my Father which is in heauen The Apostle hath set it downe for an irrefrugable conclusion we shal all appeare before the iudgement â—eate of Christ Answerable to this is this his other Aphortâ—me we must al appeare before the iudgement seate of Christ that euerie man may receiue the thinges which are done in his bodie c. But the Godly shal make a very easie reckoning For Christ is their comfortâ—â— their conscience there cleergâ— as witnesse of their 〈◊〉 heauenly possession But the wicked because their conscience shal condemne theÌ„ the deuil shal accuse thâ—â— Christ shal be against theÌ„ shal haue a world of woâ—â—n answer to make answers They shal say to the mountaine hide vs and to the hilles coâ—er vs. But from hence groweth a question how the Godly can bee iudged seeing they shall sitte Assistants with Christ in the iudgement as Esai saieth The Lord shall enter into iudgement with the ancients of his people and the Princes thereof that is to say with the elect companie as Christ saith to his Apostles Ye shal sit vpon twelue Thrones and iudge the twelue Tribes of Israel as Paul saith Know ye not that wee shall iudge the Angels We answer that iudgement is of double nature there is a iudgement of Absolution there is another iudgement which is of Condemnation In the iudgement of Condemnation are the wicked only wrapped adulterers adultresses fornicators vncleane persons vsurers oppressors slanderers blasphâ—mers hers deceiuers epâ—cures Machiâ—ilians Atheists The godly haue onely but iudgement of Absolution that is to say they are iudged to be quit and deliuered and blessed They shall be absolued of all the slanderous imputatioÌ„s of the world and wicked men against them Besides men the euill spirite also shall be iudged Christ denounceth infernall fire to the diuell and his angels Goe yee cursed into Hell fire prepared for the diuell and his angels Of this their condemnation speaketh Peter thus God spared not the Angels that had sinned but cast them downe into hel and deliuered them into chaines of darknes to bee kept vnto condemnation Of this Paul speaketh when he saith Rnow yee not that we shall iudge the Angels Iude consenteth with the rest expresly saying The Angels also which kept not their sâ—st estate but leâ—t their own habitation he hath referred in euerlasting chaines vnder darknes vnto the iudgement of the great day These are to be iudged as ringleaders of all 〈…〉 of all the band of sinners as Iudas did the band of souldiers against Christ Also this iudgement shall extend it selfe vnto the senslesse vnreasonable creature the heauen the earth and whatsoeuer is conteined in them Esai speaketh of new heauen and a new earth that are promised The new heauens and the new earth which I will make shall remaine before me Paul sheweth somuch saying The feruent desire of the creature waiteth when the sons of God shal be reuealed because the creature is subiect to vanitie not of its own wil but by reason of him which hath subdued it vnder hope because the creaturs also shal be deliuered froÌ„ the bondage of corruption into the glorious liberty of the sons of God Lastly antichrist is rankt in the ranke of those that shall haue condemnatorie iudgement His damâ—ation decréed against him is thus spoaken of Whom the Lord shall consume with the spirite of his mouth and shall abolish with the brightnes â—f his comming Thus haue we the seuerall persons that shall be iudged seuerally the senâ—les creature shal be purged the godly shal be absolued the wicked shall be condemned Sathan the muster maister of malignant men shall be throwne downe into hell and Anti-christ as the sonne of perdition the opposite aâ—uersarie to our Sauiour Christ shall be destroâ—ed by the wrathâ—â—lâ— indignation of Christ The eleuenth Chapter The thinges that are to be iudged AS all persons are to be iudged so they shall bee â—asted to their coâ—rsest branne Their thoughtes wordes workes shal be as throughly ransacked as euer Laban did raâ—sacke Rachels stâ—ffâ— That all thinges shal be scanned Saint Iohn hath declared I saw the dead bâ—th great and small â—â—and before God and the bookes were opened and another booke was openâ—d which is the booke of life and the deade were iudged of these things which were writteÌ„ in the bookes aâ—cording to their works God is said iâ— haue counting bookes by him because all thinges are as certaine to him as if he had Acâ—â—â—ries and Clarkes in heauen to make enrolement thereof and to keepe the recordes of them 〈◊〉 hath three seuerall 〈◊〉 or Bookes 1. The booke of prouidence 2. Of Iudgement 3. Of life The booke of his prouidence is the absolute knowledge of a particularities pâ—st present to come This Book is meâ—â—oned by Dauid in these wordes Thine eyes did see my substance yet being vnperfect and in thy