of glorie And therefore the Holy Ghost counsaileth vs Eccli 4.20 to preserue and keepe Time as we doe gold so shall we depart from euill which is as if he had told vs that we should vse imploy it in good works not loose the least moment thereof Againe he willeth vs to be aduised by the same Ecclesiasticus Eccli 14.14 saying Defraud not thy selfe of the good day and let not the portion of the good desires ouerpas thee One trāslation hath Particula bonae diei others as likewise in the vulgar editiō Boni doni One while he saith let no part of the good day ouerpas thee for nought another while he saith of the good gift or desires The meaning is to admonish vs that we spend wel the Time and the Day yea all days for he that can wel order redres one day may by the same amēd and reforme al his life in the same man ought to do all the good he can for him selfe for his neighbors exercising himself in works of Pietie and mercie King Dauid so much feared to loose the least particle of Time so farre indeuored wholy to imploy the same wel that he striued contēded with the sun for early vprising to praise God which at lēgth the king preuented according to those words Psal 11◠ver 147.148 Praeuenerūt oculi mei ad te diluculo Early in the morning do I cry vnto thee Mine eies preuēt the morning watch that I might meditate in thy words for before the Sun was vp I was occupied in the same Which according to the exposition of S. Ambrose is as much as if more clearely hee had spoken Rise earlier thou Christiā before the Sun be vp for I hold it great negligēce carelesnesse most culpable in thee that the beames of the Sunne when it riseth should find thee idle and sleeping in thy bed Thou art ignorant perhaps that thou oughtest euery day to render vnto God almighty the first fruits of thy toung and heart See thou haue a daily haruest and daily fruite in like maner And in another Psalme the Prophet saith Psal 77.4 Anticipauerunt vigilias oculi mei My eyes preuented and awaked before the watch-men and gard of the citie that is to say as S. Ierome declareth before that any body went to watch or did awake I awaked and watched at midnight and in the morning at mid-day in the euening and finally seuen times a day doe I laud my Lorde yea alwayes and at all houres haue I his prayses in my mouth Hee well knew how to obserue Time hee duely acknowledged what it was and what stood him auaileable as of a thing so pretious hee knew how to make profite thereof without loosing one iot either of the Good day or of the good gift Time saith Theophrastus is a most costly Theophrast expense Seneca Epist 1. And Seneca in his first Epistle which hee wrote to his friend Lucilius saith thus What man is he that will suffer me to set price on his Time How much thinkes hee is the day worth admitting that euery day hee were to die wherfore we do much deceiue our selues herein because we fix not our eies vpon death a great part whereof is already past all that of our age life which yet remaineth behinde death holdes in possession Wherfore my deere friend Lucilius persist still in doing of that which thou thy selfe in thy Letters didst write vnto me thou doest being a person that so well knowest the due estimation of Time imbrace al the houres so shalt thou depend lesse vppon the morrowe pointing as it were this day with thy finger not permitting the same to ouerpasse thee idlely for the life putting it selfe off with prolonging flies away passeth at random And all things els beeing estrainged alienated frō vs onely Time is ours and very naturall reason hath infourmed vs that we obtaine the possession of a very swift thing which runneth away so fast and slideth amaine yea flyes apace from betweene our hands The knowledge and discretion of mortall men is so litle and weake that they impute it a great losse incase they leaue vndone the least vilest thing or smallest trifle being indeed reuocable and amendable though pretermitted none thinkes that hee oweth or is indebted any thing for hauing receiued Time cōsidering that Time is but one sole thing which yet the gratefull mā can make no due satisfaction for that which he receiued as hee ought in regard of the high price and for that the debt is great in vndertaking the day vpon himself And in his booke of the shortnesse of life Idem lib. de breuit vitae he saith There is no man that will forgoe or part with his patrimonie or substance nor disinherite himselfe but rather will keepe it and augment it as for Time and his course of life hee will with great facility impart and bestow them many times on diuerse vaine things They are very niggard of their wealth but for Time they are most prodigall and lauish when as indeed their honest and laudable couetousnesse should be onely of Time because most truely as in the same Booke then presently after hee saith Time is the most precious thing that is and yet for al that they dispraise it and hold it of no esteeme for nought and of no worth as though it were right nought indeed bearing no price at all Not one makes reckoning of it when they haue it but if any be sicke then shall you see bowing of knees crouching before the Physitian and if hee feare the sentence of death that man will