The rule of faith, or, An exposition of the Apostles Creed so handled as…

3. All mankind must their appear before his Tribunal: for God will judge the people, Psal. 7. 9. The ends of the earth, 1 Sam. 2. 10. The earth, 1 Chron. 16. 38. All Nations, Joel 3. 12. The round world, Psal. 9. 9. Both quick and dead, 2 Tim. 4. 1. By the quick is meant such as shall be found alive at his coming, 1 Cor. 15. 51. 1 Thess. 4. 17. And by the dead, such as have died since the beginning of the world to that day, 1 Thess. 4. 16. Reu. 20. 12, 13. so as no man or woman shall escape, 2 Cor. 5. 10. Jude 15. Against this may be objected, that all the world stands either of believers or unbelievers, and neither of those must come to judgement, and therefore none at all are to be judged: the believer hath everlasting life, and shall not come into judgement, Joh. 5. 24. and 3. 18. and the unbeliever is condemned already, and therefore needeth no further judgement. To this I answer, that the believer shall not come into judgement, that is, into the judgement of condemnation; he shall come to receive judgement of eternal absolution from all his sins and miseries. And the wicked are condemned already: First, in the counsel of God, as he appointed them to condemnation for their sins. Secondly, in the word of God, which tells him plainly of his estate and eternal misery, because he doth not repent and believe. Thirdly, in his own conscience, which is as a thousand witnesses, and doth judge him in himself as a forerunner of the last judgement: all this hinders not, but that he must appear openly at the bar of Christ, to have his sins publicly known, and sentence past upon him for all his sins: so that it remains clear, that all men since the beginning of the world must come to judgement. Yet that it may work the more effectually upon mens conscience, it will be profitable to take notice of such particular offenders, as God hath in plain terms telled them before-hand, that he will judge them at that day: and so he will judge