and deny what he will meere opinion before the Iudgement of that Church which is is still to be instructed and taught by the holy Ghost And this sinne is of so high a nature as that vnlesse it be remoued by pennance the man in whome it liues shall No heretike without repentance can be saued dye a double death and neuer behould the face of God howsoeuer he may otherwise seeme to be a person of most holy life so ful of Charity as to sell his state and giue it all to the poore and of so valiant and Christian a hart as amongst Infidels to suffer death torments for the name of Christ For to proue that euen this will not serue the turne of an Heretike towards saluation see heere the authority of the greatest Fathers of the church coÌ„cerning this point Who The practise of the primitiue Church in this point See S. Aug. ad Quod-vult Deum the Catalogues of S. Irenaeus and S Epiphanius besids that in the way of practice the Church of their tyme did coÌ„demne many men for Heresy who held though it were but one point of doctrine in contrariety to the Catholike Church and somtymes of some such doctrine as in it selfe did not seeme to be of most importance they do also declare and that in most cleere and constant words in what certainty of damnation they are who dy in any Heresy at all Whosoeuer saith S. Cyprian D. Cypr. epist in Anton. what kinde of person soeuer a man be a No heretike is a Christian any more then only in name Christian he is not vnâ—es he be in the Church of Christ And againe Idem de vnit Eccles He belongs not to the rew rd of Christ who forsakes the Church of Christ such a one is an alien he is a prophane person he is an enemy And to this effect he also sayth if such an one should euen giue his life for the confession of the name of Christ he should yet by the Iudgement of this holy Father be condemned to the flames of Hell for his Heresy and not be receiued to the ioyes of heauen for his constancy he expresseth himself in these words Non esset illi corona fidei sed poena perfidiae S. Hierome in like manner speaking of the Church of Rome affirmeth it to be D. Hier. epist ad Dam. l. 2. The true house of Christ and that whosoeuer eateth the lambe out of that house is a prophane person and that vnles he be found in that Arke of Noe he shall be ouerwhelmed and perish in the floud S. Augustine doth also abound euery where in the profession of this truth D. Aug. tom 7. super gest câ—…m Emer vlt. med A man sayth he cannot obtaine saluation but in the Catholike Church he may haue all except saluation he may haue honour he may haue the sacrameÌ„ts he may sing Alleluia he may answere Amen he may belieue the Ghospell he may be baptized in the name of the Father of the Sonne and of the holy Ghost but no where can he haue saluatioÌ„ but in the Catholike Church D. Augu. tom 7. de vnit Eccl. vlt. med No man cometh saith he to saluation and life eternall but he that hath Christ for his head and no man can haue Christ for his head who is not in his body which is the Church Idem tom 3. de fide symb Heretikes by belieuing falsely of God do violate the faith and Schismatikes by their wicked dissentions flye of from fraternall charity although they belieue as we do And therefore neither doth the Heretike belonge to the catholike Church because he belieueth not God nor the Schismatike because he loueth not his Neighbour Let The schismatik hath no Charity and the Heretike hath neither Charity nor Fayth Idem tom 7. de Bapt. cont Don. l. 4. c. 18. vs suppose that a man were chast and contynent not couetous no worshiper of Idolls but full of hospitality no enemy to any man nor contentious but patient quiet not emulating or enuying any body but sober and frugall but yet withall that he were an heretike and there can no doubt be made but No Heretike can be saued though he be neuer so vertuous otherwise Idem tom 4. l. 1. de serm Do. in monte c. 9. that for this only That he is an Heretike he shall not possesse the kingdome of heauen It is not sayd alone Blessed are they who suffer persecution but these words are added for iustice sake Now where No heretike or schismatike can be a Martyr Tom. 1. de fide ad Petrum c. 39. true Fayth is not there can be no Iustice because the Iust man liues in Fayth Neither yet set Schismatikes promise themselues any thing thereby because where there is no Charity neither can there be any Iustice For Charity towards ones Neighbour doth worke no euill which Charity if they did possesse they would not teare the body of Christ which is his Church Belieue Some doubt whether this book be of S. Augustin or of S. Fulgentius who liued within 40. yeares after S. Augustine most firmely and haue no manner of doubt but that euery Heretike and Schismatike though baptized in the name of the Father and of the Sonne and of the holy Ghost if he returne not to the Catholike Church how great Euen the giuing al in alms and suffering death for the name of Christ wil not deliuer an heretique from damnation Almes soeuer he distribute yea and though he shed his bloud for the name of Christ he can by no meanes be saued For neither Baptisme nor most liberall almes nor death endured for the name of Christ can auaile any man to saluation who holdeth not fast the vnity of the Catholike Church and so long as any How small soeuer that be hereticall or schismaticall iniquity which leadeth men to destruction remayneth in him These are they amongst many others whome God hath giuen to his Church as lightes whereby all good Christians may be guided towardes their saluation and take heed thou be not so miserable as to follow any ignis fatuus insteed of them for thy error in this life will import thee no lesse then thy eternall damnation in the next FAVLTS escaped in the Printing Page Line Fault Correction â—… 10. intention attention â—… vlt. fo of â—… 1. interiourly exteriourly â—… 12. he is to make deleatur he â—…9 10 vnanswerable vnanswerably â—… 3. to friend to that friend â—… 13. and for zeale and zeale of â—… 1. whither wither â—… 7. for thus for this â—…8 13. infinity infinite â—…9 13. guifts gusts â—… 14. Sathan that deleatur that â—… 16. is infinite is an infinite â—…1 10. is hauing is their hauing â—bid 11. then being their being â—…0 7. by all by ill â—…3 17. my pennance deleatur my
