to do it I swear to thee saith he by my selfe that I wil multiply thy seed as the stars of heaven and the sands of the sea and among them also one shal be Christ the Saviour of the world Was not this a good pay for so little pains King David one night began to think with himselfe that he had now an house of Cedar and the Ark of God lay but under a tent and therfore resolved to build an house for the said Ark. Which onlie cogitation God took in so good part as he sent Nathan the prophet unto him presentlie to refuse the thing but yet to tel him that for so much as he had determined such a matter God would build an house or rather a kingdome to him and his posteritie which should last for ever and from which he would never take away his mercie what sins or offences soever they committed Which promise we see now fulfilled in Christ his church raised out of that familie What should I recite manie like examples Christ giveth a general note hereof when he calleth the workmen and paieth to ech man his wages so dulie as also when he saith of himselfe Behold I come quickly and my reward is with me By which places is evident that God suffereth no labor in his service to be lost or unpaid And albeit as after in place conveneent shal be shewed he paieth also and that abundantly in this life yet as by those two examples appeereth he deferreth his cheefe pay unto his comming in the end of the day that is after this life in The resurrection of the iust as himselfe saith in another place 3 Of this paiment then reserved for Gods servants in the life to come we are now to consider what and what maner a thing it is and whether it be woorth so much labor and travel as the service of God requireth or no. And first of al if we wil beleeve the holie scripture calling it a kingdome an heavenly kingdome an eternal kingdome a most blessed kingdome we must needs confesse it to be a marvelous great reward For that worldly princes do not use to give kingdoms to their servants for recompence of their labors And if they did or were able to do it yet could it be neither heavenly nor eternal nor a blessed kingdome Secondly if we credite that which S. Paul saith of it That neither eie hath seen nor eare heard nor hart of man conceived How great a matter it is then must we yet admit a greater opinion therof for that we have seen manie woonderful things in our dais we have heard more woonderful we may conceive most woonderful and almost infinite How then shal we come to understand the greatnes and valu of this reward Surely no tong created either of man or Angel can expresse the same no imagination conceive no understanding comprehend it Christ himselfe hath said Nemo scit nisi qui accipit No man knoweth it but he that enioieth it And therfore he calleth it Hidden manna in the same place Notwithstanding as it is reported of a learned Geometrician that finding the length of Hercules foot upon the hil Olympus drew out his whole bodie by the proportion of that one part so we by some thing set down in scripture and by som other circumstances agreeing therunto may frame a conjecture of the matter though it come far behind the thing it selfe 4 I have shewed before how the scripture calleth it an heavenly an everlasting a most blessed kingdom wherby is signified that al must be kings that are admitted thither To like effect it is called in other places A crown of glorie a throne of maiestie a paradise or place of pleasure a life everlasting Saint Iohn the Evangelist being in his banishment by special privilege made privy to som knowledge feling therof as wel for his own comfort as for ours taketh in hand to describe it by comparison of a citie affirming that the whole citie was of pure gold with a great and high wal of the pretious stone called Iaspis This wal had also twelve foundations made of twelve distinct pretious stones which he there nameth also twelve gates made of twelve rich stones called Margarits and every gate was an entire margarit The streets of the citie were paved with gold interlaid also with pearls and pretious stones The light of the citie was the cleernes and shining of Christ himselfe sitting in the middest thereof from whose seat proceeded a river of water as cleer as cristal to refresh the citie and on both sides of the banks there grew the tree of life giving out continual and perpetual fruit there was no night in that citie nor any defiled thing entered there but they which are within shal reign saith he for ever ever 5 By this description of the most rich and pretious things that this world hath S. Iohn would give us to understand the infinite valu glorie and majestie of this felicitie prepared for us in heaven though as I have noted before it being the princely inheritance of our Saviour Christ the kingdom of his father the eternal habitation of the holie Trinitie prepared before al worlds to set out the glorie and expresse the power of him that hath no end or measure either in power or glorie we may very wel think with Saint Paul that neither tong can declare it nor hart imagin it 6 When God shal take upon him to do a thing for the uttermost declaration in a certain sort of his power wisdome and majestie imagin you what a thing it wil be It pleased him at a certain time to make certain creatures to serve him in his presence and to be witnesses of his glorie and therupon with a word created the Angels both for number and perfection so strange and woonderful as maketh mans understanding astonished to think of it For as for their number they were almost infinite passing the number of al the creatures of this inferior world as divers learned men and som ancient fathers do think though Daniel according to the fashion of the scripture do put a certain number for an uncertain when he saith of Angels A thousand thousands did minister unto him that is unto God ten thousand times an hundred thousand did stand about him to assist And for their perfection of nature it is such being as the scripture saith spirits and like burning fire as they far surpas al inferior creatures in natural knowledge power and the like What an infinite majestie doth this argu in the creator 7 After this when many of these Angels were fallen it pleased God to create another creature far inferior to this for to fil up the places of such as had fallen and therupon created man of a peece of clay as you know appointing him to live a certain time in a place distant from heaven created
our happinesse Which Christ also affirmeth when he saith to his father This is life everlasting that men know the tru God and Iesus Christ whom thou hast sent Saint Paul also putteth our felicitie In seeing God face to face And S. Iohn In seeing God as he is And the reason of this is for that al the pleasures and contentations in the world being only sparkles parcels sent out from God they are al contained much more perfectly and excellently in God himselfe than they are in their own natures created as also al the perfections of his creatures are more fully in him than in themselves Wherof it followeth that whosoever is admitted to the vision and presence of God he hath al the goodnes and perfection of creatures in the world united togither and presented unto him at once So that whatsoever deliteth either bodie or soul there he enjoieth it wholy knit up togither as it were in one bundle and with the presence therof is ravished in al parts both of mind and bodie as he cannot imagin think or wish for any joy whatsoever but there he findeth it in his perfection there he findeth al knowledge al wisdom al beautie al riches al nobilitie al goodnes al delite and whatsoever beside either deserveth love and admiration or worketh pleasure or contentation Al the powers of the mind shal be filled with this sight presence fruition of God al the senses of our bodie shal be satisfied God shal be the universal felicitie of al his saints containing in himselfe al particular felicities without end number or measure He shal be a glasse to our eies musik to our ears honie to our mouths most sweet and pleasant balm to our smel he shal be light to our understanding contentation to our wil continuation of eternitie to our memorie In him shal we enjoy al the varietie of times that delite us heer al the beautie of creatures that allure us heer al the plesures and joies that content us heer In this vision of God saith one Doctor we shal know we shal love we shal rejoice we shal praise We shal know the very secrets and judgements of God which are a depth without bottom Also the causes natures beginnings ofsprings and ends of al creatures We shal love incomparablie both God for the infinite causes of love that we see in him and our companions as much as our selves for that we see them as much loved of God as our selves and that also for the same for which we are loved Wherof insueth that our joy shal be without measure both for that we shal have a particular joy for every thing we love in God which are infinite and also for that we shal rejoice at the felicitie of everie one of our companions as much as at our own by that means we shal have so many distinct felicities as we shal have distinct companions in our felicitie which being without number it is no marvel though Christ said Go into the ioy of the Lord. And not let the Lords joy enter into thee for that no one hart created can receive the fulnes and greatnes of this joy Heerof it followeth lastly that we shal praise God without end or wearines with al our hart with al our strength with al our powers with al our parts according as the scripture saith Happie are they that live in thy house O Lord for they shal praise thee eternally without end 13 Of this most blessed vision of God the holie father Saint Austen writeth thus Happie are the clean of hart for they shal see God saith our Savior then is there a vision of God deer brethren which maketh us happie a vision I say which neither eie hath seen in this world nor eare hath heard nor hart conceived A vision that passeth al the beautie of earthly things of gold of silver of woods of fields of sea of air of sun of moon of stars of Angels for that al these things have their beauty from thence We shal see him face to face saith the Apostle And we shal know him as we are known We shal know the power of the Father we shal know the wisdom of the Son we shal know the goodnes of the holie Ghost we shal know the indivisible nature of the most blessed Trinitie And this seeing of the face of God is the joy of angels al saints in heaven This is the reward of life everlasting this is the glorie of blessed spirits their everlasting pleasure their crown of honor their game of felicitie their rich rest their beautiful place their inward and outward joy their divine paradice their heavenly Ierusalem their felicitie of life their fulnes of blisse their eternal joy their peace of God that passeth al understanding This sight of God is the ful beatitude the total glorification of man to see him I say that made both heaven and earth to see him that made thee that redeemed thee that glorified thee For in seeing him thou shal possesse him in possessing him thou shalt love him in loving him thou shalt praise him For he is the inheritance of his people he is the possession of their felicitie he is the reward of their expectation I wil be thy great reward saith he to Abraham O Lord thou art great and therfore no marvel if thou be a great reward The sight and fruition of thee therfore is al our hire al our reward al our joy and felicitie that we expect seeing thou hast said that This is life everlasting to see and know thee our tru God and Iesus Christ whom thou hast sent 14 Having now declared the two general parts of heavenly felicitie the one appertaining to our soul the other to our bodie it is not hard to esteem what excesse of joy both of them joined togither shal work at that happie day of our glorification O joy above al joies passing al joy and without which there is no joy when shal I enter into thee saith Saint Austen when shal I enjoy thee to see my GOD that dwelleth in thee O everlasting kingdome O kingdome of al eternities O light without end O peace of God that passeth al understanding in which the souls of saints do rest with thee And everlasting ioy is upon their heads they possesse ioy and exultation and al pain and sorrow is fled from them O how glorious a kingdome is thine O Lord wherin al saints do raign with thee Adorned with light as with apparel and having crowns of pretious stones on their heads O kingdome of everlasting blisse where thou O Lord the hope of al saints art and the diadem of their perpetual glorie rejoising them on everie side with thy blessed sight In this kingdome of thine there is infinite joy and mirth without sadnes health without sorrow life without labor light without darknes felicity
