we leade a sanctified life for such honour and happinesse haue all his Saints SECT 3. The third steppe into heauen at the day of iudgement namely The comfortable and honorable sentence of acquiting Come you blessed of my Father THe Lord by his Euangelicall Prophet did in times past make this gracious promise concerning his forlorne desolate Church In an acceptable time haue I heard thee Esa 49 8. in the day of saluation haue I helped thee And Saint Paule making the time of promulgation of the Gospell the period of his promise addeth by the way of exemplification 2. Cor. 6.2 Behold now the accepted time behold the day of saluation If the Apostle spake thus of the time wherein saluation was published and offered how much more may it bee said of the day wherein saluation is giuen and receiued Behold the day of saluation euen now behold it when the Sauiour of the world is become the Iudge of the world and shall pronounce the comfortable sentence of mercie and absolution Come yee blessed of my Father Mat. 25.34 possesse the kingdome prepared for you from the beginning of the world In which sentence euery word hath his woorth and weight and deserues to be ingraued in letters of gold Come saith Christ there is a blessed vocation ye blessed of my Father a gracious appellation possâ—sse the kingdome a happie exaltation prepared for you from the beginning of the world the foundation of all consolation It is worthie the obseruation that all Christs words are words of consolation his deedes are deedes of compassion and his workes the workes of propitiation Thus is Christ alwaies lâ—ke himselfe exceeding compassionate In the time of his life hee cryes Come vnto me all you that labour and are heauie laden Mat. 11.28 and I will refresh you Ioh. 7.37 If any man thirst let him come to me and drinke At his death vpon the crosse his armes are stretched out and his bloud gusheth forth as if he should say Come that I may wash thee come that I may embrace thee At the day of iudgement he cals Come ye blessed of my Father receiue the kingdome prepared for you And this Come is most comfortable of all others being such a word as Salomon speakes of Like apples of gold Prou. 25.11 with pictures of siluer euen as precious and pleasant as possibly may be Come yea but who You blessed of my father There are sundry kinds of blessings mentioned in the word of God Psal 5. Thou Lord wilt blesse the righteous and with fauour wilt crowne him as with a shield there is the blessing of protection The Lord blessed the house of O bed Edom 1. Ch. 13.14 and all that hee had there is the blessing of prosperitie Psa 128.3 Thy children shall bee like the Oliue plants round about thy table there is the blessing of procreatioÌ„ Thou crownest the yeare with thy goodnesse Psal 65.11 and thy steppes droppe fatnesse there is the blessing of plentie Euen in these and such like are the godlâ— often blessed but the Blessing of blessings is that which is here mentioned Come you blessed Mat. 25.34 receiue the kingdome And this blessednesse is both obtained by Christ and pronounced by him Isaiah 65.8 Destroy not my Vine saith the Lord and why for a blessing is in it Receiue the kingdome saith our Sauiour why because you are the blessed of my Father Happie are the people that are in such a case yea happie and thrise happie are they who are the blessed of the Lord. Our Sauiour somtimes promiseth the kingdome of God Luk. 12. Feare not little flocke it is your Fathers will to giue you a kingdome Sometimes hee exhorteth men to seeke the kingdome of God Mat. 6. First seeke the kingdome of God and the righteousnesse thereof and his promise is comfortable his exhortation profitable But behold here hee takes men by the hand and bids them come and take possession of the kingdome which is much more comfortable because fruition farre exceedeth expectation That was a gladsome speech of Christ to the penitent thiefe Luk. 23.43 This day shalt thou bee with me in Paradise but this is farre more gladsom when Christ shall say Come and possesse it and so shall presently take both soule and bodie into his eternall kingdome If Dauid said Psa 1.122 I was glad when they said vnto me We will go into the house of the Lord how ioyfull and glad shall the children of God be wheÌ„ Christ shall say vnto them Come you blessed of my Father into the house of God euen the kingdome of heauen This was Gods bountifull goodnesse to Adam that before he was created the Lord had prouided abundantly for him and furnished most exquisitly as it were for a great guest the tables both of heauen the earth and the sea with all things necessarie for his vse and delight But behold here a greater mercie of the Lord towards the elect that altogether without their merite not onely before they were borne but euen before the foundations of the world were laid the Lord hath prepared a blessed and glorious kingdome for theÌ„ And this is the elects happinesse that at the last day when these foundations of heauen and earth shall bee shaken Christ will call them most graciously to possesse the kingdome which cannot be shaken Heb. 12. Wee reade in the first of Luke Luk. 1.44 that Elizabeth wondered at the blessed Virgins visiting of her and said that so soone as the voice of her salutation sounded in her eares the babe in her wombe did leape for ioy Shall not our Sauiours sentence bee more admirable then the Virgins salutation and as soone as it sounds in the eares of the elect shall it not cause the hearts in their bellies euen to leape for ioy Seeing now that the condition of the godly is so happie that they shall bee partakers of this thrise happie sentence let euery ones care and carriage bee such that he may enioy the comfort thereof For as they onely are the sheepe of Christ which heare his voice in the ministerie of his holy word Ioh. 10.27 and follow him in the steppes of righteousnesse so shall they onely be the sheepe on his right hand they onely shall heare him say vnto them Come you blessed of my Father and follow him into his kingdome Mat. 25.33 To those that haue fedde him being hungrie clothed him being naked and visited him being sicke and in prison to those that haue sanctified his Sabboths honoured his name embraced his word and dealt vprightly with their neighbours to them I say doth this blessing belong Let no man then bee ouercome with Dauids infirmitie to say I haue cleansed my heart in vaine and washed my hands in innocencie For the Apostles words shall euer bee found true Your worke shall not bee in vaine in the Lord. 1. Co. 15.58 And behold here
law and feare you that So the end vse of all this is that the maiestie of Christ in his appearing and strictnesse in iudging might possesse our hearts with dread and cause vs to finish our saluatiō with feare and trembling This lesson Saint Paule teacheth 2. Cor. 5.10 We must all appeare before the iudgement seate of Christ c. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 notes an exceeding great feare Knowing therefore the terror of the Lord we perswade men And surely if men did consider that their works must all come to iudgement before such a strict and glorious Iudge it would make them tremble and stay them from those sinnes into the which they runne without feare What theefe is so desperate that being sure he cannnot escape the Iudges hands would yet continue his stealing Lo thou whosoeuer thou art canst not possibly auoide the appearing before Christ the dreadfull Iudge shall not the cogitation of this reclaime thy heart from wicked motions and thy life from vngodly actions But will Christ call euery man to an accompt for his body his soule his temporall benefites and spirituall blessings the spending of his time and conuersation in his calling for his sinnes of cōmission and omission Oh good God what an Audit haue many to make for their manifold impieties and mōstrous profanenesse for consuming the talents of grace and treasuring nothing but wrath against the day of wrath Rom. 2.5 and of the declaration of the iust iudgement of God Whē Ioseph said to his brethren Gen. 45.3 I am Ioseph your brother whom you sold into Aegypt his brethren could not answer him for they were astonied at his presence When