be an abhorring vnto all flesh Which words are againe in some sort thrice repeated by the same Lord Mark 9.44.46 48. In Hell fire their worme dyeth not the fire never goeth out In which places Hel fire and the worme of conscience being foure times ioined togither by him that is the wisedome of the Father as I take it doe shew evidently that the kinde of speach in both is alike Now there is no man so carnally minded as by this worme of cōscience to vnderstand a materiall worme It is a Metaphor and signifieth that cursed and damnable torment of conscience which continually shall gnaw vpon the children of vnbeliefe like vnto a worme whose property is to eate weare away any thing wherein it breedeth This worme then being immateriall why should we iudge this fire to be corporall I graunt indeed that the body is subiect to burning with bodily fire but that the soule which is spirituall should be subiect to such burning I cannot finde it proved and therefore do cōclude that Hell fire meant in my text is not any materiall fire or any bodyly flame but a grievous torment fitly thereby resembled even a seazing of the fearefull and terrible wrath of God on body and soule for ever For our Lord God the Lord of Heaven and earth giving certaine names to such punishments as shall be inflicted vpon the damned to make vs carefull by shunning sinne to be freed from Hell dealeth no otherwise then he doth in giving names also to such blessings as are prepared for the godly to make vs willing by doing wel to seeke for Heaven In both he dealeth 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 applying himselfe to our weake capacities who are not able by our deepest meditations to conceiue in any meane what either the ioyes of Heaven or torments of Hell may be For vs therefore and for our good for our easier vnderstanding it hath pleased the Holy Ghost to shew vnto vs the ioyes of Heaven vnder the types of temporall blessings and eternall torments vnder the figures of earthly punishments Touching the ioyes of Heaven we may see almost in all the Prophets when they come to speak of Christs kingdome how they set it forth with abundance of all good things teaching that his kingdome shall be o Psal 2.8 very farre enlarged that his p Esai 9.7 increase of governement and peace shall be without end that there no nation shall q Esai 2.4 lift vp a sword against another but that their swords shall be turned into mattockes and their speares into sythes that nor r Esa 60.18 violence nor desolation nor destruction shall be within her borders that the ſ Esa 11.6 wolfe shall dwell with the lambe and the leopard with the kid that every child there shal fill his t Esai 65 20 daies that from our faces u Esai 25.8 all teares shall then bee cleane wiped away that we shall goe in through the gates into the citte and there x Rev. 2.7 eate of the tree of life and of the hidden y Vers 17. manna and be cloathed z Rev. 3.5 in white aray and receaue a Rev 2.17 white stones and bee made b Rev. 3.12 pillers in Gods Temple and the like All which speeches of sensible and temporall blessings are so many figures leading vs as it were by the hands to some reasonable knowledge of those ioyes spirituall and eternall In like sort and by the like types of temporall and earthly punishments we are brought to haue some vnderstanding of hel torments Luk. 19.27 Christ saith those mine enimies which would not that I should raigne over them bring hither and slay them before me Could he in more familiar tearmes signifie that eternall death prepared for the vnbeleeuers blasphemers Only he alludeth to the custome of the princes of this world in whose presence rebels many times are put to death Luke 16.23 there is much vttered in common and sensible speeches to signifie the gluttons torments endured in Hell as his seeing Abraham a farre off and Lazarus in his bosome the burning of his tongue and the cooling thereof the dipping of Lazarus finger into the water the great gulfe betweene them both and the like all which though it be spoken as of things corporall yet hath it a spirituall meaning And that which is spoken Matt. 22.13 of the state of Hell that there is weeping and gnashing of teeth must needes haue some other sense then the letter will afford because the damned soules which now suffer torments in Hell haue neither teeth to make any gnashing nor eyes to shed teares What shall I further trouble you with the relation of divers other attributs vsed in the word diversly to expresse the horror of Hell As the names of outward darknesse of the deepe of the lake burning with fire and brimstone of the never dying worme and such like Our iudgement of all these may be the same as it was of the former even that the Holy Ghost doth vse them all as a table to represent vnto vs the state and condition of the damned Which estate of theirs because it is represented vnto vs onely vnder types and shadowes