as for example within are the rebellions of his concupiscence and other miseries of his mind wherwith he hath continually to make war if he wil save his soul. Without are the world and the devil which do never cease to assalt him now by fair means and now by fowl now by flatterie and now by threat now alluring by pleasure and promotion now terrifieng by affliction and persecution Against al which the good Christian hath to resist manfully or else he leeseth the crown of his eternal salvation 4 The verie same also may be shewed by the examples of al the most renowned saints from the beginning who were not only assalted internally with the rebellion of their own flesh but also persecuted and afflicted outwardly therby to confirm more manifestly this purpose of God As we see in Abel persecuted and slain by his own brother assoon as ever he began to serve God also in Abraham afflicted diversly after he was once chosen by God and most of al by making him yeeld to the killing of his own deer and only child Of the same cup drank al his children posteritie that succeeded him in Gods favor as Isaac Iacob Ioseph Moises and al the prophets of which Christ himselfe giveth testimonie how their blood was shed most cruelly by the world The affliction also of Iob is woonderful seeing the scripture affirmeth it to have come upon him by Gods special appointment he being a most just man But yet more woonderful was the affliction of holie Tobias who among other calamities was striken blind by the falling down of swallows dung into his eies of which the angel Raphel told him afterward Bicause thou wert a man acceptable to God it was of necessitie that this tentation should proove thee Behold the necessitie of afflictions to good men I might ad to this the example of David others but that the apostle giveth a general testimonie of al the saints of the old testament saieng That some were racked some reproched some whipped some chained some imprisoned others were stoned cut in peeces tempted and flain with the sword some went about in hair-cloth in skins of goats in great need pressed and afflicted wandring and hiding themselves in wildernesses in hils in caves and holes under ground the world not being woorthy of them Of al which he pronounceth this comfortable sentence to be noted of al men Non suscipientes redemptionem vt meliorem invenirent resurrectionem That is God would not deliver them from these afflictions in this life to the end their resurrection and reward in the life to come might be more glorious And this of the saints of the old testament 5 But now in the new testament founded expressedly upon the crosse the matter standeth much more plain that with great reason For if Christ could not go into this glorie but by suffering as the scripture saith then by the most reasonable rule of Christ affirming that The servant hath not privilege aboue his maister It must needs follow that al have to drink of Christs cup which are appointed to be partakers of his glory And for proofe herof look upon the deerest frinds that ever Christ had in this life and see whether they had part therof or no. Of his mother Simeon prophesied and told hir at the beginning That the sword of tribulation should passe hir hart Signifieng therby the extreme afflictions that she felt afterward in the death of hir son and other miseries heaped upon hir Of the apostles it is evident that beside al the labors travels needs sufferings persecutions and calamities which were infinite and in mans sight in tollerable if we beleeve S. Paul recounting the same beside al this I say God would not be satisfied except he had their blood also and so we see that he suffered none of them to die naturally but only Saint Iohn albeit if we consider what Iohn also suffered in so long a life as he lived being banished by Domitian to Pathmos at another time thrust into a tun of hot oil at Rome as Tertullian and Saint Ierom do report we shal see that his part was no lesse than others in this cup of his maister I might rekon up heer infinite other examples but it needeth not For it may suffice that Christ hath given this general rule in the new testament He that taketh not up his crosse and followeth me is not worthy of me By which is resolved plainly that there is no salvation now to be had but only for them that take up that is do bear willingly their proper crosses and therwith do follow their captain walking on with his crosse on his shoulders before them 6 But heer some man may say If this be so that no man can be saved without a crosse that is without affliction and tribulation how do al those that live in peaceable times and places where no persecution is no trouble no affliction or tribulation To which I answer first that if there were any such time or place the men living therin should be in great danger according to the saieng of the prophet They are not in the labor of other men nor yet whipped and punished as others are and therfore pride possessed them and they were covered with iniquitie and impietie and their iniquitie proceeded of their fatnesse or abundance Secondlie I answer that there is no such time or place so void of tribulation but that there is alwais a crosse to be found for them that wil take it up For either is there povertie sicknes slander enmitie injurie contradiction or some like affliction offered