Apostle tells us Hebrewes 11. is but for a season and therefore seeing the sinnes of the wicked are but temporall how can it stand with the justice of God that their punishment is eternall First Therefore we are to know that sinne though it be committed and past in a moment yet as it is a trespasse against God that is infinite so it deserves an infinite punishment Tanto majus est peccatum quanto major in quem peccatur Every sinne is by so much the greater and so deserves the greater punishment as the person is the greater against whom it is committed If a man should dishonour and revile his Father he deserves ye know a farre greater punishment then he that should dishonour and revile his Neighbour If a man should strike a publick Magistrate he deserves a greater punishment to be inflicted upon him then he should if he struck but a private person but every sinne is committed against God and therefore deserves eternall punishment Secondly Though the wicked do but sinne for a time yet they have a perpetuall desire to sinne and should they live never so long in this World they would continue in sinne For like as Gamesters that delight in nothing so much as in gaming they will usually play as long as they can see and still have a desire to play longer but that the night comes upon them and compells them to give over So it is with sinners they take their pleasure and delight in their sinnes through the whole course of their life and so would continually go on in their sinnes but that they are prevented and cut oft by death Voluissent saith Gregory sine fine vivere ut sine fine possent in iniquitatibus permanere they would have lived in this World for ever that they might have continued in their sinnes for ever and therefore as they would have continually sinned so they justly deserve to be eternally punished And thus we have heard What it is to lose the soule and the misery which the soule which is lost is to undergoe both in regard of the felicity it shall lose and the torments it shall suffer What comparison is there then between the gaining of the World and the losing of the soule the gaining of the World with some temporall pleasures and the losing of the soule with eternall happiness the gaining of the World whereby we are freed from some worldly miseries and the losing of the soule whereby we are subject to everlasting torments the gaining of the World whereby for a time we may advance our friends and the losing of the soule whereby for ever we undo our selves All other losses whether of body or goods a man may well bear but the losse of the soule of all other losses is the most intolerable whatsoever a man loseth besides his soule yet he loseth that which was given him but for a time and which at one time or other he must have forgone but losing his soule he loseth that which he might have kept for ever Whatsoever a man loseth besides his soule yet he may recover it again If he lose his Children as Job did Job 1.19 yet he may have more if he lose his friends as David did yet he may find better Dan. 4.31 if he lose his Kingdom as Nebuchadnezer did yet he may recover it again or get another but losing his soule he loseth that which he can never recover Whatsoever a man loseth besides his soule yet he hath something left him If he lose his goods yet he may have a good name if he lose his good name yet he may have his liberty if he lose his liberty yet his life may be left him and if he lose his life yet his soule is remaining but losing his soule he hath no more to lose but loseth all at once his life liberty goods good-name even all that he hath and his soule besides Xxres having escaped a dangerous tempest Sabellic lib. 2. but yet with the losse of divers of his Nobles to reward the Governour of the ship for it he set upon his head a Crown of gold but withall Ennead 3. because he had not saved his Nobility likewise he caused him to be beheaded So he gave him that which he could take away from him but he took away that which he could not give him making him to lose not onely his reward but his life to boote Now who would have a Crown upon the like condition If the Devill should offer as he did to our Saviour the whole World unto any man and should say unto him All this will I give thee if thou wilt die presently there is no man in the World would accept of his offer for he should be so farre from gaining by the bargain that he should lose all he had and his life together If this therefore be so hard an exchange then what is theirs who for the gaining of the World do part with their soules Job 2.4 The Father of lies said true in this skin for skin and all that a man hath he will give for his life but yet life and all he may well give for his soule for he may lose his life and not lose his soule but losing his soule he loseth life and all Jonah 1.5 We see that Seamen will cast away their goods into the Sea to save their lives as the Mariners did in the first of Jonas We see in the Gospel that the woman that was diseased with an issue of blood she valued her bodily health at so high a rate that she spent all her substance upon the Physitians to be cured of her disease And we see in the old Law that every part and Member of our bodies was valued by God at so high a rate Exod. 21.24 that he that should put out another mans eye or but strike out his tooth he was to be punished with the losse of his own and might not be excused with any other satisfaction if a man had taken away another mans goods yet he was bound with his goods to make him amends but in this case his goods would not serve the turne but an eye for an eye a tooth for a tooth and no other satisfaction If therefore our bodies be so dear and precious that every part and Member thereof is more to be valued then our Worldly goods then what gaine is sufficient to make any recompence for the losse of our soules We have heard then briefly both what it is to gain the Would and to lose the soule and that the gain of the one cannot countervaile the losse of the other Vse The use that we may make hereof is this that therefore we affect not this World so much as that thereby we hazard and indanger our soules If a man have a Jewell of any great value which he is to carry through any dangerous place he will look carefully to it and he will take no delight to converse
that is into heaven keep the Commandements And heaven is called Psal 25. the land of the living I should saith David have utterly fainted but that I believe verily to see the goodnesse of the Lord in the land of the living that is in heaven for there they live eternally and never die In hell there is a quite contrary law that they die eternally Therefore it is said of the wicked Psal 49. They lie in hell like sheep and death gnawes upon them because there they suffer the second death which is everlasting And here upon earth there is a third law between them both Heb. 9.27 That every one living shall once suffer death Therefore saith the Apostle Heb. 9. It is appointed unto all men that they shall once dye not live here for ever as they do in heaven nor die for ever as they do in hell but once they must die and this is a law which all that live on the face of the earth are subject unto God hath given great priviledges to many of his servants and hath miraculously preserved them from many dangers Exed 34.28 1 King 19.8 Dan. 3.25 Mat. 14.29 Josh 10.12.13 some he hath preserved without any nourishment for many weeks together as Moses and Elius some he hath preserved in the midst of fire as the three children in the furnace some he hath inabled to walk upon the waters as Peter did some he hath inabled to stay the course of the Sun as Joshuah did but to stay and hinder the course of death and to free men from the same this is a priviledge which God never gave to any of his servants Therefore even they that lived before the deluge though some of them lived seven hundred years some eight hundred some nine hundred years and upwards yet they died in the end nature delaying more and more in them till it were quite spent as a candle being lighted wastes by little and little till it quite goes out Seeing then it is certain that we shall die this may therefore teach us to fit and prepare our selves against the coming of death by frequent meditation and remembrance thereof The oftner a man bethinks him of death the better he will be prepared for it as a man that foresees and expects a storm he will provide himself the better against it come And herein the Heathen themselves may be patterns unto us who though they knew not God nor the punishment of sin in the world to come yet knowing they should die they used many strange and memorable devises to put them in mind of their mortality Ortelius writes of a Countrey in the World where the people do use the bones of dead men in stead of their coin which being continually before their eyes they cannot but continually remember their ends Plutarch writes of Ptolomie the King of Egypt That alwayes when he made any sumptuous feast among the rest of his dishes the skull and bones of a dead man were brought in a platter and set before him and one was appointed to say thus unto him Plutarch in Conviv Sept. Sapientum Behold O King and consider with thy selfe this president of death that he whose skull and bones thou now seest was once like thy selfe and the time will come when thou shalt be like unto him and thy skull and bones shall be brought hereafter to the Kings table as now his are to thint Isodore writes That it was a custome in Constantinople that alwayes at the time of the Emperours Coronation among other Solemnities this was one A free Mason presented the Emperour with divers sorts of marble and asked him of which of them he should make his Tomb that so he might remember even then when he was in the height of his glory that he was but mortall Dion writes of Severus a Roman Emperour That while he lived he caused his Hearse to be made and was often wont to go in into it adding these words Thou O Herse as small as thou art must contain him whom now the whole world is searce able to contain If these who were Heathen were so mindfull of their ends what should we that are Christians We know that God hath made the end of our life the manner of our death and the place thereof to be unknown and uncertain that we