centrum terrae Thinketh that it is about the centre of the earth The Apostles that preached to the Iewes vsed the word Gehenna from the Hebrewes which they well vnderstood and Saint Iames writing to the Iewes sayth The tongue is inflamed of Gehenna of hell but the rest of them that preached to the Gentiles vsed the word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 which name was knowne vnto them and they tooke it to be a place vnder the earth where the wicked after this life were punished Tartarus which is vsed for Hel is so farre vnder the earth as Heauen is aboue the earth sayth Hesiodus The Poet speaking of it sayth Tartarus ipse bis patet in praeceps tantum .i. Tartarus is twice as deepe as Heauen is high The Rabbines hold Hell to bee below as Rabbi Abraham sayth Sheol makom c. Sheol is a deepe place opposed to Heauen which is on high And Rabbi Leui sayth Sheol hi mattah c. Sheol is absolutely below and is the centre The Scriptures also place Hell below Sheol beneath is moued for thee to meete thee at thy comming Moses calleth it the lower hell Fire is kindled in my wrath and shall burne vsque ad infernum inferiorem to the bottome of hell The Psalmist calleth it a déepe pit Let him cast them into the fire and into the deepe pits that they rise not And in another place he calleth it the Pit of Perdition Iohn calleth it a Burning Lake in the Reuelation which must needs bee below Salomon speaketh of the depth of this place saying The ghâ—sts of an harlot are in the depth of hell And againe The way of Life is on high to auoyde from hell beneath Thus it is manifest that Hell is beneath in the lowest parts of the workemanship of God But precisely to say where whether in the centre of the centre of the world or in the ayre or in the water or vpon the earth it is not reuealed neyther is it needful for vs to know but surely it shall bee in the most remote place from Heauen which is in and about the earth for the soules of the righteous when they are dissolued from their bodies do presently passe to the locall place of Coelum Empyraeum and the soules of the damned are constrayned to stay below in the lowest Elements where they are and shall be tormented for euermore But if a man be too curious in this poynt I would wish him conferre with Socrates who being asked what was done in hell said Hee neuer went thither nor communed with any that came from thence By which answere he derided the curiosity of the demander Euclides as Maximus writeth being demaunded of one what the Gods did and with what things they were best delighted sayde As for other things I know not but I am sure of this that they hate all curious persons But this is not the thing we ayme at in this depth of Hell This word Deepe doth bewray vnto vs the impossibility of getting out once in for God hath made Hell so déepe as there is no bepe of crawling out In inferno nulla redemptio In hel there is no redemption Therefore Infernus ab inferendo dictus quia ita inferuntur praecipitantur vt nunquam ascensuri sint that is Hell is sayde of casting in for they shall bee so cast downe as they shall neuer haue hope or power of cravvling out Infernus saith Hugo est profundus fine fundo that is A deepe vvithout bottome That party that had not on the wedding garment was not onely cast into hell but hee was also bound hand and foot and all to shew the impossibility of getting forth once in Binde him hand and foote and cast him into vtter darkenes Now alas if a man be bound hand and foot and cast into a well fiue thousand fadomes deepe what hope hath he of euer comming out so hell is deep and he that is once tumbled in shall neuer come forth more This is euident by the speech of Diues who said O Father Abraham send Lazarus or some from the dead that my brethren may not come into the like place of torment What is the reason that Diues begged not for his own passage from thence vnto them who was able to haue taught the dolours of hell by wofull experience O he knew that that had been bootelesse for he saw ingentum hiatum A great gulfe set betwixt heauen and hell that made the passage impossible In earthly prisons and dungeons a man by some or other meanes happily may get out but hell is deepe so deepe as Heauen Earth and Hell can neuer helpe one poore soule forth This then well considered should Vse 1 worke deepe humiliation in the soules of euery of vs that so grace may receyue vs and not this deepe deuoure vs. One depth cryeth and calleth out for an other the depth of hell calleth to vs for answerable humiliation hee that will not bee humbled for his sins héere shall bee humbled and tumbled to the deepe of hell hereafter God giueth grace to the humble yea the déeper thou art in the Law the higher shalt thou be in the Gospel the deeper in hell the higher in heauen a bucket the déeper it goeth into the well the more water it bringeth vp with it so the déeper a man is humbled for sinne the more shall bee his grace of saluation Humble your selues therefore vnder the mighty hand of God that yee may bee all exalted in the day of Visitation In this déep was the poore Publican when in bitternesse of heart he vttered these words Lord be mercifull