our Sauiour shall shew that blessed head that was crowned with thornes those holy hands that were pierced with nailes that gracious side that was thrust thorough with the speare and say Behold I am be whom your sinnes caused to bee crucified and sold into the hands of Pontius Pilate and the malitious Iewes shall not the vngodly be vnable to answer him for astonishment like Iosephs brethren and bee speechlesse like the man that wanted a wedding garment Mat. 22. Then would the kings of the earth Reu. 6.15 and the great men and the rich men and the chiefe Captaines and the mightie men and euery bondman and euery freeman hide themselues in the dennes and rockes of the mountaines and say to the rockes and hils Fal on vs hide vs from the presence of him that sitteth on the throne and from the wrath of the Lambe but alas it will not be Seeing then that all things must be thus dissolued and the comming of Christ is so dreadful both for the end and manner of his appearing 2. Pet. 3.10 what manner of men ought we to be in holy conuersation and godlinesse If a man had some matter of waight wherein his whole estate were to be tried before an earthly Iudge how carefull would he be to consider his cause sollicite his Aduocate and get the fauour of the Iudge Behold at this time all lyes a bleeding euen our soules and bodies more deare vnto vs thē the whole world yea then tenne thousand worlds what care and industrie should we vse whilest there is time to examine our estate sollicite Christ Iesus our Aduocate and Iudge that we may be deliuered from the feare of conuiction in that great and dreadfull day of iudgement I will therefore conclude this meditation with our Sauiours exhortation Luk 21.36 Watch and pray continually that you may be counted worthie to escape all these things that shall come to passe and that ye may stand before the sonne of man when he commeth thus gloriously to iudgement SECT 3. The third steppe of the wicked into hell at the day of iudgement namely their exceeding astonishment vpon the sentence of condēnation THus haue we brought the vngodly man to the barre where being accused by the heauens and the earth with all the creatures therein conuicted by a iury impanelled of heauenly and earthly inhabitants the elect Angels and blessed Saints and hauing his conscience crying Guiltie in stead of a thousand witnesses what can be expected at the hands of a most iust Iudge in the day of vengeance but the sentence of condemnation and what that is out Sauiour himselfe hath shewed M◠25.24 Depart from me ye cursed into euerlasting fire prepared for the Diuell and his Angels Few words but full of bitternesse Depart from me those are words of separation you cursed words of obiurgation into euerlasting fire words of desolation prepared for the diuell and his angels a dolefull exemplification There are two reasons why these wordes should yeeld astonishment First because they are intollerable secondly because they are irreuocable Amos. 3.8 The Lyon hath roared who will not be affraid saith the Prophet but behold this thundering foorth the sentence of condemnation is a thousand times more fearefull When Baltazar in the midst of all his tolitie saw the fingers of a hand writing vpon the wall of his pallace Dan. 5.6 Thou art waighed in the ballance and art found too light thy kingdome is giuen to the Medes and Persians his countenance was chaunged his thoughts troubled him so that the ioyntes of his loynes were loosed and his knees smote one against another If the Lords temporall decree had this effect in Baltazar euen before he vnderstood the writing how shall this sentence of eternall death whereby the wicked are separated from the kingdome of heauen astonish those vpon whom it shall be pronounced Behold 1. Sam. 3.11 saith the Lord I will do a thing in Israel whereof whosoeuer heareth his eares shall tingle Shall the eares of men tingle which heare of the iudgment brought vpon Elies house onely and shall they not glow when they heare this dreadfull iudgement passed vpon so many millions of sinfull soules when that shall be fulfilled Ezek 5.8 I will execute iudgement in the sight of the nations so that those which heare it shall say Lo this is the man that neither regarded the Lords promises nor trembled at his threatnings and see now how hee quaketh at his iudgments When the Lord had deliuered the law in his dreadfull voice the Israelites desired Exod. 20.19 he would speake no more to them lest they shold dye so would the vngodly faine haue Christ be silent now Psal 2. but he will speak to them in his wrath and vexe them in his sore displeasure he will send foorth his glorious voice which shall make the Cedars of Libanus to shake the same shall be a sword piercing the hearts of all wretched miscreants We reade that the band of men and officers that came to apprehend Christ in the garden of Gethsemane were striken downe with the power of his words saying onely Ioh. 18.6 I am he how then shall they be striken dead thinke you which appearing before his dreadfull throne shall heare him vtter
comparison that Saint Iohn vseth in describing the ioyes of the kingdome of heauen calling them the Lambes supper Reu. 19 9. but indeed all the delicates in the world are not to be compared to the feasting of a good conscience This the Spouse sheweth in the second of the Canticles Can. 2.5 He brought me into his wineseller Loue was his banner ouer me Lo here the Ambrosian Nectar wherewith Christ Iesus maketh the heart of his spouse glad causing her to cry out Stay me with flagons Ver. 6. and comfort me with apples for I am sicke with loue where the sacred soule is cast into a holy swound being rauished with the vnspeakeable comfort that she enioyes vpon this peace of conscience Indeed these heauenly ioyes and comforts are not tasted of the wicked for how can they see that haue no eyes or those rellish the peace of coÌ„science which want their spirituall tast Yea who is able to expresse the excellencie of this peace nay who is able to conceiue it but those that enioy it Neither indeed are they able for it passeth all vnderstanding Phil. 4.7 In respect of which large excelleÌ„cie of the peace of conscience it may very wel be counted a part of the kingdome of heauen whose ioyes are endlesse and infinite If we consider the fountains also from whence this spirituall peace doth spring wee shall perceiue that our present comfort vpon earth and future consolation to be enioyed hereafter in heauen do both arise and flow from the same heads and fall into the same Ocean of felicitie 1 A iustifying faith yeelds this peace Rom. 5.2 for being iustified by faith wee haue peace towards God through our Lord Iesus Christ And this peace yeelds ioy as it followeth in the next verse and that no small ioy for they that doe truely beleeue in Christ Iesus 1. Pet. 1.8 doe reioyce with ioy vnspeakeable and glorious What could the Apostle haue said more of the ioy which the Saints shall enioy hereafter in the kingdome of heauen then to call it Vnspeakable glorious no maruell for as the first sight of the blind man wherby he saw men walke like trees Mar. 8.28 was the same whereby he saw them to be men a far off though it was at the first more confused so the inchoate ioy and peace of coÌ„science which wee obtaine in this life being vnspeakeable glorious and passing all vnderstanding hath more then a resemblance of that celestiall glorie which shall be imparted more abundantly and perfectly in the life to come 2 The children of God are endued with the spirit of God whereby they receiue the comfortable testimonie of their adoption Rom. 8. the same manumitting spirit doth also yeeld them most heauenly consolation Ioh. 14.16 3. This peace of conscience is the fruite of a holy conuersation as I said before and the Apostle can tell vs of his owne experience for his reioycing is this 2. Cor. 1.12 the testimonie of his conscience that in simplicitie and godly purenesse he hath had his conuersation in the world Besides this there is also an vndoubted Hope which being the first fruites of the spirit doth after a sort put the children of God in possession of the kingdome of heauen So that wheÌ„ they do from the watch tower