that according to the wisdome of the spirit we must not curiously prye farther into it but rather lay our hands vpon our mouthes and stop the course of our lips lest medling with such secrets we falter in our speeches before the LORD It followeth in my text that this fire shall devoure the aduersaries SIC vorabit vt perdat non consumat saith Calvin this zeale of fire shall greedily consume them Consumet saith AQVINAS non totaliter consumendo sed in perpetuum cruciando this zeale of fire shall feed vpon them not to bring them to naught or consume them vtterly but to torment them eternally What heart is able to sound the depth of this punishment that a man should bee devoured yet not cease to be that hee should be eaten vp yet not consumed that he should bee taken away by death eternally and yet liue eternally Never haue any descended to that firy lake and returned thence to tell vs the torments thereof Yet as by one drope of Sea water wee may giue some iudgement of the saltnesse of the rest and as wee may guesse at the stature and pitch of a mightie gyant by the length of his foot so by a tast of bitternesse wherewith this present life is seasoned wee may haue some conceit of the sorrow and vexation to bee endured by the wicked in the life to come The griefe of mans heart in this world may bee exceeding great as great as ever mortalitie may be able to endure Cā we read of the mournings of Ioseph of Hanna of David of Iob of Ieremie of Ierusalem and not be moved Could wee Our hearts certainely should be harder then the hardest yron Can we thinke of the hideous torments invented and inflicted by Tyrāts as the
for of iudgement and violent fire which shall devour them For if we sinne willingly after that we haue receaved the knowledge of the truth there remaineth no more sacrifice for sin But a fearefull looking for of iudgement and violent fire which shall devoure the adversaries By this fearefull looking for of iudgmeÌ„t is meant nothing else but the vexation of an evill conscience wherewith the wicked are and shal be in a fearefull sort tormented Her condition is to be pitied when no other eie can perceaue her shee will bee marked by her owne when nothing else in heaven earth pursueth her her owne foot shall chase her when shee is free froÌ„ the whole world besides her owne brest wâ—ll be full of witnesses If shee lay her downe her case will be as Iobs was chap. 7.4 She wil say when shall I rise she measureth the howers of the night shee is full of tossing to and fro vntill the dawning of the day And verse the 14. if shee say my couch shall relieue me my bed shalt bring comfort in my meditation theÌ„ is she feared with dreames and astonished with visions To such a conscience this looking for of iudgement can it be lesse then fearefull Who is able to conceiue the terrour of the Iudge St Iohn saw a great white throne and one sitting on it from whose face fled both the earth and the Heaven and their place was no more found Revel 20.11 Wonderfull is the terrour in this place resembled Earth and Heaven creatures without sense great and mighty creatures and creatures that haue not sinned they treÌ„ble fly and hide themselues from his presence as not able to endure the terrour of his sight and shall man seely and sinnefull man be able to abide the day of his comming and to endure when he appeareth Could man present himselfe spotlesse and without blame before the Lambe he should not need at all to feare but his condition is farre worse then so The Preacher chap. 7.20 doth assure vs that there is no man iust in the earth that doeth good and sinneth not so much doth Solomons question import Prov. 20.9 Who can say I haue purged my heart I am cleane from my sinne O saith Eliphaz vnto Iob chap. 15.14 What is man that he should be cleane and he that is borne of a woman that he should be iust Behold saith he God hath found no stedfastnes in his Saints yea the heavens are not cleane in his sight how much more is man vnstedfast how much more abominable and filthy greedyly thirsting after iniquity When the LORD looked downe from heaveÌ„ to see if there were any childe of man that would vnderstand and seeke God Psal 14.2 could he finde any framed according to the rule of that perfection which he requireth He could not this only he found that all were gone out of the way that all were corrupt that there was none that did good no not one So sinnefull is man in his whole race sinnefull in his conception sinnefull in his birth in every deed word and thought wholy sinneful the actions of his hands the words of his lips the motions of his hart when they seeme to be most pure and sanctified yet then are they as vncleane things and filthy clouts Esaie 64.6 And shall man thus deformed approach vnto the throne and him that sits theron without feare Not so The kings of the earth the great men the rich men the chiefe captaines the mighty men bondmen