Selected quad for the lemma: conscience_n
Text snippets containing the quad
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B00818
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A discourse of eternitie collected and composed for the common good, by W.T.
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Tipping, William, 1598-1649.
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1633
(1633)
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STC 24473.3; ESTC S95621
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42,794
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75
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was found in Tulliola daughter of Cicero her sepulcher which continued burning fifteene hundreth yeares These and many other shaddowes and traces of eternity God hath vouchsafed vs to stirre vp our dead and drowsy hearts to a more exact inquisition and serious consideration of the time to come For in the booke of the creature wee may see the power of the Creator and out of these particular workes of his we may vnderstand that that God which hath endowed nature with such admirable qualities can giue the flesh also such a condition that it shall endure according to his mercifull dispensation either torments or happinesse for evermore Now then to draw all this to an issue since it is vndoubtedly true that God hath provided an everlasting being for the soules of men in the world to come since he hath engrauen the knowledge hereof as with an Iron pen in the consciences of the Heathen since he hath giuen vs so many liuely resemblances and traces thereof in the secrets of nature and in the workes of his creation Oh how should the meditation of this take vp our deepest thoughts our refinest affections how should this cause vs to reflect vpon our soules to ponder our waies and with an vndazeled and vndesembling eye throughly to trye and to descry clearely our owne state whether we be already washed with the blood of Christ and enliuened with a supernaturall vigour and life of grace or yet ly polluted in our owne blood Oh how can any man be at rest and quiet in his minde till he be assured and secured in this point since that vpon it depend his everlasting estate in another world our daies wee see are wouen with a slender thred our time short our end vncertaine and when the oyle in our lampes is spent and our glasse runne out then ex vnico momento pendet duplex aeternitas we fly in a moment to an everlasting being either in horror or happinesse where wee shall receiue according to the workes of our hands If wee haue approved our selues sincere in Gods service iust in our actions diligent in our callings faithfull in our promises wee shall then attaine the end of our faith the salvation of our soules and the conscience of our well spent life shall at that dismall day replenish our soules with abundance of consolations Then all our teares shall bee wiped from our eyes what we haue sowed in sorrow we shall reape in ioy when we haue finished our course ended our combate with sinne and death then shall our crowne bee sure our victory glorious and our triumph Eternall our graue shall be but as a sweet refreshing place to our wearied bodies and death shall be our day starre to everlasting brightnesse But on the other side if wee haue in the whole course of our warfare here expended our pretious time in the service of sinne and Sathan and crumbled away the best and choicest of our yeares in the lusts of the flesh and sports of vanity then the issue of all will be death and our end destruction Our mirth wil be turned into wormewood and our ioy into heauinesse all our delights in this earth shall vanish as the flower our sun shall set in a cloud and our daies of iollity and contentation shall irrecoverably be involued and turned into perpetuall darknesse CHAP. V. Containing a short digression touching the eternity of the damned AND here it will not be vnseasonable nor any digression from the point in hand to consider with our selues for our better encouragement to the waies of holinesse the condition of that eternity which the damned haue in hell O the vnhappy and ever deplorable state of those poore soules who feele nothing for the present but wrath and vengeance and can expect nothing to come but the vialls of Gods indignation to be powred on them in a fuller measure for ever after Nec qui torquet aliquan do fatigatur nec qui torque tuc a liquando moritur Bernard meditat cap 3. And that which addes abundant weight to their miseries is they shall burne but not diminish they shall lye buried in their flames but not consume they shall seeke death but shall not finde it they shall desire it but it shall flye from them their punishment consists not in the indurance of any proper or peculiar paine but in the accumulation heap of innumerable torments together All the faculties of the soule all the senses of the body shall haue their seuerall punishments and that which is more vnseparable and more then that eternall There shall bee 〈◊〉 degrees in their torments but the least shal be infinite For as the wrath and displeasure of God toward them is everlasting so shall their pressures be They enioy an eternity like the Saints but not the Saints eternity for their eternity shall beginne in horror and proceed in confusion their eternity shall purchase and yeeld to them no other fruit but yellings and lamentations woe Their eternity is such as turnes all things into its owne nature for all things where the damned doe inhabit are eternall The fire is eternall for the breath of God like a riuer of brimstone hath kindled it and it shall neuer goe out night nor day but the smoake thereof shall ascend for euer The worme is eternall for the conscience of the damned shall be everlastingly tormented with the sense of their sinne Their worme dieth not saith the Prophet and their fire never goeth out The prison wherein they are inclosed is eternall The prayers of the Church could open the prison doores to Peter but no prayers can pierce these walls no power can ouerthrowe them no time can ruine them out of Hell is no redemption no ransome no deliuery Cruciantur damnati cruciantur in aeternum This is the last sentence of the Iudge his irrevocable decree his immutable and eternall Iudgement vpon the damned which shall neuer bee reuersed Adesse intolerabile abesse impossibile there is no appeale will lye from this Iudge there is no reversing this judgement when the sentence is once past it stands for eternity Hence it was that the ancient Church repeated this sentence often in their divine service Peccantem me quotidie non me penitentem timor mortis conturbat me quia in inferno nulla est redemptio Whilst I daily sinne but repent not daily as I ought the feare of death amazeth me because after this life ended out of hell is no redemption The blood of Christ shed on Golgotha is fully sufficient to saue all man-kinde but it belongs not to the damned If therefore the yoake of repentance seeme not sweet to thee saith St Bernard thinke on that yoake which thou shalt be sure to suffer which is Goe yee cursed into eternal fire But the most deplorable thing which is eternall in hell is the irrevocable losse of the beatificall presence of God the eternall priuation of Gods sight the vncomfortable want whereof