LXXX sermons preached at the parish-church of St. Mary Magdalene Milk-street, London whereof nine of them not till now published / by the late eminent and learned divine Anthony Farindon ... ; in two volumes, with a large table to both.

The Eleventh SERMON. (Book 11)

PART II.

MATTH. XXIV. 42.

Yee know not what hour your Lord doth come.

WE have already beheld the Person, Your Lord: and we have placed him on his tribunal as a Judge;* 1.1 For the Father hath committed all judgment to the Son. You have seen his Dominion in his Laws, which are fitted and proportioned to it:* 1.2 As his sceptre is a sceptre of righteousness, so his Laws are just. No man, no De∣vil can question them: We approve them as soon as we hear them, and we approve them when we break them; for that check which our conscience giveth us is an approbation. You have seen the Virtue and Power of his Dominion: For what is Regal right without Regal power? What is a Lord without a sword? Or what is a sword if one cannot manage it? What is a wise-man, if a wiser then he; what is a strong man, if a stronger then he cometh upon him?* 1.3 But our Lord, as he is called Wonderful, Counsellour, so is he the Mighty God: Who can stand before him when he is angry? We have shew∣ed you the large Compass and Circuit of his Dominion: No place so di∣stant or remote to which it doth not reach. It is over them that love him, and over them that crucifie him: It is over them that honour him, and over them that put him to open shame.* 1.4 And last of all you have seen the Durabi∣lity or rather the Eternity of his Dominion: Of his Kingdome there shall be no end, saith the Angel to Mary: And take the words going before, He shall reign over the house of Jacob, and the sense will be plain. For as long as there is a house of Jacob, a people and Church on earth, so long shall he reign.* 1.5 As his Priesthood so his Dominion 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉, and shall never pass away. We must now fix our eyes upon him as ready to descend, in puncto reversûs, settled in his place, but upon his return: The Lord will come. It is a word of the future tense, as all predictions are of things to come: and it is verbum operativum, a word full of efficacy and virtue, 1. to a∣wake and stir up our Faith, 2. to raise our Hope, and 3. to inflame our Charity: It is an object for our Faith to look on, for our Hope to reach at, and for our Charity to embrace.

First it offereth it self to our Faith. For ideo Deus abscessit ut fides no∣stra corroboretur; Therefore doth our Saviour stay, and not bow the heavens, and come down, that our Faith, which may reach him there, may

be built up here upon earth. And he is therefore absent, and in a man∣ner lieth hid, that this eye might find him out. For Faith is a kind of prospective or optick instrument, by which we see things afar off as if they were near at hand, things that are not yet as if they were. It tur∣neth venturus est into the present tense. It beholdeth Christ not onely sitting at the right hand of God, but as now already descending with a shout. With this eye of faith I see new heavens and a new earth, a new face of e∣very thing. I see what a nothing that is which mortals sweat and fight for, what a nothing the world is: for I see it on fire. I see Righteous∣ness, peace, order, constancy, duration, even whilst I walk in this shop of vanities, this world of wickedness, this Chaos and confusion, this seat of change. I see honesty pitied, scorned, baffled, Honesty lifted up on high far above reproch or injury. I see Injustice powerful, all-conquer∣ing, triumphant Injustice trembling before this Lord, arraigned, con∣demned, flung down into the lowest pit, there to be whipt with many stripes. I see now the wisdome of men made foolishness,* 1.6 and the foolishness of God wiser then men. I see that restored which I saw lost; I see the eye that was bored out, in its place again; I see the plowed back, with no fur∣row on it; I see Herod in prison, and John Baptist with his head on. I see my goods restored before I lose them; and I am in heaven before the blow is given; in bliss, when every eye doth pity me. And what is now left for the boasting Tyrant to do? What can he take from me that is worth a thought? What can he strip me off but that which I have laid down and left already behind me? Will he have my goods? The trea∣sury where they are kept is out of his reach. Will he take from me my good name? It is written in the book of life. Or will he take my life? He cannot: For it is hid with Christ in God.* 1.7 This is sancta impudentia Fidei, the holy boldness and confidence of Faith, to break through flesh and blood, all difficulties whatsoever, to draw down heaven to earth; and, if the object be invisible, to make it visible; if it be at distance, to make it present. If the Lord say he will come, to Faith he is come alrea∣dy. This operation Faith will have if it be not dulled and deaded by our sensuality. For what Faith is that which is not accompanied with these high apprehensions and resolutions equal to them? What Faith is that which leaveth us weary of the truth, and ashamed of our professi∣on? What Faith is that which we are so ready at every frown to re∣nounce? Shall I call that Faith which cannot strike the timbrel out of our hands, nor the strumpet out of our arms? that sheweth Christ co∣ming to the Covetous, yet leaveth him digging in the earth? to the Am∣bitious, and cannot stop him in his mount? to the Hypocrite, and can∣not strike off his mask? to the Politician,* 1.8 and cannot make him wise unto salvation? that cannot make us displease our selves, that cannot make us love our selves, not aw an eye, not bind an hand, not silence a word, not stifle a thought, but leaveth us with as little power and activity as they who have been dead long ago, although the VENTƲRƲS EST, the do∣ctrine of Christs second advent, sound as loud as the Trump shall do at the last day? Faith shall we call this, or a weak and faint perswasion, or a dream, or an echo from an hollow heart, which when all the world proclaimeth he will come, resoundeth it back again into the world? a Faith which can speak, but not walk or work? a Faith which may dwell in the heart of an hypocrite, a murderer, a devil? For all this one may believe, or at least profess, and yet be that liar, that Antichrist,* 1.9 which de∣nieth Jesus to be Lord, or that he ever came in the flesh, or will come again to judge both the quick and the dead.

Secondly, as it casteth an aspect upon our Faith, so it doth upon our

Hope,* 1.10 which is 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉, the blood of our Faith, saith Clemens Alexan∣drinus; without which it will grow faint and pale, and languish. Opor∣tet habere aliquem spei cumulum,* 1.11 saith Tertullian: and therefore this additi∣on of Hope to Faith is necessary. For if we had all Faith, and had not Hope, this Faith would profit us nothing. Faith without Hope may be in hell as well as on the earth. Believe; who does not? or at least say so? But how many expect Christs coming? how many are saved? The Apostle speaketh of a fearful looking for of judgement.* 1.12 Indeed they who hope not for Christs coming, who do but talk of it, and are unwilling to believe themselves, may be said to look for it, because they ought to do it; And his coming is as certain as if they did. Truly and properly they cannot be said to expect it: For how should that be in their expectati∣on which is not so much as in their thought? Hope will not raise it self upon every Faith; nor is that Faith which most of the world depend on a fit basis for hope to build upon. Even he that despaireth believeth, or else he could not despair: For who will droop for fear of that veniet, of that Judgement, which he is so willing to perswade himself will never come? Foolish men that we are! who hath bewitched us, that we should glory in Faith and hope, and make them the subjects of our songs and re∣joycing, when our Faith is but such a one as is dead, and our Hope at last will make us ashamed? when our Faith is the same which is in hell, and our Hope will leave us with the Devil and his angels? a Faith worse then Infidelity, and a Hope more dangerous then Despair? Faith when we do not believe; and a Hope, when there is great reason we should de∣spair, and which will serve onely to add to the number of our stripes? yet this is the Faith, this is the Hope of the Hypocrite, of the formal Chri∣stian. These are thy Gods, O Israel.

