IT is a rule that will a­bide the tutch-stone, No man comes to heauen with drie eyes. Our selues are shippes laun­ched foorth for heauen: our teares must be the sea, our sighes the gales of winde, while Hope is the anchor, and Grace steares the helme. Moses, Hezekiah, Peter, Mary Mag­dalen, and all the Saints of God were was­ted on the riuers that gusht from their own eyes to the kingdome of glory.

Howbeit, though euery penitent sinner wéepe, yet euery one that wéepes is not a pe­nitent sinner. For teares in themselues are but things indifferent, & neuer please God, but when they issue from a troubled spirite, suppled with grace, and wounded with true remorse, and sence of sinne. It is not sorrow, 2. Cor. 7. 10. but godly sorrow that goes for currant.

Some wéepe for themselues, not for o­thers: some wéepe for others not for them­selues: some neither wéepe for themselues, nor others: some both wéepe for themselues and others. To wéepe for thy selfe, not for [Page] others betokens luke-warmnesse: to wéepe for others, not for thy selfe, hypocrisie: nei­ther to wéepe for thy selfe, nor others, dead­nesse of hart: both to wéepe for thy selfe, and others, zealousnesse. The last of these is an effect of holy sorrow, which who so findeth not in himselfe one time, or other, is no bet­ter than a vessell of wrath.

In the name of God then, good Christian brother, let thine eyes spout out teares as a Conduite spouteth out waters, for thy grée­uous, capitall, and enormous vices. Say not thou art Sanguine complexiond and canst not wéepe, of a manly stomack and wilt not Sam. 1. 16. 12. wéepe, for Dauid was both, yet teares were his meate, day and night. Flatter not thy selfe: the vaine conceit of easie attaining sal­uation may cast many a soule away in a yeare. Thou must vpon necessity mortifie the flesh: Away with it, Away with it, cruci­fie it, crucifie it. Now ere thou can do this, it will cost thée many a groane, and many a teare, oh it will go to the hart of thée.

As thou tendrest thy soule, looke home: vnrip, vnbowell, ransacke thy selfe through­out. Mourne for thy originall sinnes, and for thy actuall sinnes, for thy sinnes before thy calling, and since thy calling: for thy presumptuous sinnes, and for thy sinnes of [Page] infirmitie, for thy open sinnes, and for thy se­cret sinnes, for thy sinnes of ommission, and for thy sinnes of commission. Stéepe thine eyes in teares, read letters of discomfort on the ground as thou goest, let the streames of thy sighes, and the incense of thy praiers rise vp like mountaines before the Lord, and if this will not mooue him to pitty, if it be pos­sible wéepe teares of bloud.

Aboue all things beware thou looke not sowerly in company to be séene of men, for then thy rewarde is sure to be great in hell. Get thée into thy most retyred closet, let no body (by thy good will) know of it, pull the latch into thée sée there be no holes in the dore, no cranies nor clifts in the wall, & then fall groueling to the earth, thump thy brest, strike vpon thy thigh, wring thy hands, and poure out thy soule before the Lorde: so he that séeth thy true humiliation in secret, shal one day rewarde thée openly in the sight of his glorious Angels.

Vnclaspe thy Bible, lay the ten comman­dements before thée, and (bedewing them with thy teares) make thine humble confes­sion thus before God.

O my God, I am confounded, and asha­med to lift vp mine eyes vnto thée, my God, for mine iniquities are increased, and my [Page] trespasse is growne vp into heauen. Yet Lord remember thy mercies of olde, and open mine eyes that I may sée the wonders of thy law, that so sinne may be out of mea­sure Rom. 7. 12 sinful. Good God, thy commandements are iust, and holy, but I am carnall, sold vn­der sinne, and should not lye yelping, and howling in the burning lake of damned soules, if I had my right. Blessed be thy name for inspiring this good motion of me­ditating in thy law, for it is a glasse wherein I may beholde the vglye morphew of my soule, and so be forced to flée to my redéemer for his precious blood, to rinse, and munditie me, that I may be presented a spotlesse vir­gin before thée.

Alas, I should haue béene thy Nazarite, The 1. cō ­mande­ment. and haue giuen thée all my hart: but I haue giuen the flesh a péece of it, the worlde a péece of it, and the deuill a péece of it.

2 I should haue worshipped thée according to the square, and tenor of thy word, with­out adding, detracting, changing: but I haue ballanced thy seruice after mine owne scoales, and haue more delighted in falling downe before a gilt Image, than in behold­ing thy swéet sonne most liuely crucified in Gal. 3. 1. thy worde preached, and sacraments admi­nistred.

3 I should haue magnified thy name, and haue spoken of it with high reuerence: but I (ah wretch) haue curst & band, and cham­ped Phil. 2. 10. Iesu in my mouth, at whose blessed name euery knée should bow, both of things in heauen, and things in earth, and things vnder the earth, yea Lord I haue torne thy holy name, as the Draper rasheth out a péece of linnen to the buyer.

4 I should haue hallowed the best daye of the seauen, and haue bestowed it in prayer, hearing of Sermons, receiuing the sacra­ment, almes, meditation on Gods workes, but I (woe worth me for it) haue most vil­lanously prophaned it. It hath béene a bur­den vnto me, by barring me from triuiall sports. Yea I thought my selfe an holy man, when I sat still at home and did nothing, though while I did so, the beast at the cribbe kept as good a sabboath as I.

5 I should haue béene subiect to the higher Rom. 13. 1 powers ordained of thée: I should haue ho­noured my parents, thy instruments for my life and education: and I should haue béene ready (with the Galathians) to haue pluckt Gal. 4 15 out mine eyes to haue done the Preachers good: but I (a sinfull worme of fiue foot long) haue spoken euill of the Magistrate, and re­fused to be the staffe of my Parents age. As [Page] for the Ministers, I euer held them for a sort of simple soules, the very scorne of men, and outcast of the people.

6 I should haue loued my neighbour déerly, and haue wincked at wrong, not letting the sunne go downe vpon my wrath: but I (this one thing were inough to stanche the blood of my dying Lord) haue boyled in rage for one tart word, and for a small iniurie haue wilfully and stubbornly refused the blessed Sacrament of thy supper.