might alwayes have it in expectation So saith Saint Augustine Latet ultimus dies ut observentur omnes dies Augustine Hom. 13. The last day of our lives is hidden from us that that day might be expected all the dayes of our lives And indeed the reason why we are not prepared for the comming of death is because we seldom or never think of dying for who of us almost have any thought thereof till either sicknesse or age the two Serjeants of death do come to arrest us or if at any other time we bethink us thereof it is only then when we hear the Bell to ring out for any or when we see some of our neighbours to lie upon their death-bed and past recovery Then it may be we think of our ends and that it is high time for us to prepare our selves for death that we may be in a readinesse against God shall call us But these meditations are but for a fit and they presently vanish I have seen somtimes when a Fowler coming to a Tree where there were store of birds and hath killed any one of them all the rest have immediately flown away but presently after forgetting the danger wherein they were before they have all of them returned to the same Tree And do not we resemble these silly birds when death comes to our houses and takes away any one of us we are all amazed and we presently think that the next course may be ours and therefore that it behooves us to reform our lives but presently after when the remembrance of death is out of our minds we return again to our former courses But he that will be provided against the coming of death must alwayes have death in his remembrance Tota vita sapientis debet esse meditatio mortis The whole life saith Gregory of a wise man ought to be a meditation of death That as the birth of sin was the death of man so the meditation of death may be the death of sin And as David here by comparing us to grasse and the flowers of the field implyeth thereby the certainty of our death that we shall as certainly die as we are sure that these shall fade and wither So he implyeth hereby the shortnesse of our life that we shall not live long but shall die soon as the grasse and flowers do fade and decay in a short time Theodorus Gaza tels us of a father that had twelve sons and each of those brethren had thirty children yet every one of them expired soon The father expired within the compasse of a year never a one of his sons but expired in a moneth and
presence of God and desiring with Paul to be dissolved and to be with Christ and therefore God in mercy hath shortned our dayes that we may the sooner come into his heavenly Kingdom and injoy his presence And lastly God hath shortned our dayes that we may be the lesse carefull for the things of this life considering we shall injoy them so short a time If a man be to travell into a farre Country he will be the more carefull to provide the more and to proportion his provision to the length of his journey but if his journey be short he will provide the lesse and the nearer he comes to his journies end the lesse carefull he is what provision he hath God knowes if we were to live long in this World we would be the more carefull for the things of this life and would think we could never provide enough and therefore he hath made our life to be short that we might be the lesse carefull to provide for it To draw then to a conclusion of all we have briefly heard why we are here resembled to the grasse and flowers of the field and from thence both of the certainty of our death and the shortness of our life and the reasons why God hath made our life so short all which may serve to teach us two lessons 1. Vse 1 Not to make account that we shall live long as many of us do but that we shall soon die That we shall die we all know but the most of us deceive our selves in this that we put off the day of our death stil further from us vvhen we are young we think we shal live til we come to be old when we come to be old we think we may live longer and so we put off the time of our death still further and further And hence it is that we are so carefull for the things of this life as if this World were the place where we should live for ever We read of Alexander that to shew his affection to a certain Philosopher he willed him to aske what he would of him and he would give it him The Philosopher desired him to give him the fee-simple of his life that he might be free from death O saith Alexander if I could do this I would do it for my self why then it seemes saith the Philosopher that you are mortall True saith Alexander Indeed saith the Philosopher that you are mortall I do not doubt yet I greatly doubt whether you think that you are mortall and shall ever die because you live so as if you thought you were immortall and should never die The like may be said to many of us for though we cannot deny but must needes acknowledge that we shall surely die yet man live so they seek so greedily after worldly goods they so pamper their bodies and are so sumptuons in their buildings as if they were immortall and should never die The Patriarcks though they lived so many years yet they lived in Tents and in poor Cabins but we that live not the half of their dayes do build our houses so faire and so durable as if we meant here to set up our rest and that we should never depart from hence which argues that though we know we shall die Theatr. Histor ex Guid. yet we think we shall live a long time whereas we should daily look to die Like Messodanus a holy old man who being invited by his friend to dinner for the morrow after Why saith he do you invite me to morrow to dinner I have not looked to live till to morrow this many a year For we no sooner begin to live but we begin to die and look how many dayes of our life are past so much of our life is already cut off and the lesse is remaining as the more of an Houre-glasse is already run out the lesse it hath to runne And secondly seeing we shall so soone die it may therefore teach us so to live as that death when it comes may be welcome and not fearfull unto us and that is by preparing our selves against the coming of death by a godly life For this is the comfort which a man can find when he lieth on his Death-bed that he shall enter into a better life when this life is ended and this comfort he cannot have at his death unless he have lived a godly life Death to the wicked may well be fearfull because as it is in it own nature it is the wages of sinne and imposed as a curse and punishment upon man for his transgression but by virtue of Christs death to the godly it is otherwise ceasing to be a curse unto them nay of a curse it is made a blessing even a passage out of a miserable life into the Kingdom of Heaven It was Sampsons Riddle Judg. 14.14 out of the eater came meat and out of the strong came sweetness Which was meant of the honie which was found in the Lyon which Sampson had slain for so the Philistins ye know expounded it what is sweeter say they then hony and what is stronger then a Lyon and it may not unfitly be applyed to death for what is stronger then death that subdues the strongest yet after that Christ had vanquisht death as he did for the godly out of the strong came sweetness for vvhat can be more svveet or pleasant unto us then the passage out of a miserable life into eternall happiness And such is death to the godly and therefore if we would find this comfort at the time of our death we must prepare our selves against the coming thereof by a godly Life FINIS The Sixth SERMON JAMES 4.7 Resist the Devill and he will flie from you IN the beginning of this verse we are exhorted to submit our selves unto God and the reason thereof is given by the Apostle in the words immediately going before because God resists the proud and gives grace to the humble Now because we cannot submit our selves unto God unless we be carefull to resist the Devill who labours by all meanes to withdraw us from godliness therefore the Apostle addes in these words which I have read unto you Resist the Devill and he will flie from you Division The words consist of these two parts An exhortation to resist the Devill and a motive or reason because he will flie from us if we resist him For as God is overcome by our yielding unto him and therefore we must submit our selves unto God so on the contrary we must resist the Devill because he is overcome and will flie away from us if we resist him In the exhortatiō we may observe two things First the person vvhom vve must resist Secondly The manner how vve must resist him And first for the person it is the Devill vvhose name vvhich is here given him doth signifie an accuser And indeed his name is not given him for nought but as Abigail said of Nabal Nabal is his
the Lord Deut. 32. kill and make alive I wound I heal Therefore he wils us to call upon him in the time of trouble and he will deliver us Deut. 32.32 For howsoever by our sins we provoke him to afflict us yet if we call upon him for mercy and grace he hath an ear to hear us an eye to behold us a heart to pity us and an hand to help us And thus much concerning the first point the Agēt or party afflicting That it is God that chastens I come now to the second namely The Patient or party afflicted the beloved of God he chastens whom he loves Doct. God though he love whatsoever he hath made yet among all his creatures he loves man best and among men especially those who are of the houshold of faith which is his Church These he loves with an everlasting love he hath given his only Son for their redemption and hath adopted them in Christ Jesus to be his children And yet howsoever he loves them so dearly yet many times he doth afflict and chasten them for so we see here whom he loves he chastens The Doctrine that we may gather from hence is this That they who are in the love and favour of God are neverthelesse afflicted In the 11th of Saint John Behold Lord John 11.3 he whom thou lovest is sick Christ loved Lazarus and yet did not free and exempt him from sicknesse Dan. 9.23 Daniel was greatly beloved of God as the Angell Gabriel told him yet Daniel was cast into the Lions den The Virgine Mary was freely beloved of God as the same Gabriel told her Luke 1. yet a sword was to pierce through her heart Luke 1.28 Luke 2.35 1 Sam. 13.14 Job 1.1 as old Simeon prophesied David was a man according to Gods own