amaenitas Veris abundantia Autumni Bern. requies Hiemalis There shall bee the fairenesse of Summer the sweetenesse of the Spring the pienty of the Autumne and the Winters rest Nay God shall bee all in all unto us Heaven is described in the Apocalyps that the walls are of precious stones 1 Cor. 13. the gates pearles the porters Angels the streetes payed with gold the City Interlaced with crystall rivers the bankes set with trees of life which beare fruit monethly and the leaves cure the Nations Their Sunne is the countenance of God their day never endeth their felicity never decayeth their state never altereth You have beene in mount Horeb where you saw thunderings and lightenings now are yee called to mount Thabor where yee shall injoy the glory of Christ Iesus and say with Peter Bonum est hic esse It is good to bee here Let them make account of this life who make their Lusts their guides their Belly their god their Kitchin their faith the World their Friend and are not onely in it but of it But our Countrey is Heaven our friends Angels our companions the Saints our Father God our mother the Church our brother Christ our guyde the holy Ghost our inheritance Ierusalem that is from above The Saint by loving another as himselfe hath as many joyes as fellowes and for that they all love God more than themselves they take more pleasure of his blisse than all their joyes besides the damnation of their friends grieveth them not because it standeth with the glory of God which is more to them than all their blisse And thus yee see the joyes of life and yet all that I have said of Heaven where wee shall leade a life eternall and possesse a Paradise of infinite pleasure is nothing it is but stilla mari a drop of water to the whole sea scintilla igni comparata as a sparke compared to the great fire of Aetna it is nothing there In Heaven no decay or damping of ioy needeth no Sunne to shine no Moone to give light no porters the gates of it are open continually there is food better than the Mann that fell from Heaven apparell finer than Aarons Ephod Ecclus. 18. 9. Exod. 16. Exod. 30. Psal 133. 2. Mat. 24. Apoc. 2. Hebr. 12. 22. Mat. 17. Esa 11. perfume sweeter than the perfume of the Tabernacle a building more stately than Salomons Temple there is Paradise without any Serpent to tempt us Mount Horeb without any Thunder to feare us Mount Thabor without any change to greeve us Libanon without any Wildernesse to rent us there is mirth without mourning and such joyes and delights that if all the plants of the Earth were Pennes if all the Earth were Paper if all the Sea were Inke if every Man Woman and Childe were a good Pen-man yet they were not able to expresse the thousandth part of these joyes Hic in terris omnium rerum est vicissitudo here in earth all things alter and change after Day commeth Night after Winter Summer after Sickenesse Health after Life Death after Youth old Age after Pleasure Paine but there is Day without Night Summer without any Winter Health without any Sicknesse or Sorrow Life without Death Youth without old Age Pleasure without any Paine there is the Beauty of Absolon without Deformity the Strength of Samson without any Debility the Wisedome of Salomon without any Folly We shall come from Faith to Sight Aug. Epist. 121. Proâ—e Viduae from the Glasse to the Face from Aenigma to a plaine Truth Hic enim ambulamus per fidem non per aspectum here wee walke by Faith and not by Sight Nunc in spe â—unc in re Now in Hope then in Deede Nuncforis tunc domi Now abroad then at home For when this earthly house of this Tabernacle shall bee destroyed wee shall have an house not made with hands but eternall in Heaven For 2 Cor. 5. 1. as the Father said Quid ibi deesse potest ubi Deus est cui nihil deest What can there bee wanting where God is to whome nothing is wantings O beati visio videre Regem Angelorum Sanctum sanctorum Deum Coeli Rectorem terrae Patrem viventium O blessed sight to behold Aug. lib. despir c. cap. 57. the King of Angels the Holy of holies the God of Heaven the Ruler of the Earth the Father of the Living Woe to mee miserable creature quoth August which am not where the holy Saints bee for your life is without all gunne-shot and danger of death your knowledge without errour your love without offence your joy without any annoy I alas am in the region of the shadow of death I know not my end I would depart hence but I know not when I would dye and this haply shall bee my last day But many have no regard at all of this life they looke too much to the pleasures of the world which makes them not to looke into the powers of the life to come not to looke to eternity It is said of Moses that he chose rather to suffer afflictions with the Hebr. 11. 25. people of God in Aegypt then to enjoy the pleasures of sinne for a season The wicked the Infidels have made a Covenant with death and are Divers errors concerning eternall life with Hell at an agreement they beleeve not eternall life they hold with the Sadduces that there is no resurrection nothing maketh us loth to dye but unbeliefe Withipoll wished to live five hundred Esa 28. 15. Mat. 22. yeers though but in the shape of a toade Paulus tertius said at his death Nunc tria experiar Now shal I trie three things Num sit Deus whether there bee a God num anima sit immortalis whether the soule bee immortall num sit vita post mortem and whether there be a life after death The Borussians and the Irish cry to their dead Quare mortuus es Why diddest thou dye Thou hadst wife children corne cattell oh why didst thou dye They have no hope But brethren things present will bee past and things future will 1 Thess 4. bee present and last for ever this life is no life It were long to rehearse all the errors that Satan hath troubled the Church withall in this point I will name but some of many first the Libertines erre who say that all men shall be saved all shall goe to Heaven contrary to that which our Saviour saith Not every one that saith Lord Lord shall enter the Kingdome of Heaven And Mat. 7. 14. againe Many shall come in that day and shall say Lord Lord have not wee prophesied in thy name cast out Divels in thy name and done many miracles in thy name But he shall answere them Depart from me for verily I know you not And the Prophet telleth us That though the Esa 10. 21. number of the children of Israel bee as the sand