7 I should in beholding that notable worke of thy fingers called Beautie, haue giuen glory to thy power & wisedome, that couldst set such amiablenesse, and swéet fauour in a face not a foote compasse, the ground where­of is but dust: but I (such was my corrup­tion) haue burnt in lust at the sight of it, and Sathan hath made it a stale, and a snare to intangle my soule, which now would faine flicker thence, and flie it to heauen.

8 I should haue béene good to the poore, and néedy, remembring that Not to giue them, is to steale from them: but I (vile catiue) haue serued Mammon the God of Kust, the Mat. 6. 15. God of Moaths, the God of Théeues. Many a time hath Christ Iesus (in his members) stood cold, and naked, & hungry at my dore, and colde, and naked, and hungrie, haue I [Page] sent him away. Yet would I not sticke to spend hundreds vpon Luxury, that infernall fire, whose matter is Gluttony, whose flame Arroganty, whose ashes Obscenitie. whose end eternall misery.

9 I should haue succoured the name of my neighbour, and reioyced at his credit, and good estimation: I should haue abhored all falshood, and leasins, & spoken the truth from my hart: but I (vile wretch vnworthy to breath) could either neuer finde in hart to be­stowe one good word on my brother, or very coldly commend him, though the graces of God shined in him extraordinarily. Oh what gladsome tioings was it to me when I hard of a professor that was ouer taken with sinne, I would be sure to point at him as he went by, and cry there, there. And truely I made but a iest of a lye told in iest, as for of­ficious lies, I reckoned them amongst my good workes, and now and then I would broache a pernicions lye, and thinke little worse of my selfe when I had done, for I was a right Gretian. Tit. 1. 12.

10 I should haue borne a pure heart to my neighbour, and haue hampered, & tamed the cursed rebellion of the flesh: but I (no better than a lumpe of sinne) haue wisht that such [Page] an house, and such a close of my neighbours were mine, and I euer thought the Corne on his land was better bladed, and fairer ea­red than mine owne. To conclude: many an vncleane thought, laide by that Cocka­trice mine inbred concupisence haue I hat­ched vp, when my conscience aduisd me to kill it in the shell.

Thus I, the distressedst wight vpon the face of the earth, haue broken all thy holy precepts, euen from the first vnto the last, from the greatest vnto the least. And now, O Lord, whether shall I flie for succour? To thée? Woe is me, I dare not looke vp to heauen. To Angels? They gréeue, and blush at my rebellion. To men? alas they are in­rould in the same thraldome of sinne with me. What then? shall I finally dispaire with Caine, and make away my selfe with Iudas? No Lord, though thou kill me, yet still will I put my trust in thee. Doest thou ouer­whelme me with the tirrible waues of thy iudgements? Still wil I crie vnto thée euen out of the déepe, with Dauid, and out of the Psal. 130. 1 Ionah. 2. 2. belly of hell with Ionah. Yea, blessed Iesu, though thou shouldst sincke me, and drowne me, yet still would I catch hould on thy cle­mencie, and be taken vp dead with thy mer­cie fast claspt in my hand.

In this sort, poore sinner, mourne, & droope for the multitude of thine iniquities, not for a day or two, while the wound presents it selfe fresh, and gréene before the eyes of thy minde, but continually, euen so long as thou féelest the enemy prest to giue the onset. Howbeit when the bridegrome Christ Ie­sus is taken from thée (and peace of consci­ence is away) then, then is the fittest time Math. 9. 15. for sadnesse aboue all other.

Now that thy soule may be cut, and lan­ced to the quick, I beséech thée by the mer­cies of God in the bowels of Iesus Christ, that thou ponder these Motiues that ensue.

1 Know first that the substance and quality of thine eye is a forcible argument to driue thée to wéeping. The Almighty hath made it of a liquid, fatty, and watrish kinde of matter, so that it séemeth to delight in moisture, as being a sirrup to preserue it in. Moreouer there are sited aboue and vnder the eye, two wet & spongious kernels, pur­posely to cast a dew vpon it, and to make way for teares. Nay that the obstinate and obdurate sinner may be conuinced and con­founded, if he sweat not some teares for his offences, the Lord hath enuironed the Apple Columb. lib. 10. of the eye with a party coloured circle cald a Raine-bow. Now it is not a shame for a mā [Page] to haue a Raine-bow in his eye, & yet neuer drizzle one teare for his sinnes? Good Chri­stian carry not about thée so tough, so braw­nie, and so stéeled an hart: good Christian ca­ry not about thée a paire of such parched & irrelenting eyes. Consider what I say, & the Lord giue thée vnderstanding in all things.

2 Regarde in the second place, the vnruli­nesse of thine eyes, and let that induce thée to be liberall in wéeping. God indéede set them in thine head (the tower of thy body) as Espials, and Scoutwatches, to diseris danger a farre of: but such is the disorder of thy bad nature, that they will too soone put both thy body and soule in icopardy. Yet a little while, and those two of thine that looke out by the windowes, will play the vag a­bonds, and intice thée to folly. For what art thou to Dauid? And yet those very eyes of Dauid that lay soaked in teares at the time of his banishment, became afterwards trai­tors, letting lust into his bosome, when they darted from his roofe vpon Bath-sheba, and were the occasion that he committed two haynous sinnes dyed so déepely in crimson, that time hath not yet worne out colour. If thou thinke thou canst blesse thée from the euill to come, & make a couenant with thine eyes as Iob did, yet let thy heart be griped, Iob. 31. 1. [Page] and twinged, in regarde they haue hereto­fore béene rowling and extrauagant eyes.

3 Thirdly, haue respect to the description of sinne. Sinne is the transgression of the Law. Wherein obserue first what this lawe is which thou breakest. Secondly who this God is whom thou offendest.

First then let it damp thée, & disquiet thy soule to consider, that in euery loose thought by thée conceiued, and in euery vnsauory word by thée vttered and in euery lewd déed by thée committed, thou hast violated Gods law: which law is farre more excellent than the beautifull frame of the whole worlde, though in each part it be good, and in all the parts together excéeding good. For (such is our purblindnesse, that) the great booke of Nature is not able of it selfe to direct vs to the true God, as much resembling that A­thenian Aulter, wherein was written Vnto the vnknowne God (but the lawe written Acts. 1. [...]. 23. pointeth as iust to God as the finger to the dyall, and which commends it most of all) Psal. 19. 7. conuerteth the soule.

