make the eares of them that heare it to tingle O sentence intollerable which depriueth sinners of all good things and bringeth them to all woe The Lord sometime accursed the Fig-trée and immediately not onely the leaues but also the body and rootes were wholy withered Euen so that feareful curse of the last day shal be no lesse effectual For on whomsoeuer it falleth it shal so scortch them and shal so make them destitute of Gods grace that they shal neuer more be able to doe to speake to thinke or to hope for any good thing 31 Then therefore the wicked being stricken with this thundering sentence will lift vp their mouthes towards heauen wil spue foorth their shamefull blasphemies against God the Iudge they will curse this day and the houre wherein they were borne and their Parents which begat them and the wombs which bare them the aier which gaue them breath and the Earth which hath borne them but they shal not be suffered any long time to speake these things against the Iudge 32 For suddenly the Spirite of the Lord shal ouerwhelm them and shal with great violence caste them downe headlong into the déepe Apoc. 18. as in Saint Iohns Reuelation appeareth in these wordes Then a mightie angell tooke vp a stone like a great Milstone and cast it into the Sea saying With such violence shall the Citie of Babilon bee cast Apoc. 20. and be found no more And againe Whosoeuer was not found written in the booke of life was cast into the Lake of fire And this déepe shal be shut vp with gates of brasse and with yron barres which cannot bee broken with any force nor cut in sunder by any arte and there they shal drinke of the cup of the Lords wrath and the smoke of their torments shal ascend worlde wtout end they shal not rest day nor night 33 On the contrarie part the iust being in the fruition of ful blessednesse and of euerlasting glorie shall haue in their mouthes the prayses of the Lorde and giuing of thankes and shal with singing and with mirth extol the name of their Lorde and God with whom they shal reigne without ende 34 But although wée heare of those things often yet neuerthelesse wée are not awaked from the sléepe of sinne before wee be ouerwhelmed with the night of death and of darkenes Why doe we which haue this time now looke for another time which peraduenture wée shal neuer haue Now is the accepted time now is the day of saluation There is nothing more profitable for a man then to knowe his time and therefore in our worldly businesse wée obserue times and seasons as a conuenient time to eare a fitte time to sowe to plant and such like Yea the brute beast by the instinct of nature can make choyce of his time for benefite The Swallowe when winter approacheth prepareth himselfe to take his flight into a warmer Countrey The Bée and the Ant in the time of summer prepare their foode against winter And the Prophet Ieremie saith that the Storke knoweth his appointed time If brute beastes deuoide of reason haue this foresight to make choise of time for their good and if man him selfe in a worldly regarde can make choyse of a fitte and due time to gette earthly and transitorie things how much more prouident ought hee to bee for heauenly things that to attaine these hée lose not his fittest time to attaine saluation 35 The olde worlde that liued in the dayes of Noah knewe not their time that was the cause they then perished with the flood The Cities of Sodome and Gomer knew not their time that brought fire and brimstone from heauen vpon their heads to their destruction The foolish Virgins knewe not their time therefore when their Lorde came they being altogether vnready were shut out of the Lords ioy Let vs then knowe the season how it is time now that wee should awake out of sleepe Rom. 13.36 1. Thes 5. Let vs watch and be sober for they that sleepe sleepe in the night and they that are drunken are drunken in the night But let vs which are of the day be sober least the darkenesse come vpon vs wherein we can neither walke nor worke Let vs alwayes haue before our eyes that day and time wherein we shall appeare before God and his Angels and before the whole worlde to answere our cause and either to receiue a Crown of glory or else perpetual shame and confusion Let vs know that we haue here a very short time limitted vnto vs. wherein wée must so endeuour our selues that for short and transitory things we lose not that which is eternall If wee haue this consideration of that great day of the Lorde wée shal not only be the more secure in death but also be the better prepared to méet with our Lord and Sauiour when he shal come to iudgement CHAP. IIII. Concerning Hell and the torments thereof THere is nothing that the Diuell laboureth more then to perswade men that there is no hel that so the more easily hée may leade them thether as it were blindfolde by the way of sinnes while they haue no feare of any punishment euen as shéeues are wont to bee ledde with a vaile before their faces when they are going to the gallowes as Ezechias was serued whose eyes Nabuchadnezer commanded to be put out whē he was caried away captiue into Babilō 2 But it may bée shewed by many reasons and authorities that there is a hel For as a Princely magnificence requireth that a King haue a beautiful Pallace for to entertaine the best sort of men and a prison for the worst Euen so the king of kings and Lord of all glorie and principalities hath a Pallace wherein there are many mansions as our Sauiour Christ in the Gospel testifieth which is the kingdom of heauen and he hath also a darke prison or dungeon which is hel 3 The lawe of nations requireth that malefactors for their offences be driuen into exile for euer euen so God doth banish from his presence Luke 16. the impenitent sinners into hel For so it is said of Diues that he dyed was carried into hel Esay 5 And the prophet saith Hel hath inlarged it self hath opened his mouth with out measure and their glorie and their multitude and their pompe and he that reioyceth among them shall discend into it Also S. Iohn saith that the feareful and vnbeleeuing and murderers Apoc. 21. the whormongers sorcerers and Idolaters and all lyers shall haue their part in the Lake which burneth with fire and brimstone which is the second death And Christ Iesus saith Feare him which hath power to cast body and soule into hell 4 But forsomuch as God hath not made Death nor the kingdom of Hell vpon earth Wisd 1. We must vnderstand that the principal procurer of this Hell is Sathan the Prince of darkenesse who béeing in
