himselfe in his afflictions I should haue bene dumbe and not haue opened my mouth saith he because thou didst it Séeing his troubles came from God he confesseth he should haue indured them patiently Let vs therefore learne what to doe in the same case euen to be patient in our greatest troubles because God inflicts them and layes them vpon vs. The bird being caught in the lime-bush and not knowing the true cause of her calamitie striueth and struggleth to inlarge her selfe but the more she applieth her selfe to procure her fréedome the more she plungeth her selfe into thraldome the more feathers she loseth and the more vnable she makes her selfe to make her escape if she were at libertie Euen so the partie afflicted not knowing or acknowledging from whence his afflictions come the more he laboreth to recouer and rid himselfe out of his troubles the more hee inwrappeth himselfe into troubles the more meanes he vseth of his owne deuising to relieue himselfe the lesse comfort doth he féele and the heauier are his crosses vnto him But as the ship which by the violent course of a spring-tide is driuen vpon the maine doth patiently abide til the next spring-tide come and fetch her off knowing that as she was driuen vpon the ground by the Tide so she must be brought off with a Tide so that person which is crossed or afflicted knowing that his afflictions come from God doth patiently indure them knowing that he which laid his afflictions vpon him can also in his good time remooue them from him Lastly to acknowlege God to be the author of our afflictions stirreth vs vp more duly seriously to serue please him according to his wil. If there could haue bin found but 10. righteous men in Sodom the Lord would haue spared the whole citie for those Tens sake So if the Lord finde any thing in vs that is agréeable to his will or acceptable in his sight he will not punish vs nor afflict vs nor crosse vs further then may be for his glory and our good None can promise to himselfe though he be neuer so righteous that he shal be frée from afflictions but the afflictions of Gods children are gentle chastisments they come from the loue of a Father and not from the rigour of a Iudge We neuer read that euer he rayned downe fire brimstone vpon the godly but if at any time he do correct them his corrections are milde fatherly and tending to amendment and not to their destruction If therefore thou wilt haue God fauourable and kind and good vnto thée serue him feare him please him so if he do chastise thée it shal be for thy good and not for thy destruction Now in the third place according to my first obseruations let vs consider the maner of this destruction which the Lord brought vpon Sodom and Gomorrha and that was fire and brimstone fire which as we say hath no mercy fire from heauen which is more fierce fearefull then other fire fire mingled with brimstone whereby the fire became more furious and terrible and the whole Land made barren and fruitlesse for euer And this mercylesse fierce terrible fire mingled with brimstone came from heauen in a showre of rayne but neuer was there such a showre of rayne fell vpon the earth This was a rayne not to coole and refresh the earth but to burne and consume the earth and the Inhabitants thereof This was a raine not to make the Earth fruitfull but to make it fruitlesse for euermore This was a raine not to moysten the earth nor to make it spring and bring foorth things necessary for mans vse but it was a rayne to skorch and parch the Earth and to destroy both man and beast from the face of the Earth for it rayned fire and brimstone from heauen In the destruction of the old world we read that it rayned vpon the earth forty dayes and fortynights but it was water simply without any other mixture Amongst the rest of the plagues of Egypt raine was one but it rayned hailesâ—ones fire mingled with the haile and that raine hurt nothing but what was in the field but this raine which fell vpon Sodom was not water but fire nor hayle mingled with fire but fire mingled with brimstone and it did not onely destroy that which was in the field but whatsoeuer was either in field or citie within the house or without at home or abroad was destroyed with this raine man woman and child beast and cattell trées and herbes all perished with this raine And the more strange was y e maner of this iudgemeÌ„t because it is sayd that brimstone came from heauen We often read of brimstone in hell but it is very strange that a thing of so stinking and odious a smell as brimstone is should come from such a swéete and pleasant place as heauen is Lamentable and rufull hath béene the diuastation ouerthrow of diuers cities in the world as of Troy Carthage Ierusalem Thebes and such like insomuch as the very relation of their ruines hath mooued mens hearts to pittie the perplexed estate of all degrées distressed with such desolation But