his first Creation a bright shining Lucifer beautified as a precious stone and more excellent than al the Angels of Heauen in resplendant brightnesse through his pride against God lost his light glory and beautie and as he was worthy became a foule féend deiected from heauen into this Elementall world lower than al the Spheares into the Fire Ayre Earth and Water 5 I saw saith S. Iohn a starre fall from Heauen to the earth Apoc. 1. and to him was giuen the key of the bottomlesse pit Further he saith There was a battel in heauen Michael and his Angels fought against the Dragon Chap. 12. the Dragon fought and his angels But they preuailed not neither was their place found any more in Heauen And the great dragon that olde Serpent called the Deuill and Sathan was cast out which deceiueth all the world He was cast euen into the earth and his Angels were cast out with him And being thus deiected hée now neuer ceaseth compassing the whole earth Iob. 1. but in his circuite séeketh like a roaring Lyon whom hee may deuoure 1. Pet. 5. Luk. 22. Apoc. 12. For the which cause S. Iohn pronounceth this woo saying Wo to the inhabitants of the earth and of the Sea for the diuel is come down vnto you which hath great wrath knowing that he hath but a short time 6 For albeit the world séemeth to be the parent the bringer foorth and nourisher of bodies yet is it the prison of Spirits the exiling of soules and a place of all wretchednesse and paines For as the worlde is a place of sinne and transgression a Station of Pilgrimage and of woe a habitation of wailing of teares of trauaile of wearines of fearefulnesse and of shame of mouing of changing of passing and of corruption of insolence and of perturbation of violence and opprssion of deceit and of guile and finally the laystall of all wickednesse and abhomination so also by GODS Iustice it is appointed the place and pitte of punishment and euerlasting torment wherin the euill Angels that rebelled with Lucifer and the damned spirites of wicked men departed this life haue endlesse paine without rest 7 And albeit the Apostle calleth Sathan a Prince that ruleth in the Ayre Ephe. 2. yet is that Rule so slane-like and his power so weakened by the Almightie that when the Lorde intending to punish the sonnes of Adam and to strike the earth with tempestes of lightning and thunder Hée thereby also beateth Sathan and the whole rable of his hellish féendes that in their fury and rage therewith they terrifie men by ougly shapes and aparitions and by GODS permission to murther man and beast sometimes do ouer-throwe buildings Iob. 1. and doe fire and consumne houses leauing a most noysome and horrible stinke behinde them of the hellish place from whence they come For it is not the diuell but the glorious God that maketh the thunder and as testifieth Syrach Psal 29. Eccle. 43. It is the sound of the Lords thunder that beateth the earth 8 Thus by Gods iust iudgement hée raungeth like a runagate in the sphere of his Hell vntill the day of doome for which season he is let loose and yet with such prohibition and restraint that in his mallice hée can procéed no further than shal séeme fit to the mightie Iehouah his Creator and then hée shall receiue that punishment whereof S. Iude speaketh in these words The Angels which kept not their first estate 2. Pet. 3. Apoc. 21. but left thier owne habitation hee hath reserued in euerlasting chaines vnder darknesse vnto the Iudgment of the great day at which time there shall be a new heauen and a newe earth wherein shall dwell nothing but righteousnes when the are refined with the fire of Gods iustice and then al the creatures of those new heauens and new earth shall be made perfit for which perfection and restauration euery creature waiteth being now subiect to vanitie Rom. 8. for the which they groane that they may be deliuered from the bondage of corruption into the glorious libertie of the sonnes of God For albeit the fashion and forme of this world goeth away as saith the Apostle yet they subtance shall reamine 1. Cor. 7. whether of the heauens themselues or of the Elements or of men al which shall abide for euer 9 At this time of restauration when al things shall become new and when the dead are raised vp againe to life in their corporall bodyes then shal be prepared an out-set habitation which shal be a Chaos ful of confusion deuoyd of the first most excellent thing that God made Light and in steed thereof replenished with darknesse a thousand times worse theÌ„ the palpable darknes of Aegypts plague Exod. 10. wherein the burning and intollerable tormenting fire giueth no light where the freezing colde which causeth gnashing of téeth Iob. 10. mittigateth nothing at al the burning heate 10 The holy Scripture to inable the weake capacitie of man to comprehend and vnderstand the excéeding horror and most feareful torment of this place calles it a Bottomles pit â—ophet á Dùnge on déepe large Apoc. 1. Esai 30. Apoc. 21 the burning whereof is fyer brimstone the lake of the second death which burneth with fyer and brimstone And in regard of the weeping howling roaring secréetching in that place it is compared to the valley of Hynnom neere Hierusalem where the idolatrous people at the sacrificing of their children so the Idole Moloch Iere. 32. made a confused noyse of crying howling together with singing and sounding of Instrumments that the pitifull screetching of the children tormented in that diuellesh sacrifice might not be heard And for this cause Christ calleth Hell Gehennon which the Prophet Dauid calleth the neithermost Hell 11 And albeit to men that measure all things by Philosophy and humane reason it may seeme absurde that Fyer should aflict the soules of the reprobate departed and the damned spirites in Hell forsomuch as the Agent is euer reputed more noble than the patient but no corporal body is more noble than the Spirit and according to the minde of the Philosopher in his booke of Generation Those things are only agent and patient in themselues which communicate in the same matter yet in this poynt as also in many other things which leane onely on Faith and not on humane reason we must beléeue it because the word of God so deliuereth it For the soule of Diues in Hell cryeth and shall crye for euer Luke 16. I am tormented in this flame Which is no Parable but really acted This then is no immaginarie fyer but a true corporal fyer working really vpon body soule on the soule before the day of Iudgement and on both together in a higher degrée of torment after the day of doome not by a proper vertue and naturall action which the fyer hath but as the
of this whole frame which is called the great worlde the Sunne shal be turned into darknes and the Moone into blood and the Starres shal fall from heauen the Ayer shall be full of whirlewindes stormes corruscations slashing meteors and thunders the earth with fearefull tremblings and swallowing gulphes the floods of the sea shal swel so high as if they would ouer flow the whole world and the roaring and raging noyse of the fretting billowes and tossing waues shal greatly terrifie Men therefore shal wither and waxe pale with feare and horror and trembling shal vexe them more and more expecting what these new monsters wil bring foorth at the last and what wil be the end of such horrible beginnings 14 When a tempest ariseth at the Sea and the boisterous waues begin to tosse and beat the shippe and the men which are in the same do beholde the horrible lightnings and fierie flashings in the ayre and the furious winds also making the sea to swel and rage in such wise that now they sée themselues tossed aloft and then anon caried down into the déepe they begin presently to cry to feare to tremble to call for mercie to multiplie their prayers to craue time of repentance to commend their saluation to almightie God and to be short they begin to thinke of the amendement of their manners and to haue better purposes Then thinke with thy selfe what manner of minde men wil haue when they shal sée heauen and earth and all the elementes to haue their peculiar and proper tempestes when the Sun shal strike a horror into mens harts with his fearful darkenesse and the Moone being turned into blood shal terrifie them that beholde it and the starres with their falles shal threaten for they shal fal so thicke that the Firmament shal séeme to be quite without light and the aire with continual fierie meteors shal séeme to burne the sea shal swel excéedingly and the most high mountaines being shakē with earthquakes shal fal with excéeding great noise 15 Who then wil take pleasure to eate who wil take delight in drinke who wil then haue any desire to sléep Nay who dare once then slumber or take the least rest amidst so many tempests and stormes O miserable and vnhappy sinners ouer whose heads al these signes doe hang and doe foreshew vnto them extreame calamitie O happie men yea thrise four times tenne times yea a thousand times happie and blessed whose conscience in that time wil make them merry and glad 16 Thus farre we haue considered the greatnesse of the last day the signes going before the same now let vs cal to minde certaine thinges concerning the resurrection of the dead and the comming of the Iudge 17 Therefore after those signes wonders which shal goe before the day of the Lord an Archangel shal come downe from heauen and with the feareful sounde of a Trumpette shal giue a signe to all that are dead to rise againe and to come to Gods iudgement This is that Trumpet which Saint Hierome thought that hée euer heard sounding in his eares whatsoeuer he were doing and not without cause For who can appeale from this citation who can refuse this iudgemēt who can pretend sicknes busines or any other excuse 18 Then shal death be compelled to make surrender of al the spoiles in a momēt which hée had taken away from the world and she shal be sent away into euerlasting banishment beyond al lands and seas and beyonde the world and the borders of al liuing things For as Saint Iohn sheweth in his Reuelation then shal the sea yéelde vp her dead which it hath swallowed and death and hel shal doe the like 19 What a sight shal there bée then when sea and land shal bring forth in al places so many bodies so vnlike one to the other so different and so vnequal And when as at one and the selfe same place so many armies shal come together from all parts of the world In that place Adam the father of al the Nations of the earth shal sée al his posteritie come together and shal meruaile There we shal sée Xerxes Darius Alexander Caesar other Monarches of the world but yet hauing another forme other maners and other mindes then they had when they liued here For at the sound of the Trumpet kings and Nations and all the worlde shal tremble they shal strike their breastes and mourne 20 Moreouer although all men shal be restored vnto life yet neuerthelesse there shal be great difference betwéen those bodies which shal be restored to holy men and those which the wicked and vngodly shal receiue For they shal be more shining then the sun and shal bee beautified with vnspeakeable brightnes but the others most foule and vgly and more terrible then death it selfe 21 What pleasure I pray you shal the blessed soules haue when they shal be ioyned againe to their bodies as to their most swéet brethren after so long banishment neuer to feare any more a seperation What I beséech you shal flesh féele when it shal be