continually For that those men never want in the world wherof the prophet said These that do render evil for good did detract from me for that I followed goodnes At the least wise there never want those domestical enimies of which Christ speaketh I mean either our kinred and carnal frinds which commonly resist us if we begin once throughly to serve God or else our own disordinate affections which are the most perilous enimies of al for that they make us war upon our own ground Again there never want the temptations of the world devil the resisting wherof is much more difficult in time of peace and welth than in time of external affliction and persecution for that these enimies are stronger in flatterie than in force which a godly father expresseth by this parable The sun and wind saith he agreed on a day to prove their several strengths in taking a cloke from a waifairing man And in the forenoon the wind used al violence that he could to blow off the said cloke But the more he blew the more fast held the travailer his cloke and gathered it more closelie about him At afternoon the sun sent foorth his pleasant beams and by little and little so entered into this man as he
another place he complaineth yet as the prophet saith God wil have his day with these men also when he wil be known And that is Cognoscetur dominus iudicia faciens God wil be known when he beginneth to do iudgment And this is at the day of death which is the next dore to judgement as the Apostle testifieth saieng It is appointed for al men once to die and after that ensueth iudgement 3 This I say is the day of God most terrible sorrowful and ful of tribulation to the wicked wherin God wil be known to be a righteous God and to restore to every man according as he hath done while he lived as Saint Paul saith or as the prophet describeth it He wil be known then to be a terrible God and such a one as taketh away the spirit of princes a terrible God to the kings of the earth At this day as there wil be a great change in al other things as mirth wil be turned into sorrow laughings into weepings pleasures into paines stoutnes into fear pride into dispaire and the like so especially wil there be a strange alteration in judgement and opinion for that the wisdom of God wherof I have spoken in the former chapters which as the scripture saith Is accounted holy of the wise of the world wil then appeere in hir likenes and as it is in very deed wil be confessed by hir greatest enimies to be only tru wisdom and al carnal wisdom of worldlings to be meer folly as God calleth it 4 This the holie scripture setteth down cleerly when it describeth the verie speeches and lamentations of the wise men of this world at the last day saieng touching the vertuous whom they despised in this life Nos insensati c. We senseles men did esteem their life to be madnes and their end to be dishonorable but look how they are now accounted among the children of God and their portion is with the saints We have erred from the way of truth and the light of righteousnes hath not shined before us neither hath the sun of understanding appeered unto us We have wearied out our selves in the way of iniquitie and perdition and we have walked craggy paths but the way of the Lord we have not known Hitherto are the words of scripture wherby we may perceave what great change of judgement there wil be at the last day from that which men have now of al such matters what confessing of follie what acknowledging of error what hartie sorrow for labor lost what fruitles repentance for having run awry Oh that men would consider these things now We have wearied out our selves say these miserable men in the way of iniquitie and perdition and we have walked craggie paths What a description is this of lamentable worldlings who beat their brains daily weary out themselves in pursuit of vanitie and chaf of this world for which they suffer notwithstanding more pains oftentimes than the just do in purchasing of heaven And when they arrive to at the last day wearied and worn out with troble and toile they finde that al their labor is lost al their vexation taken in vain for that the litle pelfe which they have gotten in the world and for which they have strugled so sore wil helpe them nothing but rather greatly afflict and torment them for better understanding wherof it is to be considered that three things wil principallie molest these men at the day of their death and unto these may al the rest be referred 5 The first is the excessive pains which commonly men suffer in the separation of the soul and bodie which have lived so long together as two deer frinds united in love and pleasure and therfore most loth to part now but onlie that they are inforced therunto This pain may partly be conceaved by that if we would drive out life but from the least part of our bodie as for example out of our little finger as surgeons are woont to do when they wil mortifie any place to make it break what a pain doth a man suffer before it be dead What raging greefe doth he abide And if the mortifieng of one little part onlie doth so much afflict us imagin what the violent mortifieng of al the parts together wil do For we see that first the soul is driven by death to leave the extreeme parts as the toes feet and fingers then the legs arms and so consequently one part dieth after