in one part of his body as on his little finger but one houre how intollerable shal the paine of the damned be when they shal wholly burne within and without Which of you saith the Prophet Isaias can dwel with burning fire And yet our fire here is but a picture shadowe of that vnquenchable fire there in hel where one drop of colde water wil be more worth then all the iewelles of the worlde though onely to coole the tongue 35 All the sences of the body shall bee here tormented and that not with heat only but also with extreame and moste freezing colde as Gregorie affirmeth in these words In hel is intollerable colde vnquenchable heate an immortal worme a stinch not to be endured a scourge euer striking darkenesse palpable a feareful vision of diuels confusion of sinnes and a desperation of all good things 36 This endlesse miserie shal enforce them to houle cry cursed be the day wherein I was borne and let not the day wherein my mother bare me be blessed Cursed be the man that shewed my father saying A man child is borne vnto thée and comforted him Cursed be he that he slue me not Ier. 20. euen from the wombe or that my mother might haue bene my graue or her wombe a perpetual conception How is it that I came forth of the wombe to sée labour paine and sorrow that my dayes should be consumed with shame 37 Thrée things among many other torments shal enforce the wicked to blasphemie and curse first that before the day of doome they daily sée the downefal of those into Hell of whose damnation they themselues haue bene the authors And for this cause Diues in Hell prayed Abraham to send Lazarus to his fathers house to forewarne his brethren that they might not come into that place of torment 38 Secondly because in Hel the waters which they could wish might serue for their refreshing shal be like to burning pitch which shal neuer be quenched the smoke whereof shal ascend for euer 39 Thirdly because they shal be gathereth together as the prisoners in the pit fagoted vp in a band like a bundel of stickes for the fire For as heauen is as touching the many maÌ„sions wherof christ speaketh is in it self infinit answering the esseÌ„ce maiesty power of God being placed aboue all orbes spheres and farre beyond all circle and compasse of mans capacitie euen so Hell is limited in a smal orbe capeable of no more than the damned and the instrumentes of their torments which cannot be very spacious in regard the whole earth is much lesse then the circumference of the Sun The straitenesse of which place shal bring to the huge heapes of the damned packt vp therein increase of torment with palpable darkenesse 40 Now if this Hell were but a temporal paine as Origen thought then hope would cheare the tormented sinner but the torments are eternal the tormented quite destitute of hope The worme of conscience is ther for euer without solace and gnashing of téeth shal be continually without gladnes Thus the torments of the damned shal continue so many worlds as there be starres in the firmament as there be graines of sand by the sea shoare and as there be droppes of water found in the sea And when these worldes are ended the paines and torments shal not cease but begin afresh and thus this whéele shal turne round without ende 41 For when the motion of the Primum Mobile and of the Heauens shall cease then shal time also cease Now in this world there is a time past now there is a time present and a time to come but then there shall bée no time past nor any time to come no wéek no moneth no yeare nor any variation of time Apoc. 10. It shalbée as the day wherof the Prophet speaketh which shal be neither day nor night This shal bée a very long daye Zach. 14. For it shal bee for euer and euer For one day is with the Lord as a thousand yeares Pet. 3. and a thousand of yeares but as one daye of darkenesse and of blacknesse 42 What â—an considering these things will endure these hellish torments euerlastingly to inioy for a litle while the vain pleasures of the flesh Although a man by liuing in sin might procure vnto himselfe the wisedome of Salomon the strength of Sampson the beauty of Absolom and Susanna the riches of Cressus the power of Augustus and the yeares of Mathusalah what would all these profit at the last if after a while being in death thou canst neither deliuer thy body from wormes nor thy soule from hel fire and as our Sauiour Christ saith What doth it profit a man to win all the world and to loose his own soule If thou ofteÌ„ meditate these things thou shalt both leade a good and holy life and after a while make a blessed and happy ende of thy pilgrimage The fifth houre Concerning the small number of them that shall be saued STriue to enter in at the narrow gate for many I say vnto you wil seeke to enter in and shall not be able Luk 13.24 With what purpose and meaning ha◠〈◊〉 Lord vttered this senteÌ„ce Verily to no other end as it may be gathered by the words going before then to shewe that they are few in number which are saued and many which perish 2 For there are some which had propounded this question to the Lord saying Lord are there fewe that be saued To the which question the Lord aunswered so wisely that by his answere he taught that they were but few which would be saued and also rendreth a reason why they were but few Striue saith hée to enter in at the straight gate for many I say vnto you will striue to enter and shall not be able the which is all one as it hee had more plainely said they are but fewe which shal be saued and that for no other cause but for that the gate of life and saluation is straight and narrow 3 This thing the Lord goeth about to print in our minds wheÌ„ as he so often times repeateth Many are called but fewe are chosen And when hee cryed againe Wide and broade is the way which leadeth to perdition and many there bee which enter thereat but narrowe and straight is the way which leadeth vnto life Mat. 7.1.3 and fewe there bee which finde it 4 This thing Isaias setteth before our eyes by a very plaine and yet feareful similitude For thus he speaketh Surely thus shal it be in the middest of the earth among the people as the shaking of an Oliue tree and as the grapes when the vintage is ended Isaias Chap. 24.13 These shal lift vp their voice and shall sing praises when the Lord is glorious and magnificent that is to say how seldome doe Oliues hang vpon the tree after they are shaken and how seldom are grapes found vppon the vines after the vintage
Amos. 8. and I will darken the earth in the cleere day That is to say when men thinke it to bée the high noone of their age when they thinke that they haue yet many yéeres to liue when their minde is occupied about their gaine about theyr affaires about their honors buildings mariages and pleasures when they say vnto their soule Soule thou hast much goods laid vp in store for thée for many yeeres eate drink rest and be merrie then it shall suddenly be saide vnto them Behold death is at the doore thou foole this night shall thy life be taken away from thee Eccl. 41. and whose are then those things which thou hast gotten 9 Then death vnlooked for frustrateth all our counsels cutting off the webs of our deuises and with on stroke she casteth down and layeth flatte on the ground al those Towers builded in the ayer and then what a wound doeth the heart of the sinner receiue which loueth this present life when the Physitian saith vnto him Thou must from hēceforth thinke no more of life but of death 10 Here first of all all those things which he loued in time past offer themselues vnto him from the which he shal be pulled away and seperated by death whether he wil or no. The body shal dye once but the heart shal dye so often as the things be in number which he loued Then in very déede shal the most cléere light be turned into darkenesse because those things which were aforetime occasions of great ioy shal be now horrible vexations and torments It is a most swéete and pleasant thing to them which liue to sée their louing and faithful friendes to remember their honors to think vpon the pleasures past and to come But all these things in the time of death shal be as swords as torments and most bitter potions 11 But if it be so harde a matter to