man's life consisteth not in the abundance of the things which he possesseth, and he spake a parable unto them, saying, The ground of a certain rich man brought forth plentifully. And he thought within himself, saying, What shall I do, because I have no room where to bestow my fruits? men. And he said, This will I do. I will pull down my barns, and build greater; and there will I bestow all my fruits and my goods: And I will say to my soul, Soul, thou hast much goods laid up for many years take thine ease, eat, drink, and be merry. But God said unto him, Thou fool, this night thy soul shall be required of thee: then, whose shall those things be which thou hast provided. So is he that layeth up treasure for himself, and is not rich towards God. (Luke xii. 16.) Surely it might be said of this, and such like, that there are no bonds in their death; but their strength is firm, they are not in trouble as other men, neither are they plagued as other But surely they are set, or set themselves in slippery places. Oh, how are they cast down into destruction! Oh, how are they brought into desolation as in a moment! They are utterly consumed with terrors as a dream when one awaketh. So, O Lord, when thou awaketh, thou shall despise their image. (Psalm xxxvii.) Surely then, these are they that heapeth up riches in this world, and cannot tell who shall hold them in possession. (Psalm xxxix. 9.) For what is the hope of the hypocrite, though he hath gained, when God taketh away his soul? (Job xxvii. 8.) And again, look into the fifth chapter of St. James, and there you may see what he saith of these things. And again, The wicked are driven away in his wickedness: but the righteous hath hope in his death. (Prov. xiv. 32.) And again, we read of poor Lazarus, and no doubt but what he had some hope in his death, for he died, and was carried by the angels into Abraham's bosom, but the rich man had no hope in his death, for he died, and was buried, and in hell he lifts up his eyes being in torments, and seeth Abraham afar off, and Lazarus in his bosom, and he cried and said, Father Abraham have mercy on me, and send Lazarus that he may dip the tip of his finger in water, and cool my tongue, for 1 am tormented in this flame; but Abraham said, Son remember that thou in thy life time received thy good things, and likewise Lazarus evil things, but now he is comforted, and thou art tormented. (Luke xvi. 19.) And now I will repeat these words again, What shall it profit a man then, if he shall gain the whole world and lose his own soul? Or what shall a man give in exchange for his soul? Oh, then, what can the earthly rich man's treasure profit him now, if he finds his soul in hell? Now, suppose that such an one to have been in hell two thousand years, I say then, what doth his days of pleasure seem to him now, which he enjoyed upon the earth? Surely methinks, that they seem to him like as one day, and now gone for ever and now he sees that he had no time to lose, nor no time for to give place for the pleasures of sin; and his days upon the earth seemeth to him like a light opening of grace, whereby he might have made sure work for his eternal joy, peace, and rest; but having refused it, it is all closed up again, and never to open unto him no more at al: his candle is gone out, his day of grace is past, his sun is set, and never to rise no more upon him, no more at all, and his destiny is in the gulf of everlasting misery, and never to oppress the righteous no more, and what shall he give in exchange for his soul? Shall he give all his earthly riches for an exchange for his soul, or to rescue his soul from hell? Surely no, for riches cannot make an atonement for sin, beside they are not his to give and now they are given by God, or suffered of God to be possessed by another: shall he give to God, or put up to God his prayers, now he is in hell, for an exchange for his soul? No, for the prayers and sacrafice of the wicked is an abomination to the Lord, whilst they are upon the earth, how much the more so then when they are in hell. (Psalm xviii. 41.-Prov. x v.8.-Isaiah lviii.-Matt. xxv.) Therefore seeing that these things are so, what is the gain of a sinful man then, when God takest away his soul? But godliness with contentment my friends, is great gain, and as I have said before, we brought nothing into this world, and it is certain we can carry nothing out, and having food and raiment, let us be therewith content; but they that will be rich, fall into temptations, and a snare, and into many foolish and hurtful lusts, which drown men in destruction and perdition, for the love of money is the root of all evil, which while some coveted after, they have erred from the faith and pierced themselves through with many sorrows; therefore I do advise all you that are rich in this world, that ye be not highminded, nor trust in uncertain riches, but put ye your trust in the living God, who giveth us richly all things to enjoy O ye that are rich in this world, be ye careful so as to embrace the days of God's grace, which are held out to us by Christ, and if you have