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
perish in time of vengeance But alas farre otherwise it is with vs in our practise * Magna pars vitae elabitur male agentibus maxima nihil agentibus tota aliud agentibus A great portion of our time is crumbled away in doing ill a greater part in doing nothing and our whole life in doing that which wee should not or in matters as we say vpon the by And as Archimedes was secure and busie about drawing lines on the ground when Syracuse was taken so is it with vs. Now that our eternall safety laies at stake we lye puzling in our dust I meane in our worldly negotiations But for our eternity shortly approaching we seldome or rarely thinke of it We are like Martha troubled about many things when one thing is necessary But this one thing is that which of all other things is least regarded and in the last place Wee seldome seek heauen till death doth summon vs to leaue the earth wee haue many euasions to gull our owne hearts many excuses to procrastinate our repentance like Dionysius the Scicilian king who to excuse himselfe for the present deliuery of the golden garment which he tooke from his God Apollo answered that such a robe as that was could not bee at any season of the yeare vsefull to his God it would not keepe him warme in the winter it was too heauy for the summer So many there be saith S. Ambrose who play with God and with their owne soule You must not say they seeke for the vigour and life of religion in the hearts of young men For youth as the prouerbe is must haue his swinge Neither can you expect it in the company of the aged for their age and those distempers which accompany it make them a burden to themselues and dulls the edge of their intentions vnto all their serious vnderstandings Thus both the summer and the winter of our age are vnfit for Gods service But let vs not thus cheate our selues If God bee God let vs follow him let vs not put off the day of reconciliation and say in our hearts to morrow wee will doe it when yet we cannot tell what shall bee to morrow for what is our life It is euen a vapour that appeares for a little time and afterwards vanisheth away Hence it was that Macedonius being inuited a day before to a feast replied to the messenger why doth thy Master inuite me for to morrow whereas for this many yeares I haue not promised to my selfe one daies life Nemo mortem satis cavet nisi qui semper cavet i.e. No man dreads death as he ought but hee that alwaies expects his summons and therefore wee may truly iudge such men wofully secure and wilfull contemners of the future good who can goe to their beds and rest on their pillowes in the apprehension of their knowne sinnes without a particular humiliation for them For how oft doth a suddain vnexpected death arrest men We see and knowe in our dayly experience many lay themselues to sleepe in health and safety yet are found dead in the morning Thus suddainly are they wrapt from their quiet repose to their irrecouerable iudgement perchance from their feathers to flames of fire such is the frayle condition of our brittle liues within the small particle of an houre liue and sicken and dye yet so grosse is our blindnesse that from one day to another nay from one yeare to another wee triflingly put off the reformation of our liues vntill our last houre creepes on vs vnlookt for and dragges vs to eternity Saint Augustine striuing with all his endeavours against the backwardnesse and slownesse of his owne heart to turne to the Lord bitterly complained within himselfe Quamdiu quamdiu cras cras Quare non hâc horâ finis turpitudinis meae How long saith he ô how long shall I delude my soule with to morrowes repentance Why should not this houre terminate my sinfulnesse Wee are every minute at the brinke of death and every houre that wee passe through might proue for ought we know the evening of our whole life and the very close of our mortality Now if it should please God to take away our soules from vs this night as suddenly falls out to some what would then become of vs In what Eternity should wee be found Whether amongst the damned or the blessed Happy were it for vs if wee were but as carefull for the welfare of our soules as wee are curious for the adorning of our bodies if our clothes or faces doe contract any blot or soiling wee presently endeavour to cleanse the same But though our soules lye inthralled in the pollutions of sinne this alas we feele not it neither provokes vs to shame nor moues vs to sorrow Wherefore let vs looke into our hearts with a sevearer eye Let the shortnesse of our daies stirre vs vp to the amendment of our sinfull liues let the houre wherein we haue sinned be the beginning of our reformation according to that of St Ambrose agenda est paenitentia non solum solicitè verùm etiam maturè i.e. our repentance must be not only sincere but timely also whilest wee haue the light let vs walke as children