Paradise vnto thee and thou wouldest not enter I haue offered thee my grace and thou hast neglected it I haue a long time forborne thee sinning being readie to receiue thee repenting Psal 147.20 and yet by all these testimonies of my loue thou hast not turned vnto me Matt. 11.21 I haue not dealt so with euerie nation neither haue they knowen my iudgements If these things had beene done in Tirus and Sidon they had repented long ago in sackcloth and ashes What could I haue done more for thee that I haue not done Tell mee ô mortall and passible man what hast thou euer suffered for mee thy Creator thy benefactor who being impassible and immortall haue suffered and died for thee and yet thy reprobate heart obdurate and obstinate so great benignitie so feruent loue so vehement a louer hath not mollified I that so loued such a one freely without desert how yea how without measure did I deserue to be beloued againe especially considering that when I was not beloued I first loued thee For these and other innumerable benefits bestowed vpon thee though thou canst neuer yeeld sufficient thanks yet I required no other at thy hands but that thou wouldest return loue for loue and that for my sake thou wouldest tender thine owne saluation and abstiane from those sinnes which I hate What I commanded theâ— was no way beneficiall to my self but to thee only that wert commanded for I had no need of thy goodnesse but thou of mine But thou neuerthelesse hast returned mee hatred for loue and euill for good yea thou hast fallen from mee to the diuell thine enemie vngratefull and inconsiderate of thine owne saluation and of thine own accord hast bound thy selfe to an vniust tyrannicall lord master Neuerthelesse al these thy foresaid wrongs and ingratitudes I haue patiently borne I haue a long time attended thy leisure to haue mercy on thee being alwaies readie to forgiue if in anie indifferent time thou hadst come vnto mee yea and to that end I called thee and in a manner intreated thee whilest I staied at the doore of thy minde knocking and calling thee Turne vnto mee and I will turne vnto thee yet thou wouldest not harken vnto my voice It is therfore iust and necessarie that thou that contemnest mee in thy life time shouldest bee contemned by mee being dead And therefore depart from mee thou accursed into euerlasting fire which is prepared for the diuell and his angels there to remaine for euer and euer CHAP. VII Of the paines of hell IT remaineth my deare brother that thou heare what punishment in that bottomlesse pit of hell woorthy thy wickednesse thou wert or yet art to endure except in time by repentance thou auert the sentence of so seuere a Iudge First thou that hast not sinned but willingly in hell shalt endure all maner of torment vnwillingly There shal bee vnspeakeable varietie of tortures and miseries intollerable torments and eternity without end the affliction both of body and soule shall be diuers bitter and euerlasting Because thou hast committed diuers sinnes therfore thou shalt suffer diuers punishments for euery sinne thou hast heere committed shall haue a torment answerable therunto and according to the measure of thy offences shall the retribution of Gods vengeance be such as thy sinne hath been such shal be thy paine For notwithstanding the fire of hell bee one and the same for by a metaphor of fire doth the Holy Ghost especially expresse the torment of hell vnto vs yet it burneth and tormenteth not all the damned after one maner As euen in this world many liue vnder one and the same Sunne but yet all doe not equally feele the heat thereof because 〈◊〉 are not alike in the qualitie and constitution of their bodies And as with one and the same fire straw doeth otherwise burne than wood or iron so there in one and the same fire there is not one and the same heat because what heere the diuers qualitie of the bodie worketh there doth the diuersitie of sinnes the same But touching this fire of hell forasmuch as it is but a metaphor which the holiâ— Ghost vseth to expresse 〈◊〉 to vs the greatnesse of the torments that there are anâ— no materiall fire as some 〈◊〉 dreame giue me leaue as the spirit of God heerein humbleth it selfe to the capaciâ—â— of man so to expresse by this materiall fire that thou seest and feelest at the least some shadow of those torments thou shalt feele in hell For notwithstanding it bee beyond the capacitie of man to conceiue what these torments are yet by those things wee see and feele and can conceiue let vs gesse at those we know not The holy Ghost hath compared it to fire so let mee though I confesse there can be no proportion betwixt corruptible incorruptible things whether they be good or ill Neuerthelesse to the end thou maiest haue a taste of this fire of hel consider with thy selfe if thou put the tip of thy finger into this visible materiall fire neuer so little time what misery what paine what torment doest thou endure And yet this our fire to that euerlasting fire is as a painted fire to a true In the middle of which our visible materiall fire if thou shouldest put thy whole finger how great a torment shouldest thou endure how great if thy whole hand if thy whole arme how much more great if thy whole bodie one whole day together nay one weeke nay a whole yere together From hence gather if thou canst how vnhappie thy soule shall be which must bee tormented in so great and so durable a fire Measure by this temporall torment how intollerable it shall be to thy soule to endure the heat of that vnquenchable fire on both sides within and without that for euer and euer For in this doeth our materiall fire differ from that that ours consumeth whatsoeuer it fasteneth vpon that where it once taketh hold it alwaies tormenteth and reserueth it whole and entire to a paine eternall that doeth naturally yeeld heat and light this vnspeakable heat with palpable darknesse In this for euer and euer desolate land of burning pitch and sulphure to the miserable damned soules there is nothing but desolation from which desolation there ariseth despaire from despaire hatred of God and blasphemie eternall terment continuall lamentation hourely yelling There nothing can be heard but mourning and howling and weeping and gnashing of teeth They that in this life were glutted with satietie in hell shall bee totmented with famine they shal begge a drop of water and shall not obtain it By that they finned they shal be punished and in what they most offended God in that shall they bee most tormented They shall alwaies burne in vnquenchable fire but neuer die bee filled with stench and glutted with torment they shal haue no comfort no counsell no hope of euasion but the sorrowes of death shall for euer compasse them In this