bée pulled away from those things which do not so néerely touch man how bitter I pray you will the seperation bée of the body from the life and soule For such two louing familiars which haue alwaies liued sweetly together euen from the mothers wombe cannot be seperated without great gréef If the Oxe do commonly lowe mourn when his yoke-fellow which was wont to draw with him is taken away how will euery one of vs mourn when the minde shal be seperated from the body Then wil the body and the mind with teares repeate againe and againe doest thou thus seperate bitter death O death dost thou thus seperate 12 And when the cogitation of so sharp a seperation is déeply setled in our mind then gréefes follow gréefes and sorrow commeth vpon sorrow for then it commeth presently into the minde what a miserable condition the body and soule shal be in after the seperation And first of all when a man beginneth to recount with himselfe that his body after a fewe houres shall be buried in a graue or dark tombe he cannot cease from wondring at so abiect and miserable a condition What the body that now liueth which seeth which heareth whith speaketh shal it be made after one houre in a moment blinde deaffe dumbe without sense without spirit without life Shal I haue then in stead of a large pallace a base sepulchre in stead of a soft bed the hard ground for delights rottennesse for swéete smelles stinkes and in stead of seruants and familiar fréends wormes And thus this cogitation of the graue will verie sore trouble and terrifle a man in these extremities 13 But yet notwithstanding euery man feareth much more when he beginneth to consider what condition remaineth for the soule For when he beholdeth that eternity and that new Region vnknown to all men liuing which hée then alone and naked is to enter and againe when he vnderstandeth that there is to be founde in the same both euerlasting glorie and perpetual paine and misery and knoweth not of which hée shal take his part it cannot bée tolde with how great feare with what carefulnes and with what excéeding sorrow he shal be tormented When hée perceiueth plainly that after two houres he shaibe either in eternal ioyes or in euerlasting paines Is not this a crosse farre surpassing all other crosses 14 This incertainty therefore of blisse or of a cursed estate which after two houres the sinner expecteth that remembreth his sinnes feareth the iust iudgement of God without hope of remission or faith in Christ bringeth a hell in minde not to be expressed For by how much the kingdome which hée desireth is of largenes and by how much the fierie furnace which he feareth is terrible by so much greater shal this perturbation be For from the one Angels shal come to carie the faithful vp into heauen and from the other diuels shal come to cary the wicked and infidels into hell fire 15 But there is yet a farre greater perturbation then this namely that he shal cal to mind the account which he is to make to God of all his words déedes and thoughts For of it selfe it is a horrible thing to enter into iudgement with God the which horror wil wonderfully vexe and disquiet the diuels themselues For as so long as we liue they set forth vnto vs the mercie of God and doe also commend the same and do striue all that they can to keepe vs from meditating of his iustice and iudgements Euen so now on the contrary part they extenuate and make his mercy insufficient and doe set before our eies the greatnesse and seuerity of the Lords Iustice 16 Then the sinner wil begin to tremble and to fall into desperation and wil begin to reason thus with himselfe If God for the sinnes of others spared not his onely sonne wil he spare me which am guiltie of so many sinnes If this be done in the greene tree what shal befal that which is feare and drie If the Prophets if the Apostles if the Martyres after they liued godly so many yeares entred not into the kingdome of heauen without tribulations what other place can be left for me but that of hell fire which know no good that I haue done 17 If the Scripture be true which saith He wil render to euery man according to his works I which haue done so great wickednesses what should I looke for but eternal torments If the Apostle lye not as indéede he doth not when he saith That which a man soweth that shall hee reape Gal. 6. what shal hée reape but eternall death which hath made so cursed sowing If no polluted thing shal enter into the kingdome of God how shal I which am altogether filthy and vncleane haue hope to make so happie and blessed an entrance 18 Then therefore all his sinnes which he committed with so great facility when hée liued shal violently inuade the sinful man like an hoast of his enemies Then the feare of punishment wil open the eyes which sléeping securitie in sinne before had
of this whole frame which is called the great worlde the Sunne shal be turned into darknes and the Moone into blood and the Starres shal fall from heauen the Ayer shall be full of whirlewindes stormes corruscations slashing meteors and thunders the earth with fearefull tremblings and swallowing gulphes the floods of the sea shal swel so high as if they would ouer flow the whole world and the roaring and raging noyse of the fretting billowes and tossing waues shal greatly terrifie Men therefore shal wither and waxe pale with feare and horror and trembling shal vexe them more and more expecting what these new monsters wil bring foorth at the last and what wil be the end of such horrible beginnings 14 When a tempest ariseth at the Sea and the boisterous waues begin to tosse and beat the shippe and the men which are in the same do beholde the horrible lightnings and fierie flashings in the ayre and the furious winds also making the sea to swel and rage in such wise that now they sée themselues tossed aloft and then anon caried down into the déepe they begin presently to cry to feare to tremble to call for mercie to multiplie their prayers to craue time of repentance to commend their saluation to almightie God and to be short they begin to thinke of the amendement of their manners and to haue better purposes Then thinke with thy selfe what manner of minde men wil haue when they shal sée heauen and earth and all the elementes to haue their peculiar and proper tempestes when the Sun shal strike a horror into mens harts with his fearful darkenesse and the Moone being turned into blood shal terrifie them that beholde it and the starres with their falles shal threaten for they shal fal so thicke that the Firmament shal séeme to be quite without light and the aire with continual fierie meteors shal séeme to burne the sea shal swel excéedingly and the most high mountaines being shakē with earthquakes shal fal with excéeding great noise 15 Who then wil take pleasure to eate who wil take delight in drinke who wil then haue any desire to sléep Nay who dare once then slumber or take the least rest amidst so many tempests and stormes O miserable and vnhappy sinners ouer whose heads al these signes doe hang and doe foreshew vnto them extreame calamitie O happie men yea thrise four times tenne times yea a thousand times happie and blessed whose conscience in that time wil make them merry and glad 16 Thus farre we haue considered the greatnesse of the last day the signes going before the same now let vs cal to minde certaine thinges concerning