raysed from dust and shal sée an vnwonted light and when the soule shal come vnto it and say God saue thée my sister and most swéete Spouse the winter is now gone the storme is past away arise my beloued and come the Lord hath fulfilled our desire thou hast bene the companion of my trauels and laboures thou hast for the Lordes sake suffered with me persecutions and iniuries thou hast bene with me in watchings in fastings and vnder the crosse of repentance thou hast liued with a temperate and spare diet to féede the poore thou hast not excéeded in apparrel that thou mightst cloath the naked Equitie therefore and reason requireth that the things which thou hast sowen with mée in teares thou shouldest also reape with me in ioy and that séeing thou hast bene a companion with mée in my labours thou shouldst also be partaker with me of my pleasures riches and glorie Then shal the soule swéetely imbrace the bodie and the bodie ioyfully kisse the soule and they shal be ioined together with most happy and indissoluble knots And then with how great ioy and gladnesse shal they dwel together in one for from thencefoorth appetite shal not contend with wil nor sence with reason but being ioined together in one with the league of amity peace and concord they shal enioy the delights and ioyes of heauen euerlastingly 22 And contrariwise with what anguish shal the soule of the sinner be tormented whē that foule il fauoured deformed and feareful body is offered vnto him With what words thinkest thou wil they salute one another O vnhappy body wil the soule say O the beginning and end of my calamities thou hast brought me to these torments with thy entisements and now I am come not as it were into a house to rest but as it were into a prison to be tormented I am compelled to enter into thée againe against my
are carried after death by the diuel and his angels euen as contrariwise the soules of Gods children which liue in his feare in Christian obedience in this world are caryed vp into Abrahams bosome as was Lazarus and are in the hands of God Luke 16. Wisd 3. Greg. lib. 9. moraliū where no torment can come neere them For as S. Gregory saith Inasmuch as the wicked haue in this life forsaken their Creator both in body and in minde they shall in hell fire bee tormented both in body and in minde together And now that we haue hitherto spoken at large concerning Hell it resteth that somewhat be declared as touching the paines and torments that are now shall be for euer in the same In the which albeit there is but one fire yet saith S. Gregory it doth not torment sinners after one manner For euery one shall be punished according to the qualitie and quantitie of his sinnes 22 As in sin there are to be séene 2. turnings namely a turning away frō the chiefe and increate good or felicitie called Summum bonū a conuersion or turning to the lesser created good which be the things of this world Euen so in the punishmēt which is answerable to that sinne there shal bée found two sorrowes The one which shal arise of the losse of euerlasting blessednes the other which shall arise of the paine and torments which shal be brought vpon the body soule Both which sorrowes and torments the Schoolemen cal the pain of losse the paine of sence 23 But first of all we wil speak of the losse of felicitie which is the greater punishment There cannot be immagined or deuised any paine or punishment so greiuous which is comparable to the losse of felicitie For if to liue in exile and banishment in a close prison from our deare friends in this world it may séeme a punishment how greatly wil that seperatiō from God vexe torment vs whose onely sight is so great happines that sodainly it maketh a man blessed and happy 24 It was to the Cittizens of Rome a great punishment and almost the greatest of all other when for some great offences they were compelled to forsake the Citie and the company of Cittizens and to dwel in certain desert Ilands among the Barbarians Wherfore Marcus Tullius when he was brought againe from banishment as if hee had entred into a new world had gotten heauen for earth said as a man amazed how beautifull is Italie how faire are the regions thereof what goodly fieldes what pleasant fruites what famous cities how great humanitie of Citizens what an excellent common wealth and so forth How great griefe and sorrow then shal they féele which are absent from the Pallaces of heauen from the commonwealth of Saints from those most happy Regions where peace charitie tranquilitie and ioy raigneth where the voyce of praise and reioysing and a continual Alleluia is sung And finally to be absent from that most pure light which maketh the beholders ioyful and happy and when they shal bée compelled to dwell for euer in most filthy prisons and as it were in a sinke of al filthinesse where there shall bee no order but continual horror where there shall bée no voice but of such as mourne and blaspheme where there shal be heard no sound but of beating maules and of whips and with a rable of all sorts of diuels both barbarous and cruel and also in the companie and fellowship of most wicked men 25 Then shal their eyes be opened then shal the vaile be taken away frō before their face then shal they sée with excéeding sorrow that betwéene the euerlasting felicitie and these fraile transitory things there is incomperable difference when they shal behold most euidently that they haue lost the ioyes not to bee tolde and permanent for euer for certaine shadowes and dreames 26 Here shal be so great sorrow that although the damned doe know that al accesse vnto euerlasting blessednes is shutte vp from them O Lord open our hearts and giue vs grace to seeke thee while thou art to be found and that there is a most great Chaos and vniuersal confusion set betwéene them and the place of the elect and blessed yet being compelled with a certaine natural desire they shal not refraine themselues from these cries Lorde Lorde open to vs Lorde Lorde open to vs. 27 Hell therefore is an intollerable thing and the paine therof most horrible and yet if it were a thousand times bigger yet is it not comparable to the separation from the honor of that blessed glorie in the kingdome of heauen and to the hatred of Christ Math. 25. O remember the poore mēbers of Christ Iesus and the Lord vvill remember you when he shall say I knowe you not and to this reproach and checke When I was hungry and thirstie ye gaue me no meate nor drinke c. For we shall more easily endure a thousand thunder-claps then to haue his most méeke and louing countenance turned away from vs. 28 Moreouer the losse of this felicitie bringeth with it selfe the losse of all good things For the eyes of the damned shall sée no comely shape or forme their eares shall heare no manner of harmony their tast shal haue no swéete or sauerie thing to delight it their féeling shal haue no safte thing to serue it and their smelling shal haue no fragrant sauours to refresh and comfort it For they which shal bee once shutte out from the companie of God are at one instant drowned in the Ocean of all calamities and miseries without hope of deliuerance Let vs then déeply weigh and consider how great a matter it is to lose felicitie 29 Now let vs come to intreat of that torment which is therefore called the paine of sence by the schoolmen because it is as wel laied vpon the outwarde sences of the bodie as vpon the inward faculties of the minde And that wee may first deale with the torment of the inward sence yee shal obserue that there are foure faculties of the soule which shall bee vexed in hell with wonderful torments The first is that which the Grecians cal Phantasia and we Cogitation The second is memory The third vnderstanding And the last will 30 Cogitation therefore shall be most vehemently vexed with the féeling of those tormentes into the which both the body and the minde shal be cast For if now some great griefe doe so possesse our Cogitation that a man cannot would hee neuer so faine but thinke of that griefe what wil the torments of hel doe in the mindes of the damned which shal bee greater without al comparison Therefore cogitation shal increase the griefes and sorrowes and those sorrowes shal whette and stirre vp cogitation and they both shal so féede one another that they shal leaue no place of rest neither in the mind nor in the body of the damned These therefore Holy
how to decke and set out themselues with fine apparel with swéete smelles with daunces and other like allurements The which to doe is no better then to wrest the heauenly light of the minde which was made to beholde God to the obedience of a most wicked bond-slaue and to make the minde being withdrawne from heauenly exercises to be subiect vnto the appetites of a most abiect hand-maide 8 Therefore whoredome is a great and intollerable tyranny ouer the minde of man And no lesse is that tyranny of Ambition For behold and see what a heauie yoke ambition layeth vpon his bondmen commanding them that al their words and workes bée wholly imployed as nets and snares to get the common praise and fame of men and it compelleth them also to creepe as it were vpon the ground and to flye through the ayre For man at the commandement of Ambition séeketh to climbe higher then all men to bée subiect to none to rule al men and yet sometime when occasion serueth he prostrateth himselfe and humbleth himselfe to al men Thus the miserable man being contrary to himselfe and deuided in himselfe outwardly preferreth humilitie and in heart pride 9 Furthermore the lawes of this most cruel tyrant are such that if a man doe receiue a litle reproache or detriment eyther by right or by wrong he thinketh that he is vtterly disgraced if hée doe not presently reuenge it and if by no other meanes then to prouoke his enemie to some singular combat and so rather to loose his soule and body then to hazard the least part of his dignitie 10 I omit the tyranny of couetousnes and of other vices which are innumerable affirming with the Prophet Dauid that all the seruants of sinne do sit in darknes and in the shadowe of death fast bound in miserie and iron For what greater blindnesse can be imagined then that man should not know himselfe that he should not know God that he should not know wherefore he liueth and seeth not his bondes his miseries his perils and his harmes 11 And what greater miserie can there be then that miserable man should haue an infinite sort of desires as it were an infinite sort of mouthes stomacks which alwayes barke alwayes craue alwayes hunger and is not able to satisfie and fill so much as one of them 12 But now let vs sée what reward sin giueth vnto her seruants for so great labors Let vs harken to the Apostle and he wil tell vs The wages of sinne saith he is death that is to say both the first and the second death For what gall is to the lips a Cockatrice to the eyes a dead carcasse to the nose and Alowes to the taste the same and more is sin to the soule of man 23 Therefore let the bond-slaues of sin and wickednes go and serue their masters let them run into all dangers let them not spare for cost nor labors let them watch day night least peraduenture they be beguiled of so great a stipend O fooles which for the wages of eternal death will willingly beare so heauie a yoke when as with much lesse labour ye might serue righteousnesse who rewardeth her seruants with eternall liâ—e in the kingdome of heauen Wicked men labor and good