make the eares of them that heare it to tingle O sentence intollerable which depriueth sinners of all good things and bringeth them to all woe The Lord sometime accursed the Fig-trée and immediately not onely the leaues but also the body and rootes were wholy withered Euen so that feareful curse of the last day shal be no lesse effectual For on whomsoeuer it falleth it shal so scortch them and shal so make them destitute of Gods grace that they shal neuer more be able to doe to speake to thinke or to hope for any good thing 31 Then therefore the wicked being stricken with this thundering sentence will lift vp their mouthes towards heauen wil spue foorth their shamefull blasphemies against God the Iudge they will curse this day and the houre wherein they were borne and their Parents which begat them and the wombs which bare them the aier which gaue them breath and the Earth which hath borne them but they shal not be suffered any long time to speake these things against the Iudge 32 For suddenly the Spirite of the Lord shal ouerwhelm them and shal with great violence caste them downe headlong into the déepe Apoc. 18. as in Saint Iohns Reuelation appeareth in these wordes Then a mightie angell tooke vp a stone like a great Milstone and cast it into the Sea saying With such violence shall the Citie of Babilon bee cast Apoc. 20. and be found no more And againe Whosoeuer was not found written in the booke of life was cast into the Lake of fire And this déepe shal be shut vp with gates of brasse and with yron barres which cannot bee broken with any force nor cut in sunder by any arte and there they shal drinke of the cup of the Lords wrath and the smoke of their torments shal ascend worlde wtout end they shal not rest day nor night 33 On the contrarie part the iust being in the fruition of ful blessednesse and of euerlasting glorie shall haue in their mouthes the prayses of the Lorde and giuing of thankes and shal with singing and with mirth extol the name of their Lorde and God with whom they shal reigne without ende 34 But although wée heare of those things often yet neuerthelesse wée are not awaked from the sléepe of sinne before wee be ouerwhelmed with the night of death and of darkenes Why doe we which haue this time now looke for another time which peraduenture wée shal neuer haue Now is the accepted time now is the day of saluation There is nothing more profitable for a man then to knowe his time and therefore in our worldly businesse wée obserue times and seasons as a conuenient time to eare a fitte time to sowe to plant and such like Yea the brute beast by the instinct of nature can make choyce of his time for benefite The Swallowe when winter approacheth prepareth himselfe to take his flight into a warmer Countrey The Bée and the Ant in the time of summer prepare their foode against winter And the Prophet Ieremie saith that the Storke knoweth his appointed time If brute beastes deuoide of reason haue this foresight to make choise of time for their good and if man him selfe in a worldly regarde can make choyse of a fitte and due time to gette earthly and transitorie things how much more prouident ought hee to bee for heauenly things that to attaine these hée lose not his fittest time to attaine saluation 35 The olde worlde that liued in the dayes of Noah knewe not their time that was the cause they then perished with the flood The Cities of Sodome and Gomer knew not their time that brought fire and brimstone from heauen vpon their heads to their destruction The foolish Virgins knewe not their time therefore when their Lorde came they being altogether vnready were shut out of the Lords ioy Let vs then knowe the season how it is time now that wee should awake out of sleepe Rom. 13.36 1. Thes 5. Let vs watch and be sober for they that sleepe sleepe in the night and they that are drunken are drunken in the night But let vs which are of the day be sober least the darkenesse come vpon vs wherein we can neither walke nor worke Let vs alwayes haue before our eyes that day and time wherein we shall appeare before God and his Angels and before the whole worlde to answere our cause and either to receiue a Crown of glory or else perpetual shame and confusion Let vs know that we haue here a very short time limitted vnto vs. wherein wée must so endeuour our selues that for short and transitory things we lose not that which is eternall If wee haue this consideration of that great day of the Lorde wée shal not only be the more secure in death but also be the better prepared to méet with our Lord and Sauiour when he shal come to iudgement CHAP. IIII. Concerning Hell and the torments thereof THere is nothing that the Diuell laboureth more then to perswade men that there is no hel that so the more easily hée may leade them thether as it were blindfolde by the way of sinnes while they haue no feare of any punishment euen as shéeues are wont to bee ledde with a vaile before their faces when they are going to the gallowes as Ezechias was serued whose eyes Nabuchadnezer commanded to be put out whē he was caried away captiue into Babilō 2 But it may bée shewed by many reasons and authorities that there is a hel For as a Princely magnificence requireth that a King haue a beautiful Pallace for to entertaine the best sort of men and a prison for the worst Euen so the king of kings and Lord of all glorie and principalities hath a Pallace wherein there are many mansions as our Sauiour Christ in the Gospel testifieth which is the kingdom of heauen and he hath also a darke prison or dungeon which is hel 3 The lawe of nations requireth that malefactors for their offences be driuen into exile for euer euen so God doth banish from his presence Luke 16. the impenitent sinners into hel For so it is said of Diues that he dyed was carried into hel Esay 5 And the prophet saith Hel hath inlarged it self hath opened his mouth with out measure and their glorie and their multitude and their pompe and he that reioyceth among them shall discend into it Also S. Iohn saith that the feareful and vnbeleeuing and murderers Apoc. 21. the whormongers sorcerers and Idolaters and all lyers shall haue their part in the Lake which burneth with fire and brimstone which is the second death And Christ Iesus saith Feare him which hath power to cast body and soule into hell 4 But forsomuch as God hath not made Death nor the kingdom of Hell vpon earth Wisd 1. We must vnderstand that the principal procurer of this Hell is Sathan the Prince of darkenesse who béeing in
thou mayest at the last obtaine the reward which our Sauiour Christ hath promised Come ye blessed of my Father c. Which Lord for thy mercie sake graunt vs Amen CHAP. III. Concerning the generall day of Doome FOrsomuch as the feare of the Lord is the beginning of wisedome and al for the most part are restrayned from sinne and wickednes by the feare of punishment paines and are brought to a good mind and purpose they which exclude this feare out of their hearts doe shut vp against themselues the true and wholesome repentance For as the Scripture testifieth the feare of the Lord expelleth sinne and he which is without feare cannot he iustified August in Ioan. Tract 9. The which St. Augustine by a very proper similitude setteth foorth If there be no feare there is no entrance for loue euē as we sée when a man soweth the thréed is brought in with a néedle the néedle first entereth but except the néedle goe out also the thréed followeth not Euen so feare first possesseth the minde but feare remaineth not there alone because it therefore entred to bring in loue Wherefore to awake vs sléeping in sinnes and to ingender feare in our minds the Lord doth oftentimes in the Gospel threaten vtter darknes gnashing of teeth euerlasting fire and other torments of hell that at the leastwise for feare of paines and torments we might bridle our mindes our eyes and our hands from sinne and wickednesse 2 This feare is not onely probable but also very necessarie For if now after so many threatnings of our Creator so fearefull and so greeuous we scarcely forsake our sins what would we do if God did not threaten at all Therefore I holde this that the feare of the Lord is as it were the parent and kéeper of righteousnesse temperance loue and of all vertues 3 But there is nothing that doeth more worke this feare in vs then the remembrāce of that great day wherein al the causes of al men are to be pleaded and their matters determined Insomuch that Saint Augustine affirmeth if Christian men should heare no other Gospel then that wherein the general iudgement is set foorth that one might suffice both to reuoke sinnefull men from their wickednesses and also being reuoked to cōteine them in their dutie 4 Wherefore in this Chapter wée will handle two notable points concerning the iudgement to come The first shal be concerning the greatnes horror of that day and of the fearefull signes that shall go before the same The second shal be concerning the raising vp of the dead bodies and the comming of the Iudge 5 The greatnesse and horror of that last day may be knowen hereby that it is called in holy Scripture a great day and the day of the Lord. And shall it not indéede be a very great day which shal cōprehend all the daies of all ages aswell those that are past as those that are to come For in that day men shall render an account of all the dayes that are past In that day God will poure out that infinite treasure of his wrath and indignation which he hath heaped vp in the space of al the worlds that are past In that day the motions of the heauens shall cease the course of the starres the reuolution of yéeres the vicissitude or returne of moneths and dayes the decay of mortal things al the cogitations of men al their studies al their Artes al their disciplines all their affaires shall rest in eternall silence 6 Also in