commaund as thou imaginest watch and sleepe not be euer warie well aduised If otherwise hee will come vnto thee as accustometh the thiefe to come to rob and spoile will on a suddaine at vnawares catch apprehend thee before thou canst know or perceiue on what houre he is to come The thiefe comes to steale and to carie away the treasure which he shall finde heedlesly layed vp and which is not kept with that due regard and carefulnesse as behoued and such is Time in the house of the sinner And therefore with good and iust reasons will the Lord cut it off because it was not regarded and imployed to that end whereby good gaine and profitable exchange yea great riches blessings and eternall happinesse might haue bin had and obtained Conformable to this sayeth our Sauiour by his Euangelist S. Matthew Mat. 25.29 He that hath shall haue more and from him that hath not shall be taken away that which hee hath or seems to haue The iust man apprehends Time as his owne and is Lord thereof for that hee well knoweth how to vse it and to him that hath time at the end of his life more time and space shall be giuen him to examine himselfe to purifie his conscience and shall haue aboundance because hee shal obtaine full remission and compleat pardon of all his sinnes plentifull grace and glory infinite And hee possesseth no Time who while hee liueth doth not well imploy the same but being seduced and deceiued by the Diuell with prolonging of amendment thinkes that he shall enioy sufficient by the iust Iudgement of God shall be bereaued of his vaine expectation and shal want space to repent either by some sodain death or by some other disgracefull and vnfortunate accident Thus farre Bernardin Senensis And for that cause doth our Lord and Sauiour admonish vs so often Mat. 25.13 that wee watch because we knowe not the day nor the houre wherein Time will make an end of vs. And the holy Church semblably like a louing and cōpassionate Mother doth aduise vs the very same saying Let vs reforme and amend that which hitherto we haue most ignorantlie or wilfully transgressed considering that no Time of repentance will be hereafter left vs which though we seeke for yet shall not we obtaine the same And to this purpose as God cuts the thrid of life before the time from him who profited not with Time in his seruice Bern. de Sena Bernardinus de Sena reporteth a most terrible and fearefull accident which in his time happened in a certain village of Catalunna neare to the kingdome of Valencia A young man of the age of eighteene yeares hauing beene most rebellious disobedient towards his Parents did many times loose and forget the regard and respect due vnto them In punishment whereof God leauing him to himselfe came to be a most notorious Thiefe for robberies being apprehended and condemned to die was brought to be hanged to the market place of his owne Towne And the young man being dead hanging vpō the gallowes and all the whole Towne present they saw and perceiued his beard to sprout out much haire to grow to remaine with a wrinkled brow a writhen face full of gray haires with the aspect and semblance of a man of ninety yeares a thing whereat all were astonied and wonderfully amazed which accident being brought to the knowledge of the Bishop who then resided in that Village commanded that all should prepare themselues to prayer himselfe performing the same most humbly beseeched Almightie God that he would bee pleased to reueale vnto them the mysterie of so rare an accident and after a pretie while intreated silence and speaking with a loud voyce sayd thus You see my Sonnes that this young man died of the age of eighteene yeares who afterwards appeared and seemed with the visage and countenance of a man of ninetie yeares whereupon you are to note what God would haue vs to be instructed of namely that after the course of nature he was vndoubtedly to liue ninety yeares and so would haue done had he beene obedient to his Parents but in regard of his sins and disobedience the Lord hath permitted him to die a violent death cutting off from his life so many yeares as are from eighteen to ninetie And because this might be manifest and apparant to al men he hath wrought this miracle S. Ierome saith Hieron Epist 21. that the shortnesse of life is a punishment and iudgement against sinners and therefore because of sinne the Lord from the beginning of the world hath shortened and cut off the life and yeares of men Once God withdrew from Hezehiah fifteene yeares of his life Isaiae 38.1 which according to the course of nature he was to liue but afterwardes by meanes of his Teares and hartie repentance Ver. 3. they were restored and granted vnto him againe And so Haymo vpon those words of the Prophet Isaiah