the truth of Christ his predictions that as his promises so his threatnings of temporall and eternall woes they are all yea and Amen As himselfe is so be his words all faithfull and true His wisedome is such so vncontroulable as cannot be deceiued touching the euents foretold his power so inuincible as cannot be resisted and his truth so infallible as it is neuer falsified and altered Shall he speake and not doe threaten and not execute heauen and earth may sooner passe then one iot or tittle of his word should fall to ground God is not as men that hee should lye or as the sonnes of men that he should repent Let all men therefore fully assure themselues of the most certaine and vndoubted effects of Christs words to be such as is foreshewed Which on the one side must make the godly euen shout for ioy out of assurance to inioy their present happinesse to wit all good in this life as farre as shall be expedient for their saluation and all those good things promised in heauen as the sight and the presence of God in glory the company of innumerable Angels and blessed Spirits of iust men that their bodyes shall shine as the Sunne their soules be replenished vvith perfect knowledge and fulnesse of pleasure that new name that Paradise of GOD that tree of life that crowne of immortalitie that vvhite stone c. euen all that blessednesse which the word speakes of Also on the other side the vvicked which turne not and with whom there is no changes as the Psalmist speakes with feare and dread may expect and looke for that euerlasting fire blacke darknesse gnashing of teeth weeping of the eyes wringing of hands wayling of heart that euer-gnawing worme that neuer-ending torment that fellowship of the Diuell and his Angels c. wherof the Scripture makes mention for the mouth of the Lord hath spoken it Verse 31. For if this be done in the greene tree what shall be done in the dry THis is the AEtiologia or confirmation prouing that the Iewes cannot alwayes stand and prosper but must come downe by an argument à minori ad mains from the lesse to the more thus It is lesse likely that righteous persons which be fruitfull in good workes like greene Trees should be punished then the wicked and impenitent which be as dry and rotten wood Therefore if heauy afflictions were inflicted on Christ who was full of grace as good iuyce or sappe which burst out into fruit ripe and good much more shall miseries fall vpon barraine and vnfruitfull Iewes When the Husbandman spares not the greene wood but burneth it how vvill hee spare the dry which is farre fitter for the fire Here in the Greeke by a Sinechdoche Wood is put for Tree as Gen. 2. Wood of life and Wood of knowledge of good and euill for Tree c. And that word by a Metonimie of the effect is translated greene which in the originall is as much as moist opposed vnto dry The whole sentence for meaning is like that in Peter 1 Epist. Chap 4 v. 17. 18. If the righteous scarcely be saued where shall the ungodly and Sinner appeare And if Iudgement beginne at the house of God what shall be the end of them which obey not the Gospell Out of this our Sentence I obserue for our instruction the condition both of the righteous and of the vvicked Touching the righteous their condition is like the estate of CHRIST their head Christ being full of grace hauing the Spirit aboue measure did liue most innocently bearing plenty of good fruit teaching the people and doing good by his strange workes as well as by sound doctrine like vnto a greene tree and yet was hated in the world and sore afflicted likewise the Elect which be his members must be conformed vnto him both in holinesse and in suffering Rom. 8. 29. God hath predestined vs to be made like vnto his Sonne Hence it is that as Christ is compared vnto a greene tree so the faithfull are by the Prophet Esay Chap. 6. 1. called Trees of righteousnesse And in the first Psalme ver 3. in respect of their regeneration whereby they are ingrafted into Christ and of the grace of sanctification whereby they are inabled to beare fruit much and seasonable they are likened to a tree planted by the riuers of water which bringeth forth fruit in her due time In another Psalme the righteous man is compared to a greene Oliue which is greene and fructifies all the yeere long so the godly are holy not by starts and fits but all their life long Herein being contrary to the nature of all vvorldly trees that the longer they are the more greene they vvaxe and the more fruit they bring forth as it is written Psalm 92. 13. 14. Such as are planted in the house of the Lord shall flourish in the Courts of our God they shall still bring forth fruit in their age they shall be fat and flourishing vvhereas other trees the longer they stand the lesse fruitfull they be The fruits of this our Christian tree be rehearsed by the Apostle Galat. 