corruption and by birth a Slave of the Devil and yet he dares offend his Maker An offence against God were most grievous though from another God if it were possible infinite and equal to himself but that his creature should be so audacious against his omnipotent Lord is beyond amazement But What is that which a sinner does when he offends It is according to St. Anselm an endeavour to pluck the Crown from the head of God and place it upon his own It is according to St. Bernard to desire to murther his God It is according to the Apostle St. Paul to kick and spurn against the Son of God It is to crucifie again the Lord of life If any of these things were attempted against a Majesty upon earth it were enough to make the offenders flesh to be pluckt off with pincers to have him torn in pieces with four horses to pull down his house and sow the place with salt and make his whole Linage infamous If such an offence committed by one man against another betwixt whom the difference is not great being both equal in nature be so hainous what shall it deserve being committed against God the Lord and Creator of all whose immense greatness is infinitely distant from the nature of his creature O good God who is able to explicate what a sinner does against thee and himself he despises thy Majesty razes out thy Law from his heart laughs at thy Justice scorns thy threats despises thy promises makes a solemn renunciation of thy glory thou hast promised him and all to bind himself an eternal slave unto Satan desiring rather to please thine enemy than thee who art his Father his Friend and all his good desiring rather to die eternally by displeasing thee than to enjoy heaven for ever by serving thee Let us now see Where and in What place a sinner presumes to sin and be a Traitor unto his God It is even in his own world in his own house and knowing that his Creator looks upon him he offends him If a sin were committed where God could not see it it were yet an enormous fault but to injury his Creator before his face what an unspeakable impudence If he who sins could go into another world where God did not inhabit and there in secret under the earth should sin after such a manner as onely himself should know it yet it were a temerarious boldness but to sin in his own house which is this world what hell doth it not deserve For a man onely to lay his hand upon his sword in the Palace of a King is capital and deserves death For a sinner then by his sins to spurn and crucifie the Son of God in the house of his Father and before his face what understanding can conceive the greatness of such a malice And therefore David with reason dissolved himself into tears because he had sinned in the presence of God and with a grief which pierced his heart cried out I have done evil before thee Besides this we not onely sin against God in his own house but even in his armes whilest we are upheld by his omnipotency If there were a Son so wicked who whilest he was cherished in his Mothers bosom should strike and buffet her and endeavour to kill her with his poniard every one would think that Child some Devil incarnate How then dares man offend God who sustains preserves and hath redeemed him Certainly that Christian ought to be esteemed worse than a Devil The hainousness of this malice in sin is much augmented by the Helpes which a sinner uses to effect it For he turns those very divine benefits which he hath received from God against him who gave them The sense which men usually have of ingratitude is most apprehensive If to forget a benefit be ingratitude to despise it is an injurie but to use it against the Benefactor I know not how to call it This does he who sins making use of those creatures which God created for his service to offend him and convert his divine benefits into arms against God himself What could we say if a King to honour his Souldier should make him a Knight arm him with his own arms and should girt his sword about him with his own hands and that the Souldier so soon as he was possest of the sword should draw it against the King and murther him This wickedness which seems impossible amongst men is ordinary in man towards God who being honoured so many wayes by his Creator and enriched by so many benefits for as much as in him lies bereaves God of his honour and according to St. Bernard desires to bereave him of his life His understanding which he receiv'd from God he uses in finding out a way to execute his sin with his hands he performs it and with all his power offends him who gave them Besides the impudence of man arrives at that height that he makes God himself assist him to sin This is that which our Lord much complains of when he sayes by his Prophet You made me serve you in your wickedness because God concurring to every action and natural motion of man who without his concurrence could neither move hand nor foot nor tongue man disposing his tongue to murmur and his hand to steal makes use of the concourse of God against God himself Who is so pitiless and inhumane to enforce the Father to assist in the murther of his onely Son compelling the Fathers hand to execute the stroke which is to pierce the heart of his onely begotten Equivalent to this is done by a sinner making God to concurre to an action by which man sinning crucifies again the Son of God What cruelty is this in a sinner who for this onely impiety deserves a thousand deaths But if we shall consider Why man does this it is a circumstance which will amaze us at the malice of sin Why does a sinner give this disgust unto his God Wherefore does he despise his Creator Wherefore is he a Traitor unto the Lord of the World Wherefore does he kick and spurn at Jesus Christ Wherefore does he abhorre his Redeemer Wherefore crucifies he the Son of God What reason hath he for so monstrous a wickedness Is it perchance because the world should not be ruin'd Is it perchance because his salvation stands upon it Is it perhaps to make himself a God Is it perhaps in respect or for love of another God No it is none of these but only for a base and filthy pleasure for a foolish fancy of man because he will and no more O horrid insolence O mad fury of men which without a cause so grievously offend their Creator How is it that the Heavens resolve not into thunderbolts and throw a thousand deaths upon them who do and dare by their sins irritate and offend so good and gracious a God The Manner also of our sinning would astonish any who should seriously consider it It
merry How dare that Sinner laugh since that instant will come wherein it will not profit him to weep why does he not now with tears ask pardon for his sins when after death he cannot obtain it There shall be then no mercy no remedy no protection from God or man no defence but what each man hath from his own works Let us then endeavour they may be good ones since we have nothing in the other life to trust to but them The rich man shall not then have multitudes of Servants to set forth his greatness and authority nor well-feed Lawyers to defend his process onely his good works shall bestead him and they onely shall defend him and in that instant when even the mercy of God shall fail him and the blood of Christ shall not appease the Divine justice onely his good works shall not fail him then when their treasures which have been heaped up in this world and guarded with so much care shall fail their Masters their alms bestowed on the poor shall not fail them there when their Children Kindred Friends and Servants shall all fail them the Strangers which they have lodged the Sick which they have visited in the Hospitals and the needy which they have succoured shall not fail them The rich man is to leave his wealth behind him without knowing who shall possess it 〈◊〉 his good works shall goe along with him and they onely when nothing else can shall avail him neither shall Christ who is the Judge of the living and the dead at that time admit of other Patrons or Advocates Let us then take heed we turn not those against us which are onely at that dreadful time to bestead us It is to be admired how many dare do ill in the presence of that Judge with whom nothing can prevail but doing well and the wonder is much the greater that we dare with our evil works offend him who is to judge them The Theef is not so impudent as to rob his neighbour if the Magistrate look on but would be held a fool if he should rob or offend the Magistrate himself in his own house How dares then this poor thing of man injure the very person of his most upright and just Judge before whom it is most certain he shall appear to his face in his own house in so high a manner as to preferre the Devil his and our greatest enemy before him How great was the malice of the Jews when they judged it fitter that Barabbas should live than the Son of God Let the Sinner then consider his own insolence who judges it better to please the Devil than Christ his Redeemer Every one who sins makes as it were a Judgment and passes a Sentence in favour of Satan against Jesus Christ Of this unjust Judgment of man the Son of God who is most unjustly sentenced by a Sinner will at the last day take a most strict and severe account Let him expect from his own injustice how great is to be the Divine justice against him Let a Christian therefore consider that he hath not now his own but the cause of Christ in hand Let him take heed how he works since all his actions are to be viewed and reviewed by his Redeemer An Artist who knew his work was to appear before some King or to be examined by some great Master in the same art would strive to give it the greatest perfection of his skill Since therefore all our works are to appear before the King of Heaven and the chief Master of vertues Jesus