Sermons, preached partly before His Majesty at White-Hall and partly before Anne Dutchess of York, at the chappel at St. James / by Henry Killigrew ...

The Seventeenth Sermon. (Book 17)

LUKE xvii.37.

And they said unto him, Where Lord? And he said unto them, Whereso∣ever the Body is, thither will the Eagles be gathered together.

AS the Spirit of God, before the time of the Gospel, was fain to turn and winde it self, as I may say, many ways to re∣claim the World from Sin: So after the Son of God came into the World to preach to it, he found it necessary to use many holy Arts to win upon it. Sometimes the Convictions of Miracles, sometimes the Invitations of Promises, sometimes the Terrours of Threats and Judgments, as in my Text, and those Judgments not only tempo∣ral, which concerned the Jewish Nation, but eter∣nal, which concerned all Mankind.

And we that live in these Days so much nearer

the Approach of the final Judgment prophesy'd of by our Lord, have reason to deplore the strange Con∣tumacy which is yet seen in the World; that the Hearts of men are still so Unalterable from their Evil Ways; that those Engines that heretofore were so successful in oppugning Sin, should now, like anti∣quated Engines of War, become wholly unservicea∣ble; those powerful Methods of the Gospel, which could convert the Heathen World, cannot reclaim the Relaps'd and Apostate. If the Preacher does paulo majora canere, add Terrours to his Perswasions; join the Voice of the Trumpet, and even of the last Trumpet, to his own Voice; leave Christ's Sermons, and take his Prophecies for Texts, threaten Destru∣ction to restrain Vice; Damnation to awe Impiety; it effects nothing: But where the Pulpit is Ominous, Men are Obstinate and Obdurate; hear of Christ's coming in the Clouds, and their appearing before his Tribunal as unconcerned, as they hear a Poetick Fable: shew not that Fear and Amazement, howe∣ver mixt with hesitancy and doubting, which the yet raw Disciples did upon their being informed of these things. And they said unto him, Where Lord? And he said unto them, Wheresoever the Body is, thi∣ther will the Eagles be gathered together.

Before I proceed to explain the Words, it will be necessary to shew to what they appertain. The which that I may do, I must have recourse to the 24^th Chapter of S^t Matthew, where the Subject, of which my Text is but a Branch, is more fully treated of, than by our Evangelist. And there we read at the third Verse, That the Disciples enquired of our Lord three things, When the Time of his Coming, the Destruction of Jerusalem and the Temple, and the End of the World, should be? To which, ac∣cording

as his Custom was, he framed an Answer, not to gratifie the Curiosity of the Askers but, to re∣veal to the World, what was the Will of God should be revealed. For there are some future E∣vents which the Divine Wisdom thinks fit to make known to men, the better to prepare them to re∣ceive or avoid them: Others again which it thinks fit to hide from them, not only to restrain their Curio∣sity, but to prevent their Trouble. Our Lord being therefore to speak of Future things, and the secret Counsels of God, as the Subject was Prophetick, he treats of them in a Prophetick, i. e. in a more Ob∣scure Strain, than when he taught the Doctrines and Precepts of Life. Not that there is any imperfection in his expressing himself, or uncertainty of that which he foretold: but as Solomon says, It is the Glory of God to conceal a thing, as 'tis the Honour of Kings to search out a matter. Christ spoke suffici∣ently plain, what his purpose was should then be known, and what was not, he kept still under a Cloud.

However therefore there are those that undertake to say, He handles one Question precisely to such a Verse, and another to such a Verse, and the like, there are no discernible Transitions in his Discourse, but he seems purposely to involve the matter he speaks of, to treat sometimes of two Questions toge∣ther, and sometimes of all three promiscuously; ut∣tering himself one while literally, another while allegorically. Which has caused some to conceive, that his whole Discourse has respect but to one thing: Which some will have to be the Day of Judgment: Others, to the temporal Destruction only of the Jewish Nation by the Romans, expounding the Ea∣gles in my Text of the Roman Standards or Ensigns,

and all the other Wonders and Prodigies that are mentioned, The darkning of the Sun and Moon, the falling of the Stars, &c. allegorically, of the Change that should be in the Church and State of Israel, pa∣rallel to the like Allegory us'd in the second of Joel. Some understand by the Eagles in my Text the Elect or Faithful; and by the Body about which they shall be gathered together, the Person of Christ, to which they shall fly as to their Spiritual Food.

