and they not only denied it but swore to it by all that 's good and holy I bid them take their ease and be merry and they made themselves Swine I bid them neglect God's Service on the Lord's day but they profaned it besides by playing and drinking and other enormities I bid them keep what they had got but they went beyond what I prompted them to oppressed cheated dissembled and made way to their Wealth through oppression of the Widow and Fatherless These therefore have my Image and Superscription and consequently must be mine I claim them as mine own I challenge them as they are Apostates and Traitors to thee It is thy Statute which like the Laws of Medes and Persians is irrevocable that those shall be despised who did lightly esteem thee Nor can God be worse than his Word but must deliver up the Sinner whom no Mercy could reform to these tormentors Nay if we have oppressed any Persons those very Persons will be Witnesses against us Abel will in that Day bear witness agaisnt Cain his Murderer Naboth against Ahab whole Countreys against their Tyrannical Princes Israel against Pharaoh in the same manner those whom we have corrupted with Gifts or Moneys or some other way will stand up against us Herodias against Herod Drusilla against Felix the Harlot against her Inamorato Helena against Paris Danae against Jupiter and Men and Women perverted by Hereticks against the broachers of false Doctrines and how can there be want of Witnesses when our School-masters our Parents and other good Men whose Counsels we rejected whose Admonitions we despised and whose frequent Exhortations we laughed at will be forced to speak what they know against us Sinner The Ministers of the Gospel those who follow'd thee with checks and intreaties to be reconciled to God will be obliged to speak of thy stubbornness and impenitence Nay this Pulpit these Walls these Stones these Pews will cry out against thee Heaven and Earth are even in this life call'd in as Witnesses against the Monsters who were more inconsiderate then the Ox or Ass much more in that Day when God will bring every thing into Judgment not only the sinful actions but the very places in which those actions were committed Such Witnesses will be the Riches and Goods thou hast abused thâ— Gold thou hast spent upon thy Luxury the Silver thou hast thrown away in a frollick the Garments thou hast abused to Pride the Corn and Bread thou hast play'd withal the Hungry whom thou hast not fed the Thirsty to whom thou hast not given Drink the naked whom thou hast not clothed when it lay in thy power the Prisoners whom thou hast not visited these will all be accusers of thy abuses and uncharitableness But the accusation of all these might yet be born with it 's the Testimony of the Judge who shall approve of all that these Witnesses averr which appears most dreadful and terrible and therefore certainly the prospect of this Judgment is able to damp the greatest mirth and sensuality And as this Judge will himself be Witness in that Day so he will be his own Advocate too To this purpose saith the Pathetick Nazianzene What shall we do my Friends what shall we say what Apology shall we make when this Judge shall plead for himself in that Day Though disobedient Wretch I made thee of Clay with mine own Hands and breathed the Breath of Life into thee I made thee after my Image I gave thee Reason and Understanding and Power and Dominion over the Beasts of the Field a mercy which if I had not vouchsafed unto thee those Creatures which are stronger than thou would have master'd destroy'd thee I plac'd thee among the Pleasures of Paradise made thee a happy Inhabitant of Eden and when thou wouldst needs hearken to the false and treacherous suggestions of thy sworn Enemy behold in pity and commiseration to thee I resolved to be Born of a Virgin and accordingly took Flesh and became Man for thy sake was Born in a Stable lay unregarded in a Manger swadled in Rags and Clouts endured all the reproaches and injuries that Childhood is subject to bore thy griefs and assumed thy infirmities and was made like thy self that thou might be like me in Felicity at the end of thy Race I suffered men to trample on me to buffet me to spit in my Face to give me Gall and Vinegar to drink to Scourge me to crown me with Thorns to Wound and Nail me to the Cross and all this that I might deliver thee from Eternal contempt and torments Behold the mark of the Nails which were struck into my Flesh. Behold my wounded side I suffered that thou might'st Triumph I died that thou might'st live was buried that thou might'st rise and made my self a scorn of the People that thou might'st reign in Heaven and why would'st thou throw away this Mercy Why would'st thou refuse this Treasure What evil Spirit did possess thee to make light of these kindnesses Why would'st thou pollute that Soul which I redeemed with mine own Blood Why wouldst thou make thy Heart a habitation of Devils which I intended for my Throne Why would'st thou lose that which I purchased at so dear a rate VVhat pleasure couldst thou take in doing that which cost me so many sighs and tears and a bloody sweat why would'st thou make a mock of so great a Mercy How could'st thou undervalue a Favour of that importance and consequence Can any Hell be thought too much for such stubbornness Either thou didst believe that thy God did all this for thee or thou didst not If thou didst not believe it why didst thou make confession of it with thy Mouth If thou didst how couldst thou be so ungrateful How could'st thou abuse a Friendship of that worth and value Thou lovest a Friend a Neighbour a Man a VVoman for kindnesses which are meer shadows and bubbles to my love and hadst not thou reason to love me beyond all earthly comforts Hadst not