heart yet David was often and many wayes afflicted Job was a just and an upright man yet Job was extraordinarily afflicted Saint Paul was a chosen vessel of God yet after he was converted his whole life was nothing but a continued affliction In a word Acts 9.15 all the Patriarchs Prophets and Apostles and all the beloved children of God even from the beginning of the world to this present time have suffered affliction Therefore Christ saith Revel 3. As many as I love Revel 3.19 I rebuke and chasten Read over the Scriptures and ye see examples hereof almost in every leafe Gen. 39.20 In one place ye shall see Joseph cast into the dungeon Dan. 3.20 in another the three children into a fiery furnace 1 King 22.27 here ye shall see Michea fed with the bread of affliction there David washing his couch with tears in one place ye shall see Steven stoned to death Psal 6.6 in another ye shall finde John the Baptist beheaded Acts 7.59 To be short as it was said of Rome heretofore Mark 6.27 that a man could not step into any part thereof but he should tread upon a Martyre so a man can hardly read any part of the Scripture but he shall light upon the affliction of the children of God either one or other affliction being common to every one of them and more common then any thing The floud that overspred the whole face of the earth in the days of Noah was common generall yet eight persons ye know were freed frō the flood Gen. 6.18 preserved in the Ark Death is more cómon general then the flood Gen. 5.24 seizing upon the whole of-spring of Adam and yet two persons Enoch and Elias have been freed from death a King 2.,11 and were taken up into heaven while they were living upon the earth Sin is more common and generall then death and yet one person even Christ and he alone was free from sin but affliction is more generall then any of them all which hath lighted upon all men without any exception for even Christ himself though he were free from sin Esay 53.3 yet he was vir dolorum as the Prophet Esay calls him a man of sorrows as being subject through the whole course of his life to much sorrow affliction For this is the condition of all Gods children that first they must wear a crown of thorns before they receive a crown of glory first they must suffer with Christ in this life before they reign with him in the life to come Therefore Christ wills us if we will be his disciples to take up his crosse every day Acts 14. and follow him And the Apostle tels us That through many afflictions we must enter into the Kingdom of heaven Vse 1 The use to be made hereof is two-fold First Seeing Goddeth visit his own children with the rod of affliction then much lesse shall the wicked escape Gods judgements if God chasten the godly whom he loves and is loved of them much lesse will he spare his enemies those that hate him Prov. 11.31 Therefore Solomon Proverbs 1◠Behold the righteous shall be recompensed in the earth much more the wicked and the sinner And therefore Peter 1 Epist 4. Chapter If judgement saith he 1 Peter 4.17.18 first begin at us what shall the end of them be that obey not the Gospel and if the righteous scarcely be saved where shall the ungodly and the sinner appear For if God chasten the one much lesse out of doubt will he spare the other You will say but it is ordinarily seen in the World that the wicked are not subject to the like afflictions that the godly are Their houses as Job in his 21. Chapt. Job 21.9 saith of the wicked are peaceable without fear and the rod of God is not upon them and as the Prophet David saith of the ungodly they prosper in all their wayes and flourish like a green bay-tree It is true indeed and cannot be denied that the godly many times do suffer in this World more crosses and afflictions then the wicked but therefore we must remember that the punishment of the wicked is kept and reserved till the World to come Lazarus was farre more afflicted in this life that lay full of sores at the rich mans gates and would have been glad of a morsell of bread then the rich man was that fared so sumptuously and lived in pleasure but therefore what saith Abraham to the rich man Sonne saith he Luke 15.25 remember that then in thy life-time receivedst thy good things and Lazarus evill but now is he comforted and thou art tormented Whensoever therefore we see the godly to live in affliction and misery and the wicked in prosperity and hearts-ease yet it need not trouble us because there will come a time when the wicked shall be punisht and the godly comforted When the godly shall have all their teares wiped from their eyes Revel 7.17 and the wicked shall suffer Gods wrath and vengeance for if God afflict and chasten such as he loves much lesse
heads to take any rest vvithout seeking of him For if David would not suffer his eyes to sleep till he had found out a place for the House of the Lord then much lesse should vve till we have found the Lord of the House even him whom here the Church sought night by night on her bed And thus much briefly for the two circumstances the time and place when and where she sought Christ I proceed to the Act in the vvord Sought By night on my bed I sought him Now Seeking implies these three things First A want of that which is sought For a man will not carefully seek that which he doth not want but that vvhich he wants he will seek vvith the more diligence as a man that is hungry will seek food because he wants it but if he were not hungry and vvanted not food he would not seek it So that seeking implies a vvant or need of that which is sought Secondly Seeking implies a desire of finding that vvhich vve seek For though a man do vvant a thing yet if he have not vvithall a desire to finde it he vvill not seek it as a man that is in prison though he want his liberty yet he will not seek it unless he have likewise a desire to have it So that seeking implies not onely a want of that which is sought but a desire to find it Lastly Seeking implies a hope and possibility of finding that which we seeke For though a man do want a thing and though he be never so desirous to have it yet if there be no hope of finding the same he will not seek it as a man that is sick though he want his health and be desirous to have it yet if there be no possibility and hope of his recovery he will give over seeking it And in all these respects we are to seek Christ as the Church here doth For there is nothing that we want so much as Christ nothing to be desired in comparison of Christ and nothing so easily found as Christ which are so many motives to make us the more willing to seek Christ First There is nothing that we want so much as Christ We are all by nature the Children of wrath enemies to God and bond-slaves to Satan and through the disobedience of our first Parents Damnati priùs quà m nati saith St. Augustine guilty of eternall condemnation before we were borne From this miserable condition we could not free our selves neither could we be freed by any other but Christ whom God hath made 1 Cor. 1.30 as the Apostle saith to be wisdom righteousness sanctification and redemption unto us all which we must needes want if we have not him from whom we must have them and so there is nothing that we want so much as Christ Many indeed do not find in themselves any want of Christ because all their life-time they have lived without Christ in their natural estate and never have known any better condition For it fares with such as it fares with them that are borne blind who because they never had the benefit of sight cannot so well conceive what it is to want it And so these having never found any comfort in Christ do not know what it is to want him but if it please God to open their eyes that they may finde in themselves a want of grace and see the misery they are in for want of the same they will see they want nothing so much as Christ Secondly That there is nothing to be desired in comparison of Christ we may see by this because whatsoever we can desire without Christ can never satisfie us and give us content For till we be assured that Christ hath took upon him the discharge of our debts and hath reconciled us to God our sins must needes be such a wound to our soules and a terrour to our Conscience that nothing can give us any true contentment The riches pleasures and preferments of this World may give a man some little content for a time but ever and anon they are ready to faile him and when affliction sicknesse or death comes they do all forsake him Onely the comfort which he hath in Christ both in sickness and health both in life and death will never leave him and so nothing is to be desired in comparison of Christ Nay whatsoever we can desire for our good we may have it in him for God hath made him to be all in all unto us that in him we might have every thing If we be terrified with the sight of our sins Mat. 1.21 Luke 1.71 he is that Saviour that came into the World to save sinners If we desire light and fear darkness he is that day-spring from on high that came to visit us If we be hungry and desire food John 6.35 John 4.14 he is the bread of life that came down from Heaven If we be thirsty and desire to drink he is the Fountain of living water whereof he that drinks shall never thirst again If we desire to go to Heaven he is the way If we desire to be freed from error John 14.6 he is the truth If we desire to be freed from death he is the life In a word whatsoever we can desire for our good we may have it in him who hath every thing Habet omnia qui habet habentem omnia He that hath him who hath all things hath all things with him and so nothing is to be desired in comparison of Christ Lastly As we want nothing so much as Christ and as nothing is to be desired in comparison of Christ so nothing is so easily found as Christ For he invites all to come unto him he never rejected any that came but was alwayes found of all those that sought him We see that at his Birth he called both Jewes and Gentiles to come unto him the wisemen that were Gentiles and the Shepheards that were Jewes to shew that he is not 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 a respector of persons We see that in his life he called both young and old to come unto him some that were but infants and some of all other ages to shew that he is not 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 a respector of times And we see that after his Resurrection from death he commanded his Disciples to preach the Gospel all over the World in all Countries to shew that he is not 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 a respector of places but accepts of all and rejects none whosoever they be that come whensoever they come and from whencesoever they come unto him And though our coming unto him be for our good for otherwise we cannot but everlastingly perish yet he useth many motives to perswade us to come Mat. 22.23 To make us the more willing to come unto him he invites us in the Gospel by the parable of the King that made a great feast for the Marriage of his Sonne and sent forth his