Haymo in Isaian 38.5 The Lord hard thy Prayer and hath seene thy teares and will adde vnto thy dayes fifteene yeares saith thus euen as he spake to Adam that he should be immortall conditionally so as he continued obedient to the diuine precept so by God his eternall Decree those years were granted to King Hezechias conditionally if he liued faultlesse and blamelesse and would not suffer himselfe to be puft vp with pride For those yeares which for his pride should haue bene taken from him nowe because of his humility and lowlinesse were restored againe Psa 55.23 Viri sanguinum dolosi non dimidiabunt dies suos saith Dauid The bloudy and deceitfull men shall not liue halfe their daies That is as if more plainely he had sayd They shall not liue the one halfe of the dayes they should haue liued in case they had beene godly Sinners are not the men whom they think and imagine they are For as our Sauiour sayd to the Iewes Auferetur a vobis regnum Dei c. Mat. 21.43 The kingdome of God shall be taken from you and shall be giuen to a Nation which shall bring foorth good fruit and shall better know how to acknowledge and estimate thereof So will God bereaue sinners of Time because they yeelde no fruit of good workes in the same and will bestow it on such as will yeeld good fruite and likewise knowe how to imploy the same well Those words of Dauid in his 102. Psalme Nereuoces me in dimidio dierum meorum Psal 102.24 wherein he beseeched the Lord that he would not take him away out of this life in the middest of his dayes albeit according to some interpreters are as much to say as Oh my God I hartily beseech thee not to take me away in the middest of my dayes because that time and age is the very gulfe wracke of life the nest of cares and pretensions and more dangerous to die in then
Present and the Time to be Could a man tell or were there mortall wight So farre aboue earth raised to that hight That heauens dimensions he could clearly see Better that man were to report from thee The Benefites mortallity might raise From thy iust labours then th' vncertaine praise Attending books which not their worth can free From the Taxation which foule Enuie laies On Vertues faire-selfe and with hellish spight Is euer blasting the deserued Bayes That should adorne her But receiue this right From TIME it selfe that must thy fortresse be Whose perfect vse is onely taught by thee M. Drayton The Authors besides sacred Scriptures who are cited in this present Treatise A Alphonsus de Castro S. Ambrose Andreas Bishop of Caesarea Aristotle S. Augustine B S. Basil Bede the venerable Bernardinus de Sena S. Bernard Bonauenture C Cassianus Cesarius Helisterbacchensis S. Chrysostome D Dion Cassius Dionysius Carthusianus E Elianus Euthymius G Gregory Nissen Gregory the Pope H Haymo Horace I S. Ierome Iohn Chrysostome Iohn Damascen Iohn Orozeus Iohn Stobeus L Laertius Laurence Iustinian Ludouicus Blosius M Maldonatus N Nicholas Diukespu O Origen Ouid. P Plutarch S Salmeron Seneca Simon de Cassia Suarez T Thaulerus Theodoret. Thomas Aquinas Thomas Kempis V Viegas Virgil. Z Zedrenus CHAP. I. What a precious Iewel TIME is IT is the maner and stile of the sacred Scripture that whē any notable cause of importancie is shewed and noted vnto vs some wonderfull vision or miraculous type euer goeth before which doth awake stirre vp our spirits and senses for attention leauing them in suspense and admiration as very ordinarily may bee seene in the booke of the Prophets and specially in the Reuelation of the blessed Euangelist Saint Iohn where amongst many other admirable visions strange figures chiefely that is to bee noted which hee hath vvritten in the tenth Chapter which together with those wordes of the Apostle in his Epistle to them of Ephesus Ephes 5 16. Redeeme the Time because the dayes are euill shall bee the very Theame or ground of this our Treatise and exhortation saying Reue. 10.1 that then hee sawe a mightie Angell come downe from heauen cloathed with a cloude and that hee wore vpon his heade in steede of a Dyademe the rainebow and his face shined as the Sunne in midday His feet were as pillers of fire And he had in his hande a little Booke open Ver. 2. and hee put his right foote vpon the Sea and his left vpon the earth 3. And cried with a loud voice after the maner of a Lyon when he roareth 5. and lifting vp his finger towards heauen 6. sware by him that liueth for euermore which created heauen and the earth and the Sea all things in them conteined That from the daies of the seauenth Angell there should neuer be any more TIME And briefly to manifest the mysteries which here are comprised Refert illos Viegas in Apoc. cap. 10 Andreas Episc Cesareae in c. 5. Apoc. Act. 1.2 This Angell according to the