Selected quad for the lemma: heaven_n
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B00818
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A discourse of eternitie collected and composed for the common good, by W.T.
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Tipping, William, 1598-1649.
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1633
(1633)
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STC 24473.3; ESTC S95621
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42,794
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75
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obligation of a sinner to perpetuall punishment but rather in the lowlines of our heartes crie out with Daniell O Lord righteousnesse belongs vnto thee but to vs open shame because wee haue rebelled against thee let vs cast downe our soules at the foote of his grace and humbly acknowledge in the sence of our deformities that just is the Lord just are his judgements Our weake vnderstandings can no way fathome the depth of his counsells his wisdome is vnsearchable and all his waies are truth but did we truly apprehend the nature of our sinnes wee would never repine at the weight of Gods Iudgements for whereas God made man a noble creature both beautifull and glorious and after stamped on him his owne Image righteousnesse and true holinesse how strangely hath his sinne disrobed him of all his excellencies what rebellion hath it setled in all his members what staines and pollutions hath it wrought in all his faculties It is our sinne which hath vnioynted the confederacies and societies of the dumbe creatures and hath armed them with an antipathy and rebellion one against another It is sinne which hath so strangely altered the manners and conditions of our times that hath turned mens browes into brasse and their hearts into stones and their hands into blood and their tongues into Scorpions It is sin which hath wrought such a confusion and Chaos in all things vnder the Sunne which hath changed truth into flattery substances into formes nature into arte decency into new fanglednesse renting of hearts into cutting of garments It is sinne I say which in this our age hath dissolued those sweete obligations of peace and correspondency which were formerly knitte betweene our neighbour nations and insteede thereof hath sent in fire and sword amongst them that hath rowled vp within these few yeares so many Noble spirits in those parts into blood and destruction And lastly it is our sin that shall at that last dreadfull day turne the very Elements into fire and the whole frame of this world with all the things therein into their primitiue Chaos and Originall Confusion Oh that wee did seriously consider of and soundly digest the meditation of these things For had wee but hearts to vnderstande and eyes to see the deformity of our sinnes and did vnpartially compare the staine and pollution of them with the purenesse of Gods nature and the brightnesse of his Maiesty how should wee be confounded in our soules with the sight of our owne filthinesse How ready should we be rather to admire Gods patience then question his severity How should wee tremble at his glorious presence and dread his power and iustly feare what wee haue worthily deserued his everlasting iudgement since our pollutions haue moved him to abhorre the workes of his owne hands and to distaine the beauty of his owne creation But if now on the other side wee advisedly looke into Gods gratious proceedings towards vs and his louing indulgence in restraining his incensed displeasure notwithstanding our infinite provocations and in shewing vs a way to escape his fury I know not whether wee shall finde greater cause to vindicate his justice or admire his mercy For true it is as saith Saint Agustine Deus adeo bonus est vt malum nunquam sineret nisi adeo potens fuisset vt ex malo bonum eliceret Aug. Soe Good is our God that he would never haue suffered vs to fall had not his power bene such that hee could extract matter out of our sinfulnesse to advance his owne glory Oh how vnsearchable how botomlesse how surpassing the apprehension of men and Angells is the loue of God towards vs whither can wee goe which way can wee cast our eyes where wee shall not behold the admirable foote-steps of his mercy If wee looke vpward his mercy reacheth vnto the Heavens saith David If downeward they that goe downe into the deepe see the wonders of God saith the same Prophet and his mercies in the great waters If round about vs those that put their trust in the Lord mercy embraceth them on every side And hence it is that the Apostle Saint Paul to the Ephesians so diversly amplifies the loue of God in severall places of that Epistle by sundry appellations or epithites as his loue his greate loue his abundant loue his loue passing knowledge againe the riches of his glory the riches of his grace the riches of his mercy God who is mercifull saith the Apostle who is rich in mercy through his loue his great loue even when wee were dead by sinnes hath quickned vs together in Christ Eph. 2.4 The Apostle also in the same Epistle and first chapter expresseth the Lord great in his power abundant in his wisdome but rich exceeding rich in his mercy And why rich in mercy only Is not the Lord rich in Angells rich in the Saints rich in the Heavens Hath he not created the Cloudes founded the Seas wisely composed the whole frame of nature And is he yet rich only in mercy True it is the earth is the Lords and the fulnesse thereof all that wee haue all that wee are is his but his mercy hath an excellency in it aboue all his creatures yea if I may so speake aboue all his attributes aboue his Iustice Mercy saith the Apostle reioyceth against condemnation Aboue his power Iacob wrestled with God and overcame him aboue his greatnes for he hūbled himselfe to take our nature on him yea aboue all his earthly creatures for his mercy reacheth to the Cloudes there is nothing doth more illustrate Gods omnipotency then his mercy It was noe marvaile that God should make the Heauens because hee is power it selfe or that he should frame the earth because hee is strength it selfe or that he should governe the times because he is wisdome it selfe or that he should giue breath to all creatures because he is life it selfe But herein chiefly is God to be magnified that hee who is infinitely iust should yet bee mercifull to sinners yea to sinners while they wallow in their blood while they rest in sinnes while they haue no eye to looke after him no heart to embrace him no foote to follow him no tongue to glorifie him but lye woefully plunged in the dregs of their pollutions Oh the vnspeakable goodnesse of our God who hath so gratiously invited those sheepe who are so vnhappily strayed from him nay who doth with a Omnipotentissima facilitate homines ad scipsum convertit Deus volentes ex nolentibus facit Aug. ad vita louing violence irresistably call those who haue trampled on his graces and reiected his loue But what should moue the creator of all things who hath beene thus infinitely provoked who is armed both with power to strike and meanes to be avenged to compassionate his enimies Certainely there is there can be no other reason alleadged but that which David so often iterates because he is gratious his mercy endureth for ever
