shall ballance many a thousands wickednesse Good men are sanguis mundi the bloud of the world when they dye a man may feare the very world lyeth adying When Eliah the Prophet was taken from the head of his seruant Elisha and carried vp into Heauen Elisha cryed out My father my father the chariot of Israel and the horsemen thereof As if he should haue said Eliah that good man that was the onely chariot and horsemen to defend Israel he had such power with God because of his holy life to hinder him from plaguing of it is taken from it If God goe out against a place to ouerthrow it one iust man is a better fort to defend it than a rocke of marble or a rampier of flint A good man hath a great deale of interest in God God will come to a parley with him and yeeld to him in any tolerable request that speech which God vsed to Moses on the Mount is proofe sufficient to informe wicked men how gracious a good man is with the great God Israel had trespassed greatly turned the glory of the inuisible God into the similitude of an Oxe that eateth grasse and by that Idolatry angred Iehouah so farre that hee hath a thought to confound them and yet before hee will proceed to execution knowing Moses loue to them was such he would be making intercession and knowing his owne nature to bee such that if Moses mediated hee could not choose but remit the omnipotent God doth petition fraile man not to interpose Now therefore let mee alone that my wrath may waxe hote against them and that I may consume them And when Moses would not bee perswaded from making supplication but fals vpon God for Abrahams sake to take compassion God offereth Moses composition to let him alone Let mee alone that my wrath may waxe hote against them and that I may consume them and I will make of thee a great people When nothing would beat Moses off from being instant and earnest with God for their pardon the Text saith The Lord repented of the euill which he thought to do vnto the people An example that may moue a heart composed of hatred against Gods chosen and turne it into loue Nay an after generation fareth the better oftentimes for a good man of a former generation it was aboue too yeares by computation betwixt the reigne of King Dauid and King Ioram and yet though the impieties of Ioram deserued to haue his Kingdome rent away from him The Lord would not destroy Iudah for Dauid his seruants sake Two hundred seuenty and sixe men had their liues saued for St. Pauls sake from shipwracke God gaue him all that sailed with him as the Angell said Small reason therefore haue dissolute wretches to contemne good people if they consider it It was a base vnworthy speech of Haman when hee told King Ahashuerosh It was not for his profit to suffer the Iewes Himselfe and his kingdome fared the better for such inhabitants Make much of honest men my Beloued make much of honest men they are medulla mundi to the world as marrow is to the bones the strength and stay of it Thetares would quickly be weeded vp were it not for plucking vp the good corne also So long as there are good men possibly the world may endure when once there is a generall dearth of good men adue this present world for euermore No maruaile Laban was so loath to part with Iacob and would come to a new composition with him rather than he should quit his seruice he had learnt by experience that the Lord had blessed him for Iacobs sake Dauid cries out in the 12. Psalme Helpe Lord And why what is the matter with Dauid O the godly man ceaseth the faithfull faile from among the children of men And is that such a matter to bee transported at Yes it is a fatall signe when there is a decrease of good men Except the Lord of Hosts had left vnto vs a seed wee should haue been as Sodome and we should haue been like vnto Gomorrah The Dragon that is wroth with the woman maketh warre with the remnant of her seed that is the Diuell who is wroth with the Church in all ages hath plotted the ruines of those which keepe the commandements of God and haue the testimony of Iesus Christ and infused a strong conceit in the hearts of all his subiects that they were the causes of all calamities If Tiber ouerflowed her bankes if Nilus did not water the fields if the heauens were brasse or the earth quaked if there were a plague or famine in the Common-wealth of Rome the people cried To the Lyon with a Christian as if their being had beene the cause of all miseries St. Augustine saith it grew to a Prouerbe in Rome Pluuia defecit Christiani nominis gratiâ Raine hath failed because the name Christian is tolerated Alas blinde Heathen were it not for Christianity there would soone bee an end of Infidelity God blesseth the Egyptians house for Iosephs sake not Ioseph for the Egyptians sake God blest Sodome for Lots sake not Lot for Sodomes sake t is euident here in this Text for while Lot remained within her wals it went well with her when Lot was gone out of her Then the Lord rained vpon Sodome and Gomorrah brimstone and fire from the Lord out of Heauen The same day that Lot went out of Sodome it rained fire and brimstone from Heauen and destroyed them all he that rained it beares record of it Luke 17. 