exposition of many Authors is Christ our Lord the Angell of the great Councell or els is one of the blessed Angels which representeth his person and executeth the office of Legat-ship as his Imbassadour He came downe from Heauen because visibly he is to discend from thence in a cloude shining with great power and maiestie to iudge the whole world Howbeit his comming clothed with a cloud doth signifie the confusion and turmoile which shall happen as well in those last dayes as also in that space and time in which the persecution of Antichrist shall indure when specially they shall behold those hideous signes and terrible tokens which are to happen before the day of the vniuersall Iudgement are euery moment to expect that fearfull presence of the Iudge The Raine-bow signifies peace and the Fire wrath furiousnesse and punishment and in those two extremities of mans body which are the feet and the head both the end and beginning thereof viz. both top toe are pourtrayed both the commings of our Sauiour CHRIST into the world The first was of meere mercie to make peace and attonement betweene God and men and because of that for his Escutchion and speciall difference hee bare vpon his head the Raine-bow of heauen in token that the Deluge of his former anger displeasure and passed punishment were now ceased And in the latter comming hee shall come as Iudge and therefore hee shall carrie feete of fire which betokens inflexible rigour and terrible wrath Ignis ante ipsum praecedet Psal 50.3 saith Dauid There shall goe before him a consuming fire The Forme and shape of the Pillars signifies the mighty strength and force he shall haue for the execution of his final sentence and last Iudgement The Booke open in his hand in respect of his God-head representeth the eternal wisdom he hath for the which he appropriateth to himselfe the office of Iudge in respect of his Manhood it signifieth the absolute knowledge he apprehendeth to vnderstād the worth worthines of the causes processe and actions of all the sonnes of Adam and the scroll or proclamation of the diuine lawe wherevpō they are to be iudged The putting of one foote vpon the Sea the other vpon the Land is as much to say as that he imbraceth cōpasseth comprehendeth all things sea and land earth and water that nothing can escape his hands free it selfe frō his power Psal 139. ver 3. 8. nor be hid from his presence The roaring as of a Lyon signifieth the wrath and vengeance wherewith hee shall pronoūce sentence against the condemned ones And the solemne oath signifieth the infallible certaintie assurednesse he shall haue in the accomplishment and execution of those things before prophecied preached to the people which in the dayes of the seuenth Angell when they shall heare that fearefull Trumpet sounding and summoning all the sonnes of Adam to Iudgement shall ende and finish the Time for euer afterwardes and they who made no profit thereof when they had it but haue deferred their good works vntill the vttermost day last houre of their liues shall eternally remaine without it And that publike sounding and proclamation of the Angell with such and so many circumstances That on some day Time should ende and cease when that should be is to giue vs intelligence that wee may vnderstand of what price value and estimation and what a great benefite of God bestowed vpon vs it is that hee hath made vs Lords of the same all the dayes of our liues And on the contrary what a great crosse and punishment is it for othersome to bee absolutely bereaued therof and to haue it quite taken away from thē as a thing by them mispent and ill imployed To manifest what a pretious thing Time shall be it sufficeth onely to know that in one instance of time one may gaine infinite eternitie
in olde and decrepit age and is not so secure nor of such confidence and assurance Yet others expound them to the purpose we now treate of that is to say in other tearmes O Lord I feare and tremble that for my demerits and sinnes and for hauing so ill imployed my Time my life be cut off or shortened which is a punishment thou art wont to inflict vpon some who runne on in their wickednesse not regarding the exceeding infinite finite worth of Time And therefore do I earnestly entreate thee that I be not vnseasonably cut off taken away in the middest of my dayes but that thou suffer and permit me to inioy fully to accomplish the residue of my yeares which thou in thy determination hast appointed I should liue if I persisted obedient in thy seruice as I ought That holy and blessed man Iob the mirrour and patterne of all patience also saith speaking of the sinfull man Iob. 15.32 Antequam dies eius impleantur peribit c. Before that hee accomplish his dayes hee shall die and