5. ver 22. 23. The fruit of the Spirit is Loue Ioy Peace Long-suffering Gentlenesse Goodnesse Faith Meekenesse Temperance Also in the Ephes. 5. vers 9. 2 Pet. 1. ver 5. 6. 7. From this first condition there is offered vnto the righteous matter both of admonition and of comfort They are hereby warned aboue all things to take heede of barrennesse in their profession and to studie how to be fruitfull and profitable continually carefully doing the workes both of their generall and particular Callings out of a sincere desire to glorifie God and to benefit their neighbours As earthly Husbandmen which haue planted their grounds with trees after they haue dunged vvatered trimmed and pruned them they expect that they should bring forth fruit as they may by good right and reason if they misse of their hope and their trees proue barren after all their cost and labour bestowed they cut them downe and cast them into the fire as did that man mentioned in the Gospell Luk. 13. ver 6. 7. who comming to his vineyard and finding his Fig-tree empty tooke order with the dresser to haue it hewen downe so God that heauenly husbandman which hath grafted you as Trees in the Orchard of his Church vvill proceede against you in all rigour and seueritie when hee commeth to visit you and to looke for fruit he shall finde your branches eyther emptie and bare or with a few clusters vpon them after all his paines and charge after so many gracious instructions and benefits both bodily and spirituall which ought to haue preuailed so greatly vvith you as to haue made you thinke not onely of bringing forth fruit but of increasing and abounding in fruit as the Apostle prayeth for the Colossiaus Chap. 1 v. 10. And as he exhorteth the Thessalonians that they
of our Text was the euent that followed this mourning namely a graue speech which our Sauiour vttered by occasion thereof ver 28. Which speech is partly prohibitory Weepe not for me secondly exhoriatory but weepe for your selues thirdly comminatory threatning not a few or light ones but an heape of heauy iudgements declared by the sayings of women that had children Blessed c. and of persons of all sexes and degrees then shall they begin c. Fourthly confirmatorie rendring a reason why the Iewes must be so plagued in an allegorical sentence wherein Iesus for his innocencie and good workes which he did is likened to a greene Tree which is both fruitfull and vnfit for burning the Iewes for their wickednesse are compared to a drie tree which is both barren and meet for burning these must in no wise escape the fire of Gods vengeance when his owne Sonne a greene tree is so sore afflicted And there followed him That is came neere vnto him euen behind his backe They bewailed and lamented him that is their inward sorrow was so vehement as it brast out into teares as appeares by vers 28. What women these were that thus followed lamented though not expressed in the Text yet probable to haue beene such as had heard his doctrine of whom reade in Luke 8.2.3 Iohn 11. 1. 2. and elsewhere It is the manner at Executions and Funerals of persons of note and name that many flocke and follow to the place some out of curiositie to heare and see some out of compassion to bewaile and lament their case and their losse So it was here many followed Christ as enemies some as friends out of loue much grieued that a man so innocent and so beneficent vvhich had done so much good to so many by his doctrine miracles should so vniustly suffer First of all note here how manifold testimonie vvas giuen to Iesus of his innocencie from all sorts of persons and creatures Iudas which betrayed him affirmed him to be an innocent Matt. 27.4 Pilate which condemned him not onely with his mouth sayd What euil hath hee done Matth. 27.23 and againe I finde no fault in him at all Iohn 19.4 but by the Ceremonie of washing his hands publikely protested so much Matth. 27.24 His Wife being troubled about Iesus in her dreame sent her husband this message Haue thou nothing to doe with that iust man Matth. 27. 