of a good conscience lift vp this Iacobs staffe or rather this Iacobs ladder Gen. 28.12 of a stedfast hope vnto the heauens and there behold with holy Stephen the glory of God Act. 7. it rauisheth and reioyceth their hearts more then any tongue is able to expresse Thus do the godly in this life tast of the ioyes of heauen the sweetnesse whereof is such that it swalloweth vp all the waues of temporall distresses causing them with Paule and Silas to sing Psalmes in the prison and to say with Dauid Act. 16.25 Psa 94.19 In the middest of all my troubles thy comforts ô Lord haue refreshed my soule Which maruellous effect this peace of conscience could neuer haue in encountering and conquering these infinite earthly calamities were it not of a diuine and heauenly Nature But what haue all the children of God this peace and comfort alike Surely no but according to Zeba Zalmunnaes words As the man is Iud. 8.21 so is his strength it may be said in this case as the man is so is his comfort and ioy For where the life is qualified with a great measure of grace there the heart is replenished with a great measure of ioy Neither are these ioyes alwaies participated alike but as the heauens are sometime bright and sometime obscured so the Sunne of comfort shineth sometimes more brightly sometimes obscurely in the hearts of Gods children So that one while they complaine thus Psal 77. Will the Lord absent himselfe for euer and will hee shew no more fauour and other whiles Psal 35.9 their soule is ioyfull in the Lord and all their bones do say Who is like vnto thee ô Lord yet euen in their greatest distresse Dulciores sunt lachrymae orantâ—uÌ„ quà m gaudia Theatrorum Aug. super Psal 1â—7 the very teares of the godly are sweeter then all the showtes laughters at the Theaters This being the excellencie of the peace of conscience let it be thy care good Christian to obtaine and maintaine it A kinde and comfortable friend is much woorth but who can prize the peace of a quiet conscience Lo it was the best hymne the blessed Angels could sing Luk. 2.14 Glorie be to God in the highest heauens and peace on the earth The best Legacie our Sauiour could leaue to his seruants My peace I leaue with you Iohn 14.27 my peace I giue you The best prayer the Apostle could make for the Thessalonians Now the Lord of peace 2. Thes 3.16 giue you peace alwaies by all means Though there be many that say Psal 4. Who will shew vs any good and haue their minds wholy set vpon their corne their wine and oyle yet the godly haue more true gladnesse from the Lords countenance by a thousand degrees then the worldling hath in all these transitorie trifles Hast thou a good conscience then cherish it it is the greatest blessing vnder heauen Is this peace and comfort of conscience wanting or weake in thee then vse the meanes whereby the same is procured and preserued Labour to obtaine a sound faith a sanctified life Esa 32.17 for the worke of righteousnesse is peace Melchizedec being king of righteousnesse Heb. 7.2 was after that the king of peace get righteousnesse and peace will follow it Psal 85.11 For righteousnesse and peace will kisse each other yea the more thou art conuersant in holinesse of conuersation the more abundant shalt thou be in the comfortable peace of conscience For where righteousnesse flourisheth Psal 72.7 there shall be abundance of peace Behold it will be thy companion both
As bodies that haue fewest bad humors are least shaken with agues so those that are freest from sinne though death assault them bitterly are least annoyed by the pains and terror of death Our Sauiour saith Ioh. 16.33 Be of good cheare I haue ouercome the world and I may say Bee of good cheare 2 Cor. 15.16 for Christ hath ouercome death 2 This may be an occasion to mitigate that extreme sorrow which many take vppon the death of their godly friends seeing their death yeeldeth rather cause of coÌ„fort then of sorrow of mirth then of mourning and of reioycing rather then of weeping and lamenting If you loued me you would reioyce saith our Sauiour to his disciples because I said Ioh. 14.28 I goe to the Father so those that loue their friends indeed haue cause to reioyce rather then to mourne for their death because they go to be glorified with their heauenly Father The little child that sees the mother cutting and bruising the sweet and pleasant hearbes and flowers is sorie because hee thinkes they are spoiled but the mother hath a purpose to preserue theÌ„ whereby they are made much better A simple bodie that should see the Gold-smith melting the pure mettals would bee discontent imagining that all were marred whereas the skilfull workeman hath a purpose to cast some excellent peece of plate thereof So wee silly men when the Lord cuts off some of our friends by death like the flower and lets others wither like the greene hearbe and when he melteth them in the fornace of the graue are ouercome with sorrowfull conceipts as though some euill thing were befallen our friendes whereas we should remember that the Lord hath a purpose by this meanes to preserue them and to transforme them into that glorious estate which the Angels enioy in heauen And this reason is first intimated and after plainely expressed by Saint Paule in his dehortation to the Thessalonians I would not brethren haue you ignorant concerning them which are asleepe 1. Thes 4.13 that you sorrow not as others which haue no hope Who would be sorrie to see his friend fall asleepe seeing that thereby he is made lightsome fresh and lustie Now death is to the godly nothing but a sleepe whereby they are refined and refreshed why should we then be offended therewith If thy friend which dieth bee wicked then hast thou iust cause of mourning but if thou knewest him to liue and die in the feare of God howsoeuer nature or affection may haue force to wring teares from thine eyes or sighes from thy heart yet hast thou reason to reioyce and be glad for his happie change as Augustine his example may teach Aug confe lib. 9. v. who bridled the infirmitie of Nature and suppressed his teares at his mothers death though he honoured and loued her dearely thinking it an vnfit thing to celebrate her funerals with weeping and wailing because she had liued religiously and died vertuously 3 To conclude this point me thinkes if there were no farther reason to perswade yet euen this meditation might mooue any one to the practise of godlinesse in that it yeeldeth this heauenly peace of conscience in the time of our life and eternall consolation at the day of our death Oh what a sweete comfort will it be to thee my Christian brother when friends honour wealth dignities and all other comfortes in the world become vaine and faile thee to haue the ioyfull peace of conscience to rest with thee When thou shalt bee able recounting thy sincere care in Gods seruice to pray with good Nehemiah Neh. 13.22 Remember me ô my God concerning this to say with godly Hezechiah vpon his death bed 2. King 20.3 I beseech thee ô Lord remember now how I haue walked before thee in truth and with a perfect hart and haue done that which is good in thy sight and with our blessed Sauiour before his passion Ioh. 17.4 Father I haue glorified thee on earth I haue finished the worke which thou gauest me to doe For then shall the vprght câ—nscience eccho a comfort to thy humble soule and either the Lord wil enlarge the lease of thy life with Hâ—zechiah or glorifie thee in the heauens with his beloued Sonne CHAP. 2. SECT 1. The first steppe into heauen at the day of iudgement namely A blessed Resurrection IF the godly in this life and at the day of their death haue a tast of those heauenly ioyes which cannot be expressed how much more shall they haue in the resurrection when body and soule shall both be reunited and indued with a blessed condition Therefore do the Scriptures describe the excellencie of the resurrection by sundry comfortable metaphors Ioh. 12. 