the King of Navarre died both for the suddennesse and violence of it who feeling great anguish in all his nerves was by the advice of his Physicians to be close wrapped in linnen cloth which had been well steeped in Aquavitae and the cloth to be sowed strait all about his body one having sowed it not having a knife ready to cut the thread took the candle to burn the thread in sunder and the thread flaming to the cloth took sudden hold of the same and the Aquavitae that the King in this flame was burnt to death before he could be helped by any And many come to such fearfull ends and yet we cannot judge of them by the kind of their death because even the godly whose death is precious in the eyes of the Lord howsoever they die do sometimes die a violent death and that suddenly So did old Eli that was a good man vvho hearing that the Arke of God was taken 2 Sam. 4.18 fell backward from his scate his neck brake and he dyed So Job's Children no doubt were holy persons having had godly education and their Fathers prayers laid up in Heaven for them yet While they were feasting together in their elder brothers house Job 1.19 the house on the sudden fell down and killed every one of them If therefore we judge of men by the kinde of their deaths we shall condemn the generation of the righteous and may bring on ourselves the like censure from others For we do not know by what kinde of death we shall glorifie God whether we shall die an easie or a painfull death whether a naturall or a violent death whether a lingring or a sudden death The times have been God grant the like times may never come again when there have been so great persecutions in the Church that the faithfull have been put to all manner of deaths whether God hath reserved us to the like times or no we do not know we know we have no promise to the contrary and therefore ought to prepare our selves for the like times that if they come we may constantly maintain the profession of Christ though it cost us our lives as here it did Steven And thus much likewise for the second point the kinde of his martyrdom And so I come to the third by whom he was thus martyred namely by the Iewes They stoned Steven Ye all know that the Iewes were the people whom God had chosen to himself above all other Nations Behold saith Moses Heaven and the Heaven of Heavens is the Lords Déut. 10.14 and the Earth and all that is therein notwithstanding he hath set his affection on thy Fathers to love them and hath also chosen their seed after them Even you saith he hath he chosen above all people For as for all other Nations God counted them strangers and left them to themselves and did not vouchsafe them his Statutes and Ordinances but suffered them to walk in their own wayes But as for the Iewes he first taught them himself and delivered them his Law from his own mouth and because they desired to be instructed rather by men like themselves and therefore spake to Moses Loquere tu nobiscum et audiemus c. Speak thon say they with us and we will hear Exe. 20.19 but let not God speak with us lest we dye God yielded to their request and first taught them by Moses afterwards by the Prophets Luke 19.26 of whom Abraham said to the rich-man They have Moses and the Prophets let them hear them But the Iewes were so far from hearing these that Steven could here upbraid them Which of the Prophets have not your Fathers persecuted And Christ complaine of them O Jerusalem Jerusalem thou that killest the Prophets and stonest them that are sent unto thee as here they did Steven Their sinne then is aggravated in regard of the persons by whom it was committed They were not the Gentiles or any Heathenish people that knew not God for then their sin had been the less but they were the Jewes Gods chosen people who commonly if they were offended with any upon every occasion were ready to stone them If they be offended with Moses Exod. 17.4 because they were thirsty and had no water to drink they are presently ready to stone him for it If they be offended with Caleb and Joshua Numb 14.10 for contradicting the spies that were sent into Candan and for giving a good report of the Land they are likewise ready to stone them for it And how often in the Gospel did they take up stones to have stoned our Saviour And here they stone Steven for bearing witnesse unto him And this vvas a greater sin in them being the people of God then if they had been heathen The heathen shall rise up in judgement against them for they reverenced their Priests though they were Idolaters The Marriners that were so tender-hearted to Jonas shall rise up against them for they hazarded their lives to save the Prophet though it were for his sinnes that they vvere in danger to perish but these mercilesse Iewes did stone him to death who sought to bring them to eternall life And therefore as the voice of Abels bloud did cry aloud in the eares of the Lord against Cain that shed it and was vox sanguinum a voice of blouds as the Scripture calls it as being not onely the voice of his bloud but of all the bloud that might have come of that bloud if it had not been shed So here the bloud of Steven did cry aloud against the Iewes that shed the same and the bloud of all those that might have come from him nay upon them was laid all the righteous blood that was shed before him Mat. 23.34 for so our Saviour told them Behold I send unto you Prophets and wise-men and Scribes and some of them you shall kill and Crucifie c. that upon you saith he may come all the righteous bloud shed upon the earth from the bloud of righteous Abel to the bloud of Zacharias Sonne of Barachias whom ye slew betweene the Temple and the Altar We read of Tomyris the Queen of the Scythians that because Cyrus the King of Persia had slain her son she gathered an Army and made War upon him and having vanquisht the Persians she took Cyrus and cutting off his head she cast it into a barrell that was filled with bloud thus insulting over it Thou that wast so thirsty and insatiable of bloud that thou slewest my son shalt now have thy fill till thou be glutted vvith it And thus the Jews vvho vvere so insatiable of the bloud of the Prophets had in the end their fill of bloud vvhen the bloud of all the righteous vvho had been slain from Abel to Zacharie vvas laid upon them And that may fitly be applied unto them vvhich the Angell saith Revel 16. Thou art righteous O Lord because thou hast judged thus
falshood But now when a man binds a lye with an Oath he sinnes not onely himself by lying but endeavours to entangle God in his sinne by calling God to witnesse that which he knows to be false Hence it is that even the heathen themselves have alwayes been religious in observing their Oaths We read of Alexander that leading his Army against a City with a ful resolution to have utterly destroyed it he saw Anaximenes the Philosopher who had been his Tutor coming towards him thinking that Anaximenes would be very urgent with him to spare the City he swore in a fury that whatsoever it was that Anaximenes desired he would not grant it Anaximenes desired that he would destroy the City Alexander seeing that he could not destroy it but he must break his Oath returned with his Army and to save his Oath withall saved the City And we read of Regulus and some other of the Romans that Hanniball had taken prisoners that having taken an Oath that they would go to Rome and if some of the Carthaginians vvere not exchanged for them they themselves vvould return vvhen they came to Rome and effected not that for vvhich they were sent yet they vvere so religious in observing their oaths that though they knew for certaine that the saving of their oaths vvould be the losse of lives yet they returned againe So heinous a sinne vvas perjury their accounted even among the Heathen And hence it is that this sinne hath alwayes been so grievously punisht sometime vvith banishment as among the Romans sometime vvith death as among the Egyptians for they inflicted no lesse then death upon every perjured person as upon one who was guilty of two horrible crimes impiety to the gods and insidelity to men Nay in this one there is a three-fold sin First against God by an infinite wrong to his holy Name If the King should commit the broad seale unto any Subject to seale some matter which were for the honour of the King and the good of the whole Kingdom and the Subject should seale some other matter with it which the King utterly detested as being a dishonour to himselfe a disadvantage to his subjects and a benefit to his enemies in so doing he should be guilty of high Treason And thus is he guilty of high Treason against God that abuseth his Name to the ratifying of falshood For God hath committed his sacred Name as a seale unto us Heb. 6.6 for the confirmation of the truth and the ending of strife both which the confirmation of truth and the cutting off of contention make much for the glory of God and the good of all men Now he that swears falsly abuseth Gods Name to the confirming of a lie which is most dishonourable to God who is the God of truth most acceptable to the devill who is the father of lying and most injurious to men among whom there cannot possibly be any society if there be no truth nor fidelity among them If a man having a Tower or Castle committed to his keeping should betray it to the enemy he should be counted a Traitour to his Prince and Countrey Gods Name saith Solomon is a strong tower whereunto the righteous resort Prov. 15.10 Now when a man swears falsly he betraies this Tower unto the devill who is Gods enemy which is