vicious example being part occasion therof his tormēts should be doubled nay centupled vpon him In hell therfore there being neither grace nor deuotion but still affected iniquity their torments must bee euerlasting The third reason Drawne from that stinging attribute of Gods iustice because life was offered them here and they would none it is iust with God that when in Hell they begge it they should goe without it yea that they should séeke death and neuer find it Once they were offered saluation being gone in Adam but that offer being neglected let them neuer looke for another O if this long torment were alwaies thought vpon it would make vs vse this short time of our life better they are Spirituall Lunatikes and worse than mad Bedlomites that will purchase an eternall torment for so short a pleasure I beséech you therfore beloued brethren for your soules sake which should bee more worth vnto you than a thousand worldes let not these infinite torments be passed ouer with a short or shallow consideration but write the remembrance of them in the inward parts of your soules with the Diamond of déepest meditation that so this Tophet may neuer be your destruction The seuenth and last part of the Description of Tophet set downe in these words The breath of the Lord like a riuer of brimstone doth kindle it In which words there is not onely a Prosopopeia in the breath but a Topographia in the brimstone vsed both which figures doe notably expresse the furious indignation of the Author and the fierce seuerity of the act the Author or Inflictour of all these fearefull punishments is the Lord God offended at whose anger the Heauens do melt the Earth quakes the whole Creation trembles into whose hands to fall is most fearefull For the Lord our God is a consuming fire The Lord is the decréer appointer and commaunder of all these fearefull torments and the Lord doth execute them vpon the damned both immediate immediately from himselfe mediate mediately by his instruments as by the deuils fire darkenes stinch and other creatures Feare therfore in the feare of God this fearefull and terrible name Iehouah that at the day of néed ye may find him a mild and gentle Lambe and not A roaring Lion of Iudah The seuerity of punishment is set downe by a double allegory Breath Brimstone To expresse the rage and tyranny of Saul against the Lambes of IESVS this word is vsed in the Actes And Saul yet breathing out threatnings and slaughter against the Disciples of the Lord c. So here to expresse the furious indignation of the Lord against sinners the Breath of the Lord is vsed Like a riuer of Brimstone The perplexing property of brimstone is to burne Darkely to grieue the sight Sharply to afflict the more Loathsomly to perplex the smell We reade in the Scriptures that the Lord being much prouoked punished not onely with fire but with burning brimstone which is tenne to one more terrible As vpon Sodome hee rained fire brimstone from heauen I will raine vpon him a sore raine haile-stones fire and brimstone Vpon the wicked God shall raine snares fire and brimstone and stormy tempest this shall bee their portion to drinke The beast and the false Prophet both aliue were cast into the Lake of fire and brimstone Oh who can expresse now the lamentation of Tophet for the breath of the Lord like a riuer of brimstone doth kindle it As this should bee of power to kéepe you from the least iniquity so it should possesse you with the knowledge of the right nature of sinne that it is the most odious and loathsome thing in the world A stinking carkase stinketh not so in the nostrils of man as a polluted sinner stinketh in the nostrils of almighty God As Plato sayth of vertue That if it could be seene with a bodily eye it is so splendid and glorious a thing as all the world would be rauished with the loue of her So may I say the contrary of vice That if sinne could bee seene in his owne colours and in his right Nature all the world would loath and vtterly detest it But miserable man the more is the pitty conceiueth not aright of sinne one would thinke that Adam had committed but a small sinne in eating the forbidden fruit at the intreaty of Eue yet he and all his posterity guilty of eternall death for the same One would thinke that that poore man had committed but a small fault In gathering a few chippes on the Sabbaoth day wée haue fouler matters committed on our Sabbaoths and goe vnpunished yet hee was stoned to death for his labour one would thinke that Ananias detayning part of the money and maintayning the contrary with a lie had committed but a small fault yet hee was strooke dead for the same at the féete of Peter one would thinke that an idle word were but a small sinne yet of euery idle word that men shall speake a great account must bee made for the same And as men conceiue of sinne so they imagine of punishment they thinke that the Lord will not deale so seuerely with them and yet my Text sayth That the breath of