their seuerall torments according to the qualitie of the offence Where that shall be fulfilled which the spirit of God saith In as much as she glorified her selfe and liued in pleasure so much giue ye to her torment and sorrowe and for euery member vpon which the fabricke of mans body as an edifice built with stones consisteth shall receiue worthy and peculiar punishment If then Gods temporal Iudgemēts in this life which manifest his hatred of all iniquitie should breede in vs a detestation of sin how much more should the consideration of his eternall punishments wherof the other as I said are but a shadowe be an effectual remedie against al vngodlines plant the filiall and healthfull feare of God in our hearts This is it which the Lord himselfe requireth of vs. Feare not them which kill the body but are not able to kill the soule but rather feare him which is able to destroy both body and soule in hell What hope is then left for those forlorne wretches inuironed with so many torments what will they doe whither will they flie what counsaile will they take will they flie to the remedie of repentance but now the time of repentance is past and the day of vengeance is come will they then seeke for shelter at Gods mercy which is the onely refuge and solace in all miseries but this life onely is the time of mercy and pardon but then is the time of wrath and iudgement Let vs not beloued suffer the day of this life which God in his mercy hath lent vs to seeke peace pardon and reconsiliation vnprofitably to slippe away least the day of wrath vengeance and irreuocable destruction surprise vs at vnawares The day of this life is the time of Gods gratious visitation allotted vs to serue him in holines and righteousnes all the daies of our life saith holy Zachariah not onely omnibus diebus all the daies but omnibus diebus nostris saith a writer all our daies for the time of this mortall life is giuen vnto vs to serue the Lord in all holy conuersation making prouision for the life eternall for death will shortly arrest vs when there shal be no more place nor time of repentance therefore saith our Sauiour The night commeth when none can worke Behold now is the accepted time behold now is the day of saluation But to returne againe to the words of the texte why did God inflict this horrible punishment vpon Ierusalem and the whole Nation of the Iewes The Lord himselfe giueth the reason because thou knewest not the time of thy visitation The Lord in his mercy did many waies visite thē both by prosperitie and aduersitie as in part I haue before discoursed And lastly he visited them from an high by sending to them his onely sonne IESVS CHRIST who brought with him all good things by which he illuminated them that sate in darkenes and in the shadowe of death and freely offered them his graces and saluation Which inestimable benefits they were so farre off from acknowledging that they reiected and crucified the Author of so great a saluation as their forefathers persecuted all the Prophets before them It may seeme strange will some say that in the midst of this publike ioy and applause of the people CHRIST wept at his comming to Ierusalem which at any other time we neuer reade that he did though he was many times before in the citie the cause hereof is easily to be giuen The Lord came at this time most louingly to visite this citie and to performe all things which the Prophets foretolde of him to consummate whatsoeuer was promised of the Messias and to manifest his infinite loue to the posteritie of Abraham yea towards all men being now readie to giue his life a ransome for the sinnes of the whole world This mercifull visitation they would in no wise knowe wherefore there was nothing more to be expected but the seueritie of Gods wrath and iudgements to fall vpon them which before he had threatned As I goe my way and ye shall seeke me and you shall die in your sinnes And The daies will come that you shall desire to see one of the daies of the sonne of man and ye shall not see it And againe O Ierusalem Ierusalem which killest the Prophets and stonest them which were sent vnto thee how often would I haue gathered thy Children together as the henne gathereth her chickens vnder her wings and ye would not behold your habitation shall be left vnto you desolate Againe Ye daughters of Ierusalem weepe not for me but weepe for your selues and for your children for behold the daies will come when men shall say blessed are the barraine and the wombe that neuer bare and the pappes that neuer gaue sucke All these euills were at hand yea euen at the doore punishment could not long be deferred seeing Gods gratious visitation was contemned This did CHRIST foresee as if it were present namely that Ierusalem should come