that I had beene of all the shepheards in the field the basest and had had the charge but onely of my selfe for then would not the Lord require at my hands the souls of those my subiects whose saluation I haue neglected O my riches my honours my delights yee cannot free me from death from stench from worms from rottennes yee cannot plucke me out of the hands of the liuing God O death dost thou oppresse mee vnawares How bitter vnto me is the remembrance of thee how fearefull is thy presence Whereas if liuing and in health I had foreseene thee and by liuing well had learnt to die well I had not now feared thee Blessed art thou Arsenus who alwaies haddest this houre before thine eies Three things there are which I now greatly feare First when my soule shall depart out of the prison of this my bodie into a place which it knoweth not Secondly when it is to appeare before the Iudge and to bee presented before his tribunall seat Thirdly when it is to heare that irreuocable sentence either with it or against it But thou my Lord and Sauior Christ Iesus whose propertie it is alwaies to haue mercy and to forgiue who hast said That at what time soeuer a sinner repenteth him of his sinne thou wilt put out all his wickednesse out of thy remembrance though I haue contemned those times of repentance that thou hast affoorded me of all other men haue most offended thee am altogether vnwoorthy to be called thy sonne yet mindefull of thy mercies which haue beene from the beginning giue mee thy assistance to escape this death some small time to my wished repentance Adde some few yeeres to my life some moneths or at least some daies Giue mee leaue a little that I may lament my sinnes and call to minde my forepassed yeeres in the bitternesse of mine owne soule because if I die in this state I am now in my end must needs be eternall damnation But if out of thy meere mercy goodnesse thou shalt pardon mee I will be bold with thy gracious assistance to promiseamendement of life onely in this state let not my soule die lest it bee buried in the bottomlesse pit of hell Now heare how the malignant spirits laugh at thy miseries and with one voice say vnto thee Behold the man that took not God for his strength Psa 52.7 but trusted to the multitude of his riches put his strength in his malice Let vs sing to this miserable caitife a dirge of death because hee is the sonne of death and his mear is vnquenchable fire he is an enemie of the light and a friend of darknesse He hath laboured for vs hath alwaies bound himselfe vnto vs hath gotten vs many followers let vs therefore pay him the due hire of al his labors But what other reward haue we to bestow vpon him but that eternal vnquenchable fire which is prepared for vs and our consorts He is ours because hee was apprehended in our seruice full of sinne and iniquitie Why doe wee staie Why stand wee heere idle Come let vs binde him hand and foot cast him into vtter darknesse where shall bee weping gnashing of teeth Come let vs preferre him to plagues and punishment enough and neuer bee there peace with him For what other end doe we staie but to see his wretched soule seperated from his body that passing out we may receiue it and together draw it to the bottomlesse pit of hell there to remain in vnspeakable torment for euer and euer Now heare how in thy discomforts they comfort thee O wretched poore and miserable man since those pleasures which thou hast folowed in thy whole life haue forsaken thee not thou them since vnwillingly for feare of punishment thou turnest vnto God fearest any longer to serue the world which thou wouldest not doe if yet thou haddest any hope to liue any longer Euery man hath his time appointed to die and this is thy time for thou shalt die and not liue Looke a little vpon the multitude of those sinnes which as yet thou hast neuer confessed vnto God which as yet haue neuer touched thy hart with the least contrition that may bee how dying canst thou for shame confesse them when liuing and in health thou wouldest neuer Looke vpon the small number of thy good works in respect of thy wicked and how mean a proportion thy good deeds carry to the infinite ioies of the elect Looke vpon the seuere iustice of a iust Iudge which requireth a strait account euen of an idle word In the whole race of thy life thou hast persecuted God and now thinkest thou that a momentarie repentance can winne him to mercie No no neuer doubt but that thou art surely ours for in our seruice thou wert apprehended day and night thou hast serued vs yeelded to our suggestions thou hast performed the works of darknesse gotten vs manie soules greatly enlarged our kingdome Come therefore come into that furnace of fire into a land of burning pitch and sulphure where we may giue thee the due reward for all thy labors make thy condition like ours for like lords like seruants O wretched creature that thou art why diddest thou yeeld to our perswasions See he ere the reward that thou hast for it and see the coÌ„pany that thou hast made châ—â—ce of with whom thou must for euer burne in hell fire O thou proudest amongst men Why art thou not now proud Why takest thou not from other men that is not thine owne Why reuengest thou not thy wrongs Why dost thou not giue thy selfe to gluttony drunkennesse Why art thou not sorrie for another mans felicitie Where is thy immoderate appetite to libidinous pleasures Where thy inordinate loue of riches Where are thy precious garments and ornaments where thy daintie fare thy plaies sportings Thy immoderate ioy how it is vanished whether is it departed from thee Luk 16. Remember that thou in thy life time receiuedst thy pleasure thou hast plaied enough thou hast eat and drunke enough there is no rest for thee after death no pleasure Thou art ours let God take thee out of our handes if hee can Come therefore come with vs into the land of miserie and darknesse where is no order but euerlasting horror where thou must remaine for euer and euer Now heare into what despaire of saluation thou fallest by these diuellish insultations saying Truce till to morrow ô truce till to morrow Now at the last I see that I can liue no longer that the last day of my life is come which cannot be past I would stay but I am compelled to goe The way of saluation is shut vp from mee mercie is denied me and all hope is taken away from me Now there is no time of repentance or changing my life for the diuels haue coÌ„passed me about frighting me with strange horrible apparations who as dogges watch a Hare when she is put foorth
