccour the Plants, and doe not roote up the Plants, becauſe of the weeds. Or as we ſweepe our houſes from the duſt and rubbiſh, and doe not for the rubbiſh ſake pull downe the houſe: Or as the Lapidary cuts a Pretious ſtone, or poliſheth a Iewell, and does not for the roughneſſe or fowleneſſe caſt them away. So the Lord will purge this great Fabricke of nature, and not for a little corruption deſtroy ſo goodly a Creature.

3 With a great noiſe.] After the manner of a Storme or Tempeſt, cum ſtridore & ſibilo, with a whiſtling or craſhing ſound, ſuch as a flight of Fowls make through the winde with their ruſtling feathers.xxSuarez. Tert. par. Tom. 2. Diſp. 58. Sest. 3. Some thinke that the celeſtiall Orbes ſhall be put to a ſwifter and more violent motion; whereby the world ſhall bee ſet on fire: and out of that concuſſion, this terrible noiſe ſhall ariſe. Fire and Water cannot meet without a hiſſing conteſtation: the Aire repelled, breakes not forth in ſilence; eſpecially reſtrained fire hath a dreadfull eruption; as the report of Ordnance, or Thunder from the Cloudes. What with the rapture of the ſuperior bodies, and the confuſed combate of the Elements, who can conceive p. 1323the fearefulneſſe of this noiſe? The Law was given with a great noiſe, Thunders, Trumpets and Voices: theaaExod. 19.16.Exod 19:16 Thunder was very lowd, the Trumpet farre lowder, but the Voice of God drowned all. If ſuch were the noiſe at the Law-giving, what ſhall there bee at the Law-requiring? All things will appeare ſtrange at that day: Such a Iudge, ſuch a Seſſion was never ſeene: ſuch a noiſe, ſuch a Sentence was never heard: ſuch an evidence, ſuch a horrour was never conceived. The ſound of the Archangels Trumpe is a noiſe, that ſhall waken all the World: The crackling of this great frame in the fire is a noiſe that ſhall aſtoniſh all the World: the voice of the Iudge is a noiſe that ſhall confound part of the World: and the ſhrickes of the condemned is a noiſe that ſhall continue with them in the World to come. The firſt noiſe ſounds out a Surgite, Riſe from your Graves: The ſecond ſounds a Sistite, Stand to your triall: The next ſounds a Diſcedite, Depart yee curſed: and the laſt ſounds forth an Vlulate, Howle for ever in the ſtate of the damned. The riſing of a Tempeſt makes the Paſſengers afraid: It more amazeth them when the waves beat into the Veſſell: but when they beginne to ſinke, what a diſmall cry is heard among them?Virg. Aen. 1. Inſequitur clamorque virum, ſtridorque rudentum. The Summons will be a fearefull noiſe, the Sentence more fearefull, but moſt lamentable will be the ſhriekes of reprobates in their endleſſe ſufferings. If we heare but the cries of a City upon the ſuddaine inuaſion of an unlook'd for enemy; or but the clamour of a Family that cannot get out, when the houſe is burning about their eares: or had wee heard the cry of the Infants in Hinnom, which they contended to drowne with their lowdeſt inſtruments: there had beene ſome ſhadow of that prodigious noiſe, which ſhall be produced by this univerſall conflagration. It hath beene ſaid, that Deafneſſe is a bleſſing, when a man can heare no noiſe but curſing: but they are happy, that can heare this noiſe without terrour, and eſcape from it without danger: and ſuch happineſſe belongs to all that are in Chriſt.