sola Dei misericordia benignitate reponere For the uncertainty of our owne righteousnes and danger of vaine glory it is the safest way to repose all our confidence in Gods only mercy and bounty Then is it not as hee disputes Lib. 1. de justificatione cap. 4. wrought by charity but contrariwise charity doth arise from faith I will conclude with Bernard Omnia merita Dei dona sunt ita homo magis propter ipsa Deo debitor est quà m Deus homini all our merits are the gifts of God so man is rather a debtour to God for them then God to man So much as touching this life Touching the other life hee commends them to God that they may behold the presence of his glory with joy for in the life to come wee shall have plenitudinem gaudy fulnes of joy Here all Psal 16. joy is at an ebbe it is mixed with some sorrow light with darkenesse heate with cold health with sicknes life with death glory with ignominy but there is joy and nothing but ioy no change no alteration day without night light without darkenesse summer without winter youth without age life without death there we shall have all teares wiped away from our eyes and there shall be no more death neither sorrow neither crying neither shall Apoc. 21. 4. there bee any more paine but they shall have perpetuall ioy death The ioyes of Heaven fill all powers of soule body and Hell shall bee cast into the lake of fire and shall bee destroyed for ever The second death shall have no power upon them that be in heaven but they shall bee the Priests of God and of Christ and shall raigne with him a thousand yeeres That is for ever We looke too much to Apoc. 20. 6 5 14. Hebr. 6. the pleasures of this world which maketh us care lesse for Heaven but looke into the powers of the world to come vide intùs extra supra infra circumcirca ubique erit gaudium Looke within and without above and beneath and round about and yee shall find ioy every where within shall be ioy for the glorification of the body and soule for our Saviour even The Lord Iesus shall change our vile body and make it like his glorious body according Phil. 3. 21. to the working whereby he is able to sub due all things unto himselfe It is much to have our bodies changed more to have our vile bodies changed but to have our vile bodies so changed that they shall be facioned like the glorious body of the Lord Iesus is most of all and must needs fill us with ioy Wee shall have ioy without by reason of the company of the blessed Angels for wee shall inioy not onely the celestiall Ierusalem but also the company of innumerable Angels which shall glad us and reioice us exceedingly Wee shall have ioy above in the sight of God for wee shall bee like God and see him as hee is Wee shall have ioy beneath of the beauty of Heaven and of the world for 1 Iohn 3. 2. Wee looke for new Heavens and a new earth wherein dwelleth righteousnesse 2 Pet. 3. 13. Wee shall have ioy round about of the delight of all our senses when God shall bee the obiect of them all for he shall be a glasse unto our eyes musicke unto our eare hony to our taste a flowre to our hands and sweet Balsamum to our smell there shall be the fairenes of the Summer the sweetnes of the Spring the plenty of the Autumne the rest of the Winter yea God shall 1 Cor. 13. bee all in all unto us This life is as a seed-time in teares as the travell of a woman as a weary prentice-hood as a tedious iourney but the harvest is in the life to come there shall we reape joy there Psal 126. 5. are wee delivered of our child birth and forget our sorrow for ioy that salvation is come our sorrow shall be turned into ioy A Iohn 16. 21 22. woman when shee travaileth hath sorrow because her houre is come but as soone as shee is delivered of her Child she remembreth no more the anguish for joy that a man is borne into the world In this world wee have sorrow but in Heaven joy there wee shall rejoice and our joy shall no man take from us Looke to Iesus the Author and finisher of our faith and let the same animate us that did him hee for the joy that was set before Hebr. 12. 2. him endured the Crosse and despised the shame and is set at the right hand of the Throne of God Let us so doe and wee shall follow the Lambe and be partakers of the price of our high calling which is in Christ Iesus tantum gaudebunt quantum amabunt tantum amabunt quantum cognoscunt Deum sic cognoscunt ut cogniti Rom. 8. sunt so much shall they reioice by how much they love and so The land of the living cōpared with the land of the dead much shall they love by how much they know God and they so know as they are knowne The situation and height of Heaven may teach us the quantity and quality of the glory of heaven Coelum Empyraeum is 1 Cor. 13. higher greater and more excellent than all Heavens the Scripture calleth it The land of the living as if the earth which we inhabit were the land of dead men and indeed Wee are dead and Psal 116. 9. our life is hidde with Christ in God and when Christ which is our life Col. 3. 3. shall appeare then shall wee also appeare in glory Now if in this land of dead men the creatures bee so precious what shall they bee hereafter in the land of the living In this dead land see the greatnesse of the heavens the brightnesse of the Sunne and Moone and starres the beauty of the earth how pleasant is it to see the height of the mountaines the plaines of the fields the greenenesse of the vallies the fountains of waters the current of the streames and rivers which like veines runne thorow the earth the mines of gold and silver pearle the mines of metals If all these bee in the land of the dead what is in the land of the living There shall bee a new Heaven and a new earth and new creatures 2 Pet. 3. 15. Againe there be three places in this life The first is in the wombe from our corruption The second is in the world from our birth The third is in Heaven after death Betwixt these three there is a proportion looke how much the world is bigger and pleasanter than the wombe so much is Heaven bigger and fairer than the world as well in length of time as in beauty Touching durance the first life in the 2 Mathab 7. wombe is not above nine moneths the second life is foure score yeeres at the most the third is infinite and