with that whole Nation into vtter desolation without environed with the enemie within afflicted with seditions and factions that so many thousands should perish with the sword famine and pestilence that the remnant should be scattered abroad through the whole world solde and be made a spectacle vnto all Nations this their miserie this pittifull Sauiour knewe to be at hand and bewailed the same This offereth to our view two necessarie obseruations to be seriously considered of all true feeling Christian hearts First how fearefully God is wont to punish ingratitude and incredulitie Secondly from whence all miserie in the world as famine sword pestilence strange diseases and all euills both of body and soule proceed Will ye know how seuerely God punisheth the ingratitude and incredulitie of men Surely with spirituall blindnes a most terrible and grieuous plague and what is that blindnes The most fearefull of all the rest when for our sinnes God taketh the light of his grace and holy spirit from vs and giueth vs not vnderstanding hearts that we might knowe the time of our visitation and the things which pertaine to our peace When men cannot foresee nor see in time neither good nor euill happines nor miserie Their good they see not before it be lost and gone their euills they foresee not before they fall vpon them and light on their heads to their irreuocable destruction so that they cannot shun or avoide them and is not this a plague of all plagues What more vnhappie then when a man hath many good things and yet seeth them not nor knoweth them much lesse can conuert them to his vse and profit what more fearefull then when all euills destructions and miseries hangeth ouer our heads yea euen at the doore and yet we see them not nor will knowe them that we might escape them And so was it with the people of the Iewes as it is alwaies with wicked men they had CHRIST the
Hittite to be thy wife Thus saith the Lord Behold I will raise vp euill against thee out of thine owne house and will take thy wiues before thine eyes and giue them vnto thine neighbour and he shall lie with thy wiues in the sight of this sunne For thou didst it secretly but I will doe this thing before all Israel and before the sunne and though the Lord vpon his peccaui and vnfained repentance did put away his sinne So that he did not die yet to shew his hatred of sinne to all posterities what seuere chastisements and tragicall crosses all his life long did God inflict but how great and extraordinarie was his repentance that followed this sinfull fact he himselfe witnesseth So that his whole life afterwards seemed too little for repentance that he might be reconciled vnto God and restored into his fauour How did he bewaile his great offences desiring God that he would forgiue his sinnes and renew in him his holy spirit promising that he would not be vnmindfull of so great a grace shewed vpon him And how vehement was his sorrowe he expresseth I am bowed and crooked very sore I goe mourning all the day I am weakened and sore broken I roare for very griefe of my heart Lord I powre my whole desire before thee and my sighing is not hid from thee Againe how great was that sorrowe when he saith I fainted in my mourning I cause my bedde euery night to swimme and water my couch with my teares Therefore for the fewe nights which he spent in filthie and sinfull pleasure he passed the rest of his time in bitter weeping sighing and mourning And his bedde which he had polluted with vnlawfull lust he afterwards washed with a large and plentifull flood of teares And what could be more to expresse his serious and earnest repentance Notwithstanding this repentance let them with a feeling heart consider what followed which sport and â—est at this sinne and tearme it but a tricke of youth a naturall inclination c. Though King Dauid were highly beloued of God as a man after his owne heart yet the Lord would not so lightly passe ouer his sinnes but by his chastisements and afflictions would make him a memorable example to all licentious liuers to the worlds end For first the children the fruit of his adulterie was striken with sicknes and died 2. His daughter Thamar was incestuously defiled by her owne brother Ammon 3. Ammon for his incest was slaine by Absolon 4. Absolon raised warre vpon him ambitiously aspiring after his fathers kingdome and conspiring against him defiled his concubines and came to a wofull destruction And therefore for defiling the one wife of Vriah his tenne concubines were polluted and defiled not by a stranger but by his owne sonne not in secret but in the open viewe of all Israel according as the Prophet Nathan foretolde For thou diddest it secretly but I will doe this thing before all Israel If God so grieuously