shold they all bee wearied and the world come to an end before they should end their description make a perfect declaration what is comprehended in each one of these points This faith informeth thee also that the debts and duties which we owe to almightie God are so great that albeit a man had so many lives as there bee sands in the sea yet would they not suffice if they were all employed in his service And this faith likewise telleth thee that vertue is such an excellent treasure that all the treasures of the world and al that mans heart can desire are in no sort comparable unto it Wherefore if there be so many and so great respects that doe invite us unto vertue how commeth it to passe that there bee so few lovers and followers of the same If men be mooved with gaine and commodity what greater commoditie can there be than to attaine life everlasting If they be moved with fear of punishment what greater punishment can bee found than the most horrible everlasting dreadfull torments in the lake of fire and brimstone to continue even world without end If that bonds of debts and benefites what debts are greater than these which we owe unto the almightie God as well for that hee is which he is as also for that which wee have received of him If the feare of perils doe move us what greater perill can there bee than death the houre thereof being so uncertaine and the account so strait If thou be moved with peace libertie quietnes of mind and with a pleasant life which are things that all the world desires it is certaine that all these are found much better in the life that is governed by vertue and reason than in that life which is ruled by the affections and passions of the mind forsomuch as man is a reasonable creature and no beast Howbeit in case thou account all this as not sufficient to move thee thereunto yet let it suffice thee to consider further that even Almightie God so abased himselfe for thy sake that he descended from heaven unto the earth and became man and whereas he created the whole world in sixe dayes hee bestowed three and thirtie yeares about thy redemption yea and was also contented for the same to leese his life Almightie God died that sinne should die and yet for all this doe wee endeavor that sinne might live in our hearts notwithstanding that our Lord purposed to take away the life of sinne with his owne death If this matter were to be discussed with reason surely this alreadie spoken might suffice to prevaile with any reasonable creature for not onely in beholding Almightie God upon the crosse but whether soever we doe turn our eyes we shal find that every thing crieth out to us and calleth upon us to receive this so excellent a benefite for there is not a thing created in the world if we duly consider it but dooth invite us to the love and service of our Saviour Iesus Christ insomuch that looke how many creatures there be in the world so many preachers there are so many bookes so many voices and so manie reasons which doe all call us unto almighty God And how is it possible then that so many callings as these are so many promises so many threatnings and so many provocations should not suffice to bring us unto him What might almightie God have done more than hee hath done or promised more greater blessings than he hath promised or threatened more greevous and horrible torments than he hath threatned to draw us unto him and to pluck us away from sinne And yet all this notwithstanding howe commeth it to passe that there is so great I will not say arrogancie but bewitching of men that doe beleeve these things to bee certainely true and yet bee not afraid to continue all the dayes of their life in the committing of deadly sinnes Yea to goe to bed in deadly sinne and to rise up againe in deadly sinne and to embrue themselves in every kind of lothsome detestable and odious sinne even as though all their whole endeavours intended by the practise of sinne to resist all grace and favour in the sight of God And this is done in such sort so without feare so without scruple of mind so without breaking of one houres sleepe and without the refraining of anie one delicate morsell of meat for the same as if all that they beleeved were dreames and olde wives tales and as if all that the holy Evangelists have written were meere fiction and fables But tel me thou that art such a desperate wilfull rebell against thy Creator and Redeemer which by thy detestable life and dissolute conversation doest evidence thy selfe to be a firebrand prepared to burne in those everlasting and revenging horrible fires of hell What wouldest thou have done more than thou hast done in case thou haddest beene persuaded that all were meere lies which thou hast beleeved For although that for feare of incurring the daunger of the princes lawes and the execution of their force upon thee thou hast somewhat brideled thine appetites yet doth it not appeare that for any feare of Almightie God thou hast refrained thy will in any one thing neither from carnall pleasures nor from taking revenge of thine enemies nor from backbiting and slandering thy neighbours nor yet from fulfilling thine inordinate lusts and desires in case thine abilitie served thee thereunto Oh what dooth the worme of thy conscience say unto thee whiles thou art in such a fond securitie and confidence continuing in such a