19. The Centurion seeing what hapned sayd Of a truth this was the Son of God Luke 23. Many people and women in our Text by their teares condemne the crueltie of the Priests and Elders and other Iewes and iustifie his integritie Yea not reasonable but euen vnsensible creatures as the Graues which opened the stones which cleft asunder the Sun which was Eclipsed the Ayre darkened all these as with one voyce did proclaime him an innocent person We read of a certaine Heathen Philosopher who vpon the strange accidents about the suffering of Iesus vttered these vvords Aut mundi machina dissoluitur aut Deus naturae patitur This serueth to the confutation and confounding of these wicked Iewes vvhich thought and still do thinke that Christ suffered as an euill doer a seducer or seditious person whereas his death had not taken away sinne from others if any sinne had beene in himselfe It became vs to haue a Sauiour separate from sinners holy vndefiled c. Hebr. 7.26 Secondly here is matter of comfort for all such as see and feele their owne iniquities with godly sorrow being humbled for them and displeased with them because they are sinnes the offences of a iust GOD and the causes of the death of an immaculate Lambe let such reioyce and be glad because Christ hauing no sinnes of his owne to suffer for therefore it must needs be he came to saue such sinners the iust to die for the vniust to seeke vp that vvhich is lost Secondly learne here our Christian dutie which is to mourne and bee touched with heauinesse for the death of godly persons as the Israelites mourned for Iacob a right good man and afterwards for Mosesan vpright Maiestrate and singular Prophet Deut. vlt. Also the Iewes lamented sore for zealous Iosiah that restorer of Religion keeping a yearely remembrance of his death see Lam. 1. ver 2. When Stephen the protomartyr a man full of Fayth and the holy Ghost dyed there was great lamentation made for him Act. 8.2 and Paul hauing said to the Christians at Melitum that they should see his face no more they fell vpon his necke and weptsore Act. 20.38 There be diuers reasons why we ought to bee affected with sorrow vvhen righteous persons are taken from vs. First Gods Commandement 1 Thessal 4.13 Eccles. 7.4 Secondly the example of holy men and of Iesus vveeping at the death of Lazarus Iohn 11.35 Thirdly because the world is continued and spared for the sake of good men Gen. 18. If ten righteous men had beene found in Sodome God had not punished it To Paul Act. 27.24 God gaue all the liues of those vvhich were in the Ship with him Certainely the iust by their prayers stand in the gap and doe stay and hold backe many iudgements that they breake not out and fall downe vpon the heads of the vvicked Againe the taking away of good men is commonly the fore-runner of some calamitie When Lot was out of Sodome then came downe fire from heauen to consume them And after the death of Iosiah Gods people vvere carried captiues into a strange Land Esay saith generally that righteous persons are remoued hence that they may not see the euill to come At a word godly persons be the props and pillers of Church and Common-wealth The meditation of this doctrine will help vs First to make better account of good men to whom wee are so much beholden that we haue them in singular loue honouring a Prophet and a righteous man because they be such Secondly this checketh three sorts of persons First those which hate the iust as Cain hated Abel and thinke them to be the troublers of the world as Achab falsly thought of Elias accusing them as enemies to Kings and States as CHRIST and his Apostles were iudged of putting them to death as euill doers as Antipas was Reu. 3. Secondly those which being shamelesly wicked doe reioyce at the fall of good men esteeming it a great benefit to be without them as they in the Psalme cheered themselues with Dauids sickenesse saying There there so would wee have it hee is downe and shall neuer rise againe Or as the Iewes triumphed when they had nayled IESVS to the Crosse and that hee had giuen vp the Ghost Thirdly such as through senselesse blockishnesse are without all feeling of sorrow when God strikes at such famous Lampes as this lying before vs which long gaue shine vnto the world by his wholesome doctrine and good life Lastly it must prouoke
sinners vnto speedy and serious repentance and amendement of life Moreouer of all other sinnes which wee ought to repent of namely and especially of crueltie and of crueltie against the Lord Iesus This was the crime among many others which principally prouoked God against his owne people and Citie euen for that they crucified the Lord of glory and put to death that iust One after they had rayled and spitted on him and beaten and shamefully entreated him howbeit this sinne of crueltie against Iesus I doubt it is little thought on or mistrusted to be amongst vs because Iesus is long since gone from vs whereas there be sundry wayes how men may now doe often fall into it For euen they which let slip out of minde the bloodshed of Iesus and forgetting they were once purged by it from their old sinnes doe liue securely and presumptuously in a sinnefull course being worldly and prophane what else doe they but what lyeth in them cause Iesus to bleed afresh and againe crucifie him making voyd the force and fruit