ALWAYES which shall follow But they which open their eares to heare and their hearts to understand when the Church soundeth both Trumpets as it often doth and thereupon seriously consider with themselves and compare together this short NOW with that infinite and everlasting ALWAYES they will use no delay but presently remove the camp they live here as Pilgrims and strangers they have their loyns girt they remember that they are in a journey they send their riches and pleasures before them into their Countrey which is above they choose rather to enjoy them ALWAYES in heaven then NOW for a short time upon earth Certain it is whosoever heareth attentively and mindeth seriously the Alarm of these Trumpets and thereupon compareth together things present with things future and things transitorie with things Eternall He will presently make himself ready to depart he will prepare himself a place of buriall he will lay out his winding sheet he will send for his bear and furnish himself with all things necessarie for his journey remembring still in every place that he is passing on the way to Eternitie and conferring with himself every day after this manner How shall I be able to give account unto God for all my thoughts words and deeds and When shall I give up my account and What sentence will he passe upon me NOW therefore will I die unto my self that I may ALWAYES livâ— unto my self and unto God Welâ— is it with that man which timelâ— and dayly thus thinketh upon Eternitie Whatsoever we do we arâ— passing on our way and we do noâ— know how short it is unto thâ— gate which leadeth to Eternitie At the last houre of our life death shall bring us unto this gate and compell us to enter Let us therefore so live as if we were alwayeâ— expecting death that if it shalâ— please God at any time to visit uâ— with sicknesse the forerunner oâ— death we may entertain it cheer fully and beare it patiently liftinâ— up our eyes unto Christ hanginâ— upon the Crosse the true and perfecâ— pattern of Patience and when the time of our dissolution draweth neare praying thus Lord Jesu stand by me and comfort me Lord Jesu be present with thy servant that putteth his trust in thee Lord Jesu make me partaker of thy victorie Lord Jesu receive my spirit and leade me through the darksome valley and shadow of death leade me and forsake me not untill thou hast brought my soul into the land of the living O thou most potent conquerour of death O thou which art my light life and salvation Good Master what good thing shall I doe that I may have ETERNALL life Math 19. 16. It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle then for a rich man to enter into the kingdome of God The love of riches of ETERNITIE are scarce resident in one heart THE FIFTH CONSIDERATION upon ETERNITIE How others even wicked men themselves have meditated upon Eternitie THe old historie of the Fathers tells us of a religious man that reading upon the nineteenth Psalme came at length having not thought of it to these words For a thousand yeares in thy sight are but as yesterday when it is past and here stuck For he could not conceive a reason why a thousand yeares and one day should be compared together Whereupon they say there was a little bird sent by God which so ravisht the man with her sweet singing that though he heard her sing a very great while together yet he thought the time very short scarce a short houre long The winde bloweth where it listeth Not good men onely have with holy David meditated upon Eternitie but even wicked men also and those oftentimes against their will Benedictus Renanus reports of a vain and ungodly fellow a very Epicure and meer worldling which never used to fast or watch one that could not endure the want of any thing but especially sleep Upon a certain night it seems this fellow could not sleep as he was wont being much troubled with unusuall dreams so he turned himself upon his bed from one side to another and could not by any means get any rest then he wished it were day But here the winde of the Lord began to blow though it were in a strange land for good thoughts were very rare in this man Being weary with watching and finding no ease or rest aâ— all thus he began to think with himself Would any be hired upon any condition to lie thus two or three yeares together in darknesse without the companie of friends though his sicknesse were not very grievous Would he be content to want his sports and playes so long Would he be content to be bound to his bed though it were a feather-bed or a bed of down and never stirre abroad to see any sights or shews or make merry with his friends I think no man would And shall I alone amongst all men enjoy rest and pleasure by an especiall priviledge and have no sense of grief and sorrow Surely no. Will I nill I needs I must sometime or other lie down upon the bed of sicknesse unlesse I be suddenly taken away by death which God forbid This was a good winde these were good cogitations But what bed shall I have next when death shall thrust me out of this My body must rot under earth For this is the condition of all men after death But what shall become of my soul in another world Surely all men do not go to the same place after death Do not some go one way and some another Is there not an Hell as well as an Heaven Wo and alas What kinde of bed shall the damned finde in Hell How many yeares shall they lie there In what yeare after their first entrance shall the flames cease and be put out Assuredly Christ doth not onely in word threaten to cast the wicked into everlasting fire but will also cast them in indeed This thing is certain and very manifest Therefore the damned shall burn in Hell for ever Therefore a thousand and a thousand and again I say a thousand yeares will not suffice to purge away the â—innes of this short life Therefore they shall never see the Sunne any more nor Heaven nor God being most miserable Eternally and without end With such thoughts as these this man became so vigilant and watchfull and proceeded so farre that night and day he could not be at rest but Eternitie did still runne in his minde Fain indeed he would have shaken off the thoughts thereof as gnawing worms but he could not Therefore he followed sports and pastimes went to merry meetings sought out companions like himself and sate oftentimes so long at his cups that he laid his conscience asleep and so seemed to take some rest But when he came again unto himself his conscience being awakened did presently accuse him and suggest unto him afresh sorrowfull thoughts of Eternitie Thus finding no rest
