that it is so the Diuines collect it thus for whereas the true worship and seruice of God doth consist in these three in diligendo honorando Bonauen Centiloq part 1. sect 22. in ipso confidendo In louing God in honoring God in putting our whole confidence and trust in God The Mammonists of this world do take all these from God and giue them to their riches For first though the precept runne thus Deut. 6.5 Thou shalt loue the Lord thy God with all thy heart and with all thy soule and with al thy might yet do these men take this loue from God and bestow it on their wealth and therefore Saint Iohn that he might meet with this 1. Epi Ioh. 2.15 Psal 62.2 he giueth this caueat Loue not the world and the Prophet Dauid If riches increase yet saith he do not set your hearts vpon them And for the second which is honor wheras it is the Angels speech vnto vs that dwell vpon the face of the earth Reuel 14.7 Honor and worship him that hath made the heauen the earth the sea and the fountaines of waters these men as it is in the eight of Hosea and fourth verse Of their siluer and their gold do they make them Idols their siluer and gold is the god they worship And lastly for confidence and trust Prou. 16.20 whereas the wise man saith Blessed is the man that trusteth in the Lord these are like vnto the man of whom the Prophet Dauid speaketh Psal 52.1 Behold the man that tooke not God for his strength but trusted in the multitude of his riches So that the riches of the world as wel as the honors of the world are occasions you see vnto men of many sinnes by which they are drawne from the wayes of life If therefore we are desirous to preuent these and the like inticements of the world least by them we be deceiued and so caused to erre from the paths of life our best course is euermore to consider of this world as it is and not as it seemeth Caligula the Emperour set golden loaues and other seruices of whole gold before his guests and bad them eate Indeed they had a glorious shew to looke vpon but there was nothing in them to eate and to drinke for the contentation of nature And such no other are the dainties which the world proposeth vnto vs both in wealth and honour they haue I confesse a glorious shew to the eye but the substance of them being well considered is but vanitie First for honor let Haman speake who was next vnto the King Ester 2.1 and with him was alone inuited to the banquet of Queen Hester Ester 5.4 and when he hath said all that he can for his honor yet the conclusiō of all must be this that it was but vanitie for in that day in which he was entertained with such royaltie at the banquet of Queene Hester Ester 7.1.10 in that same day was he hung vpon the gallowes which he made for Mordecay at the commandement of the King who before had highly honoured him at the request of the Queene who before had inuited him How highly was our Sauiour graced and dignified by the people of the Iewes In the 6. Iohn 6.15 of Iohn they would haue made him King in the 12. Iohn 12.13 of Iohn they cut downe branches of palme trees and meete him singing sweetly Hosanna Blessed art thou that comest in the name of the Lord but see the inconstancy of this people and the mutabilitie of this worldly honour they who before had cried Hosanna Blessed art thou that comest in the name of the Lord not many daies after euen the fift day In cap. 2. Mat. as Saint Hierome hath obserued they crie as earnestly against him Crucifige let him be crucified So true is that which Saint Bernard hath concerning worldly honour Vanitas est huius seculi dignitas cum magna expectatione speratur vt veniat sed non potest teneri cum venerit The honours and preferments of the world are but meere vanities they are long looked for of men to come with great expectation but when once they haue them they are so short and fleeting that they cannot keepe them And for the wealth and riches of the world if you will not beleeue Salomon vpon his word when he calleth them vanity Eccles 1.2 yet beleeue them to be vanitie euen for this because they will haue either thy end or their end Iob 1. their end as they had in Iob who from great wealth came vnto a low ebbe of pouerty or thy end as they had in the rich man who when he sung a long lasting requiem to his soule in the multitude of his riches Luk. 12.19.20 had his soule the same night taken away frō him And is there then beloued such vanity in this world in the best things which this world proposeth both in wealth and honor and shall we for the gaining of this leaue the gaining of such a world as is not subiect vnto vanitie Shal we leaue gold for drosse pearle for glasse heauen for earth the permanent euerlasting ioyes of the one for the momentary and transitory delights of the other The eyes of the brute beasts are turned downward to the earth to seeke for nothing but meate for their bellies At os homini sublime dedit But the face and countenance of man is lifted vpward vnto heauen to behold God who hath made all for man and man for himselfe let vs then leaue the world and the things of the world vnto the beasts to whom properly it belongeth and let vs send vp the affections of our hearts vnto heauen where our inheritance is reserued Gen. 28.11 And as Iacob in that his iourny vnto Padan-Aram is said to sleepe in the way so while we liue here in this world which is nothing else but a passage to a better life or if you will so call it our way and iourney to the heauenly Canaan let vs sleepe and be at rest from the desire of temporall things whatsoeuer let heauen become our obiect and earth become our abiect The desires of our hearts let them be placed vpon things aboue as for things beneath let them be vnto vs as vnto Saint Paul Philip. 3.8 euen losse and dung in regard of the excellent knowledge of Iesus Christ as vnto Chrysostome 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 a shadow and a dreame and lighter then these as vnto Plato 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 nothing and worth nothing Let vs say with Peter and with Peters affection Behold master Math. 19.27 we forsake all and follow thee let vs say with Saint Paule I am non ego sed viuit in me Christus Now it is not I Galat. 2.20 but Christ which liueth in me that is as Saint Bernard expounds those words very fitly to this purpose Ad alia quidem omnia