1 To make ſome uſe of this point: Seeing the Heavens ſhall not loſe their beeing, but onelyonly ſuffer a purgation, and muſt bee changed in figure, without perdition of their nature: and in like manner, man hath an everlaſting perpetuity aſſigned unto him, after his temporary tranſmigration: hee cannot ceaſe to be, he may ceaſe to be happy: Let us all labour to be cleanſed in time, leſt wee remaine uncleanſed, when time ſhall be no more. The Heavens muſt undergoe a purging for the ſinne of man, and ſhall not man endevour his owne purging for the happineſſe of Heaven? The way to eſcape the horrour of that purging fire, is for the preſent to purge our ſelves in water. There be two Fountaines, wherein we may waſh and be cleane. The former is a living Spring, and in many reſpects, a ſtrange kinde of Fountaine. It iſſues indeed from the ſide of abb1 Cor. 10.4.1 Cor 10:4 Rocke, but that Rocke is immaculate fleſh. What is more hard and dry than a Rocke? what more moiſt and ſupple than water? yet hee that once did fetch water out of a ſtone, to convince and ſhame the infidelity of the Iewes: doth ſtill bring it forth of a Rocke, to refreſh our beleeving Soules. The Clouds and Springs are wont to aford water, but it comes not uſually from the Rockes. Other Fountaines may coole and cleanſe the body, but they cannot make it immortall: this Spirituall drinke comes out of the Well of Life, and cauſeth the receiver to live for ever. The Leproſie is not got off with other waters, thiscc1 Ioh. 1.7.1 John 1:7 Cleanſeth us from all ſinne. That which proceeds from other Fountaines, is white: this is red as blood; even blood it ſelfe, and the pureſt blood that ever ranne from veines: that ſanguine Laver, wherein if Faith can get us a larder, wee are cleanſed for ever. This is the onelyonly Purgatory of our Soules, and without this there is no poſſibility of being cleane. The blood of a man runs in his veines; in the blood of thoſe veines are the ſpirits, and in thoſe ſpirits a kindely and active fire, which by conſuming the redundant and ſuperfluous humours of the body, purgeth it from contracted annoyances. Chriſt is the Man of men, the God of men; and p. 1324the blood that ranne from his ſacred veines upon the Croſſe, was full of ſo infinite a Spirit, that it concocts and overcomes all the diſeaſes of his body, the Church; and cures the infirmities of all our Soules. Lower Fountaines may be locked up, or dried up: but this Spring runnes freely, fully, continually, to the end of the world. No mans comming is debarred, no man that comes, departs uncleanſed. They that are purged in this Bath of acceptable ſatisfaction, ſhall neither feare the Iudiciall fire of the laſt Audite, nor the penall fire of everlaſting torment. But every day wee gather new ſtaines; for the mundation whereof, there is another Fountaine provided, within us, as the other was without us; Repentance. This pumpes teares out of our eyes, derived from the Well of contrition in our hearts. Not that this water can cleanſe us by its owne vertue; for the Spring it ſelfe muſt be fed and ſanctified by the former; and is indeed rather a Ciſterne, than a Fountaine. But it is a ſecondary and inſtrumentall meanes of our cleanſing, a conſequent and inſeparable ſigne of our being cleanſed by the blood of Ieſus. And without this; the burning of the Heavens ſhall but tend to their reſtitution; but the ſame fire to impenitent ſinners, ſhall begin their everlaſting torments. This great world was firſt purged with water, and is againe to be purged with fire: ſo the little world, Man, is firſt waſhed in the Laver of regeneration, the Sacramentall water: and after this Baptiſmum aquae, there is Baptiſmus ignis, add1 Pet. 1.7.1 Pet 1:7 fiery triall: and many are ſaved, but as it wereee1 Cor. 3.15.1 Cor 3:15 through the fire: as by fire the Heavens ſhall be renewed. The beſt gold may gather ſome ruſt, and the pureſt garment catch a ſpotte: and the holieſt Soule on Earth, needs cleanſing. We are a candle ſet in the winde; blowne out with every temptation: a curious inſtrument, that will out of tune with the very change of the weather: a fine glaſſe, that is not onelyonly broken with a knocke, but ſtained with a breath. If we be not alwayes ſupplying our Lampe with the oile of meditation, and ſetting our inſtrument in tune by prayer, and ſcouring off our blemiſhes by repentance; decay and ruine will incroach upon us. There was a delicate perſon, ſelfe-enamour'd, and too indulgent to his body, eſpecially in the frequency of bathing: A true friend reproouing him for many things, urged that in particular; Why doe you bathe twice a day? whereto hee deridingly anſwered, Becauſe I cannot conveniently bathe thrice? Seriouſly we may invert the queſtion: Why doe we not bathe oftner? Why doe wee not waſh our conſciences twice, thrice, many times, every day in our penitent teares? Seneca tells us of a Romane, that kept his ſoule as cleane, as the beſt Huſwiſe keepes her houſe; every night ſweeping out the duſt, and waſhing all the veſſels: Examining his owne ſoule, Quod malum bodie ſanasti? qua parte meliores? What infirmity haſt thou healed? What falt haſt thou done, and not repented. In what degree art thou bettered? Then would hee lye downe with O quàm gratus ſomnus, quàm tranquillus! With how welcome ſleepe and quiet reſt, may wee entertaine the night! The burning of the Heavens ſhall not affright us, becauſe hee that ſets them on fire, hath promiſed to ſave us.

2. This makes againſt all ambition of worldly dignities: the Heavens are the pureſt and moſt glorious peeces of nature; if they muſt bee diſſolved, What ſhall become of temporall honours? The ſtatelieſt Pyramid that ever was like. to the memory of a man, reached not up ſo high as the Heavens; yea, it is likely that the Tower of Babel tranſcended them all: yet Babel is fallen, and the Heavens themſelves ſhall not ſtand. Of good Honour the Pyramid may be a fit embleme: for it is broad and large in the foundation, upon earth: but ſtill as it riſeth up toward Heaven, it leſſens, and ſhewes it ſelfe the narrower: deſiring in all the greatneſſe of man, to ſeeme little in the eyes of God: as Moſes was a great Prince, yet there was not a meeker man. Pauls honour was great to bee rapt up into the third Heaven; yet but Novi hominem: Iohn was the beloved Diſciple; yet but Qûem dilexit: God gave them noble priviledges, and yet they in modeſty p. 1325conceale their owne names. Dignity comes two waies; either by Deſert, or by Deſcent; by good worth, or great bloud. But when it is ſtated upon the the unworthy, it is a Noli me tangere? Friend ſit up higher: ffLuk. 14.10.Luke 14:10but when he is advanced like a friend, if he bee found none, hee ſhall ſoone bee pulled downe againe. God gives honour In utilitatem, and In humilitatem: firſt, for the publike good, and then for our private; that it may make others better, but not our ſelves worſe. But Ambition is the worme of greatneſſe: the Bramble deſires to be King; the Thistle to match with the Cedar: the Eagle to ſet her nest among the ſtarres: the Spider to build in kings palaces. Haman will never leave lifting up his head,Obad verſ. 4. till it be lifted a ſtory higher than hee would have had it. Ambition, the eldeſt ſonne of Pride, mounts up with his gawdy wings, as if he would bandy colours with the Sunne. The ground hee thinkes beholding to him, for vouchſafing to bleſſe it with one touch of his foot; and extremely honoured, if he grace it with one humble looke. Fame is his Goddeſſe, and all her ſervants are his Trumpeters. Hee that croſſeth him in his riſing, and prevailes not; ſhall bee cruſhed by him, when hee is riſen. Hee hath ſo many corroſives, as he hath ſuperiors: and cares not how much he gives the Divell, to rid him but of one rivall. Hee could wiſh his frownes were lightning, and his words thunder. Poore, men he, lookes ſhould part with all their goods, to have him but take knowledge of them. Vaine man, Whither wouldſt thou raiſe thy ſelfe? Could thy blowne up honour reach the cloudes; this laſt Fire ſhall conſume both it and them. How carefull are men for the prolongation of their memories? What ſtately monuments are erected by their poſterities? Marble pillars, and braſſen ſculptures, report to ſucceeding ages, their names and acts. And above all, the Poet undertakes to give life to their vertues, in never dying Verſes: with Non norûnt haec monumenta mori: And Nec Iovis ira, nec ignis, Non ferrum poterit, nec edax abolere vetustas: neither time nor fire ſhall conſume them. Yet in this fire they cannot eſcape: the Braſſe will melt, the ſtones conſume, pillars, pyramides, monuments, all ſhall flame; poems, orations, bookes ſhall periſh: and of all ſecular glory there is an utter annihilation. Then, which is the Signior, and which the Servitor? Where is the difference betweene the Potentate, and the Peſant? What Coat, What Creſt can diſcerne the Gentleman from the Mechanicke? Or the Prince from his Page? Or the Lord from the Lacquay? What priviledge ſhall the flouriſhing proud houſe of Austria have over the now depoſed kings of India? Who can diſtinguiſh the ſlave that laboured in the Minerall, from that worſe ſlave which adored the metall? Why may not the Tenant prove as rich a man, as his domineering Landlord? There is onelyonly one Heraldry, that makes the difference of men, and that is the Grace of God. This makes us of the Blood royall, Partakers of the divine Nature, Heires of the Kingdome, bearing the Armes of Ieſus Christ.