considerations Saint Paul used when he said The sufferings of this life are not woorthy of the glorie which shal be revealed in the next The second Saint Peter used when he said Seeing the heavens must be dissolved and Christ come to iudgement to restore to every man according to his works what manner of men ought we to be in holie conversation As who would say No labor no pains no travel ought to seem hard or great unto us to the end we might avoid the terror of that day Saint Austen asketh this question what we think the rich glutton in hel would do if he were now in this life again Would he take pains or no Would he not bestir himselfe rather than turn into that place of torment again I might ad to this the infinite pains that Christ took for us the infinite benefits he hath bestowed upon us the infinite sins we have committed against him the infinite examples of saints that have troden his path before us in respect of al which we ought to make no bones at so little pains and labor if it were tru that Gods service were so travelsome as many do esteem it 3 But now in very deed the matter is nothing so and this is but a subtil deceit of the enimie for our discouragement The testimony of Christ himselfe is cleer in this point Iugum meum suave est onus meum leve My yoke is sweet and my burden light And the deerly beloved disciple Saint Iohn who had best cause to know his maisters secret herein saith plainly Mandata eius gravia non sunt His commandements are not greevous What is the cause then why so many men do conceive such a difficulty in this matter Surely one cause is beside the subtiltie of the devil which is the cheefest for that men feele the disease of concupiscence in their bodies but do not consider the strength of the medicine given us against the same They cry with Saint Paul that They find a law in their members repugning to the law of their mind which is the rebellion of concupiscence left in our flesh by original sin but they confesse not or consider not with the same Saint Paul That the grace of God by Iesus Christ shal deliver them from the same They remember not the comfortable saieng of Christ to Saint Paul in his greatest temptations Sufficit tibi gratia mea My grace is sufficient to strengthen thee against them al. These men do as Helizeus his disciple did who casting his eies only upon his enimies that is upon the huge armie of the Sirians ready to assault him thought himselfe lost and unpossible to stand in their sight until by the praiers of the holie prophet he was permitted from God to see the Angels that stood there present to fight on his side and then he wel perceived that his part was the stronger 4 So these men beholding only our miseries and infirmities of nature wherby daily tentations do rise against us do account the battel painful and the victory unpossible having not tasted indeed nor ever prooved through their own negligence the manifold helps of grace and spiritual succors which God alwais sendeth to them who are content for his sake to take this conflict in hand Saint Paul had wel tasted that aid which having rekoned up al the hardest matters that could be addeth Sed in his omnibus superamus propter eum qui dilexit nos But we overcome in al these combats by his assistance that loveth us And then falleth he to that woonderful protestation that neither death nor life nor Angels nor the like should separate him and al this upon the confidence of spiritual aid from Christ wherby he sticketh not to avouch That he could do al things David also had prooved the force of this assistance who said I did run the way of thy commandements when thou didst inlarge my hart This inlargement of hart was by spiritual consolation of internal unction wherby the hart drawn togither by anguish is opened and inlarged when grace is powred in even as a dry purse is softened and inlarged by annointing it with oil Which grace being present David said he did not only walk the way of Gods commandements easilie but that he ran them even as a cart wheel which crieth and complaineth under a smal burden being dry runneth merilie and without noise when a little oil is put unto it Which thing aptly expresseth our state and condition who without Gods help are able to do nothing but with the aid therof are able to do whatsoever he now requireth of us 5 And surely I would ask these men that imagin the way of Gods law to be so hard and ful of difficultie how the prophet could say I have taken pleasure O Lord in the way of thy commandements as in al the riches of the world And in another place That they were more pleasant and to be desired than gold or pretious stone and more sweeter than hony or the hony comb By which words he yeeldeth to vertuous life not only du estimation above al treasures in the world but also pleasure delite and sweetnes therby to confound al those that abandon and forsake the same upon idle pretensed and fained difficulties And if David could say thus much in the old law how much more justly may we say so now in the new when grace is given more abundantly as the scripture saith And thou poore Christian which deceivest thy selfe with this imagination tel me why came Christ into this world Why labored he and why took he so much pains here Why shed he his blood Why praied he to his father so often for thee Why appointed he the sacraments as conduits of grace Why sent he the holie Ghost into the world What signifieth this word Gospel or good tidings What meaneth the word grace and mercy brought with him What importeth the comfortable name of Iesus Is not al this to deliver us from sin From sin past I say by his only death From sin to come by the same death and by the assistance of his holie grace bestowed on us more abundantly than before by al these means Was not this one of the principal effects of Christ his comming as the prophet noted That craggy wais should be made straight and hard wais plain Was not this the cause why he indued his church with so many blessed gifts of the holie Ghost and with divers special graces to make the yoke of his service sweet the exercise of good life easie the walking in his commandements pleasant in such sort as men might now sing in tribulations have confidence in perils securitie in afflictions and assurance of victory in al temptations Is not this the beginning middle end of the Gospel Were not these the promises of the prophets the tidings of the Evangelists the
advertisement to the Reader How necessarie a thing it is for a man to resolve to leave vanities and to serve God What argument the devil useth to draw men from this resolution How wilful ignorance doth-increase and not excuse sin What mind a man should have that would read this Treatise The second Chapter How necessarie it is to enter into earnest consideration and meditation of our estate wherin is declared That inconsideration heerin is a great enimie to resolution What inconveniences grow therby The nature and commoditie of consideration Of the exact maner of meditating the particulars of religion in the fathers of old and the fashion of beleeving in grosse at this day The third Chapter Of the end in general why man was created and placed in this world wherin is handled How du consideration of this end helpeth a man to iudge of himselfe What mind a man should have to creatures The lamentable condition of the world by want of this du consideration And the mischeefe therof at the last day The fourth Chapter Of the end of man more in particular and of two special parts of the same required at his hands in this life wherin is discussed How exactly both these parts are to be exercised The description of a Christian life The lamentable condition of our negligence heerin The care and diligence of many of the fathers touching the same The remedies that they used for the one part what monuments of pietie they left behind touching the other The indifferent estates of good and evil men as wel praesently and at the day of death as in the life to come The fift Chapter Of the severe account that we must yeeld to God wherin is declared A principal point of wisdome in an accountant for viewing of the state of his account before hand The maiestie of ceremonies and circumstances used by God at the first publication of his law in writing and his severe punishment of offenders The sharp speeches of our savior against sinners Why two iudgements are appointed after death The sudden comming of them both The demands in our account at the general iudgement The circumstances of horror and dread before at and after the same What a treasure a good conscience wil then be The pittiful case of the damned How easily the dangers of those matters may be praevented in du time The sixt Chapter A consideration of the nature of sin and of a sinner to shew the cause why God justly useth the rigor before mentioned wherin is described Gods infinite hatred to sinners The reasons why God hateth them That they are enimies to God to themselves How God punisheth sinners as wel the penitent as the obstinate and of the bitter speeches in scripture against sinners Of the seven miseries and losses which come by sin The obstinacie of sinners in this age Two principal causes of sin Of the danger to live in sin How necessarie it is to fear The seventh Chapter Another consideration for the further justifieng of Gods judgements and declaration of our demerit taken from the majestie of God and his benefits towards us wherin is shewed A contemplation of the maiestie of God and of his benefits Of the several uses of sacraments Divers complaints against sinners in the person of God Our intollerable contempt and ingratitude against so great a maiestie and