afflicted King Dauid a man after his owne heart for the sinne of adulterie and that after so great sorrowe and contrition of heart for his offences Mercifull God in what state doe they stand which make no conscience of this sinne yea iest at it so farre off are they from sorrowing with holy Dauid But let such by these examples consider the fearefull estate they are in and Gods heauie wrath hanging ouer their heads that if they be not altogether giuen ouer to a reprobate sense they may betimes betake themselues to amendment of life labour by Dauids example by serious and vnfained repentance to be reconciled vnto God that they may come out of the snares of the Diuell and escape the eternall torments prepared for them It is a fearefull thing to fall into the hands of the liuing God Now brethren these things are examples vnto vs as the Apostle saith That we should not lust after euill things as they lusted For whatsoeuer things are written aforetime are written for our learning These indeed are manifest examples of Gods great hatred and vengeance against all impietie and wicked men but these temporall punishments are light yea but a shadowe being compared to the eternall torments in the life to come these chiefely afflict the body but the other shall seize vpon body and soule These are but temporarie and prefined within the limits of this short life the other eternall which neuer shall finde ende or limit If then this vastation of Ierusalem foreseene so long before did drawe teares from our louing Lord with what teares of contrition should we bewaile our sinnes which will in the end without repentance plunge vs in eternall torments whereof all other affliction is but an Image or shadowe For so the Apostle Peter layeth before vs the destruction of Sodome and Gomorah as an example of the eternall punishments prepared for these which hereafter should liue vngodly There the damned shall spiritually suffer all these things which the Lord here bewaileth but after a diuers manner of torment There all the rabble of the wicked shall be trenched about with their enemies the Diuells so that they shall haue no euasion to escape out of their hands There shall be famine sword and pestilence that is diuers kindes of torments proceeding from the order of Gods Iustice according to the condition of euery sinne And it may perhaps haue probabilitie which some think that there shall be diuers kindes of torments for diuers kinds of sinnes as namely other torments for the proud other for the couetous other for the leacher other for the enuious c. So that the proud and high minded shall there be deiected and cast downe full lowe the couetous shall there be pined with extreame penurie of all things There the enuious in rage shall rent and teare their owne bowells There the lecher for the short pleasure of his vncleane flesh shall be tormented with most bitter tortures There the greedie glutton who made his bellie his God shall with the rich glutton be tormented with most cruell hunger and thirst and be denied one droppe of colde water to coole his tongue And whereas the Lord saith of that sinfull citie there shall not be left one stone vpon an other which shall not be throwne downe This calamitie also shall not there be wanting when there shall be no sence no member of the body left without his torment for euen as the wicked haue giuen their members as weapoÌ„s of vnrighteousnes vnto sinne So the order of Gods iustice requireth that no meÌ„ber should be free from his proper deserued punishment So the vnchast eyes so the eares which lay open to detractions and slanders So the deceitfull tongue which vttered so many lies falsehoods sparing neither the same of widdowe wife virgin or any other so the body which was effeminate weakened with so many pleasures and delights shall there receiue
out teares in neuer so great abundance for the losse of Parents Children Friendes or Riches are they to any purpose at all But when through sinne wee haue lost God if we seeke him by the faithfull teares of Repentance we may finde him againe This is the onely ende to which all our sorrowe is to be directed Tell me if anie hauing sore Eyes should haue a precious and approoued water that would cure all diseases of the eies should neglecting his Eyes wash his Feete with the same were he not iustly to be reputed a mad-man So the teares of Repentance as an wholesome Medicine serue onely for the ruptures of sinne which being bestowed vpon any worldly thing are altogether vaine and of no effect Euen as the ashes of a burnt Viper are a present remedie against the venemous byting of a Viper So the sorrow that proceedeth of sinne is a remedy against the punishment of sinne past and a Cautele against iterating of sinne If wee highly esteeme