condition of our times how short doe wee fall euen of the perfection of Heathens what man is there amongst vs that casteth forth so much as a thought vpon Eternity wee liue here as if there were no life hereafter Our Earth is our Heauen and our pleasures our Paradice we crowne our heads with rose buds wee eate of the fat and drinke of the sweet and say in our hearts no euill shall happen to vs yet when we haue done all Omnes humanae consolationes sunt desolationes Hearts ease will not growe in this earthly garden the true rest will not be found but in the true place the eternall Hierusalem sound and entire contentment hath no rooting in this world For as one hath it excellently * Dispone ordina omnia secundum tuum velle videre non invenies nisi semper a liquid pati debere autsponte aut invite ita crucem semper invenies dispose marshall all things to thine own hearts desire yet shalt thou doe what thou canst still meet with some crosse or presure in the way Since it is so let vs not then determinate our affections in these earthly things which are of no continuance but let vs send our hearts before vs to those heavenly mansions where they shall be crowned with fulnesse of happinesse and shall swimme in streames of pleasures for evermore Certainely there is no true rest but that which is eternall the sweetest refreshment our soules can finde in this world consists in the serious meditation of the ioyes to come in devoting our selues and all we haue to his seruice from whom wee haue them in trusting to him and relying on him for out of God the soule findes no resting place to set her foot on but every where stormes and waues death hell abide her when we haue improued our contentments to the very height of our desires when we haue attained as much happinesse as the world can giue vs yet then may we be cut off perchance in the midst of our daies when our breasts are full of milke and our bones full of marrow or suppose we spinne the thred of our life to a longer day and God crowne vs here with the blessings of his left hand the comforts of this life and length of yeares yea though all things favour our longer continuance in this world yet in the end time and age will ruine vs. Wee shall bring our yeares to an end like a tale that is told and shall vanish away like a shadow though we liue many yeares and in them all we reioice yet in the end we shall remember the daies of darknesse saith Solomon and the time shall come that the eye which saw vs shall see vs no more Soles occidere redire possunt nobis cum occidet semel brevis lux nox est perpetuo vna dormienda Cat. The Sunne sets and riseth againe but we alas when our glasse is runne and the short gleame of our sommers day is spent shall neuer returne till our last summons when the dead shall heare the voice of the sonne of God and they that heare it shall liue and come forth of their graues they that haue done good to the resurrection of life and they that haue done evill to the resurrection of condemnation both to Eternitie and then shall follow that large day that shall never shut in that infinite continuation of time that shall neuer end that vnlimited Eternitie which ever hath beene and is and will be the same for euer when the Sunne shall no more yeeld her light by day nor the Moone her brightnesse by night but God shall be our light and the Lord our glory But oh the vnhappy condition of our age who is there that ponders these things with a digested meditation that lookes into the state of his soule with a serious eye that examines his conscience vnvaileth his heart and considereth his waies That endeauours to lay a good foundation for the time to come wee stand at the doore of Eternitie and while we liue we are euery day entring into it it 's but a stroake of death we are gone even in a moment and whether from our short and fading delights to an endlesse easelesse gulfe where our worme shall never die nor our fire shall neuer out Now let all those who swim in the streames of their voluptuousnesse putting far from them the evill day who labour to expell from their hearts and to stifle in the bud the sad consideration of their approaching infelicities let them I say knowe that they may fall into this vast gulfe of Eternitie when they least suspect it into which when once they haue vnhappily plunged themselues they may desire redemption but shall not finde it Postqaum istinc excessū fuerit nullus poenitentiae locus nullus satisfactionis effectus Cyp. It shall be one of their torments to know they shall never be out of torment All the gold of Opher cannot purchase them one minute of reliefe from their vnexpressible miseries But now euen now is the jubile now is the accepted time now is the promulgation of pardon there remaines nothing for our parts but to sue it forth we need not many hundred of yeares or number of daies to redeeme our mispent time and to wash out our contracted pollutions no one day may through Gods gratious favour and loving indulgence procure more mercy here then Eternitie of time may obtaine hereafter one sigh from a true sorrowfull heart here shall prevaile to discharge more debts then infinite ages shall acquit or satisfie for hereafter Here God with patience expects our repentance but if we abuse his forbearance and come not in hereafter with trembling wee shall abide his judgement Let vs therefore be wise in time and remember our creator in the daies of our youth before the evill daies come and the yeares approach wherein wee shall say we haue no pleasure in them before our dust returne into the wombe from whence it came and our lungs be locked vp into the brestlesse earth before that black and gloomy day the day of death and dissolution appeare to vs the which if our timely repentance here prevent not our doome will seale vp our soules to eternall darknesse Let vs consider that wheresoeuer we are whatsoeuer wee goe about wee stand euery minute of our time in the glorious presence of an Immanifestus omnia autem manifestans per omnia apparet in omnibus incomprehensible maiestie whose bright and most piercing eye is ten thousand times clearer then the Sunne who knows all hearts sees all actions vnderstands all councells viewes all persons there 's not a word in the tongue not a thought in the heart not a sparke of lust in the flesh though neuer so softly blowne and secretly kindled but he beholds it altogether he is all eare to heare all hand to punish when and where he please all power to