dissolute and wicked life as thou doest Where is now become the understanding judgement and reason which thou hast of a man Why art thou not afraid of so horrible so certaine and so assured perils and daungers If there were a dish of meat set before thee and some man albeit he were a lier should say unto thee refraine to touch and eat thereof for it is poysoned durst thou once adventure to stretch out thy hand to take a tast thereof though the meat were never so savorie and delicate and hee never so great a lier that should beare thee thus in hand If then the Prophets if the Apostles if the Evangelists yea if Almightie God himselfe doe crie out unto thee and say Take heed thou miserable man for death is in that kind of meat and death dooth lie lurking in that gluttonous morsell which the devill hath set before thee Howe darest thou reach for everlasting death with thine owne handes and drinke thine owne damnation Where is the applying of thy wits thy judgement and the discourse and reason which thou hast of a spirituall man Where is their light where is their force Sith that none of them doe bridle thee anie whit from thy common usuall vices Oh thou wretched and carelesse creature be witched by the common enemie Sathan adjudged to everlasting darkenesse both inward and outward and so doest goe from one darkenesse
untill feare enforce him to it but let us frame our premises as wee would find our conclusion endeavouring to live as wee are desirous to die let us not offer the maine crop to the devill and set God to gleane the reproofe of his harvest let us not gorge the Devill with our fairest fruits and turne God to the filthie scrapes of his leavings but let us truly dedicate both soule and bodie to his service whose right they are and whose service they owe that so in the evening of our life wee may retire to a Christian rest closing up the day of our life with a cleare sunne-set that leaving all darkenesse behind us we may carrie in our consciences the light of grace◠and so escaping the horrour of an eternall night passe from a mortall day to an everlasting morrow Farewell STrike saile poore soule in sins tempestuous tide That runst to ruine and eternall wracke Thy course from heaven is exceeding wide Hels gulfe thou ent'rest if grace guide not backe Sathan is Pilot in this navigation The Ocean sin the rocke hell and damnation Warre with the dragon and his whole alliance Renounce his league intends thy utter losse Take in sinnes flag of truce set out defiance Display Christs ensigne with the bloudie crosse Against a Faith-proofe armed Christian knight The hellish coward dares not mannage fight Resist him then if thou wilt victor be For so he flees and is disanimate His fierie darts can have no force at thee The shield of faith dooth all their points rebate He conquers none to his infernall den But yeelding slaves that wage not fight like men Those in the dungeon of eternall darke He hath enthralled everlasting date Branded with Reprobations cole-blacke marke Within the never-opening ramd up gate Where Dives rates one drop of water more Than any crowne that ever monarch wore Where furies haunt the harttorne wretch despaire Where clamours cease not teeth are ever gnashing Where wrath vengeance sit in horrours chaire Where quenchlesse flames of sulphur fire be flashing Where damned soules blaspheme God in despight Where utter darkenesse stands remov'd frō light Where plagues inviron torments compasse round Where anguish rores in never stinted sorrow Where woe woe woe is every voices sound Where night eternall never yeelds tomorrow Where damned tortures dreadfull shall persever So long as God is God so long is ever Finis ¶ Of the punishments which our Lord threateneth unto such as live a sinfull life ONe of the principall meanes that our Lord hath used oftentimes to bridle the harts of men and to draw them unto the obedience of his commaundements hath beene to set before their eyes the horrible plagues and punishments that are prepared for such persons as be rebels and transgressors of his law For althogh the hope of the rewards that are promised unto the good in the life to come may moove us very much hereunto yet are we commonly more mooved with things that bee irkesome unto us than with such as bee pleasant even as wee see by dayly experience that wee are vexed more with an injurie done unto us than delighted with any honour and wee are more troubled with sickenesse than comforted with health and so by the discommoditie of sickenesse we come to understand the commoditie of health as by a thing so much the better perceived by how much more it is sensibly felt Now for this cause did our Lord in times past use this mean more than any other as it appeareth most clearly by the writings of the Prophets which are every where full of dreadfull sayings and threatenings wherewith our Lord pretendeth to put a terrour into the hearts of men and so to bridle subdue them under the obedience of his law And for this end hee commaunded the prophet Ieremie That hee should take a white booke and write in the same all the threatnings and calamities which he had revealed unto him even from the first day he began to talke with him untill that present houre and that he should read the same in the presence of all the people to see if peradventure they would be moved therwith unto repentance