three not by composition of parts but by coexistence of persons The Iewes also note in the verbe 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Bara the mysterie of the Trinity by 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Beth the Sonne by 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Resh Ruah the Spirit by 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Aleph Ab the Father Christ is many wayes divided But this holy mystery is more clearely taught by Moses Gen. 3. 22. Againe They deny Christ of which sort there bee many The Iewes deny that he is come the Pagans deny that ever he will come the Turkes confesse that hee is come but yet as a man not as a God inferiour to their Mahomet the Papists confesse in words that hee is come but in truth denying the person of Christ making his body every where that is no where yea many have denyed Christ and robbed the Creator to give to the Creature the Italians ascribe all to the Pope the Irish to Saint Patrick the Scots to Palladius the Russians to Saint Nicholas Munster in Cosmog and the Calicutes to the Divell But to speake orderly men deny Christ many wayes Some deny his Divinity as the Arrians some his Humanitie as the Vbiquetaries some his Natures by renting them a sunder as the Nestorians who make two Christs one the sonne of God another the sonne of Mary some deny them by confounding them as Eutiches Qui dixit humanitatem a divinitate absorptam esse which said that his Humanity was swallowed up of his Divinity some deny him by concealing him in time of persecution as the Nichodemites doe A Sect against which we are to lift up our voyces like Trumpets for He that denyeth Christ in Earth Mat. 10. 33. before men shall be denyed in Heaven before Angels For this cause they of Ephesus are said not to have denyed Christ but to have suffered for his sake and to have laboured without fainting And Apoc. 2. 3. they of Pergamos are said not to have denyed Christ For though their habitation was where Sathans throne is yet they professed his name and not denyed the faith Remember that the fearefull are placed with Vriah in the forefront in the vauntguard Apoc. 2. 13. of the damned so saith Saint Iohn The fearefull and unbeleeving and the abominable and murtherers and whoremongers and sorcerers and Idolaters and all lyars shall have their part Apoc. 21. 8. in the Lake that burneth with fire and brimstone which is the second Death On the contrary Righteous men are compared to Lions which feare no colours so saith Salomon The wicked flee when Prov. 28. 1. Luke 8. 1 Pet. 1. none pursueth him but the Righteous are as bold as a Lion on the other side its naughty ground that will be scorched with heat it is drosse not gold that will bee melted in the fire it is counterfeit not right Balme that will not abide the water it is a bastard Eagle that soareth not to the Sunne Hee is a Coward Exod. 19. not a Souldier that shrinketh in the battell Hee is an Infidell and not a Christian that denyeth Christ in persecution For one Faith is named one Profession Hold fast saith the Apostle the Profession of your hope without wavering And againe Heb. 10. 23. Heb. 3. 1. Consider the Apostle and high Priest of your Profession Christ Iesus Much Profession much Faith no profession no Faith Christ is denied when the efficacie of his death is denied But chiefely we deny the Lord Iesus two wayes First by denying the sufficiencie of his death as the Galathians did and as the Iews did and as our Papists now who will not let Christ be a Saviour alone but they joyne workes with him but all workes are accursed so saith the Apostle As many as are of the workes Gal. 2. Rom. 10. Gal. 3. 10. of the Law that is thinke to bee justified by them are under the Curse Secondly wee deny the Lord Iesus by denying the efficacie or vertue of his Death not dying unto sinne Therefore Awake thou that sleepest and stand up from Death that Christ may give thee Ephes 5. 14. Light For as the Sunne doth not warme all whom it lighteneth as the people under the North Pole who have the Sun sixe moneths together and yet freeze so the Spirit of God doth not cause all to feele the vertue of his Death whom hee illuminateth with the knowledge of his death Such are our Atheists the former are Papists the later are Atheists and both deny Christ The profession of Christ standeth not in words but in deeds not in tongue but in heart not in opinion but in life The Apostle nameth a true Knowledge for many know not God truely Saint Peter calleth it an Idle knowledge distinguishing of knowledge that it is Operans otiosa a working and an idle 2 Pet. 2. 8. knowledge for some carrie Christ in their mouth and braine as perfume in a Pomander without smell as a sword in a scabbard without cutting as fire in a flint without heat But this I will say to thee in the sight of God and his Angels that if thou doest not dye to sinne and rise againe by a new life if thou doest not kill sinne in thee as Murder Whoredome Malice covetousnesse Vsury Pride Drunkennesse c. thou doest neither beleeve the Death nor the Resurrection of Iesus Christ So saith Paul Know yee not that all wee which have beene baptized into Iesus Christ have beene baptized into his Death And againe If wee Rom. 6. 3 5 6. be grafted with him to the similitude of his Death even so shall wee be to the similitude of his Resurrection Knowing this that our old man is crucified with him that the body of sinne might be destroyed that henceforth we should not serve sinne And Saint Iohn the disciple whom Iesus loved and which leaned on his breast at supper saith Hereby are wee sure that wee know him if wee keepe his Commandements hee that saith hee knoweth him and keepeth not his Commandements is a 1 Iohn 2. 4 5. Lyar and the Truth is not in him This Death unto sinne and Resurrection to newnesse of life Paul calleth it the vertue of his Death The vertue of his Resurrection The stone Dioscorides is nothing Phil. 3. 10. in the mouth of a dead man And all knowledge of Christ is nothing in a carnall man The death of Christ truely beleeved will cause thee to dye unto sinne and the Resurrection of Christ will cause the dead body to rise unto eternall life and the dead minde to an holy life So saith the Apostle If yee The Papists deny the offices of Christ by consequence bee risen with Christ seeke the things that are above where Christ sitteth on the right hand of God set your affections upon Heavenly things and not upon Earthly for yee are dead and your life is hid in God c. The Iewes know Christ but not truly