of his passion to themselues Secondly all distrustfull persons which haue wauering mindes and doubt through vnbeliefe and though Christ haue suffered for sinne and be risen and gone vp into Heauen yet still doe aske how they shall escape death and bee saued what else is this but to call Iesus backe againe vnto the Crosse to bring Christ downe from above Rom. 10.6 Moreouer they which doe in cruell manner oppresse Christians spoyling them wrongfully in goods libertie or life is not this to persecute Christ in his members As it is written Saul Saul why persecutest thou mee Act. 9.4 And what other thing doe they then but kill Christ through vnmercifulnes which doe not feed him when hee is an hungred doe not harbour him when he is harbourlesse and doe not cloath him when he is naked We know that they which doe not these things to the least of Christs they doe it not to himselfe Matth. 25. It is truely sayd of an auncient writer Si non pauisti occidists for the Apostle Iames writeth Chap. 5. of the couetous rich men that they doe kill the iust by vvithdrawing their wages from them vvhereupon they should liue also we perceiue by the vvords of Christ in the Gospell that not to saue life when we may is to destroy and to take away life and the truth is it is a like cruel vtterly to quench ones life by violence or by hardnesse of heart to keepe away that from him whereby hee should preserue life But I vvill shew you a greater cruelty then all this committed against Christ in his members by false prophets by negligent teachers and blinde guides vvhich put the precious soules of Christians in danger to perish euerlastingly eyther by teaching corrupt doctrine or no doctrine eyther by sowing heresies or not by sowing the seed of the word as an vnfaithfull steward doth starue the family by not giuing euery one their portion of meat so are they soule murderers which deny vnto Gods people their appointed food of the word Ezekiel Chap. 13. ver 18. sayth of false prophets that they doe hunt the soules of the people as a wilde beast doth hunt the poore Lambe to kill him It is the sentence of our Sauiour CHRIST Iohn 10. that hirelings doe loue the fleece and lucre better then the soules of the flocke doe come to kill and to destroy Finally it is expresly written in the Prouerbs that there the people doe perish where vision or preaching faileth There is no crueltie to the soule-crueltie which first or last wil call down for wrath vpon the heads of those which are guilty of it If Abels bloud cryed to God for vengeance how much more will the bloud of soules doe it In the first of Daniel when Daniel and the other children of the Iewes desired to be fed vvith pulse and not with meate which came from the Kings table the Eunuch which kept them answered that he durst not For saith he if your faces be not well liked when the King shall looke vpon you he will take away my head from me I doe not say vnto Idoll-Shepheards and dumbe dogges through whose negligence or ignorance the soules of the people haue leanenesse entred into their soules and looke vvith euill fauoured countenances that God will strike their heads from their shoulders but this I dare say auouch that without true repentance he will cast both their boydes and soules into hel and with the euill steward in the Gospell who said in his heart my Master will deferre his comming and so fall to beating his fellow-seruants they shall be cut in pieces and their portion shall be giuen them with Hipocrits and at the last they shall be burned with fire and brimstone O therefore that euill and sloathfull Ministers would consider this in time and lay it neere vnto their heart and repent of their cruelty past and hence forth carrie more mercifull hearts towards the inheritance of Christ yeerning and pittying the spirituall necessities of Christ his sheepe after his owne example Matthew 9. 36. Lastly it is greatly to be wished that all vniust and Sacriligious persons and Patrons who are the direct and effectuall occasions of plunging many soules into endlesse perditions by wrongfully detaining the hyers of Gods labourers by which meanes the Church of Christ is pestered with foolish Ministers and blinde Shepherds that God I say would giue them better mindes and change their bloudy hearts into pittifull hearts to take compassion on their brethren which doe by heapes runne vnto destruction For Christ Iesus will not for euer put it vp to be so cruelly dealt with in his people which be deere and precious to him as the apple of his eye Verse 30. Then shall they begin to say vnto the Mountaines fall on vs c. THese wordes are borrowed out of the Prophet Hosea Chap. 10. ve 8. Where God threatneth vnto sinnefull Idolatrous Samaria such extreme