and to chaunge their former life to the end that hee might also chaunge the determination of his wrath which hee had purposed to execute upon them And the holy Scripture sayth That when the Prophet had done according as he was commaunded by almighty God and had read al those threatenings in the presence of the people and of the rulers there arose such a feare and terror amongst them that they were all astonished and as it were bestraughted of their wits looking one in anothers face for the exceeding great fear which they had conceived of those words This was one of the principall meanes which almightie God used with men in the time of the law written and so hee did also in the time of the lawe of grace in which the holy Apostle sayth That as there is revealed a justice whereby God maketh men just so is there also revealed an indignation and wrath whereby hee punisheth the unjust for which cause S. Iohn Baptist the glorious forerunner of our Saviour Christ was sent with this commission and embassage to preach unto the world That the axe was now put to the roote of the tree and that everie tree that brought not foorth good fruite should bee cut downe and cast into the fire Hee said moreover That there was another come into the world more mightie than hee that carried in his hand a fanne to winnow and cleanse therewith his flower and that hee would put up the corne into his garner but the chaffe hee will burne in a fire that should never bee quenched This was the preaching and embassage which the holy fore-runner of our Savior Iesus Christ brought into the world And so great was the thunder of these wordes and the terrour which entered into mens hearts so dreadfull that there ran unto him of all estates and conditions of men even of the very Pharisees and Publicanes yea and souldiours also which of all others are woont to bee most dis solute and to have least care of their consciences and each of them demanded for himselfe particularly of that holy man what hee should doe to attaine unto salvation and to escape those terrible threatenings which hee had denounced unto them so great was the feare they had conceived of them And this is that deare Christian brother which I doe at this present in the behalfe of almightie God deliver unto thee althogh not with such fervencie of spirit and like holinesse of life yet that which importeth more in this case with the same truth and certainetie for so much as the faith and Gospell which S. Iohn Baptist then preached is even the same now taught Now if thou bee desirous to understand in few words how great the punishment is that almightie God hath threatened in his holy Scriptures to the wicked that which may most
mee what a day shall that bee when our Lord himselfe with all his Saints shall come meet thee in the way saying unto thee Arise and make hast O my beloved my delight and my Turtle dove for now the Winter is past and the tempestuous waters are ceased and flowers doe begin to appeare in our land Cant. 2. Howe great joy shall thy soule then receive when it shall bee at that time presented before the throne of the most blessed Trinitie by the hands of the holy Angels especially by that Angell to whom thou was committed as to a faithful keeper and when this Angell with all the rest shall declare thy good workes and what crosses tribulations and injuries thou hast suffered for Gods sake Acts 9. S. Luke writeth That when holy Tabitha the great almes giver was dead all the widdowes and poore folke came about the Apostle S. Peter shewing unto him the garments which she had given them where with the Apostle being moved made his prayer unto Almightie God for that so mercifull a woman and by his praiers he raised her again to life Now what a gladnesse will it be to thy soule when in the middest of those blessed spirits thou shalt bee placed with remembrance of thy almes deeds thy praiers and fastings the innocencie of thy lise thy suffering of wrongs and injuries thy patience in afflictions thy temperance in diet with all other vertues and good workes that thou hast done in all thy life O how great joy shalt thou receive at that time for all the good deedes that thou hast wrought how clearly then shalt thou understand the value the excellencie of vertue There the obedient man shall talk of victories there vertue shall receive her reward and the good honoured according to their merite Moreover what a pleasure will it bee unto thee when thou shalt see thy selfe to bee in that sure haven and shalt looke backe upon the course of thy navigation which thou hast sayled here in this life when thou shalt remember the tempests wherein thou hast been tossed the straits through which thou hast passed and the daungers of theeves and pyrats from whom thou hast escaped There is the place where they shall sing the song of the Prophet which sayth Had it not ben that our Lord had ben mine helper it could not be but my soule had gone into hell Especially when from thence thou shalt behold so many sinnes as are committed every houre in the world so many souls as doe descend every day into hell and how it hath pleased Almightie God that among such a multitude of damned persons thou shouldest bee of the number of his elect and one of those to whome hee would grant such exceeding great felicitie and glorie Besides all this what a goodly sight will it be to