that day it shal be decréed by the sentence and irreuocable constitution of the most high and eternal Iudge what state and condition euery one of vs shall haue and retaine in al eternitie of worlds 7 And not without cause the holy scriptures haue called it the day of the Lord. For as al the dayes of men going before are called their dayes because men watch in them and do whatsoeuer they will and God beareth suffereth endureth expecteth and after a sort sleepeth resteth in them Euen so then the day of the Lorde shal shine wherein hée shal be continually waking shal do whatsoeuer he wil and we whether we wil or no must suffer and endure 8 Thou now doest adde sin vnto sinnes and ceasest not to offend God dayly God is silent at al these things And why so Because this day is thy day But the day shall come beléeue me the day of the Lorde shall come which shal bring an ende to so long silence and wherein he wil take vengeaunce of all the iniuries that haue béene done vnto him 9 Thus we sée that al Eternitie comprehendeth two dayes onely The one of man the other of God In the one men shal watch and God shal sleepe In the other men shal sleepe and God shal watch 10 How horrible this day shall bée wée cannot plainly vnderstand and yet we may gesse at it by the present calamities For then the hoast of al punishments which their confederate battel of al offences shal assaile vs with maine force 11 But as in the warres of men before the last and general battel there are many excursions and short skirmishes euen so before that great and most fearefull conflict which shal be in the day of the Lorde God is wont with his seueral bands to make certaine excursions and one while to send vpon vs famine another while pestilence another while warre another while earth-quakes another while floods of waters and another while drougth as it were his horsemen to inuade vs who when they haue damnified vs retire and abide in their tents If therefore we so greatly feare pestilence warre famine earth-quakes and such like when as they are but the beginning of sorrowes and short excursions what I pray you wil wée doe when the last and general conflict shal come at what time al tribulations extremities calamities and miseries shal also fight against vs 12 And if wée doe yet more fully desire to know the greatnes and horror of that last day let vs consider those signes which shal a little while come before that day Therefore before the comming of that great day heauē and earth and all the Elements shall giue signes For there shal be signes in the Sun in the Moone and in the stars Luke 21. and vpon the earth trouble among the nations with perplexitie the Sea and waters shal roare and mens heartes shal faile them for feare and for looking after those things which shal come vpon the world 13 For as man which is a litle worlde when he draweth néere to his end the humors in him as certaine Elements are troubled and his eyes which are as the Sunne and Moone are obscured lose their light and the rest of the sences as the lesser Starres do by little little fall and faile and yet his minde and reason as the power of heauen is mooued from his seate wandereth erreth Euen so in the dissolution and fall
wil. Is this that fleshe for the which I haue committed so many fornications so many wickednesses For the which I haue so many times giuen my selfe to gluttonie and carnal pleasures Is this that face which with so great care I haue kept from sunburning O vnhappy pallace for thy sake I haue wearied my selfe by land and by seas O vnfortunate belly how became I such a foole that I would worship thée for God Haue I lost the kingdome of heauen for this most abiect body for this most foule stinke of al filthinesse and haue purchased to my selfe euerlasting torments O ye furies O ye spirits of hel why doe ye stay why teare ye me not in péeces why doe ye not bring me to nothing These such like words shal the soule vtter against the flesh with excéeding rage and hatred the which notwithstanding it liued so wel when it was here vppon earth that it worshipped the same for a Lady and God and to fulfil the lustes thereof if feared not to violate and breake the lawe and commandements of God 23 And when all are risen againe and are gathered together into the place which God hath appointed for this iudgement then shal hée appeare in the clowdes of heauen with power and great maiestie whom God hath appointed to be the iudge of the quicke and dead And he shal not come alone but accompanied with an innumerable multitude of heauenly Princes 24 The feare which shal come by reason of that maiestie shal be so great that the prophet Isaias saith Isay 2. They shall goe into the holes of rockes into the caues of the earth from before the face of the Lord and from the glory of his maiestie when he shal arise to destroy the earth Apoc. 20. And the Apostle Saint Iohn addeth I sawe a great white throne and one that sat on it fron whose face fledde away both the earth and heauen For as when the flood of the Ocean swelleth they are wont to tremble which dwel vpon the shore and yet can take no harme euen so when the Lord beginneth to poure foorth his wrath and indignation vpon wicked men the Saints also and the Angels and men which are in no peril shal after a sort tremble and feare If therefore the iust shal feare and the pillers of heauen shal shake what shal the wicked and vngodly doe 25 And in very déed so soone as the Lord shal appeare there shal be heard immediatly a great cry and howling among the Nations Mat. 24. Apoc. 1. Zach. 12. for then as the Lord himselfe saith shal al the kinreds of the earth mourne and they shal sée him whom they pearced and they shal lament for him as one mourneth for his onely son and he sorie for him as one is sorry for his first borne O how many causes of wéeping howling shal miserable and vnhappy men then haue They shal wéepe because they shal sée that their euils and miseries are past all remedy They shal wéepe because they shal sée that their repentance is too late and vnprofitable They shal weepe because they cannot appeale from Gods sentence neither can flée the iudgement at hand and it shal séeme a thing intollerable to bée at the iudgement and to heare the sentence of euerlasting condemnation They shal wéepe because when they liued here on earth they despised those which forewarned them They shal wéepe because the pleasures which are gone as a shadow haue brought vpon them endlesse sorrowes and torments To be briefe as men beset on euery side and brought into ineuitable straights destitute of al counsaile and hope they shal wéepe because they shal sée that they cannot preuaile any thing at all neither with wéeping nor yet with scratching and tearing of themselues 26 Neither wil the Iudge bée moued by any meanes with these cries and sorrowes but wil rather seperate the wéepers from those that reioyce that is to say the wicked from the godly euen as a Shepheard diuideth the Sheepe from the Goates and shal set the godly on his right hand and the wicked on his left 27 And then hée wil beginne to discusse the cause of euery one and hee wil not forget any one offence For wée shal sée all things registred in perfect bookes by which bookes all men shal be iudged I sawe saith Saint Iohn the dead both great and small stand before God and the bookes were opened and another booke was opened which is the booke of life the dead were iudged of those things which were written in the bookes according to their workes So that al our workes are written in those euerlasting bookes Thou hast scarcely committed an adulterous thought but the same wickednesse is written in Gods booke 28 And not onely Church-robbings and sacrileges parricides periuries and such like faults but also impure thoughtes and idle wordes the neglecting of good workes or the same done to no good ende shal bée brought into iudgement For so great is the excellencie estimation of Christian integritie purity that no one or the very least vice that may be is not permitted to Christian men 29 The cafe standing thus whereof I beséech you commeth it that there is in vs so great loosenesse so great carelesnesse so great sloothfulnesse and such securitie Do we not flatter our selues when so great iudgement hangeth ouer our heades Holy was the prophet Dauid a man after Gods own hart and yet he so feared this iudgement that hée saide Enter not into iudgement with thy seruant O Lord for no man liuing shal bée iustified in thy sight Holy was the Apostle Paul and yet he saith I knowe nought by my selfe and yet hereby I am not iustified it is the Lord that iudgeth me as if he should say therefore I dare not pronounce my selfe iust because he that iudgeth me is the Lord. For such are the eyes of the Lord that the starres are not cleane in his sight and many times his eyes doe beholde wickednesse where we sée nothing but holines Holy also was the friende of God Iob. 31. Iob and yet he said What shall I doe when God ariseth to iudgement and when he maketh inquisition what answere shal I giue him Why doeth this man of God so commended of Gods owne mouth who was so iust and simple that hee could say without lying I was an eye to the blinde and a foote to the lame Iob. 29.27 and againe My heart doeth not reproue mee in all my life why I say is a man of such singular innocencie so afearde of Gods iudgement namely because he knoweth that God hath no eyes of flesh and that he iudgeth far otherwhise then men doe 30 Moreouer when all mens causes are diligently discussed and examined the Iudge wil pronounce against the wicked the irreuocable sentence of eternall damnation Depart from me yee cursed into euerlasting fire which is prepared for the diuell and his Angels O bitter word which wil