Therefore, in the last place, that we may joyn these two together, Faith and Hope, we must draw in that excellent gift of Charity, which is Copulatrix virtus, saith Cyprian, the uniting and coupling Virtue, not onely of men, but of these two Theological Virtues, which will not meet together but in Love; or, if they do, with so little truth and reality that they will rather disadvantage then help us. For where Virtue is not, the name is but an accusation. I told you before that Hope doth suppose Faith: For we cannot hope for that which we do not believe. Yet Faith, such as it may be, may shew it self, and speak proud words, when Charity is thrust out of doors. Many there be who have subscribed to the VENIƲ∣RƲS EST, that the Lord will come, who have little reason to hope for his coming.* 1.13 How many believe he will come, and bring his reward with him, and yet strike off their own chariot-wheels, and drive but heavily to∣wards it? How many believe there is a Judge to come, and wish there were none?* 1.14 Faith, saving Faith, Hope, Hope that will not make ashamed, cannot dwell in the heart till Charity hath taken up a room. But when she is shed and spread abroad in our hearts, then they are in conjunction, meet together, and kiss each other. Faith is a foundation; and on it our Love raiseth it self as high as heaven in all the several branches and parts of it. Because I believe, I love. And when my Love is real and perfect, my Hope springeth up, and bloometh and flourisheth. My Faith seeth the object; my Love imbraceth it, and the means unto it; and my Hope layeth hold on it, and even taketh possession of it. And therefore this Coming of the Lord is a threat, and not a promise, if they meet not. If Faith work not by Love and both together raise not a Hope, VENTƲ∣RƲS EST, he will come, is a thunderbolt. And thus as it looketh upon Faith and Hope, so it calleth for our Charity, For whether we will or no, whether we believe or no, whether we hope or no, he will certainly

come: but when we love him,* 1.15 then we love also his appearance and his co∣ming; and our Love is a subscription to his Promise, by which we truly testifie our consent, and sympathize with him, and say Amen to his Promise that he will come; we echo it back again to him, Even so, come,* 1.16 Lord Je∣sus. For that of Faith may be in a manner forced, that of Hope may be groundless, but this of Love is a free and voluntary subscription. Though I know he will come, yet I shall be unwilling he should come upon me as an enemy, that he should come to me when I sit in the chair of the scorn∣ful, or lie in the bed of lust, or am wallowing in the mire, or weltring in my own blood, or washing my feet in the blood of my brethren, For can any condemned person hope for the day of execution? But when I love him, and bow before him, when I have improved his talent, and brought my self to that temper and constitution that I am of the same mind with this Lord, and partaker of his divine nature,* 1.17 then Faith openeth and displayeth her self, and Hope towreth us up as high as the right hand of God, and would bring him down, never at rest, never at an end, but pan∣ting after him till he do come, crying out with the souls under the altar, How long, Lord? How long? How long? This is the very breathing and language of Hope. Then Substantia mea apud te,* 1.18 as the Vulgar readeth that of the Psalmist, My expectation, my substance, my being is with the Lord: and I do not onely subscribe to his Coming, because he hath de∣creed and resolved upon it, but because I can make an hearty acknow∣ledgement that the will of the Lord is just and good; and I assent not of necessity but of a willing mind; and I am not onely willing, but long for it: and as he testifieth these things,* 1.19 and confirmeth this Article of his Coming with this last word, ETIAM VENIO, Surely I come, so shall I be able truly to answer, Even so come, Lord Jesus, come quickly.

And now the Lord will come; And you may see the necessity of his co∣ming in the end of his coming. For qualis Dominus, talis adventus; As his Dominion is, such is his Coming; his Kingdome spiritual, and his Co∣ming to punish sin, and reward Obedience, to make us either prisoners in darkness, or Kings and Priests to reign with him and offer up spiritual sa∣crifices for evermore. He cometh not to answer the Disciples question, to restore the Kingdome to Israel;* 1.20 for his Kingdome is not such a one as they dreamt of; nor to place Zebedee's children, the one at his right hand, and the other at his left; nor to bring the Lawyer to his table to eat bread with him in his kingdome. These carnal conceits might suit well with the Sy∣nagogue, which lookt upon nothing but the Basket. And yet to bring in this errour, the Jews, as they killed the Prophets, so must they also abolish their Prophecies,* 1.21 which speak plainly of a King of no shape or beauty, of his first coming in lowliness and poverty; of a Prince of Peace, and not of war, of the increase of whose government there shall be no end. Nor doth he come to lead the Chiliast, the Dreamer of a Thousand years of temporal happiness on earth, into a Mahometical Paradise of all corporal contentments, that after the Resurrection the Elect (and even a Reprobate may think or call himself so) may reign with Christ a thousand years in all state and pomp, and in the affluence of all those pleasures which this Lord hath taught them to renounce. A conceit which ill becometh Christians,* 1.22 who must look for a better and more enduring sub∣stance, who are strangers and pilgrims, and not Kings, on earth, whose conversation is in heaven, and whose whole life must be a going out of the world. Why should we be commanded, and that upon pain of eternal separation from this our Lord, to wean our selves from the world and every thing in the world, if the same