29. And we know that his record is true Secondly of Gods fury and of Sodome and Gomorrahs misery God is no way so long suffering in bearing that he is not as iust in punishing If a man will not turne he will whet his sword God spun out the thread of his loue to an immeasurable length to try whether the men of Sodome would lay hold of it hee did angle for them sate in heauen let downe the line of his loue and baited it with his mercy to proue whether the men of Sodome would swallow it that hee might catch their soules T was long before he was prouoked he did smother indignation many yeares before it kindled and came to bee deuouring flame and when all would not preuaile Then the Lord rained vpon Sodome and Gomorrah brimstone and fire from the Lord out of Heauen Here my Beloued I will giue you another obseruation As God is infinite in suffering vrged thoroughly vrged before he will breake out into fury so hee is violent and fierce in the execution of his iudgement when hee is resolued vpon it The longer the archer drawes before hee looses the sorer shot hee maketh the longer God is before he poureth forth his vengeance the more t will scorch I need not search other Chronicles for examples to verifie this collection Sodome and Gomorrah ratifie the truth of it Strabo saith nature
liues Decet Sacerdotes cum templis intâ—rire It is meet the Priests perish together with the Temples that shall driue you of the Laity in whole droues away captiue forbidding you vpon paine of death to looke backe vpon the places where you dwelt as the Romanes forbade the conquered Iewes to looke backe vpon Ierusalem and if they spare any at home make them to pay an annuall tribute for their heads as the Italians doe the Iewes at this day and imploy their children to murther them that begat them and to the rooting out of that faith wherein they were borne and baptized as the Turke doth his Ianizaries the children of the Grecians An vnrighteous man will not consider this neyther will a foole vnderstand it like as the Lord vpon whose hand the King of Israel leaned answered the man of God when he fore-told him of plenty Behold if the Lord would make windowes in heauen might this thing be so some one incredulous spirit or other may obiect If the Lord should cast vs altogether out of his protection might this thing be Are we not walled about with seas Haue we not ammunition and weapons of warre Haue wee not men of magnanimous resolutions and may wee feare forreine inuasion My beloued the Kings of the earth and all the inhabitants of the world would not haue beleeued that the aduersary and the enemy should haue entred into the gates of Ierusalem and yet Ierusalem is a heap of stones Let mee say vnto thee O thou Merchant City that art a mart for Nations as the voice did to Phocas the Emperour Though thou build the wals of thy palaces as high as heauen yet if sin dwell in them they may easily be entered by an enemy And giue me leaue to say vnto thee O thou carelesse Nation as Nahum the Prophet doth to Niniueh to that great City Niniueh Art thou better than populous No that was situate among the riuers that had the waters round about it whose rampart was the sea and her wals were from the sea Ethiopia and Egypt were her strength and it was infinite Put and Lubin were her helpers yet was shee carried away shee went into captiuity her young children also were dash'd in pieces at the top of all the streets and they cast lots for their honourable men and all her great men were bound in chaines Tremble therefore thou secure Nation and amend thy manners lest God to raze thee and to lay thine honour in the dust doe call for Lucifer the sonne of the morning doe hisse for the Bee of Ashur do call for a rauenous bird out of the East doe plant the Syrians before and the Philistins behinde giue them that charge hee gaue those whom hee pressed to destroy Babylon Put your selues in array against Britany round about all yee that bend the bow shoote at her spare no arrowes for shee hath sinned against the Lord Take vengeance vpon her as she hath done doe vnto her And vpon that set all your inhabitants in such a hurry and an vp-roare as the Citizens of Rome were in when Martius Coriolanus approached neare it with an Army make the murmuring multitude to flocke about the streets and you that are Magistrates to be at your wits end to send post after post and messenger after messenger to shew the King that his country is taken at one end as the Babylonians did to their King when the King of the Medes had entered the City and when men shall say O thou sword of the Lord how long will it be ere thou be quiet put vp thy selfe into thy scabberd rest and be still as t is Ier. 47. 