Timbrell and Pipe and Wine are in their feastes but they regard not the worke of the Lord. Iob. 21.12 And againe They take the Tabret and Harpe and reioyce in the sound of the Organs They spend their daies in wealth and suddainly they goe down to the graue They say also vnto God depart from vs for wee desire not the knowledge of thy waies c. That is to say we wil not walke in that straite way which thou commandest vs to walke in but we wil goe the broad way 53 When the Phrigians first became christian the gouernor of the citie desired to be resolued by the Bishop who was then about to baptise him of this question namely whether those that shal be saued or those that shal be damned shal be the greater number The bishop answered that the greater number should be lost And I quoth the Gouernour will do as the most doe and so refused his Baptisme Many men at thsi day peraduenture will be ashamed openly to say thus as this Gouernour did and yet in déeds proclaime it 54 Wherefore the greater part of men shal be adiudged to euerlasting paines Few are chosen Many goe the broad way Fewe there be that enter the straite gate the which is not onely proued vnto vs by wordes but also by many tipes and figures of the scripture 55 God in that old world wherin Noah liued entred into iudgement with mankind Gen. 7. and destroyed the euill and the wicked with the flood but saued the good and godly And how many were saued in that great multitude A few saith Saint Peter that is to say 2. Pet. 2.5 eight soules c. 56 Furthermore in the dayes of Abraham by another figure hée setteth before our eyes the small number of them that shal be saued Gen. 19. for when hee destroyed Sodom and Gomorrah with fire and brimstone from heauen hee among so many people saued only thrée 57 Moreouer in the time of Moses 1. Cor. 10. God brought the people of Israel out of Egypt to plant them in the land of promise a land flowing with milke and hony All which things happened to them in a figure and were done to admonish vs vpon whom the endes of the world are come How many were ther think you of this people which came out of Egypt Six hundred thrée thousand Num. 1. fiue hundred and fifty beside women and children and old men How many of this excéeding multitude entered into the lande of promise Num. 26. No more but Iosua and Caleb 58 To conclude what other thing was the transfiguration of the Lord in the mount but a most manifest figure of blessednes but how many were admitted to this blessednes onely fiue Moses Helias Peter Iames and Iohn to giue vs to vnderstand not only that they are few that shal be saued because there are but few Christians Mat. 17.1 if they bée compared with Ethnicks Iews Sarasins Heretikes and such like which without al doubt perish but also because among Christans few shall be saued Wherefore whosoeuer loueth God truly and his owne soule let him labour and striue to enter in at the straite gate during the time of this pilgrimage CHAP. VI. Concernining repentance without delay IEsus the son of Syrach 2. Eccle. 5. giueth vs a very profitable admonition to turne vnto God from sinne and wickednesse so spéedily as possibly we can in these words Because thy sin is forgiuen be not without feare to heape sinne vpon sinne And say not the mercy of God is great he will forgiue my manifold sinnes for mercy and wrath come from him and his indignation commeth downe vpon sinners Make no tarrying to turne vnto the Lord and put not off from day to day for sodainly shall the wrath of the Lord breake forth and in thy security thou shalt be destroyed Also Eccle. 12. Salomon to the same effect giueth vs most excellent counsail saying Remember now thy Creator in the dayes of thy youth while the euill dayes come not nor the yeares approach wherein thou shalt say I haue no pleasure in them Héereunto agreeth the saying of Saint Augustine Age poenitentiam dum sanus es sic si ages dico tibi quod securus es quia poenitentiam egisti eo tempore quo peccare potuisti that is Repent thee while thou art in health so doing I say vnto thee thou art without dāger because thou hast repented at what time thou mightest haue sinned 2 Although these diuine testimonies might satisfie a christian man that their hope is vaine and full of perill which deferre their conuersion and repentance albeit but for one houre yet it shal be shewed by other reasons that it may the more plainely appeare how néedful a thing it is for man with all spéede to repent him 3 There are foure principal causes why a man cannot without great labour and difficulty forsake sinne and followe righteousnesse The first cause is a custome of sinning the which being now made as it were another nature can very hardly be ouercome For as Mithridates vsed to eate poyson so long that nature in the ende could very wel brooke and digest it and the people called Gemerij are so well acquainted with darknesse