But it seems very strange, when the Disciples en∣quired of our Lord three things, and his Words comport so well to the Satisfaction of all three, that he should be thought to answer to None, or but to one of them: which yet we must say, if we admit of any of the Interpretations I have instanc't in. As therefore not only as more congruous to Reason, but to the Passages in our Lord's Discourse, we may de∣termine, that he answers, however indistinctly, to all his Disciples Queries. And as there is no Question, but that he speaks of his Coming to destroy Jerusalem and his wicked Crucifiers: So there is as little doubt to be made, that he speaks also of the Destruction of the World at the last Day, and his coming to judge it. For however the Calamity of the Jews was so great, the Tragical Circumstances of the Subversion of their Nation so dismal, that it was a kind of Dooms-day to them; and their particular Destructi∣on may be resembled to the General Destruction of the World: Yet they that shall duely consider the formidable Phaenomena or Appearances, the Scene of mixt Majesty and Terrour set out by S^t Matthew, must confess they are Incommunicable to any other Event, but his coming to judge the World, and the Dissolution of the visible Heaven and Earth, and can be affixt to none beside but figuratively and impro∣perly:

So that not only to accommodate, but to ap∣propriate them to a less Accomplishment, with the exclusion of the greater, seems an Interpretation in∣tolerable.

I shall not therefore scruple to proceed to under∣stand the Words, as I have begun, of the last Judg∣ment. Particularly, that by [the Body] in my Text, or by [the Carcase] as S^t Matthew has it, is meant all Persons of the World; and by [the Eagles] the An∣gels, whose Office it shall be (as God's Apparators) to summon and bring together at the Last Day the Quick and the Dead before the Tribunal of Christ. And the End or Drift of an Emblem or Parable be∣ing chiefly to be regarded, and not the particular Words rack'd, for what Mysteries may possibly be found in them, I shall insist no longer at present to consider, what Comparisons may be brought from Carcasses and Eagles, or the like: but observe from the General Scope of the Words these three things:

I. That at the Last Day there shall be an Exact Discrimination and Distinction between the Righte∣ous and the Wicked.

II. That there shall be a particular Visible Place to which all men shall be brought together to Judg∣ment.

III. That Men very hardly, or very unwillingly, believe these things.

I begin with the first of these,

That at the Last Day there shall be an Exact Discrimi∣nation made between the Righteous and the Wicked.

The Almighty and Wise God finds it not Expedi∣ent, while this World remains, continually to be gi∣ving outward and ocular Demonstrations, either of

his Approbation of the Faithful, or of his Detestati∣on of the Wicked: the most which he does in the Course of his Providence, is sometimes to check the Madness of the one, that they grow not insupporta∣ble; and to encourage the Vertue of the other, that they may not be dejected: but as Solomon says, There is no convincing Argument from visible Oc∣currences of God's love or hatred to either of them. And the Unrighteous take from hence no little heart to run on in their Evil Ways, and to deride the Faithful for losing the certain pleasures of a present Life, for the uncertain Hopes of a future: they see no Difference made between themselves and the God∣ly in this World, and they conceive there will be as little in the next; flatter themselves, that their Sins will either be buried with them in the Grave, and forgotten in that long Night; or else shuffled and lost in the vast Heap of semblable Transgressions of other men. But as it is the Quality of Cold to con∣geal and unite together into one Lump things hetero∣geneous, or of divers Sorts, as Sticks, Straws, Stones, &c. and of the Thaw when it comes to dissolve the Union, and then the Stones and like heavy Bodies are precipitated, Straws and light Bodies float, and those of a middle Nature are suspended between both: So though in this World the Innocent and Guilty cohabit together, and make but one Lump or Corporation; yet at the Dissolution of it, some Men shall be precipitated into the Bottomless Pit, and others again exalted above the Region of the Stars. Or else, as at the Creation, all things made but one Chaos, and appear'd to be but of one and the same Nature, till God by his Divine Power se∣parated them, and then the Lighter flew up to the Heavens or higher Parts of the World, and the Hea∣vier

settled on the Earth below: So at the End of the World, when God shall come to judge it, he will distinguish and separate the Mass of men accord∣ing to the Quality of their Works, and those who have set their Hearts on heavenly things, shall be thought worthy of Heaven, and to reign for ever with him and his holy Angels in Glory; and those who have hated heavenly things, and set their Affe∣ctions on things below, corrupted themselves with the Vices of this Life, to use the Psalmists words, shall be turn'd into Hell.

