the silent night onely is guiltie of these vnchast actions and secret chambers are only priuie vnto these works of darkenesse this sin is more suspected then knowne and yet knowne too well to be too too generall Drunkennesse may be the third head of this monstrous Hel-hound and Cerberus of sinne how generall is this shamelesse swinish idle base beastly sinne growne It was once but one mans sinne and of infirmity too as not knowing the vertue of the grape Chrysost nor the qualitie of that liquor and long since it hath beene scorned as the beggers fault Hence came the Prouerbe As drunke as the Begger But now adayes it is reputed not only the Seruingmans complement but the Gentlemans grace Seneca spake wel of these times Habebitur aliquando abrietati honor plurimum caepisse vini virtus erit The time shall come that honour shall be attributed to drunkennesse and to drinke much wine shall bee accounted vertue and valour How many now adaies draw their whole Patrimonie thorow their throate making a practice almost a profession of drunkennesse rising vp earely to follow strong drinke and so continue vntill night till wine enflame them Isaiah 5.11 And as the Wise man speaks tarrie long at the wine Prou. 23.29 Our Tauernes our Innes and Alehouses were they well lookt into by the Magistrate would yeeld too many of such kind of stayers by who vnder pretence of drinking a pot or two fill their braines ere they go away and emptie their purse I will not insist any longer in discoring Satans kingdom From the generalitie of these sins we may conclude an vniuersalitie of all the rest What sin is there but is growne as generall as euer the Plague was in any citie or countrie like Naamans leprosie it hath ouerspred the whole body From the sole of the foote to the crowne of the head there is no soundnes but wounds swellings putrifying sores Isa 1.6 Sin is growne vnto such an height and to such a head that it is safer for a man to commit sin then to reproue it and hee that refraineth his foote and runneth not into the same excesse of riot shall be a prey a scorne a by word a derision a laughing stocke Behold the regions are white vnto haruest sinne is ripe euen to the full growth and therefore assuredly it will not be long ere the Lord sends foorth his Labourers those winged executioners of his wrath with sickles in their hands to gather the wicked into bundles that they may be cast into hell It is the Lords gracious and mercifull dispensation to prorogue a while the tearme of his comming because wee should haue a little more time to repent in and so be left without lesse excuse Let vs then vse the Lords patience as a spurre and prouocation vnto repentance so saith the blessed Apostle prophesying of the Atheists of our time who doe not sticke to say VVhere is the promise of his comming Sheweth what vse they should make of the seeming slacknes of his comming his long suffering is an argument that the Lord is not willing that any should perish but that al should come to repentāce 2. Pe. 3.9 And thus mercifully the Lord dealt with the old world after hee had threatned their destruction hee gaue thē one hundred and twenty yeeres to repent in Gen. 6.3 Put not then off farre from thee the euill day if the Lord seemes slack it is because thou shouldest flye speedily with Lot vnto Zoar that is accelerate thy repentance Almighty God hath already whet his sword and bent his bow and made it ready how soeuer he may seeme slack yet he may easily come before thou art ready if hee doth come thou being vnprepared and vnprouided assuredly he will pay thee home for thus abusing his patience The Heathen writer could say thus much Valer. Max. Deum grauitate supplicij compensare tarditatem puniendi the greatnesse of his punishment shall recompence the slacknesse of his comming when he doth come when Deus dies vltionum conuenerint when the God of vengeance and the day of vengeance shall meet together thou shalt bee payed home for altogether I will conclude with that questioned Authour to the Hebrewes Yet a very little while and he that shall come wil come and will not tarry Heb. 10.37 The last vse shall bee an exhortation to repentance and that betime while wee haue time Walke saith our Sauiour Christ in the day Iohn 11. v. 9. that is in thy life which is but a moment a spanne of time The night commeth wherein no man can worke Iohn 9. v. 4. that is the night of thy death which is the conclusion of the day of thy life and then there is no more time to worke out our saluation For an Angell hath sworne from heauen by him that liueth for euermore that time shall be no more Apoc. 10.6 that is after this acceptable time no more time for repentance no more daies of saluation The Apostle wils vs to doe good while we haue time intimating therby that after this time Cypr. there is no more time