CHRIST In the Clouds, OR GOD'S coming to judgement.  
A short Treatise, very necessary in these evil and dangerous times, for all those which desire that the day of the Lord, may be their day of joy.  MAR. 13. Verses 35.36. 
Watch, for ye know not when the Master of the house will come: whether at Evening, or at midnight, or at the Cock-crowing, or at the dawning: lest he come suddenly, and find you sleeping.  
LONDON, Printed for F. Coles, at the upper end of the Old-Baily, near Newgate, 1635.   

Christ in the Clouds: or Gods coming to judgement.  
Epicurism and Atheism are two sins most heinous and deadly: the Atheist believes there is no God: him David confutes, Doubtless there is a God which judgeth the earth. The Epicure believes there is no judgement after Death: him Solomon doth seem to instruct, Remember that for all these things thou must come to judgement. There is no Christian, I think, 
Mat. 24.3  but believes that there shall be a day of judgement: But when this day shall come, none knows, for of that day and hour, no man knoweth, neither the Angels of heaven, but my father only. But although no man's reach is able to determine when that day and hour shall be yet it may plainly be demonstrated and shown both from the Prophets and Apostles, that this judgement day is near at hand, & will most suddenly come upon us. It is the mercy of the holy Ghost to man, in holy Writ to insert these caveats, and to put man in mind of the judgement day, and three special causes.  

1 That we may be terrified from sin.  
2 That we might be admonished to the true and sincere worship of God.  
3 That we might be strengthened in our faith, lest that great and terrible Day should come upon us unawares, and so find us unprovided.   
Since the foundation of the world, we know the time; when the dissolution of the world shall be, we are altogether ignorant: yet we may justly Prophesy and presage thus much, since sin and impiety is now come to that height, that it can by no succeeding ages be aggravated, & that virtue and godliness are so despised and vilified among impious men, that they can never hereafter be less esteemed: Who cannot then perceive, or is so dull sighted, that is not able to apprehend and foresee the dissolution to been at hand? Now is that Prophecy of Hosea verified; There is no truth, nor mercy, 
Hosea 4.  nor knowledge of God in the Land, which appeareth by the cursing, lying, murders, thefts, and adulteries which now aboundeth: 
Mich. 7.  So that now, as the Prophet Micah hath it: The godly man is perished from the earth, & there is no just man among the sons of men. Thus Hosea, Micah, nay, all the Prophets do agree in one, whereupon saith Saint Ambrose: When righteous men perish from off the face of the earth, the earth must needs perish also, because the godly are the pith & marrow of earth. For as a tree without pith & moisture soon drieth up, so the present world must needs decay, when the righteous that should uphold it, are not to be found in it: for this cause, as the Prophet Esay hath it: In the City is left desolation, and destruction is in the gates thereof, because of their manifold iniquities.  
Christ jesus himself said, As in the days before the Flood, 
Mat. 24.  they were eating and drinking, marrying, and giving in marriage, until the day of the flood came and took them away: So also shall the coming of the Son of man be, by reason of profaneness and too much security. Suppose that this Prophecy shall be fulfilled upon our present times, and that God will say to us, as he did to Noah, I will destroy you with the world. O unhappy and miserable shall that man be then, that hath not God for his guide. But to the end we may the better discern, that we are they, upon whom the ends of the world must come, there is no better a sign among those which Christ himself gave before, than this: Namely, That the Gospel of the Kingdom shall be preached in all the World, for a witness to all nations, and then shall the end come. Which is as much as to say according to S. Chrysostome: To accuse and reprove those that would not believe the Gospel. The same it is of Hilary: The Apostles being dispersed throughout all the world, and the Gospel preached, then shall the fall of jerusalem, and the end be. Nevertheless, there are both learned & unlearned of this opinion, that since the world, so long after these prophecies, hath continued as before, that the end is not near, and that the world should continue still immutable; but let them persevere in their opinions. For since S. Ambrose, Cyprian, Chrysostome, and Saint Gregory were of opinion, that since the Gospel, in their time was preached to all Nations, long after their time the world could not endure; surely then it is most probable, that this is the age in which the end must come. Now that we may have some proof that the world cannot endure long, because the Gospel is said to been preached to all Nations; hear Saint Jerome, who was of opinion that there was in his time, no Nation that was ignorant of the Gospel of Christ: for he saith; Although they have no Preacher, yet they cannot but hear the opinion of the Faith of their neighbour Nations.  