perish in time of vengeance But alas farre otherwise it is with vs in our practise * Magna pars vitae elabitur male agentibus maxima nihil agentibus tota aliud agentibus A great portion of our time is crumbled away in doing ill a greater part in doing nothing and our whole life in doing that which wee should not or in matters as we say vpon the by And as Archimedes was secure and busie about drawing lines on the ground when Syracuse was taken so is it with vs. Now that our eternall safety laies at stake we lye puzling in our dust I meane in our worldly negotiations But for our eternity shortly approaching we seldome or rarely thinke of it We are like Martha troubled about many things when one thing is necessary But this one thing is that which of all other things is least regarded and in the last place Wee seldome seek heauen till death doth summon vs to leaue the earth wee haue many euasions to gull our owne hearts many excuses to procrastinate our repentance like Dionysius the Scicilian king who to excuse himselfe for the present deliuery of the golden garment which he tooke from his God Apollo answered that such a robe as that was could not bee at any season of the yeare vsefull to his God it would not keepe him warme in the winter it was too heauy for the summer So many there be saith S. Ambrose who play with God and with their owne soule You must not say they seeke for the vigour and life of religion in the hearts of young men For youth as the prouerbe is must haue his swinge Neither can you expect it in the company of the aged for their age and those distempers which accompany it make them a burden to themselues and dulls the edge of their intentions vnto all their serious vnderstandings Thus both the summer and the winter of our age are vnfit for Gods service But let vs not thus cheate our selues If God bee God let vs follow him let vs not put off the day of reconciliation and say in our hearts to morrow wee will doe it when yet we cannot tell what shall bee to morrow for what is our life It is euen a vapour that appeares for a little time and afterwards vanisheth away Hence it was that Macedonius being inuited a day before to a feast replied to the messenger why doth thy Master inuite me for to morrow whereas for this many yeares I haue not promised to my selfe one daies life Nemo mortem satis cavet nisi qui semper cavet i.e. No man dreads death as he ought but hee that alwaies expects his summons and therefore wee may truly iudge such men wofully secure and wilfull contemners of the future good who can goe to their beds and rest on their pillowes in the apprehension of their knowne sinnes without a particular humiliation for them For how oft doth a suddain vnexpected death arrest men We see and knowe in our dayly experience many lay themselues to sleepe in health and safety yet are found dead in the morning Thus suddainly are they wrapt from their quiet repose to their irrecouerable iudgement perchance from their feathers to flames of fire such is the frayle condition of our brittle liues within the small particle of an houre liue and sicken and dye yet so grosse is our blindnesse that from one day to another nay from one yeare to another wee triflingly put off the reformation of our liues vntill our last houre creepes on vs vnlookt for and dragges vs to eternity Saint Augustine striuing with all his endeavours against the backwardnesse and slownesse of his owne heart to turne to the Lord bitterly complained within himselfe Quamdiu quamdiu cras cras Quare non hâc horâ finis turpitudinis meae How long saith he ô how long shall I delude my soule with to morrowes repentance Why should not this houre terminate my sinfulnesse Wee are every minute at the brinke of death and every houre that wee passe through might proue for ought we know the evening of our whole life and the very close of our mortality Now if it should please God to take away our soules from vs this night as suddenly falls out to some what would then become of vs In what Eternity should wee be found Whether amongst the damned or the blessed Happy were it for vs if wee were but as carefull for the welfare of our soules as wee are curious for the adorning of our bodies if our clothes or faces doe contract any blot or soiling wee presently endeavour to cleanse the same But though our soules lye inthralled in the pollutions of sinne this alas we feele not it neither provokes vs to shame nor moues vs to sorrow Wherefore let vs looke into our hearts with a sevearer eye Let the shortnesse of our daies stirre vs vp to the amendment of our sinfull liues let the houre wherein we haue sinned be the beginning of our reformation according to that of St Ambrose agenda est paenitentia non solum solicitè verùm etiam maturè i.e. our repentance must be not only sincere but timely also whilest wee haue the light let vs walke as children of the light Let vs not any longer cheate our soules in studying to invent evasions