his hand shall be cut off as the vine in the bud that is to say God will take him away and shall cut him off in the blade being young and tender and shall fade and wither away before his time and in the middest of his dayes shal be bereaued of his life as being an vnworthie and vniust possessour thereof Ouer besides THIS being a great punishment in this life in the other the remembrance of Time which they enioyed suffered to passe away without any profit shall be a great paine and grieuous torment to the condemned ones and therfore shall then though all to late beholde and bewaile the lack and want of so precious a iewell Holy S. Bernard Bern. ser de fallâ—â— praesentis vitae Sap. 2. in a Sermon intituled of the fallacie and deceipt of this present life very elegantly declareth how it bewitcheth and deceiueth Sinners sometimes protracting and making their lyues long large whereby they might so defer and prolong their conuersion and amendement in such sort as they neuer afterwards amend indeede or are reclaimed and othertimes abridging it and making it short whereby they may truly say That life is short is but a blast and therefore let vs make hast to glut our selues with all maner of delights pleasures of the worlde Wherupon he saith that God amongst other things cutteth off such persons in the middest of their greedie appetites and licentiousnes for their impudencie in offending and bereaueth theÌ„ both of Time and of their lyues because such who of their owne accord haue no regard to leaue their wicked wayes GOD cutteth off before their time and chargeth them with death and by force constraineth them to forbeare to sinne any further And for that respect many sinners die verie improuidently vnwillinglie which the worlde iudgeth to happen vnto them by some accident or hidden indisposition or for some manifest casuastie pretending besides that those daies wherein they liued not in sinne were not true daies nor the life that they leade true life but painted and appearing Whereupon they are called in the holy Scripture Dead sinners 1. Tim. 5.6 Apoc. 3.1 The Widdowe saith the Apostle who liueth in pleasure is dead while she liueth And our Sauiour saith in the Reuelation vnto a certain Bishop who liued not as he ought Thou hast a name that thou liuest and the world thinkes no lesse but thou art not liuing but dead and for such I repute thee to be coÌ„sidering that thy soule remaineth dead within that liuing body of thine So as the sinner hath no life in deed but onely a name that he liueth To conclude therefore if that Time which the wicked vainely misspend and abuse cannot properly be termed a Time of life and that God oftentimes shorteneth the life and dayes of the wicked then doe they not nor shall LIVE as the worlde imagineth but shall be very poore sparing of dayes that is They shall die very timeously and speedily Contrariwise vpright and iust men shall be full of dayes and shall liue farre longer then the world supposeth for the Lord will not gather them into his barne vntill it be due season CHAP. 4. He that now inioyeth the benefit of TIME must with great feruencie and zeale labour to imploy it altogether well IF Time bee such a precious iewel bestowed vpon vs to do good workes and to labour in the vineyard of our Sauiour all the day long vntill Sunne set And if we profit not our selues therewith we may feare and tremble that it will be taken away from vs and that we shall want the same when we most desire and haue neede thereof It is good reason therefore that we imploy it well and that in the meane time with great earnestnes and zeale we labour in our vocation So Ecclesiastes aduiseth vs saying Eccles 9.10 Let thy hand labour ALL that it may and that with earnestnesse diligence feruencie and hast he sayth All as if he had sayd Let no good thought or imagination ouerslippe thee which thou mayst obtaine nor any good word which thou mayest heare Omit not any thing thou oughtest to vtter nor any good worke thou mayest performe forgoing neither occasion opportunitie nor time to do good And further he saith That which THY hand and not that which a stranger or another mans hand doth because thou must not rely or repose thy saluation vpon the hands power or streÌ„gth of any other neither oughtest thou imagine that thy seruant or thy friend or any other worldly person ought to gaine Heauen for thee thy selfe playing the Trewant and continuing lazie Thy hand and thy arme are to performe it and are to labor with greedinesse earnestnesse carefulnesse and zeale because life flits away and when thou least suspectest Thy Sun will set Reioyce that thou hast laboured much because thy rest and reward shall be so much the greater And the reason which the Preacher yeeldeth