benefactor Of great causes we have to love God beside his benefits How he requireth nothing of us but gratitude That it resteth in du resolution to serve him An exhortation to this gratitude with a short praier for a penitent sinner in this case The eight Chapter Of what opinion and feeling we shal be touching these matters at the time of our death wherin is expressed The induration of some harts kept from resolution by worldly respects Of the matters of terror pain and miserie that principally molest a man at his death A contemplation of the terrors speech or cogitation of a sinner at the hour of death Of divers apparitions and visions to the iust and to the wicked lieng a dieng How al these miseries may be praevented The ninth Chapter Of the pains appointed for him after this life and of two sorts of them wherin is declared How God useth the motive of threats to induce men to resolution Of the everlasting pain in hel reserved for the damned and common to al that are there Of the two parts therof that is pain sensible and pain of losse Vehement coniectures touching the severitie of those pains Of the several names of hel in divers toongs Of the particular pains for particular offenders peculiar in qualitie quantitie to the sins of ech offender Of the woorm of conscience The tenth Chapter Of the rewards benefits and commodities provided for Gods servants wherin is declared How God is the best pay-master Of his infinite magnificence The nature greatnes and valu of his rewards A description of paradise Of two parts of felicitie in heaven A contemplation of the commodities of the said two felicities ioined togither The honor wherunto a Christian man is born by baptism An admonition against securitie in this life The contents of the second part of this booke touching impediments of resolution The first Chapter Of the first impediment which is the difficultie that manie think to be in vertuous life wherin is declared Nine special privileges and helps wherwith the vertuous are aided above the wicked 1 The force of Gods grace for easing of vertuous life against al temptations 2 Of what force love is heerin And how a man may know whether he have love towards God or no. 3 Of a peculiar light of understanding pertaining to the iust 4 Of internal consolation of mind 5 Of the quiet of a good conscience in the iust 6 Of hope in God which the vertuous have And that the hope of the wicked is indeed no hope but meer presumption 7 Of freedom of soul and bodie which the vertuous have 8 Of the peace of mind in the vertuous towards God their neighbor and themselves 9 Of the expectation of the reward that the vertuous have Of the comfort that holie men have after their conversion And how the best men have had greatest conflicts therin Of Saint Austens conversion and four annotations therupon The second Chapter Of the second impediment which is tribulation wherin are handled four special points 1 First that it is an ordinarie means of salvation to suffer some tribulation 2 Secondly that there be thirteen special considerations of Gods purpose in sending afflictions to his servants which are laid down and declared in particular 3 Thirdly what special considerations of comfort a man may have in tribulation The third Chapter Of the third impediment which is love of the world which is drawn to six points 1 First how and in what sense the world and commodities therof are vanities and of three general points of worldly vanities 2 Secondly how worldly commodities
of al our dooings then it shal be seene evidently what ech man is to have in the justice and mercie of God 12 To speak then of this second judgement general and common for al the world wherin as the scripture saith God shal bring into iudgment everie error which hath beene committed There are divers circumstances to be considered and divers men do set down the same diversly but in mine opinion no better plainer or more effectual declaration can be made therof than the very scripture maketh it selfe setting forth unto us in most significant words al the maner order and circumstances with the preparation therunto as followeth 13 At that day there shal be signes in the sun and in the moone and in the stars the sun shal be darkened the moone shal geeve no light the stars shal fal from the skies and al the powers of heaven shal be mooved the firmament shal leave his situation with a great violence the elements shal be dissolved with heat and the earth with al that is in it shal be consumed with fire the earth also shal moove off hir place and shal fly like a little deere or sheepe The distresse of nations upon the earth shal be great by reason of the confusion of the noise of the sea and fluds and men shal wither away for fear and expectation of these things that then shal come upon the whole world And then shal the signe of the Son of man appeer in the skie and then shal al the tribes of the earth moorn and wail and they shal see the Son of man comming in the clouds of heaven with much power and glorie great authoritie and majestie And then in a moment in the twinkling of an eie he shal send his Angels with a trumpet and with a great crie at midnight and they shal gather together his elect from the fower parts of the world from heaven to earth Al must be presented before the judgement seat of Christ who wil bring to light those things which were hidden in darknes and wil make manifest the thoughts of mens harts and whatsoever hath beene spoken in chambers in the eare shal be preached upon the house top Account shal be asked of every idle word he shal judge our very righteousnes it selfe Then shal the just stand in great constancie against those which have afflicted them in this life and the wicked seeing that shal be troubled with an horrible fear shal say to the hils fal upon us and hide us from the face of him that sitteth upon the throne and from the anger of the lambe for that the great day of wrath is come Then shal Christ separate the sheepe from the goats and shal put the sheepe on his right hand and the goats on the left and shal say to those on the right hand come ye blessed of my father possesse the kingdome prepared for you from the beginning of the world I was hungry you gave me to eat I was a stranger and you gave me harbor I was naked and you clothed me I was in prison and you came to me Then shal the just say O Lord when have we done these things for thee And the King shal answer truly when you did them to the lest of my brothers you did it to me Then shal he say to them on his left hand Depart from me you accursed into everlasting fire prepared for the devil and his angels for I was hungry and ye fed me not I was a stranger and you harbored me not I was naked and you clothed me not I was sick and in prison and you visited me not Then shal they say O Lord when have we seen thee hungrie or thirstie or a stranger or naked or sick or in prison did not minister unto thee And he shal answer verily I tel you seeing you have not done it to one of these lesser you have not done it to me And then these men shal go into eternal punishment and the just into life everlasting 14 Tel me what a dreadful preparation is here laied down How many circumstances of fear and horror It shal be saith the scripture at midnight when commonly men are asleep it shal be with hideous noise of trumpets sound of waters motion of al the elements what a night wil that be trowest thou to see the earth shake the hils dales mooved from their places the moone darkened the stars fal down from heaven the whole element shivered in peeces and al the world in a flaming fire 15 Can any tong in the world expresse a thing more forcibly than this matter is expressed by Christ the Apostles and Prophets themselves What mortal hart can but tremble in the middest of this unspeakable terror Is it marvel if the very just men and the Angels themselves are said to fear it And then as S. Peter reasoneth If the iust shal scarce be saved where shal the wicked man and sinner appeer What a dreadful day wil it be for the careles and loose Christian which hath passed his time pleasantly in this world when he shal see so infinite a sea of fears and miseries to rush upon him 16 But besides al these most terrible and fearce preparations there wil be many other matters of no lesse dreadful consideration as to see al sepulchres open at the sound of the trumpet and to yeeld foorth al their dead bodies which they have received from the beginning of the world to see al men women and children kings and Queens princes and potentates to stand there naked in the face of al creatures their sins revealed their secret offences laid open done and committed in the closets of their pallaces and they constrained and compelled to geeve accounts of a thousand matters whereof they would disdain to have beene told in this life as how they have spent the time how they have imploied their welth what behavior they have used towards their brethren how they have mortified their senses how they have ruled their appetites how they have obeied the inspirations of the holy ghost and finally how they used al good gifts in this life 17 Oh deare brother it is unpossible to expresse what a great treasure a good conscience wil be at this day it wil be more worth than ten thousand worlds for wealth wil not help the judge wil not be corrupted with money no intercession of worldly frinds shal prevail for us at that day no not of the angels themselves whose glorie shal be then as the prophet saith To bind kings in fetters and noble men in iron manacles to execute upon them the iudgement prescribed and this shal be glorie to al his saints Alas what wil al those wise people do then that now live in delites and can take no pain in the service of God What shift wil they make in those extremities Whether wil they turn