bookes were al my members written which day by day were â—ashioned when as yet there were none of them As in another place thus Thou tellest my â—â—ttings puttest my teares into thy bottel are not these things noted in thy bookes The booke of Iudgement is that wherebâ— he giueth iudgement which is of two sections The first is his â—ore knowleâ—ge in whâ—ch all the affaires of men their designmeâ—ts and 〈…〉 as plainely set downe to him as if they were pâ—nned Wee may â—et them slippe in a carelesâ—e â—orge fulnesse but God hath â—ckets of our dooings by him and keepeth them in perâ—ect remembrance Of which the Prophet Dauid saith thus Thou hast set my misdeedes before thee and my secret sinnes in the sight of thy countenance So that be they neuer so olde they are as new to him as if they had beene doon but yesterday For he rippeth vp the sâ—ane of Amalek doone more then three hundreth yeares before and commaundeth Saul to conferre it He yâ— numbreth the stars calleth them all by their names hath numbred our sins and will name them vnto vs as periuries blasphemies adulteries lyes vsuries and such like The second leafe or tome of this second Booke is euerie mans particuler conscience which maketh conuulsions thinges in vs and is instead of a thousand witnesses setting before vs the thinges that we haue done The booke of life is the decree of Gods election in which God hath set downe who are sealed vp vnto eternal life The opening of these bookes is Gods reuealing vnto euerie man his owne proper sins in thought word and deede committed against heauen and against him and then also by his omnipotent power hee that can of stones by Iordans brooke side raise vp Children to Abraham shall breake a sunder our stonie consciences so that wee shall haue compunction and remembrance of all sorepassed actions Now the conscience of the wicked is feared with a hot yron and is past feeling but then it shall be so sensible
coherence is good for the head and the members go together it were absâ—rd to part the one from the other But Christ is the head and we are the members conglutinated and coaâ—nuuated to that head The antecedeut and forepart of the argument is accompanied by sundrie consequences in the following verses That if Christ our head be not risen 1 Our preaching is vaine 2 your faith is vaine 3 we are false witnesses who hâ—ue testified so much 4 ye are yet in your sinnes 5. They which are asleepe in Christ are perished The analogie of head and members maketh good the consequent That therefore we shal liâ—e as Christ hath risen wherfore the fathers call the resurrection of Christ the misterie of our resurrection and the Apostle termeth it The first fruits of them that slept 3 Thirdly from the purifit of the contraries he formeth his matter thus It by one man came death by one man must also come the resurrection from the deâ—de But the first is true therefore the second The argument holdeth the contraries so answering one another Adam and Christ Death and the Resurrection But wee all die in bodie thâ—ough Adam therefore wee must liue in bodie againe by Christ 4 The forme that the Apostle so accurately descriâ—eth of the resurrection thus We shall not all sleepe but we shall be all changed in a moment in the twinckling of an eie at the last Trumpet for the trumpet shall blow and the deade shall be raised vp incorruptible and we shal be changed And thus For the Lord himselfe shall descend from heauen with a shout with the voice of the archaÌ„gel with the trumpet of God the dead in christ shal rise first theÌ„ shal we which liue and remaine bee caught vp with them also in the cloudes to meet the Lord in the aire so shall we euer be with the Lord. This Graphicall and ordâ—râ—ie description of the resurrection euicteth the necessarie also intallâ—â—le certaintie of the resurrection For if it were not a matter vndoubted to what purpose is it that it is thus described These are the chiefe arguments wherewith the Apostle vrgeth the resurrection in that famous fiftéenth charter of his first Letter to the Corinthians Vpon which subiect hée disputed often as at Athens where he preached vnto the people of Iesus and the resurrection as in the Consistorie before Faelix where he maketh this constant profession I haue hope towards God that the resurrection of the dead which they themselues looke for also shall bee both of iust and vniust Of the resurrection of the dead am I accused of you this day Peter in sundrie places witnesseth the resurrection as when he saith Which shall giue accounte to him that is readie to iudge quicke and dead and thus when the chiefe shepheard shall appeare yee shall receiue an incorruptible Crowne of glorie Also his last Chapter of his last Epistle is nothing else but illustration of this Article S. Iohn deliuereth