thou reason to prefer my Favour before the smiles of a transitory VVorld How did I deserve such preposterous doings at thy Hands Couldst thou have dealt worse with a Slave or with an Enemy than thou hast done with me Did this condescension deserve dost thou think such affronts and injuries such contempt and disobedience as thou hast returned to me Therefore as for those mine Enemies which would not have this Man to Reign over them bring them hither and slay them before me All this appears in the prospect of a future Judgment and therefore there must be Vertue in it to check that mirth and jollity which infatuates Souls and leads them into ruine 4. In the prospect of this future Judgment there appears the unspeakable anguish and misery of those who have been most jolly and merry in this life Dives who cloth'd himself in Purple and fine Linnen and fared sumptuously every day appears there quaking and trembling
but a Year or a Month before it comes in good earnest for the day of our Death is at hand and we know not when or how soon whether this Hour or the next the fatal Messenger will arrest us in our Journey The day of our Death is the fore-runner of that greater Day and according as our Souls are found at the day of our Death so they will be judged in that glorious day the Judgment that will be pronounced upon our Souls at our Death will be proclaimed aloud before the whole World in the other day and if they be so unhappy as to be condemned upon their departure hence they will all that while till the great day comes torment themselves with the thoughts of that Sentence and the Shame that will ensue upon it as holy Souls will comfort themselves with the Thoughts of their Absolution Therefore when our Souls leave this Body that day and hour is really a day of Judgment to us and that this day is at hand none but a Sot can deny and accordingly all Men of Sense have made and do make early Preparation for it and he that doth not imitate them is so far from giving Proof to the World that he is wiser than they that he proclaims his Stupidity and in a manner renounces his Portion in the Inheritance of the Saints in light But then by Preparation I do not mean those little Sprinklings of Devotion which Hypocrites and Men who pretend to love God yet will not part with their Lusts usually lay upon his Altar not the Pharisees Alms and Fasts and Prayer which were performed with sinister designs out of Vain-glory and Ostentation not Ahab's Repentance who put on Sack-cloath and walk'd softly but still kept an unmortified Heart not the Harlots Piety Solomon speaks of who said her Orisons and paid her Vows and her Peace-offerings and thought to make God amends for the Crimes she lived in by these Services not Judas his Sorrow who lamented his Sin because he saw the Hell he was like to drop into not Demas his temporary Severity which soon chang'd into fondness of the World not the Angel of Sardis his Profession of Religion who had the name that he lived but was dead not the Jews Zeal for the Ceremonial Part of God's Worship while they neglected Justice Mercy Chastity Sobriety and Charity not the Zeal of Ezekiel's Heares who loved to hear but were loath to do but if you would prepare for this day of Account so as to be commended by the Judge the Preparation must have these following Ingredients 1. Pity those inconsiderate Men that live as if there were no future Judgment Express your Compassion to their Souls by your Tears since they will not weep for themselves Ah! miserable Creatures E're long they shall see him whom they have pierced and mourn as one that mourns for his only Son and they are not aware of it They are hastening to the Shambles where they will be barbarously butcher'd by hellish Furies and they are not sensible of it Oh mourn for them They deserve your Pity more than Galley-Slaves more than Wretches in Turkish Captivity Oh! call to them and see whether ye can yet perswade them into a livelier Faith of this terrible Day O that you could yet save their Souls from Death and cover a multitude of Sins It 's like they 'll scorn your Tears and laugh at your Admonitions for the God of this World hath blinded them but Oh! pray for them that their Eyes may be open'd that they may see the Precipice they run upon and behold the bottomless Gulph upon the Brink whereof they stand They are rolling down the Hill Oh! stop them if you can that they fall not into the Lake beneath seeing your Zeal for their Souls your concern for their Welfare your entreaties to save themselves from this Generation your sorrow for their undone Estate your grief for their hardness of Heart they may yet relent and turn before the Lord comes and smites the Earth with a Curse 2. Every day spend some time in reflecting on this Day In the Life of Pachomius we read That every day he used to bespeak the several Parts and Members of his Body and talk to them as if they had been rational Creatures Behold saith he my beloved Parts I will advise you to nothing but what is wholsome and useful for you and therefore shew your selves obedient to my Counsel and let 's serve God cheerfully till we get to a better place As to you my beloved Hands the time will come when you will no more be able to strike your Neighbour or play at Cards and Dice and when you will not be able to reach any more after Goods that do not belong to you As to you my beloved Feet the time will come when the way you have gone will be stop'd up and when ye will be no longer able to run into vain and loose Company Hearken unto me my Senses and whatever helps to make up this mortal Frame let 's strive lustily before Death over-take us and stand boldly in the evil day and fight bravely till the great God put an end to our Sweat and Labour and call us to