Then, farewell all honour, but what comes by adoption: but who can allow the glory of this world ſo long a continuance? As the names of good men outlive their bodies, ſo too often great men out-live their good names. A good name lives after death; Defunctus volito viva per or a virum: but the name of the wicked is rotten, before his carcaſe is cold.ggPſalm. 82.7.Ps 82:7 Yee ſhall die like men, and fall like one of the Princes. Not onelyonly like Men, mortall: but like Princes, remarkable. The fall of a Prince fills the world with preſent horrour, and leaves it full of ominous diſcourſe for the future. Herod… glory laſted not long; it ſate as proudly on his ſoule, as his royall clothes did on his backe: but he that would be numbred among the gods, is ſuddainlyhhAct. 12.23.Acts 12:23 devoured of wormes. Thoſe wormes were both Lictores, and Lectores; Executioners to puniſh Herod, and inſtructors to teach us the damnable danger of vaine glory. The Heavens are high and glorious, yet they are not proud; but rather full of humble benevolence, bleſſing the Earth with their light, beate, moiſture, influence: Man is a peece of creeping Earth, and yet he p. 1326hath lofty and aſpiring thoughts. O that humility ſhould deſcend to the earth, while pride exalts it ſelfe up to Heaven, and that the voice of a creature ſhould dare ſay,iiEſa. 14.13.Isa 14:13 I will lift up my throne, above the ſtarres of God: but the Lord hath vowed to give Pride a fall.

3 Seeing the Heavens are doomed to a Tranſition, let us lay up our treaſure in a place that can never paſſe away. But firſt let us be ſure, that we have a treaſure worth laying up. No man eſteemes his Braſſe and Pewter for a treaſure; baſe and abject metalls are no treaſure: we may buy Raddiſh or Lettuce with a farthing token: a Horſe, or a Houſe, or a ſcarlet Cloke cannot be ſo purchaſed. If we have a treaſure that is not good, wee had as good have no treaſure. The Dogge would not change his bone for all the wealth of a kingdome; and the worldling will not part with his wealth, for the Kingdome of Heaven. When a childe comes into his fathers ſtudy, hee will rather chuſe a painted paper, than the beſt booke of his Library. Among all the riches of God, none pleaſeth the covetous ſo well as a little of the better-colour'd earth. If this could be a Treaſure, yet it is laid up in the earth, and ſhall periſh with the earth. There be ſome that lay up a worſe treaſure; even a multiplied hoord of ſinnes: which is, as if a man ſhould take his dung out of his ſtable, and curiouſly ſtore it up in his Parlor.kkRom. 2.5.Rom 2:5 They treaſure up unto themſelves wrath, against the day of wrath: as if they did pile up plagues, and curſes, and torments, to be ſpent upon themſelves. The former doe butllIob 38.22.Job 38:22 treaſure up Snow, which will melt, and flow away. But theſe treaſure up fire, that will never be quenched.mmPſa. 33.7.Ps 33:7 God layeth up the deepe as in a treaſurie: but theſe lay up treaſure in the deepe. The former is a vaine treaſure, and laid up in earth: the other is a curſed treaſure, and laid up in hell: but that is a bleſſed treaſure, which is laid up in Heaven. Life is brittle, wealth is fickle, honour a bubble, favour a riddle, and the ſmiles of fortune like the kiſſes of a whore, which flatter a man to his deſtruction. The Pontificians promiſe to enrich their Clients out of the Churches Treaſurie; the ſuperfluous merits of the Saints; wherof the Pope is the great Lord-Treaſurer: but this treaſure lies in ſome enchanted Caſtle, in the Faery land; no man could ever finde it. In the meane time, they picked the peoples purſes of their materiall treaſure, for the hope of this imaginary ſupererogatory exchange.nnMat. 6.20.Matt 6:20 Chriſt doth not forbid all treaſuring up in the earth; foroo2 Cor. 12.14.2 Cor 12:14 Parents may lay up for their children: For your children; that is an allowed providence: but not for your ſelves; that were a groſſe miſ-confidence. The Divine Precepts are full of ſweetneſſe, and doe not take away our affections, but rectifie them. When the Diſciples rejoyced, that in Chriſts Name they had caſt out devils, he does not forbid them utterly to rejoyce: for it were uncomfortable to leave the ſoule without ſome libertie of rejoycing: but he directs their joy:ppLuk. 10.20.Luke 10:20 Rather rejoyce, that your Names are written in Heaven. To have power ouer devils, is not ſo much as to be adopted Saints. It is happy for ſubjects, when they can ſubdue their kings enemies: but it is happier to be made his heires. So in that other paſſion of feare: when he ſaies,qqMat. 10.28.Matt 10:28 Feare not them which can kill the body, he does not preclude all acceſſe of naturall feare: but diſpoſeth that feare towards another object, and teacheth an awefull dread of him, that can destroy both body and ſoule in hell. S. Paul does not take from the minde of men all deſire of Glory, but inſtructs them to doe it without ſinne;rr2 Cor. 10.17.2 Cor 10:17 Let him that glorieth glory in the Lord. Chriſt, knowing our covetous diſpoſitions, that wee will needs be hoording, doth not forbid us all manner of laying up, but gives us counſell, both for the choiſe of our treaſure, and for the place where wee ſhall lay it up.