of the light Let vs not any longer cheate our soules in studying to invent evasions or pretences for our sinnes but rather lay open our sores and seeke to the true Physitian that can heale them All the creatures vnder the sunne doe naturally intend their owne preservation and desire that happinesse which is agreeable to their nature onely man is negligent and impiously carelesse of his owne welfare Wee see the Hart when hee is striken and wounded lookes speedily for a certaine hearbe well knowne vnto him by a kinde of naturall instinct and when he hath found it applies it to the wound The swallow when her young ones are blind knowes how to procure them their sight by the vse of her Celandine But wee alas are wounded yet seeke for no remedy wee goe customarily to our bedds to our tables to our good company but who is he that obserues his constant course of praier of repentance of hearty and sincere humiliation for his sinnes Wee goe forward still in our old way and jogge on in the same rode Though our judgement hasten hell threaten death stand at the doore yet we thrust onward still in dulcem declinamus lumina somnum But alas miserable soules as we are can wee embrace quiet rests and vninterrupted sleepes with such wounded consciences Can wee be so secure being so neare our time But you will say wee haue passed already many nights without danger no sicknesse in the night hath befalne vs hitherto why then should any feare of death amaze or trouble vs Admit all this yea bee not too confident one houre may effect that which a thousand yeares could not produce and thinke with your selues what a little distance there is betweene your soules and death
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
thou shouldest lengthen out thy daies to many hundreths of yeares yet still thou art transitory and exposed to the common condition of all men Then fixe thy heart on God and so enioying that eternity thou shalt make thy selfe eternall and be not discouraged for thy tribulations and daily disquietings in this world for such is Gods loue such his abundant kindnesse towards his elect that hee Ideo Deus terrenis faelicitatibus amaritudinē miscet vt alia quaeratur faelicitae cuius dolcedo non est falla◠corrects them here to the end they might not bee condemned with the world hereafter boni laborant quia flagellantur vt filij mali exultant quia damnantur vt alieni God spareth those who are aliens from grace but whom he chuseth he chastiseth Bee not therefore I say cast downe with any crosses whatsoeuer that may befall thee in this life for the things that are present are temporall but the things to come are eternall When we see the friends of this world the eager embracers of the comforts of this life vpon every summons of death striue to deferre what they cannot vtterly avoide their corporall dissolutions oh how great care what indefatigable diligence what restlesse endeavours should we vse that wee might liue for ever Let vs againe and againe meditate on these things and with due care foresee eternity before wee vnexpectedly fall into it Certaine it is Omnia transeunt sola restat non tranfibit aeternitas all things passe away in this life only eternity hath no period let vs redeeme the time and worke while wee haue the day for if wee neglect good duties here we shall never regaine the like opportunity hereafter This life saith Nazianzen is as it were our faireday or market day let vs now buy what wee want while the faire lasts While we haue time let vs doe good vnto all men Tu dormis sed tempus tuum non dormit sed ambulat imo volat Bene illis qui sic vivunt sicut vixisse se volunt cum moriendum erit faciantque ea quae in aeternitate constituti fecisse se gaudebunt Amb. Happy is the man that so liues here that the remembrance of his well-spent life may yeeld him ioy hereafter For otherwise levis hic neglectus aeternum fit dispendium i.e. A small neglect in the ordering of our time in this world will bee seconded with an eternall losse in the world to come The fift conclusion Death is the ending our daies not of our life For when our day shall close and our time shall bee no more then shall our death conduct vs to a life which will last for all Eternity For we dye not here to dye but to liue for ever Therefore the best guide of our life is the consideration of our death and hee alone leads a life answerable to his Christian profession who daily expects to leaue it Me thinkes ' its strange-men should be so industriously carefull to avoide their death and so carelesly improvident of the life to come when as nothing makes death bad but that estate which followes it but the reason is wee are spiritually blind and see not nor know in this our day the things that belong to our peace wee haue naturally neither sight nor feeling of the ioyes to come But when God shall enlighten the darknesse of our mindes and reveale his sonne in vs when once the day dawneth