Works, Part 4 · Religious instruction · Chapter 19
CHAP. XIX. of Death and Iudgement.
MAnie make no account of the death of the soule, because they feele it not as they doeThe death of the soule. the death of the bodie. EueryEvery man feareth a Palsie, an Epilepsie, and an Apoplexie, because they strike dead: but if a man be in a consumption, where hee shall be decaying seuen yeares, he thinks nothing of it. Likewise if an house fall suddenly, we say it perisheth, but if it moulder away we little regard it. In Hosh. 5, vers 7. 12. The Lord threatneth Simile.to be a Lyon to Israel, and a moath to Iudah. Surely, when the wrath of God, as a moathe hath secretly fed on vsus ere we know it, our soules doe as it were bleede to death. For as hee that bleedeth to death feeleth little, vntill suddenly his strength faileth; so in the death of the soule, a man doth not perceiue how his strength is gone, or euer he be aware. It may beSimile. the Lord will not be vntounto vsus as a Lyon, but as a moath, we shall not happily die of an Apoplexie, but of a consumption, and CHRIST the Sauiour shall laugh at our destruction.
2 We can better away to meditate on Death which Sathan couereth with eternitie following,Meditation of Iudgemēt. then on the day of Iudgement, where wee must all make our account.
3 The bare meditation of Death doth so farre moue vsus from suffering our delights to dwell on earthly things, as that Reason disswadeth vsus not to make any cost about a TenementSimile. where wee knowe we shall dwell but a while. Yet such bare imaginations of Death may build vp in the meane time the kingdome of pride in vsus. Wherefore it shall be moreMeditation of death. auailable, if with our meditation of putting off this earthly tabernacle, we thinke also of putting on the heauenly Tabernacle, and of putting on the royall robe of Christs righteousnes, without which we shall neuer stand with comfort before the great Throne of Gods Iudgement.
4 The cause why we beso loth to die is, because we cannot finde in our conscience thatLoth to die. we hauehave done that good thing for which we came into this life.
5 If there be a desire in thee to die in respect of some iniurie, shake it off; it is better toWherefore some desire to die. be a liuing dog, than a dead Lion: for so long as thou liuest, there is time to repent, but after death there is none. Therefore labour for to feele his fauour in Christ, which if thou doe, thou shalt neuer faile till thou come to him.
6 God dealeth contrary to the course of our common Physitions, which first giuegive oneIudgement. Morbus magnus magnum remedium. P…dor, Dolor, Timor, Augustine. Maxima est poena timorem amisisse iudicij. medicine, and then if that will not serue, a stronger: but God giueth the strongest first. The argument of iudgement is the last that can moue vsus. That argument moueth most in Logicke which hath the best reason and most sense: howsoeuer it seemeth to some, yet sure I am the argument of iudgement hath the most sense, or shall hauehave, and may best serue to moue all sensual men. There be three things to moue euen euil disposed men in that great iudgement, shame, griefe, and feare. Let it moue vsus for shame; and if this will not, let vsus remember the feare which then shall possesse vsus; if wee want this, our state is lamentable, for then neither Prophets, nor Apostles, nor the holy Ghost can tell what to say vntounto vsus.
7 Many are of opinion (that teach without discretion) that it is euill to doe any thingFac, fac, vel timore poenae, si nondum potes amore iustitiae. Simile. Cùm dicis timeo quid dicturus sum, malè times, vanè times. for feare of iudgement, but all for louelove: and if we abstaine from any euill for feare, that we are in a wrong course. I hauehave been of this error my selfe, but the holy Ghost is content to vse this as a good reason, and will bee beholding to vsus, if wee feare to doe euill for iudgements sake. Heare what Augustine saith: Doe this for feare of punishment, if thou ca…st not as yet obey for the louelove of iustice. Bernard likens the feare of God to a needle, and the louelove of God to a threed: first the needle entreth, and then followeth the threed: First, feare keepeth vsus from doing, next, louelove causeth that we doe not, euen then, when we can doe. This is t… meanes as Augustine saith, A timore bonavita, à bona vita bona conscientia: inde nullus timor, at que ita dulcescit Deus peccanti, &c. First we are Gods enemies, then his seruants, & if we behaue our selues wel in his seruice we shalbe made his adopted children.Dominus ablato timore su…jcit timo…, dicturus sum …lanè time.