the preseruation of our soules which we do for the preseruation of our bodily health It is a rule in Phisick Pars maxima sanitatis est notitia morbi the best meanes for a sicke man to recouer his health is to acknowledge his sicknesse For if a man which hath the gout in his toe will not take notice of it but say it is nothing but a tingling in his toe and if a man hath got the cough of the lungs and wil not acknowledge it but say it is nothing but a great cold which he hath takē these diseases wil grow so hard vpon them that at length it will be hard or rather impossible to cure them wheras notice being taken of them in time the danger is the lesse the cure more easie And so the Diuines haue the like rule Pars maxima salutis est notitia peccati The best meanes for a sicke man in soule to be recouered is to acknowledge and take notice of sinne which is the sicknesse of the soule For the man that is ouergrowne with couetousnesse and saith it is but frugalitie which is infected with the sinne of vncleannesse and maintaineth it to be but loue the man who like a swashbuckler is alwayes drawing his sword cutting and hacking the harmelesse and will haue this to haue no worse name then manhood and fortitude these and the like diseases wil grow so hard vpon the soule that it will be a plaine miracle to remoue them whereas they being knowne and acknowledged for sinnes as they are indeed the cure of them is easie and the danger of being drawne out of the waies of life by them is quickly auoided But if the Diuell be thus preuented in this second policie then like a sedulous and industrious enemie he setteth vpon vs with a third for if he perceiue that thou conceiuest aright of thy sinnes as that they are indeed sinnes then he laboureth to deceiue thee with this that Dominus non videt though thou takest them to be sinnes yet saith the diuell the Lord doth not see them and with this haue many bene deceiued In the eighth of Ezechiel and twelfth verse it is Gods speech vnto the Prophet Son of man hast thou seene what the Ancients of Israel do in the darke euery one in the chamber of his imagery for they say the Lord sees vs not the Lord hath forsakē the earth Almighty God shews the Prophet that the ancients of Israel had painted round about their walls euery similitude of creeping things and abhominable beasts and he makes this to be the cause a grosse perswasion that the Lord did not see them But art thou desirous to preuent the diuell in this fallacian also then for thy better instruction let me reason with thee thus He that could espie our first parents hiding themselues among the thicke trees of the garden Gen. 3.9 cannot his eyes find out thy sinne though it be committed in a secret place Psal 94.9 He that planted the eare shall not he heare saith Dauid or he that formed the eye shall not he see As if he had said Make no question but whatsoeuer you speake or do God doth heare it God doth see it It is not with the sight of God as it is with the sight of man if there be not a due and a proportionate distance betweene the sight of man and the obiect the eye of man cannot possibly see it but say God were circumscribed in some one place and grant it were in heauen yet that great distance which is betweene heauen and earth euen seuen score and eighteene thousand foure hundred and sixtie three miles as the Astronomers haue coniectured yet doth not this great distance hinder God from seeing our sinnes Psal 14.2 For the Lord looked downe from heauen vpon the children of men what to do to see if any would vnderstand and seeeke after God but looking downe he saw that all were gone out of the way that there was none that did good no not one But if the Diuell preuaile not with this third fallacian then behold a fourth for doth God see thy sin saith Sathan yet be bold to sinne still for God is so mercifull August in Psa 144. that he will not punish sinne It is Saint Augustines complaint that there be two sorts of men which do snatch occasions of sinning to themselues the one from the mercie the other from the iustice of God One saith God will take so strict and seuere an account of our doings that we shall not be able to answer one for a thousand and therefore saith he being sure to be damned cur non facio quiquid volo why do I not whatsoeuer I wil The other he saith Gods mercie is aboue his workes and at what time soeuer I repent though it be at the last gaspe he wil receiue me with the armes of his mercy as he did the theefe vpon the crosse and therefore why do not I go on still in my wickednesse Desperat ille vt peccet sperat iste vt peccet vtrumque metuendum the one despaireth that he may sinne still the other hopeth that he may sinne still and both are to be feared But for those which dreame altogether of Gods mercie that this fallacian of the diuels by which many thousands are drawne from the wayes of life may be preuented let them remember that God as he is mercifull so he is iust In the 116. Psalme and fifth verse The Lord is mercifull and iust saith Dauid not mercifull alone but iust also And as we cannot bide our sinnes from the all-seeing eye of God so we cannot be defended frō the strong arme of his iustice In the 6. of Genesis and 12. verse it is said that God looked downe vpon the earth and seeing that all flesh had corrupted his wayes he saith to Noah An end of al flesh is come before me for the earth is filled with crueltie through them and behold I will destroy them from the earth In which words we may obserue first that God sees our sinnes secondly that though he seeth sinne yet he is mercifull and thirdly that as he is mercifull so he is iust God looked downe vpon the earth and saw that all flesh had corrupted his way there is the first Gods sight of sinne the earth is filled with crueltie there is the second the mercie of God and long suffering for he doth not presently execute iudgement vpon them but stayed so long till the earth was full of crueltie And behold I will destroy them from the earth there is Gods iustice But if the diuell by none of these be able to deceiue vs and to draw vs from the wayes of life then he hath a fift which shall be my last at this time He setteth before our eyes the good and pleasure that doth accompany our sinne and indeede these are shrewd temptations vnto flesh and blood Psal 133.1 The Prophet Dauid maketh choise of these two