for al aboue sayd is because that after this life no worke either of reason or of vnderstanding or any act of will or of any other power shal be of worth nor of profit to gaine thereby grace or glory The seuen fertile yeares prefigured by the seuen fat kine Gen. 41.2 which king Pharao saw in his dreame do signifie the time of this life which by weekes whereof euery weeke comprehendeth seuen dayes goeth on with an alternatiue continuation succession wheeling about prosequuting his path but afterwards will come other seuen yeares which wil be al that which shall remaine in the other life which is without end prefigured by the seauen leane and hunger-starued kine Vers 3. barren and without fruit of desert For which cause in imitation of that discreet and wise man Ioseph Exod. 16.16 Now Brother fill thy granarie and storehouse make prouision against the time of want and famine because if thou
waite to gather Manna for the Sabbaoth day of the other life it will profit thee no whit but rather will be conuerted into wormes For therby wil remain in thy Soule whereof we now speake a perpetuall worme and sting of conscience Rachel was most faire Gen. 30.1 and beautiful aboue measure but barren withall and though Leah was not so well fauored yet was she fruitfull The other life is most beautifull and excellent but is sayd to be barren because there is no place for repentance good works proper vnto this present life the which though in comparison it be browne duskish foule laborious yet notwithstāding is fruitfull and fertile and apprehendeth that soueraigntie which causeth and produceth works both good and acceptable vnto God with the encrease of grace and assured hope of glorie and he who at first doth not respect these things and with alacritie and patience vnder go his labour and suffer griefe and tribulation and daily busie himselfe about good exercises cannot hope hereafter to enioy the exceeding and excellent beautie of Rachel the other life Matt. 20.7 Then be carefull thou Christian to labour and worke heere All that thou canst because hereafter thou canst not possibly doe it We are mercenarie workemen and hirelings and therefore there is no reason we should passe away our liues idlely nor in delights pleasures and dainties as though wee were great Magnificoes or Gentlemen of high reputation Before Adam had sinned GOD placed him in the Paradise of pleasure Gen. 2.15 the which he ordained for him that he should labour in that gardeine that in that lodge or pallace of pleasure he should be intertained spend his time and solace himselfe But after he had sinned he was banished out of Paradise and was made a labourer and a workeman of the terrestriall vineyard Considering therefore the case standeth thus labour and make speed my friend if thou beest desirous to liue without staine or spot of sinne and to end thy dayes in all ioy and spiritual happinesse Because this is not rightlie vnderstoode or rather because few indeauour or care to vnderstande and consider the same as they ought men now a dayes conuert this vineyard into gardens places of mirth and pleasure and passe away their lyues in all kind of sensuality and delight Who are rightly compared vnto king Ahaz of whō it is written 2. Reg. 16. that as hee beheld the Altar of Damascus he sent from that Citie the true patterne and platforme therof vnto Vriah the priest that thereby hee might frame and make an Altar according to the kings order and direction but the Altar of brasse and of mettall Ver. 8. which stoode till that day before the Lord hee took away out of the Temple and from before his presence That I say manie Christians now adayes doe practise who embrace Religion worship God but vpon the Altar of the Gentiles liuing as though they were Gentiles or heathen men enioying so much so many dainties pleasant tastes and delicates they can procure and attaine vnto they fall straightwayes to all such things as their appetites can wish and demaund without making of anie maner resistance they labour to fulfill and perform what their sensualities shal long and lust after Correct and chastice thou Christian man that body of thine tame subdue it busie thy selfe in the workes of a Christian labourer worke in thy vineyard dresse and prune it digge and delue it plough it tyll and manure the inheritance of thy soule and thou shalt see how thy sensuality will forgoe and forget her heady wilfulnesse her gallant brauerie and wantonnesse there shall not be found in the same such store of bryer-bushes nor so many thornie brambles and sharpe pricking thistles of Sinnes as otherwise there should So because the children of Israel should not be multiplied Exod. 1 1◠nor recouer any head or strength but that they should be kept vnder