that day-starre ariseth in our hearts ô then our death will be our joy and the reioycing of our hearts then shall wee infinitely desire to bee dissolued and to be with Christ Let vs therefore with vnwearied endeavours labour to bring Christ home to our hearts and to keepe him there Let vs dye to our selues and to our lusts here that so in the world to come we may everlastingly liue vnto Christ and in him The sixt conclusion Now that we may bee the better incouraged to raise vp our indeavours to the attainement of this eternity Let vs in a word consider the abundant and the ever-flowing happinesse in the world to come neither eye hath seene nor eare hath heard nor tongue can expresse the joyes that God hath provided for thē that loue him Vbi nullum erit malum nullum latebit bonum Saint Augustine being ravished with the desire of this life breaketh out with an inflamed affection how great shall that happinesse bee where there can be no vncleane thing where no good can be wanting Praemium virtutis erit ipse qui virtutem dedit where every creature doth praise and admire his Creator who is all in all things How great shall that reward be where the giver of vertue shall be himselfe the reward of vertue how great shall that abundance be where the author of all plenty shall be vnto me life and soule and rayment health and peace and honour and all things yea the end and compleat obiect of all my desires For in his presence is the fulnesse of joy and at his right hand there is pleasure for evermore How great shall that blessednesse be where we shall haue the Lord our debtor who hath promised to reward our good deeds where wee shall haue the Lord for our portion who will be to vs as he was to Abraham our exceeding great reward How great shall that light bee where the Sunne shall no more shine by day nor the moone by night where God shall be our light and the Lord our glory How great shall that possession be where the heart shall possesse whatsoever it shall desire and shall never be deprived of its possessions Here will be to the Saints an abundant everlasting overflowing banquet no griefe can accompany it no sorrow succeede it Here is ioy without sadnesse rest Quies motus non appetitus without labour wealth without losse health without languor abundance without defect life without death perpetuity without corruption Here is the beatificall presence of God the company of Saints the society of Angells Here are pleasures which the mindes of the beholders can never be wearied with they alwaies see them and yet alwaies reioyce to see them These are the flaggons of wine which comforted vp David when he cried out according to the multitude of the sorrowes which I had in my heart thy comforts haue refreshed my soule In coelo est vita verè vitalis In heaven and only in heauen is the true life For there our memories shall liue in the ioyfull recordation of all things past our vnderstandings shall liue in the knowledge of God our wills shall liue in the fruition of all excellencies that they can wish for all our senses shall abound in their seuerall delights Here is that white stone which Saint Iohn speakes of even glory and immortality to them that overcome Here is that water of life which our Saviour speakes of whereof whosoever drinkes shall never thirst againe Here is that river the springs
A DISCOVRSE OF ETERNITIE Collected and Composed for the Common good By W. T. ACADEMIA OXONIENSIS SAPIENTIA FELICITATIS OXFORD Printed by IOH LICHFIELD for WILLIAM WEBBE An. D. 1633. THE FIRST CHAPTER Containing an Introduction to the ensuing Discourse THere is nothing can fully satisfie the mind of Man but that which is aboue man Fecisti nos ad te domine inquietum est cor nostrum donec requiescat in te Aug lib. 1. Cons cap. 1. all the treasures and riches vnder Heaven cannot make vp a proportionable object for the soule For that which must terminate the desires of so excellent and divine a nature must bee of a correspondent like condition with it that is infinite and immortall Now no sublunary blessings extend thus farre All worldly happinesse and earthly delights haue their changes and haue their death They are short in their continuance and vncomfortable in their end For they leaue vs when we leaue the world and they nothing availe vs in the day of triall when our bodies shall descend into the slimie vally our soules returne to God that gaue them then all the choicest comforts of this life glide away from vs as the streame and the sunne of our ioy will set for ever Our beautie wherein wee haue so much prided our selues shall turne into rottennesse our mirth into wormewood our glory into dust Now if this be the condition if such the state of our best pleasing contentations here below how vndiscreetly improuident of our soules welfare should we be to bound our affections on the things of this world what a madnesse beyond admiration were it in vs to trifle out our time