an infinite wrong to Gods sacred Name Secondly he that swears falsly is most injurious to men for by this means many times it comes to passe that the Jurors give up a false verdict the Judge pronounceth an unjust sentence and the party that is innocent is deprived of his right Thirdly against himselfe for by calling God as a witnesse to that which is false while he seeks to escape the censure of men he falls most fearfully into Gods hands and to avoid a pecuniary mulct or a bodily punishment doth bind his soule over unto Gods judgements who hath threatned before-hand that he will not hold him guiltlesse This then being so hainous and horrible a sinne both before God and man what may we think of those who hold it lawfull to swear and for-swear and both practise it in action and defend it in writing Thus the Romish Priests and Jesuits being brought before the Magistrate and put to their oaths they hold it lawfull to swear and for-swear themselves For this is the doctrine which is maintained among them that unto dangerous interrogatories a man is not bound to answer according to the meaning of the Magistrates demand but that he may lawfully equivocate and frame a safe meaning unto himselfe and swear unto it As if a Priest being examined before the Magistrate whether he be a Priest or no though indeed he be yet he may mean that he is not one of Baals Priests and so he may equivocate and swear that he is not Thus Garnet Superiour of the Jesuits in England being examined before the Councell put to his oath whether he had not had any conference with Hall the Priest while he was in prison he took it upon his oath that he had had no conference with him and when it was proved to his face to be false and that he was for-sworne he answered onely this that he had offended if equivocation did not help him Thus Tresham the Traitour while he lay in the Tower upon his death-bed and died presently after he took it upon his salvation that he had not seen Garnet of sixteen years before which being afterwards found to be false and that by Garnets own confession Garnet being askt what he thought of Tresham he answer'd he thought that he did equivocate And thus under the pretence of equivocation they hold it lawfull to swear and for-swear any thing But this is most certain that when we take an oath and swear otherwise then that which we know to be the truth whatsoever we pretend we are reputed as perjured in the sight of God Quacunque arte verborum quis utitur Isidor de summo bonè lib. 1. Deus tamen saith Isidore qui conscientia testis est it a hoc accipit sicut ille cui juratur intelligit What cunning soever we use in swearing yet God that sees the conscience takes it in the same manner as he understands it to whom he sweared And thus much for the first condition of an oath Thou shalt swear in truth I come to the second Thou shalt swear in judgement Now there are two kindes of oaths which are contrary hereunto First inconsiderate and unadvised oaths as when we take an oath of that we do not understand or when we swear to perform that which is not in our power Such an oath is that which the King of India alwayes takes at his coronation namely That he will make the Sun to keep his course and to give them light that he will make the clouds to send them seasonable showers that he will make their rivers that they shall never be dry but run continually
thus with thy selfe It is too much that I have done already let me not therefore double my fault by my deniall of it but what I was not ashamed to do yet let me not be ashamed to confesse that God may pardon it So did David being reproved by the Prophet Nathan he did not deny but acknowledge his sinne and obtain'd pardon 2 Sam. 12.13 I have sinned against the Lord saith David and the Lord hath put away thy sinne saith the Prophet which question-lesse had not thus been put away if David had sought to have covered his sin by his deniall of it Secondly A man may be said to cover his sinnes by translating the fault Transferendo and shifting it off from himselfe to another And this is a sinne as old as Adam and committed first by him For Adam ye know being reproved by God for eating of the forbidden fruit to excuse himself he laid the blame upon Eve Gen. 3.12 The Woman that thou gavest me she gave me of the Tree And the Woman that the blame might not rest upon her Gen. 3.13 did lay it on the Serpent The Serpent beguiled me and I did eat And this shifting off the blame from our selves to others we have learned of them If Saul be reproved by the Prophet Samuel for transgressing the Commandment of the Lord in sparing the king of Amalek and the best of the cattell he will post it from himself 1 Sam. 15.20 21. and lay the blame on the people I obeyed the voice of the Lord but saith he the people took of the spoil And if Aaron be reproved by Moses for his sin in making the golden calf he will lay the fault on the people for it Thou knowest saith he this people that they are set on mischief And they said unto me Make us gods Exod. 32.22 And thus many when the fault which they have committed is so plain and evident that they cannot well deny it yet to excuse themselves they will lay the blame upon others This is a second kinde of covering of sin And hitherto may they be referred who to excuse themselves ascribe their sins unto fate or destinie as the Priscilianists did or that make God to be the Author of their sins as the Libertines did for these do hide and cover their sins by laying them on others Instead hereof what sin soever we have committed we must take the blame wholly upon our selves and not seek that others may bear the blame for what we have done If we do any thing which we think is praise-worthy and deserves commendation we would be loath that others should be sharers therein and would think our selves to be wrong'd by those who should take to themselves the praise of that which was done by us And therefore when we have done amisse great reason we should take the blame to our selves and not lay it on others So did Jonah when he had offended God by flying to Tarshish and God therefore punished him with a tempest on the Sea that they were all in danger to be cast away he took the blame wholly upon himself though it would cost him his life Take me up saith he Jon. 1.12 and cast me into the Sea for I know that for my sake this tempest is upon you And so did David when he had sinned against God by numbring the people and God therefore sent a pestilence on the Land which swept away many thousands and David saw the Angel which smote the people he took the blame wholly upon himself and said to the Lord Lo I have sinned I have done wickedly but these sheep what have they done let thy hand I pray thee be against me 2 Sam. 24.17 and my fathers house And thus must we do whensoever we have sinned we must take the blame wholly to our selves and not seek to hide and cover our sins by shifting them off from our selves to others Thirdly a man may be said to cover his sins by extenuating diminishing Extennando and lessning the sin Thus the harlot when she inticed the young man to commit folly with her she lessened the sin whereunto she inticed him Prov. 7.18 Come saith she let us take our fill of love and delight our selves in daliance giving it the name of love and daliance which indeed was whoredome And thus many will lessen and extenuate their sins making their sins to be lesse then they are and themselves lesse sinfull making great sins to be but little Luk. 16 6. and little sins to be none at all Ye know how the unjust steward did with the debts which were owing to his lord he lessened the summe setting down but fifty for an hundred So do many with their sins their debts unto God they lessen and diminish the summe of them making talents but pounds and pounds but pence and pence nothing This is a third kinde of covering of sin And hitherto may they be referr'd who lessen and extenuate the heinousnesse of sin making some sins as the Papists do to be but veniall and that they do not deserve eternall damnation For these do hide and cover their sins by their lessening of them Instead hereof we must aggravate our sins making our sins as indeed they are out of measure sinfull Ezra 98. the more to humble us So did Ezra O my God saith he I am ashamed and blush to lift up my face to thee for our iniquities are increased over our heads and our trespasse is grown up to the heavens And so did St. Paul who because he had persecuted the Church of Christ though he did it of ignorance yet he aggravates his sin Act. 26.11 that he persecuted the Church of God above measure that he wasted or made havock of it that he punisht them often in every Synagogue that he compell'd them to blaspheme and that he was exceedingly mad against them Thus in extreame detestation of his sin he strives to make it extreamly heinous Ephes 3 8.1 lim 1.15 and thought himself for his sin not onely the least of all Saints but the greatest of all sinners So far was he from covering his sin by lessening the same Lastly a man may be said to cover his sins by justifying maintaining Justificando and defending of them Thus Jonah being angry for the gourd that withered when God asked him whether he did well to be angrie he justified his fault I do well saith he Jon. 4.6 to be angrie even to the death And thus many when they have no other evasion when they can neither deny the fact nor shift it off from themselves nor lessen the same yet they will justifie their faults and stand in defence of that which they have done So do they who when they have committed a sin will pretend very specious and plausible reasons why they did the same that so it may seem to be no sin in them We read of Dionysius the