of the Waters of Hearbs and Flowers which are approoued for the curing of diuers diseases wounds of the body why do we not more esteeme of the Teares of contrition more precious then any Balsamum for the curing of the Woundes and Vlcers of the soule Euen as when an house is on fire they that would quenche it haue their refuge vnto the waters So when the flames of wicked desires are kindled in the soule the teares of Repentance are a soueraigne water for the quenching of the same Euen as when a darke Clowd falleth downe into Raine the Skie becommeth cleare So a sinfull soule the clowde of sinne through Repentance being dissolued into Teares becommeth the more bright and cleere both to knowe God and it selfe This profitable sorrow vpon the considerations of their sinnes was well knowne to the Saints of God as it appeareth by the frequent vse thereof which in Dauid floâ—ed with so plentifull a streame that he saide I cause my Bed euery night to swimme water my Couche with my Teares Againe My Teares haue beene my meate Day and Night Oh that God would lighten our mindes with the beames of his holy spirite that we might see the filthines of sinne the danger of the sinner As a wayfaring man that in a darksome night resteth his weary limbs in a Caue full of Serpents and sweetely taketh his rest mistrusting no danger if one should come in with a Torche burning that hee might see the hideous filthie Serpents hissing and crawling about him he would presently start vp and take small delight to stay in that place So if God of his mercie would inlighten our hearts with the beames of his Grace that we might see the filthy and vgly face of sinne we would not endure the filthines thereof In that our Sauiour wepte in the midst of the Honours Ioy and applause of the multitude wherewith they receiued him into the Citie We are taught to contemne the vaine ioyes and pleasures of the world which are alwayes mixed with sorrowe and shall in short time bee turned into mourning Extrema gaudij Luctus occupat The ende of that mirth is heauinesse Miscentur tristia laetis For what else are the vaine pleasures honours and delights of the World but as one saieth Spuma Fumus Somnium A Froth Smoke a dreame A froth or fume Quia inflat because it puffeth vp a smoke Quia excaecat because it maketh blinde a dreame Quia euanescit because it quickly vanisheth away Here we haue in the Sonne of God himselfe both an example and an effectuall medicine against the loue of the world and the pompe and glorie thereof which our common aduersary laboureth by all meanes to incite and kindle in our harts For he knoweth wel that when we are once blinded with this loue there is nothing else to be required then is there a Doore opened for him to doe what he will And surely it is wonderfull to see the subtilty of this Iugling Impostor for though the glory of the World be most fraile fleeting and short deceitfull and momentany Yet this pernitious Painter so disguiseth it with delightsome and Artificiall colours that men doubt not to vndergoe all extreamities to leaue no sinne vnpractised that they may obtaine worldly glorie Here the Diuell seemeth to me to be like an Excellent Mathematician which through skill of his Arte Perspectiue draweth certaine lines in a Table with such proportion and cunning that it seemeth to be the trueth of the thing it selfe and if thou â—ooke through his Geometrical InstrumeÌ„t called Dioptra thou wilt suppose that there are most beautifull formes figures of the whole World wheÌ„ in very deede there â—s nothing else but simple and bare Lines Such is the crafte of this auncient Serpent For when the glorie of this World is a â—hing so vaine and vanishing he delineaâ—eth and painteth it with such disguises and shadowes vnto the Eyes of worldlings that â—t seemeth most amiable and pleasant vnto â—hem that being carried away with the desires thereof they should loose their owne soules and vilely esteeme of whatsoeuer GOD hath promised to his faithfull Seruants We need not search farre for examples behold the great honour the world here gaue to Christ and we shall see the fallacie â—hereof which S. Bernard well obserued haÌ„dling this place Quis sperare debeat in inâ—erto gloriae temporalis c. Who would now â—rust in the vncertaintie of worldly glorie when he seeth in him who neuer did sinne the Creator of Time the framer of the whole Fabricke of this World so great an Exaltation and yet to follow such an Humiliation For in the same Citie of the same people and at the same time Now to be honoured with such acclamations and diuine praises And a little while after to be laden with Reproches Torments and deputed among the wicked This is the end of transitory glorie So farre S. Bernard Oh how soone had they chaunged