Vitae aut hic amittitur aut tenetur cùm isthinc excessum fuerit nullus poenitentiae locus nullus satisfactionis effectus Life here is either got or lost for when we goe out of the body there is no place for repentance no effect of satisfaction if we haue sinned to day and haue not repented it may be wee shall haue leaue of the Lords patience to learne it better another day but after the transmigration of the soule from the body there remaines nothing else but a fearfull looking for of iudgement It stands vs therefore vpon the saluation of our soule to looke before wee leape to be certaine that wee haue one foote vpon the border of Canaan before wee leaue our earthly tabernacle Let vs make our election sure vnto vs by true and speedy repentance and seale vp this comfortable conclusion to our soules that our sinnes are pardoned in the bloud of Christ Suppose that the generall day of Iudgement were farre off and that this day of saluation were to shine vpon this Land still on to the worlds end yet what is that to thee or mee the day of grace endeth to thee and mee at the day of our death after that the Lord shall neuer offer mercy vnto vs. It is the gracious and merciful dispensation of almighty God who when hee may iustly cut thee off as thou art committing of sinne and throwe thee downe to hell yet hee giues thee space and time to repent of this thy sinning and so thy sinnes may bee done away Thus our Sauiour speaking of that woman Iezabel for so the holy Ghost points her out by the finger as it were in contempt saith That hee gaue her space to repent of her fornication and shee repented not Reuel 2.21 Meaning hee did let her liue to repent whereas if hee had cut her off before hee had taken
from the al-discerning eie of Almightie God though in their life time they thinke that they shall neuer be remooued but are as seemingly safe as Nebuchadnezar or as secure from danger as Edom though now their greatnesse reacheth vnto heauen and their dominion to the ends of the earth Dan. 4.19 though now they build themselues stately houses for the honour of their Maiesty vers 27. Though now they seeme to dwell in the clefts of the rocks secure and farre inough remote out of danger mounting aloft like Eagles in the aire making their nest among the Starres Obad. v. 3. as though no danger should euer come nigh their dwellings Yet Kings with their Armies then shall flie and be discomfited and yet cannot flie from the presence of God nor from beyond the reach of his arme Thus you see that the truth of this doctrine is confirmed by many proofes that the estate and condition of the wicked is full of horror at the dreadfull day of Iudgement Reason 1 Ob signorum multitudinem Now the reasons of this doctrine are many the first is this by reason of the manifold signes and fearefull apparitions both in heauen and earth which will strike an horror dread and amazednesse into the hearts of the wicked Saint Matthew describes them thus the Sunne shall bee darkened and the Moone shall not giue her light the Stars shall fall from heauen and the Powers of heauen shall be shaken Mat. 24.29 The words are to be vnderstood not metaphorically but properly of the alteration of the works of nature as adiuncts circumstances and fearefull presages of that dismall day when the Sunne shall not stand still only as at the prayer of Iosuah Ios 10.12 neither shall it onely goe backward ten degrees as vpon Ahaz Diall Isa 38.8 but it shall be as blacke as a sackcloth of haire Reuel 6.12 We reade that there was an exceeding great darknesse of the Sunne at our Sauiours Passion throughout all the land and many bodies of the Saints which slept arose Matth. 27.52 How fearefull then and how wonderfull shall the comming of Christ vnto Iudgement be when the Sunne the Moone and the Starres and all the powerfull influences of heauen shal grow blacke duskie and vtterly be obscured when all the dead Saints and sinners great and small both in Sea and land shall come forth of their graues whereof the first was a type and figure Mat. 24.31 when the Lord himselfe shall descend from heauen with a shoute and with the voice of the Archangell and with the trumpet of God 1. Thes 4.16 Saint Luke likewise describes the circumstances of that day thus There shall be signes in the Sunne and in the Moone and in the Starres the Sea and the waters shal roare mens harts shall faile them for feare and for looking after these things that shall come vpon the world Luk. 21. vers 25. An Earthquake of it selfe is very fearefull as threatning the ruines of Citties hazarding the subuersion of many stately buildings shaking the very foundations of Kings Palaces and the inundation of waters hath beene very terrible as our Westerne parts can very well witnesse when men euen wisht for Noahs Arke againe and sought the highest places for