Christ let us endeavour that they may be perfect and compleat and the rather because he is not to examine them for curiositie but to pass upon us a Sentence either of condemnation or eternal happiness Let us then call to mind that we are to give an account unto God Almighty and let us therefore take heed what we doe let us weep for what is amiss let us forsake our sins and strive to do vertuous actions let us look upon our selves as guilty offenders and let us stand in perpetual fear of the Judge as Abbot Amno advises us of whom it is reported in the Book of the lives of Fathers translated by Pelagius the Cardinal In vitis Pat. lib. 5. That being demanded by a young Monk what he should doe that might most profit him answered Entertain the same thoughts with the Malefactors in prison who are still enquiring Where is the Judge When will he come every hour expecting their punishment and weeping for their misdemeanors In this manner ought the Christian ever to be in fear and anxietie still reprehending himself and saying Ay me wretch that I am how shall I appear before the Tribunal of Christ how shall I be able to give an account of all my actions If thou shalt always have these thoughts thou mayest be saved and shalt not fail of obtaining what thou demandest towards thy salvation and all will be little enough Climac gra 6. St. John Climacus writes of a certain Monk who had lived long with small fervour and edification who falling into a grievous infirmity wherein he remained some space without sense or feeling was during that time brought before the Tribunal of God and from thence returned unto life wherein he continued ever after in that fear and astonishment that he caused the door of his little Cell which was so small and narrow that he had scarce room to move in it to be stopt up there remained as it were inclosed in prison the space of twelve years during which time he never spake with any nor fed upon other than bread and water but sat ever meditating upon what he had seen in that rapture wherein his thoughts were so intent as he never moved his eyes from the place where they were fixed but persevering still in his silence and astonishment could not contain the tears from abundantly flowing down his aged face At last saith the Saint his death now drawing near we broke open the door and entred into his Cell and having asked him in all humility that he would say something unto us of instruction all we could obtain from him was this Pardon me Fathers He who knew what it were truly and with his whole heart to think upon death would never have the boldness to sin The rigour of Divine Judgment which is to pass after death occasioned in this Monk so great change and penitence of life § 2. The second cause of the terribleness of death which is the laying open of all wherein we have offended in this life ANother thing of great horror is to happen in the end of life which shall make that hour wherein the Soul expires most horrible unto sinners and That is the sight of their own sins whose deformity and multitude shall then clearly and distinctly appear unto them and although now we remain in ignorance of many and see the guilt of none they shall then when we
and a vertuous life let us set before our eyes the forgetfulness and miserable mistakes of the Sons of Adam in a matter of so great importance living as if Eternity were far off when as the Philopher sayes it is not two fingers distant and every minute threatens them What devides the Mariner from his death but the thickness of a plank What the cholerick and hasty man from Eternity but the edge of a sword what the Souldier from his end but the reach of a bullet what the Theef from the Gallows but the distance betwixt that and the Prison Finally how far is the most healthful and vigorous person distant from Eternity but as much as death is from life which often happens sodainly and ought every moment to be expected The life of Man is a dangerous passage wherein he walks upon the brink of Eternity with a certainty at last to fall into it How lives he then so wretchedly He who should walk close unto a great precipice in a path no broader then the breadth of his foot and that also full of rubs and stumbling blocks how circumspectly would he look about him and how carefully would he order his steps how then is it that being so near Eternity he is so careless and lives as if he were out of danger In Histo Barla ca. 12. in fine St. John Damascen excellently declares the fondness and mistakes of men in a most ingenious Parable wherein he naturally sets forth the state of this life A certain man saith he flying from a furious Unicorn which with his very roaring made the mountains tremble and the valleys to resound not regarding through fear which way he went chanced to fall into a molt deep pit but in his fall spreading abroad his armes to catch at something which might relieve him happened to light upon the boughs of a tree which grew out of the side of that pit whereon he seized with much joy hoping he had then both escaped the fury of the beast and the danger of his fall but looking towards the foot of the tree he perceived two great Rats the one white the other black perpetually gnawing the root of it in so much that it was now ready to fall looking afterward into the bottom of the pit he beheld a most deformed Dragon with flaming eyes gazing upon him and with open mouth awaiting his fall that he might devour him then casting his eyes unto that side of the pit where the tree grew there appeared four poisonful Aspicks shooting forth their heads to bite him Yet notwithstanding marking the leaves of the tree he might perceive some of them to distil certain drops of honey with which he was so greatly pleased that forgetting the dangers which from so many parts threatned him he employed himselt wholly in gathering and tasting drop by drop that small quantity of honey without reflecting or making further account either of the fierceness of the Unicorn above him of the horribleness of the Dragon beneath him of the poison of the Aspicks aside him or the weakness of the tree which was ready to fall and precipitate him into that horrid Dungeon In this Image we see represented the Estates of men who forgetful of the perils of this transitory life give themselves wholly over unto vain pleasures By the Unicorn is signified death which even from the hour of Man's birth follows and pursues him The Pit is the world full of evils and miseries The Tree is the course of this life The two Rats the one black the other white which gnaw it at the root are day and night which continually seconding one another go by hours and minutes consuming it The four Aspicks are the four Elements or four Humours of which we are composed the which by the excess of any one of them distemper the whole frame of our bodies and at last destroy it That horrid and fearfull Dragon is the eternity of Hell which enlarges his throat and jawes to swallow sinners The small drops of honey are the pleasures and delights of this life and so great is the diversion which they cause that men for a short and momentary content consider not the many dangers unto which they are exposed and seeing themselves encompassed on all parts by as many dangers of death as there are wayes and causes of dying which are infinite and are so many mouths and gates of Eternity yet notwithstanding solace themselves with the momentary delights of this small drop of honey which shall at last cause them to disgorge and cast up their entrals for a world without end Wonderful it is that so great a forgetfulness possesses us and a matter full of amazement that we are not moved with so great dangers How comes it about that every minute a new day of Eternity dawning upon us we carelesly pass over so many dayes and moneths Let the most strong and healthful person tell me what one year he is assured of wherein death may not assault him and push him headlong into an eternal abyss But what speak I of a year what moneth what day what hour what instant is he sure of how then can he eat how sleep in safety If one should enter into a field full of ambushes and secret traps whereon if he should chance to set his careless foot he were in danger to fall upon the points of Pikes or Halberts or into the mouth of some terrible Dragon and seeing with his own eyes that they who entred with him into the same field hourly fell into those traps and appeared no more should notwithstanding run leaping and dancing up and down without fear or apprehension of any thing amiss who would not say that man were a fool Certainly more fool art thou who seeing thy friends fall daily into the trap of Death thy neighbour swallowed up in Eternity thy brother sink into the pit of the Grave dost yet notwithstanding remain careless and secure as if the same fate did not attend thy self Although to die were a thing uncertain yet for the doubt and danger that it might happen thou oughtest to be vigilant and prepared for it What oughtest thou then to be it being so certain and that early or late thou art to enter in at the gate of Eternity A marvelous thing it is with what care men provide themselves against dangers although very uncertain If they hear that Theeves are in the way to rob and spoil the passengers no man passes that way but armed provided and many in company if they understand that the Plague begins to range what antidotes and conterpests are sought for if they fear a Famine every man in time provides himself of corn How happens it then that knowing that there is a Death a Judgment a Hell an Eternity we stand not upon our guards nor provide our selves for it Let us open our eyes and look into the perils which environ us let us take heed where we set our feet that we