and free men as many of al sorts as are not washed cleane in the blood of the slaughtered Lambe shall m Rev. 22 1â— hide themselues in dennes and among the rockes of the mountaines if possible to be covered from the preseÌ„ce of their iudge in the great day of whose wrath they know they cannot stand And therefore the looking for of iudgement must needs to them be most fearefull The next words of my text are 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 read in the Vulgar Latin ignis aemulatio by Tremellius out of the Syriacke as it is in the Greeke ignis zelus by Castalio ignis saevitia by Beza Vatablus ignis fervor in the Rhemish translation rage of fire in our common English violent fire all describing the punishment which shall follow that great iudgement By the word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 in this place some vnderstand exceeding violence and parching heate I thinke that it may well signifie vehementissimam Dei iram as Tremellius explicates it the fierce anger of God for so much in many places of holy Scripture it importeth Ezech. 38.19 the Lord to signifie his anger conceived against the enemies of his people vseth the like phrase saith In my zeale and in the fire of my wrath haue I spoken And Ezech. 16.38 taking displeasure against his spowse for her filthines tels her that he will giue her the blood of wrath zeale And Zephan 1.18 3.8 the Lord tels vs that in the day of his wrath the whole earth shall be devoured with the fire of his zeale All which places to omit many other doe somewhat illustrate the words of my text Wherevpon St Chrysostome saith that as a wilde and savage beast provoked to ire never resteth vntill it hath seized vpon some prey or booty so this fire as it were enraged with zeale desireth to bee avenged vpon the adversaries of the Lord by devouring them And this fire so zealous for the glory of the Lord of hosts is the vnquencheable fire provided to burne the chaffe Mat. 3.12 that Hell fire never going out Mark 9.43 That flaming fire rendring vengeance vnto them that loue not God and are disobedieÌ„t to his Gospell 2. Thess 1.8 that eternall fire whose vengeance must be suffered Iude. 7. that everlasting fire prepared for the Devill and his Angels Mat. 25.41 Of what qualitie this fire is it is not expresly defined in the written word St Augustine de civitate Dei lib. 21. cap. 10. and St Hierome in his Epistle to Avitus and Aquinas contra Gentiles lib. 4. cap. 90. are of opinion that Hell fire prepared for the damned is a corporall fire This opinion is subscribed vnto by Zanchius part 1. de operibus Dei lib. 4. cap. 19. in his explications in cap. 1. ep 2. ad Thess and allowed of by the Divines of Magdeburg in their first Century lib. 1. cap. 4. and favoured as it seemes by Musculus in his comment vpon Mat. cap. 25. I leaue these and many other of the same opinion for my part do subscribe to Damascens resolution of this point who in his 4. booke de orthod fide cap. 28. writeth Ignem aeternum noÌ„ n 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 materiâ instar huiusce nostri constare that the fire of Hell is not materiall like our fire Esai 66.24 The Lord himselfe speaking of this everlasting punishment of the wicked saith Their worme shall not die neither shall their fire be quenched they shall
Good men are so overlaid with miseries that their words are even swallowed vp but the wicked are in such prosperitie that b Vers 7. their eyes stand out for fatnesse Good men are even cast downe into desolation but the wicked haue more theÌ„ heart can wish c Cicer. de nat â—â—or lâ—b 3. DIOGâ—NES the Cynicke in his time seeing one Harpalus a notable thiefe liuing a long time happily was bold to say Harpalum contra Deos testimonium dicere quod in illâ fortunâ tam diu viveret Wicked Harpalus liuing long in prosperitie was some argument to Diogenes that God respected not mans affaires The like experience hath shaken even the very Saints of God It made Iob to say chapter 24.12 MEN cry out of the the citie and the soules of the slaine cry out yet God doth not charge them with folly It made Ieremie to expostulate with the LORD chap. 12.1 O Lord let me talke with thee of thy iudgments wherefore doth the way of the wicked prosper why are all they in wealth that rebelliously transgresse It makes the Godly to whome â—â—al 73 10. waters of a full cup are wrung out many times to take into their mouthes that passionate complaint Psal 73.11 How doth God knowe it is there knowledge in the most high Loe these are the wicked yet prosper they alway and increase in riches Certainely wee haue cleansed our hearts in vaine and in vaine haue we washed our hands in innocencie for dayly haue we beene punished and chastened every morning From this experience grewe that disputation among the heathens whether God regardeth men and their businesses Tâ—LAMON puâ—s downe the state of it in one verse