Lord think these flatteries of our worser part, these pleasures, which we must loath, a fit and proportionable reward for the labour of our Faith and Charity, which is done in the inward man? Can he forbid us to touch and taste these things, and then glut us with them because we did not touch them? And can they now change their Nature, and be made a recom∣pense of those virtues which were as the wings on which we did fly away, and so kept our selves untoucht and unspotted of this evil. But they urge Scripture for it: And so they soon may: for Scripture is soon mis∣understood and soon misapplyed. It is written, they say, in Revel. 20.6. that the Saints shall reign with Christ a thousand years. Shall reign with Christ, is evidence fair enough to raise those spirits which are too high, or rather too low, already, 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉. No sooner is the word read, but the crown is on. To let pass the divers interpretations of that place, some making the number to be definite, others indefinite; some beginning the thousand years with the persecution of Christ, and ending it in Antichrist, others beginning it with the reign of Constan∣tine, when Christianity did most flourish, and ending it at the first rising of the Ottoman-Empire; others beginning it at the year 73, and drawing it on to conclude in the year 1073, when Hildebrand began to tyrannize in the Church; To let pass these, since no man is able to reconcile them, we cannot but wonder that so gross an errour should spread so far in the first and best times of the Church as to find entertainment with so ma∣ny, but less wonder that it is revived and fostered by so many in ours, who have less learning but more art to misinterpret and wrest the Scriptures to their own damnation. For what can they find in this Text to make them Kings? no more then many of them can find in themselves to make them Saints? And here is no men∣tion of all the Saints, but of Martyrs alone, who were beheaded for the witness of Jesus, v. 4. But we may say of this Book of the Revelation as Aristotle spake of his books of Physicks, that it is 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉, publisht, and not publisht; publisht, but not for every man to fasten what sense he please upon it. Though we cannot deny but some few of later times, and so few as are but enough to make up a number by their multiplicity of reading and subtil diligence of observation, and by dextrous comparing those particulars which are registred in story with those things which are but darkly revealed, or plainly revealed to S. John, but not so plainly to us, have raised us such probabilities that we may look up∣on them with favour and satisfaction, till we see some fairer evi∣dence appear, some more happy conjectures brought forth, which may impair and lessen that credit which as yet, for ought that hath been seen, they well deserve. But this is not every mans work:

〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉.

Every mans eye is not so quick and piercing to see at such distance, And we see, since so many men have taken the courage and been bold to play the interpreters of dark Prophesies, they have shaped out what phansies they please, and instead of unfolding Revelations, have presented us with nothing but dreams, as so many divers Mo∣rals to one Fable.* 1.23 And so for two witnesses we have a cloud; for one Beast,* 1.24 almost as many as be in the forrest; and for one Anti∣christ, every man that displeaseth us. But let men interpret the thou∣sand years how they please,* 1.25 our Saviour calleth it an errour, an er∣rour that striketh at the very heart of Christianity, which promiseth no riches, nor power, nor pleasure, but that which is proportioned to those virtues and spiritual duties, of which it consisteth. For in

the resurrection neither do they marry wives, nor are married.* 1.26 We may adde, Neither are there high nor low, neither rich nor poor,* 1.27 but all are one in Christ Jesus. And his words are plain enough,* 1.28 My Kingdom is not of this world. I should scarce have vouchsafed to mention an er∣rour so gross, and which carrieth absurdity in the very face of it, but that we have seen this monster drest up and brought abroad and mag∣nified in this latter age and in our own times, which, as they abound with iniquity, so they do with errours, which to study to confute were to honour them too much, who make their sensual appetite a key to open Revelations, and to please and satisfie that are well content here to build their tabernacle, and stay on earth a thousand years a∣mongst those pleasing objects which our Religion biddeth us to contemn, and to be so long absent from that joy and peace which is past under∣standing. Their Heaven is, as their virtues are, full of dross and earth, and but a poor and imperfect resemblance of that which is so indeed; and their conceit as carnal as themselves, which Christianity and even common Reason abhorreth. For look upon them, and you shall behold them full of debate, envy, malice, covetousness, ambition, minding earth∣ly things: and so they phansie a reward like unto themselves. 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉, Like embraceth like, as mire is more pleasing to swine then the waters of Jordan. And it is no wonder to hear them so loud and earnest for riches and pleasure and a temporal Kingdome, who have so weak a title to and so little hope of any other. But God forbid that our Lord should come, and Flesh and Blood prescribe the manner. For then how many several shapes must he appear in? He must come to the Covetous, and fill his cofers; to the Wanton, and build him a Seraglio; to the Ambitious, and crown him. No, his advent shall be like himself: He shall come in power and majesty, in a form answerable to his Laws and government. And as all things were gathered together in him,* 1.29 which are in heaven, and which are in earth, and God hath put all things under his feet, so he shall come unto all, to Angels, to the Creature, to Men. And first he may well be said to come unto the Angels: For he is the Head of all Principality and Power.* 1.30 And as at his first coming he confirmed them in their happy estate of obedience (which we be∣lieve as probable, though we have no plain evidence of Scripture for it) so at his second he shall more fully shew to them that which they desired to look into, as S. Peter speaketh,* 1.31 give them a clearer vision of God, and increase the joy of the good, as he shall the torments of the evil Angels. For if they sang for joy at his birth, what Hosannahs and Hallelujahs will they sound forth when they attend him with a shout?* 1.32 If they were so taken with his humility, how will they be ravisht with his glory? And if there be joy in heaven for one sinner that repenteth,* 1.33 how will that joy be exalted when those repentant sinners shall be made like unto the Angels? when they shall be of the same Quire,* 1.34 and sing the same song, Glory and honour to him that sitteth upon the throne,* 1.35 and to this Lord, for ever more? Secondly, he cometh unto the Creatures to redeem them from bondage.* 1.36 For the desire of the creature is for this day of his coming, and even the whole creation groneth with us also But when he cometh they shall be reformed into a better estate: There shall be new heavens and a new earth, wherein dwelleth righteousness.* 1.37 Now the Creature is subject to vanity; not onely to change and mutabi∣lity, but also to be instrumental to evil purposes, to rush into the battle with us, to run upon the Angels sword, to be our drudges and our parasites, to be the hire of a whore, and the price of blood. They grone as it were and travail in pain under these abuses, and therefore