This Prosper confirms: No part of the world is without the Gospel of Christ, some of all sorts, and of all Nations have knowledge of Christ: I could induce a Cloud of opinions: but let Ambrose serve for them all: The Gospel is preached, that the world may be destroyed. To conclude this point, since probably by this great motive we are induced to believe that the end is at hand, and that the day and hour thereof is uncertain, it should stir us up to a more holy course of life, lest that our desolation and confusion overtake us unawares.  
But to the end that we may the better understand and believe, what hath been before showed, the word of God is a most firm argument to inform us of the truth of Christ's sudden coming, and that this present Age, is the last Age of the world; for the Spirit expressly saith: 1 Timoth 4. That in the latter end some shall departed from the Faith, giving heed to seducing spirits, and Doctrines of Devils, speaking lies in Hypocrisy, and having their consciencce feared with an hot iron, etc. And again, know this also, That in the last days perilous times shall come; for men will be lovers of their own selves, covetous, boasters, proud, blasphemers, disobedient to Parents, unthankful, unholy, without natural affection, truce-breakers, false accusers, incontinent, despisers of those that are good, highminded, lovers of pleasure more than of God, having the form of godliness, but denying the power thereof.  
Thus fare the Apostle, which words S. Cyprian handling, saith, All things that were foretold, are fulfilled, and the end of the world drawing near: The Prophecies are come to pass, both in respect of the men, and the minds; for now (if ever) is the perfection, or rather imperfection of all the sins, the Apostle names to been the fore runners of the end. Why doubt we then, that the end is not at hand, or why fear we not rather, that a sudden end will prevent our procastinated Repentance? As bodies are sick before death, and as infirmity and sickness are the true forerunners of a separation between the Body and the Soul: Even so fareth it with the world, it now langnisheth, and is corrupt, it now lies sick, and therefore it must needs come to confusion, and to an end. For deadly sickness is a forerunner of death; all things now suffer their defect, and let no man wonder at it, for man now is borne in such defect, in respect of the birth of man in former times: but what is wanting in the present condition of man's body, is supplied in the faculties of his mind, and what is defective in the strength of his members, is complete in the ripeness of his understanding, which is for the most part employed not in liberal, but in devilish arts; not in the study of learning, but of pleasure. Only wit and maturity is resident in man, the only Idea and representment of the Image of God in man. What can we otherwise but think, that the time is at hand, wherein mortality shall put on immortality; wherein the burden of the flesh being laid aside, the glorious body of the Church shall been coupled to her glorious head, the communication of Saints shall be consummate, and Christ shall enjoy his Spouse in continual love and union? In the mean time with Paul, Unhappy men that we are, 
Rom. 4. ●4  who shall deliver us from this body of death, that we may pass secure to the body of life.  
Then let every good Christian in these wicked times wherein destruction hangs over our heads, with good Hezekiah pray, Lord I am oppressed, do thou undertake for me; and since the day of destruction is so near us, we entreat thee since it is expedient for us, that thou wouldst teach us so to number our days that we may apply our hearts to wisdom: 
Psal. 39  And since thou hast pronounced that servant happy, whom his Master when the came, found vigilant and watchful: Grant, Lord, we beseech thee, 
Luk. 12.37  that since it is manifest, that long it cannot been before thou come, that we may been fitted and prepared for thy coming, and been found with oil in our Lamps, and so in happiness enter thy Bride-chamber with joy: and let us, good Lord, think the Day most near, lest while the day of death or judgement been thought to be fare off, it prevent the improvident, and while long life is expected, it quickly forsake the wicked and guilty persons. Our minds are very desirous, if we could, to know the day of death, and dissolution. But if we could attain to the knowledge thereof, what would it profit us, suppose the consummation of this world to be after ten, twenty, or forty, or a hundred years, what is this material? is not the term of life the consummation of each man? Why then are thou so troubled about the last day of judgement, since ●s thy end leaves thee, judgement shall ●ind thee, and how suddenly death shall find ●hee, thou art altogether ignorant: For as ●n other things not regarding things pertaining to our souls, we altogether are busied in things common, saying: This man is an Adulterer, this man a Thief, ●his man a falsehearted fellow, that man proud, but no man hath a care or feeling of his own sins far worse.  