iudgments as they should rather chuse to suffer any violence then to liue and languish in their miseries Here Christ foretelleth the Iewes that this shall be iust their case euen such a miserable condition they should be in as they should seeke death and it should flye from them desire to be crushed by the waight of hils and mountaines rather then to enioy life with such anxitie and vnhappinesse How this was fulfilled is reported by Iosephus a Iew himselfe an eye and eare witnes of all that horrible calamitie that came vpon Ierusalem according to this prediction of Christ. Hardly without abundance of teares can one read the most bitter euils and perplexed afflictions and shifts which partly by famine partly by sword partly by flight running into Caues and Mountaines to hide themselues they were plunged into such an heape of most comfortlesse miseries as the very Romaines their enemies pittied and grieued to looke vpon their desolations Where obserue
lesse spare the wicked From this consideration of the will of God and the ends of counsell in smiting the godly here more grieously sometime then he doth his enimies we haue certaine duties to be learned and practised The first is not to promise to our selues a constant ease and quietnesse in this world as if we could liue here alwayes in pleasures and prosperity Whereas beside that which is written experience telleth vs all things earthly to be mutable and nothing so subiect to change as men and their affaires for as soule weather and storme followeth a calme and faire seasons and night day and Winter Summer so sicknesse succeeds health pouerty riches aduersity prosperity sorrow ioy therefore as Mariners in a calme prouide against a storme and prouident men in plenty looke out lay vp for the dayes of famine as Ioseph did so Gods children are bound in prosperity to prepare for aduersity for these take turnes and nothing else is seene vnder the Sunne Sathan and the wicked will not suffer the godly to lacke trouble and affliction Crosse is a necessary and perpetuall companion of the Gospell Wherefore as a man that meanes to build will first cast and consider whether hee haue meanes sufficient and as a Captaine will waigh his forces ere he goe to warre so good Christians must arme themselues and get a resolution with strength and power from heauen to goe thorow stitch with their profession for he is not worthy to be Christs Disciple that hath not this setled affection to forsake all for his Sauiours sake and for his Gospell What Paul said of himselfe euery one in some measure must be ready to doe not onely to be bound but to dye for the Lord Iesus A second vse of the former doctrine is to admonish the Children of God to be patient and well-contented with afflictions when they shall happen howsoeuer long and sharp they proue seeing it is the pleasure of their Father and the portion of all their brethren those afflictions which they suffer being accomplished in the rest of the Saints which be or haue beene or shall be in the world 1 Pet. 5. for all that will liue godly must a necessitie in it not expediency alone suffer persecution 2 Tim. 1. and that they haue Christ their guide and Captaine vvho hath led them the way and doth both minister strength enough to beare and abide the crosse and hath promised the victory Rom. 16.20 Yea and turneth the crosses of his people to such and so manifold commodities The meditation of these things must preuaile to stay them from grutching or fainting and keepe them in their vprightnesse constancy without being vveary in their minde or weary of wel-doing Finally this rebukes the prophane persons two wayes both because they rashly iudge of the righteous when they be vnder the scourge censuring them for hypocrites and men hated and cast out of GOD forlorne and desperate as Elihu and the other did of Iob and the Courtiers of Saul of Dauid and the Iewes of CHRIST Whom they thought to be quite forsaken because they saw him sore plagued and not deliuered and also for that they falsly sooth and flatter themselues in their sinnes as if they vvere deere to God and beloued of him because of his indulgence and lenity toward them presuming of God that he will not destroy them but with blessings and kindnesses still fill and follow them boasting as if they were at a couenant with hell and death that no euill shall come neere them that they shall sit and raigne as Queenes and feele no misery nor euer be remoued wherein they are deceiued for if these things be done to the greene tree what will be done to the dry That wee may now draw to an end as out of the former part of this verse we haue seene the condition of the godly both for their doing and suffering their holinesse and affliction so let