And the revealing of this Mystery does vindicate the Justice of the Deity, and absolve Providence from the Censures and hard Speeches of men: for our Lord has plainly taught, That there shall be a Day of calling all Flesh to account for what they have done in this Life: and however the Good and Bad are promiscuously join'd at present, and seem to be every way alike, and equal to one another; though they be in the same Field, as he says, or the same Bed, yet one shall be taken, and the other left: Again, in another place, The hour is coming when all that are in the Graves shall come forth, those that have done Good unto the Resurrection of Life, and they that have done Evil unto the Resurrection of Damnation. And this being asserted by the mouth of Truth it self, and also the Fundamental Part of our Creed, which sustains its whole Frame and Fabrick, it will be suffi∣cient thus to have illustrated it without bringing any Proofs of the Matter: The Article of Christ's judging the Quick and the Dead, though it be last in Place in the Confession of our Faith, yet it is the first in Office and Importance, and has an Influence on all the Articles that go before it, and which would be of no Consequence without it. For what

avails it to believe there is a God, if neither in this Life, nor in the Life to come he will make any Dif∣ference between the Righteous and the Wicked? What profit is it to believe a Redeemer or a Saviour, if there be no Salvation or Damnation? That there is a Holy Ghost, if in the Issue it shall be all one to those that are Sanctify'd, and to those that are not Sanctify'd? The very Equity and Reason of the thing, that there should be a Day of Judgment, is a sufficient Demonstration that there shall be such a Day.

Instead therefore, I say, of bringing Proofs of this Doctrine, I shall rather advise men to make the best Use of it, and not to be deceived with the present Uniformity and Identity, as 'twere, of the Conditi∣on of the Godly and Ungodly in this World: but to reflect on what is said of the Severe Scrutiny that shall be at the Last Day, when the present Mask shall be pull'd off from the Face of the World, and no A∣ction whatsoever be concealed; when the secret Sins, as well as secret Counsels of Princes, whatever they have done amiss, or been the Authors of others do∣ing amiss, without regard to their Persons, shall be laid open: when the delinquencies of the Meaner Sort shall not be past over, or lost in Oblivion, by reason of the Obscurity of their Condition: When the Nice in point of Fame and Reputation, but re∣gardless of their Innocence, shall have their Sly and close Sins ript open, and publisht to their greater Confusion before Men and Angels: When the Player and Actor in Religion, the Hypocrite, shall be stript of his Vizard and Mantle of Holiness, and the loathsome Vices concealed under them, exposed. For as 'tis said, At the coming of Christ, Anti-Christ shall no longer deceive the Nations: So it shall arrive,

to all those that have liv'd Anti-Christs, at the co∣ming of Christ to Judgment, they shall no longer de∣ceive, however successful their Cozenages have been in this Life. The Children of Darkness are many times, to outward Appearance, clad in richer Robes of Righteousness, and make a goodlier Shew of Piety and Devotion, than the Children of Light: But in the Day that God shall make up his Jewels, as the Pro∣phet Malachi speaks, he will distinguish the true from the false; and however the Counterfeit Vye at pre∣sent in Lustre with the right and Orient, and exceed them in Magnitude, then it shall be seen what trash they are. Which if men would duely consider, and that this Tryal and Examination of all Flesh is not only to lay open their Actions to the Eye of the Judge, for alas he knew them in the hour they were committed: or yet to expose them only to Shame before the innumerable Host of Men and Angels that will be there assembled, for that is but the Beginning of the Evils they are to expect: But 'tis, that every One may receive a Reward according to his Merit, as our Lord says, They that have done Well, Everlast∣ing Glory, and they that have done Evil, Everlasting Fire. I say, if men would seriously consider this, they would anticipate this Work of Tryal and Judg∣ment while time was allowed them to do it; they would tear off their Disguises of Sin, before they were stript of them; they would distinguish and se∣parate themselves from the Wicked by a Holy Life, before the Great Day of Separation of the Just and Unjust; prevent God's severe Sentence on their Mis∣deeds, by their own severe Condemnation of them before-hand; that whether they labour at the Mill, or in the Field; in the City, or in the Camp; what∣ever their Callings and Employments be, they may