their voyces What a difference is there betwixt this Blessed is hee that commeth in the Name of the Lord Hosannah in the highest And this a fewe dayes after Away with him Crucifiâ— him Now the King of Israel And a little while after Wee haue no King but Caesar What a difference was there betweene the greene branches of the Palme and Oliue Trees and shortly after Thornes Scourges and the Crosse Whome now they honoured with their Garments spredde in the way A fewe dayes after they dispoyled him of his owne Garments To Day the Sonne of God To morrow A wicked man lesse worthy of life then Barabas a Theefe a Murtherer who would now trust this deceitfull world This is the loue and friendship of the world as one wisely meditateth The rich man hath many friends although in truth riches haue them and not the man As the asse that carried the Egiptian Goddesse had many bowed knees yet not to the beast
tree and by reason of wearines falleth into a sound sleepe vntill the sunne in his course going about the shadow departeth and when he awaketh he findeth himselfe parched with the Sunne raies his body sweating and inflamed his head a king and perhaps his body arrested with a continuall feuer So the louers of the world while they catch at the vanishing shadowes thereof as honours riches pleasures and thinke to repose their rest in them in the meane time the course of their life being suddenly run out when these viri diuitiarum dormierunt somnum suum rich men haue slept their sleepe euen in death they finde they were deluded with meere shewes and shadowes without substance and for these momentaine pleasures to be plunged in the infernall flames for euer to be tormented Man being in honour hath no vnderstanding he will not knowe the things which belong vnto his true peace euen like the fagiuated beastes which are to day in the pasture to morrow in the shambles O that we would learne to knowe the things that pertaine to our true peace Christ leaues God his Father heauen his countrey the Angells his people to dwell with vs but we scarce allowe him the stable there is no roome for him in the Inne Pride hath taken the chiefest place in the hart malice and enuie the next in the minde lust hath possession of the eyes lying and swearing of the tongue gluttonie of the taste theft and murther of the handes and couetousnes of our thoughts When the Assises are at hand and the Iudge comming how circumspect are we that our trialls may passe on our side What instructing of our counsaile seeing of our Lawyers informing of the quest but Christ is at hand his day is nigh his seate prepared O then that we did know the things that pertaine vnto our peace at that day ô that we would see and preuent the future danger Mans corrupt nature is commonly most careles when he should be most carefull and the wicked most secure when they are most in danger most negligent when they should be most prouident The day of the Lord shall come as a thiefe in the night therefore the Greeke word Cleptesfur is deriued Apó tou caloptein of hiding or couering or Cléptein to take away by stealth he commeth in the darke where no body sees he treadeth vpon wooll when no body heares he watcheth an houre which no bodie knowes If the good man of the house had knowne at what houre the thiefe would come he would surely watch saith our Sauiour but we knowe that Christs day will come and yet keepe no ward carefull of our goods careles of our soules Our bodies are houses our soules our true goods our sences the doores and windowes the lockes the word and prayer the diuell is a thiefe man is the Householder death is a thiefe his comming is vncertaine be watchfull and wise be alwaies prepared after death commeth the iudgement O beloued let vs foresee this daunger take heede of the fooles Motto had I wist least we say too late O that we had knowne the things which belonged vnto our peace Holy Ieremie bewayling the calamitie of his people saith Her filthines is in her skirts she remembred not her last ende and therefore she came downe wonderfully This beloued is the fatall disease of all sinners and their wretched illusion they forget their ende they take sinne by the head and not by the taile they consider the beginning of their pleasure which sheweth them a faire face but they thinke not of the ende which concludeth the Catastrophe in extreame miserie And what I pray you is this world which so blindeth vs that we neuer thinke on the future time and refuse to knowe the things that pertaine in this our day vnto our peace surely it may be compared vnto an hollowe nut or the Apples of Sodome which haue nothing within but a filthie worme and rottennes looke into the world and you shall finde nothing but vanities pleasures are but forerunners of