8 This word iudgement I would no man would let it passe without iudgement, and yet there is no word read with lesse iudgement. In the law the title de iudicio is best studied: and it is a great title. Chrysostome saith, if we had that care which they hauehave that be arraigned before an earthly iudge, we should doe well. Though his iudgements be as the great deepe, as the Psalmist saith; yet they may be brought to foure heads, and first into two, thePrimum timo…ne facias, de…n amor, … ve…s face…e, …si possis. iudgement of man, and the iudgement of God: the iudgement of man, either when another giues iudgement of vsus, or we giuegive iudgement of our selues: the iudgement of God, either in this life, or eternall. Iob, chap. 29 speaketh of some yong men in his daies, that feared his iudgement. This feare is to be seene in heathen men, as in him that ran further intoOf the day of iudgement. the Tauerne to auoyde the sight of the Philosopher. The boyes of Bethel, that wanted this feare, and reuerenced not Elisha the Prophet, were so far gone, that it was time to cut themVerbum hoc iudicij vtinam nemo transi…er siue iudicio. off. He cursed them, and two she-beares came out of the wood and slew them. But as Lucina saith of the consistorie of Christians, this is a miserable Consistorie, a poore iudgement: eueryevery man will pleade with the friar, We are exempted Lord: yet true it is. theySi i… nobis ea ess…t cura quae coram terreno iudice sistendorum, s…iciter age…m…s. that shall iudge the world, can best iudge, but they shall be iudged also. The second is the iudgement seate within vsus, which God hath made to make vsus esteeme his the more. It is counted an absurd thing for a man to be his owne iudge. This is our owne conscience. This is Gods register that registreth all things which we doe or speake, and it is also our remembrancer, when we are alone. Blessed is the man that despiseth not this iudge: no man can1. Iudgemēt of man. hauehave a more seuere iudge than himselfe, albeit a man doe acquite himselfe: the wicked is sometimes secure, but neuer in safetie. This is that, whereby God would call vsus home. EueryEvery2. The iudgment seate within vsus. sinner is his owne tormentor: Here be surdo verbera, strokes that cannot be heard, and yet strokes indeed. Then if there be within them such torments, why are wicked men so merrie? Surely I must answere them thus: Peccator est sui carnifex: but these are remouedIudgement of the conscience. from the way of sinners to the seate of scorners: and then all is quiet. EueryEvery sinner is condemned in himselfe, or by himselfe, if he become not brutish, & his conscience feared and hardened. And as for young mens consciences, Augustine compareth them to waterThe strokes of mans conscience. in a bason, the water is stirred, and there is no face seene: but so soone as maturitie of yeares come, then it will stand still, and we shall see our faces, and crie with Dauid and Iob, Lord wipe away the sinnes of my youth. The third iudgement may be compared to aYoung mens consciences. quarter sessions, that doth consist in depriuing of commodities, the mulcte is the losse of Gods grace, an vnsensible punishment, but so great, that if all the creatures shouldSimile. mourne, saith Chrysostome, it were not sufficient, when grace is taken away from one…. Iudgemēt. Losse of grace. man. If we will not be moued with the losse of that, which God makes account of, hee will take away that which we make account of, as by taking away our preferment, wit, &c. for I account that man to hauehave lost his wit, which is turned into a Foxe, which hath nothingWhat men are beside their wits. but craft and subtiltie. Then he sendeth sicknes, reproches and hearts griefe to humble vsus, or some singular sharp iudgement on some, of very good hope, and louelove, and taketh them out of this life, to warne vsus that are a great deale worse, to the terrour of the wicked, andIudgement▪ that they might not see the punishments he is to bring vponupon the vngodly for sin. Now for as much as a man in the first iudgement is cōdemned, in the second quited, in the third repriued: Therfore the Lord hath appointed a fourth iudgmēt, which shall pay them home: and