men labour also both suffer both sweate both delue and digge but good and godly men till that ground likewise husbandmen which is firme sound fruitfull that is to say they exercise themselues in good workes and in sound vertues whereby they rearpe in the ende euerlasting life but wicked and vngodly men plow in the sand and sowe in the flesh and of the same shall receiue the wages of sinne eternal death 14 Therefore whether yée consider the wickednesses by themselues or the wages of the same the seruice of sin must néeds be horrible and wofull But yet there is nothing which doth so much set foorth the miserie of seruitude and the excellency of libertie as the manner of our setting at liberty and the passion of the Deliuerer For God which made the world without labour and as it were with a becke onelie at his will that he might deliuer vs from bondage slauery thought it good to be borne in a stable and was content to die in sorowes and paines But what manner of sorrowes Verilie such that the onely cogitation expectation of them might haue bin able to haue brought him into a bitter agonie to sweate water and bloud plentifullie The suffering of them made the most hard stones to rent the earth to tremble and heauen it selfe to be abashed 15 If God made so great a reckoning of thy libertie that hee vouchsafed to take vpon him the forme of a seruaunt and to liue thrée and thirtie yeares in hunger and thirst in colde in nakednes in fastings in watchings in iorneys in persecutions and in the end to shead forth his most precious heart bloud vppon the Crosse rather then hée would suffer this precious gemme to be taken from out of his handes let vs then acknowledge that excéeding glorie of the sonnes of God wherevnto wée are called which is the mother of all good things which alone is able to giue true peace perfite ioye blessed rest and tranquilitie If the heathen Romains of olde time for a false and fading libertie suffered great perils and death it selfe as Quintus Mutius Scaeuola thrust into the fire his right hand the Decii vowed themselues to the death that their legions of souldiers might bée preserued and get the victory Curtius being armed at all points and mounted vpon a horse threwe himselfe willingly into a gulphe of the earth that the Cittie of Rome might be deliuered from the pestilence for so had the Oracle giuen answere that the wrath of the gods would cease if that which the Romains estéemed best were throwne into that gulph Brutus also for the preseruation of the libertie of his Countrey did not sticke to slay his owne children If the heathen I say estéemed thus of their liberty which is in no point comparable to ours how much ought we to estéeme of that most true liberty wherby we are deliuered from sinne from sathan from death and from the wrath of GOD. They sought humaine praise a thing doubtlesse vnconstant and of small force as appeareth by the saying of the Poet Virgill concerning Brutus His Countries loue him driues and greedie lust of endlesse same But our ende is to approue our selues vnto God whose iudgment cannot be deceiued and to get the prize of the kingdome of heauen and the fellowship of Angels which is set before vs as the ende of our libertie which we séeke to attaine by this Pilgrimage CHAP. X. Concerning the Imitation of Christ THe true and sound perfection of a Christian man coÌ„sisteth in this to imitate Christ so neere as possibly he can for he is the head we are his members he is the captaine we his souldiers he is the Doctor we are his disciples It is said
Amos. 8. and I will darken the earth in the cleere day That is to say when men thinke it to bée the high noone of their age when they thinke that they haue yet many yéeres to liue when their minde is occupied about their gaine about theyr affaires about their honors buildings mariages and pleasures when they say vnto their soule Soule thou hast much goods laid vp in store for thée for many yeeres eate drink rest and be merrie then it shall suddenly be saide vnto them Behold death is at the doore thou foole this night shall thy life be taken away from thee Eccl. 41. and whose are then those things which thou hast gotten 9 Then death vnlooked for frustrateth all our counsels cutting off the webs of our deuises and with on stroke she casteth down and layeth flatte on the ground al those Towers builded in the ayer and then what a wound doeth the heart of the sinner receiue which loueth this present life when the Physitian saith vnto him Thou must from hēceforth thinke no more of life but of death 10 Here first of all all those things which he loued in time past offer themselues vnto him from the which he shal be pulled away and seperated by death whether he wil or no. The body shal dye once but the heart shal dye so often as the things be in number which he loued Then in very déede shal the most cléere light be turned into darkenesse because those things which were aforetime occasions of great ioy shal be now horrible vexations and torments It is a most swéete and pleasant thing to them which liue to sée their louing and faithful friendes to remember their honors to think vpon the pleasures past and to come But all these things in the time of death shal be as swords as torments and most bitter potions 11 But if it be so harde a matter to bée pulled away from those things which do not so néerely touch man how bitter I pray you will the seperation bée of the body from the life and soule For such two louing familiars which haue alwaies liued sweetly together euen from the mothers wombe cannot be seperated without great gréef If the Oxe do commonly lowe mourn when his yoke-fellow which was wont to draw with him is taken away how will euery one of vs mourn when the minde shal be seperated from the body Then wil the body and the mind with teares repeate againe and againe doest thou thus seperate bitter death O death dost thou thus seperate 12 And when the cogitation of so sharp a seperation is déeply setled in our mind then gréefes follow gréefes and sorrow commeth vpon sorrow for then it commeth presently into the minde what a miserable condition the body and soule shal be in after the seperation And first of all when a man beginneth to recount with himselfe that his body after a fewe houres shall be buried in a graue or dark tombe he cannot cease from wondring at so abiect and miserable a condition What the body that now liueth which seeth which heareth whith speaketh shal it be made after one houre in a moment blinde deaffe dumbe without sense without spirit without life Shal I haue then in stead of a large pallace a base sepulchre in stead of a soft bed the hard ground for delights rottennesse for swéete smelles stinkes and in stead of seruants and familiar fréends wormes And thus this cogitation of the graue will verie sore trouble and terrifle a man in these extremities 13 But yet notwithstanding euery man feareth much more when he beginneth to consider what condition remaineth for the soule For when he beholdeth that eternity and that new Region vnknown to all men liuing which hée then alone and naked is to enter and againe when he vnderstandeth that there is to be founde in the same both euerlasting glorie and perpetual paine and misery and knoweth not of which hée shal take his part it cannot bée tolde with how great feare with what carefulnes and with what excéeding sorrow he shal be tormented When hée perceiueth plainly that after two houres he shaibe either in eternal ioyes or in euerlasting paines Is not this a crosse farre surpassing all other crosses 14 This incertainty therefore of blisse or of a cursed estate which after two houres the sinner expecteth that remembreth his sinnes feareth the iust iudgement of God without hope of remission or faith in Christ bringeth a hell in minde not to be expressed For by how much the kingdome which hée desireth is of largenes and by how much the fierie furnace which he feareth is terrible by so much greater shal this perturbation be For from the one Angels shal come to carie the faithful vp into heauen and from the other diuels shal come to cary the wicked and infidels into hell fire 15 But there is yet a farre greater perturbation then this namely that he shal cal to mind the account which he is to make to God of all his words déedes and thoughts For of it selfe it is a horrible thing to enter into iudgement with God the which horror wil wonderfully vexe and disquiet the diuels themselues For as so long as we liue they set forth vnto vs the mercie of God and doe also commend the same and do striue all that they can to keepe vs from meditating of his iustice and iudgements Euen so now on the contrary part they extenuate and make his mercy insufficient and doe set before our eies the greatnesse and seuerity of the Lords Iustice 16 Then the sinner wil begin to tremble and to fall into desperation and wil begin to reason thus with himselfe If God for the sinnes of others spared not his onely sonne wil he spare me which am guiltie of so many sinnes If this be done in the greene tree what shal befal that which is feare and drie If the Prophets if the Apostles if the Martyres after they liued godly so many yeares entred not into the kingdome of heauen without tribulations what other place can be left for me but that of hell fire which know no good that I haue done 17 If the Scripture be true which saith He wil render to euery man according to his works I which haue done so great wickednesses what should I looke for but eternal torments If the Apostle lye not as indéede he doth not when he saith That which a man soweth that shall hee reape Gal. 6. what shal hée reape but eternall death which hath made so cursed sowing If no polluted thing shal enter into the kingdome of God how shal I which am altogether filthy and vncleane haue hope to make so happie and blessed an entrance 18 Then therefore all his sinnes which he committed with so great facility when hée liued shal violently inuade the sinful man like an hoast of his enemies Then the feare of punishment wil open the eyes which sléeping securitie in sinne before had