vs in few words obserue the estate of the wicked impenitent sinners what they are to God or in his sight and what God will doe to them Howeuer vngodly sinners and close hypocrites may be had in admiration of others and for their outward riches and greatnes in the world or some internall gifts of the minde as Learning Wisedome Eloquence knowledge of Arts and Tongues may be accounted highly of as if they were some great personages and be something in their owne eyes men of worth and renowne such as all ought to reuerence yet in the iudgement of GOD whose iudgement is according to truth for hee iudgeth not after appearance but seeth what is in their hearts they are most vile and base being in very deede voide of goodnesse and good for nothing There is no more sauing and true grace in them then there is sappe or iuyce in a rotten log no more fruit comes from them then from dry wood Euen the Scribes Pharisies the Priests and Elders of the Iewes which would be saluted Rabby that is Maister a name of reuerence giuen to such as excelled many and esteemed themselues the guides and lights of the blinde and ignorant the builders of the Church rare for holinesse as well as learning yet Christ who knew them perfectly and much better then they knew themselues pronounceeth of them here to be no better then dry trees barraine and rotten worthy to be burned What is more contemptible or vnprofitable then stubble chaffe which men neglect and tread vnder foot or cast out of dores yet by Esay 5.4 also by Mal. 4.1.2 the wicked are compared vnto such things as are of none or little vse and moment In the first Psalme as the wicked be described what they are for qualitie such as doe not meditate in the law doctrine of the word to know belieue it and doe thereafter so in the same place for their vilenesse and vnfruitfulnesse they are likened vnto the dust which lyeth in the street and is trod vpon by all men cleane contrary to the tree planted by the riuer being full of the moisture of Iustification and of the fruits of sanctification Our Sauiour vniuersally affirmeth of all which are not his members Iohn 15.6 that they are without fruit like the withered branches of a vine which men gather and cast into the fire But Inde vers 12. doth yet further nullifie and vilefie such vnrighteous persons calling them cloudes vvithout water carried about vvith the winde corrupt trees without fruit twice dead pluckt vp by the rootes at a word that which the vvorld iudgeth in their malicious corrupt opinion the true seruants and Saints of God to be 2. Cor. 4. the same vnregenerate and vnrepentant sinners be indeed euen the filth and garbage which is throwne out of the citie vpon the common dunghil Did Hypocrites which take the law of God in their mouth and yet hate to be reformed casting the word behind them and
open sinners which like Swine and Dogs doe obstinately continue in their vncleannes contemning all admonitions hating and hurting their admonishers hauing shaken out of their heart both feare of God and shame of men like that euill Iudge in the Gospell Luke 18.3 did I say these men belieue firmely and seriously consider this their basenesse and barrennesse that they be but vnprofitable burdens of the earth borne to consume fruits not to beare fruits Oh how might it strike them with dread and horrour and cause them speedely and earnestly without daliance or delay to change their mindes and to hasten their amendment especially if so they looke into themselues what they be for lacke of grace as they ponder vvhat the most iust and seuere Iudge of the vvorld will be and doe to them through the rigous of his Iustice which shall be at length when his patience is expired as a consuming flame to deuoure such dry stickes When Esay writeth this of the obstinate Iewes vvhich despised the warnings of the Prophets and cast off the Law of the Lord of hostes As the flame of fire deuoureth the stubble and as the chaffe is consumed of the flame so their root shall be rottennesse and their bud dust Cha. 5.24 and in Chap. 33.11 Yee shall conceiue chaffe and bring forth stubble and the fire of your breath shall deuoure you Also in Chap. 47.14 Behold they shall be as stubble the fire shall consume them they shall not be able to deliuer their liues from the power of the fire Lastly vvhen Malachie denounceth thus against despisers Chap. 4.1 The day commeth that shall burne as an Ouen and the proud and all that doe wickedly shall bee stubble and the day commeth that shall burne them and leaue them neither root nor branch I pray you what else may these comminations meane but so much in effect as Dauid speakes in the Psalm 37.19 That the wicked after they haue long liued in prosperity and glory flourishing as a Bay