Abraham sent his Servant to finde out a competent Gen. 17. and virtuous Wife for his dearly beloved Son Isaac I had a special care to direct him the safest and best way and also to bring his business to a most prosperous conclusion and all was for the great love kindeness I had for his Master Gen. 39 I would do as much to a bad Master for the sake of a good Servant and have already done it to Potiphar the Egiptian for the sake of my Patriarch Joseph for I have multiply'd all his substance as well in his house as in the Fields not upon his own account being an unbelieving Heathen but meerly for the love I had for his chast and godly Servant What mercy what care what Providence can be greater then this and is he not a mad man indeed that will refuse to serve so good so liberal and so bountiful a Lord as I am to all those that serve me and who am so careful of themselves Capillus de capite vestro non peribit Luc. 21.28 and of all that concerns them that I can't suffer so much as one hair of their head to be lost The effects of my Providence are so many and so wonderful that I am commonly call'd in Scripture the Father of the Righteous Psal 103. and I likewise call them my dearly beloved Children my Providence promoted the Prophet royal and was favourable to him upon all occasions neither was he ungrateful or unmindeful of my benefits for He gives me this Atonement of his gratefull acknowledgement Bless the Lord O my Soul and all that is within me Bless his holy name Bless the Lord O my Soul and forget not all his benefits Who forgives all thine iniquities who heals all thy diseases who redeems thy life from destruction who crowns thee with loving kindness and tender mercies who satisfies thy mouth with good things by him thy youth is renew'd like the Eagles The Lord executes righteousness and judgment for all that are oppress'd He made known his ways to Moises and all his actions unto the Children of Israel The Lord is merciful and gracious slow to anger and prone to mercy He will not always chide us neither will he keep his anger for ever He has not dealt with us as our sins have deserv'd nor has he rewarded us according to our iniquitys For as the Heaven is High above the Earth so great is his mercy towards them that fear him As far as the East is from the West so far has he remov'd our transgressions from us even as a Father doth pitty his Children So the Lord pittys them that fear him for he knows our frame and he remembers that we are nothing but dust Esa 63.16 The Prophet Esaiah thinking the name of Father did not sufficiently express the tenderness of my love because it has been never yet paralel'd by any mortal Parents says Lord thou art our Father indeed Abraham is ignorant of us and Israel does not acknowledge us Thou O Lord art our Father our Redeemer and thy name is from everlasting and tho' they be our Father according to the flesh yet they don't deserve the name thereof 't is a qualification due to thee alone for their love for us is no more then a shaddow to that which thou hast express'd to us upon all occasions my love rather resembles that which a good natur'd Mother bears to her child and therefore I compare my self to the most passionate of the Sex Can a Mother forget her sucking Child that she should not have compassion on the Son of her womb yea they may forget yet will I not forget thee Behold I have graven thee upon the palms of my hands thy walls are continually before me Esa 49.15 Can any Mother speak with a more tender expression of love who will be so blinde so stupid and so far from good nature as not to rejoyce at the very sound of these superamourous words which are able to revive the deadest heart that ever was to all motions of love or devotion what man tho' never so great a drone hearing me give him this extraordinary assurance of my most ardent love and paternal Providence will not run with the spouse in the Canticles after the sweet scent of my perfumes I am a God that speaks to thee and the eternal verity too which was never guilty of the least falshood whose riches have no limits and whose power is of the same nature with the rest of my attributes which are all infinite I am therefore him only thou shouldst fear to offend and in whom thou shouldst place all thy hopes and confidence my words should comfort and rejoyce thy heart the title of honour I confer upon thee should unman thee so far as to take on the heart and spirit of a child of God and the assur'd demonstrations I give thee of my great Love and Providence should breed in thee an everlasting abhorrence of the World and all it's allurements What more shall I say Deut. 32.11 Deut. 1.31 or to what shall I compare the love which I bear unto thee the Eagle of all Mothers is the most tender of her little ones and it 's therefore the Prophet says