another until life be restrained onlie to the hart which holdeth out longest as the principal part but yet must finally be constrained to render it selfe though with never so much pain and resistance which pain how great strong it is may appeer by the breaking in peeces of the very strings and holds wherwith it was environed through the excessive vehemencie of this deadly torment But yet before it come to this point to yeeld no man can expresse the cruel conflict that is betwixt death and hir and what distresses she abideth in time of hir agonie Imagin that a prince possessed a goodly citie in al peace wealth and pleasure and greatly frinded of al his neighbors about him who promise to assist him in al his needs and affairs and that upon the sudden his mortal enimie should come and besiege this citie and taking one hold after another one wal after another one castel after another should drive this prince only to a little tower and besiege him therin al his other holds being beaten down and his men slain in his sight what fear anguish and miserie would this prince be in How often would he look out at the windows and loope holes of his tower to see whether his frinds and neighbors would come to help him or no And if he saw them al to abandon him and his cruel enimie even ready to break in upon him would he not be in a pitiful plight trow you And even so fareth it with a poore soul at the hour of death The bodie wherin she raigneth like a joly princesse in al pleasure whiles it florished is now battered and overthrown by hir enimy which is death the arms legs and other parts wherwith she was fortified as with wals words during time of helth are now surprised and beaten to the ground and she is driven only to the hart as to the last and extreemest refuge where she is also most fearcely assailed in such sort as she cannot hold out long Hir deer frinds which soothed hir in time of prosperitie and promised assistance as youth physik and other humane helps do now utterly abandon hir the enimie wil not be pacified or make any leag but night and day assaulteth this turret wherin she is and which now beginneth to shake and shiver in peeces and she looketh hourly when hir enimie in most raging and dreadful maner wil enter upon hir What think
shal ever possesse the kingdome of God If you live according to the flesh you shal die and the works of the flesh are manifest as fornication uncleannes wantonnes luxurie poisonings enmities contentions emulations hatred strife dissentions sects envie murder dronkenes gluttonie and the like Wherof I foretel you as I have told you before that they which do these things shal never attein to the kingdome of God We must al be presented before the iudgment seat of Christ every man receive particularly according as he hath done in this life good or evil every man shal receive according to his works God spared not the Angels when they sinned You shal give account of everie idle word at the day of iudgement If the iust shal scarce be saved where shal the wicked man and sinner appeer Few are saved and a rich man shal hardly enter into the kingdome of heaven 10 Al these things I say and a thousand mo touching the severitie of Gods justice and the account which shal be demanded at that day wil come into his mind that lieth a dieng and our ghostly enimie which in this life labored to keep these things from our eies therby the easier to draw us to sin wil now lay al more too before our face amplifieng and urging everie point to the uttermost alledging alwais our conscience for his witnes Which when the poore soul in dieng cannot denie it must needs terrifie hir greatly for so we see that it doth daily even many good vertuous men Saint Ierom reported of holie Saint Hilarion whose soul being greatly afeard upon these considerations to go out of the bodie after long conflict he took courage in the end and said to his soul Go out my soul go out why art thou afeard thou hast served Christ almost threescore and ten yeeres and art thou now afeard of death But if so good a man was so afeard at this passage yea such an one as had served God with al puritie of life and perfect zeale for threescore and ten yeeres togither what shal they be which scarce have served God truly one day in al their lives but rather have spent al their yeeres in sin and vanitie of the world Must not these men be needs in great extremitie at this passage 11 Now then deer Christian these things being so that is this passage of death being so terrible so dangerous and yet so unavoydable as it is seeing so many men perish and are overwhelmed daily in the same as it cannot be denied but there do and both holie scriptures and ancient fathers do testifie it by examples and records unto us what man of discretion would not learn to be wise by other mens dangers Or what reasonable creature would not take heed and look about him being warned so manifestly and apparantly of his own peril If thou be a Christian and dost beleeve indeed the things which Christian faith doth teach thee then dost thou know and most certainly beleeve also that of what state age strength dignitie or condition soever thou be now yet that thou thy selfe I say which now in health and mirth readest this and thinkest that it litle pertaineth to thee must one of these dais and it may be shortlie after the reading hereof come