this subscription Cras Cras Tomorrow Tomorrow The Earth opens her mouth and flames of fire break forth and tend aloft in which these words are written AEternum quod cruciat That which tormenteth is Eternall Christ coming down from the clouds Two adore with bended knees of diverse sex in the place of all mankinde Behinde them there is a running Houre-glasse or a Diall measuring houres by the running of water called a Clepsydra and a Book lying wide open On one page there is written They spend their dayes in mirth and in a moment go down to the grave On the other page Who shall deliver me from the body of this death Before them stand Two heavenly Angels which embrace them with their arms and pointing at Christ bid them lift up their eyes unto him This is the Picture The meaning follows CHAP. I. Christ inviting CHrist the Eternall sonne of the Eternall God came into this world clad with no other garment then we that is stark naked The garment of immortalitie and innocencie we lost by Adams disobedience And now alas how miserably arayed do we come into this world Christ together with us yea for us suffers punishment and yet was not guilty of any sinne But what means this Crosse upon the shoulders of the Sonne of God It is a bed on which he sâ—ept in death Gâ—lgotha was his chamber The thorns his pillow And the Crosse his bed Which many religious men of former times well considering with themselves have voluntarily and freely chosen to lie hard and take little rest that at the day of resurrection they might rise joyfully to rest Eternall Some as we may reade have made the earth their Mattresse Sackcloth their Sheet and a Stone their Boulster And many there are which do so still to this day But I leave them and return to Christ. He suffered death even that most bitter and shamefull death of the crosse To what end That he might save us from death Eternall Die we must all of us but our death is but short In a moment in the twinkling of an eye the soul is snatched from the body and this is all that which we call Death But it is not so with them in Hell Their torments farre exceed all the sorrows and pangs of death not onely because they are more grievous for their qualitie but also because they are of longer continuance beyond all comparison For they are Eternall So then their torments are alwayes to be tormented and their death to die alwayes And from this death hath Christ the Sonne of God delivered us the Childe that we see described walking amidst the clouds Under his feet is a bare Sceleton or the bare bones of a man which by all signes we may gather to be our forefather Adams Hearken ye children and ye childrens children hearken unto the words of your forefather Adam thus speaking unto you CHAP. II. Adam lamenting O My children happie then indeed if your forefather had known his own happinesse but now miserable and that even in this because mine By me were you destroyed before you were begotten by me were you damned before you were brought forth I fain would be as God and by that means I am left scarce a man Before you could perish you all perished in me I my self do not know whether you may better call me a Father or a Tyrant and a murderer I cannot wonder or complain justly that you are so vicious and so sinfull for you learnt it of me I am sory that you are so disobedient but this you learnt also of me I was first disobedient unto God that made me The Angels in heaven blush and are ashamed to see your gluttonie and intemperance but this is your fathers fault Your pride hath made you odious and detestable before God but this monster first conquered and triumphed over me and so pride became more proud then she was before This is the inheritance you receive from me nothing else but an heap of miseries God indeed of his free good-will gave unto me by a sure promise heaven for an inheritance and intailed it upon you But I have undone you all cut off the intail and prodigally made away all for one bit I valued my wife and an apple more then you all more then heaven more then God A cursed and unhappy dinner for which I deserved to sup in Hell many thousand yeares after I lived in Paradise a garden full of all delight and pleasure beyond imagination God gave me the free use of all things therein onely the fruit of one tree was forbidden me I was Lord of all the creatures I was wise and beautifull strong and lusty I abounded with all manner of delights The aire was then as temperate as could be desired the clouds were clad in bright blew the heaven smiled upon us the Sunne did shine so pure that nothing could be more All things seemed to gratifie us at our new marriage Our eyes could behold nothing but that which was flourishing and pleasing to them Our eares were continually filled with musick the birds those nimble Choristers of the aire ever warbling out their pleasant ditties The earth of it self brought forth odoriferous cinamon and saffron I was compassed about with pleasures on every side I lived free and remote from all care sorrow fear labour sicknesse and death I seemed to be a God upon earth The Angels in heaven rejoyced to see my happinesse there was none that did envy me but my self But because I obeyed not the voice of God all these evils fell upon me I was driven out of Paradise banished from the sight of God and for shame I hid my face Labour sorrow mourning fear teares calamities a thousand miseries seized upon me and quite wearied me out you feel it as many as are of my familie and that which seems to be the end of all temporall miserie and sorrow is oftentimes the beginning of Eternall O my children learn by your own wofull experience learn by your own losse and mine learn I say to be wise at length I will give you but one lesson and it is but in three words which you shall do well to learn by heart and that is To hate sinne Behold Do you not see a grievous flame breaking out hard by me It hath burnt ever since sinne first entred into the world and shall never be put out All other punishments are but light and shall shortly have an end But the damned shall be tormented in this flame for ever and ever Now if we will we may escape it Heaven is set open to all but there is no coming to it but by the way of repentance and the gate of the crosse He that walketh in this way and entreth in at this gate may be certain of his salvation and eternall joy in the kingdome of heaven where he shall have an everlasting habitation This is the counsell of Adam to his children I say