9. when the Priests the Ministers of the Lord shall weep betweene the porch and the altar and say Spare thy people O Lord and giue not thy heritage to reproach that strangers should rule ouer them as t is Ioel 2 1 7. he sit in heauen laugh Priest and People all to scorn couer himselfe with a cloud that our prayer should not passe thorough as t is Lament 3. 44. To conclude all the way to keep vs from these fearfull punishments are fasting prayer godly sorrow for sins past and the amendment of our sinfull liues in the time to come Not a day for a man to afflict his soule to bow downe his head as a bulrush to spread sackcloth and ashes vnder him it is not such a fast that the Lord hath chosen Opus est perpetuâ poenitentiâ quia perpetuò peccamus We sin perpetually wherefore we had need to repent perpetually though wee doe draine our hearts dry of water to day wee shall haue need againe to morrow to water our couches with our teares Our griefe for our sins must be equiualent it must hold proportion with the delight we haue taken in our sins our sins haue been wonderous great and our mourning must be maruellous deep we haue bin out of measure sinfull and we must be out of measure sorrowfull we haue sinned with greedinesse and we must repent with bitternesse we haue bin transported with delight in the commission of our sins and wee must be swallowed vp with heauinesse in our submission for our sins Qui culpam exaggerauit exaggeret etiam poenitentiam maiora enim crimina maioribus abluuntur fletibm He that hath augmented his sin must augment his repentance greater crimes are to be washt away with greater lamentations Some run abominable races act such iniquities the Angels of God wonder at and when they haue done will say each man for his owne particular Miserere mei Deus Lord haue mercy on mee and that too ex more magis quà m ex animo rather out of custome than heartily as Saul said to Dauid when hee was going to combate with Goliah Goe and the Lord bee with thee and thinke then they haue repented compleatly O Lord God that a man should dare to sinne so damnably and dreame to quit himselfe of the guilt of it so eastly t is not bare Lord haue mercy vpon vs will doe it there belongs more to repentance than so the faculties of our soules must bee griped with griefe and wearied with groaning and tired with supplications we must double our words as Daniel doth and say O Lord heare O Lord forgiue O Lord hearken and deferre not for thine owne sake O our God We must renue our complaints with Dauid euening and morning and at noone day we must pray and make a noise and God will hear our voice We must weep and wipe our eyes and weep againe and wipe our eyes againe if we haue loued many sinnes before many sins can be forgiuen vs. We must draw a conclusion in our owne bosomes that no Nation hath bin more bound to God than we no Nation hath sinned against God with a higher hand than wee and therfore no Nation hath greater cause to fast and weepe mourne and lament for their
THE DESTRVCTION OF SODOME A SERMON PREACHED at a publicke Fast before the honourable Assembly of the Commons House of Parliament At St. MARGARETS Church in Westminster By IOHN HARRIS Preacher there Feb. 18. 1628. LONDON Printed by H. L. and R. Y. for G. Lathum dwelling in Pauls Church-yard at the signe of the Bishops head THE DESTRVCTION Of SODOME GEN. 19. 24. Then the Lord rained vpon Sodome and Gomorrah brimstone and fire from the Lord out of Heauen ABout fiue hundred yeares after Christ when the Romans vast Dominion began to decline there was great affliction and trouble thoroughout the world plagues and famines and warres and earth-quakes and other euils conspir'd together to vexe all places so that the people of God euery where both in the Greeke and Latine Churches fearing their turne might be next to come vnder the scourge had formes of holy Prayers composed by their Prelates which the Greeke Church termed Litanies the Latine Rogations to be spoken often into the eares of the Lord of heauen and earth to preuent imminent iudgements so godlily wise were the Christians of old time that those calamities which they knew being present