to prove al these things upon thy selfe which I have here written that is thou must with sorrow and greefe be inforced to thy bed and there after al thy struglings with the darts of death thou must yeeld thy bodie which thou lovest so much to the bait of worms and thy soul to the trial of justice for hir dooings in this life 12 Imagin then my frind thou I say which art so fresh and frolik at this day that the ten twentie or two yeeres or it may be two moneths which thou hast yet to live were now ended and that thou were even at this present stretched out upon a bed wearied and worn with dolor and pain thy carnal frinds about thee weeping and howling the phisitions departed with their fees as having given thee over and thou lieng there alone mute and dum in most pitiful agonie expecting from moment to moment the last stroke of death to be given thee Tel me in this instant what would al the pleasures and commodities of this world do thee good What comfort would it be to thee to have beene of honor in this world to have beene rich and purchased much to have born office been in the princes favor To have left thy children or kindred wealthy to have troden down thine enimies to have sturred much and born great sway in this life What ease I say or comfort would it be to thee to have been fair to have been gallant in apparel goodly in personage glittering in gold Would not al these things rather afflict than profit thee at this instant For now shouldest thou see the vanitie of these trifles now would thy hart begin to say within thee O follie and miserable blindnes of mine Lo here is an end now of al my delites prosperities al my joies al my pleasures al my mirth al my pastimes are now finished where are my frinds which were woont to laugh with me My servants woont to attend me my children woont to disport me Where are al my coches and horses wherwith I was woont to make so goodlie a shew the caps and knees of people woont to honor me the troups of suters following me Where are al my daliances and triks of love al my pleasant musik al my gorgeous buildings al my costly feasts and banquetings And above al other where are my deer and sweet frinds who seemed they would never have forsaken me But al are now gone and have left me here alone to answer the rekoning for al and none of them wil do so much as to go with me to judgement or to speak one word in my behalfe 13 Wo worth to me that I had not foreseen this day sooner and so have made better provision for the same it is now too late and I fear me I have purchased eternal damnation for a litle pleasure and lost unspeakable glorie for a floting vanitie Oh how happie and twise happie are they which so live as they may not be afeard of this day I now see the difference betwixt the ends of good evil and marvel not though the scriptures say of the one The death of saincts is precious And of the other The death of sinners is miserable Oh that I had lived so vertuously as some other have done or as I had often inspirations from God to do or that I had done the good deeds I might have done how sweet and comfortable would they be to me now in this my last and extreemest distres 14 To these cogitations and speeches deer brother shal thy hart be inforced of what estate soever thou be at the hour of death if thou do not
without abatement al goodnes without any evil Where youth florisheth that never waxeth old life that knoweth no end beautie that never fadeth love that never cooleth health that never diminisheth joy that never ceaseth Where sorrow is never felt complaint is never heard matter of sadnes is never seen nor evil successe is overfeared For that they possesse thee O Lord which art the perfection of their felicitie 15 If we would enter into these considerations as this holie man and other his like did no dowt but we should more be inflamed with the love of this felicitie prepared for us than we are and consequently should strive more to gain it than we do And to the end thou maist conceive som more feeling in the matter gentle reader consider a little with me what a joiful day shal that be at thy house when having lived in the fear of God and atchived in his service the end of thy peregrination thou shalt come by the means of death to passe from miserie and labour to immortalitie and in that passage when other men begin to fear thou shalt lift up thy head in hope according as Christ promiseth for that the time of thy salvation commeth on Tel me what a day shal that be when thy soul stepping foorth of prison and conducted to the tabernacle of heaven shal be received there with the honorable companies and troups of that place With al those blessed spirits mentioned in scripture as principalities powers vertues dominations thrones Angels Archangels Cherubins and Seraphins also with the holie Apostles and disciples of Christ Patriarches Prophets Martyrs Innocents Confessors and Saints of God Al which shal triumph now at thy coronation and glorification What joy wil thy soul receive in that day when she shal be presented in the presence of al those states before the seat and majestie of the blessed Trinitie with recital and declaration of al thy good works and travels suffered for the love and service of God When there shal be laid down in that honorable consistorie al thy vertuous deeds al the labors that thou hast taken in