centrum terrae Thinketh that it is about the centre of the earth The Apostles that preached to the Iewes vsed the word Gehenna from the Hebrewes which they well vnderstood and Saint Iames writing to the Iewes sayth The tongue is inflamed of Gehenna of hell but the rest of them that preached to the Gentiles vsed the word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 which name was knowne vnto them and they tooke it to be a place vnder the earth where the wicked after this life were punished Tartarus which is vsed for Hel is so farre vnder the earth as Heauen is aboue the earth sayth Hesiodus The Poet speaking of it sayth Tartarus ipse bis patet in praeceps tantum .i. Tartarus is twice as deepe as Heauen is high The Rabbines hold Hell to bee below as Rabbi Abraham sayth Sheol makom c. Sheol is a deepe place opposed to Heauen which is on high And Rabbi Leui sayth Sheol hi mattah c. Sheol is absolutely below and is the centre The Scriptures also place Hell below Sheol beneath is moued for thee to meete thee at thy comming Moses calleth it the lower hell Fire is kindled in my wrath and shall burne vsque ad infernum inferiorem to the bottome of hell The Psalmist calleth it a déepe pit Let him cast them into the fire and into the deepe pits that they rise not And in another place he calleth it the Pit of Perdition Iohn calleth it a Burning Lake in the Reuelation which must needs bee below Salomon speaketh of the depth of this place saying The ghâ—sts of an harlot are in the depth of hell And againe The way of Life is on high to auoyde from hell beneath Thus it is manifest that Hell is beneath in the lowest parts of the workemanship of God But precisely to say where whether in the centre of the centre of the world or in the ayre or in the water or vpon the earth it is not reuealed neyther is it needful for vs to know but surely it shall bee in the most remote place from Heauen which is in and about the earth for the soules of the righteous when they are dissolued from their bodies do presently passe to the locall place of Coelum Empyraeum and the soules of the damned are constrayned to stay below in the lowest Elements where they are and shall be tormented for euermore But if a man be too curious in this poynt I would wish him conferre with Socrates who being asked what was done in hell said Hee neuer went thither nor communed with any that came from thence By which answere he derided the curiosity of the demander Euclides as Maximus writeth being demaunded of one what the Gods did and with what things they were best delighted sayde As for other things I know not but I am sure of this that they hate all curious persons But this is not the thing we ayme at in this depth of Hell This word Deepe doth bewray vnto vs the impossibility of getting out once in for God hath made Hell so déepe as there is no bepe of crawling out In inferno nulla redemptio In hel there is no redemption Therefore Infernus ab inferendo dictus quia ita inferuntur praecipitantur vt nunquam ascensuri sint that is Hell is sayde of casting in for they shall bee so cast downe as they shall neuer haue hope or power of cravvling out Infernus saith Hugo est profundus fine fundo that is A deepe vvithout bottome That party that had not on the wedding garment was not onely cast into hell but hee was also bound hand and foot and all to shew the impossibility of getting forth once in Binde him hand and foote and cast him into vtter darkenes Now alas if a man be bound hand and foot and cast into a well fiue thousand fadomes deepe what hope hath he of euer comming out so hell is deep and he that is once tumbled in shall neuer come forth more This is euident by the speech of Diues who said O Father Abraham send Lazarus or some from the dead that my brethren may not come into the like place of torment What is the reason that Diues begged not for his own passage from thence vnto them who was able to haue taught the dolours of hell by wofull experience O he knew that that had been bootelesse for he saw ingentum hiatum A great gulfe set betwixt heauen and hell that made the passage impossible In earthly prisons and dungeons a man by some or other meanes happily may get out but hell is deepe so deepe as Heauen Earth and Hell can neuer helpe one poore soule forth This then well considered should Vse 1 worke deepe humiliation in the soules of euery of vs that so grace may receyue vs and not this deepe deuoure vs. One depth cryeth and calleth out for an other the depth of hell calleth to vs for answerable humiliation hee that will not bee humbled for his sins héere shall bee humbled and tumbled to the deepe of hell hereafter God giueth grace to the humble yea the déeper thou art in the Law the higher shalt thou be in the Gospel the deeper in hell the higher in heauen a bucket the déeper it goeth into the well the more water it bringeth vp with it so the déeper a man is