whereof make glad the heartes of men And how earnestly are wee invited to these delights come buy wine and oyle without mony Heaven is at sale Coelum venale est nec multum exaestues propter pretij magnitudinē teipsum da habebis illud Aug. and thou maist buy it if thou wilt and shrug not at the greatnesse of the price giue but thy selfe to God and thou shalt haue it And who would not abandon his honours his pride his credit his friends nay himselfe Who would not be willing to passe through the gates of Hell and indure infernall torments for a season so he might bee certaine of so glorious and eternall an inheritance hereafter Let all the divells in hell saith Saint Austine beset me round Bone Iesu qui parcendo saepius nos à te abijcis feriendo effice vt ad te redeamus Ger. med let fastings macerate my body let sorrowes oppresse my minde let paines consume my flesh let watchings dry me or heat scorch me or cold freeze and contract me let all these and what can come more happen vnto mee so I may injoy my Sauiour For how excellent shall the glory of the iust be how great their ioy when euery face shall shine as the sunne When or Saviour shall martiall the Saints in their distinct orders and shall render to every one according to his workes O were thy affections rightly setled on these heauenly mansions how abiect vnderneath thee wouldest thou esteeme those things which before thou setst an high price vpon As he which ascends an high mountaine when he cometh to the top thereof findes the middle steppes low beneath him which seemed to be high to him while he stood in the bottome so hee which sends his thoughts to heauen however hee esteemed of the vanishing pleasures of the world when his heart lay groueling on the earth below now in this his transcendency he sees them vnder him vilifies thē all in regard of heauenly treasures Let vs therefore cheerfully follow that advise of a Reverend Father Quod aliquandô per necessitatem amittendum est pro aeterna remuneratio ne sponte est distribuendum Let vs here willingly part with that for heauen which we must first or last necessarily leaue vpon earth and let all the strength of our studies and the very height of our endeauours bee dispended for the attainment of eternity For certaine it is howsoeuer wee liue here like secure people of a secure age and howeuer we lavish out the strength and flowre of our daies as if wee should neuer account for it yet our iudgement is most sure and shall not bee avoided The sentence of the Iudge will be one day most assuredly published and shall not be revoked Wee must all appeare saith Saint Paul before the iudgement seat of Christ that euery one may receaue the things done in his body according to that he hath done whether it be good or bad Then shall our wickednesse be brought to light which now lies hid in darknesse I saw the dead saith S. Iohn Rev. 20.12 both great and small stand before God and the books were opened and another booke was opened which is the booke of life and the dead were iudged of those things which were written in the bookes according to their workes and whosoeuer was not found written in the book of life was cast into the lake of fire Thus it is evident every man shall giue vp his account euery soule shall first or last come to his reckning Multorum vocatio paucorum electio omnium retributio many are called few chosen but al rewarded according to their deeds Oh then let vs prepare our selues to meet our God let vs come before him with feare and tremble at his iudgements Feare not him saith our Sauiour who when he hath killed the body can doe no more but feare him who can cast both soule and body to hell I say him feare Oh how many of the Saints of God trembled and quaked when they haue meditated vpon the last iudgement Hierome saith as oft as I thinke of that day how doth my whole body quake and my heart within me tremble Quoties diem illum cogito toto corpore contremisco Timeo Gehen nam quippe interminatam Cyrill saith I am afraid of Hell because the worme there dies not A dentibus bestiae infernalis contremisco quis dabit oculis meis fontem lachrymarum vt praeveniam fletibus fletū stridotem dentium and the fire neuer goeth out I horribly tremble saith Bernard at the teeth of that infernall beast Who will giue to mine eyes saith he a fountaine of teares that by my weeping here I may prevent weeping and gnashing of teeth hereafter Let the examples of these Saints of God stirre vp in our hearts the like affections Let it be the pitch of our desires and the highest straine of all our endeauours to attaine those heauēly mansions which our Saviour hath prouided for vs Momentaneum est quod delectat aeternum quod cruciat and to avoid those endlesse easelesse flames which God hath prepared for the Diuell and his Angels Who would gaine the purchase of a short and transient pleasure at so high a rate as the heavy price of eternall fire Besides how shall our tender bodies which so shrinke at the prick of a pin or flame of a candle endure those lasting pressures Who can dwell saith the Prophet with eternall fire who can abide with euerlasting burnings Oh let vs set before our eyes the judgement to come and whatsoeuer