thy calling al thy almes al thy praiers al thy fasting al thy innocencie of life al thy patience in injuries al thy constancie in adversities al thy temperance in meats al the vertues of thy whole life When al I say shal be recounted there al commended al rewarded shalt thou not see now the valure and profite of vertuous life Shalt thou not confesse that gainful and honorable is the service of God Shalt thou not now be glad and blesse the hour wherin first thou resolvest thy selfe to leave the service of the world to serve God Shalt thou not think thy selfe beholding to him or hir that persuaded thee unto it Yes verilie 16 But yet more than this when as being so neer thy passage heer thou shalt consider into what a port and haven of securitie thou art come and shalt look bak upon the dangers which thou hast passed and wherin other men are yet in hazard thy cause of joy shal greatly be increased For thou shalt see evidentlie how infinite times thou were to perish in that journey if God had not held his special hand over thee Thou shalt see the dangers wherin other men are the death damnation wherinto many of thy frinds and acquaintance have fallen the eternal pains of hel incurred by many that used to laugh and be merie with thee in the world Al which shal augment the felicitie of this thy blessed estate And now for thy selfe thou maist be secure thou art out of al danger for ever and ever There is no more need now of fear of watch of labor or of care Thou maist lay down al armor now better than the children of Israel might have done when they had gotten the land of promise For there is no more enimy to assail thee there is no more wilie serpent to beguile thee al is peace al is rest al is joy al is securitie Good Saint Paul hath no more need now to labor in the ministerie of the word neither yet to fast to watch or to punish his bodie Good old Ierom may now cease to afflict himselfe both night and day for the conquering of his spiritual enimie Thy onlie exercise must be now to rejoice to triumph to sing Halleluias to the lamb which hath brought thee to this felicitie and wil keep thee in the same world without end What a comfort wil it be to see that lamb sitting on his seat of state If the wise men of the east came so far off and so rejoiced to see him in the manger what wil it be to see him sitting in his glorie If Saint Iohn Baptist did leap at his presence in his mothers belly what shal his presence do in this his roial and eternal kingdome It passeth al other glorie that saints have in heaven saith Saint Austen to be admitted to the inestimable sight of Christ his face and to receive the beams of glorie from the brightnes of his majestie And if we were to suffer torments every day yea to tollerate the verie pains of hel for a time therby to gain the sight of Christ and to be joined in glorie to the number of his saints it were nothing in respect of the reward O that we made such account of this matter as this holy and learned man did we would not live as we do nor leese the same for such trifles as most men do 17 But to go forward yet further in this consideration imagin besides al this what a joy it shal be unto thy soul at that day to meet with al hir godly frinds in heaven with father with mother with brothers with sisters with wife with husband with maister with schollers with neighbors with familiars with kindred with acquaintance the welcoms the mirth the sweet imbracements that shal be there the joy wherof as noteth wel Saint Cyprian shal be unspeakable Ad to this the daily feasting and inestimable triumph which shal be there at the arrival of new brethren and sisters comming thither from time to time with the spoils of their enimies conquered and vanquished in this world O what a comfortable sight wil it be to see those seats of Angels fallen filled up again with men and women from day to day To see the crowns of glorie set upon their heads and that in varietie according to the varietie of their conquests One for martyrdom or confession against the persecutor another for chastitie against the flesh another for povertie or humilitie against the world another for many conquests togither against the divel There the glorious companie of Apostles saith holy Cyprian there the number of rejoising prophets there the innumerable multitude of martyrs shal receive the crowns of their deaths and sufferings There triumphing virgins which have overcom concupiscence with
loveth us and tendereth our case most mercifully 31 But yet heer is one thing to be noted in this matter and that is that Christ suffered the ship almost to be covered with waves as the Evangelist saith before he would awake therby to signifie that the measure of temptations is to be left only unto himselfe it is sufficient for us to rest upon the apostles words He is faithful and therfore he wil not suffer us to be tempted above our strength We may not examin or mistrust his doings we may not inquire why doth he this Or why suffereth he that Or how long wil he permit these evils to reign God is a great God in al his doings and when he sendeth tribulation he sendeth a great deal togither to the end he may shew his great power in delivering us and recompenseth it after with as great measure of comfort His temptations oftentimes do go very deep therby to try the very harts and reins of men He went