of me as an Eagle stirs up her nest flutters over her young spreads abroad her wings takes them and bears them on her wings so the Lord has dealt with thee nay thou hast seen how the Lord thy God bears thee as a man does bear his young child in his arms in all the way that ye went until ye came into this place What could I do that I have not done to my People to wean their affections from the World and settle them totally upon so good and so Cordial a Father as I am to them I call them my beloved Children and so they are indeed for thou shalt find as many authentick testimonies as there have been Prophets in the World from the beginning that they are my Children in effect as well by their Creation as by their preservation from all dangers The Prophet Jeremy will tell thee that I have lov'd them with an everlasting love Jerem. 31. and that with loving kindness I have drawn them out of nothing to what they are at present and have preserv'd them as well from their temporal as from their Spiritual Enemies whilst they remain'd submissive to my Laws and gave me the reverence which is expected from dutiful Children to their Parents O ye Nations says the same Prophet hear the word of the Lord declare it in the Isles afar off say the Lord that has Scatter'd the People of Israel for their Sins will gather them again if they will cry to him for mercy and if they continue obedient to his commands he will keep them as a Shepherd does his flock For the Lord has redeem'd Jacob and has ransom'd him from the hand of him that was stronger then He. The same
through the Merits of one man Jesus Christ can procure the salvation of a far greater number Man fell by his own fault but can't rise again by his own strength he wants one to help him out of the dunghil of Sin he requires a God and man Redeemer to restore him with th' effusion of his most precious Blood to Righteousness and this was mercifully perform'd to him What remains to compleat the grand work of his Salvation is that the same Redeemer may be graciously pleas'd to touch his heart with a true feeling of his sincere conversion Jo. 1.5 for he says himself that without him we can do nothing and that if a man abide not in him he is cast forth as a branch that is withered and fit for no other use than to be cast into the fire and burnt But he says in the same place that if we abide in him and his words in us we may ask what we will and it shall be granted to us Where upon the Sacred Councel of Trent Con. Trid Soss 6. Can. 3. and that of Nice thunders forth an Excommunication against all those who will believe or teach that we can operate our Salvation or be truly penitent without the precedent motion of Divine Grace And St. Augustin says that there 's nothing more necessary for a man to live and die happily than to be upon good terms with God who alone is able to create in our hearts the motions of a true Conversion He alone can breed in us a hearty detestation of our sins and a firm resolution to love him above all Creatures Most gracious Saviour thou art pleas'd to call thy self in several places of thy holy Writ our Father our Brother our Shepherd our Spouse and hast graciously convers'd with Sinners on Earth in order to their conversion thou didst discourse a Samaritane and a Harlot too Matth. 23 10. upon the very same Subject thou didst overthrow a Saul to raise him up a Paul and which is more 1 Cor. 4.1 thou didst make him a Vessel of Election Thou hast forbid us to have or call any one our Master on Earth for that thou alone art our Master and therefore I presume to call thee our Divine Master and to honour this Book with that specious Title of Academy or School of Vertue because what it contains is either thy Doctrine or grounded at least upon the solid foundation of thy Eternal Vereties The most that I can glory of in this Work is to be thy unworthy Minister and Steward to make known thy sacred Will and thy divine Mysterys to thy People which I have perform'd to the utmost of my Endeavours for here the Christian Reader shall find such deep Considerations and powerful Meditations as will divert him from hankering after even the smallest Vices They will tear all his ill habits up by the roots that they may never shoot again and will extricate his poor heart out of all the straights that commonly ensue a criminal and guilty Conscience They will teize a man though never so cold in Devotion to grasp at all manner of Mortifications to satisfy for his sins and appease the just Indignation of the Divine Justice They will deliver us from all blindness and preposterous Errors enriching our darkness with light and restoring all troubled souls to a profound peace They will hinder us from descanting upon other Mens lives and manners They will make remote Forreigners near Neighbours and cement them in