Ebrieties Commessations and such like Of these saith he I foretell you as I haue foretold you that they which do such things as these shall not obtaine the kingdome of God Now if these Sinnes doe exclude men from heauen others also which are as grieuous wil be as sure to exclude them and the more certainly will they exclude them the more grieuous and enormous they fall out to be For if simple fornication doe make a soule lyable to the paines of hell what will not Adultry do If for a priuate emnity with a mans neighbour he shal be adiudged to those eternall and vnquenchable flames what shall be not be for deuiding the Church of Christ our Lord by vnbeleeuing any doctrine or disobeying the gouernement therof I say the vnbeleeuing of any doctrine as before I said of the committing any other mortall sinne For this is as true in the law of our faith as it is in the law of our life That Qui in vno peccat omniū factus est reus he that offends in one is made guilty of all Not that he who offends in all shall not be more deepely damned then he that doth it but in one but because whosoeuer shall haue offended mortally against any one commandment of our Lord God which concerneth good life or any erroneous doctrine in difference from the Catholike beliefe is most truely declared to be a breaker of the Law of God and a corruptour of his truth and that as such a one he shall perish except he repent Woe be therefore to them and of woe they will be one day sure who bringe such false weights into the world and who prophane the law of God and not onely the law but the law-giuer himselfe In that they allow him not to be a perfect hater and a seuere punisher of all mortall sinne in what soule soeuer it be found Whereas yet he protesteth himselfe throughout the whole Current of holy Scripture not onely to hate but to abhorre it The 1 Sap. 14.10 impious man and his impiety are hated by Almighty God The 2 Prou. 3.32 scoffer the 3 Prou. 12.22 Lyer and the 4 Prou. 16.5 Arrogant person is an abomination to God The 5 Prou. 15.9 way of the wicked man and euery wicked thought of man is abhorred of God Thou 6 Ezech. 33.8 wicked man thou shalt dye the death Behould 7 Ierem. 23.19 the whirlewind of the indignation of God shall go forth sayth the Lord of Hosts and it shall come vpon the head of sinners like a furious tempest Now if any man perhaps shall tell me that these places the like are only meant of Infidels or such other wicked men as shall haue spent their whole life in the offence of God but that christiās such as lead not a life so prophanly wicked as those others are not meant heereby howsoeuer they may commit some mortal sinne and continue therein let such a one behould how the holy Ghost taketh care to answere his obiection by assuring vs Ezech. 18.26 That If a man who had been neuer so iust should yet forsake that iustice by committing sinne he should dye therein And then he can looke for nothing but that Day whereof another Prophet sayth Mal. 4.1 That it shall come burning like a fornace where all proud men and all other persons working wickednes should be like stubble and that this day shall set them on fire Nay it is a feareful thing to see in the Prophet Ieremy how our Lord doth sweare That how full of priuiledge soeuer how deare soeuer a man may haue beene to him yet if he fall to sinne dye therein he will reiect him For speaking of a sinner he expresseth it in these wordes of Terrour Ierem. 22.24 As I liue sayth our Lord if Iechonias the sonne of Ioachim the king of Iuda were a ring which I did weare vpon myne owne right hand I would plucke it off So deadly doth Almighty God hate sinne and sinners and so infallibly will he iudge them to be tormēted for the same in those eternall ardours of hell if they repent not cordially thereof before their death And what a fit of phrensy then must that be which can possesse vs so far as to make vs for any temporal and base delight to forsake and be forlorne by that God of eternall Maiesty and of infinite beauty But in the selfe same manner the Fathers and Doctours of the holy Church haue testifyed this truth vpon all occasions They were not Infidells but faythfull Christians to whome S. Chrysostome sayd Hom. 22. ad pop Antioch tom 5. when withall he tooke himselfe into the number Consider that without fayle we must all departe to stand before that Iudge whome it will not be possible for vs to de eaue and where not only our actions shall be iudged but euen our very wordes and thoughts and where we shal endure extreme punishment for those things which heer haue seemed but smal Be alwayes remembring these thinges see thou neuer forget that fire which is neuer to be extinguished Let vs therefore sayth S. Ambrose Ambr. in psal 38. lament our sinnes that we may deserue pardon If our sinnes be not forgiuen in this life we shal haue no rest in the next The a Aug. de fide oper cap. 