are crost in that which they most desire They desire nothing more then that they may prosper and thrive in the world and they think they shall prosper and thrive the better while they conceal their sins which if they were known would impair their credit and estimation But God crosses them in that which they most desire Iosh 7.21 for they shall not prosper No doubt but Achan thought to prosper the better when he stole the two hundred shekels of silver the wedge of gold and the Babylonish garment and hid them in his tent but it thrived not with him Iosh 7.25 for God brought it to light and Achan was stoned to death for it No doubt but Gehazi thought to prosper the better by the bribes he took of Naaman 2 King 5.23 and would not confesse that he had taken them but it thrived not with him for though he â—id his sin 2 King 5.27 yet he could not hide his leprosie which he got with them No doubt but Jezabel thought to prosper the better when she caused Naboth to be stoned to death and got his vineyard and yet covered her sin under pretence that Naboth had deserved to be stoned for having blasphemed God and the King but it thrived not with her for God brought it to light and her to a miserable end for it So Herod no doubt thought to prosper the better when hearing that the King of the Jews was born he intended to murther him to prevent the danger of losing his kingdome and yet to cover his sin willed the Wisemen as soon as they had found the babe to bring him word Matth. 2.8 pretending that he also would go to worship him but it thrived not with him for God both brought to light his murderous intent and himself to shame and disgrace by it And not to instance in too many examples the Scribes and Pharisees no doubt thought to prosper the better while they devoured widows houses and to cover their sin made long prayers that so they might be thought to be devout and religious but it thrived not with them for Christ both discovered what they did Matth. 13.14 and denounced a wo against them for it Thus God finds them out and brings them to light that cover their sins not suffering them to prosper and so crossing them in that which they most desire Yet when or wherein they shall not prosper is not here set down but onely in generall that they shall not prosper to the intent that they may never be secure but may still expect while they cover their sins that God will punish them some way or other either in their own persons or in their children or in their goods or in their good name or in them all together Secondly here we may observe that to prosper is the gift of God who therefore denyes it to them that sin against him by covering their sins Therefore the Psalmist saith of the godly man that look whatsoever he doth it shall prosper Psal 1.3 but for the ungodly he saith It is not so with them So it is said of Joseph that he was a prosperous man Gen. 39.3 and that the Lord made all that he did to prosper in his hand So it is said of that good King Hezekiah That the Lord was with him 2 King 18.7 and he prospered whither soever he went forth I might instance in others But some man may say may not the like be said of the wicked do not they often prosper in the world and have successe in that which they take in hand Iob 21.7.9 was it not for this which Job complained that the wicked are mighty in pomer that they spend their dayes in mirth that their houses are safe from fear and that the rod of God is not upon them And was it not for this that David envied the wicked That they prosper in the world Psal 7 3.12 that they have riches in possession and that they come in no misfortune like other men We must therefore understand first that though to prosper be the gift of God yet in his wisdome he gives in sometimes to the godly and sometimes to the wicked For that which St. Augustine saith of wealth may be said of prosperity Ne putetur esse mala datur bonis ne putetur esse summum bonum datur malis Lest prosperitie should be thought to be evill it is sometimes given to those that are good and lest it should be thought to be the chief good it is sometimes given to those that are bad If onely the wicked and none of the godly should prosper in the world it would be a means to draw many to ungodlinesse that they might prosper by it And if onely the godly and none of the wicked should prosper here it would be thought they were godly for no other end but that they might prosper This was that which the devill ye know objected against Job for his serving God Doth Job saith the devill fear God for nought Hast thou not made an hedge about him and about his bouse and about all that he hath on every side thou hast blest saith he the works of his hands and his substance is increased in the land But put forth thy hand and touch all that he hath and he will curse thee to thy face And thus if God should give prosperitie to none but the godly the wicked would be readie to object against them that they therefore served God because God would prosper them and that otherwise they would be as ungodly as others Whereas the godly indeed do as well serve God in the time of adversitie as they do in prosperitie as Job when all that he had was taken from him did blesse God as well as he did when he had them The Lord saith he hath given and the Lord hath taken blessed be the name of the Lord. And therefore prosperitie is commonly given indifferently by God sometimes to the godly and sometimes to the wicked But yet there is great difference between their prosperitie for the prosperitie of the wicked continues not long but is soon gone They may cover their sins and prosper for a time but God at one time or other either here or hereafter brings their sins to light and themfelves to confusion Therefore Solomon ye see speaks not here of the present time but of the future he doth not say they do not but that they shall not prosper because though they may prosper for a while in this world yet at last they come to a miserable end and miserable ye know is that prosperitie which ends in miserie Such was the prosperitie of Haman and Herod they prospered for a while but their end was miserable But the godly on the contrarie prosper more and more though their beginning be good yet as Job was their end is better Marke saith David Psal 37 37. Psalme 37. the perfect man and behold
pardon and forgivenesse of them FINIS The Eighteenth SERMON 1 THES 5.2 For you your selves know perfectly that the day of the Lord comes as a thief in the night THe first coming of Christ may well put us in mind of his second coming his coming as a Lambe of his coming as a Lion his coming in humility of his coming in glory The day of his first coming ye know is past and yet so past as that we are still to call it to mind and must never forget it the day of his second coming is yet to come yet so to come as that it will come we know not how soone and we must alwayes expect it And therefore as it hath been a Custome in some Countries that when they kept a feast after other dishes a deaths head was brought in and set upon the Table before the guests to teach them while they were feasting to remember their ends So I thought it not unfit at the time of this feast which we celebrate in remembrance of Christs first coming to bring in as it were a deaths head among you by choosing such a Text as may put you in mind of his second coming at the day of judgement because that is a day which is alwayes to be expected whereof the Apostle in the words which I have read gives a double Reason First because it is certain that this day is coming For you your selves saith he know perfectly that the day of the Lord comes Secondly because it is uncertain when it will come For it so saith he comes as a thief in the night whose coming is uncertain and upon the sudden So that the points to be handled in these words are these the day it self and the coming of it and in the coming of it that it is certain that this day will come though when it wil come it is uncertain And first concerning the day it self The day of judgement is here called the day of the Lord sometimes in the Scripture the great notable day of the Lord. It is called the day of the Lord to put a difference between that day and all the dayes while we live in the world While we live in the World the dayes in the Scripture are called ours For though all dayes indeed be the Lords because he made them as the Prophet David saith Psal 74.16 The day is thine and the night is thine thou hast prepared the light and the Sunne yet in the Scripture they are said to be ours because they were made for our use Therefore God speaking of the time of mans life Gen. 6. His dayes saith he Gen. 6.3 shall be an hundred and twenty years Thus Job speaking of the prosperity of the wicked They spend saith he their dayes in welthinesse Job 21.13 Psal 90.12 Thus David speaking of the uncertainty of this life Psal 90. Teach us saith he to number our dayes Thus the dayes while we live in this world are called ours But the day of judgement is alwayes called Esay 13.7 Joel 2.1 2 Pet. 3.10 the day of the Lord. So Esay 13. Behold the day of the Lord comes So Joel The day of the Lord comes and is nigh at hand So St. Peter 2 Pet. 3. The day of the Lord comes as a thief in the night Thus still it is called the day of the Lord because though all other dayes be ours yet this day he hath wholly reserved to himself to call us to an account of all our dayes To some of us he hath given ten thousand dayes to some twenty thousand to some thirty thousand and all the dayes from the beginning of the World to the end thereof he hath divided amongst us giving more unto some and sewer to others to himself he hath reserved but one day onely and the last of all yet such a day as wherein he will call us all to an account of all things that we have done in all our dayes At this day the Drunkard shall be called to an account of all the dayes he hath spent in drunkennesse At this day the idle person shall be called to an account of all the dayes he hath spent in idlenesse At this day the voluptuos liver shall be called to an account of all the dayes he hath spent in pleasure For this is the day which the Lord hath appointed for the examination of all our dayes The dayes which he hath given us are dayes of mercy wherein he offers grace unto all and invites them to repent this day is onely a day of judgement wherein he will execute his justice on those that are impenitent Therefore it is that the time of this life is called in the Scripture Esay 49.8 Dies salutis the day of salvation as Esay 49. I have heard thee saith God in the time accepted in the day of salvation have I succoured thee Which the Apostle expounds 2 Cor. 6. 