all people would bewaile with teares being absent they laboured by their prayers to keep away And if I take not my marke amisse that 's the intention of this meeting Gods troupes of afflictions as holy Iob cals them are abroad in the Christian world making hauocke of men and countries and wee conscious to our selues that our sinnes deserue to haue them come and to encampe about our tabernacles are met here together to make prayers to our God to keepe them away from vs and to set a greater edge vpon our deuotion and the more to testifie our humiliation to the World and to Angels a Fast is proclaimed which is to bee obserued by vs in a strict manner all the time is to bee spent in confession of sinnes in bitter lamentations in deiection and humiliation for transgressions in abstinence from meates and drinkes and all other corporall delights that may cheare the heart and so hinder it from being truely sorrowfull and afflicted in almes deedes and visiting the sicke in mourning and weeping for angring God and in crying mightily vnto the Lord to diuert iudgements approaching And to helpe to these exercises of repentance the Word of God must be preached the sinnes of a Nation must bee ript vp Gods iudgements against sinne must be denounced for nothing doth further more to humiliation and compunction than a serious consideration how infinitely iniquity doth anger God and how seuerely he hath and doth and will punish it It was the course which God himselfe directed the Prophet Ieremiah to runne when Israel and Iudah were vpon the point of destruction This word came vnto Ieremiah from the Lord saying Take thee a roule of a booke and write therein all the words that I haue spoken vnto thee against Israel and against Iudah and against all the Nations from the day I spake vnto thee from the dayes of king Iosiah euen vnto this day it may be that the house of Iudah will heare all the euill which I purpose to doe vnto them that they may returne euery man from his euill way that I may forgiue their iniquity and their sinne And in that roule of the booke the Rabbins say was written the booke of Lamentations in which booke Ieremiah the Prophet doth in a most mournfull Elegie lament the miserable condition which Ierusalem because of sinne was to come vnto I haue resolued to follow that tract to speake vnto you of a people whose damnable impiety brought vpon them such a misery the relation whereof may make all that worke vnrighteousnesse with greedinesse to tremble to heare it and so to abhorre and auoide crying sinnes lest they should proue likewise their ruine and confusion Then the Lord rained vpon Sodome and Gomorrah brimstone and fire from the Lord out of Heauen You may please to obserue in the Text these particulars 1. An act It rained 2. The agent The Lord rained from the Lord Dominus Filius pluit à Domino Patre The Lord the Sonne rained from the Lord the Father that interpretation is giuen of the words at a Councell held at Ierusalem in the time of Constantius the Emperour 3. The matter it rained Brimstone and fire The Lord rained from the Lord brimstone and fire 4. The place from whence it rained Out of Heauen The Lord rained from the Lord brimstone and fire out of Heauen Super impium populum Gehennam misit è Coelo The Lord from the Lord sent vpon a wicked people Hell out of Heauen 5. The patients vpon whom it rained vpon Sodome and Gomorrah in the Text Vpon Sodome and Gomorrah Admah and Zeboim in Deut. 29. 23. Vpon Sodome Gomorrah Admah Zeboim and Segor in lib. 1. St. Aug. de mirab Script Vpon all the plaine vpon all the inhabitants of the Cities vpon that which grew vpon the ground in Gen. 19. 25. 6. The time when it rained Then Then the Lord rained vpon Sodome and Gomorrah brimstone and fire from the Lord out of Heauen The time administreth occasion to discourse of the Agents longanimity and of the Patients iniquity The act and the materials giue way to treate of Gods seuerity and of Sodome and Gomorrah's misery Thus then wee will proceed Gods grace assisting First speake of Gods clemency and of Sodom and Gomorrah's impiety Secondly declare Gods fury and Sodom and Gomorrah's calamity Thirdly conclude with an application of such vses as may be made by the story First of Gods clemency and of Sodome and Gomorrah's impiety There is not a greater antipathy betwixt any two natures in the world than there is betwixt the nature of God and sinne You may sooner reconcile fire and water heate and cold light and darknesse than God and Mammon Christ and Belial the holy Ghost and Dagon God hates sinne wheresoeuer he findes it be it in Heauen or Earth in Men or Angels in Elect or Reprobates Indeed his Mercy his