his first Creation a bright shining Lucifer beautified as a precious stone and more excellent than al the Angels of Heauen in resplendant brightnesse through his pride against God lost his light glory and beautie and as he was worthy became a foule féend deiected from heauen into this Elementall world lower than al the Spheares into the Fire Ayre Earth and Water 5 I saw saith S. Iohn a starre fall from Heauen to the earth Apoc. 1. and to him was giuen the key of the bottomlesse pit Further he saith There was a battel in heauen Michael and his Angels fought against the Dragon Chap. 12. the Dragon fought and his angels But they preuailed not neither was their place found any more in Heauen And the great dragon that olde Serpent called the Deuill and Sathan was cast out which deceiueth all the world He was cast euen into the earth and his Angels were cast out with him And being thus deiected hée now neuer ceaseth compassing the whole earth Iob. 1. but in his circuite séeketh like a roaring Lyon whom hee may deuoure 1. Pet. 5. Luk. 22. Apoc. 12. For the which cause S. Iohn pronounceth this woo saying Wo to the inhabitants of the earth and of the Sea for the diuel is come down vnto you which hath great wrath knowing that he hath but a short time 6 For albeit the world séemeth to be the parent the bringer foorth and nourisher of bodies yet is it the prison of Spirits the exiling of soules and a place of all wretchednesse and paines For as the worlde is a place of sinne and transgression a Station of Pilgrimage and of woe a habitation of wailing of teares of trauaile of wearines of fearefulnesse and of shame of mouing of changing of passing and of corruption of insolence and of perturbation of violence and opprssion of deceit and of guile and finally the laystall of all wickednesse and abhomination so also by GODS Iustice it is appointed the place and pitte of punishment and euerlasting torment wherin the euill Angels that rebelled with Lucifer and the damned spirites of wicked men departed this life haue endlesse paine without rest 7 And albeit the Apostle calleth Sathan a Prince that ruleth in the Ayre Ephe. 2. yet is that Rule so slane-like and his power so weakened by the Almightie that when the Lorde intending to punish the sonnes of Adam and to strike the earth with tempestes of lightning and thunder Hée thereby also beateth Sathan and the whole rable of his hellish féendes that in their fury and rage therewith they terrifie men by ougly shapes and aparitions and by GODS permission to murther man and beast sometimes do ouer-throwe buildings Iob. 1. and doe fire and consumne houses leauing a most noysome and horrible stinke behinde them of the hellish place from whence they come For it is not the diuell but the glorious God that maketh the thunder and as testifieth Syrach Psal 29. Eccle. 43. It is the sound of the Lords thunder that beateth the earth 8 Thus by Gods iust iudgement hée raungeth like a runagate in the sphere of his Hell vntill the day of doome for which season he is let loose and yet with such prohibition and restraint that in his mallice hée can procéed no further than shal séeme fit to the mightie Iehouah his Creator and then hée shall receiue that punishment whereof S. Iude speaketh in these words The Angels which kept not their first estate 2. Pet. 3. Apoc. 21. but left thier owne habitation hee hath reserued in euerlasting chaines vnder darknesse vnto the Iudgment of the great day at which time there shall be a new heauen and a newe earth wherein shall dwell nothing but righteousnes when the are refined with the fire of Gods iustice and then al the creatures of those new heauens and new earth shall be made perfit for which perfection and restauration euery creature waiteth being now subiect to vanitie Rom. 8. for the which they groane that they may be deliuered from the bondage of corruption into the glorious libertie of the sonnes of God For albeit the fashion and forme of this world goeth away as saith the Apostle yet they subtance shall reamine 1. Cor. 7. whether of the heauens themselues or of the Elements or of men al which shall abide for euer 9 At this time of restauration when al things shall become new and when the dead are raised vp againe to life in their corporall bodyes then shal be prepared an out-set habitation which shal be a Chaos ful of confusion deuoyd of the first most excellent thing that God made Light and in steed thereof replenished with darknesse a thousand times worse theÌ„ the palpable darknes of Aegypts plague Exod. 10. wherein the burning and intollerable tormenting fire giueth no light where the freezing colde which causeth gnashing of téeth Iob. 10. mittigateth nothing at al the burning heate 10 The holy Scripture to inable the weake capacitie of man to comprehend and vnderstand the excéeding horror and most feareful torment of this place calles it a Bottomles pit â—ophet á Dùnge on déepe large Apoc. 1. Esai 30. Apoc. 21 the burning whereof is fyer brimstone the lake of the second death which burneth with fyer and brimstone And in regard of the weeping howling roaring secréetching in that place it is compared to the valley of Hynnom neere Hierusalem where the idolatrous people at the sacrificing of their children so the Idole Moloch Iere. 32. made a confused noyse of crying howling together with singing and sounding of Instrumments that the pitifull screetching of the children tormented in that diuellesh sacrifice might not be heard And for this cause Christ calleth Hell Gehennon which the Prophet Dauid calleth the neithermost Hell 11 And albeit to men that measure all things by Philosophy and humane reason it may seeme absurde that Fyer should aflict the soules of the reprobate departed and the damned spirites in Hell forsomuch as the Agent is euer reputed more noble than the patient but no corporal body is more noble than the Spirit and according to the minde of the Philosopher in his booke of Generation Those things are only agent and patient in themselues which communicate in the same matter yet in this poynt as also in many other things which leane onely on Faith and not on humane reason we must beléeue it because the word of God so deliuereth it For the soule of Diues in Hell cryeth and shall crye for euer Luke 16. I am tormented in this flame Which is no Parable but really acted This then is no immaginarie fyer but a true corporal fyer working really vpon body soule on the soule before the day of Iudgement and on both together in a higher degrée of torment after the day of doome not by a proper vertue and naturall action which the fyer hath but as the
instrument of Gods iustice not consuming but afflicting after a certaine manner of perpetuall detaining in the torment of reall punishment 12 But is this place of Hell so to bée vpholden onely by Faith that humane reason cannot conceiue it to be such or as it is deliuered to be in the word of God yes verely and for this cause the conceite of Poets was not altogether idle and deuoyde of reason in saying that Saturnus deuiding his Kingdome among his sonnes gaue the West part toward the lower Sea to Pluto his yongest sonne the East part to Iupiter and the Ile-landes to Neptune of the Sea And héeuppon they fayned that Iupiter was King and God of Heauen Pluto of Hell and Neptune of the Sea And to describe Hell they could not bethinke them of a more fit place in the earth to make a resemblance thereof than a certain territory in Italie betwéene Baiae Cuniae where the Cimerii inhabite a place in very déede so inuironed with high hilles that the Sunne from the first rising to the setting thereof neuer shineth there by reason of which continual darknesse this Prouerbe is vsed Cimmeriis tenebris atrior More blacke then the darknesse of Cimmeria And here they place Acherusia a darke Dungeon or way to Hell Out of which Hercules drew Cerberus the dogge of Hel Thus these Poeticall fictions grouÌ„ded vpon earthly darknesse represent and set before vs that inuisible darknes which no man euer liuing on earth hath seene nor tongue is able sufficiently to expresse 13 Geographers tell vs of the mountaine Aetna in Cicile Plinie at this day called Gibello Monte on the toppe whereof is a barren ground mixt with ashes in the winter time couered with snowe the circuit of which mountaine is twentie furlongs and is inuironed with a banke of ashes on the height of a wall In the middle of this mount is also a round hill of the same cooller and matter wherein be two great holes called Crateres out of which do rise sometimes sundry great flames of fyer sometime horrible smoke sometime are blowne out burning stones in infinite numbers before the visible fight of which fyer there is also heard within the ground terrible noise and roaring 14 What else can these fearefull fierie flames horrible smoke burning stones in such hydeous manner blowen vp and the terrible roaring within that Mountaine Aetna import but a certaine subterraneall part of Hell As also it may bee in like manner thought of the marine Rocke of Barry in Glamorgan-shire in Wales Giraldus by a certaine cleft or rift whereof if a man lay his eare thereon is heard the worke as it were of a Smythes Forge one while the blowing of bellowes another while the sound of hammers beating on a stithie or Anuile the noyse of knyues made sharpe on a Whet-stone and the cracking of fyer in a Furnace and such like very strange and admirable to heare 15 Nauigators report that there is a sea in the Voiages to the West Indyes called the Burmudas which is a most hellish Sea for thunder lightning and stormes Also they assure vs of an Ile-lande which they call the Ile-lande of Diuels for that to such as approach néere the same there doth not only appeare fearefull sights of Diuels and euill spirits but also mightie tempests with most terrible and continuall thunder lightning and the noise of horrible cries with scréeching which doth in such wise afright amaze those that come nere that