I shall see an end of all The Prophet Danâ—â—l having reckoned up sundry calamities at length addeth these words Even to the time of the end because it is yet for a time appointed Come hither Come hither all ye that are in affliction in sorrow need sicknesse or any other calamitie Why do ye drown your selves in your own teares why do ye make your life bitter unto you with impatience and complaining Here is comfort for you great comfort drawn from the time of that suffering Are divers calamities upon you Be not cast down Have a good courage They shall continue onely for a time Do ye suffer contumelie and reproach are ye wearied with injuries are other troubles multiplied upon you Cease to lament All these shall last but for a time they shall not last for ever your sighing shall have an end Teares may distill from your eyes for a time But sighs and grones shall not arise from your hearts for ever The time is at hand when you shall be delivered from all grief and be translated unto everlasting happinesse This is most cleare by that in Ecclesiasticus A patient man will â—ear for a time and afterward joy shall spring up unto him But ye also which think your selves the onely happy men on earth and the darlings of the world know thus much and be not proud neither lift up your horn All your seeming happinesse for it is no more at the best hath but short and narrow bounds and limits and is quickly passed over Your triumphing is but for a time your golden dreams last but for a time After a time and that not long Death will command you to put off Fortunes painted vizard and stand amongst the croud Then shall ye truely appeare so much the more unhappy by how much the more you seemed to your selves before in your own foolish imaginations most happy Therefore whether sorrow or joy all is but for a time in this world It is Eternitie alone which is not concluded within any bounds of time Whether therefore the body suffer or the minde whether we lose riches or honours whether our Patience be exercised by sorrow or grief cares or any other afflictions inward or outward all is but painted and momentanie if we think upon Eternall punishments For when fifty thousand yeares shall be passed after the day of Judgement there shall still remain fifty thousand Millions of yeares and when those likewise are passed there shall still remain more and more and yet more Millions of yeares and there shall never be an end But who thinks upon these things who weighs and considers them well with himself Sometimes we seem to have savour of things Eternall But we are tossed up and down with the motions and thoughts of things past and things future our heart wavereth and is full of vanitie Who will establish it and set it in a sure place that it may stand awhile and standing admire and admiring be ravisht with the splendour of Eternitie which alwayes stands and never passeth away Well did Myrogenes When Eustachius Archbishop of Jerusalem sent gifts unto him He did very well I say in refusing them and saying Do but one thing for me Onely pray for me that I may be delivered from Eternall torment Neither was Tullie out of the way when he said No humane thing can seem great unto a wise man who hath the knowledge of all Eternitie and of the magnitude of the whole world But Francis the Authour of the order of the Franciscans hath a saying farre better then that of Tullie The pleasure that is here saith he is but short but the punishment that shall be hereafter is infinite The labour that is here is but small but the glory which shall be here after is Eternall Take your choice Many are called few chosen but all rewarded according to their works Let us hasten our Repentance therefore whilest we have time It is better saith Guerricus to be purged by water then by fire and it is farre easier Now is the time for Repentance Let our timely Repentance therefore prevent punishment Whosoever is afraid of the hoare frost the snow shall fâ—ll upon him He which feareth the lesser detriment shall suffer a greater He which will not undergo the light burden of Repentance shall be forced to undergo the most heavy burden and most grievous punishments of Hell Saint Gregory hath a saying to this purpose Some saith he whilest they are afraid of Temporall punishments run themselves upon Eternall punishments Hither we may adde that of Pacian Remember saith he that in Hell there is no place for Confession of sinnes no place for Repentance for then it is too late to repent and the time is past Make haste therefore whilest you are in the way We are afraid of Temporall fire and the Executioners hands But what are these to the claws of tormenting Devils and the Everlasting fire of Hell The Counsell of S. Ambrose to a lapsed Virgin fits well in this place True Repentance saith he ought not to be in word onely but in deed and this is true Repentance indeed if thou settest before thine eyes from what glory thou art fallen and considerest with thy self out of what book thy name is blotted and beleevest that now thou art neare unto utter darknesse where there is weeping and gnashing of teeth without end And when thou art certainly perswaded that those things are true as indeed they are seeing that the soul that sinneth is in danger of Hell fire and there is no means after Baptisme left to escape but onely Repentance Be content to suffer any labour and to undergo any affliction to be freed from Eternall punishment The diseases of the body move the sick man to purge his body Let the diseases of our souls move us also to take the purgation of Repentance let the desire of our salvation move us let the fear of Eternall death and Eternall torment move us let the hope of attaining Eternall life and Eternall glory move us Let us embrace that which purgeth the soul and let us eschew that which polluteth it And nothing defiles the soul more then a filthy body Faithfull is this counsell of Saint Ambrose and worthy of us to be embraced O Christ Jesus Grant unto us that we may so possesse things transitorie and temporall that finally we lose not the things which are Eternall and give us grace to walk in their steps and to follow their good example of whom S. Augustine speaketh Many there are saith he that willingly come under the yoke and of proud and haughty men become humble and lowly desiring to be what before they despised and hating to be what before they were passing by like strangers things present and making haste with greedinesse after things to come They pant in their running towards their Eternall countrey preferring Abstinence before Fulnesse Watching before Sleep and Povertie before Riches