refuge against the mercilesse waues of the Sea some climbing the clifts of craggy rockes some steeples some the tops of houses some trees some floated vpon the waters like Paul his companions many were drowned But now when the Seas shall roare Rockes shall rent Mountaines shake and shiuer and the glorious Heauens become darke and dusky how shall the hearts of men be appaled with dread and terrour to behold the same and yet notwithstanding these things are but the beginning of sorrowes saith our Sauiour Christ but a Preamble but a Proem but a Prologue to the Tragedy I am not ignorant but that the darkning of the Sunne the Moone and the Starres in the holy Scripture may sometimes bee taken for some kind of calamity ready to fall vpon some particular Kingdome and that these signes doe not alway denotate properly the last day of Iudgement but may be referd to some other particular times of iudgement as the great ouerthrow of the Babylonish Kingdome Isa 13. or the last totall and finall destruction of the Iewes by the Romanes Luk. 21. or that celestiall and truely Diuine victory of Constantine the Great against Maxentius and the Romane Gouernours in the which the great power of almighty God miraculously shone from heauen in reuenging the precious bloud of the blessed Martyrs So the Wise-man exhorting vs to thinke on God in youth and not to deferre repentance vntill we be old drawes one of his motiues and arguments to induce vs thereunto ab incommodo from the manifold inconueniences and impediments accompanying old age that will hinder vs from the true performance of so waighty a worke Repent saith he and turne to God while the Sun is not darke nor the Moone nor the Starres Eccles 12.2 that is before old age approacheth when thou shalt haue no more pleasure in thy dayes then if thou wert shut vp in a darke dungeon and debard of the comfort and benefit of those great and glorious lights of Heauen The second reason Why the state and condition of the wicked is full of horrour at the day of Iudgement Ob Iudicis Maiestatem is the Maiesty of the Iudge the beholding of whose countenance so full of glory and maiesty shall possesse the hearts of the wicked with amazement and astonishment Now the Iudge at this great Assise and generall Audit is Christ himselfe he that once stood before the iudgement seat of Pontius Pilate to receiue his sentence shall now summon Pontius Piliate and all the Potentates of the earth vnto his Consistory to receiue their dreadful doome That Christ is the sole Iudge at the last day they are his owne words The Father iudgeth no man but hath committed all iudgement vnto the Sonne Iohn 5. v. 22. And hath committed vnto him all power and authority to execute iudgement because he is the Sonne of man v. 27. Because hee is the Sonne of man and this cause yeelds vs comfort else were we in a miserable case hee doth partake of our nature and therefore is pittifull compassionate yea farre beyond humane reach or reason the Apostles likewise were commanded to testifie this truth and to preach this point that Christ is ordained by God to bee Iudge of the quicke and dead Act. 10. v. 42. So likewise in the 17. Act. 31. Paul preaching to the Athenians presseth repentance and the argument which he vseth to prouoke them thereunto is the consideration of the day of Iudgement when God will iudge the world in righteousnesse by that man that is Christ whom hee hath ordained So likewise the Apostle in the second to the Romanes ver 16. God shall iudge the secrets of men by Iesus Christ And in the second to Timothy c. 4. vers 1. Iesus
only bee made of the thoughts of the heart but wee must also giue an account of the words of the mouth They are the words of him that is the word of truth Of euery idle word that men shall speake they shall giue an account thereof at the day of Iudgement Matth. 12.36 If a man might be called to an account but for his grosser sort of sinnes as for his Whoredom Swearing Cheating Stealing Vsuries Briberies Extortions dishallowing of Sabbaths and the like there were some hope of safety although God knowes there is no hope of the saluation of such without a speedy and vnfained repentance which doth consist in an holy confession of their sinnes in an hearty sorrowing for the same Sermonem otiosum vocat inanem nullius vtilitatis qui sc nihil aedificatienis vel fructus adfert Marlor ex Cal◠in a faithfull restitution of that which hee hath taken from any man by falsity and wrong and in a godly reformation of his forepast life but God will bring into iudgemēt not onely euery secret thought but euery idle word and who alas shall be able to answere him one of a thousand Iob 9.3 Now an idle word is that which is spoken without a fruitfull edification of the hearers for our wordes ought not onely to be few but also they must be good and gracious