wherein they liue continually that they cannot well endure the light Euen so men that liue continually in sinne and wickednesse thus brought vs to his allure then his care is to hold vs still in his bondage and for feare that we should make conscience of sinne and so turne vnto the Lord by repentance he putteth a faire vizor ouer the ougly face of sinne and so disguiseth her that the proud person which excéedeth in apparell saith that his or her pride is cleanlinesse and decensie The whoremonger and fornicator taketh his filthy life to bée but the course of youth The drunkard and riotous person perswadeth himselfe that his excesse is but good fellowship The couetous person beléeueth that his couetousnesse is good husbandry The idle person which spendeth his whole time in dice cardes and such like neglecting his vocation flattereth himselfe that his time thus wickedly spent is honest recreation Whereas if the diuell had not blinded them so as they might sée sinne in her colours she would séem such a deformed monster as they would loathe her for euer For her eyes are ful of Adultrie her eares are very large and great open to heare all vaine delights her tongue swollen with lying and deceit her throate is an open sepulchre her lippes are boulstred vp with the poyson of Aspes her hands are large to receiue bribes her belly hath a timpanie of surfetting and gluttonie her back is laden with idlenesse and yet her féete are swift to shead blood with her heart she thinketh vpon nothing but how to betray the innocent and oppresse the widow and the fatherlesse Yea from the very top of the head vnto the sole of the foote she is ful of
make the eares of them that heare it to tingle O sentence intollerable which depriueth sinners of all good things and bringeth them to all woe The Lord sometime accursed the Fig-trée and immediately not onely the leaues but also the body and rootes were wholy withered Euen so that feareful curse of the last day shal be no lesse effectual For on whomsoeuer it falleth it shal so scortch them and shal so make them destitute of Gods grace that they shal neuer more be able to doe to speake to thinke or to hope for any good thing 31 Then therefore the wicked being stricken with this thundering sentence will lift vp their mouthes towards heauen wil spue foorth their shamefull blasphemies against God the Iudge they will curse this day and the houre wherein they were borne and their Parents which begat them and the wombs which bare them the aier which gaue them breath and the Earth which hath borne them but they shal not be suffered any long time to speake these things against the Iudge 32 For suddenly the Spirite of the Lord shal ouerwhelm them and shal with great violence caste them downe headlong into the déepe Apoc. 18. as in Saint Iohns Reuelation appeareth in these wordes Then a mightie angell tooke vp a stone like a great Milstone and cast it into the Sea saying With such violence shall the Citie of Babilon bee cast Apoc. 20. and be found no more And againe Whosoeuer was not found written in the booke of life was cast into the Lake of fire And this déepe shal be shut vp with gates of brasse and with yron barres which cannot bee broken with any force nor cut in sunder by any arte and there they shal drinke of the cup of the Lords wrath and the smoke of their torments shal ascend worlde wtout end they shal not rest day nor night 33 On the contrarie part the iust being in the fruition of ful blessednesse and of euerlasting glorie shall haue in their mouthes the prayses of the Lorde and giuing of thankes and shal with singing and with mirth extol the name of their Lorde and God with whom they shal reigne without ende 34 But although wée heare of those things often yet neuerthelesse wée are not awaked from the sléepe of sinne before wee be ouerwhelmed with the night of death and of darkenes Why doe we which haue this time now looke for another time which peraduenture wée shal neuer haue Now is the accepted time now is the day of saluation There is nothing more profitable for a man then to knowe his time and therefore in our worldly businesse wée obserue times and seasons as a conuenient time to eare a fitte time to sowe to plant and such like Yea the brute beast by the instinct of nature can make choyce of his time for benefite The Swallowe when winter approacheth prepareth himselfe to take his flight into a warmer Countrey The Bée and the Ant in the time of summer prepare their foode against winter And the Prophet Ieremie saith that the Storke knoweth his appointed time If brute beastes deuoide of reason haue this foresight to make choise of time for their good and if man him selfe in a worldly regarde can make choyse of a fitte and due time to gette earthly and transitorie things how much more prouident ought hee to bee for heauenly things that to attaine these hée lose not his fittest time