Cods Scrutiny of Mans Secrets. 1 7 s friend a manmutt not perfonate a friend in juflice, but as Levi, he muff know neither father , nor mother, nor brother. Juftice amongft us, is purtrait4ed holdinga Ballance in one hand, and a fword in another : the Ballance fheweth the upright weighingofcaufes, and theSword fheweth the ftri&nefsof the execution of the fentence. And if this Execution be wantingboth the other are tono purpofe. It is tono purpofe toknow, and to have power, ifthere be not Juftice. But God is a true and juft ludg; Howfoever it be amongft the Judgesofthe earth; yet unworthy is he of the place of a Judg, and fitter toftand at the Barr, then to fit on the Bench, that fuffercth himfelf tomifcarry by friendthip orlove, or bribes, or fetes, or fa- vour, or envie ; wheneither ofthefe prevail, they tie the tongues ofmen to plead for wrong caufes. Shall a Traytour prefume on the Kings favour , and Mordecai be out of the Kings grace > But there £hall be no fuch thing here : God is the Judg` 1 ofall the earth, and(hall not he do right ? Gen. r8. Doth God pervert judgment, or cloth the AlmightypervertJuftice? Job8.;. Whegthou flandeft before the Judg- Gerl ra mentfiat ofGod, thou (halt neither be elevatedwith vainhopes, nor dejeEted and cart down by unifier and wrong fears : but allure thy Pelf, fuck as thy saufe is, fuch (hall thy fentence be , as Saint Bernard well ; a pure heart fhall prevail more with God then a fmooth word : good conlcicnces fhallfpeed better then full parks, for he is an upright and jell Judg, with whom no fair words , nor friends (hall prevail. So I have donewith the fire thing, The ,yudg. Thefudgmeat Secondly, fomething of the judgment : and therein two things ; Firft that it (hall be. Secondly, in what manner it (hall be. Frft, that it /hall be: The text is plain God (hall bringto Judgment. There r. It (hall be might manyTexts befdes this be alledgedconfonant, and agreeable to this : but it is fuperfluous. BefidesTexts ofScripture we have Typesallo toprefigure it; and reafons alto to proveand confirm it. Two Typesofthe laicJudgment, our Saviour himfelf propoundeth, Luk 17. Typesof the'. One was the dcftru&ion upon Sodom: theother,the deftruftion that God brought laftludgmeat upon the old world. Look ( as Chrift faith) how it was with them of Sodome in Lok 57. thedayes of Lot, they dideat, they drank, they bought, they fold, they planted, they budded, and look how it was with the menof the old world, inthe dayes of Noah, eating and drinking, and f1orting, and marrying, until the very day that Noah entred onto theArk and the flood came, and deflroyed themall. So it dial] be at the laft day, when the Sonof man /hall come.The Apoftle Saint Peter ((peak- ing of thelatter of thefe ) telleth us ofmockersin thole times, that fcoffed when they heard ofthe Judgment: there bath been talk a great while offuch things pro_ mifed, but when oral it come ? where is theprormfe ofhis coming? There are fcof: fers in thcfe (ayes, but fuch (if there be any) cannot but fpeakagainft their own confciences, and knowledg : they cannot be ignorant both of the Judgments that have been, and (hall be, (or if they be, they are wilfully ignorant; ) That God did once walk away the fins of the world withaFlood of water, and that the time is coming, that Godwilfpurge the fins oftheworld with a flood of fire: the Rain. bow in the clouds, as it is a Monument ofthe one; fo it is fore-rnnncr of the o-. ther. The two principal colours of the Rainbow are blew, and red, the blew and waterifh colour of theRainbow is anevidence of that Judgmentthat is part, when God waffled the fins of the world away byWater: the fiery colour is a prediaion of a Judgment that is to come , when God (hall purge the world by a Flood offire. But betides thefe Typesthere are divers reafons that may be given to allure us ; that we have reafon to expert thisday. Thofe five Attributes ofGod, afford five reafons to confirm it. His Power, his li='ifdom, his Truth, his3ujlice, his Lafer- cy. Firft his Power; God will have it be thus, for the manifeftationof his Power. Rule a. A work ofgreat power it will be indeed. 111 mull be brought before Godo jxd,- ent feste, every one, as the Text faith after. It mayTeem ftrange (peradventure incredible)to herethat all the menand womem that ever lived in theworld, that1h many
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