Go to now, miserable, & wretched sinner, canst thou by thy dissolute life, cracke, and disestéeme of this matchlesse Iewell, and when when thou hast done wilt thou not enter in­to a sad, and sober consideration, opening [Page] the sluces of thine eyes, and sending forth a swift current of teares? Would not that fel­lon be hangd in chaines who hauing broken most notoriouslie the wholsome lawes of his Prince, takes no thought at all, but reuiles and playes at Tables all the while he is in prison, with his héeles in yrons, and his neck in suspence? Yes verily. Wel then take héed. For if after thou hast lift vp thy horne most insolently and pusht downe the incompara­rable statutes of the Lord, thou be not asha­med of thy selfe, and confounded in thy selfe, but doest feast when thou shouldst fast, sing when thou shouldst sobbe, laugh when thou shouldst wéepe, thou art as néere in quality to the aforesaid théefe, as can be well imagi­ned, and therfore likely to come to some hea­uie, and fearefull end.

Secondly, take knowledge who he is that enacted this law which thou hast transgres­sed so shamelesly. It is no earthly Prince, nor Potentate, (a creature finite, ready to huffe out life at euery moment) but it is Ie­houah, Esa. 40. 12. that mighty God, who spannes the heauen, and measures the waters in his fist, in respect of whom all nations are but as the drop of a bucket, nay nothing, nay lesse Nah. 1. 2. than nothing, euen vanity. The God of an­ger, who hath his way in the whirlewinde, [Page] and in the storme, at whose sight the earth is burnt, the mountaines quake, the hils melt, the deuils shudder. O my déere brother, how can thy hart be light, sith thou hast offended so great a Maiesty? Why doest thou not put sack-cloath about thy loynes, and an halter Kings. 1. 20. 31. about thy neck (with the seruants of Benha­dad) and crye out, Mercie good Lord, good Lord graunt mercy, for we haue heard that the King of Israell is a mercifull King.

If thou hadst committed but petit treason against an earthly Prince, I perswade me, it thou mightst be admitted to his presence thou wouldst stoope, and looke forlornly with a palish chéeke, and vnkeambd beard, & neg­lected apparell, vsing these mutes as vocall spokesmen, and intercessors for thy pardon, and all because, The feare of the King is like Prou. 20. 2 the roaring of a Lion. And is thy hart so crusted, and rough cast, that thou wilt not throw thy selfe euen below the earth, for dis­pleasing that glorious and fearefull name The Lord thy God? Shall a Grasse-hopper Deu. 28. 58 out-face the omnipotent, Clay the Potter, filth Puritie, Darkenesse Light, A wispe of stubble a consuming fire, a sinner of sinners the holyest of all holyes?

Surely if these perswasions make no dint, nor impression, thy hart is harder than the [Page] Smiths Anuile: yet hearken still (I beséech thée) to the nature of this God, who chiefly ioyes in getting him honor by his boundles mercie. If this make thée not bewéepe thy personall sinnes, thou hast not so much as a sparkle of grace truly working in thée.

Wilt thou not be gréeued for offending thy God, who loued thée before thou wast Ephe. 1. 4. borne, yea before the first stone of the worlds foundation was laide, who was thy hope, when thou hungest vpon thy mothers brest, who guarded thée with Angels as thou lay­est spralling in thy Cradle, and hath euer since fed thée, cloathed thée, preserued thée? Didst thou deserue the least of these bles­sings? If thou say thou didst, thou art a lyer, and there is no truth in thée. For I say vnto thée, that he might haue made thée a Dog, or a toade, or a Serpent, & haue done thée no wrong at all. Euen when thou wast a delightfull burden to thy mother, taking thy pastime in her wembe, and hauing no other mouth but thy nauell, then, euen then wast thou odious to God (in thine owne nature) because conceiued in sin. Neither must thou thinke this to be rigor, for thy selfe canst not abide a yong Woolfe, for that he hath in him the spawne and cruelty, and will destroy the flock when he comes to full growth.

Why wilt thou recompence the Lord euill for good, and not rather pine away like the Hart that findeth no pasture for displeasing so indulgent & louing a father, whose kind­nesse is stretched out still? Behold this God hanging for thy sake vpon the crosse: loe how he stretches out his arines to imbrace thée: loe how he bowes downe his head to kisse thée, loe how his hart is opened with a speare to loue thée, to loue thée an vndutifull and gracelesse child, vnworthy indéede to be called his childe. And yet he giues not period 1. Cor. 12. 12. to his goodnesse, but layes thée nearer his heart, marrying thée vnto him, and calling thée Christ by his owne name, to manifest the wonderfull (yet reall) coniunction be­twixt him and thée.

O the depth of the riches of the mercy of this God, who hath hereto adioined another singuler benefit. What is that? He hath de­créed that thou shouldest be borne (not a Turke, or a Jew, but) English, & then there (not when Pharaoh of hell and Antichrist his vicegerent, made all true Israelites weary of their liues with all manner of spirituall bon­dage, which they laid vpon them most cruel­ly, but) when he set the Diadem on the head of that virgin Quéene, who hath giuen vs already thrée and fortye yeares of Iubilee, [Page] wherein we sit peaceably vnder our vines, & go ioyfully to the Church to heare y ^e golden bell of Aaron ring sweetely in the Pulpit, & to feele the fragrant smell of his Pomegra­nats. Be glad, yée heauens, at this, & let the Rauens of the vallie picke out his eyes that curseth this ancient mother in Israel.

I could make more ample rehearsall of Gods speciall fauour to thée, beloued Chri­stian, but the intended quantity of the booke will not suffer me. Wherfore read on be not weary of well doing, and for thy next taske thinke vpon thrée principall Effects of sinne, that so thy sorrow may be aggrauated.

First ascertaine thy selfe that so long as thou weltrest in thy wickednesse without re­morse & touch of conscience, thou art a ser­uant Rom. 6. 23 Luk. 15. 15 & a vassall to Sinne, whose wages is Death. A prodigall childe thou art. strayed from thy good father into a farre countrey, where being all ragd, and tottered, & eaten into the flesh with vermine, thou art glad to become the deuils swinheard. Which tyrant hath taken thée prisoner to do his wil. & mued 2. Tim. 2 26 thée vp in a far more noysome dungeon than that wherein poore Ieremie stacke so fast.