like diuinitie thus We know that when he shall appeare we shal be like him for we shal see him as he is In the Reuelation yâ— spirit speaketh euidently thus And I saw the dead both great and small stand before God and the bookes were opened and another booke was opened which was the book of life and the dead were iudged of those things which were written in the bookes according to their workes And the Sea gaue vp her dead which were in her and death and hell deliuered vp the dead which were in them and they were iudged euerie man according to their works In the next Chapter we haue this discourse which openeth the resurrection vnto vs God shall wipe away all teares from their eies and there shall be no more death neither sorrow neither crying neither shall there be any more paine Saint Iames auoucheth as much saying Be patient vnto the comming of the Lord. Be patient and settle your heart for the comming of the Lorde draweth neere the Authour of the Epistle to the Hebrews hath much good matter in the behalfe of the resurrection In the tenth Chapter after much discourse appertaining thereunto he summeth it vp thus Knowing in your selues how that ye haue in heauen a better and enduring substance c. In the next chapter he saith Others also were racked and would not be deliuered that they might receiue a better resurrection Thus haue we the old and new Testament on the side of this doctrine which is sufficient but because Atheists who pester this land as the Frogs and Caterpillers did Pharaos Court doe arraigne the integritie of the Scriptures and iudge of this matter by naturall reason it is not amisse tâ— stop their mouthes by confuting and confounding them this way Wherefore we set vpon them thus 1 The soule did not sinne without the body therfore the bodie must be punished with it Therefore the bodie must rise againe The Philosophers doe denie the sequence and say that it is enough that the minde bee rewarded according to the actions thereof and that it is not néedefull that the bodie which was not principall but accessarie in the sinne and only but the instrument to serue sins turne should partake with the mind And they shew comparisons for the same of Artificers and craftsmen who for making a house or any other peece of worke haue their hire and couenants when as the instruments wherewith they wrought are not rewarded neither are they damnified though the worke by them be not accordingly performed Of a poisoned pot which is not therefore dissolued and broken in péeces especially if it be of any price though many haue drunke their destruction out of it Of a sword which a man will not breake or cast from him because a man hath beene slaine with it But yet by their leaue who take these similitudes for such sure studdes there be many in their vnstaied affections that will dash in peeces such intoxicated cups and breake that weapon against a wall that hath beene the occasion of a mischiefe But we turne away all the force of such reasoâ—ing by distinction of instruments as they are of coniunct and diuided nature The bodie the souls instrument is of the first difference and is conioyned and coupled with the mind wherfore it duâ—ly taketh such part as the mind doth The minde draweth on the bodie to commit vncleannesse the bodie therefore falleth thereupon iustly into diuers maladies The mind is disposed to fel onie for which the hands and the feete are manacled and the necke is hazarded and the whole bodie vndergoeth the penaltie This argument deducted from the rule of Gods iustice pleaseth Paul so wel as he maketh vse of it hauing proâ—ed the resurrection Therefore my beloued brethren be ye stedfast vnmoueable aboundant alwaies in the worke of the Lord forasmuch as ye know that your labor is not in vaine in the Lord But this labor commeth
my words shall not passe away In the reedition of a Parable the effect thereof elsewhere is thus deliuered The Haruest is the ende of the world So shall it be in the ende of this world And in the 49 verse of that Chapter the same wordes are repeated The 25. Chapter of Matthews Gospell handleth no other Argument but it is Doomes dayes discourse altogether It is the gracious promise Christ hath giuen to his Church I am with you alway to the ende of the world The Apostle taking this Text from Christs mouth doe est-soones put their people in remembrance hereof It is Paules saying to the Romans The creature shall be deliuered from the bondage of corruption In his first Letter to the Corinthians he is large in this point Then shal be the end when he hath deliuered vp the kingdome to God c. To the Thessalonians he sayth When they shall say peace and safetie then shall come vpon them sudden destruction c. The eâ—de of all things is at hand saith Saint Peter What better witnesses would a man