Christian Charity They will bring us to pry into what ill abounds in our own hearts and find there work enough to imploy our pragmatical Spleen upon without hunting after the sins and imperfections of others They will bring Strangers to God's acquaintance dissolve all discords and make the Devil to despair of his aim which is to blow the hellish fire of a perpetual dissention into our souls They will conclude a League of everlasting Peace with God and if we believe St. Augustin they are the complement of a happy life and th' only immortal thing that belong to Mortals And no wonder being that God himself is the first and principal Author of this heavenly Exercise For as soon as he had given the Law to his People Deut. 6. He declar'd it was his will and pleasure it should be the worthy Subject of their serious and constant Meditation fix my words says he in your hearts and in your minds have them in your hands and before your eyes teach them to your Children Deut. 9. that they may meditate on them Meditate upon thy last end says the Holy Ghost and thou shalt never sin Memorare novissima tua in aeteraum non peccabis Eccles 7.40 This is also the wholsom Instruction which the holy Fathers have left us this is a beavenly Lesson which they would have us learn by all means One while speak to God says St. Jerome and another while give ear to what God speaks to you In speaking to God we beseech him to come to us with his Grace in hearkening to him we open our hearts to receive him In speaking to God says St. Ambrose St. Ambr. I Offic. â—0 we demand of him his Lights and Favours in hearkening to him we receive them and shut them up in our hearts to conserve and practise them upon all occasions This is likewise my Friendly Advice to you dear Reader and I wish you with all my heart the Grace of God to make good use of this Book that your own Eternal Happiness may ensue A Table of the Chief Matters contain'd in this Diological Treatise with a C or an M before the Numbers which marks either a Subject of Consideration or Meditation THat no exteriour Agent without th' interiour word of God is able to work the Conversion of a Sinner C. Pag. 1. That God is more free to impart his Graces and Favours to Sinners than they are sollicitous to improve them C. p. 4. The manifold Obstacles which hinder the Sinners Conversion and how strong and numerous are th' allurements to Sin C. p. 9. The motives to Vertue are far more pressing and more in number C. p. 11. The humble acknowledgment of mans innate weakness and the wonderful effects of Divine Love C. p. 19. The nature and properties of Divine Love and how it may be obtain'd C. p. 26. That Man can't so easily attain to Divine Love by reason of the manifold and great oppositions which are betwixt nature and grace C. p. 32. The examples of Christ and of his beloved Apostles on Earth together with Gods formal Precept and th' assured promise of his grace lays a weighty obligation on all men to lead a Vertuous and Godly Life C. p. 42. Why Sinners do often and earnestly implore th' assistance of Gods grace without obtaining their request C. p. 50. That God never refuses any one the concurrence of his grace nor th' effects of his Prayers if they be of decent and
blessed Kingdom No that must not be I have sufficiently suffer'd to come to the enjoyments of a crown of glory and thou shalt enjoy it upon no other terms Thou must labour for it and if thou dost but begin the work my grace shall help thee to bring it to its full accomplishment Let not the frailty of thy nature overballance thy courage Angelus Domini Exercitium est Mal. 2.7 let not the difficulty which thou art to encounter oblige thee to a shameful retreat for I shall be present with thee in all thy conflicts to cast dust in thine enemies face Constitui te Deum Pharaonis Exod. 7. Ego dixi Dij estis Psal 48. and to put them all to a shameful rout Remember that thou art not only an Angel but even a God upon Earth for thou hast heard me say by my Prophet of a Priest of the Levitical Law that he was the Angel of the Lord of Hosts and thou art satisfied that I did appoint Moises to be the God of Pharaoh Who can deny but that Holy Men are Gods upon Earth seeing that I have said it by one of my Prophets the perfections of man therefore may and ought to be proportionably suitable to so great a dignity and why shouldst thou think it strange that I should expect thee to lead an Angelical life on Earth and to raise thy self by contemplation and spiritual dilection above thy self Homo cum in honore effet non intellexit Comparatus est in mentis infipientibus similis factus est illis Ps 48. Si dixerimus quia peccatum non habemus ipsi nos seducimus Isa 1.8 wouldst thou have the words of my Prophet to be verified in thee Man being in honour abideth not he is like the beasts that