you is now the state of this afflicted soul It is no marvel if a wise man become a foole or a stout worldling most abject in this instant of extremitie as we often see they do in such sort as they can dispose of nothing wel either towards God or the world at this hour the cause is the extremitie of pains oppressing their minds as Saint Austen also proveth or some other under his name and giveth us therwithal a most excellent forewarning if men were so gracious as to folow it When you shal be in your last siknes deer brother saith he O how hard and painful a thing wil it be for you to repent of your faults committed And why is this but only for that al the intention of your mind wil run thither where al the force of your pain is Manie impediments shal let men at that day as the pain of the bodie the fear of death the sight of children for the which their fathers shal oftentimes think themselves often damned the weeping of the wise the flatterie of the world the temptation of the devil the dissimulation of physitions for lucre sake and the like And beleeve thou O man which readest this that thou shalt quickly proove al this tru upon thy selfe and therfore I beseech thee that thou wilt repent before thou come unto this last day dispose of thy house and make thy testament while thou art thine own man for if thou tary until the last day thou shalt be led whether thou wouldest not Hitherto are the Authors words 6 The second thing which shal make death terrible and greevous to a worldly man is the sudden parting and that for ever and ever from al the things which he loved most deerly in this life as from his riches possessions honours offices faire buildings with their commodities goodlie apparel with rich jewels from wife and children kindred and frinds and the like wherwith he thought himselfe a blessed man in this life and now to be plucked from them upon the sudden without ever hope to see or use them again oh what a greef what a torment wil this be For which cause the holie scripture saith O mors quam amara est memoria tua homini pacem habenti in substantijs suis O death how bitter is thy memorie unto a man that hath peace rest in his substance riches As who would say there is no more bitternes or greefe in the world to such a man than to remēber or think on death only but much more to go to it himselfe that out of hand when it shal be said unto him as Christ reporteth it was to the great wealthy man in the Gospel which had his barns ful and was come now to the highest top of felicitie Stulte hac nocte animam tuam repetent à te quae autem parasti cuius erunt Thou foole even this night they wil take thy soule from thee and then who shal have al that thou hast scraped together 7 It is unpossible I say for any toong to expresse the doleful state of a worldly man in this instant of death when nothing that ever he hath gathered togither with so much labor and toil and wherin he was woont to have so much confidence wil now do him good any longer but rather afflict him with the memorie therof considering that he must leave al to others and go himselfe to give account for the getting and using of the same perhaps to his eternal damnation whiles in the mean time other men in the world do live merilie and pleasantly upon that he hath gotten litle remembring and lesse caring for him which lieth perhaps burning in unquenchable fire for the riches left unto them This is a woful and lamentable point which is to bring manie a man to great sorrow and anguish of hart at the last day when al earthly joies must be left al pleasures and commodities for ever abandoned Oh what a doleful day of parting wil this be What wilt thou say my freend at this day when al thy glorie al thy wealth al thy pomp is come to an end What art thou the better now to have lived in credit with the world In favor of princes Exalted of men Feared reverenced and advanced seeing now al is ended and that thou canst use these things no more 8 But yet there is a third thing which more than al the rest wil make this day of death to be troublesom and miserable unto a worldlie man and that is the consideration what shal become of him both in bodie and soul. And for his bodie it wil be no smal horror to think that it must inherit serpents beasts worms as the scripture saith that is it must be cast out to serve for the food of vermins that bodie I mean which was so delicately handled before with varietie of meats pillows and beds of down so trimly set forth in apparel and other ornaments wherupon the wind might not blow nor the sun shine that bodie I saie of whose beutie there was so much pride taken and wherby so great vanitie and sin was committed that bodie which in this world was accustomed to al pampering and could abide no austeritie or discipline must now come to be abandoned of al men and left onlie to be devoured of worms Which thing albeit it can not but breed much horror in the hart of him that lieth a dieng yet is it nothing in respect of the dreadful cogitations which he shal have touching his soul as what shal become of it Whither it shal go after hir departure out of the bodie And then considering that it must go to the judgment seat of God there to receive sentence either of unspeakable glorie or insupportable pains he falleth to cōsider more in particular the danger therof by comparing Gods justice and threats set down in scripture against sinners with his own life he beginneth to examin the witnes which is his conscience and he findeth it readie to lay infinite accusations against him when he commeth to the place of justice 9 And now deer brother beginneth the miserie of this man For scantly there is not a severe saieng of God in al the scripture which commeth not now to his mind to terrifie him withal at this instant as If thou wilt enter into life keepe the commandements He that saith he knoweth God and keepeth not his commandements is a liar Manie shal saie unto me at that day Lord Lord c. Not the hearers of the law but the doers of the law shal be iustified Go from me al workers of iniquitie into everlasting fire De not you know that wicked men shal not possesse the kingdome of God Be not deceived for neither fornicators nor idolaters nor adulterers nor unclean handlers of their own bodies nor Sodomites nor theeves nor covetous men nor dronkards nor bakbiters nor extortioners
the tormentors togither with the most lothsom filthines of the place which is otherwise described in the scriptures by the names of adders snakes cocatrices scorpions and other venemous creatures as shal be afterwards declared 10 Having declared the names of this place and therby also in som part the nature it remaineth now that we consider what maner of pains men suffer there For declaration wherof we must note that as heaven and hel are contrarie assigned to contrarie persons for contrarie causes so have they in al respects contrarie properties conditions and effects in such sort as whatsoever is spoken of the felicitie of the one may serve to infer the contrarie of the other As when Saint Paul saith that No eie hath seene nor eare heard nor hart conceived the ioies that God hath prepared for them that shal be saved We may infer that the pains of the damned must be as great Again when the scripture saith that the felicitie of them in heaven is a perfect felicitie containing Omne bonum Al goodnes So that no one kind of pleasure can be imagined which they have not we must think on the contrarie part that the miserie of the damned must be also a perfect miserie containing al afflictions that may be without wanting any So that as the happines of the good is infinite and universal so also is the calamitie of the wicked infinite and universal Now in this life al the miseries pains which fal upon man are but particular and not universal As for example we see one man pained in his eies another in his bak which particular pains notwithstanding somtimes are so extreme as life is not able to resist them and a man would not suffer them long for the gaining of many worlds togither But suppose now a man were tormented in al the parts of his bodie at once as in his head his eies his toong his teeth his throte his stomak his bellie his back his hart his sides his thighs and in al the joints of his bodie besides suppose I say he were most cruelly tormented with extreme pains in al these parts togither without ease or intermission what thing could be more miserable than this What sight more lamentable If thou shuldest see a dogly in the street so afflicted I know thou couldest not but take compassion upon him Wel then consider what difference there is between abiding these pains for a week or for al eternities in suffering them upon a soft bed or upon a burning grediron and boiling fornace among a mans frinds comforting him or among the furies of hel whipping and tormenting him Consider this I say gentle reader and if thou wouldest take a great deal of labour rather than abide the one in this life be content to sustain a little pain rather than to incur the other in the life to come 11 But to consider these things yet further not onlie al these parts of the body which have been instruments to sin shal be tormented togither but also every sense both external internal for the same cause shal be afflicted with his particular torment contrarie to the object wherin it delited most took pleasure in this world As if for example the lascivious eies were afflicted with the uglie fearful sight of devils the delicate eares with the horrible noise of damned spirits the nise smel with poisoned stench of brimstone other unsupportable filth the daintie taste with most ravenous hunger and thirst al the sensible parts of the bodie with burning fire Again the imagination shal be tormented with the apprehension of pains present and to come the memorie with the remembrance of pleasures past the understanding with consideration of the felicitie lost and the miserie now come on O poore Christian what wilt thou do amidst the multitude of so greevous calamities 12 It is a woonderful matter and able as one father saith to make a reasonable man go out of his wits to consider what God hath revealed unto us in the scriptures of the dredful circumstances of this punishment and yet to see how little the rechlesse men of the world do fear it For first touching the universalitie varietie and greatnes of the pain not only the reasons before alleaged but also divers other considerations in the scriptures do declare As where it is said of the damned Cruciabuntur die nocte They shal be tormented day and night And again Date illi tormentum Give hir torment speaking of Babylon in hel by which is signified that the pains in hel are exercised not for chastisement but for torment of the parties And torments commonly we see in this world to be as great and as extreme as the wit of a man can reach to devise Imagin then when God shal lay his head to devise torments as he hath done in hel what maner of torments wil they be 13 If creating an element here for our comfort I mean the fire he could create the same so terrible as it is in such sort as a man would not hold his onlie hand in it one day for to gain a kingdom what a fire think you hath he provided for hel which is not created for comfort but onlie for torment of the parties Our fire hath many differences from that therfore is truly said of the holie fathers to be but a painted and fained fire in respect of that For our fire was made to comfort as I have said and that to torment Our fire hath need to be fed continuallie with wood or else it goeth out that burneth continuallie without feeding Ours giveth light that giveth none Ours is out of his natural place and therfore shifteth to ascend and to get from us as we see but that is in the natural place where it was created therfore it abideth there perpetually Ours consumeth the matter laid in it and so quiklie dispatcheth the pain that tormenteth but consumeth not to the end the pain may be everlasting Our fire is extinguished with water and greatlie abated by the coldnes of the aire about it that hath no such abatement or qualification Finallie what a strange and incredible kind of fire that is appeereth by these words of our savior so often repeated There shal be weeping and gnashing of teeth Weeping is to be referred to the effect of extreme burning in that fire for that the torment of scalding and burning inforceth teares sooner than any other torment as appeereth in them which upon the sudden do put an hot thing into their mouth or scald any other part of their bodie And gnashing of teeth or chattering at least as everie man knoweth proceedeth of great and extreme cold Imagin then what a fire this is which hath such extreme effects both of heat and cold O mightie Lord what a strange God art thou How woonderful and terrible in al thy works and inventions How bountiful art thou to those