know not the end of thy life who canst not comprehend the beginning thereof Thou knowest not with what beginning thou enterest Man is a bubble because that like a bubble the life of man vanisheth in a moment and thou art as ignorant with what end thou â—halt depart out of this life And therefore it is rashnesse â—o promise vnto thy selfe maâ—y yeeres a long life when â—hou hast not manie dayes nay not an houre in thy own power And therefore why doest thou think to liue long when thou canst not be secured of a day of an houre Nay why art thou greedy of life and a wicked life too as if thou wert immortall The dayly death of many Euery day thou seest such as are yoong and lustie and sound of body suddenly to be arrested with an vnexpected death euen in the middest of their delights insomuch that of those infinite numbers that euery day come into the world almost three parts die before they come to the age of fiftie yeeres The good are called of the Lord that they may no more bee oppressed by the wicked The wicked are taken away that they may no longer persecute the godly Tell mee where are all those wordlings which not long since haue liued with thee Iob 21. They haue spent their dayes in wealth and suddenly they are gone downe to their graue and nothing remaineth of them but dust and ashes and an intollerable stench O how much care did they take to prouide for this present life How long a race did they promise vnto themselues but suddenly and vnlooked for death hath ouertaken them whereas if they had alwaies looked for it death could neuer haue hurt them And cannot that feuer that death that came so suddenly vpon them as suddenly oppresse thee and thy procrastinations draw vpon thee as sudden a damnation The bird that sits singing vpon a bough A similitude of a bird vpon a bough thinks he hath libertie to flie whither he will but before he can stretch out his wings an arrow strikes him to the heart and downe he falles So thou promisest vnto thy selfe a long life many and happie dayes and thou hast a purpose to worke woonders in the world and yet thou knowest not whether thou shalt liue till night till thou canst stirre thy foot from the place where thou standest To morrow vncertaine and though thou know what thou art to day yet how knowest thou what thou maiest be to morrow If thou be not prepared to die to day how wilt thou be ready to morrow Qui non est hodiè cras minus aptus erit He that is not fit to day will bee lesse fit to morrow It may be God hath appointed this day to be the end of thy life and it can not possiblie be auoided which if it bee so why art thou secure why doest thou not set thy house in order 2. Kin. 10. for thou shalt die and not liue Doest thou not see the inutilitie of thy life past the little comfort that there is in thy earthly blessings The losse of time the preciousnes of thy time misspent and lost the wickednesse of thy sins committed and to conclude all thy age thy yeeres thy monethes thy dayes nay thy moments past and spent in sinne and iniquitie If therefore thou put off thy conuersion to the last houre ten to one thy last houre wil be thy worst houre and thy procrastination hasteneth thy condemnation for thou must appeare before the tribunall seat of God in the presence of a seuereiudge whom thou hast many a time offended and crucified with the wicked Iewes by iterating those sinnes that brought him to the crosse There is no auoidance but thou must stand to the fearefull iudgement of God and that perhaps euen this verie day where and when thou shalt giue an account of all thou hast done What wilt thou say what canst thou doe when thou shalt appeare emptie void of all goodnes before so great a Iudge O how fearfull shall hee be at this houre whose presence is incomprehensible whose power infallible whose iustice inflexible whose anger implacable Consider with thy selfe how fearefull a thing it would be vnto thee if one should tell thee and assure thee of it that some great and cruell Iudge were resolued to burne thee aliue for some great offence thou hast committed doubtlesse vpon the hearing thereof if there were but one daies respit left vnto thee thou wouldest leaue nothing vnattempted to auoid so heauie a sentence such as were friends vnto the Iudge thou wouldest endeuour to make thy friends that by their intercession thou mightest haue hope to escape thou wouldest leaue no stone vnturned no way vntried to free thy selfe from so cruell a doome yea so thou mightestwin thy life thou wouldest willingly lose all that thou hast And aboue all things thou wouldest not faile to call to minde and to consider with thy selfe what might be obiected against thee and what thou couldest answer thereunto that thou maiest not appeare gultie before thy Iudge And why wouldest thou doe all this The preposterous seare of the iudgement of God of man Is it because there thou art free from all doubt assured thou must die if thou acquit not thy selfe the better but of the iudgement of God thou art euer in doubt O wretched man and of a preposterous beliefe doest thou beleeue man rather than God who is the Creatour of man Doth God threaten an euerlasting torment and doest thou neglect it thy earthly Iudge a temporall and doest thou feare and tremble at it For who or what is he Euen he that after he hath beene a man must be a worme and hauing been a worme must bee turned into stench and rottennesse Since then thou must appeare not before a man a worme rottennesse it selfe but before thy Creator and the sentence thou art to heare is the eternall damnation of thine owne soule how canst thou be secure How canst thou still giue thy selfe to thy delights and pleasures and not feare the immutable sentence of so seuere a Iudge If thou be ashamed and confounded at the iudgement of a man of dust and ashes what wilt thou do when thou shalt stand to the iudgement of thy Maker Creator The sentence of God irreuocable The sentence of a humane Iudge may be reuoked but this is irreuocable Thou shalt giue an account to this seuere Iudge of all thy yeeres euen in the bitternesse of thy own soule and for thy many and great offences committed against him hee shall deliuer thee to the diuell and his angels to bee tormented in hell fire Who shall then take thee from that place shall free thee from those that descend into the pit For in hell there is no redemption But perhaps thou wilt fay that God is louing and mercifull Ezâ—ch 33. and by his Prophets hath promised that at what time soeuer a sinner repenteth him of his