15. tom 4. burning of such as shal be damned wil be eternall as the fire is to be which shal burne them and Truth affirmeth that not they only are to be sent vnto it who wanted Fayth but they also who wanted good workes This last is sayd by S. Augustine and he also affirmeth thus in another place No one good deed is left vnrewarded nor no one sinne vnpunished At the last Day sayth b Greg. l. 9. Moral S. Gregory that deuouring flame shal burne such as are now polluted with carnall pleasures then shall the infinitely wide mouth of hell swallow downe such persons as heere are puffed vp with pride And they who through their fault haue heer performed the wil of their crafty Tempter shall fall like reprobates into those torments togeather with that guide of theirs And c Greg. l. 5. Moral according to the quality of their sinne the punishment thereof shall be ordayned and euery damned soule shall be tormented in the fire of hell after the rate of her demerit This is then the verdict of the Fathers and Saints of the holy Catholik Church and of the Apostle Saint Paul yea and so the holy Ghost himselfe who wrote by his penne and which is euery where cleerly giuen to proue this certaine truth That any one mortall sinne whether it might be against good life or true beliefe doth shut vp the gates of heauen against vs set open the bottomlesse Abysse of hell to swallow vs vnlesse we repent thereof sincerely before our death The hower of which death because it is so wholy hidden from
vs it will infinitely concerne vs both instantly and exactly to cast vp all the accōpts of our Conscience to be cordially sorry for all our sinns to confesse them distinctly to purpose an amendment firmely and to satisfy for them intierly For this is a busines which must not be dispatcht after a cursory and superficiall manner but we are to consider with what care we would consult about our estats if they were in danger or about our liues if they lay on bleeding And heer we must not faile to vse so much more deligēce then there as Eternity is of more importance then a moment of Tyme And in fine we are to do it so as at the hower of our death when we shall go to stand before our Iudge we would be glad that we had done it For without this true repentance which signifieth a flight from sinne with griefe and supposeth a flight towards God with loue it is no Faith in Christ our Lord which will serue the turne to preserue vs out of that lake of eternall torment But rather the more knowledge we shall haue had of him by Faith the greater will our torment be if we do not pēnance for the sinns which we shal haue cōmitted against that Maiesty of his Which the same Fayth telleth vs to be infinite and that his hatred against sinne is also infinite and that as with strange mercy he will assume to incomprehensible immortall ioy the soule which at that day he shall find to be free from sinne so in whomsoeuer he he shall perceaue that sin remaines the same soule will he then instantly adiudg to that sea of fire brimston where it will saile in sorrow blaspheme and rage for all eternity To the pretious Death Passion of Christ our Lord we owe must acknowledg amongst innumerable others this vnspeakeable benefit for which let all the Angells for euer blesse praise his holy name That through the infinite merit therof we may be receiued to grace by meanes of true contrition and pēnance how often and how wickedly soeuer we shall haue offēded that high Maiesty But that Death Passion will neuer saue the soule of any one creature vnlesse both that mystery and all the other mysteries of Catholike faith be well beleeued al sinne be cordially detested which sinne is a monster so fierce and cruell as that it did cost the very sonne of God his life By that life and by that death I begge that thou wilt giue ouer to trample with thy durty feete in the sacred Bloud Royall of our B. Sauiour which he shed for thee vpon the Crosse For so thou dost preferring Barabbas before him as often as thou cōmittest any mortall sinne and so long thou hast continued to doe it as thy soule hath beene spotted with that crime Or if thou haue so little of the noble in thee as to be moued more by thine owne interest then by the consideration of that immense benefit which the foūtain of Maiesty vouchsafed with such excesse of loue to this wicked creature man then do I coniure thee euen by that very interest of thine owne that instantly thou make hast into thy selfe and that discharging thy soule by pēnance of whatsoeuer may be offensiue to the pure eyes of God thou implore his mercy now which may saue thee from that inflexible iustice of his in the last dreadful day At which tyme euen this very paper will appeare to thy extreme and euerlasting confusion if thou forbeare to serue thy selfe of this admonition Heauen and earth shall passe away but the word of God shall remayne for euer Matth. 