his heavenly Kingdom What will it profit you to taste of all the Sweets of this World if any thing can be called sweet in so much Misery Why should ye be loath to labour when to labour ye were born Why should ye refuse to suffer when shortly you must die and mingle with Dust Why should ye seek after a soft and easie Life when e'relong you 'll meet with it in Heaven This is no Time no Place for Pleasure that 's only to be found among the Blessed above This is it that I would have you comprehend above all things that through sensual Delights and Satisfactions Men go into unquenchable Fire but through Bryars and Thorns lies the way to Joys which shall never have an end Why do ye murmur against me when I bid you fast and watch and pray Should I indulge you it would be your Bane it would be Cruelty in me to spare you to give you Ease would be the way to precipitate my self and you into endless Torment Thus spake that holy Man to the respective Parts and Members of his Body and thus Christian do thou preach to thy Soul every day ask it which of those two Sentences that shall be pronounced in the last day art thou most desirous of of that Come ye Blessed or of the other Depart ye Cursed If as no Man is fond of Misery thou dost hunger and thirst after the former come my Soul let 's retire let 's ascend the Hill of God and from thence take a view of what will be hereafter The Posture of Affairs thou seest now will not continue long fancy thou sawest a Man whom the Divine Bounty hath crowned with variety of temporal Blessings This Person having a mind to take his Pleasure retires
DELIGHT AND JUDGMENT Or a Prospect of the Great Day OF Iudgment And its Power to damp and imbitter Sensual Delights Sports and Recreations By ANTHONY HORNECK D.D. LONDON Printed by H. Hills Jun. for Mark Pardoe at the Sign of the Black Raven over against Bedford House in the Strand 1684. The PREFACE THough Practical Writers have this advantage of Controversial that they do not make themselves so many Enemies as the other yet I know not what the fate of the ensuing Discourse may be For though the subject relate to Manners and the Behaviour of Men as Christians yet it is to be feared that not a few who think themselves Religious notwithstanding their pretended Piety securely bathe themselves in Delights this Book condemns may put no very favourable construction on such endeavours as being levell'd against things they are used to and the Humour of the Age hath allowed of and rendred unquestionable and such it 's like will call these attempts pragmatical and bid us as Constantine did Acesius in another case erect a Ladder to Heaven and climb up thither by our selves But it 's God's Mercy that while Christianity is decay'd in the Glory and Brightness of its Life the Bible is still among us and that we are not to regulate our Religion by the sickly Fancies of half Christians but by the standing Laws of that Jesus whose Disciples we profess our selves to be and whom the Primitive Believers thought themselves obliged to follow in external as well as internal simplicity It 's true the Church is not now under Persecution as it was in former Days when Men made those mighty Progresses in Self-denial but it is to be observed that when the Saints of the first Ages pressed those Severities they did not lay the stress on their persecuted Condition and the necessity of the dismal Times they lived in but on the Laws of their great Master which they look'd upon to be as immutable as the God that gave them Nor can prosperity make any alteration in those Lessons which Christ required as Essential to his Religion Prosperity indeed was intended to prompt us to a more cheerful discharge of our Duty but not to a neglect of those Austerities which are the best Ornaments of the best Religion in the World As Men have managed Prosperity it hath been the greatest Bane of Religion and the wisest Men have taken notice how Christianity since it hath crept out of the Thorns and Bryars of Barbarous Tyranny and Oppression hath been unhappily decreasing in its Zeal and Fervour whether it is Fable or History that tells us that a Voice came from Heaven saying This Day Poyson is poured out into the Church when Ease and Plenty and Rivers of Gold flowed into it I shall not now enquire Certain it is that external Felicity hath smilingly undermin'd the Foundations of that admirable Doctrine and that which was formerly built on the greatest Innocence hath since changed its bottom and stands too much on shew and formality Prosperity at this Day to the great Sorrow of all considerate Persons gives Law to Mens Religion and whatever crosses Prosperity is thought to cross Religion too What is consistent with our ease is allow'd of as good Divinity and whatever runs counter to our sensual Satisfaction appears so aukward that we fancy it no Religion because Flesh and Blood would not have it so all which must necessarily arise from Vnbelief or a wavering Faith of a Life to come either that future Life the Son of God hath purchased and promised is not look'd upon to be so great as it is represented in the Gospel or it is not seriously thought of for if it were the Pleasures of this Life would grow pale and their Beauty vanish if compared with the glorious delights hereafter and the Satisfactions of this World would soon lose their Charms if view'd by that Light which irradiates the Holy Cherubim If that Life deserves not Self-denial in the Pleasures of this present Christ and his Apostles must needs have been out in the lofty Descriptions they have given of it and our Faith is vain and in vain did the Son of God take all those pains and suffer all the Agonies he did to purchase a thing so trivial and inconsiderable If it were a thing of no great moment the