us Petrus Damianus in Gomor c. 23. saying If the subtle Enemy shall set before thee the frail beauty of the flesh send thy thoughts presently unto she Sepulcher of the Dead and let them there see what they can finde agreeable to the touch or pleasing to the sight Consider that poison which now stinks intollerably that corruption which engenders and feeds worms That dust and dry ashes was once soft and lively flesh and in its youth was subject to the like passions as thou art Consider those rigid nerves those naked teeth the disjoynted disposition of the bones and articles and that horrible dissipation of the whole Body and by this means the Monster of this deformed and confused figure will pluck from thy heart all deceits and illusions This from St. Peter Damian All this is certainly to happen unto thy self Wherefore doest thou not amend thy evil conditions this is to be thy end unto this therefore direct thy life and actions From hence spring all the errors of men that they forget the end of their lives which they ought to have still before their eyes and by it to order themselves for the complyance with their obligations With reason had the Brachmans their Sepulchers placed still open before their doors that by the memory of death they might learn to live In this sense is that Axiome of Plato most true when he sayes That Wisdom is the Meditation of Death because this wholesome thought of Death undeceives us in the vanities of the world and gives us force and vigour to better our lives Johannes Brom. in Sum. verb. Poenit num 12. Some Authors write of a certain Confessarius who when all his perswasions could not prevail with his penitent to do penance for his sins contented himself with this promise that he would suffer one of his Servants every night when he went to bed to sound these words in his ear Think that thou art to dye who having often heard this admonition and and profoundly considered it with himself he at last returned unto his Confessor well disposed to admit of such penance as should be enjoyned him The same thing happened to another who having confessed to to the Pope very hainous crimes said that he could not fast nor wear hair-shirts nor admit of any other kinds of austerity His Holiness having commended the matter to God gave him a Ring with this Poesie Memento mâ—ri Remember thou art to dye charging him that as often as he looked upon the Ring he should read those words and call death to mind Few hours after the memory hereof caused such a change in his heart that he offered to fulfil what ever penance his Holiness should please to impose upon him For this reason it seems God commanded the Prophet Jeremias that he should goe into the house of the Potter and that he should there hear his words Well might the Lord have sent his Prophet into some place more decent to receive his sacred words then where so many men were daily imployed in dirt and clay but here was the particular mysterie whereby we are given to understand that the presence of Sepulchers wherein is preserved as in the house of a Potter the clay of humane nature it was a place most proper for God to speak unto us that the memory of death might more deeply imprint his words in our hearts For this very reason the Devil strives with all his power and cunning to obstruct in us the memory of death For what other cause can be assigned why the meer suspicion of some loss or notable damage should bereave us of our sleep and that the certainty of death which of things terrible is most terrible should never trouble us CAP. II. Remarkable Conditions of the end of Temporal Life BEsides the misery wherein all the felicity of this world is to determine the end of our life hath other most remarkable conditions very worthy to be considered and by which we may perceive the goods of it to be most contemptible We will now principally speak of three First that death is most infallible certain and no way to be avoided The second that the time is most incertain because we know neitheâ— when nor how it will happen The third that it is buâ— only one and but once to be experienced so that wâ— cannot by a second death correct the errors of the firsâ— Concerning the certainty and infallibility of death it imports us much to perswade our selves of it for as it is infallible that the other life shall be without end so it is as certain that this shall have it And as the Damned are in despair to find an end in their torments so are we practically to despair that the pleasures and contents of this world are to endure for ever God hath not made a Law more inviolable than that of death For having often dispensed in other Laws and by his omnipotent power and pleasure violated as I may say divers times the rights of Nature he neither hath nor will dispense with the Law of death but hath rather dispensed with other Laws that this should stand in force and therefore hath not onely executed the sentence of death upon those who in rigour ought to dye but upon those unto whom it was no wise due In the conception of Christ our Saviour those establisht Lawes of Nature that men were not to be born but by propagation from men and breach of the Mothers integrity were dispensed with God that his Lawes should have no force in Christ working two most stupendious Miracles and infringing the Lawes of Nature that his Son might be born of a Virgin Mother was so far from exempting him from the Law of death that death not belonging to him as being Lord of the Law and wanting all sin even original by which was contracted death nay immortality and the four gifts of glory being due unto his most Holy Body as resulting from the clear vision of the Divine essence which his Soul ever enjoyed yet all this notwithstanding God would not comply with this right of Nature but rather miraculously suspended by his omnipotent Arm those gifts of glory from his Body that he might become subject unto death in so much as God observes this Law of Death with such rigour that doing Miracles that the Law of Nature should not be kept in other things he works Miracles that the Law of Death should be observed even by his own Son who deserved it not and unto whom it was in no sort due And now that the Son of God had taken upon him the redemption of Mankind for whom out of his most infinite charity it was convenient for him to dye the death of the Cross which reason failing in his most holy Mother unto whom death was not likewise due from Original sin she being priviledged according to the opinion of most Universities as well in that as many other things by her blessed Son yet would
he not exempt her from that inviolable Law of Death What inchantment than is this that Death being so certain we will not suffer our selves to understand it nor be perswaded that it is so Thou art to dye assure thy self of that An irrevocable Law is this and without remedy Thou must dye The time will come when those eyes with which thou readest this shall be burst and lose their sight those hands which thou now imployest be without sense or motion that body which thou movest from place to place with such agility shall be stiffe and cold this mouth which now discourses shall be mute without breath or spirit and this flesh which thou now pamperest shall be consumed and eaten by loathsome worms and vermin An infallible thing it is that the time will come when thou shalt be covered with earth thy body stink and rot and appear more noysome and more horrible unto the senses than a dead Dog putrified upon a Dunghil The time will come when thou shalt be forgotten as if thou hadst never been and those that passe shall walk over thee without remembring that such a man was born Consider this and perswade thy self that thou must dye as well as others that which hath happened to so many must happen also unto thee thou which art now afraid of the dead must dye thy self thou which loathest to behold an open Sepulcher where lie the half putrified bones and flesh of others must putrifie and rot thy self Think upon this seriously and reflect with thy self soberly how thou shalt look when thou art dead and this consideration will give thee a great knowledge what thy life is and make thee despise the pleasures of it Truly such is the condition of death that although to dye were onely contingent and no wise certain yet because it might happen it ought to make us very careful and sollicitous If God had at first created the world replenished with people and some one before it was known what death was had fallen sick of a pestilential Fever and should have suffered in the sight of the rest the accidents of that infirmity those violent fits of heat that scorching thirst that restless unquietness of mind and body tossing and tumbling from side to side that raging frenzie which bereaves him of his judgment and at last they should behold him pale and wan wholly disfigured strugling with death and giving the last gasp the Body after to remain stiffe cold and immoveable how would they remain astonisht with the sight of that misery which would appear much greater when after three or four dayes the Body begun to smell and corrupt to be full of worms and filth Without doubt a mortal sadness would seise upon them all and every one would fear lest some such miserable condition might happen unto himself And although God should say I will not that all shall dye I will content my self with the death of some few but should leave those uncertain whom this would suffice to make all to tremble each one would fear lest he were one of those designed for that misfortune If then in this case death being uncertain all would quake because all might dye why remain we so supinely careless since it is sure all must dye If death being doubtful cause such a terrour why