to waste and weare out our most pretious daies in the vanities vnder the sunne as if God had placed vs here on earth like the Leviathan in the Sea to take our pastime in it to ingulfe our soules into the sensuall pleasures of this life as if we had neither hope nor expectation of a life to come what an intollerable stupiditie were it for the short fruition of a momentary content here to plunge our selues for everlastingnes into a sea as it were of fire and brimstone where wee shall see no bankes and feele no bottome Me thinkes the serious consideration hereof should even cut the heart and damp the mirth and wound the very soule of the most glorious and selfe pleasing worldling whose life is nothing but a change of recreations to thinke vpon his fading state his flowing condition his declining ioy his dying life and endlesse eternitie to see how all things in him and about him goe speedily forward in a most sensible declination to behold with his eies how his goods and his greatnesse his liuings and his life and all the most pretious delights which his sensuall heart enioyes are already winged as it were for their flight and must shortly bid him an everlasting farwell And then what shall bee his stay where shall be his shelter what will remaine to bee done but with that sad and disconsolate Heathen to shut vp all in that hopelesse and helplesse lamentation Anxius vixi dubius morior heu quo vado I haue squandred out my life in an vnfruitfull way I haue lived vnresoluedly and die doubtfully and now whether away O my soule woe is thee and alas for evermore And such is the bitter close and vncomfortable ende of all those who goe desperately on in the waies of their hearts and in the sight of their eies and make not God their strength though their excellency mount vp to the heauens saith Iob and their heads reach vnto the cloudes yet shall they perish for euer as their doung and the eye which hath seene them shall doe so no more Iob. 20.6 O then how deepely doth it concerne vs to raise vp our desires to things aboue to fix our hearts vpon the true rocke to drawe our waters of comfort from the euerliuing fountaine to trust so much more on God by how much we haue lesse on earth to trust to Now for our better incouragement to this dutie and to the end wee may the more easily vnloose our affections from the imbracements of this world it will not bee vnworthy our labour to meditate a while vpon the nature of that Eternitie which doth vnavoidably abide for vs either in horror or happinesse in the life to come CHAP. II. Containing a description of Eternitie with a briefe declaration of the nature and condition of it ETernitie is an infinite endlesse bottomelesse gulfe which no line can faddome no time can reach no age can extend to no tongue can expresse It is a duration alwaies present a being alwaies in being it is one perpetuall day which shall never see an Euening Infinite are the descriptions of the Ancients and divers their expressions touching this Eternitie The Egyptians conceiuing that God was eternall and his duration and being to bee properly tearmed Eternitie represented the diuine power by a Circle which had neither beginning nor end And hence it was that the Ancient Romans erected Temples which they dedicated to their Gods in a circular figure Thus Numa Pompilius deuoted a round Temple to the Maiestie of Vesta And Augustus Caesar the like in honour of all the Gods Pythagoras the better to expresse that God was eternall commanded his Schollers that so oft as they accommodated themselues to the worship of God they should turne themselues round The Turkes euery morning ascend into an high Tower built in the fashion of the Egyptian Pyramides where they deuoutly salute their God and Mahomet crying with a lowd and roaring voice Deus semper fuit semperque erit God alwaies hath beene and euer will be Mercurius Trismegistus the most famous among the Philosophers represented God the true Eternitie by an intellectuall spheare whose Center was euery where but without any circumference because he was the beginning and ende of all things not bounded within any compasse nor terminated in any limits It was an vsuall custome among the Nasomons an ancient people in Africa that they coveted to dye sitting and would alwaie be buried in the same posture sitting in Cells vnderneath the earth and this they did to fignifie by that vnmoueable gesture that they should now sing a requiem from the businesse of this troublesome world and had now ariued at the hauen of eternall quietnesse Thus we see how these miserable heathen who had no other light but nature no other guide but those lame and corrupted principles which were left in them after the fall did notwithstanding according to their broken and weake apprehensions tire out themselues in the expression of Eternitie and how euer they were vnhappily ignorant in the waies of God in this life yet they earnestly laboured to know what should become of themselues hereafter and to finde out the state of the life to come Oh how iustly might I were it not a digression take vp a lamentation and deplore the wretched