to me à sinner A sinner by birth a sinner by life a sinner by thought a sinner by word a sinner by worke a sinner by sins of omission a sinner by sinnes of commission a sinner beforè my conuersion a sinner many thousand times since my conuersion Lord bee mercifull to me a lamentable sinner Vse 2 Againe séeing hell is so deepe as once in no hope of crawling out Let vs seeke the Lord while hee may bee found and call vpon him while hee is neare Ecce nunc tempus acceptum Behold novv the accepted time behold novv is the day of saluation This life is the time wherein wee must worke out our salúation with feare and trembling if after this life we will bée fréede from the deepe damnation of Tophet The irrationall creatures themselues are very carefull to take their times and seasons as saith the Prophet Ieremy 8.7 The Storke the Turtle Crane and the Svvallovv obserue their times and seasons there is a time when the Swallow is with vs in England and there is a time when hee takes his leaue of vs. That silly creature in the sixt of the Prouerbs Gathereth in Summer to maintaine the poore life of it in Winter So should wee take our
rich as the poore the father as the child the master as the seruant the king as the beggar as the Prophet Dauid sayeth With righteousnesse shal he iudge the world and the people with equity Though wickednesse among men bee in the place of iudgement yet the Lord our God will deale iustly Though among men there is respect of persons to bee had without which a confusion would and this is necessary to be vrged for men are full of contempt and too sawcy with them of superiour place and authority yet when all shal be summoned before the tribunall of God the Lord will indifferently procéed to Iudgement without any respect of persons And this should not onely pull down the haughty minds of the noble who thinke for their greatnesse here it will be easier for them hereafter than others but also this should be an vnalterable president to all Iudges of the world As they sit in Gods place so they should imitate the Lord in iudgement this should make them obey the counsell of the Lord deliuered by the Prophet Dauid Bee learned yee that are Iudges of the earth O the care that Iehosaphat tooke for iust and righteous iudgement after he had made Iudges and set them in euery City of Iudah hee gaue them this charge Take heed what yee doe for yee execute not the iudgements of man but the iudgements of the Lord and the Lord will bee with you to preserue you if you doe iustly but to confound you if you doe vniustly wherefore now let the feare of the Lord bee vpon you take heed and doe it for there is no iniquity with our God nor respect of persons nor receyuing of rewards O that this gracious counsell were intertayned of the Iudges of this land then we should not heare of so many complaints in our land as wee doe then we should not haue cause to complayne with the Prophet That iudgement is turned backeward and iustice standeth afarre off that trueth is gone and equity no where to be found then wee should not haue so many beggard by the Law as dayly are Law was neuer made to vndoe men but to compell men to doe well it was made to curbe the vnruely but not to beggar the innocent it is grown to this saying now a dayes I had rather loose it being my right than goe to law for it why what is the cause O because of rackt fees close bribes and the perpetuity of attendance Iudicate secundum iustitiam Iudge iudge O yee sonnes of men according to righteousnesse let your iudgement be in veritate in trueth iudicio in iudgement iustitia in righteousnes I pray God it may neuer bee sayde of our Iudges of England as once was sayd of the Iudges of Israel The Lord looked for iudgement but behold oppression for righteousnesse but behold a crying Let not there be found in a land where the Gospell dwelleth such Iudges as were those that killed innocent Naboth Let none be like the sonnes of Samuel That turned aside after lucre and took rewards and peruerted the iudgement The duety of Iudges is notably set down in the 23. of Ex. Thou shalt not receyue a false tale Thou shalt not ouerthrow the truth for the multitudes sake Thou shalt not ouerthrow the right of the poore in his suite Thou shalt keepe thee from a false matter Thou shalt take no gift for the gift blindeth the wise and peruerteth the words of the righteous And this charge is continued in Leuiticus Yee shall not doe vniustly in iudgement Thou shalt not fauour the person of the poore nor honour the person of the mighty but thou shalt iudge thy neighbour iustly A Iudge must be Scientia potens and Virtute valens that is Able in learning and zealous in liuing by the one he shall discernere inter allegata Discerne betwixt cases propounded by the other disrumpere iniquitatem without hinderance punish and confound all manner of iniquity In all your Iudgements let these be aymed at the glory of God the righting of wrong the suppression of euill and the maintenance of truth Be zealous for the glory of our God and let the good lawes that are bee duly and impartially executed It was a great commendation that was giuen to Seleucus Gouernour of the Locretians who hauing