do we not fear it being certain Nay though God should further say that onely one of all those in the world should dye but did not declare who that one were yet all would fear Why then doest thou not now fear when all men must infallibly dye and perhaps thou the first But if God should yet further proceed to reveal that one appointed to dye and he should notwithstanding live in that loose and careless manner as thou now doest how would the rest of the world admire his negligence and vain temerity what would they say certainly they would cry out unto him Man thou that art to turn into dust why livest thou in that loose manâ—er Man that art to be eaten by wormes why doest thou pamper thy self Man which art to appear before the Tribunal of God why doest thou not think upon the account that shall be demanded from thee Man which art to end and all things with thee why doest thou make such esteem of vanity We who are to live ever well may we build houses and provide riches because we look for no other life than this which is never to end but thou who art but in this life as a Passenger and art to leave it to morrow what hast thou to do to build houses what hast thou to doe with the cares and business's of this world Wherefore doest thou take thought for those temporal things whereof thou hast no need Care for those of the other life wherein thou art to remain for ever Thou thou art he whom God hath designed to dye why doest thou not believe it or if thou doest why doest thou laugh why doest thou rejoyce why doest thou live so much at ease in a place where thou art a Pilgrim and not to rest leave off the thoughts of the earth and consider whither thou art to goe It is not fitting for thee to live here in mirth and jollity but to retire into some solitary wilderness and there dispose thy self for that terrible traunce which expects thee Let every man therefore say within himself It is I who am to dye and resolve unto dust I have nothing to do with this world the other was made for me and I am onely to care for that in this I am onely a Passenger and am therefore to look upon the eternal whither I am going and am there to make my abode for ever Certain it is that death will come and hurry me along with him All the business therefore I have now is to dispose my self for so hard an encounter and since it is not in the power of man to free me from it I will onely serve that Lord who is able to save me in so certain and imminent a danger Much to this purpose for our undeceiving is that Story set forth by John Major Johan Major Alex. Faya tom 2. 〈◊〉 certain Souldier had served a Marquess for many years with great fidelity for which he was favoured by his Lord with a singular respect and affection The Souldier chanced to fall into his last infirmity which no sooner came unto the knowledge of the Marquess but he instantly came to visit him accompanied with divers expert Physicians and having enquired of his health and spoken many things unto him of much comfort and dearness offered himself to assist him in all things which might conduce to his health or content and wisht him boldly to demand what might be useful or available for him assuring him it should be granted without spare of cost or trouble The sick Souldier after much importunity at last intreated the favour of three things Either that he would afford him some
will it cause when a Sinner in the instant of Gods judgment shall see himself delivered over into the power of the infernal Dragon without all hopes of ever escaping from him who will seize upon a Soul and carry her to the abyss of hell Let us call to mind with dread that which the holy Prophet feared and said of the Devil God grant he lay not hold on my soul like a Lion when there will be none that will set me at liberty or relieve me O what a lamentable thing will it be for one to see himself in the power of Lucifer not onely abandoned by Men but also by the Angels and by the Queen of Men and Angels and even of God himself Father of all mercies Let us provide our selves in time for that which is to be done in a moment on which depends our Eternity O moment in which all time is lost if a Soul doth lose it self in it and remains lost for ever how much doest thou avail us Thou givest an assurance to all the good works of this life and causest an oblivion of all the pleasures and delights thereof to the end that Man may not wholly give himself over to them since they will then be of no benefit to him and persevere in vertue since it will not secure him unless he persevere in it to the last §. 2. How can men be careless seeing so important a business as is the salvation of their Souls to depend upon an instant wherein no new diligence nor preparations will avail them Since therefore we know not when that moment will be let us not be any moment unprovided this is a business not to be one point of time neglected since that point may be our damnation What will a hundred years spent with great penance and austerity in the service of God profit us if in the end of all those years we shall commit some grievous sin and death shall seise upon us before repentance Let no man secure himself in his past vertues but continue them until the end since if he die not in grace all is lost and if he doe what matters it to have lived a thousand years in the greatest troubles and afflictions this world could lay upon him O moment in which the just shall forget all his labours and shall rest assured of all his vertues O moment in which the pains of a Sinner begin and all his pleasures end O moment which art certain to be uncertain when to be and most certain never to be again for thou art onely once and what is in thee determined can never be revoked in another moment O moment how worthy art thou to be now fixed in our memory In vit PP l. 5. p. 565. apud Rot that we may not hereafter meet thee to our eternal mine and perdition Let us imitate the Abbot Elias who was accustomed to say That three things especially made him tremble The first when his Soul was to be pluckt out of his Body the second when it was to appear before God to receive judgment and the third when sentence was to be pronounced How terrible then is this moment wherein all these three things so terrible are to pass Let a Christian often whilest he lives place himself in that instant from whence let him behold on one part the time of his life which he is to leave and on the other the eternity whereunto he enters and let him consider what remains unto him of that and what he hopes for in this How short in that point of death did those near-hand a thousand years which Mathusala lived appear unto him and how long one day in Eternity In that instant a thousand years of life shall appear unto the Sinner no more than one hour and one hour of torments shall appear a thousand years Behold thy life from this Watch-tower from this Horizon and measure it with the eternal and thou shalt find it to be of no bulk nor extension Sec how little of it remains in thy hands and that there is no escaping from the hands of Eternity O dreadful moment which cuts off the thread of Time and begins the web of Eternity let us in time provide for this moment that we may not lose Eternity This is that precious pearl for which we ought to give all that we have or are Let it ever be in our memory let us ever be sollicitous of it since it may every day come upon us Eternity depends upon death death upon life and life upon a thread which may either be broken cut or burnt and that even when we most hope and most endeavour to prolong it A good testimony of this is that which Paulus Aemilius recounts of Charles King of Navarre Paulus Aemilius l. 9. Aâ—cidita anno 1387. who having much decayed and weakned his bodily forces by excess of lust unto which he was without measure addicted the Physicians for his cure commanded Linnens steeped in Aqua vitae to be wrapped close about his naked body He who sewed them having nothing in readiness to cut the thread made use of a candle which was at hand to burn it but the thread being wet in those spirits took fire with such speed as it fired the Linnen and before it could be prevented burnt the body of the King in that manner as he immediately dyed Upon a natural thread depended the life of this Prince which concluded in so disastrous a death and no doubt but the thread of life is as easily cut as that of flax time is required for the one but the other is broken in an instant and there are more causes of ending our life than are of breaking the smallest twist Our life is never secure and therefore we ought ever to fear that instant which gives an end to Time and beginning unto Eternity Wonderful are the wayes which death finds out and most poor and contemptible those things upon which life depends It hangs not only upon a thread but sometime upon so small a thing as a hair So Fabius a Roman Senatour was choaked with a hair which he swallowed in a draught of milk No door is shut to death it enters where air cannot enter and encounters us in the very actions of life Small things are able to deprive us of so great a good Valer. Max. lib. 6. A little grain of a grape took away the life of Anacreon and a Pear which Drusus Pompeius was playing with fell into his mouth and choaked him The affections also of the Soul and the pleasures of the Body become the high way unto death Homer dyed of grief and Sophocles of an excess of joy Dionysius was kill'd with the good news of a victory which he obtained Aurelianus dyed dancing when he married the Daughter of Domiâ—ian the Emperour Thales Milesius beholding the sports in the Theater dyed of thirst Vid. Andream Eborensem de morte non vulgari and Cornelius Gallus and