wish to haue for the euâ—â—ence of the case We heare God himselfe speake and therefore let euerie aduersaries mouth be stopped in the certaintie of the worlds end let vs be fullie grounded With these authenticke and pregnant proofes we may heare what the Heathens say not that the sacred mysteries of our faith haue neede of any grace from the lippes of Poets and Philosophers but that Heathens may bee vanquished with their owne weapons as the head of Goliah was cut off by his owne aâ—ming sworde and the Baalites were lanched with their owne shredding kniues and that such as beare the name of Christians might bee ashamed who denie that in their hearts which the heathens who were without God in the world confessed with their tongues Ouid describing God deliberating with himselfe about the Deluge among other things hee relateth this of him Esse quoquem â—atiâ—â— reminiscitur affore tempus Quo 〈◊〉 quo tellus corrept â—quâ— râ—gâ—â—â—â—li 〈…〉 lâ—molâ—s operola laboret The Dâ—â—â—mes decree a dismall day to come Wherein the Sea the soyleâ— and frame coelestâ—ll And 〈◊〉 worldly masse and spacious rome 〈…〉 vtter wracke and ruine fall Plato whose eyes were broader then the worlde and saw so much into this Diumitie as his wisdom was but a little wide of 〈◊〉 hâ—nâ—leth the worlds creation in such sort as Euseâ—â—â—s auerreth that â—e plowed with Moses Heiser and was helped by his Bookes which is not much vnlikely Plato hauing bin in Egypt as the storie of his life sheweth and the Egyptians being so carefull keepers of the rolles and registers of Moses the Iewes bringing them into Aegypt there being such free passage one to another betweene the Iewes and the Aegyptians His Dialogue superâ—cribed Timaeus giueth clusters of conclusions in the case So that giue we that the worlde was created as Plato contendeth this consequence will necessarily follow thereupon that it shall likewise bee dissolued For the composition thereof plainly proouing the beginning thereof as well in regard of the materiall as the effecient cause euerie thing compounded hauing a compounder and the compound matter of things contrarie reqâ—ring the aide of thinges simple from whence they may haue their originall composition the duration or dissolution thereof must stand to the â—â—rtesiâ— and will of the compoâ—nder whose will is free and will not be inforced as things naturall are in their â—câ—ioâ—s or admit that neâ—essarie coâ—erence of causes which the 〈◊〉 cast in their conâ—â—ts Idâ—iue this long dilated Argument into a narrow roome and 〈◊〉 it vp thus The worlde 〈…〉 mooued preseâ—ued by a first cause but that first goâ—â—â—ing and presetâ—â—ng cause is at absolute libertie to d ee as it pâ—â—sâ—th wherefore when that arch fliâ—ht from it the whole 〈◊〉 and 〈◊〉 ther of immediately falleth The Sect of Phelosâ—phers called Stoâ—cks not onely pronounce the dissolution et the world but they go further and determine as Cicero recordeth the maner of it that it shall bee brought to a generall combustien Heraclitus as Themistius an Expositor vpon Aristotle hath it and Seneca surnamed by some a Christian Gentile or a Gentile Christian are of the mind that it shall perish by water But the scheole of Philosophers goeth most with the first opinion of the two whose steppes the Mathematicians tread in who make the starres the Incendiaries of the world running into a câ—urse and concourse â—â—ereunto Berosus is verie busie there about who as Seneca saith is so nice as to calculate the verie nicke and exegent of time when it shall be reduced to his finall consloâ—ration The time appointed is as he fanâ—seth when as all the Eelestiall signes who now haue their seuerall â—erambulatieâ—e and â—ettings shall meete togither in Cancer Of this kinde we haue vntnesses enough for hauing a sufficient company to make a grand Iurie what aduantage should wee haâ—e iâ— we should ransacke the whole worlde from the Center to the Circumâ—erence for euerie such authoritie Let the Perepatecians prate as they please to the contrarie who peremptorily auouch thâ— worldes eternitie Among whom their great master Aristotle is the chiefest and Galen the Phisitians God is not behind who measureth the nature of the world by experience saying as we see by dayly sight that the world hath alwayes stoode so it shall still stand Of which vain is Manlius comming in verie goodâ—ily with such a spoke saying Our fathers haue not seene neither shall their childrens children see any other world then this Vpon which string harpeth the blinde Harpers and ianglers at this doctrine whom Peter statly ouercame in disputation who considering how the world keepeth at a stay do promise the perpetuity of the same vnto themselues in a restie securitie Thus shooting their fooles bolte Where is the promise of his comming