or pretences for our sinnes but rather lay open our sores and seeke to the true Physitian that can heale them All the creatures vnder the sunne doe naturally intend their owne preservation and desire that happinesse which is agreeable to their nature onely man is negligent and impiously carelesse of his owne welfare Wee see the Hart when hee is striken and wounded lookes speedily for a certaine hearbe well knowne vnto him by a kinde of naturall instinct and when he hath found it applies it to the wound The swallow when her young ones are blind knowes how to procure them their sight by the vse of her Celandine But wee alas are wounded yet seeke for no remedy wee goe customarily to our bedds to our tables to our good company but who is he that obserues his constant course of praier of repentance of hearty and sincere humiliation for his sinnes Wee goe forward still in our old way and jogge on in the same rode Though our judgement hasten hell threaten death stand at the doore yet we thrust onward still in dulcem declinamus lumina somnum But alas miserable soules as we are can wee embrace quiet rests and vninterrupted sleepes with such wounded consciences Can wee be so secure being so neare our time But you will say wee haue passed already many nights without danger no sicknesse in the night hath befalne vs hitherto why then should any feare of death amaze or trouble vs Admit all this yea bee not too confident one houre may effect that which a thousand yeares could not produce and thinke with your selues what a little distance there is betweene your soules and death
obligation of a sinner to perpetuall punishment but rather in the lowlines of our heartes crie out with Daniell O Lord righteousnesse belongs vnto thee but to vs open shame because wee haue rebelled against thee let vs cast downe our soules at the foote of his grace and humbly acknowledge in the sence of our deformities that just is the Lord just are his judgements Our weake vnderstandings can no way fathome the depth of his counsells his wisdome is vnsearchable and all his waies are truth but did we truly apprehend the nature of our sinnes wee would never repine at the weight of Gods Iudgements for whereas God made man a noble creature both beautifull and glorious and after stamped on him his owne Image righteousnesse and true holinesse how strangely hath his sinne disrobed him of all his excellencies what rebellion hath it setled in all his members what staines and pollutions hath it wrought in all his faculties It is our sinne which hath vnioynted the confederacies and societies of the dumbe creatures and hath armed them with an antipathy and rebellion one against another It is sinne which hath so strangely altered the manners and conditions of our times that hath turned mens browes into brasse and their hearts into stones and their hands into blood and their tongues into Scorpions It is sin which hath wrought such a confusion and Chaos in all things vnder the Sunne which hath changed truth into flattery substances into formes nature into arte decency into new fanglednesse renting of hearts into cutting of garments It is sinne I say which in this our age hath dissolued those sweete obligations of peace and correspondency which were formerly knitte betweene our neighbour nations and insteede thereof hath sent in fire and sword amongst them that hath rowled vp within these few yeares so many Noble spirits in those parts into blood and destruction And lastly it is our sin that shall at that last dreadfull day turne the very Elements into fire and the whole frame of this world with all the things therein into their primitiue Chaos and Originall Confusion Oh that wee did seriously consider of and soundly digest the meditation of these things For had wee but hearts to vnderstande and eyes to see the deformity of our sinnes and did vnpartially compare the staine and pollution of them with the purenesse of Gods nature and the brightnesse of his Maiesty how should wee be confounded in our soules with the sight of our owne filthinesse How ready should we be rather to admire Gods patience then question his severity How should wee tremble at his glorious presence and dread his power and iustly feare what wee haue worthily deserued his everlasting iudgement since our pollutions haue moved him to abhorre the workes of his owne hands and to distaine the beauty of his owne creation But if now on the other side wee advisedly looke into Gods gratious proceedings towards vs and his louing indulgence in restraining his incensed displeasure notwithstanding our infinite provocations and in shewing vs a way to escape his fury I know not whether wee shall finde greater cause to vindicate his justice or admire his mercy For true it is as saith Saint Agustine Deus adeo bonus est vt malum nunquam sineret nisi adeo potens fuisset vt ex malo bonum eliceret Aug. Soe Good is our God that he would never haue suffered vs to fall had not his power bene such that hee could extract matter out of our sinfulnesse to advance his owne glory Oh how vnsearchable how botomlesse how surpassing the apprehension of men and Angells is the loue of God towards vs whither can wee goe which way can wee cast our eyes where wee shall not behold the admirable foote-steps of his mercy If wee looke vpward his mercy reacheth vnto the Heavens saith David If downeward they that goe downe into the deepe see the wonders of God saith the same Prophet and his mercies in the great waters If round about vs those that put their trust in the Lord mercy embraceth them on every side And hence it is that the Apostle Saint Paul to the Ephesians so diversly amplifies the loue of God in severall places of that Epistle by