it selfe hath saide not in iest but in earnest Of euery idle word which men haue spoken they shall giue an account in the day of iudgement 31 O how many which now sinne with great delight yea euen with gréedines as if we serued a God of wood or of stone which seeth nothing or can do nothing wil be then astonished ashamed and silent Then shal the daies of thy mirth be ended thou shalt be ouerwhelmed with euerlasting darknes and in stead of thy pleasures thou shalt haue euerlasting torments When Ieremy had imbraced all the calamities and sinnes of the Iewes at the last he imputed al to this She remembred not her end Lam. 1.9 So if I may iudge why natural men care for nothing but their pompe why great men care for nothing but their honour and dignity why couetous persons care for nothing but their golden gaine why voluptuous Epicures care for nothing but their pleasure why the pastor careth not for his flocke nor the people for their pastor I may say with Ieremy they remembred not their end When Salomon had spoken of al the vanities of men at last he opposeth this memorandome as a counterpoyse against them al Remember that for all these things thou shalt come to iudgement as if he should haue said men would neuer speake as they speake think as they thinke nor doe as they doe if they were perswaded that these thoughts words and déedes should come to iudgemēt What if we had dyed in the daies if our ignorance like Iudas that hanged himself before he could sée the passion resurection or ascension of Christ Iesus we should haue numbred our dayes and our sins too but alas how many dayes haue we spent and yet neuer thought why any day was giuen vs but as the old yeare went and a new come so we thought that a new would follow that and so wee thinke that an other will followe this and God knoweth how soone we shal be deceiued for so they thought too that are now in their graues O deare brethren this is not to number our dayes but to prouoke God to shorten our dayes I that writ this thou that readest this all you that heare this which of vs haue not liued twenty yeares yea and some thirty or forty and happily some many more and yet we haue neuer applyed our hearts aright vnto wisdome O if wee had learned but euery yeare one vertue since we were borne we might by this time haue bin like saints among men whereas if God at this present time should cal vs to iudgement it would appeare that we had applyed our heartes our mindes our hands and féet or tongues yea our whole bodies to riches pleasures to lying and deceiuing to swearing and forswearing yea and to all kinde of sin and wickednesse but to true vertue and wisdome we haue not applyed our heartes God of his mery giue vs grace to sée our former sins truly to repent vs of them and to amend our liues hereafter that we may liue with him for euer Surely if man could perswade himselfe that this were his last day as it may be if God so please he would not defer his repentance vntil to morrow If he could thinke that this is his last meat that euer he shal eate he would not surfet if he could beléeue that the words which he doth speake to day should be the last words that euer hee should speake he would not offend with his tongue in lying swearing and blaspheming if he could be perswaded that this were the last lesson the last admonition or the last sermon that euer God would affoord him to cal him to repentance hee would reade it or heare it with more diligence then euer he hath done before O I beséech you remember your selues while it is to day lest you repent your selues when it is too late of all we that be here which of vs can assure our selues of life til to morrow or what if we should liue thrée foure or fiue yeares or what if twenty yeares who would not liue like a christian twenty yeares to liue in heauen with Christ eternally we can be content to serue seauen yeares prentise with great labour and toyle to be instructed in some trade that we may liue the more easily the rest of our dayes and we must labour notwithstanding afterwards and can we not be content to labour in the things of God a little while that wée may rest from our labours euer after Christ said to his disciples when he found them sléeping could yée not watch one houre so I say vnto you and to my selfe can we not pray can we not fast can wee not suffer a little while he which is tyred can trauaile a little further one steppe more to saue his life and therefore God would not haue men knowe when they shall dye because they should make ready at all times hauing no more certainty of one houre then an other 32 Séeing therefore the case standeth thus let vs looke to our selues and let vs take counsel of him which would be an Aduocate before he be a Iudge For no man knoweth so wel what is necessary for vs against that day as he that shal be the Iudge of our cause Hee therefore cryeth thus vnto vs. Iohn 12. Mar. 13. Luke 12. Walke while yee haue the light least the darkenesse come vpon you Take heede watch and pray for ye knowe not when the time is Be ye like men waiting the comming of their Lorde c. 33 They that thus watch and waite are sure to make a most ioyful departure frō this life and to be receiued into the Lordes ioy of the which happy dissolution the scriptures thus record I am now ready to bee offered and the time of my departure or dissoluing is at hand I haue fought a good fight and haue finished my course I haue kept the faith Hencefoorth there is laide vp for mee the Crowne of righteousnesse c. 2. Tim. 4.6 As the Hart brayeth for the Riuers of water so panteth my soule after thee O God My soule thirsteth for God euen for the liuing God when shal I come and appeare before the presence of God Psalme 41.1 The righteous shall liue for euer their reward also is with the Lord and the most high hath care of them Therefore shall they receiue a glorious kingdome and a beautifull crowne of the Lords hand For with his right hand shall he couer them and with his arme shall he defend them Wisdome Chap. 5.15 Bring my soule out of prison that I may praise thy name Psal 142.7 I desire to be losed and to bee with Christ which is best of all Philip 1.23 Reade also the fifth Chapter of the second Epistle to the Corinthians the first and second verses And let these things be oftentimes thy meditation and standing that so despising the things of this transitory life and pacing thy steppes in the path-way to felicitie
thou mayest at the last obtaine the reward which our Sauiour Christ hath promised Come ye blessed of my Father c. Which Lord for thy mercie sake graunt vs Amen CHAP. III. Concerning the generall day of Doome FOrsomuch as the feare of the Lord is the beginning of wisedome and al for the most part are restrayned from sinne and wickednes by the feare of punishment paines and are brought to a good mind and purpose they which exclude this feare out of their hearts doe shut vp against themselues the true and wholesome repentance For as the Scripture testifieth the feare of the Lord expelleth sinne and he which is without feare cannot he iustified August in Ioan. Tract 9. The which St. Augustine by a very proper similitude setteth foorth If there be no feare there is no entrance for loue euē as we sée when a man soweth the thréed is brought in with a néedle the néedle first entereth but except the néedle goe out also the thréed followeth not Euen so feare first possesseth the minde but feare remaineth not there alone because it therefore entred to bring in loue Wherefore to awake vs sléeping in sinnes and to ingender feare in our minds the Lord doth oftentimes in the Gospel threaten vtter darknes gnashing of teeth euerlasting fire and other torments of hell that at the leastwise for feare of paines and torments we might bridle our mindes our eyes and our hands from sinne and wickednesse 2 This feare is not onely probable but also very necessarie For if now after so many threatnings of our Creator so fearefull and so greeuous we scarcely forsake our sins what would we do if God did not threaten at all Therefore I holde this that the feare of the Lord is as it were the parent and kéeper of righteousnesse temperance loue and of all vertues 3 But there is nothing that doeth more worke this feare in vs then the remembrāce of that great day wherein al the causes of al men are to be pleaded and their matters determined Insomuch that Saint Augustine affirmeth if Christian men should heare no other Gospel then that wherein the general iudgement is set foorth that one might suffice both to reuoke sinnefull men from their wickednesses and also being reuoked to cōteine them in their dutie 4 Wherefore in this Chapter wée will handle two notable points concerning the iudgement to come The first shal be concerning the greatnes horror of that day and of the fearefull signes that shall go before the same The second shal be concerning the raising vp of the dead bodies and the comming of the Iudge 5 The greatnesse and horror of that last day may be knowen hereby that it is called in holy Scripture a great day and the day of the Lord. And shall it not indéede be a very great day which shal cōprehend all the daies of all ages aswell those that are past as those that are to come For in that day men shall render an account of all the dayes that are past In that day God will poure out that infinite treasure of his wrath and indignation which he hath heaped vp in the space of al the worlds that are past In that day the motions of the heauens shall cease the course of the starres the reuolution of yéeres the vicissitude or returne of moneths and dayes the decay of mortal things al the cogitations of men al their studies al their Artes al their disciplines all their affaires shall rest in eternall silence 6 Also in that day it shal be decréed by the sentence and irreuocable constitution of the most high and eternal Iudge what state and condition euery one of vs shall haue and retaine in al eternitie of worlds 7 And not without cause the holy scriptures haue called it the day of the Lord. For as al the dayes of men going before are called their dayes because men watch in them and do whatsoeuer they will and God beareth suffereth endureth expecteth and after a sort sleepeth resteth in them Euen so then the day of the Lorde shal shine wherein hée shal be continually waking shal do whatsoeuer he wil and we whether we wil or no must suffer and endure 8 Thou now doest adde sin vnto sinnes and ceasest not to offend God dayly God is silent at al these things And why so Because this day is thy day But the day shall come beléeue me the day of the Lorde shall come which shal bring an ende to so long silence and wherein he wil take vengeaunce of all the iniuries that haue béene done vnto him 9 Thus we sée that al Eternitie comprehendeth two dayes onely The one of man the other of God In the one men shal watch and God shal sleepe In the other men shal sleepe and God shal watch 10 How horrible this day shall bée wée cannot plainly vnderstand and yet we may gesse at it by the present calamities For then the hoast of al punishments which their confederate battel of al offences shal assaile vs with maine force 11 But as in the warres of men before the last and general battel there are many excursions and short skirmishes euen so before that great and most fearefull conflict which shal be in the day of the Lorde God is wont with his seueral bands to make certaine excursions and one while to send vpon vs famine another while pestilence another while warre another while earth-quakes another while floods of waters and another while drougth as it were his horsemen to inuade vs who when they haue damnified vs retire and abide in their tents If therefore we so greatly feare pestilence warre famine earth-quakes and such like when as they are but the beginning of sorrowes and short excursions what I pray you wil wée doe when the last and general conflict shal come at what time al tribulations extremities calamities and miseries shal also fight against vs 12 And if wée doe yet more fully desire to know the greatnes and horror of that last day let vs consider those signes which shal a little while come before that day Therefore before the comming of that great day heauē and earth and all the Elements shall giue signes For there shal be signes in the Sun in the Moone and in the stars Luke 21. and vpon the earth trouble among the nations with perplexitie the Sea and waters shal roare and mens heartes shal faile them for feare and for looking after those things which shal come vpon the world 13 For as man which is a litle worlde when he draweth néere to his end the humors in him as certaine Elements are troubled and his eyes which are as the Sunne and Moone are obscured lose their light and the rest of the sences as the lesser Starres do by little little fall and faile and yet his minde and reason as the power of heauen is mooued from his seate wandereth erreth Euen so in the dissolution and fall