sinnes from the bottome of his heart The mercy of God towards sinners hee will put all his wickednesse out of his remembrance Res This deare Brother I confesse to be true yea that he is more gentle and mercifull than can bee imagined or beleeued and that hee pardoneth whomsoeuer in time returnes vnto him but yet he that hath made this promise to him that repenteth hath not promised to morrow to him that puts off his repentance till to morrow and persists in his sinnes Did he not expresse his mercy and louing kindnesse sufficiently vnto thee in that with such patience so long a time hee hath tolerated so many iniuries done vnto him by thee and giuen thee time to repent Doubtlesse great is the mercy of God towards thee in this his long stay and attendance for thy repentance For hee staid not at all for the Angels when they should repent but in a moment in the twinkling of an eie hee cast them downe into Hell he staid not for Adam when hee sinned but instantly hee thrust him out of Paradise But thee hee hath tolerated and attended many yeeres God is slow to reuenge he hath dissembled forborne deferred to punish thee being alwaies ready to forgiue Esay 14. but yet this thou must know that as he is gentle in forbearing so he is iust in punishing and whom hee attendeth to conuert not conuerted with a heauy iudgement hee condemneth For God doth so much the more sharply and seuerely punish by how much longer he forbeareth a sinner and his sentence is so much the more heauy by how much greater his patience hath been in forbearing and for the most part by the iust iudgement of God it falleth out that he dying forgets himselfe who liuing forgot God how miserable then is the state of that man who presenting himselfe before so seuere a Iudge hath not so much time as to bewaile those sinnes hee hath committed It is therefore deare Brother a dangerous thing to make thy houre of death thy houre of repentance and to thinke that thou maist not die in thy sinne though thou cease not from thy sinne but still continuest in that estate wherein if death should suddenly assaile thee as many times it falleth out thy soule were vtterly lost and for that moment of time wherin thou art to liue thou leauest thy soule to the danger of eternall damnation which should be dearer vnto thee than the whole World CHAP. II. How dangerous a thing it is to deferre our conuersion to the houre of death BVt be it deare Brother that thou bee mindefull both of God and of thy selfe at the houre of thy death A hard thing truly to conuert at the boure of death and that God doe then giue thee sometime of repentance yet it is to bee feared that thou canst hardly in so short a time so momentary a contrition sufficiently bewaile all the sinnes of thy long life It will hardly bee brought to passe that thou that in the whole course of thy life hast beene accustomed to sinne shouldest vpon the sudden at an instant be made perfect that thou shouldest so speedily quit thy selfe of the snares of the Diuel wherwith in thy whole life forespent thou hast intangled thy selfe that thou shouldest then at the last fall from the Diuell and begin to fight vnder Christ his banner when the war is at an end Doest thou thinke that that tree that neuer was green neuer did flourish or yeeld any fruit can then begin to grow yeeld any when hee is cut downe and cast into the fire Neither can that man that in his whole life time neuer did any good then yeeld fruits worthy repentance when the axe is laid to the root to cut him off from the land of the liuing and to cast him into that fire that shall neuer bee quenched But how dangerous a thing it is and how neere to vtter destruction to put off our repentance to the houre of death S. Augustine telleth vs. August de poenitentia distinct 7. If any man in the extremity of his sicknesse shall repent him of his sins and be reconciled vnto God and so depart out of this life I confesse vnto you we cannot deny that he requireth but yet wee cannot presume that hee departeth the childe of God whether he depart secure out of this life I know not repentance wee may impose security wee cannot giue Shall I say he is damned No and yet I will not say hee is saued Wilt thou therefore bee freed from this doubt auoid this vncertainty Repent whilest thou art in health which if thou doe I dare boldly affirme thou maist be secure because thou repentest at that time when thou couldest haue sinned But if thou wilt repent when thou canst not sin thy sinnes haue forsaken thee not thou them Thus far S. Augustine Deferre not therefore thy repentance vntill thou cannot sin Seneca Plerique metu peccare cessant non innocentia profecto tales timidi non innocentes dicendi sunt for though it bee the will of God to pardon thy sinnes yet hee requireth a willingnesse in thy selfe not a necessity loue and charity not only feare They that at their end compeld by necessity turne vnto God seeme not to repent for loue of God but for feare of hell Then they 〈◊〉 vnto God when in the â—orld which all their life â—me they haue serued they â—n no longer continue â—heras if they might longer â—â—ide therein they would â—ot yet forsake those delights which they are neuer content â—o leaue till they can keepe â—hem no longer They leaue â—ot their sinnes but their sins â—caue them who are not led by their owne wils but necessity In the whole volume of the booke of God there is only one Luke 11. and that was the good theefe that truly repented at the houre of his death Ille vt nullus desperet solus vt nullus praesâ—emat He is left vnto vs for an example that no man should despaire he only that no man should presume Who thogh hee were by this last confession of his acknowledgement of Christ vpon the Crosse after a sort baptized and in that innocent state so departed yet such as are already baptized haue no warrant from thence to sin and to persist in their sinnes For they that would neuer bee conuerted when they might being conuerted when they could not sinne doe not so easilie attaine that they would For a sicke man hath many lets and hinderances that withdraw him from repentance Impediments to repentance First the presence of his carnal friends whom perhaps hee hath loued vnlawfully and beyond measure â—he remembrance of his pasâ—â—d pleasures and temporall â—essings which hee leaueth â—t without much griefe of â—eart an vnspeakable sorrow 〈◊〉 the separation of the soule â—om the burthen of the boâ—y insomuch that a man â—an hardly think of any thing â—lse but that griefe wherewith hee is tormented in his