Our Treaſure muſt be good and precious. Good workes are ſuch a Treaſure, fit for the reconditory of Heaven. Oſtentation and hypocriſie are baſe money: If you give to my poore members, faith our glorious Head, and not Nomine meo, you ſhall miſſe of your reward. No wiſe man expoſeth his Treaſure to publike p. 1327view, but laies it up in ſecret.ſſGreg. Hom. 11. Evang. Depraedari deſiderat, qui theſaurum publicè portat. Hezekiah ranne into an offenſive weakneſſe, when hee ſhewed his munition and treaſure to the men of Babylon: tt2 King. 20.17.2 Kgs 20:17for the men of Babylon did carry away both his treaſure and munition. Why ſhould wee tempt an enemie with a glorious bootie? He is a fooliſh traveller, that will ſhew his gold to a theefe. The affectation of the praiſes of men, is a theefe that will ſteale away the credite of our good workes with God.uuMat. 6.4.Matt 6:4 Give thine Almes in ſecret, if thou deſireſt an open reward. Vnuſquiſque apudſe reponat; xx1 Cor. 16.2.1 Cor 16:2Let every one lay in ſtore by himſelfe: The left hand muſt not bee made acquainted with the good deeds of the right. Two things belong to a good worke; Reward and Glory: the Reward God gives to men: the Glory he keepes to himſelfe. If we rob him of the Glory, hee will rob…us of the Reward. The Grace of God is the Fountaine from whence they muſt all be derived, and the Glory of God is the end to which they muſt all bee directed. To all thy gifts adde this, that thou give the Glory to God. The praiſe of men will follow, but let it not be followed: leſt to gaine the ſhadow, we loſe the ſubſtance. The hands of Chriſt are likeaaCant. 5.14.Song 5:14 gold rings; whatſoever we depoſite in them, is ſafe for ever. Many men have impoveriſhed themſelves of wealth and wit, to finde out the Philoſophers ſtone; in a vaine hope to turne their baſe metals into gold. OnelyOnly the hand of Chriſt hath this vertue, to turne all our droſſe into gold; our charitable contribution of things contemptible, into the precious Pearles and Iewels of Eternall Glory. Charitie gives a cup of water, and receives a veſſell of wine. Every penny that it leaves in the hand of Chriſt, it findes multiplied to a thouſand pound. Hypocriticall almes is but guilded braſſe, meere ſlippe-coine; which will be nailed to the poſt of deriſion, and pronounced baſe in the day of examination. In vaine ſhall hee give his goods to men, that hath not firſt given himſelfe to God. This was the Apoſtles commendation of hisbb2 Cor. 8.5.2 Cor 8:5 Macedonians, that First they did give their owne ſelves to the Lord, and then did Minister to the Saints. Charitie begins at home; be ſure to doe thy ſelfe good: but it ends not at home;ccGal. 6.…0. 2 Cor. 8.Gal 62 Cor 8 Doe good to all men. S. Paul doth often call Beneficence by the name of Grace; becauſe it is then acceptable to God, when it is done by gracious men. Of all our workes let our aestimation ddLev. 27.3.Lev 27:3bee after the ſhekel of the Sanctuary. The treaſure and the treaſurie ſhould be fitted together: we doe not caſt our Iewels into the duſt-basket, nor put rubbiſh into our Cabinet. Heaven is a holy place, and will not admit of a counterfeit treaſure. Faith is a Iewell on earth, and will prove the beatificall viſion in Heaven. Patience is a Iewell below, and will prove a Crowne above. Charitie is a Iewell here, and will become a Kingdome hereafter. If a man had a Iewell that would buy a Kingdome, how precious would he eſteeme it? This treaſure is laid up in thoſe Heavens that ſhall never periſh: and they ſhall never periſh that have it.

The Elements ſhall melt with fervent heat.] It is a received Principle, that there be foure Elements; Fire, Aire, Water, and Earth. The Earth hath the loweſt place in Nature, Water next, the Aire above the Water, and the Fire above the Aire. Theſe be the foure Principles, whereof bodies are compoſed. If by the heavens we underſtand the aire, before; and the earth is expreſſely ſpecified after; both which are Elements: why doth he mention the Elements, betweene them both? Is not this a ſuperfluous circumſtance? No, for neither were the Fire, or Water ſpoken of: which being left out, ſome would ſuppoſe them exempted from this univerſall diſſolution. Beſides; this ſheweth the ſubtile and ſupernaturall force of this laſt fire, which ſhall melt the very Elements themſelves; and worke upon that which in it owne Nature is not exuſtible. Not that theſe things ſhall be aboliſhed, but purged. For ſeeing that heaven and earth ſhall remaine, it is not convenient that the aire ſhould be conſumed, which fils up the voide ſpace betweene them. The mutable ſtate of the world admitted no vacuitie, much leſſe the ſtate of perfection. And for the Element of fire; it is p. 1328of the ſame nature with that Inſtrument, whereby God will purge all things. The Water is doubted of by ſome; becauſe the Viſion of S. Iohn ſayes,eeRev. 21.1.Rev 21:1 There was no more ſea. But he ſpeakes there by way of figure, concerning a metaphoricall ſea: or if you take it literally, yet a totall deſtruction of the ſea cannot be gathered from the ſenſe of the words.Aug. Civit. Dei. lib. 20. cap. 16. The first heaven, and the firſt earth were paſſed away; not but that there remained ſtill a heaven and earth, but quite changed from their firſt figure: ſo there is ſtill a ſea, but altered from what it was: no more ſhall it be troubled with ſtormes and tempeſts; no more ſhall it ſwell and rage with foaming ſurges: no more ſhall the furious windes cauſe an agitation of her angry billowes. A Saint hath the ſame affections that he had while hee was a ſinner; but renewed, and otherwiſe diſpoſed: provocations cannot ſtirre up his choler; nor troubles worke him to impatience. The Summe is this; Theſe Elements ſhall ſuffer an accidentall mutation, not a finall annihilation: they ſhall remaine Quae erant, not Qualia erant.