they must be sauoury and well seasoned with the salt of the Sanctuary and therefore Iob cals the eare the taster of the Word that as we in the common foode of our body swallow not any thing downe into the stomack but what the pallat approues to be good and the grinders prepare for digestion so the eare will not giue passage vnto any word vnlesse it rellish of the Spirit of sanctification and bee truely good to the vse of edifying and may conuay some spiritual nourishmēt vnto the soule and therefore it is the exhortation of the blessed Apostle Let no cōmunication proceed out of the mouth but that which is good to the vse of edifying that it may minister grace vnto the hearers Ephes 4.29 The tongue is the Harbinger of the heart and the truest Ambassador both of the minde and meaning it will soone discry and make manifest vnto others what Countreymen we are whether we belong vnto the Prouince of Babel or the Land of Canaan If wee belong vnto the Prouince of Heauen then our speech is of this Countrey our language is heauenly we are frequent in praising of God in talking of his Word and in telling forth what great things the Lord hath done vnto our soules as our affections are in heauen so is our talke of heauen and heauenly things But if we belong vnto that infernall Kingdome then is the speech carnall sensuall diabolicall then is the tongue exercised in the language of that Countrey in swearing false-swearing cursing banning and blaspheming then is our communication such as may helpe to aduance the Kingdome of Satan whereof wee our selues are limmes and whereof hereafter without repentance wee shall be euerlastingly burning and neuer consuming fire-brands To conclude therefore if euery man must giue-an account of euery idle word not tending to the edification of himselfe and others and of all corrupt and filthy cōmunication whereby hee hath grieued the holy Spirit of God Ephos 4.30 Tremble then thou swearing and false swearing tongue whose Rhetorick and Eloquence of cōmon talke is an execrable oth nay as many othes as wordes thou that canst not sell a penny worth or a pound weight without dozens of othes we haue a world full of such tongues and because of such kind of tongues the lād mournes Gods heauy iudgements are gone out against it if account must bee made of euery idle word what shall become of that tongue that hath pleaded an vniust cause to the peruerting of Iustice wresting the Law to the vtter vndoing of the fatherlesse widdowes what shall become of that tongue that cannot speake a word in the defence of the poore vnlesse it be well tipt with gold the oyle that makes euery ioynt to bee nimble and euery bad cause to goe for current If account must bee made of euery idle word then stand amazed thou vaine and wanton tongue vnderstand and quake when thou hearest mentioned the terrible day of Iudgement thou whose words doe not only not tend to edification but to disgrace the Scripture the word of God it selfe thou that thinkest no iest wil goe for current vnlesse it be seasoned with the salt of the Sanctuary such is the profanenesse of the age in which wee liue that euery Actor vpon the stage euery profane Swaggerer and euery mincing Minion cānot speake a word but must haue a fling and gird at sanctified Scripture assuredly thine account is the greatest thy case fearefull thy iudgement intolerable Let euery man therefore take heede vnto his waies that he offend not in his tongue let him refraine his tongue from euill let him desire the Lord to set a watch before his lips that he may not speake his owne wordes but such as the Lord by his word cōmands him to speake for if our wordes are not such as they ought to be wee shall giue an account for them at the day of Iudgement 3. We shall not only be called vnto an account for our thoughts De operibus and wordes but also of our works wheresoeuer and whensoeuer committed whether by day or by night whether in the field or in the Citie whether in the City or in the house whether in the house or in our chamber whether in our chamber or in our bed there is nothing couered that shall not bee reuealed nothing hid that shall not bee knowne and made manifest before God before the Angels before Saints before the whole world at the day of Iudgemēt so saith the blessed Apostle We must all appeare before the Iudgement seate of Christ and there receiue according to our workes 2. Cor. 5.10 God will giue vnto euery man according to his waies and according to the fruit of his works they that haue done good shal goe into euerlasting life but they that haue done ill shal goe into euerlasting fire This God himselfe reuealed to S. Iohn for truth it selfe I saw the dead great and small stand before God and they were iudged according to their workes Apoc. 20.12 To this purpose saith August In quibus actibus quisque homo inuentus fuerit quando exierit de corpore in his iudicabitur in what sins soeuer man goes out of the body vnrepented of of the same hee shall be iudged at the day of Iudgement as the Preacher therefore concludes his Booke so will I conclude this point God will bring euery worke vnto Iudgement with euery secret thing whether it be good or euill Eccles 12. v. 14. 4. Neither shall we bee onely called vnto an account for our thoughts our words and workes but also for our goods and possessions how we haue gotten them how