and solde Pharao made them worke and labour and appointed them ordinarie tasks which were not smal Knowe and acknowledge thou Christian the good time and the good day hourd them vp in store reserue them in thy store-house whereby that may not be said of thee which was spokē of the Hebrues The Kite the Storke Isaix 10. and the Swallow do know their times and seasons and well vnderstand the due value thereof and profit thereby But Israel neither knoweth nor regardeth the time of his visitation nor vnderstandeth how to profit by the occasion thereof and therfore shall some day weepe and lament most bitterly and shall much long for wish euen that which now hee neither esteemeth nor regardeth The people of Israel perceiuing the riuer of Iordan to be dry were therefore secure in the passage and least they should loose so good an opportunitie they made hast to passe ouer Iosuae 4.10 and indeede passed ouer most safely But if they had deferred their iourney till another day peraduenture they should haue come short found the passage shut vp We cannot secure to our selues the morrow and if this day thou mayest deferre it not let it not ouerpasse thee but conuert thy selfe to God for it may bee that to morrow thou shalt not be able or canst not Psal 95 7. To day saith Dauid if you will heare the voyce of the Lord who inuiteth and calleth you to repentance and to amendment of life poast it not ouer so hardening your harts Verse 8. and defer not till another day Consider thou miserable wretch thou blinde and ignorant Sinner that the Diuell to deceiue and delude thee saith Bestow vpon mee this day and the morrow thou shalt giue to God and to morrow hee will reiterate and say vnto thee the very same and so hee will cosen and vndoe thee S. Basil saith Basil hom 13 exhort ad Bapt. That he noted a most meruailous subtle shift of a certaine litle Bird which according to Elianus is the Partridge which perceiuing the Fowler to draw neere towards her nest where her young lay fearing that if hee had come any nearer he would haue made a pray of them all wherefore in respect they could not well flie she skipt out of her neast and lighted hard by him putting him in hope that hee might speedily catch her hauing her yong ones as he now imagined sure in his hands of purpose to make him to follow her into by-pathes and whereby he might forget to finde againe her litle young ones When the Fowler drew neare towardes the Partridge and thought himselfe sure of her shee suddainly flurted vp and alighted som short distance before him and after that maner alwayes flying and staying or rather limping and hopping still neare abouts him shee deceaued the Fowler by intertaining and withdrawing him aloofe so farre till at length her young ones by litle litle with short leapes and easie flight had prouided for themselues and digged
what houre his Lord and Master will come Luc. 12.40.46 and that he be alwayes prouided in a readines with the accounting Booke of Receipts and Defrayments of Charges and Allowances against the Time he shall come to demaund an account of the Talents Mat. 25.19 which were vppon trust committed vnto his charge and deliuered to be kept that now they should be restored and of the increase and profite of the Vineyard which was rented and farmed vnto him and of his traffique and imployment All which is a manifest argumēt or signe that at all times the Lord expecteth that man beare fruite and be prepared as a faithfull and wise Seruant And he calleth his Time all the time of his life because that after the same as the Angell most solemnly hath sworn it There should be no more Time Apoc. 10.6 The tree which the Euangelist S. Iohn in his Reuelation did see which alwayes cōtinued with fruit and euery moneth yeelded his owne Apoc. 22.2 all which was wholesome and profitable yea the very leaues therof represent the iust man who alwayes beareth fruite at all times and in all the moneths of the yeare and throughout his whole age and all that is in him is good profitable as well thoughts words as deedes CHAP. 5. How worthy of reproofe idle persons are and who they be Seneca de breuitate vitae AMongest all men saith Seneca they onely are deemed idle who imploy and addict themselues to the studie and exercise of wisedome and knowledge albeit indeed they onely doe liue seeing they doe not onely preserue and liue out their own yeares and ages but also adde vnto their dayes the fore-passed times of former ages because they haue the fruition of that which in those dayes was registred for the behoofe of insuing posteritie whereof they reape great commodity and profit Which Idlenesse hauing bin so well imployed is laudable and prayse-worthy but excepting this al other idlenes which properly is idlenes indeed is most worthily to be reprehended For as the Bird was created to flie Iob. 15. so was Mán borne to labour And touching that Idlenes the same Seneca saith that it is the liuing mans sepulchre and that the healthful idle person loyterer that followeth nothing but idlenesse being as it were interred and buried therein is in great danger of falling into many offences against God Wherefore Ecclesiasticus saith Eccle. 