be of the number of those that are taken, and not of those that are left. And let this suffice to be said of my first Observation, That at the last Day there shall be an exact Discrimination between the Righteous and the Wicked. I proceed to my Second Observation,

That there shall be some particular visible Place to which all men shall be brought to Judgment.

Although it be in the Power of the Almighty, where-ever Sinners shall be found at the last Day, there to sentence and send them to Hell; and where-ever the Righteous shall be found, from thence to translate them to Heaven: Yet, as 'tis the manner of Earthly Princes, to summon their People to receive Justice at some certain Place, their chief City, where their Court and ordinary Residence are; so it seems good to the Wisdom of God, to assemble all Persons, both Just and Unjust, to one Place of Common Ju∣dicature: and Writers do most probably conceive the place shall be Jerusalem, the City of God's most visible Residence on Earth. And that for these two Reasons:

1. For the Reparation of Christ's Honour: Be∣cause he suffered there not only the Scorn and De∣spight of the Jews, who put him to a cruel, unjust and shameful Death, but the Affronts also of all Na∣tions gathered together at the Feast of the Passover: it being God's will that he should receive Reparation and Amends, where he had received the greatest Out∣rage and Indignity: and that the Prophecy of Ze∣chary should be fulfill'd in the most eminent Manner, They shall look on him whom they pierced.

2. For the clearer Conviction and more sensible Compunction of those that denyed and murdered

him. For as it is the Custom again among Men, to send Malefactors to be judged and executed near the Place they committed their Crimes, the more to a∣waken their Guilt; so God the more, first, to awa∣ken, and then to confound the daring and relentless Infidelity of our Lord's Crucifiers, (who, after all their Persecutions, wish'd his Bloud might be on them and on their Children) has determin'd to pass the Sentence of Condemnation on them in the Place they perpetrated their Crimes. And the Prophecy of Joel, Chap. 3. seem'd to some of the Antients to countenance this Opinion, That God will assemble all Nations to Judgment in the Valley of Jehoshaphat, which was near adjoining to Jerusalem; says the Prophet, Assemble your selves all ye Heathen—and come up to the Valley of Jehoshaphat, for there I will sit to judge, &c. Multitudes, multitudes in the Valley of Jehoshaphat: for the Day of the Lord is near in the Valley of Decision. Which Prophecy, whatever ear∣lier Accomplishment it had in God's judging the Hea∣then that were Enemies to Israel, yet the Principal Completion of it has been thought to point at the last Universal Judgment. And 'tis a General Perswa∣sion of the Jews, that the Tryal of all Men at the Last Day shall be at Jerusalem: but not understanding, That the Dead shall be gathered together by the Of∣fice and Ministry of Angels, they say, That in what∣ever remoter Parts of the World they dye in their Dispersion, their Bodies, by the Power of God, shall be roll'd along through the inward and secret Parts of the Earth to Jerusalem, the Place assigned for their Resurrection, and the Appearance of all Men.