to attaine saluation 35 The olde worlde that liued in the dayes of Noah knewe not their time that was the cause they then perished with the flood The Cities of Sodome and Gomer knew not their time that brought fire and brimstone from heauen vpon their heads to their destruction The foolish Virgins knewe not their time therefore when their Lorde came they being altogether vnready were shut out of the Lords ioy Let vs then knowe the season how it is time now that wee should awake out of sleepe Rom. 13.36 1. Thes 5. Let vs watch and be sober for they that sleepe sleepe in the night and they that are drunken are drunken in the night But let vs which are of the day be sober least the darkenesse come vpon vs wherein we can neither walke nor worke Let vs alwayes haue before our eyes that day and time wherein we shall appeare before God and his Angels and before the whole worlde to answere our cause and either to receiue a Crown of glory or else perpetual shame and confusion Let vs know that we haue here a very short time limitted vnto vs. wherein wée must so endeuour our selues that for short and transitory things we lose not that which is eternall If wee haue this consideration of that great day of the Lorde wée shal not only be the more secure in death but also be the better prepared to méet with our Lord and Sauiour when he shal come to iudgement CHAP. IIII. Concerning Hell and the torments thereof THere is nothing that the Diuell laboureth more then to perswade men that there is no hel that so the more easily hée may leade them thether as it were blindfolde by the way of sinnes while they haue no feare of any punishment euen as shéeues are wont to bee ledde with a vaile before their faces when they are going to the gallowes as Ezechias was serued whose eyes Nabuchadnezer commanded to be put out whē he was caried away captiue into Babilō 2 But it may bée shewed by many reasons and authorities that there is a hel For as a Princely magnificence requireth that a King haue a beautiful Pallace for to entertaine the best sort of men and a prison for the worst Euen so the king of kings and Lord of all glorie and principalities hath a Pallace wherein there are many mansions as our Sauiour Christ in the Gospel testifieth which is the kingdom of heauen and he hath also a darke prison or dungeon which is hel 3 The lawe of nations requireth that malefactors for their offences be driuen into exile for euer euen so God doth banish from his presence Luke 16. the impenitent sinners into hel For so it is said of Diues that he dyed was carried into hel Esay 5 And the prophet saith Hel hath inlarged it self hath opened his mouth with out measure and their glorie and their multitude and their pompe and he that reioyceth among them shall discend into it Also S. Iohn saith that the feareful and vnbeleeuing and murderers Apoc. 21. the whormongers sorcerers and Idolaters and all lyers shall haue their part in the Lake which burneth with fire and brimstone which is the second death And Christ Iesus saith Feare him which hath power to cast body and soule into hell 4 But forsomuch as God hath not made Death nor the kingdom of Hell vpon earth Wisd 1. We must vnderstand that the principal procurer of this Hell is Sathan the Prince of darkenesse who béeing in
botches and sores hath no whole part What man will be coupled with this monster who hath no other dowrie and portion of her father the diuell but hell fire Lette him then that hath béene inchanted with her adulterous eyes diuorce himselfe betimes from her company without delay for delay is perilous Her handmaide Security will peraduenture flatter vs say It is yet too soone to depart and so to craue further companie much like vnto Swetonius Tranquillus crowe which in the Emperour Domitians dayes stoode vppon the Capitoll and saide thus All shall be well It is the diuels voyce which saith Cras Cras to morrowe hereafter but God saith Hodie Today if ye will heare his voyce harden not your heartes If we harken to the diuels voice he wil serue vs as he serued Adam Eue and wil lay open our nakednesse and shame 5 A third cause of our delaied repentance is the absence of the holy Ghost from vs. For as the spirite of the Lorde dwelling in our heartes maketh the way of vertue easie and swéete insomuch that the Prophet Dauid saith Psal 119. I haue as great delight in the way of thy commaundementes as in all maner of riches and againe I haue runne the way of thy commandementes when thou hast set my heart at libertie Euen so contrariwise the absence of the holy Ghost maketh the same way hard and vnpleasant And as the light of the Sun chéereth vp mens spirits to goe to their labour euen so the sonne of righteousnesse shining in our heartes with the bright beames of his grace maketh vs to haue a delight in the way of his commandementes The first outward meane of Paules conuersion was the great light