condition of our times how short doe wee fall euen of the perfection of Heathens what man is there amongst vs that casteth forth so much as a thought vpon Eternity wee liue here as if there were no life hereafter Our Earth is our Heauen and our pleasures our Paradice we crowne our heads with rose buds wee eate of the fat and drinke of the sweet and say in our hearts no euill shall happen to vs yet when we haue done all Omnes humanae consolationes sunt desolationes Hearts ease will not growe in this earthly garden the true rest will not be found but in the true place the eternall Hierusalem sound and entire contentment hath no rooting in this world For as one hath it excellently * Dispone ordina omnia secundum tuum velle videre non invenies nisi semper a liquid pati debere autsponte aut invite ita crucem semper invenies dispose marshall all things to thine own hearts desire yet shalt thou doe what thou canst still meet with some crosse or presure in the way Since it is so let vs not then determinate our affections in these earthly things which are of no continuance but let vs send our hearts before vs to those heavenly mansions where they shall be crowned with fulnesse of happinesse and shall swimme in streames of pleasures for evermore Certainely there is no true rest but that which is eternall the sweetest refreshment our soules can finde in this world consists in the serious meditation of the ioyes to come in devoting our selues and all we haue to his seruice from whom wee haue them in trusting to him and relying on him for out of God the soule findes no resting place to set her foot on but every where stormes and waues death hell abide her when we haue improued our contentments to the very height of our desires when we haue attained as much happinesse as the world can giue vs yet then may we be cut off perchance in the midst of our daies when our breasts are full of milke and our bones full of marrow or suppose we spinne the thred of our life to a longer day and God crowne vs here with the blessings of his left hand the comforts of this life and length of yeares yea though all things favour our longer continuance in this world yet in the end time and age will ruine vs. Wee shall bring our yeares to an end like a tale that is told and shall vanish away like a shadow though we liue many yeares and in them all we reioice yet in the end we shall remember the daies of darknesse saith Solomon and the time shall come that the eye which saw vs shall see vs no more Soles occidere redire possunt nobis cum occidet semel brevis lux nox est perpetuo vna dormienda Cat. The Sunne sets and riseth againe but we alas when our glasse is runne and the short gleame of our sommers day is spent shall neuer returne till our last summons when the dead shall heare the voice of the sonne of God and they that heare it shall liue and come forth of their graues they that haue done good to the resurrection of life and they that haue done evill to the resurrection of condemnation both to Eternitie and then shall follow that large day that shall never shut in that infinite continuation of time that shall neuer end that vnlimited Eternitie which ever hath beene and is and will be the same for euer when the Sunne shall no more yeeld her light by day nor the Moone her brightnesse by night but God shall be our light and the Lord our glory But oh the vnhappy condition of our age who is there that ponders these things with a digested meditation that lookes into the state of his soule with a serious eye that examines his conscience vnvaileth his heart and considereth his waies That endeauours to lay a good foundation for the time to come wee stand at the doore of Eternitie and while we liue we are euery day entring into it it 's but a stroake of death we are gone even in a moment and whether from our short and fading delights to an endlesse easelesse gulfe where our worme shall never die nor our fire shall neuer out Now let all those who swim in the streames of their voluptuousnesse putting far from them the evill day who labour to expell from their hearts and to stifle in the bud the sad consideration of their approaching infelicities let them I say knowe that they may fall into this vast gulfe of Eternitie when they least suspect it into which when once they haue vnhappily plunged themselues they may desire redemption but shall not finde it Postqaum istinc excessū fuerit nullus poenitentiae locus nullus satisfactionis effectus Cyp. It shall be one of their torments to know they shall never be out of torment All the gold of Opher cannot purchase them one minute of reliefe from their vnexpressible miseries But now euen now is the jubile now is the accepted time now is the promulgation