But now after all that has been said, though we conclude not peremptorily and chorographically, Where, or over what Part of the Earth, Christ will

erect his Throne for Judgment, the Scriptures being silent, or very obscure as to the Place: yet there is nothing that they deliver more plainly, than that the Great Session or Assize at the End of the World shall be Conspicuous and Dreadful; and they seem even solicitous and industrious in describing the for∣midable Manner of it, to make in mens minds a deeper impression of the Terrours of the Lord, as the Apostle calls them. And as we have two Corporal Senses, or Inletts of Fear into the Soul, the Eye and the Ear, the Word of God makes the Terrours of Dooms-Day to consist in the Objects of both these Senses, viz. in fearful and amazing Sounds, and in Prodigious and Ghastly Sights. For 'tis said, That the Lord shall descend from Heaven in a Shout, with the Voice of the Arch-Angel, and with the Trump of God, and the Dead shall rise, and the Sun shall be∣come black as Sackcloth, and the Moon red as Bloud, and the Stars shall fall, and the Heavens be roll'd up like a Scrole, &c. A Picture of such Horrour which no Phancy of Man could ever have drawn, or pos∣sibly conceiv'd, if it had not first been Divinely reveal∣ed: and though we look upon this Scheme or Draught of the Lord's coming at present with little Concern, because we suppose it to be at a great Di∣stance: yet if we would consider, that the holiest Persons of old were as dead men at the Sight only of an Angel, though coming to them in a familiar Shape, and with a gracious Message; and that we our selves are beside our selves, but at the fansy'd Appearance of a Spectre or Ghost, or any other Supernatural Oc∣current; what must our amazement and Confusion be, when we shall behold the whole World in a Flame, the Visible Heaven and Earth passing away with tumultuous Thunders, Lightnings, and Earth∣quakes?

When we shall hear the Crack of the dis∣solving Universe, and the Groans of dying Nature? when we shall behold not only one Evil Spirit, but the whole accursed and damned Crew in their Hor∣rour? again, when we shall behold not only one An∣gel, but all the Host of Heaven, and their Lord and ours sitting in the midst of them with all the an∣nexes of Majesty and Terrour? And this dreadful Spe∣ctacle, not like one of the Visions of the old Pro∣phets, which concerned not the Beholder himself, but others: but such as concerns the Eternal Woe or Welfare, Salvation or Damnation of every Person there present, i. e. of all that ever came, or shall come into the World.

When our Lord discoursed of these things to his Disciples, and of the dreadful manner of the Destru∣ction of the Jewish Nation as a Prelude to it, they were too big for their Imaginations to conceive, or their Faith to digest: and they could not, or durst not understand him; they were in the like Astonish∣ment the three Disciples were in at his Transfigurati∣on, when Peter said, not knowing what he said, Let us make three Tabernacles, &c. So great, I say, was the Consternation of the Disciples at our Lord's Words, that their Reason, and Spirits were in a kind of Deliquium, or Swoun, as well as their Faith. And they answered and said unto him, Where Lord? a Question not of Curiosity, but of Terrour and Doubt. And even still to this day we find men more inclin'd to di∣strust what is taught of the last Judgment, than to be warn'd and edify'd by it; to think the things affirm∣ed of it impossible, than to follow S^t Peter's Advice and to consider what manner of Persons they ought to be, seeing the World shall be dissolved. And so I pass to my last Observation,

The Vnwillingness of Men to believe a Judgment-Day.

So weak is the Nature of man, or such is the Sub∣tilty of our Spiritual Adversary the Devil, that even when we are convinced of the Substance of many Truths, yet by reason of the Strangeness and Uncon∣ceiveableness of some Circumstances of them, we let go the very Substance of the Truths again; and the best Men have been sometimes subject to this Infirmi∣ty. The Psalmist was throughly instructed in this fundamental Truth, That there was a God that judged in the Earth; yet because he saw the Righteous op∣prest, and the Wicked in prosperiry, he stagger'd in his Faith, and his feet, as himself confesses, had well-nigh slipt. The Blessed Virgin could not but believe the Message of an Angel appearing at Noon-day, and out-shining the Brightness of the Noon-days Light: but because she was to conceive miraculously, with∣out the knowing of a man, some Scruple remained in her holy breast of the Event of the Prediction. The Israelites heard from their Prophets, of whose Divine Mission they doubted not, That if they went on in their Transgressions, their Temple should be destroyed, and themselves led Captive by the Gen∣tiles: but then the Conceit, that God would never suffer these things to be done for his own Glory, whatever their Demerits were; that if they were remov'd, he would want a People; and if his House were prophan'd, his Worship would be extinguish'd in the World; made them disbelieve their Prophets. And the like latent Incredulity possest the Disciples here, They knew their Lord had the Words of Truth, but the Strangeness and Dreadfulness of the things

spoken of by him made their Faith fluctuate, and they could not believe, even what they could not disbelieve.