humbled for sinne the more shall bee his grace of saluation Humble your selues therefore vnder the mighty hand of God that yee may bee all exalted in the day of Visitation In this déep was the poore Publican when in bitternesse of heart he vttered these words Lord be mercifull to me à sinner A sinner by birth a sinner by life a sinner by thought a sinner by word a sinner by worke a sinner by sins of omission a sinner by sinnes of commission a sinner beforè my conuersion a sinner many thousand times since my conuersion Lord bee mercifull to me a lamentable sinner Vse 2 Againe séeing hell is so deepe as once in no hope of crawling out Let vs seeke the Lord while hee may bee found and call vpon him while hee is neare Ecce nunc tempus acceptum Behold novv the accepted time behold novv is the day of saluation This life is the time wherein wee must worke out our salúation with feare and trembling if after this life we will bée fréede from the deepe damnation of Tophet The irrationall creatures themselues are very carefull to take their times and seasons as saith the Prophet Ieremy 8.7 The Storke the Turtle Crane and the Svvallovv obserue their times and seasons there is a time when the Swallow is with vs in England and there is a time when hee takes his leaue of vs. That silly creature in the sixt of the Prouerbs Gathereth in Summer to maintaine the poore life of it in Winter So should wee take our
Tertullian in Apologetico speaking of Hell sayth thus Gehenna est ignis arcani subterraneus ad poenam thesaurus that is Hell is a treasure of secret fire kept vnder the earth to punish withall The truth of this heauy report Diues with the residue of the damned doe finde by wofull experience who still cries out I am tormented in this flame This is miserable Tophet prepared for all vngodly people of the world Vse 1 The meditation of these torments should breake our stony hearts in peeces and strike vs into such a dismall dumpe as was Baltazar when hee saw the hand writing on the wall against him these should be of an extractiue force and power to draw grones from our hearts teares from our eyes and sinnes from our soules Grauia peccata grauia desiderant lamenta Great sinnes require great lamentations Sweet meat must haue sowre sawce sinne must haue mourning eyther here by attrition Legall and contrition Euangelicall or else hereafter wee shall be cast into Tophet where wee shall lie screeching and screaming continually Plangite igitur plangenda Bewayle your sinnes therefore that ought to be lamented Estote tam proni ad lamenta sicut fuistis ad peccata Bee as prone to lamentation as euer you were to transgression as prone to lament them as euer yee were to commit them In a booke inscribed De natura rerum I read of a Byrd called Auis Paradisi the Birde of Paradise which is so called in regard of her splendid and excellent beauty which Birde being taken in the snare of the Fowler doth ingemiscere ac lachrymare dies noctesque mourne and lament night and day vntill shee be restored to liberty So we that were once Aues Paradisi Birdes of Paradise but now captiuated in the thraldome of sinne and Sathan and lyable to this tormenting Tophet should neuer cease mourning wayling vntill wee bee restored to Grace againe Blessed are you that haue grace thus to mourne yee shall bee comforted the Lord will wipe away as all sinnes from your soules so all teares from your eyes in the kingdome of saluation Againe the consideration of this Vse 2 terrible Tophet should cause vs willingly to embrace the counsell of the Psalmist To stand in awe and sinne not And worke in our hearts that feare spoken of in the Gospel of Matthew Feare him that is able to destroy both body and soule in hell This terrible report should strike vs into a threefold feare Feare to be depriued of the grace of God Feare to be excluded the louing presence of God Feare to be tormented in the Lake vnquenchable It was the practise of an holy man who sayth I feare him that is able to damne both body and soule I tremble at hell I tremble at the Iudges countenance which is able to make all the Angells and powers of Heauen to temble I tremble at the voyce of the Archangell I tremble at the roaring deuils I am afraid of the gnawing worme the smoake the vapour the brimstone the darknesse the burning Ah woe is me that am the sonne of bitternesse indignation and eternall weeping This made Paul indeuour to keepe a cleare conscience both towards God and man This made Ierome afraid to offend Whether I eate or drinke saith hee or whatsoeuer I doe else me thinkes I heare this saying sounding in mine eares Arise yee dead and come to Iudgement Arise yee dead and come to iudgement Which when I consider it makes me quake and shake and not dare to commit sinne which otherwise I should haue committed And what is the cause I pray that wicked wretches runne into al excesse and riot of sinne as they do