desire to be delivered, not out of any rational desire, but a natural incli∣nation, which is in every thing to preserve its self in its best condition. To these the Lord will come,* 1.38 and his coming is called the restitution of all things, that which maketh all things perfect, and restoreth every thing to its proper and natural condition. The Creature shall have its rest; the Earth shall be no more wounded with our plowshares, nor the bowels of it digged up with the mattock; there shall be no forbidden fruit to be tasted, no pleasant waters to be stolen, no Manna to surfet on, no crowns to fight for, no wedge of gold to be a prey, no beauty to be a snare. The Lord will come, and deliver his Creature from this bondage, perfect and consummate all, and at once set an end both to the World and Vanity. Lastly, the Lord will come to men both good and evil. He shall come in his glory,* 1.39 and gather all nations, and separate the one from another, as a shepherd divideth his sheep from the goats, and by this make good his Justice, and manifest his Providence in the end. His Justice is that which, when the world is out of order, establisheth the pillars there∣of. Sin is an injury to the whole Creation, and inverteth that order which the Wisdom of God had first set up in the World: My Adultery defileth my body, my Oppression grindeth the poor, my Malice vexeth my bro∣ther, my Craft removeth the land-mark, my particular sins have their particular objects, but they all strike at the Universe, disturb and vio∣late that order which Wisdom it self first established. And therefore the Lord cometh to bring every thing back to its proper place, to make all the wayes of his Providence consonant and agreeable to themselves, to crown the repentant sinner that recovered his place, and bind and fetter the stubborn and obstinate offender, who could be wrought upon neither by promises nor by threats to move in his own sphere. The Lord will come to shew what light he can strike out of darkness, what harmo∣ny he can work out of the greatest disorder, what beauty he can raise out of the deformed body of Sin. Sin is a foul deformity in nature; and therefore he cometh in judgment to order and place it there where it may be forced to serve for the grace and beauty of the whole, where the pu∣nishment of sin may wipe out the disorder of sin.* 1.40 Then every thing shall be placed as it should be, and every man sent 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉, to his pro∣per place. Nec pulchrius in coe••o angelus, quam in gehennâ diabolus. Hea∣ven is a fit and proper place for an Angel of light, for the children of God; and Hell is as fi•• and proper for the Devil and his Angels. Now the wayes of men are crooked and intricate, and their actions carried on with that contrariety and contradiction, that to quit and help him∣self out of them, and take himself off from that amazement, Marcion ran dangerously upon the greatest blasphemy,* 1.41 and brought in two Prin∣ciples, one of Good, and another of Evil, that is, two Gods: But when the Lord shall come, and lay judgment to the line, all things will be even and equal; and the Heretick shall see that there is but one. Now all is jarring, discord and confusion; but the Lord, when he cometh, will make an everlasting harmony. He will draw every thing to its right and pro∣per end, restore order and beauty to his work, fill up those breaches which Sin hath made, and manifest his Wisdome and Providence, which here are lookt upon as hidden mysteries; in a word, he will make his glory shine out of darkness, as he did Light when the earth was without form,* 1.42 That the Lord may be all in all. Here in this world all lyeth as in a night, in darkness, in a Chaos or confusion, and we see neither what our selves nor others are. We see indeed as we are seen, see others as they see us, with no other eyes but those which the Prince of this world hath blinded. Our Judgment is not the result of our Reason, but is raised

from by and vile respects. If it be a friend, we are friends to his vice, and study apologies for it: If it be an enemy, we are angry with his virtue, and abuse our wits to disgrace it. If he be in power, our eyes d••zle, and we see a God come down to us in the shape of a man, and worship this Meteor, though exhaled and raised from the dung, with as great reve∣rence and ceremony as the Persians did the Sun. What he speaketh is an oracle, and what he doth is an example; and the Coward, the Mammo∣nist, or the Beast giveth sentence in stead of the Man, which is lost and buried in these. If he be small and of no repute in the world, he is condemned already, though he have reason enough to see the folly of his Judges, and with pitty can null the censure which they pass. If he be of our faction, we call him, as the Manichees did the chiefest of their sect, one of the Elect: But if his Charity will not suffer him to be of any, we cast him out, and count him a Reprobate. The whole world is a theatre, or rather a Court of corrupt Judges, which judge themselves and one a∣nother, but never judge righteous judgment. For as we judge of others, so we do of our selves. Judicio favor officit, our Self love putteth out the eye of our Reason, or rather diverteth it from that which is good, and imployeth it in finding out many inventions to set up evil in its place, as the Prophet speaketh, We feed on ashes,* 1.43 a deceived heart hath turned us aside, that we cannot deliver our soul, nor say, Is there not a lye in our right hand? Thus he that soweth but sparingly is Liberal; he that loveth the world is not covetous; he whose eyes are full of the adulteress is chast; he that setteth up an image, and falleth down before it, is not an Idola∣ter; he that drinketh down bloud as an ox doth water, is not a Murde∣rer; he that doth the works of his father the Devil is a Saint. Many things we see in the world most unjustly done,* 1.44 which we call Righteous∣ness, because no man can commence a suit against us, or call us into que∣stion: and we doubt not of Heaven if we fall not from our cause, or be cast (as they speak) in Westminster-hall. If Omri's statutes be kept, we soon perswade our selves that the power of this Lord will not reach us; and if our names hold fair amongst men, we are too ready to tell our selves that they are written also in the book of life. This is the judgment of the world. Thus we judge others, and thus we judge our selves, so by∣assed with the Flesh, that for the most we pass wide of the Truth. Others are not to us, nor are we to our selves, what we are, but the work of our own hands, made up in the world and with the help of the world. For the Wisdome of this world is our Spirit and Genius, that rayseth every thought, dictateth all our words, begetteth all our actions, and by it, as by our God, we live, and move, and have our being. And now, since Judgment is thus corrupted in the world, even Justice requireth it, Et veniet Dominus, qui malè judicata rejudicabit, the Lord will come, and give judgment against all these crooked and perverse judgements, and shall lay Righteousness to the plummet,* 1.45 and with his breath sweep away the refuge of lyes, and shall judge, and pass another manner of sentence upon us and others then we do in this world. Then shall we be told what we would never believe, though we have had some grudgings and whisper∣ings and half-informations within us, which the love of this world did soon silence and suppress: Then shall he speak to us in his displeasure, and,* 1.46 though we have talked of him all the day long, tell us we forgot him. If we set up a golden image, he shall call us Idolaters, though we intended it not; and, when we build up the sepulchres of the Prophets, and flatter our selves, and accuse our forefathers, tell us we are as great murderers as they; and thus find us guilty of that which we protest against, and ha∣ters of that which we think we love, and lovers of that which we think

we detest, and take us from behind the bush, from every lurking hole, from all shelter of excuse, take us from our rock, our rock of ayr, on which we were built, and dash our presumptuous assurance to nothing. Nor can a sigh, or a grone, or a loud profession, or a fast, or long pray∣ers corrupt this Lord, or alter his sentence, but he shall judge as he know∣eth, who knoweth more of us then we are willing to take notice of, and is greater then our Conscience (which we shrink and dilate at pleasure,* 1.47 and fit to every purpose) and knoweth all things, and shall judge us, not by our pretense,* 1.48 our intent or forced imagination, but according to his Gospel. VENIET, He shall come, when all is thus out of Order, to set all right and straight again. And this is the end of his Coming.