This is thy state O man. Why then doest thou not thrust forth teares, and smoake out sighes, & euen breake the kall of thine heart [Page] with sorrow? Is swéet liberty so yrkesome, & yrkesome bondage so swéet? Inquire of the Foules of the ayre, & they will tell thée that fréedome in the wood is better than prison­ment in a cage of gold. Inquire of the Lions and they wil make answer that they had ra­ther séeke their meate at God in the Wil­dernesse, than haue it put into their mouths through the grate. Inquire of the Riuers & they will resolue thee that they would much sooner lye open to winde & weather at home in the sea, than crawle neuer neuer so calmely by the gréenest and best sented medowes. I be­séech thée therefore by the mercies of God that thou bewayle thy miserable vassallage. The Babilonians of hell (the Deuil & his An­gels) haue led thée away captiue, & the cruell Edomits (thy sinnes) prouoake them against thée, and both of them, by way of mockage, require a song & melody of thée: then sit thou downe vpon the waters bank, wéeping, and hanging thy harpe vpon the Willowes, for mirth at such time is out of season. Cast not thy selfe vpon thy Iuory bed, eate not glut­tonously, drinke not Wine in boules, but re­member thy soule, thine afflicted Ioseph, who all this while hath his féet in hel stocks. The blessed father of our Lord Iesus Christ bore thine cares that thou maist heare and [Page] suffer these wordes of exhortation, and plow vp thy hart by his holy spirit, for it is made of a tough, and churlish kinde of clay.

I procéede to another Suasiue. During the time of thine impenitencie, all the Crea­tures in the world band themselues against thée, & conspire thine ouerthrow. And the rea­son is for that the Lord of Hostes is march­ing forward, whose faithfull & sworne soul­diers they be. Is not here sufficient matter to cloud, & ouercast thine eies, and to change thy ioy for mourning, thy beauty for ashes, thy Oyle of gladnes for the spirit of heaui­nesse? At dead time of night in thy soundest sléepe, the Imbers on thine hearth desire the winde (in their kinde) to leaue his naturall course of blowing assant, and to whip them vp, that so they may get matter to worke vpon. The spars, and rafters of thy house haue vowed to be ready to increase the flame at lesse than an houres warning. Walkest thou in the stréet? The tiles threaten down­fall. In the field? the ayre will conuay infec­tion, the earth will grone vnder thy soote as loath to beare so vnprofitable a burthē. Nay what wilt thou say if the silliest & imperfec­test creatures dog thée, and make thée wea­ry of thy life? Are Frogs, and Lice, & Cater­pillers nothing with thée? Doth not one [Page] poore Gnat (hartning on her selfe to battaile with her Cornet which she winds so lasting­ly) waken thée, and make thée start with her feeble sting? Then what would a legion of Gnats doe? Ah sinfull soule, and laden with iniquity, is thy hart made of rubbish, & thine eye of Marble, that the one will not giue againe, the other become dankish? Knowest thou not what it is to haue the stones of the field out of league with thée, and the beasts of the field out of league with thée? Take an example of Ionah, and sée how he was hand­led when God mustered vp such forces a­gainst him in his displeasure.

After this Prophet had long laboured, and toyled in Israell, and could doe no good, the Lord gaue him expresse charge to remooue his plow into the Nineuites fielde to shame her. He (vnmindfull of his commission) paies the fare, and is shipt. For Tharshish he, he is resolud. While he thus strugled with diuine prouidence, the Winds (at their Creators commaund) brake loose, & bad the Mariners Ionah. 1. 4. deliuer Ionah. The Sea sawe that, and was wroth, and bad the Marriners deliuer Ionah. The Whale laye watching all this while, and bad the Marriners deliuer Io­nah. The ship (poore winged vessell) laye swooning vpon the billowes, and bad the [Page] Marriners vnballase her of Ionah. Nay Io­nah stood vp against Ionah, and besought the Marriners to tumble him into the large Se­pulcher of the sea. How now mery sinner, doth not the senere vsage of the man of God appall thée? If so righteous a man be thus harshly intreated by the creatures, where wilt thou an vngodly and vnrepentant man appeare? O Sampson, why sufferest thou lady Pleasure to play the Delilah, dandling thée on her knée, til she haue shaued of all thy goodnesse, & made thée wretched, & féeble, and impotent? what Samplon, Sampson, fend for thy self, the Philistnes are vpō thée Sampson.

There remaineth a third effect of sinne, sufficient to split thy hart, be thou not insen­sibly blockish, wilfully nefarious, extreamly impious. It is this. All creatures in y ^e world grone vnder the heauy burden of thy sinnes yea the Creator himselfe. S. Paul affirmes this (in part) most excellently. For we know Rom. 8. 11. (saith he) that euery creature groaneth with vs also, and trauaileth in paine together vnto this present, because it is subiect to vanitie, & vnder the bondage of corruption. The world left being a world, when Adam left béeing obedient, it was neuer beautifull, nor chéer­full, since it waxed old in youth through ma­nifold ataxies and disorders, and at this day [Page] lyes bed-rid, waiting with a seruent desire for the glorious cōming of the sonne of God.

When Israelits sinnes were ripe, and calde for the sickle, rotten, & cryed for the corastue, what followde? The harmelesse creatures must pay for it. The beasts of the field, and the foules of the heauen must be cut off, and Hose. 4. 2. 3 the Fishes of the sea must be taken away. The Prophet Ieremie (bewailing the piti­ous Lam. 2. 4. estate of Ierusalem) testifieth, that the very wayes of Sion, and the rampart, & wall did lament for the iniquitie of the Iewes. Sée, sée, my beloued, how the dumbe crea­tures complaine vnder the intollerable waight of thy sinnes, while thou iettest vp and downe with a Cammels proud neck, & bearest no part in their song of sorrow. Thy corne which thou hopedst would growe plumpe in the eare, is blasted in the prime, and it thanks thée for it. Thy close is pesterd with thornes and thistles, and other cursed and vntimely fruite, and it thankes thée for it. Thy fishes are frozen to thy pond, & they silently thanke thée for it. O what a rack, what a gybbet would this be to thy soule, if thou hadst any grace? But thou (more sence­lesse then sencelesnesse) euen when fit oppor­tunitie is offered to cast dust vpon thy head, and that thine eye, euen thine eye should [Page] shoure forth teares day and night, goest me­tily away, regardlesse of so lamentable spec­tacles. What is this but a cleare demonstra­tion that so continuing thou art within an inch of hell? Water is an heauie substance, and yet if a man lay close to the bottome of the sea, he should féele no waight, because No Element is heauy in it proper place. The whole world is crushed with the ponderous­nesse of thy sinnes, and thou féelest it not: A shrewd token that sinne is where it would be. Alas for pitty, why wilt thou dye? why wilt thou strangle thy soule with so full re­solution? If thou loue God, who loued thée first, be no longer an Heafer of thrée yeares olde (euer liuing in pleasure, & neuer féeling sorrow) but let thy bowels sound like an Harpe, or Shawme, for thy transgressions, and now at length sigh out this exclamati­on, Oh that mine head were full of water, and mine eyes a fountaine of teares, that I might wéepe day and night for my manifold and bloody sinnes.