24. v. 30. And that word hath thus aduised vs and thus assured vs by the mouth of the most B. Apostle S. Paul speaking to the Galathiās Gal. 6.7 Nolite errare Deus non irridetur Quae enim seminauerit homo haec metet Quoniam qui seminat in carne sua de carne metet corruptionem qui autem seminat in spiritu de spiritu metet vitam aeternam The plaine and cleere sense whereof is as followeth Take heed you frame not certaine fantasticall and false opinions to your selues as if you could ouer-reach Almighty God euacuate his truth make him belieue that he gaue you a free law wherby to liue thē indeed he gaue But be well assured that the very truth is this Let euery man aliue consider seriously what he sowes for iust so and no otherwise shall he reape If you sow works of flesh which are particulerly cited before in this Preface out of a former Chapter of S. Paul to the same Galathians yow shall reape nothing but corruption but destruction but euerlasting damnation But if yow sowe workes of the spirit which are wholy contrary to those others and are there expressed to be Charity Ioy Peace Patience Benignity Goodnes Longanimity Meekenes Fayth Modesty Continency Chastity yow shall in vertue of that spirit wherewith you liue and whereby you are to walk passe on from this transitory to an eternall life then at the most liberal hands of God you shal receaue a most precious crowne of immortall glory A TABLE OF THE CHAPTERS OF THIS DISCOVRSE chapter 1 HOW the office of being our Iudg doth belong to Christ our Lord as he is man and of the great benefite which God imparteth to vs in giuing him to be our Iudge Chap. I. chapter 2 Of the great desire which Christ our Lord hath for as much as concerneth him not to condemne any one in his iudgmēt but to saue them al. Chap. II. chapter 3 Of the benefit which Christ our Lord imparteth to vs in giuing vs to vnderstand and feele the grieuousnes of sinne by the meanes and manner of his Iudgement to the end that we may in tyme do pennance for it Chap III. chapter 4 How we are to haue great sense of the grieuousnes of sinne by reason of the demonstrations which shall be made by all the creatures of God before the Iudgement Chap. IIII. chapter 5 How Christ our Lord discouereth the hate which he carryeth towardes sinne by the so particuler account which he taks thereof Chap. V. chapter 6 How Christ our Lord declares to vs the detestation which he carryeth against sinne whereof the wicked are conuinced by that sentence which he pronounceth against them Chap. VI. chapter 7 How Christ our Lord discouereth the grieuousnes of sinne the hatred which he carryeth against it by the last sentence whereby he is to condemne the wicked and by the punishment which he inflicteth vpon them Chap. VII chapter 8 How the grieuousnes of sinne is yet more discouered by the causes of the Iudgmēt which are alleadged by Christ our Lord. Chap. VIII chapter 9 How a Christian is to draw a detestation of sinne out of the consideration of this Iudgement of God and great vigilancy in the leading of a good life Chap. IX chapter 10 Of other Considerations from which
persons as long as they did perseuere they had signes in them of being predestinated and they who receaued not the fayth according to their then present state were wicked reprobate This did our Lord declare whē he sayd I came into this world that they who see not might se◠they who see might be blind Which was as much to say Vpon my comming did this iudgment follow and this distinction was made amongst men that many who in their soules were blind through ignorance and errour and vice and who did not see the truth nor did walke in the right way to heauen by beleeuing in me with a liuely fayth they I say might see the truth and follow it And that many others who saw and had knowledg of the Scriptures and did know the law and the Prophets who both in their own and in the peoples opinion estimation were held wise and had a spirituall light wherwith to looke into diuine things they I say for their pride and ingratitude should remaine blind and going astray from the right way should not find their errour and perdition Another diuine and most singular testimony which Christ our Lord hath giuen vs of the desire which he hath in this iudgment of his not to finde any sinnes which he might punish nor any sinners whom he should be so obliged to condemne is That d Let all Angells adore him for this inestimable benefit to men at his first comming he made a law which was to last till the end of the world wherby he gaue faculty to all sinners that during the whole tyme whilst their life should last they might passe a Iudgement vpon themselues acknowledging their sinns and accusing themselues therof with greefe and confessing them to a Priest who should hould the place of Christ our Lord and satisfying for them according to the iudgment of the same Ghostly father and that they performing this he would not in his Iudgment either cōdemne or punish them but would declare them to be not Guilty and would impart the kingdome of heauen to thē And that if hauing once passed this Iudgement vpon themselues they should yet return againe to sinne become abnoxious therby to eternall condemnation yet stil as long as their life should last they might returne to passe the same Iudgment vpon themselus as often as they would and that if they should do it according to e Confessing them all clearely with great sorrow firme purpose of amendmēt Truth he would not condemne them but would admit them into his company and make them happy O Iudgment which is so deerely sweet O Iudge who is so ful of mercy and how vnanswerable is it proued by this most pitteous Iudge that his intention and desire is not to punish but to pardon not to condemne but to absolue and saue since before he comes to passe his Iudgment he vseth so many meanes applyes so many remedies to the end that he may finde no sinnes to punish nor no sinners to condemne If an earthly Iudge had his prison ful of delinquents theeues murtherers and should make a kind of agreement and bargaine with them that f Consider seriously heerof admire the infinit goodnes of God in that wherein the blind world thinkes it hath hard measure namely in the Institution of the Sacrament of Confession euery one of them