And now being well assured that he will come, we are yet to seek, and are ready with the Disciples to ask,* 1.49 When will these things be? and, What hour will he come? VENIET, Come he will. Et hoc satìs est, aut nescio quid satìs sit, as P. Varus spake upon another occasion; This is enough, or we cannot see what is enough. But nothing is enough to those who have no mind nor heart to make use of that which is enough. To them e∣nough is too much: for they look upon it as if it were nothing. There∣fore Christ doth not feed and nourish this thriftless and unprofitable hu∣mour, but brideleth and checketh it, putteth in his Prohibition, not to search after more then is enough; NON NOSTIS HORAM, You know not the hour, is all the answer which he who best knoweth what is fit for us to know will afford our Curiosity. For what is it that we do not desire to know?* 1.50 Curiosum nobis Natura dedit ingenium, saith the Philosopher: Nature it self may seem to have imprinted this itch of Curiosity in our very minds and wits, made them inquisitive, given them 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉, an eye which never sleepeth, never resteth upon one object, but passeth by that, and gazeth after another. That he will come, is not enough for our busie but idle Curiosity to know: we seek further yet, to know that which cannot be known, the Time and very Hour of his coming. The mind of man is 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉,* 1.51 restless, in perpetual motion. It walketh through the earth, sometimes looketh upon that which delighteth it, sometimes upon that which grieveth it, stayeth and dwelleth too long upon both, and misinterpreteth them to its own impoverishing and disadvantage. Perrumpit coeli munimenta, saith Seneca; It breaketh through the very gates of heaven, and there busily pryeth after the nature of Angels, and of God himself, but seeth it not; entreth the Holy of holies, and there is venturing into the closet of his secrets, and there is lost, lost in the search of those things, of times and seasons, which are past finding out, and are therefore set at such a distance that we may not send so much as a thought after them; which, if they could be known, yet could not advantage us. It was a good commendation which Tacitus giveth of Agricola,* 1.52 Retinuit (quod est difficilimum) in sapientia modum, He did (what is difficult for man to do) bound and moderate himself in the pur∣suit of knowledge, and desired to know no more then that which might be of use and profitable to him. Which wisdome of his, had it gained so much credit as to prevail with the sons of men which would be thought the Children of Wisdome, they had then laid out the precious treasure of their time on that alone which did concern them, and not prodigally mispent it on that which is impertinent, in seeking that which did fly from them when they were most intentive and eager in their search. If this moderation had been observed, there be thousand questions which had never been raised, thousand opinions which had never been broacht, thousands of errours which had never shewn their heads to disturb the peace of the Church, to obstruct and hinder us in those wayes of obedi∣ence,

which alone (without this impertinent turning our eye and look∣ing aside) will carry us in a straight and even course unto our end. Why should I pride my self in the finding out a new conclusion, when it is my greatest and my onely glory to be a New creature? Why should I take such pains to reconcile opinions which are contrary? My business is to still the contradictions of my mind, those counsels and desires which e∣very day thwart and oppose one another. What profit is it to refute o∣ther mens errours, whilst I approve and love and hug my own? What purchase were it to find out the very Antichrist, and to be able to say, This is the man? All that is required of me is to be a Christian. What if I were assured the Pope was the Beast I sought for? He appeared in as foul a shape to me before that title was written in his forehead. For I consider more what he is then what he is called. And thousands are now with Christ in heaven who yet never knew this his great Adversary on earth. And why should I desire to know the time when Christ will come, when no other command lieth upon me but this, to watch, and prepare my self for his coming? when all that I can know, or concern∣eth me, is drawn up within the compass of this one word, Watch, which should be as the centre, and all other truths drawn from it as so ma∣ny lines to bear up the circumference of a constant and a continued watch.

Christ telleth us he will come; Hoc satìs est dixisse Deo; and this is e∣nough for him to tell us, and for us to know he telleth us that we cannot know it, that the Angels cannot know it, that the Son of man himself knoweth it not, that it cannot be known, that it is not fit to be known; and yet we would know it. Some there have been who pretended they knew it by the secret revelation of the spirit, though it were a lying a spirit or a wanton phansie that spake within them; (For men are never more quick of belief then when they tell themselves a lye) and yet the Apo∣stle exhorteth the Thessalonians that they be not shaken in mind,* 1.53 nor troub∣led, neither by spirit, nor by word, nor by letter as from him, as that the day of Christ is at hand. Others call in tradition. Others find out a mystery in the number of Seven, and so have taken the full age of the world, which is to end, say they, after six thousand years. And this they find not onely in the six moneths the Ark floted on the waters,* 1.54 and its rest on the mountains of Ararat in the seventh, in Moses going into the cloud, and the walls of Jericho falling down the seventh day,* 1.55 but in the seven Vials and the seven Trumpets in the Revelation.* 1.56 Such time and leasure have men found perscrutari & interrogare latebras numerorum, to divine by Numbers, by their art and skill to dig the air, and find pre∣tious metal there where men of common apprehensions can find no such treasure, inter irrita exercere ingenia, to catch at atomes and shadows, and spend their time to no purpose. For Curiosity is a hard task master, setteth us to make brick, but alloweth us no straw, setteth us to tread the water and to walk upon the wind; putteth us to work, but in the dark: And we work as the Spirits are said to do in minerals; They seem to dig, and cleanse, and sever metals, but when men come they find nothing is done. It is a good rule in Husbandry,* 1.57 (and such rules old Cato called oracles) Imbecillior esse debet ager quàm agricola, The farm must not be too great for the husbandman, but what he may be well able to manure and dress. And the reason is good, Quia si fundus praevaleat, colliditur dominus, Because if he prevail not, if he cannot manage it, he must needs be at great loss. And it is so in the speculations and works of the mind, Those inquiries are most fruitful, and yield a more plentiful increase, which we are able to bring unto the end, which is, truly to resolve our

selves, Thus it is; as a little plot of ground well tilled will yield a fair∣er crop and harvest then many acres which we cannot husband; for the Understanding doth not more foully miscarry when it is deceived with false appearances and sophismes then when it looketh upon and would apprehend unnecessary and unprofitable objects, and such as are set out of sight. Res frugi est sapientia, Spiritual Wisdome is a frugal and thrif∣ty thing, sparing of her time, which she doth not wantonly wast to purchase all knowledge whatsoever, but that which may adorn and beautifie the mind, which was made to receive Virtue and Wisdome and God himself. To know that which profiteth not is next to igno∣rance: But to be ambitious of impertinent speculations carrieth with it the reproch of folly.* 1.58 What is it then 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉, as Basil speaketh, to seek with such diligence for that which is past finding out?