but the infection disperseth it selfe thorow the eyes even upon them that behold it so that they are touched therewith as it were by some poysonable influence But besides envie there were many other sinnes in Cain hee walked many wayes there was in him profanenesse contempt of God irreligiousnesse God rejected his sacrifice for it was not Hebr. 11. 4 5. offered in faith It is like that hee offered an evill pinching grudging sacrifice with an evill heart So many of us offer the sacrifice of Cain Wee grudge God any thing every little is too much in his service We build our owne houses faire but wee thinke much to give any thing to Gods house and service we wil rather take from the Temple with Balthazar and rob it with Dionysius than give to it As in the land of Israel looke what the Dan. 5. Palmer worme left that the Grashopper devoured and what the Grashopper left that the Canker devoured and what the Canker left that the Caterpiller devoured So in our Church looke what Impropriations have left that have Patrons deuoured what Patrons have left that evill Customs have devoured and what evill Customes have left that have contentious and covetous parishioners as with the teeth of a Lion greedily gained O that these taking hands might one day see the hand which Balthazar saw upon the wall they would then bring every Tythe into the Lords barne and robbe God and his Church no longer Dan. â— Mal. 3. Againe let a man have many children if there bee but one lame and deformed or simple in wit that is given to God and the ministerie the eldest is made a Gentleman the rest Lawyers but the most silly simple deformed is made a Minister he is good enough for God and his Church this is the offering of Cain Againe of duties appertaining to the Ministery if there bee any thing worse than another that wee give to the Minister of God Wee give not to a Prophet in the name of a Prophet therefore we shall not receive a Prophets reward And though the Apostle saith Let him that is taught in the Word make him that taught him partaker of all his goods yet by their wills they shall Mat. 10. 41. Gal. 6. 6. have nothing they would have us live of their almes and of benevolence stand to their good wils and courtesies and take what The Heathen observed the gods to be severe punishers of sacriledge they will give Yet saith Saint Paul Who goeth on warfare at any time of his owne cost Who planteth a vineyard and eateth not of the fruit of it Who feedeth a flocke and eateth not of the milke of it And again Do ye not know that they which minister about holy things eate of 1 Cor. 9. 7 13 14. the things of the Temple they which waite at the Altar are parertakers of the Altar So also hath the Lord ordained that they which preach the Gospell should live of the Gospell This plainely sheweth that the maintenance of the Minister is not a voluntary and beggerly Almes but an honourable stipend allotted of God according to that which Christ saith Dignus est operarius mercede the laborer is worthy of his reward And Paul saith that Hee is worthy of double honour that is reverence and maintenance and whosoever shall robbe him of his due the thing so taken will ring him such a peale to Hell that he will wish he had never beene borne Laqueus est hominis devorare sancta It is a destruction to a man to Prov. 21. 20. devoure that which is sanctified The very Heathen observed that after such time as the Grecians once offered violence to the Virâ—il lib. 2. Aeâ—eid Lactan. de origin cap. 8. Temple of Pallas that they never prospered And Lactantius writeth of divers who have beene grievously punished for offering violence unto holy things as namely of Fulvius the Censor who taking away certaine Marmoreas tegulas tyles of Marble out of the Temple was within a short time after distract of his wits and had two of his sonnes slaine for griefe whereof he dyed also Of Appius Claudius who for alienating those things that were consecrated to Hercules lost his eyes And although Dionysius made a jest of sacriledge in taking a golden Cloake that was upon the image of Iupiter Olympius and putting a linsie woolsie cloake upon it in the stead thereof saying That a golden cloake was too heavy in Summer and too cold in Winter but a linsie woolsey cloake was fit for both Also in cutting off a golden beard that Aesculapius did weare saying That it was no reason that the son should have a beard when as Apollo his father had none Furthermore in taking away certaine golden cups which they held forth in their hands saying That it were folly not to take them being so kindly offered yet this went not without punishment for at the last hee was driven out of his kingdom So Xerxes sending foure hundred of his souldiers to Delphos to spoile the Temple of Apollo they were every one of them destroyed with lightening thunder So Marcus Crassus for taking a great summe of money out of the Temple of Ierusalem viz. ten thousand Talents within a while perished miserably with his whole Army But to let these passe If you would be pleased to cast your eyes a little upon divine Histories and the Histories of the Church yee shall see this sinne horribly punished Balthazar for prophaning and abusing the holy vessels received presently a fearefull doome and sentence by a hand-writing upon a wall Antiochus Epiphanes for taking the vessels of Gold and Silver God punished sacriledge in all ages out of the Temple and for destroying the Inhabitants thereof without cause suffered most grievous paine and misery Herod surnamed the Great having opened Davids sepulchre to 1 Mach. 6. 12. take money out of it as Hircanus had done before divers of his men were consumed with a flash of fire that brake from a secret place Ioseph Ant. lib. 26. cap. 11. Looke to the age succeeding I meane the time of the Gospell and yee shall see Ananias and Saphira for with-holding secretly a part of that which they had voluntarily given to the vse of the Church most severely punished with sudden death Act. 5. 5. After this when the Church was endewed with great riches and possessions by the bountifull donations of godly Emperours and other devoute Christians Iulian the Apostata and Foelix his companion for taking away the holy vessels of the Temple and making but a jest of sacriledge receiued both of them their just punishments the one hauing his mouth which was an instrument of blasphemy made a seige or passage to avoide his filthy excrements which are naturally egested another way the other having all the blood of his body gathered to his mouth as to a sinke which he never left spetting and spawling out till all was