Titus Etherius dyed in the act of lust Giachetto Saluciano and his Mistress dyed in the same venerial action and their bodies were both found conjoyned in death as their souls went joyntly to hell Upon small matters and unexpected accidents depends the success of that moment upon which depends Eternity Let every one open his eyes and assure not himself of that life which hath so many entrances for death let no man say I shall not dye to day for many have thought so and yet sodainly dyed that very hour By so inconsiderable things as we have spoken of many have dyed and thou mayest dye without any of them For a sodain death there is no need of a hair or fish bone to strangle thee nor affliction of melancholy to oppress or excess of sodain joy to surprize thee it may happen without all these exteriour causes A corrupt humour in the entrails which flyes unto the heart without any body perceiving it is sufficient to make an end of thee and it is to be admired that no more dye sodainly considering the disorders of our lives and frailties of our bodies we are not of iron or brass but of soft and delicate flesh A Clock though of hard Mettal in time wears our and hath every hour need of mending and the breaking of one wheel stops the motion of all the rest There is more artifice in a humane body than in a Clock and it is much more subtle and delicate The nerves are not of steel nor the veins of brass nor the entrails of iron How many have had their livers or spleen corcupted or displaced and have dyed sodainly no man sees what he hath within his body and such may his infirmity be that although he thinks and feels himself well yet he may dye within an hour Let us all tremble at what may happen CAP. IV. Why the end of Temporal Life is terrible DEath because it is the end of life is by Aristotle said to be the most terrible of all things terrible What would he have said if he had known it to be the beginning of Eternity and the gate through which we enter into that vast Abyss no man knowing upon what side he shall fall into that profound and bottomless depth If death be terrible for ending the business and affairs of life what is it for ushering in that instant wherein we are to give an accompt of life before that terrible and most just Judge who therefore dyed that we might use it well It is not the most terrible part of death to leave the life of this world but to give an accompt of it unto the Creatour of the world especially in such a time wherein he is to use no mercy This is a thing so terrible that it made holy Job to tremble notwithstanding he had so good an accompt to make who was so just that God himself gloried in having such a Servant The Holy Ghost testifies that he sinned not in all what he had spoken in his troubles and calamities which were sent him not as a punishment for his sins but as a trial of his patience proposing him unto us an example of vertue and constancy and he himself protests that his Conscience did not accuse him yet for all this was so fearful of the strict judgment which God passes in the end of the world that amazed at the severity of his Divine Justice he cries out in his discourse with the Lord Who will give me that thou protect and hide me in hell Dionys Rikel artic 16. de noviss whilest thy fury passes Whereupon Dionysius Rikellius affirms that that instant wherein the Judgement of God is to be given is not onely more terrible than death but more terrible than to suffer the pains of hell for some certain time and this not onely unto those who are to be damned but even unto those who are elected for heaven Since therefore Job being so just and holy quaked at the apprehensions of that Divine Judgement when it was yet far from him and when we use not to be so sensible as of things at hand without doubt when a Sinner shall in that instant perceive himself to have displeased his Redeemer and Creatour although but in small faults yet it will afflict him more than the suffering of most great pains for which St. Basil judged that it was less to suffer eternal torments Basil hom contra divites avaros than the confusion of that day and therefore pondering that reprehension given unto the rich man in the Gospel Fool this night thy Soul shall be taken from thee Whose then shall be the riches which thou hast gotten the Saint avers that this mock this taunt did exceed an eternal punishment Death is terrible for many weighty reasons and every one sufficient to cause in us a mortal fear whereof not the least is the sight of the offended Judge who is not onely Judge but Party and a most irrefragable Witness in whose visage shall then appear such a severity against the wicked that St. Austin sayes he had rather suffer all manner of torments than to behold the face of his angry Judge And St. Chrysostome saith Chrys homi 24. in Math. It were better to be struck with a thousand Thunderbolts than to behold that countenance so meek and full of sweetness estranged from us and those eyes of peace and mildness not enduring to behold us The only sight of an Image of Christ crucified Rad. in opusc in annuis Societ which appeared with wrathful and incensed eyes although in this life when the field of mercy is open was sufficient so to astonish three hundred persons who beheld it that they fell unto the ground senseless and without motion and so continued for the space of some hours How will it then amaze us when we shall behold not a dead Image but Jesus Christ himself alive not in the humility of the Cross but upon a Throne of Majesty and Seat of Justice not in a time of mercy but in the hour of vengeance not naked with pierced hands but armed against Sinners with the Sword of Justice when he shall come to judge and revenge the injuries which they have done him God is as righteous in his justice as in his mercy and as he hath allotted a time for mercy so he will for justice and as in this life the rigour of his justice is as it were repressed and suspended so in that point of death when the Sinner shall receive judgment it shall be let loose and overwhelm him A great and rapid river which should for 30 or 40 years together have its current violently stopt what a mass of waters would it collect in so long a space and if it should then be let loose with what fury would it overrun and bear down all before it and what resistance could withstand it Since then the Divine justice Dan. 7. which the Prophet Daniel compares
his Divine justice Then all shall be laid open and confusion shall cover the sinner with the multitude of his offences How shall he blush to see himself in the presence of the King of Heaven in so foul and squalid garments A man is said to remain confounded when either the issue of things fall out contrary to what he hoped and looked for or when he comes off with indignity or disparagement where he expected honour and reward how confounded then shall a sinner be when those works of his which he thought vertues shall be found vices imagining he hath done service shall perceive he hath offended and hoping for a reward shall meet with punishment If a man when he is to speak with some great Prince desire to be decently and well clad how will he be out of countenance to appear before him dirty and half naked How shall then a sinner be ashamed to see himself before the Lord of all naked of good works be dirtied and defiled with abominable and horrid crimes for besides the Multitude of sins whereof his whole life shall be full the Hainousness of them shall be also laid open before him and he shall tremble at the sight of that which he now thinks but a trivial fault For then shall he see clearly the ugliness of sin the dissonancy of it unto reason the deformity it causes in the Soul the injury it does unto the Lord of the world his ingratitude to the blood of Christ the prejudice it brings unto himself hell into which he falls and eternal glory which he loses The least of these were sufficient to cover his heart with sadness and inconsolable grief but altogether what amazement and confusion shall they cause especially when he shall perceive that not only mortal but even venial sins produce an ugliness in the Soul beyond all the corporal deformities which can be imagined If the sight of onely one Devil be so horrible that many Servants of God have said that they would rather suffer all the torments of this life than behold him for one moment all his deformity proceeding but from one onely mortal sin which he committed for before the Devils were by nature most excellent and beautiful in what condition shall a sinner be who shall not only behold all Devils in all their ugliness but shall see himself perhaps more ugly than many of them having as many deformities as he hath committed mortal and venial sins Let him therefore avoid them now for all are to come to light and he must account for all even until the last farthing Neither is this account to be made in gross onely for the greatest and most apparent sins but even for the least and smallest What Lord is so strict with his Steward that he demands an account for trifles for the tagg of a point nor suffers him to pass a half-penny without informing him how it was spent In humane Tribunals the Judge takes no notice of small matters but in the Courts of Divine Judicature nothing passes the least things are as diligently lookt into as the greater A confirmation of this is a story written by divers Authors Joh. Major Judic exem 8. ex collec That there were two Religious persons of holy and laudable conversation who did mutually love one another with great affection one of them chanced to die and after death appeared unto the other being then in prayer in poor and torn garments and with a most sorrowful and dejected countenance he who was alive demanded of him what was the cause of his appearing in that