And first the knowledge of the hour of Christ's coming is most im∣pertinent,* 1.59 and concerneth us not. It is not for us to know the times. As our dayes, so the times are in God's hand, and he disposeth and di∣spenseth them as it pleaseth him, fitteth a time to every thing, which all the wisdome of the world cannot do. Thou wouldst know when he would take the yoke from off thy neck. It is not for thee to know: That which concerneth thee is to possess thy soul with patience, which will make thy yoke easie. Thou wouldst know when he will break the teeth of the ungodly, and wrest the sword out of the hand of them that delight in blood. It is not for thee to know: Thy task is to learn to suf∣fer and rejoyce, and to make a blessing of persecution. Thou wouldst know when the world shall be dissolved. Why shouldst thou desire to know it? Thy labour must be to dissolve the body of sin, and set an end and period to thy transgressions. Thou wouldst know what hour this Lord will come. It is not for thee to know, but to work in this thy hour, and be ready and prepared for his coming. 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉. The present, the present time that is thine, and thou must fill it up with thy obedience: That which is to come, of what aspect so ever it be, thou must onely look upon and consider as an help and advantage to thee in thy work. The Lord will come, speaketh no more to me then this, To labour and sweat in his vineyard till he come. All the daies of my appointed time will I wait,* 1.60 saith Job. There is a time, and an appointed time, and appointed by a God of eternity, and I do not study to calculate or find out the last minute of it: but I will wait, which is but a syllable, but of a large and spreading signification, and ta∣keth in the whole duty of man. For what is the life of a Christian but expectation of and waiting for the coming of the Lord? David indeed desireth to know his end and the measure of his dayes:* 1.61 but he doth not mean so to calculate them as Arithmeticians do, to know a certain and determined number of them, so to number them as to tell them at his fingers ends, and say, This will be the last; but himself interpreteth him∣self, and hath well explained his own meaning in the last words, Let me know the measure of my dayes, that I may know how frail I am; know, not exactly how many, but how few they be; let me so measure them that I may know and consider that they are but few, that in this little time I may strive forward and make a way to eternity. This was the Arithmetick he desired to have skill in. It may seem a paradox, but there is much truth in it, few men are so fully resolved of their mortality as to know their dayes are few, We can say indeed that we are but shadows, but the dreams of shadows, but bubbles, but vapours, that we began to die before we were born, and in the womb did move and strive forward towards

the gates of Death; and we think it no disparagement, because we speak to men of the same mold, who will say the same of themselves, and lay to heart as little as we. But should we pass over Methusalem's age a thousand times, yet when we were drawing even towards our end, we should be ready to conceive a possibility of a longer race, and hope like the Sun to run the same compass again. And though we die every day, yet we are not so fully confirmed in this that we shall ever die. Egregia res est condiscere mortem, saith Seneca; The best art is the knowledge of our frailty; and he must needs live well who hath well learnt to die. And egregia res est condiscere adventum Domini;* 1.62 It is a most useful thing to have learnt and well digested the coming of the Lord. For we cannot take out this as we should, but we must be also perfect in those lessons which may make us fit to meet him when he cometh. The hour of his coming is lockt up in the treasury of his Wis∣dome, and he hath left us no key to open it, that we might not so much as hope to find it, and so mispend our thoughts in that which they can∣not lay hold on, and which should be fastened on the other, to advance and promote our duty. 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉. Fix that well which is present; here lay out all thy store, all the powers of thy soul. Whilest it is time, whilest it is day, whilest it is thy day, make ready for his coming.

For, secondly, though it be in the future tense, VENIET, he will come, though it lie hid as it were in the womb of Time, and we know not when it will be brought to birth, yet at this distance it looketh upon us, and hath force enough in it self to work that fear and caution in us which the knowledge of the very hour peradventure might not do. We say we believe it; and that is enough And some have given Faith the preeminence above Knowledge, and count the evidence we have by Faith clearer and more convincing then that we have by Demonstration. But if it were not, yet even that which is but probable in other things doth prevail with us, and is as it were principium motus, the spring and beginner of all motion towards it. Lord, what Rhetorick, what Com∣manding eloquence is there in that which is but probable? nay, many times in that which is most improbable, if it carry any shew of proba∣bility with it? Nay, if it do not, our ardent affections supply all de∣ficiencies in the object, and hurry us along to do that which, when the heat is over, we could easily see could not be done; How doth Love carry us as it were on the wing to lay hold on that which we must needs know is out of our reach. It is but probable that Industry will make us rich: How do we toyl and sweat? It is but probable that Flattery will lift us up on high, and making our selves little will make us great: Lord, how do we strive to mishape and disguise and contract our selves? What dwarfs, what minims will we appear? How do we call contume∣lies favours, and feed on injuries, onely because we are told that Poten∣tates will make them Lords that make themselves their slaves; Probabi∣lity is the hand that turneth every wheel, the Intelligence which moveth every sphere, and every man in it. Hearken to the busie noise of all the world; behold the hollow look, the pale and careful countenance, the speaking and negotiating eye, and the active hand; see men digging, sweating, travelling, shouldring and treading one another under foot; and if you would know what worketh all this, behold, it is nothing but that which hangeth in Futurition, that which is but probable and un∣certain! And if Probability have such Power and force in other things, why should it not in this, especially the evidence being so fair and clear that it is impossible to find out or set up any better

against it which might raise any doubting in us, and make us dis∣believe it: To a true believer DOMINƲS VENIET, The Lord will come, is enough: Nor need he seek any further. A further inquiry to be assured of the time is but inquieta inertia, a troublesome sloth and busie negligence, like Ixion's wheel, to turn us about where we shall never fasten and rest, but be circled about in a giddy and uneffective mo∣tion.

Thirdly, the knowledge of the very hour can be of no use at all to forward and carry on that which we are now to do. Non prodest sci∣re, sed metuere futura, saith Tully, To know that which is to come is of no use, but to fear it. If I know it, and not fear it, I do but look upon it as to come: And that doth but leave us setled in our lees. This leaveth the Covetous in the mine, the Revenger in his wrath, the Wanton in the strumpets arms. If we confess he will come, and are not startled, what a poor squib would that be if we should be told he would come at such an hour: what a long hour should we make it? how should we ex∣tend and thrust it back to all eternity?* 1.63 Yet a little sleep, a little slumber: For Poverty is in arms, and coming, but not yet come. Yet let me grind the poor, saith the Oppressour; Yet let me crown my self with roses, saith the Luxurious; Yet a little more dalliance, saith the Wan∣ton; Yet let me boast in mischief, saith the Man of power. Whilest we consider things in the future, fit ut illud futurum semper sit futurum, imò fortassis nunquam futurum, saith the Father, that which is to come will be alwaies to come, nay peradventure we shall think at last that it will never come. All futures are contingents with us, and at last are nothing. Time flieth away, and will stay its course neither for the delaier nor the uncautelous, and therefore our Lord, who knoweth what is sufficient and best for us, would not let us know any more. Quod à Christo dicitur to∣tum est; That which he hath taught us is all that we can learn. If the knowledge of the precise hour of his coming would add but one cubit to our stature and growth in grace, Christ would have left it behind writ∣ten in the fairest character: but it is hid from our eyes for our advantage, that by the doubtful and pendulous expectation of the hour our Faith might be put to the trial whether it be a languishing and dead faith, or fides armata,* 1.64 a faith in arms and upon its watch; ut semper diem observemus, dum semper ignoramus, that whilst we know not when it will be, it may present it self unto us every moment, to affront and aw us in every moti∣on, and be as our task-master to over-see us and bind us to our duty, that we may fulfill our work,* 1.65 and work out our salvation with fear and trembling; that our whole life may be as the Vigils and Eve, and the hour of Christs coming the first hour of an everlasting Holy-day.