might choose what friend or kinsman of his owne he would and in secret should declare his offence to him deliuering to him the whole truth and vndergoing but that penalty which he should impose vpon him for the same And that vpon some day of the same yeare himselfe would come to the prison to Iudge them and that he would pronounce them to be free who had declared their offences to friend or kinsman of theirs who had performed the penalty which he had imposed and that he would only cōdemne those others who would not haue recourse to that remedy what would you say of this Iudge of this agreement You would say that there nether is nor euer was nor euer will be in the world any Iudge who sheweth or is to shew any such mercy nor who euer made or will euer make any such Capitulation with persons who had deserued to dye nor are there any laws on earth which can permit any such thinge And if there were any Iudge who would submit himselfe to the like cōdition there would no delinquent be found who would not ioyfully performe this agreement and so be declared for not guilty Well then Christ Iesus the Eternall Iudge and who is of infinite power and Maiesty doth shew this mercy to all such sinners as are worthy of eternall death And he hath made this bargaine and agreement with them all and that is yielded to by the laws of heauē which the laws of earth will not endure Let vs therfore serue our selues of this mercy let vs performe the articles of this agreement and let vs in tyme passe a Iudgment vpon our selues let vs confesse our sinnes with true sorrow let vs amend our liues to the end that when at the houre of our death in the particuler Iudgment and at the end of the world in the Vniuersal iudgment we shal come before this great Iudge he may find no sinnes to punish or condemne in vs. For it is sayd by S. Iohn the Apostle concerning this Lord 1. Ioan. 1. If we confesse our sins repenting our selues truly of them before God and his substitute God is iust and faithfull in fulfilling the promises and rewarding the meritts of Chri◅ our Sauiour and so he will pardon vs our sinnes through his merits and will cleanse vs from all wickednes as he hath promised O most vnhappy men who deferring to do pennance and to make amendment of their liues despise this mercy of God as S. Paul sayth by making ill vse thereof Rom. 2. And g Woe be to thē who will needes be wicked euen because God is so infinitely good by this meanes they treasure vp the wrath and punishment of God for themselues against the day of his wrath which is that of his Iudgement These lawes of mercy were not made nor are they proclaimed vnto men to the end that thereupon they should take such a wicked strange presumption to sinne but that if they haue sinned they should not be dismaid but that in hope of this diuine mercy they should instantly correct themselues and reforme their liues and obtaine pardon So doth the glorious Apostle S Iohn aduertise vs for hauing sayd That if we confesse our selues well God will pardon vs he instātly addeth this 1. Ioan. 2. These thinges haue I written to you my children to the end that you may not sinne but that you may fly from sinne at full speed but yet if any man do sinne we haue an Aduocate before the Father That is to say let him not be dismaid nor out
and serued The Sunne shall grow darke not as now it doth somtymes by naturall causes or in respect that any cloude may ouershadow it or because the Moone may cast it self betweene it and the earth as it hapneth in the case of an Eclipse but it is to be obscured by a supernaturall and miraculous cause and so it is to be vnderstood that for a while it shall loose the whole light it had The Moone shall also loose her light The Stars shall fall from heauen Ioel. 2. either because when they are without light it shall seeme to be as if they were fallen or els for that in very deed they shall dislodge themselues from that high firmament where they are fixt and for some tyme shall fall from thence and deteine themselues in the ayre till they returne againe into their place The powers of the heauen shal be moued that is those celestiall bodies with their naturall vertue shall tremble and so shift their places as in an earthquake the earth is wont to do or if it be vnderstood of Angells the meaning is how in that day they shall make some kind of spiritual demōstration motion of great admiratiō The Sea shal be troubled shal be moued in a most wōderful māner and with the waues thereof shall make such a hideous noyse as will astonish the whole world oppresse and afflict with excessiue feare and horrour the harts of mortall men will make them euen whither againe with woe The Earth shall tremble 2. Pet. 3. and shal be open in many partes and shall disclose euen the pits of hel The Ayre with the same Earth and Sea shall burne by that most ardent ouerflowing of fire which shall consume al the liuing bodyes of fishes beasts and men God in his law commanded the children of Israel Deut. c. 13. v. 20. that when they should be to fight against the Idolatours and Pagans who dwelt in the Land of Promise and whome he was pleased to punish for their sinnes not only that they should kill the men but euen the very beasts which did them seruice and so in particuler he b A sign of this truth in the old Testamēt exacted this of Saul when he went to fight against the Amalecites and because he did not punctually comply with this cōmandment but suffered some of the Cattle to liue God was offended Saul was punished 1. Reg. 3. Let vs now see why God did not content himselfe with causing