we finde our selues worthy to be condemned for Cessat vindicta divina fi conversio praecurrat humana by the just Iudge at that day Let vs first condemne our selues for where mans conuersion begins there Gods displeasure maketh his period Excellent is that aduise of S. Gregory weigh saith he and consider the errors of thy life while thy time serues Tremble at that strict judgement to come while thou hast health Culpam tuam dum vacat pēsa districtionem futuri iudicii dum vales exhorresce ne tunc amaram sen tentiam audi as cum nullis fletibus evada◠least thou heare that bitter sentence Goe yee cursed goe forth against thee when it is too late Did man knowe what time he should leaue the world hee might proportion his time some to pleasure some to repentance But hee that hath promised pardon to the penitent hath not assured the sinner of an houres life Since therefore we can neither preuent nor foresee death let vs alwaies expect it and prouide for it Let vs dye to our sinnes here that wee may liue to Christ hereafter and let vs suffer with Christ in this world that we may reioyce and raigne with him in the world to come Recusat esse in corpore qui non vult odium sustinere cum capite When we depart this life we goe to an eternity to an eternity I say which shall neuer end to an eternity quae facit omne bonum infinitè melius et omne malum infinité molestius which maketh euery good action infinitely better and euery evill action infinitely worse Oh the vnhappinesse and everlasting woe of those men who preferre the small and trifling things of this life before the eternall weight of glory hereafter who to enioy the short comfort of a miserable life here are content to loose the presence of God and society of Angells hereafter A PRAYER O Mercifull God thou that art the eternall truth the true charity and long eternity so illuminate the blindnesse of our vnderstandings that the serious consideration of our short and transitory miseries which wee run through in this life may driue vs to a more feeling apprehension of those eternall paines which abide vs in the world to come Settle our hearts vpon the true ioy teach vs so to possesse these transient things that we loose not the enduring substance so to lament our sinnes that we may escape the punishment so to proceed in the way that we fayle not of our iournies end Amen Amen FINIS These faults are to be corrected in some Copies Pag. 9. line 2. read breathlesse p. 12 l. 1. r perspicuous p. 34. l 6 r run p. 52. l. 6. r. vndertakings
But alas how may the afflicted soule say can his goodnesse extend to mee who am nothing but wormes and dust and woundes and sores and corruption Who can giue him no oblation but my sinnes no sacrifice but my sorrow What confidence now can I haue in this loue what strength in this mercy Who ever thou art that art thus and no better disposed to receiue the grace of thy God bring forth this small provision offer this sacrifice vpon the Alter Since thou hast nothing else to part with surrender vp thy sinnes yeeld him thy lusts renounce thy whole interest in thy sinfull delights in thy immoderate affections Nullius rei tantum in inferno est quantum ptopriae voluntatis Alsted and then thy sorrowfull spirit shall be a sacrifice to God thy wounded and broken heart hee will not despise I am with him saith the Lord who is of an humble spirit and that trembleth at my wordes Wee haue his owne word for his mercy wee haue his promise for it wee haue his oath for it He is faithfull saith the Apostle who hath promised hee is faithfull hee cannot deny himselfe The Apostle saith not hee cannot deny his mercy but hee cannot deny himselfe If hee were any thing but mercy then hee might deny his mercy though hee did not deny himselfe but now by not denying himselfe he giueth mercy who by not giuing mercy should deny himselfe And thus we see how God is faithfull and cannot deny himselfe Superare seipsum potest desertos miserando negaâ—e seipsum non potest misericordiam delerendo He may overcome himselfe by pittying the forsaken ones but he cannot deny himselfe by forsakeing his pitty For how can he deny himselfe to vs who hath given himselfe for vs How can he deny vs his mercy who hath given vs his life The end of the first booke THE SECOND BOOKE OF ETERNITY CHAP. I. Containing an Exhortation to holinesse grounded vpon the consideration of Eternity THE very soule and life of Christianity consists in the life of a Christian as for outward formalities they plausibly serue to shew forth a good man to the eye of the world but cannot make him such it 's true externall actions adorne our professions but it is where grace and goodnesse seasons them otherwise where the sappe and juyce and vigour of religion is not setled in the soule a man is but like a goodly heart-shaken Oake whose beauty will turne into rottennesse and his end will be the fire It was the saying of Machiavell that the appearance of vertue was more to be desired then vertue it selfe But Socrates a meere naturalist aduised better who said the good man is onely wise Certainely our glorious shewes and high applauses and exaltations amongst the sonnes of men will proue but miserable comforters in