destruction this life is a channell the sweet Riuers do alwaies runne and ende in the salte sea and bitter waters breue est quod delectat aeternum quod excruciat short pleasures long paine this is the ende of the world and worldlings a golden head but earthen feete like Nabuchadonezers Image vaine ioyes ende with mourning as Herods ioy was consumed of wormes Princes Pallaces are but earth their golde but the filth of the earth their silkes but the dongue of wormes riches are runa-waies fauour deceitfull beautie vanitie and corruption our mother And shall this deceitfull world make vs forget the things which belong vnto our true peace O that we did knowe at the least in this our day the things that belong vnto our peace As Iacob when he was borne held Esau by the heele So the godly considereth sinne by the ende thereof O that they were wise then would they vnderstand this they would consider their latter ende saith holy Moses But the present plentie of all things and the flattering face of the world hideth Gods iudgement from mens eyes Euen as certaine rich young men but vnexpert in worldly things in their trauell taketh vp their Inne and seeing themselues chearefully receiued and entertained of their Host prodigally wast and consume all their money vntill their purses being peniles and exhasted of al they perceiue the countenance of their Host to be changed their entertainement grudged attendance denied and themselues enforced to depart carrying nothing with them but shame reproach and pouertie So the louers of this world being lulled a sleepe with pleasures and worldly prosperitie and being ignorant of the solide heauenly good things spend all the vigor of their mindes and cogitations their spirituall substance in these vanities and when all is spent they are sent out of the world sorrowfull naked laden with sinne hauing nothing left but hel and Iudgement O then that men were so wise to knowe in this their day the things that belong vnto their peace It is worthie the noting that Christ calleth all the pleasures of this life but one day Euen in this thy day For the wicked haue but their day but Gods Iustice hath many daies and therefore he saith afterward For the daies will come vpon thee that thine enemies shall cast a trench about thee and therefore he said vnto the Iewes this is your very houre Euen as the fire according vnto the nature of the subiect on which it worketh endureth either a short or a longer time as that which is made with firme Oâ—e continueth long and that which feedeth vpon strawe quickely goeth out so the ioyes pleasures and honours of this life because the matter thereof is fluid caduce and fraile soone vanisheth away but that which is fixed on the soliditie of vertue and godlines endureth for euer Plinie reporteth that there is a kinde of
wolfe called Lupus ceruarius which is of this nature that being neuer so hungrie and hauing hardly found his preye if he looketh backe and espieth some other preye he forgetteh his hunger and the meate he hath present before him and followeth after that which is vncertaine Quaeritat incertam tanta est obliuio praedom Forgetting still his present pray Vncertaine hopes he seekes alway So obtuse and dull is his memorie Like vnto him are they which being delighted with the present pleasures of this life they altogether forget their first loue and the doctrine of heauenly things which they had learned and pursue vaine and vncertaine pleasures We haue here a most sweete and comfortable testimonie of the inspeakeable loue and mercy of God who is so farre off from willing the death of a sinner but rather that he conuert and line that he doth not onely lament their imminent destruction and wish the conuertion of the wicked but patiently expecteth their amendment He is patient towards vs and would haue no man to perish but would haue all men to come to repentance for the Lord is patient slowe to anger and abundant in goodnes and truth Reseruing mercie for thousands forgiuing iniquitie transgression and sinne not that he hates not iniquitie but that he awaites our amendment Fortie daies he gaue space to Niniuie to Nabuchâ—donezer twelue moneths three yeares to the barraine figtree an hundred yeares to the olde world and fortie yeares to Ierusalem before this destruction fel vpon them but how long hath he expected vs and shall we still despise his long sufferance which leadeth vs to repentance We are long in building an house but quicke in pulling it downe deus cum struit velociter struit But God is quicke in building vp and slowe in pulling downe he sets vp in power but destroyes in mercy He would not drowne the world before Noah preached nor burne Sodome before Lot exhorted he will warne Egypt by Moses the Iewes by Ieremie and Ierusalem