sundry appellations or epithites as his loue his greate loue his abundant loue his loue passing knowledge againe the riches of his glory the riches of his grace the riches of his mercy God who is mercifull saith the Apostle who is rich in mercy through his loue his great loue even when wee were dead by sinnes hath quickned vs together in Christ Eph. 2.4 The Apostle also in the same Epistle and first chapter expresseth the Lord great in his power abundant in his wisdome but rich exceeding rich in his mercy And why rich in mercy only Is not the Lord rich in Angells rich in the Saints rich in the Heavens Hath he not created the Cloudes founded the Seas wisely composed the whole frame of nature And is he yet rich only in mercy True it is the earth is the Lords and the fulnesse thereof all that wee haue all that wee are is his but his mercy hath an excellency in it aboue all his creatures yea if I may so speake aboue all his attributes aboue his Iustice Mercy saith the Apostle reioyceth against condemnation Aboue his power Iacob wrestled with God and overcame him aboue his greatnes for he hūbled himselfe to take our nature on him yea aboue all his earthly creatures for his mercy reacheth to the Cloudes there is nothing doth more illustrate Gods omnipotency then his mercy It was noe marvaile that God should make the Heauens because hee is power it selfe or that he should frame the earth because hee is strength it selfe or that he should governe the times because he is wisdome it selfe or that he should giue breath to all creatures because he is life it selfe But herein chiefly is God to be magnified that hee who is infinitely iust should yet bee mercifull to sinners yea to sinners while they wallow in their blood while they rest in sinnes while they haue no eye to looke after him no heart to embrace him no foote to follow him no tongue to glorifie him but lye woefully plunged in the dregs of their pollutions Oh the vnspeakable goodnesse of our God who hath so gratiously invited those sheepe who are so vnhappily strayed from him nay who doth with a Omnipotentissima facilitate homines ad scipsum convertit Deus volentes ex nolentibus facit Aug. ad vita louing violence irresistably call those who haue trampled on his graces and reiected his loue But what should moue the creator of all things who hath beene thus infinitely provoked who is armed both with power to strike and meanes to be avenged to compassionate his enimies Certainely there is there can be no other reason alleadged but that which David so often iterates because he is gratious his mercy endureth for ever
let vs conforme our selues to his life and let our conuersation bee answerable to his doctrine Let vs fix our eie on this true Serpent and fasten our hold on this sure anker Let vs looke vp vnto Iesus the author and finisher of our faith Where our treasure is there let our hearts be also We haue an inestimable price a glorious inheritance set before vs let vs carefully embrace all those meanes that may further our progresse as the hearing of the word receaving of the Sacraments earnest and constant prayer to Almighty God Let vs striue as we ought presse forward with all violence The woman in the Gospell which was so long visited with her bloudy issue it was her holy Victa est ad violentiam quia violenta ad victoriam violence and pressing our Saviour that procured her health for her body and pardon for her soule Let this be our endeauour let vs neuer thinke our selues farre enough in the way to heauen but prepare our hearts still and lay hold on euery aduantage that may further vs in our iourney Behold now is the acceptable time now is the day of saluation whilst you haue time then doe good vnto all whilst you haue the light walke as children of the light Iudge thy selfe here that thou bee not iudged of the Lord hereafter Let not thy eies slumber nor thy temples take any rest till thou hast found out an habitation in thy heart for the mighty God of Iacob Remember him as David did in thy bed and thinke vpon him when thou art waking God said of the Church of Thyatira I gaue her time to repent of her fornication and she repented not O let vs not giue our good God the like occasion to second the same complaint against vs. Behold God now graciously calls vs and offers vs his mercy Behold the spouse comes let vs goe forth to meet him He stands at the doore and knocks let vs arise and open speedily to our beloued to day while it is called to day let vs heare his voice let vs not put off our time as Felix did St Paul goe for this present time whē I haue a convenient leasure I will heare thee as if the time present were not the fittest Let vs not stifle the checks of our consciences or say as Festus to Agrippa to morrow thou shalt heare him Non quaerit Deus dilationem in voce corvina sed confessionem in gemitu Columbino All procrastinations in this case are dangerous Let vs therefore take hold of saluation whilst occasion serues vs. If we shut out our welbeloued he will be gone Therefore let our hearts euen melt within vs whilst he speakes to vs in his word if we answer not when he calls vs then shall we call and he will not answer The Storke and the Crane and the Swallow in the ayre know their seasons and obserue their appointed times how much more should man especially since times moments how long we shall enioy them are not in our owne power but in the power of God The Angell in the Revelation swore by him that liueth foreuer that time should be no more the time past can neuer be recalled let vs therefore take the present time For the time past was and is not the time present is but shall not be and of the future wee can promise to our selues no fruition But alas such