Tully cites it lib. 3. de nat Deor. NAM si curent benè bonis sit malè malis quod nunc abest Doubtles if God had any care of men their actions good men should be in good estate and wicked men in worse But now we haue experience of the contrarie Improbis optimè bonis malè est wicked men haue their hearts ease but good meÌ„ are in miserie TELAMON was no fitt man to make any construction of Gods proceedings We in Christianity for the thing do know it to be true Wicked Diues hath the world at will whilest poore Lazarus is hunger bitten full of soares and miserable every way The coÌ„struction we make of it is grounded vpon diverse texts of holy Scripture Giue me leaue for mine owne comfort and the comfort of the rest of you that are any way afflicted to repeate for this purpose two or three sentences well knowne vnto you It 's written 1. Pet. 4.17 Iudgement beginneth at the house of God It 's writen 1. Cor. 11.32 When we are iudged we are chastned of the Lord because wee should not bee condemned with the world It 's written 2. Tim. 3.12 All that will liue godly in Christ IESVS shall suffer persecution This being so that the wicked flourish and the Godly are kept vnder it remaineth of necessitie that there must be a second comming of Christ a last iudgement when the Godly shall receiue fulnesse of ioy and glory the vngodly fulnesse of woe and miserie Now for the removall of the scruple which I entended I must explicate the places which it troubleth To that place Ioh. 5.24 I say that by iudgement is meant the iudgement of CoÌ„demnation The beleeuer shall not come into iudgement the iudgement of Condemnation for already he is passed from death to life already he hath everlasting life non re sed spe non fruitione sed fide We are already passed from death to life spe non re for we are saued by hope as saith the Apostle Rom. 8.24 We haue already life everlasting fide non fruitione for wee walke by faith and not by sight as the same Apostle speaketh 2 Cor. 5 7. The truth is as long as this flesh encombreth vs wee cannot fully possesse eternall life yet in this flesh wee haue a tast feeling of it For in this flesh wee knowe God to bee the only very God and whom he hath sent IESVS Christ and this is life eternall It 's Christ's assertion Iohn 17.3 Whereto may be added that 1. Cor. 13.9 We knowe in part and prophecy in part And that Coloss 1.13 God hath translated vs into the kingdome of his deare sonne And that 1. Ioh. 3.14 Wee knowe that we are translated from death to life Thus already are wee passed from death to life by an assured hope already we haue everlasting life by a liuely faith and therefore shall wee never come into iudgement the iudgement of Condemnation But there is a iudgement of Absolution then to be executed when the Lord himselfe shall descend froÌ„ Heaven with a shout 1 Thess 4.16 and with the voice of the Archangell and with the trumpet of God At that great day the dead in Christ shall rise first then we which liue and remaine shall with theÌ„ bee caught vp in the clouds to meet the LORD in the aire at whose right hand wee shall bee set to receiue to the eternall ioy of our hearts that happy sentence Come yee blessed of my Father inherit the kingdome prepared for you from the foundations of the world To that other place Ioh. 3.18 I say that the vnbeleeuer is coÌ„demned already in effect and substance 3. waies In the counsell of God in the word of God and in his owne conscience Hee is condemned in Gods counsell and purpose before ever he commeth into the world as Esau was Rom. 9.11 Hee is condemned in the word of God wherein sentence is already passed against him Ioh. 1.9 for that light being come into the world hee yet loveth darknesse rather then light He is condemned in his owne conscience the torment whereof like a worme ever gnaweth him and never suffereth him to be at rest So many waies are the vnbeleeuers already condemned already that is in this world their condemnation is begunne but the manifestation finishing of it shall be hereafter and therefore the meaning of the place is this they that beleeue not are already iudged in part but the full manifestation thereof shall bee at the day of wrath Then shall they see the Sonne of man comming in the cloudes of Heaven with power great glory at whose left hand they must be set to receiue to their eternall horror that irrevocable sentence Depart from me yee cursed into everlasting fire which is prepared for the Divell and his Angels The scruple now remoued hath remembred vs of two of Gods iudgements his iudgement of CondemnatioÌ„ for the wicked and his iudgement of Absolution for his chosen Neither of them is meant in the present clause of my Text for which I point at two other iudgements of God familiar vnto him when he dealeth with his owne people The one I call his iudgement of Protection the other his iudgement of Correction His iudgement of Protection is meant