place that they are glad with all might and mayne to ply and spéede them thence wiâ—h all possible haste they can 16 Cosmographers also informe vs of a certaine wonderfull Whirle-poole in the frozen sea not farre from Ise-land towards the Ile-laÌ„ds of the Hebreedes whereunto al the waues of the sea froÌ„ far haue their course recourse without stop with their conueying theÌ„selues into the secret receptacles of nature are swallowed vp as it were into a bottomles pit and if chance any ship to passe this way it is pulled drawen with such violence of the waues that eftesoones without remedy the force of the Whirle-poole deuoureth the same 17 I doubt not but there are some which ascribe all these things to natural causes and workings or els will account them no better than fables as they do all things els which concerne Religion But yet let such men now know as one day with wofull experience they shall féele that these and many mo wonderfull workes of God in earth his wonders in the déepe beside his counsels iudgements reuealed in his word doth assure those which feare God that there is a Hell 18 Who is so ignorant that hée doth not sée and knowe how in all things both naturall and supernaturall there is an opposition and a contrarietie and therefore also a God and a Diuel a Heauen and a Hell This Hell in the day of doome as touching the paynes and torments to be layed on the diuel and his adherents shall be therein so inlarged and redoubled that the darkenes of Cimeria and all the darknesse of the earth beside the fire in the Region that compasseth the earth the fierie flames lightnings thunder and tempestes the smoke terrible noyce and roaring in the mountaine Aetna the fearefull visions néere the Ile-land of Deuils the chilling colde and frozen Ise in Frygida Zona the indraughts and swallowing Gulphes of Waters the whole barrennesse of the earth with all bitternesse stench and whatsoeuer else may offend the sences of damned men the punishments of sinne shall bee gathered together into one Chaos of confusion whereinto Sathan with his Legions of damned Spirites which are nowe for a time let loose to remaine and conuerse in the fierie Region in the Ayre in the hollowe Caues and Dungeons of the earth and in the waters and where it hath pleased God to appoint them shal bée plunged for euer and euer 19 Therefore let Hell be where it hath pleased God in his secret counsel to place it to men vnknowne whether in the North or in the South vnder the frozen zoane or vnder the burning zoane Or in a pit or gulph that shal excéedingly participate of both it maketh to vs no matter of exception For most true it is that Saint Gregory saith Gregor super illud Mat. Eiâ—cientur in tenebras The wicked shall be cast into vtter darkenesse that they may there gnash their teeth which delighted here in nothing but gluttonie For heat and burning coÌ„monly maketh men to wéep and colde causeth men to beate and gnashe their teeth In Hell saith he there shall be cold intollerable fire vnquenchable the worme immortal stinke that cannot be indured darkenes palpable the horrible scourges of diuels and the fearefull sight of diuels 20 Thus much then we learne hereby concerning Hell that it is a most feareful and horrible place into the which the soules of all that lyue vngodly in this present world Esay 5.14 and in vnbeléefe
mediditation shal be the contemplations of those men who when they might in this life fruitfully haue thought vpon these things would not and they which disdained here to vse these most profitable meditations as a bridle of their lustes shal in that time suffer them as most cruel torments 13 Furthermore the memorie shal bée no smal crosse to the mindes of the damned when they shal beginne to cal to mind their former delights and the pleasures past for the which they are now come vnto these torments For then too late they shal perceiue with what bitter sauce they were seasoned which in times past séemed so swéete vnto them But they shal much more vehemently bée tormented when they shal compare the breuitie of the pleasures past with the eternity of the present sorrowes For what Mathematician so skilful can bée found out which can declare vnto vs how much greter that euerlasting time shal be then the time of those transitorie pleasures How shal they then groane and mourne and what great déepe sighes shal they fetch when they shal finde by experience that their pleasures were most momentanie and that they are gone as a dreame shadow and that their sorrowes shal haue no end 14 But the vnderstanding as it is a faculty more excellent and perspicuous Vnderstanding so shal it bee tormented with a more intollerable crosse In this facultie shal that worme be which the Scriptures so oftentimes threaten to sinners where it is saide that their worme dyeth not and the fire shal not be quenched For as the worme hath his original from the wood and yet doeth continually eate and consume the woode whereof it commeth Euen so this worme springeth from sinne and holdeth a perpetual warre with sinne and is nothing else but a continual repentance and sorrow ful of rage and desperation which they haue by reason of their sinnes when they sée and féele that for them they haue lost the kingdome of heauen and haue incurred those vnspeakeable torments This worme of the damned resteth neither day nor night but biteth and gnaweth continually and féedeth vpon the bowels of those miserable men alwaies bringing to their remembrance the notable opportunitie which they had here in earth not onely with verie small labour to haue escaped those punishments but also without mony or money worth to haue gotten the kingdome of heauen Therefore they shall euermore contend with themselues and say O miserable men that we be to whom the kingdome of heauen was sometimes offered fréely to receiue and possesse the which the Preachers of Gods word did humbly and louingly beséech vs to imbrace we refused If we had truly repented vs of our sins all had ben forgiuen How small a thing had it béene to haue repented If we had craued mercy we had easily obtayned it If wee had called for helpe and grace faithfully it had béene at hande If wée had giuen but a cuppe of cold water for the Lords sake wée had not bene vnrewarded But now wée fast continually and shal bee tormented we shal be afflicted and shal reap no fruite thereof O that golden time mis-spent how is it now gone and neuer shal returne again Who bereaued vs of our wits Who shutte our eyes Who stopt our eares Whoso bewitched vs that we neuer thought vpon these punishments that wée neuer had regard to these times that we neuer foresaw this misery and that we harkened not vnto them which forewarned vs 30 And if the vnderstanding shal féele these thinges what shal wée then say of the wil which is the chiefe and principal cause of sinnes The wil therefore shal bée euermore tormented with a certaine outragious enuie which it shal conceiue of the honour and glory of Almighty God and of all the Saints in heauen according as it is set down in the Psalme The vngodly shall see it and it shall grieue him hee shall gnash with his teeth and consume away the desire of the vngodly shall perish Psal 112.10 ver Also in the willes of these sinners there shal be ioyned with enuy an extreme hatred against God from whēce shal arise horrible curses and blasphemies Heare and tremble oh wicked and prophane which shal neuer cease in their mouthes For when they shal perceiue that there is no hope any more to recouer their saluation and shal also be assured that they shal at no time come into the fauor of God and that their tormēts shal neuer haue ende And further when they shal sée that it is God himselfe which keepeth them as it were fast bounde with chaines in those perpetual torments and that it is hée which doeth from an high cast downe vpon them thundring tempests and with his omnipotēt breath doth kindle those furnaces of hel fire then they wil rage and some like mad dogges and wil neuer cease from barking from blasphemies and cursed speakings They wil curse him because hée created them and adiudged them to death and yet dying are neuer dead They wil curse his punishmentes because hée tormenteth them so vehemently from wicked blasphemies good Lord deliuer vs. They wil curse his benignitie because it is now turned into seuerity They wil curse his crosse and his blood shedde vpon the same because it hath bene profitable to so many nothing auaileable vnto them 31 To cōclude they wil curse al the saints and Angels of heauen because they shall sée them in ioy and felicitie and themselues in euerlasting miserie This shal be ther perpetual simphonie and melodie these shall bee their euening and morning songs these their Psalmes and Himnes which they shal sing in those doleful Temples of diuels where they shal haue fire and brimstone in steede of frankencense the noyse of stripes with whips and maules which shal inforce wéeping howling and gnashing of téeth in stead of Organes Trumpettes Cornettes and Harpes 32 Thus farre concerning the sorrow which ariseth of the losse of the chiefe felicity and which the inward faculties of the mind doe suffer which hath béene shewed to be the greatest and vnspeakeable Nowe also we wil shewe that to bée an excéeding sorrowe which the very tormentes shal worke in the external sences of men 33 Therefore as the reward of the blessed is not some certaine particular goodnesse seuered and deuided from other good thinges but a certaine common and general good or felicitie wherein al good thinges al delights and pleasures are contained So the paine and torment of the damned is not one kinde of sorrowe as of the head of the eyes of the téeth of the raines and so forth But it is a certaine general punishment which comprehendeth all the sorrowes of al the members and sences together 34 If the sorrow and paine of a woman trauailing in childbirth bee so great and so general that it inuadeth euery part what shal become of them vpon whom all maner of sorrowes shal come If a man cannot indure a little fire