the LORD like a riuer of brimstone dooth kindle it The terror of whose wrath is indurable Hearken here all you that make but a sport of sinne looke vpon your punishments prescribed the least sinne that euer you haue committed being weighty as lead is able to sinke your soules downe to damnation Cease therefore from euill and doe that which is good Cast away the workes of darkenesse and put on the armour of light hate the little sinne as well as the great an idle thought as well as blasphemy make much of offered grace to saluation Christ now knocketh at the dore of your soules and would gladly come in and dwell with you For it is his delight to dwell with the sonnes of men shut him not out as did the Bethleemites Bid him not be gone as did the Gadarens but Bee yee open yee euerlasting doores that the King of glory may come in that you hauing giuen him entertainement héere hee may do the like by you hereafter placing you with the sheepe on his right hand and singing this blessed haruest-song vnto you Come ye blessed of my Father inherite the kingdom prepared for you from the beginning of the world To the which most blessed place of glory the LORD bring euery soule of vs at the day of our death and dissolution and that for IESVS CHRIST his sake to whom with GOD the Father and GOD the blessed Spirit three glorious persons but one immortal GOD be ascribed all honour and glory both in Heauen and Earth this day and euer Amen FINIS AN EARNEST AND ZEAlous Prayer to be saued from the damnation of TOPHET O Most glorious euerliuing and euerlouing Lord God the fountaine and well-spring of all our happinesse
TORMENTING TOPHET OR A terrible Description of HEâ—L able to breake the hardest heart and cause it quake and tremble Preached at Paules Crosse the 14. of Iune 1614. BY HENRY GREENVVOOD Master of Arts and Preacher of the Word of GOD. The second Edition corrected and amended Esay 30.33 Tophet is prepared of old it is euen prepared for the King he hath made it deepe and large the burning thereof is fire much wood the breath of the Lord like a Riuer of Brimstone doth kindle it LONDON Imprinted by George Purslowe for Henry Bell and are to be solde at his shop without Bishopsgate 1615. TO THE RIGHT WORSHIPFVL AND my very deare friends Sir LESTRAVNGE MORDAVNT of Massingham Hall in the County of Norfolke Knight Baronet and Lady FRAVNCIS MORDAVNT Bed-fellow HENRY GREENVVOOD Wisheth all increase of Grace in this Life and Eternall Life in Life to come IT is and hath beene long since Right Worshipful the custome of the learned that when they commended to publike view therein ayming at coÌ„mon good their Christian paines and diuine indeuours knowing that the truth hath and alwayes had many oppositions and detractions to present them to men of high place and well affected in Religion that so their works might passe with lesse feare and danger of disgrace and opprobrie I though vnlearned making bold to imitate their Christian policy herein haue presumed to present that doctrine to your Worships eies that lately in publike place was sounded in your eares both of which senses are great Instruments in the furtherance of our soules in the way of Gods Kingdome for as the eare conueieth grace to the affections of the soule so the eye bringeth much matter to the vnderstaÌ„ding of the mind nay the eare cannot so often be an Auditor as the eye an Oratour to the conscience For which cause your Worships nothing more affecting than growth in Grace and Religion I haue attempted to commend to your often considerations Tormenting Tophet for as nothing allureth the heart to grace more than Gods mercies so nothing more preualent against sinne than his fearefull and terrible iudgements If therfore your gracious Worships shall vouchsafe to accept of these my poore presented paines it will giue content to mine own heart and doubtles answerable comfort to your owne soules And to conclude as the Lord hath abundantly blessed your Worships with graces internall and blessings external So to vse the words of the Apostle the very God of peace sanctifie you still throughout and I pray God that your whole spirits and soules and bodies may be kept blameles to the comming of our Lord Iesus Christ Amen From Hempsted in Essex Aprill 3. 