And that thy hart may yet waxe colder within thy body, know further that thy sins lye so sore vpon thy swéete Saniours back, that he can take no rest. Hearke how he complaineth. Beholde I am pressed vnder Amo. 2. 13 thy sinnes euen as a Cart is pressed that is [Page] full of sheaues. Pitie O pitie thy selfe, if not take pitie vpon thy Redéemer, who is prest downe to hell with the heauy sheaues of sinne which thou hast pickt vpon him most cruelly, more like a Iew than a Christian. It was thou, O wretch, that didst cast him into his agony, where he swet such a sweat, that the drops of blood trickled downe apace, and the Angels were faine to comfort him. It was thou, O wretch, that betraiedst him with a kisse, & soldst him for a little pleasure of sinne, not worth thirtie péeces of siluer. It was thou, O wretch, that camest vnto him with swords and staues, as if he had béene a théefe, who indéede thought it no robbery to be equall with God. It was thou, O wretch that didst whip him, and clap a crowne of thornes vpon his head, mocking him, & spit­ting in his face. O cruelty? If thou haue occasiō to spit, thou gettest thée to the Chim­ney, or behinde the doore for manners sake, and yet thou makest no bones of spitting in the face of the God of Angels. It was thou, O wretch, that didst strip him naked, & riuet his hands and féet to the crosse, flouting him euen when he indured for thy sake the in­comprehensible wrath of God his Father.

Behold thy Redcéemer, offering vp praiers with strong crying, and teares, and art thou [Page] srolicking? The daughters of Ierusalem wéepe, the Virgin Mary is pierced through with the sword of sorrow, and doost thou run ryot, and chop away thy soule for a mite of pleasure? The Sunne lends night in midst of day, the vaile of the Temple is rent from the top to the bottom, the earth quaketh, the Mat. 27. 51. stones cléeue, the graues open, and art thou fatting thy selfe with merriment? And mea­nest thou for all this to saile to heauen by heauen? Can there be two heauens? If thou still play the Epicure, letting these reasons which the scripture yéeldeth so bounteously rebound from thine eye, eare, and hart, like a Tennise from the ground, I (euen plunged in a gulfe of sorrow, to sée thée like a frantick smile when y ^u dingest thy knuckles against what is next thée, till the blood spin out) must leaue thée to the secret councell of God, & if thou néeds wilt perish, thy blood will be vpō thine owne soule. But I trust these words shall prooue vnto thée the swéet sauour of life vnto life, and not of death vnto death: wher­fore be dilligent in waighing two reasons moe, so will I betake me to the remainder.

The first is the blessednesse of this godly sorrow. Doest thou molest the ayre with sighes, and the earth with teares, not coun­tersaite, and forced, but sincere and penirent? [Page] Reioyce, and be glad. Thou art in the king­dome of Grace, the forerunner of the king­dome of heauen. Before the conuersion, and Zeph: 1. 12 new spirituall byrth, thou was frozen in the dregs of thy sinne, & there was such a thicke Ice vpon thy soule, that the euill Angelles, shotte at pricks (as it were) and droue carts vpon it: but since the Holy Ghost (which the Math. 3. 12 Gospell compared to fire) hath caught holde on thée, thy congealed nature is dissolued, and thawed into a flood of teares.

Wouldst thou thinke it? There is not a Psal: 56. 8. teare shed for sinne, but God catches it be­fore it falles to the ground, and treasureth it vp in his bottle. Not a teare spent in this sort, which thou shalt not finde vpon recorde in heauen, so soone as euer thy soule is vn­housde. In summe: the Lambe in the midst of the Thorne, will (with his owne hand) wipe away al teares from thine eyes. Thus they that sowe in teares, shall reape in ioye. Blessed art thou if thou now wéep, for thou Reue. 7. 17 shalt laugh, blessed art thou if thou now mourne, for thou shalt be comforted. Yet a very little while, and he that shall come, Luck. 6. 21 will come, and will not tary.

The last Motiue is the consideration of their deplored estate, who ayming at no­thing but the bodyes corrupt satisfaction, [Page] bury the excellent designes of the soule in muddy sensuall pleasure, terming sorrow for sinne nothing els but a sullen passion be got betwéene Feare, and Melancholy, the silly effect of the foolishnes of Prenching. Wher­vnto shall I liken this generation? They are like vnto the fat Kine of Bashan that are in the mountaine of Samaria, appointed for y ^e slaughter. They are like vnto Théeues that goe through a fayre sloured field to the gal­lowes. They are like vnto Riuers that run swéet, & fresh into the salt sea. They are like vnto Passengers laide along to sléepe vnder shady trées, who wakning since themselues swelted with the heate of the remooued sun.