waigh him with gold for to ransome his life That blessed holy man Laurentius Iustinianus Laur. Iust de vitae solit 6.10 treating of Time and the value thereof sayeth thus Who hath that power to cōprehend or conceiue in his heart what a precious thing Time is O what grace eloquence or sweet flowing speach of man is able to declare it None knowes it but such as now want and misse the same Then all the goods of the world honours dignities and prelacies the pompe of this age corporall delights and bodily pleasures yea and all maner recreations sports and pastimes ioyes and intertainements whatsoeuer they be which are vnder the cope of heauen would bee giuen in boote and exchanged for one houre of Time if it were possible to bee obtained because in this most short space they would appease the diuine Iustice they would make glad and reioyce the Angels they would eschewe from that fearefull sentence of eternall damnation and gaine yea without al doubt they would procure life euerlasting And they are most vnhappie vpon whom the Sunne of mercie is already set who most irreuocably shall descend into that lake of miserie where there is neither order nor good course Iob. 10.15 22 but fright and horror perpetuall and with good reason shall
Sepulchre wherein vpon the Tomb or vpper stone therof were written or ingraued these words Here lieth Simil the Romaine Capitaine whose life though it were long yet for all that is reputed to liue but onely seauen yeares because in them hee retired himselfe from the Court and being freed of the cares and charge in Office which formerly was imposed vpon him he addicted himself to the studie of vertue to his owne meditations and godly exercises Damascen in his historie of Barlaam and Iosaphat reporteth Damasc histor Barla cap. 18. that when Iosaphat demanded of Barlaam of what age hee was of he made him this aunswere if I be not deceaued I am fourty and fiue yeares of age and so many yeares there are since I was borne What doest thou answere mee replied Iosaphat for thou seemest to mee that thou art past seauentie I mary sayed Barlaam if thou reckonest my yeares euer since I was borne into this world thou sayest right and art not deceaued for that I am past seauentie But those yeares doe by no meanes seeme vnto me yeares of life nor can such be reckoned in the Account which were spent and consumed in the vanities of this world because then as seruant to my sinnes I liued after the taste of my sensuality and appetite of my flesh and outward man being then without all doubt dead according to the inward mā and so I may not call them yeares of life which rather were yeares of death But after that by the grace of God I was crucified and dead to the world and the world to me and haue put off the olde man then liued I no more after my sensuality nor after the flesh being enemie to the Spirit but onely to Iesus Christ and those yeares I call yeares of life and saluation And I beleeue that all those who remaine in sinne and obey the diuell and consume their lyues in delights and vaine concupiscences are departed this life and dead because that Sin is the death of the soule Rom. 6.19.21 as affirmeth the blessed Apostle S. Paul Rom. 6.21 Godly S. Ierome expounding the first Chapter of the Prophet Haggai sayth Hieron in Agg. cap. 1. All that Time wherein we giue place to Sinne and serue our owne vices perisheth and will be lost and as though it had neuer beene shall be reputed for nought It is reported of Titus Vespasian that being one day at supper and calling to minde that in that day hee had shewed no curtesie nor rewarded any body nor had performed any good turne or done any good deede to any person hee spake with great feeling sorrow of heart to all them that were then present Oh my friends how grieuously sorie am I to haue lost this day Then let a Christian man holde for lost that day which by him is ill imployed and make that reckoning that hee shall haue nothing for it For manifestatiō of this truth that the yeares spent and consumed in vices and wickednesse are not properly OVRS Seneca saith Seneca That there are many who first must leaue to liue before they cā begin to liue Time sayeth that famous Doctor Thomas de Kempis was bestowed vpon vs Tho. de Kemp. 1. pag. Serm. ad Nouit cap. 7. to performe good works not for idlenesse nor to heare or rehearse olde tales fables vanities nor things of no value Wherefore my good Sonnes speaking to the Nouices in Religion let neither houre nor anie time ouerpasse you without some fruit and profit And when you are freely licensed to speake you are not permitted to talke or conferre about any other thing but what shall be commodious necessarie and profitable For as you are to giue reckoning to God almighty for euery idle word Mat. 12.36 so are you bound to yeeld a straite account for all the Time which you haue lost and ill imployed Ludouicus Blosius amongst other his exhortations which he giues to such as Lud. Blos purpose to leade a spirituall life aduiseth and sayth That he should regard and weigh the estimation and value of Time and esteem the least part thereof if ill spent how litle soeuer it be for a very great losse And that mysticall Thaulerus Io. Thauler