So doth every man neglecting his own ●nd; he would fain learn when the general day of dissolution shall be, which Day whether it be near or fare off, it doth nothing concern us, so each man regard his several end. For since thou art borne, 'tis most certain thou must dye, and it is certain after death cometh, that judgement may be far off, yet thy last day is at hand. Therefore prepare thee for this day: for if ●his day find thee unprovided, the day of judgement shall find thee so likewise, when ●hou shalt rue for it: 
Psalm. 50.  Consider this all ye ●hat forget God, lest he tear you in pée●es, and there be none to help: For our God shall go, and shall not keep silence. A fire shall come before him, and it shall be ●ery tempestuous round about him, for God himself is judge. And the Day of judgement will quickly be at hand, prevent the speed thereof: It will speedily come, prevent it I say, been thou speedily converted. And as the Prophet Daui● adviseth us, let us run before the fac● of the judge, with confession of our fault● and true contrition for the same. And th● reason why thou knowest not his coming is, that thou mayest always be prepared for it: for it is in thine own powe● how thou mayest expect his coming, h●● therefore defers his coming, that whe●● he comes he may not daunt thee. Behold, he is not yet come, he is in Heaven, thou art on earth; he defers his coming, do● not thou defer this time of repentance lest it for ever, though too late, repent th● of his coming: For in that day, it wil● be too late to repent; therefore pray no● that his Kingdom come, which thou fearest coming, but rather correct thyself that thou pray not against thyself: Today he calls upon thee, that he may not in that day condemn thee. He that shall then be thy judge, is now thine advocate and he now calls upon thee, that tho● wouldst lead a godly life Let us therefore set the day of judgement before ou● eyes, which way soever we go, let v● carry the memory of it with us, and i● will bring this profit with it, that we shall not only meditate on the horror and destruction of that day, but also wish for the accomplishing of the same, which makes ●he wicked to tremble when they hear it approacheth.  
Thus Chrysostome saith: Let us from ●mong ourselves repeat these things, and with others, there shall be a resurrection, 〈◊〉 day of judgement, and a time of examination for all our works, whether good or bad: and this will cause that the minds ●oth of good and bad, be not conversant in ●he vanities and pleasures of this world, and be not tempted to any wickedness, ●ut rather to undergo any thing to be imposed upon them here, than to incur the ●ore-séene punishment of everlasting fire hereafter.  
This made David cry out: Establish my flesh in thy fear, for I have been afraid to ●eare thy judgements. To conclude this ●oint since we all must appear before ●he judgement-seat of Christ, that every ●ne may receive the thing done in his body according to that he hath done, whether it be good or bad, and knowing the terror and justice of the judge of all men, that shall judge the World in righteousness, and considering the punishment that then shall be imposed on the wicked: That shall be turned into Hell with the● that forget God. Let us hear and follow S. hilaries advice, In all the course of ou● life's, the memory of the last and grea● judgement is to be planted and grafted i● our hearts, for happy is that man that dot● what he must do in remembrance of th● last day and why? 
Eccl. 7.36.  hear the words of Iesu● the son of Sirach; Whatsoever thou takest in hand, remember thy end, and thou shalt never do amiss.  
Thus much shall suffice, there shall been a day of judgement, and that that Day i● near: Now somewhat remaineth to been spoken of the manner of this Day, and th● terror thereof, that the wicked being touched with the understanding of th● same, might be driven nearer to God: I● that day (saith S. Paul) every man's work● shall be made manifest, for the day shal● declare it, because it shall be revealed by the fire, and the fire shall try every man's work of what sort it is. The time is now come when judgement must begin at th● house of God, and if it first begins with us, what shall the end be of them that obey not the Gospel of God? and if the righteous scarcely be saved, where shall the  and sinner appear? where will they hide themselves in that terrible ●ay, wherein there shall be nothing, but weeping and gnashing of tooth, howling, lamentation, and repentance too too late? when the foundations of the mountains ●hall been moved, and the land shall been burned with fire; when as S. Peter saith, The Heavens shall pass away with a great ●oyse, and the firmament shall melt with withdraw hear, the earth also and the works ●hat are therein shall be burnt up: when, ●s God himself said in the Gospel: 
Mat. 24.29  The ●unne shall be darkened, the Moon shall ●ot give her light, the Stars shall fall from Heaven, and the powers thereof shall be shaked: Where will the wicked then be●old themselves, where will Adulterers, ●runkards, where will cursers and swea●ers appear? where will the luxurious, ●eceiuers, proud, unclean and filthy person's be found? what, unhappy as they ●re, can they then plead for themselves, to appease the anger of the just judge of hea●en and earth? surely nothing. Howl ye ●herefore, O ye wicked that forget God, ●r the day of the Lord is at hand, and it ●hall come as a destruction from the Almighty; for the Lord shall lay the Land desolate, and shall destroy the sinners ●hereof out of it, he will punish the world ●or their evil, and the wicked for their iniquity, he will cause the arrogancy o● the proud to cease, and will lay low the haughtiness of the ambitious worldling 〈◊〉 what fear, and what horror, what terror and amazement shall there seize upon, and possess those that are marked out for eternal destruction? In the Name of God le● us therefore while we have time, rouse ou● selves up; whiles there is time, let us correct and amend ourselves that we neue● be brought to these Tortures of body an● soul. Let us rather preferring the simp●city of the Dove, and the chastity of the Turtle, with the spiritual feathers o● graces, lift our souls up into heaven b● our prayers, that so we may be always ready to resign our souls and bodies into the hands of our Redeemer, with joy an● alacrity of spirit.  