These Riotours that neuer came where true sorrow grew, first are base. For them­selues affirme that pleasure is for the body, & all men know the body is for the soule: so be­come they seruants to their seruants seruāt. Secondly their estate is damnable in life, in death, after death. In life, for their conscien­ces are bereft of sence and motion, by that gangrene sinne, and throughly burnt with a searing Yron. If a man should cut them vp he should finde no hart in them, for Whore­dome, and Wine, and new Wine, haue taken Hose. 4. 11. away their hart. This is a plague of all plagues. The stone in the bladder is a grée­uous [Page] disease, so is the stone in the backe, but there is no disease to the stone in the hart. Some read the Bible, and finding the wrath of God to smoake against sinners in the olde Testament, somtime with stoning, somtime with the earth swallowing her inhabitants, somtime with fire & brimstone from heauen, they wonder why God is so gentle now a dayes as to let sinne alone, which growes so ranke in all places. Alas it is true (wretches that we are) we are all of one language (quite contrary to the good language of Ca­naan) & we build Towers of Babel (Towres of sinne and confusion) whose pinacles spire vp to heauen, and cry out in the eares of the Lord, Thou God to whome vengeance be­longeth, thou God to whom vengeance be­longeth, shew thy selfe. And verily if we goe on as we doe, out-sinning all the regions a­bout vs, and turning vnto our owne race as a horse rusheth into the battaile, we shall driue the Lord in his anger to exclaime, O, they haue put out my eyes, as the Philistins did Sampsons my type, they multiply abho­minatiōs, as if I had no prouidence: lead me lead me to the maine pillers of the land, the posts whereon the house standeth, that so I may bring the realme vpō their heads, & be at once auenged of them for my two eyes. [Page] But (to answer the question) I auouch i [...] confidently that the Lorde doth plague the impenitent of this land more sharply and se­uerely now in these dayes of peace, then he did malefactors in former ages. And I prooue it thus. Then he punished the body, now he punisheth the soule, deliuering these men vp into a reprobate sence, & giuing the De­uill liberty to eare-marke them. It is the fearefullest iudgment in the world, when sin is punished with sinne, and this is the iudg­ment of these times. Wo, wo, wo vnto vs, for we are sick of sinne vnto death, and yet féele it not, nay like Gadarens, we driue a­way the Lord of life the deare Physitian of our soules.

If any man be desirous to know the cause of so vniuersall a desertion, and embrawning of the hart, I must tell him that we are poore with riches, pale with beauty, sicke with health, euill with good. Peace, and Plenty (the mother, and daughter) haue so led and pampred vs, that we are waxen wanton­ings, and kick against the Lord, Search the Scripture who will, he shall euer finde that leannesse of soule hath béene sent amongst Quailes, & that excessiue mirth, gluttony, and chambering, make men pursie, vn­weildsome, and to God vnseruiceable.

By this deare Christian brother, mayest thou take a scantling of their wretched e­state in this life who do nothing els but ful­fill their sensuall lusts and appetites. Sure­ly me thinkes this one iudgement that vsu­nlly befalleth Belly-gods on earth, should make our Lusty blouds afraid. But (alas) they haue eyes, and see not, eares and heare not, harts and vnderstand not.

They drinke till they be drounde in fire, and shoote chaineshot of roaring oathes that make the windowes of heauen to totter, (in my conscience they made the earth quake so lately.) Tel them of it, they breake iests, and like the prophane Isralits, rebuke the Priest. Hosea. 4. 4. Yet when they lye vpon their death beds, tumbling, and tossing, and telling the clock: when the flashes of hell fire present them­selues to their consciences, and the bloody wounds appeare which they gaue their owne soules in the dayes of their iollitye: when that wilde beast Sin that hath so long slept at the dore of their harts, and stird not, is suddainely awaked, and flyes in their bo­some, ready to pull out their throates: when swarmes of iniquities humme like flyes about them, and like Frogges scrall vpon them, and croke vengeance against them: then tell me if they descend not from the [Page] treble keyes of mirth to the graue keyes of sorrow: tell me then if they tremble not like an Aspine leafe, or like the hartlesse Deare at the noyse of the thunder-cracke. Then send for Moses, send for the Preacher, then good people pray for me, O whither shall I flie from the Arrowes of the Almightie, that part my ribbes, and wound me incurably: Alas I thought I could haue repented at the last gaspe, euen when I was fetching my soule sighes, but now I finde to my paine, that repentance is the guift of God. O that I might dye the death of the righteous. This will be the out-crye of euery one of them, dye not their harts like stones within 1. Sam. 25. 37. them, as Nabals did.

But when the date of their life is out, and their soules vnbodied, then is that truely brought to passe which our Sauiour pro­nounceth, Woe bée to you that now laugh, Luk. 6. 25. for yée shall wéepe, and waile. When they once put their heades within hell gates, and heare the feareful yelling of damned spirits, that féele no comfort, no release, no ease, nor any thing but amaze and horror, then will they wish, & wish that they had wept their eies out, & sighed their lungs in péeces, but it will be too late. Then will each of them crye out, Cursed be the day wherin I was borne, [Page] cursed be the paps that gaue me suck, cursed be the knées that preuented me, for damned I was, damned I am, damned I shall be for euer more. O whether (poore forsaken) shall I go from distresse, since no remooue can les­sen my sorrowes, & euery place presents like face of misery? Alas what comfort cā I haue when the God of all comfort is away? Alas it is a long night that's neuer day, an vn­mercifull fire that's neuer quenched, a dread­ful torment that hath neuer end, but lasteth for a time, & times, & no time, euen for euer. O hell, hell, thy fire is intollerable hot, (yet without any light to giue a soule cōfort) the breath of the Lord like a Riuer of Brimstone doth kindle it. O that some moūtaine would Isai. 30. 33. fall on me, & hide me from the presence of the Lambe, whom if I had kist, he had not béene angry, and I had neuer come to this. O that I had béene borne a Katte, or a Spider, or a Load, for so should my soule haue vanished to nothing, whereas now it is substantiue, alwayes dying, yet neuer dead. Worme of conscience, when, oh when wilt thou dye? wilt thou neuer leaue tugging and tearing my soule? Father Abraham, one drop of wa­ter to coole my tongue, good father Abraham.

Alas, why go I about to blazon the armes of hell, since they passe the power of any [Page] pencils expressing, or mindes imagination? Suppose a man laid his limmes on a choice fetherbed, hauing before him all sightly pro­spects for the eye, and all toothsome meates for the taste, and the swéetest accorde in mu­sick for the eare, and were bound to remaine so without stirring a ioynt but for twenty yeares: Oh how often would he looke vp to heauen pittifully, and long for death as for a treasure, rather than indure so soft a pnnishment? What then will become of that vnhappy soule, who hauing sported out his life must be hurried by Deuils into hell, where his bed shall be a red-hot gridyron, le­gions of damned ghosts his best sightes, his dyet Dispayre, his Musicke Gnashing of Téeth, assisted with dreadfull shriekes, and Clamorous lamentations, not for twenty or forty yéeres, but for as many thousands of yeares as there be drops in the Sea, and Sands on the shore, and then to begin fresh againe euerlastingly.