aspexit Remember Lots wife how she was brought indeed out of Sodome because she beleeued God but was changed by the way into a pillar of salt because she looked backe God hath commaunded vs as he did Lot and his wife that wee should come out of Sodome that is that we should forsake our sinnes and not so much as looke back vnto sinne but runne in hast till we come into heauen which is our Zoar. If therefore with Lots wife we wil looke backe in our way to the pleasantnesse of sinne we shall be sure with her to tast the bitternesse of her punishment for as she vbi respexit Gen. 19.26 ibi remansit where she looked backe there she stood still and came not vnto Zoar where her life should haue bene saued so if once we haue abandoned sinne which is the broade way that leadeth vnto death and haue entred into a holy and religious course which is this narrow way that leadeth vnto life if then with Lots wife we go not forward but looke backward to our former delights of sin it is impossible for vs to come to Zoar that is vnto heauen where our soules and bodies should be saued They are our Sauiour Christ his own words in the ninth of Luke and the last verse No man putting his hand vnto the plough and looking backe is fit for the kingdome of God Exod. 16.26 The Israelites were commanded not once in a moneth nor once in a weeke but euery day to gather Manna except vpon the Sabboth day to teach them and to teach vs that till such time as we come vnto that eternall Sabboth of our euerlasting rest in heauen we must neuer stand still in the way of a godly life but euery day be going forward Apelles posie was Nulla dies sine linea Let no day passe from me without drawing one line at the least and Titus the Emperor was wont to say Sueton. in Tit. Amici diem perdidimus Ezech. 47.4 that he had lost that day in which he did no good As the waters in Ezechiel rose by degrees first to the ankles then vnto the knees then vnto the loines and lastly to the head and as the wheate which Christ speakes of Mark 4.28 grew vp riper and riper first there was a blade then the eare then the full corne and lastly came the haruest so like those waters we must grow higher and higher till we come vnto our head Christ and like that wheate we must grow riper and riper til we come to the haruest which is the end of the world There is in Persia a stone called Selenites Plin. lib. vlt. cuius interior candor cum Luna crescit decrescit whose inward whitenesse increaseth and decreaseth as the Moone The deuotion of Christians must not be like this stone still changing and continuing no longer in one moode then a sparrow lights vpon the ground but we must proceed in the way of righteousnesse euen as Abraham went to Canaan that is we must eundo pergere still be going and as those kine of the Philistines which bare the Arke of God 1. Sam. 6. though they were milch had calues at home yet without turning either to the right or left hand they kept on their way to Bethshemesh so hauing once ioyned ourselues vnto the yoke of Christ and bearing the arke of his law vpon our shoulders in the way of a vertuous life though we haue many allurements to draw vs backe as those kine had their calues yet without turning either to the right or left hand we must keepe our way to Bethshemesh that is vnto the house of the Sunne for so the word signifieth where the Son of God raigneth In the 13. of Saint Matthew the kingdome of God is described in this manner It is as a grain of Musterdseed at first the least of al seeds Math. 13.31 but when a man hath sowne it in his field it becometh first an herbe then the greatest of herbs thirdly a tree lastly the birdes make arbours and shades in the bowes of it Now why should the kingdome of God be compared vnto this seede which is still increasing verily no better reason can be giuen for it then this that we may all learne not to stand still in our Christian growth but to preseuere and go on from grace vnto grace till we become perfect men in Christ Iesus As the star neuer ceased going Math. 2.9 till it came vnto the house where Christ was so if we be once entred into the way of a holy and religious life we must neuer stand still but continue still going till we come vnto heauen where God is If we haue faith we must then go from faith to faith if we haue loue we must continue and abide in loue if we haue zeale we must labor to be consumed with zeale if we giue almes we must go a step further and giue it with chearfulnesse and as God hath continued a chaine of his good graces vnto vs first by predestinating secondly by calling Rom. 8.30 thirdly by iustifying fourthly by glorifying vs so must we continue a chain of our graces towards God by giuing al diligence 2. Pet. 1.5.6 as the Apostle Saint Peter speaketh to ioine vertue with our faith and with our vertue knowledge and with our knowledge tēperance and with our temperance patience and with our patience godlinesse and neuer leaue ioyning the linkes of that golden chaine there ioyned till our bodies and soules come to be disioined But beloued if the want of any vertue is to be lamented in this age it is the want of this vertue of all vertues perseuerance For if we take a view of all estates of men euen from the highest to the lowest shall we not be so far frō finding any increase or growth in Christian duties any going forward in the way of righteousnesse from grace vnto grace Indies deficit in agris agricola Cyp. con Deme. and from strength vnto strength that we shall rather finde an vniuersall falling away and defection in them Is there not now as S. Cyprian iustly complained in his time a daily defectiō in the world both of men and of mens manners Is there not a defection of the husbandman in the field of the marriner at the sea of citizens in townes of townsemen in villages Is there not a defection of innocency in the court of iustice in iudgement of concord in friendship of workmanship in arts of discipline in manners Where is that zeale vnto the word that hunger thirst after the waters of the wel of life that was wont to be amōg vs Do we still thirst after these waters of the well of life 2. Sam. 23. as Dauid for the waters of the well of Bethlem Nay rather are we not come vnto that fulnesse and satietie Numb 11.7 that we euen loath these waters of life as Israel loathed Manna If it were not so