see those seats filled up and the citie builded and the wals of that noble Ierusalem repaired againe With what chearfull embracings shall the whole court of heaven entertaine them beholding them when they come loaden with the spoiles of their vanquished enemies there shall those valiant men and women enter with triumph which have together with the world conquered the weakenesse of their owne fraile nature There shall they enter which have suffred martirdom for Christs sake with double triumph over the flesh the world adorned with all coelestiall glorie There shall also daily enter many young men and children which have vanquished the tendernesse of their young yeares with discretion and vertue Oh how sweet and savorie shall the fruit of vertue then be although for a time before her roots seemed very bitter sweet is the cold evening after the hote sunnie day sweet is 〈…〉 â—ountaine to the weary 〈…〉 travailer sweet is 〈…〉 sleepe to the tired servaunt but much more sweet is it to the Saints in heaven to enjoy peace after warre securitie after perill eternall rest after their paines and travels for then are the warres at an end then need they no more to goe all armed both on the right side and on the left The children of Israel went forth armed towards the land of Promise but after that the land was conquered they laid downe their speares and cast awa◠〈…〉 armour and forget 〈…〉 and turmoile 〈…〉 each one under the shaddow of his pavillion and harbour enjoied the fruit of their sweet peace Now may the watching Prophet come down from his standing that did watch and fix his feet upon the place of the Sentinell There is no more feare of invasion by the terrible atmies of the bloudie enemies there is no place for the subtill crafts of the lurking viper there cannot arrive the deadly sight of the venomous Baseliske nor yet shall the hissing of the auncient serpent bee heard there but onely the soft breathing aire of the holy ghost wherein is beholden the glorie of Almightie God This is the region of all peace the place of securitie situated above all the elements whether the cloudes and stormie winds of the darke aire cannot come O what glorious things have been spoken of thee ô cittie of God Blessed are they saith holy Tobias that love thee and enjoy thy peace O my sould praise our Lord for he hath delivered Ierusalem his citie from all her troubles Happie shall I bee if the remnant of my posteritie might come to see the clearenesse of Ierusalem her gates shall bee wrought with Zaphirs and Emeraulds and all the circuit of her wals shall bee built with precious stones her streets shall bee paved with white and pollished marble and in all parts of her territories shall be sung Alleluia O joyfull countrey ô sweet glorie ô blessed companie who shall bee those so fortunate and happie that are elected for thee It seemeth a presumption to desire thee and yet I will not live without the desire of thee O yee sonnes of Adam a race of men miserably blinded and deceived O yee scattered sheepe wandering out of your right way if this be your sheep-coat whether goe you backeward What meane you Why suffer you such an excellent benefit to bee wilfully lost for not taking so little paines What wise man would not desire that all labour and paine of the world were imposed unto him that all sorrows afflictions diseases were even poured upon him as thicke as haile that persecutions tribulations greefs with one to molest him another to disquiet him yea that all creatures in the world did conspire against him being scorned made a laughing stocke of all men and that his whole life were converted into weepings and lamentations so that in the next life hee might find repose in the heavenly harbor of eternall consolation and be thought meet to have a place among that blessed people which are adorned and beautified with such inestimable glorie And thou ô foolish lover of this miserable world goe thy way seek as long as thou wilt for honors promotions build sumptuous houses palaces purchase lands and
thy sinnes past and the facilitie thou hast used in committing of them do not make thee afraid why doest thou not feare at the least the majesty and omnipotencie of him against whom thou hast sinned Lift up thine eyes and consider the infinit greatnesse and omnipotencie of the Lord whom the powers of heaven do adore before whose majestie the whole compasse of the wide world lyeth prostrate in whose presence all things created are no more than chaffe caried away with the wind Consider also with thy selfe how unseemely it is that such a vile worme as thou art should have audacitie so many times to offend and provoke the wrath of so great a majestie Consider the wonderful and most terrible severitie of his justice and what horrible punishments hee hath used from time to time in the world against sin and that not onely upon particular persons but also upon citties nations kingdomes and provinces yea upon the universall world And not onely in earth but also in heaven and not onely upon straungers sinners but even upon his owne most innocent sonne our sweet Saviour Iesus Christ when hee tooke upon him to satisfie for the debt that we owed And if this severitie was used upon greene and innocent wood and that for the sins of others what then will he doe upon drie and withered wood and against those that are loden with