1. Cor 15. Saint Paule compares it to the husbandmans haruest when reaping and receiuing the fruites of his labours his heart reioyceth and so shall it be to the godly for they which sowe in teares at the day of death shall reape in ioy at their resurrection Pro. 19.17 2. Salomon saith hee which hath pittie on the poore lendeth to the Lord and looke what he layeth out it shall bee payed him againe Now men that haue great debts desire earnestly the day of payment and behold our Sauiour calleth the day of resurrection Luk. 14.14 The day of payment because then hee hauing his reward with him Reu. 22.12 will come foorth of euerie ones debt and reward their goodâ—esse with glorie 3. Those that labor must needes haue a time to rest in that so they may be refreshed Our life is nothing but labour our death a sleepe and therefore the Apostle fitly calles the resurâ—ection Act. 3.19 Thâ— time of refreshing being as the gladsome morning to a siâ—ke man Psal 49.14 15. which hath tossed and turned vp and downe wearily all the night long The bird that hath bene kept a great while in a cage will chaunt it merrily when shee commeth foorth into the open aire the prisoner that hath lyen loÌ„g in the duÌ„geon reâ—oyceth exceedingly when he hath obtained libertie so shall the resurrection be ioyfull and comfortable to the godly when they are deliuered from the cage and prison of the graue and restored into the glorious libertie of the sonnes of God Rom. 8.21 There is nothing that doth better râ—semble set foorth the excellencie of the Resurrection then the spring time for as we flourish in our childhood bring foorth fruite in our youth waxe ripe in our old age and wither at our death so wee spring fresh againe at our resurrection The trees in winter being despoiled of their leaues the garden of the flowers and the fields of the grasse do seeme vtterly to perish but when the Spring time comes they all waxe as fresh and flourishing as euer they were so the body which during the winter of many ages is depriued of her beautie and turned to rottennesse doth at the Spring time of the resurrection
grace and eclipses of godlinesse but when prosperitie hath filled and furnished them with the abundance of temporal blessings De verb Domini Ser. 13 in fine So that Augustines saying is true It is a point of great valour to contend with felicitie and great happinesse not to be ouercome of prosperitie Now if prosperitie worke not this preiudice yet will she be flâ—tting and flying away before a man can imagine and is therefore fitly compared to the sea which euen now is calme but by and by rough and tempestuous with mighty waues and billowes Ionas when hee is flying from the Lord and flinching in his businesse goeth downe to Iapho finds a shippe readie to go to Tharshish payeth the fare and goeth downe into the shippe hitherto Ionas had prosperous successe and all things fell out to his mind But it was not long before the Lords Pursiuant a mightie wind arrested him and caused him to be arraigned and condemned by the Lords verdite in the silent lots and to be cast into the sea by his owne sentence so fareth it with many which for a while haue good successe in their affaires and sayle pleasantly in the voyage of this life but ere long aduersitie layeth hold vpon them and casteth them into the surging seas of infinite calamities The corne that is too ranke is soone lodged the boughes of a tree being ouerloden are quickly broken and the ship ouerballanced is quickly drowned so the prosperous estate is very much subiect to ruine and subuersion When Dauid saw the prosperitie of the wicked hee wondered at it Psal 73 1â— 18. but at last hee learnes in the Lords sanctuarie that they are set in slippery places they stand as it were vpon ice which yeeldeth no sure footing What madnesse then is it for any man to waxe insolent because the world laughes vpon him considering that shee is readie so quickly to turne her countenance and to change her fauours into frownes When thou seest a man running speedily vpon an high and daungerous rocke doest thou not rather pittie him then thinke him happie Such furely is the case of that man whom prosperitie hath aduanced exceeding daungerous If therefore it hath pleased the Almightie to prosper thy wayes be not high minded but feare The warie mariner that saileth safely in calme windes will haue all things ready against a tempest so should the discreete Christian in the time of prosperitie prepare the shield of patience against the day of aduersitie and remember Greg. Mor. lib. 5. cap. 1. initio that holy men as one saith when they flourish and prosper are touched with a godly iealousie lest they should receiue all the fruites of their labours here in this world Almost euery man will pray hard in the day of aduersitie but thou hadst neede to double thy prayers in the time of prosperitie for by it do most men fall But happie is that man whose prosperitie is a spurre to pietie SECT 3. Of riches ALthough the earth which denieth not to men things needefull Sen. de Benefic lib. 7. cap. 10. hath hidden from them riches because they are hurtful and though Nature hath so subiected gold and siluer that man should trample them vnder his feete and hath giuen him a countenance erected to heauen that hee should not cast his eies vpon these base things but lift them vp to better yet such is the corrupt condition of mankind that he moiles and toyles in digging and deluing this hurtfull gold and siluer and peruerting the course both of nature and grace fixeth his eyes and his heart vpon riches and trampleth vnder the feete of a base estimation those celestiall things which hee should hold most deare and precious Are there not some like the Emperor Caligula Sueton. in vita Calig cap. 42. who was so delighted to touch and handle money that laying great heapes of gold in a spacious place he would tread on it barefooted and sometimes tumble himselfe in it Sure I am if none imitate him in that ridiculous practise that there are many that thirst after it as greedily scrape it together as eagerly and locke it vp as carefully as may be But if a man would behold the vncertaintie the insufficiencie or the miserie depending vpon riches hee could not chuse being not extreamely besotted with them but contemne and condemne the same as meere vanities 1 Wilt thou cast thine eyes vpon that which is nothing saith Salomon Prou. 23.5 for riches betaketh her selfe to her wings like an Eagle which flyeth away very strongly and therfore the forme of money agreeth well with the condition of it Aug. in Psa 83. for it is stamped round because it is so apt to runne from a man How many thousand examples may histories and experience affoord of men exceeding rich brought to extreame pouertie yea and that fometimes very speedily And therefore might the Apostle very fitly call them vncertaine riches â— Tim. 6.17 For as in a wheele the spoke that now is vpward Chrys Ser. de curahab prox is by and by downward so commeth it to passe that he which is now rich doth shortly become poore Fire theeues warres and infinite causes there are of consuming riches and impouerishing their possessors though they had euen millions mountaines of gold But suppose that contrarie to their nature they stay by a man yet cannot he stay by them but must leaue them in spite of his teeth as the Psalmist saith Psal 49.17 The rich man shall take away nothing when he dyeth neither shall his pompe follow after him Thus death makes a violent diuorce betweene the rich man and his goods when it is said vnto him Thou foole Luk. 12.20 this night shal they take away thy soule The rich man sleepes saith Iob very elegantly and when he openeth his eyes there is nothing Iob. 27.19 It fares with a rich man at his death as it doth with a sleeping man when hee wakes out of his dreame A man that dreames of the finding or fruition of some rich bootie is wonderfull glad yet when hee awaketh hee findeth nothing but seeth it was onely a dreame and he is sorie so the rich man seemed in the time of his life to haue somewhat but at the day of his death all vanisheth like the Idea of a dream and it vexeth him Eccles 5.15 This is an euill sicknesse saith Salomon that a man must returne naked as he came and it is an ordinarie sicknesse not to be cured by all the physicke in the world When the Preacher hath shewed the vanitie of riches because they vanish thus he offereth this point to our consideration And what profite hath the rich man that he hath laboured for the wind Would you not thinke him a foole or a mad man that should go about to hold the wind and such doth Salomon note to be the folly and madnesse of him which labours and indeuors to hold his wealth 2