2The Lord himſelfe tels us, that his Comming ſhall bee in the Clouds: and his holy Servant hath aſſured us,ff1 Theſ. 4.17.1 Thess 4:17 That we ſhall bee caught up in the Clouds, to meet the Lord in the aire. Howſoever ſome thinke, that afterward there ſhall bee no more Clouds; becauſe they ſerve but to water the earth, and there is then no further uſe of their miniſtery: yet it is plaine, that we could not meet the Lord in the aire, if the aire were vaniſhed. Moſt Interpreters thinke, and not improbably, that this great Aſſiſes ſhall be kept in the aire: but in what part of the aire is an unſearchable ſecret. When the Diſciples inquired of the place,ggLuk. 17.37.Luke 17:37 Where, Lord? he did not ſhake them off as utterly unreſolved; for hee gave them to underſtand, that in the Clouds he would come. But the Myſtery which hee refuſeth to breake unto them, is that particular part of the Aire, wherein hee will make his Appearance. Yet there bee ſome preſumptuous Wizards, who (as if they had crept into the Counſell-Chamber of God, and over-heard his ſecrets) beare the world in hand, that they diſtinctly know the place: and can appoint the ſettling of his Throne over the Valley of Iehoſaphat, neere Ieruſalem, at the foot of the hill: from thence he was taken up into heaven, and thither he ſhall come downe from heaven to judge the earth. This Counſeller is ſilent, and yet duſt and aſhes dares ſpeake. Indeed the Lord hath threatned to ſummon all Nations intoiiIoel 3.2.Joel 3:2 The Valley of Iehoſhaphat, and to plead with them there. But why ſhould this be underſtood of a materiall valley, and not myſtically, or metaphorically by way of alluſion: becauſe the Iudgement at laſt to be pronounced, ſhall reſemble the Iudgement that was there executed, to the ruine of thoſe reprobates, the inceſtuous generation of Lot, the Moabites and Ammonites? What is Iehoſhaphat, if you interpret it, but the Iudgement of the Lord? And what is the valley, but the depth of that Iudgement? Into the which every heart of man ſhall bee brought, but the manner of it cannot bee brought into the heart of man. Two wayes is this laſt judgement alluded to the Valley of Iehoſhaphat. One was the freſh memory of that famous deliverance, which the Lord had there wrought for his people. Another, the neere reſemblance betweene that particular, and this generall Iudgement. Three great armies confederate againſt Iehoſhaphat, and his Iudah: kk2 Chro. 20.23.2 Chr 20:23The Moabites, Ammonites, and Inhabitants of Mount Seir: God ſets them together by the eares; Moab and Ammon kill up the men of Seir, and then fall upon one another, and cut their owne throats. The Lord was not long about it, then: and ſuch a quicke diſpatch of his enemies will he make now. All thoſe potent adverſaries came againſt Iudah, but they could not prevaile: So though the Moabitiſh Fleſh, and the Ammonitiſh world, and the ſavage fiend of Seir, the devill, conſpire againſt Gods Elect: yet all the ſhame and ruine ſhall returne upon their owne heads: and they ſhall bee tormented with their owne Conſciences, as thoſe complices fell by their owne ſwords. And as the ſame place was a Valley of Iudgement to them,ver. 26. which to the Iewes was a Valley of Bleſſing: p. 1329ſo this laſt Day is a Day of ſorrow to ſinners, when they ſhall be ſent away with a Goe ye curſed: but a Day of joy to the righteous, whoſe ſweet invitation begins with a Come ye bleſſed.

The Elements may conſeneſcere, but they ſhall not evaneſcere: they ſhall be melted, not deſtroyed. When we melt Silver or Gold, we intend not the rejecting, but the refining of it: we make it purer and better, we doe not make it nothing. Man conſiſts of the foure Elements: his Breath is Aire, his Bloud and ſpirits Fire, his radicall Moiſture Water, his Body Earth. Our bleſſed Saviour, by divers acts, did ſanctifie them all. By his Breathing, Hee perfumed the Aire: by his miſſion of the holy Ghoſt in fiery Tongues, Hee hallowed the Fire: by undergoing his owne inſtitution of Baptiſme, He purified the Water: and laſtly, by ſhedding his precious Bloud upon the ground, and repoſing his bleſſed Body in the ground, He ſanctified the Earth. All theſe were curſed by our ſinnes, and are reſtored by his Grace and Merits. Let us not thinke, that thoſe Elements, upon which He beſtowed ſo much honour, ſhall periſh for ever. Some have curiouſly obſerved, that as the times of many paſſages of Chriſt, were much about the Sixes: Hee came in the Sixt Age of the world, Hee was conceived in thellLuk. 1.26.Luke 1:26 Sixt MonethMonth, He was transfigured themmMatth. 17.1.Matt 17:1 Sixt day, He was crucified thennLuk. 23.44.Luke 23:44 Sixt Houre: and aſcended the Sixt Weeke after his Reſurrection. So his Place and Poſition was uſually in the middeſt, betweene others. By his eternall place in holy Trinity, Hee is the ſecond Perſon, in the middeſt betweene the Father and the holy Ghoſt: He tooke fleſh in Iudea, which is the middeſt of the earth: Hee wrought ſalvation in medio terrae, in the middeſt of the earth: At his birth Hee was placed in the Stable, as it is delivered to us, in the middeſt betweene the Oxe and the Aſſe: In the Temple they found Him ſitting in medio Doctorum, ooLuk. 2.46.Luke 2:46in the middeſt of the Doctors. ppLuk. 23.33.Luke 23:33At his Crucifying, his place was in the middeſt, betweene two Male-actors: After his Reſurrection, Hee ſtood in medio Diſcipulorum, qqIoh. 20.19.John 20:19in the middeſt of his Diſciples: After his Aſcenſion, He appeared to Iohn, in the rrRev. 1.13.Rev 1:13middeſt of the golden Candleſtickes: And whereſoever we are gathered together in his Name,1 Theſ. 4.17.1 Thess 4:17 Hee will be in the middest of us. His next Comming as a Bridegroome, will be medi â noctê, ſſMatth. 25.6.Matt 25:6in the middeſt of the night: And his Appearing is likely to be in medio coeli, in the middeſt of Heaven, for we ſhall meet Him in the Aire. Still Chriſtus reperitur in medio: the Philoſopher would have a Fountaine in the middeſt of a Citie; as the heart is in the middeſt of the body; and Chriſt ſhould be in the middeſt of the heart: vertue keepes in the middeſt; and the ſafeſt way is in the middeſt, betweene both extremes: So Chriſt is in deed a Mediator, in the middeſt, tt1 Tim. 2.5.1 Tim 2:5betweene God and man. This is the vertue to which we adhere, and this is the way by which wee muſt goe: Let compounded bodies bee reduced to their firſt Elements, and let the Elements themſelves be molten; if Chriſt erect his Throne of Grace in the middeſt of our hearts, wee ſhall ſtand with comfort before his Throne of glory in the middeſt of the Heavens.