amongst other documents admonitions hee giues to religious persons sayth Take heede and beware as from the most pestiferous poyson that is of the least losse of Time And so one of the Offences whereof the Remembrancers or Chequer-officers and our Accusers at the day of Iudgement shall accuse and taxe vs withall will be losse of Time according to that which the Prophet Ieremie in his Lamentations doth giue vs to vnderstand Lame 1.21 Vocauit aduersum me Tempus The Lord called Time to be witnesse against mee The which place Thomas of Aquine expoundeth of the day of iudgement Tho. de Aquin Sap. 5. because amongst other things wherof we are there to be charged burthened one will be Time Where all the whole orbe of the earth in defence of Gods honour will commence hard suite against all sottish senselesse sinners accusing thē requiring Iustice against them for the wrong and hurt they did against both their Creator the creatures by abusing and misimploying them and halling them by the haire against their wills to serue their owne lusts wicked appetites CHAP. 3. How GOD in his iust Iudgement cutteth off sinners frō enioying the benefit of Time who before made no reckoning thereof to profit themselues thereby as they ought and might haue done NOTwithstanding that solemne Oath of the Angell whereof wee spake in the first chapter that on some day Time should finish make an end of all in generall at the day of vniuersall Iudgement after which there should be no more Time to deserue either wel or ill or to make any sauing repentance And that euery man in particular in the last day of his life is to expect his owne peculiar Iudgement yet for all that it is greatly to be feared considered That God accustometh for the punishment of the heedlesse and negligent sinner to cut off Time from him to shorten his life least he should profit himselfe thereby as he ought and might haue done considering that hee hath ill imployed and mis-spent the same So teacheth that famous Bernardine de Sena S. Bern. art 3. cap. 4. and for proofe thereof citeth that place of the Apocalipse Apoc. 3.3 Si non vigilaueris veniam ad te tanquam fur If thou watch not I wil come on thee as a thiefe and thou shalt not know what houre I wil come vpon thee Whereupō God threatneth the carelesse sinner who frō day to day deferreth prolongeth his conuersion and amendment dreaming imagining that he shall haue Time enough yea to spare sayeth thus Be not negligent and carelesse neither iest nor dally thou with Time neither esteem the same so certaine so sure so long nor so at thy
commaund as thou imaginest watch and sleepe not be euer warie well aduised If otherwise hee will come vnto thee as accustometh the thiefe to come to rob and spoile will on a suddaine at vnawares catch apprehend thee before thou canst know or perceiue on what houre he is to come The thiefe comes to steale and to carie away the treasure which he shall finde heedlesly layed vp and which is not kept with that due regard and carefulnesse as behoued and such is Time in the house of the sinner And therefore with good and iust reasons will the Lord cut it off because it was not regarded and imployed to that end whereby good gaine and profitable exchange yea great riches blessings and eternall happinesse might haue bin had and obtained Conformable to this sayeth our Sauiour by his Euangelist S. Matthew Mat. 25.29 He that hath shall haue more and from him that hath not shall be taken away that which hee hath or seems to haue The iust man apprehends Time as his owne and is Lord thereof for that hee well knoweth how to vse it and to him that hath time at the end of his life more time and space shall be giuen him to examine himselfe to purifie his conscience and shall haue aboundance because hee shal obtaine full remission and compleat pardon of all his sinnes plentifull grace and glory infinite And hee possesseth no Time who while hee liueth doth not well imploy the same but being seduced and deceiued by the Diuell with prolonging of amendment thinkes that he shall enioy sufficient by the iust Iudgement of God shall be bereaued of his vaine expectation and shal want space to repent either by some sodain death or by some other disgracefull and vnfortunate accident Thus farre Bernardin Senensis And for that cause doth our Lord and Sauiour admonish vs so often Mat. 25.13 that wee watch because we knowe not the day nor the houre wherein Time will make an end of vs. And the holy Church semblably like a louing and cōpassionate Mother doth aduise vs the very same saying Let vs reforme and amend that which hitherto we haue most ignorantlie or wilfully transgressed considering that no Time of repentance will be hereafter left vs which though we seeke for yet shall not we obtaine the same And to this purpose as God cuts the thrid of life before the time from him who profited not with Time in his seruice Bern. de Sena Bernardinus de Sena reporteth a most terrible and fearefull accident which in his time happened in a certain village of Catalunna neare to the kingdome of Valencia A young man of the age of eighteene yeares hauing beene most rebellious disobedient towards his Parents did many times loose and forget the