in heart and therefore he shall not inherit the earth which hee so much wisheth Cursed be the covetous for he doth not long after righteousnesse but after riches and therefore hee shall never be satisfied Cursed bee the covetous for he is not mercifull but hard-hearted therefore he shall finde no mercy Cursed be the covetous for he is no peace-maker but a make-bate and therefore he shall be called the child of the divell Cursed be the covetous for he is not pure but filthy in heart and therefore he shall never see God Cursed be the covetous for he cannot suffer the losse of his wealth for righteousnesse sake and therefore the Kingdome of Hell is his And is it thus is covetousnesse the occasion of so much evill Let us take heed and beware of covetousnesse and let us have our conversation Luke 12. 15. farre from covetousnesse for it is Gods owne saying I will never forsake thee nor leave thee so that thou maist boldly say Heb. 13. 5 6. The Lord is my helper Let us not bee like Moles which make Covetousnesse excludes out of heaven many holes and digge many dens in the earth and yet are not satisfied but still labour and digge Let us not build many houses digge many cellers fill many barnes and yet bee unsatiable and unthankefull and in all abundance and plenty will not say Blessed bee the name of the Lord which Iob did in his greatest Iob 1 21. poverty The covetous Cormorant when his barnes were full and his houses furnished was satisfied saying as it were Soule thou hast sufficient Eate drinke and take thine ease but many having ynough and more than ynough are not satisfied but as the Luke 12. 19. Beare seeketh after hony and the Hart chased for the soile and the Eagle for the carkasse and the Woolfe for bloud so the covetous man for gold for gaine Vbi hoc cadaver ibi hae aquilae Where this carkasse is there be these Eagles Their feet run to evill and make haste to shead bloud such are the wayes of every one that is Prov. 1. 16 19. greedie of gaine hee would take away the life of the owners thereof As Vultures smell a dead carkasse a great way off As Eagles flying aloft in the Ayre behold the little fishes swimming below in the waters and deuoure them Sic avari lucrum longè Aug. odorantur so the covetous smell their gaine afarre off they say with Vespatian who tooke a tribute of the peoples urine Suavis odor lucri ex re qualibet the savour of gaine is sweet from every thing according to that of Salomon The bread of deceit is sweet Prov. 20. 17. to a man but afterward his mouth shall bee filled with gravell Iosephs golden cup was found in Beniamins sacke and if God rifle us and search us and our sackes I feare that much evill gaine will bee found amongst us Protestants That as a Cage is full of birds Ier. 5. 27 29. so our houses are full of deceit whereby many are become great and waxen rich Shall I not visit for these things saith the Lord or shall not my soule be avenged on such a people as this is These covetous men have no part with God no portion in Christ no fellowship with the Saints As there be no Serpents in Ireland no Owles in Crete no wild beasts in Lebanon so there be no covetous men in Heaven For without shall be dogges and inchanters and whoremongers and murtherers and Idolaters but covetous Apoc. 22. 15. men are Idolaters therefore not in Heaven Yea and moreover they lose both Heaven and earth like Aesops dogge that lost both the shadow and the beefe Therefore Salendine the Emperour of the East dying caused a man to carry a sheete in Damascus on the end of a speare and to say Ecce trophaea Imperatoris Behold the King of the East carryeth nothing with him but a winding sheet And surely As wee brought nothing into the world so we may carry nothing out Great men have their Porters to 1 Tim 6 7. see that men carry no more out than they brought in and if he chance to spie a silver spoone or a piece of plate in a mans bosome Soft sirrah saith he whither carry yee this plate you brought it not in you must not carry it out Now death is Gods Porter and performeth this O terra cinis O dust and ashes Earthly minds uncapable of heavenly things why art thou greedy and yet men are most greedy of the world and then too when they are ready to leave the world as old men which is monstrous in them Membra frigescunt cupiditas autem calescit their members grow cold but their desire still waxeth warme Caro senescit at affectus iâ—venescunt the flesh waxeth old but their affections grow yong gray heads but greene affections Finis vitae non imponit finem avaritiae the end of their life makes no end of their covetousnesse but still he loadeth himselfe with thicke clay for gold is but red clay and silver white clay Hab. 2. 6. These men are like the dogs snowt that is ever cold like Tantalus that standeth in the water and yet is ever dry Hee hath enlarged his desire as Hell and is as death that cannot bee satisfied As Hab. 2. 5. the Raven feedeth not her yong till they be blacke as the Eagle acknowledgeth not her birds till they can soare to the Sun So God acknowledgeth not them that are drowned in the world and are carryed away by the deceit of Balaams wages that is covetousnesse If yee be risen with Christ seeke the things that are above Col. 3 1 2. where Christ sitteth at the right hand of God set your affections upon heavenly things and not upon worldly These bastard Eagles they cannot mount like Noah's Raven they seize upon carrion As dust cast into the eyes hindreth sight so covetousnesse hindreth our sight that we looke not to heaven it is like the Swallowes dung that put out the eyes of Tobias Wee see not the powers of the Heb. 6. 5. 2 Pâ—â— 2. 14. world to come Our hearts are brawned and exercised with covetousnesse they thinke on nothing else from Munday to Sunday from Ianuary to December The Wise man saith that there is not à viler thing than to love â—â—ney Money doth all now in the world Give Balaam money and Eccles 10. 9. he will curse the people of God whom before he blessed Give 2 Pet. 2. Iehoakin money and he will spoile the poore rob the fatherlesse undoe the widdow pervert all justice Give Achan money and Ier. 22. Ios 7. he will steale the execrable thing the Babylonian garment and the wedge of gold give Iudas mony and he will sell his Master betray Christ Iesus give the Souldiers money and they will Mat. â—6 â—ap 28. lye cog sweare resweare forsweare Christs Resurrection and say that