poore miserable men more unreasonable and without understanding then the beasts are wounded every day and that many times deadly and yet notwithstanding we seek for no medicine to cure our spirituall diseases We use the same diet we were wont to do we talk as freely and merrily as ever we did we go to bed at our accustomed houre and sleep according to our old compasse But Repentance is the Physick that goes against our stomacks Contrition cuts us to the heart Confession seems bitter in our mouthes we choose rather to continue sick then so be cured This is our miserable condition so foolish are we and void of understanding either not knowing or at least not embracing that which would make for our Eternall good If we would give eare unto the counsell of the heavenly Angels which seem in the Picture according to their description to give direction unto us and are indeed appointed by God as ministring spirits for our good if we would I say give eare unto their counsell then certainly we would neither suffer our eyes to sleep nor our eye-lids to slumber neither the temples of our heads to take any rest untill our peace and reconciliation were made with God They put us still in minde that our day is almost spent that the night draws on that our glasse is neare running out that death is at hand and after death cometh judgement But we securely walk on in our old way Let the day spend let the night draw on let the glasse runne out Come death follow judgement We are not troubled at it we care not we regard not no warning of the Angels will serve our turn We sweetly sleep and never dream of this Unhappy man whosoever thou art Potes hoc sub casâ— ducere somnos And canst thou sleep in such a case as this Canst thou go to bed with a Conscience thus laden with sinne Canst thou take any rest when thou liest in danger of Eternall death Canst thou lodge in the same bed with the brother of Death and entertain sleep into thy bosome I can I tell thee that I can and finde no harm at all by it Be not too confident That may happen in the space of one houre which hath not happened in a thousand Thou art not past danger For consider with thy self how long thou hast to live There is no great distance betwixt thy soul and death hell and Eternitie It is gone in a breath Thou mayst most truely say every houre I am within one degree of death within one foot yea within one inch Death need not spend all his quiver upon thee One Arrow the head of one Arrow shall wound thee to the heart and make such a large orifice that bloud and spirits and life and all shall suddenly run out together Either thou livest in a malignant and corrupt aire or else thou art troubled with distillations falling down from thy head upon the lungs or else there is some obstruction in the veins or in the liver or else the vitall spirits are suffocated or else the pulsation of the Arteries is intercepted or else the Animall spirits runne back to their head and there are either frozen to death or else drowned One way or other thou postest to the end of thy short race and presently thou art but a dead man carried away to Eternitie in the turning of an hand before thou couldst imagine or think upon it There are a thousand wayes to bring a man to his end I do not speak of lingring deaths before which there goes some warning but of sudden deaths that summon us arrest us and carry us away all in a moment He dies suddenly that dies unpreparedly Death is not sudden if it be foreseen and alwayes expected That 's sudden death which was unpremeditate and unpremeditate death is the worst of all deaths And from such sudden death good Lord deliver us It is good counsell for every one let him be of what age he will for no age is priviledged more then another death hath a generall commission which extends to all places persons ages there is none exempt It is good counsell then I say for every one at all times and in all places and in all companies to expect death and to think every day yea every houre to be his last Then let him die when please God he shall not die suddenly How many men have we heard of whose light hath suddenly been put out and life taken away either by a fall or the halter or poyson or sword or fire or water or Lions pawes or Bores tusks or Horse heels and a thousand more wayes then these As many senses as we have That number is nothing As many parts and members as we have And yet that is nothing As many pores as there be in all the parts of our body put together So many windows are there for death to creep in at to steal upon us and suddenly cut our throats Thou wast born saith Saint Augustine That is sure For thou shalt surely die And in this that thy death is certain the day also of thy death is uncertain None of us knows how neare he draws unto his end I know not saith Job how long I shall live and how soon my Maker may take me away or as our translation hath it I know not to give slattering titles in so doing my Maker would soon take me away In the midst of our life we are neare unto death For we alwayes carry it in our bosome And who can tell whether he shall live till the Evening or no This murderer and man-stealer for so I call Death hath a thousand wayes to hurt us as by thunder and lightning storms and tempest fire and water c. Instruments of mischief he hath of all sorts as Gunnes Bowes Arrows Slings Spears Darts Swords and what not We need not be beholding to former ages for examples of sudden deaths Alack we have too many in our own dayes Have not we our selves known many that laying themselves down to sleep have fallen into such a dead sleep that they are not to be awaked again till they shall heare the sound of the trumpet at the last day Death doth not alwayes send his Heralds and Summoners before to tell us of his coming but often steals upon us unexpected and as he findes us so he takes us whether prepared or unprepared Watch therefore For ye know neither the day nor the houre There is a kinde of Repentance indeed in Hell but neither is it true neither will it profit any thing at all For it is joyned with everlasting and tormenting horrour and despaire Now now is the acceptable time of Repentance Now whilest it is called to day Bring forth therefore fruits meet for Repentance The Night cometh when no man can work Work therefore while it is day The Day saith Origen is the time of this life which may seem long unto us