These motiues well respected, and not ouerly suruaide, what flintie hart will not riue, and what sinfull soule will not houle after the maner of Dragons? My most lo­uing, & most déere Christian brother, let me become not a suter, but a beggar vnto thée: For Iesus Christs sake I aske it, humble thy [Page] selfe with fasting, wéeping and mourning: humble thy selfe with fasting, wéeping, and mourning, For Iesus Christes sake I aske it. If the nature of thine eye cannot mooue thée, then let the excellencie of Gods lawe which thou hast broken, perswade thée. If the excellencie of Gods law which thou hast broken cannot perswade thée, let the mighty Maiesty of the Lord rouze thée. If the migh­ty Maiesty of the Lorde cannot rouze thée, let the mercifulnesse of the same God allure thée. If the mercifulnesse of God cannot al­lure thée, let the pestilent effects of sinne curbe thée If the pestilent effects of sinne cā ­not curbe thée, then let the insupportable tor­ments of hell kill thée dead, and rent thée in péeces.

As for thée, O young man, reioyce in thy Eccle. 10. 9 youth, & let thine hart chéere thée in the daies of thy youth, & walke in the wayes of thine hart, & in y ^e sight of thine eies, but know that for al this God wil bring thée to iudgement.

Brutish Epicure, that postest to the Play­house at the sound of the Trumpet, and gi­uest money to behold their vanities, who set vp the Flag of defiance to vertue, but wilt in no wise bee brought to the Church to mourne though the Preacher lift vp his voyce like a trumpet, & cry alowd, Ho, come, [Page] and buy Wine and Milke without siluer: per­sist Isaia. 55. 1. in thy merriment, doe: but know that for all this God will bring thée to iudgement.

Théeuish adulterer, that feloniously takest away thy poore neighbours little shéepe, that eates of his owne morsels, drinkes of his owne cup, & sléepes in his bosome: laugh on, sweare on, whore on: but know that for all this God will bring thée to iudgement.

To returne to thée (brother mine) whose sal­uation I desire in my hart: those Instigati­ons & Inducemēts which the Lord hath put into my minde, haue I imparted to thee: And yet I finde not my selfe satisfied, till I ac­quaint thée with certaine rubbes which Sa­than will cast in thy way, to stop thée from running smoothly to this godly sorrow.

1 The first Impediment is the want of the word preached. For how canst thou mourne, if Iohn Baptist mourne not to thée, or cal thy place Bochim (that is by interpretatiō) Wee­ping, Iud. 2. 4. 5. vnlesse Phineas, or some zelous Pro­phet forbeare Incarnatiue salues, and giue thée corasiues, rebuke thée sharpely, and sounding thy sinnes to the bottome? Peter must not bawke thy wickednesse, but taxe Acts. 2. 36. thée roundly, and point out Iesus whome thou hast crucified, else wilt thou not be prickt in thy heart, nor demaund what thou [Page] shalt do to be saued. O then, my brother, be­loued, and longed for, my ioy & my crowne (I hope) as euer thou meanest to haue a grudging in thy conscience for thy many­folde corruptions, be a diligent frequenter of powerfull Sermons.

2 The second Hindrance, is the hope of long life. Soule (saith the ritch man) take thine Luk. 12. 19 ease. Why so? Thou hast much goods laide vppe for many yeares. Take héede, take héede of this faulte, for it is inbred. The Adulterer will graunt that Adulterye in­generall, is naught: but when he descends to this, or that speciall Adultrye, then hée varnisheth it ouer with some vayne shewe of reason and approueth it. Right so thou wilt confesse by wordes of course (especially when thou art crauing a bond for security) that man is mortal, man is mortal: but when it comes to this, that thou, thou in particular, must shortly bée borne on foure mens shoulders to the place of deade mens sculs, then thou soothest thy selfe, & art fond­ly incredulous, as if thy life were thine owne fée-simple. Harke in thine eare. Thou art a Dyue-dapper, péering vp, and downe agayne in a moment, thou camest by the wombe, and must goe by the graue. Harke in thine eare. Thou dwellest in an house Iob. 4. 19 [Page] of clay, in a tent, pitcht to day, remooued to morrow, and Corruption is thy father, the worme thy mother, and thy sister, Where is 2. Cor. 5. 1 louely Absolon? Where is strong Og, won­ted to streake himselfe on his bed of yron? Dead. All, all goe naked out of the world, thou boughtest life, and must pay for it with death. Assure thy selfe, whosoeuer readest this booke, that ere many yeares, or decades of months be past, Death (mounted on his Reuel. 6. 8. pale horse) will rap at thy doore, and alight, & carry thée away (bound head and foote) to a land darke as darknesse it selfe. What then remaineth, but that thou presently make Ioh. 19. 41 thy graue with Ioseph of Arimathea in thy Garden (the place of thy delight) mourning each daye amidst thy most tickling plea­sures, as if the Sunne of thy life were sure to set at night? When shall I pray for thée, saith Moses to Pharaoh? To morrowe, an­swers Exod. 8. 9. Pharaoh. He should haue said To day. Be not a kinne to Pharaoh. For if thou play the ignamous and sloathfull seruant, begin­ning to eate, and drinke with the drunken, Math. 24. 49. 50. thy Maister Christ will come in a day when thou lookest not for him, and in an houre that thou art not aware of, and will cut thée off, and giue thée thy portion with hy­pocrites, there shall be wéeping and gnash­ing [Page] of téeth.