1615. Your Worships alwayes ready to bee commaunded in the Lord HEN. GREENVVOOD TO THE CHRISTIAN READER CHristian Reader I commend to thy charitable view this terrible and lamentable description of Hell a Subiect most necessary in these dayes wherin Iniquity hath gotten the vpper haÌ„d the greatest part of mankind laboreth of this dangerous disease namely hardnes of hart and contempt of all grace I therefore for the remouing of this damnable euil haue prepared this Tormenting Corrasiue Blame mee not if I be too bitter in denouncing GODS Iudgements against sinne the presumption of the time compels me this onely is the ayme of my intention herein that many may bee saued from the damnation hereof Let not the Quotations of Latine and other tongues offend thee but know this they are but as country Stiles stepping ouer them thou losest not the way by them for their Expositions follow them Thus commending this Tractate to thy christian consideration and thy self to Gods most blessed protection I rest Thine euerlouing and vvelvvilling brother in the Lord HEN. GREENWOOD ¶ TORMENTING TOPHET OR A terrible description of Hell able to breake the hardest heart and cause it quake and tremble Esay 30.33 Tophet is prepared of old it is euen prepared for the King he hath made it deepe and large the burning thereof is fire much wood the breath of the Lord like a Riuer of Brimstone doth kindle it ALbeit the Lord in the beginning created man in glorious manner omninoÌ„ ad imaginem sui ratione sapientem vita innocentem dominio potentem altogether after his own most glorious image in purity and in perfection of holinesse both in soule and body yet withall he gaue him naturam flexibilem a mutable and changeable nature creating him inpotestate standi seuposse cadendi in power of standing and in possibilitie of falling power of standing that he had from God his creatour possibility of falling that he had from himselfe being a creature A reason whereof S. Augustine giueth in his booke of Confessions Because the Lord created man ex nihilo of nothing therefore hee left in man possibility to returne in nihilum into nothing if he obey'd not the will of his Maker And as Basil sayth Si Deus dedisset Adae naturam immutabilem deos potius quà m homines condidisset id est If God had giuen Adam an immutable and vnchangeable nature hee had created a God not a man for this is a mayne trueth in Diuinity immutabiliter esse bonum proprium soliusest Dei id est to be immutably and vnchangeablie good onely proper to God Adam therefore being thus created that hee might eyther stand or fall by the Diuels subtill suggestion and by the abuse of his owne free will receyued a double downefall the fall of sinne by disobedience and the fall of death by sinne the last fall being the wages of the first fall as ye may reade in the last verse of the sixt to the Romanes The wages of sinne is death The Lord therefore hauing pitty vpon this his miserable estate vouchsafed in his Sonne to shew mercy vpon some by election to saluation as to shew iustice vpon other some by reprobation to damnation According to which irreuocable decree the Lord hath prepared euen from the foundations of the earth answerable places a glorious habitation for the one and a terrible dungeon for the other Which generall truth is confirmed in the words of my Text hauing particular reference to the reprobat Assyrians For as the Lord in his mercy doth promise in this Chapter to his people repenting them of their sinnes manifold blessings spirituall and corporall temporall and eternall so doth he threaten in his iustice terrible vengeance to their enemies the idolatrous Babylonians and Assyrians not onely temporall but also eternall not to the meane subiect alone but to the King himselfe saying Tophet is prepared of old it is euen prepared for the King c. Not to insist therefore too long vpon introductions lest it should be sayde to mee as once a flowting Cynicke sayde to the Citizens of Myndus a little City with great Gates Shut your Gates lest your City runne out I come to the Text it selfe which containeth in it a terrible and lamentable description of Hell prepared of olde for
time for after this life there is neyther place for pardon nor time for repentance Yet for all this golden Time is not respected but men doe poste off their repentance from day to day till at the last they sinke into the depth of hell Yea the time of Grace is tedious to many they must haue some or other carnall delight to driue it away T is death to many to attend willingly vppon the meanes of their saluation an houre or two but there will come a time when they shall wish that all their life had been spent at the hearing of Sermons and Prayer as tedious as it séemeth to them now O the damned in Hell would giue if it were in their power a million of worlds to haue but one houre granted them to liue on the earth againe that so they may come within compasse of offered grace to saluation But if yee will not heare the Lord when hee calleth to you there will come a day when ye shall cry Lord Lord and his eares shall be shut to your prayers and his iustice shall cast you into the deep dungeon of Tophet there to remayne till yee haue payed the vttermost farthing The fourth part of the Description of Tophet mentioned in this word Large As the Lord hath made Hell Deepe so hath he made it Large in regard of the great number that shall be tormented in her as sayeth Occolampadius This word is vsed in the fift chapter of this prophesie Hell hath inlarged her selfe and hath opened her mouth without measure It hath set open her mouth as it were with a gag and all to receyue the great multitudes that shall descend into her It is called Lacus magnus in the Reuelation 14.19 A great Lake That this doctrine is too true witnes that of the Gospell of Matt. 20.16 Multi vocati Many are called but few conuerted Many called but few chosen The most high made this world for many but the world to come for verie few But some man may obiect against these Scriptures other Scriptures to proue the great number of them that shall be saued and so by consequence the small number that shall be tormented in Tophet Saint Mathew sayth That many shall come from the East and from the West and shall sit downe with Abraham Isaac and Iacob in the Kingdom of God many an innumerable company shall be saued Saint Iohn in Reuelat. 