made this Law against whoredome That whosoeuer committed the act should loose both his eyes his sonne being taken in the fact was not pardoned though the Citizens begged it earnestly but hee caused one of his sonnes eyes to bee pulled out and one of his owne eyes So hee shewed himselfe a mercifull Father and a iust Iudge O that we had the like laws against this and the like mostodious offences and that they were as strictly executed that many hereby may bee saued from Tophet The Lord guide that honourable assembly in Court of Parliament that they may all ioyne with one voyce and spirit for the banishing of Popery the reforming of iniquity and maintaining and countenancing of the word of trueth and painefull Preachers of the same And you my honourable Lord as you haue begun wel in reforming many foule abuses in this City so in the zeale of the Lord Prosper with your glory ride on with the word of truth meekenesse and righteousnesse and your right hand shall teach you terrible things Thus am I bolde to cast in among you the silly mite of my counsell meerely of Christian Charity tha◠yée may neuer taste of the woefull damnation of Tophet The third part of the description of Tophet is set downe in these wordes He hath made it deepe Many from these words do goe about to proue the locall place of Hell concluding it to bee below as from the signification of Sheol also Sheol is taken for a Pit or Graue or Hell the state of the dead the place of the damned spirits In the Scriptures sometimes it is taken for the Graue and sometime for Hell so is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 also The Septuagint translating the Hebrew into Greeke and expressing there the sense of Sheol vsed 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 both for the death of the body in the Graue and of the soule in Hell Mercer vpon Genesis sayth That the proper signification of Sheol is to signifie all places vnder the earth and not the pit or graue alone wherupon it is euery where opposed to heauen which is highest of all Hell is called by the name of Abyssus in the Scriptures which signifieth a déepe and vast gulfe vnder the earth a bottomlesse pit into which the deuils feare to bee sent and where they are chained and bound when it pleaseth God From which Abyssus there is an assent to the earth no descent lower Reuelat 9.2 and 11.7 and 17.8 and therefore hell suspected to bee beneath Because Tophet is here sayd to be profunda deepe Nicolaus de Lyra putat esse circa
Tertullian in Apologetico speaking of Hell sayth thus Gehenna est ignis arcani subterraneus ad poenam thesaurus that is Hell is a treasure of secret fire kept vnder the earth to punish withall The truth of this heauy report Diues with the residue of the damned doe finde by wofull experience who still cries out I am tormented in this flame This is miserable Tophet prepared for all vngodly people of the world Vse 1 The meditation of these torments should breake our stony hearts in peeces and strike vs into such a dismall dumpe as was Baltazar when hee saw the hand writing on the wall against him these should be of an extractiue force and power to draw grones from our hearts teares from our eyes and sinnes from our soules Grauia peccata grauia desiderant lamenta Great sinnes require great lamentations Sweet meat must haue sowre sawce sinne must haue mourning eyther here by attrition Legall and contrition Euangelicall or else hereafter wee shall be cast into Tophet where wee shall lie screeching and screaming continually Plangite igitur plangenda Bewayle your sinnes therefore that ought to be lamented Estote tam proni ad lamenta sicut fuistis ad peccata Bee as prone to lamentation as euer you were to transgression as prone to lament them as euer yee were to commit them In a booke inscribed De natura rerum I read of a Byrd called Auis Paradisi the Birde of Paradise which is so called in regard of her splendid and excellent beauty which Birde being taken in the snare of the Fowler doth ingemiscere ac lachrymare dies noctesque mourne and lament night and day vntill shee be restored to liberty So we that were once Aues Paradisi Birdes of Paradise but now captiuated in the thraldome of sinne and Sathan and lyable to this tormenting Tophet should neuer cease mourning wayling vntill wee bee restored to Grace againe Blessed are you that haue grace thus to mourne yee shall bee comforted the Lord will wipe away as all sinnes from your soules so all teares from your eyes in the kingdome of saluation Againe the consideration of this Vse 2 terrible Tophet should cause vs willingly to embrace the counsell of the Psalmist To stand in awe and sinne not And worke in our hearts that feare spoken of in the Gospel of Matthew Feare him that is able to destroy both body and soule in hell This terrible report should strike vs into a threefold feare Feare to be depriued of the grace of God Feare to be excluded the louing presence of God Feare to be tormented in the Lake vnquenchable It was the practise of an holy man who sayth I feare him that is able to damne both body and soule I tremble at hell I tremble at the Iudges countenance which is able to make all the