It is storied of one Roger Bishop of Salisbury, that being in prison extremely tortured, live he would not, and die he could not: truly such will the case be of rebellious ones; they shall long for death, but it will not come; and dig for it more than ⟨p. 116⟩for hid treasures. O how would they rejoice and be glad, if they could find a grave! but a being must be given to them that are in misery, and life to the bitter in soul: It is called death indeed, because […] is neither desired there, nor can it properly be said to be enjoyed; it is a living death, or a dying life, such a death as shall never taste of life, and such a life as shall never taste of death. After the murderer of his soul hath continued in that lake of fire, as many thousand years as there are fish in the mighty Ocean, and as there are creatures great and small upon the whole earth, and as there are stars in the heavens; and after this as many millions of ages as there are hours in all the fore-mentioned time, yet after all this his torment will not be one moment nearer to an end. O eternity, eternity, eternity, what art thou? to what shall I liken thee, or with what comparison shall I compare thee? Thou art like a vast Ocean which hath no banks, like an outrageous fire which knoweth no bounds, like the grave that is never satisfied, like the barren womb that never saith, It is enough; in respect of God thou art like Melchizedek, without father, without mother, having ⟨p. 117⟩neither beginning of days, nor end of life. In respect of the good, like a day which had a morning, but shall never have an evening: in respect of the bad, like a night which had an evening, but shall never have a morning. In thee it is that the justice and severity of God, the sinfulness and malignity of sin, the deceitfulness and vanity of the world, the madness and desperate folly of sinners will sufficiently be demonstrated. In time men are whipped, but in thee it is that they are executed. In thee it is that men must suffer long, for all their abuse of the long-suffering of God. In thee it is that the swearer shall have enough of wounds, and oaths, and blasphemies, when he shall have Devils wounding his soul with their fiery darts, and when he shall blaspheme the Name of God through extremity of torments.
It is storied of one Roger Bishop of Salisbury, that being in prison extreamly tortured, live he would not, and die he could not: truly such will the case be of rebellious ones; they shall long for death, but it will not come; and dig for it more than ⟨p. 116⟩for hid treasures. O how would they rejoyce and be glad, if they could finde a grave! but a being must be given to them that are in misery, and life to the bitter in soul: It is called death indeed, because 〈…〉 is neither desired there, nor can it properly be said to be enjoyed; it is a living death, or a dying life, such a death as shall never taste of life, and such a life as shall never taste of death. After the murderer of his soul hath continued in that lake of fire, as many thousand years as there are fish in the mighty Ocean, and as there are creatures great and small upon the whole earth, and as there are stars in the heavens; and after this as many millions of ages as there are hours in all the fore-mentioned time, yet after all this his torment will not be one moment neerer to an end. O eternity, eternity, eternity, what art thou? to what shall I liken thee, or with what comparison shall I compare thee? Thou art like a vast Ocean which hath no banks, like an outragious fire which knoweth no bounds, like the grave that is never satisfied, like the barren womb that never saith, It is enough; in respect of God thou art like Melchisedec, without father, without mother, having ⟨p. 117⟩neither beginning of dayes, nor end of life. In respect of the good, like a day which had a morning, but shall never have an evening: in respect of the bad, like a night which had an evening, but shall never have a morning. In thee it is that the justice and severity of God, the sinfulnesse and malignity of sin, the deceitfulnesse and vanity of the world, the madnesse and desperate folly of sinners will sufficiently be demonstrated. In time men are whipped, but in thee it is that they are executed. In thee it is that men must suffer long, for all their abuse of the long-suffering of God. In thee it is that the swearer shall have enough of wounds, and oaths, and blasphemies, when he shall have Devils wounding his soul with their fiery darts, and when he shall blaspheme the Name of God through extremity of torments.