qui exaudiet In hell there is sorrow mourning crying and yet none that will heare Then shall the wicked wish that they had neuer been borne or that God in their first creation had made them some creatures of another kinde as Todes Serpents or Cockatrices for then their miseries and shame should haue ended with their liues Then shall the rent-racking Lādlord wish that he had neuer oppressed his poore Tenāts Then shall the couetous Patron wish that hee had neuer made a prey of the Leuites portion Then shall the carelesse Pastor wish that he had neuer left his flock vnto the hyrelings who instead of Preaching the word of God in season and cut of season doe tye their flock vnto a slender dyet either a few cold dead Homilies or some certayne monethly Sermons yet thinke their charge is very sufficiently discharged Then shall the couetous Lawyer wish that hee had neuer sold his tongue for bribes to pleade against the fatherlesse and widdowes Then shall the gourmandizing Epicure wish that hee had neuer surfetted at his table and suffer the poore to starue at his gate Then shall the carnall Protestant wish that he had neuer prattled so much of Religion and practised so little Then shall the drunkard wish that hee had neuer turned so much liquor ouer his tongue wantonly wastfully and now want a drop of cold water for to coole his tongue Then shall the wanton fornicator wish that hee had neuer wasted his body and his goods vpon the body of a strange woman and withall shall confesse that breuis est volupt as fornicationis sed perpetua est poena fornicatoris short is the pleasure of fornication but perpetuall is the payne of the fornicator O consider this in time all ye that forget God! I will conclude with Chrysostomes meditation Vtinam homines Hom. 13. in Epist ad Rom. in tabernis vinarijs reliquisque commessationibus balneis imo vbique de gehenna disputarent I would to God that men euen in wine Tauernes Ale-houses in their bāquets in their baths I will adde in bawdy houses yea euery where would dispute of Hell Non enim sinet in Gehennam incidere Gehennae meminisse Men would not run so headlong to hell did they but remember hell did they but meditate on that fire our common kinde of fire is but painted fire in respect of that and yet how hardly can we endure our finger neere it an houre how much lesse shall wee be able to dwell eternally in that euerlastingly burning Lake of fire and brimstone With the Deuil and his Angels The wicked haue serued the Deuill all the dayes of their life and therefore now they must haue an irksome habitation with the Deuils and portion of torments with his Angels as it is said that the beast and the false Prophet were cast into the place of eternall torments with the Deuil Reuel 20.10 And indeede this conclusion of the wicked doth agree well with their conuersation as they haue forsaken God and followed Satan in obeying his sinnefull suggestions now therefore they shall goe their way with Satan as companions in sinne so partakers in suffering The body shall bee tormented because it would not obey the soule the soule because it would follow the rebellious body both soule and body because they obeyed the instigation of Satan and left the directions of Gods holy Spirit Secondly this Iudge is so vpright in iudgement that in giuing of sentence against the wicked first hee cannot erre through ignorance for he searcheth the heart and tryeth the reines to giue vnto euery man according to his wayes and according to the fruit of his workes Heb. 4.13 Ierem. 17.10 Yea all things are naked and open to his eyes before whom we must appeare Hee that knew Iohn the Baptist in the wombe and saw Nathanael vnder the Fig-tree doth also know and see our goings out and our commings in he discernes Esau from Iacob and knowes faire Rahel from bleare-eyed Leah hee knowes the thoughts and intents of our hearts the words of our mouthes and the workes of our hands Psal 139.1.2.3.4 and is able to set before vs euen our most secret sinnes Secondly he cannot be ouer-swayed with fauour or friendship Indeede in earthly Courts amongst the sonnes of men wickednesse may bee in the place of Iudgement Eccles 3. ver 16. but in this great Court of heauen the Iudge will not be parciall to any God hath no respect of persons Rom. 2. v. 21. but euery one that feareth God and worketh righteousnesse shall bee accepted at that day Nothing will then preuaile but a pure heart and an vpright spirit and as for the Iudge with righteousnesse will hee iudge the world Causa non persona iudicabitur Martyr and the people with equity Psal 58.9 If great men bee found in great sinnes they shall be adiudged vnto great torments Tophet is prepared for the King and the poorest begger shall then haue as good audience in this Court of Iustice as the mightiest Monarch in the world Thirdly this Iudge cannot be ouercome with power Indeede amongst the sonnes of men might oftentimes ouer-comes the right but vnto this Iudge all power is giuen both in heauen and earth Matth. 