but indeed is very short if it be compared with Eternitie And after this short day of this present life there follows the day of Eternitie which is infinite long and hath no night to come after it O man whosoever thou art think upon these things but thou especially whosoever findest thy self guilty of any grievous sinne Repent and amend Remember Eternitie and think upon the day of Death It is uncertain in what place Death will expect thee Do thou therefore expect Death in every place As the Lord shall finde thee when he calls for thee so shall he also passe sentence upon thee Whatsoever thou takest in hand remember the end and thou shalt never do amisse Ecclus 7. 36. To think upon ETERNITIE not to amendons manners is to bid heauen farewell to joyn hands w th hell THE EIGHTH CONSIDERATION upon ETERNITIE How Christians ought not onely to look upon the Emblems and Pictures of Eternitie but come home and look within themselves and seriously meditate upon the thing it self ORder requires now that leaving the Psalmist and the rest who have described unto us Eternitie we should descend into our selves keep at home and stay within He is a great way from home from himself and from his own salvation whosoever hath an eye to that onely which is Transitorie and forgetteth that which is Eternall The Lawyers know well enough that a man will not let go his right and title though it be but in a matter of three halfpence if it be a perpetuitie and to be yearly paid for ever Yea it is thought a great rent if a man be bound to pay though but three farthings yearely to his landlord as long as the world endures In such esteem are perpetuities though in things little worth though but three Pepper-corns If thou art so sollicitous and eager in pursuing thy right of three halfpence how comes it to passe O man that thou art so negligent and carelesse in seeking after the inheritance of an Eternall kingdome which may be had at a few yeares purchase Thou fallest out with thy brother for three halfpence thou goest to law with him thou makest it a long suit In the mean time thou sufferest others to carry away the inheritance of the kingdome of heaven What is the reason Is it so little worth is it not worth looking after It seems thou thinkest so or else thou wouldest labour for it more then thou dost Thou art much cumbred about other things thou thinkest all pains little enough thou art never weary of seeking after them But as for Eternitie that thou thinkest to be a great way off and therefore thou art scarce ever at leisure so much as once to think upon it or if thou art any time at leisure then thou hast no minde to it Oh! it is a grievous thing and very wearisome to be alwayes looking after that which yet is not here ever throughly to be lookt into Who would trouble his head and weary his minde about it We are all for the present Give us present possession that is the thing we desire that is the thing we delight in there is some content in that See our folly and want of discretion What blindnesse is this or rather is it not madnesse to look for certaintie where none is and where it is never to look for it In a businesse concerning our temporall and uncertain riches we love to be certain we will have good securitie which yet at the best is very uncertain But concerning Eternall certain riches we make our selves so certain that we look for no assurance we are so secure that we look for no securitie which yet if we would we might have as good as could be desired Does any man lend money without a bill or a bond or a pledge Every man hath this presently in his mouth I love to be certain I desire good securitie I will go safely to work I will not put the matter to hazard Things present and certain when we hold the balance alwayes weigh down things future and uncertain Better say we as the proverb goes is one bird in the hand then two in the bush And I had rather see a Wren in the cage then an Eagle in the clouds We are of Plautus his minde we carrie our eyes in our hands and beleeve no more then we see What fond and foolish men are we that seek for certaintie of such things as are most uncertain which deceive us most when we make our selves most sure of them which make themselves wings and flie away whilest we think we have them fast enough in our hands But be it known unto all Christian people what assurance and securitie Christ the King of heaven will give what assurance I say of Eternall life Christ will give unto all those that will enter bond for performance of covenants If thou wilt enter into life keep the Commandments St vis ad vitam ingredi serva mandata The condition of this obligation is such that if thou keepest the Commandments thou shalt enter into life life Eternall But if thou breakest the Commandments in as much as thou breakest them then this obligation shall be void and of none effect For whosoever breaketh one of these Commandments and deferreth his repentance and doth not the same houre wherein he hath sinned seek reconciliation and peace with God whom he hath offended he is in danger to lose himself and all that he hath and manifestly hazardeth the Eternall salvation both of soul and body There is but three fingers breadth or rather but an inch between him and death For he hath within himself the matter of a thousand diseases and causes of death And yet rash and foolish man he persisteth and continueth still without fear or wit in the state of damnation in which state if it should please God to take him away suddenly he is in danger to perish everlastingly Is it not a bold and foolish part for a man to adventure all that he hath at a cast and hazard the losse of Eternall riches when he may easily keep them If a man should suffer in Hell but so many torments as he hath lived houres or but so many torments as he hath committed sinnes all his life this might seem somewhat the more tolerable If it were so that in Hell there were any end of torments after the expiration of any certain number of yeares men would make no end of sinning all the dayes of their life The enemies of God would increase every day more and more For albeit they know that the torments in Hell are so many in number that they cannot be numbered so long for continuance that they cannot be measured so grievous for qualitie that they cannot be endured but with such infinite pain that every minute of an houre shall seem a whole yeare Notwithstanding all this men are nothing deterred from sinne but walk on boldly or rather runne headlong to their own