wil. Is this that fleshe for the which I haue committed so many fornications so many wickednesses For the which I haue so many times giuen my selfe to gluttonie and carnal pleasures Is this that face which with so great care I haue kept from sunburning O vnhappy pallace for thy sake I haue wearied my selfe by land and by seas O vnfortunate belly how became I such a foole that I would worship thée for God Haue I lost the kingdome of heauen for this most abiect body for this most foule stinke of al filthinesse and haue purchased to my selfe euerlasting torments O ye furies O ye spirits of hel why doe ye stay why teare ye me not in péeces why doe ye not bring me to nothing These such like words shal the soule vtter against the flesh with excéeding rage and hatred the which notwithstanding it liued so wel when it was here vppon earth that it worshipped the same for a Lady and God and to fulfil the lustes thereof if feared not to violate and breake the lawe and commandements of God 23 And when all are risen againe and are gathered together into the place which God hath appointed for this iudgement then shal hée appeare in the clowdes of heauen with power and great maiestie whom God hath appointed to be the iudge of the quicke and dead And he shal not come alone but accompanied with an innumerable multitude of heauenly Princes 24 The feare which shal come by reason of that maiestie shal be so great that the prophet Isaias saith Isay 2. They shall goe into the holes of rockes into the caues of the earth from before the face of the Lord and from the glory of his maiestie when he shal arise to destroy the earth Apoc. 20. And the Apostle Saint Iohn addeth I sawe a great white throne and one that sat on it fron whose face fledde away both the earth and heauen For as when the flood of the Ocean swelleth they are wont to tremble which dwel vpon the shore and yet can take no harme euen so when the Lord beginneth to poure foorth his wrath and indignation vpon wicked men the Saints also and the Angels and men which are in no peril shal after a sort tremble and feare If therefore the iust shal feare and the pillers of heauen shal shake what shal the wicked and vngodly doe 25 And in very déed so soone as the Lord shal appeare there shal be heard immediatly a great cry and howling among the Nations Mat. 24. Apoc. 1. Zach. 12. for then as the Lord himselfe saith shal al the kinreds of the earth mourne and they shal sée him whom they pearced and they shal lament for him as one mourneth for his onely son and he sorie for him as one is sorry for his first borne O how many causes of wéeping howling shal miserable and vnhappy men then haue They shal wéepe because they shal sée that their euils and miseries are past all remedy They shal wéepe because they shal sée that their repentance is too late and vnprofitable They shal weepe because they cannot appeale from Gods sentence neither can flée the iudgement at hand and it shal séeme a thing intollerable to bée at the iudgement and to heare the sentence of euerlasting condemnation They shal wéepe because when they liued here on earth they despised those which forewarned them They shal wéepe because the pleasures which are gone as a shadow haue brought vpon them endlesse sorrowes and torments To be briefe as men beset on euery side and brought into ineuitable straights destitute of al counsaile and hope they shal wéepe because they shal sée that they cannot preuaile any thing at all neither with wéeping nor yet with scratching and tearing of themselues 26 Neither wil the Iudge bée moued by any meanes with these cries and sorrowes but wil rather seperate the wéepers from those that reioyce that is to say the wicked from the godly euen as a Shepheard diuideth the Sheepe from the Goates and shal set the godly on his right hand and the wicked on his left 27 And then hée wil beginne to discusse the cause of euery one and hee wil not forget any one offence For wée shal sée all things registred in perfect bookes by which bookes all men shal be iudged I sawe saith Saint Iohn the dead both great and small stand before God and the bookes were opened and another booke was opened which is the booke of life the dead were iudged of those things which were written in the bookes according to their workes So that al our workes are written in those euerlasting bookes Thou hast scarcely committed an adulterous thought but the same wickednesse is written in Gods booke 28 And not onely Church-robbings and sacrileges parricides periuries and such like faults but also impure thoughtes and idle wordes the neglecting of good workes or the same done to no good ende shal bée brought into iudgement For so great is the excellencie estimation of Christian integritie purity that no one or the very least vice that may be is not permitted to Christian men 29 The cafe standing thus whereof I beséech you commeth it that there is in vs so great loosenesse so great carelesnesse so great sloothfulnesse and such securitie Do we not flatter our selues when so great iudgement hangeth ouer our heades Holy was the prophet Dauid a man after Gods own hart and yet he so feared this iudgement that hée saide Enter not into iudgement with thy seruant O Lord for no man liuing shal bée iustified in thy sight Holy was the Apostle Paul and yet he saith I knowe nought by my selfe and yet hereby I am not iustified it is the Lord that iudgeth me as if he should say therefore I dare not pronounce my selfe iust because he that iudgeth me is the Lord. For such are the eyes of the Lord that the starres are not cleane in his sight and many times his eyes doe beholde wickednesse where we sée nothing but holines Holy also was the friende of God Iob. 31. Iob and yet he said What shall I doe when God ariseth to iudgement and when he maketh inquisition what answere shal I giue him Why doeth this man of God so commended of Gods owne mouth who was so iust and simple that hee could say without lying I was an eye to the blinde and a foote to the lame Iob. 29.27 and againe My heart doeth not reproue mee in all my life why I say is a man of such singular innocencie so afearde of Gods iudgement namely because he knoweth that God hath no eyes of flesh and that he iudgeth far otherwhise then men doe 30 Moreouer when all mens causes are diligently discussed and examined the Iudge wil pronounce against the wicked the irreuocable sentence of eternall damnation Depart from me yee cursed into euerlasting fire which is prepared for the diuell and his Angels O bitter word which wil
make the eares of them that heare it to tingle O sentence intollerable which depriueth sinners of all good things and bringeth them to all woe The Lord sometime accursed the Fig-trée and immediately not onely the leaues but also the body and rootes were wholy withered Euen so that feareful curse of the last day shal be no lesse effectual For on whomsoeuer it falleth it shal so scortch them and shal so make them destitute of Gods grace that they shal neuer more be able to doe to speake to thinke or to hope for any good thing 31 Then therefore the wicked being stricken with this thundering sentence will lift vp their mouthes towards heauen wil spue foorth their shamefull blasphemies against God the Iudge they will curse this day and the houre wherein they were borne and their Parents which begat them and the wombs which bare them the aier which gaue them breath and the Earth which hath borne them but they shal not be suffered any long time to speake these things against the Iudge 32 For suddenly the Spirite of the Lord shal ouerwhelm them and shal with great violence caste them downe headlong into the déepe Apoc. 18. as in Saint Iohns Reuelation appeareth in these wordes Then a mightie angell tooke vp a stone like a great Milstone and cast it into the Sea saying With such violence shall the Citie of Babilon bee cast Apoc. 20. and be found no more And againe Whosoeuer was not found written in the booke of life was cast into the Lake of fire And this déepe shal be shut vp with gates of brasse and with yron barres which cannot bee broken with any force nor cut in sunder by any arte and there they shal drinke of the cup of the Lords wrath and the smoke of their torments shal ascend worlde wtout end they shal not rest day nor night 33 On the contrarie part the iust being in the fruition of ful blessednesse and of euerlasting glorie shall haue in their mouthes the prayses of the Lorde and giuing of thankes and shal with singing and with mirth extol the name of their Lorde and God with whom they shal reigne without ende 34 But although wée heare of those things often yet neuerthelesse wée are not awaked from the sléepe of sinne before wee be ouerwhelmed with the night of death and of darkenes Why doe we which haue this time now looke for another time which peraduenture wée shal neuer haue Now is the accepted time now is the day of saluation There is nothing more profitable for a man then to knowe his time and therefore in our worldly businesse wée obserue times and seasons as a conuenient time to eare a fitte time to sowe to plant and such like Yea the brute beast by the instinct of nature can make choyce of his time for benefite The Swallowe when winter approacheth prepareth himselfe to take his flight into a warmer Countrey The Bée and the Ant in the time of summer prepare their foode against winter And the Prophet Ieremie saith that the Storke knoweth his appointed time If brute beastes deuoide of reason haue this foresight to make choise of time for their good and if man him selfe in a worldly regarde can make choyse of a fitte and due time to gette earthly and transitorie things how much more prouident ought hee to bee for heauenly things that to attaine these hée lose not his fittest time to attaine saluation 35 The olde worlde that liued in the dayes of Noah knewe not their time that was the cause they then perished with the flood The Cities of Sodome and Gomer knew not their time that brought fire and brimstone from heauen vpon their heads to their destruction The foolish Virgins knewe not their time therefore when their Lorde came they being altogether vnready were shut out of the Lords ioy Let vs then knowe the season how it is time now that wee should awake out of sleepe Rom. 13.36 1. Thes 5. Let vs watch and be sober for they that sleepe sleepe in the night and they that are drunken are drunken in the night But let vs which are of the day be sober least the darkenesse come vpon vs wherein we can neither walke nor worke Let vs alwayes haue before our eyes that day and time wherein we shall appeare before God and his Angels and before the whole worlde to answere our cause and either to receiue a Crown of glory or else perpetual shame and confusion Let vs know that we haue here a very short time limitted vnto vs. wherein wée must so endeuour our selues that for short and transitory things we lose not that which is eternall If wee haue this consideration of that great day of the Lorde wée shal not only be the more secure in death but also be the better prepared to méet with our Lord and Sauiour when he shal come to iudgement CHAP. IIII. Concerning Hell and the torments thereof THere is nothing that the Diuell laboureth more then to perswade men that there is no hel that so