their owne sins Now what thing can bee thought more unreasonable than that such a fraile wretch as thou art should bee so saucie and malapert as to mocke with so mightie a Lord whose hand is so heavie that in case hee should strike but one stroke upon thee he would at one blow drive thee downe headlong into the deepe bottomelesse pit of hell without remedie Consider likewise the great patience of this our mercifull Lord who hath expected thy repentaunce so long even from the time that thou didst first offend him and thinke that if after so long patience and tarrying for thee thou shalt still continue thy leaud and sinfull life abusing thus his mercy and provoking him to further indignation wrath he will then bend his bow and shake his sword and raine downe upon thee even sharpe arrowes of everlasting wrath and death Consider also the profoundnesse of his deepe judgements whereof wee read and see daily so great wonders We see how king Salomon himselfe after his so great wisdome and after those three thousand parables and most profound mysteries uttered by him was forsaken by Almightie God and suffered to fall down and adore idols We see how one of those seven first deacons of the primative church which were ful of the holy ghost became not onely an hereticke but also an arch heriticke and a father of heresies Wee see daily many starres fall downe from heaven unto earth with miserable fals and to wallow themselves in the durt and to eat the meat of swine which sate before at Gods own table and were fed with the very bread of Angels If then the just and righteous for some secret pride or negligence or els for some ingratitude of theirs be thus justly forsaken of almightie God after they have bestowed so many yeares in his service What maiest thou looke for that hast done in a manner nothing els in all thy life time but onely heaped sinnes upon sinnes and hast thereby offended almighty God most greevously Now if thou hast lived after this sort were it not reason that thou shouldest now at the length give over and cease heaping sinne upon sinne and debt upon debt and begin to pacifie the wrath of Almightie God and to disburden thy sinfull soule Were it not meet that that time which thou hast hetherto given to the world to thy flesh and to the devill should suffice and that thou shouldest bestow some little time of that which remaineth to serve him who hath given thee all that thou hast Were it not a point of wisedome after so long time and so many great injuries to feare the most terrible justice of Almightie God who the more patiently hee suffereth sinners the more hee dooth afterwards punish them with severitie and justice Were it not meet for thee to feare thy long continuance so many yeares in sinne and in the displeasure of Almightie God procuring thereby against thee such a mightie adversarie as hee is and provoking him of a mercifull loving father to become thy severe terrible judge and enemie Were it not meet to feare least that the force of evill custome may in continuance of time be turned into nature and that thy long vicious usuall manner of committing sinne may make of a vice a necessitie or little lesse Why art thou not afraid least by little and little thou maiest cast thy selfe downe headlong into the deepe pit of a reprobate sence whereinto after that a man is once faln he never maketh account of any sinne bee it never so great The Patriarke Iacob said unto Laban his father in law These fourteene years have I served thee and looked to thine affaires now it is time that I should look to mine owne and begin to attend unto the affaires of mine owne houshold Wherefore if thou hast likewise bestowed so manie yeares in the service of this world and of this fraile transitorie life were it not good reason that thou shouldest now begin to make some provision for the salvation of thy soule and for the everlasting life to come There is nothing more short nor more transitorie than the life of man and therefore providing so carefully as thou doest for all such things as bee necessarie for this life which is so short why doest thou not provide likewise somewhat for the life that is to come which life shall endure for ever and ever ⧠The conclusion of all the premisses IF now all this bee so I beseech thee even for the bitter passion of our sweet saviour Iesus Christ to remember thyselfe and consider that thou art a Christian and that thou beleevest assuredly for a most undoubted truth whatsoever the true faith instructeth thee This faith telleth thee that thou hast a judge above that seeth all the steps and motions of thy life and that certainely there shall a day come when he will require an account of thee even for every idle word This faith teacheth thee That a man is not altogether at an end when he dieth but that after this temporal life there remaineth another everlasting life and that the souls die not with the bodies but that whiles the bodie remaineth in the grave untill the generall day of judgement the soule shall enter into another new countrey and into a new world where it shall have such habitation and companie as the faith workes were which it had in this life This faith telleth thee also that both the reward of vertue and the punishment of vice is a thing so wonderfull that although the whole world were full of bookes and all creatures were writers yet