Is it not because they lay not to heart this tormenting Tophet witnesse else the prophet Amos who sayth That they put off from them the euill day and boldly approach to the seates of iniquity If putting off the remembrance of the vengeance to come will make men dissolute and retchlesse then surely laying to heart the inutterable torments of Tophet will bee a notable meane to reclayme men from all vngodlinesse But if men will harden their hearts aboue the hardnes of an Adamant and will not be moued neyther by mercies nor iudgement let all such know that Tophet groaneth for them where they shall howle and yell in fiery torments for euermore Thus much in a word for the word Tophet The second obseruable for the certainety of this place of torment is the Act or thing done in these words Is prepared Parata Tophet non paranda It is not sayd That Tophet shall bee hereafter prepared or it is now preparing but it is already prepared Tophet is prepared The malicious deuil laboureth nothing more then to perswade men that there is no such place of torment that so the more easily hee may leade them thither as the thiefe is led to execution with a vayle before his eyes But for the trueth hereof let these things following duely be obserued As a princely magnificence requireth that a King haue a beautifull pallace for the best sort of men and a dismall prison for the rebellious So the King of kings hath a glorious pallace wherein are many mansions for his Saints a darke and loathsome dungeon for the Diuell and his Angels The law of nations requireth that malefactors for their offences bee banished for euer so the Lord doth banish from his gracious presence all the vngodly of the earth into the fearefull Iland of hell The Cicilian Aetna called at this day Gibillo Monte where roarings are heard and flames of fire are séene the flashing of Vesuuius the cracking as it were of fire in a furnace in the Marine Rocke of Barry what doe all these presage but assure all those that feare the Lord besides his counsel reuealed in his word that Tophet is already prepared Againe in all things naturall and supernaturall there is an opposition there is a contrariety there is good there is euill there is light there is darkenes there is ioy there is sorrow there is a Heauen and therefore there must be a Hell into which the soules of the reprobate shall be carried when they die by the blacke and grisly angels Againe the Scripture speaketh euery where of this place of torment Whosoeuer shall say Foole shall bee worthy to be punished with hell fire Againe It is better for thee to goe into the Kingdome of God with one foot with one hand with one eye then hauing two feet two hands and two eyes to bee cast into Hell fire But that of the 25. of Matthew is very pregnant for this purpose where the word it selfe is vsed Goe from me yee cursed into euerlasting fire which is prepared for the Deuill and his Angels This doctrine méeteth with all Atheists that say There is no heauen no hell no God no deuill As that noted foole that
rich as the poore the father as the child the master as the seruant the king as the beggar as the Prophet Dauid sayeth With righteousnesse shal he iudge the world and the people with equity Though wickednesse among men bee in the place of iudgement yet the Lord our God will deale iustly Though among men there is respect of persons to bee had without which a confusion would and this is necessary to be vrged for men are full of contempt and too sawcy with them of superiour place and authority yet when all shal be summoned before the tribunall of God the Lord will indifferently procéed to Iudgement without any respect of persons And this should not onely pull down the haughty minds of the noble who thinke for their greatnesse here it will be easier for them hereafter than others but also this should be an vnalterable president to all Iudges of the world As they sit in Gods place so they should imitate the Lord in iudgement this should make them obey the counsell of the Lord deliuered by the Prophet Dauid Bee learned yee that are Iudges of the earth O the care that Iehosaphat tooke for iust and righteous iudgement after he had made Iudges and set them in euery City of Iudah hee gaue them this charge Take heed what yee doe for yee execute not the iudgements of man but the iudgements of the Lord and the Lord will bee with you to preserue you if you doe iustly but to confound you if you doe vniustly wherefore now let the feare of the Lord bee vpon you take heed and doe it for there is no iniquity with our God nor respect of persons nor receyuing of rewards O that this gracious counsell were intertayned of the Iudges of this land then we should not heare of so many complaints in our land as wee doe then we should not haue cause to complayne with the Prophet That iudgement is turned backeward and iustice standeth afarre off that trueth is gone and