sweet blessed Mercy to which mankinde hath beene euer much bound neuer ceaseth solliciting him to treat Adams children with all the fauour hee may and like to an importunate suitor neuer giueth ouer crauing of him vntill he make her a promise that hee will not execute the fiercenesse of his anger otherwise the world should heare oftner from him than it doth Howsoeuer though mercy doth much with God yet mercy doth not all iustice may bee heard if the suspension of iudgement worke no remorse in sinners hearts to take pitie vpon their owne soules and to please God iustice will procure that God shall render indignation and wrath tribulation and anguish vpon euery soule of man that doth euill to the Iew first and also to the Gentile Misericordia Deo attribuitur secundum effectum non secundum passionis affectum Mercy is attributed vnto God according to the effect
God hath cursed the very climate made it inhabitable hath so altered the condition of the ground that forreiners if they would aduenture to plant colonies there cannot by any industry manure it so that it shall beare fruit It hath Babylons curse It shall be no more inhabited for euer neyther shall it bee dwelt in from generation to generation no man shall abide there neyther shall any son of man dwell therein Once it was the choisest seat vnder the sunne the very Paradise of the world holding resemblance with the garden of the Lord corne and wine and oile did increase there so abundantly it was so fertile a soile that people beleeued it to be Gods peculiar habitation Martin Luther saith that cruell raine hath made it so barren that the ground hath lost her foyson it cannot be till'd the plowers cannot teare it vp into furrowes to harrow-in any kinde of graine God cursed the earth because Adam transgressed yet not so but that it should bring forth thornes and thistles I cannot reade that eyther thorne or thistle will grow on Sodomes soile t is onely a breeding place of nettles and salt-pits God said he would lay Babylon in that desolate taking that none but dolefull creatures should possesse it as Owles Dragons Satyrs I cannot heare that eyther Owle or Dragon or Satyr will dwell where Sodome was though the wildernesse of Arabia border vpon it and could spare plenty of such creatures to people it if they did not disdaine to make their nests in it Ierusalem for crucifying the Lord of glory was razed in that fashion by Titus the Emperour that those which came afterward to see could hardly be perswaded to beleeue that there euer had been such a City as Ierusalem Yet Sion is become a plowed field Troy for the periury of Laomedon and for the adultery of Paris was burnt to dust and ashes one Fimbria the day after to be sure Troy should not want desolation went ouer all the ruines prying and searching where any thing was standing to raze that downe also yet iam seges est vbi Troiae fuit now grasse doth grow where the City of Troy was The Land of Sodome is like salt that hath lost his sauour good for nothing neither will a fowle flye in her ayre nor a fruit ripen in her vallies nor a fish spawne in her riuer A poole of water there is rightly call'd mare mortuum the dead sea because Nequit proferre aliquam de gurgite gentem squamigeram It cannot bring forth out of the deepe gulfe any of the scaly people Diuers Authors giue this sea diuers names some call it mare maledictum the cursed sea some mare solitudinis the desert sea some mare Diaboli the Diuels sea Philo the Iew saith it smokes still and therefore some say t is caminus gehennae the very chimney of hell Yet here is not all For all this Gods anger is not turnd away form them but his hand is stretched out still All this is but the beginning of their sorrowes there is a worser doome behinde for these sensuall men What 's that fire and brimstone againe What brimstone that streame of brimstone the Prophet speaketh of that euerlasting fire such as is prepared for the diuell and his angels What fire and brimstone here and fire and brimstone hereafter fire and brimstone in infinitum doth it stand with diuine Iustice I confesse calamities poured downe vpon good people are the earnest of an euerlasting inheritance good people if they sow in teares shall reape in ioy but the iudgements which the wrath of God raines downe in this life vpon the wicked such as the Sodomites were are but the preambles to future woes but entrances into not exemptions from ensuing miseries Great plagues remaine for the vngodly T is said that the heauie night which was spread ouer the Egyptians was but an image of that darknesse which should afterward receiue them And I may say the fire and brimstone which fell vpon the Sodomites