be I am ready for love of him to suffer hunger thirst cold nakednesse povertie and such like I am willing for his sake to be bound burnt and cut in pieces These sufferings are but short they cannot continue long But the joyes or torments of Eternitie are long indeed for they shall never have end Therefore farewell all the world and the things that are in it I care not for you I regard you not Farewell I say But welcome Eternitie whensoever thou comest Thou art the onely thing that I seek after my soul longeth after thee there is nothing that I desire in comparison of thee With the heat of such cogitations his soul was so set on fire that it was inflamed with the love of Eternitie which the blessed shall enjoy in heaven Therefore he resolved to take leave of his parents to forsake his riches and bid adieu to his delights for ever He did not resolve hastily but continued in his resolution constantly He was not soon hot and soon cold He was not altered all on the sudden He did not passe from one extreme to another He did not strive for the highest pitch at the first but rose up by degrees and became one of Pachomius his Scholars You have heard the Prologue But there follows no Tragedie after it For contrarie to the law of a Tragedie we have a sorrowfull beginning but a joyfull ending He came forth with a Lachrymae but went off with a Plaudite At his Intrat there was weeping for grief but at his Exit there was clapping of hands for joy Thus you have heard the life and death of Theodorus whose soul fed as it were upon thoughts of Eternitie and was delighted therewith as with marrow and fatnesse He was not of the worlds minde which counteth Eternitie but a fable but refused not himself to become a fable and a by-word in the world being perswaded fully of a blessed Eternitie and earnestly desiring and thirsting to have a part in it Christian brethren shall I speak a free word but a true or not I but Theodorus Most men live so as if there were no such thing as Eternitie as if it were but a meer fable and feigned thing But what do I tell you of Theodorus Will you heare what Saint Peter saith The day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night in the which the heavens shall passe away with a great noise and the elements shall râ—elâ— with servent heat the earth also and the works that are therein shall be burnt up Seeing then that all these things shall be dissolved what manner of men ought we to be in all holy conversation and godlinesse But where are these men now adayes by whose holy conversation and godlinesse a man may judge that they beleeve Saint Peter that the day of the Lord is coming and that Eternitie shall follow after But if you will not beleeve Saint Peter heare what truth it self saith Wide is the gate and broad is the way that leadeth to destruction and many there be which go in thereat Certainly men would not go in at the broad gate of destruction if they did think they should come out no more if they did once dream of Eternitie But as I said before most men make Eternitie but a feigned thing a wittie invention to keep men in aw and a good honest fable And yet how many are apt to say We beleeve that there is a blessed Eternitie after this life we hope to have part in it we have a desire and longing after it But alas How little is their faith how vain is their hope How cold is their desire Present pleasures money in the hand the allurements of the flesh steal away the hearts of many and by little and little make the desire and love of Eternitie grow quite cold in them as if they had drowned and buried it in the grave of oblivion We heare it often read and preached Thus saith the Lord This is the commandment of the Lord And as often as we heare it we still neglect it Say the Lord what he will command what he will our old way pleaseth us best We will walk after our own devices and we will every one do the imagination of his evil heart Therefore thus saith the Lord Ask ye now amongst the heathen who hath heard such horrible things Had the people which knew no God but known these secrets of Eternitie certainly they never would have contemned and neglected them Go to now O ye sonnes of men Because I have called and ye refused I have stretched out my hands and no man regarded I will also laugh at your calamitie I will mock when your fear cometh when your fear cometh as desolation and your destruction cometh as a whirlwinde when distresse and anguish cometh upon you when Eternitie shall suddenly overtake you If Death seize upon you in this miserable state and condition there is then no hope of mercy The gate is presently shut there is no opening of it The sentence of condemnation is past there is no repealing of it Depart ye cursed into everlasting fire prepared for the Devil and his Angels Watch therefore good Christians watch I say The Judge stands at the gate That may happen in a minute that you may be sory for for all Eternitie Antonie the great in a certain Sermon which he made to his people spake thus unto them Dearly beloved brethren in matters of this life we have a care to make good bargains we will be sure to have a penyworth for a peny I lay out for instance so much money and I have the worth of it in wares I give so many crowns and I have so many bushells of wheat So many pounds and I have so many quarters of Malt. But we are not so wise in heavenly matters we will not give things Temporall in exchange for things Eternall Eternall life is a thing not worth looking after we much undervalue it we will scarce give any thing for it we will not take any pains or labour to obtain it And yet what is our labour suppose the greatest we can undergo If it be compared unto life Eternall the reward of it it will not amount to so much as one halfpeny in respect and reference to a Million of Gold For what saith the Psalmist The daves of our life are threescore yeares and ten and if by reason of strength they be fourescore yeares yet is their strength labour and sorrow But suppose a man should live an hundred yeares to speak with the most and all that while serve God zealously and faithfully were it not time well spent to gain Eternitie were not the labour well bestowed to purchase a kingdome I do not mean a kingdome to continue for an hundred yeares onely but throughout all ages not an earthly kingdome but the kingdome of heaven Therefore Christian brethren be not puffed up with vain