2 Cor. 6.2 of the time of this life while grace is offered Behold saith he now is the accepted time now is the day of salvation But the day of judgement is called in the Scripture dies irae the day of wrath Zeph. 1.15 Zeph. 1.15 That day saith the Prophet is a day of wrath And Revel 6. The great day of the wrath of the Lord is come And therefore God who for the time of this lise is called by the Apostle the father of mercies yet after this life when he shall judge the World Psal 49.1.2 he is called by the Prophet David a God of revenge For be that is so mercifull to all in this life that he makes the Sun to shine and the rain to fall both on the good and the bad yet after this life at the day of judgement he will rain snares on the wicked fire and brimstone and an horrible tempest this shall be their portion for ever to drink Psal 11.6 We see then the reason why it is called the day of the Lord because in that day he will call us all to an account of all our dayes that such as in their days have done their own will might therefore in his day suffor his will because they would not imbrace his mercy while he offered them grace in stead of mercy they might feel his justice His power had a day when he created the World all things therein and by speaking the word made them all of nothing His mercy had a day when he redeemed the world by giving his only Son to suffer death for man that had so highly offended him And his justice shall likewise have a day when he shall judge the World at which day he will appear so terrible to the wicked Revel 6.16 that when they see him they shall cry to the mountains to fall upon them and to the rocks to hide them from the presence of him that sits upon the Throne from the wrath of the Lamb. But all in vaine because as they in
their own dayes might have found life but would not seek it so then in his day they shall seek death but shall not find it And as here it is called the day of the Lord Acts 2.20 so elsewhere it is called the great notable day of the Lord Joel 2.11 and the the great terrible day of the Lord because on that day more great terrible things shall come to passe then ever came to passe in the World before The Prophet Esay was shewed a vision which did so greatly astouish him that he saith his heart panted and fear came upon him Esay 21.3 that it made him to stoop when he heard of it and dismayed him when he saw it What was that vision which was able to affright so great a Prophet He saw the fall of Babylen how that mighty City the glory of Kingdoms as the Scripture calls it should be overthrown and all the stately buildings thereof should be brought to ruine But on this day which is here meÌ„tioned there shal be a matter which is far more fearfull not the desolation of one City or Kingdom but the finall overthrow and utter ruine of all the Kingdoms and buildings in the World together For on that day the very foundation of the earth shall be shaken so that all the buildings thereof from the least to the greatest shall be shivered asunder and quite overthrown Though our walls were as strong as the walls of Nineveh which as Authors write of them were made of that thicknesse that three Carts might go side-long together upon them though our Turrets were as high as the Spires of Egypt or the Tower of Babell whose top they would have made to have reacht up unto heaven though our houses were as sumptuous as the Pallace of Alcinous where the walls were of brasse the entries of silver and the gates of gold yet on this great day if they continued so long they should all be overthrown For what shall be able to stand on that day when there shall be earthquakes on the one side and fire on the other which shall overthrow and consume whatsoever is before them On that day there shall be so great an earthquake as Saint John tells us Revel Rev. 6.12.14 6. That all mountains and istands shall be moved out of their places On that day there shall be so great a fire all overthe World that Saint Peter tells us 2 Pet. 3.10 The heavens being on sire shall be dissolved the elements shall melt with fervent heat and the earth and all the works therein shall be burut up On that day there shall be the greatest number assembled together that ever were For then heaven and earth as it were shall meet together on the one side Christ and his Angels shall come from heaven thousand thousands shall attend upon him and ten thousand thousands shall minister unto him on the other side shall be Adam and Eve with their whole of-spring even all that have lived from the first to the last in all ages from one end of the world to the other in all Countries they shall all appear on that together Gen. 13.16 God promised Abraham the father of the faithfull that his seed should be as the starres of heaven Gen. 15.5 in number like the sand on the sea-shore which ye know is innumerable yet all these in comparison of that infinite multitude which shall be assembled together at the day of judgement are no more then an handfull For then all without exception both Jewes and Gentiles beleevers and infidels even every one in his own person shall appear on that day and not one shall be wanting Therefore saith the Apostle 2 Cor. 5. 2 Cor. 5.10 We must all appear before the judgement-seat of Christ that every one may receive the things done in his body according to that which he hath done whether it be good or evill All and every one to shew the generality that none are excepted and we must appear to shew the necessity that it cannot he avoided When the King in the Gospell invited many to the marriage of his Sonne Luke 14. they pretended excuses for their not coming one saying that he had bought a piece of ground another that he had bought five yoke of oxen another that he had married a wife and could not come so that of those which were invited there were many wanting But no excuse shall be taken at the day of judgement but as all shall be summoned to appear on that day so none shall be absent There shall not any be permitted to appear by his Atturney but all must come in their own persons and none be suffered to put in sureties We see many times that such as are to come before earthly Judges do break out of prison and escape the judgement that should passe upon them but there can be no hope for any to escape at the day of judgement for indeed the whole World is as it were Gods prison-house every part whereof on that day shall bring forth their prisoners Rev. 20.13 The Sea saith Saint Iohn Revel 20. did yield up her dead that were therein and death and hell delivered up the dead that were in them and they were judged every man according to his works Lastly On that day there shall a finall separation be made between the godly and the wicked While we live in this world the good and the bad the elect and the reprobate do live ye know promiscuously together And therefore the Church is compared in the Scripture sometime to a floor sometime to a field and sometime to a fold to a floore wherein is both come and chaffe to a field wherein is both wheat and cares and to a fold wherein are both sheep and goats Mat. 25.32 But on this great and notable day of the Lord they shall be distinguisht and an everlasting sepâ—ration shall be made between them For then Christ shall place the sheep on his right hand and the goats on his lest the wheat and the corn shall be carried into his barn the chaffe and the tares shall be cast into the fire the godly shall be taken up into heaven the wicked thrown into hell And in these respects it is called the great and notable day of the Lord because so great and notable things shall come to passe on that day And thus much concerning the day it selfe The second thing to be considered is the coming of this day and therein two things are set down that it is certain this day will come For you your selves saith he know perfectly that the day of the Lord comes And that it is untertain when it will come It comes saith he as a thiefe in the night Whose coming is uncertain and not known when he comes And first concerning the certainty of the coming of this day Saint Peter tells us of some that make but a mock of Christs coming or
like a sweet perfume is pleasing to every man Lucri bonus est odor exâ—re qualibet and though many are much affected with pleasure and delight yet the hâ—ost are most affected with gaine and profit What makes the Husbandman to toile all his life-time but hope of gaine What makes the Merchant to venture his life and his whole Estate but hope of gainâ— This is that which the most so affect that they can never find any arietie in it but the more they have the more they desire and the greater the gaine the more it affects them But here you see is the gaining of the whole World a whole world of gaine that if a man will part with his soul for any thing he can hardly part with it upon a better bargaine If it were but for the gaining of one Kingdom in the world what would a man hazard and venture for it Judges 9.5 Rather then Abimilech will not raign over Israel he will put seventy of his Brethren to death together Rather then Herod will stand in fear of losing his Kingdom Mat. 2.16 Macrob. Satur lib. 2. cap. 4.2 Sam. 15.10 thousands of innocents shall lose their lives though his own son be one of them Rather then Absalon will not raigne he will rise up in Armes against his own Father and seek to deprive him of life and Kingdom And rather then Nero shall not raigne his own Mother will be content to be murdered by him Ocâ—idat modò imperet Let him kill me saith his Mother so he may get the Empire A Kingdom can hardly be valued at too high a rate For if we consider the state of a King there is scarce any thing that may seem to make a man happy that can be wanting unto him His word for the most part is a sufficient warrant for the effecting of his pleasure and his intreatie a most forcible kind of command for the obtaining of his desire so that if he would have any thing he may have what he likes and no man deny him if he would do any thing he may do what he please and no man oppose him If therefore a King be so mighty how mighty should the Monarch of the World be If he hath such command that hath but a Kingdom What command should he have that should have the whole World under his Dominion If King Assnerus his Dominions were so large that he raigned over an hundred and seven Provinces Hester 1.1 if his magnificence and bounty were such that he made a feast royall for all his Princes and Servants which continued for an hundred and fourescore daies