28.18 He it was that threw the Angels out of heauen Adam out of Paradise Saul out of his Kingdome Nebuchadnezzar out of mens society to conuerse with beasts and he it is that wil humble the high lookes of man and abase the loftinesse of men in that day Isa 2.11 As this Iudge cannot be ouer-swayed with power so can he not be bowed with pity and compassion The time was indeede when our Sauiour wept ouer Ierusalem and made a Sermon full of teares O Ierusalem Ierusalem Luke 19.41 But now alas there is no place for pardon though Ierusalem should seek it with teares Could thine eyes then shead as many teares as there are drops of water in the Sea yet thou couldest not bee able to moue Christ vnto compassion The day before the trumpet sound mercy shal be preached to the penitent and beleeuers by the Gospell but from the time that the sentence is once giuen there shall neuer be more offring of mercy the dore shall be closed though the wicked cry for mercy with Esau seeke the blessing with many teares yet shall they neuer finde it But as Christ doth now weepe for the sinners conuersion so wil hee then laugh at the sinners destruction 5. Lastly this Iudge cannot be corrupted with bribes which amongst the sonnes of men peruert iustice blinde the eyes of those that sit in Iudgement for the richest in the world must appeare naked and empty-hāded before Christ as naked as euer wee came into the world and nakeder then euer we went out of the world by as much as a winding sheet comes vnto Riches Pro. 11.4 gold and siluer auaileth not in the day of wrath but righteousnes saueth the soule I will conclude
from her the time of repentance Thus after he had threatned a Deluge and destruction vnto the old world hee gaue them many yeeres to repent before hee washt them away with the waters of his wrath He gaue Sodom Gomorrah two sinfull Cities hee gaue them a time to repent Niniue had a time Ierusalem had a time two and fortie yeeres after the passion of Christ the Figge Tree had a time Chrys obseruat the foolish fiue Virgins had a time when they might haue entred nay God giues a time and lends a long space vnto the most prophane to make them the more inexcusable Cursed Cain prophane Esau desperate Iudas they had all a time This gracious proceeding doth the Lord obserue and keepe and will vnto the worlds end hee giues vnto some of vs twenty yeeres vnto some thirty vnto some forty vnto some fifty euen vntill gray-headed Age the blossome of the graue Hec momentum vnde depēdet aeternitas Aug. bids vs prepare our winding sheete And if in all this time which in all is but a spanne a moment a small scantling wee let it slippe vntill our glasse bee all runne out and the thred of our life cleane cut off then are wee left without excuse and our end is damnation The children of this world are wise in their generation they take their time and opportunity The Marchant buyeth while the Mart lasteth the Souldier fighteth while the battell indureth the Husband-man soweth while it is winter reapeth when it is summer That faithfull measurer of time heauens great Ornamēt obserueth his rising and setting The Sunne the Moone and Starres keepe their constant reuolution according to the will of their Maker in the first Creation The Storke the Turtle and the Crane know their appointed time Ierem. 8.7 But man neglects his time and lets it steale away one day after another vntill the day of grace bee closed vpon him Wee are called vpon to repent in the dayes of our youth before sin is habituated custome of sinning hath taken away the sense of sinne Remember thy Creator in the dayes of thy youth Eccles 12.1 But men for the most part refuse to repent vntill they be old and so by a iust iudgement of God they goe downe to the graue hauing their bones full of the sinnes of their youth for how almost is it possible that we should repent truely when wee be old repentance is so hard and difficult a thing a heauy burthen a difficult duty Age of it selfe is a burthen a sicknesse a languishing disease the Sergeants and Officers of Death haue arrested euery limbe haue taken vp the whole body as an habitation of