in this life was but a figure of that fire and brimstone which shall feed vpon them in the life to come God by the holy Prophet Nahum threatens his enemies to bring vpon them so much tribulation that affliction should not rise vp the second time There should be no need of a new plague he would pay them home at once From whence Pelagius concludes God will not punish sinners twice Ah Pelagius if they be such sinners as the Apostle St. Paul speaketh of that doe not like to retaine God in their knowledge as the Sodomites were t is not the vtter ruinating of their dwelling places and the rooting out of them and their posterity from the earth will acquit them and satisfie Gods iustice a worser doome is behinde infinite extremity deuouring fire euerlasting burnings the Sodomites suffer the vengeance of eternall fire and the reason is wicked men if it were in their power would liue without end that they might sinne without end and therefore t is agreeable to Gods iustice that their soules should neuer want woe in the next world that by their good will would neuer want wickednesse in this Let no man flatter himselfe in his owne heart because t is said God will not alwaies chide neyther will he keepe his anger for euer Let no man reason Man sin'd but a time and God will punish him but for a time rather let him know hee that sins against an infinite Maiesty must expect to endure infinite misery if it be not preuented by infinite mercy Hee that neglects ineffable goodnesse must looke to bee exposed to ineffable fadnesse Man by sinne destroyed that good which if he had kept would haue made him eternally blessed and loued that euill which not repented of will make him eternally cursed if it be imputed to him and not satisfied for by the bloud of Christ. God doth not measure sinne temporis longitudine by the quantity of time in which it is committed nor proportion the punishment after that rate then a beastly Sodomite should haue but a few minuts torment he doth iudge of sinne as Augustine saith iniquitatis magnitudine by the greatnesse of the iniquity and correspondent to that allots the plague Then are the Sodomites vtterly vnhappy first to be turned to destruction and then to bee turned into hell Who can help it the Holy One of Israel is not to be sleighted is not to be neglected My heart danceth for ioy to muse vpon the depth of his mercie yet had wee best to be aduised that wee abuse it not by presumption hee is not a God of wood nor of stone insensible of dishonour or carelesse of parâ—ipension if hee be long prouoked hee will at last awake like a gyant out of sleepe and teare those in his wrath that feare not the Lord and his strength A wretched people they were the Sodomites were to liue so as to
no man any thing but to loue one another The Aduocates and Pleaders at the barre as in Pope Eugenius his dayes greedy of filthy lucre looke their Honorarium should be of such a value that a man had better take our Sauiour Christs counsell litterally vnderstood If any sue him at the law and take away his coate let him haue his cloake also than contend for his coate againe neuer remembring that speech of our Sauiour to the Publicans Exact no more than that which is appointed you Aedificabant plantabant They planted they builded Ecce peccatum securitatis Behold the sin of security And did security make her nest within that for euer cursed countrey Examine all that euer breath'd out of English ayre and let them speake the truth from their hearts and verily they must certifie none that euer were sprinkled with the water of Baptisme nuzzle themselues more in security than wee Stratonicus told the Rodes they builded as if they would liue euer and eate as if they would dye presently For Gluttons those Epicures that desired of the gods neckes so long as Cranes that the delicious rellish of meats and drinkes might remaine long were not more to be blamed than some among vs And for builders Nimrod that was a prime agent in Babels building was not more ambitious of eternizing his name than we non Absolon that built a tower in the valley of Sauch to keepe his name in remembrance calling it Absolons plane Nay we are not cleare of that sinne of Sodom which cryed to Heauen for brimstone with that which cried lowdest of reioycing in doing euill A sin not greater than can bee forgiuen for what sinne can bee so deadly that the death of Christ will not salue but I dare say t is a sinne that must haue an infinite measure of mercy and an abundant measure of teares to wash it away and yet t is among vs an vsuall sinne and very vsuall sinne Marke it when you please when two humours meet that loue sinne alike you shall heare the