the men who had sinned to be put to death but the beasts also which had no fault It was to make men vnderstand and feele that sinne is so great a mischeife and is so worthy to be abhorred and punisht and that God doth indeed so much abhor it that it is a most cōuenient thing not onely to punish sinners with eternall tormēts death but to destroy also and consume and as it were to chastice the creatures wherof they did serue help thēselues towards their sinnes Therfore is it that resoluing in the Vniuersall Iudgment to chastice the wickednes of all men in a most complete manner he will not content himselfe to deliuer ouer sinners themselues to those eternall ardours of fire those other immense paines of hell but to the creaturs also wherof they made some vse in sinning he giues as it were a kind of payne and punishment in detestation of the sins themselues as also to the end that they may be purged and cleered frō that indecency and deformity which grew to them by the seruice which they did to sinners For thus it is that the Sunne the Moone Stars which did illuminate sinners whilest they were committing their sinnes shal be depriued by him for a whyle of all the light beauty which they haue he shall conuert it into thick darknes And as for the Sea the Earth Ayre which gaue food to sinners did maintaine them whilest they were offending God he will make them as it were feare and tremble will depriue them for a tyme of the naturall quality and disposition they haue and will consume and kill all those liuing creatures and plantes which were the food of sinners and wil destroy al those buildings which were the habitation of wicked men And thus through the mutation demonstration desolation which in the Iudgment God will shew in al the creatures which serued sinners he doth teach and testify the infinite hatred which he hath against sin And he doth induce perswade vs that now through the knowledge of this truth we may be drawn to abhor detest them and that with a penitentiall holy life we may cleanse our soules as well as possibly we can frō al fault offence of his diuine Maiesty 2. Pet. 3. S. Peter c This truth is insinuated by S. Peter doth admonish vs of the good effect which we are to draw from the change which is to be made vpon the creatures by saying to this effect Since there is a day of the vniuersall Iudgement to come wherin all the creatures for hauing serued sinners are to be purged with fire and burnt inferre my brethren from hence how diligent and constant it is fit for you to be in the leading of a good life and how holily and purely you are to conuerse in this world and how vigilant and carefull it will becom you to be in performing the works of piety towards God and of mercy towards your Neighbour expecting with a liuely fayth that day of our Lord and approaching and drawing neere to him with speed not with paces of the body but with the desires affections of the soule desiring and louing this day and preparing to see your selues at that tyme accompanyed with purity of life and with the exercise of vertue CHAP. V. How Christ our Lord discouereth the hate which he carryeth towardes sin by the so particuler account which he taketh of them all ANOTHER mystery of this diuine Iudgement discouering the mighty demonstration and detestatiō which God doth expresse against the faults whereby he is offended is the so particuler accompt which he will take of vs which we all must giue of all the facultyes or powers al the senses both of our body and soule of all the creaturs which we haue vsed and a If you beleeue this point of fayth to be true I shall not need to wish you to looke wel about you of all the workes which we haue performed all the wordes which we haue spoken and all the thoughts which we haue conceaued how little soeuer they fall out to haue beene without leauing out so much as any one idle word or any one idle thought We shall giue accompt of how we imployed our Vnderstanding if we did set it on worke vpon the inquiry and search of God and his truth and in contemplating on him his holy Cōmandments and the workes of
abhorre sinne extremely to grieue vnfaygnedly for those which we haue committed to feare it with our whole harts and to fly from it with cōtinual care For it is all reason that we should abhorre that which God doth so highly abhorre and that we should be mightily grieued for hauing committed such things against God as he mislikes so much wherby he is so much offended And it is most iust fit to feare a Iudgment which is so seuere and ful of terrour and such torments as are so excessiue and so without all end And now that we may with the more efficacy rowse our selues vp towards a perfect hatred of sinne and a feare of the diuine Iudgement let euery one of vs go casting vp his accompt after this manner God b Resolue thy selfe to suffer eternally in hel if thou refuse the grace which God is desirous to giue thee euen very now if thou wilt concurre who is my Creatour hath resolued that the day shall come when he will Iudge me and from this Iudgment it is impossible for me to flye So also hath he resolued that he will reward me in this Iudgment according to my works If he find me in the state of Grace and with the stocke of a good life in my hand he will giue me the reward of eternall felicity If he find me in mortall sinne and that I haue ill imployed my life he will driue me out of the sight of his glory wil cōdemne me to euerlasting torments Now that I consider my selfe I see that I haue lead a carelesse kind of life that I haue committed many offences against