the close of our age when the daies of darknesse come O then as we respect the eternall welfare of our poore soules Qualis videri vis talis esse debes Gerb. Med. let vs bee what wee would seeme Let vs turne our words into actions our knowledge into affection and our speculation into practise Let vs not only in a generall and confused manner acknowledge God but rather labour to know him let vs not think it enough to beleeue that Christ came as a Saviour into the world but endeauour rather by a peculiar personall and applicatiue faith to make him our owne Alas what availes it my soule that Christ shed forth his blood for the sinnes of many if he died not for mee What ioy to my heart that Christ is risen for the iustification of sinners if hee be not my portion Non prodest Christi resurrectio nisi in te quoque Christus resurgat Gerb. Med. what comfort to my distressed conscience that Christ is come a light into the world if I sit in darknesse and in the shadow of death What confidence of protection can I haue from hence that Christ is a carefull sheapheard ouer his flock if I am none of that sheepfold O then let it be the chiefe desire of our soules Sit scopus vitae Christus quem sequaris in via vt assequaris in patria and the vtmost extent of our endeauours not onely to confesse Christ but to bring him home to our hearts to feele him to affect him to liue in him to depend on him to be coÌ„formable to him let vs willingly heare cheerfully follow the voice of that sweet guid who is both the way the iournies end that louing Physitian who comes to our wounded consciences with healing in his wings that meeke and tender Lambe who powred forth for vs teares of anguish teares of loue teares of anguish to redeeme our soules and teares of loue to compassionate our miseries Now what a pressing perswasion haue we here to liue vnto him who thus died for vs to make him our ioy who hath borne our sorrowes to fix him in our hearts who for our sakes was fixed to the Crosse Totus tibi figatur in corde qui totus prote figebatur in cruce How should wee mourne in our soules and weepe in secret for him quem totus mundus tota elementa lugebant at whose sufferings the graues opened the Sunne shut in his light the earth trembled and the whole frame of heauen in his nature and kinde expressed its sorrow One of the Rabins when hee read what bitter torments the Messias should suffer when he came into the world cried out veniat Messias at ego non videam Let the Messias come but let me not see him Did his torments seeme so dismall to the spectator what were they then in the sufferer If so gastly to the sight what were they in the sustaining But what should we doe now Shall we raile on Iudas that betrayed him or on Peter that denied him or the Iewes that pierced him or the Apostles that forsooke him No no let vs looke into our owne hearts examine our owne waies Doe wee not make his wounds bleed afresh with our sinnes doe we not nayle him to the Crosse againe with our pollutions doe we not grind him in our oppressions and as it were massacre him in our murders What sinne haue we euer forsaken for his sake what inordinate affection haue we abandoned for his loue Can we say and say truly that wee euer spared a dish from our bellies or one houre from our sleepe or one fashion from our backs for his sake And doe wee thus requite our redeemer Deus tuus parvus factus est tu te magnificas exinaniuit se maiestas tu vermiculus intumescis Was Christ stretched on the Crosse and shall we stretch our selues on beds of doune Did Christ suck downe vineger for vs and shall we surfet with plenty Was Christ crowned with thornes and shall we crowne our selues with Rose buds O let it shame vs to beare so dainty a body vnder so dolefull a head but
this world will procure thee an eternall compensation in the world to come That sweete speech of Saint Iohn is worth observation blessed are those that dye in the Lord they rest from their labours and their workes follow them When our dearest friends our sweetest pleasures our most glorious titles of honour the world it selfe yea even our life it selfe shall glide away like a river and turne to dust then shall our good workes follow vs non transeunt opera nostra saith one Sicut transire videntur sed velut aeternitatis semina iaciuntur our good deeds die not with vs but they are sowne in earth and spring in heauen they are an inexhaustible fountaine that shall never bee dried vp a durable spring that shall never faile They are acts of time short in their performance yet eternall in their recompence they build vp for vs through the mercies of our God an everlasting foundation for the time to come Loe then here wee haue set before vs viam ad regnum the way to our eternity let vs goe on herein without intermission presse forward with violence and striue to attaine the crowne Opulentia nimis multa est aeternitas sed nisi perseveranter quaefita nunquam in venitur Bernard Eternity is an abundant treasure an everlasting wealth but it is not given saue to them that seeke it yea that seeke it with their whole hearts Certainty did we as truely know as wee shall one day vndoubtedly feele the bitter fruite that our luke-warme