Lastly, there is no reason why it should be known, neither in respect of the good, nor of the evil. For the good; Satìs est illis credere, It is enough for them that they believe.* 1.66 They walk by faith, saith the A∣postle, and in their way behold the promises and comminations of the Lord, and in them as in a glass behold heaven and hell, the horrour of the one and the glory of the other. And this sight of the object, which they have by the eye of faith, is as powerful to work in them obe∣dience as if Heaven it self should fly open and discover all to them. To the true believer Christ to come and Christ now coming in the clouds are in effect but one object: for Faith seeth plainly the one in the other, the last hour in the first, the world at an end in the predicti∣on. But to evil and wicked men, to men who harden themselves in sin, no evidence is clear enough, and Light it self is Darkness. What they naturally know,* 1.67 and what they can preach unto themselves, in

that they corrupt themselves, and give their Senses leave to lead them to all uncleanness, whilst Reason, which should command, is put be∣hind and never hearkned to. These are as brute Beasts, in spite of all they have of Man within them. And if they believe Christ's coming, and will not turn back and bow, and obey their Reason, they would remain the same beasts or worse though they knew the very hour of his coming. After all those judgements Pharaoh was still the same: After the Rivers turned into blood, after Frogs and Lice, after the Plague on man and beast, after every plague, which came thick, as line up∣on line, precept upon precept, after all these, the effect and conclusion was, Pharaoh hardned his heart, was Pharaoh still, the same Tyrant,* 1.68 till he was drowned in the Red sea. Balaam, though the Ass forbad his folly, and the Angel forbad it, though the sword was drawn against him, and brandisht in his very face, that he bowed on the ground, and fell flat on his face, yet he rose again, and took courage to betray the Israelites to that sin with the Midianitish women which brought a curse upon them, and death upon himself:* 1.69 for he was slain for it with the sword. What evidence can prevail with, what terrour can move a wicked man hardned in his sin? who knoweth well enough, and can draw the picture of Christ coming, and look upon it, and study to for∣get it, and then put on an ignorance of his own knowledge; and though he know he will, yet perswade himself he will not come. And he that can thus stand out against his own knowledge in the one, may be as daring and resolute in the other, and venture on, though Hell it self should open her mouth against him, and breathe vengeance in his face. For howsoever we pretend ignorance, yet most of the sins we commit we commit against our knowledge. Tell the Foolish man that the lips of the harlot will bite like a Cocatrice, he knoweth it well e∣nough, and yet will kiss them.* 1.70 Tell the Intemperate that wine is a mocker, he will taste, though he know he shall be deceived. The cruel Oppressour will say, and sigh it out, that the Lord is his God; and yet eat up his people as he eateth bread.* 1.71 Who knoweth not that we must do to others as we would have others do to us, and yet how many are there (I may ask the question) that make it good in practice? Who knoweth not what his duty is, and that the wages of sin is death?* 1.72 and yet how many seek it out, and are willing to travail with it, though they die in the birth? Cannot the thought of judgment move us, and will the knowledge of a certain hour awake us? Will the hardned sin∣ner cleave to his sin though he know the Lord is coming, and would he let it go and fling it from him if the set determined hour were upon record? No: they wax worse and worse, saith the Apostle.* 1.73 Earth is a fairer place to them then Heaven it self: nor will they part with one vanity, nor bid the Devil avoid, though they knew the very hour, (I might say) though they now saw the Lord coming in the clouds. For wilt not thou believe God when he cometh as near thee as in wisdome he can, and as his pure Essence and infinite Majesty will suffer? and art thou assured thou wilt believe him if he would please to come so near as thy sick phansie would draw him? Indeed this is but aegri somnium, the dream of a sick and ill-affected mind, that complaineth of want of light when it shineth in thy face. For that information which we so long for we cannot have, or, if we could, it would work no more miracles then that doth which we already have, but leave us the same lethar∣gicks which we were. In a word, if Christ's doctrine will not move us, the knowledge which he will not teach would have little force. And though it were written in capital letters, At such a time, and such a

day, and such an hour the Lord will come, we should sleep on as secure∣ly as before, and never awake from this death in sin till the last Trump.

To look once more upon the Non nostis horam, and so conclude; We may learn even from our Ignorance of the hour thus much, That as the Lords coming is uncertain, so it will be sudden: As we cannot know when he will come, so he will come when we do not think on it, cum totius mundi motu,* 1.74 cum horrore orbis, cum planctu omnium, si non Chri∣stianorum, saith Tertullian, with the shaking of the whole world, with the horrour and amazement of the Ʋniverse, every man howling and lament∣ing, but those few, that little flock, which did wait for his coming. It is presented to us in three resemblances,* 1.75 1. of travel coming upon a woman with child, 2. of a Thief in the night, and 3. of a Snare. Now the Wo∣man talketh, and is chearful, now she layeth her hands to the spindle, and her hands hold the distaff; and now she groaneth. Now the Mammonist locketh his God up in his chest, layeth him down to sleep, and dream∣eth of nothing else; and now the Thief breaketh in and spoileth him. Now our feet are at liberty, and we walk at large, walk on pleasantly, as in fair places; Now the bitterness of death is past; and now the Snare taketh us. Now we phansie new delights, send our thoughts afar off, dream of Lordships and Kingdoms. Now we enlarge our imaginations as Hell, anticipate our honours and wealth, and gather riches in our mind before we grasp them in our hand; Now we are full, now we are rich, now we reign as Kings; now we beat our fellow-servants, and beat them in our Lord's name; and in this type and representation of hell we entitle our selves to eternity of bliss; we are cursed, and call our selves Saints; and now, even now he cometh.

Now sudden surprisals do commonly startle and amaze us, but after a while, after some pause and deliberation, we recover our selves, and take heart to slight that which drove us from our selves, and left us as in a dream, or rather dead: But this bringeth either that hor∣rour, or that joy, which shall enter into our very bones, settle and incorporate it self with us, and dwell in us for evermore. Other assaults that are made upon us unawares make some mark and impression in us, but such as may soon be wiped out. We look upon them, and being not well acquainted with their shapes, they disturb our phansie; but either at the sight of the next object we lose them, or our Reason cha∣seth them away.* 1.76 The tempest riseth, and the Philosopher is pale; but his Reason will soon call his blood again into his cheeks: He cannot prevent these sudden and violent motions, but 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉, he doth not consent, he doth not approve these unlookt-for apparitions and phantasies. He doth not change his counsel, but is constant to himself. Sudden joy and sudden fear with him are as short as sudden. But this coming of our Lord, as it is sudden, so it bringeth omnimodam desolationem, an universal horrour and amazement, seiseth upon all the powers and facul∣ties of the Soul, chaineth them up, and confineth them to loathsome and terrible objects, from which no change of objects can divert, no wis∣dome redeem them. No serenity after this darkness, no joy after this trembling, no refreshing after this consternation: For no coming again after this coming; for it is the last.