We have here offered unto us, a figure of our owne mortalitie: we are compoſed 1of the Elements: and if the Elements themſelves ſhall melt with fervent heat, which are of ſo ſtrong and valid a conſtitution; what ſhall become of our fraile and infirme bodies, weakned with ſo much corruption? As this aeſtuant heate is to the world; ſo is a fever to man: it does not onelyonly melt him like ſnow, but even conſume us to aſhes. We ſtudy the art of health, and deliberate upon the choiſe of our diet, aire, exerciſe: yet all our diligence, all our curioſitie cannot prevent a ſickneſſe: it ſummons us, ſeizes us, poſſeſſes us, and deſtroies us in an inſtant. Our care to preſerve health, is a tedious and regular worke: but a diſeaſe keepes no method: when we have been long in hewing and poliſhing every ſtone, that goes to this building; a Cannon batters all in a minute; and levels it with the ground. Man is a little world, an abridgement of the great: and they correſpond not onelyonly in their parts, but in their productions and alterations. p. 1330The world brings forth monſters, compiled and complicated of divers parents: and do not our bodies bring forth ſtrange diſeaſes, of divers cauſes, and divers kinds: for which we are ſo far from being provided of remedies, that we are ſcarce able to give them names? The world hath not ſo many noxious creatures, as we have venemous and infectious diſeaſes, feeding and conſuming diſeaſes, intricate and intangled diſeaſes, made up of ſeverall ones. Such is our miſerable abundance, ſuch our beggarly riches. For the worlds earth-quakes, man hath his ſudden ſhakings; for thoſe lightnings, ſudden flaſhes; for thoſe thunders, ſudden noiſes; for thoſe eclypſes, ſudden obfuſcations and darkning of his ſenſes; for thoſe blazing ſtarres, ſudden firy exhalations; for thoſe rivers of bloud, ſudden red waters. Is this the honor which man hath by being a litle world; that he hath enough in himſelfe, to deſtroy and execute himſelfe? To breed a ſicknes, to aſſiſt the ſickneſſe, yea, even to antidate the ſickneſſe, and to make it more irremediable by ſad apprehenſions? As fire is made more vehement by ſprinkling water upon the coales: ſo wee wrap up a hot Fever in cold melancholy: and, leſt the Fever ſhould not deſtroy faſt enough without this contribution, we help to perfect the worke of our deſtruction, by joyning the artificiall ſickneſſe of our owne melancholy, to our naturall, our unnaturall Fever. We are not only incident to ſicknes, but to the worſt of ſickneſſes, continuall feare of it. And when this Fever comes, it melts us, it ſcatters us, it powres us out like water; ſo inſtantly, that it ſcarce leaves an anſwer for that queſtion; How long were they ſicke? yet our comfort is, that as the elements, though they be molten, are not taken from their being, but rather purged and reſtored to a better being: So our bodies made up of thoſe elements, though death take them in peeces, breake them to clods, ſearce them to aſhes, and examine every duſt; doe but ſuffer a clenſing; and there is ſuch a quickning vertue in the divine Head of thoſe ſcattered members, that it ſhall recollect thoſe aſhes, give life to that duſt, redintegrate thoſe bodies, and make them ſhine brighter than the Sunne and Starres in their cleareſt glory. When a rich garment, that is capable of waſhing, growes foule, we are content to rip it in peeces, to cut every ſtitch; and having thus ſundred it, wee ſcowre it in ſome convenient lardars: and having ſo done, wee make it up againe, and thinke not ſcorne to weare it on high daies: Mans body is like a watch, conſiſting of many wheeles: his Heart is the principall wheele, his Braine another, his Liver a third: while theſe move rightly, that is, worke kindly, all the inferiour wheeles keepe their due courſes: the eyes rowle, the hands operate, the feet walke, the joynts ſtirre, all execute their ſeverall functions. Every day this watch is wound up, and kept in reparation, by meat, drinke, ſleepe, and exerciſe. Often it gathers duſt, and growes foule, and the hand of Phyſicke is employed to clenſe it. The ſtring that unites theſe motions, and holds them in dependance, is the ſpirits. At laſt the ſtring waxeth old, and breakes; and then all falls to peeces: this Body drops aſunder, and here lies a pin, there a wheele; here one bone, there another. Yet after all this wofull diſſolution, that exquiſite workman which at firſt made it, will re-unite it, repoliſh it, put a new immortall Spring into it, and lay it up as a choiſe Organ of his Praiſe, in his owne glorious Kingdome.