perish 'T is certain that thou mayst with the assistance of my grace make so great a Progress in virtue as to be equal with the very Angels even in thy Pilgrimage and to enjoy a more excellent crown of Glory then some of them in heaven In answer to thy Second objection that it is impossible for man to live in the world without sin 't is true that thou hast Scripture for what thou sayst For my beloved Disciple avers that if mortals will say that they have no sin they deceive themselves and that the truth is not in them In multis offendimus omnes Jac. 3. Quid est homo ut immaculatus fit ut justus appareat natus demuliere Job 15. Non est homo super terrum qui faciat bonum non peccat Eccl. 7. Justus septies cadit de die Prov. 24. the same James my beloved Apostle and worthy Brother confirms In many things says he we all offend and Job that perfect model of patience and worthy object of all mens imitation sets this question what is man that he should be clean and he which is born of a Woman that he should be righteous But thou must understand that Sin is properly call'd a transgression either of the divine or of the natural or of the positive law A man by Gods grace may and ought to be free from this because it is a mortal sin which he is commanded and bound to avoid for as much as it doth give a deadly wound to his Soul 'T is not like to a venial Sin for the Wise will tell thee that there is not a just man upon Earth that does good and sinneth not no for a just man falleth seven times a day and riseth up again As for the instableness of mans heart thou mayst be very well satisfied with my Apostles answer for I must allow him to be a better Judge in that case then thou art having had a far greater triall of the world and more experience in the hearts of men then thou canst pretend to For he was first a grand Persecutor of my Church and after a Vessel of Election to bring my name and preach my Doctrine over all the World If thou wilt ask him what it was that wrought that great alteration in him he will tell thee Stabiles immobiles estote abundantes in opere Domini semper 1 Cor. 15. by the grace of God I am what I am and his Grace which was bestowed upon me was not in vain wherefore my beloved Brethren be ye stedfast unmovable always abounding in the work of the Lord for as much as ye know that your labour is not in vain in the Lord. The wise Solomon is much of the same opinion Justus ejus fundamentum aeternum Prov. 10. for he says that the Righteous is an everlasting foundation take notice how my Servants all agree in their Doctrine they all have it from the same spirit Therefore I tell thee that whosoever hears these sayings of mine and does them I will liken him unto a Wise man which built his house upon a Rock The rain descended the Flouds came the windes blew and beat upon that House and it fell not for it was founded upon a Rock hence thou mayst conclude that the mind of man which of her own nature or rather by her own evil custome is mighty instable and turns every way like a Wind-mill will with the help of my grace be easily made stedfast fortified by the constant practice of virtue Optimum est gratia stabilire Cor. Hebr. 13. and by frequent Acts of Charity become as unmovable as a Rock therefore my Apostle says it 's a good thing that the heart be establish'd with Grace Experience will give it further Evidence Thou knowest that the more fervent love is the more it settles the Lover in the Beloved moreover Custom being as it were a second nature there is nothing so difficult but may be overcome and made pleasant and easy by continual practice even so thy mind if it be once adorn'd with divine and spiritual exercises it will not only with ease but fervently also and with very great satisfaction adhere firmly to me with more assurance comfort then ever the rich Glutton did delight in his unlawfull pleasure and treasures Thou hast as many and as authentick Witnesses of this truth as have been Saints and perfect men in the world MAN O Most gracious Saviour Quid est homo quod memores ejus aut filius hominis quoniam visitas eum Ps 8. the Eternal wisdom of God! I return thee my hearty thanks for all thy favours and for this wholesome instruction which thou wert pleas'd to give me O Lord what is man that thou art so mindful of him or what service dost thou expect from the Son of man that thou dost vouchsafe to visit him so often with the sweetness of thy frequent consolations what has he deserved that thou shouldst be so free to impart thy grace unto him Nay if thou shouldst deny him that great favour and even abandon him to his unruly passions he would have no cause to complain of thee for his Sins have