sad manner to whom he answered repeating it three times No man will believe No man will believe No man will believe Being urged to declare further what he would say he proceeded thus No man can imagine how strict God is in taking his accompts and with what rigour he chastises sinners In saying this he vanished By that which hath happened to many Servants of God even before their departure out of this life may be seen the rigour with which this account shall be taken after death Climac gr 7. St. John Climacus writes of a certain Monk who being very desirous to live in solitude and quiet after he had exercised himself many years in the labours of a Monastical life and obtained the grace of tears and fasting with many other priviledges of vertue he built a Cell at the foot of that Mountain where Elias in time past saw that sacred and divine Vision This reverend Father being of so great austerity desired yet to live a more strict and penitent life and therefore passed from thence into a place called Sides which belonged to the Anchorite Monks who live in great perfection and retirement and having lived a long time with much rigour in that place which was far remote from all humane consolation and distant 70 miles from any dwelling or habitation of men at last he came to have a desire to return to his first Cell in that sacred Mountain where remained in his absence for the keeping of it two most religious Disciples of his of the land of Palestine Some short time after his return he fell into an infirmity and died The day before his death sodainly he became much astonished and amazed and keeping still his eyes open he lookt gastly about him sometime on the one side of the Bed and then on the other as if he saw some who demanded an accompt from him of something which was past unto whom he answered in the hearing of all who were present saying sometime So it is truly but for this I have fasted so many years Other-whiles he said Certainly it is not so thou lyest I never did it At other times It is true I did so but wept for it and so many times ministred for it unto the necessity of my neighbour Other times Thou accusest me truly I have nothing to say but God is merciful And certainly that invisible and strict inquisition was fearful and horrible unto those who were present Ay miserable me saith the Saint What will become of me sinner since so great a follower of a solitary and retired life knew not what to answer He who had lived forty years a Monk and obtained the grace of tears and as some affirmed unto me had in the Desert fed a hungry Leopard which meekly repaired unto him for food yet for all this sanctity at his departure out of this life so strict an accompt was demanded of him as he left us uncertain what was his judgement and what the sentence and determination of his cause We read in the Chronicles of the Minorites Chronic. S. Franc. 2. p. lib. 4. c. 35. that a Novice of the Order of St. Francis being now almost out of himself struggling with death cryed out with a terrible voice saying Wo is me O that I never had been born A little after he said I am heartily sorry And not long after he replyed Put
since he hath employed his omnipotency for our good and profit let us employ our forces and faculties for his glory and service CAP. VI. Of the End of all Time BEsides the end of the particular time of this life the universal end of all time is much to be considered that since humane ambition passes the limits of this life and desires honour and a famous memory after it Man may know that after this death there is another death to follow in which his memory shall also die and vanish away as smoke After that we have finisht the time of this life the end of all time is to succeed which is to give a period unto all which we leave behind us Let man therefore know that those things which he leaves behind for his memory after death are as vain as those which he enjoyed in life Let him raise proud Mausoleums Let him erect Statues of Marble Let him build populous Cities Let him leave a numerous Kindred Let him write learned Books Let him stamp his Name in brass and fix his Memory with a thousand nails All must have an end his Cities shall sink his Statues fall his Family and Linage perish his Books be burned his Memory be defaced and all shall end because all time must end It much imports us to perswade our selves of this truth that we may not be deceived in the things of this world That not only our pleasures and delights are to end in death but our memories at the farthest are to end with Time And since all are to conclude all are to be despised as vain and perishing Cicero although immoderately desirous of fame and honour Cieer in Ep. ad Luc. as appears by a large Epistle of his written unto a friend wherein he earnestly entreats him to write the conspiracy of Cataline which was discovered by himself in a Volume apart and that he would allow something in it unto their ancient friendships and Publish it in his life time that he might enjoy the glory of it whilest he lived yet when he came to consider that the world was to end in Time he perceived that no glory could be immortal and therefore sayes By reason of deluges and burnings of the earth In Somn. Scip. which muâ—â— of necessity happen within a certain time we cannot attain glory not so much as durable for any long time much less eternal In this world no memory can be immortal since Time and the World it self are mortal and the time will come when time shall be no more But this truth is like the memory of death which by how much it is more important by so much men think lest of it and practically do not believe it But God that his divine providence and care might not be wanting hath also in this taken order that a matter of so great concernment should be published with all solemnity first by his Son after by his Apostles and then by Angels Apoc. 10. And therefore St. John writes in his Apocalyps that he saw an Angel of great might and power who descended from heaven having a Cloud for his Garment and his head covered with a Rainbow his face shining as the Sun and his feet as pillars of fire with the right foot treading upon the Sea and with the left upon the Earth sending forth a great and terrible voice as the roaring of a Lyon which was answered by seaven thunders with other most dreadful noises and presently this prodigious Angel lifts up his hand towards Heaven But wherefore all this Ceremony wherefore this strange equipage wherefore this horrid voice and thunder all was to proclaim the death of Time and to perswade us more of the infallibility of it he continued it with a solemn Oath conceived in a Set form of most authentique words listing up his hand towards Heaven and swearing by him that lives for ever and ever who created Heaven and Earth and all which is in it There shall be mo more time With what could this truth be more confirmed than by the Oath of so great and powerful and an Angel The greatness and solemnity of the Oath gives us to understand the weight and gravity of the thing affirmed both in respect of it self and the importance of us to know it If the death of a Monarch or Prince of some corner of the world prognosticated by an Eclipse or Comet cause a fear and amazement in the beholders what shall the death of the whole World and with it all things temporal and of Time it self foretold by an Angel with so prodigious an apparition and so dreadful a noise produce in them who seriously consider it For us also this thought is most convenient whereby to cause in us a contempt of all things temporal Let us therefore be practically perswaded that not onely this life shall end but that there shall be also an end of Time Time shall bereave Man of this life and Time shall bereave the World of his whose end shall be no less horrible than that of Man but how much the whole World and the whole Race of mankind exceeds one particular person by so much shall the universal end surpass in terrour the particular end of this life For this cause the Prophecies which foretell the end of the World are so dreadful that if they were not dictated by the holy Spirit of God they would be thought incredible Christ therefore our Saviour having uttered some of them unto his Disciples because they seemed to exceed all that could be imagined in the conclusion confirmed them with that manner of Oath or Asseveration which he commonly used in matters of greatest importance Math. 13. Luc. 21. Amen which is By my verity or verily I say unto you that the world shall not end before all these things are fulfilled Heaven and earth shall fail but my words shall not fail Let us believe then that Time shall end and that the World shall die and that if we may so say a most horrible and disastrous death let us believe it since the Angels and the Lord of Angels have sworn it If it be so then that those memorials of men which seemed immortal must at last end since the whole Race of man is to end let us only strive to be preserved in the eternal memory of him who hath no end and let us no less despise to remain in the fading memory of men who are to die than to enjoy the pleasures of our senses which are to perish As the hoarding up of riches upon earth is but a deceit of Avarice so the desire of eternizing our memory is an errour of Ambition The covetous man must then leave his wealth when he leaves his life if the Theef in the mean time do not take it from him and fame and renown must end with the World if envy or oblivion deface it not before All that is to end is vain this World therefore and all which