committed to him against that day being warie in keeping and faithfull in restoring whereas those that depend vpon the applause and opinion of other men are made sometimes great sometimes little Ber. Ser. de nat Io. Bap ferè initio Arist eth li. 5. cap. 5. and sometimes nothing at all and this caused the Philosopher to discard Honour from being Felicitie 1 This is one bad propertie of worldy honour to puffe vp to inflame those that are held in reputation being a notable and daungerous firebrand of pride foorth of which there ariseth a smokie vapour that will scarcely suffer a man to know himselfe For as when Bucephalus was without his furniture any man might ride him but being in his caparison he would suffer no man but Alexander to come on his backe so many there are which in their meane estate were mild but being aduaunced became loftie and imperious When Samuel first spake to Saul of his promoting to the kingdome he speakes basely of himselfe 1. Sam. 9.21 thus Am not I the sonne of Gemini of the smallest Tribe Diuerse of the Caesars at their first entring vpon the Empire saluted their followers with the terme of Fellow souldiers Commilitones Sueton. but ere long both Saul and the Caesars became verie haughtie WheÌ„ Herod was applauded by those flatteâ—ers which cryed at the hearing of his oration The voyce of God Act. 12.12 it lifted vp his heart with a daungerous vaine-glorie that cost him his life What effusion of bloud did the coÌ„tention for honour cause in the broiles betweene Caesar and Pompey And how many lost their liues about the like in the warres betweene the houses of Lancaster and Yorke in our land Yea did not the iealousie of this vain honour moue Herod to murther the infants Euseb lib. 1 cap. 9. Macrob. Saturn lib. 2. cap. 4. not sparing his owne child as the Historians do write that hee might haue slaine our Sauiour 2 As honour inflameth the owner with pride so it kindleth enuie in others For as whilest the doue playeth herselfe in her flying and taketh pleasure in her swiftnesse of wing the hauke seizeth vpon her so whilest men doe content and please themselues with worldly honour enuie which alwaies waiteth vpon honour layeth hold vpon them and many times fetcheth them downe Hee therefore spake truely who called obscuritie the mother of tranquillitie but fame and honour the foundation of danger Dan. 6.3.4 When Daniel was preferred aboue the other rulers and gouernours of Darius those rulers and gouernours sought an occasion against Daniel concerning the kingdome and their malice had bene effectuall against him had not the Almightie hand of God stopped the mouthes of the fierce Lions It was indeed a great honour for Dauid to kill Goliah 1. Sam. 18.9.10 and to be met receiued home with dauncing and singing Dauid hath slaine his ten thousand but the same had like to haue cost Dauid his life For when he fled from Saule to Achish the king of Gath 1. Sam. 21.11.12 thinking there to be safe by being vnknowne the kings seruaÌ„ts said to him Is not this Dauid the king of the land did they not sing vnto him c. Oh how glad would Dauid then haue bene if he had neuer bene partaker of that daungerous honour which would not tolerate his safetie This is no small preiudice yet behold a farre greater inconuenience accompanying honour whilest some seeking to hold their reputation in the world dare not professe or practise those things which may tend to the honour and glorie of Almightie God as those chiefe rulers which durst not confesse Christ for feare of the Pharisies Ioh. 12.42 because they loued the praise of men more then the praise of God 3 Honour and glorie is verie brittle like Archimedes glassie spheare Hath not experience shewed that those whose excellencie mounted vp to heauen Iob. 20.6 and made their nest as high as the Eagle Ier. 49.16 haue bene brought downe So that it wold make a man not considering the slipperinesse of honours ladder to wonder with the Prophet ouer the king of Babel How art thou falne from heauen ô Lucifer Isa 14.12 sonne of the morning and cut downe to the ground thou that didst cast lots vpon the nations What is become of those foure Monarchies of the world which the king of Babylon saw in a vision are they not almost vanished like his dreame and vision of them which hee vtterly forgot Alexanders pompe and solemnitie at Babylon Dan. 2. was wondrous great Q. Curt. lib. 10. when he kept as it were a parliament of the whole world For he lay seuen daies vnburied but not many dayes after he could scarce obtaine the honour of buriall Adonibezec had the glorie of conquest ouer seuentie kings Iudg. 1 7. who hauing their thumbes cut off picked crummes vnder his table yet at last himselfe had the like disgrace to be conquered and to lose his thumbes But that of many others was a most lamentable and memorable spectacle of Zedechiah 2. King 25.6.7 who being a mightie king was taken captiue by the Babylonians arraigned at Riblah saw his children slaine before his face had his eyes pickt out and lastly was led to Babel where he dyed miserably Lo here the inconstancie of worldly dignitie and the mutabilitie of those that enioy honour to shine for a while and presently to be obscured to be aduaunced to honor for a litle space and quickly to be debased to be very rich to day and to morrow to be impouerished Hest 3.1.7.10 now to be with Haman exalted to the highest seate of dignitie and by and by to be hanged Is it not straunge to haue knowne the father a great commander and to see the sonne a base vassall the one to inhabite a stately pallace the other to liue in a poore cottage the one to sit vpon his triumphant throne the other to lye in the dust of desolation But thus it cometh to passe Pro. 27.24 For riches remaine not alway nor the crowne from one generation to another Yet is this more straunge to behold one and the same man brought from the highest pitch of earthly felicitie to the lowest step of extreame miserie 1. Cor. 7.31 Thus doth the fashion of this world passe away and the glorie thereof vanisheth like the vapour of smoake And the Lord of hostes hath decreed this to staine the pride of all glorie Esa 23.9 and to bring to contempt all those that be glorious in the earth Seeing now that the honour ctedite and worship of this world is but a vulgar applause the nurse of pride the firebrand of enuie and the companion of inconstancie good Lord what do men meane so earnestlie to hunt after it Alas who would make any reckoning of this vaine and variable world Who art thou that gloriest in this glassie and windie vanitie What art thou greater
but to shew that it will be so Which ordinarie euent considered it is not without iust cause that the same Hebrew word vsed both in Iob and else where in the Scriptures Ioh. 20.5 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 signifieth both Mirth and Mourning But if mirth were in it selfe both good and permanent yet how vnfit is it for this pilgrimage of teares When the Babylonians wished the Isralites being their captiues to sing them one of the songs of Sion they asked How shal we sing a song of the Lord in a straunge land Psal 137.4 Can a song of Sion be more vnreasonable in Babylon then ioy and mirth in this vale of miserie For what is here to make a man laugh or be merrie except hee would laugh at the world as Democritus did at the Athenians If a man take a discreet view of the vanities and miseries of this wicked world he shall find cause enough to mourne but little occasion of mirth It is worthie the obseruation that we reade not that euer our blessed Sauiour laughed or smiled but diuers times that he sighed groned and wept And the like we reade of other the sanctified seruants of God Phil. 3.18 Act. 20.19 as of Saint Paule who writes to the Philippians weeping and serues God with many teares We haue an old Prouerb and it is not more old then false A litle mirth is woorth a great deale of sorrow This is a carnall Prouerbe and true in those onely Eccles 3.21 22. who looke for their portion of felicitie in this life For to the children of God the Spirit of God can tell vs Eccl. 7.4.5 that a little sorrow is woorth a great deale of mirth Where or when was it euer said of mirth Psal 51.19 per risum multum poteris cognoscere stulium as it is of sorrow A sorowfull spirit is a sacrifice to God Laughter indeed is the sacrifice of fools Though the heauen of heauens cannot containe the Lord yet behold hee will haue his habitation with an humble spirit Esa 66. and a contrite heart This Dauid knew wel when he said Put my teares into thy bottle Psal 56.8 are not these things noted in thy booke The teares of a true penitent are laid vp by the Lord as rich iewels and hee doth register euery sigh of a conâ—rite heart euen to this end Psal 1â—6 5 that they which sow in teares may reape in ioy But there appeareth not a more maine and manifest difference betweene the estimation of mirth and sorrow then in our Sauiours words Wo be to you that laugh Luk â— 25 Mat. 5.4 for you shall waile and weep Blessed are you that mourne for you shall be comforted But what is it not lawfull to be merie Yes surely there is some mirth lawfull and othersome both lawfull and laudable Leu. 23.40 The Israelites may reioyce before the Lord their God in their solemne feastes As the Iewes must fast in their miserie Hest 4.16.9.22 so may they keepe the dayes of feasting and ioy for their victorie yea all the people at the coronation of Salomon may pipe with pipes 1. Kin. 1.40 and reioyce with great ioy and make the earth ring with the sound of them Thus euen in these the like temporall things it is lawfull for the children of God to reioyce And indeed none haue iust title to mirth but they who by reason of their adoption in Christ their present fruition of Gods fauour and constaÌ„t expectation of their future happinesse may very welâ— haue chearefull hearts but yet must this be with the Apostles caueat 1. Cor. 7.30 That they that reioyce be as though they reioyced not that neither their ioy be excessiue nor intempestiue not permitting times of mourning when there is cause of mourning There is a laudable mirth when men do reioyce Aug. conf â—ib 9. 7. to the Lord of the Lord and for the Lord. To this ioy doth the Psalmist exhort when hee saith Psal 102. â— Serue the Lord with feare and come before him with ioyfulnesse When men do in the seruice of God lift vp chearfull hearts to the Lord and sing praises to him ioyfully this is a heauenly reioycing and this was the blessed Virgins ioy My soule doth magnifie the Lord Luk. 1.47 and my spirit hath reioyced in God my Sauiour If this be the cause of thy ioy I may say to thee in the Apostles words Reioyce in the Lord Phil. 4.4 and I say againe reioyce Enlarge thy heart and extend the bounds of consolation Psa 89.15 For blessed are the people that can reioyce in the Lord. When the disciples returned with ioy because the diuels were subdued vnto them though this were no small cause of ioy yet our Sauiour seeking to turne the streame of their affections another way saith vnto theÌ„ In this reioyce not that spirits are subdued vnto you Luk. 10 17 â—0 but rather reioyce that your names are written in heauen So do thou exâ—mine the euidence of thy saluation and if thou find in thy soule the charter of a sound faith sealed vp vnto thee by the spirit of adoption and tâ—e sanctifying spirit of God bearing witnesse that thou art the child of God and that thy name is enrolled amongsâ— the heauenly citizens then reioyce and againe I say reioyce and behold Ioh. 16.22 this ioy shall no man take from thee SECT 12. Of Mariage WHen man was in his innocencie the Lord said Gen. 2.17 It is not good for man to be alone but in his corrupt estate the Apostle saith 1. Cor. 7.1 It is good for a man not to touch a woman Thus was marriage founded vpon decencie but now the principall pillar thereof is necessitie Ambr. de viduis Non quasi culpa vitanda sed quasi necessitatis sarcina declinanda In which respect although it is not to be shunned as a sinne yet is it to be abandoned as a burthen may very well bee taxed as a vanitie When a man intends to take a wife he aduentures vpon a daungerous choice Bias saying is famous 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 If a man take a faire wife it is doubtfull shee will prooue false if foule she is a lothsome plague And experience manifesteth many a matrimoniall infirmitie incident to that sexe If they be qualified with any extraordinarie ornaments they become imperious so that beautifull Vashti will not come to Ahashnerosh when he sends for her Hester 1. If their husbands haue any familiar societie with others by reason of his employments abrode they quickly become ielous and so are a griefe of heart to him If they be rich they looke to dominere according to that speech Eccl. 25.24 If a woman nourish her husband she is angrie impudent and full of reproch If they be not like their neighbours in womanish vanities they become querulous and if they be honest they are
proude and ambitious as though their husbands were much bound to them for it Doe not many wiues proue Michals and so are snares to their husbands and many husbaÌ„ds Nabals euen fooles and churles to their wiues And where two such euils are combined it were better for a man to haue his habitatioÌ„ with the wild beasts then to conuerse with such Pro. 21.19 The world yeelds enow such as Iobs wife was who will either say blasphemously to the dishonour of God Curse God and die or else foolishly to their husbands griefe as she did Iob. 2.9 Blesse God and dye adding affliction to his affliction but few Sarahs Rebeccaes there are which are faithfull kind and obedient to their husbands I meane not hereby to condemne all women for I know diuers of that sexe wise modest and verie vertuous nor to iustifie all men for experience sheweth many of them to be very vitious I haue onely said which is the generall current in coniugall affaires Plu. in vita P. Aemy l. in Praecept coniug Plutarch hath a pleasant tale of a Romane with whom because he had put away his wife her friends did thus expostulate the matter What fault can there be found in her is she not an honest woman of her bodie is she not faire and doth she not bring thee sweet children But he putting foorth his foot and shewing them his shoe answered thus Is not this a faire shoe is it not neately made and is it not a newe one yet none of you knoweth where it pincheth me meaning that there were many secret iars happening betweene the maried which others knew not 2. Besides these inconueniences of mariage there is in it some incumbrance in diuine actions excercises as may appeare not onely by the Lords commandement to the Israelites of absence Exo. 19.15 and abstinence from their wiues at the deliuerie of the law vpon mount Sinay but also by the Apostles toleration of a temporarie separation 1. Cor. 7.5 for the more zealous and deuout acting of the religious exercises of fasting and prayer and this is his disswasorie reason 1. Cor. 7.32 I would haue you without carefulnesse the vnmaried careth for the things of the Lord how he may please the Lord but he that is married careth for the things of the world how he may please his wife And experience resoundeth the truth of the Apostles words for he that shall enter into this course of life must haue care of a familie a prouident regard of children and that which is of most difficultie and therefore singled out by S. Paule he must be carefull to please his wife Ruth 4.5 And as Naomies kinsman could not redeeme Elimelechs land except he tooke Ruth to wife so can a man hardly yoke himselfe in the bonds of wedlocke but he shall also marrie himself to sundrie worldly cares and incumbrances which will hinder him in the course of Christianitie 3 This also addeth much to these preiudices of the married that they are knit in an indissoluble knot The Gentiles made a question whether it were good to marie although they allowed of diuorce vpon euery trifling occasion how much more would they haue done so had they knowne that onely death and adulterie are the swords that must cut this Gordius knot When the Pharisies demaunded of our Sauior whether it were