doctrine to be true, he did miracles by his own divine power, showing himself to be very God: so did not the prophets, they were God's servants, God's ministers; but they were not gods themselves, neither did they any thing in their own name.

Now to make an end: let us remember what we have heard, let us take heed that we are not customable* sinners, but rather let us strive with sin: for I tell you, there are but few of those who spend all their time in the pleasures of the flesh, that speed well at the end; therefore let us take heed. The thief upon the cross he sped well; but what then, let us not presume to tarry in wickedness still, to the last point of our life. Let us leave wickedness, and strive with our fleshly affections, then we shall attain in the end to that felicity which God hath prepared for all them that love him: to whom, with the Son and the Holy Ghost, be all honour and glory, Amen.

*Habitual.

THE DAY OF JUDGMENT.

A SERMON,

Preached on the Second Sunday in Advent, 1552.

LUKE XXI.

And there shall be signs in the sun and in the moon, and in the stars, and in the earth: the people shall be at their wits' end through despair; the sea and the waters shall_roar, and men's hearts shall fail them for fear, and for looking after those things which shall come on the earth. For the powers of heaven shall move and then shall they see the Son of man come in a cloud, with power and great glory. When these things begin to come to pass, then look up and lift up your heads, for your redemption draweth near.

THIS gospel is read this day in the church, and it shall be for our lesson. It is taken out of the twenty-first chapter of Luke, and it makes mention of the glorious coming of our Saviour Christ, how and in what manner he shall come. For as the Scripture (2 Cor. v.) witnesses, we shall all come before the judgment seat of Christ, and there receive every one according unto his deserts: after his works he shall be rewarded of Christ, who shall be at that time the Judge; and there shall be signs and tokens before his glorious and fearful coming; for then he shall come to judgment. His first coming into this world was to suffer his painful passion, and so to deliver mankind out of the bondage and dominion of the devil. But when he cometh again he will come in another manner than he did the first time; for he will come with great power and might, with the host of heaven, with all the angels of God, and so sit at the audit, and judge all men. And this is most certain that he will come, but we cannot tell when, or

at what time his coming shall be. For the day of his coming is hidden from us, that we should be ready at all times.

Therefore I desire you, for God's sake, make yourselves ready; put not off your preparation. For seeing that we are certain that danger and peril shall come upon us, all they that are wise and godly will prepare themselves, lest they be taken suddenly unawares, or unready. And therefore

I say, this day is hidden from us, that we ever should be ready. For if we should know the day or the hour, at what time he would come, no doubt we should be careless, we should take our pleasure as long as we might, till such time as we should depart. And, therefore, lest we should be made careless, this day is hidden from us; for the angels of God themselves know not the hour or moment of this great and fearful day. Neither did Christ himself know it as he was man, but as he is God he knows all things; nothing can be hid from him, as he saith himself: "The Father showeth me all things." (John v.) Therefore his knowledge is infinite, else he were not very God. But as concerning his manhood, he knew not that time, for he was truly a man, sin excepted: therefore like as he was content to suffer heat and cold, to be weary and hungry; like as he was content to suffer such things, so he was content, as concerning his manhood, to be ignorant of that day. He had perfect knowledge to do his Father's commission, to instruct us, and teach us the way to heaven, but it was not his commission to tell us the hour of this day. Therefore he knew not this day, to tell us any thing of it, as concerning when it should be. For as far as ignorance is a painful thing unto man, so far he was content to be ignorant, like as he suffered other things.

I will rather spend the time in exhorting you to make ready against that day, to prepare yourselves, than curiously recite or expound the signs which shall go before this fearful day.

"And there shall be signs in the sun and moon." Some learned men expound these tokens of the destruction of Jerusalem, but that is not the matter; if they have gone before the destruction of Jerusalem, then they have gone before the end of the world, and so they admonish us to make ready, to leave sin, lest we be taken with it.

As touching the Jews, our Saviour Christ wept over

them, and threatened what should come upon them, because they despised him, and would not receive God's holy word, and leave their sins; like as we do, who take our pleasure, and care little for him or his word, cannot suffer when our faults are told us, and repine and grudge at it, like as the Jews did. Therefore our Saviour knowing what should come upon them, wept over the city, prophesying that it should be so destroyed, that one stone should not be left upon another; and so it came to pass according unto his word. For Titus, the son of Vespasian, who was emperor at that time, destroyed that same city Jerusalem utterly, about forty years after the death of our Saviour Christ. But wherefore were they so destroyed? Because they would not believe the sayings of our Saviour Christ: 'they would take their pleasures, they would "follow their forefathers," as our papists are wont to say. When they cannot defend themselves with Scripture, then they defend themselves with the ignorance of their forefathers; much like unto the Jews, who could not away with the doctrine of our Saviour, because it disagreed from the customs and traditions of their forefathers.

But what happened? Their destruction fell upon them before they perceived it, and destroyed the most part of them full miserably, God knows; and not only that, but as the history shows, they that were left, and not brought to destruction, were so vilely handled, and so despised amongst all men, that thirty were sold for a penny; and so by that means they were scattered throughout all the world; and in every country where they came, they were made slaves and tributaries, and shall be so till the end of the world; for Scripture saith, "Jerusalem shall be trodden under feet, till the times of the Gentiles be fulfilled." (Luke xxi.) By this prophecy is signified that the Jews never shall come together again, to inhabit Jerusalem and Jewry, and to bear rule there, as they have done: for by this word, "it shall be trodden under feet," is signified as much as, it shall be inhabited by, it shall be under the dominion of, the Gentiles.

Now who are Gentiles? Answer, All the people in the whole world are Gentiles, except the Jews-all others are Gentiles: we Englishmen are Gentiles, so are likewise the Frenchmen, Dutchmen, and other nations, all are Gentiles. Now the prophet saith, that Jerusalem shall not be inhabited, "till the times of the Gentiles be fulfilled;"

that is to say, till all they are come into the world who are appointed of God to come; that is to say, they shall never come together again till the end of the world. Where. fore? Because they were stiff-necked, so that they would not be ruled by God's most holy word, but despised it, and lived according to their own fantasies and vanities: like as we do now-a-days the most part of us. Therefore we may reckon that it shall go with us one day as it went with them, who now are made outcasts of the whole world; every man despiseth them, and regardeth them as nothing, for they have no dominion now, no king nor ruler, no cities nor policy.*

And though Jerusalem is builded again, yet the Jews have it no more, they shall never have dominion over it; but the Gentiles, they shall have it, it shall be in their hands. And this is the meaning of this prophecy against the Jews, and this God has performed hitherto; for the Jews have many times attempted to build it again, yet for all that they were not able to bring it to pass. For God's word will not, and cannot be falsified; for the wrath of God hangeth upon their heads, because of their wickedness, wherewith they have provoked God. Further, you must understand, that Jews not only were at Jerusalem, but they were scattered throughout all the world; in every country were some; and therefore they were not all destroyed when Jerusalem was destroyed; but for all that they were cursed in the sight of God, so that they should not inhabit that city any more.

We read in history, that in the days of the emperor Adrian, the Jews gathered themselves together out of all cities, a wonderful number of men, all the Jews which could be gotten, to the intent that they might get Jerusalem again; which Jerusalem was at that time in the emperor's hands, and therefore they made great preparations to have it again: but what did the emperor? He gathered together a great and strong host, and went against them, and in the end scattered them: so that they were without any hope to recover that city again: after which things the emperor made a proclamation, that not one Jew should come into the city, either to buy or to sell; yea, and furthermore, to the intent that they should be without any hope of recovery, he changed the name of the city, and called it Elia. So that by this story it most manifestly System of government.