regard and respect due vnto them In punishment whereof God leauing him to himselfe came to be a most notorious Thiefe for robberies being apprehended and condemned to die was brought to be hanged to the market place of his owne Towne And the young man being dead hanging vpō the gallowes and all the whole Towne present they saw and perceiued his beard to sprout out much haire to grow to remaine with a wrinkled brow a writhen face full of gray haires with the aspect and semblance of a man of ninety yeares a thing whereat all were astonied and wonderfully amazed which accident being brought to the knowledge of the Bishop who then resided in that Village commanded that all should prepare themselues to prayer himselfe performing the same most humbly beseeched Almightie God that he would bee pleased to reueale vnto them the mysterie of so rare an accident and after a pretie while intreated silence and speaking with a loud voyce sayd thus You see my Sonnes that this young man died of the age of eighteene yeares who afterwards appeared and seemed with the visage and countenance of a man of ninetie yeares whereupon you are to note what God would haue vs to be instructed of namely that after the course of nature he was vndoubtedly to liue ninety yeares and so would haue done had he beene obedient to his Parents but in regard of his sins and disobedience the Lord hath permitted him to die a violent death cutting off from his life so many yeares as are from eighteen to ninetie And because this might be manifest and apparant to al men he hath wrought this miracle S. Ierome saith Hieron Epist 21. that the shortnesse of life is a punishment and iudgement against sinners and therefore because of sinne the Lord from the beginning of the world hath shortened and cut off the life and yeares of men Once God withdrew from Hezehiah fifteene yeares of his life Isaiae 38.1 which according to the course of nature he was to liue but afterwardes by meanes of his Teares and hartie repentance Ver. 3. they were restored and granted vnto him againe And so Haymo vpon those words of the Prophet Isaiah Haymo in Isaian 38.5 The Lord hard thy Prayer and hath seene thy teares and will adde vnto thy dayes fifteene yeares saith thus euen as he spake to Adam that he should be immortall conditionally so as he continued obedient to the diuine precept so by God his eternall Decree those years were granted to King Hezechias conditionally if he liued faultlesse and blamelesse and would not suffer himselfe to be puft vp with pride For those yeares which for his pride should haue bene taken from him nowe because of his humility and lowlinesse were restored againe Psa 55.23 Viri sanguinum dolosi non dimidiabunt dies suos saith Dauid The bloudy and deceitfull men shall not liue halfe their daies That is as if more plainely he had sayd They shall not liue the one halfe of the dayes they should haue liued in case they had beene godly Sinners are not the men whom they think and imagine they are For as our Sauiour sayd to the Iewes Auferetur a vobis regnum Dei c. Mat. 21.43 The kingdome of God shall be taken from you and shall be giuen to a Nation which shall bring foorth good fruit and shall better know how to acknowledge and estimate thereof So will God bereaue sinners of Time because they yeelde no fruit of good workes in the same and will bestow it on such as will yeeld good fruite and likewise knowe how to imploy the same well Those words of Dauid in his 102. Psalme Nereuoces me in dimidio dierum meorum Psal 102.24 wherein he beseeched the Lord that he would not take him away out of this life in the middest of his dayes albeit according to some interpreters are as much to say as Oh my God I hartily beseech thee not to take me away in the middest of my dayes because that time and age is the very gulfe wracke of life the nest of cares and pretensions and more dangerous to die in then
small holes in the ground and had hid them all in safety And afterwards the wylie and cunning dam soared aloft and quite flew her wayes leauing the Fowler deceiued ashamed considering he could lay hold neither of her self nor vpon any of her young ones In the same maner goeth the Diuell about to delude and entrappe thee thou blinde and foolish Sinner and so detayneth entertaineth and draweth thee on with vaine pleasures and deceiueable delights frō one day to another and from one yeare to another yea many yeares together with one false hope that hereafter thou shalt haue Time sufficient to repent thee that if thou neglect it this day thou mayest performe it to morrow or some other day as though the dayes and times were in thine owne hands Act. 10. which the eternall Father hath reserued for himselfe whereby thus alwaies loosing Time and the occasion present thou mightest hereafter come to want lacke all good opportunitie or seasons then shalt thou haue cause to bewaile and mone for euer If it be good to conuert our selues to God almightie saith S. Augustine let vs do it quickly let it be done instantly Aug. ad fraet in Eremo wilt thou say I will conuert and turne me to morrow yea too morrowe And wherefore not this day Considering the morrowe is neither sure nor certaine Happens there