profession our grosse stupidity and vtter neglect of our everlasting state will produce and procure vs in the end all our thoughts and language all our affections and inclinations would be more eagerly imployed and more faithfully exercised in the pursuite of eternity illud propter quod peccamus amittimus et peccatum ipsum retinemus Oh how senselesse are wee how stupid in our selues and wickedly injurious to our owne wellfare who for a small gaine a fading pleasure a fugitiue honour wound our consciences and hazard our soules to stand as it were on the brinke of hell The whole world promised for a reward cannot perswade vs to endure one momentary torment in fire And yet in the accustomed course of our liues we dread not wee quake not at everlasting burnings But ô thou delitious and dainty soule who cherishest thy selfe in the ioy of thy heart the delight of thine eyes whose belly is thy God the world thy Parradise ô bethinke thy selfe betimes before that gloomy day that day of clouds and thicke darknesse that day of desolation and confusion approach when all the inhabitants of the earth shall mourne and lament and all faces as the Prophet Ioel speakes shall gather blacknesse because the time of their judgement is come Alas with what a dolefull heart and weeping eye and drooping countenance trembling loynes wilt thou at that last and great Assise looke vpon Christ Iesus when hee shall most gloriously appeare with innumerable Angells in flaming fire to render vengeance on them that know him not What a cold dampe will seize vpon thy soule when thou shalt behold him whom thou hast all thy life long neglected in his ordinance despised in his members reiected in his loue when thou shalt see the judgement seat the Fiet apertio librorum scilicet conscientiarum quibus merita demerita vniuersorum sibi ipsis caeteris innotescent bookes opened thy sinnes discouered yea all the secret counsells of thy heart after a wonderfull manner manifested and laid open to the eye of the whole world what horrour perplexity of spirit will possesse thee to view and behold but the very solemnities and circumstances which accompany this Iudgement when thou shalt see the heavens burne the Elements melt the earth tremble the sea roare the sun turne into darknesse and the moone into blood And now what shall be thy refuge where shall be thy succour shalt thou raigne because thou cloathest thy selfe in Cedar shalt thou bee safe because with the Eagle thou hast set thy neast on high O no it is not now the greatnesse of thy state nor the abundance of thy wealth nor the priviledge of thy place nor the eminency of thy worth or wit or learning that can availe thee ought either to avoide thy doome or prorogue thy judgement All states and conditions of men are alike when they appeare at this Barre There the prince must lay downe his crowne and the Peare his Robes the iudge his purple and the Captaine his banner All must promiscuously attend to giue in their accounts and to receiue according to that they haue done whether it bee good or whether it be evill Here on earth great men and glorious in the eye of the world so long as they can hold their habitations in the earth haue both countenance to defend and power to protect them from the iniuries of the times but when the dismall face of that terrible day shall shew it selfe then shall they finde no eye to pitty nor arme to helpe nor palace to defend nor rockes to shelter nor Mountaines to cover them from the presence of him that sits vpon the throne and from the wrath of the lambe Giue me the most insolent spirit the most vndaunted soule that now breathes vnder the cope of Heauen who now feares not any created nature noe not God himselfe yet when he shall heare that terrible sound Arise yee dead and come to iudgement how will his heart even melt and his bowells quiver within him when hee shall haue his severe judge aboue him and hell beneath him and his worme within him and fire round about him O then whosoever thou art die vnto thy sinnes and vnto thy pleasures here that thou maist liue to God herafter Sic tibi cave vt caveas teipsu◠goe out of thy selfe judge condemne thine owne soule for thy sinnes against God in this world that so thou maist comfortably receiue thy sentence of absolution in the world to come Let vs learne to be wise in time let our sorrow for sinne anticipate and prevent our punishment satius est suavius fonte purgari quà m igne Hee that grieues not heartily for his transgressions here shall woefully smart for them hereafter in inferno exomologesis non est nec paenitentia tunc tribul potest consumpto tēpore paenitendi In hell there is no redemption for the time past no confession no repentance but a sad and heavy exchange and most vncomfortable translation from a short and passing ioy to an endlesse easelesse punishment The serious and advised consideration of this eternall being in the life to come was the ground of that ancient custome in the Romane Church vpon the consecration of their Bishops at which time these words were recited with a loud voice Annos aeternos in mente habe i. e. remember that eternall yeare the date whereof will never expire So likewise when the