Angells and powers of Heauen to temble I tremble at the voyce of the Archangell I tremble at the roaring deuils I am afraid of the gnawing worme the smoake the vapour the brimstone the darknesse the burning Ah woe is me that am the sonne of bitternesse indignation and eternall weeping This made Paul indeuour to keepe a cleare conscience both towards God and man This made Ierome afraid to offend Whether I eate or drinke saith hee or whatsoeuer I doe else me thinkes I heare this saying sounding in mine eares Arise yee dead and come to Iudgement Arise yee dead and come to iudgement Which when I consider it makes me quake and shake and not dare to commit sinne which otherwise I should haue committed And what is the cause I pray that wicked wretches runne into al excesse and riot of sinne as they do Is it not because they lay not to heart this tormenting Tophet witnesse else the prophet Amos who sayth That they put off from them the euill day and boldly approach to the seates of iniquity If putting off the remembrance of the vengeance to come will make men dissolute and retchlesse then surely laying to heart the inutterable torments of Tophet will bee a notable meane to reclayme men from all vngodlinesse But if men will harden their hearts aboue the hardnes of an Adamant and will not be moued neyther by mercies nor iudgement let all such know that Tophet groaneth for them where they shall howle and yell in fiery torments for euermore Thus much in a word for the word Tophet The second obseruable for the certainety of this place of torment is the Act or thing done in these words Is prepared Parata Tophet non paranda It is not sayd That Tophet shall bee hereafter prepared or it is now preparing but it is already prepared Tophet is prepared The malicious deuil laboureth nothing more then to perswade men that there is no such place of torment that so the more easily hee may leade them thither as the thiefe is led to execution with a vayle before his eyes But for the trueth hereof let these things following duely be obserued As a princely magnificence requireth that a King haue a beautifull pallace for the best sort of men and a dismall prison for the rebellious So the King of kings hath a glorious pallace wherein are many mansions for his Saints a darke and loathsome dungeon for the Diuell and his Angels The law of nations requireth that malefactors for their offences bee banished for euer so the Lord doth banish from his gracious presence all the vngodly of the earth into the fearefull Iland of hell The Cicilian Aetna called at this day Gibillo Monte where roarings are heard and flames of fire are séene the flashing of Vesuuius the cracking as it were of fire in a furnace in the Marine Rocke of Barry what doe all these presage but assure all those that feare the Lord besides his counsel reuealed in his word that Tophet is already prepared Againe in all things naturall and supernaturall there is an opposition there is a contrariety there is good there is euill there is light there is darkenes there is ioy there is sorrow there is a Heauen and therefore there must be a Hell into which the soules of the reprobate shall be carried when they die by the blacke and grisly angels Againe the Scripture speaketh euery where of this place of torment Whosoeuer shall say Foole shall bee worthy to be punished with hell fire Againe It is better for thee to goe into the Kingdome of God with one foot with one hand with one eye then hauing two feet two hands and two eyes to bee cast into Hell fire But that of the 25. of Matthew is very pregnant for this purpose where the word it selfe is vsed Goe from me yee cursed into euerlasting fire which is prepared for the Deuill and his Angels This doctrine méeteth with all Atheists that say There is no heauen no hell no God no deuill As that noted foole that
said in his heart There is no God With all Epicures that think there is neyther time nor place either of heauen or hell after death that sung that cursed Epitaph of Sardanapalus Ede bibe lude charum praesentibus exple Delitijs animum post mortem nulla voluptas Eate drinke and be merry for after death there is no pleasure They say true for after death they shal find smal pleasure in Tophet This Doctrine conuinceth also all heretikes that deny both Resurrection and Iudgement nineteene seuerall sorts whereof are reckoned vp together all on a row by that learned writer Danaeus the Appellites Archontikes Basilidians Bardesanists Caians Carpocratians Cerdonians Heraclites Hermians Marcites Marcionites Ophites Proclians Symonians Saturninians Sethians Seuerians Seleucians Valentinians Seeing then that Hell is already prepared and standeth ready to receiue Vse 1 to torment all that worke iniquity seing there is but a twine threed betwixt the soule of a sinner and this scorching flame O how should this prepare vs for the kingdom of heauen Paratis patet ianua imparatis clauditur this is sayd for Heauen The prepared Virgins enter in the imprepared not Imparatis patet ianua paratis clauditur and this is sayde for Hell The imprepared enter the prepared not But alas the presumptuous security of this our age mē liue as though there were