which is written in Ieremie I will put my Lawes in their minds and in their hearts will I write them And they alledge the saying of Ier. 51. Paul Yee are our Epistle written not with inke but with the Spirit of the living God Nay they say further that the Apostles went beyond 2 Cor. 3. yond their Commission when they did write the Scriptures for they were commanded to preach not to write But the Apostle Mat. 28. 19. to the Hebrewes while he doth write the doctrine of the new Covenant alledgeth the forenamed sentence of Ieremy and Paul had already written two Epistles to the Thessalonians and the former Epistle also to the Corinthians when as hee said Tee are our Epistle witten not with inke c. But as Carpocrates Cerdo Manes rejected the bookes of the Law and Cerinthus all the Gospell except Mathew and Severianus and Paulinus the Epistles and Actes of the Apostles so Papists doe accuse the whole Scripture of imperfection and ambiguity Paul being ready to finish his course and to bid a farewell to the world as appeareth in his second Epistle to Timothie when as already the bookes of the New Testament were written saith thus unto Timothie The whole Scripture is given by inspiration and is 2 Tim. 3. 16. profitable to teach to improve to correct and instruct in righteousnesse All things necessary to salvation contained in Scripture where hee bringeth the whole Scripture unto foure heads doctrine redargution correction instruction doctrine is occupied about the chiefe points of faith and religion Redargution confuteth errours in faith and religion instruction comprehendeth information of manners correction is occupied in reproving and punishing delinquents If the Word of God be a two-edged sword to wound the Divell If it bee the hatchet to cut off the head of all hereticks If the Word be mighty in operation entreth thorow even to the dividing asunder of the soule and of the spirit of the ioints and of the marrow If it bee a lanterne unto our feeâ— and a light unto our paths If Christ used no other weapon to repell the Divell but the Word saying It is written If Apollo confuted the Iewes openly proving by the Scriptures Iesus to be Christ If Christs proofes were Scriptum est and his demands Quomodo legis How read you and his Apologies Scrutamini Scripturas search the Scriptures certainly in the Scriptures is contained alone all things necessary to salvation I will therefore conclude this point with the saying of Augustine Neither will I alledge the Councell of Nice neither shalt thou August lib. 3. cap. 14. aduers Maxim alledge the Councell of Arimine against me by the authority of the Scriptures Let us weigh matter with matter cause with cause reason with reason There is no cause therfore why Papists should take the wings of the morning and fly from the written Word unto unwritten verities that the fathers of Colen should call the Scriptures A nose of waxe that Pighius should tearme it The Leaden rule of the Lesbian building that other Papists should tearme it A shipmans-hoase A black Gospell Inken divinity If any will adde or Apoc. 22. detract from it let the curse be pronounced upon him and let all the people say Amen It is false that we have the Baptisme of infants the celebration of the Sunday the distinction of the persons in the Trinity the number of the bookes of the Scripture by tradition not by the written Word God hath kept his law in the Arke and all Popish Philistines could not keep the Arke 1 Sam. 5. Iohn 20. from us These things are written that yee may beleeve Traditions are gathered of an evill egge digge the Papists never so deep they shall not find the myne nor spring of them in the Primitive Church they labour to put life into a dead carcasse of them but it will not be Avant therefore yee Anabaptists with your revelations Avant yee Montanists with your new comforter Avant yee Iewes with your Cabal and Talmud Avant Trent Councell and Papists with your Traditions our salvation is Christ for There is no other name given unto men whereby they shall be saved save only by the name of Iesus The way to salvation is faith the guide Act. 4. 12. to this way is the Scripture Hereupon saith Paul Yee are no longer forenners and strangers but Citizens with the Saints and of the houshold of God and are built upon the foundation of the Apostles and There is a foure-fold iudgement Prophets Iesus Christ himselfe being the chiefe corner stone So much for the Author cited Enoch the seventh from Adam Now to the thing prophesied which is judgement and therein Ephes 2. 19 20. first we have to observe that there shall be a iudgement There is a fourefold judgement The first judgement was that that was accomplished of man and Angels at their first fall The Angels that fell were judged and throwne out of Heaven Adam that fell was judged and throwne out of Paradise Gen. 3. Secondly There is a middle judgement and so God judgeth the wicked and the godly every day Visiting â—â—eir sinnes with Psal the rod and their offences with the scourge There is a third a particular judgement in the day of every mans death of Lazarus and good men to Heaven of Dives and bad men to Hell and of this particular judgement the Author Luk. 16. of the Epistle to the Hebrewes speaketh thus It is appoynted for all men once to dye and then commeth the Iudgement Hebr. 9. 27. Fourthly there is generall judgement of quicke and of dead whereof Enoch prophesied here saying The Lord will come with thousands of his Saints to give iudgement c. But some will say Why should God judge man after death since hee hath his judgement at his death I answere that in death wee have a particular judgement but God will also have his generall Aug. judgement Secondly In death we have the judgement of the soule But God will judge both body and soule Thirdly In death wee have a secret Doome But God will have an open Assise a publike Sessions and a manifest Iudgement Concerning which generall Iudgement I could produce a cloud of Scriptures to avouch it both out of the old and new Testament Ezechiel saith An end is come an end is come it is looked for Behold it is come Moses also prophesied of this Iudgement Deut. 32. and David Psal 50. and Salomon Eccles 11. 9. and Daniel Cap. 7. 13. and Ioel Cap. 3. and Malachy Cap. 4. So did Christ himselfe Mat. 24. and Paul the Apostle of us Gentiles 2. Thes 5. and Peter 2. Pet. 3. and Iohn 9. Apoc. 20. Neither is this assurance of the judgement to come warranted by the words of Gods servants onely but the Lord hath left many workes of his own to teach us that hee will once at length for all judge the whole
