was found in Tulliola daughter of Cicero her sepulcher which continued burning fifteene hundreth yeares These and many other shaddowes and traces of eternity God hath vouchsafed vs to stirre vp our dead and drowsy hearts to a more exact inquisition and serious consideration of the time to come For in the booke of the creature wee may see the power of the Creator and out of these particular workes of his we may vnderstand that that God which hath endowed nature with such admirable qualities can giue the flesh also such a condition that it shall endure according to his mercifull dispensation either torments or happinesse for evermore Now then to draw all this to an issue since it is vndoubtedly true that God hath provided an everlasting being for the soules of men in the world to come since he hath engrauen the knowledge hereof as with an Iron pen in the consciences of the Heathen since he hath giuen vs so many liuely resemblances and traces thereof in the secrets of nature and in the workes of his creation Oh how should the meditation of this take vp our deepest thoughts our refinest affections how should this cause vs to reflect vpon our soules to ponder our waies and with an vndazeled and vndesembling eye throughly to trye and to descry clearely our owne state whether we be already washed with the blood of Christ and enliuened with a supernaturall vigour and life of grace or yet ly polluted in our owne blood Oh how can any man be at rest and quiet in his minde till he be assured and secured in this point since that vpon it depend his everlasting estate in another world our daies wee see are wouen with a slender thred our time short our end vncertaine and when the oyle in our lampes is spent and our glasse runne out then ex vnico momento pendet duplex aeternitas we fly in a moment to an everlasting being either in horror or happinesse where wee shall receiue according to the workes of our hands If wee haue approved our selues sincere in Gods service iust in our actions diligent in our callings faithfull in our promises wee shall then attaine the end of our faith the salvation of our soules and the conscience of our well spent life shall at that dismall day replenish our soules with abundance of consolations Then all our teares shall bee wiped from our eyes what we haue sowed in sorrow we shall reape in ioy when we haue finished our course ended our combate with sinne and death then shall our crowne bee sure our victory glorious and our triumph Eternall our graue shall be but as a sweet refreshing place to our wearied bodies and death shall be our day starre to everlasting brightnesse But on the other side if wee haue in the whole course of our warfare here expended our pretious time in the service of sinne and Sathan and crumbled away the best and choicest of our yeares in the lusts of the flesh and sports of vanity then the issue of all will be death and our end destruction Our mirth wil be turned into wormewood and our ioy into heauinesse all our delights in this earth shall vanish as the flower our sun shall set in a cloud and our daies of iollity and contentation shall irrecoverably be involued and turned into perpetuall darknesse CHAP. V. Containing a short digression touching the eternity of the damned AND here it will not be vnseasonable nor any digression from the point in hand to consider with our selues for our better encouragement to the waies of holinesse the condition of that eternity which the damned haue in hell O the vnhappy and ever deplorable state of those poore soules who feele nothing for the present but wrath and vengeance and can expect nothing to come but the vialls of Gods indignation to be powred on them in a fuller measure for ever after Nec qui torquet aliquan do fatigatur nec qui torque tuc a liquando moritur Bernard meditat cap 3. And that which addes abundant weight to their miseries is they shall burne but not diminish they shall lye buried in their flames but not consume they shall seeke death but shall not finde it they shall desire it but it shall flye from them their punishment consists not in the indurance of any proper or peculiar paine but in the accumulation heap of innumerable torments together All the faculties of the soule all the senses of the body shall haue their seuerall punishments and that which is more vnseparable and more then that eternall There shall bee 〈◊〉 degrees in their torments but the least shal be infinite For as the wrath and displeasure of God toward them is everlasting so shall their pressures be They enioy an eternity like the Saints but not the Saints eternity for their eternity shall beginne in horror and proceed in confusion their eternity shall purchase and yeeld to them no other fruit but yellings and lamentations woe Their eternity is such as turnes all things into its owne nature for all things where the damned doe inhabit are eternall The fire is eternall for the breath of God like a riuer of brimstone hath kindled it and it shall neuer goe out night nor day