equity no where to be found then wee should not haue so many beggard by the Law as dayly are Law was neuer made to vndoe men but to compell men to doe well it was made to curbe the vnruely but not to beggar the innocent it is grown to this saying now a dayes I had rather loose it being my right than goe to law for it why what is the cause O because of rackt fees close bribes and the perpetuity of attendance Iudicate secundum iustitiam Iudge iudge O yee sonnes of men according to righteousnesse let your iudgement be in veritate in trueth iudicio in iudgement iustitia in righteousnes I pray God it may neuer bee sayde of our Iudges of England as once was sayd of the Iudges of Israel The Lord looked for iudgement but behold oppression for righteousnesse but behold a crying Let not there be found in a land where the Gospell dwelleth such Iudges as were those that killed innocent Naboth Let none be like the sonnes of Samuel That turned aside after lucre and took rewards and peruerted the iudgement The duety of Iudges is notably set down in the 23. of Ex. Thou shalt not receyue a false tale Thou shalt not ouerthrow the truth for the multitudes sake Thou shalt not ouerthrow the right of the poore in his suite Thou shalt keepe thee from a false matter Thou shalt take no gift for the gift blindeth the wise and peruerteth the words of the righteous And this charge is continued in Leuiticus Yee shall not doe vniustly in iudgement Thou shalt not fauour the person of the poore nor honour the person of the mighty but thou shalt iudge thy neighbour iustly A Iudge must be Scientia potens and Virtute valens that is Able in learning and zealous in liuing by the one he shall discernere inter allegata Discerne betwixt cases propounded by the other disrumpere iniquitatem without hinderance punish and confound all manner of iniquity In all your Iudgements let these be aymed at the glory of God the righting of wrong the suppression of euill and the maintenance of truth Be zealous for the glory of our God and let the good lawes that are bee duly and impartially executed It was a great commendation that was giuen to Seleucus Gouernour of the Locretians who hauing made this Law against whoredome That whosoeuer committed the act should loose both his eyes his sonne being taken in the fact was not pardoned though the Citizens begged it earnestly but hee caused one of his sonnes eyes to bee pulled out and one of his owne eyes So hee shewed himselfe a mercifull Father and a iust Iudge O that we had the like laws against this and the like mostodious offences and that they were as strictly executed that many hereby may bee saued from Tophet The Lord guide that honourable assembly in Court of Parliament that they may all ioyne with one voyce and spirit for the banishing of Popery the reforming of iniquity and maintaining and countenancing of the word of trueth and painefull Preachers of the same And you my honourable Lord as you haue begun wel in reforming many foule abuses in this City so in the zeale of the Lord Prosper with your glory ride on with the word of truth meekenesse and righteousnesse and your right hand shall teach you terrible things Thus am I bolde to cast in among you the silly mite of my counsell meerely of Christian Charity tha◠yée may neuer taste of the woefull damnation of Tophet The third part of the description of Tophet is set downe in these wordes He hath made it deepe Many from these words do goe about to proue the locall place of Hell concluding it to bee below as from the signification of Sheol also Sheol is taken for a Pit or Graue or Hell the state of the dead the place of the damned spirits In the Scriptures sometimes it is taken for the Graue and sometime for Hell so is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 also The Septuagint translating the Hebrew into Greeke and expressing there the sense of Sheol vsed 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 both for the death of the body in the Graue and of the soule in Hell Mercer vpon Genesis sayth That the proper signification of Sheol is to signifie all places vnder the earth and not the pit or graue alone wherupon it is euery where opposed to heauen which is highest of all Hell is called by the name of Abyssus in the Scriptures which signifieth a déepe and vast gulfe vnder the earth a bottomlesse pit into which the deuils feare to bee sent and where they are chained and bound when it pleaseth God From which Abyssus there is an assent to the earth no descent lower Reuelat 9.2 and 11.7 and 17.8 and therefore hell suspected to bee beneath Because Tophet is here sayd to be profunda deepe Nicolaus de Lyra putat esse circa