the dead and of eternal Iudgement we can say nothing Here I am to speake to two sorts of men the one is proud and say they have enough they eede not to learne as Laodicia said I am rich and increased with goods and have need of nothing the Apoc. 3. 17. other is dull and saith hee cannot learne The first is confuted by the Apostle If any man thinketh hee knoweth any thing he knoweth 1 Cor. 8. 2. 1 Cor. 13. 9. nothing yet as hee ought to know Wee see here in a glasse in a darke speaking Letus 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Let us not presume Rom. 12. 3. to understand above that which is meet for us to understand but that wee understand according to sobriety Plura nescio quà m scio I am ignorant of many moe things than I know Ignorantiam meam non ignoro Aug. Origen Cal. I am not ignorant of my ignorance Hoc unum scio quòd nihil scio this one thing I know that I know nothing as I should know The other the dull man hee belyeth God hee belyeth not man but God for God hath said wee may learne If thou callest Pro. 2 3 4 5 6. for knowledge and cryest for understanding if thou seekest her as silver and searchest for her as for treasures then shalt thou understand the feare We must bee diligent and constant in seeking Knowledge of the Lord and finde the knowledge of God for the Lord giveth Wisedome out of his mouth commeth Knowledge and Vnderstanding And again the Wise man saith That all the wayes of God are plaine to them that will understand meaning that the Word of God is Pro. 8. 9. easie to all that have a will and a desire unto it so bee thou willing to understand the Lords Word and Way and thou shalt understand it there is no want but Will Aske saith our Saviour and it shall be given you seeke and yee shall finde knock and Mat. 7. 7. it shall bee opened unto you so that if so bee wee would but take a little paines our knowledge would not bee at the ebbe as it is Ephorus and Theopompus were two Schollers the one needed a bridle the other a spurre the one went on too fast the other too slow it is not the bridle but the spurre that wee need Our faith I must confesse is a little stronger our knowledge a little greater our lives a little better than in the time of Popery for theÌ„ we were blind indeed not as whelps that see after nine daies not as the man in the Gospell that saw men walke like trees but blinde as Beetles blinde as the men of Sodom that groped for Lots doore but alas how weake is our Faith how small is our Knowledge how cold is our Zeale in respect of that which we might have had if wee had applied our hearts to Wisedome What know wee at fourescore yeeres old that a child knowes not at eight yeeres old If a childe should never grow in height nor Wisedome it were prodigious even so wee are children still nay monsters But bee not saith the Apostle children in 2 Cor. 14. 20. understanding but as concerning maliciousnesse bee children but in understanding be of ripe age But wee have inverted the order Let us follow the counsel of the Wise man In the morning sow thy seed and in the evening let not thy hand rest that is doe good in thy Eccles 11. 6. youth doe good in thy age yea at all times bee not weary of sowing and bee not weary of working Of well doing for in due season wee shall reape if wee faint not the seede time is nothing Gal. 6. 9. the growth is nothing the harvest is all in all to doe well in youth is nothing to doe well in age is nothing but to continue till death to the last gaspe is pietie in deede If the righteous turne away from his righteousnesse and commit iniquity and doe Ezech. 18. 24 26 according to all the abominations that the wicked man doth shall hee live All his righteousnesse that hee hath done shall not bee mentioned but in the transgresston that hee hath committed in his sinne that hee hath sinned in them hee shall dye for when a righteous man turneth away from his righteousnesse and committeth iniquity hee shall even dye for the same hee shall even dye for his iniquity that hee hath done As well may we drowne in the Havens mouth as in the middest of the boysterous sea as well fall through the peevishnesse of age as through the lusts and concupiscences of youth but of many it may be said Caput canum cor vanum a gray head and a greene wit Anni multi acta stulta dies vberes fructus steriles facies rugosaâ—at We must build here against the time to come lingua nugosa many yeeres but foolish acts plentifull dayes but barren fruits a wrinckled face but a trifling toyish tongue The wicked is like the Vintner in the Gospell who broached his best wine first and after that which is worse like Nebuchadnezers Iohn 2. 10. Image whose head was all of gold whose shoulders were of silver whose belly was all of brasse whose legges were all of yron and feete of clay still worse and worse O brethren wee build apace but it is with bloud as the Prophet sayd They build up Sion with bloud and Ierusalem with iniquity but Sion shall bee Mich. 3. 10 12. plowed up as a field and Ierusalem shall bee an heape c. And Woe unto Hab. 2. 12. to him that buildeth a towne with bloud and erecteth a Citty with iniquity But if wee build not in zeale faith knowledge our houses here shall fall or bee desolate even great and faire without inhabitant the foundation is not good but if wee doe good and Esa 59. be rich in good workes if we bee ready to distribute and communicate Then shall wee lay up for our selves in store a good foundation against the time to come Wee have no houses in Heaven wee 1 Tim. 6. 19. cannot say with Paul Wee know that if the Earthly house of this Tabernacle 2 Cor. 5. 1. bee destroyed wee have an house that is to say a building not made with hands but eternall in Heaven We have faire houses here but what have wee in Heaven Are wee built upon the foundation of the Prophets and Apostles Iesus Christ himselfe being the head corner Ephes 2. 20. stone Can a man goe a long journey with standing still Did the Istaelites goe into Canaan Or the wise men to Bethlem with never moving Heaven is a long journey wee must not stand still but runne wtih patience the race that is set before us Heb. 12. 1. And can wee goe to heaven with doing nothing With learning nothing Beleeving nothing We weave Penelopes webbe Ipsa texuit retexuit what she woave in the day shee