but moderately Pious would not be excluded from its Glories and when nothing but Heroick Virtue can promise it self a share in that Felicity it cannot be otherwise but that the Prize doth answer the difficulties in the pursuit of its attainment They are Great and Masculine Acts that Christianity prompts us to and wherein can this Heroick Vertue be expressed better then in a Noble contempt of what foolish Mortals count pleasant and tickling to their Flesh and Fancy Such acts are arguments of a brave and generous Mind and signs that our understandings soar above the Moon and rely more on what God hath promised then on what the World for the present pays This shews that our Souls do act like themselves and not to be biassed by vulgar Sentiments is that which gives a Man Reputation with the Best of Beings Christ in pressing these Lessons hath only made a clearer Revelation of what the Philosophers of Old guessed at by the glimmering light which Nature gave them and what can be more for a Man's Credit then to do that which both Nature and Grace have judged to be most honourable and glorious There is no Question but if that Eternal Life hereafter were shewn in all its Glories and Riches and Contents to a sensual Man at the same time that he beholds the most charming delights of the Flesh and had he as lively a view of the one as he hath of the other the infinite brightness of the one would so eclipse and darken the feebler splendour of the other that he would not only be content to quit his inferiour delights for the enjoyment of the other but would very much wonder at that Monster that should refuse the greater for the lesser pleasures so that all the difficulty is how to make that Eternal Life so visible that it shall move and affect and preponderate above all Earthly satisfactions And the way to do this is the same with the Method that must be taken in making the Day of Judgment visible to us which is the attempt of the following Discourse in which I hope I have said nothing but what is agreeable to the Doctrine of the Primitive Church If any shall find fault with some passages in it because they contradict the Vanity and Luxury of the Age we live in or charge me with meddling with things which do not belong to me to determine all I shall reply is this that I have done no more but what I have excellent Precedents for even some of the best Divines of our Church since the Reformation whose Example as I am not ashamed to follow so since they thought it their
the Government they have lived under whether they have paid Tribute to whom Tribute was due Honour to to whom Honour and whether they have not used their liberty for a cloak of maliciousness In the same manner Parents will be strictly examined whether they have brought up their Children in the Nurture and Admonition of the Lord Children whether they honoured their Parents as became Persons who under God owed their being to them Servants whether they served their Masters according to the Flesh in singleness of Heart as unto Christ and likewise all other Persons according to the relations and Offices they stood in for in all these relations men are Stewards and both Reason and God's Justice and his Word require that all should give an account of their Stewardship At this time the Soul being throughly a waken'd from her former Lethargy every sin will appear more dreadful every errour more red every fault more bloody every offence blacker than ordinary for the Fire of that Day doth not only scorch but enlighten and elevate the Soul into a thinking state and none of the former Impediments will now be able to divert her Thoughts which will be fix'd upon an offended God and his Majesty Greatness and Holiness and make at this time more sensible impressions on her while every thing especially what hath been committed against God will appear in more lively colours and consequently if the Conscience hath not the remembrance of a former sincere Repentance to support her self withal the frights must necessarily be great and the whole frame sink into inexpressible confusion There are innumerable sins which neither Prince nor Magistrate can take notice of how many Poor are oppressed how many innocent men wrong'd daily A Socrates is abused and hath no helper but neither this Man's misery nor the others oppression shall escape the Eyes of that all-seeing Judge who will infallibly publish both the one and the other and make good the Type St. John speaks of Revel 6.5 And I beheld a black Horse he that sat on him had a pair of Ballances in his Hand Ballances to weigh every Man's evil works which if they be found to prepondenrate above the good or to be pure sins pure offences without a godly sorrow to take off either the colour or the the weight all will be turned into blackness and desolation 3. In the prospect of this Judgment there appears a very wonderful Scene the Person that is the Judge is the Lawgiver too the Party offended the Witness and his own Advocate He that shall sit on the Tribunal in that Day was the Person that came down from Heaven and blessed the World with the equitable Precepts of the Gospel it 's he that went up into a Mountain and from that Pulpit pronounced Blessed are the Poor in Spirit for theirs is the Kingdom of Heaven Blessed are they that mourn for they shall be comforted Blessed are the Meek for they shall inherit the Earth Blessed are they which hunger and thirst after Righteousness for they shall be filed c. Matt. 5.1 2 3 4 5 6. It 's he that came to undeceive both the Jewish and Heathen World in the false Notions they had imbibed concerning their duty and cleared the Moral Law of Moses of the false Glosses the Pharisees had put upon it explain'd the will of God set it naked and pure before the People