time for after this life there is neyther place for pardon nor time for repentance Yet for all this golden Time is not respected but men doe poste off their repentance from day to day till at the last they sinke into the depth of hell Yea the time of Grace is tedious to many they must haue some or other carnall delight to driue it away T is death to many to attend willingly vppon the meanes of their saluation an houre or two but there will come a time when they shall wish that all their life had been spent at the hearing of Sermons and Prayer as tedious as it séemeth to them now O the damned in Hell would giue if it were in their power a million of worlds to haue but one houre granted them to liue on the earth againe that so they may come within compasse of offered grace to saluation But if yee will not heare the Lord when hee calleth to you there will come a day when ye shall cry Lord Lord and his eares shall be shut to your prayers and his iustice shall cast you into the deep dungeon of Tophet there to remayne till yee haue payed the vttermost farthing The fourth part of the Description of Tophet mentioned in this word Large As the Lord hath made Hell Deepe so hath he made it Large in regard of the great number that shall be tormented in her as sayeth Occolampadius This word is vsed in the fift chapter of this prophesie Hell hath inlarged her selfe and hath opened her mouth without measure It hath set open her mouth as it were with a gag and all to receyue the great multitudes that shall descend into her It is called Lacus magnus in the Reuelation 14.19 A great Lake That this doctrine is too true witnes that of the Gospell of Matt. 20.16 Multi vocati Many are called but few conuerted Many called but few chosen The most high made this world for many but the world to come for verie few But some man may obiect against these Scriptures other Scriptures to proue the great number of them that shall be saued and so by consequence the small number that shall be tormented in Tophet Saint Mathew sayth That many shall come from the East and from the West and shall sit downe with Abraham Isaac and Iacob in the Kingdom of God many an innumerable company shall be saued Saint Iohn in Reuelat. 7.9 dooth point out that great number that shall bée saued with that nota stellifera that starry note Beholde I saw a great multitude of all Nations and Kinreds and People and Tongues that stoode before the Throne before the Lambe clothed in long white robes palmes in their hands long white robes in token of purity and palms in their hands in token of victory It may seeme by these Scriptures that many shall bee saued and not such a multitude damned I answere That though the number of the Elect be great by it selfe considered to the prayse of Gods mercy be it spoken yet if it be compared to the number of those that shal glorifie Gods iustice in hell Alas then a remnant of Israel shall be saued they are but a handful and therfore hell must be made excéeding Large This great destruction of the damned in hell is liuelily shadowed out vnto vs in the iudgements of God on earth mingled with mercy as in the destruction of the olde world by water how few escaped there aliue only Noah with his Family in the destruction of Sodome by fire how few escaped there aliue only Lot vvith his daughters in the destruction of Iericho by the sword how few escaped there aliue only Rahab with her family that intertained the Israeliticall Spies To come to later times in the destruction of Ierusalem by Titus Vespasian how few escaped there aliue Many hundred thousands of them were starued to death many hundred thousands of them taken captiues to the Romane Empire some put to one death some to another and few escaped aliue and those of the meaner sort agricolae vinitores husbandmen and labourers in vineyards If beloued in the iudgements of God in this world so few haue escaped aliue how few thinke you shall scape at the dreadfull day of Iudgement when of euery idle word that men shal speake a great account must bee made for the same yea when Inquisition shall bee made for the very thoughts of the vngodly If the iust shall scarce be saued where shall the sinner appeare Againe that great is the number of those that shall to Tophet and therefore Tophet made large to giue them fiery intertainement it appeareth in the very liues of men vpon earth for where there is one that commeth to the profession of the truth truly with the sincere heart of Nathanael there are ten yea twenty yea more that walke in the way of sinne in the roade to Tophet without any checke of conscience remorse for their sinnes or reclamation from their sinnefull courses in the world some in the way of Atheisme some in Paganisme some in Epicurisme some in Brovvnisme some in Anabaptisme som in Mahometisme some in Papisme yea some in Deuilisme a matter with many teares to be lamented But wouldest thou not be with this large company in this large place of torment O then follovv not a multitude to doe euill Reuelation 18.4 Come out from amongst them for if thou beest partaker with them in their sinnes thou must bee partaker with them