For since the fathers died all things haue continued alike since the beginning of the creation Let these I say and such like blurt out their vaine tattle as they please we haue aduersaries of their owne marke and calling that shall replie against them and repell them Against those forenamed grand-captaines of the controuersie we culle out Philosophers as theÌ„selues are Pithagoras the Sloicks and the broode of Epicures if they wil admit of them as for Plato their Deisted Philosopher they dare not denie him but they will giue him the first place in the schooles Against the Latins Plinie and his â—â—â—plices 〈…〉 Senâ—â—a who is worth them all and will forte them at the 〈◊〉 Lâ—stly I desire no other Iudge in the cause then our common 〈…〉 â—hich considereth of the natuâ—e of the whole bâ— the conâ—equence of the seuerall paâ—ts which doe ordeyne and 〈◊〉 the whole But euery particular part of the world that peâ—â—â— wheâ—â—ore common sence it selfe setteth downe that the whole
pregnant proofes The EuaÌ„gelists are flat for it Christ saith in Math. The Son of man shal come in the glory of his father with his Angels then shal he giue to euery man according to his deeds Againe by the same Euangelist he saith thus They shall see the sonne of man come in the cloudes of heauen with power and great glory c. Also by the same pen-man thus when the Son of man commeth in his glory and all the holly Angells with him then shal he sit vpon the throne of his glory Luke recordeth the like wordes of our Sauiour Then shall they see the Sonne of man come in a cloude with power and great glorie beheaded and Peter to be crucified the Saints of God from time to time by all exquisite torments to be tortured if there were not a reuersion of times wherein they might be glorified Wherfore it was necessarie that a generall assise should bee holden for Gaile deliuerie and the consummation of their endlesse felicitie 3. When should this fore denuntiation of Christ sake effect Nothing is secret that shall not be euident neither anie thing hid that shall not be knowne and come to light As also these like predâ—ctions of holie Scripture God shall iudge the secretes of men by Iesus Christ Euerie mans worke shall bee made manifest if our expectation of the iudgement hath not due effect For seeing heere many thinges are smothered which neuer are detected Bee we assured that God keepeth a Kalender of our doings and noteth euerie thing exactly in his Register and that the bookes shall be opened and set before vs the eternall counsaile of God reuealing to euerie one his sinnes in particular 4 Albeit the two edged sword of Gods iustice resteth and rusteth in the Scabbard of his patience because he would haue no man to perish but would all men to come to repentance yet that this conniuencie might not cast vs vpon a bed of securitie he hath made some examples to vs in this life to set vs vpon our feet and to make vs vigilant that we fall not into the iudgement As those whom the Deluge did absorpe and sweepe away wherin all the Inhabitants of the world Noah his famille dedicted the remnant of the olde and the seede of the newe Worlde being destroyed Vnder this iudgement the future finall iudgement wherein onelie a remnant shall be saued euen the little Arke and Barke of Christs Church is luculently portended As also the fearefull conflagration of Sodome giueth faire admonition of a iudging God the breath of Gods anger hauing blowne the fire that will lick vp all the vngodly like stubble and consume them like drosse Heereupon Augustine thus sweetely speaketh Lot a iust man and a good house-keeper in Sodome pure and vndefiled from the filthinesse of the Sodomites was saued from the fire which was the image of hell fire being the type of the bodie of Christ which in all the Saints and now among the wicked wayleth by whose badde conuersation it is not corrupted and from whose consociation it shall bee deliuered in the ende of the worlde those being adindged to Hell fire c. Finally the repudiation of the Iewes the inheritance royall Nation and peculiar people of God is a memorable and dreadfull example of Gods iudgement who for their disobedience to the Lordes Prophets were the declamation and a Prouerbe vnto all the worlde and were pittifully entreated of the Assyrians and Babylonians and lastly by the Romans so spoyled as they were no more a people 5 Our consciences witnesse the certaintie of the iudgement which tremble and quake al the remembrance thereof as Faelix dâ—d at the Sermon oâ— Paul dilating vpon these points righteousnesse temperance iudgement to come But for as much as wee are called to reckoning immediately after the Dissolution of our bodies and with our death come in the Ticâ—ets and Bell of account of the by-past actions of the whole life the