death One crieth with the Shunamites child Non vita longa sed longa aegritudo Alas my head alas my head another with with Antiochus My belly my belly the third with Asa Shaking Palsie My feet my feete this mans limbs tremble as a reed shaken with the winde another mans limbes are like the dead boughes of a dying barke Dead Palsie one laboureth in one disease another in another one in the chollicke another in the stone this mans eyes begin to waxe dimme his eares deafe his wind-pipes euen stopt vp with flegme his teeth falling out of his head his hands possest with the palsie his legges not able to beare vp his body his knees strike one against another his backe not able to beare the waight of a Grashopper and when man is brought vnto such an exigent that hee cannot put off or put on his owne clothes how shall he put off sins and put on newnesse of life Surely I see not how he can repent vnlesse hee repents that he hath liued too long and therfore they wish for welcome death when little doe they well consider that death is the dissolution of a miserable life but a passage to a worse a gate an entrance to hell if they dye vnrepentant Augustine his counsell in this case is very heauenly and very worthy to be embraced Lib. de Vtilitat poen agend Age poenitentiam dum sanus es si sic agis dico tibi quod securus es quia poenitentiam egisti eo tempore quo peccare potuisti si vis agere poenitentiam quando iam peccare non potes peccata te dimiserunt non tu illa Repent while thou art in good health if thou dost so I tell thee thou art safe because thou repētedst whē thou couldst haue sinned if thou dost repent when by reason of the weakenesse of thy body thou art not able to performe the workes of darknesse sinne hath left to saue mee Acts 3.19 Repent therefore that thy sinnes may bee done away when the time of refreshing shall come from the presence of God and that with all speede Pharaoh bad Moses pray for him to morrow but doe thou repent to day thou knowest not whether thou shalt liue vntil to morrow thy life is but a flower flourishing to day fading to morrow but a bubble soone blowne vp soone blowne out thou maist dine in all thy royalty with Balthasar carouse in golden bowles yet ere thy dinner be ended such is the vncertainty of our fleeting life thy soule may bee diuorced from thy body and thy body fit for no company but the wormes It is not to morrow that God requireth but to day To day if you wil heare my voice Heb. 3.15 Remember that there will be a day when there will be iudgemēt without mercy when if thou neglectst this day of saluation this acceptable season thou shalt bee cast to Hell and there shalt lye in misery howling and crying out O miserable wretch that I am what did I meane that I did not confesse my sins repent and turne to God when I was vpon earth now I see others partakers of heauenly ioyes and I thrust out and cast into these miserable torments where thou shalt bee inforced to say O how iust are Gods iudgements I was spoken vnto but I would not heare I was instructed out of Moses and the Prophets and intreated by the Ministers of Christ to repent but I stopped mine eares against their admonitions How doe I iustly feele that which nothing could make me feare Let vs not therfore neglect this opportunity this space which is our life time a time which God in mercy hath allotted vnto vs to repent in after this time repentance will neuer be preached any more nor sinnes pardoned Nazian Hic namque peccatorum remissio vbi peccatorum commissio hic nobis prompt a medela est post autem clausa est omnis medicinae falutis For sinnes are remitted here where as they were committed Heere onely haue wee the Balme of Gilead to cure the wounds of a sinfull soule but hereafter all medicines of saluation shall bee lockt from vs and we from them 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Basil Basil This present time in which wee liue is the time of repentance and remission of sinnes Frustra sibi homo post hoc corpus promittit quod in hoc corpore comparare neglexit Augustine August And therefore in vaine doth man promise vnto himselfe that after this life which he doth neglect to obtain this life This is our day the next is the Lords day wherein he wil come to iudge euery man according to his wayes as the Tree groweth so it falleth and as it falleth so it lyeth as men liue so they die and as they die so they come to Iudgement In what sinnes sosoeuer wee dye vnrepented of in the same shall wee bee iudged and condemned Let vs learne therefore in our growth to grow the right way let vs looke toward Ierusalem growe toward heauen that is let vs liue wel that wee may dye well so that at the worlds generall Iudgement at the resurrection of the iust wee may meet our Sauiour in the ayre and be euer with him Amen Come Lord Iesus come quickely FINIS