is our blindnesse such an obduration is growne over our hearts that wee vnderstand these things but feele them not wee haue them swimming in our minds but imbrace them not in our affections The best of vs may take vp that complaint of Saint Augustine Teneo in memoria scribo in charta sed non habeo in vita Aug. who averred of himselfe that his desires were better then his practise our vowes are in heauen but our hearts on earth our desires are towards our home but our endeavours flagge in the way and we faint in our iourney wee haue heavenly hopes but earthly affections wee all couet after happinesse but wee would take no paines for it wee would enioy Christ in his benefits but wee refuse to partake with him in his sufferings volumus assequi Christum sed non sequi wee would share willingly with our Saviour in his Crowne but not in his combat nay oftentimes wee instance God for such graces as we are loath to obtaine like Saint Augustine who prayed for continency with a proviso Lord giue me continency but not yet nay such is our intolerable sinfulnesse and pollution of heart that at the same instant when our hands are lift vp to God for the pardon of old sinnes our heads are working in the contriving of new as Salvian hath it dum verbis praeterita mala plangimus sensu futura meditamur Thus we draw nigh to God with our lipps when our hearts are farre from him our affections are buried in the things of this life Excellent is that saying of Isidorus Regnum hoc sempiternū ex omni parte beatum est omnibus promissum tamen de illo altum inter nos silentium quotus quisque enim est qui de hoc commemorat hoc vxori hoc liberis toti hoc familiae inculcat Isid Coelum negligimus terram non retiuemus Dei favorem non acquirimus mundi perdimus The kingdome of heauen saith hee is eternall blessed every way and promised to all men but who is there almost that spends one moment in the serious meditation of it What man is there that ever talkes to his wife to his children to his family of such a Kingdome Wee can riot in the praises of our natiue soile but wee blush to speake of and are ashamed to commend our true country our everlasting home In our dealings about the things of this life our vnderstandings are ready enough to apprehend them and our hearts to entertaine them and our tongues to discourse of them but in things that belong to the eternall salvation of our soules how deepe is our silence how slow our speech how vnskilfull our expressions Thus wee forsake heauen for these things which at last will forsake vs and trifle out our time in things that will not profit vs. How far are men now adaies from that sweete resolution of Saint Hierome Let others saith hee liue in their statues in their costly monuments I had rather haue St Pauls Coate with his heauenly graces then the purple of Kings with their Kingdomes O that wee would looke thus lowly vpon our selues wee are Christians in profession O let vs bee such in practice seeing that God hath made vs stewards of his treasures let vs improue them to the benefit of our brethren hath God giuen vs abundance of his blessings o let vs not hide our talents in a napkin let vs send our good workes before vs into Heaven pauca da maxima in coelo recepturus these slender guifts which thou doest chearefully distribute in
thy heart can desire or long for Thy soule should flowe and even melt in abundance of spirituall delights But now take a little view of thine owne vilenesse thy owne nakednesse thy vttter disability to any thing that may be truly called good Thy hands are feeble to Gods worke thy feete are slow to Gods temple thine eyes are seared or shut vp towards heaven But for the workes of flesh and Sathan thy heart is hot to envy thy minde prone to revenge thy tongue voluble to blaspheame thy affections even glued and incorporated as it were into the sensuall embracements And is this to serue God for heaven shall the blessednesse of the Saints and the glory of Angells and the ioy and fruition of God himselfe bee powred forth vpon such workes as these Dost thou thus requite thy maker O consider consider I say thy waies in time labour to serue God as Iacob did labour to approue thy selfe as faithfull to God as Iacob was to his vnckle Laban And if the weight of the labour discourage thee or adversity oppresse thee or prosperity seduce thee then lift vp thine eyes to heaven as Iacob did to his Rachell Let heauen be thy loue thy spouse the delight of thine eyes the ioy of thy heart Behold thy Rachell is faire and louely heaven is both beautifull and glorious Let thy desires goe before whither thou meanest to hasten after suffer for a season thy light affliction hauing an eye to the recompence of reward yet and but a little while Eò dirigendus est spiritus quo aliquando est itutus and thou shalt approach the haven where thou shalt enioy so much the more happinesse by how much the deeper thou hast drunke in sorrow and by how much the more ardent thy affections haue beene towards God in this life the more abundant shall thy reward be in the life to come then shall thy crosses proue thy gaines and that well-spring of ioy which shall ever rise in thy heart shall swallow vp all thy sorrowes CHAP. II. Shewing that there is no other way nor possible meanes to attaine to the true eternity but by a confident affiance vpon the mercy of God in Christ SVch and so deplorable is the condition of every man considered in his corrupted and degenerated state that albeit he bee able by that small sparke of naturall illumination which is left in his mind to see as in a glasse darkely and obscurely an eternity to come yet is hee vtterly ignorant of the true way therevnto neither hath he any possibility in nature to