then should we not see so many in all places to loue better the thresholds of their doores and their benches in aleboothes then they loue the courts and seates of the Lords temple The time was when with gladnesse we haue receiued this word vpon al occasions and entertained this heauenly food of our soules as Elias foode for his body with all thankfulnesse 1. King 17. euen then when a blacke Rauen hath brought it vnto vs I meane men but meanly qualified But now vnto so low an ebbe is our zeale and deuotion come that though Angels from heauen bring it I meane men excellently qualified and able sufficiently to performe the worke of right faithfull Euangelists yet men reiect it nay which is worse they euen resolue with Ahab not at all to heare Michea 1. King 22. not because Michea prophesieth euill vnto them and not good 2. Kin. 13.14 but because Michea is not a preacher qualified in all points according to their humours But to leaue our loue vnto the word let vs descend vnto our loue to those that labor in the word and for which loue many places in this land haue bene much commended True it is we haue bin as affectionate vnto them as king Ioas was to Elizeus ascribing more vnto them for the good of the whole land then to al our chariots and our horsmen It is true we haue entertained them as the Galathians did Saint Paul not onely as the Angels of God but as Iesus Christ himselfe yea we haue giuen no lesse honour vnto them Gal. 4.13 then the men of Lysia vnto Barnabas Paul freely coÌ„fessing of these as they confessed of them Act. 14.11 that gods were come down vnto vs in the likenesse of men I adde yet more that you may see vnto what a fearefull relapse we are now in this age come Aquin. in hunc locum lâ—ct 3. that double honor both of countenance and maintenance of countenance for their place of maintenance for their seruice which they that labour in the word are worthy of saith S. Paul 1. Timoth 5.17 this double honour haue we yeelded and offered vnto them as their due in the amplest manner But haue we so continued haue we perseuered in this loue I must be faithful in my maisters house with Moses and speake a truth without flattery I say boldly in the feare of God concerning this as the Angell saith vnto the Church of Ephesus we are become changelings Reuel 2.4 and haue lost our former loue For first for countenance now euery vpstart that hath scraped but a little pelfe together by the patchings of his braine will be deadly opposite vnto no man more then to Gods minister And as for maintenance the time indeed was when with the good Shunamite you haue prouided for Elias a chamber 2. King 4. a stoole a table and a candlesticke and haue come vnto the Prophets as Christ vnto the lame man at the poole of Bethesda Iohn 5.6 Vis sanus fieri wilt thou be maintained wilt thou be beneficed But now so are the times and with the times so are men changed that you take from Elias his chamber his stoole his table and his candlestick You do come vnto the Prophets not as Christ to the man before mentioned Vis sanus fieri wilt thou be beneficed but as Iudas to the high Priest when he sold his master Quid mihi dabitis ego tradam vobis what will you giue me and I will giue you a presentatioÌ„ And though the visible iudgment of God be vpon such sacriledge for it thriues with them as the Arke of God among the Philistines 1. Sam. 5.1 and as the flesh which an Eagle sometime caried from an altar to her nest a coale of Gods wrathfull indignation is caried with it which in time consumeth them and their yong though I say this visible iudgement of God be vpon such sacriledge yet the eies in our heads may faile with the expectation of that day when the chambers of the Lord his house which Tobiah the Ammonite hath seized into his hands Nehem. 13. shold be restored againe to their ancient institution for the maintenance of the Leuites What should I speake in particular of that stedfastnesse in faith that modestie in words that vprightnesse in our actions that mercie in our works that discipline in our manners that loue and vnitie among neighbours and brethren which in the Primitiue Church was the glory of the first Christians and in some good measure hath heretofore bin seene among vs Verily our coldnesse in all these as in the former is a plaine demonstration that albeit we haue layed our hands vnto the plough of the best husbandry in the whole world yet we haue looked back and albeit we haue made some small entrance into the way of a vertuous life yet we haue started aside and fallen from it again for want of perseuerance To draw this then to a conclusion If we looke vpon all the sons of Adam who are bound by the commaundement of God to seeke after the way of life and in them if we wel consider first the blindnesse of their reason which is not able of it selfe without Gods assisting grace to discerne the way of life from the way of death secondly the peruersnesse and obstinacie of their wils which albeit they know the way yet refuseth to walk in it and lastly their back-sliding and want of perseuerance when haply they haue begun if I say we consider all these bearing sway for the most part with most of Adams sonnes we may then say and say truly euen as our Sauiour Christ saith in my text They are few yea very few that do find the way of life Now as this is a manifest and certaine truth that there be few that do find the way of life if we consider the hinderances in our selues that seeke the way so in the next place if we shall take a view of those things which do retrahere which do allure vs and withdraw vs from the search of this way it will appeare more plaine vnto vs. The things then which do vsually detaine and keepe vs backe from the search of this way of life are these three old and ancient enemies of man Bern. medit cap. 14. Mundus Caro Diabolus the world the flesh the diuell and these three hauing drawne as many men vnto their part as the Dragon drew the starres of heauen with his taile Reuelat. 12.4 it must needs follow that their number should be very small that go on in the way of life I wil touch them all three in their order and giue you such caueats out of Gods booke against each of them that if we be once entred into the way of a godly life which is the narrow way that must leade vs to eternall life neither the world with his inticemeÌ„ts nor the flesh with her alluremeÌ„ts nor the diuell with his suggestions