the maner of this destruction wherewith Sodom and Gomorrha were ouerthrowne is without comparison Neuer was there people so distressed If the rude and barbarous souldier had entred these cities by force and had put man woman child to the swoord imbruing their hands in the reuerend bloud of the old men ripping vp the bodies of women great with child taking the Infants sucking babes out of their cradles vpon the points of their speares deflowring wiues rauishing maides spoyling the widdowes and fatherlesse sparing no age sexe or degrée but destroying all before them with fire sword this had bene lamentable but yet such is the condition of warre and no strange thing had happened to these Cityes but such as had bene common to other cityes in their ouerthrow If the Lord had sent a famine vpon the people of these cities of Sodom Gomorrha broken their staffe of bread and diminished the oyle in the cruze and the meale in the barrell and had dryed vp all their springs fountaines so that they had bene inforced to haue eaten and drunke their owne excrements euery man to haue eaten the flesh of his owne arme and euery mother the childe of her owne wombe this had bene very miserable yet such as diuers other people besides haue tasted of But this people were otherwise surprised It was no mortall enimy but the immortall God that fought against this people The heauens sent downe their forces against this people and therefore in vaine was it to lift vp hands head or eyes towards heauen because from thence came their destruction If an enemy of the same mould that this people were of had besieged them there might haue béene some treaty some parley some conditions of peace of departing with bagge and
baggage of ransome or tribute hoped for but when they saw the heauens open aboue their heads and sending downe fire and brimstone vpon them whē they saw their houses on fire about their eares no place of refuge or safegard to flye vnto no meanes to escape when they felt the fire fall vpon their soft and tender bodyes as thick as rayne when they felt it scorche their flesh when they saw one another lye sprawling vpon the ground drawne to like a scrowle of parchment with y e scalding heat of the fire none able to help another none able to cōfort another what a miserable face of a citie was there thinke you quis talia fando temperet a lachrymis For the Lord rayned vpō these cities brimstone fire from the Lord out of heauen Now the reasons which moued the Lord to send this strange and terrible iudgement vpon these cities and people were especially 3. This God so wonderfull in power might and so feareful in his punishment had before this time drownd the world for sin but the people of Sodō Gomorrha were nothing terrified with that iudgemēt but were as wreched wicked in their courses as if they had heard of no exāple of Gods wrath against sin therefore now God sends fire to destroy them to let all the vngodly of the earth know that all the Elements and all creatures in heauen earth and hell are readie and prest to take vengeance vpon man for his sin when it pleaseth God to command enioyne them the Lord is not so bare of iudgements that he hath but one kinde to reuenge himselfe vpon y e vngodly he hath more thē one arrow of vengeance to the bow of his wrath he hath water to drawn thée fire to consume thée plague pestilence to destroy thée dearth famine to pine thée a thousand grieuous diseases to bring thée to thine end The earth is at his beck to open and swallow thée vp quick the Angels are at his commandment to strike 〈…〉 sudden death The deuils wayt vpon his will and if he bid them goe they haue power to tempt thée to bee thine owne butcher and executioner as to hang thy selfe to throw thy selfe downe headlong and break thy neck to cut thine own throat This God would haue y e sinner know And therefore let all the vngodly of the world feare this God trēble at his iudgmēts be careful cōscionable to serue please him take héed how they offend him for if they prouoke him he wil not spare them They haue not so many wayes to anger him withall as hée hath plagues punishments to destroy them withall And from hence an impenitent sinner may gather that there is no place of safety nor security for him a walled citie is no place of defence for a sinner his house is no castle vnto him his bed is no place of safegard for him for in al these places God hath messengers of death and destruction to attach him The second 〈◊〉 why the Lord brought this kind of iudgement vpon these cities people was y t the maner of their punishmēt might be suteable correspondēt to the maner of their sin for wheras they burned in the filthy lust of concupiscence one towards another against the order course of nature the Lord to punish this vnnatural heat of lust in thē brought a supernatural fire vpon them as they delighted in the filthy odious pleasure of sin defiled