the resurrection of the dead and the comming of the Iudge 17 Therefore after those signes wonders which shal goe before the day of the Lord an Archangel shal come downe from heauen and with the feareful sounde of a Trumpette shal giue a signe to all that are dead to rise againe and to come to Gods iudgement This is that Trumpet which Saint Hierome thought that hée euer heard sounding in his eares whatsoeuer he were doing and not without cause For who can appeale from this citation who can refuse this iudgemēt who can pretend sicknes busines or any other excuse 18 Then shal death be compelled to make surrender of al the spoiles in a momēt which hée had taken away from the world and she shal be sent away into euerlasting banishment beyond al lands and seas and beyonde the world and the borders of al liuing things For as Saint Iohn sheweth in his Reuelation then shal the sea yéelde vp her dead which it hath swallowed and death and hel shal doe the like 19 What a sight shal there bée then when sea and land shal bring forth in al places so many bodies so vnlike one to the other so different and so vnequal And when as at one and the selfe same place so many armies shal come together from all parts of the world In that place Adam the father of al the Nations of the earth shal sée al his posteritie come together and shal meruaile There we shal sée Xerxes Darius Alexander Caesar other Monarches of the world but yet hauing another forme other maners and other mindes then they had when they liued here For at the sound of the Trumpet kings and Nations and all the worlde shal tremble they shal strike their breastes and mourne 20 Moreouer although all men shal be restored vnto life yet neuerthelesse there shal be great difference betwéen those bodies which shal be restored to holy men and those which the wicked and vngodly shal receiue For they shal be more shining then the sun and shal bee beautified with vnspeakeable brightnes but the others most foule and vgly and more terrible then death it selfe 21 What pleasure I pray you shal the blessed soules haue when they shal be ioyned againe to their bodies as to their most swéet brethren after so long banishment neuer to feare any more a seperation What I beséech you shal flesh féele when it shal be raysed from dust and shal sée an vnwonted light and when the soule shal come vnto it and say God saue thée my sister and most swéete Spouse the winter is now gone the storme is past away arise my beloued and come the Lord hath fulfilled our desire thou hast bene the companion of my trauels and laboures thou hast for the Lordes sake suffered with me persecutions and iniuries thou hast bene with me in watchings in fastings and vnder the crosse of repentance thou hast liued with a temperate and spare diet to féede the poore thou hast not excéeded in apparrel that thou mightst cloath the naked Equitie therefore and reason requireth that the things which thou hast sowen with mée in teares thou shouldest also reape with me in ioy and that séeing thou hast bene a companion with mée in my labours thou shouldst also be partaker with me of my pleasures riches and glorie Then shal the soule swéetely imbrace the bodie and the bodie ioyfully kisse the soule and they shal be ioined together with most happy and indissoluble knots And then with how great ioy and gladnesse shal they dwel together in one for from thencefoorth appetite shal not contend with wil nor sence with reason but being ioined together in one with the league of amity peace and concord they shal enioy the delights and ioyes of heauen euerlastingly 22 And contrariwise with what anguish shal the soule of the sinner be tormented whē that foule il fauoured deformed and feareful body is offered vnto him With what words thinkest thou wil they salute one another O vnhappy body wil the soule say O the beginning and end of my calamities thou hast brought me to these torments with thy entisements and now I am come not as it were into a house to rest but as it were into a prison to be tormented I am compelled to enter into thée againe against my
how to decke and set out themselues with fine apparel with swéete smelles with daunces and other like allurements The which to doe is no better then to wrest the heauenly light of the minde which was made to beholde God to the obedience of a most wicked bond-slaue and to make the minde being withdrawne from heauenly exercises to be subiect vnto the appetites of a most abiect hand-maide 8 Therefore whoredome is a great and intollerable tyranny ouer the minde of man And no lesse is that tyranny of Ambition For behold and see what a heauie yoke ambition layeth vpon his bondmen commanding them that al their words and workes bée wholly imployed as nets and snares to get the common praise and fame of men and it compelleth them also to creepe as it were vpon the ground and to flye through the ayre For man at the commandement of Ambition séeketh to climbe higher then all men to bée subiect to none to rule al men and yet sometime when occasion serueth he prostrateth himselfe and humbleth himselfe to al men Thus the miserable man being contrary to himselfe and deuided in himselfe outwardly preferreth humilitie and in heart pride 9 Furthermore the lawes of this most cruel tyrant are such that if a man doe receiue a litle reproache or detriment eyther by right or by wrong he thinketh that he is vtterly disgraced if hée doe not presently reuenge it and if by no other meanes then to prouoke his enemie to some singular combat and so rather to loose his soule and body then to hazard the least part of his dignitie 10 I omit the tyranny of couetousnes and of other vices which are innumerable affirming with the Prophet Dauid that all the seruants of sinne do sit in darknes and in the shadowe of death fast bound in miserie and iron For what greater blindnesse can be imagined then that man should not know himselfe that he should not know God that he should not know wherefore he liueth and seeth not his bondes his miseries his perils and his harmes 11 And what greater miserie can there be then that miserable man should haue an infinite sort of desires as it were an infinite sort of mouthes stomacks which alwayes barke alwayes craue alwayes hunger and is not able to satisfie and fill so much as one of them 12 But now let vs sée what reward sin giueth vnto her seruants for so great labors Let vs harken to the Apostle and he wil tell vs The wages of sinne saith he is death that is to say both the first and the second death For what gall is to the lips a Cockatrice to the eyes a dead carcasse to the nose and Alowes to the taste the same and more is sin to the soule of man 23 Therefore let the bond-slaues of sin and wickednes go and serue their masters let them run into all dangers let them not spare for cost nor labors let them watch day night least peraduenture they be beguiled of so great a stipend O fooles which for the wages of eternal death will willingly beare so heauie a yoke when as with much lesse labour ye might serue righteousnesse who rewardeth her seruants with eternall liâ—e in the kingdome of heauen Wicked men labor and good men labour also both suffer both sweate both delue and digge but good and godly men till that ground likewise husbandmen which is firme sound fruitfull that is to say they exercise themselues in good workes and in sound