And the earth, with the workes that are therein, ſhall be burnt up.] The Earth is the worlds Center; and ſo extremely violent ſhal the laſt fire be, as to reach from the roofe to the very Center. When a houſe is burnt downe, yet the floore remaines: in the deſtruction of Sodome, though the ground was curſed with a future barrennes, yet it was not reduced to nothing. This fire ſhall extend to the floore and pavement of that mighty Fabricke; to the permutation, not to the anihilation of it. The ſuperficies of it ſhall be purged; and ſo deep as the corruption of ſin entred, ſhall this flame reach. Indeed the workes that are on the Earth ſhall ſuffer more, even to a corruption, to a correption of them. The Earth ſhall be burnt; not as wee burne brickes, by exſiccation, condenſing, and hardening of the Clay: p. 1331nor as we burne Wood or Coales, by conſuming them to Cinders and Aſhes: but like metall in a Fornace, or gold in the crucible, which by ſeparation of the droſſe, is brought to perfect pureneſſe.uuEccl. 1.4.Eccl 1:4 The Earth abideth for ever, what it was, and where it was, but not ſuch as it was: an Element, but not a ſordid, and ſinne-corrupted Element.

Two things the Romiſts have reſerved from this univerſall conflagration: 2one part of the Earth, and one worke in the Earth. Firſt, ſome of them, withxxLib. de Pa…ad. cap. 18. Moſes Barcepha; contend for the reparation and remanſion of the terreſtriall Paradiſe: whereof although they can ſhew no neceſſary uſe, but admit a vacuity into it: yet they thinke it no more abſurd, than that the places of the loſt Angels are not yet ſupplied in Heaven; or that diverſe parts of the Earth are now without inhabitants. ButaaPerer. li. 5. in Gen. qu. 5. Pererius andbbAbulenſ. in Gen. q. 120. Abulenſis are againſt this opinion, and affirme that it ſhall periſh in the laſt, if it did not in the former Inundation. Some have imagined a Paradiſe about the Moone, to deliver it from the water: others would have it ſtill upon the Earth, and yet ſcape the fire. But as while the Philoſophers diſputed about the Summum Bonum; ſome ſtating it in this thing, and others in that; one ſeeking it here, and another there, and all looking for it where it was not: onelyonly beleevers, by the Light of Grace, found it where it was; even in Ieſus Christ. So what Paradiſe ſoever they ſtrive for, or whereſoever they conceit it to be; let us ſeeke it where it is; even in the Kingdome of Heaven. Secondly, ſome exempt the materiall Croſſe of Chriſt from the power of this Exuſtion. This priviledge,Ephrem, li. De vera poenit. ca. 4. Cyril. Cate. 13. Chryſ. Hom. De Cru. & latro. li. 6. Carmin. Sibyllinor. (howſoever they would father it upon the Fathers, miſunderſtood; as Ephrem, Cyril, Chryſostome) is grounded upon a teſtimonie of one of the Sibylls: O lignum felix, in quo Deus ipſe pependit: O happy wood, which ſhalt not periſh, but rather be made glorious, in that day of retribution; Cùm renovata Dei facies ignita micabit. What is become of that Croſſe? Is it not cut in many pieces? Would not thoſe fragments, which they pretend to be peeces of the Croſſe, make up many waine-loads. Muſt they all be recollected to the redintegration of the Croſſe? Firſt, they have multiplied it on earth, and now they would advance it into heaven. Doe they not honour it with this imaginary exaltation, onelyonly to colour their abuſe of it unto ſuperſtition? This they underſtand to be thatccMatth. 24.30.Matt 24:30 Signe of the Sonne of man: which hee ſhall advance in the heavens, when hee triumpheth over his enemies; as Conquerours uſe to erect Trophees and Monuments of their victories. What did Chriſt leave behinde him at his going away, with which the Papiſts cannot furniſh him at his Comming againe? They have all his reliques; ſome in one Citie, and ſome in another: this covent growes rich with one relique, that Church or Monaſtery is proud of another: Amongſt them they can appoint him where he ſhall have all his old furniture: in one place he ſhall finde his coat, in another his ſandals: Theſe they have in abundance, but they have loſt Himſelfe. We have not, ô moſt bleſſed Saviour, theſe thy reliques in our hands: but we deſire to ſhew Thee Thy ſelfe in our hearts, and to find our names in thy Booke of Life.

If the earth with her workes ſhall be burnt, why doth S. Paul mentionddRom. 8.19.Rom 8:19 the earneſt 3Expectation of the Creature for this day? Doth any thing naturally hope for an evill to it ſelfe, or deſire it owne deſtruction? Anſw. 1. Wee muſt know, that the Apoſtle ſpeakes there figuratively, by a Proſop…poeia; perſonating the Creatures and giving them affections, a kinde of ſenſe and feeling of their miſerie, and a longing deſire to be delivered from it. Hee ſpeakes of them groning, and grieving, as the Prophets did ſometime bring in Vineam lamentantem, the Vineyard wailing, and the Mountaines lamenting. So that this is a patheticall and emphaticall deſcription of the hope and deſire of the Creatures. 2. They are Subject to vanitie, whereof they would faine bee rid: Not ſubject willingly, for this their vanitie is contra naturalem propenſionem, againſt their naturall inclination: every thing by nature would decline corruption. Eraſmus his conceit is too curious, p. 1332who interpreteth this vanitie, Frustrationem, the diſappointing of the hope of the Creature; whereby it faileth of that end at which it aimeth: As if it ſought an Immortalitie, in multiplying one individuum, or one particular by another: but that end it miſſeth. Nor is this vanitie altogether corruption: for neither are the heavens of a corruptible nature; nor yet ſhould the elements have beene incorruptible, though man had never ſinned: ſeeing they were ordained to ſerve for the generation and procreation of things,Tolet. Annot. 15. which cannot be done without corruption. But by this vanitie we underſtand the fraile condition of the Creatures, much degenerated ſince the Creation, both in earth, the elements, and heaven. There is a Perfection, to which they long to be reſtored. The deſire or expectation of the Creature is twofold: One naturall, as for the earth and trees to bring forth fruits: Another ſupernaturall; when a thing aſpireth to an end above the naturall conſtitution: as our corruptible bodies, to the ſtate of incorruption, at the Reſurrection. So the Creatures expect when the Sonnes of God ſhall be revealed: not that they know who are the Sonnes of God, but they looke for their owne Reſtitution with the Sons of God. As for mans cauſe they were enthralled, ſo with mans happineſſe they ſhall bee enlarged. The bodies of the Saints are made of the earth, and yet thoſe bodies ſhall bee glorified in heaven: Corruptibles ſhall put on incorruption. Heaven is the higheſt part of the world, and earth the loweſt: yet hee that dwelt in the higheſt heavens, came downe to the loweſt earth; and carried up his Body which was framed of earth, even to the higheſt heavens. It is the honour of the earth, that part of her is glorified above; and a kinde of aſſurance that the reſt ſhall be but purified below.

