The Soul's Preparation for Christ

The fourth Ground ariseth from the consideration of the punishment of sin, you must consider what sin will cost you; namely, those endless torments that cannot be conceived nor prevented, and I will leave here to speak of the pains of the wicked, (I should have said much thereof) and come to speak only a little of the last Judgement. Me thinks I see the Lord of ⟨p. 108⟩heaven and earth, and the attributes of God appearing before him: the Mercy of God, the Goodness of God, the Wisdom of God, the Power of God, the Patience and longsuffering of God, and they come all to a sinner, a wicked hypocrite, or a carnal professor, and say, Bounty hath kept you, Patience hath borne with you, Longsufferance hath endured you, Mercy hath relieved you, the Goodness of the Lord hath been great unto you; All these comfortable attributes will bid you adieu, and say, farewell damned soul, you must go hence to hell, to have fellowship with damned ghosts. Mercy shall never be enlarged towards you any more, you shall never have Patience any more to bear with you, never Goodness more to succour you, never compassion more to relieve you, never power more to strengthen you. Nay, you that have heretofore withdrawn your selves from Gods wisdom and gospel, you shall never have wisdom more to guide you, never Gospel more to comfort you, never Mercy more to cheer you, you shall then go into endless and easeless torments, which can never be ended, where you shall never be refreshed, never eased, never comforted; and then you shall remember your sins. My covetousness and pride was the cause of this, I may thank my sins for this. Think of these things (I beseech you,) seriously, and see, if sin be good now, see, if you can take any sweetness in it: I end all with that of Job, O that my grief were well weighed, and my calamity ⟨p. 109⟩laid in the balance: for now they would be heavier then the sand of the sea. So say I, oh that our sins were weighed, and our iniquities weighed in the balance together, such mercy have we despised, such Justice we have provoked, such a Lord of life have we crucified, such torments have we deserved, endless, easeless, and remediless: if these were weighed, they would be heavier then the sand, and sink our souls under the consideration of them.

The fourth Ground ariseth from the consideration of the punishment of sinne, you must consider what sinne will cost you; namely, those endlesse torments that cannot be conceived nor prevented, and I will leave here to speake of the paines of the wicked, (I should have said much thereof) and come to speake only a little of the last Judgement. Me thinkes I see the Lord of