then what will the speech of the people bee of mee and how ridiculous shall I be to my best friends Res Men perhaps my deare brother will speake ill of thee but yet onely euill men who for the most part thinke those mad men whose example they cannot yet ought to imitate who dispraise that vertue they will not follow commend that vice which they embrace If this they did out of iudgement not rather out of ignorance and malice there were reason why thou shouldest be mooued therewith It is a commendable thing to bee commended by commendable men and there is no greater dispraise than the praise of the wicked But let vs yeeld so much to thy obstinacie that thou art heereby made ridiculous to good men too yet this should bee no reason to deter thee from that which is iust and right For the speech of men and their slanders cannot deliuer thee from the fire of hell A mans conscience a thousand witnesses but the feare of God and thy iust dealing proceeding from a liuely faith in the merits of Christ Iesus whether thou bee praised or dispraised returne into thy selfe and thy owne conscience if there thou finde not any thing that is woorthy commendations thou art rather to be pitied than admired and if there thou finde not that euill for which thou art dispraised thou art to reioice in the Lord and to contemne the bad speeches of other men For what is it to thee though men praise thee if thy conscience accuse thee Or why shouldest thou bee sorrie if all men accuse thee when thy owne conscience shall defend thee Our glory and our reioycing 2. Cor. 1. Iob 17. saith Saint Paul is the testimonie of our conscience And Iob saith Loe my witnesse is in heauen and my record is on high Why art thou troubled with the censures of men so long as thou knowest God to bee thy Iudge that must iudge them and thee If thy witnesse bee in heauen and in thy heart suffer fooles to speake their pleasure and grieue not at it So long as thou seekest the glory and praise of men and to please their eie and their eare thou carest not to please him that seeth thee from heauen if thou wilt serue men thou canst not be the seruant of Christ What is more vile more base than to affect glorie and honor amongst men and not to feare confusion ignominie in the presence of the highest Iudge Thou art more carefull to satisfie the eie of man than of God and thou art not afraid to do that before God which before man thou art ashamed of yea thou louest more the outward applause of the people than the inward peace of thy minde the puritie of thy conscience Amongst men thou desirest to seeme that thou art not pure when thou art most impure outwardly rich when thou art inwardly poore outwardly full when inwardly emptie outwardly gaie when inwardly naked outwardly a Lord when inwardly a seruant outwardly the seruant of God when inwardly the seruant of the diuell outwardly a man inwardly a beast outwardly a saint when inwardly execrable and odious to God and man If thou didest desire glorie in heauen thou wouldst not feare shame and ignominie vpon earth for euery man where he seeketh glorie there hee feareth confusion What shall it profit thee if the world shal commend thee and extoll thee to the heauens since the praises of men cannot heale a wounded conscience nor the opprobrious speeches of a slanderer wound a good conscience What good shall the glorie of this world doe thee if in hell where thou shalt be thou bee ignominiously tormented and in the world where thou art highly extolled It is a folly to measure thy owne worth by the opinion of the common people in whose power it is at their pleasure to praise and dispraise to giue honour and to take it away againe And therefore if thou place thy glory in their lips thou shalt be sometimes great somtimes little sometimes nothing at all as it shal please the toongs of flatterers to commend or condemne thee Glory flies him that followeth it and followeth him that flies it There is one only honour to bee desired of a Christian man and that is not to bee praised of men but of God And if thou contemne humane glory be sure that God will glorifie thee liuing and dead too It is a dishonourable thing for thee being a Christian and a follower of Christ to be affected with the scornes and slanderous speeches of other men and thereby to bee withdrawen from good works since thou knowest that thy Sauiour Christ Iesus endured the like scornes and woorse Matth. 10. For if they call the master of the house Beelzebub how much more his houshold seruants Christ Iesus contemning the vaine praises of men refused the offered glory of a Kingdome and was content to take vpon him the ignominious death of the Crosse and being the Sonne of God was called the sonne of a carpenter a transgressour of the law a seducer of the people a blasphemer of God a wine bibber a friend of sinners and Publicans and yet fearest thou a base worme of the earth the slanders of men for that for which the God of Maiestie and the Lord of the Saboth hath suffered by men so opprobrious speeches Doest thou feare to displease those whom Christ displeased for thee Wilt thou seeme glorious in the world when Christ would be contemned and scoft at for thee Christ was mocked of the Iewes and wilt thou be honored Wilt thou deck thy selfe with goodly apparell when Christ by the Iewes was clothed with ignominious garments hung naked vpon the Crosse for thee Matth. 10. The disciple is not aboue his master nor the seruant aboue his lord Why then art thou proud thou dust and ashes why gloriest thou in thy gay clothes the worme is spred ouer thee and the wormes couer thee Esay 14.1 But to say the trueth thou that thinkest thy selfe so goodly a creature when thou hast trimmed thy selfe in thy best attire what art thou but a pain̄ted sepulchre painted without but full of stench and rottennesse within For though thy flesh be adorned with pretions garments what is it more than flesh that is a stincking seed a sacke of corruption worms meat Flesh is dissolued into rottennesse rottennesse into wormes wormes into dust what is more stincking than a dead mans carcase what more horrible than a dead man That countenance which in life was most beautifull in death is most gastly most horrible Thou art earth in thy original a sparke in the breuitie of thy life dust and ashes in the condition of thy death As fire speedily turnes stubble into sparks so death as speedily turnes thee and thy glory into ashes O if thou couldest truly consider what thou art according to thy body thou wouldest presently be ashamed of the beautie and riches of thy garments and thou wouldest vse them