themselues with the hellish contagion of impietie so the Lord punished them with brimstone mingled with fire that as their sins made them stinke in the nosethrills of Almighty God so they might be choked stifled with the detestable stinking smell of brimstone as the Lord made the punishment of this people suteable to their sinne so he would haue al sinners know y t wherewith a mā sinneth by the same also shal he be punished for it was not vnpossible to the Almighty hand of God which made all the world of nought to haue drowned this people their land with the ouerflowing streames of Iordan or to haue deliuered them into the hands of y e foure kings as once before or to haue sent the infectious noysom pestilence among them but God chose rather to destroy thē with fire brimstone from heauen to giue notice to all posterities y t as they sin so shal they be punished Aarōs sonnes offred strange fire vpon the Altar therfore a strange fire from heauen destroyed them Samson suffering the eyes of his mind and the light of his reason to be extinguished was for his punishment depriued of his bodily eyes and lost the comfortable sight of this world And as he suffered himselfe to be captiuated and inthralled to the wil of a woman so was he made a slaue to the will of his vncircumcised enemies compelled by them to grinde in a mill like an horse then which there could not be a more seruile seruitude And it séemeth by the example of Diues that in hel there shal be some thing in the torments of the damned which shall haue some correspondency with their sinnes for Diues being vnmerciful in the world while he liued can finde no mercy nor compassion when he is dead either in hell or heauen he that would not giue a crum of bread to Lazarus in his life time cānot now get a drop of water to coole the typ of his tongue Howsoeuer therfore there be generall torments in hell for the damned yet it should séeme that there shall be some particular thing in their torments which shall haue some semblance with their sins the reason is because they might to their greater griefe be put in minde of their sinnes which were the cause of those tormēts The third last reason why the Lord from heauen sent downe this strange feareful iudgement vpon these cities people was because their sinnes cryed vp to heauen therefore God answered the cry of their sins with a punishmēt from heauen And this God doth to let vs sée how sin turneth heauen into hell and maketh the mercifull Sauiour of mākind to be an vnmerciful destroyer of mankind God is by nature a preseruer of men The shepherd of Israel A refuge for men to fly vnto for safegard succour but such is the strong effects of sin and so strangely worketh it with God y t of a preseruer of men it makes him a destroyer of men of a shepheard it makes him a leopard of a lambe a lyon The heauēs by nature giue rayne vnto the earth in due season to make it fruitefull and fertile to bring forth things necessary for the vse of man But sinne makes the heauens to bée brasse vnto vs causeth them to send downe fire brimstone storme tempest to make the earth barren fruitles destroy both man beast from off
wife children by vnconscionable courses in his wages for the like was neuer heard of in Sodom Thus are wee vnmercifull in giuing vnmercifull in forgiuing vnmercifull in lending vnmercifull in paying vnmercifull in buying and selling so that it may iustly be said of vs which was said of the Sodomites They strengthen not the hand of the poore néedy Thus haue we found by comparing our sinnes with the sinnes of Sodom that wee are nothing behind them in our sinnes if we excéed them not wee are surely equall with them It is said of the sinnes of Sodom that they cryed in the eares of the Lord and surely our sinnes are as saucy and impudent as euer were theirs and if theirs cryed ours are not tongue-tide I warrant you we reach home to them with our wickednesse The sinnes of Sodom were growne to their full height so are ours For it is impossible that any man or womā in these dayes should adde any thing to the sins which they practise so that as in a general plague it is not such a maruell at those which dye as it is at those which escape so in this generall infection of sinne wherewith the world at this day is defiled wee are not so much to maruell that there be so many bad as that there be any good Now when the sinnes of a people grow to that height that they come to be crying sins then vengeance loyters not destruction comes spéedily When the LORD had taken knowledge of the cry of the sinnes of Sodom and had found their sins to be according to the cry euen the next day he rained fire and brimstone from heauen and destroyed them all So when the Lord shal finde our sinnes at their full height he will spéedily bring his iudgements vpon vs and destroy vs for as the husbandman thrusts the sickle into the Corne when it is perfitly ripe