the more easily hée may leade them thether as it were blindfolde by the way of sinnes while they haue no feare of any punishment euen as shéeues are wont to bee ledde with a vaile before their faces when they are going to the gallowes as Ezechias was serued whose eyes Nabuchadnezer commanded to be put out whē he was caried away captiue into Babilō 2 But it may bée shewed by many reasons and authorities that there is a hel For as a Princely magnificence requireth that a King haue a beautiful Pallace for to entertaine the best sort of men and a prison for the worst Euen so the king of kings and Lord of all glorie and principalities hath a Pallace wherein there are many mansions as our Sauiour Christ in the Gospel testifieth which is the kingdom of heauen and he hath also a darke prison or dungeon which is hel 3 The lawe of nations requireth that malefactors for their offences be driuen into exile for euer euen so God doth banish from his presence Luke 16. the impenitent sinners into hel For so it is said of Diues that he dyed was carried into hel Esay 5 And the prophet saith Hel hath inlarged it self hath opened his mouth with out measure and their glorie and their multitude and their pompe and he that reioyceth among them shall discend into it Also S. Iohn saith that the feareful and vnbeleeuing and murderers Apoc. 21. the whormongers sorcerers and Idolaters and all lyers shall haue their part in the Lake which burneth with fire and brimstone which is the second death And Christ Iesus saith Feare him which hath power to cast body and soule into hell 4 But forsomuch as God hath not made Death nor the kingdom of Hell vpon earth Wisd 1. We must vnderstand that the principal procurer of this Hell is Sathan the Prince of darkenesse who béeing in
poore Christ in pouertie For it cannot bée expressed in wordes how ample and large the way of the Lorde shal be made vnto all them which can set their heart vpon Heauen contemne earthly vanities with great feruencie of minde to cleaue whollie vnto God and which can cut off the desires of vnprofitable things 30 Last of all this may be added also for the explication of our question that the lawe and commandementes of God are a straite way and gate if they be considered by themselues and alone But if the grace and helpe of God be ioyned vnto them they ought not to be called a straite gate but a swéete yoke and a light burthen 31 For this is the difference betwéene the law and the Gospel The law commanded that wee should bée holie but it gaue no grace by which men are sanctified It commanded vs to fight against the deuill but it gaue not vnto vs necessary armor and weapons to fight It commanded vs of carnall to become spiritual but it gaue not the holy Ghost by which we might be made spiritual It commanded vs to goe forward towardes Heauen but it giueth not vnto vs Ladders and steppes by which wée may ascend into Heauen 32 Therefore the Law was a yoke but not a swéete yoke It was a burthen but not a light one But the Gospel commanding the selfe-same things giueth helpe and strength that they may not onely bée done but also that they may be easily done 33 Wherefore the Gospel is a yoke but sweete It is a burthen but light It is also a strait and a broad way it is a sharpe and pleasant way Let vs heare the words of the Prophet saying Because of the words of thy mouth Psal 119. I haue kept hard wayes Beholde a yoke and a burthen a strait and a narrowe way Let vs heare the same Prophet again In the way of thy Commandements I haue had as great delight as in in all manner of riches Againe I haue runne the way of thy commandements when thou hast set my heart at libertie Behold a helpe of grace 4 For then the way is inlarged and the course easily finished when the heart is made spatious voyd with the fire of loue What is the cause that all the saintes did so great and wonderfull workes and wee so small and the same not without the compulsion of law many times Surely there is no other cause but this they were feruent and we are colde Finally they which complaine of the straitnes of the Lordes wayes séeme to mee not to haue knowne as yet what the Gospel signifieth For what doth the gospel signifie what grace what the Law of loue what the holy Ghost what Christ what Iesus and what a deliuer but a deliuerance but libertie and charitie but swéetnesse and facilitie 35 What this gate is wherof the Lorde speaketh why it is called straite wée haue hitherto shewed now these words are to bée considered Because many I say vnto you shall seeke to enter in and cannot 36 There are thrée sorts of men which shal séeke to enter in and yet notwithstanding cannot and there is also a fourth kinde which doe not so much as séeke to enter in 37 There are some therefore which séeke to enter into the kingdom of heauen but they do not therefore enter because they doe not séeke to passe and enter by the straite gate but by the broad way And of this sort are the Mahometans the Iewes Heretickes Papists Sectaries and all Infidels The Mahometans seeke to ender and to be saued but therefore they enter not and cannot be saued because they enter not by the strait gate Christ but by the broad gate Mahomet For when Mahomet saw the straitnesse of Christian Religion hée opened a certaine other gate broad and wide which leadeth the direct way vnto hell 38 Behold and sée what a wide gate Mahomet hath set open he hath taught nothing to bee beléeued which excéedeth mans vnderstanding no Trinitie no Incarnation no death or resurrection of the Sonne of God Also hee hath taught to hope for nothing which the eye séeth not and the eare heareth not but floods of milke honey and wine fulnesse of venerie and fulfilling of lusts multitude of seruants continuall sportes and banquets this he would haue to be the felicitie of the blessed 39 The Papistes also set open a very wide gate when they teach men to merite heauen by workes to purchase vnto themselues with mony pardon for their sins past to come to redéeme their soules out of Purgatory fire by purchasing infinite Masses Dirges with money to be sung after their death to haue absolution of their sinnes by confessioÌ„ to a Priest with diuers other points of like sort which maketh the way very broad and open for rich men but straite and narrow for the poore 40 In like manner al Heretikes Scismatickes which cannot endure and abide the straits of this gate doe open euery one to himselfe a proper gate The Family of Loue hath a peculiar gate the Anabaptists Libertines a wide gate and the Brownists and Barrowists at this time a fantasticall gate all which séeke an equalitie of states and persons a common participation of other mens portions a sacrilegious spoyle of the Lordes treasurie and sanctuary with Athalia whereby they open the broad way of disorder and confusion and a libertie to all sinne and wickednes and yet by these gates which stand so wide open a great multitude of men doe dayly enter 41 All which the Lord calleth back with these words Striue ye to enter in at the strait gate for many I say vnto you haue sought to enter namely into life and cannot because they enter not in by the straite gate which onelie leadeth vnto life 42 Let not the largenes of the gate moue you What doth it profite to enter easily and not by the straits if ye enter into Hell Nay rather if ye be wise suspect and stand in feare of the broadnes of the gate and of the facility of faith Strait is the gate and narrow is the way which leadeth vnto life And that is true Christian faith which for the déepnes and excellencie of her mysteries requireth this that vnderstanding be captiued of will 43 There are yet another sort which desire to enter in by the straite gate but they come too late and therfore séeking to enter in cannot Hee that stept not in quickly and at the first into the water of the poole Bethesda after the Angell had stirred the same Ioâ—â— â— lost the benefite of healing and great were the liberties and priuiledges which the Israelites had in that great yeere of Iubile which was euery fifty yéere and he that chalenged not his fréedome in this time afterwares lost it Euen so now is the time of health wherein the Archangell Christ Iesus maketh the water of life effectuall to our saluation now also is that great Iubile wherein we
are to challenge the benefite of Christs death and passion and the gate of Heauen is set open but the said water of life must haue his vse in time or els it helpeth not and when the yéere of Iubile is past the gate of Heauen wil be fast shut vp Euery mans life is his yéere of Iubile so that when his life is ended the Iubile is past and hée is barred from the gate of life 44 And because manie while they liue here are ouerwhelmed with the cares of this worlde and passing on in their way do promise vnto themselues a long life and a large yéere of Iubile the Lord foreséeing their perill doth after this mnaner carefully admonish them Striue yee to enter in at the straite gate as if he should say vse no delaies in the way but make haste runne apace while the yéere of Iubile lasteth while ye haue time of repentance and while the gate of saluation is open For many shall séeke to enter in but because they come too late they shall not enter They shall knocke in vaine at the gate they shall crie in vaine Lorde Lorde Math. 25. open to vs and in vaine they shall wishe to haue one day of repentance 45 And for whome I beséeche you are these thinges so often spoken Are they spoken for those that are dead and stand without knocking and saying Lorde open to vs No verily they are not spoken vnto them for they haue no profite thereby But they are spoken to vs and for vs and to him I say this is spoken The gate of heauen is nowe opened vnto you now is the time of your Iubile come now the kingdome of Heauen is offered vnto you ye are now called vpon to enter by the straite gate loose not this oportunitie for the gate will be shut much sooner then you think of euen before you be aware then shal ye be most miserable and vnhappy for euer yée shall desire but one houre to be giuen you of this most pretious time wherof now ye make so little account and it shall not be giuen vnto you 46 There is a third sort of men which séeke soone enough to enter in by the straite gate but yet being ouercome with the straits in the way doe not at last enter in To these the Lord speaketh Striue ye to enter in by the straite gate because many I say vnto you shall seeke to enter that is to say they shall make a proofe whether they can enter or not but they shal make it daungerous they shal assay whether they can enter by those straites but because they séeke not with all their strength to enter therefore in the ende they shall not enter 47 There are of this sort an innumerable multitude of men which whē they heare their sinnes wickednesses by the word of God condemned doe for a while purpose to forsake them to enter in at the straite gate of vertuous life and to forsake their drunkennesse fornication contention strifes and such like from which the Apostle commaundeth vs to abstaine So that these séeke to enter and begin to enter but soone after they returne with the dogge to his vomite and with the sow to her mire againe 48 And some many times renue their desires they oftentimes conceiue the spirit and yet neuer bring foorth But the Lord is not fed with barren desires it is not enough to haue a will to enter but we must also labour and striue to enter For I say vnto