finde it out Hee is in no better state then the poore creeple at the poole of Bethesda who saw the waters that could heale him before his eyes but found no meanes to helpe him into them For that sound and perfect knowledge of the true way which man was adorned with in his first creation is wholely lost extinguished in him he is now a meere stranger from the life of God Eph. 4.18 dead in Trespasses and sinnes Eph. 1.2 reprobate to every good worke Tit. 1.16 his very minde is defiled Tit. 1.15 his wisdome is death Rom. 8.6 Nemo aliunde Deo placet nisi ex eo quod ipse donaverit He is no more able of himselfe to lead a holy life acceptable to God then a dead man is to performe the actions of one that is aliue Being thus disrobed of all spirituall endowments and sauing grace how shall hee attaine to that ioyfull Eternity which his soule as I haue said may long for but can no way reach Certainely there is no light to lead him but that Si Christum habes aeternitatem per Christum in te habes Alst light of the world no way for him to take to but that new liuing way even him who hath stiled himselfe the way the truth and the life no rocke to cleaue to but this strong foundation no name vnder heauen to be saued by but this euen this alone Iesus Christ yesterday and to day and the same foreuer Hee and he alone is the onely sure effectuall infallible meanes of our saluation Hee alone is the true High Priest who was once offered to take away sinnes and after that entred into the true sanctuary the very Heaven to appeare in the sight of God for vs where hee is able perfectly to saue them which come vnto God by him seeing he euer liueth to make intercession for them Heb. 7.26 He alone is the ground of our hope the crowne of our glory and the strength of our confidence Oculum tuum Domine non excludit cor clausum nec manum tuam repellit duritia hominum Aug. It 's he alone who by the sweet influence of his grace and by the secret working of his spirit can when he will and doth when hee please subdue and bring vnder the most obdurate gainesaying and rebellious heart to a cheerefull willing ready obedience to his heavenly will O the infinite in expressible tendernesse of our louing Sauiour towards vs When we like sheepe had gone astray his mercy reduced vs When we lay wallowing in our blood his pitty refresht vs When we were dead in our sinnes his death did reuiue vs and here we may truely say with David his mercy reacheth to the heauens From the heauens came the price of our redemption We were not neither could we be redeemed by the blood of bulls and goats by thousands of riuers of oyle by the cattle that are vpon a thousand mountaines It was not the treasures of the world the power of men or Angels could purchase this freedome nothing could cleanse vs but the blood of the Lambe He was that fountaine opened for sinne and for vncleanesse He was that Sonne of righteousnes that came with healing in his wings His were the wounds that healed our sores his was the backe that bare our sorrowes his was the price that quit our skores he assumed our flesh to redeeme vs here and he raignes as a king to crowne vs hereafter Now what remaines after all this to be done on our parts Let vs rest on this Anchor let vs fly to this hold and build on this foundation For no other foundation can any man lay then that which is laid Iesus Christ Let vs cast our soules into the armes of our Saviour In brachijs Salvatoris mei vivere volo et mori cupio saith S. Bernard O let this bee our desire Now the gate is open let vs not deferre the time of entrance Now is the acceptable time let vs not procrastinate the feason Now he offers his mercy he shewes his long sufferance let vs not turne his grace into wantonnesse let vs follow the counsell of the sonne of Sirach Ecclus the 5. Make no long tarrying to turne to the Lord and put not off from day to day For suddainly shall the wrath of the Lord breake forth and in thy security thou shalt bee destroyed and thou shalt
Let me aske the strongest of men on earth what certainty of life canst thou promise thy selfe seeing that either a little bone in thy throat may choake thee or a tile from thy house may braine thee or some malignant ayre may poyson thee and then where art thou There are a thousand waies Tu te prius ad aeternitatem abrep tum miraberis quà m metueres abripiendum whereby suddainly a man may come to his end and certaine it is that Mors illa maxime improvisa est cuius vita praecedens non fuit provida i. e. that death is the suddainest which is not vshered in with a foregoing preparation It is therefore a speciall point of wisdome to thinke every day our last yea to account every houre the period of our liues For looke how many pores there are in the body so many windowes are there to let in death yea we carry our deaths continually about vs in our bosomes and who can promise himselfe his life till the evening Hath not our owne experience showne vs many whose sleepes in their beds haue proued sleepes vnto death who haue beene carried from their chambers to their graue Death doth not alwaies send forth her harbingers to giue notice of her comming shee often presseth in vnlookt for and suddainly attached the vnprovided soule Watch therefore because yee know neither the day nor the houre worke whilest yee haue the day for the night comes wherein no man can worke looke towards thy evening and cast thy thoughts vpon that long Eternity Death first or last will apprehend thee expect it therefore at every turne and of this assure thy selfe Qualis quisque in hac vita motitur talis in die novissimo iudicabitur as death leaueth thee so shall iudgement finde thee How improvidently secure then are those who set vp their