But that we may the better hear and understand the terror of that day, to avoid the same, we will hear the Prophets what they foretell. Gird yourselves and lament you priests, how lay ministers o● the Altar, lie all night in sackcloth ye● Ministers of my God: For the meat offering, and the drinke-offering, is with holden from the house of God. Alas 〈◊〉 for the day of the Lord is at hand, and as 〈◊〉 destruction from the Almighty shall it come Blow a trumpet in Zion, and sound an alarm in thy holy mountain, let all the inhabitants of the land tremble: For the day of the Lord cometh, for it is nigh at hand; a day o● darkness and of glooming, a day of clouds, and thick darkness; for great is the day of the Lord, and very terrible, sure 'tis a great day wherein so great a God greatly to be praised, and to be feared above all gods, shall come to judgement, and ●o reward all men for their doings. 'tis a great day, after which there shall be us change of time, no course of days shall follow; which day in itself shall contain either everlasting condemnation, or salvation without end.  
It is a very terrible day, and the Prophet Malachy, seems to give the reason of ●t. For behold, the day cometh, that shall burn as an Oven, and all the proud, and all that do wickedly, shall be as stubble, and that day that comes shall burn them up, ●aith the Lord of hosts; leaving them neither root nor branch: And as the Prophet David hath it. Our God shall come, and shall not keep silence, a fire shall devour before him, and it shall be very tempestuous round about him, he shall call to the heaven from above, and to the earth below, that he may judge his people. For God is judge himself; who, therefore will endure the fury of thi● day, where the strong shall be thus weakened & oppressed, and where she proud, and all that do wickedly, shall be burnt up as stubble? who will not stand astonished, where the root with the branch shall be plucked up and consumed? what wicked man, what sinner then dareth to appear where the just shall scarce be saved? 
Per. 4.  But many men, partly out of dull stupidity, and partly being oppressed with crosses and vexations of this life, do little esteem of the terror of this last day, and do seem as being prepared for this day, very earnestly to wish and desire the same: But the Propht Amos 5.18. doth threaten these men, saying, Woe unto you that desire the day of the Lord, to what end is it for you? The day of the Lord is darkness, and not light, as if a man did fly from a Lion, and a Bear met him; or went into the house, and leaned his hand on the wall, and a Serpen● bit h m. You do, saith he, very evil to yourselves, in that you do so rashly desire the day of the Lord, for ye shall not walk in the light of God's countenance, because ye have not been children of the light, but children of darkness. There noisome darkness shall come upon you, whatsoever you shall then assay, you shall not shun terror, you cannot avoid horror: and if you may shun the face of the Lion of the Tribe of judah, that you render not account for your sins; yet that Bear the Devil will run upon you, meet you and punish you for the same. Or if you scape this Bear, and enter into the house of your conscience to consider the evils you have committed and the good you have omitted, the tormenting worm will seize upon your conscience, the worm that Esay 66. speaketh of, The worm shall never die: And the Evangelist Mark 9 did testify the same; Their worm dieth not, their fire never goeth out, their torments are endless, neither is there in that day any partiality to be used. For the Kings of the earth, Gentlemen, the rich men the great & chief Captains, the mighty men every bondman and every fréemen, shall hide themselves in the dens, and in the rocks of the mountains, & shall say to the rocks and mountains fall on us, and hide us from the face of him that sitteth on the Throne, and from the wrath of the Lamb. For she great day of wrath is come, and who shall be able to stand. But when the Son of man shall come in the Majesty of his glory, and the holy Angels with him, before whom all Nations shall be gathered: He shall then separate them one from another, as she shepherd divideth his sheep from the Goats, and he shall set his sheep on his right hand, and the goats on the left hand; and the King shall say to them on the right hand, Mat, 25. Come ye blessed of my father, inherit the Kingdom prepared for you from the beginning of the world: but to them on the left hand he shall say; Depart from me you wicked into everlasting fire, prepared for the devil & his angels, and those shall go into everlasting punishment; but the righteous into life eternal. To conclude this point hear she Counsel of our Saviour Ch●ist: Take heed, lest at any time your hearts be overcharged with surfeiting and drunkenness, 