the thoughts of death judgement Heaven and Hell are good and wholesome godly and holy but none more then the thought of Eternitie which may worthily be called the Quintessence But as it is with meat not the taking of it meerly into the mouth but the good digesting of it in the stomack the turning of it into good bloud in the liver and the distributing of it into all the parts by the veins nourisheth the body So it is with these precious thoughts of Death Judgement Heaven Hell and Eternitie Not the bare thinking upon them but serious thinking upon them with our selves setting apart all cares and worldly distractions the pondering of them well in our hearts and the often ruminating upon them this is it that â—eedeth and nourisheth the soul. If this be not done the rest is to little purpose without this even the reading of the holy Scripture is fruitlesse the hearing of the word preached is unprofitable Many heare Sermons often reade the Scripture over and over again and yet are little bettered by it because they do not meditate upon what they have both read and heard When they heare what comes in at one eare goes out at the other When they reade the eye is no sooner off from the book but what was read is soon slipt out of memorie Before they can practise what they have heard or read they have quite forgotten what they should do Therefore if we will reade or heare with profit we must spend some time in meditating and pondering with our selves what we have read and heard This lesson we may learn of the blessed Virgin the mother of our Lord. But Mary kept all these things and pondered them in her heart The Seventh Conclusion FEw or none beleeve or else do not well understand and weigh with themselves these words of Christ Enter ye in at the strait gate for wide is the gate and broad is the way that leadeth to destruction and many there be which go in thereat Because strait is the gate and narrow is the way which leadeth unto life and few there be that finde it This again our Saviour repeats by the mouth of Saint Luke Strive to enter in at the strait gate For many I say unto you will seek to enter in and shall not be able Whosoever laughs at this faith and therefore will not beleeve because he doth not see when that shall come to passe which he did not beleeve he shall â—lush and be confounded he shall be confounded and separated from the blessed he shall be separated from the blessed and have his portion with the damned Hieronymus Platus reports of a certain woman that hearing Bertoldus a powerfull man in the pulpit inveigh very vehemently and bitterly against a sinne that she knew her self guiltie of fell down dead in the Church and after a while by the blessing of God upon the prayers of the Congregation coming again unto her self related unto them what she had seen in this trance saying thus Me thought I stood before Gods tribunall and threescore thousand souls more with me called together from all the parts of the world to receive their finall sentence And they were all condemned and adjudged to Eternall torments but onely three Oh! what a fearfull thing was this I should hardly beleeve this womans relation but that I beleeve Christs asseveration in the Gospel Wide is the gate and broad is the way that leadeth to destruction and many there be that go in thereat And again Strait is the gate and narrow is the way that leadeth unto life and few there be that finde it It may seem strange to flesh and bloud that God the Father of mercies should passe the sentence of condemnation upon so many I do not say threescore thousand but threescore thousand thousand And what man would beleeve it were he not perswaded of the truth thereof upon the consideration of the soveraigne and infinite majestie of God which is offended the inutterable malice of sinne which is committed and many evident testimonies of Scripture by which it is plainly proved Job trembles at it saying A land of darknesse as darknesse it self and of the shadow of death without any order and where the light is as darknesse or according to the Latine Where there is no order and where everlasting horrour dwelleth Saint Matthew affirms as much in the words of our Saviour Depart from me ye cursed into everlasting fire Let us consider these things well with our selves and whilest we have time let us wash away our sinnes with the teares of repentance for fear lest God suddenly snatch us away and give us our portion to drink with hypocrites in the bottomlesse pit of Hell where there is nothing but weeping and gnashing of teeth where the worm never dieth and the fire never goes out from whence there is no redemption no redemption I say and again I say no redemption No not any comfort at all not so much as a little drop of cold water If the godly themselves who are in the state of grace and in the favour of God whose mindes and wills be good if they I say could sufficiently conceive from what grievous torments they shall be delivered at the day of judgement and into what unutterable and unconceiveable joyes they shall enter without doubt they would use no delay they would not let an houre passe but out of hand they would take their leave of all vanities forsake the world and leave the dead to look after the dead But as for themselves they would be dayly and hourely well employed about their Masters businesse alwayes studying to please God ever lauding and praising him for his goodnesse and mercy towards them in blessing them in part here in this world and giving them an assured promise of everlasting blessednesse in the world to come for delivering them from the torments of Hell and giving them entrance into the joyes of heaven It is the saying of Saint Gregorie The evils of this present life seem the more hard unto us the lesse we think upon the good which shall follow hereafter And because we consider not the exceeding great rewards which are laid up for us therefore we count the afflictions of this world grievous to be born whereas if we did lift up our mindes and raise our thoughts to the contemplation of those things which are Eternall and not subject to any change if we would have an eye unto them and set our hearts upon them we would certainly count the sufferings of this life and whatsoever hath an end to be as nothing and again joy in tribulation is a song in the night For although we are outwardly afflicted with the sense of sorrows Temporall yet we are inwardly comforted with the hope of joyes Sternall Much after the same manner reasoneth S. Augustine If thou wouldest but attend saith he unto what thou shalt hereafter receive thou wouldst