but the smoake thereof shall ascend for euer The worme is eternall for the conscience of the damned shall be everlastingly tormented with the sense of their sinne Their worme dieth not saith the Prophet and their fire never goeth out The prison wherein they are inclosed is eternall The prayers of the Church could open the prison doores to Peter but no prayers can pierce these walls no power can ouerthrowe them no time can ruine them out of Hell is no redemption no ransome no deliuery Cruciantur damnati cruciantur in aeternum This is the last sentence of the Iudge his irrevocable decree his immutable and eternall Iudgement vpon the damned which shall neuer bee reuersed Adesse intolerabile abesse impossibile there is no appeale will lye from this Iudge there is no reversing this judgement when the sentence is once past it stands for eternity Hence it was that the ancient Church repeated this sentence often in their divine service Peccantem me quotidie non me penitentem timor mortis conturbat me quia in inferno nulla est redemptio Whilst I daily sinne but repent not daily as I ought the feare of death amazeth me because after this life ended out of hell is no redemption The blood of Christ shed on Golgotha is fully sufficient to saue all man-kinde but it belongs not to the damned If therefore the yoake of repentance seeme not sweet to thee saith St Bernard thinke on that yoake which thou shalt be sure to suffer which is Goe yee cursed into eternal fire But the most deplorable thing which is eternall in hell is the irrevocable losse of the beatificall presence of God the eternall priuation of Gods sight the vncomfortable want whereof
doth more grieue their hearts and wound their afflicted soules then all their bodily torments Thus wee see the vnhappy estate and condition of the damned in the other world and how the highest linke in all this chaine of sorrowes wherewith they are enuironed is the miserable perpetuitie of their torments when their restlesse thoughts haue carefully runne through many thousands of yeares yet will they not then enioy one day one little houre one minute of rest and respiration Everlasting darknesse is their portion they beginne and end alike with weeping and gnashing of teeth Now since this is certainely true is it possible that man should be so forgetfull of God and himselfe Can he so farre degenerate into a beast and indurate into a stone as to read these things and not beleeue them or beleeue these things and not to tremble Can the knowledge of these things swim in our braine without a serious and sound digestion of them into our hearts when we see and knowe and beleeue that inexplicable eternall endlesse easelesse horrors without true and vnfained repentance abide vs hereafter and on the other side we knowe not nor can possibly discerne with how speedy and swift a foot our end approacheth nor how suddenly wee shall be summoned to giue the world our euerlasting farwell How can so sad and important a consideration as this possesse our thoughts and not torment them or how can this chuse but imbitter our dearest pleasures crosse our indulgence to our sensuall affections Did we but reason a while with our soules and euery one of vs in a particular application say within himselfe I am here floating like a ship in the sea of this world ballased on every side with the cares and disquietings pressures of this life and I sayle on with full course towards the hauen of Eternity one little blast of death is able to plunge me irrecouerably into this bottomelesse gulfe where one houres torment will infinitely exceed for the paine of it an hundred yeares bitter repentance And shall I now thus standing vpon the very battlements of hell melt in my delights cheere vp my selfe in the dayes of my youth shall I tyre out my spirits trifle out my pretious time rob mine eyes of their beloued sleepe for such things to the which the time will come when I must bid an euerlasting farewell Me thinks the thorough meditation of our future state should euen strangle our sensuall ioyes in vs withdrawe our hearts from the embracements of this world especially when wee shall to our endlesse sorrow vnderstand our dearest contents must close at the last in death and confusion and all our precedent pleasures shall yeeld vs no other fruit but their bitter remembrance to augment our sorrowes CAP. 6. Wherein the question is answered wherefore a finite sinne is recompensed with an infinite punishment wherein also is farther shewed that the severity of Gods iustice therein doth no waie diminish the greatnesse of his mercy NOW here ariseth a question to bee resolved how comes it to passe that our mercifull and gratious God who is so infinite in his goodnesse and so abundant in his loue whose praises the Prophet David amplifies in his 136. psalme twenty seauen times together with this conclusion for his mercy endureth for ever how can it stande that this our God whose mercy is thus exalted aboue all his workes should be thus infinitely mercifull and