promise of Christ which assureth thee the contrary beleeve the reasons before alledged which do proove it evidently beleeve the testimony of them which have experienced it in themselves as of king David Saint Paul and Saint Iohn the Evangelist whose testimonies I have alledged before of their own proofe beleeve many hundreds which by the grace of God are converted daily in Christendome from vicious life to the tru service of God al which do protest themselves to have found more than I have said or can say in this matter 31 And for that thou maist replie heer say that such men are not where thou art to give this testimony of their experience I can do assure thee upon my conscience before God that I have talked with no smal number of such my selfe to my singular comfort in beholding the strong hand and exceeding bountifulnes of Gods sweetnes towards them in this case Oh deer brother no toong can expresse what I have seen heerin and yet saw I not the least part of that which they felt But yet this may I say that those which are known to be skilful and to deal so sincerely withal that others disburden their consciences unto them for their comfort or counsel are some part of those wherof the prophet saith That they work in multitudes of waters and do see the marvels of God in the depth In the depth I say of mens consciences uttered with infinite multitudes of teares when God toucheth the same with his holie grace Beleeve me good reader for I speak in truth before our Lord Iesus I have seen so great and exceeding consolations in divers great sinners after their conversion as no hart can almost conceave and the harts which received them were hardly able to contein the same so abundantly stilled down the heavenly dew from the most liberal and bountiful hand of God And that this may not seeme strange unto thee thou must know that it is recorded of one holie man called Effrem that he had so mervelous great consolations after his conversion as he was often constrained to cry out to God O Lord retire thy hand from me a little for that my hart is not able to receive so extreme joy And the like is written of Saint Barnard who for a certein time after his conversion from the world remained as it were deprived of his senses by the excessive consolations he had from God 32 But yet if al this cannot moove thee but thou wilt stil remain in thy distrust hear the testimonie of one whom I am sure thou wilt not discredit especially speaking of his own experience in himselfe And this is the holie martyr doctor Saint Cyprian who writing of the very same matter to a secret frind of his called Donatus confesseth that he was before his conversion of the same opinion that thou art of to wit that it was impossible for him to change his manners and to find such comfort in a vertuous life as after he did being accustomed before to al kind of loose behavior Therefore he beginneth his narration to his frind in this sort Accipe quod sentitur antequam discitur Take that which is felt before it be learned and so followeth on with a large discourse shewing that he prooved now by experience which he could never beleeve before his conversion though God had promised the same The like writeth Saint Austen of himselfe in his books of confession shewing that his passions would needs persuade him before his conversion that he should never be able to abide the austeritie of a vertuous life especially touching the sins of the flesh wherin he had lived wantonly until that time it seemed impossible that he could ever abandon the same and live chastly which notwithstanding he felt easie pleasant and without difficultie afterward For which he breaketh into these words My God let me remember and confesse thy mercies towards me let my verie bones rejoice and say unto thee O Lord who is like unto thee Thou hast broken my chains and I wil sacrifice to thee a sacrifice of thankesgiving These chains were the chains of concupiscence wherby he stood bounden in captivitie before his conversion as he there confesseth but presently therupon he was delivered from the same by the help of Gods most holie grace 33 My counsel should be therfore gentle reader that seeing thou hast so many testimonies examples reasons and promises of this matter thou shouldest at least proove once by thine own experience whether this thing be tru or no especially seeing it is a matter of so great importance and so worthy thy trial that is concerning so neer thy eternal salvation as it doth If a mean fellow should come unto thee and offer for hazarding of one crown of gold to make thee a thousand by Alchimie though thou shouldest suspect him for a cousoner yet the hope of gain being so great and the adventure of so smal losse thou wouldest go nigh for once to proove the matter And how much more shouldest thou do it in this case where by proofe thou canst leese nothing and if thou speed wel thou maist gain as much as the everlasting joy of heaven is woorth 34 But yet heer by the way I may not let passe to admonish thee of one thing which the ancient fathers and saints of God that have passed over this river before thee I mean the river dividing between Gods service and the world do affirm of their own experience and that is that assoone as thou takest this work or resolution in hand thou must expect assaults combats and open war within thy selfe as Saint Cyprian Saint Austen Saint Gregory and Saint Barnard do affirm and upon their own proofe This do Cyril and Origin shew in divers places at large This doth saint Hilary proove by reasons examples This doth the wise man forewarn thee of willing thee When thou art to come to the service of God to prepare thy mind unto temptation And the reason of this is for that the devil possessing quietly thy soul before lay stil and sought only means to content the same by putting in new and new delites and pleasures of the flesh But when he seeth thou offerest to go from him he beginneth straight to rage and to moove sedition within thee and to tosse up and down both heaven and earth before he wil leese his kingdome in thy soul. This is evident by the example of him whom Christ comming down from the hil after his transfiguration delivered from a deafe and dum spirit For albeit the devil would seem neither to hear nor speak while he possessed that bodie quietly yet when Christ commanded him to go out he both heard and cried out and did so tear and rent that poore bodie before he departed as al the standers by thought him indeed to be dead This also in figure was shewed by the storie of Laban
world the love of God the father is not in him For that al which is in the world is either concupiscence of the flesh or concupiscence of the eies or pride of life In which words S. Iohn beside his threat against such as love and follow the world reduceth al the vanities therof unto three general points or branches that is to concupiscence of the flesh wherin he comprehendeth al carnal pleasures to concupiscence of the eies wherin he containeth al matters of riches and to pride of life wherby he signifieth the humor disease of worldly ambition These then are the three general principal vanities of this life wherin worldly men do wearie out themselves ambition covetousnes and carnal pleasure wherunto al other vanities are addressed as to their superiors And therfore it shal not be amisse to consider of these three in this place 8 And first to ambition or pride of life belongeth vainglorie that is a certain disordinate desire to be wel thought of wel spoken of praised and glorified of men and this is as great a vanitie though it be common to many as if a man should run up and down the streets after a feather flieng in the air tossed hither and thither with the blasts of infinite mens mouths For as this man might wearie out himselfe before he gat the thing which he followed and yet when he had it he had gotten but a feather so a vain glorious man may labor a good while before he attain to the praise which he desireth and when he hath it it is not woorth three chips being but the breath of a few mens mouthes that altereth upon every light occasion and now maketh him great now little now nothing at al. Christ himselfe may be an example of this who was tossed to and fro in the speech of men some said he was a Samaritan and had the divel other said he was a prophet other said he could not be a prophet or of God for that he kept not the sabboth day others asked if he were not of God how he could do so many miracles So that there was a schism or division among them about this matter as Saint Iohn affirmeth Finally they received him into Ierusalem with triumph of Hosanna casting their apparel under his feet But the friday next ensuing they cried Crucifige against him and preferred the life of Barrabas a wicked murderer before him 9 Now my frind if they delt thus with Christ which was a better man than ever thou wilt be and did more glorious miracles than ever thou wilt do to purchase thee name and honor with the people why dost thou so labor and beat thy selfe about this vanitie of vain glorie Why dost thou cast thy travels into the wind of mens mouthes Why dost thou put thy riches in the lips of mutable men where every flatterer may rob thee of them Hast thou no better a chest to lok them up in Saint Paul was of another mind when he said I esteem little to be iudged of you or of the day of man and he had reason surely For what careth he that runneth at tilt if the ignorant people give sentence against him so the judges give it with him If the blind man in the way to Iericho had depended of the liking and approbation of the goers by he had never received the benefit of his sight for that they dissuaded him from running and crieng so vehemently after Christ. It is a miserable thing for a man to be a windmil which maketh no meal but according as the blast endureth If the gale be strong he surgeth about lustily but if the wind slake he relenteth presently So praise the vainglorious man and ye make him run if he feel not the gale blow he is out of hart he is like the Babylonians who with a little sweet musik were made to adore any thing whatsoever 10 The scripture saith most truly As silver is tried in the fire by blowing to it so is a man tried in the mouth of him that praiseth For as silver if it be good taketh no hurt therby but if it be evil it goeth al into fume so a vain man by praise and commendation How many have we seen puffed up with mens praises and almost put beside themselves for joy therof and yet afterward brought down with a contrarie wind and driven ful neer to desperation by contempt How many do we see daily as the prophet did in his dais commended in their sins and blessed in their wickednes How many palpable and intollerable flatteries do we hear both used and accepted daily and no man crieth with good king David Away with this oile and ointment of sinners let it not come upon my head Is not al this vanitie Is it not madnesse as the scripture calleth it The glorious angels in heaven seek no honor unto themselves but al unto