lawfull for a man to put away his wife for euery trifling occasion as the manner was then among the Iewes he answered That the man and wife were by mariage made one flesh and so except in the case of adulterie which disunites the maried and makes an vnion betweene the adulterers could no more be separated then a man can be deuided froÌ„ himselfe 1. Cor. 6.16 which the disciples hearing said to him Mat. 19.10 If the matter be so betweene man and wife it is not good to marrie And indeede it is a hard thing were it not the diuine ordinance of Almightie God to encounter so many inconuenieÌ„ces as many times mariage yeelds with this iâ—ksome coÌ„dition of inseparablenesse Neither is this bond without bondage whilest neither the man nor the woman haue power ouer their owne bodies nor may make any separation 1. Cor. 7.4.5 no not for a time and though it be for diuine respects but with mutuall consent These being the inconueniences of mariage the vse thereof may be the Apostles exhortation 1. Cor. 7.27 Art thou loosed from a wife seeke not a wife Act. 26.29 Saint Paule once wished that all his hearers were like himselfe except his bands 1. Cor. 7.7 but elsewhere hee wisheth all were like himselfe that is free from Mariage bands Let those that haue wiues be as though they had none that is 1. Cor. 7.29 let them not be hindered in diuine things or incumbered with humane by reason of their mariage The spirituall mariage of Christ to the soule is that which euery one ought principally to regard Behold how Christ wooeth thee saying Open to mee my loue my doue my vndefiled Cant. 5.2 Now is it thy part to set open the doore of thy heart and to say as Laban said to Abrahams seruant Gen. 24.31 Come in thou blessed of the Lord. For loe he being thy soules husband hath discharged the debts of thy sinnes and will giue thee a rich ioynter of grace in this life and the precious dowrie of eternall glorie in the life to come SECT 13. Of Children AS Nature hath engrafted in euery thing liuing on the face of the earth a desire of procreation for the preseruation of the Species so grace requireth at the hands of those to whom she hath not giuen the dispensation of continencie an ofspring for the enlargement of Gods Church Yea children are the inheritance of the Lord Psal 127.3 and the fâ—uite of the wombe his reward yet is this of the number and nature of those blessings which in themselues are but vanities because that a man in the abundance of children may be miserable and worse then an vntimely birth Eccles 6.3 Hath it not falne out to many mothers most desirous of children that in the midst of their throbs before and at the time of their childbirth they haue bene readie to say with Rebecca Gen. 25.22 Why am I thus euen sorie that euer they were with child And doth it not oft come to passe that their children prooue Ben-onies the sons of their sorrow yea sometimes the sonnes and daughters of their death as Beniamin was to Rachel Gen. 35.18 So soone as the children are borne there are brought foorth many mutuall miseries and troubles to the parents when they are in their infancie if they be nursed at home how irksome is their crying and bawling or if by reasoÌ„ of some weighty impediment the mother cannot or of a foolish and vnnaturall nicenesse she will not nurse her owne child yet how doth their feare sleepe and
world must be brought to iudgement before him There are two principall things in our Sauiours appearing that shall abash and terrifie the wicked first his exceeding great maiestie secondly the strictnesse of his iudgement 1 The Scriptures in setting foorth the Maiestie of his comming are very copious He shall come in the cloudes of the heauen with power and great glorie Mat. 24.30 that men may behold him in his maiestie whom they would not before vouchsafe to looke vpon in his humilitie Esa 53.3 And this Maiestie shall be conspicuous and glorious in diuerse respects 1 In respect of the admirable signes that go before him which shall be correspondent to his admirable Maiestie Saint Matthew describeth them thus Mat. 24.29 And immediatly after the tribulation of those dayes shall the Sunne be darkened and the Moone shall not giue her light the Starres shall fall from heauen and the powers of heauen shall be shaken An eclipse being great hath bene very fearefull to some and the darkenesse at our Sauiours passion made the world to wonder how fearefull then and how wonderfull shall the comming of Christ to iudgement bee when the Sunne and Moone and Starres shall all lose their light and the heauens with their powerfull influences be vtterly obscured as inferiour lights are wont at the bright shining and glorious appearing of Christ Iesus When the Maister of the family dieth Chrysost in Mat. hom 49. the house is troubled the seruants lament and put on mourning apparell so when man the inhabitant of the world is neare his end and comming to his triall his old friends and seruants both in heauen and earth do thus clothe themselues in mourning weedes being also abashed to behold the glorie of the Sauiour of the world Saint Luke likewise saith Luk. 21.25 There shall be signes in the Sunne and in the Moone and in the Starres and vpon the earth trouble among the nations with perplexitie the sea and the waters shall roare and mens hearts shall faile them for feare and for looking after these things that shall come vpon the world Onely an earthquake if it be vehement is verie fearefull and the inundation of waters terrible but now when the whole massie globe of the earth shall totter and shake the mightie seas roare and rage and the glorious heauens become blacke and duskie how shall the hearts of men bee appalled with dread and terror to behold the same 2 Christs appearing shall be glorious in respect of his attendants not silly Fisher men as in the dayes of his infirmitie but holy Saints and blessed Angels as consorting with this day of Maiestie Jud. ver 14 Behold he cometh with thousands of his Saints to giue iudgement against all men and to rebuke all the vngodly c. And as Christ shall come with his many Saints so shall he appeare with his infinite troupe and traine of Angels Dan. 7.10 For thousand thousands shall minister to him and ten thousand thousands shall stand before him Yea he shall come with all his holy Angels and these being his fierie messengers Mat. 24.31 he shall send with a great sound of a trumpet to gather together the elect c. Thus glorious seruants shall attend a glorious maister If Saint Iohn a holy Euangelist fell at the feete of Christ as dead when he beheld him Reu. 1.17 and Esay a heauenly Prophet cryed out Wo be to me for I am of polluted lippes Esa 6.5 because he saw the King and Lord of hostes compassed with the glorious Seraphims shall not the maiestie of this great God Tit. 2.13 euen our Sauiour Iesus Christ daunt the hearts of the wicked at his appearing euen more then can bee expressed 3 Christs comming shall be glorious in regard of the complements of honour which he shall haue at his appearing 2. Thes 1.7 He shall come in flaming fire with the sound of an Archangell he shall come in the cloudes and ride vpon the wings of the winde Act. 1. It was straunge to see mount Sin a on fire at the deliuerie of the Law Eod. 19. but how straunge will it be when the heauens shall passe away 2. Pet. 3.10 and the elements shall melt with heate and the earth with the workes therein shall be burnt vp then shall he sit vpon a throne of glorie Mat. 25.31 and before him shall be gathered all nations The day was when he poore man stood before the iudgement seate of Pontius Pilate to receiue his sentence but now Pontius Pilate with all the potentates of the earth must stand before his throne to receiue their dolefull doom The gloriousnesse of which throne Daniell describeth Dan. 7.6 saying His throne was like a fierie flame and the wheeles like burning fire yea so full of dreadfull maiestie it is that when the earth and the sea do come to be arraigned before it they flye away Reu. 20.11 not able to behold the glorie thereof and the Iudge that sitteth thereupon And therfore whereas at his birth onely Ierusalem was troubled and at his passion Mat. 2. Luk. 22. the tender hearted