And when we see the holiest Men thus to have Doubts and Scruples to with-hold them from recei∣ving a harsh and displeasing, though never so plainly a reveal'd, Truth; to have a Where, or a When, Lord? a How, or by What Means? Some Question or other of the Time, the Place, the Possibility, and the like? What marvel is it, if Wicked and profli∣gate Persons, who are wholly Strangers to the Power and Wonderful Ways of God, shew a greater Infi∣delity, when they hear a Doctrine wholly contrary to their Temper, repugnant to their Pleasures, de∣structive of their Interests, and withal difficult to be conceiv'd? I say, if when such as these, to restrain them from their Lusts, or gainful Oppressions, are told, that they will certainly be call'd to a strict Ac∣count in another Life, for what they do amiss in this, smile, or laugh out, and conceive they shall do well enough after their Sins, notwithstanding all that's threatned against them? We see Malefactors a∣gainst the Laws of Men, even after the Sentence of Death is past upon them, and their Execution as cer∣tain to ensue, as the revolution of the short time ap∣pointed for it; yet flatter themselves they shall find means to escape, by a Bribe, by a Rope at a Win∣dow, by a Reprieve, by a Rescue, by an Accident, by any thing, they know not what. And after the like manner Offenders against God, though their Condemnation be recorded in his Word, and their Condition more desperate, promise themselves they shall never feel the Evils denounc'd against them; that the Report of Dooms-Day is false, the Doctrine of a Resurrection and another Life foolish and impos∣sible.

When therefore they hear such passages in Scripture as these, Some mens Sins are open before-hand, going before to Judgment, and some mens follow after: and again, The Good Works of some are mani∣fest before-hand, and they that are otherwise, cannot e∣scape: they reason in their hearts, and say, Ay, but why? the Parties are dead. Ay, but When, and Where? the Parties are escap'd into a far Country. Ay, but How, or which way? the Parties are drown'd, and devour'd by Fishes, and their Bodies turn'd into Nourishment, or else burnt to Ashes, and that scatter'd—True, but where-ever the Carcase is, or the least Remains of it, thither will the Eagles be gathered together, i. e. though the Body of a Sin∣ner seem to all humane Appearance annihilated; yet God by his Power will restore it, and by the Office of his Angels bring it before the Tribunal of Christ.

And this is the importance of our Lord's Emble∣matical Words in my Text: for 'tis observed, that Eagles and other Birds of Prey, Ravens, Vulturs, &c. have a great Perspicacity in discovering their Food, a kind of divining, or Prophetick Conjecture where to seek it, insomuch that they will follow Ar∣mies, and know the unsuccessful Troops, and expect their Banquets from their Overthrow. Says Job, The Eagle abideth on the rock—from thence she seeth her Prey, her Eyes behold afar off—and where the slain are, there is she. And then the Celerity, strength, and rapacity of these Creatures to seize, is as great, as their Sagacity to find out. And God has more a∣bundantly endowed the Angels with requisite Quali∣ties to execute his Will and Commands: however therefore Vertue and Piety went out of this World without any seeming Regard, yet they are the Ob∣jects

of God's Love, and the particular Care and Charge of the Angels, and they shall not pass in the next without a Glorious Reward: Again, though Wickedness dy'd in Prosperity, yet it is the Object of God's Wrath and Justice, and the Quarry of the An∣gels, and it will be found out by them in all the Ru∣ines of Mortality, and brought to receive its just Punishment.