vniuersall generall Audit day seemeth needlesse but in a double respect it is more then necessarie First of God second of our selues 1 Of God that he might be iustified in his sayings and cleare when he is iudged God is so good as being infinite and omnipotent and we being little more then nothing hee yeeldeth to a iudiciall hearing that no man may complaine that iustice is not giuen him Therefore that thou mayest not charge him with wrong intended of his side towardes thee thou shalt haue thy open verie honourable tryull 2 In regarde of our selues it is also requisite that our shamelesse sinnes might come to more confusion and our good beâ—des might the more bee dignifyed Wherefore our prouinâ—â—ll Lawes punish theeues and malefactors openly to adde more shame vnto them If a Magistrate shall in pittie to couer his shame execute a felon closely in the Gaile hee shoulde not doe iustice because hee doth not the plenarie punishment the Lawe awarded him For the disgrace ignominie and reproch that followeth such a iudgement is the greatest part of the iudgement Hence it is that man tendring his credite had rather die then be oâ—â—gâ—aced Secular Iudges and Ecclesiasticall Officers bring foorth their delinquents to doe their peuance in the Market dayes and Sabaoth that the great apparance of people which such times do giue might inlarge their shame So God reserueth an impenitent sinner to that generall day to adde more affliction to his heauinesse being made as a spectaclâ— set vppon a stage for all the Worlde to wonder at This is that hee threatneth him by his Prophet Nahum Beholde I will discouer thy skiâ—s vpon thy face and will shew the nations thy filthinesse and the Kingdoms thy shame And I will cast filth vpon thee and make thee vile and will set thee as a gasing stocke Now what an exquisite iudgement is this consider by this which hath some similitude hereunto Put the case that an honest and shamefast Matrone shoulde bee stripped of her rayment and shewed naked to all that woulde beholde her woulde not this bee as a knife set at the heart or her and woulde shee not die through the anguish of soule for this vnspeakeable shame brought vppon her No question shee would But in what case is a sinner in respâ—ct of her who shall haue all his abhominations set before the viewe of the worlde the filthie workes wordes thoughts oâ— his â—â—â—de read in the audience of all A thousande to one that â—eheâ—â—e her nakednesse shall see his filthinesse by infinite degrees â—â—ereâ—ore the vexation of the one shall exceede the veration of the other For he shall call out heauen and earth to record against them as Moses against the people Angels and Diueâ—s shall goe against them and condemne them and what 〈◊〉 oâ— the sinnes of the Saints be spoken of Yes doubâ—â—s But rather to dignifie then damnifie them For they shall bee vnto them as rents of Garments
and reiectâ—â— othersome For albeit of meere gracs hee chooseth whome be will yet against such as are decreed to death hee is neither cruell nor wrongful seeing God oweth them nothing they are so dealt with for their sinnes they not being able to pleade for themselues We haue paid the debts that wee neuer owed Next to this they aâ—e abiudred to Hâ—il fire what heâ—l â—â—e is we 〈◊〉 not curioâ—â—ye to search but wee are rather to be carefull how to auoide it as when a mans house is on fire bee standeth not to enquire from whence that fire came but all his care is to quench it The wicked are â—on pared to drie wood that the fire will soone take holde on as when Christ saide to the woman of Hierusalem that wept for him If they doe these thinges to a greene tree what shall be done to the drye Or vnto Chaâ—â—e which is presently inflamed in these wordes of Iohn He will burne vp the Chasse with vnquenchable fire or to tares which the remie sowed among good wheate in these words of Christ The tares are the Children of the wicked These are to be made vp into Faggots and sheafes to bee â—â—tted to the fire according to that which is in the parable Gather yee first the tares and binde them in sheafes to burne them But how shall they be shocked and bundled vp namelyâ— the Vsurer with his Broker Badger regrater and workemen of such things shal be bound vp together to make an euen fâ—ggot according to the Statute The deceiâ—efull Merchant with his apprentises that make lyâ—â— oathes deceâ—tfulnesse the principall porters to bring in their liuing The whole broode of Lawyers that can set a good dye vpon a bâ—dde cloath and call bad good and good badde that eate vp the people like breade and grinde their noses to the faces betweene the Milstones of oppression Preathers yâ— make merchandize of holy misteries Barter◠〈…〉 of the Bible that with their temporâ—sâ—ng and luke-warme Religion dawbe vp the mudde