botches and sores hath no whole part What man will be coupled with this monster who hath no other dowrie and portion of her father the diuell but hell fire Lette him then that hath béene inchanted with her adulterous eyes diuorce himselfe betimes from her company without delay for delay is perilous Her handmaide Security will peraduenture flatter vs say It is yet too soone to depart and so to craue further companie much like vnto Swetonius Tranquillus crowe which in the Emperour Domitians dayes stoode vppon the Capitoll and saide thus All shall be well It is the diuels voyce which saith Cras Cras to morrowe hereafter but God saith Hodie Today if ye will heare his voyce harden not your heartes If we harken to the diuels voice he wil serue vs as he serued Adam Eue and wil lay open our nakednesse and shame 5 A third cause of our delaied repentance is the absence of the holy Ghost from vs. For as the spirite of the Lorde dwelling in our heartes maketh the way of vertue easie and swéete insomuch that the Prophet Dauid saith Psal 119. I haue as great delight in the way of thy commaundementes as in all maner of riches and againe I haue runne the way of thy commandementes when thou hast set my heart at libertie Euen so contrariwise the absence of the holy Ghost maketh the same way hard and vnpleasant And as the light of the Sun chéereth vp mens spirits to goe to their labour euen so the sonne of righteousnesse shining in our heartes with the bright beames of his grace maketh vs to haue a delight in the way of his commandementes The first outward meane of Paules conuersion was the great light which he saw from heauen then he was cast down to the ground and humbled he heareth a voice and acknowledgeth it to be Gods voice Act. 9 3. Act. 26. and 22. And then ariseth vp and saith Quid faciam Domine What shall I doe It is the celestiall illumination that worketh our conuersion vnto God and which frameth our hearts to his obedience And therefore the Lord saith by the mouth of the Prophet Ose thus to sinful men Ose 9.12 Woe vnto them when I shall depart away from them And by the Prophet Ieremie Vnderstand and know what a grieuous thing it is that the Lord thy God hath forsaken thee 6 The last cause is a certaine sicknesse and languishing of all the faculties of our soule For the apple is not so eaten of worms nor the garment with moathes as the powers of the soule are corrupted with sins and wickednesses as the vnderstanding is darkned the iudgement dulled and the wil depraued Whereof it commeth that now to liue a holy and godly life is a very hard and painfull matter Who seeth it not then in what perill and error they are in who putting off their repentunce and conuersion from day to day doe thinke that the same which is now hard vnto them they shall finde afterwardes more easie when all the causes of difficulty and hardnesse are increased when they haue increased the causes of their labour and difficultie by adding sinnes vnto sinnes when an euil custome hath taken more déepe roote Shall not the Diuell then more fortifie his castle which is thy soule Shall not GOD whirh is thy light depart further off from thée Shall not the powers of thy soule then hauing receiued many woundes bée made more weake and insufficient to goodnes Beside this thou must greatly hazard the losse of heauenly treasures by thy long delay God hath thought vpon and loued vs from euerlasting and hath prepared for vs an eternal reward with what face then canst thou holde from God a little momentarie seruice which owest vnto God all that thou art able to doo for euer 7 God hath giuen vnto thée the life of his onely begotten sonne the which is of greater price then the life of all men and of the Angels and by what right and prerogatiue darest thou denie vnto him the flower of thy youth and to spend the same in other things then in the seruice of God and to offer vnto him the dregs and rottennes of old age onely Mala. 1. Consider what the Prophet Malachie saith If yee offer the blinde for sacrifice is it not euill and if yee offer the lame and sicke is it not euill Offer it now vnto thy Prince will hee bee content with thee or accept thy person saith the Lord of hostes But cursed be the deceiuer which hath in his flocke a male and voweth and sacrificeth vnto the Lord a corrupt thing All that we haue and our selues wholy are not sufficient to serue the Lord. Therefore let our youth bee dedicated to his seruice as well as our age Let vs serue him not onely in sicknesse but also in health Let vs turne vnto him not onely when we are in affliction vnder the crosse but also in prosperity For forced holinesse is of no great account Pharaos repentance Festus trembling and Iudas sorrowe auailed them nothing Saint Augustine in his second booke of true and false Repentance speaking of that Repentance which affliction wringeth frō men saith Vis dicam liberaliter c. Wilt thou haue me speake my minde fréely I do neither say nor will say that he shall be damned But saith he will ye put the matter out of doubt Repent then whilest thou art in health otherwise whether a man doe safely depart out of this life I my selfe am not sure And the same Author in another place saith us Wilt thou repent thee when thou canst sinne no longer Thy sinnes then haue forsaken thee and not thou thy sinnes 8 Sinne is common to all times ages of mans life yea to fraile youth more then to olde age which caused King Dauid to say Remember not O Lord the sinnes of my youth There is then at no time want of matter in vs for repentance and yet our sinnes are much more then our sacrifices Sinne is common to all but timely and spéedy repentance to fewe 9 But let the exhortation of our Sauiour mooue vs which hée so oftentimes repeateth Math. 24. Mar. 13. Watche watche because yee knowe not the day nor the howre For I demaund of thée whosoeuer thou bée which assurest thy selfe that after a fewe yéeres be past thou wilt repent thée who made thée an vndoubted promise I will not say of yéeres and moneths but of the morow which is but one day nay who can assure thée of one hower And what greater follie and rashnesse can there bée deuised then for a worme of the earth to determine anie thing certaine concerning the times and seasons which the Father hath set in his owne power Art thou ignorant how many this vaine confidence hath deceiued euen to this day 10 But thou wilt say the Lorde is full of compassion and mercy who hath made large promises to those that trust in him who sent his
in one part of his body as on his little finger but one houre how intollerable shal the paine of the damned be when they shal wholly burne within and without Which of you saith the Prophet Isaias can dwel with burning fire And yet our fire here is but a picture shadowe of that vnquenchable fire there in hel where one drop of colde water wil be more worth then all the iewelles of the worlde though onely to coole the tongue 35 All the sences of the body shall bee here tormented and that not with heat only but also with extreame and moste freezing colde as Gregorie affirmeth in these words In hel is intollerable colde vnquenchable heate an immortal worme a stinch not to be endured a scourge euer striking darkenesse palpable a feareful vision of diuels confusion of sinnes and a desperation of all good things 36 This endlesse miserie shal enforce them to houle cry cursed be the day wherein I was borne and let not the day wherein my mother bare me be blessed Cursed be the man that shewed my father saying A man child is borne vnto thée and comforted him Cursed be he that he slue me not Ier. 20. euen from the wombe or that my mother might haue bene my graue or her wombe a perpetual conception How is it that I came forth of the wombe to sée labour paine and sorrow that my dayes should be consumed with shame 37 Thrée things among many other torments shal enforce the wicked to blasphemie and curse first that before the day of doome they daily sée the downefal of those into Hell of whose damnation they themselues haue bene the authors And for this cause Diues in Hell prayed Abraham to send Lazarus to his fathers house to forewarne his brethren that they might not come into that place of torment 38 Secondly because in Hel the waters which they could wish might serue for their refreshing shal be like to burning pitch which shal neuer be quenched the smoke whereof shal ascend for euer 39 Thirdly because they shal be gathereth together as the prisoners in the pit fagoted vp in a band like a bundel of stickes for the fire For as heauen is as touching the many maÌ„sions wherof christ speaketh is in it self infinit answering the esseÌ„ce maiesty power of God being placed aboue all orbes spheres and farre beyond all circle and compasse of mans capacitie euen so Hell is limited in a smal orbe capeable of no more than the damned and the instrumentes of their torments which cannot be very spacious in regard the whole earth is much lesse then the circumference of the Sun The straitenesse of which place shal bring to the huge heapes of the damned packt vp therein increase of torment with palpable darkenesse 40 Now if this Hell were but a temporal paine as Origen thought then hope would cheare the tormented sinner but the torments are eternal the tormented quite destitute of hope The worme of conscience is ther for euer without solace and gnashing of téeth shal be continually without gladnes Thus the torments of the damned shal continue so many worlds as there be starres in the firmament as there be graines of sand by the sea shoare and as there be droppes of water found in the sea And when these worldes are ended the paines and torments