heretofore bene and it is at this day the foundatiō root of rebellions treasons murthers thefts of such damnable machiauelliā policies as are hardly to be found euen among the Gentiles as it was the speech of Agrippina the Emperour Neros mother when she heard that her sonne Nero should be Emperor Sueton. in Nerone but yet should kill his mother in his Empire Occidat modò imperet Let him kill me so he may be Emperour so I pray God that by the perswasion of the diuell it be not a setled resolution in the hearts of many Let me perish not temporally with Agrippina but eternally both in soule and body if so be in this life I may haue places of preferment either in church or common-wealth Riches Now for the wealth and riches of the world that they likewise as well as worldly honours are a meanes to draw vs from the wayes of life it is a case clearely decided by our Sauiour Christ in the 19. of Saint Mathew Mat. 19.20.21 for when the yong man had made this question vnto Christ Maister what shall I do to attaine eternall life and Christ his answer was Keepe the commandements and his reply to that was I haue kept them from my youth vp and Christ his replication to him againe was Yet thou wantest one thing Sell all that thou hast and giue it to the poore at that saying saith the text he departed sorowfull and the cause of his sorow is there noted to be this He had great possessions and was rich and therefore our Sauiour is bold in the 23. verse to set downe this as a conclusion that a rich man shall hardly enter into the kingdome of heauen But were it not a case thus cleared by our Sauiour Christ yet if we will but looke into the qualities and conditions of rich men we shall find their wealth to haue bene and to be vnto them an occasion of many grieuous and grosse sinnes by meanes whereof they are kept from the wayes of life For to begin first with the sinne of pride a sinne so hatefull in Gods eyes that it cast our first parents out of Paradise and Lucifer from heauen to hel to begin I say with the sinne of pride mark it when you wil you shall see that where store of wealth is there commonly is store of pride and therefore among other charges which Saint Paul giues to Timothy this is not left out 1. Tim. 6.17 namely that he should charge rich men that they be not high minded And the heathen man Tully describing the qualities of the rich In Orat. de lege Agrar ad Quirit which for the most part are very intollerable among others he setteth downe pride for one and his instance is in the men of Campania Campani semper superbi bonitate agrorum fructuum The men of Campania are euer high minded and proud in regard of the store of fruites and of corne which their country yeeldeth and it is not only true in them 2. Lib. Rhet. but as Aristotle saith it holdeth in all rich men in al countries whatsoeuer But if this sinne of pride did onely accompanie our earthly riches it were well sed ecce venit Gad behold there are a great companie of sinnes more for as they do breed in vs pride of heart to the contempt of our poore neighbours so do they corrupt our memories to the forgetfulnesse of God This Moses knew to be true and therefore he giueth this caueat to the children of Israel Deut. 6.10 When the Lord thy God hath brought thee into the land which he sware vnto thy fathers to giue thee with goodly cities which thou buildedst not with houses full of all manner of goods which thou filledst not with vineyards and Oliue trees which thou plantedst not when thou hast eaten and art full then take heed and beware that thou forget not the Lord thy God Yea so common a thing it is for worldly riches to make men forget God that Salomon himselfe though he were wiser then other men and so consequently better able to resist sinne yet he maketh it his earnest sute vnto God O Lord giue me neither pouertie nor riches Prou. 30.8 not pouerty lest I steale and take the name of my God in vaine not riches least I be too full and deny thee and say Who is the Lord For albeit I perswade my selfe that there be many both in this citie and in other places of the land who in a thankfull remembrance of Gods goodnesse and bountie to them do confesse with Iacob Gen. 32.10 I came ouer this Iordan with my staffe and lo I haue now gotten two bands I came poore and without prouision to this place and lo I haue not onely gotten great wealth but such honour also that I sit with Princes yet looke we generally vpon the courses of the rich and we shall find it to be true that as the Moone when she is at the ful she is then farthest from the Sun of whom she doth receiue her light so men when they are fullest of earthly riches and blessings they are then commonly farthest from God from whose fulnesse they haue receiued them And as pride and forgetfulnesse of God do accompany our earthly riches so a third euil of them is that they make men to offend and sin in luxury In the twelfth of Luke and 19. verse the great rich man whose grounds brought foorth fruite plentifully he thinkes on nothing but his belly Soule now thou hast much goods for many yeares liue at ease eate drinke follow thy pleasure And in the fifteenth of Luke the yonger of the two brethren hauing receiued that portion of goods which belonged to him he spends it all in few dayes in gluttonie and venery Fourthly whereas the word of God is a speciall meanes to bring vs to saluation these worldly riches choke the word and make it vnfruitfull You may see it in the thirteenth of Saint Mathew Mat. 13.22 where our Sauiour expounding the parable of the sower saith thus He that receiues the seed among the thornes is he that heares the word but the care of the world the deceitfulnesse of riches choke the word in him and he is made vnfruitful Fiftly whereas it is a true note of the true child of God euermore to be weary of this sinful world Philip. 1.23 and to desire with Saint Paul to be dissolued and to be with Christ these earthly riches do make those which haue them loth to die yea with a good will a rich man would not so much as thinke of death saith the wise man O death Eccles 41.1 how bitter is the remembrance of thee to a man that liues at rest and ease in his possessions And as worldly riches are an occasion of these euils so lastly are they the cause of Idolatry yea the couetous affectation of them saith Saint Paul Ephes 5.5 is Idolatry And