* 1.77And now to conclude, Veniet, fratres, veniet: sed vide quomodo te inveniet, saith Augustine: He shall come, he shall come, my brethren: His coming is uncertain, and his coming is sudden: It will concern us to take heed how he findeth us when be cometh. Oh, let him not find us dig∣ging of pits and spreading of nets to catch our brethren, spinning the

spiders web, wearying and wasting our selves in vanity. Let him not find us in strange apparel, in spotted garments, in garments stained with blood. Let not this Lord find thee in rebellion against him; this Saviour find thee a destroyer; this Christ, who should anoint thee, find thee bespotted of the world. Let not an humble Lord find thee swelling, a meek Lord find thee raging, a merciful Lord find the cru∣el, an innocent Lord find thee boasting in mischief, the Son of man find thee a beast. But to day if ye will hear his voice, harden not your hearts. This is your Day, and this day you may work out Eternity.* 1.78 This is your hour to look into your selves, to be jealous of your selves,* 1.79 vereri omnia opera, to be afraid of every word, work and thought, every enterprise you take in hand. For whatsoever you are saying, whatsoever you are doing, whatsoever you are imagining; whilst you act, whilst you speak, before you speak, whilst you think; and that thought is a promise or prophecy of riches and delights and honours, which are in the approch and ready to meet you, or a seal and confir∣mation of those glories which are already with you; whilst you think, as the Prophet David speaketh, that your houses shall continue for ever;* 1.80 even then he may come upon you; and then this inward thought, all your thoughts, perish, or return again upon you like Furies, to lash and torment you for ever. And therefore, to conclude; since the Premisses are plain, the Evidence fair; Since he is a Lord, and will come to judge us; Since he will certainly come; Since the time of his coming is uncertain, and since it is sudden; he is no Christian, he is no Man, but hath prostituted that which maketh him so, his Rea∣son, to his Sense and Brutish part, who cannot draw this Conclusi∣on to himself, That he must therefore watch. Which is in the next place to be considered.

Notes

• * 1.1

  John 5.22.
• * 1.2

  Psal. 45.6.
• * 1.3

  Es. 9.6. Psal. 76.7.
• * 1.4

  Luke 1.33.
• * 1.5

  Hebr. 7.24.
• * 1.6

  1 Cor. 1.20, 25
• * 1.7

  Col. 3.3.
• * 1.8

  2 Tim. 3.15.
• * 1.9

  1 Joh. 2.22. & 4.3.
• * 1.10

  Padag. 1.
• * 1.11

  Advers. ••••o∣stic. c. 6.
• * 1.12

  Heb. 10.27.
• * 1.13

  Rev. 22.12.
• * 1.14

  Rom. 5.5.
• * 1.15

  2 Tim. 4.8.
• * 1.16

  Rev. 22.20.
• * 1.17

  2 Pet. ••.4.
• * 1.18

  Psal. 39.7.
• * 1.19

  Rev. 22.20.
• * 1.20

  Acts 1.6. Matth. 20.21. Luk. 14.15.
• * 1.21

  Isai. 53.2. Zech. 9.9. Isa. 9.6, 7.
• * 1.22

  Heb. 10.34. & 11.13. Phil. 3.20.
• * 1.23

  Rev. 11. & 13.
• * 1.24

  1 John 2.
• * 1.25

  Mark 12.24, 27.
• * 1.26

  Matth 22.30.
• * 1.27

  Gal. 3.28.
• * 1.28

  John 18.36. Quaedam sic digna revinci, ne gravitate adorentur, Tert adv. Va∣lentin.
• * 1.29

  Eph. 1.10, 22.
• * 1.30

  Colos. 2.10.
• * 1.31

  1 Pet. 1.12.
• * 1.32

  1 Thess. 4 16.
• * 1.33

  Luke 15 7, 10.
• * 1.34

  Luke 20.36.
• * 1.35

  Rev. 5.13.
• * 1.36

  Rom. 8.19-22.
• * 1.37

  2 Pet. 3 13.
• * 1.38

  Acts 3.21.
• * 1.39

  Matth 25.31, 32.
• * 1.40

  Act 1 25. Gerson.
• * 1.41

  Duos Ponticus Deos, tanquam dua•• Symple∣gadas naufra∣git sui, adfert, quem negare non potuit, i. e. creatorem, i. e. nostrum: & quem probare non poterit, i. e. suum, Tertull. 1. adv. Marci∣on. c. 1.
• * 1.42

  1 Cor. 15.28.
• * 1.43

  Isa. 44.20.
• * 1.44

  Multa injustè fieri possunt, quae nemo pos∣sit reprehende∣re, Cic. de Fi∣nibus. Mic. 6.16.
• * 1.45

  Isa. 28.17.
• * 1.46

  Aliud est judi∣cium Christi, aliud anguli su surrorum, Hier.
• * 1.47

  1 John 3.20.
• * 1.48

  Rom. 2.16.
• * 1.49

  Matth. 24.3.
• * 1.50

  Sen. de vit. Etat. c. 32.
• * 1.51

  Enormi & oti∣osae curiositati tantum decrit discere, quan∣tum libuerit in∣quirere, Tert. de Anima, c. ult.
• * 1.52

  In vitae Agri∣cola.
• * 1.53

  2 Thes. 2.2.
• * 1.54

  Gen. 8.4.
• * 1.55

  Exod. 24.16, 18.
• * 1.56

  Josh. 6.
• * 1.57

  Columel.
• * 1.58

  Hom. 29. adv. calumn. 8. Trin.
• * 1.59

  Acts 1.7. Psal. 31.15.
• * 1.60

  Job 14.14.
• * 1.61

  Psal. 39.4.
• * 1.62

  Ep. 26.
• * 1.63

  Prov. 6.10.
• * 1.64

  Tert. de Anima c. 33.
• * 1.65

  Phil. 2.12.
• * 1.66

  2 Cor. 5.7.
• * 1.67

  Jude 10.
• * 1.68

  Exod. 10.27. Num 22. 2 Pet. 2.15.
• * 1.69

  Num. 31.8.
• * 1.70

  Prov. 20.1.
• * 1.71

  Psal. 14.4. & 53.4. Matth. 7.12.
• * 1.72

  Rom. 6.23.
• * 1.73

  2 Tim. 3.13.
• * 1.74

  Apol. c. 33.
• * 1.75

  1 Thes. 5.2, 3. Luke 21.35.
• * 1.76

  Aul Gel. Noct. Att l. 19. c. 1.
• * 1.77

  Ser. 140. de Tempore.
• * 1.78

  Psal. 95.7, 8.
• * 1.79

  Hebr. 3.7, 8.
• * 1.80

  Psal. 49.11.