one vaunting to the other of his wickednesse and then laugh himselfe at his owne beastlinesse cheere vp his heart at the repetition of his owne vngodlinesse O Lord looke downe from heauen behold and visite the world and restraine the sons of men from this most grieuous iniquity Ephraim and Manasses are in our land fulnesse of bread and forgetfulnesse of God Gog and Magog are in our mother City pride and plenty Bloud maketh a clamour at the gates of heauen for vengeance oppression presseth him to poure downe the vials of his wrath blasphemy and swearing challenge him for his long suffering Vsury a sinne that maketh a man worse than a theefe worse than death worse than hell worse than Iudas worse than a theefe because the theefe robbeth onely in the night the Vsurer robs both day and night worse than death because death kils onely the body the Vsurer kils both body and soule worse than hell because in hell onely the bad shall bee punished the Vsurer punisheth both good and bad lastly worse than Iudas for Iudas restored the money againe which hee had vniustly taken but the Vsurer seldome makes restitution is had in more execration among Turkes than Christians for Viri boni Deum timete foenerari praetermittite qui enim Vsurarij vivunt Daemoniaci resurgunt Yee that be good men feare God and put no money to vsury for they that liue Vsurers doe rise Deuils are the words in their Alcoran The times are growne monstrous there is discord in societies fraud in merchants corruption in officers conniuency in magistrates symonie in ministers euery night brings forth a theefe euery day a deceiuer euery minute a drunkard and euery weeke a murtherer we are fallen into such times the Prophet speakes of Our hands are defiled with bloud and our fingers with iniquity our lips doe speake lies and our tongues matter peruersnesse There was neuer that vice reign'd but now t is rife yea I thinke I may say it and not belye the world there bee many new vices reigne now which Sodome and Gomorrah neuer heard of there be new deuices to cousin with new fashions to be proud with new oaths to blaspheme with new merits to iustifie by new Articles of Faith to beleeue new Sacraments to receiue new gods found out to worship and new Mediatours to intercede Fall to your prayers and beg feruently of God to send that new heauen and new earth of which St. Peter speaketh wherein dwelleth righteousnesse for this whole world lyeth in wickednesse as St. Iohn saith And for my part I despaire of it doubt t will neuer be better before it be purged with fire Nulla aetas erat culpae immunis No age was free from wickednesse in Sodome the infants whom nature yet denied strength to perpetrate actuall iniquity had desire and the old men that were decayed in strength had eyes full of adultery Omnes omni malo replerentur They were all fil'd with euery euill The men of Sodome compassed Lots house round both old and young all the people from euery quarter not ten righteous persons could be found among many thousand soules I cannot say so of this Nation for I doe resolue my selfe I may confidently speake as the Lord did to Saint Paul in a vision by night concerning Corinth God hath much people in this City more in this Land and daily may he adde to the number of them And as he did to Ezechiel the Prophet in a vision concerning Ierusalem There are some that sigh and cry for all the abominations that be done in the midst of vs and daily may he adde to the number of those likewise But withall when I make an estimate of the multitude of people that are contained within our borders and obserue so many marching furiously after their own lusts for so few following of Iesus Christ I am affraid of some vengeance approching because I doe not know what the will of the Lord is whether he will spare the place for their sakes I doe lay as much vpon Gods mercy as I may without wronging his iustice hee will not be moued to poure forth his vengeance vnlesse sinners superabound in vices neuerthelesse when and where you find all iniquity planted all rebellion against God reigning all the crying sinnes rousting you may take liberty to proclaime what you feare saluation stept aside and destruction wing'd ready to seize vpon that people for a prey Eduardus the Confessor one of the last of the Saxon Kings said vpon his death bed that the wickednesse of the English was complete and growne to the height and the reuenge and punishment thereof would shortly follow Loth I am to presage vnluckily of any grieuous calamitie likely to betide my natiue Countrey I had rather promise the lengthning of tranquillity were it not that your selues and your sinnes would cry out vpon me for