women of Ierusalem wept now at his comming to iudgement Mat. 24.30 Reu. 1.7 All the kindreds of the earth shall mourne and waile before him Euen so Amen 2 Secondly as his appearing is glorious so shall the strictnesse of his iudgement be no lesse maruellous If a man might be called to an account for his grosse sinnes onely there were some hope of safetie but Christ will call for an account of euerie idle word Mat. 12. yea he will bring to iudgmēt euery secret thought Rom. 2.16 and who alas shall be able to answer him one of a thousand Job 9.3 When the Lord casteth his infinite discerning eye vpon the most excellent of his creatures Job 4.17.15.15 he findeth no stedfastnesse in them no not in his Saints and Angels yea the heauens are not clean in his sight This caused Dauid to say Heare my prayer ô Lord Psal 143.2 and hearken to my supplication but enter not into iudgement with thy seruant for in thy sight shall no flesh liuing be iustified If Dauid a man after Gods owne heart put vp his petition appealing from the iustice of God vnto his mercie how vnable shall the wicked be to stand foorth with boldnesse Psal 1. or to lift vp their heads with confidence in the day of iudgement What shall the shrubbe of the desert do Gregor when the Cedar of Paradise shall be shaken what shall the lambe doe where the Lyon doth tremble and if the righteous scarcely be saued 1. Pet. 4.18 where shall the vngodly and the sinner appeare The warie Auditor will consider the seuerall reckonings that hee is to make so should the wise Christian thinke vpon the particular accompts that Christ will exact at the generall day of iudgement Consider then that hee will call thee to
this final sentence vpon them Depart from me ye cursed For behold this curse shall bee a thousand times more grieuous then the cursed and bitter water to the suspected woman Num. 5.18.24 which caused her thigh to rot her belly to swell and made her to be detestable accursed among her people For hereby both belly and thigh head and heart yea bodie and soule shall all be filled with bitternesse become accursed and detestable in the sight of Almightie God and all the holy companie of heauen 2 This makes the sentence more dreadfull in that it cannot be reuoked by any meanes possible The sentence proceeding from the iudgement seate of mortall men may be reuoked or stopped by sundry meanes as by appellation by supplication by complaint or restoring the condemned to his former estate but all these hopes and helpes shall be fruitlesse when this sentence of condemnation shall come forth from the throne of the Lord whose iudgements are more resolute then the decrees of the Medes and Persians which might not be altered 1. There can be no appeale for it must bee to a higher Iudge but there is none such 1. Tim. 6.15 For he is the onely and blessed Prince the King of Kings and Lord of Lords hee hath the key of Dauid Reu. 3.7 when hee shutteth no man openeth the Father hath committed the iudgement vnto him Ioh. 5.27 2. There is no hope of helpe by supplication For Wisedome euen the diuine wisedome of the Father Christ Iesus saith Because he called to them and they would not heare therefore they shall call vpon him and hee will not heare Yea if Iob and Noah and Daniel stood vp to intreat for them it should be in vaine 3. Whither shall the damned go to complaine themselues what to the Lord whose spirit they haue grieued what to the Angels whose ministerie they haue abused what to the Saints whose righteous soules they haue vexed this were a fond conceipt and a fruitlesse course Iob saith well Iob. 9.33 There is no vmpire wheÌ„ God and man are at oddes 4. There is no hope of restoring of the damned to whoÌ„ the Lords wordes shall bee such as he saith to Ieremie I will put my wordes into thy mouth like a fire Jer. 5.14 and this people shall be as wood and it shall deuoure them Psal 2. He will bruse them with a rod of iron and breake them in peeces like a potters vessell so that there shall not be left a shard to fetch fire with When Esau came to Isaac his father for a blessing which was passed before to Iacob Gen. 27.33 his father said I haue blessed him and he shall be blessed and he poore soule could not get the blessing though hee sought it with teares Heb. 11. So resolute shell the Lords sentence be at the day of iudgement I haue cursed them they shall be cursed and no teares or weeping shall bee able to reuoke it for the Lord hauing spoken it hee will not repent nor alter the words that are gone out of his lippes Loe this is a time of punishment and not of pardon Men that are on the sea seeing some mightie tempest arise are much affraid when it beates vpon the shippe it maketh them amazed but when they begin to sinke Insequitur clamorque virûm stridorque rudentum â—irg Aene. lib. 1. oh what crying and scriching may there be heard amongst theÌ„ So when wicked men foresee the daunger of future iudgement it makes them affraid when they are brought before the tribunall they shall be mightily astonied but when they beginne once to sinke into the pit of euerlasting perdition oh Lord what howling and scriches will they send forth Well seeing this sentence of condemnation is so intolerable and irreuocable why alas haue men no more care to auoide it Many yea the most defer their repentance in this life as though there were hope of pardon in the day of punishment but our Sauiour teacheth vs better Mat. 5.25 Agree with thine aduersarie quickely whilest thou art in the way with him lest thine aduersarie deliuer thee to the Iudge and the Iudge deliuer thee to the sergeant and thou be cast in prison Let euery one that hath the feare of condemnation before his eyes seeke reconciliation at the hands of God by true and vnfained repentance and that quickly whilest he is in the way of this life lest hee bee separated with Go your cursed and so the damned spirits the sergeants of hell carrie him to the place of euerlasting torments When men are perswaded by Preachers to paines cost or care in their saluation to abridge themselues of their profits pleasures vanities and iniquities so to enter into heauen by the streight gate they are readie to say with our Sauiours flinching followers Ioh. 6.60 This is a hard saying But would to God they did remember and consider this hard saying Go ye cursed into euerlasting fire and that would surely make them carefull with Abraham Gen. 21.11 to cast out wicked Ismael out of the houses of their soules though it bee grieuous in their eyes and euen with most painfull indeuours studie to make their election sure and to escape that fatall and finall sentence of condemnation Remember the Apostles exhortation To day if you will heare his voyce harden not your hearts Heb. 3.7 And this do lest at the day of iudgement you heare that voyce of terror that shooke the earth and will shake the hearts of all those that shall be goates separated on the left hand for they shall stand naked before the tribunall seate of Christ to heare with trembling harts the voyce of his condemnation 3 ern who haue shut their eares at the voyce of his exhortation CHAP. 3. SECT I. The first steppe of the wicked into hell after the last iudgement namely the losse of Gods presence and all heauenly coÌ„forts Hest 7.8 WE reade in the storie of Hester that king Ahashuerosh hauing decreed the death of haughtie Haman as the word went out of the kings mouth the officers presently couered his face and caried him to the place of execution so when Christ hath pronounced the sentence of Condemnation vpon the wicked shame shall couer their faces and the infernall officers the damned spirits shall instantly carie them to hell there to be tormented for euer When the sentence of banishment was pronounced against Coriolanus Plutar. in vita Coriol he to mooue the Iudges to compassion pleaded for himselfe his valiant deedes and praised the souldiers that had serued with him in the wars but all to no purpose so the wicked to mooue Christ to commiseration shall say to him in that day Lord Lord Mat. 7.22 haue not we by thy name prophecied and by thy name cast out diuels and by thy name done many great workes but all to as little purpose for Christ will professe vnto them