of pardon there remaines nothing for our parts but to sue it forth we need not many hundred of yeares or number of daies to redeeme our mispent time and to wash out our contracted pollutions no one day may through Gods gratious favour and loving indulgence procure more mercy here then Eternitie of time may obtaine hereafter one sigh from a true sorrowfull heart here shall prevaile to discharge more debts then infinite ages shall acquit or satisfie for hereafter Here God with patience expects our repentance but if we abuse his forbearance and come not in hereafter with trembling wee shall abide his judgement Let vs therefore be wise in time and remember our creator in the daies of our youth before the evill daies come and the yeares approach wherein wee shall say we haue no pleasure in them before our dust returne into the wombe from whence it came and our lungs be locked vp into the brestlesse earth before that black and gloomy day the day of death and dissolution appeare to vs the which if our timely repentance here prevent not our doome will seale vp our soules to eternall darknesse Let vs consider that wheresoeuer we are whatsoeuer wee goe about wee stand euery minute of our time in the glorious presence of an Immanifestus omnia autem manifestans per omnia apparet in omnibus incomprehensible maiestie whose bright and most piercing eye is ten thousand times clearer then the Sunne who knows all hearts sees all actions vnderstands all councells viewes all persons there 's not a word in the tongue not a thought in the heart not a sparke of lust in the flesh though neuer so softly blowne and secretly kindled but he beholds it altogether he is all eare to heare all hand to punish when and where he please all power to
But alas how may the afflicted soule say can his goodnesse extend to mee who am nothing but wormes and dust and woundes and sores and corruption Who can giue him no oblation but my sinnes no sacrifice but my sorrow What confidence now can I haue in this loue what strength in this mercy Who ever thou art that art thus and no better disposed to receiue the grace of thy God bring forth this small provision offer this sacrifice vpon the Alter Since thou hast nothing else to part with surrender vp thy sinnes yeeld him thy lusts renounce thy whole interest in thy sinfull delights in thy immoderate affections Nullius rei tantum in inferno est quantum ptopriae voluntatis Alsted and then thy sorrowfull spirit shall be a sacrifice to God thy wounded and broken heart hee will not despise I am with him saith the Lord who is of an humble spirit and that trembleth at my wordes Wee haue his owne word for his mercy wee haue his promise for it wee haue his oath for it He is faithfull saith the Apostle who hath promised hee is faithfull hee cannot deny himselfe The Apostle saith not hee cannot deny his mercy but hee cannot deny himselfe If hee were any thing but mercy then hee might deny his mercy though hee did not deny himselfe but now by not denying himselfe he giueth mercy who by not giuing mercy should deny himselfe And thus we see how God is faithfull and cannot deny himselfe Superare seipsum potest desertos miserando negaâ—e seipsum non potest misericordiam delerendo He may overcome himselfe by pittying the forsaken ones but he cannot deny himselfe by forsakeing his pitty For how can he deny himselfe to vs who hath given himselfe for vs How can he deny vs his mercy who hath given vs his life The end of the first booke THE SECOND BOOKE OF ETERNITY CHAP. I. Containing an Exhortation to holinesse grounded vpon the consideration of Eternity THE very soule and life of Christianity consists in the life of a Christian as for outward formalities they plausibly serue to shew forth a good man to the eye of the world but cannot make him such it 's true externall actions adorne our professions but it is where grace and goodnesse seasons them otherwise where the sappe and juyce and vigour of religion is not setled in the soule a man is but like a goodly heart-shaken Oake whose beauty will turne into rottennesse and his end will be the fire It was the saying of Machiavell that the appearance of vertue was more to be desired then vertue it selfe But Socrates a meere naturalist aduised better who said the good man is onely wise Certainely our glorious shewes and high applauses and exaltations amongst the sonnes of men will proue but miserable comforters in the close of our age when the daies of darknesse come O then as we respect the eternall welfare of our poore soules Qualis videri vis talis esse debes Gerb. Med. let vs bee what wee would seeme Let vs turne our words into actions our knowledge into affection and our speculation into practise Let vs not only in a generall and confused manner acknowledge God but rather labour to know him let vs not think it enough to beleeue that Christ came as a Saviour into the world but endeauour rather by a peculiar