excellency mount vp to the heaven and his head reach vnto the cloudes yet shall he perish for ever like his dongue but the righteous is like a strong mountaine and he shall bee had in everlasting remembrance Wherefore to draw to a conclusion iust occasion might here be taken for deploring the negligence and vnhappy condition of our times Where are there any that take into their thoughts the due consideration of the time to come Where shall wee finde any truly provident for immortality Sic plerique vivimus ac si fabula esset omnis aeternitas wee so liue as though wee conceiued of Eternity but as of a fable or a dreame the sweete allurements of sin doe so strangely beguile many that by gentle degrees they obliterate and extinguish in them all loue of vertue and the very inclinations themselues to any thing that may be truly tearmed good But let vs no longer delude our selues by fancying a perpetuity on earth behold the judge stands before the doore Momento fi et quod tota doleat aeternitas The strongest holds in the World will not be able to detaine vs one minute when God shall be pleased to call for our soules and therefore Ante oculos prae omnibus habeamus diem vltimum momentis singulis supplicia timeamus dolotum aeternorum let vs before all things haue continually in our sight the last day and let vs every moment feare the punishments of eternall paines CHAP. III. Certaine conclusions drawne from the serious and devoute consideration of Eternity The first conclusion IF they who runne on in any notorious sinne did but rightly weigh how fast they goe towards the Eternity of torments since that by the least command or stroke of God Confecto demum scelere eius magnitudo intelligitur they may bee vnavoidably hurl'd to death and destruction Certainely they would not for all the kingdomes in Europe for all the treasures of Asia nay not for the whole world deferre their repentance one houre much lesse would they goe so confidently to their beds without feare or horror being so neare the pits brinke and lying in the danger of so great a sinne For what would it profit a man to winne the whole world and loose his soule wherefore whoeuer thou art Nulli parcas vt soli parcas animae Omnia siperdas animam servare memento what ever become of all other things yet haue a speciall care for the salvation of thy pretious soule The second conclusion The greatest part of men doe not belieue this Eternity which shall vndoubtedly follow either in Heaven or Hell to all For were they assured of that truth they would shew more evident proofe thereof in the reformation of their liues Some indeede will seeme to credit it in their words but deny it in their actions Their apprehensions and conceits may perchance sometimes glance at it vpon some checke of conscience it being as a thorne in their sides and a mountaine in their way towards their earthly contentment but they are soone taken off Such thoughts haue no rooting in the ground of their hearts but are suddenly choaked by some intervenient imployments they are commonly nipt in their very bud and killed in their birth So that they neuer come to any issue Thus many there are who Caeci ad aeternitatem adeunt ex qua nunquam exibunt runne headlong and blindfold to their long home like the rich glutton in the Gospell which never began to open his eyes and looke vpwards till he was in torment All the while he liued on earth his eyes were shut vp and when it was too late namely when he was throwne to hell then began he to looke vpward and about him And certainely it is no marvaile this rich glutton and many more like him hasten thus vnhappily to their vnevitable downefall For they goe on in a pleasing and easy way And In via nemo errat sed in fine viae via pluribus placet sed dispicet terret viae terminus they are never sensible that they are out of the way till they arriue at the end of their journey All misery lies in the close of the day For out of the pit is no redemption when once the soule is split vpon this rocke it giues to the world his everlasting farewell according to that of Iob. cap. 7.9 as the cloud vanisheth and goeth away so he that goes downe to the graue shall come vp no more hee shall returne no more to his house neither shall his place know him any more The third conclusion Whosoeuer shall descend into himselfe and take a strict and serious view of this eternity certainly the meditation thereof soundly digested cannot but terminate his desires to a moderate and sparing fruition even of lawfull contentments This will imbitter his carnall mirth take off the edge from his sweetest delights and at length make him say with Salomon I said of laughter thou art madde and of joy what doest thou It is recorded of Lazarus that after his resurrection from the dead he was never seene to laugh The streame of his affections were now turned into another Channell his thoughts were fixt in heaven though his body was on earth and therefore Aeternis inhianti in fastidio sunt omnia transitoria i.e. Bern. hee could not but slight temporall things when his heart was bent towards eternall Oh that wee could worke our hearts soules to a vehement thirst after Christ the true eternity that wee could cleaue to that rocke with stedfastnesse and with vnmoueable affections For if Christ be our end our joy shall be endlesse nullo fine regnabis cum Christo si Christus tibi finis The fourth conclusion The minde of man is so much the more sensible of the evill present by how much lesse it meditates on the good to come For he that lookes towards the reward will vilify the sufferings Saint Austin runs on sweetely in his meditations vpon this subiect Eternall labour saith he is but an equall compensation for an eternall rest But if thou shouldest endure this eternall labour thou couldst never arriue at that eternall rest Therefore hath the mercy of God ordained thy sorrowes to be temporall that thy ioyes may bee eternall and yet saith he Vbi est cogitatio Dei nimi profundae factae sunt cogitationes Dei Aug. who is there thinkes on God as he ought Such thoughts are irkesome to vs But for temporall vanities we thinke of them with delight and enioy them with contentment Now saith he looke in and about thy selfe see where thou art God hath his hooke in thy nostrills Noli gaudere vt piscis qui in sua exultat esca nondum enim traxit hamum piscator Aug. and can plucke thee vp when he pleaseth and though hee suffer thee according to thy calculation a long time yet what is the longest time of man to Gods eternity Yea though