no Hell or if there be as though it were afarre off and yet notwithstanding it followeth them as neere as the shadow doth the body Death and Hell both follow close the person of euery sinner Death to deuoure the body and Hell to swallow vp the soule Yet for all this the wicked wil sport themselues in their sinnes and iouiall be in their iniquities but marke the end Nouissima illarum est mors the end of these wayes is death as wel noteth that iust and vpright man Iob they reioyce in the sound of Organs and in a moment they goe downe into Tophet they say Peace peace when Tophet is prepared to take away their soules O that carelesse people would consider this it would make them liue so precisely as though it were the last moment they had to liue it would make them cry out in the terrors of their soules with the Iaylor O what must I doe to bee saued from the damnation of Tophet The third thing obseruable for the certainety of this place of torment is the antiquity of the same Of olde Non casu aut fortuna parata erat Tophet sed certo iudicio omnipotentis definita id est Tophet was not casually prepared but in the determined counsell and decreed purpose of God not lately founded but from the foundations of the earth before man or Angell was created For Hells antiquity I referre you to the second of Peter the second chapter and fourth verse where it is sayd If God spared not the Angels that fell but cast them downe to hell now they could not be cast into that which was not therefore Hell was ordayned before the fall of Angelles for the Lord who beholdeth all things past present and to come vno actu vno ictu simul semel at one and the selfe same present foreséeing what would become of angels and men pre-ordayned answerable places for those whom hée hath elected in CHRIST heauen he hath created of olde and for those whom he hath left to glorifie his iustice Tophet is prepared of olde Where wee plainely sée that the Lord hath irreuocably decréede of the state of Angells and men before all worlds for Heauen and for Hell as there are but two wayes so there are but two ends Saluation and Damnation Heauen and Hell Idle is the opinion of Rome concerning their inter media loca middle places twixt heauen and hell The peruerting Papist hath added to Tophet thrée subterrestriall places more Purgatory Lymbus Infantum Lymbus Patrum Purgatorie for those that die in their veniall sinnes and light transgressions and for those which haue their sinnes remitted but not satisfied for the punishment And they place this next to Tophet where there is both poena damni and poena sensus punishment of losse and punishment of feeling this lasteth not euer but for a time for it shall be dissolued at the comming of CHRIST to iudgement Lymbus Infantum where children remayne dying without Baptisme And this they place next to Purgatory where there is poena damni but not sensus the punishment of losse but not of féeling and this lasteth for euerlasting Lymbus Patrum where the Fathers were before CHRISTS comming And this they place vppermost where there was poena damni but not sensus the punishment of losse but not of féeling but this was dissolued long ago by CHRISTS descension into Hell Thus you see how the Pope by these his lies and fopperies thorowly proueth himselfe the most deare childe of the deuill the author founder of all lies But let euery Christian take this for an inalterable truth that there is but Election and Reprobation grace and sinne the narrow gate and the broade way but two ends Heauen and Hell to one of these must all flesh goe Athanasius speaking to this point sayth Impius in duas partes discerpitur vt ad duo loca discedat condemnatur that is A wicked man is distracted in two parts and condemned to two places his body to the Graue and his soule to 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 that is to Hell Séeing then that the Lord hath prepared Tophet of olde and the Decree of God is gone out vpon all flesh eyther for heauen or for hell this should hasten vs carefully to worke out our saluation with feare and trembling and to make sure our Election For what if we haue all the world and be cast into Tophet what shall become of vs it had been better for vs neuer to haue béene borne Obserue I beséech you the carriage of the Apostles in the Gospell when they heard that one of them should betray their Lord and Master CHRIST woe worth that party that should doe that cursed act it had béene good for that party neuer to haue béene borne they were all amazed and astonied and could not bee at quiet till they knew who should doe that damnable déed they came therefore to our Sauiour saying Numquid ego Domine Is it I Lord Another Is it I Lord So we hearing that Hell is prepared of old and the greatest part of mankind as shall bee shewen hereafter shall bee swallowed vp of her Oh this should make vs carefull first and aboue all things to seeke the kingdome of God and the righteousnesse thereof that wee may see our selues in the number of those few whose names are written in the booke of Election and not in the number of those that shall be tormented in Tophet Let vs resolue with the Psalmist not to suffer our