beleeue not things to come possesse fading riches that with them they may perish for euer The soule cannot bee without delight for either it is delighted with heauenlie things or earthly and by how much the more it is inflamed with the desire of earthlie things by so much the more doth it grow cold towards heauenly For the eie cannot at one and the same instant looke towards heauen and earth too But what doe full bagges benefit thee if thou haue an emptie conscience Wilt thou be accounted good and not be good Wilt thou haue good meat good garments good seruants to be short all good and thy selfe onely euill Preferre thy life before them let not al these be good and deare vnto thee thou onely vile and base and villanous to thy selfe If thou wilt bee lord of so many good things indeuour that they haue thee a good lord too which thou canst hardly bee except thou make restitution of that which thou vniustly detainest A good life is better than to possesse much goods Temporall goods are only good inasmuch as they are helpes to vertue but if they exceed this end and hinder the vse of vertue they are no more good things but to bee accounted among the euill Canst thou thinke that another mans goods vniustly deteined which make thee euill can be good vnto thee Or canst thou thinke those things good that subiect thee to eternall euils What good soeuer there is in this world whose gift is it but his that created it But that gift of God ought not to please thee that by the delight thereof separateth thee from the loue of God Preferre not the gift before the giuer when thou receiuest good things bee not euill thy selfe and let not that that should encrease thy loue towards God separate thee farther from him and so thou loue a base creature more than thy Creator to whem thou owest all that thou art and all that thou hast who hath made thee and made thee good who when it pleaseth him can take that from thee that he hath giuen thee who can cast both thy bodie and soule into hell and bestow thy temporall goods vpon another man But thou that louest thy gold more than God honorest it more than God for if thou diddest not so thou wouldest not for that lose the grace and loue of God Thou sellest God for a halfe-penny because for the gaine of a halfe-penny thou breakest the commandement of God God forbids thee to steale and thou obeiest him not couetousnesse bids thee to steale and that thou doest God commands thee to cloth the naked and that thou omittest couetousnes mooues thee to take from another what is his and that thou art ready to put in execution Thou possessest riches no otherwise than a prisoner doth his shakles which hee seemeth rather to be enthralled to than to haue For thou art not a little afflicted with thy self when thou beatest thy brains with wearisome desires and a wounded conscience deuisest which way thou maiest make such a mans goods thine owne by flatterie get such a bargaine by threats such a farme by cosenage and deceit and watchings and labours such a lordship and still the more thou gettest the more thou seekest For as wood cast into the fire seemeth for a time to presse downe the flame and dead the fire but presently maketh it burne with greater violence so thy couetousnesse is not extinguished with gaine but more inflamed And when by right or by wrong thou hast heaped thy riches together and glutted as it were thy own desires whereas before thou diddest hope for rest out of abundance thou shalt finde thy selfe more afflicted than euer by the care thou hast to keepe that thou hast gotten and thou shalt euer keep thy riches with no lesse fear than with labour thou hast got them Thou art euery day in feare to bee assaulted and the wrongs thou hast offered to others thou fearest will be offered by others vnto thee If thou see one mightier than thy selfe thou fearest his power his violence if poorer than thy selfe thou suspectest his theft and so thou that in aduersitie didst hope for prosperitie in prosperitie fearest aduersitie and art caried hither and thither as it were with so many billowes and tormented with the diuers vicissitude of thy owne fortunes Doest thou that art a Christian the disciple of Christ and his pouerty that art called to the heauenly riches of Paradise admire as matters of greater moment these temporall goods which doe more with care and anxietie afflict thy miserable soule than refresh it with the vse of them and in them place thy greatest felicitie and in a countrie where as a stranger for a few daies thou dwellest doest thou place thy whole heart and thy whole affections So long as thou desirest transitorie things and either vnderstandest not eternall or vnderstanding them contemnest them thou wallowest in the dung of thy earthly riches and thinkest of nothing but earth and earthly things in stead of thy countrie thou louest that exile which thou sufferest and in that darknes thou liuest in thou exultest as in the cleere light The helpes of this thy peregrination thou makest thy stumbling blockes and being delighted with the nightlie light of the Moone thou refusest to behold the bright beautie of the Sunne and the benefit of thy passing life thou turnest into an occasion of eternall death Is not that traueller besides himselfe that in his iourney passing thorow beautiful and delightfull medowes there stayes and forgets to goe to his iourneyes end If thou haddest power to rule some small countrie so long as vpon a swift horse thou canst run it ouer wilt thou be content to lose thy right of rule for euer in a far greater countrie for that transitorie dominion What is the time of this present life but a continuall race vnto death wherein no man is permitted to stay a little or to slacken his pace What is it to liue but incessantly to run vnto death By how much the longer thou liuest by so much the neerer thou art vnto death and as life passeth so death draweth on As a barrell the more it runneth out the more it is emptied and yet is not sayd to be emptie till the last drop be fallen from it so by certaine droppes of time the life by little and little droppes away but yet vntill the last moment of thy life thy bodie is not said to be dead In the middle of thy life thou art in death and whether thou watch or fleepe thou diest continually Euery day thou diest euery day thou art changed and yet doest thou thinke thy selfe immortall Hee easilie contemneth all things that thinks euery day is his dying day If thou diddest thinke that these earthly blessings must one day perish thou wouldest vse them whilest thou hast them for the benefit of thy soule In death with sorrow enough thou shalt see how base and worse than nothing that