personall and applicatiue faith to make him our owne Alas what availes it my soule that Christ shed forth his blood for the sinnes of many if he died not for mee What ioy to my heart that Christ is risen for the iustification of sinners if hee be not my portion Non prodest Christi resurrectio nisi in te quoque Christus resurgat Gerb. Med. what comfort to my distressed conscience that Christ is come a light into the world if I sit in darknesse and in the shadow of death What confidence of protection can I haue from hence that Christ is a carefull sheapheard ouer his flock if I am none of that sheepfold O then let it be the chiefe desire of our soules Sit scopus vitae Christus quem sequaris in via vt assequaris in patria and the vtmost extent of our endeauours not onely to confesse Christ but to bring him home to our hearts to feele him to affect him to liue in him to depend on him to be coÌ„formable to him let vs willingly heare cheerfully follow the voice of that sweet guid who is both the way the iournies end that louing Physitian who comes to our wounded consciences with healing in his wings that meeke and tender Lambe who powred forth for vs teares of anguish teares of loue teares of anguish to redeeme our soules and teares of loue to compassionate our miseries Now what a pressing perswasion haue we here to liue vnto him who thus died for vs to make him our ioy who hath borne our sorrowes to fix him in our hearts who for our sakes was fixed to the Crosse Totus tibi figatur in corde qui totus prote figebatur in cruce How should wee mourne in our soules and weepe in secret for him quem totus mundus tota elementa lugebant at whose sufferings the graues opened the Sunne shut in his light the earth trembled and the whole frame of heauen in his nature and kinde expressed its sorrow One of the Rabins when hee read what bitter torments the Messias should suffer when he came into the world cried out veniat Messias at ego non videam Let the Messias come but let me not see him Did his torments seeme so dismall to the spectator what were they then in the sufferer If so gastly to the sight what were they in the sustaining But what should we doe now Shall we raile on Iudas that betrayed him or on Peter that denied him or the Iewes that pierced him or the Apostles that forsooke him No no let vs looke into our owne hearts examine our owne waies Doe wee not make his wounds bleed afresh with our sinnes doe we not nayle him to the Crosse againe with our pollutions doe we not grind him in our oppressions and as it were massacre him in our murders What sinne haue we euer forsaken for his sake what inordinate affection haue we abandoned for his loue Can we say and say truly that wee euer spared a dish from our bellies or one houre from our sleepe or one fashion from our backs for his sake And doe wee thus requite our redeemer Deus tuus parvus factus est tu te magnificas exinaniuit se maiestas tu vermiculus intumescis Was Christ stretched on the Crosse and shall we stretch our selues on beds of doune Did Christ suck downe vineger for vs and shall we surfet with plenty Was Christ crowned with thornes and shall we crowne our selues with Rose buds O let it shame vs to beare so dainty a body vnder so dolefull a head but
Bishop of Rome is brought to his pontificall chaire one goes before him shaking a burning torch and proclaiming three times Pater sancte sic transit gloria mundi Certainly it would worke somewhat towards the enliuening of our drowsinesse quickning vp of our dull security if we did in the beginning end of all our vndertakings say within our selues Annos aeternos in mente habe Remember ô my soule those daies of darknesse which shall neuer close For all the pressures and vexing distempers that befall vs in this life all the crosses which the envy either of men or evill Angells can throw vpon vs are nothing if compared to eternall miseries Sapienti nihil magnum videri potest cui aeternitatis nota est magnitudo What if with Saint Paul I vnderwent labours perills hunger thirst iniuries and reproaches what is all this to eternity What if I did beare in my flesh the most exquisite paines and bitterest torments that created nature is capable of yet what were all this to eternity For all the adversities and alterations which happen to vs vnder the sunne haue their periods which they cannot passe however they disquiet vs for the time yet as the Prophet Daniel saith the end shall bee at the appointed time God will performe that which he hath appointed for me saith Iob yet vsque ad tempus haec omnia the end shall be at the appointed time But of this eternity there will be no end no bounds can limit it no time shall determine it Certainly first or last there will happen to thee such an evening as shall haue no morning to follow or else such a morning as shall never see the close of the Sunne And therefore let not the vanishing cares and transitory disquietings