he came to call to Repentance and let them see what were the proper preparatives for the everlasting joys of Heaven It 's he who guarded the Law which he promulged with Sanctions suitable to his Majesty and Greatness and as he made the rewards Eternal so the punishments he threatned to the stubborn and impenitent were endless too So it became him who appeared in the World to offer infinite Mercy to poor Sinners to reveal to them God's infinite Love to their Souls and to acquaint them with the infinite condescension of the Son of God who would humble himself to the Death of the Cross to redeem them from the Bondage of the Devil He that came into this Valley of Tears with so much love and light about him might justly enjoin reformation of the whole Man and a transformation of the Mind and temper of the Soul and require a conformity to his own life and insist upon mens becoming patient and humble and charitable and contented and peaceable and watchful over their Thoughts and Words and Actions and Heavenly minded How could this Grace which appeared to all men challenge less then self-denial and contempt of the World and living in the Thoughts and Expectation of a better life and seeking earnestly for Glory and Honour and Immortality And as he that will be the Judge in that day is the Law-giver too so he understands best the meaning of his Laws nor will tricks and evasions and false constructions of those Laws signifie any thing before him who will not depart from the sense his Eternal Wisdom put upon them and which by his Prophets and Ministers he once caused to be proclaim'd in the Ears of men The Sinner in that day will no◠have to do with Deputies and Lieutnants and Delegates who too ofte◠make the Law a Nose of Wax an◠can turn and interpret it to what sense they please and their Interest dictates are sometimes unskilful and apt to mistake the Law of their Superiours and these Laws not being of their own making are the colder or the more remiss in executing them but here men shall see the Law-giver himself who will not be put off with pretexts and pretences as ordinarily Deputies and such Persons are 〈◊〉 who employ'd by the Supreme Law-givers in a Common-wealth or Kingdom Even here on Earth where the Lawgivers themselves sit Judges the Malefactor must expect severer dealings in this case even Lycurgus's Wife shall not escape that durst break her Husbands Law against riding in a Chariot during the time of Divine Service and Zaleucus his Son must lose his Eye for slighting his Fathers Orders against Adulterers not to mention the Severities of Epaminodas and others on their own Children where the Legislators have sat Judges of their Crimes and Errours The Almighty Judg in that day will justly resent the affront done to his Laws and indeed none is better able to declare the heinousness of such contempt than he and this must necessarily encrease the Terrour of that day And as he is the Law-giver against whose Precepts the Sinner hath offended so he is the Party offended too Sinner This is he whose Body and Blood thou hast so often receiv'd unworthily in the Sacrament this is he to whose Cross thou hast been an Enemy so many years on whose Merits thou hast trampled whom thou hast so often Crucified afresh whose House thou hast dishonoured whose Gospel thou hast been Ashamed of and therefore wonder not if such thundering fueries come forth forth from the Throne at last do'st not thou remember how oft thou
crying Father Abraham have mercy on me and send Lazarus that he may dip the tip of his Finger in Water and cool my Tongue his Tables which were over-laid with Silver his richer Beds his Tapestry his Ornaments his Ointments his Balsams his Cordials his delicate VVines his various Dishes his Cooks his Flatterers his Parasites his Retinue his Servants and all the Noise and Pomp that attended him are not only extinct and turned into Ashes and Dust and Dirt but his naked Soul is dragg'd carried before a tremendous Majesty to endure intolerable torments and before this terrible God he appears with his Eyes cast down blushing and ashamed trembling and fearful and all his former comforts seem to have been but dreams to him See how the Scene is changed he to whom the poor Man formerly supplicate for relief nor is forced to supplicate to the poor Man to be reliev'd of him and would be glad of Lazarus's Table who once scorn'd to let Lazarus gather the Crums that fell from his when Lazarus was near him he slighted him now he is afar off he adores him and himself now is the poor Man while Lazarus swims in Riches such a discovery doth that last Day make who are the Rich and who the Poor who the Wise and who the Fools In this judgment Nimrod Senacharib Nebuchadnezzar Belshazzar Fiberius Nero Domitian men who would be thought Goods and denied themselves in no pleasure their Fancies craved stand all ashamed and confounded flames of a guilty Conscience burning in their Breasts and forcing their voices into bitter lamentations there Sardanapalus Croesus Cambyses Herod and all the Mighty men that spared no Woman in their Lust and no Man in their Anger appear all like guilty Malefactors their Hearts failing them for fear and they chattering like a Crane and mourning like a Dove and bewailing their airy short and transitory satisfactions and cursing the Hour and the Minute when the first temptations courted them to those dangerous embraces there Cleopatra that sailed in a Vessel glistering with Gold a Vessel fitted for Pride and Luxury and magnificence and tried how far Sensuality might be improved and to what height bruitish pleasure might be advanced there the wretched Woman is seen not so much with Serpents clasping about her Breast as with a Worm within that dies not tormenting her awaken'd