God and thou poore worm of the earth desirest to be glorified The four and twentie elders in the Apocalips took off their crowns and cast them at the feet of the lamb and thou wouldest pluk fortie from the lamb to thy self if thou couldest O fond creature How truly saith the prophet Homo vanitati similis factus est A man is made like unto vanitie That is like unto his own vanitie as light as the verie vanities themselves which he followeth And yet the wise man more expresly In vanitate sua appenditur peccator The sinner is weighed in his vanitie That is by the vanitie which he followeth is seen how light and vain a sinner is 11 The second vanitie that belongeth to ambition is desire of worldly honor dignitie and promotion And this is a great matter in the sight of a worldly man this is a jewel of rare price and woorthy to be bought even with any labor travel or peril whatsoever The love of this letted the great men that were Christians in Iewrie from confessing of Christ openly The love of this letted Pilat from delivering Iesus according as in conscience he saw he was bound The love of this letted Agrippa Festus from making themselves Christians albeit they esteemed Pauls doctrine to be tru The love of this letteth infinite men daily from imbracing the means of their salvation But alas these men do not see the vanitie heerof Saint Paul saith not without just cause Nolite esse pueri sensibus Be you not children in understanding It is the fashion of children to esteem more of a painted bable than of a rich jewel And such is the painted dignitie of this world gotten with much labor maintained with great expenses and lost with intollerable greefe and sorrow For better conceiving wherof ponder a little with thy selfe gentle reader any state of dignitie that thou wouldest desire and think how many have had that before thee Remember how they mounted up how they descended
the wise men of this world were the fittest to be chosen to do Christ service in his church Yet Saint Paul saith Non multi sapientes secundum carnem God hath not chosen many wise men according to the flesh Who would not think but that a worldly wise man might easily also make a wise Christian Yet Saint Paul saith no except first he become a fool Stultus fiat vt sit sapiens If any man seem wise among you let him become a fool to the end he may be made wise Vain then and of no account is the wisdom of this world except it be subject to the wisdom of God 18 The first vanitie belonging to pride of life is corporal beautie wherof the wise man saith Vain is beautie and deceivable is the grace of countenance Wherof also king David understood properly when he said Turn away my eies O Lord that they behold not vanitie This is a singular great vanitie dangerous and deceitful but yet greatly esteemed of the children of men whose propertie is To love vanitie as the prophet saith Beautie is compared by holie men to a painted snake which is fair without and ful of deadly poison within If a man did consider what infinite ruins and destructions have come by our light giving credite therunto he would beware of it And if he remembred what foul drosse lieth under a fair skin he would little be in love therwith saith one father God hath imparted certain sparks of beautie unto his creatures therby to draw us to the consideration and love of his own beautie wherof the other is but a shadow even as a man finding a little issu of water may seek out the fountain therby or happening upon a smal vain of gold may therby come to the whole mine it selfe But we like babes delite ourselves only with the fair cover of the book and never do consider what is written therin In al fair creatures that man doth behold he ought to read this saith one father that If GOD could make a peece of earth so fair and lovely with imparting unto it some little spark of his beautie how infinite fair is he himselfe and how woorthy of al love and admiration And how happie shal we be when we shal come to enjoy his beautiful presence wherof now al creatures do take their beautie 19 If we would exercise our selves in these maner of cogitations we might easily keep our harts pure and unspotted before God in beholding the beautie of his creatures But for that we use not this passage from the creature to the creator but rest only in the eternal appeerance of a deceitful face letting go the bridle to foul cogitations and setting wilfully on fire our own cōcupiscences hence it is that infinite men do perish daily by occasion of this fond vanitie I cal it fond for that every child may descrie the deceit and vanitie therof For take the fairest face in the world wherwith infinite foolish men fal in love upon the sight and rase it over but with a little scrach and al the matter of love is gone let there come but an agu and al this goodly beautie is destroied let the soul depart but one halfe hour from the bodie and this loving face is uglie to look on let it lie but two dais in the grave and those which were so hot in love with it before wil scarse abide to behold it or come neer it And if none of those things happen unto it yet quikly commeth on old age which riveleth the skin draweth in the eies setteth out the teeth and so disfigureth the whole visage as it becommeth more contemptible now than it was beautiful and alluring before And what then can be more vanitie than this What more madnes than either to take pride of it if I see it my selfe or to indanger my soul for it if I see it in others 20 The sixt vanitie belonging to pride of life is the glorie of fine apparel against which the wise man saith In vestitu ne glorieris vnquam See thou never take glorie in apparel Of al vanities this is the greatest which we see so common among men of this world If Adam had never fallen we had never used apparel for that apparel was devised to cover our shame of nakednes and other infirmities contracted by that fal Wherfore we that take pride and glorie in apparel do as much as if a begger should glorie and take pride of the old clouts that do cover his sores Saint Paul said unto a bishop If we have wherwithal to cover our selves let us be content And Christ touched deeply the danger of nice apparel when he commended so much S. Iohn Baptist for his austere attire adding for the contradictorie Qui mollibus vestiuntur in domibus regum sunt They which are apparelled in soft and delicate apparel are in kings courts In kings courts of this world but not in the kings court of heaven For which cause in the description of the rich man damned this is not omitted by Christ That he was apparelled in purple and silk 21 It is a woonderful thing to consider the different proceeding of God and the world heerin God was the first that ever made apparel in the world and he made it for the most noble of al our ancestors in paradise and yet he made it but of beasts skins And Saint Paul testifieth of the noblest saints of the old testament that they were covered only with goats skins and with hairs of camels What vanitie is it then for us to be so curious in apparel and to take such pride therin as we do We rob and spoil al creatures almost in the world to cover our baks and to adorn our bodies withal From one we take his wool from another his skin from another his fur and from som other their very excrements as the silk which is nothing els but the excrements of woorms Nor content with this we come to fishes and do beg of them certain pearls to hang about us We go down into the ground for gold and silver and turn up the sands of the sea for pretious stones and having borrowed al this of other creatures we jet up and down provoking men to look upon us as if al this now were our own When the stone shineth upon our finger we wil seem forsooth therby to shine When the silver and silks do glister on our baks we look big as if al that beauty came from us And so as the prophet saith we passe over our dais in vanitie and do not perceive our own extreme folly 22 The second general branch which Saint Iohn appointeth unto the vanitie of this life is concupiscence of the eies wherunto the ancient fathers have referred al vanities of riches and wealth of this world Of this Saint Paul writeth to Timothie Give commandement to the
by to watch the same The prophet David to signifie the very same thing that is the infinite multitude of snares in this world saith God shal raign snares upon sinners That is God shal permit wicked men to fal into snares which are as plentiful in the world as are the drops of rain which fal down from heaven Every thing almost is a deadly snare unto a carnal and loose harted man Every sight that he seeth every word that he heareth every thought that he conceiveth his youth his age his frinds his enimies his honor his disgrace his riches his povertie his companie keeping his prosperitie his adversitie his meat that he eateth his apparel that he weareth al are snares to draw him to destruction that is not watchful 49 Of this then and of the blindnes declared before doth follow the last and greatest miserie of al which can be in this life and that is the facilitie wherby worldly men do run into sin For truly saith the scripture Miseros facit populos peccatum Sin is the thing that maketh people miserable And yet how easily men of the world do commit sin and how little scruple they make of the matter Iob signifieth when talking of such a man he saith Bibit quasi aquam iniquitatem He suppeth up sin as it were water That is with as great facilitie custome and ease passeth he down any kind of sin that is offered him as a mā drinketh water when he is a thirst He that wil not beleeve the saieng of Iob let him prove a little by his own experience whether the matter be so or no let him walk out in to the streets behold the doings of men view their behavior consider what is done in shops in hals in consistories in judgement seats in pallaces and in common meeting places abroad what lieng what slandering what deceiving there is He shal find that of al things wherof men take any account nothing is so little accounted of as to sin He shal see justice sold veritie wrested shame lost and equitie despised He shal see the innocent condemned the giltie delivered the wicked advanced the vertuous opressed He shal see many theves florish many usurers bear great sway many murderers extortioners reverenced honored many fools put in authoritie and divers which have nothing in them but the form of men by reason of money to be placed in great dignities for the government of others He shal hear at every mans mouth almost vanitie pride detraction envie deceit dissimulation wantonnes dissolution lieng swearing perjurie and blaspheming Finally he shal see the most part of men to govern themselves absolutely even as beasts do by the motion of their passions not by law of justice reason religion or vertu 50 Of this doth insu the fift point that Christ toucheth in his parable and which I promised heer to handle to wit that the love of this world choketh up and strangleth every man whom it possesseth from al celestial and spiritual life for that it filleth him with a plain contrarie spirit to the spirit of God The apostle saith Si quis spiritum Christi non habet hic non est eius If any man hath not the spirit of Christ this fellow belongeth not unto him Now how contrarie the spirit of Christ and the spirit of the world is may appeer by the fruits of Christs spirit rekoned up by Saint Paul unto the Galathians to wit Charitie which is the root and mother of al good works Ioy in serving God Peace or tranquillitie of mind in the storms of this world Patience in adversitie Longanimitie in expecting our reward Bonitie in hurting no man Benignitie in sweet behavior Gentlenes in occasion given of anger Faithfulnes in performing our promises Modestie without arrogancie Continencie from al kind of wickednes Chastitie in conserving a pure mind in a clean and unspotted bodie Against these men saith Saint Paul there is no law And in the very same chapter he expresseth the spirit of the world by the contrarie effects saieng The works of flesh are manifest which are fornication uncleannes wantonnes lecherie idolatrie poisonings enmities contentions emulations wrath strife dissention sects envie murder droonkennes gluttonie and the like of which I foretel you as I have told you before that those men which do such things shal never obtain the kingdome of heaven 51 Heer now may every man judge of the spirit of the world and the spirit of Christ and applieng it to himselfe may conjecture whether he holdeth of the one or of the other Saint Paul giveth two pretie short rules in the very same place to trie the same The first is They which are of Christ have crucified their flesh with the vices and concupiscences therof That is they have so mortified their own bodies as they strive against al the vices sins repeated before and yeeld not to serve the concupiscences or temptations therof The second rule is If we live in spirit then let us walk in spirit That is our walking and behavior is a sign whether we be alive or dead For if our walking be spiritual such as I have declared before by those fruits therof then do we live have life in spirit but if our works be carnal such as S. Paul now hath described then are we carnal and dead in spirit neither have we any thing to do with Christ or portion in the kingdome of heaven And for that al the world is ful of those carnal works and bringeth foorth no fruits indeed of Christs spirit nor permitteth them to grow up or prosper within hir thence is it that the scripture alwais putteth Christ and the world for opposite and open enimies 52 Christ himselfe saith that The world cannot receive the spirit of truth And again in the same Evangelist he saith that Neither he nor any of his are of the world though they live in the world And yet further in his most vehement praier unto his father Pater iuste mundus te non cognovit Iust father the world hath not known thee For which cause S. Iohn writeth If any man love the world the love of the father is not in him And yet further Saint Iames that Whosoever but desireth to be frind of this world is therby made an enimie to God What wil worldly men say to this Saint Paul affirmeth plainly that this world is to be damned And Christ insinuateth the same in Saint Iohns Gospel but most of al in that wonderful fact of his when praieng to his father for other matters he excepteth the world by name Non pro mundo rogo saith he I do not aske mercie and pardon for the world but for those which thou hast given me out of the world Oh what a dreadful exception is this made by the savior of the world by the lamb that taketh away al sins
Christ hath placed both his feet I wil not sing unto thee judgement alone nor yet mercie alone my God but I wil sing unto thee with the prophet David mercie and judgement joined togither And I wil never forget these justifications of thine 3 Saint Austen handleth this point most excellently in divers places of his works Let them mark saith he which love so much mercie and gentlenes in our Lord let them mark I say and fear also his truth For as the prophet saith God is both sweet and just Dost thou love that he is sweet Fear also that he is just As a sweet Lord he said I have held my peace at your sins but as a just Lord he addeth And think you that I wil hold my peace stil God is merciful and ful of mercies say you it is most certain yea ad unto it that He beareth long But yet fear that which commeth in the verses end Et verax that is He is also tru and iust There be two things wherby sinners do stand in danger the one in hoping too much which is presumption the other in hoping too little which is desperation Who is deceived by hoping too much He which saith unto himselfe God is a good God a merciful God and therfore I wil do what pleaseth me And why so Bicause God is a merciful God a good God a gentle God These men run into danger by hoping too much Who are in danger by despair Those which seeing their sins greevous and thinking it now unpossible to be pardoned say within themselves Wel we are once to be damned why do not we then whatsoever pleaseth us best in this life These men are murdered by desperation the other by hope What therfore doth God for gaining of both these men To him which is in danger by hope he saith Do not say with thy selfe The mercie of God is great he wil be merciful to the multitude of my sins for the face of his wrath is upon sinners To him that is in danger by desperation he saith At what time soever a sinner shal turn himselfe to me I wil forget his iniquities Thus far S. Austen beside much more which he addeth in the same place touching the great peril and follie of those which upon vain hope of Gods mercie do persevere in their evil life 4 It is a very evil consequent and most unjust kind of reasoning to say That forsomuch as God is merciful and long suffering therfore wil I abuse his mercie and continu in my wickednes The scripture teacheth us not to reason so but rather quite contrarie God is merciful and expecteth my conversion and the longer he expecteth the more greevous wil be his punishment when it commeth if I neglect this patience And therfore I ought presently to accept of his mercie So reasoneth S. Paul which saith Dost thou contemn the riches of his long suffering and gentlenes Dost thou not know that the patience of God towards thee is used to bring thee to repentance But thou through the hardnes of thy hart and irrepentant mind dost hoord up to thy selfe wrath in the day of vengeance at the revelation of Gods iust iudgement In which words Saint Paul signifieth that the longer that God suffereth us with patience in our wickednes the greater heap of vengeance doth he gather against us if we persist obstinate in the same Wherto Saint Austen addeth another consideration of great dread and fear and that is If he offer thee grace saith he to day thou knowest not whether he wil do it to morrow or no. If he give thee life and memorie this week thou knowest not whether thou shalt enjoy it the next week or no. 5 The holie prophet beginning his seventith and second psalme of the dangerous prosperitie of worldlie men useth these words of admiration How good a God is the God of Israel unto them that be of a right hart And yet in al that psalme he doth nothing els but shew the heavie justice of God towards the wicked even when he giveth them most prosperities and worldlie wealth and his conclusion is Behold O Lord they shal perish which depart from thee thou hast destroied al those that have broken their faith of wedlok with thee By which is signified that how good soever God be unto the just yet that pertaineth nothing to the releefe of the wicked who are to receive just vengeance at his hands amidst the greatest mercies bestowed upon the godlie The eies of the Lord are upon the iust saith the same prophet and his ears are bent to hear their praiers but the face of the Lord is upon them that do evil to destroy their memorie from out the earth 6 It was an old practise of deceiving prophets resisted strongly by the prophets of God to crie Peace peace unto wicked men when indeed there was nothing towards them but danger sword and destruction as the tru prophets foretold and as the event prooved Wherfore the prophet David giveth us a notable and sure rule to govern our hope and confidence withal Sacrificate sacrificium iustitiae sperate in Domino Do you sacrifice unto God the sacrifice of righteousnes and then trust in him Wherwith Saint Iohn agreeth when he saith If our hart or conscience do not reprehend us for wicked life then have we confidence with God as who would say If our conscience be giltie of lewd and wicked life and we resolved to dwel and continu therin then in vain have we confidence in the mercies of God unto whose just judgement we stand subject for our wickednes 7 It is most woonderful and dreadful to consider how God hath used himselfe towards his best beloved in this world upon offence given by occasion of sin how easily he hath changed countenance how soon he hath broken off frindship how streightly he hath taken account and how severely he hath punished The Angels that he created with so great care and love and to whom he imparted so singular privileges of al kind of perfections as he made them almost very gods in a certain maner committed but only one sin of pride against his majestie and that only in thought as Divines do hold and yet presently al that good wil and favor was changed into justice and that also so severe as they were thrown down to eternal torments without redemption chained for ever to abide the rigor of hel fire and intollerable darknes 8 After this God made himselfe another new frind of flesh and blood which was our father Adam in paradise where God conversed with him so frindly and familiarly as is most woonderful to consider he called him he talked with him he made al creatures in the world subject unto him he brought them al before him to the end that he and not God should give them their names he made a mate and companion