sustaineth the souldier but hope of victory and the mariner but hope of arrival and the husband-man but hope of harvest and the prentise but hope of freedome And shall not the hope of eternall life sustaine us Dum spiro spero whilest I breathe I hope this is the poesy of a Christian the hope of salvation we must put it on as a helmet though we sowe in teares we shall reape in joy Paul 1 Thess 5. 8. Psal 126. 5. setting downe the parts of a Christian life to sweeten the actions of it they being hard to flesh bloud propoundeth the blessed hope saying The grace of God that bringeth salvation to all men hath Tit. 2. 11 12 13. appeared and teacheth us to deny ungodlinesse and worldly lusts and that we should live soberly righteously and godly in this present World looking for the blessed hope appearing of the glory of the mighty God and our Saviour Iesus Christ It is a blessed hope a blessed place that we looke for it is mount Garisim not mount Hebal Hee is a blessed God Deut. 27. 1 Tim. 6. 16. Rom. 9. 5. Iohn 16. Mat. 25. Apoc. 21. Deut. 27. Exod. 19. Numb 21. Exod. 10. Gen. 3. cap. 13. Zach. 14. Christ is a blessed Saviour the holy Ghost a blessed Comforter wee are blessed Children Heaven is a blessed Kingdome There is mount Garisim without any curse mount Horeb without any thunder the wildernes of Sinai without any serpent the land of Goshen without any darkenesse a Paradise without any serpent Eden without any weeds Ierusalem without any Canaanite there is day without night Summer without Winter riches without measure fulnesse without hunger pleasure without loathing life without death The faith and love of the Colossians sprang from the hope of Heaven therefore Paul tels them that hee thanked God for them and prayed for them ever since hee heard of their faith in Christ and of Col. 1. 4 5. their love towards the Saints for the hopes sake which is layd up for them in Heaven This stayd Iob in all his extremities when his cattell were stollen his houses blowne downe his children slaine his friends grieved his body wounded his wife alienated from him I am sure saith hee my Redeemer liveth and Iob 19. 25. I hope to finde him my deliverer and Saviour yea the Lord Iesus for the joy that was set before him indured the Crosse God will put a Hebr. 12. 2. difference one day betweene his children and bastards betweene them that say that it is but vaine to serve God and what profit is it that wee have kept his Commandements and that wee walked humbly Mal. 3. 14 15. before Lord of Hoasts and those that feare God the Corne shall bee gathered into the Garner the Chaffe shall bee burnt the Mat. 3. Goats shall bee separated from the Lambes the vessels of Clay shall bee broken Here is a mixture of sonnes and of bastards Ma◠25. of Corne and Chaffe of Goates and Lambes vessels Apoc. 2. of Clay and of Gold but in Heaven shall bee a difference and Body and soule shall be glorified in all parts and powers if that were not wee were the most miserable even Tully would not bee rocked againe in his Cradle Amas vivere quoth Aug. in vita aeterna Doest thou love to live everlastingly Hope with David to see the goodnesse of the 1 Cor. 15. 19. Aug. Lord in the land of the living In this life quoth Bern. erit mira serenitas plena securitas aeterna foelicitas wonderfull serenity full security eternall felicity then the whole man shall bee renewed our soules shall bee fully reformed to the Image of God as touching the two powers thereof From our understanding shall be dispelled all darkenesse and it shall be filled with new light and that of her selfe she shall know God and the will of God without preaching without praying without Sacraments without bookes and writings to instruct her for preaching shall have an end prayer an end Sacraments an end wee shall bee as the Angels of God understanding all things Now we know but in part 1 Cor. 13. 12. but then shall wee know even as wee are knowne Our will also shall want all wicked lusts and shall bee filled with all true Love both towards God and man and this love shall never bee interrupted To conclude all the faculties of the soule shall bee filled with God and with his power so as the soule shall nourish the body without meate drinke sleep because hee shall bee replenished with God and God shall be all in all Erimus cives Coeli socij Angelorum Ephes 2. 3. cohaeredes Christi we shall bee Citizens of Heaven fellowes of Angels coheires with Christ Citizens with Saints and of the houshold of God As touching the body the other part of man it shall also bee glorified nulla illius erit senectus nulla mors nullus morbus nullum peccatum No old age shall molest it nor death nor disease nor sinne our bodies shall be like the glorious body of the Lord Iesus Nemo ibi irascitur nemo invidet nemo laeditur there is no man angry no man envieth no man is any way hurt or harmed No lust doth annoy no divell doth terrify there is a Sunne without setting life without dying labour without wearinesse pleasures without tediousnesse there we shall see God as he is in the sight 1 Iohn 2. 3. Aug. of whom wee shall doe foure things wee shall know wee shall love wee shall rejoyce and wee shall praise wee shall know the secrets of God which is a depth without bottome wee shall love God above all and our neighbour as wee should wee shall rejoyce for in Heaven there is fulnesse of joy and at the right Psal 16. 11. hand of God there is pleasure for evermore and we shall praise God without ceasing For saith David Blessed are they that dwell in thy Psal 84. 1. house they shall alwayes bee praysing of thee there our joy shall be full all joy here is at an ebbe but there is the flood of joy perfection Iob 15. 11. fulnesse of joy Againe here all joy is mixt with paine Health with Sicknes Life with Death Summer with Winter the Spring with the Autumne Libertie with bondage there is all solace no sorrow The joyes of of heaven unspeakable incōprehensible the first sorrow cast out into shame But as touching this eternall Life whereof Saint Iude here speaketh a man may well thinke of it and talke of it but hee Apoc. 21. 4. can never thinke nor talke of it as it is Paul saith The eye hath not seene the eare hath not heard the heart of man cannot conceive the 1 Cor. 2. 9. joyes of this life The eye of man What can it not see How little a sound will the eare heare What great matters can the tongue utter What wonderfull things can