Conscience with shapes of Death and Images of Ruine and all the Beasts that here could not be satisfied with pleasure there cannot be eased of gnawing Vultures and Agonies for these the Just God must at last inflict to make them sensible that his threatnings were no Fables and to let them see that the advices of wise men and Philosophers who exhorted them to the study of Virtue were grounded on rational Foundations These tortures and vexations must not expire till the Ancient of Days was affronted by their sins doth die and that 's never he being the same yesterday to day and for ever Thus their sweet Meat must have sour Sauce and if they will have their pleasures they must feel the sting too that 's inseparably affix'd to them The Bait cannot be swallow'd without the Hook and as pleasant as the Honey is the Gall which is part of it must be tasted too God will not be always mock'd and they that durst in despight of his will and prohibitions feed upon that luscious Fruit shall feel the smart of the prickles too In this judgment their postures gestures and behaviour and deportment appear in another Figure and they that before laught at the Thunders of the Law made light of the threatnings of the Gospel and let the warnings of the Ministers of the Gospel go in at one Ear and out at another now call themselves Fools and Sots for doing so and they that before thought of no after reckoning now fall a wishing but in vain O that I had been wise O that I had bethought my self O that I had look'd beyond this World O that I had believed O that I had retired and considered what these satisfactions would end in Fool that I was to think that God would prove a Lyar Where was my Reason to think that all that the wisest and holiest Men have said were but Dreams and idle Tales I that might have been a terrour to Devils how am I become their scorn I that might have been a Favourite of God how am I become his Enemy I that might have triumph'd with other Saints how am I fall'n from their bliss O what would not I give to be rid of the torment I feel Help help ye Souls that have any pitty in you I sink under the weight of my former pleasures They are loathsome to me They appear Monsters Furies hideous things to me Cursed be that Lust I cherished Cursed be that Bed on which my wickedness were wrought O that my Tongue had dropt out of my Head when I pleased my self with lascivious discourses O that I had been deaf when I was tickled with hearing a smutty jest O that I had been struck blind when with joy and satisfaction I be held that charming beauty O that my Feet had failed me when I was going into that Jovial Company O that I had lock'd my self up that I might not have seen those temptations which enticed me O that I had spent those Hours I threw away in carding and dicing and drinking and revelling O that I had spent them in holy Contemplations of the Vanity of these sublunary Objects Now I would do it and it is too late Now I would repent and it profits me not Now I would be serious and it signifies nothing My time is lost The day of Grace is gone The opportunities are past O that I could tear out this Heart O that I could pull out these Eyes O that I could dispatch my self O that I had a Sword that I might put a period to this miserable condition I see nothing but ruine before me nothing but darkness nothing but confusion nothing but horrours and no Creature will help me to annihilate my self I am not able to endure this torture for a moment how shall I be able to endure it to infinite Millions of Ages I see no end of it the farther I look the more of my misery I see Where-ever I cast my Eyes I see nothing but Terrour Devils and miserable Souls in the same condition with my self all howling about my Ears A thing so far from affording comfort that it fills me with greater horrour Whether shall I flee for remedy Heaven is shut up There is a vast Gulph betwixt me and that there is no passing from hence thither nor from thence to this doleful place I swim in a Sea of Sorrow I swim and see no shore I labour and not a Plank appears on which I may save my life here are no Hills no Mountains no Rocks I can cry too and if there were they are all deaf God hath forsaken me and good reason
not by our example either draw people into errors or confirm them in their sins it bids us take heed of discouraging our neighbours from goodness and of laying a stumbling-block in the way of weaker Christians it bids us exhort one another daily and beware lest any of us be hardned through the deceitfulness of sin these are some of its principal rules and I need not add what our great Master hath told us ye are my friends if ye do whatsoever I command you Joh. 15.14 how these rules can be observed by persons that delight in these shews I cannot apprehend is it modesty to be a hearer of that ribaldry and filthy communication which some Plays are stuffed with Or to be a spectator of so many undecent and wanton gestures postures and actions which in some Comedies make up the greatest part of the shew Is this sobriety to stand by and hear men curse and swear and talk of things which should not be so much as named among Christians Is this decency to afford your presence in a place where the most debauched persons assemble themselves for ill ends and purposes Is this your fear of God to go and hear the most solemn ordinances of God railled and undervalued such as marriage and living up to the strict rules of reason and conscience Is this your watchfulness over your thoughts and words and actions to go and expose your selves to temptations to run into the Devils arms and give him an opportunity to incline your heart to sinful delights and being pleased with things which God abhors Is this that Godly simplicity the Gospel