which he saw from heauen then he was cast down to the ground and humbled he heareth a voice and acknowledgeth it to be Gods voice Act. 9 3. Act. 26. and 22. And then ariseth vp and saith Quid faciam Domine What shall I doe It is the celestiall illumination that worketh our conuersion vnto God and which frameth our hearts to his obedience And therefore the Lord saith by the mouth of the Prophet Ose thus to sinful men Ose 9.12 Woe vnto them when I shall depart away from them And by the Prophet Ieremie Vnderstand and know what a grieuous thing it is that the Lord thy God hath forsaken thee 6 The last cause is a certaine sicknesse and languishing of all the faculties of our soule For the apple is not so eaten of worms nor the garment with moathes as the powers of the soule are corrupted with sins and wickednesses as the vnderstanding is darkned the iudgement dulled and the wil depraued Whereof it commeth that now to liue a holy and godly life is a very hard and painfull matter Who seeth it not then in what perill and error they are in who putting off their repentunce and conuersion from day to day doe thinke that the same which is now hard vnto them they shall finde afterwardes more easie when all the causes of difficulty and hardnesse are increased when they haue increased the causes of their labour and difficultie by adding sinnes vnto sinnes when an euil custome hath taken more déepe roote Shall not the Diuell then more fortifie his castle which is thy soule Shall not GOD whirh is thy light depart further off from thée Shall not the powers of thy soule then hauing receiued many woundes bée made more weake and insufficient to goodnes Beside this thou must greatly hazard the losse of heauenly treasures by thy long delay God hath thought vpon and loued vs from euerlasting and hath prepared for vs an eternal reward with what face then canst thou holde from God a little momentarie seruice which owest vnto God all that thou art able to doo for euer 7 God hath giuen vnto thée the life of his onely begotten sonne the which is of greater price then the life of all men and of the Angels and by what right and prerogatiue darest thou denie vnto him the flower of thy youth and to spend the same in other things then in the seruice of God and to offer vnto him the dregs and rottennes of old age onely Mala. 1. Consider what the Prophet Malachie saith If yee offer the blinde for sacrifice is it not euill and if yee offer the lame and sicke is it not euill Offer it now vnto thy Prince will hee bee content with thee or accept thy person saith the Lord of hostes But cursed be the deceiuer which hath in his flocke a male and voweth and sacrificeth vnto the Lord a corrupt thing All that we haue and our selues wholy are not sufficient to serue the Lord. Therefore let our youth bee dedicated to his seruice as well as our age Let vs serue him not onely in sicknesse but also in health Let vs turne vnto him not onely when we are in affliction vnder the crosse but also in prosperity For forced holinesse is of no great account Pharaos repentance Festus trembling and Iudas sorrowe auailed them nothing Saint Augustine in his second booke of true and false Repentance speaking of that Repentance which affliction wringeth frō men saith Vis dicam liberaliter c. Wilt thou haue me speake my minde fréely I do neither say nor will say that he shall be damned But saith he will ye put the matter out of doubt Repent then whilest thou art in health otherwise whether a man doe safely depart out of this life I my selfe am not sure And the same Author in another place saith us Wilt thou repent thee when thou canst sinne no longer Thy sinnes then haue forsaken thee and not thou thy sinnes 8 Sinne is common to all times ages of mans life yea to fraile youth more then to olde age which caused King Dauid to say Remember not O Lord the sinnes of my youth There is then at no time want of matter in vs for repentance and yet our sinnes are much more then our sacrifices Sinne is common to all but timely and spéedy repentance to fewe 9 But let the exhortation of our Sauiour mooue vs which hée so oftentimes repeateth Math. 24. Mar. 13. Watche watche because yee knowe not the day nor the howre For I demaund of thée whosoeuer thou bée which assurest thy selfe that after a fewe yéeres be past thou wilt repent thée who made thée an vndoubted promise I will not say of yéeres and moneths but of the morow which is but one day nay who can assure thée of one hower And what greater follie and rashnesse can there bée deuised then for a worme of the earth to determine anie thing certaine concerning the times and seasons which the Father hath set in his owne power Art thou ignorant how many this vaine confidence hath deceiued euen to this day 10 But thou wilt say the Lorde is full of compassion and mercy who hath made large promises to those that trust in him who sent his