vertues whereby they rearpe in the ende euerlasting life but wicked and vngodly men plow in the sand and sowe in the flesh and of the same shall receiue the wages of sinne eternal death 14 Therefore whether yée consider the wickednesses by themselues or the wages of the same the seruice of sin must néeds be horrible and wofull But yet there is nothing which doth so much set foorth the miserie of seruitude and the excellency of libertie as the manner of our setting at liberty and the passion of the Deliuerer For God which made the world without labour and as it were with a becke onelie at his will that he might deliuer vs from bondage slauery thought it good to be borne in a stable and was content to die in sorowes and paines But what manner of sorrowes Verilie such that the onely cogitation expectation of them might haue bin able to haue brought him into a bitter agonie to sweate water and bloud plentifullie The suffering of them made the most hard stones to rent the earth to tremble and heauen it selfe to be abashed 15 If God made so great a reckoning of thy libertie that hee vouchsafed to take vpon him the forme of a seruaunt and to liue thrée and thirtie yeares in hunger and thirst in colde in nakednes in fastings in watchings in iorneys in persecutions and in the end to shead forth his most precious heart bloud vppon the Crosse rather then hée would suffer this precious gemme to be taken from out of his handes let vs then acknowledge that excéeding glorie of the sonnes of God wherevnto wée are called which is the mother of all good things which alone is able to giue true peace perfite ioye blessed rest and tranquilitie If the heathen Romains of olde time for a false and fading libertie suffered great perils and death it selfe as Quintus Mutius Scaeuola thrust into the fire his right hand the Decii vowed themselues to the death that their legions of souldiers might bée preserued and get the victory Curtius being armed at all points and mounted vpon a horse threwe himselfe willingly into a gulphe of the earth that the Cittie of Rome might be deliuered from the pestilence for so had the Oracle giuen answere that the wrath of the gods would cease if that which the Romains estéemed best were throwne into that gulph Brutus also for the preseruation of the libertie of his Countrey did not sticke to slay his owne children If the heathen I say estéemed thus of their liberty which is in no point comparable to ours how much ought we to estéeme of that most true liberty wherby we are deliuered from sinne from sathan from death and from the wrath of GOD. They sought humaine praise a thing doubtlesse vnconstant and of small force as appeareth by the saying of the Poet Virgill concerning Brutus His Countries loue him driues and greedie lust of endlesse same But our ende is to approue our selues vnto God whose iudgment cannot be deceiued and to get the prize of the kingdome of heauen and the fellowship of Angels which is set before vs as the ende of our libertie which we séeke to attaine by this Pilgrimage CHAP. X. Concerning the Imitation of Christ THe true and sound perfection of a Christian man coÌ„sisteth in this to imitate Christ so neere as possibly he can for he is the head we are his members he is the captaine we his souldiers he is the Doctor we are his disciples It is said
shut Then ambition pride thefts murthers adulteries fornications gluttonies drunkennesse lying periurie idle words vncleane thoughts and negligent slacknesse in all good workes wil come to remembrance O how heauy gréeuous wil they then séeme to bée which now séeme so light and are done with so much swéetnesse and pleasure And how greatly wil they then torment the mind of the Sinner 19 For who is able to expresse that last agonie wherein the soule fighteth with sore and paineful sicknesse with the temptations of diuels with feare of the iudgement to come and al this at one instant Then commeth that same last perturbation the failing of all the sences as the forerunner of death approaching which vehemently terrifieth at what time the breast swelleth the spéech groweth hoarse faint and hollowe the eyes sinke the nose beginneth to be sharpe the countenance waxeth pale the féet die and the Arteries send forth a colde sweat 20 These thinges which appeare outwardly are grieuous and ful of horror but they are without al comparison more gréeuous and horrible which are felt inwardly For if they as Saint Hierome writeth of blessed Hilarion which haue many yeares serued God doe feare at the time of their departure what shal they doe which many yeares haue serued the diuel and their execrable wickednesses and which haue prouoked God vnto wrath Whither shal they go whose help shal they craue what counsel shal they take If they looke vpwarde they shal sée the drawne sword of Gods Iustice if downeward they shal sée a great gulfe gaping and hel fire if the time past they shal sée al things vanished away like a shadowe if the time to come they shal beholde the eternitie of worldes which shal last without ende 21 But how I pray you shal they be able to resist and abide the assaults of the Diuels who wil then bestir them with all their might and maine What shal sinful men doe which are left in this state Returne they cannot and longer to abide in this state wil not be permitted them 22 O that we might vnderstande and knowe what manner of battel this is and what maner of burthen is to be borne in this houre we would then verily be other manner of persons then heretofore we haue bene Al these things Faith teacheth Nature proclaimeth Experience testifieth and it is euident to euery one of vs that we shal come vnto that state wherein we wil desire with all our heart that wée had brideled our selues from al wickednesse that we had exercised al the works of vertue that we had liued in all holines and not spent our time in vaine Let vs not imitate foolish men which looke vpon present things onely let vs wisely prouide for things to come so by the grace of God we shal bring to passe that the same houre which to others is the beginning of sorowes to vs shal bée the beginning of ioy and felicitie 23 Thus farre wée haue shewed what may befal a man at the point of death vntil the moment of his departure now let vs sée how the body is bestowed after the horrible seperatiō of the life from the same The soule therefore being dissolued there lyeth vppon the ground not a humane body but a dead carkasse without life without sense without strength and so feareful to looke vpon that the sight thereof may hardly be endured To be short it is little better as touching the substance then the body of a horse or a dog which lieth dead in the fieldes al that passe by stoppe their noses and make hast away that they be not annoyed with the sight and stinke thereof Such is mans body now become yea though it be the body of a monarch emperour or king Where is now that Maiestie that Excellencie that authority which it had aforetime when men trembled to beholde it and might not come in presence therof without al reuerence and obeysance where are al those things become were they a dreame or a shadow 24 After these thinges the funeral is prepared the which is al that men can carry with them of al their riches and kingdomes and this also they should not haue if in their life time they did not appoint it for their dignitie and honour