far with Elias when he caused him to fly into a mountain and there most desirous of death to say They have killed al thy prophets O Lord and I am left alone and now they seeke to kil me also He went far with David when he made him cry out Why dost thou turn thy face away from me O Lord Why dost thou forget my povertie and tribulation And in another place again I said with my selfe in the excesse of my mind I am cast out from the face of thine eies O Lord. God went far with the apostles when he inforced one of them to write We wil not have you ignorant brethren of our tribulation in Asia wherin we were oppressed above al measure above al strength insomuch as it lothed us to live any longer But yet above al others he went furthest with his own deer Son when he constrained him to utter those pittiful most lamentable words upon the crosse My God my God why hast thou forsaken me Who can now complain of any proofe or temptation whatsoever laid upon him seeing GOD would go so far with his own deer only Son 32 Heerof then insueth the third thing necessarie unto us in tribulation which is magnanimitie grounded upon a strong and invincible faith of Gods assistance and of our final deliverance how long soever he delay the matter and how terrible soever the storm do seem for the time This God requireth at our hands as may be seen by the example of the disciples who cried not We perish before the waves had covered the ship as Saint Mathew writeth and yet Christ said unto them Vbi est fides vestra Where is your faith Saint Peter also was not afeard until he was almost under water as the same Evangelist recordeth and yet Christ reprehended him saieng Thou man of little faith why diddest thou dowt What then must we do in this case deer brother Surely we must put on that mightie faith of valiant king David who upon the most assured trust he had of Gods assistance said In Deo meo transgrediar murū In the help of my God I wil go through the wal Of which invincible faith Saint Paul was also when he said Omnia possum in eo qui me confortat I can do al things in him that comforteth and strengtheneth me Nothing is unpossible nothing is too hard for me by his assistance We must be as the scripture saith Quasi Leo confidens absque terrore Like a bold and confident Lion which is without terror That is we must not be astonied at any tempest any tribulation any adversitie We must say with the prophet David experienced in these matters I wil not fear many thousands of people that should inviron or besiege me togither If I should walk amidst the shadow of death I wil not fear If whole armies should stand against me yet my hart should not tremble My hope is in God and therfore I wil not fear what man can do unto me God is my aider and I wil not fear what flesh can do unto me God is my helper and protector and therfore I wil despise and contemn mine enimies And another prophet in like sense Behold God is my savior and therfore wil I deal confidently and wil not fear These were the speeches of holie prophets of men that knew wel what they said and had often tasted of affliction themselves and therfore could say of their own experience how infallible Gods assistance is therin 33 To this supreme courage magnanimitie and Christian fortitude the scripture exhorteth us when it saith If the spirit of one that is in authoritie do rise against thee see thou yeeld not from thy place unto him And again another scripture saith Strive for iustice even to the losse of thy life and stand for equitie unto death it selfe and God shal overthrow thine enimies for thee And Christ himselfe yet more effectually recommendeth this matter in these words I say unto you my frinds be not afraid of them which kil the body and afterward have nothing else to do against you And S. Peter addeth further Neque conturbemini that is Do not only not fear them but which is lesse do not so much as be troubled for al that flesh and blood can do against you 34 Christ goeth further in the Apocalips and useth marvelous speeches to intise us to this fortitude For these are his words He that hath an eare to hear let him hear what the spirit saith unto the churches To him that shal conquer I wil give to eat of the tree of life which is in the paradise of my God This saith the first and the last he that was dead and now is alive I know thy tribulatition and thy povertie but thou art rich indeed and art blasphemed by those that say they are tru Israelites and are not but are rather the synagog of satan Fear nothing of that which you are to suffer behold the devil wil cause some of you to be thrust into prison to the end you may be tempted and you shal have tribulation for ten daies But be faithful unto death and I wil give thee a crown of life He that hath an eare to hear let him hear what the spirit saith unto the churches he that shal overcome shal not be hurt by the second death And he that shal overcome and keep my works unto the end I wil give unto him authoritie over nations even as I have received it from my father and I wil give him besides the morning star He that shal overcome shal be appareled in white garments and I wil not blot his name out of the booke of life but wil confesse his name before my father and before his angels Behold I come quikly hold fast that thou hast lest another man receive thy crown He that shal conquer I