his holy Commaundmentes If now he should call me to his Iudgment I am sure that I should be condemned for I haue not done pennance for the sinnes which I haue committed nor haue I yet reformed my life At least I am in much doubt of my saluation for the pennance which I haue done was luke-warme I haue sought to mend m life but slackly It is necessary therefore now euen very now that I change my course that I betake my selfe to my pennance that I do it in good earnest I will obey the voyce of God who commands me by Ecclesiastious saying Before thou come to the diuine Iudgement prouide thy selfe of workes which may be holy and iust to the end that it may succeed well with thee Before thou come into the hāds of God to be iudged by him aske thy selfe the question examine thy conscience well passe an vpright Iudgement vpon thy selfe reprouing thy selfe with griefe punishing thy faults with pennance and so thou shalt find mercy in the sight of God thou shalt find him a fauourable Iudge and he will cast the sentence on thy side Let c Attention the Christian man consider further in the bottome of his hart let him reason thus within himselfe If I d Of the litle difference which there is to be for vs in substāce betweene the day of our death the day of the last Iudgement knew now that the end of the world and the Vniuersall Iudgment were to be held within ten or twenty yeares it would more seriously worke vpon me and would make me more carefull to do pennance and to endeauour a totall renouation of my life and I should more cordially feare the Iudgement and eternal punishment of God the sinnes which make me subiect to euerlasting damnation Yet certainly for as much as concerns me the day when I shall dye is after ◅sort the very day of the Vniuersal Iudgement and of the end of the world For the chiefe of that which passeth in the Vniuersall Iudgement and which maketh it to be feared so much is the irreuocable sentence of eternall damnation which is then to passe vpon the wicked e This maketh not against purgatory but sheweth only that if a man dye in state of sinne he shall continue so for euer and if in state of grace he shall also for euer continue so thogh till all be satisfyed he shal stay in purgatory and then he flyes vp to heauen that where a man shall then be lodged he shall lye for all eternity And he shall then no more haue any vse of any creature of this world or of tyme wherin he may do pennance or procure saluation Now this is in effect the same thing which is to be done with me in the houre of my death For then I shall be iudged and if then I be found guilty an irreuocable sentence of damnation shall passe vpon me and where I shall then be cast I shall remayne for euer and in the Vniuersall Iudgment there is no more to be done but to confirme and proclaime the sentence which was giuen in the particuler Iudgment And in the houre of my death for as much as concerneth me the whole world is at an end so is the vse of all the creaturs therof since I shall returne to it or them no more and so is the Tyme also at an end wherein pennance might haue beene performed and merit might haue been procured If therfore it be so that the houre of my death is to be the same thing for me which the Vniuersall Iudgment and the end of the world and the same it is to be for all men and f The certainty of death and the vncertianty of the houre of our death since it is most certain that the day of my death will arriue eare long and that according to my age and to the tyme which men are wont to last it cannot exceed twenty or thirty years and since it is so casuall as that perhaps it may be eare night it followeth as a most iust and necessary consequence that I should euen from this very instant dispose my selfe to do pennance for my sins with greater care and to make a totall amendment of my life to do that which Christ our Lord commandes me saying Matt. 24. Watch for you know not the houre when your Lord will come and that also which the Apostle S. Peter 2. Pet. 3. in the name of the same Lord doth aduise me saying Brethren the day of our Lord will come like a theefe Now the theef who steales by night comes without giuing any news of himselfe and then he doth it when he is lookt for least Iust so will christ our lord come to iudg vs in the end of the world and in the houre of our death and no man shall know when he is to come the tyme will be at hand when many will be least ready for it Doe you therefore earnestly labour to lead a vertuous life that so you may be free from sinne and that there be nothing in you which may deserue reproofe but that with a quiet and safe conscience you may expect our Lord when he shall come to iudge CHAP. X. Of other Considerations from which we may draw the detestation of sinne