c. 2. 34  and cares of this life, and so that day come upon us unawares. For as a snare, it shall come on all them that dwell on the face of the whole earth: watch ye, and pray always, that ye may be accounted worthy to escape all these things that shall come to pass, and to stand before the Son of man. Since therefore all these things are suddenly expected to be fulfilled, and all that read the Scriptures may hear this, both from Prophets and Apostles, nay, and Christ himself: That it is a terrible thing to fall into the hands of the living God; It is a wonder, that since all things (as the Apostle saith) shall be dissolved, that now at length we become not pure, and walk in an holy conversation and godliness, looking for, 
2 Pet. 3.11  and hasting unto the coming of the day of God. Wherein the Heavens being on fire, shall be dissolved, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat. It is a wonder that we do not deny all ungodliness, and worldly desires, and lusts of the flesh, the glory of the world, the deceitfulness of riches, and the choking cares of all earthly things, and exercise ourselves in all sobriety and godliness, looking for that blessed hope, 
Tit. 2.3.  and the glorious appearance of that great God, and our Saviour jesus Christ. It ought therefore to be our ●rst and chiefest care, in these dangerous ●nd wicked times, not being drowned in ●he employments of this world, to have a ●are of our own salvation, and to make ●ure the anchor of our hope and saith, that ●ur souls suffer not eternal shipwreck. ●et us not persuade ourselves that the ●ord is not near. Let us not say with them ●hat Peter reprehended; where is the pro●ise of his coming? For since the father's ●el asleep, all things continue as they were ●nce the Creation: for how long these ●hings shall continue, the Lord of Hosts by the Prophet Haggai doth declare. Yet once, it is a little while, and I will shake the heavens and the earth, the Sea, and the dry land. Now the Apostle Peter gives the reason why he is not yet come. 
2 Pet. 3.9  'Tis his long suffering, saith he, to uswards, not willing that any should perish but that all should come unto repentance; wherefore account that the long suffering of the Lord is salvation, and be diligent, that you may be found of him in fear, without spot and blameless; we must be diligent & watchful: the Grecians are gone aside, we have a Sinon in us that will yield the place to them: we must continually watch, and have always an eye to the watch, holding our weapons in our hands, unless we be minded at all times to be surprised, and yield at the pleasure of our enemy. For the day of the Lord cometh as a thief in the night, in which the Heavens shall pass away with a great noise, and the Elements shall melt with fervent heat.  
Therefore be ye ready, for in such an hour as you think not, the Son of man cometh. Now, they that defer the coming of the Lord, and say with that evil servant, My Lord delayeth his coming, Let us eat and drink, be drunken, let them know, The Lord will come in a day when they look not for him, and in an hour when they are not ware, and will cut them asunder, and will give them their portion with the unbelievers & Hypocrites; where there shall be weeping and wa●●ing and gnashing of teeth. Now, 
Luk. 12.3  they that know these things, and prepare not themselves, neither do according to the Will of God, shall be beaten with many stripes: as the same Apostle Saint Luke hath in his Gospel pronounced. Let us endeavour therefore, that when the last day cometh, we may say with S. Paul I have fought a good fight, 
2 Tim. 4.7  I have finished my course; I have kept the Faith: henceforth there is laid up for me a crown of righteousness, which the Lord that righteous judge shall give me that day: but is this crown laid up for thee alone (O Paul) not only for me (he saith) but also for them that love the Lord jesus, and expect his appearance.  
Oh that this would take some impression in the hardest of hearts, that do sing a temporal requietem here unto their souls, lest while they think the day of the Lord farthest from them, it on the sudden come upon them, and so they be found in a condition too late to be amended, and by no means whatsoever to be avoided.  
To conclude all, gird up the loins of your minds, be sober, and hope to the end for the glory that is to be brought to you at the revelation of jesus Christ, as obedient children, not walking after your former lusts of ignorance, let your loins, I say, be girded, and your lights burning, and you yourselves like unto them that wait for the Lord, 
●uk. 12 15  when he will return from the wedding, that when he comes and knocketh, you may open immediately: blessed is the servant, whom, his Master when he comes finds so doing, of a truth, I say unto you, he will make him ruler ever all he hath Take ye heed, watch and pray, for ye know not when the time is. For the son of man is as a man taking a far journey, who left his house, and gave authority to ●●s servants, and to every man his work commanding them to waith: Watch ye therefore, for ye know not when the Master cometh, at even, at midnight, or at the cock crowing, lest coming suddenly, he find you sleeping, and so cast you into prison, there to remain world without end. From which, the Lord jesus keep us all, and that for his mercy sake alone. To whom he rendered all honour, glory, praise and thanksgiving, now and for ever, Amen.  
FINIS.