And that these things are so incredible to Sinners is without all reason: For they are the only men that believe this World to be immoveable and eternal, and yet 'tis supported only by the Word or Will of God: as Job says, He hangs the Earth upon nothing, and we may say, the Heavens upon as little: But God's re∣warding the Righteous, and punishing the Wicked are founded on his Justice, i. e. on his very Essence or Being, and can fail no more than the Deity it self. However therefore this Doctrine is disbelieved and slighted by sensual and carnal Men, it ought conti∣nually to ring and sound in the Ears of the Faithful, as S^t Jerome fansy'd the last Trump did in his; the Parable of the Eagles and the Carcase should frequent∣ly occur to our thoughts, to make us break off our Sins, and to keep us close to our Duty. For if any One, to encourage himself in his Sins, shall say, When I leave this World, I shall creep again into the Cells of Darkness and Obscurity, where I lay be∣fore I was born, I shall be reduc'd again to the State of Nothing, as when I was in my first Causes: Let him consider, that God can call him out of that No∣thing which he speaks of, as he did when he first made him a living Man; and that Restoration is not so hard a Work, as Creation; that what the Psal∣mist says of the Nocturnal Darkness, caus'd by the absence of the Sun, The Darkness is no Darkness to

thee, may be affirmed of the Philosophical Darkness of his Dissolution, That Darkness is also no Darkness to him; the Night and the Day of his Being or Not-being are alike in his all-seeing Eyes. The fat and grown Deer seems Subtil to himself in retiring into the Coverts and Thickets, and leaving the Younger and smaller to feed abroad in danger of the Hunts∣men; but alas 'tis for him alone that all the Quest and Search is made, and while the lean and Rascal-Herd are past by, the Keeper only marks and lodges him for the Chace. The Policies of Wicked Men are as Simple as the Craft of these Silly Creatures, who when they are grown fat with the Oppressions and Spoils of their Brethren, swollen and ready to burst with Excess and Luxury, flatter themselves, if they can but escape the Penalty of the Laws, and get into their Graves in Peace, no Vengeance can af∣terwards overtake them: But alas it is to rouse them chiefly that Dooms-Day is appointed, Aquila non ca∣pit Muscas, the heavenly Eagles, the Angels, stoop not at Flies; they are not Small Sinners, but these Monsters and Prodigies of Impiety which are their principal Game or Quarry. As therefore the bloudy Tyrant Sylla found it a foolish Meditation, after his butchering so many of the Roman Nobility, to lay down his Power, and to hope for Safety in a Retire∣ment from the Swords of those whose Relations he had murthered: So let no Man after a Wicked Life hope to find a Place so remote, obscure, or fortify'd, as to protect him from God's Vengeance. 'Tis said, That Kings have long arms, and can reach Delin∣quents at a great Distance; but the King of Kings has much longer: and if the Offenders against him could take Refuge even in the Centre of the Earth, obtain of the Rocks to shelter them, or the Moun∣tains

to fall upon them, the Angels would fetch them from thence to Judgment. There are none that shall escape, none that shall be dispens'd with from appear∣ing before the Tribunal of God, and receiving their Doom at the Last Day: Only it is now in our power, while we are yet in this Life, to make it a happy or unhappy Doom; a Doom that adjudges us to Crowns and Scepters, or to Chains and Everlasting Torments. Repentance and a Holy Life will turn that Day of Terrour into a Day of Rejoicing; make the Omi∣nous Portents, the dreadful Thunders, and other a∣mazing Concomitants of it, but as the loud Musick, cheerful Acclamations, and Solemnities which attend a Triumph or Coronation; I say, which attend our own Triumph and Coronation, as S^t Paul assures us, 2 Tim. 4 8. I have finisht my Course, says he, I have kept the Faith; henceforth there is laid up for me a Crown of Righteousness, which the Lord the righteous Judge shall give me at that day, and not to me only, but unto all them that love his appearance. However the Predi∣ctions of the Last Day cause Consternation and Di∣straction of Mind in Wicked Doers, to the Righte∣ous they are altogether Gospel or Good Tidings; they that keep God's Laws, cannot chuse but love and delight in his Appearance. Let the Heavens re∣joice, and the Earth be glad, says the Psalmist: Let the Field be joyful, and all that is therein before the Lord—And why all this Joy? For he cometh, for he cometh to judge the World, and the People with E∣quity. And Luke 21.28. says our Lord, When these things come to pass, then look up and lift up your heads: for your Redemption draweth nigh.

To God the Father, Son, and Holy Ghost, be a∣scribed all Honour, Glory, &c.