abilitys but above all things we must be sure to keep our selves in action for he that is sloathful is dead even while he lives All this is most consonant to St. Pauls doctrine and to the feelings of all good Christians but alas 't is quite contrary to what I practise to my shame be it spoken and I much fear it will appear in judgment against me in that dreadful day of thy just indignation and wrath O Lord thou hast made me a watch-man unto the house of Israel hast laid a strict obligation on me to depress vice and hinder the growth thereof within the precincts of my Jurisdiction as well by word as by good examples but alas unfaithful and cow-hearted wretch as I am for fear of loosing a Benefice or incurring the displeasure of great Persons of whom I depend for a livelyhood I silence their faults and wink at their debaucheries which certainly will redound to my grand confusion and the rather because that Pagans have acted otherwise Was there ever so desperate a state as that of Athens under the thirty Tyrants where it was capital to be honest and the Senate-house turn'd into a Colledge of Hangmen never was government so wretched and so hopeless and yet Socrates at the same time preach'd Temperance to the Tyrants and courage to the rest and afterwards dy'd an eminent example of manliness and resolution and a Sacrifice for the common good 'T is not the part of a wiseman says another pagan to stand shifting and fencing with fortune but to oppose her bare-fac'd for he is sufficiently convinc'd that she can do him no hurt she may take away his Servants Possessions Dignities c. She may assault his body put out his eyes cut off his hands strip him of all external comforts of life But what does all this amount to more then the recalling of a Trust which he has receiv'd with condition to deliver it up again upon demand He looks upon himself as precarious and only lent to himself and yet he does not value himself ever the less because he is not his own but takes such care as an honest man should do of a thing that is committed to him in Trust Whensoever He that lent me my self and what I have shall call for all back again 't is not a loss but a restitution and I must willingly deliver up what most undeservedly was bestow'd upon me and it will become me to return my minde better then I receiv'd it O my Soul wouldst thou not take this discourse to be the products of a patient Job on his dunghil in his mournful Addresses to God or the expressions of some eminent and illuminate Saint in the desert rather then the words of an heathen Philosopher but what if thou seest this supereminent doctrine practis'd by another of the same Sect will it not confound thy insatiate desire of Earthly riches thy great neglect of thy own Salvation and the little value thou putst upon Heaven and it 's everlasting pleasures Demetrius upon the taking of Megara ask'd Stilpo the Philosopher what he had lost nothing says he for I had all that I could call my own about me And yet the enemy had then made himself the master of his Patrimony his Children and his Country But these he look'd upon only as adventitious goods and under the command of Fortune Now he that neither lost any thing nor fear'd any thing in a publick ruine but was safe and at peace in the middle of the flames and in the heat of a military intemperance and fury what violence or provocation imaginable can put such a man as this out of the possession of himself Walls and Castles may be min'd and batter'd but there is no art or Engin that can subvert a steady minde I have made my way says Stilpo through fire and bloud what is become of my Wife and Children I know not but they are transitory blessings Servants likewise that are accustomed to change their masters what was my own before is my own still some have lost their Estates others their dear bought Mistresses their Commissions and Offices the Usurers have lost their Bonds and securities but Demetrius for my part I have sav'd all do not imagine after all this either that Demetrius is a conquerour or that Stilpo is overcome 'T is only thy fortune has been too hard for mine Alexander took Babylon Scipio took Carthage the Capitol was burnt but there 's no fire or violence that can discompose a generous minde Some perhaps will take this Character for a Chimera but they are grossly mistaken for all ages afford some tho not so many instances of this elevated virtue A good man will do his duty let it be never so painful so hazardous or never so great a loss to him and it is not all the money the power and the pleasure in the world no not any force or necessity that can make him wicked Hear what the noble and daring Mathathias says in the open Streets of Maden 1 Mach. 2. tho' all should act contrary to the law of their Ancestors to obey the King Antiochus and comply with his commands yet I with my Children and Brothers will continue faithfull and obedient to our Fore-fathers Law even to the loss of our