7.9 dooth point out that great number that shall bée saued with that nota stellifera that starry note Beholde I saw a great multitude of all Nations and Kinreds and People and Tongues that stoode before the Throne before the Lambe clothed in long white robes palmes in their hands long white robes in token of purity and palms in their hands in token of victory It may seeme by these Scriptures that many shall bee saued and not such a multitude damned I answere That though the number of the Elect be great by it selfe considered to the prayse of Gods mercy be it spoken yet if it be compared to the number of those that shal glorifie Gods iustice in hell Alas then a remnant of Israel shall be saued they are but a handful and therfore hell must be made excéeding Large This great destruction of the damned in hell is liuelily shadowed out vnto vs in the iudgements of God on earth mingled with mercy as in the destruction of the olde world by water how few escaped there aliue only Noah with his Family in the destruction of Sodome by fire how few escaped there aliue only Lot vvith his daughters in the destruction of Iericho by the sword how few escaped there aliue only Rahab with her family that intertained the Israeliticall Spies To come to later times in the destruction of Ierusalem by Titus Vespasian how few escaped there aliue Many hundred thousands of them were starued to death many hundred thousands of them taken captiues to the Romane Empire some put to one death some to another and few escaped aliue and those of the meaner sort agricolae vinitores husbandmen and labourers in vineyards If beloued in the iudgements of God in this world so few haue escaped aliue how few thinke you shall scape at the dreadfull day of Iudgement when of euery idle word that men shal speake a great account must bee made for the same yea when Inquisition shall bee made for the very thoughts of the vngodly If the iust shall scarce be saued where shall the sinner appeare Againe that great is the number of those that shall to Tophet and therefore Tophet made large to giue them fiery intertainement it appeareth in the very liues of men vpon earth for where there is one that commeth to the profession of the truth truly with the sincere heart of Nathanael there are ten yea twenty yea more that walke in the way of sinne in the roade to Tophet without any checke of conscience remorse for their sinnes or reclamation from their sinnefull courses in the world some in the way of Atheisme some in Paganisme some in Epicurisme some in Brovvnisme some in Anabaptisme som in Mahometisme some in Papisme yea some in Deuilisme a matter with many teares to be lamented But wouldest thou not be with this large company in this large place of torment O then follovv not a multitude to doe euill Reuelation 18.4 Come out from amongst them for if thou beest partaker with them in their sinnes thou must bee partaker with them in their punishments Fashion not thy selfe after the wicked fashion of this world rather walke alone by thy selfe to heauen than goe with the multitude to Hell Walke in the narrow way of grace to saluation shunne the broade and large way for that will bring thee to Tophet which as thou hearest is made excéeding deepe and large The fift part of the description of Hell in these wordes The burning thereof is fire expressing the bitternesse of the torments of Tophet There is great controuersie among the learned about this fire Whether it be true substantiall fire or fire allegoricall if it be true fire whether it be materiall corporall or spirituall If it be Corporall whether it burneth the body onely or soule and body also Whether there be true fire in Hel or whether these words the burning thereof is fire be taken allegorically Caluin would haue it taken allegorically and thinks there is no true fire in hell His reason is this If Wood and the Worme be taken metaphorically vvhy not then the fire also But this is no argument to prooue this fire allegoricall For in the holy Scriptures things spoken together are not alway taken in the same maner and nature For example sake Christ is called a Dore a Vine a Rocke a Stone figuratiuely and doth it therefore follow that he was not God and man substancially Againe in Saint Lukes Gospel our