be Lord ouer all and hath care of all prouiding for all and euery particular person and gouerning al by his prouidence yet so maiest thou see him wholly imploied to the custodie and preseruation of thy selfe if thou stand vpon thy owne guard and apply thy wil vnto his will as if hee entended onely thy selfe and nothing els Onely doe thou depart from euill and doe good repent thee of al thy sinnes that thou hast committed and keepe the commandements of God and thou shalt liue and not die for it is not the will of God thou shouldest die but that thou return from thy wicked waies and liue Contemne not the treasures of the goodnesse and patience of God for the will of God prouoketh thee to repentance and inuiteth thee to amendement of life but thy hardnesse whereby thou obstinately perseuerest in thy sinnes increaseth the seuerity of thy iudgement to the end thou maiest receiue the due reward of thy sinnes Forasmuch therefore as thou art wicked and hast so good a father continue not alwaies wicked lest with Pharaâ— if thou persist in thy obduration thou purchase to thy selfe eternall damnation CHAP. III. That there is no man so great a sinner but by the power of the Creatour he may be conuerted BVT perhaps thou wilt say I haue beene so long accustomed to sinne that I can hardly change my life and turne from mine iniqui-quities According to that in the 22. of the Prou. Teach a child in the trade of his way and when hee is old hee shall not depart from it And in the 13. of Ieremiah Can the blank-more change his skin or the leopard his spots that may yee also doe that are accustomed to doe euill Res I confesse deare brother that it is a hard thing to make him that is old in euill daies yoong in good because the custome of sinning doth so enthrall the minde that it can hardly be set at libertie neuerthelesse faint not nor despaire at all if thou be either ouercome by the concupiscence of thy flesh or deceiued by errour or slipt into the way of iniquitie because there is no impossibilitie but that thou maiest bee reduced into the right waie and freed from thy sinne There haue beene many other grieuous offenders who by the right hand of the most high haue beene changed in their old age from the sinnes of their youth and of the seruants and slaues of sin haue beene made the sonnes of God Of drunkards they haue beene made sober men of cruell mercifull of oppressors liberall of proud humble of incontinent chaste of negligent diligent and whom the concupiscence of the flesh hath made base and vile the grace of God hath made beautifull In as much that they haue been willing to suffer wrong that were wont to offer it to giue their owne that were woont to take away other mens to punish their bodies by abstinence that were woont to pamper them to loue their persecuters that were wont to hate those that loued them Nabuchadnezzar after his great fall from a man to a beast Dan. 4. came to himselfe after innumerable afflictions repented and was restored to that kingdome which he had lost Mary Magdalen after many slips of humane fragilitie by true repentance was so kindled with the loue of Christ that of a proud and vnchaste harlot she was suddenly changed into an humble and chaste matron Matthew of a Publican became an Euangelist and the theefe of a wicked transgressor a true conuertite an inheritor of the kingdom of heauen wheÌ„ Stephen by the consent assistance of Paul was stoned Stephen was good and Paul wicked yet Paul became a more zealous preacher of the Gospell than Stephen and afterwards hee was made the Apostle of the Gentiles and he that before was a blasphemer and a persecuter was made a zealous and humble furtherer of the Gospell of Christ Iesus The beginnings amongst Christians are not looked into but the end these beganne ill but ended well The beginning of Iudas was commendable the end damnable from his Apostleship hee fell into hell the theefe from the crosse ascended into paradise What need I say more The Holy Ghost doth not onely set down the good deeds of the saints of God but their euill too that the fall of the iust may be the hope of the wicked and when thou readest that a righteous man sinned and repented thou mayest not despaire of thine owne saluation Wee often times see men spotted with infamie rise to honor and dignitie and iron eaten with rust recouer his ancient brightnesse gold and siluer purified with the fire and trees cut and lopped adorned with boughs leaues The merchant after his losses at sea returnes to sea againe and repaires his losses he despaireth not hee is not cast down but many times made rich by his new aduentures After a desperate sicknesse many recouer health and after desperate sinnes many recouer the health of their soules That in the Prouerbs Teach a childe in the trade of his way c. is therefore spoken because a vessel doth a long time keep the sent and relish of that liquor that is first put into it and by nature we keepe those things best which we haue learned in our yonger yeers not that it alwayes falleth out so but for the most part whilest the age of a man is vnsetled and the minde easily led it is a happy thing to be led vnto the best to the studie of virtue lest being stricken in yeeres hee hardly shake off those sinnes which hee gaue himselfe vnto in his youth An Ethiopian can hardly change his skinne nor alâ—â—pard his spots neither canst thou that of thy selfe art fallen into sinne of thy selfe rise again except God who raiseth the needie out of the dust Psa 113.7 and lifteth vp the poore out of the mire put forth his right hand to helpe thee by which his helpe thou shalt be able to doe any thing but yet not thou but the grace of God which is in thee For how should he want power to raise thee being fallen that was able of nothing to create all things With him all things are possible that with men are impossible his power is no lesse than his will if hee will hee can make thee cleane who as hee clenseth and healeth so he saueth with his onely word If thou despaire of thy disease presume of the omnipotencie of thy Physitian the power of thy Physitian is greater than thy disease is dangerous the danger of thy disease thou seest but the power of thy Physitian thou seest not his power to conuert thy will vnto God is greater than thy inueterate custome of sinning to inthrall thee to sinne If the diuell were able to plucke thee downe from the highest step of virtue to the nethermost depth of all sinne iniquitie how much more is God able to raise thee to thy former height and perfection and not onely restore thee to