that good cause which he hath begun Let vs all both heare and with great fidelity obey the voyce of that Prophet who sayth 2. Paral. 25. You who are the people of God do you encourage and animate yourselues to serue him and to continue in that seruice of his without dismay for in fine your labours shall 〈◊〉 answered with a great reward CHAP. XXI How we are much to animate our selues to the exercise of good workes considering the great estimation which Christ our Lord doth make of them at the day of Iudgement and the reward which he also imparteth to thē THERE is also another particular consideration belonging to this diuine Iudgment and to the reward of good workes which doth greately moue the soule to labour hard in the seruice of God And this is the Reason and Tytle which Christ our Lord alledgeth in giuing his benediction and reward to the iust when he saith Matt. 25. Come yee blessed of my Father possesse the kingdom which is prepared for you For I was hungry and you gaue me to eat I was thirsty and you gaue me to drinke I was a stranger you receiued me into your howse I was sicke and in prison and you came to visit me For a The great valew which our Lord doth make euen of our least good workes by these words Christ our Lord doth mightily discouer the estimation and price which he hath stamped vpon good workes which are done in grace and the great fauour and honor which they receiue in his diuine presence the much that they please him and the immense glory wherwith he rewardeth them since so meane workes so very easy to be wrought as it is to giue a peece of bread to a poore hūgry body or a cup of water to a thirsty or a shirt to couer the naked or a nights lodging to a stranger or a visit to an imprisoned or sick person though it be but to comfort him with good words for we see he doth not say I was sicke and you cured me or I was imprisoned and you freed me but such easy workes as are those other and which put vs to so little cost and trouble that excellent Maiesty of his is pleased to publish proclaime in that great Theater vpon the day of Iudgement in the presence of the whole world and he setteth out and praiseth them which his owne sacred mouth he sublymes then so high as to take them for seruices and deare fauours imparted to his owne persō which giue him great contenment gust And so much b That which maketh a good worke meritorious is the flowing of it from the grace of God in Christ our Lord and the being seconded by his promise of a reward which promise makes the reward due account he makes therof as to esteeme them for merits which are worthy of eternall life and he receaues them as a price of the kingdome of heauen And he esteemeth them for meritorious that not only all together but euery one of them a part and a part he takes euery one of them for the price of glory and of that kingdome which hath no end But c What will not our Lord do to vs for greater worke since he doth so much for the lesse now if Christ our Lord who so highely esteemes and vouchsafes the fauour of so great reward to so light and easy workes as those what will he do to such workes of mercy as are great hard and which grow out of much Charity As when a man doth giue all his goods or a great part therof to the poore or lodge Pilgrims for a long tyme and serue them and prouide them of all things necessary depriue himselfe of clothes to cloth the poore naked Christian and to serue sicke persons day and night and that in the case of troublesome and contagious diseases as when they may be struckē with the plague and to drawe with much trouble of person and charge of purse such as are prisoners or Captiues out of their chaines How much I say will Christ our Lord esteeme such works as these which cost much labour and money and for the performing whereof a man endures much incommodity and imbraceth many paineful things and wrastling with store of difficulties and mortifies himselfe much to comfort others renounces his owne will in many things that so others may be comforted and releeued There can no doubt be made but that much more he will esteeme them and will afford them the fauour in that day of Iudgement of a reward so much higher as the works are more excellent more acceptable in his eyes for being growne vp out of greater Charity And if the Corporall works of mercy which are exercised vpon the bodyes of men which must quickly dy and for the maintenance and preseruation of this corporall life which is soone to haue an end be so much esteemed and fauoured and so highly rewarded by Christ our Lord what will he be sure to do to the workes of spirituall mercy wherby immortall soules are succoured redrest and wherby they being deliuered from the death of sinne and euerlasting paine there is imparted to them saluation and a life of euerlasting glory A plaine d How much therefore are we bound to such as do assist our soules though it be with hazard of their liues case it is that the worke of mercy wherby a soule is assisted is more excellēt then that other wherby a body is releeued that these works of piety wherby the spirituall and eternall life is holpen is of much more valew and merit then that other wherby that corporall and fraile life is succoured For as much as according to S. Thomas D. Thom. cont Gen. l. 4. cap. 55. Amongst all those things which are created no one is greater then the saluation of a reasonable soule which consisteth in the enioying of God So also there is no other greater almes then that wherby this saluation and this life of grace and glory is procured consequently a much greater benefit doth he impart to another who remedieth the necessityes of his soule then if he had giuen him a great sūme of money And since they who giue a little bread to the hungry and a little water to the thirsty and they who retyre a Pilgrime to their house and apparel a naked person with a peece of cloth and visit a man who is in prison or sicke giuing him a little temporall comfort be so esteemed and honoured by Almighty God in the presence both of heauen earth in that terrible tribunall of his Iudgment and are so enobled and sublymed with the Crowne of celestiall glory and with the dignity of the euerlasting kingdome what will Christ do that most iust and righteous Iudge and that most liberal God with them who dispense the bread of heauenly doctrine to such as haue need and are hungry after it