4If the earth ſhall periſh, why are we ſo taken with it? what folly can be greater than to adhere unto that which is deſtined to the fire? Thy habitation ſo pleaſeth thee, that thou art loth to remove: it is but earth. Thy gold bewitcheth thee, and thou loveſt the enchantment: it is but earth. A womans beautie tempteth thee, and with the wracke of Vertue thou ſteereſt a courſe to that unhappy port: it is but earth; ſome clearer-coloured earth. If the foundation bee overturned, how ſhould the roofe ſtand? The earth is doomed to burning, and can the ſuperedification eſcape? The earth is but a turfe for man to trample on, Heaven is our home: Here wee have but Tents, there are the Manſions. No mortall Vitruvius can make an immortall habitation. Why doe wee build ſo gloriouſly, upon ſo inglorious and miſerable a foundation? Pride begins ſuch a palace, craft undertakes it, oppreſſion raiſeth it, prodigality finiſhes it, emptineſſe inhabites it, vanitie derides it, and fire ſhall conſume it. The ſuperfluous builder is a theefe, if not to others, yet to himſelfe: Aedificatio te capiat, was a Lacedemonian curſe. Time hath demoliſhed thoſe great Pyramides, the wonders of the world: but the remainders of time ſhall not eſcape the fire. The filly Spider may teach us, who upon the leaſt touch of her web flittes and removes. The world is a cobweb-world, to be ſwept downe with the broome of fire. If Codrus his houſe burne, hee even warmes his hands at the flame: the loſſe never troubles him, becauſe in two dayes he can make himſelfe another as good. But when the rich mans houſe is on fire, he cryes out on this Cheſt, on that Cabinet; and is diſtracted with impatience. Thoſe Pilgrims to the heavenly Canaan, which eſteeme the world but their Inne, care not to ſee it on fire, becauſe it is none of their owne: but to thoſe that have made it their habitation, ſuch a fight will goe to their hearts. Let no home content us, but that which is out of the reach of the fire, even theeeIoh. 14.2.John 14:2 Manſions prepared for us by Ieſus Christ.

Though the houſe be on fire, be ſure to ſave the Iewell; provide before hand that thy Soule may eſcape in this univerſall conflagration. When a mans houſe is burning, he would ſave many things; but he is content to loſe them all, rather than loſe himſelfe. This was Saint Pauls motive, to keepe ^f A good Conſcience at p. 1333all times, and in all things; becauſe he knew there ſhould be a day of account. Indeed, if there were a Purgatory for future clenſing, after this life, there might bee ſome hope: but hee that dares ſinne upon the truſt of a Purgatory ſhall finde the event of his hopes in Hell. Conſider thy life, it is Peccandi tempus, the time of ſinning; ſo thou makeſt it: Conſider thy death; it is Poenitendi terminus, the date of repenting; ſo God makes it. Saint Augustine calls death Tempus deponendi, a time of depoſing or putting off: We then put off our clothes, we put off our diſeaſes, we put off our cares, we put off our bodies; but yet wee may faile of putting off our ſinnes. They often goe with the Soule, when that parts from the body: but they ſhall meet with the body, when that meets with the Soule. Be ſure to put off thy clothes ere thou goe to bed, to put off thy ſins ere thou dieſt; or they will finde thee in the morning when thou riſeſt. Thou that dareſt ſell Gods holy Rites, without trouble to thee, wouldſt thou be found in this day of flames with ſuch a Conſcience? Thou that ſettleſt thy eſtate upon uſurie, thy heart upon thy eſtate; wouldeſt thou be found at this day with ſuch a Conſcience? Thou that ſweareſt away thy Grace, that lyeſt away thy Truth, that diſſembleſt away thy Faith, that drinkeſt away thy Eſtate, that whoreſt away thy Body, that playeſt away thy Soule; wouldeſt thou be preſented before the Iudge with ſuch a Conſcience?gg2 Tim. 2.18.2 Tim 2:18 Hymeneus and Philetus taught that The Reſurrection was past already: and the converſations of too many are anſwerable to Their Doctrine; they ſo live, as if the day of account were over. Hee hath ſaid, he will come: he is not yet come: O let us be ſo kinde to our ſelves, as to remember that Doomeſ-day is not paſt. There is a Day, an Evening, and a Morning: we ſhall finde no peace in the Evening of our death, nor in the Morning of our Reſurrection, except wee provide for it in the Day of our life. O conſider, with what a diſmall cry, and ghaſtly looke, the evill Conſcience ſhall behold the Iudge.hhMatth. 24.29.Matt 24:29 The Sunne ſhall be darkned: with what light ſhall the unrighteous ſhine? The Moone ſhall be turned into blood; it will bee too late then to turne good. The Starres ſhall fall from heaven; alas what hope then can Meteors have of riſing up to heaven? The Powers of heaven ſhall be ſhaken; how ſhall the infirmities of the earth be able to ſtand? O then make ſafe the Iewell, lay up thy Soule in the boſome of Ieſus Chriſt.