in their punishments Fashion not thy selfe after the wicked fashion of this world rather walke alone by thy selfe to heauen than goe with the multitude to Hell Walke in the narrow way of grace to saluation shunne the broade and large way for that will bring thee to Tophet which as thou hearest is made excéeding deepe and large The fift part of the description of Hell in these wordes The burning thereof is fire expressing the bitternesse of the torments of Tophet There is great controuersie among the learned about this fire Whether it be true substantiall fire or fire allegoricall if it be true fire whether it be materiall corporall or spirituall If it be Corporall whether it burneth the body onely or soule and body also Whether there be true fire in Hel or whether these words the burning thereof is fire be taken allegorically Caluin would haue it taken allegorically and thinks there is no true fire in hell His reason is this If Wood and the Worme be taken metaphorically vvhy not then the fire also But this is no argument to prooue this fire allegoricall For in the holy Scriptures things spoken together are not alway taken in the same maner and nature For example sake Christ is called a Dore a Vine a Rocke a Stone figuratiuely and doth it therefore follow that he was not God and man substancially Againe in Saint Lukes Gospel our
〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the house without Sunne-light Theognis calles it 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the blacke gates Eustathius sayth 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Hell is a darke place vnder the earth The darkenesse of Egypt was wonderfull and fearefull Wonderfull because it was so thicke as it might bee felt Fearefull and therefore made the ninth plague of Pharao yet that darknesse was nothing to the darkenesse of hell which is called the Blacke darknesse The Poets in regard of the darknesse thereof do compare hell to a certaine territory in Italy betwixt Baâ—ae and Cumae where the Cimerii inhabite so inuironed with hills that the Sunne neuer commeth to it wherevpon this Prouerbe commeth Cimeris tenebris atrior Darker then the darkenesse of Cimeria Whosoeuer hee bee that loueth darknesse more then light shall haue his heart full of darknesse in Tophet Thirdly Our elementall fire burneth the body onely but the fire of hell burneth both soule and body as yee haue heard at large Fourthly Our elementall fire consumeth that which is cast into it but the fire of hell doth alway burne and neuer consume Fiftly Our elementall fire may bee quenched but hell fire can neuer bee quenâ—hed The chaffe will hee burne with vnquenchable fire their worme shall neuer die their fire shall neuer goe out As there is nothing that maintaineth it so there is nothing that can extinguish it From all this wee may obserue the extremity bitternesse of the torments of Tophet Yea minima poena inferni maior est maxima poena huius mundi that is The least torture in hell is greater than the greatest torture that euer was deuised vpon the earth That Hell-hound that murthered the King of France had as heauy a punishment as this world could affoord for his arme that did that cursed act was taken from his shoulder his nayles pulled from his hands and feet his flesh piece by piece pulled from him with hot burning pincers and in the end rent in pieces with foure horses all this is nothing to the least torment of Tophet Chrysostome ad populum Antiochenum saith That fire and sword and wilde beasts or any thing more grieuous than these are scant a shadow to the torments of hell And this bitter torment standeth in these two In poena damni that is In the punishment of losse and in poena sensus that is In the punishment of feeling the former wherof is the greatest as saith Saint Chrysostome this poena damni this punishment of losse is more bitter then the paines of hell yea worse then a thousand hels This Poena damni though it bee a priuatiue punishment yet it hath a positiue effect For to bee depriued of Ioy cannot but bring intollerable sorrow euen as the absence of the Sunne causeth darkenes so the want of Gods presence bringeth inexpressible griefe When the Arke of God was taken by the Philistimes olde Eli with griefe fell backeward and died Demosthenes tooke his banishment so heauily that many times hee would weep bitterly when he looked towards Athens though hee found much kindenesse at the hands of his enemies Tully when he was banished from Italy though he were in Greece yet he wept bitterly when he looked towards Italy Absolon tooke his banishment from his fathers presence very grieuously If these exiles breede such sorrow how fearefull will it be to be banished from the presence of the Lord Who is the Father of mercies and God of all consolation in whose presence is ioy in whose pleasure is life to be banished from the presence louing countenance