Psal 49. For the Prophet Dauid saith truly Bee not thou afraid though one bee made rich or if the glory of his house be increased for hee shall carry nothing away with him when he dieth neither shal his pompe follow him 25 Here now a pitte is digged seuen or eight foote long as if it should serue for Alexander the great whom the world coulde not conteine and therin the dead carkasse is contented to dwell alone continually the which so soone as it is come the wormes doe welcome and the bones of other dead men are constrained to giue place 26 In this house of perpetuall obliuion silence the carkasse being wound in a shéet and bound hand and foote is shut vp though it néede not to haue so great labour bestowed vpon it for it would not runne away out of that prison though the hands and féet were loose 27 And now if we do but consider a little of the Tombes and Sepulchres of Princes and Noble-men whose glory and maiestie wée haue séene when they liued here in earth and doe beholde the horrible formes and shapes which they now haue shall wée not cry out as men amazed Is this that glory is this that highnes and excellencie whither now are the degrées of their waiting seruants gone where are their ornaments and ieweis where is their pompe their delicacie and nicenes Al these things are vanished away like the smoake and there is now nothing left but dust horror and stinke 28 But now leauing the body in the graue let vs consider how the soule entereth into the new world Therfore so soone as the soule of the sinner is dissolued from the flesh it beginneth to passe through a Region vnknowen where there are new Inhabitants and a new manner of liuing What then shal the miserable sinful Pilgrime do when he shal sée him selfe alone in such an vnknowen Region full of horror How and by what meanes shall he defende himselfe from those most fierce théeues and horrible monsters which in those vast desarts do assaile passengers This verily is a fearefuli iourney 29 And yet the iudgement is much more fearefull which in that place is exercised Who is able to expresse the vprightnesse of the Iudge the seueritie of the iudgement the diligence of inquisition and the multitude of witnesses 30 In this iudgement teares will not preuaile praiers will not be heard promises will not be admitted repentance will be too late and as for riches honorable titles scepters and diadems these wil profit much lesse And the Inquisition shal be so curious diligent that not one light thought nor one idle word not repented of in the life past shall be forgotten For trueth
are carried after death by the diuel and his angels euen as contrariwise the soules of Gods children which liue in his feare in Christian obedience in this world are caryed vp into Abrahams bosome as was Lazarus and are in the hands of God Luke 16. Wisd 3. Greg. lib. 9. moraliū where no torment can come neere them For as S. Gregory saith Inasmuch as the wicked haue in this life forsaken their Creator both in body and in minde they shall in hell fire bee tormented both in body and in minde together And now that we haue hitherto spoken at large concerning Hell it resteth that somewhat be declared as touching the paines and torments that are now shall be for euer in the same In the which albeit there is but one fire yet saith S. Gregory it doth not torment sinners after one manner For euery one shall be punished according to the qualitie and quantitie of his sinnes 22 As in sin there are to be séene 2. turnings namely a turning away frō the chiefe and increate good or felicitie called Summum bonū a conuersion or turning to the lesser created good which be the things of this world Euen so in the punishmēt which is answerable to that sinne there shal bée found two sorrowes The one which shal arise of the losse of euerlasting blessednes the other which shall arise of the paine and torments which shal be brought vpon the body soule Both which sorrowes and torments the Schoolemen cal the pain of losse the paine of sence 23 But first of all we wil speak of the losse of felicitie which is the greater punishment There cannot be immagined or deuised any paine or punishment so greiuous which is comparable to the losse of felicitie For if to liue in exile and banishment in a close prison from our deare friends in this world it may séeme a punishment how greatly wil that seperatiō from God vexe torment vs whose onely sight is so great happines that sodainly it maketh a man blessed and happy 24 It was to the Cittizens of Rome a great punishment and almost the greatest of all other when for some great offences they were compelled to forsake the Citie and the company of Cittizens and to dwel in certain desert Ilands among the Barbarians Wherfore Marcus Tullius when he was brought againe from banishment as if hee had entred into a new world had gotten heauen for earth said as a man amazed how beautifull is Italie how faire are the regions thereof what goodly fieldes what pleasant fruites what famous cities how great humanitie of Citizens what an excellent common wealth and so forth How great griefe and sorrow then shal they féele which are absent from the Pallaces of heauen from the commonwealth of Saints from those most happy Regions where peace charitie tranquilitie and ioy raigneth where the voyce of praise and reioysing and a continual Alleluia is sung And finally to be absent from that most pure light which maketh the beholders ioyful and happy and when they shal bée compelled to dwell for euer in most filthy prisons and as it were in a sinke of al filthinesse where there shall bee no order but continual horror where there shall bée no voice but of such as mourne and blaspheme where there shal be heard no sound but of beating maules and of whips and with a rable of all sorts of diuels both barbarous and cruel and also in the companie and fellowship of most wicked men 25 Then shal their eyes be opened then shal the vaile be taken away frō before their face then shal they sée with excéeding sorrow that betwéene the euerlasting felicitie and these fraile transitory things there is incomperable difference when they shal behold most euidently that they haue lost the ioyes not to bee tolde and permanent for euer for certaine shadowes and dreames 26 Here shal be so great sorrow that although the damned doe know that al accesse vnto euerlasting blessednes is shutte vp from them O Lord open our hearts and giue vs grace to seeke thee while thou art to be found and that there is a most great Chaos and vniuersal confusion set betwéene them and the place of the elect and blessed yet being compelled with a certaine natural desire they shal not refraine themselues from these cries Lorde Lorde open to vs Lorde Lorde open to vs. 27 Hell therefore is an intollerable thing and the paine therof most horrible and yet if it were a thousand times bigger yet is it not comparable to the separation from the honor of that blessed glorie in the kingdome of heauen and to the hatred of Christ Math. 25. O remember the poore mēbers of Christ Iesus and the Lord vvill remember you when he shall say I knowe you not and to this reproach and checke When I was hungry and thirstie ye gaue me no meate nor drinke c. For we shall more easily endure a thousand thunder-claps then to haue his most méeke and louing countenance turned away from vs. 28 Moreouer the losse of this felicitie