If King Salomons yearely revenues were so great that he had six hundred threescore and six talents of Gold Ester 1.4 1 Kings 10.14 and Silver as plentifull as stones in the street If King Xerxes his power was so unresistable that Rivers and Mountaines could not stand before him 2 Chro. 1.15 but he was able to turn and overturne them at his pleasure then what might not he do that were Monarch of the World and had all Kingdoms and Nations to do him service A King howsoever his power be great yet he hath his equals in other Countries and though his command reach very far yet it reacheth no farther then his own Dominions But he that were Monarch of the whole World command where he would and he should be obeyed for all the Princes of the earth should be his Subjects A King though he may have whatsoever his Kingdom affords yet every Kingdom affords not every thing and those things do commonly most affect us which other Countries do yield and are not to-be had in our own But he that were Monarch of the whole World whatsoever any Kingdom in the World could afford he should be sure to have it and happy were he that should first present it A King though he may greatly advance his favorites yet he hath but one Kingdom for himself and them and if with Herod he should promise unto one the half of his Kingdom Mark 6.23 and after promise as much to another were he taken at his word he might leave himself nothing But he that were Monarch of the whole World he should have severall Kingdoms for his severall favorites ' and yet leave himself more when he had inriched them all then ever Alexander had after all his conquests It is said of Cyrus that to perswade the Lacedemonians to follow him in the warres he made them this promise They saith Cyrus Plutarch in Reg. Apophtheg that will be my followers if they be Footmen I will give them Horses if they be Horse men I wil give them Chariots if they have houses and tennements of their own I will give them Villages and if they have Villages I will make them Lords of Townes and Cities This was a great advancement of his followers But he that were Monarch of the whole World where King Cyrus left there might he begin They who were his favourites and Lords of Towns he might make them Princes and give them Kingdoms if they were Kings he might make them Emperours and if this were not enough he might double their Dominions For a Kingdom in comparison of the whole World is no more then a town in comparison of a Kingdom then what would not a man do for so great a gaine And therefore the Devill when he tempted our Saviour in the fourth of Matthew knowing that there is not any more forcible argument to perswade a man to any thing then the gaining of the World like a cunning Orator he reserved this temptation for the last of all and when he had shewed him all the Kingdoms of the World and the glory of them and had given him his promise Mat. 4.9 That he would give him all if he would fall down and worship him and saw that all this would not prevaile with him it was high time for him to be gon he thought it to no purpose to tempt him any longer and so presently left him For he that will not stoop to so faire a lure he that will not be moved with so great a gain he will be moved with nothing But now howsoever this gain be great yet withall it hath divers inconveniences which do lessen and diminish the value of it And therefore as he that would purchase a house he will not only know what commodities it hath but he will likewise be informed of the inconveniences of it So having heard of the profits and pleasures and preferments of the world we are further to enquire of the discommodities of it And they especially are these three First That whatsoever the world can afford us yet it is but short and of small continuance For were a man Monarch of the whole World and had he all that his heart could desire yet when he dieth he must leave all that he hath and all that he hath can neither deferre the comming of death nor
make him secure that he shall enjoy them an hour and as he brought nothing with him when he came into the world so he must leave all behind him when he leaves the world Fulgos lib. 7. cap 2‑ And therefore Saladine a great and victorious Prince in his dayes he gave command when he lay upon his death-bed that at his Funerall his winding-sheet should be carried on a spear before him with this proclamation That of all the victories which Saladine had gotten this winding-sheet was even all that he carried him For when a man dies he must leave all and though he have never so much yet he may die before the day ends So that this is one great inconvenience of the world that whatsoever the world can afford us yet it is but momentary and of short continuance Secondly The pleasures profits and preferments of the world are not only short but even for the time that a man enjoyes them they can never afford him any true contentment Therefore we see that they who have much do still desire more and though they have never so much more then they need yet they are not satisfied with it Plutarch in vita Pyrrhi Plutarch writes of Pyrrhus the King of Epyrus that when he prepared to make warre upon the Romans Cyneas asked him this question what he meant to do if he overcame them The King made answer that then he would leavy a greater Army and subdue Sicily He asked him again what he would do if that he vanquisht them the King answered that then he would go into Africa and bring all Africa under his dominion But saith Cyneas if you subdue all Africa what then will you do why then saith the King we will live merrily together and spend the rest of our dayes in delight and pleasure Alas saith Cyneas if that be all what need all this labour you have a Kingdom already you may live as contentedly with that which you have as if you had more Cui quod satis est non sufficit nihil sufficit He that is not content with that which is sufficient will never be content though he have more then sufficient So that this is another inconvenience of the world that the pleasures profits and preferments thereof can never afford any true contentment A third and last inconvenience is this which indeed is the greatest of all the rest that the more a man loves and affects the world the lesse he is affected with the love of God Therefore our Saviour to shew that the love of God and the love of the world cannot stand together but that he that doth cleave to the one must of necessity leave the other he makes a flat opposition between them Ye cannot saith he serve both God and Mammon We read of Thomas Aquinas the School-man that when he came upon a time to Pope Innocentius the third of that name the Pope had then great store of silver and gold lying before him you see saith the Pope to Thomas Aquinas I cannot say as sometime my Predecessour Saint Peter said Argentum aurum non habeo Acts 3.6 Silver and gold have I none True holy Father answer'd Aquinas but therefore you cannot adde as he did Surge ambula Arise and walk To note unto him that the more he was carefull for the goods of the world the lesse able he was to perforn such good works as the Apostles did For the love of the world and the love of God as I said before cannot stand together We see then what it is to gain the world and withall the discommodities and inconveniences of it Now again though it be great yet it may too dearly be bought as when Gehazi gained two talents of silver but a leprosie withall 2 King 5. If a man should angle with a golden hook all the fish which he took would not make him amends for the losse of it and it is not wisdome to venture any thing where a man may lose more then he can gain by the bargain For gain is not so welcome and acceptable to any man as losse is grievous especially where the gain will not countervail the losse But here indeed is a very great gain the gaining of the world but withall a losse that is far greater the losse of all losses the losse of the soul Let us see therefore now what this losse is The soule as the more excellent part of man is put here by a figure for the whole man the soule for both body and soule together And therefore that which is here called by Saint Matthew the losing of the soul is called by Saint Luke in his 9th Chapter the losing of a mans selfe Luke 9.25 What saith he is a man advantaged if he gain the Whole world and lose himselfe So that the losing of the soul is the losing of a mans selfe both body and soule The greatnesse of which losse will the better appear if we take a view of a double misery which the soul which is lost is to undergo the one in regard of the felicity it loses the joyes of heaven the other in regard of the torments if susters the pains of hell both implied in those words of our Saviour Depart from me ye câ—rsed into everlasting sire For the first The soul which is lost is for ever banisht from the sight of God and therefore being banisht from his sight and presence is withall excluded from all joy and happinesse For the sight of God as the Scripture tels us is that which hereafter shall make us blessed Mat. 5.8 Blessed saith our Saviour Mat. 5. are the pure in heart and he gives this reason for they shall see God So that the sight of God shall make us blessed When Saint Peter saw our Saviour transfigured on the Mount with Moses and Elias he was so affected with the sight that he cried out to our Saviour Master it is good for us to be here if thou wilt saith he let us make three tabernacles one for thee and one for Moses and one for Elias If he were so affected with the glorious presence of Moses and Elias how shall they be affected that shall for ever enjoy the glorious company of all the Patriarchs Prophets and Apostles of all the blessed Saints and Angels nay of God himself where they shal see him even as he is and face to face as the Apostle speaks Psal 16.11 In thy presence saith David is fulnesse of joyes such fulnesse of joyes that if all the hearts in the world were one yet it could not contain them they cannot possibly enter into man but he that is to be made partaker thereof must enter into them Enter saith our Saviour into thy Masters joy Mat. 25.23 Chrysest de Repar 1 laps such fulnesse of joy that as Chrysostom saith If a man were to endure all the miseries of this life and to suffer the torments of hell for a time