3 The third let is Companie, especially me­rie Company. Therefore the Prophet Da­uid Psal. 4. 4. would haue vs examine our selues (qui­etly) on our Beds. It is storyed by the E­uangelists that Peter went out (from the Luk. 22. 62 concourse of people in the high Priests hall) and then he wept bitterly. It is better to goe to the house of mourning than of feasting, Eccles. 7. 4. saith Salomon. The king of glorye some­time so dignifieth the Gentleman, that he knockes at his hart by his holy spirit, and bids him open the doore that he may enter in. Héere begins he to sighe at the view of his sinnes. Presently comes me in a Ruffi­an (whom God sends to prooue him, whom the Deuill sends to spoile him) and he with a payre of Cardes, and a Cup of neate Cla­ret, thrusts Iesus out into the Stable, be­cause there is no roome for him in the Inne. Thus be the good motions of the holye Ghoste extinguished by the accesse of a Gamester, that Schooles his young mai­ster in the Arte of Driuing away time. Driue away time? Is Tyme so slow-footed that it néedes driuing? My friend: if a sinner intice thée to sport when the Feuer of thy sinnes begins to shake thée, consent not to him, Rather goe aside (as a man throwne [Page] from the world) and then let thy belly trem­ble, let thy lips shake, let rottenuesse enter into thy bones. Learne of the Nightingale who when she is robd of her yonglings, gets her to some solitarie trée, where she bewailes her vnhappie marriage. Abstract, and seque­ster thy selfe, flée resorte, say vnto laughter thou art madde, haunt vntrodden pathes, de­sire the Lillies of the fielde to cloath them­selues in blacke, and accompanie thée in thy dolefull passions.

4 The fourth Impediment is Impayring of health. A ioyfull hart (saith the Wiseman) causeth good health, but a sorrowfull minde Pro. 17. 22 dryeth vp the bones. Let not this dismay thée, better go sickly to heauen, than health­full to hell. Be not all for thy bodie, nothing for thy soule, but like the Lapidarie, estéeme the Iewell farre aboue the rinde or barke: Moreouer I affirme that it is the care of this worlde that brings a Calender into the bones, and snowes vpon mens heades so timely, and not this sorrow which we mag­nifie. For as the Sea at high water, if an­gred with a boystrous wind, threatneth pre­sent deluge to the earth, and yet suddainely it giues backe, and runnes away like a cow­ard: so the panges, and gréeuances of the righteous, stird vp by the iustice of God, [Page] euen when they séeme to deuoure, are de­uoured of his mercy. They are as sorrowing and yet alwayes reioycing by reason of spi­ritual comfort which putteth life into them. Heauines may indure for a night, but ioye wilbe sure to be with them in the morning.

5 The last and worst Let, is the holding the mortality of the soule. There is a cursed ge­neration that sit downe to eate, and drinke, and rise vp to play, and hold that their soules in death vanish away like a dogges. This Satanicall paradoxe possest the hart of that great Phisition Galen. A man might haue cast his water and found filthy sediments of Athisme. But he is dead long ago, & I would this sin had died with him. Good Christian, neuer come thou nere those Carrions that maintaine the soule to be a vapour, vnlesse thou haue the winde of them. That thou maist be assured of the soules immortality, harken to these pregnant, and vnanswera­ble proofes.

Our fathers are the fathers of our bodyes Heb. 12. 9. Eccle. 12. 7. (not of our soules) saith the Apostle. The spi­rite returnes to God that gaue it, saith the Preacher. The Lord breathed the soule in­to Gen. 2. 7. mans body, saith Moses: Therefore is it not elementary, therefore is it euerlasting. But because the disputer of this worlde [Page] renounces Christian principles, we will en­ter the listes of reason with him (a little) and foile him in his proper element. The sence is so corrupted by a great obiect, that it cannot indure the lesse. For example. The eye is so dazeled with the beames of the Sun, that it cānot iudicially discerne colours in an obscu­rer light. It is contrary with the vnderstan­ding. For the more vehement the obiect is whereabout it is conuersant, the more forci­ble is it in comprehending the inferiour. An euident demonstration of the soules diuinity I omit the horror of conscience, which cānot possibly light vpon the body (it being a spiri­tuall punishment) nor yet vpō the soule, were it not a subsisting essence. And I will but tutch the most admirable gradation of the creatures, some whereof are onely bodily, as beasts: some spirituall as Angels: some both spirituall, and sensible, as man: the one in re­spect of his soule, the other of his body. Ther­fore, my beloued, be thou stedfast, immoouea­ble, & aboundant in mourning for thine ini­quities, for as much as thou knowest thy sor­row shall not be in vaine in the Lord.

If thou finde thy soule at od times vnwil­ling to thinke of flitting, impute that to her illnesse: for naturally she is estranged from the father of lights, and lodging so warmely [Page] and peaceably in the body, she is not so for­ward to remooue as she ought. The Infant is at harts-case in the mothers wombe, and would not change it for a pallace: yet when it is borne, and comes to discretion, it cannot indure to thinke of the closet where it lay en­wrapped. The soule delighteth now to inha­bit the body, but when death hath brought it to a ioyfull birth after a long trauaile, O then it would not be imprison'd againe in the body for a thousand worlds. And thus by Gods goodnesse haue I gone through the Impediments.

And now, good brother, that I haue gi­uen thée a potion, the vertue whereof I trust hath had full course to runne throughout all thy vaynes: I am for a farewell to leaue thée a swéete Electuary, or Iulep for thy comfort. It is a Moderation in sorrowing. For the tempter will couet to besnare thy soule with intollerable anguishe, that so (with Cain) thou maiest complaine that thy sinnes are greater than can be forgiuen. O pray, pray, pray for patience, and comfort of the holy Ghost, for a wounded spirite who can beare? Iob, and Dauid (a blessed pare of Saints) mourned like Doues, and Pelli­cans, when the Lord caused them to possesse Pro. 18. 14. the sinnes of their youth, Surely no wisdom [Page] can counsell, no counsel can aduise, no aduise can asswage a perplexed conscience, nor any thing els, but onely the hart bloud of Iesus Christ, which blood hee hath powred out so plenteously for all true penitent sinners that they may bath themselues therein. Then cry incessantly, and importunately, O sonne of Dauid haue mercy on me, open mine eyes, heale my woundes, cure my Maladies, euen for thy goodnes sake, O Lord. Remember the heauenly wordes Christ vttered in the ex­treame agony of his soule; My God, my God why hast thou forsaken me? Behold how hée calleth his father his God twice, what time his wrath ceazed vpon him in an incompre­hensible maner. Sorrow not too much when the Lord openeth the booke of thy conscience (all blurd, and blotted with sinne) but bee of good cheare, & kisse his holy hand euen when he striketh thée. The father of mercies, and God of al consolatiō, be thy Castle of defence in all thy tribulations, & spirituall conflicts, that thou maist be able to comfort others in the like distresse by the same comfort wherewith thou thy selfe art com­forted of him. Amen.