that may be compared, if I may so say, to the gaole deliuerie, and this is called the day of iudgement. In comparison wherof other iudgements are as nothing. Then God wil takeVert…s ille iudic j…dies, in quo omni… causa ca…it. the matter into his own hand, then shal there be a new Quest, thē all th…se matters that are shuffled vp, and euill iudged, shall be iudged againe. Now is the day of affections, but then the day of iudgement: in it we shal lose all that is to be lost. Now for this day & this iudgement,Ven…er, veni… ille dies, in quo malè i… dicatus re…ud… cabitur. that we may hauehave somewhat to moue vsus, being of our selues Verie dul, let vsus see, how fearefull and dreadfull it is. In a iudgement there are three things, the action, the sentence, and the execution. For we see the prisoners, first how they plead for themselues. Secondly, being found guilty, the sentence is pronounced by the Iudge: and after, they are executed.Three things in iudgemēt▪ …. Action▪ In earth there are means to acquite for a season, as delusiō of the Iudge or of the witnesses, perswasion, corruption, fauor. For the first, they be apicesiuris, points in law, they vndoe all iustice, a cau…lling iustice: but apices iuris in calo non excusant. And for the witnesses they* Qu…rks in Ia…: Apex iuris pro iure …m…e & …bt…li, …pinola que di putatione. V…pian. shall not deliuer him, for they shall be true witnesses, the booke shall then be opened. No perswasion shall then serue, because God is not subiect to any affection. Thirdly, there shall be no corruption, for though the Iudge could be corrupted, what could we giuegive him, when the whole world shall be destroied? Lastly, we must looke for no fauour, for it is the day of iudgement and not of merciemercy. The night before the blowing of the Trumpet, there shall be preached mercy, but then there shall be none: let no man flatter himselfe, forNote. so he shall find it. To escape a sentēce here on earth is either by appeale to an higher court,2. Sentence. or by re…racting: but there can be no appeale, for who is higher than God: neither shall there be any reuersion of the sentence, for there shall be no more sitting, because there is no second iudgement. Thirdly, there is an execution, which is most fearefull. And execution3. Executiō. there shall be, well, let it come, will we say, for a punishment must be ours: & then what is there to helpe vsus to escape punishment, but either resistance, or if that will not serue, flight; if we cannot flie, patience, or mitigation, or our cōfort is hope: but there is none of all these can stand vsus in any stead: for the first, if we were, as Iob saith, hard rockes, as we are potshards, we were not able to resist, for if the Lord did but touch vsus, we would smoke. But his wrath shall be powred vponupon vsus, and who is able to abide it? Secondly, it bootes vsusNo flying from Gods iudgement. not to flie, for the Lord is eueryevery where round about vsus, we are as it were in a circumferēce, the further we are from one part, the neerer we are to the other. We flie from the God of peace to the God of wrath, there is no escaping: Christ saith, Take the vnprofitable seruant,Simile. bind him hand and foot, so that he cannot flie; and Iude addeth, with euerlasting chaines, and that in darkenes; so that if he could breake his chaines, yet he could not see whither to flie in the darke. Thirdly, there is no patience; which ye shall see, if ye consider the example of the rich man in Luke, who required one drop of water to coole his tongue, of a person,Luk. 16. A description of the torments of hell. whom he hated deadly; and no doubt they do hate the godly there as much as euer they did in this life. Last of all let vsus looke for no mittigation: If there were any mittigation, it should be either in respect of the wearines of the tormentors, but they are spirits; or by consuming of our bodies, but we shall continue for euer: or by diminishing of the instruments, but the fire shall neuer goe out: & that it may not so do, there is a lake of brimstone prepared to run into it, and the worme neuer dieth. Neither shal there be any comfort, the remembrance euen of that they enioyed shall torment them.