Estates and Lives he consider'd what he was to do not what he was to suffer and kept on his course tho' there should be nothing but Gibbits and Torments in the way The Philosopher I but now spoke of is another instance of it I mean Stilpo who when he had lost his Country his Wife his Children the Town on fire above his head himself scaping very hardly and naked out of the flames I have sav'd my Goods says he which are my Justice my Courage my Temperance my Prudence shewing by this how much easier it was to overcome a Nation then one Wise man It is a certain mark of a brave minde says another Pagan Philosopher not to be mov'd by any Accidents and brings this President to make good his argument The upper Region of the Air admits neither clouds nor Tempest the Thunder Storms and Meteors are fram'd below and this is the difference betwixt a mean and an exalted minde The former is rude and tumultuary the latter is modest venerable compos'd and always quiet in his station In a word it is the conscience that pronounces upon the man whether he be happy or miserable Sacriledge and Adultery are generally condemn'd yet how many are there still that do not so much as blush at the one and in truth that take a glory in the other There is nothing more common then for great Thieves to ride in triumph when the little ones are punish'd But let wickedness scape as it may at the Bar it never fails of doing Justice upon it self for every guilty person is his own hangman O most gracious Saviour the Godly feelings and the heroick exploits of these Heathen
perpetual decree that it can't pass it and tho' the waves thereof toss themselves yet can they not prevail tho' they roar yet can they not pass over it as if he had said hast thou not a great deal of reason to dread the Arm of so powerful a God whose omnipotency is sufficiently discover'd by this prodigious work And if he be so great in all his works thou must likewise acknowledge him to be great in the chastisement of Sinners The same Prophet was Innocent and free from the least spot of Sin being Sanctifi'd in his Mothers womb yet he trembles at the very noise of my Severity to Sinners and says there is none like unto thee O Lord thou art great and thy name is great in might Who would not fear thee O King of Nations for to thee does it appertain For as much as among all the wisemen of the Nations and in all their Kingdoms there is none like unto thee My heart is replenish'd with the fear of thy wrath and therefore have sequester'd my felf from the converse of all men into a remote wilderness to prevent thy fury and appease thy Anger with sorrow with Sighs and with a continual flood of tears Respicit Terram facit eam tremere tangit montes fumigant Psa 105. Stellae Columnae Coeli pavent contremiscuntad nutum ejus Job 26.11 Ideo sn uno die venient plagaeejus mors luctus fames igne comburetur quia fortis est Dominus Deus qui Jndicabit illam Ap. c. 18.8 Tho' this holy man was certain that my Indignation and wrath was not against him yet seeing it so great and ready to fall with all its weight upon the criminal and guilty heads of Sinners he had no less then cause to tremble being that even my looks put the Earth in a quaking fit and make the Mountains groan nay they make the Stars and even the Pillars of Heaven to tremble they are astonish'd at my reproof and why not being that the Angels and Archangels the Cherubins and Seraphins the Principalities and Powers of Heaven are all Struck into an amazement at the very aspect of my most dreadful Majesty and angry countenance not that they fear to be depriv'd of their glory but because the greatness of my indignation is such that they can't but be astonish'd at the very sight of me By this thou mayst Judge in what a deplorable condition the Damn'd will be for these are the unhappy wretches which are to feel the weight of my wrath all their plagues shall come upon them in one day everlasting death mourning and famine shall be their inheritance for ever they shall be utterly burnt with fire for strong is the Lord God who judgeth them My Apostle had a sufficient tryal of my Strength when I forc'd him out of the way of iniquity Horrendum est incidere in manus Dei viventis Heb. 10.31 and of a Persecutor of Christians made him the Defender and powerful promoter of Christianity therefore he says it 's a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God not into the hands of men for they are not so powerful but criminals may fly from their violence and decline from their anger moreover they have not the authority to cast a Soul into the Dungeon of Hell It 's therefore I had warn'd my Disciples not to fear them which kill the Body Mat. 10.28 and are not able to kill the Soul but rather to fear him which is able to destroy both Soul and body in Hell And these are the