rest in the comforts of this life and overly-regard their eternall welfare This is the generall carelesnesse of our times If a man haue a perpetuity but of fiue shillings yearely rent what travell and paines and sweat what beating of his braine and exhausting of his treasure will he runne through before he will loose one dram of his right Yet our eternall inheritance is cast behind vs and vndervalued as a trifle not worth the seeking and this shewes our small loue to our home for wee little esteeme of that which wee take small paines for All other things which conduce to our temporall well being wee seeke with circumspection and enioy them with content but matters of Eternity wee conceiue of as things farre distant from vs wee scarcely entertaine them in our thoughts Wee busy not our vnderstandings in the search of those things which we see not things present and obvious to our sight doe best affect vs wee are ill-sighted vpward weake and dimme eyes haue wee towards heaven The truth of this appeares even in children who presently even from the cradle drinke in the rudiments of vice they learne to sweare riot drinke and the like enormities with the smallest teaching but they are vtterly indisposed to any vertuous inclinations They soone apprehend what belongs to the curiosity of behaviour and deportment of the body the fashions of the times Hoc discunt omnes ante Alpha Beta puelli but for Heaven and that Eternity they are wholly averse from it they are vtterly vncapable of the things aboue they carry about them as the livery of their first parents not only an indisposition but a very opposition to goodnesse And whereas for other imployments and vndertakings they haue certaine naturall notions in them bending their intentions to naturall workes some one way and some another yet they haue not so much as a naturall apprehension of the things of God Homo sine gratia praeter carnem nihil sapit intelligit aut potest Thus it is with children and thus it is with all men even those of the ripest and most peircing vnderstanding vntill the light of Gods spirit hath shined on their hearts and powerfully wrought some spirituall holy dispositions in them The naturall man saith the Apostle neither doth nor can discerne the things that are of God O how infinitely-miserable and deplorable is his state who hauing neither knowledge of the true life nor possibility of himselfe to finde it out Cum exulsit a patria exultat in via yet runnes on securely in his damned way vntill he fall woefully and irrevocably into the pit where hee will not haue no not when hee hath vncomfortably worne out millions of yeares the least intermission of sorrow or drop of comfort or hope of pardon Here on earth malefactors condemned to dye haue this comfort though wretched that one houre commonly terminates all their griefes in this life But the torments of the damned are not concluded in an age nay the end and period of ten thousand yeares will not end their sorrowe And this is it which addes more to their sufferings even their vnhappy knowledge of the perpetuity of them they haue not so much as any hope of releasement Hope in this life hath such a power in it that it can yeeld some comfort in the middest of trouble The sicke man whilest his soule is in him he hath hope but after this life this small refreshment is denied the damned all their hope is turned into desperation The Prophet Daniell cap. 4.14 heard the voice of an holy one crying hew downe the tree and cut off his branches shake of his leaues and scatter his fruit neuerthelesse leaue the stumpe of his roote in the earth Thus it is with men in this world saith Ambrose their leaues and their flowers are shaken their delights are taken from them but the rootes remaine and their hope is not abolished But it is not so in hell saith he There both flower and stumpe nay and even all hope too are banished away from them The day of the Lord saith the Prophet Malachy shall burne them vp and leaue them neither roote nor branch The very hope saith Salomon of the wicked shall perish what should this teach vs but whilest our hope remaines to improue our few daies to our best advantage to make straighter paths to our selues to abridge our inordinate appetites in some measure of their vaine fruitlesse ioyes and with all the power of our affections striue to attaine that hauen where no billow shall affright vs no stormes astonish vs no perills indanger vs Then shall our dissolution proue our gaine and our death our glory if otherwise wee persist wilfully in the paths of our voluptuousnesse and solace our selues in the vaine ioyes of our owne hearts and in the sight of our eyes certainly it will be bitternesse in the latter end Extrema gaudii luctus occupat All our earthly delights will glide away like a swift river The reioycing of the wicked is short saith Iob and the ioy of a sinner is but for a moment Though his
