Christ's certain and sudden appearance to judgment. By Thomas Vincent, sometime Minister of Maudlins…

but rejoice in the glory of ⟨p. 120⟩God which will be manifested upon them in their destruction; and, O the joy that they will be filled withal to think that they were not passed by with the rest of their relations; that they are not under the same deserved-condemnation with them; that God should choose but one or two in many families, and they should be in the number of the chosen ones; that when his chosen were comparatively so few, and the reprobates so many, that they should be elected; when there was no motive in them to incline God to the choice of them, that he should choose them freely; if he had not chosen them, if they were now to change places with some of their wicked relations going to Hell; this would be dreadful; but that they are going from Hell, when their relations are going into it, this will fill them with joy unspeakable. Especially.

but rejoyce in the glory of ⟨p. 120⟩God which will be manifested upon them in their destruction; and, O the joy that they will be filled withal to think that they were not passed by with the rest of their relations; that they are not under the same deserved-condemnation with them; that God should chuse but one or two in many families, and they should be in the number of the chosen ones; that when his chosen were comparatively so few, and the reprobates so many, that they should be elected; when there was no motive in them to encline God to the choice of them, that he should chuse them freely; if he had not chosen them, if they were now to change places with some of their wicked relations going to Hell; this would be dreadful; but that they are going from Hell, when their relations are going into it, this will fill them with joy unspeakable. Especially.

3. When they consider in their going away, that they were sometime so near to H•ll; that whilst they were in a state of nature, and under the guilt of sin, that some of them were near to death; that they were brought to the sides of the pit, to the doors of the grave, to the very brink of Hell, before they had repented, and accepted of Jesus Christ; some of them will remember how near they were to death when they were young; how near they were to death by some casualties; how near by some diseases; some of them will remember the great Plague in London, which swept away so many thousands, how ill they were provided for death at the beginning thereof; how nearly they escaped the disease; and some which had the disease, how nearly they escaped death by it; and if they had died then, that they should certainly have gone to Hell; O how will they admire the ovidence of God in keeping them alive notwithstanding […] many dangers they were in of death all the days of their unregeneracy; and when they more over consider how they tried Gods patience, and trampled upon it, by their heinous provocations; how they abused his goodness, and turned his grace into wantonness; how they did hasten in the ways of sin towards Hell, and were come even to the end of the line; that some of their