purified in that general burning and then shall be renewed the Earth the Heavens the Stars and the Sun which shall shine seaven times more than before and the creatures which have here been violated and oppressed by the abuse of man whereof some had taken armes against him to revenge the injuries of their Creatour and others groaned under their burthen with grief and sorrow shall then rejoyce to see themselves freed from the tyranny of sin and sinners and joyful of the triumph of Christ shall put on mirth and gladness This is the end wherein all time is to determine and this the Catastrophe so fearful unto the wicked where all things temporal are to conclude Let us therefore take heed how we use them and that we may use them well let us be mindful of this last day this day of justice and calamity this day of terrour and amazement the memory whereof will serve much for the reformation of our lives Let us think of it and fear it for it is the most terrible of all things terrible and the consideration of it most profitable and available to cause in us a holy fear of God and to convert us unto him Joh. Curopol in hist apud Rad. in opusc in vitis PP Occidentis John Curopolata writes of Bogoris King of the Bulgarians a Pagan who was so much addicted to the hunting of wilde beasts that he desired to have them painted in his Palace in all their fury and fierceness and to that end commanded Methodius the Monk a skilful Painter to paint them in so horrible a manner as the very sight might make the beholders tremble The discreet Monk did it not but in place of it painted the Day of Judgement and presented it unto the King who beholding that terrible act of Justice and the coming of the Son of God to judge the World crowning and rewarding the just and punishing the wicked was much astonished at it and being after instructed left his bad life and was converted to the faith of Christ If onely then the Day of Judgement painted was so terrible what shall it be executed Almost the same happened unto St. Dositheus Anon. in Elog. Dorothei Dosithei who being a young man cokored and brought up in pleasures had not in his whole life so much as heard of the Day of Judgement until by chance he beheld a Picture in which were represented the pains of the damned at which he was much amazed and not knowing what it was was informed of it by a Matron present which he apprehended so deeply that he fell half dead upon the ground not being able to breath for fear and terrour after coming to himself he demanded what he should doe to avoid that miserable condition it was answered him by the same Matron that he should fast pray and abstain from flesh which he immediately put in execution And though many of his house and kindred endeavoured to divert and disswade him yet the holy fear of God and the dread of eternal condemnation which he might incurre remained so fixt in his memory that nothing could withdraw him from his rigorous penance and holy resolution until becoming a Monk he continued with much fruit and profit Let us therefore whiles we live ever preserve in our memory this day of terrour that we may hereafter enjoy security for the whole eternity of God THE THIRD BOOK OF THE DIFFERENCE BETWIXT THE TEMPORAL and ETERNAL CAP. I. The mutability of things temporal makes them worthy of contempt HItherto we have spoken of the shortness of time and consequently of all things temporal and of the end wherein they are to conclude Nothing is exempted from death and therefore not onely humane life but all things which follow time and even time it self at last must die Wherefore Hesichius Damas in Par. l. 1. as he is translated by St. John Damascen saith That the splendour of this world is but as withered leaves bubles of water smoke stubble a shadow and dust driven by the wind all things that are of earth being to end in earth But this is not all for besides the certainty of end they are infected with another mischief which renders them much more contemptible than that which is their instability and continual changes whereunto they are subject even whilest they are For as time it self is in a perpetual succession and mutation as being the brother and inseparable companion of Motion so it fixes this ill condition unto most of those things which pass along in it the which not onely have an end and that a short one but even during that shortness of time which they last have a thousand changes and before their end many ends and before their death many deaths each particular change which our life suffers being the death of some estate or part of if For as death is the total change of life so every change is the death of Come part Sickness is the death of health sleeping of waking sorrow of joy impatience of quiet youth of infancy and age of youth The same condition hath the universal world and all things in it for which cause they deserve so much contempt that Marcus Aurelius the Emperour wondered that there could be found a man so senseless Aur. Anton l. 6. de vita sua as to value them and therefore speaks in this manner Of that very thing which is now in doing some part is already vanisht changes and alterations continually innovate the world as that immense space of time by a perpetual flux renews it self Who therefore shall esteem those things which never subsist but pass along in this headlong and precipitate river of time is as he who sets his affection upon some little bird which passes along in the air and is no more seen Thus much from this Philosopher This very cause of the little value of things temporal proceeding from their perpetual changes together with the end whereunto they are subject is as St. Gregory notes signified unto us by that Woman in the Apocalyps Greg. l. 34. moral who had the Moon under her feet and her head adorned with twelve Stars Certainly the Moon as well as the Stars might have been placed in her Diadem but it was trod under foot by reason of the continual changes and alterations which it suffers whereby it becomes a figure of things temporal which change not onely every Moneth but every day the same day being as Euripides sayes now a Mother then a Stepmother The same was also signified by the Angel Apoc. 10. who crowned with a Rainbow descended from heaven to proclaim that all time was to end with his right foot which presses and treads more firmly he stood upon the Sea which by reason of its great unquietness is also a figure of the instability of this World And therefore with much reason did the Angel who had taught us by his voice that all time and temporal things
evil in it self in its own nature For if there were no God or that God were not offended with it yet it were a most abominable and horrid evil the greatest of all evils and the cause of all In regard of this deformity and filthiness of sin the Philosophers judged it to be abhorred above all things Aristotle said Aristotle 3. Eth. it were better to die than to do any thing against the good of vertue And Seneca and Peregrinus with more resolution said Although I were certain that men should not know it and that God would pardon it yet I would not offend for the very filthiness of sin For this Tully said That nothing could happen unto man more horrible than a fault And even those Philosophers who denied the immortality of the Soul and the providence of God affirmed that nothing should make us to commit it And there hath not wanted some Gentils who have suffered great extremities to avoid a vicious act Plut. in Demetrio Democles as Plutarch writes chose rather to be boiled in scalding water than to consent to a filthy act With reason Hippo is celebrated amongst the Greek Matrons who chose rather to die than offend Neither was that horror less which Verturius conceived against uncleanness who suffered prison whips and rigorous torments rather than he would sin against chastity Equal to this was that of the most beautiful youth Espurina of whom Valerius Maximus and St. Ambrose write Ambl. l. 3. de Virg. That he slashed and wounded his fair face that it should not give occasion to others of offence even by desire All those were Gentils who knew not Christ crucified for man nor saw hell open for the punishment of sinners nor fled from sin because it was an offence unto God but only for the enormity and filthiness it had in it self This made them endure prisons and tortures rather than admit it What then should Christians do who know their Redeemer died to the end they should not sin and how much sin is offensive to God Certainly they ought rather to give a thousand lives and souls than once to injure their Creator by committing an offence which not onely Gentils but even Nature hath in horror which hath planted in brute beasts although they cannot sin yet a natural aversion from that which looks like sin John Marquess of Gratis desired much to have a Foal from a generous Mare which he had by her own Son but could never effect it neither would she ever admit him until deceived by cloathing him in such sort as she knew him not But when he was uncloathed and she discovered the deceit she fell into that sorrow and sadness that after she would never feed but pined her self to death The like is reported by Jovianus Pontanus of a delicate Bitch of his which he could never although he caused her to be held make to couple with her Son So foul and horrible is but the shadow and image of sin even unto brute beasts Why should not men then who are capable of reason and have an obligation unto Gods commandments say and think with St. Anselm Lib. de simil c. 19. If I should see on this part the filthiness of sin and on the other the terrour of hell and it were necessary for me to fall into one of them I would rather cast my self into hell than admit of sin For I had rather enter pure into Hell than to enjoy the Kingdom of Heaven contaminated with sin Whosoever than he be who is infected with that horrible evil of a mortal sin he cannot