of the Lambe from the fellowship of Saints and Angells from all ioyes and felicity with that bitter sentence Goe from me yee cursed into euerlasting fire prepared for the Deuill and his angells Goe from mee these are words of separation yee cursed these are wordes of obiurgation into euerlasting fire these are words of desolation prepared for the Deuill and his Angels these are words of dolefull exemplification This is the greatest part of the second death for as the first death separateth the soule from the body so the second death separates soule and body from the presence of the Lord for euermore Oh vvhat vveeping and wayling wil there be when yee shall see Abraham Isaac and Iaacob intertayned into the Kingdome of God and yee your selues shut out Ye therefore spake truly that said The teares of hell are not sufficient to bewayle the losses of heauen Infoelicissimum genus infortunij meminisse fuisse foelicem that is it is the vnhappiest thing of all to thinke that euer we were happy Dura satis miseris memoratio prisca bonorum It is misery enough and though there were no more misery to remember the ioyes we haue lost As the olde man in the Poet sayd I haue a sonne nay alas I had a sonne so the damned may say Wee haue a heaueÌ„ nay alas we had a heauen Lysimachus King of Macedonia warring against the Scythians béeing inforced by extreme thirst to yéeld himselfe into the hands of his enemies after he had drunke colde water brake out into these lameÌ„table words Good God for how short a pleasure how great a Kingdome haue I lost So the damned soule may say Good God for how short a time of pleasure how great a Kingdome haue I lost And surely this is iust with GOD that those that separate themselues from him héere should bee banished from him hereafter That those that hate the Saints héere should be debarred their company hereafter that those that crucifie the Lambe here should be cursed of the Lambe euerlastingly hereafter The second thing that maketh Hell torments so bitter and intollerable is poena sensus the punishment of feeling Euery member of body and euery faculty of soule together tormented for euer The eye afflicted with darkenesse the eare with horrible and hideous outcries the nose with poisonous and stinking sauours the tongue with gallie bitternesse the whole body with intolerable fire a fire that shall burne so violently that the danmed shall prize a droppe of water aboue tenne thousand worlds The faculties of the soule also shall be most pitteously tormented the memory with pleasures past the apprehension with paines present the vnderstanding with ioyes lost and in this faculty shall lie the worm of conscience gnawing which the Scriptures so often threaten to sinners this worme is a continual repentance and sorrowful of rage and desperation by reason of their sins and this worme or remorse shall chiefly consist in bringing to their minds the meanes and causes of their present calamities how easily they might haue bin fréed from hell how often they haue beene inuited to heauen and they would none but now when they would they cannot And this worme biteth and gnaweth on the bowels of these miserable meÌ„ for euermore The will also shall be most grieuously
vicious example being part occasion therof his tormēts should be doubled nay centupled vpon him In hell therfore there being neither grace nor deuotion but still affected iniquity their torments must bee euerlasting The third reason Drawne from that stinging attribute of Gods iustice because life was offered them here and they would none it is iust with God that when in Hell they begge it they should goe without it yea that they should séeke death and neuer find it Once they were offered saluation being gone in Adam but that offer being neglected let them neuer looke for another O if this long torment were alwaies thought vpon it would make vs vse this short time of our life better they are Spirituall Lunatikes and worse than mad Bedlomites that will purchase an eternall torment for so short a pleasure I beséech you therfore beloued brethren for your soules sake which should bee more worth vnto you than a thousand worldes let not these infinite torments be passed ouer with a short or shallow consideration but write the remembrance of them in the inward parts of your soules with the Diamond of déepest meditation that so this Tophet may neuer be your destruction The seuenth and last part of the Description of Tophet set downe in these words The breath of the Lord like a riuer of brimstone doth kindle it In which words there is not onely a Prosopopeia in the breath but a Topographia in the brimstone vsed both which figures doe notably expresse the furious indignation of the Author and the fierce seuerity of the act the Author or Inflictour of all these fearefull punishments is the Lord God offended at whose anger the Heauens do melt the Earth quakes the whole