hands which my Apostle calls dreadful they are them also that the wise man speaks of where he says unless ye do pennance and give that slender attonement of tears and of a hearty grief to God for your sins ye shall undoubtedly fall into the hands of the Lord and not into the hands of men By what is already said thou mayst easily conclude that as I am omnipotent and great in my power in my Majesty and in all my works I am the same in my wrath in my Justice and in the punishment which I have decreed for the Damned If thou wilt examine Scripture thou shalt finde there such dreadful effects of my Justice upon the wicked even in this life which is the only season for mercy that thou shalt be forc'd to confess that the pains of Hell must be as intollerable as they are unspeakable and that it were better for the dam'd they had never been born then to endure them for an Eternity without any hopes of redemption or of the least abatement What a terrible punishment was that of Dathan and Abiram and of all their Complices in the sight of that numerous People of Israel at the request of my Servant Moises to vindicate his innocency and punish the wrong which was intended to him by those Peoples rising in Rebellion against him I commanded the Earth to open its bowels and to swallow them alive together with all their Earthly substance down into the bottomless pit of Hell which was no sooner commanded then put in execution The punishment of Sodom and Gomorah if well consider'd is able to terify the stoutest Bully that ever appear'd on the Stage of this world to mollify his obdurate heart and force from his mouth Lord what wilt thou have me do They were so much addicted to that brutish pleasure Domine quid me vis facere Act. 9.6 and sordid Sin of the flesh that they must attempt even upon my very Angels and strive to make them the subject of their Lust this was a general corruption and therefore requir'd a general chastisement their Sins cry'd for vengeance Gen. 19.24 and tho' I was sollicited by my Servant Abraham to spare their lives for the sake of ten Just men knowing there was none but Lot who was already secured and under the safeguard of my Angels I pour'd down wild-fire and brimstone upon them and cast them headlong into Hell-fire there to increase the fatal number of the damn'd and to become partakers of their torments as they had been of their crimes on Earth Didst thou ever hear such terrible menaces as are set down in Deuteronomy Deut. 28.16 17. c. and which were exactly put in execution against the transgressours of my Law Hear how the Prophet speaks to them in my behalf Cursed shalt thou be in the City and Cursed shalt thou be in the field Cursed shalt thou be when thou comest in enrfed shalt thou be when thou goest out The Lord shall send upon thee cursing vexation rebuke in all that thou set'st thine hand unto for to do untill thou be destroyed and until thou perish quickly because of the wickedness of thy doings whereby thou hast for saken me The Lord shall smite thee with a Consumption and with a Fever and with an inflamation and with an extream burning and with the sword and with blasting and they
lay their hands on their breasts and examine their own life and conversation if they finde themselves to be good Christians upright honest in all their ways it shall be well with them in the hour of their Death for they shall eat the fruit of their well-doings but if they be viciously given and found void of all good works they must expect no better wellcome from me then an order to cut them all down with the Ax of Death and to cast them headlong into hell-fire Thou shalt finde several proofs to confirm this assertion in the first Sermon I preach'd immediately after I was baptiz'd there shalt thou hear me recommend Matth. 5.4 and extoll the great advantages of a virtuous life of Poverty Meekness Justice Purity Sorrow for Sin patience in suffering contempt of Riches forgiving of injuries Fasting Prayer Pennance Entring by the straight gate and also of perfection Holyness Integrity of life and conversation and of the exact fulfilling of every particular of my Heavenly Fathers Laws and Commandments There thou shalt hear me say I came not to the World to break the Law but to fulfill the same and whosoever shall offer to break the least of them and bring others either by his ill example or by his erroneous doctrine to do the like should have no place in the Kingdom of Heaven There thou mayst hear me say to all Christians except their Justice did exceed that of the Scribes and Pharisees which was altogether in words and outward appearance they could not be saved That they might not serve two Masters in this life but either must forsake God or abandon Mammon That they should decline from false Prophets that usually come in sheep's clothing but are