choose but be most miserable and wretched For as St. Chrysostome sayes Chrysost Tom. 5. Ser. 5. de ie The greatest evil is to be evil And although the Chirurgion do not cut the cankered flesh yet the ulcerated Patient will not be freed from his infirmity So although God should not punish a Sinner yet he would not be free from the evil death misery and abomination of sin And therefore St. Austin sayes Aug. To. 8. in Ps 49. Although we could cause that the day of Judgement should not come yet we ought not to live ill This monstrous deformity of sin our Lord was pleased to express by a visible Monster and that after a most strange manner as is related by Villaveus He writes Villaveus lib. 8. c. 35. that in the year 1298. Cassanus King of the Tartars with an Army of 200000 horse entring Syria made himself Master of it and brought a great terror upon all those neighbouring Countries in so much as the King of Armenia delivered him his Daughter although she were a Christian and he an Infidel to be his Wife Not long after the Queen proved with child and when her time came was delivered not of a Child but of a most horrible and deformed Monster Whereat the barbarous King being astonisht and incensed by the advise of his Council commanded that she should be put to death as an Adulteress The poor Lady grieving to die with the imputation of a sin whereof she was innocent commended her self to our Saviour and by divine inspiration desired that before her death the Thing which she had brought forth might be baptized which was granted and no sooner performed but that Monster became a most beautiful and goodly Boy and the King amazed at the miracle with many other of his Subjects became Christian acknowledging by what had happened the beauty of Grace and the deformity of Sin although that deformity proceeded not from any actual sin either mortal or venial from which the Child was free but onely from Original guilt which without the fault of his proper will descended unto him from his Parents The deformity of sin comes from the contrariety of it to reason which renders a Sinner more foul and ugly than the most horrid Monster and more dead in soul than a putrid and dead Carcase Pliny admires the force of lightning which melts the gold and silver and leaves the Purse which contained it untoucht Such is sin which kills the Soul and leaves the Body sound and entire It is a flash of lightning sent from Hell and worse than Hell it self and such leaves the Soul which it hath blasted What shall I then say of the evils which it causes I will onely say this that though it were the best thing of the world yet for the evil effects which it produces it ought to be avoided more then death It bereaves the soul of grace banishes the holy Ghost deprives it of the right of heaven despoiles man of all his merits makes him unworthy of divine protection and condemns a sinner unto eternal torments in the other world and in this to many disasters for there is neither plague warre famine nor infirmity of body whereof sin hath not been in some sort the occasion and therefore those who weep for their afflictions let them change the object of their tears and weep for the
cause which is their sinns These are they which ought to be lamented these onely deserve our tears and all the tears in the world are net sufficient to bewail the least of them When our Saviour was led to be crucified he commanded they should not weep for him but for their sons Those sons are our sins engendred from our corrupt nature let us weep for them Finally such is the malice of a mortal sin that he who commits it deservs the eternal pains of Hell and we ought rather to suffer a thousand Hells than once to commit it The love of things temporal opens the way to this Monster of malice and the desire of things eternal shuts it up Let every one therefore consider where he places his affections Let him hear Ecclesiasticus who sayes The heart of a wise man in his right hand and the heart of a fool in his left because the wise man places his affection in that which is eternal and the fool in that which is temporal as St. Jerome interprets it who sayes He who it wise ever thinks of the world to come which leads him to the right hand and be who is a fool thinks onely of the present which is placed on the left How deceived shall the lovers of the world finde themselves when they shall see that for their sins they are placed on the left hand of the Son of God Judge of the quick and the dead and how shall the lovers of Heaven rejoyce to be placed on his right as heirs of eternal glory Abundance and prosperity in temporal goods uses to be a greater occasion of sin than either a moderate fortune or an absolute poverty Wherefore Christ our Redeemer counselled them who desired to follow him in perfection that they should pluck from their hearts all affections which either had or might be occasion of sin When the Machabees recovered Jerusalem 1 Macah. 4. and entring into the Temple found the Altar of Holocausts prophaned there was a great doubt amongst them whether they should use it because it had been sometimes dedicated to God or destroy it because it had been employed in the service of the Devil The Scripture sayes That a good counsel came into their thoughts which was to destroy it and make a new one This good counsel let us follow let us destroy what hath or may be an occasion of sin and if the Machabees pluckt down that which had been dedicated to God because it had been a means for others to sin let us quit the occasion wherein not others but we our selves have offended which is our affections to temporal goods and settle them upon the eternal THE FIFTH BOOK OF THE DIFFERENCE BETWIXT THE TEMPORAL and ETERNAL CAP. I. Notable difference betwixt the Temporal and Eternal the one being the End the other the Means Where is also treated of the End for which man was created HItherto we have spoken of the difference and distance betwixt the Temporal and the Eternal comparing the one with the other and considering them rather in their proper nature and substance than the exterior respects and relations which they have unto others We will now begin to consider them from thence also that it may appear that the things of the earth on what side soever you look upon them are most vile and despicable but the eternal of great worth and value There are many things which although in themselves they are held as vile and sordid yet for some respect or circumstance become of great esteem But things temporal as well in their own proper essence and being as in the extrinsecal relations and respects they have unto others as they are amongst Angels most contemptible so ought they to be amongst Men because really and in themselves they are so Vile and base they are because little mutable and transitory And although in their own nature they were most precious and eternal yet with us they ought to be of no value because they are our Means and not our End created to be our Slaves and to serve us and not adored by us as Masters because they have been the instrument of our sins and because the Son of God descended from Heaven and died that we might despise them These Circumstances although they were in themselves of worth and value yet unto us ought to render them most odious and contemptible Here then is the great difference betwixt the temporal and eternal That the one is the End and the other but the Means the Eternal is the end of man but of the Temporal man himself is the end The eternal is mans utmost perfection and his perpetual happiness the temporal onely to be made use of for obtaining the eternal so as the eternal being our end is to be loved and desired for it self the temporal to be made no account of but as it may conduce to the obtaining of the eternal This being a matter of so great importance it is fitting that we seriously consider it Open then thine eyes O man and reflect Wherefore thou wert born All things have some end for which they are and thou also oughtest to have one Thou camest not into the world for nothing for something thou wert created Open thine eyes and see for what and having found it wander not from it for if thou doest thou art for ever lost What Traveller sets not before his eyes the place whither he intends to goe and rest what Artificer who proposes not unto himself some Idaea which he is to imitate in his work Wherefore then doest thou live without thinking why life was given thee Know that thou wert born for God and for nothing less than God and his service For this life was bestowed upon thee for this thou wert drawn from a not being to a being and didst pass from nothing to a reasonable creature so many thousands remaining uncreated who would have served God if they had a being better than thy self See then what thou owest him for this bounty wherein are included two most incomparable benefits The one for having created thee setting apart so many worthier creatures The other for having given thee the most noble and excellent end that possibly can be imagined which is himself When the Children of Israel past the Red Sea and Pharao and his Souldiers were drowned in their pursuit the Lord would have them celebrate this great benefit for even and Moyses and all the people sung praises and thanks unto the Lord for their deliverance See then what thou owest unto God for having past thee from a not being unto a being an infinity of other creatures possible remaining drowned in the abyss of nothing Forget not therefore the benefit of thy Creation by which from nothing thou becamest a man and wert made capable of eternal happiness David forgot it not and therefore to his 75. Psalm gives this remembrance for a Title For the end For him who passes or leaps from the other part