bringeth with it selfe the losse of all good things For the eyes of the damned shall sée no comely shape or forme their eares shall heare no manner of harmony their tast shal haue no swéete or sauerie thing to delight it their féeling shal haue no safte thing to serue it and their smelling shal haue no fragrant sauours to refresh and comfort it For they which shal bee once shutte out from the companie of God are at one instant drowned in the Ocean of all calamities and miseries without hope of deliuerance Let vs then déeply weigh and consider how great a matter it is to lose felicitie 29 Now let vs come to intreat of that torment which is therefore called the paine of sence by the schoolmen because it is as wel laied vpon the outwarde sences of the bodie as vpon the inward faculties of the minde And that wee may first deale with the torment of the inward sence yee shal obserue that there are foure faculties of the soule which shall bee vexed in hell with wonderful torments The first is that which the Grecians cal Phantasia and we Cogitation The second is memory The third vnderstanding And the last will 30 Cogitation therefore shall be most vehemently vexed with the féeling of those tormentes into the which both the body and the minde shal be cast For if now some great griefe doe so possesse our Cogitation that a man cannot would hee neuer so faine but thinke of that griefe what wil the torments of hel doe in the mindes of the damned which shal bee greater without al comparison Therefore cogitation shal increase the griefes and sorrowes and those sorrowes shal whette and stirre vp cogitation and they both shal so féede one another that they shal leaue no place of rest neither in the mind nor in the body of the damned These therefore Holy
but God sent his sonne for vs to suffer most méekely of wicked men euil sayings reproaches spitting vpon buffetings whipping crowning with thornes wounding and at last death it selfe Thou contemnest great things and magnifiest smal trifles if thou sinnest thou sayest it is nothing if thy head doe ake but a little thou thinkest it to bée a great matter To loose thy soule thou makest no great reckoning but if thou be in perill to loose but a finger thou wilt call together all the Physitions and Chirurgians in the Cittie But Christ with his true example of life taught that there is no euil so much to bée feared as sinne and hel that nothing was so much to be desired as God the glorie of God saluation and vertue and that he is rich noble wise and beautifull indéede which is indued with patience humilitie charity chastity and with other vertues that he is a poore man vile deformed and witlesse which is a fornicator a drunkard a couetous and proude person and which is polluted with other vices as with a leprie and scabbe For Christ being God and hauing all thing in his power to choose what manner of life hée would during the time that hée liued on earth chose the most vile and abiect state of life and therfore for his house had a stable for his bed a manger for clothes of Tapistry hay and the same none of his owne a poore mother thin and a spare diet apparel suteable to bée short he sought no manner of pompe riches or pleasure of this world And contrariwise he refused no labours no afflictions no miseries nor any euils sauing onely sinne only which euil hée would haue his Disciples and professors vtterly to abhorre 9 And thou canst not say that he neither could nor knew how to choose a better state For hée which was God most mightie was also most wise And what other thing doth Isaias commend in him more Isaia 7. then that hée should bée called Emanuel and hée should know how to shun the euill and choose the good Hath not Christ then plainely and euidenly by his example of life taught that there is no euil so much to be eschewed thée as with a shielde who hath saide I am the way the truih and the life him therfore follow in this pilgrimage here on earth so shalt thou neuer erre CHAP. XI Concerning the crosse and tribulations of this life IF in all other things it behooueth a wise man to haue skill to behaue and gouerne himselfe how much more in aduersity the which is of such force to shake discomfort the mind of man that thereof come heresies desperation thefts homicides and all manner of wickednesse with the which all men doe so abound that whether we be small or great rich or poore noble or base or whatsoeuer else we haue more calamity then felicity 2 The efficient cause of these calamities is God himselfe as he testifieth by the mouth of Isay the Prophet saying Isay 45.7 I am the Lord and there is no other I forme the light and create darkenesse I make peace and create euill I the Lord doe all these things And holy Iob whenin one day he had lost all his riches all his children and the health of his body vnderstanding that hée was thus afflicted partly by the Sabeians and partly by the Chaldeans partly by the winde and partly by fire which the diuell in his malice raised and therewithall consumed and spoiled his goods did hée say the Lord hath giuen and the diuell hath taken No verily but hée saide The Lord hath giuen Iob. 1. and the Lord hath taken blessed bee the name of the Lord. And in another place Shall we receiue good from the handes of the Lord and not euill also 3 Wherefore whatsoeuer befall vs whether storme or tempest théeues or murderers losses at the sea or on the land famin or pestilence sicknesses or imprisonment or whether we be afflicted with heretiques or scismatiques with Angels or diuels with heauen or earth or from whence soeuer any tribulation doth come God alone is to be feared to be prayed vnto to be pacified to his will and commaundement all things obey For fire water haile snowe frost raine winde storme and tempest these when they séeme to be grieuous vnto men what do they else but fulfil his word 4 There are two gates then to be considered by which tribulations doe enter into the worlde the one is Gods prouidence the other is sinne Concerning his prouidence Salomon saith Wisdo 6. Chap. 14. Hee hath made the small and great and careth for all alike And againe Thy prouidence O Father gouerneth it And our Sauiour Christ himselfe saith Are not two sparrowes sold for a farthing and one of them falleth not to the ground without your heauenly father Math. 6. The very haires of your head are numbred 5 Not only the scriptures but that most excellent and comely order by which we sée so many seuerall things gouerned being so different so diuers and so disagréeing in natures and in places doth proue vnto vs that all things in the world are gouerned and ruled not by fortune and chance but by the prouidence of God Euen as if thou heare a harpe sound pleasantly or if thou sée a wagon or a ship to goe forward by arte reason and order although thou sée not the harper wagoner or maister of the ship yet thou art out of doubt that there is a harper which causeth the hary to sound in good tune a wagoner and a shipmaister which maketh both the wagon and ship to moue and goe 6 We are two maner of waies afflicted by God For sometimes we are troubled by those things which without any fault of their owne doe hurt vs and sometime by those things which hurt vs not without their fault and sinne The first followe the lawes of nature by which it is ordained that among mortall creatures the weaker shal alwaies giue place vnto the stronger The other doe breake the lawe of God As when we suffer and sustaine any thing at the hands of wicked men God hath a worke therein so farreforth as it may be to our good and therefore suffereth the euil to be done drawing out of the euil a greater good 7 For God is said to work in that which is good for there is nothing so euill which hath not some good ioyned with it And there is no good so small whereof God cānot make a bottomlesse fountaine and as it were an Ocean of all good things As for example behold a lame man What is it to halt To halt is to walke but yet not without a maladie To walke is good but the maladie is euil Whereof or from whence hath the man that walking which is good From the power of his wil and mouing instrument of the mind From whence commeth the maladie commeth it from his will No verily but either of the shortnesse or