of Bonaventure If one of the damned saith he should weep after this manner That he should let fall but one teare in an hundred yeares and those teares should be kept together so many hundred yeares till they would equall the drops of the sea Alas Alas Not to speak of the sea How many millions of yeares must needs passe before they can make one little river or if they should at length make a whole sea of water yet even then it might truely be said Now Eternitie beginneth And if he should weep again after the same manner till he made another sea yet then also it might be said again as truely as before Now Eternitie beginneth and so on forwards for ever Let no man once doubt of the truth hereof for between that which is finite and that which is infinite there is no proportion But this seems wonderfull and strange unto us because our imagination cannot conceive it It cannot reach unto that which is so farre remote It cannot penetrate into that which is infinite for that is impenetrable And this is the reason that our understanding is so hardly drawn to the consideration of Eternitie because it blusneth in a sort and is ashamed or else for indignation cannot endure to tire it self in the search of that which cannot be found out But let us put away this foolish and shamefull modesty and let us force our understanding to the due and serious contemplation of Eternitie and let it be our daily exercise to be still meditating upon such similitudes as may in some sort shadow it out and represent it unto us And so shall we never do amisse Say what we can think what we will imagine so many millions of millions of yeares as it is possible for the minde of man to conceive we shall still come short of the measure and length of Eternitie The yeares of Eternitie are more farre more yea infinitely more This is certain and without all controversie The Prophet Daniel signifieth the incomprehensible dimension and length of Eternitie in these words They that be wiâ—e shall shine as the brightnesse of the firmament and they that turn many to righteousnesse as the starres for ever and ever Mark these words For ever and ever As if he should have said No words are sufficient to expresse the nature of Eternitie It is for ever and ever Here is all that I can say of it Though more might be said in respect of its own nature yet I am not able to say more Observe his Aâ—xesis or his augmentation of it by multiplication For ever that is for Eternitie but he thinks that not sufficient and therefore he doubles it and ever And yet in the Latine it is expressed more fully in these words In perpetuas AEternitates To perpetuall Eternities Mark here he saith not In AEternitatem To Eternitie barely in the Singular number but In AEternitates To Eternities in the plurall as if one were not enough neither doth he rest here indefinitely saying To Eternities nor yet doth he adde any finite term because none can expresse it but an Infinite Perpetuas Perpetuall In perpetuas AEternitates To Perpetuall or Infinite Eternities Now if one Eternitie is without end what are two what are ten what are an hundred what are infinite If we should multiply the great yeare or yeares a thousand times it would not amount to the least fraction of the numberlesse number of Eternitie They say that the eighth celestiall Orb or Sphere is moved wonderfull leisurely beyond all comparison For though it be dayly wheeled about by the rapid motion of the Primum Mobile yet it finisheth not its own proper circuit but once in thirty six thousand yeares and this â—pace of time they call The great â—eare or Platoes yeare But compare this with Eternitie and it will appeare to be but a moment â—ut an instant but a minute indeed nothing at all It is a true â—aying of Boetius That an instant or point of time and ten thousand yeares compared together keep better proportion then ten thousand yeares and Eternitie But heare what Saint John saith little children it is the last time or the last houre And this he said one thousand six hundred yeares ago It is most true therefore what Saint Augustine saith Whatsoever hath an end that thing is but short Eternitie is a word consisting but of foure Syllables but it is a thing without end Therefore set thy love upon Eternitie Let Christ be thy end and thou shalt reigne with Christ without end The Sixth Conclusion IT is not to be beleeved that any man that hath but the least smack of true Religion can be so farre carried away by his impotent and unruly passions if he be not as bad as a beast ruled meerly by sense and serving onely his sensuall appetite For the wicked and ungodly man even then when he is almost swallowed up in the deep pit whereinto his sinnes have plunged him headlong even then I say doth but laugh at it regards it not is not a jot troubled at it It is not to be beleeved I say that any man that hath any Religion at all in him can be so farre carried away by his head-strong and unbridled passions but if he will spend a part of an houre every day in meditating upon Eternitie yea if he will but once in a week seriously think upon it he will mend his manners he will change the course of his life to better he will certainly become a new man Of a proud man he will become humble and lowly of an angry man he will become milde and gentle of an unclean man he will become chaste and continent of a drunken man he will become sober and temperate He will put on not the outward but the inward habit of a true religious and godly man He will become such a one not in clothes and outward expression but in heart and inward affection Neither will he rashly and unadvisedly slightly and negligently upon a spurt all at once on the sudden passe from one extream to another such alterations are not good neither will they continue long But he will again and again weigh the matter well with himself he will consider well upon it he will fasten his serious thoughts upon it he will often revolve in minde Eternitie Eternitie Eternitie that shall never have end end never never end which shall last throughout innumerable incomprehensible infinite ages This will he do with consideration and attention and often ruminate upon it as beasts chew the cud Meat though never so good and wholesome if it be not chewed in the teeth prepared in the mouth digested in the stomack turned into bloud and distributed by the veins into all the parts of the body turns to poyson rather then to nourishment begets all manner of diseases is retained perhaps some time in the body but doth more harm then good were a great deal better out then in Even so