presses to pay for your being affected with the vain shews of this sinful World and to take liberty to hear and see what men of little or no Religion shall think fit to represent to you Is this redeeming of your time to throw away so many hours upon fooling and seeing mens ridiculous postures gestures and behaviours Is not this making war against your soul Is not this fighting against your happiness Is this the way to grow in grace and to advance in goodness and to abound more and more in the love of God which your Christianity obliges you to Is not this to clogg your soul Is not this to throw impediments in her way to felicity Is not this the way to make her inamour'd with the World from which a Christian is to run away as much as he can By your Saviours rule though you are in the World yet you are not to be of the World These shows alienate other mens affections from the best of objects and what security have you that they will not alienate yours Or have you a peculiar exemption from that danger If you have shew us your warrant let 's see your parent if you take the same way that profane persons take to dull their Religious desires how can it be otherwise but it will have the same effect in you if you use the same means why should not you fear the same unhappy influence Why should you shut your eyes against a thing as clear as the Sun Do not you see do not you perceive how sin grows upon you by frequenting these places Do not you find how under these shows the brutish part in you grows strong and vigorous how the Flesh distends its plumes grows easie and pleased and in time engrosses all the nobler faculties of your Soul As you are a Christian you are to bring your Flesh into subjection and to keep under your Body and do not these shews signally help towards its power and dominion over the nobler part and promote its Soveranity and triumph over the reasonable appetite What pampers it more then such sights What feeds its preposterous longings more then these Do not these evidently make this slave usurp Authority over her Mistress And is this fit to be done by Christians who are to crucifie the Flesh with its lusts and affections Who sees not that these sights are meer incentives to lust and fewel to feed the impurer fire in our breasts And is this to walk after the Spirit as we are commanded If they that walk afer the Flesh cannot please God how can you hope to please him while you allow your self in this work of the Flesh Is this to promote a lively sense of God Is the Stage likely to produce vigorous apprehensions of Gods grace and favour you know it damps and obscures them you know it is an Enemy to them you know it is the worm that hinders your Spiritual growth and yet will you fancy a necessity to frequent it Men may count it necessary to be drunk and to kill a person they do hate but will this necessity hold water when the great Judge comes to examine it The Flesh may count that necessary which reason apprehends to be absurd and impious and he that hearkens to the dictates of the brute within him will call any thing necessary though never so contradictory to the Oracles of Heaven and the lessons of our great Master Jesus Is this to have the same mind in you which was also in Christ Jesus I hope you do not question the duty and if you believe it incumbent upon you can you imagin that in frequenting the Stage you imitate his example Did he ever encourage such empty things Is there any thing in all the History of his life that may be said to countenance such doings Could he applaud these follies do you think whose life was a perfect pattern of holiness nay are not all his precepts levell'd against these scurrilities Is it possible to live up to his precepts and feed our eyes with these Shews Is it possible to be his friend and a friend to these vanities He whose life was a perpetual selfdenial in the pleasures of this life could he give the least colour or shadow of approbation of them He who preached up the Doctrine of the Cross could he have any liking to that which is directly contrary to that Doctrine Would any man that looks upon the jolly assembly in a Play-house think that these are Disciples of the crucified God Do they not look liker Mahomets Votaries or Epicurus his Followers Would not one think that they had never heard of the Cross and that whoever their Master was they were disciplined only to live merrily Would not one think that these persons are very different in their tempers from those Christians the primitive Fathers do describe who trampled on the World and were afraid of any thing that savoured of its satisfactions Would not one think that they are rather disciples of some Heathen Jupiter or Venus or Flora or some such wanton Minion then of the grave the austere and the serious Jesus for such he would have his followers to be these he would have tread in his steps these he would have known by actions and a behaviour like his own and is a Play likely to plant this noble temper in you Is the