5.22 The Father iudgeth no man but hath commited all iudgement to the Sonne So Saint Paul saith Rom. 14.10 We must all of vs appeare befor the iudgement seat of Christ And Saint Austin giueth a reason of it thus Vt ea natura iudicem agat quae sub iudice stetit That he may act the office of a iudge in that nature in which he stood before a iudge Secondly for his assistants vpon the bench they are his disciples Math. 19.28 For when the sonne of man saith Christ shall sit in the throne of his maiestie yee which haue followed me in the regeneration shall sit also vpon twelue thrones and iudge the twelue tribes of Israel And thirdly for the bringing of the prisoners to the bar yee haue it in the 5. of Iohn and 28. vers The houre shall come in which all that are in the graues shall heare the voice of the sonne of God and they shal come forth that haue done good vnto the resurrection of life but they which haue done euill vnto the resurrection of condemnation At which time the prisoner shall haue free liberty to speake what he can for himselfe for so they on the left hand pleade not guilty Math. 25.44 Lord when haue we seene thee an huÌ„gred or athirst or a stranger or naked or sicke or in prison did not minister vnto thee And fourthly for the witnesses they are more then two For first Christ who is the Iudge he will witnesse against vs. Ier. 29.23 Ego sum iudex testis I am both a iudge and a witnesse And whereas men are often compelled and enforced to beare witnesse to the truth in the third of Malachy and fift verse Ego sum testis velox I am a swift witnesse And if Christ should faile in his testimonie against vs yet his law-giuer Moses wil not faile for so Christ saith Ioh. 5.45 Do not thinke that I will accuse you to my Father there is one that accuseth you euen Moses in whoÌ„ you trust And though Christ and Moses both do faile in their witnesse yet is there another who will not be wanting euen the diuell in whoÌ„ many haue trusted too much For in the 12. of the Reuel 10. v. Sathan the accuser of the brethren is cast downe who accuseth them before God day and night And thus saith Saint Augustine will he vrge in the last day and enforce his accusation before God Thine they were O king of heauen by creation but mine they are by transgression Tui per gratiam quam amiserunt mei per culpam in qua decesserunt Thine they were by grace which wilfully they haue cast away mine they are by sins which hath cast them away thine they were by the glorious merit of thy passion mine they are for want of charitable compassion thine they were because thou diedst for their sins mine they they are because they died not but liued vnto sin Nobis ergo associentur in poenis qui coÌ„formati sunt in culpis and therfore ô supreme iudge it stands with equitie iustice that these shold be partakers in our punishments who while they liued in the world were companions in our sinnes But if Christ and Moses and the diuel should faile in their witnesse though neither of these did know of thy sinne and so consequently could not iustly accuse thee yet as Lactantius well saith Quid prodest tibi non habere conscium habenti conscientiaÌ„ What will the ignorance of others auaile thee when as the testimony of thy owne conscience wil preuaile against thee For as there are some which haue a good conscience Heb. 13.18 so there are others which haue a bad conscience a conscience seared with a hot iron 1. Timoth. 4.4 And as they who in godly purenesse and not in fleshly wisedome haue their conuersation in this world the testimony of their conscience shal cause them to reioyce 1. Cor. 1.12 so they which haue followed the vaine pleasures the pleasing vanities of this world the testimony of their conscience shall cause theÌ„ to lament And then a mans owne coÌ„science acccusing him there needeth no iury to be impannelled for the party confessing the action the Iudge will immediatly proceed to sentence the which sentence shall not be like the Roman * Romani tabellas seu literas in vrnam solebant conijcere literae fueruÌ„t A.C. A litera Absolutionis C litera condemnationis talis in iudâ—cijs consuetudo apud Graecos 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 respoÌ„debat Romanorum C. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Romanorum A. A a sentence of Absolution whereof mention is made Math. 25.34 Venite benedicti Come ye blessed of my Father inherit the kingdome prepared for you from the foundation of the world But it shall be like that nigrum 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 of the Greeks a sentence of condemnation whereof mention is made in the same chapter and 41. verse Ite maledicti Go ye cursed into euerlasting fire which is prepared for the diuell and his Angels And then last of all followeth the executioÌ„ of the sentence the charge whereof shall be committed to the Angels For so saith our Sauiour Math. 13.49 At the end of the world the Angels shal go forth and seuer the bad from among the iust and shall cast them into a fornace of fire where shall be wailing and gnashing of teeth So then to conclude this with that of the Preacher Eccl. 11.9 Reioyce ô young man in thy youth let thy heart cheere thee in the dayes of thy youth walke in the wayes of thy heart and in the lusts of thine owne eyes but yet know that for all these things God shall bring thee vnto iudgement Be not therefore deceiued neither flatter your selues with this vaine imagination that though you commit sinne with greedinesse yet there will be no reckoning and account for it Say not within your selues as it is in the 5. of Eccle. 4. I haue sinned and what euill hath come vnto me For as it followeth in the same place Dominus est * Patiens redditor dicitur quia peccata hominâ—m patitur reddit Nam quos Diu vt conuertantur tolerat non conuersos duriùs damnat Greg. Hom. 13. in Euang patiens redditor The Lord is a patient rewarder that is as he is patient for a time and expecteth thy returne from sinne so he is a rewarder will not leaue thee vnpunished Lento gradu ad vindictam ira diuina procedit sed tarditatem supplicij grauitate iudicij recompensat The iustice of God goes slowly indeed but it recompenseth the slacknesse of iudgement with the heauinesse thereof And therefore as Abraham said vnto the rich man Luke 16.25 Hîc bona sed illîc mala Here thou receiuedst good things but now thou art tormented so haply without any checke or controlement thou maiest follow thy sinfull pleasures and delights here in this world but there will one day come a time when for those thou shalt