sinned, do so no more, but ask pardon for thy former sins, so that thou may break off thy sins by righteousness, and your iniquities by showing mercy to the poor, if it may be a lengthening of thy peace, rest, and tranquility. (Dan. iv. 27.) But the wicked are like the troubled sea, when it cannot rest, whose waters cast up mire and dirt, there is peace saith my God to the wicked. (Isaiah Ivii. 20, 21.) But I know that it will go well with the righteous, and he that loveth God is rich enough, and no good thing will he withhold from them that walk uprightly, and he that overcometh shall inherit all things, and I will be his God, and a father unto him, and ye shall be my sons and daughters, saith the Lord Almighty; O then how rich are the children of God, for they shall be heirs of heaven, and shall inherit his everlasting glory. Therefore my brethren, by grace let us avoid the deceitfulness of this sinful word, with its riches, pleasure, and lust thereof, and so lay up our treasure in heaven, and so by grace let us all work our work betimes, and then at his good time, he will give us our reward. END OF THE TWENTY-EIGHTH BOOK. BY EDWARD CROOK. BOOK THE TWENTY-NINTH. The Power of God against the Wicked, Judgment, and Punishment. I have wrote of the Fallen State of Man, and the sinful and lustful state of Man, and the cruelty of the wicked. But in this Book you have a more full description of the judgments of God against the wicked, or the punishments of the wicked, collected from the Holy Scriptures by chapter and verse, which things I hope may be a warning to all those that read it, and that they may pray for repentance, so that they forsake their sins, and obtain Grace and Mercy through Christ, before their iniquity prove their everlasting ruin. We see, by Holy Writ, that wicked men And must I still to you their wretched I have not comforted the wicked Much in their lust and pride you see; I have wrote of the innocent state of man, and the fallen state of man, and the sinful state of man, and the lustful state of man, and the cruelty of the wicked; and now, by God's help, we may take a short glance at the punishment of the wicked, and O that we may pray that by the mercy and goodness of Almighty God, it may be a warning, and some profit to myself, and all them that hear or read it; O Lord when man had grieved thy Holy Spirit by lustful sin, did not thou cause the heaven and the earth to become like a sea of water? And by thy great power and justice thou destroyed man from off the face of the earth, and judged them according as thou saw good. (Gen. vii. 21.) But after this we read of righteous Lot, and how he entertained two angels, and how the wicked men of Sodom fought against God, but prevailed not, and the Lord by his mighty power, smote the men of Sodom with blindness, so that they could not hurt his righteous soul. (Gen. xix. 11.) And the men of Sodom were so ripe in lust and sin, so that the Lord would destroy them; therefore his judgments came upon them, and so by his mighty power he rained upon Sodom, and upon Gomorrah brimstone and fire from the Lord out of heaven, and as the Lord destroyed the earth with water, so likewise when he pleaseth, he can destroy it with fire. (chap. xix. 24.) O Lord, who knowest the power of thine anger, even according to thy fear, so is thy wrath. (Psalm ix. 11.) For our God is a consuming fire. (Deut. iv. 24.-Heb. xii. 29.) O Lord, methinks thou art like a fire of love to thy people, and like a fire of wrath to the wicked, for behold the day cometh that shall burn as an oven, and all the proud, yea, and all that do wickedly shall be stubble, and the day that cometh shall burn them up, saith the Lord of Hosts, and that it shall leave them neither root nor branch. (Mal. iv. 1) And we again read of the power of God against Pharoah king of Egypt, and how he brought his judgment upon him and his people, and how he overthrew them in the Red Sea, and delivered his people Israel. (Exod. xiv. 27.) But notwithstanding, we read of the judgment and threatenings of God against the children of Israel, for their sin and disobedience, which you may read in some distinct lines of my work, which is yet to come. (see. Lev. xxvi..) And you see I have wrote of the cruelty of the wicked, and the cruelty of Ahab king of Israel, and his unhappy end; and now we see the unhappy end of his children, for it appears that they slew no less than seventy of his sons in one day. (2 Kings. x. 7.) And Jehu slew all that remained of the house of Ahab in Jezreel, and all his great men, and his kinsfolks, and his priests, until he left him none remaining. (verse xi.) And Jehu slew all the worshippers of Baal, that God that Ahab served. (verse xxxv.) Therefore the word of the Lord was fulfilled, that he speak by the mouth of Elijah the prophet. (see 1 Kings xxi. 21.) O Lord, how great is thy power and wrath against the wicked, and it is said in thy holy word, that thou art a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children, unto the third and fourth generations of them that hate thee; but thanks be unto thee O Lord |