by CHRIST and his Apostles and that with weeping before he punisheth O loue to send vs his sonne O mercy to stay vs falling O patience to attend our returning desiring our repentance The vse of all this is that seeing the bountifulnes and long sufferance of God leadeth vs to repentance that we abuse not this goodnes of the Lorld but betime prouide for our peace by taking hold of repentance O let vs not be slacke herein In futurum enim nostra distulimus saith Senica we leaue all for hereafter It is to be feared the diuell will plead prescription we are so slacke in chalenging our inheritance Cadit asinus est qui subleuat perit anima non est qui recogitat The asse falleth into the ditch and we carefully pull him out but the soule perisheth and we neuer regard it Teshuba the Hebrew Metà noia the Greeke resipiscentia the latine conuersion the English are Synonimies All teach vs that repentance is a turning from sinne Metanôen conuerti to be turned The Metaphor is borrowed from a Traueller who wandring out of his way and being admonished turnes againe into his right way Auersion a turning out of the way is when one forsaketh God and serueth Sathan Reuersion is when a man leaues sinne and returnes to God by repentance Sin then is per auia errare to wander through by waies repentance is Adviam regiam redire To returne into the right way again The prodigall sonne went out of the way when he wandred from his father but found againe the right way when he returned to his father Sinne is Anoia follie and madnes Metà noia repentance is a chaunge vnto wisedome The sinner whiles he continues in his wickednes doth as it were looke without eyes heares without eares and vnderstandes without his heart but the penitent doth Meta put them on again and doth nothing without them The word recipiscentia as it were resapere or post factuÌ„ sapere teacheth vs that sinne is a madnes and to repent is to waxe wise after follie to come to his right wittes againe The true repentant taketh hold of Gods promise and doubteth not of forgiuenes fides ambiguum non habet Faith admits no doubt Faith cannot be doubtfull the faithfull deferres not repentance nor returnes as a dogge to his vomite The Serpent that hath cast off her skinne leaues it behind her and resumes the same no more The bird that hath escaped from the snare of the fowler will afterwards be the more warie of the nette And the spouse of Christ maketh this resolution That she hath put off her coate how then should she put it on she hath washed her feete how should she defile them It is as impossible for fire to burne in the water as the truely penitent to wallowe in wickednes Our sins brethren do daily recrucifie Christ are no better then treasons Impenitent Sathan cannot be saued they that seeke not pardon shall not finde it no repentance no confession No confession no sorrowe No sorrowe no turning no turning no saluatioÌ„ Christ is the dore of heauen he opens if we belieue and we shall enter if we repent Faith and repentance goe coniunctim and hand in hand Faith reconciles repentance reformes Faith receiues the promises repentance renues the man the peniteÌ„t onely are partakers of the blessings All the vialls of Gods wrath shall be powred downe all his plagues shall light on the impeniteÌ„t to the vtter perdition of body and soule began here in the person attained proceeding on the conscience conuicted and consumnate on the partie condemned for euer to endure Here are Alastores of Alastêin tormentors for Nero Plutoes horses for Oedipus an euill spirit for Saul and a gnawing coÌ„science for Achitophell Heu quantum misero poenae mens conscia donat O with what paine and griping smart A guiltie conscience wounds the hart O beloued if Ierusalem had repented in that her day she had then knowne the things that pertained to her peace then would the Sauiour haue reioyced and not haue vttered this sorrowfull Threnodiam whiles they sang Hosanna O if thou haddest knowne the things that pertaine vnto thy peace Let vs therfore good brethreÌ„ linger no delaies but betime flie to repentance the sanctuarie of the soule take heede least sinne passe through his gradation and so get an habite Least while custome groweth man fadeth grace absenteth sin presenteth the heart is hardened and man obdurate so that now God is contemned his threatning reiected heauen cannot winne him nor hell scarre him ioyes cannot allure him nor torments affright him This is Sathans ladder of perdition sinne steppeth from temptation to thinking from thinking to liking from liking to yeelding from yeelding to acting from acting to custome from custome to hardnes of heart from hardnes of heart to a reprobate minde full of vnrighteousnes fornication couetousnes enuie murther back-biting c. As