the Sentence but the sinful Soul once condemned to suffer hath no hopes of forgiveness no hopes of being Repriv'd no hopes of being released not but that God is infinitely more merciful then the meekest Prince on Earth can be but the time of Mercy is past Once he was merciful to her to a Miracle his Mercy was her Shield Mercy did encompass her Mercy lay entreating of her Mercy courted her Mercy though abused came again and tried new arguments Mercy followed her Mercy preserved her from a Thousand evils Mercy would not suffer the roaring Lion to touch her for many years Mercy stood by her even then when she desperately affronted her Maker Mercy was patient towards her Mercy wept over her Mercy call'd to her Mercy would have pull'd her away from her Errors but she thrust this bright Angel away would have none of it made light of it laught at its charms despised its entreaties scorned its carresses disregarded its smiles refused its offers rejected its embraces and therefore cannot seed her self with hopes of Pardon now Nay the Malefactor here on Earth when Men will not Pardon hath yet hopes that upon his true Repentance God will Pardon him but the Soul that departs hence in a sensual carnal condition the same she lived in hath no higher Court to appeal to none above God to make her moan to none beyond the supream Lawgiver to address her self to The God the hath despised and whose Mercy could make no impression on her is to be her last Judge and therefore how much more disconsolate must her state be then the condemn'd Malefactor's here on Earth 5. Whenever you converse with sick and dying men and are present when their Breath leaves their Bodies think and reflect upon this day Think with your selves This man is going to be judged his Soul is entring into the Territories of another World to know what her everlasting state must be This will shortly be my case I must ere long follow her to God's Tribunal here my stay will be but short here I have no continuing City here I am not to tarry long my Friend that 's gone shews me the way that I must go I saw him expire I heard his last groans I was by when his Eye-strings broke if the Lord Jesus gave him any assurance of his favour before he died with what chearfulness will his Soul meet her Bridegroom in the Air how welcome will he be in the Court of the great King What rejoicing will there be when he and the other glorified spirits behold one another and they see that one more is added to their Number for there is no envy in Heaven no grudges no fretting because so many are admitted into the Everlasting Mansions but the more holy Souls do enter there the more their joy encreases If this my Friend hath lived above the World while he lived here with what gladness will his Soul be brought and enter into the Kings Palace How will his Name be remembred there How kindly will Angels talk of him How favourable will the Judge be to him but if his Devotion and Piety hath been but Paint and Shew what a surprize will it be immediatly upon his coming among the spirits of another World to be arrested at the suit of the Great God and to be carried away to his Tryal He is taken away from his sick Bed but should his Soul be sent away with a Curse how much worse will Hell be then his sick Bed In a sick Bed Physick may yet give some ease but Hell scorns all Medicines no Drugs are of any use there no Cordials no Cataplasmes are to be found there no vulnerary Herbs grow in that Wilderness On a sick Bed Friends may yet comfort us but in Hell there is no Friend all are Enemies all hate one another because none can deliver the other from his Torments In a sick Bed Neighbours may give their advice but in Hell no advice can be given for the Inhabitant are not capable of taking it The Devils indeed may advise them to speak evil of God because of the irreversible doom they lie under but that 's a Remedy infinitly worse then the Disease and they that follow this counsel increase God's Anger and their own Plagues and as they venture upon new Sins so God must inflict new Curses and try new Rods and new Scourges which makes the misery truly infinite Such Reflections the sight of a sick and dying Man will cause nor is this judging of his everlasting and final State but a mere conditional Meditation undertaken for no other end but to affect our own Souls with the day of God's righteous Judgment to improve our own Thoughts and to make a holy use of such Occasions as God's Providence thinks fit to present to us 6. Whenever you go to a Funeral think of this Day of Judgment When you see the Mourners go about the Streets when you your selves accompany the Corps to the Grave think of the great Sentence the Soul will receive upon her Approaches to the Throne of the Heavenly Majesty St. Hierom describing the Funeral of the happy Paula that famous Saint who while she lived here was Eyes to the Blind a Nurse of the Poor a Staff to the Lame and an Example to all religious Persons tells us That when she was dead there were heard no Shrieks no Howlings no Weeping no despairing Lamentations but Psalms and Hymns and spiritual Songs her Corps was carried to the Grave upon Bishops Shoulders Prelates carried Lamps and Wax-Candles before her and a Quire of Singing-Men accompanied her to her Tomb and most of the People of Palestina came together to attend the Funeral The Monks crept out of their Cells the Virgins from their Retirement and good Men in all Places thereabout thought it Sacriledge not to pay the last Office to her The Widows and Orphans as in the case of Dorcas came and shew'd the Garments she had made for them and all the indigent and needy cryed they had lost a Mother and for three Days Psalms were sung in Greek Hebrew Latin and Syriack and every Body celebrated her Funeral as if it had been their own When you behold the Funeral of such a holy Person think how with far greater Pomp the Angels meet her Soul at the Gates of Heaven and on their Shoulders carry it to the Throne of everlasting Mercy Think how joyfully those blessed Ministers conduct such a Soul to her eternal Rest and how they triumph that she is deliver'd from the Burden of the Flesh and advanced from a Valley of Tears to a Place of endless Glory When the great Constantius died in Brittain his Ashes were put in a golden Chest and with great Pomp carried through France and Italy to Rome but think how far greater Honour it is for such a holy Soul to be convey'd by the Spirits of Light into the City coming down from Heaven prepared as a Bride adorned for her