shal not cease but begin afresh and thus this whéele shal turne round without ende 41 For when the motion of the Primum Mobile and of the Heauens shall cease then shal time also cease Now in this world there is a time past now there is a time present and a time to come but then there shall bée no time past nor any time to come no wéek no moneth no yeare nor any variation of time Apoc. 10. It shalbée as the day wherof the Prophet speaketh which shal be neither day nor night This shal bée a very long daye Zach. 14. For it shal bee for euer and euer For one day is with the Lord as a thousand yeares Pet. 3. and a thousand of yeares but as one daye of darkenesse and of blacknesse 42 What â—an considering these things will endure these hellish torments euerlastingly to inioy for a litle while the vain pleasures of the flesh Although a man by liuing in sin might procure vnto himselfe the wisedome of Salomon the strength of Sampson the beauty of Absolom and Susanna the riches of Cressus the power of Augustus and the yeares of Mathusalah what would all these profit at the last if after a while being in death thou canst neither deliuer thy body from wormes nor thy soule from hel fire and as our Sauiour Christ saith What doth it profit a man to win all the world and to loose his own soule If thou ofteÌ„ meditate these things thou shalt both leade a good and holy life and after a while make a blessed and happy ende of thy pilgrimage The fifth houre Concerning the small number of them that shall be saued STriue to enter in at the narrow gate for many I say vnto you wil seeke to enter in and shall not be able Luk 13.24 With what purpose and meaning ha◠〈◊〉 Lord vttered this senteÌ„ce Verily to no other end as it may be gathered by the words going before then to shewe that they are few in number which are saued and many which perish 2 For there are some which had propounded this question to the Lord saying Lord are there fewe that be saued To the which question the Lord aunswered so wisely that by his answere he taught that they were but few which would be saued and also rendreth a reason why they were but few Striue saith hée to enter in at the straight gate for many I say vnto you will striue to enter and shall not be able the which is all one as it hee had more plainely said they are but fewe which shal be saued and that for no other cause but for that the gate of life and saluation is straight and narrow 3 This thing the Lord goeth about to print in our minds wheÌ„ as he so often times repeateth Many are called but fewe are chosen And when hee cryed againe Wide and broade is the way which leadeth to perdition and many there bee which enter thereat but narrowe and straight is the way which leadeth vnto life Mat. 7.1.3 and fewe there bee which finde it 4 This thing Isaias setteth before our eyes by a very plaine and yet feareful similitude For thus he speaketh Surely thus shal it be in the middest of the earth among the people as the shaking of an Oliue tree and as the grapes when the vintage is ended Isaias Chap. 24.13 These shal lift vp their voice and shall sing praises when the Lord is glorious and magnificent that is to say how seldome doe Oliues hang vpon the tree after they are shaken and how seldom are grapes found vppon the vines after the vintage
comparison of the glorie that shall be shewed vpon vs. 19 If the sicke man for the loue of his health is very willing to drinke most bitter potions If the husband-man in hope of the haruest to come setteth light by the scorching heate of Sommer and the pinching colde of Winter If the Marchaunt feareth not the danger of ship-wracke nor the lying in wait of Pirats when he aduentureth for gold If the souldier for vaine glory and a shadowe of honour thinketh the burthen of his armour light and is contented to vndergoe hunger thirst watchings labours wounds perils and death it selfe how can it be but that those things which God commandeth must bée easie and light to a Christian man especially if he consider that great and sempiternal glory which God promiseth to his souldiers 20 The holy Apostle writing to the Ephesians doth not without cause say that hée prayeth with so great carefulnesse Eph. 1.18 that the God of glory would vouchsafe to giue them the spirit of wisedom and illumined eyes of the heart that they might know what is the hope of his calling and what is the riches of his glory of his inheritance in the Saints For hée knew that the greatnes of the heauenly reward was such that the onely consideration thereof was able to make all grieuous and bitter things swéet and light These cogitations saith S. Cyprian what persecution Cyprian de exhor Martirij what torments can ouercome The minde which is setled vpon religious Meditations standeth firme stable and the same minde standeth immoueable against all the terrors of the diuel and the threatnings of the world being confirmed by a stedfast faith of the things to come 21 The punishments also and torments which are to come are so continual and greiuous that to escape them all the labours that we suffer here in earth are not to be accounted labours 22 But yet let vs see another answere to the former question The way of the Lord in the beginning is very straight but by little and little it is enlarged In the beginning it seemeth hard and bitter but by vse it groweth easie by little and little and by custome it is made light and swéete 23 Hereupon Saint Bernard saith The commaundements of God at the first seeme importable afterward not so heauie Then not heauy at at all And in the ende they delight To this agréeth the saying of Saint Hierom. Vertues are hard to him that first taketh them in hand easie to him that profiteth in them and sweete to him that exerciseth them And Saint Augustine saith The paths of equitie when a man first entreth to them are straight and narrowe but when hee hath gone foreward in them a time they seeme spacious and broade Pro. 4.11 Also Salomon in his Prouerbes saith I haue taught thee in the waye of Wisedome and leade thee in the pathes of righteousnesse wherein when thou goest thy gate shall not be straight and when thou runnest thou shalt not fall That is to say before thou entrest thou shalt be discouraged but when thou art entred thou shalt féele little difficultie or none at all 24 Homer the Prince of Gréeke Poets a Heathen man but yet wise writteth that when Vlisses should passe by those places where Circe a famous woman in inchauntments wherby she turned men into beasts dwelt caryed with him a certaine hearbe by the force whereof he fortified himself against her power the rootes of the which are most foule and stinking but the flowers most faire and white as milke The purpose of Homer is hereby to shew that wise men whom he describeth in the person of Vlisses are wont to guard and fortifie themselues with vertue which is stronger then any armour of proofe least being vanquished with diuers desires lustes they be transformed and made like vnto brute beastes and that vertue is like to the said hearbe which hath blacke rootes and white flowers for that the beginnings of vertue are hard and vnpleasant but the fruit thereof most swéete and good 25 Moreouer experience and daily vse proueth this For there are many to whom if we should say thus This must be your life hereafter ye shall abstaine frō pastimes and pleasures ye shal seldome walke abroad out of your houses ye shall not hunt after feasts and banquets ye shal not vse wanton daliaunce with women but yée shall followe your vocation at home wherein ye shall be conuersant hereunto ye shal ioyne prayer reading and godly Meditation To this they would answere we can in no wise performe this without God should worke a great myracle in vs this is no humane life but a life for Angels 26 But if these men would begin to enter the kingdome of heauen as it were with strong hand to resist their euill customes to exercise themselues in good workes and willingly to vse those remedies which helpe to roote out sin and wickednes as often prayer and fasting the receiuing of the blessed Sacrament of the body and blood of Christ the diligent reading of the Scriptures and other good bookes the companie and fellowship of good men who doubteth but that vpon these religious exercises there will follow such good successe that the way of the Lord shal be opened vnto them more and more and that in a short time they shall sée themselues in that place with excéeding ioy of minde wherunto afore they thought they should neuer come And thus they shal not only without labour and paine but also with delight and pleasure abstaine from sin and wickednesse and liue a holy and blessed life 27 For the Philosopher though an Ethnicke saw this plainely and so taught that it is a pleasure to a vertuous man to liue vertuously and Salomon expresseth the same thing in others words The righteous man reioyceth to deale righteously 28 Moreouer this question may be answered another way If wée say with Theophilact that Christ is a straight gate and narrow way so called not so much because he is so but because hee séemeth so to the louers of the worlde to wealthie and riche men For in very déede if men were humble if they would lay aside many vnprofitable burthens and put off the garment of the flesh they should peraduenture finde no straites in the way and gate of the Lord Whereas now they think vpon nothing but how they may rise continually howe they may waxe fat in body swell in minde howe they may extend inlarge their possessions how they may abound and flow in wealth neither doe they cease at any time to lade themselues with the heauie burthens of the cares of this life And what maruel then if to such men the gate of the heauenly kingdome seeme to be straite and narrowe 29 It séemed not a hard and straite way to the Apostles of our Lord It séemed not so to them which succéeded them in profession who forsooke all that they possessed would néedes follow