yet so infinitely iust too as to inflict vpon a finite sinne an infinite punishment that he should continue millions of yeares yea to everlastingnesse in the avengement of those sinnes which were committed as it were in a moment of time so that hee who hath offended but temporally should bee bound to suffer paines eternally I answere wee shall sufficiently vindicate and cleare Gods righteous dealing towards vs herein if wee measure his iustice but by our owne rules Scelus non temporis longitudine sed iniquitatis magnitudine metiendum est Aug. de Civitat Des lib. 21 cap. 11. for doth any law proportion out the time of punishment to the time only in which the offence is commited and so measure the continuance of the pennalty by the time of the fault Shall the prisoner lye no longer in the Goale then he is committing his villanie Doe not wee here amongst vs often see some offences which were suddenly thought of and as soone executed yet punished with endlesse datelesse banishments which in comparison to this life beare a proportion with eternity Now if the wisdome of man doth follow this rule in proportioning of punishments weighing offences by the fowlenes of the fact Shall wee denie God the righteous Iudge of all the world the same liberty over the workes of his owne hands Againe if this will not satisfie our inquisitiue mindes let vs but take our owne hearts to taske and sifte them to the bottome and impartially weigh what a world of pollution and deceipte and perversenesse is lodged in them and then certainely wee shall finde matter enough against our selues without farther inquiry for our endlesse condemnation our owne consciences will testify to the confusion of our faces that iust is the Lord and iust are his Iudgements that all the waies of the Lord are mercy and truth Nec iniusta eius gratia nec crudelis potest esse iustitia Aug. de Civit. Dei lib. 21. c. 11. that his grace is not vniust nor his Iustice cruell Adde herevnto that the fault of its owne nature is infinite because it is a sinne against an infinite maiesty Gods Iustice being infinite the violation thereof by sinne must needs contract an infinite debt because in sinning we rob God of his glory which wee must needs repaie him againe Now the satisfaction of an infinite debt must needs bee infinite either in respect of time or measure And because a finite vessell is not able to hold or comprehend an infinite wrath forasmuch as wee cannot beare Gods indignation propter immensitatem doloris wee must of necessity satisfie his Iustice duratione temporis the long continuance of our sufferings must supply what is wanting in the weight of our punishments Againe he that dies in his sinne without repentance offends as much as if he had sinned eternally quia omnis peccator est in aeternum si in aeternum vixisset in aeternum peccasset i.e. had hee liued eternally his sinne had extended to the length of his daies Peccandi voluntatem non amisit sed vitam Greg. for a man sooner ceaseth to liue then to loue his sinne and therefore God may iustly after many thousand yeares torments in Hell iterate their torments to the damned because if they had longer abode in their sinfull fiesh they would still haue perpetuated their sinfull transgressions Oh let not then sinfull flesh contend with its maker let not vs prye into the heavens nor curiously search into the secrets of Gods will to finde a reason of the
Let me aske the strongest of men on earth what certainty of life canst thou promise thy selfe seeing that either a little bone in thy throat may choake thee or a tile from thy house may braine thee or some malignant ayre may poyson thee and then where art thou There are a thousand waies Tu te prius ad aeternitatem abrep tum miraberis quà m metueres abripiendum whereby suddainly a man may come to his end and certaine it is that Mors illa maxime improvisa est cuius vita praecedens non fuit provida i. e. that death is the suddainest which is not vshered in with a foregoing preparation It is therefore a speciall point of wisdome to thinke every day our last yea to account every houre the period of our liues For looke how many pores there are in the body so many windowes are there to let in death yea we carry our deaths continually about vs in our bosomes and who can promise himselfe his life till the evening Hath not our owne experience showne vs many whose sleepes in their beds haue proued sleepes vnto death who haue beene carried from their chambers to their graue Death doth not alwaies send forth her harbingers to giue notice of her comming shee often presseth in vnlookt for and suddainly attached the vnprovided soule Watch therefore because yee know neither the day nor the houre worke whilest yee haue the day for the night comes wherein no man can worke looke towards thy evening and cast thy thoughts vpon that long Eternity Death first or last will apprehend thee expect it therefore at every turne and of this assure thy selfe Qualis quisque in hac vita motitur talis in die novissimo