9 There is a people in Amos and Zephanie, that put the day of the Lord farre off,Against thē that are either carelesse or curious in things concerning the day of Iudgment. but it shall be vntounto them a day of terrour and trembling. On the other side, let vsus consider how the world waxing olde as a garment, and all creatures become moath-eaten and worme-eaten: the fruites, stones, and hearbes decaying in their vertues. Against worldly Atheists the Prophet Zephaniah saith: The Lord will seeke them, and rather than he will lose them for finding, he will seeke them with a lanterne, and search them with a candle. When we know the time must come, we enquire of it: and beholding God drawing some presently into the stage, and knowing that others are reserued for the last iudgement, the faithfull inquire for their hope, the wicked for their feare. Well, as I would not hauehave men too curious, Mat. 24 so could I wish them not to be too carelesse: the first is ill, the second is worse. The day shall come suddenly, and therefore neither curiousnesse nor carelesnesse is good: only thus much is sure, it is at hand, but no man could neuer shew the fingers of his hand. Peter sheweth, that we must not measure the time after man, but afterA worthy meditation of the day of iudgement. God. Some reason this, some that; but let vsus remember that, Deuterono. 29. 29. The secret things belong to the Lord our God, but the things reuealed belong vntounto vsus. Let no man thinke by an allegorie to reach to that, which the Angels themselues cannot comprehend. For if one should say, that as there were foure thousand yeeres before Christ his comming in theThe ancients erred concerning the day of iudgemēt. flesh, so there should be foure thousand before he came to iudgement, were it not as like a quidditie as they harpe on, and yet both vntrue? If we looke on Cyprian and Tertullian, we shall see them to hauehave thought the day to come in their times. Here the Fathers hauehave roued much, but all like to misse the marke. Let vsus know, that th… neerenesse is not in respectHow the day of iudgement is said to be …eer…. of vsus, but of the speaker, who onelyonly knoweth what is neere; and let vsus content our selues with this, that in respect of eternitie nothing is long, that shall hauehave an ende. When the Apostles then say, it is neere, so we may say, it is neere, and no difference: But as the Day was then neere, so the Houre is now neere; neere, I say in respect of God and of eternitie. And as the promise accomplished was neere to God 4000. yeeres before it came, so it is not in the fadome of mans braine to tell, how many dayes or yeeres, wherewith God is not gouerned, is farre or neere vntounto vsus. The Apostle Heb. 10. 25. sheweth the time to bee neere, and that it is within the view of the eye, because the sacrifices of the Iewes are abolished, the true sacrifices are offered, and the Gospell more or lesse is vniuersally preached. But among al reasons this moueth me, & may moue all, that now Christ is readie to come, because we see small faith on the earth For if euer this was, it is now, wherein is not onelyonly a defect of faith, which euer was, but because now men goe cleane against faith: for now not onelyonly the principles of the faith are not obserued, but they are thought absurde, andLying. things cleane contrarie are prescribed. Is it not monstrous, that now some teach for doctrine, that a man may lie and forsweare without sin or shame? Seeing that sinne is now inSwearing. it ripenesse, which was before but in the eare, could the diuell from hell broch more profound blasphemies? If the regions begin to grow white, and sin groweth ripe and yellow, we must looke for the Angell shortly to thrust in his sickle. Well, whensoeuer the dave of iudgment is, I feare the day of the departure of the Gospel is at hand. Our securitie is such, that we may rather say, the Lord hath suffered vsus too long, then that we can accuse God forSecuritie. seuerenesse in striking vsus too soone. Be it then, that as yet the day is not come, wherein the world shall crackle about our eares; or though we see not our Ierusalem destroyed: yet we know our day of death cannot be farre off, and quickely we shall come to our doome.