troublesom vnto vs but God giuing vs strength wée bare them with a valiant minde And in the very suffering we haue a greater triall and proofe of the goodnes of God towards vs wherevpon wee conceiue the greater hope So hope bréedeth and bringeth in patience and patience hope For when we consider that God was present with vs in suffering our afflictions patiently we hope also that he wil hereafter be present with vs and at the length make vs blessed The sick man because he hath confidence in the Physition suffereth his impostume to be cut Afterward as hee feeleth himselfe relieued he putteth confidence more and more in the Physitian so as if néede were that his foote should be cut off also hee would nothing doubt to commit himselfe to his fidelity The diuel so much as in him lyeth driueth vs to desperation and by afflictiōs goeth about to perswade vs that God is our enemy But contrariwise the holy Ghost saith Because thou hast quietly and patiently borne affliction it may be a sure token vnto thée that God therein declareth his fauour towards thée Wherefore haue thou a good trust for he vndoubtedly wil deliuer thee 19 This confidence wil make vs to resolue with the Apostle Paul Rom. 8. that no maner of tribulation shal be able to remoue vs from the loue of God which is in Christ Neither the losse of goods of wife childien friends lands and possessions nor any thing in the world because wee are verily perswaded that his loue and bounty towards vs is such that often times he most aboundantly restoreth those things which are lost for his sake and that sometimes in the middest of tribulation and euen in the very crosse and death hée giueth to his children so much strength and consolation that in very déede it is more then a hundred folde The losse of the said worldly things is to many a great griefe but is not the winning of a hundred fold so much and the obtaining of an euerlasting kingdom a good salue for this sore If we gaine with the losse of transitore things heauenly treasures with the forsaking of worldly friends Christ to be our deare and sure friend and with the refusing father mother brother sister wife children purchase God to be our heauenly father Christ our most louing brother and to be loued of the Sonne of God as his deare dearlings and only beloued spouse what haue we lost what greater gaine can we haue or what more profitable exchange can be made This bargaine and profit hath our heauenly Father promised vnto vs by a bill of his owne hand sealed with the blood of his onely Sonne testified by the witnes of his Apostles and left with vs in our own custody to be paide at the sight whensoeuer wée shall require it Whereof this is the content Who so hath forsaken house brother sister father mother wife children or land for my names sake hee shall receiue an hundred foulde and the inheritance of euerlasting life Who will deny but that hunger cold nakednes cxtreame pouerty and want of thinges partly necessary are a heauy burden for a man to beare But the waight hereof is lightened made easie to them that with a right eye and vnfainedly do beléeue Gods promise and cast their care on him Cast thy care vpon the Lord for he careth for thée Your heauenly father knoweth that ye haue néed of al these things meate drinke and cloathes He ministreth these things in due time to the beasts of the earth the foules of the ayre the fishes of the Sea and wil he not kéepe his promise vnto vs for whose sakes he hath made these creatures and hath made vs Lords ouer thē What cause haue we to mistrust his promise rather then the byrd that flyeth forth in the morning vppon this naturall perswasion that hée shall finde foode not doubting but that hée who made him will not suffer him to starue with hunger Haue we séen such as put their trust in him starue with hunger dye with colde or perish through nakednesse It hath not béen heard of that the righteous hath béene forsaken or his séede begge wanting bread For they that know the name of the Lorde wil trust therein for he forsaketh not them that séeke after him And he hath willed vs in the day of our troubles to call vpon him adding this promise that he wil deliuer vs. Wherevnto the Prophet Dauid did so trust féeling the comfortable trueth thereof at sundry times in many and dangerous perils that he perswaded himselfe al feare set apart to vndergoe one painful danger or other whatsoeuer yea if it were to wake in the valley of the shadowe of death that hée should not haue cause to feare comforting himself with this saying which was Gods promise made vnto all For thou art with me thy rodde and thy staffe euen they shall comfort mee Psal 23. Is Gods staffe waxen so weake that wée dare not now leane too much theron least it should break Or is he now such a changeling that he wil not be with vs in our troubles according to thy promise Wil he not giue vs his staffe to stay vs by and reache vs his hand to hold vs vp as he hath béene woont to do No doubt but that he wil bée most ready in all extremitie to helpe according to his promise The Lord that made thée O Iacob and hée that fashioned thée O Israel saith thus Esay 43. feare not for I wil defend thée c. 20 He is that mightie Captaine who hauing vnder his gouernement many souldiers and seruants Math. 8. hath them so at his commandement that when he biddeth them go they go when he saith abide they abide and when he willeth them to do this or that they obey his word For paine pleasure griefe ease sicknesse health life and death are at the becke and call of God and do come and go at his appointment as the faithfull Centurion confesseth in the Gospel Math. 8. Yea hée worketh so forceably in his childrē that leane wholy vnto his promise that hée maketh to them of paine a pleasure of griefe ease of sicknesse health and of death life As contrariwise to the vnbeléeuing pleasure ease health and life is a wearie irkesome and painfull death 21 But reason and our flesh are hardly perswaded that we are beloued of GOD when we be exercised with afflictions yet the author of the epistle to the Hebrews saith That if we be not vnder chastisement Heb. 12. wherof all are partakers we are bastards and not sons Rom. 8. And S. Paul to the Romanes bringeth in the complaints of the Saintes which were tormented and afflicted before Christes time Psal 44. For thy sake are we deliuered to the death all the day long we are accounted as sheep to the slaughter They which made this complaint were as cannot be denied most deare vnto God and yet they make this sorrowfull
one while he laugheth another while he wéepeth now he will anon he wil not To conclude the Moone nor any other thing that is mutable sheweth not so many chaÌ„ges vnto vs as do the daily almost sodaine alterations of men And yet for all this they liue as men in a frensie which knowe not their miseries And although they cannot repose their hope and assurance in the present things of this life yet they doe not transferre and remoue the thoughts of their minde their counselles their works and endeudurs vnto the happinesse to come And if it were possible they would make the place of their exile and banishment their Countrey and inheritance But in vaine they desire this for death commeth and playeth the last Pageant shutting and finishing the life of all calamities CHAP. II. Concerning Death and the meditation thereof THe errors of al men for the most part take their originall froÌ„ hence that they forget the end of their life which they ought to haue alway before their eyes For here-hence commeth Pride Ambition too much carefulnesse for the body hereof also come these Towers which we build vpon the sand For if we did consider what wée should be after a few dayes our maner of liuing would be parrduenture more humble and temperate For who would haue a high looke and proud stomacke if hée would with the eyes of his mind behold what manner of one shortly after hee shall bée in his graue Who would then worship his belly for a God when he wayeth with himselfe that the same must in a short time be wormes meat Who would be so in loue with money that he would run like a mad man by sea land as it were through water and fire if he vnderstood that he must leaue all behinde him sauing his winding shéete If this were thought vpon all our errors would soone be corrected 2 The word of God telleth vs in many places of this vanitie to the ende we might the more earnestly séeke a better course and more happy life The Prophet desireth of God Psal 90. that he may learn to number his â—aies to the end he may applie his heart vnto wisdome For vnlesse wée thinke vpon death we cannot applie and fashion our selues to a godly life Yea we finde daily in our selues by experience that the forgetfulnes of death makes vs applie our heartes to follie and all kinde of vanity The holy men of olde time were wont in such wise to kéepe an account of their dayes that aboue all things they might apply their hearts to wisedome Of all Arithmeticall Rules this is the hardest to number our dayes Men can number their heardes and droues of oxen and of shéepe they can account the reuenues of theyr manners farmes they can with a little paines number and tell their coyne and yet they are perswaded that their dayes are infinite and innumerable and therefore doo neuer begin to number them Who saith not vpon the viewe of another surely yonder man looketh by his countenance as if he would not liue long or yonder woman is olde her dayes cannot be many Thus we can number other mens dayes and yéeres and vtterly forget our owne Therefore this is the true wisedome of mortall men to number theyr owne dayes and like skilfull Geometricians to measure all theyr actions all their studies all theyr cares all their thoughtes all theyr desires and all theyr