and yet resolved with themselves not to obey or change the custom of their proceedings therfore fel they in fine to persecute sharply their reprehendors wherof the only cause was hardnes of hart Induraverunt facies suas supra petram noluerunt reverti saith God by the mouth of Ieremie They have hardened their faces above the hardnes of a rok and they wil not turn to me And in another place of the same prophet he complaineth greevously of this perversenes Quare ergo aversus est populus iste in Ierusalem aversione contentiosa And why then is this people in Ierusalem revolted from me by so contentious and perverse an alienation as they wil not hear me any more c And yet again in another place Quare moriemini domus Israel Why wil you die you house of Israel Why wil you damn your selves Why are you so obstinate as not to hear so perverse as not to learn so cruel to your selves as you wil not know the dangers wherin you live nor understand the miserie that hangeth over you 22 Dost thou not imagin deer brother that God useth this kind of speech not only to the Iews but also to many thousand Christians and perhaps also unto thy selfe many times everie day for that thou refusest his good motions and other means sent from him to draw thee to his service thou being resolved not to yeeld therunto but to follow thy pursuit whatsoever persuasions shal come to the contrarie Alas how many Christians be there who say to God daily as they did whom I named before Depart from us we wil not have the knowledge of thy wais How many be there which abhor to hear good counsel Fear and tremble to read good bookes Flie and detest the frequentation of godly companie least by such occasions they might be touched in conscience converted and saved How many be there which say with those most miserable hard harted men wherof the prophet speaketh Percussimus foedus cum morte cum inferno fecimus pactum We have striken a league with death and have made a bargain with hel it selfe Which is as much to say as if they had said Trouble us not molest us not with thy persuasions spend not thy words and labor in vain talk unto others who are not yet setled let them take heaven that it wil we for our parts are resolved we are at a point we have made a bargain that must be performed yea though it be with hel and death everlasting 23 It is a woonderful furie the obduration of an hard hart and not without cause compared by the prophet as I shewed before to the wilful furie and rage of serpents And another place of scripture describeth it thus Durus es nervus ferreus cervix tua frons tua aerea Thou art hard harted and thy nek is a sinow of iron thy forhead is of brasse What can be more vehemently spoken to expresse the hardnes of this mettal But yet Saint Barnard expresseth it more at large in these words Quid ergo cor durum And what is then a hard hart And he answereth immediately A hard hart is that which is neither cut by compunction nor softened by godlines nor mooved with praiers nor yeeldeth to threatening nor is any thing holpen but rather hardened by chastening An hard hart is that which is ingrateful to Gods benefits disobedient to his counsels made cruel by his judgements dissolute by his allurements unshamefast to filthines fearles to perils uncourteous in humane affairs rechles in matters pertaining to God forgetful of things past negligent in things present improvident for things to come 24 By this description of Saint Barnard it appeereth that an hard hart is almost a desperate and remediles disease where it falleth For what wil you do saith this good father to amend it If you lay the greevousnes of sin before him he is not touched with compunction If you alledge him al the reasons in the world why we ought to serve God and why we ought not to offend and dishonor him he is not mollified by this consideration of piety If you would request him and beseech him with tears even on your knees he is not mooved If you threaten Gods wrath against him he yeeldeth nothing therunto If God scourge him in deed he waxeth furious and becommeth much more hard than before If God bestow benefits on him he is ungrateful If he counsel him for his salvation he obeieth not If you tel him of Gods secret and severe judgements it driveth him to desperation and to more crueltie If you allure him with Gods mercie it maketh him dissolute If you tel him of his own filthines he blusheth not If you admonish him of his perils he feareth not If he deal in matters towards men he is proud and uncurteous If he deal in matters towards God he is rash light and contemptuous Finally he forgetteth whatsoever hath passed before him towards other men either in reward of godlines or in punishment of sinners For the time present he neglecteth it nor maketh any account of using it to his benefit And of things to come either of blisse or miserie he is utterly unprovident nor wil esteem therof lay you them never so often or vehemently before his face And what way is there then to do this man good 25 Not without great cause surely did the wise man pray so hartily to God Animae irreverenti infrenatae ne tradas me Deliver me not over O Lord unto a shameles and unruly soul. That is unto a hard and obstinate hart Wherof he giveth the reason in another place of the same booke Cor enim durum habebit male in novissimo For that an hard hart shal be in an evil case at the last day Oh that al hard harted people would note this reason of scripture But S. Barnard goeth on and openeth the terror heerof more fully when he saith Nemo duri cordis salutem unquam adeptus est nisi quem forte miserans Deus abstulit ab eo iuxta prophetam cor lapideum dedit cor carneum There was never yet hard harted man saved except God by his mercie did take away his stonie hart and give him a hart of flesh according to the prophet By which words Saint Barnard signifieth and prooveth out of the prophet that there are two kinds of harts in men the one a fleshlie hart which bleedeth if you but prik it that is it falleth to contrition repentance and tears upon never so smal a chek for sin The other is a stonie hart which if you beat and buffet never so much with hammers you may assoon break it in peeces as either bend it or make it to bleed And of these two harts in this life dependeth al our miserie or felicitie for the life to come For as God when he would take vengeance of
Wherin although they could never be able either to condemn us or else but to justifie themselves yet is it more than we need to give them and more than we think they use wel when they have it Therfore to cōclude both these points as I said before so say I again that it is no marvel if divers of them think that joining with us they should utterly depart from the church so long as they do wander so far both in determining what the church is and what it is to depart from the same 16 For amendement wherof it must needs be a good and a readie way more truly to learn what the church is indeed and what is the undowted departing from it Concerning the former it shal be needful not onlie to consider what the church is in the whole but also what it is in the several parts that is who are the tru members therof Concerning the whole there is a way which if we take we shal never be able plainly to find out the thing that we seeke yet notwithstanding determin therin the very truth Again there is a way which if we take we shal quikly find that which is not onlie tru in it selfe but also carrieth such a light with it as that easily we shal be able to perceive the truth of the thing that we have in hand The former of these is when as we go about to compas those things that are beyond our reach and cannot come under our capacitie As namely when we labor to finde out the church in heaven either in the secret election of God or in the glorie wherunto it shal come in the end or on earth by the largenes of the bounds which it hath being spred al over the face of the earth For thogh it be very tru that that indeed is the tru church which is chosen from the beginning and which shal be glorified in the end yet are not we able by either of those to finde out who they are For we cannot looke into the secret purpose of God nor in the end it selfe espie the end before it come we must either have better tokens than these or else can we do no good at al. So likewise the earth is so very large that we are not able to reach foorth our knowledge unto the outmost bounds therof and so consequently can never see what faith it is that is there professed nor so much as whether there be any people at al that there inhabit If therfore we should take such a course as that we could not in our conscience set down with our selves that we knew the church until we could get the view of the whole then could we never resolve our selves but must needs remain uncertain so long as we live And in this our adversaries have as it seemeth at the first a just occasion ministred unto them to turn aside their adhaerents eies to the church of Rome being such as for neernes and evident shew that it hath may easily come under our knowledge and for that many others hang therupon carrieth a special credit withal Howbeit althogh they have rightly espied the inconvenience on the one side yet have they not sufficiently holpen the same on the other They see in deed what is the disease but the medicin that they give for the same wil not serve Therfore now concerning that other way that wil serve our turn we have the direction alreadie given as in manie other places of scripture besides so namely by a special place of Christ himselfe at his last going up to Ierusalem a little before the time that he suffered At what time being disposed to leave that point decided unto them before he should leave them he first asked his disciples what opinion others had of him and when that came short what was their own persuasion of him Wherunto when Peter answered in the name of himselfe the rest that they beleeved that he was the Christ the son of the living God he plainly declared that that was the tru profession indeed that it was not an opinion or conceit of mans wisdome but was given unto them from his father in heaven that it was the rok plot of ground wherupon he would build his church that against it the power of hel should never praevail and that by it they should open and shut the kingdome of heaven to al the world setting at libertie from the danger of hel those that beleeved and binding up al others to aeternal perdition In which place we have to consider what is the faith that is so commended and what cōmendation is given unto it But bicause to the praesent purpose that we have in hand we need but the former of these two therfore in the other we need to consider no more but this now that there is so special cōmendation given unto it as that it cannot be but that whosoever are of the same they must needs be of the church indeed The faith it selfe that is there professed resteth in two principal points one that he was the Christ the other that he was the son of the living God Of which two the latter is with so ful consent received of al and so cleer from al maner of dowt among us and every point therunto belonging that it again may for this time be set aside though otherwise in it selfe it be as needful as the other And so to find out what is the sense of the former of them that is that he was the Christ it is as much to say that he was the annointed or that very savior which before was promised unto them In which his annointing there are two things to be considered that he was appointed and made able to be our savior and so consequently appointed and made able to be our preest our prophet and king Our preest to make a ful attonement betwixt God and us to the purchasing of aeternal redemption in him and to the attainment of the same our prophet to teach us whatsoever is expedient for us to know and our king under whom we have to live until by his government he shal bring us thither Out of which we may safely set down and that by the authoritie of Christ himselfe who they are that may be accounted the church of God that is the universal assemblie of those that professe the Son of the virgin Marie to be the promised savior by God himselfe both ordained and enabled to save so manie as do beleeve in him Or if we go more specially to work those that rest in Iesus Christ alone for the whole work of their salvation in his preesthood for the ful satisfaction of the justice of God both to escape hel and to come unto heaven in his doctrine and scepter to bring us unto it So commeth it to passe that whersoever there be any countries or nations that do professe this faith in Christ those must we needs acknowledge