Heraclitus Christianus, or, The man of sorrow being a reflection on all states and conditions of human life : in three books.

CHAP. XIV. Of the Final Judgment.

HOW comparatively happy would Men be, could they here end their Misery? might their Souls moulder away as their Bodies, and both one and the o∣ther return into their Primitive nothing? But alas! they both must unite and ap∣pear before the Great Tribunal of an All∣knowing and Impartial Judg, Who will ren∣der to every man according to his works, and they that have done good shall go into everlasting life, and those that have done evil into everlasting destruction. What horror and confusion will this Day strike into the heart of the most resolute sinner? When the Sun shall be turned into dark ness, and the Moon into blood: when the Stars shall no more produce their light, nor be any more seen shining in the Heavens: when the Elements shall melt with servent heat, and the Earth be burnt up with fire. And as it was in the time of Noah, so shall it be then, for there shall be eating and drinking, Marrying and giving in Marri∣age,

and immediately the Trumpet shall sound to call them to Judgment; then shall the People and Nations of the earth, howl and lament, and hide themselves in the holes and caves of the earth, and shall call upon the mountains to fall down upon them, and cover them from the face of him that sitteth on the Throne. Sound the Trum∣pet, and cry a loud (saith the Prophet Joel) and let all the Inhabitants of the earth trem∣ble, for the day of the Lord draweth nigh, the day of darkness and obscurity, the day of clouds and trouble, when all the Inha∣bitants of the earth shall be burned, the fire shall devour before his face, and flames of fire shall follow him. And after this Execution of the Divine Justice, the dead which are in their Graves, having heard his voice, shall arise and come forth. The bones and other parts shall seek for their joynts in order to their union with the body; all those that the Beasts and Birds have devoured; all them whom the Sea has swallowed; all that is evapo∣rated into Air; all that the fire hath consumed, shall be reduced into its es∣sence and pristine state; all the blood which the Robbers, and Pirates, Murderers, Tyrants, and Mercenary Judges have un∣justly shed, shall be then found without

the diminution of a drop of it. And if it was a cruel spectacle to behold the Beasts leave the earth (which is their proper Ele∣ment), following the anger of God, and entring into the Ark with Noah, and as it were imploring his aid and succor; how much more dreadful will it be to them who have lived unjustly, to appear before the great and dreadful Judg? When the Books shall be opened, that is to say, the Sins and Enormities of our poor ulcera∣ted Conscience, shall be at that time ma∣nifested and laid open to the sight of Men, Angels, and Devils. If the Vail of the Temple was rent, if the Earth trembled, and the Sun was darkned and obscured for the injury which was done to our Saviour on the Cross, although he had in nothing offended; with what countenance can poor sinners look, who have offended and blasphemed so many times? If that the Vision of an Angel is so terrible to us, that we cannot en∣dure it, as testified St. John, who was not able to behold such splendor and brightness, but fell to the earth for dead. And the Children of Israel had such ter∣ror, that they earnestly desired Moses to speak unto them himself, saying, We will hearken to thee when thou speakest; but we

cannot bear this voice coming from Hea∣ven, which causeth us even to give up the ghost (although that the Angel spake fa∣vourable): How will the poor sinner then endure the Voice and Splendor of the Ma∣jesty of God, being in his Throne of Glo∣ry? When he shall say, as speaketh the Prophet Isaiah, Now is the hour wherein I will avenge my self on my enemies, and my anger shall be accomplished; and they shall know that I am the Lord, who have so of∣ten admonished, wooed, beseeched and en∣treated them; for I will stand before them as a Bear, who is robbed of her whelps: I have been still for a long time and kept silent, but now I will cry out as she that is in labour, I will scatter, I will swallow up all together: I will reduce the Mountains to Deserts: I will cause the Herbs to wi∣ther, the Rivers and Floods to be dried up, and hinder the course of the Spring, and turn the darkness into light. I have call∣ed them, but they have refused; I have stretched out my hand, but they have not regarded: They have rejected my counsel, and would not hearken to my reproof; there∣fore will I laugh at their calamity, and mock when their fear cometh; and when their torment and anguish draweth near to them, they shall call, but I will not answer;

they shall seek me, but I will not be found; and if the Heavens are unclean in his sight, and if he hath found fault in his Angels, what will he find in us, who are houses of clay, and whose foundations are in the dust?

How shall we be able to stand before him, whose countenance is as Lightning, and before whom there goeth a consuming Fire? and yet stand we must, and give an account of all the various circumstances and cases of our Life; then we must come to a reckoning concerning the good we have received, and the good which we our selves have done; then 'tis that we must give an account of the improvement which we have made of all those wholsom instructions, and Fatherly chastisements wherewith we have been corrected; then will it be exacted of us how we have en∣tertained those good motions and suggesti∣ons which the Divine Spirit hath put in∣to our hearts; how we have withstood the suggestions of Satan, and the tempta∣tions of the world, and our own carnal inclinations; then shall we be examined how we have employed all the faculties of our souls, and members of our bodies; then shall we give an account not only of all our wicked words and actions, but al∣so of our impure thoughts and filthy ima∣ginations,

which shall all be laid open to the sight of Men and Angels; then must we give an account of all filthy and nasty speeches, prophane writings, and unsa∣voury jests, nay of every idle word; so strict a tryal shall we then be put upon.