wall of all abhomination euerie of these companies make seuerall sheaâ—â— seruisable for the 〈◊〉 Ye may runne through all the ranckes and Clasâ—ies of sinne in thâ—â— manner to make vp the wood stacke that must feedâ— this â—re But it is more then admirable which is said of the nature of this 〈◊〉 that it is euerlasting For the â—unishment exâ—eedeth the offence for the offence was but momentame and the iudgement is eternall which seemeth not to be answerable to Gods infinite mercie We answere extraordinarie transgression hath no proportion with ordinarie correction Againe what is the cause that thy domesticall and ordinarie fire goeth out Is it not because thou feedest it not with combustible matter For let it haue alwayes stouer giuen to it and it will alwayes continue In hell the fire is maintained by fewell fit for it For there is euerie mans wicked will and endlesse desire of sinning which can neuer be done away because there is no repentance in hell which is the nutriment and preseruatiue of this fire Therefore so long as the sinne remaineth it is but equitie and iustice that the punishment should continue Sinners are like Card-players who will not giue ouer though the night bee neuer so much spent vnlesse their Candle saile them so did not the light of life faile them and were not their Candle as Iob saieth put out and spent to the Socket they would not cease to sinne Wherfore the punishment is agreeable with their sinfull wishes They wish to sinne for euer therefore they are worthily plagued for euer Therewarde of the righteous is euerlasting therefore the wages of the wicked is euerlasting May not the sonne is sinne against the father and the subiect against his soueraigne as in the rule of reason and iustice the one may be disinherited and the other confined and banished for euer If wee admit these it holdeth by comparison that our heauenly King and father may doe so with his degenerate children and rebellious people But yet it is verie strange that this fire should burne and not consume But the answere hereof is the will of the Creator who hath giuen this condition and qualitie vnto it The beast called the Salamander is not burnt but nourished by the fire and thou maist by anoynting thy selfe with the lard and fat of it walke vpon the fire and not be burned The fish that is dâ—cocted in vineger remaineth whole and will not fall a peeces because the vineger hardnâ—th it and fitteth it for the frying If these smaller matters of no moment are brought to passe by man shall not God giue this â—â—sposition to the damned creature much more to liue and neuer 〈◊〉 in this fire Thus death shall be a restauratiue to the damned and dying they shall neuer die Who doth not now shake and quake at the remembrance of such erquisite iudgement In respect of this fire our ordinarie fire is but as painted fire yet it is so fierce as to gaâ—e the worlde thou wilt not indure thy bodie in it one quarter of an houre how wilt thou therefore wrastle with eternall burnings If wee bee so delicate as lying on our beds wee cannot abide the byting of a Flea or Gnat how shall wee endure the venemous mouthes of so manie Serpents Dragons poisonable and stinging creatures that will come gnawing vpon vs round about There is weeping with a witnesse for the eies shall deliuer out riuers of teares and the chattering of teeth shal be like the clattering of an army of armed men Flaetus ex dolore stridor dentium exfurore Wéeping commeth of the dolor and gnashing of séeth of the furor that we shall there be put vnto There no part of body or soule shall be able to solace or succor one another but all shal be intollerably pained The mind shall muze of nothing but a maze of miseries past her getting out the memorie shall recount nothing but old odious sins the fantasie shall feed of nothing but fâ—aceful visions the eies shal behold nothing but legions of soule flends the eares shall be alwayes grated with the direfull discorde of the hoarse and hideous howlings of hell-hounds the nosthrils shall be filled with sulphurous fumes and fuliginous filthie odours the handes shall holde fast nothing but globes and balles of fire their feete shall goe no further then their chaines will let them Thus hath euerie part of man perfection of miserie The Braines of men haue béene curiously busied in inuenting strange torments for men A Booke hath beene written entituled De torquendis Christianis Of tortering Christians Some haue beene giuen vp to the teeth of wilde Beasts Some haue beene burned vppon a Harth and soft fire Other spitted and rosted vppon Gredyrons Others cast into furious fires into Furnaces and Ouens of hote burning coales Others into vessels of boyling Lead or Oyle Some into bulâ— and engens of burning Brasse some haue béene rowleâ— and rocked vp