you many shal séeke to enter many shall haue a will to enter many shal haue a desire to enter many shal prooue to enter but because they wil not striue and labour with all their strength therefore they shal not enter For the kingdome of God suffereth violence and the violent draw it vnto them 49 When there is a Comicall or Tragicall play at the Theater or Curten doe yée not sée many times how men do throng and shooue with great labour to enter betimes that they may heare and behold the same for the which they think their pains their time their labour and their cost well bestowed But in the kingdome of heauen there shal be such glorious sights and so far excelling those worldly vanities and prophane delights that the beholders of them shall bée made happy with the beholding therof And we must not tarry til our seruants go before vs to prepare the way but euery man by himselfe be hée rich be he poore be hée noble or vnnoble euerie one must séeke to prepare and make his owne way and must striue labour and endeuour all that wee can if wée will bee at those delightfull and happy sights 50 These things considered which of vs will not sustaine the labour and trauell to enter in at the straite gate Who wil not willingly suffer himselfe to be pained and aflicted for a time I doubt not but that there are many which would enter but they cannot therefore they cannot because they know not how to enter For without skill we must not looke to enter by those straite and low gates If the gate belowly and thou lookest to go in without stooping with a fight vp body not once bowing downe thy heade is it not like that thou shalt hurt thy forehead and yet be stopt from entrance Euen so the gate being strait except thou know how to conforme thy selfe to the fashion of the crosse and to enter as it were stooping or side-waies thou shalt desire to enter in vaine Therfore this is that which the Lord saith heere Striue to enter in at the straite gate because many I say vnto you shall seeke to enter in and cannot and all because they cānot fashion themselues to the crosse and know not the manner of entring in by the straites Therefore thou must conforme thy selfe to the maner of the crosse that is to say thou must determine with thy selfe to endure with a valiant mind all manner of afflictions and tribulations and after this maner thou shalt easily enter 51 Thus the Lord himselfe entred For thus it behoued Christ to suffer that is to say it was requisite for Christ to be crucified and so to enter into his glorie Thus the Apostle Peter Thus the Apostle Saint Andrew and thus all the elect haue entered into the kingdome of heauen For they all following the figure of the crosse with many tribulations and with great labour haue entred into the straits of this gate 5 But now to come to the last and most vnhappy sort of men which do not onely not striue to come in but also doe not so much as thinke vpon any entrance And how many thinke you are there to be found in this number verily there are very few which are not to be reckned amōg this kind of men What man is hée that forgetteth not the feare of God and his own saluation To how many doe these words agrée Isaiah 5.12 The harpe and Viole
Timbrell and Pipe and Wine are in their feastes but they regard not the worke of the Lord. Iob. 21.12 And againe They take the Tabret and Harpe and reioyce in the sound of the Organs They spend their daies in wealth and suddainly they goe down to the graue They say also vnto God depart from vs for wee desire not the knowledge of thy waies c. That is to say we wil not walke in that straite way which thou commandest vs to walke in but we wil goe the broad way 53 When the Phrigians first became christian the gouernor of the citie desired to be resolued by the Bishop who was then about to baptise him of this question namely whether those that shal be saued or those that shal be damned shal be the greater number The bishop answered that the greater number should be lost And I quoth the Gouernour will do as the most doe and so refused his Baptisme Many men at thsi day peraduenture will be ashamed openly to say thus as this Gouernour did and yet in déeds proclaime it 54 Wherefore the greater part of men shal be adiudged to euerlasting paines Few are chosen Many goe the broad way Fewe there be that enter the straite gate the which is not onely proued vnto vs by wordes but also by many tipes and figures of the scripture 55 God in that old world wherin Noah liued entred into iudgement with mankind Gen. 7. and destroyed the euill and the wicked with the flood but saued the good and godly And how many were saued in that great multitude A few saith Saint Peter that is to say 2. Pet. 2.5 eight soules c. 56 Furthermore in the dayes of Abraham by another figure hée setteth before our eyes the small number of them that shal be saued Gen. 19. for when hee destroyed Sodom and Gomorrah with fire and brimstone from heauen hee among so many people saued only thrée 57 Moreouer in the time of Moses 1. Cor. 10. God brought the people of Israel out of Egypt to plant them in the land of promise a land flowing with milke and hony All which things happened to them in a figure and were done to admonish vs vpon whom the endes of the world are come How many were ther think you of this people which came out of Egypt Six hundred thrée thousand Num. 1. fiue hundred and fifty beside women and children and old men How many of this excéeding multitude entered into the lande of promise Num. 26. No more but Iosua and Caleb 58 To conclude what other thing was the transfiguration of the Lord in the mount but a most manifest figure of blessednes but how many were admitted to this blessednes onely fiue Moses Helias Peter Iames and Iohn to giue vs to vnderstand not only that they are few that shal be saued because there are but few Christians Mat. 17.1 if they bée compared with Ethnicks Iews Sarasins Heretikes and such like which without al doubt perish but also because among Christans few shall be saued Wherefore whosoeuer loueth God truly and his owne soule let him labour and striue to enter in at the straite gate during the time of this pilgrimage CHAP. VI. Concernining repentance without delay IEsus the son of Syrach 2. Eccle. 5. giueth vs a very profitable admonition to turne vnto God from sinne and wickednesse so spéedily as possibly we can in these words Because thy sin is forgiuen be not without feare to heape sinne vpon sinne And say not the mercy of God is great he will forgiue my manifold sinnes for mercy and wrath come from him and his indignation commeth downe vpon sinners Make no tarrying to turne vnto the Lord and put not off from day to day for sodainly shall the wrath of the Lord breake forth and in thy security thou shalt be destroyed Also Eccle. 12. Salomon to the same effect giueth vs most excellent counsail saying Remember now thy Creator in the dayes of thy youth while the euill dayes come not nor the yeares approach wherein thou shalt say I haue no pleasure in them Héereunto agreeth the saying of Saint Augustine Age poenitentiam dum sanus es sic si ages dico tibi quod securus es quia poenitentiam egisti eo tempore quo peccare potuisti that is Repent thee while thou art in health so doing I say vnto thee thou art without dāger because thou hast repented at what time thou mightest haue sinned 2 Although these diuine testimonies might satisfie a christian man that their hope is vaine and full of perill which deferre their conuersion and repentance albeit but for one houre yet it shal be shewed by other reasons that it may the more plainely appeare how néedful a thing it is for man with all spéede to repent him 3 There are foure principal causes why a man cannot without great labour and difficulty forsake sinne and followe righteousnesse The first cause is a custome of sinning the which being now made as it were another nature can very hardly be ouercome For as Mithridates vsed to eate poyson so long that nature in the ende could very wel brooke and digest it and the people called Gemerij are so well acquainted with darknesse wherein they liue continually that they cannot well endure the light Euen so men that liue continually in sinne and wickednesse thus brought vs to his allure then his care is to hold vs still in his bondage and for feare that we should make conscience of sinne and so turne vnto the Lord by repentance he putteth a faire vizor ouer the ougly face of sinne and so disguiseth her that the proud person which excéedeth in apparell saith that his or her pride is cleanlinesse and decensie The whoremonger and fornicator taketh his filthy life to bée but the course of youth The drunkard and riotous person perswadeth himselfe that his excesse is but good fellowship The couetous person beléeueth that his couetousnesse is good husbandry The idle person which spendeth his whole time in dice cardes and such like neglecting his vocation flattereth himselfe that his time thus wickedly spent is honest recreation Whereas if the diuell had not blinded them so as they might sée sinne in her colours she would séem such a deformed monster as they would loathe her for euer For her eyes are ful of Adultrie her eares are very large and great open to heare all vaine delights her tongue swollen with lying and deceit her throate is an open sepulchre her lippes are boulstred vp with the poyson of Aspes her hands are large to receiue bribes her belly hath a timpanie of surfetting and gluttonie her back is laden with idlenesse and yet her féete are swift to shead blood with her heart she thinketh vpon nothing but how to betray the innocent and oppresse the widow and the fatherlesse Yea from the very top of the head vnto the sole of the foote she is ful of
Sonne into the world for mée and therefore hée wil not suffer mée to perish O man thou greatly deceiuest thy selfe Truth it is the promises of God are great and greater then thou canst well consider And yet they appertaine not to thee if thou canst make no better vse of them Thinke vpon that Prouerbe of Salomon Mel inuenisti Haste thou found honny eate not too much Haste thou the swéete and most comfortable promises of God in the Gospel vse them to thy comfort yet presume not therby to liue securely in sin For Iacob must change his garments before he can obtaine a blessing Gen. 27. Hester 2. And Hester must decke her selfe when she commeth into the presence of the King That is to say we must put off the garment of sinne by spéedy repentance we must be cloathed with vertue and godlines as pilgrims with Scrip and staffe for celestiall glory CHAP. VII Of the Remission of our sinnes by Christ and of our loue to our brethren AMong manifolde things which doe set foorth the wonderfull power and exceeding mercy of God there is nothing that doth so much expresse the same as doth the great mysterie of the Incarnation and Passion of Iesus Christ whereby we haue frée pardon and remission of all our sinnes and that Benediction whereof the Prophet speaketh saying Blessed are they whose sinnes are couered Psal 32. and whose iniquities are forgiuen 2 Wonderfull was the wisedome of God in the redemption of mankinde from the thraldome of sinne death and hell in that he hath made Mercy Truth Righteousnes and Peace to be conioyned in one 3 The first Adam sinned so damnation from the which neither he nor his posteritie could deliuer themselues God neuerthelesse will not haue Adam and his posteritie vtterly to