iudicabitur as death leaueth thee so shall iudgement finde thee How improvidently secure then are those who set vp their rest in the comforts of this life and overly-regard their eternall welfare This is the generall carelesnesse of our times If a man haue a perpetuity but of fiue shillings yearely rent what travell and paines and sweat what beating of his braine and exhausting of his treasure will he runne through before he will loose one dram of his right Yet our eternall inheritance is cast behind vs and vndervalued as a trifle not worth the seeking and this shewes our small loue to our home for wee little esteeme of that which wee take small paines for All other things which conduce to our temporall well being wee seeke with circumspection and enioy them with content but matters of Eternity wee conceiue of as things farre distant from vs wee scarcely entertaine them in our thoughts Wee busy not our vnderstandings in the search of those things which we see not things present and obvious to our sight doe best affect vs wee are ill-sighted vpward weake and dimme eyes haue wee towards heaven The truth of this appeares even in children who presently even from the cradle drinke in the rudiments of vice they learne to sweare riot drinke and the like enormities with the smallest teaching but they are vtterly indisposed to any vertuous inclinations They soone apprehend what belongs to the curiosity of behaviour and deportment of the body the fashions of the times Hoc discunt omnes ante Alpha Beta puelli but for Heaven and that Eternity they are wholly averse from it they are vtterly vncapable of the things aboue they carry about them as the livery of their first parents not only an indisposition but a very opposition to goodnesse And whereas for other imployments and vndertakings they haue certaine naturall notions in them bending their intentions to naturall workes some one way and some another yet they haue not so much as a naturall apprehension of the things of God Homo sine gratia praeter carnem nihil sapit intelligit aut potest Thus it is with children and thus it is with all men even those of the ripest and most peircing vnderstanding vntill the light of Gods spirit hath shined on their hearts and powerfully wrought some spirituall holy dispositions in them The naturall man saith the Apostle neither doth nor can discerne the things that are of God O how infinitely-miserable and deplorable is his state who hauing neither knowledge of the true life nor possibility of himselfe to finde it out Cum exulsit a patria exultat in via yet runnes on securely in his damned way vntill he fall woefully and irrevocably into the pit where hee will not haue no not when hee hath vncomfortably worne out millions of yeares the least intermission of sorrow or drop of comfort or hope of pardon Here on earth malefactors condemned to dye haue this comfort though wretched that one houre commonly terminates all their griefes in this life But the torments of the damned are not concluded in an age nay the end and period of ten thousand yeares will not end their sorrowe And this is it which addes more to their sufferings even their vnhappy knowledge of the perpetuity of them they haue not so much as any hope of releasement Hope in this life hath such a power in it that it can yeeld some comfort in the middest of trouble The sicke man whilest his soule is in him he hath hope but after this life this small refreshment is denied the damned all their hope is turned into desperation The Prophet Daniell cap. 4.14 heard the voice of an holy one crying hew downe the tree and cut off his branches shake of his leaues and scatter his fruit neuerthelesse leaue the stumpe of his roote in the earth Thus it is with men in this world saith Ambrose their leaues and their flowers are shaken their delights are taken from them but the rootes remaine and their hope is not abolished But it is not so in hell saith he There both flower and stumpe nay and even all hope too are banished away from them The day of the Lord saith the Prophet Malachy shall burne them vp and leaue them neither roote nor branch The very hope saith Salomon of the wicked shall perish what should this teach vs but whilest our hope remaines to improue our few daies to our best advantage to make straighter paths to our selues to abridge our inordinate appetites in some measure of their vaine fruitlesse ioyes and with all the power of our affections striue to attaine that hauen where no billow shall affright vs no stormes astonish vs no perills indanger vs Then shall our dissolution proue our gaine and our death our glory if otherwise wee persist wilfully in the paths of our voluptuousnesse and solace our selues in the vaine ioyes of our owne hearts and in the sight of our eyes certainly it will be bitternesse in the latter end Extrema gaudii luctus occupat All our earthly delights will glide away like a swift river The reioycing of the wicked is short saith Iob and the ioy of a sinner is but for a moment Though his