no better then ravenous Wolves in their hearts and that all men should seek to enter by the straight gate but the conclusion of my long Sermon is that the only sign and token of a good Tree is the good fruit which it bears and without this fruit let the Tree be never so fair or pleasant to the eye yet it is to be cut down and burnt that 't is not every one that shall cry Lord Lord at the last day shall be sav'd or enter into the Kingdom of Heaven but only such as did execute really and in Deeds the Will and commandments of my Father in this life Where is there any incouragement here for the wicked to delay their conversion or to put it off till the hour of death in hopes of a good Peccavi I see none for they are all most pressing motives to force them rather out of their iniquity into a virtuous and godly life To be the better convinc'd of this undeniable truth thou must know that life is a time and season of sowing and planting the seed of virtue and the bitter roots of mortifications and pennance and that Death is Harvest time to reap the main profit of that happy Seed and the wonderful sweetness of those bitter roots It 's therefore my Prophet speaking of the manifold tribulations and anguishes of the Just Euntes Ibant flebant mittentes semina sua venientes autem venient cum exultatione portantes manipulos suos Ps 126.6 Tromsijt mesus finita est aestas nos salvati non sumus Jer. 8.20 Non potest male mori qui bene vixit vix bene moritur qui male vixit Aug. Venite bene dicti Patris mei posside te paratum vobis regnum a constitutione mundi Matth. 25.34 says they were going on weeping and sowing the precious seed of their eternal Salvation and that without any doubt they shall come again rejoycing bringing their sheaves with them and my Prophet Jeremy declares how the wicked shall say in the hour of Death and with tears in their eyes the Harvest is past the Summer is ended and we are not sav'd This was the lamentation of the Jews seeing themselves oppress'd under the slavish and heavy yoak of the Caldeans without any hopes of being reliev'd but it may be likewise taken for the sad moan which the wicked shall make in the hour of Death seeing themselves void of all good works and groaning under the heavy weight of their evil actions then indeed they may cry the Summer is ended the time of our life is now expir'd wherein we might have gather'd a plentiful stock of all virtues and good works but We unfortunate Souls We have spent that precious season in all manner of vices and now that the Harvest is past we must appear naked as we are of all good works replenish'd with evil ones before a dreadful Judge to be sentenc'd to Eternal Death which We have justly deserv'd for abusing his mercy by flattering our selves with a good Peccavi at our last farewell to the World and to all its deceitful pleasures The Harvest is past the Summer is ended and we are not sav'd What can be more terrible How should any Man dare delay his conversion hearing these words and having as many Presidents hereof as there have been Sinners surpris'd by death even in the heat of their wickedness O ye Blessed Souls says St. Augustin who have spent your days in the constant practise of virtue still submissive to the Laws of God always obedient to his commands thirsting after righteousness and justice great lovers of mortification and pennance hear what comfortable news I bring you and what is that You cannot dye an ill death no 't is impossible Orabat scelestus ad Dominum ad quo non erat misericordiam con secuturus 2 Machab. 9.13 De Centum Millibus quorum maia fuit vita vix unus salvabitur Aug. for God will assist you in that dreadful hour and will receive your Souls at their departing your bodys into the perfect enjoyment of my everlasting Glory Whereas the wicked tho' they should make as great a shew of an apparent repentance as Antiochus did yet will they hardly come to a better end for of a hundred thousand that lead a bad life continually to the hour of death scarce one shall be sav'd says the same St. Augustin and his doctrine is grounded upon my words because I have call'd and ye refus'd I have stretch'd out my hand and no man regarded and as ye have made naught of all my Counsels and been deaf to my reproof I also will laugh at your Calamity I will mock when your fear comes When it comes as desolation and when your destruction comes as a Whirlwind when distress and anguish comes upon you then shall ye call upon me but I will not answer ye shall seek me early but ye shall not finde me because ye hated knowledge and did not choose the fear of the Lord. Prov. 1.24 They would not accept of my Counsel they despis'd all my reproofs therefore shall they eat of the fruit of their own way and be fill'd with their own devices The devout St. Bernard confirms this truth by two