not oftentimes many suddaine deaths Die there not an innumerable multitude without acknowledging their sins and repentance Thē sayest thou God help me what harme haue I spoken by saying that to morrow I will conuert mee and begin a new reckoning when of necessitie it should be done this day Then God helpe mee likewise Brother mine answered S. Augustine what hurt haue I spoken by saying it should be done this day That being much more safe and better and so I speak better then thou doest considering thou hast not for thine owne but onely this day and yet not all this day saue onely the present moments or minutes How much better were it if it might be that all thy life were good for thou wishest and desirest that it were amended and reformed then that some part therof be good though as little as may be Thou wilt haue or at least indeuorest to obtaine thy meate thy wife thy house thy apparell thy hose and shoes all throughly neate and of the best Esteeme and respect therefore thy Soule in much more account then thy shoes Thus farre Saint Augustine The life saith Seneca is diuided into three seasons or times namely Seneca in that that is past present and to come and of them the Time present is the shortest and that to come is most doubtfull but Time past is most sure and certaine and thereof now Nature it selfe hath lost the dominion and Ruledome neither is it possible that it can be recalled by anie humane facultie Then if we suffer the Time present to ouerpasse we indanger our selues to be bereft for euermore without it but to cōtinue in eternall condemnation How much more thou sottish Sinner Open thine eares listen to mee I say how much more better were it that in all the Time of this life yea from the very first moment that thou hast the vse of Reason thou yeeld forth good fruite and prepare thy selfe and be in a readinesse against such Time as when the Maister Lord thereof doth come to demaund it for there is neither momēt nor houre wherein hee cannot come and call vs to particular Iudgement wherein he rewardeth the labourers and workemen of his vineyard according to euery ones labour and industrie All which out of S. Ierome In confirmation whereof that Parable of the Fig-tree commeth neere this purpose Mat. 21.19 which our Sauiour Christ had planted as our Lord drew neare the same being hungry and desirous to eate some figs and finding no figges theron did curse the same Mar. 13.28 And the holy Euangelist well noteth that as then it was no time of fruite bearing And therefore did not inflict that punishment properly vpon the Figge tree but vpon fruitlesse barren men voyde of good workes signified by the same tree Because that man at all times is bound to yeeld and render fruite for which cause our Lord when hee comes to seeke and findes none he will inflict vpon him the paine of his eternall malediction euerlasting curse All things saith Salomon haue their determined and precise times Eccles. 3.1 and after that sort and maner That all Time is neither opportune nor seasonable for all thinges for that which is peculiar and naturall for one thing is not fit for other businesse but verie preiudiciall and hurtfull As if one should sowe whē hee should reape fall and grub vp trees when time were to plant To speake when one should keepe silence To laugh when hee ought to weepe Furthermore for man to doe good works and to labour in the vineyard of our Lord there is no precise nor limitted Time it is alwayes fitte Time It will be euer seasonable in what houre so euer in what age so euer admitting that at no time it be lawfull to sinne and offend and that no Time was giuen bestowed on man to doe euill or to execute wickednesse According to those words of Ecclesiasticus Ecclus 15.20 God commaunded no man to doe vngodly neither hath hee giuen any man licence to sinne but rather aduiseth and admonisheth all men to preserue and keepe Time Ecclus 4.20 and that they depart from euill because it was lent and giuen them for no other end but to do good to imploy the same wel The being of a man idle and carelesse Matth. 20 7 as well the workeman as the hireling is reproued by the goodman of the family yet such an idle standing and carelesse liuing of him that is most in yeares and most aged deserueth and is worthy of most blame And so compareth that royall Prophet Dauid in the beginning of his Psalmes the Iust man Psal 1.3 with the Tree that was planted neer the running waters which yeelded fruite in due time By which he meant not to say that as the tree rendreth no fruite saue onely in one moneth or at one speciall time of the yeare not in others so the iust man is to yeeld his fruit vpon certain dayes or moneths or in some precise and determined yeares and not in others But rather saith thus euen as the tree yeelds his fruite in his due time season if it did not thē would the owner cut it downe to the very ground So man ought to render fruite according to his estate and profession in his time And his time is all the time of his life And he aduiseth and warneth him on Gods behalfe that it behoueth him alwayes to pray Luc. 18.1 and neuer to cease and to be alwayes watching as it were with a candle in his hand because he knoweth not at