perish therefore in vnspeakable mercie he deuiseth the meane that his Iustice and righteousnes might be satisfied and yet man saued No Saint nor Patriarch nor any other were he neuer so holy which came out of the loines of Adam were able to make satisfaction to God for that first trāsgression No Angel nor Archangel in heauen was fit to take this great taske in hand Because man had sinned Iustice required that man likewise should make satisfaction 4 Behold here then the infinite loue and mercie of God who for mans redemption sent his sonne from heauen Phil. 2. Luke 2. so far to bée abased as to take vppon him our flesh conceiued in the wombe of the holy virgin Marie by the holy Ghost Luke 2. that so of God man hée might be Emanuel that is one Christ in whome Mercie and Truth are met together Righteousnes Peace haue kissed each other 5 Of this great worke of wonder wherin God hath thus conioyned his mercie and his Iustice the Prophet long before prophesied thus Vnto vs a Childe is borne and vnto vs a Sonne is giuen and the gouernement is vppon his shoulder and hee shall call his name Wonderfull Isai 9. Counseller the mighty God the euerlasting Father the Prince of Peace 6 This childe our Emanuel and Iesus the Lords Christ approoued himselfe wonderfull in person in al his works Three things saith S Bernard are singularly wonderfull wonderfully singular that the Godheade and the Manhood should be vnited in one person that one should be both a Virgin and a Mother that faith should dwell in the heart of man things in nature and reason so contrarie 7 This wonderfull Christ is not to bée comprehended with corporal eyes alone and with a carnal heart but also with the eyes of a liuely faith whereby we haue remission of sinnes Iohn 3. For God so loued the world that he gaue his onely begottē Sonne that all that beleeue in him should not perish but haue euerlasting life 8 He then that will be saued must come to him Whosoeuer wil come to the father must come by him who not only is the way to life but is both the way and life For as ther was no come to be had in Aegipt but only by the handes of Ioseph who after long affliction was so highlie exalted so there is no grace nor life no remission no holie Ghost now to bée looked for but at the hands of our Crucified Ioseph Hée is the Brasen Serpent which onelie healeth the infernal serpents wounds Hée is that holy Temple where only God is to be worshipped and no where els without him ther is no hearing God no helping God no God for vs at all 9 Onely the Faith which is effectuall and auaileable to Iustifie vs before God is that whose obiect is the body and passion of Christ Iesus crucified Rom. 4. Act 16. whose frutes are the workes of charity Therfore saith the Apostle by faith cometh the inheritance as after grace bicause the promise might be firme and sure to al the seede 10 The meanes to haue this faith is the worde of God preached that hearing it wée may beléeue it to be the worde of life For so it is also manifest in the Acts of the Apostle Act. 10.44 Act. 4.4 where it is saide While Peter yet spake the Holie Ghoste fell downe vppon them which heard him Rom. 10.17 And Paule to the Romanes saith Faith commeth by hearing So as the Church preaching continually the worde of God by her ministers and offring reconciliation by Christ giueth remission of sinnes in that by the outwarde ministerie it pronounceth the same out of the word of the Scripture by the which through attentiue eares as through a Conduit both the grace and spirite of Christ do flowe in euen into our heart 11 As the word soundeth and is heard in the voice so in a visible and euident signe the sacraments do speake vnto the which we giuing credit obtaine in very deede that which they promise and signifie So that how often soeuer wée heare the worde or receiue the sacraments in faith remission of sinnes is assured vnto vs whereby no small faith is inwardly wrought in vs. 12 Thus then we sée that remission of sinnes is openly published by proclamation ratified by promise confirmed by will and testament stablished in blood and sealed with Sacraments And thus much concerning the first meane to get remission of sinnes 13 The second meane is Charitie in vs in pardoning and forgiuing the offences and 16 But they which haue the greatest iniuries done vnto them ought to be alwayes prepared and ready to forgiue according as we are taught in the Scriptures Eccle. 29 Haue the patience with him that humbleth himselfe and keepe not mercie from him Our Sauiour Christ commaundeth vs to forgiue our brother that offendeth seuentie times seuen times and which is more to loue our very enemies Also the Apostle Paul doth not only exhort vs to loue our enemies but also if they be hungry to féed them and if they thirst to giue them drinke Rom. 12. 17 Yet such is the corruption of our
come nigh our dwelling O most blessed Tabernacle O most safe refuge O region most resplendant and glorious All thy inhabitants weare crownes of glory sit in thrones of Maiestie liue in life eternall and possesse a paradice of infinite pleasures which as S. Bernard saith are so many that they cannot bée numbred of such eternitie that they are without all ende so precious as they cannot be estimated so great as they cannot bee measured For the which cause the Apostle saith neither the eye hath seene nor eare heaerd 1. Cor. 2. Apoc 2. nor the heart of man conceiued what things God hath prepared for those that loue him And Christ saith No man knoweth it but he that enioyeth it 2 Yet notwithstanding as it is reported of a skilfull Geometrician that finding the length of Hercules foote vpon the hill Olympus made a portraiture of his whole bodie by that one part Euen so by those demonstrations which in Gods word are found we may make a coniecture of this Tabernacle and the felicitie in the same although we can not expresse the full perfection thereof 3 We haue therefore a most comfortable description of this Tabernacle in the 21. and 22. chapters of Saint Iohns reuelation comparing it vnto a citie which is made of pure gold with a great and high wall of the pretious stone called Iaspis The wal wherof had also twelue foundations made of twelue distinct precious stones which he ther nameth also 12. gates made of 12. rich stones called Margarites and euery gate was an entire Margarite The stréetes of the citie were paued with gold enterlayed also with pearles pretious stones The light of the Cittie was the clearenesse and shining of Christ himself sitting in the middest therof from whose seat proceeded a riuer of water as cleare as Christall to refresh the Cittie and on both sides of the bankes there grew the tree of life giuing out perpetual and continual fruit there was no night in that Cittie nor any defiled thing entred there but they saith he which are within shal raigne for euer and euer 4 By this description wherein Saint Iohn vseth such words as hée could and not as hée would hée giueth vs to vnderstand that the greatnes of the felicity prepared for vs in heauen is such that as I noted before we may very well thinke with S Paul that no tongue of man is able to declare it nor heart imagine it 5 This cittie or tabernacle shall in amplenes and in beauty be far beyond the reach of mans reasō to comprehend Yet the greatnes and amplenes may partly be conceiued by the view of the starres For if the least of them be of such greatnes as all the Princes of the world haue not within their power so much compasse and space and yet an innumerable multitude of stars haue place in the firmament where there remaineth stil roome and space for many moe how great then is the amplenes and capacity of heauen it selfe The which giueth iust cause to the Prophet Baruch to cry out say Bar. 3.24 O Israell how great is the house of God and how large is the place of his possession 5 And now what shal wée say of beautie delicacie and glory of paradice This our earthly worlde which is as it were in comparison of that other but a stable of beasts a place of exile and a vale of misery and tears if this be so decked garnished by the great and most skilful worke-maister that it séemeth not to be a stable of beasts but a garden of delight and pleasures the firmament adorned with so many stars like goldē knops the earth paued with swéet smelling hearbs and glorious flowers decked shith flourishing trées and gréene woodes watered with seas and riuers replenished with great maiestie of cities and townes garnished with all manner of fruits and spices and furnished with all liuing creatures as beastes fowles and fishes scruing for mans necessary vse pleasure If I say this frame of the world be made so glorious for man which is but a seruant and also for so smal a time in respect of the eternity to come what then shal wée imagine that the habitation prepared for the eternity and the Kings pallace it self shal be Surely no lesse then the power and wisdome of the maker who is omnipotent and wisdome it selfe could make and finish 6 But the chiefe praise of a citie consisteth in this to haue many Citizens which are noble peaceable and quiet the which are to bée found in most excellent manner in the celestiall Hierusalem For if wée consider the holy Angels doth not Iob say Iob. 25.3 Can his Souldiers bee numbred And the Prophet Daniel saith Dan. 7.10 A hundred thousand ministred vnto him and tenne thousand thousands stood before him And if wée consider the number of holy men that shall bée there then harken to the wordes of Saint Iohn in the Reuelation I beheld Apoc. 7.9 and loe a great multitude which no man coulde number of all nations and kindreds and people and tongues stoode before the throane and before the Lambe cloathed with white long Robes and Palmes in their hands And this multitude shal not be confused but passing wel ordered 7 As touching the Nobilitie of these heauenly Citizens what shal wée say when as they shal be triumphant kinges princes the sonnes of God and after a sorte Gods themselues and inhabitants of the kingdome belongeth to the body cōsisteth in the change and glorification of our flesh after the general resurrection that is to say whereby this corrupted body of ours shal put on incorruption and of mortal become immortall All this flesh I say of ours which now so burdeneth and grieueth the soule which is now subiect to so many chaunges vexed with so many sicknesses infected with so many corruptions oppressed with so many crosses and vexations shall bée freed from all these and made perfect to endure for euer with the soul without any alteration For it shal be deliuered from al the infirmities diseases pains troubles and incombrances of this life and in stéed thereof it shal haue a most perfect and glorious estate which shall neuer fade and decay any more Mat. 15. And then saith Christ they shall shine as the Sunne in the kingdome of their Father And if one Sunne can lighten and fil the whole world with his brightnes if the maiesty glory of his beames be such and so great that some Ethnickes doe worship him for God and if he haue bene called of the auncients the Father of gladnesse the eye of the world and the fountaine of light What shal so many glorified bodies of the blessed be surely they shal be so many suns so many lampes and so many shining lights to lighten the heauenly Hierusalem 11 Nowe to say somewhat concerning the soule as the principal part of man Wée must vnderstand that although there be many things which make vs