of this world over deepely possesse thy heart but rather let the whole streame of thy meditations rnnne vpon thy latter end that at the time of thy dissolution thy affection being wholy alienated from the world thy thoughts may ascend before whither thy soule is comming after So shall thy sufferings here make way for thy crowne hereafter But how few ô how few I say are there that weigh these things How few doe make it their daily taske to meditate on the evills to come They credit not such reports for they care not to beleeue what they are vnwilling to practise Hence it is that they goe on so securely in their course as if there were no heauen no hell no God no eternity Thus wee naturally desire our daies should be as happy as they are longe and being miserably-insensible of the sorrowes to come wee rashly expose our selues to an irrevocable downefall Nos tales qui mortis nostrae neque negotium ridentes exequimur Greg. Without sense or sorrow wee runne merrily to hell where wee shall everlastingly feele what we did never feare death and darknesse weeping and gnashing of teeth O how different are our times from those of our Ancestors They were not more rigidly superstitious then we are vainely secure How did they pine their bodies and afflict their soules crucify their most pretious lusts forsake their friends their lands their inheritance yea their Crownes and Kingdomes nay which is more through the rigid and austeere obseruation of their strict and severe lawes expose themselues to the hazard and danger of their dearest liues and thrust themselues as it were out of the world and forgoe all society with men And wherefore all this but that they might disburthen themselues the better by these meanes from all earthly allurements settle and dispose their hearts in a good preparation towards their home and to enliuen their affections and inflame their mindes to a more serious contemplation of the ioyes to come Mee thinkes the consideration of these former times should strongly invite vs to a more serious meditation of our future state especially if wee remember how swiftly our daies draw to an end and how soone we are involued into everlasting darknesse For alas what is our life here Tota haec vita vnius horulae mors est one houre at the last will swallow vp all our liue-long daies Let vs then not feare being so neare our home let no stormes affright vs being so neare our haven Let vs examine our accounts and cast vp our summes that we may be able to giue vp a good account at the last day Certaine it is what ever we goe about whatsoever be the scope of our endeavours wee every day come nearer to the end of our course every houre is a new step onward So soone as ever a man enters this mortall life hee beginnes a constant iourney vnto death quicquid temporis vivitur de spatio vivendi tollitur i. e. Each part of time that wee passe cuts off so much from our life and the remainder still decreaseth So that our whole life is nothing but a course or passage vnto death wherein one can neither stay nor slacke his pace This wee know our daily experience doth confirme this truth and yet doe wee persist as securely as ever in our trade of sinne Aegrae abstrahimur ab ijs quibus assuescimus i.e. wee are hardly drawne from those things which custome and time hath invred vs vnto It is a grievous burthen to a licentious heart to be drawne off from dainty fare full cups and good company Wee lye as dead men and sencelesse in our damned pollutions even drowned in our voluptuousnesse like brute beasts filled vp and pampered for the day of slaughter Thus with the full streame of our indeauours we plod on in the habituall course of transgressing without any sense of our sinne vntill our short daies begin to shut in and our evening approach at which time the weaknesse of our bodies and the strength of our sinnes make vs as vnable to repent as wee were before vnwilling Wee many times through the incitement of some good motion beginne well but faile in the execution wee make faire promises Fatemur crimina sed sic fatemur vt in ipsa confessione non dolemus Salv. but wee doe not second them in our practise but let vs not deceiue our selues God will not be mocked non verbis paenitentia agenda sed actu let vs not promise God better obedience with our lippes then wee performe with our hearts Bee not rash to vow a thing before God but when thy word hath past thy lips then be as carefull to performe as thou wast forward before to promise Lastly let vs alwaies follow that holy counsell given in Ecclesiasticus In all thy actions thinke vpon thy latter end and thou shalt never doe amisse and that of the Prophet David keepe innocency and doe the thing that is right for that shall bring a man peace at the last peace with God peace with men and peace with our owne conscience In the world saith our Saviour shall yee haue trouble but in me yee shall haue peace The world is our sea but