Lastly, Of sins of omission and commis∣sion, of the time which we have spent in Eating, Drinking, Sleeping, Revelling, Dancing, Gaming, in haunting Taverns, Play-houses and Brothel-houses: then must we give an account of the spending of our Youth, and of our seasoning of those ten∣der years with Prophaness and Debauche∣ry, and offering the first and best of our time unto the Devil, which should be dedicated unto God and his Service.

Then must we give an account of the employing of our Man-hood, and whe∣ther that has been grounded and setled in Piety and Devotion, or passed over in resolved enjoyments of sensual and world∣ly Pleasures.

Then also must we give an account of our demeanour in old Age, and whether or no, then drawing nearer the time of our departure out of this world, we have quietly and willingly resigned up our souls into the hands of our God, as unto a Faith∣ful Creator.

The world has not been unfitly resem∣bled to a Stage or Theatre, on which e∣very man has his different part as an Actor, the one that of a Prince, the other that of a Beggar: now he that acts his part well, though it be but that of a Peasant, gains as much applause, and deserves as great commendation, as that other that acts that of the most dignified Personage.

So that then 'tis that every man must give an account of his behaviour in his particular Calling.

'Tis the hour wherein the Mariner must give an account of the advantages which has been put into his hand, of his being extraordinary Religious, by going down into great waters, and seeing the wonders of the Lord in the deep.

'Tis the hour in which the Husbandman must give an account of the Pious improve∣ments which he might have made, by a continual Observation of Gods blessings springing out of the Earth.

'Tis the hour wherein the Merchant and Tradesman must give an account of the justness and honesty of their dealings.

'Tis the hour wherein the Soldier must give an account of his Cruelty and Ra∣pine, of his insulting▪violence over the conquered Enemy.

'Tis the hour wherein the griping Usurer must himself pay the rigorous Interest of his unjust acquisitions.

'Tis the hour wherein the Physician must give an account of his willingness and readiness to administer his Skill to the poor and mean, as well as to the rich.

'Tis the hour wherein the Lawyer must give an account of his Pleading the Cause of the Fatherless and Widow, of his ob∣structing of Justice by an Eloquent and Mercenary Tongue.

'Tis the hour wherein the Divine must give an account of his Flock and of his Doctrine, and whether he himself hath lived as he Taught others.

'Tis the hour wherein the Judges and Magistrates must themselves be judg∣ed concerning their partial administra∣tion of Justice.

'Tis the hour wherein Kings and Prin∣ces shall give an account to the King of Kings, how they have Govern'd them∣selves and their Subjects, and of their Sa∣crificing mens lives to an ambitious de∣sire of enlarging their Territories.

'Tis the hour wherein many poor and despicable Beggars shall be preferred to Kings and Princes.

'Tis the hour, saith St. Hierome, where∣in many dumb persons shall be made more happy than the Fluent and Eloquent, and many Plow-men and Shepheards shall be preferred before Philosophers.

'Tis the hour wherein both Soul and Body shall in a blessed union pass over in∣to endless and unspeakable Felicity, into the sweet and glorious fellowship of Saints and Angels, or else for ever be cast down into the horrid Regions of wo and mise∣ry; and seeing that one of these will be the end and certain portion of every man, Let us not be solicitous for Honours, for Beauty, for Riches, for Strength, or the rest of those things which we falsly call Good, seeing that they will not deliver in the day of wrath and eternal vengeance, nor at least-wise mitigate our then ensuing wretchedness; but let us be contented with a mean and low Fortune, to be despised and rejected of men, to be esteemed as Unlearn∣ed, Deformed, Ignoble, as Fools or Mad∣men, rather than Worldly-wise, or Learn∣ed. Let us consider now what Opinion we shall have then of those things which are at present the Object of our so passio∣nate wishes and endeavours, and whether or no the acquisition and past enjoyments of them will make amends for the sorrow

and anguish which we shall then go to be for ever possessors of; let us therefore now whilst we have time and space, break off our sins by Repentance, and not rest a mo∣ment longer in our present security and indifferency; but let us by our sighs and tears penetrate Heaven, and put out the flames of Hell; and by our earnest and constant intreaties, move the Judg to pity and compassion, to a willingness to pardon and pass by all our former miscarriages, and to give us again such a measure of his Grace, that by it, and the concurrence of our own earnest and uninterrupted re∣solutions, we may so live now as to avoid the great and only misery; in comparison of which, all humane miseries by me re∣lated, are easie and supportable: the mi∣sery which I mean, is the effect of the Sen∣tence made mention of by St. Matthew, Go ye cursed into everlasting burnings, to remain for ever with the Devil and his An∣gels.