33.26 That Idlenesse hath taught much malice and enuie A certaine Schooleman termeth Idlenesse Fr. Francis in sua regula the Enemie of the Soule Aug ad fra tres in Eremo ser 19. And S. Augustine writeth that no friend of idlenesse shall or can be any Citizen in the kingdome of Heauen Chrysost hom 8. in cap. 4. ad Ephes S. Chrysostome affirmeth that Idlenesse is a part of vice or rather no part at all but a most wicked peruerse root yea the very cause and occasion of all vices whereof Idlenesse is the Ringleader and Mistris That great Anthonie with lowde shrikes and sorrowfull lamentation to God almighty cried out in the wildernesse saying O my God and my Lord thou true Samaritane and right keeper and protectour of Soules and of bodies raise in me thy grace afford me such fauour and bestowe vpon thy Seruant so much mercy as that thou permit me not to be idle one iote in this Desert whereunto in like maner as the storie reporteth a voyce from heauen made him this answere Anthony thou hast rightly desired to please God Then pray when thou canst not pray labor and do some handy-work and alwayes imploy thy selfe in some one thing or other performing such thinges which on thy part are to be performed and done and then shalt thou neuer faile or misse the diuine fauour It was the opinion of the Fathers who liued in Egypt Cassian lib. 10. collat c. 3. That one onely Diuell tempted a labouring Monke but many the idle Howbeit because many thinges are written concerning and against that kinde of idlenesse my principall intent and chiefe purpose is not to intreat thereof so much as of spirituall Idlenesse Against which I will proceede freeing many of errour in that point who in their owne conceipt and imagination are much occupied manifesting and prouing with sufficiēt reasons how they are idle and how they with-holde Time captiuated imprisoned For which purpose I say hee is idle who vseth not Time conformable to that end whereto by our Lord it was graunted vnto vs but rather imployeth it in things vnlawfull and vniust which neither tendeth nor can be directed to his seruice nor to the benefit or profit of his Neighbour or about some other businesses which cānot be perfected or brought to passe for any honest or laudable end And so all Officers Labourers Marchants Tradesmen Workmen Hirelings Kings Princes Counsailors Aduocates Ministers Seruants and all maner of persons that are such doe as it were couer heauē with their Mantles and with-holde Time captiuated when they occupy and busie themselues in and about workes actions exercises and seruices which are vnlawfull and prohibited by the Lawes Decrees Constitutions diuine or not to that end and intent they ought or else doe liue so secure and retchlesse that they do no worke that is good or acceptable vnto God And therefore as before wee haue spoken Time was bestowed on man not to doe euill nor to be idle and he that is ill occupied is reckoned and accounted as idle before God In vaine hath he receaued a Soule Psal 15. who alwayes offendeth GOD with the same In vaine hath euery Sinner had all that Time wherein he liued in sinne and in vaine haue all those now the same who continue therein and for all the time their soules haue remained idle within them notwithstanding that they haue profited as touching the world and reaped benefit thereby and enioy the vse of their strengthes powers for other works actions exercises and seruices but as for the principall end whereto GOD graunted the same which was that they should serue him as acknowledged Seneca at length when hee said Seneca That God created all other thinges of the world for the vse of humane body the body for the fiue senses and the Senses for the Soule and the soule to contemplate and loue the diuine Beauty All the Time they spend and wast sinfully or doe not imploy thēselues in thinges about the seruice of God is idle and vaine And yet for all that you will say that the King is busie or a Counsailour or some Officer or Minister c. But I will terme such a one an idle Christian a loyterer or idle workman in the house of God millions of persons do remaine in hell for their idle loytering in that kinde of Idlenesse who in their owne imagination thinke themselues greatly occupied in this world All houres spent and consumed in vnlawfull playes murmuration