Iesus Christ our Lorde So that wée must not doe as in times passed the Infidels did which made great lamentations and inuectiues against the Iewes Pontius Pilate Herode Iudas and them that had executed and put Christ to death and in the meane season flattered themselues vaunting of their owne merites and desertes and did not narrowly consider that Iudas Pontius Pilate Herode were but executers and ministers of their impieties and sinnes Let vs therefore consider in the breaking of the breade that our sinnes yea the sinnes of euery one of vs seuerally crucified the sonne of God and brake him with the sorrowes of the first and second death as namely the wordes of the Supper doe shew that the body of Iesus Christ was broken for vs and his blood was shed for the remission of our sinnes And our heauenly Father witnesseth the same speaking of the death of his Sonne Esa 53.3 For the sinnes of my people haue I smitten him Then if it bée so that our sinnes being weighed in the ballaunce of the iustice of GOD were found to bée so weightie and of so great importaunce that his wrath coulde neuer haue béene appeased towardes vs but by the death of his onely Sonne which maketh full satisfaction I say by the cruell ignominious deathe of the Crosse how should not wée hence forward detest and abhorre our sinne as that which is the cruell and bloody murderer of the only Sonne of God Mat. 27 451. Beholde the Sunne and the Moone beholde the Element beholde the vaile of the Temple beholde the stones and rockes which were moued at the death of Iesus Christ which shewed foorth tokens of sorrowe and wée which beare within our selues the cause of his death shal not wée haue in horrour and detestation this cursed enemie sinne that is lodged within vs Shall wée suffer him to rule and dwell in vs as before that il may bring home death vnto vs Not so but wée must detest it as that that before time separated vs from God our chiefest happinesse as that that caused vs to loose the image and similitude of God according to which wée were created at the beginning by GOD. It is that that hath wholy destroyed vs that hath depriued vs of holinesse and righteousnesse that hath banished vs out of Paradice that hath made vs slaues to the tyranny of the Diuell that hath made vs subiect to so many miseries and diseases and to be short both to the first second death It is that which after it had set a barre and diuision betwéen God and vs caused vs to sée our owne filthinesse purchased vnto vs shameful vilainous infamy made vs to tremble at the voyce of our God which was before most pleasant and louing vnto vs. It is that wherby the wrath of God is heaped vpon men that maketh the earth to become barren to bring forth thornes and thistles that causes women to bring forth in sorrow and that men eate their bread in the sweat labour of their bodies Séeing then that sinne bringeth forth and procureth vnto vs daily so many miseries it followeth that we ought to withdrawe our selues from it if we wil not be wilful enemies of our owne happinesse saluation Now then I cite here all disordered and slanderous persons which notwithstnading are so impudent to present themselues to the Lords holy Table I aske them what it is that they promised to God his Church in Baptisme They wil answere me that they promised God to renounce the Diuel all his workes But one of the chiefe and principall workes of the Diuel is sinne Why doe they not then abstaine from it Why are they traytours and disobedient to God his Church Why haue they conspired with the Diuel the world the flesh against their own saluation How dare they peesent themselues before God to aske him pardon and remission of their sins séeing that more and more they heape sin vpon sin crucifie kill againe as much as in them lieth the son of God or at the least make a scorne a scoffe of the purging of this blood which was appli-vnto them in Baptisme Put the case that a wicked man poore and destitute of all helpe wete fallen into a mire whence out he could by no meanes rayse vp himselfe that some young Prince passing that way tooke the paines to draw him out of the ditch to make him cleane to cloath him with gorgious and precious apparell if this wicked man poore miserable caytife fall againe into this myre wilfully by his own folly beray both himselfe his apparell being moreouer in great daunger of his life would not one think that this man were maruellously vnkind and a contemner of that princely bounty and goodnesse on the other side a wilful and sworne enemy of his owne health worthy to be lost and cast away without any helpe or assistance Euen so standeth our cause with Iesus Christ We fel al into the puddle of sinne in the person of Adam g Gen. 3.6 Psal 39.15 we are all wicked doers and worthy of an hundred thousande gibbets before God we can by no meanes get out of our selues and out of the ditche of destruction whereinto we are all fallen by our owne fault Behold the son of God the king of kings the Lord of Lordes which commeth to draw vs out of this puddle which cōmeth to wash vs with his precious blood which vouchsafeth to cloath vs with the proper cloake of his righteousnesse and innocency If we come againe to wallowe our selues in the puddle of sinne if we please our selues in it if we defile bedurt the robe of innocency which he hath giuen vs in Baptisme are we not manifest contemners of the inestimable loue gift of Iesus Christ are moreouer worthy to rot a thousand times in our filthinesse or rather to gnash our téeth euerlastingly with the diuels in hel It is euident Séeing then that it is so that the end of our redemptiō baptisme iustification requireth of vs to abstaine from sin so farforth as possibly we may our fleshly infirmitie wil suffer we must take all paines and diligence by the vertue of the spirit of God to cast out from vs all foulenesse filthinesse Idolatry blasphemy rebellion hatred murther whordome theft and vsury all other things contrary to the holy Lawe if we will not bee more than ingrateful towards Iesus Christ and open enemies of his Churche and our owne saluation But because it is not sufficient for the inducing of a true and he althful repentance to acknowledge our misery to abhorre it to confesse it and to abstaine from it but we must also know desire and do that good which God cōmandeth in his word we must consider the argument which ought earnestly to stirre vs vp to the sanctifying of the name of God First in that we are ioined and made one with Christ