spirituall graces by sinne art made vnworthy the bread that thou eatest and being depriued of thy greatest good art fallen into thy greatest miserie As vertue is the beauty of the soule so sin is the deformity thereof If thou sawest thy soule thou wouldest blush at the basenesse and misery thereof and wouldest endeuour to recouer the grace of her ancient dignitie If thou haue an arrow in thy body thou hastenest to plucke it out and if thou fall into the durt thou arisest presently The hurt silth of thy bodie doest thou with such diligence desire to free thy selfe of and yet art thou content to suffer thy soule to wallow in her pollution And though the soule was not made for the bodie but the bodie for it yet thou neglectest the care of thy soule and followest that of the bodie with all that is in thee Thou that neglectest thy soule though thou take care to trim vp thy body yet thou neglectest them both whereas if thou tookest care to adorne thy soule though thou neglect thy body thou sauest both CHAP. VI. How miserable the despaire a sinner is at the point of death Consider a little my deare brother how often and how grieuously thou hast offended thy Lord God yea more often more grieuously than many who are now deseruedly tormented in the fire of hell and then call vnto minde how great a benefit God hath bestowed on thee in staying and attending that he might haue mercy on thee in yeelding vnto thee out of his mercy a time of repentance who long since shouldest haue beene tormented in hell fire Whereas if God a iust Iudge strong and patient in al those houres and moments wherein thou hast offended him had permitted thee as he hath diuers others to haue died a sudden death alas where had thy soule beene The Lord hath brought thy soule out of hell Psal 30. hee hath reuiued thee from them that goe downe into the pit and yet thou ceasest not to sinne but more and more thou drawest neere to the gates of hell If all that are damned in bel had but halfe an houre of thy life that by repentance they might rise to a glorious life dost thou think that as thou doest so they would spend it vnprofitablie and neglect their present opportunitie What would they not doe to free themselues from the torment of that fire But thou on the other side whilest the merciful God giueth thee a time of repentance abusest it out of the malice of thy nature to the committing of greater wickednesse The daies will come yea they wil come and not faile Luk. 23. wherin despairingly thou shalt say to the hilles fall vpon me to the mountaines couer mee and then thou shalt crie out for a time of repentance but thou shalt crie not be heard For it is iust that thou that wouldest not turne vnto God whilest â—hou mightest shouldest not haue power to doe it when thou wouldest doe it too late God after death forgiueth not him that before death thought scorne to aske forgiuenesse Wherefore whilest thou hast time doe good for the night will come when thou canst not labour Consider a little vnhappie man that thou art if sudden death should haue inuaded thee impenitent ouerladen with many sinnes not giuing thee any time of repentance in the time instant of death how miserable had thy despaire beene How great had the terror of thy mind been how vnspeakable the feare of the Iudge how great a horror of imminent torment in hell had inuaded thee Then with million of teares thou wouldest thus haue bewailed thine owne damnation O fading and deceitful life full of many snares The complaint of a sinner dying Yesterday I did reioice now I am sorie then I laught now I weepe then I was strong now I am weake then I liued now I die then I seemed happie now am serable and a wretched creature I do not so much lament my departure out of this life as the losse of those daies and moneths and yeeres wherein I haue laboured in vaine and in vaine haue spent the strength of my daies All the time that was giuen mee to liue I haue spent in all maner of sinne and iniquitie and so long as I liued I rather obeied mine own concupiscence than the inspirations precepts of God This rotten carcase of mine which the wormes are presently to denoure I euer tooke care to helpe and to comfort but my soule which presentlie shall be brought before God and his Angels vnto iudgement I contemned 2 King 4.27 tooke no care with vertue and religion to adorne it and this is the cause why my soule is vexed within mee O my vanitie ô my pride ô my pleasure whether are yee gone what haue you profited me What haue you left vnto me for all the seruice I haue done vnto you in the whole course of my life Nothing but a gnawing and tormenting conscience For your seruice I made my selfe an enemie vnto God a slaue to the diuell I lost heauen and got hell I lost infinite ioies and got eternall lamentation I am depriued of the societie of Angels and haue made my selfe a companion to the citizens of nell Pleasures and riches and honors with all the fading allurements of this deceitful world are past and gone and they are as if they neuer had been Wisd 1. they quickly appeared and as speedily they vanish yea they are past away like a shadow like an arrow flying in the aire like a messenger that passeth and is gone like a ship in the sea whose path is not seene The time of my life is past and glided away it cannot return in whose though shortest delay ô how much good could I haue done ô how great a treasure of spirituall goods could I haue gathered vnto my selfe which now in my fading time might haue made mee friends in the eternall tabernacles of God! of the least whereof I should now more reioice than of millions of gold and siluer But a good purpose without a beginning a will without worke good promises without execution and the expectation of a morrow that neuer came haue vndone me Wo be vnto me that so long put it off so long delayed my conuersion How happie is a mature repentance and conuersion because secure Whereas hee that repenteth too late can neuer bee sure because hee knoweth not whether hee repent truely or fainedly for it is likely that hee rather repenteth out of a feare of punishment than out of loue towards God O my gold and siluer ô my possessessions my precious garments wherein I was wont to content my selfe I faile you you faile not me I leaue you I can not carrie you with mee Oh that I had beene so happie as neuer to haue seene you that of all men liuing I had beene the poorest for then had I neuer beene called to an account either for misspending or vniustly detaining you O