tree shall at length suddenly and horribly perish and as he sayth in another Psalme They shall come to a fearefull end and the transgressour shall be destroyed Psal. 37. Or as Salomon his sonne sheweth their ruine They that harden their necks shall perish and shall not be cured they shall be broken downe and neuer be built vp as it is Psal. 28.5 or as Christ threatneth they shall be gathered bound vp and cast into the fire Iohn 15.5.6 As thornes and Briers and dry rotten braunches they shall be sewell for the flame of Gods indignation which vvhen the houre of his iudgement commeth shall as easily speedily and vnrecouerably ouerthrow his enemies as the fire licketh vp and consumeth eyther stubble or chaffe or drie wood or as the winde disperseth the dust or as the Husbandman cutteth downe the fruitlesse Figge tree Wherefore let not vvicked doers and vnfruitfull Christians who liue to themselues and not to Christ please themselues or take their case to be good because they are boren with and blessed doe prosper and finde God patient for this mirth and pleasure vvill last but a while a moment as it vvere as craking of thornes and shall be turned into eternall woe the good things which they see and vse are but temporall and momentanie and light but the euils which they see not haue an eternall waight Woe be to them which are rich saith Christ they haue receiued their comfort Woe be to them that now laugh for they shall waile and weepe These words plainely speake of a change a wofull change which shall beside vngodly rich men and no meruaile if it goe full ill vvith the vvicked at length seeing it goeth so hard with good men When the greene tree is brought to the fire the drye vvood can not long scape scot-free no not euen in this life many times they are many of them euen here strangely plagued and the longer suffered the heauier is their wounds in the end as a hand lifted vp on high giues the more grieuous blow the slownesse of reuenge is recompensed with heauines and waight of the paine God strucke Abell put Iacob to much trouble afflicted the Israelites in AEgypt greatly exercised Elias chased Dauid out of his country put him in danger of his life oftentimes the waters came ouer his soule yet winked in the meane time at Cain Esau Egiptians Pharaoh Saul Achab and Iezabel as if he had forgotten them but in fine he set their sins in order before them and tare them in pieces when there was none to deliuer them Though Christ be a man of sorrowes become a worme and no man be rayled vpon by vvicked mouthes murthered by vnrighteous hands and the Iewes his crucifiers in the meane while and sometime after laugh reioyce and triumph yet will not God alwayes keepe silence but payeth them home their wages euen full measure into their bosome he rendreth them vengeance What horrible iudgements did God execute vpon those bloudy persecuters in Queene Maries dayes euen in the eyes of men howsoeuer vvith great and long sufferance hee had spared them But if the vvicked as innumerable heapes of them doe after a prosperous life haue a peaceable death liue in vvealth and goe to their Graues vvith honour and pompe yet afterwards there abides for them the more fearefull and grieuous torments and damnation For looke how much they haue had of pleasure so much shall they taste of torment Reuel 18. And as they haue heaped sinnes vpon sins so shall they stacke and store vp wrath as a man should euery day carry a sticke toward a pile of wood therewith at last to be burned against the day of wrath and of the iust declaration of the righteous iudgment of God Rom. 2. 5. The Rich-man is now in hell in flaming fire and torment who once fared deliciously and was costly clothed euery day The vse whereunto this estate of the wicked thus wofull and vnhappy must serue if wee deale wisely is first of all in respect of the righteous to holde them from impatiencie and fretting such as Dauid Psal. 37. and 73. and Ieremie did fall into when they saw the outward felicitie of the wicked how they liued without perill or feare in all plentie and glory it had almost made them trip and thinke them the onely blessed men certainely it vvrought repining griefe and impatiency in them I fretted saith Dauid to see the vngodly so prosper howbeit looking forward to their end they saw how they were set in slippery places and must come downe in a moment and miserably perish If such holy men vvere offended how may we mistrust our selues lest the honour and riches of euill men be a scandall and an offence to vs and make vs vveary of all and to giue ouer our vprightnesse and to like of their wayes and chuse their conuersation Howbeit arme your selues against such stumbling blockes by this meditation that when the green