punishment into hell fire The Epicure saith Tertullian doth estimate all sorrow and punishment after this maner Modicus cruciatus est contemptibilis Tertul. aduers Gentes cap. 45. magnus non est diuturnus If the punishment be but small then a man of any spirit will contemne it and if it be great this is the comfort that it cannot last long But saith he the Epicure deceiues himselfe because the lawes of God do promise either an euerlasting reward to the obseruers or a perpetuall punishment to the breakers And therfore the sentence runs not thus Ite in ignem Go into fire though that had bin a great and a grieuous punishment but to make it the more grieuous and the more terrible they are commended in ignem aeternum into euerlasting fire Grieuous were the punishments that were inflicted vpon Adam for his sin Gen. 3. for first he was cast out of Paradise and then he was sent into a place of thornes and thistles there to eate his bread in the sweat of his brow all the dayes of his life but far more grieuous wil be the punishmēt of Adams wicked children at the day of iudgement for first they shall be depriued of heauen a place more beautifull then Paradise and then they shall be cast into a burning lake which is a farre worse place then a place of thornes and thistles And whereas Adam found this comfort in his punishment that there was a donec in terram in it that at last there wold be an end the end of his life was the period of his punishment yet the punishment of his wicked posteritie shall admit no limitation of time but they shall go saith the Iudge into euerlasting fire that is they shall burne for euer and euer in that lake of fire Indeed is were some comfort if they were to suffer this punishment no more thousands of yeares then there be sands on the sea shore or grasse piles vpon the ground or no more millions of ages then there are creatures in heauen in earth and in the sea for then were there some hope that at last there would be an end But to be sent in ignem aeternum into euerlasting fire that is continually to burne and neuer to be burned vp and after infinite millions of ages to be as farre from an end as at the first entrance into this torment this is so seuere and rigorous a doome as neither the tongues of Angels or of men are able to expresse it And as the rigor of the doome appeares first by the punishment of losse in that they are commaunded out of Gods presence Depart from me and secondly by the punishment of sense in that they are sent not onely into fire but into euerlasting fire So to make it euery way complete that nothing more might be added to it vnto the former words of this sentence Depart frō me into euerlasting fire the Iudge doth adioyne these latter which is prepared for the Diuell and his Angels Men that are in misery they are commonly of this mind and nature that they would not haue their friends and acquaintance come into the like misery and therefore the purple glutton Luke 16.27 being in hell maketh this request vnto Abraham Father Abraham send Lazarus I pray thee to my fathers house that he may testifie vnto my fiue brethren least they also come into this place of torment And as men are loth to haue their friends companions in their misery so are they as loth to haue those their companions who wil helpe to augment and increase their miseries but the wicked that their sentence of condemnation might appeare the greater they shal not only alwayes burne but their companions in this fire shall be the Diuell and his Angels When the Iewes sate in iudgement vpon our Sauiour Christ they resolued vpon these three things against him first that he must be taken from among them secondly that he must die the shamefull and ignominious death of the crosse and thirdly to do him the greater disgrace as they thought to vexe him the more he must die in the companie of two theeues And therefore hereafter when Christ shall come in his glory to iudge the sinnes both of Iewes and Gentiles he will resolue vpon three the like for them which they resolued for him For first as they could not abide his presence and therefore they cryed tollite take him away so he will not abide their presence but will say vnto them Discedite a me Depart from me And secondly as they resolued vpon no honorable death for him but such a death as was inflicted vpon vile and ignominious persons so the maner of dying which he allotteth vnto thē is such as belōgeth only vnto people that are cursed And last of all as they which did die with Christ were no better then theeues so their friends in tormēt are the fiends and their companions in fire are the diuell and his angels And therfore for the conclusion of this point remember onely that short but sweete caueat which S. Austin giueth writing vpon the 80. Psalme Si non times mitti quó vide cū quo If thou art not afraid to burn for thy sinnes in hell yet be afraid to burne with such hellish companions as are the diuell and his Angels And thus haue you seene the terror of Christ his cōming vnto iudgement as by other other circumstances so especially by the rigor seuerity of the Iudgement sentence which first depriueth them of heauen Depart from me and thē adiugeth them to hell Go into fire Thirdly there to burne not for a time but for euer into euerlasting fire and that with no better cōpanions then the diuell and his Angels I come now to the third point and this is 3. That the time of this terrible coming vnto iudgment is vncertaine For we know not saith my text either day or houre when it will be In the third verse of the chapter going before the 24. of Mathew the disciples of our Sauiour being desirous to be resolued of a double doubt first at what time the temple of Ierusalem shold be destroyed and secondly when his last coming vnto iudgment should be our Sauiour Christ for their better instruction telleth them that there shall be warres and rumours of warres that nation shall rise against nation and kingdome against kingdome that there shall be pestilence and famine earthquakes in diuers places All which signes with many other in that chapter though some haue restrained to the first question of the destruction of Ierusalem yet according to the iudgement of the most interpreters they containe a mixt answer vnto both and are signes not only of the particular desolation of Ierusalē but also of the finall dissolution of the whole world in the day of iudgemēt And grant this yet no other collectiō can fitly be gathered hence but that which Saint Austin long since obserued Modum patefecit tempus celare voluit He