counsells by their departure out of this life as by the end whereto they are referred as it were by a certaine rule and thereunto to direct all things and so to finish the course of our life which God hath giuen vnto vs that at the last we may come to the happy hauen of rest 3 The case standing thus we cannot nor ought not to doubt but that the diuell a most cruell enemy of mankind laboreth all that he can to take away from vs the most wholesome remembrance of death which by most euident demonstrations setteth before our eyes the breuity of our life the miserie of our flesh the deceits of the world the vanity of things present and whereunto all humane beauty and the vniuersall glory of the world shall come at the last For otherwise how could it be that we should at any time forget a thing so fearefull which by no manner of meanes we can shunne and auoid 4 If a light suspition of some losse eyther of our goods or of honour doth preuaile so greatly with vs that many times it taketh from vs our sléepe what might the meditation of most assured death doe which is more terrible then all other terrors beside 5 Wherefore as they which in open games of actiuitie as of shooting and wrestling and such like doe long before the day come thinke vpon the same and doe exercise their hand bow spending and consuming many arrowes at the marke that in the day of trial â—or the best game they may shoot néerest the marke and as Fencers which are to play their prizes of triall doe daily try their strength and exercise their weapons bending their whole minde how they may best foyle their enemies that when the day commeth they may haue honour and triumph Euen so ought we to do for whom a greater reward without all comparison is set if wée die wel and if otherwise it come to passe wee shall be punished with vnspeakeable shame and reproach 6 And this our meditation of death shal be handled in no other order then the same which our death and departure from this life bringeth with it For as they which are to runne a race do oftentimes lead their horses vp and downe the running place that they may sée be acquainted with all the stones vneuen places and other impedimentes in the same that when the day commeth they may finish the race without stay or stop Euen so wée which whether wée will or no must measure and pace the race of death shal doe very well if now in our mind and memorie we frame this race and doe diligently consider all those things which are in the same especially séeing the way is most obscure and ful of sundry impediments and is so perillous that there are very fewe which finish the same happily They which slip and stumble in it shal neuer more find any hope of saluation 7 Therefore that we may begin there where this most bloody battell hath his originall wee ought diligentlie to consider the same namely that then death doth especially come when men doe least thinke of it Herevpon the Apostle Paul salth The day of the Lorde shall come as a theefe in the night And in the Apocalips Beholde I come as a theefe And théeues haue this propertie that they breake vp houses to steale when men are most fast asléepe and when they least suspect any such thing 8 Hereupon also the Prophet Amos hath these words In that day will I cause the sun to goe downe at noone
Amos. 8. and I will darken the earth in the cleere day That is to say when men thinke it to bée the high noone of their age when they thinke that they haue yet many yéeres to liue when their minde is occupied about their gaine about theyr affaires about their honors buildings mariages and pleasures when they say vnto their soule Soule thou hast much goods laid vp in store for thée for many yeeres eate drink rest and be merrie then it shall suddenly be saide vnto them Behold death is at the doore thou foole this night shall thy life be taken away from thee Eccl. 41. and whose are then those things which thou hast gotten 9 Then death vnlooked for frustrateth all our counsels cutting off the webs of our deuises and with on stroke she casteth down and layeth flatte on the ground al those Towers builded in the ayer and then what a wound doeth the heart of the sinner receiue which loueth this present life when the Physitian saith vnto him Thou must from hēceforth thinke no more of life but of death 10 Here first of all all those things which he loued in time past offer themselues vnto him from the which he shal be pulled away and seperated by death whether he wil or no. The body shal dye once but the heart shal dye so often as the things be in number which he loued Then in very déede shal the most cléere light be turned into darkenesse because those things which were aforetime occasions of great ioy shal be now horrible vexations and torments It is a most swéete and pleasant thing to them which liue to sée their louing and faithful friendes to remember their honors to think vpon the pleasures past and to come But all these things in the time of death shal be as swords as torments and most bitter potions 11 But if it be so harde a matter to bée pulled away from those things which do not so néerely touch man how bitter I pray you will the seperation bée of the body from the life and soule For such two louing familiars which haue alwaies liued sweetly together euen from the mothers wombe cannot be seperated without great gréef If the Oxe do commonly lowe mourn when his yoke-fellow which was wont to draw with him is taken away how will euery one of vs mourn when the minde shal be seperated from the body Then wil the body and the mind with teares repeate againe and againe doest thou thus seperate bitter death O death dost thou thus seperate 12 And when the cogitation of so sharp a seperation is déeply setled in our mind then gréefes follow gréefes and sorrow commeth vpon sorrow for then it commeth presently into the minde what a miserable condition the body and soule shal be in after the seperation And first of all when a man beginneth to recount with himselfe that his body after a fewe houres shall be buried in a graue or dark tombe he cannot cease from wondring at so abiect and miserable a condition What the body that now liueth which seeth which heareth whith speaketh shal it be made after one houre in a moment blinde deaffe dumbe without sense without spirit without life Shal I haue then in stead of a large pallace a base sepulchre in stead of a soft bed the hard ground for delights rottennesse for swéete smelles stinkes and in stead of seruants and familiar fréends wormes And thus this cogitation of the graue will verie sore trouble and terrifle a man in these extremities 13 But yet notwithstanding euery man feareth much more when he beginneth to consider what condition remaineth for the soule For when he beholdeth that eternity and that new Region vnknown to all men liuing which hée then alone and naked is to enter and againe when he vnderstandeth that there is to be founde in the same both euerlasting glorie and perpetual paine and misery and knoweth not of which hée shal take his part it cannot bée tolde with how great feare with what carefulnes and with what excéeding sorrow he shal be tormented When hée perceiueth plainly that after two houres he shaibe either in eternal ioyes or in euerlasting paines Is not this a crosse farre surpassing all other crosses 14 This incertainty therefore of blisse or of a cursed estate which after two houres the sinner expecteth that remembreth his sinnes feareth the iust iudgement of God without hope of remission or faith in Christ bringeth a hell in minde not to be expressed For by how much the kingdome which hée desireth is of largenes and by how much the fierie furnace which he feareth is terrible by so much greater shal this perturbation be For from the one Angels shal come to carie the faithful vp into heauen and from the other diuels shal come to cary the wicked and infidels into hell fire 15 But there is yet a farre greater perturbation then this namely that he shal cal to mind the account which he is to make to God of all his words déedes and thoughts For of it selfe it is a horrible thing to enter into iudgement with God the which horror wil wonderfully vexe and disquiet the diuels themselues For as so long as we liue they set forth vnto vs the mercie of God and doe also commend the same and do striue all that they can to keepe vs from meditating of his iustice and iudgements Euen so now on the contrary part they extenuate and make his mercy insufficient and doe set before our eies the greatnesse and seuerity of the Lords Iustice 16 Then the sinner wil begin to tremble and to fall into desperation and wil begin to reason thus with himselfe If God for the sinnes of others spared not his onely sonne wil he spare me which am guiltie of so many sinnes If this be done in the greene tree what shal befal that which is feare and drie If the Prophets if the Apostles if the Martyres after they liued godly so many yeares entred not into the kingdome of heauen without tribulations what other place can be left for me but that of hell fire which know no good that I haue done 17 If the Scripture be true which saith He wil render to euery man according to his works I which haue done so great wickednesses what should I looke for but eternal torments If the Apostle lye not as indéede he doth not when he saith That which a man soweth that shall hee reape Gal. 6. what shal hée reape but eternall death which hath made so cursed sowing If no polluted thing shal enter into the kingdome of God how shal I which am altogether filthy and vncleane haue hope to make so happie and blessed an entrance 18 Then therefore all his sinnes which he committed with so great facility when hée liued shal violently inuade the sinful man like an hoast of his enemies Then the feare of punishment wil open the eyes which sléeping securitie in sinne before had