Creation trembles into whose hands to fall is most fearefull For the Lord our God is a consuming fire The Lord is the decréer appointer and commaunder of all these fearefull torments and the Lord doth execute them vpon the damned both immediate immediately from himselfe mediate mediately by his instruments as by the deuils fire darkenes stinch and other creatures Feare therfore in the feare of God this fearefull and terrible name Iehouah that at the day of néed ye may find him a mild and gentle Lambe and not A roaring Lion of Iudah The seuerity of punishment is set downe by a double allegory Breath Brimstone To expresse the rage and tyranny of Saul against the Lambes of IESVS this word is vsed in the Actes And Saul yet breathing out threatnings and slaughter against the Disciples of the Lord c. So here to expresse the furious indignation of the Lord against sinners the Breath of the Lord is vsed Like a riuer of Brimstone The perplexing property of brimstone is to burne Darkely to grieue the sight Sharply to afflict the more Loathsomly to perplex the smell We reade in the Scriptures that the Lord being much prouoked punished not onely with fire but with burning brimstone which is tenne to one more terrible As vpon Sodome hee rained fire brimstone from heauen I will raine vpon him a sore raine haile-stones fire and brimstone Vpon the wicked God shall raine snares fire and brimstone and stormy tempest this shall bee their portion to drinke The beast and the false Prophet both aliue were cast into the Lake of fire and brimstone Oh who can expresse now the lamentation of Tophet for the breath of the Lord like a riuer of brimstone doth kindle it As this should bee of power to kéepe you from the least iniquity so it should possesse you with the knowledge of the right nature of sinne that it is the most odious and loathsome thing in the world A stinking carkase stinketh not so in the nostrils of man as a polluted sinner stinketh in the nostrils of almighty God As Plato sayth of vertue That if it could be seene with a bodily eye it is so splendid and glorious a thing as all the world would be rauished with the loue of her So may I say the contrary of vice That if sinne could bee seene in his owne colours and in his right Nature all the world would loath and vtterly detest it But miserable man the more is the pitty conceiueth not aright of sinne one would thinke that Adam had committed but a small sinne in eating the forbidden fruit at the intreaty of Eue yet he and all his posterity guilty of eternall death for the same One would thinke that that poore man had committed but a small fault In gathering a few chippes on the Sabbaoth day wée haue fouler matters committed on our Sabbaoths and goe vnpunished yet hee was stoned to death for his labour one would thinke that Ananias detayning part of the money and maintayning the contrary with a lie had committed but a small fault yet hee was strooke dead for the same at the féete of Peter one would thinke that an idle word were but a small sinne yet of euery idle word that men shall speake a great account must bee made for the same And as men conceiue of sinne so they imagine of punishment they thinke that the Lord will not deale so seuerely with them and yet my Text sayth That the breath of the LORD like a riuer of brimstone dooth kindle it The terror of whose wrath is indurable Hearken here all you that make but a sport of sinne looke vpon your punishments prescribed the least sinne that euer you haue committed being weighty as lead is able to sinke your soules downe to damnation Cease therefore from euill and doe that which is good Cast away the workes of darkenesse and put on the armour of light hate the little sinne as well as the great an idle thought as well as blasphemy make much of offered grace to saluation Christ now knocketh at the dore of your soules and would gladly come in and dwell with you For it is his delight to dwell with the sonnes of men shut him not out as did the Bethleemites Bid him not be gone as did the Gadarens but Bee yee open yee euerlasting doores that the King of glory may come in that you hauing giuen him entertainement héere hee may do the like by you hereafter placing you with the sheepe on his right hand and singing this blessed haruest-song vnto you Come ye blessed of my Father inherite the kingdom prepared for you from the beginning of the world To the which most blessed place of glory the LORD bring euery soule of vs at the day of our death and dissolution and that for IESVS CHRIST his sake to whom with GOD the Father and GOD the blessed Spirit three glorious persons but one immortal GOD be ascribed all honour and glory both in Heauen and Earth this day and euer Amen FINIS AN EARNEST AND ZEAlous Prayer to be saued from the damnation of TOPHET O Most glorious euerliuing and euerlouing Lord God the fountaine and well-spring of all our happinesse