concealeth the time and expresseth onely the manner of his coming And therefore for any man to thinke himselfe sufficiently instructed of the time of Christ his coming by reason of those prognosticke signes which our Sauiour hath set downe it is a grosse and a foolish impiety Yea saith Saint Austin Epist 7 8. to take a computation of times that therby we may know when the end of the world and Christ his coming shall be Nihil videtur aliud quà m scire velle quod Christus ait scire neminem posse It is nothing else but to be desirous to know that which our Sauiour Christ hath said no man can know For of that day and houre knoweth no man saith Christ Mat. 24.36 no not the Angels of heauen but my Father onely Nay in the 13. of Saint Marke and 32. verse he excepteth against himself to leue the high knowledge therof to his Father Of that day and houre knoweth no man no not the Angels which are in heauen neither the Sonne himselfe as he is man only saue the Father And therfore that the world might be the better resolued in this point in the vncertainty of his coming vnto iudgment besides those many watchwords of his to the world It is not for you to know the times and seasons which the father hath put in his owne power Math. 24.42 Math. 25.13 Mark 13.33 You know not what houre your maister will come You know not the day nor the houre when the Sonne of man will come Yee know not when the time is and the like He hath in the Gospell compared his coming vnto three things which come most sodainly and before we are aware and these are a snare a thiefe and the floud of Noah In the 21. of Luke and 34. verse he resembleth the day of his coming vnto iudgement to a snare Take heed vnto your selues least at any time your hearts be ouercome with surfetting and drunkennesse and the cares of this life and least that day come on you at vnawares for as a snare shall it come on all theÌ„ that dwell on the face of the whole earth A snare you know entaÌ„gleth on the sodaine and the birds and wilde beasts whilst fâ—arelesse of danger they are intentiue to their foode they sodainly fall into it And so it is with man saith Solomon he considereth not his end Eccles 9.12 But as the fishes which are taken in a net and as the birds which are caught in a snare so are the children of men snared in the euill when it falleth sodainly vpon them Men may feast it merrily with Iobs children Iob. 1.19 Dan. 5.3 and be frolick with their companions amidst their cups with Balthassar and as it is in the 21. of Iob they may call for the Tabret and the Harpe and reioyce in the sound of Organs but on the sodaine euen before they be aware August Epist 80. they go downe into the graue saith Iob that is they fal into the snare of death and so consequently into the snare of iudgement For Qualis in die isto quisque moritur talis in die illo iudicabitur as the day of mans death leaues him so the day of Gods last iudgement shall finde him And as Christ for the sodainesse vncertainty of his coming compareth it to a snare so he compareth it likewise to the coming of a theefe Math. 24.43 If the good man of the house did know at what houre the theefe would come he would surely watch and not suffer his house to be digged through And therefore be ye also ready for in the houre ye think not wil the son of man come The Apostle Peter in his second Epistle 3.10 makes the same resemblance The day of the Lord will come euen as a theefe in the night in the which the heauens shall passe away with a noyse and the elements shall melt with heat and the earth with the works that are therein shall be burnt vp And Saint Paule 1. Thess 5.2 handling the same argument hath the very same The day of the Lord shall come as a theefe in the night and when men shall say peace and safety then shall come vpon them sodaine destruction as the trauell vpon a woman with child and they shall not escape And as the day of Christ his comming is compared for the vncertaintie thereof vnto a snare and a theefe so for the same cause it is compared by him to the floud of Noah Math. 24.36 As the dayes of Noah were so likewise saith Christ shal the comming of the Sonne of man be For as in the dayes before the floud they did eate drink mary 〈◊〉 giue in mariage vnto the day that Noah entred into the Ark and knew nothing til the floud came and tooke them all away so shall also the comming of the sonne of man be And therefore â—hat answer which our Sauiour gaue to the Pharises question Luk. 17. and 20. vâ—â— may well be the conclusion of this point The kingdome of God cometh not with obseruation that is saith the Glosse it cometh not with the obseruation of the time as if he had said haply some Astronomer or other is so cunning as to tell you when the cloudes will drop but at what time the Sonne of man shall come to iudgement in the cloudes no Astronomer is so cunning as to tell you that for of that day houre knoweth no man no not the Angels in heauen nor the Sonne himselfe but the Father onely Well then beloued these three points being thus cleared First that their will be a comming of the Sonne of man to iudgement Secondly that this his comming vnto iudgement will be fearfull and terrible And thirdly that the time of this his comming is vncertaine we know not when what remaineth now but the vse which we are to make of all these and that is a vigilant and carefull preparation of our selues against his comming prescribed in the first words Vigilate igitur Watch therefore In the first of Ieremy the Prophet at the first saw nothing but a rod but after saith the text he beheld seething pot And so the wicked and vngodly people haply they may see and feele in this world nothing but rods light and slight punishments but the time will come when Salomons rods shall be turned into Rehoboams Scorpions and the Prophet Ieremies rod will proue a seething pot For as flesh is pâ—â— into a seething pot so the bodies and soules of men in regard of their sinnes committed in the flesh shall be cast into the seething and boyling lake of hell At which time they shall haue nothing to comfort them either aboue them or beneath them on the right hand or on the left within them or without them Aboue them shall be the angry Iudge for their wickednesse condemning them beneath them shal be hel open and the fornace boyling to receiue them on their right hand shal be their sinnes accusing them on