thou shouldest lengthen out thy daies to many hundreths of yeares yet still thou art transitory and exposed to the common condition of all men Then fixe thy heart on God and so enioying that eternity thou shalt make thy selfe eternall and be not discouraged for thy tribulations and daily disquietings in this world for such is Gods loue such his abundant kindnesse towards his elect that hee Ideo Deus terrenis faelicitatibus amaritudinē miscet vt alia quaeratur faelicitae cuius dolcedo non est falla◠corrects them here to the end they might not bee condemned with the world hereafter boni laborant quia flagellantur vt filij mali exultant quia damnantur vt alieni God spareth those who are aliens from grace but whom he chuseth he chastiseth Bee not therefore I say cast downe with any crosses whatsoeuer that may befall thee in this life for the things that are present are temporall but the things to come are eternall When we see the friends of this world the eager embracers of the comforts of this life vpon every summons of death striue to deferre what they cannot vtterly avoide their corporall dissolutions oh how great care what indefatigable diligence what restlesse endeavours should we vse that wee might liue for ever Let vs againe and againe meditate on these things and with due care foresee eternity before wee vnexpectedly fall into it Certaine it is Omnia transeunt sola restat non tranfibit aeternitas all things passe away in this life only eternity hath no period let vs redeeme the time and worke while wee haue the day for if wee neglect good duties here we shall never regaine the like opportunity hereafter This life saith Nazianzen is as it were our faireday or market day let vs now buy what wee want while the faire lasts While we haue time let vs doe good vnto all men Tu dormis sed tempus tuum non dormit sed ambulat imo volat Bene illis qui sic vivunt sicut vixisse se volunt cum moriendum erit faciantque ea quae in aeternitate constituti fecisse se gaudebunt Amb. Happy is the man that so liues here that the remembrance of his well-spent life may yeeld him ioy hereafter For otherwise levis hic neglectus aeternum fit dispendium i.e. A small neglect in the ordering of our time in this world will bee seconded with an eternall losse in the world to come The fift conclusion Death is the ending our daies not of our life For when our day shall close and our time shall bee no more then shall our death conduct vs to a life which will last for all Eternity For we dye not here to dye but to liue for ever Therefore the best guide of our life is the consideration of our death and hee alone leads a life answerable to his Christian profession who daily expects to leaue it Me thinkes ' its strange-men should be so industriously carefull to avoide their death and so carelesly improvident of the life to come when as nothing makes death bad but that estate which followes it but the reason is wee are spiritually blind and see not nor know in this our day the things that belong to our peace wee haue naturally neither sight nor feeling of the ioyes to come But when God shall enlighten the darknesse of our mindes and reveale his sonne in vs when once the day dawneth that day-starre ariseth in our hearts ô then our death will be our joy and the reioycing of our hearts then shall wee infinitely desire to bee dissolued and to be with Christ Let vs therefore with vnwearied endeavours labour to bring Christ home to our hearts and to keepe him there Let vs dye to our selues and to our lusts here that so in the world to come we may everlastingly liue vnto Christ and in him The sixt conclusion Now that we may bee the better incouraged to raise vp our indeavours to the attainement of this eternity Let vs in a word consider the abundant and the ever-flowing happinesse in the world to come neither eye hath seene nor eare hath heard nor tongue can expresse the joyes that God hath provided for thē that loue him Vbi nullum erit malum nullum latebit bonum Saint Augustine being ravished with the desire of this life breaketh out with an inflamed affection how great shall that happinesse bee where there can be no vncleane thing where no good can be wanting Praemium virtutis erit ipse qui virtutem dedit where every creature doth praise and admire his Creator who is all in all things How great shall that reward be where the giver of vertue shall be himselfe the reward of vertue how great shall that abundance be where the author of all plenty shall be vnto me life and soule and rayment health and peace and honour and all things yea the end and compleat obiect of all my desires For in his presence is the fulnesse of joy and at his right hand there is pleasure for evermore How great shall that blessednesse be where we shall haue the Lord our debtor who hath promised to reward our good deeds where wee shall haue the Lord for our portion who will be to vs as he was to Abraham our exceeding great reward How great shall that light bee where the Sunne shall no more shine by day nor the moone by night where God shall be our light and the Lord our glory How great shall that possession be where the heart shall possesse whatsoever it shall desire and shall never be deprived of its possessions Here will be to the Saints an abundant everlasting overflowing banquet no griefe can accompany it no sorrow succeede it Here is ioy without sadnesse rest Quies motus non appetitus without labour wealth without losse health without languor abundance without defect life without death perpetuity without corruption Here is the beatificall presence of God the company of Saints the society of Angells Here are pleasures which the mindes of the beholders can never be wearied with they alwaies see them and yet alwaies reioyce to see them These are the flaggons of wine which comforted vp David when he cried out according to the multitude of the sorrowes which I had in my heart thy comforts haue refreshed my soule In coelo est vita verè vitalis In heaven and only in heauen is the true life For there our memories shall liue in the ioyfull recordation of all things past our vnderstandings shall liue in the knowledge of God our wills shall liue in the fruition of all excellencies that they can wish for all our senses shall abound in their seuerall delights Here is that white stone which Saint Iohn speakes of even glory and immortality to them that overcome Here is that water of life which our Saviour speakes of whereof whosoever drinkes shall never thirst againe Here is that river the springs