and as the Oxe is brought to the slaughter when hee is fat so destruction comes vpon men when the measure of sinne is fulfilled Now that our sinnes are at their height and are growne to their perfit ripenesse it is manifest because they are equall with the sinnes of Sodom as hath béen already prooued and also because there can not be any addition made in the seueral humors and dispositions of men to the sinnes which they practise But admit these two reasons shall not bee thought of trueth sufficent to confirme the height and ripenesse of our sins I will adde foure infallible arguments to proue the ripenesse of sinne First when sinne is directly committed against God against nature and against humane society of which sort our sinnes be they are directly against God witnesse our horrible swearing and forswearing and our fearefull blapheming of the most holy and blessed Name of GOD and our prophane vnhallowing of his Sabboth together with the contempt of his word and neglect of his Ministers They are against nature witnesse y e filthy sinne of Sodomy of which this Land of ours can not cleare it self as also the Incest the Parricide the Fratricide the Coosen-germane marriages which are committed amongst vs they are against humane societie witnesse our inclosing our ingrossing our cruelty extortion oppression robberies murders and such like Secondly the generality of sinne doth prooue the ripenes of sinne when not a few but a whole multitude are corrupt and such is our estate a generall infection of sinne hath runne ouer the whole Land so that except the Lord had left vnto vs a small remnant we should haue beene as Sodom and like vnto Gomorrah Thirdly the impudency of the sinner doth prooue the ripenesse of sin as when men are not ashamed to transgresse openly and also to bragge and boast of their sinnes and such haue we amongst vs as might be instanced by men of note if it were expedient to particularize Lastly when the sinner is not humbled nor amended by punishments iudgements inflicted vpon him it is a true marke that his sin is at the height and herein haue we shewed our selues to bee incorrigible The Lord hath threatned vs with warre he hath plagued vs with the pestilence hee hath pinched vs with scarcity dearth and yet wee are not bettered there is no turning vnto God but wee fall away more and more our sinnes therefore being at the height the fierce wrath of God must néeds be euen néere at hand and ready to be executed vpon vs. And will you haue such likely-hoods as may perswade the trueth thereof vnto vs Then wryte my words in tables y t they may bee monuments for later dayes for when your childrens childrē shall heare of them hereafter they will bee astonished at them The moneths of the yéere haue not yet gone about eight times in their courses wherein the Lord hath shewed more tokens of his intended approaching wrath then the agedst man in our Land is able to recount of in so small a time The winds haue beene so outragious violent as though the foure ends of heauen had conspired to turne the foundations of the earth vpside downe The anger of the clouds hath béene powred downe vpon vs in such abundance as hath béene both vnseasonable for the time and vnprofitable for the earth The heauens aboue vs haue beene turned to brasse and the earth beneath vs into iron which hath wrought such effects that the child vnborne shall speake of it The sea with vnwonted inundations hath attempted to bring the Land within the territorie thereof The fire as an Ambassadour of the last vengeance hath most fiercely raged in all parts of our Land Treasons many mighty mōstrous neuer before heard of or imagined haue beene plotted and contriued against our most dread Soueraigne our Quéene and Royall Issue intending the vtter ouerthrow of Kingdome State and Countrey The Commons haue risen pretending themselues wrongd in their commons indangering the common peace and tranquillitie of the Common-wealth The arrowes of a woful pestilence haue beene cast abroad at large in all the quarters of our Land A present dearth without scarcity doth pinch vs bringing pouerty like a way-faring man vpon vs. Our Summer is turned into Winter our cheapenesse of all things into dearth The skies lowre vpon vs because their Creatour is angry at vs. The Sunne hideth from vs his gladsome light as though wee were not worthy to inioy it The clouds night and day do let fal showres of teares bemoaning the miseries which God hath determined to bring vpon vs. And thus all the creatures doe threaten and foreshew our approching destruction yet wee more sencelesse then y e insensible creatures neither feare any thing nor suspect any thing Well there must bee an end of sinning or else God will make an end of vs. There must be a turning vnto God or else God wil not turn vnto vs. If our sins be the sins of Sodom our iudgement must bee the iudgement of Sodom There must