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A13837	The exercise of the faithfull soule that is to say, prayers and meditations for one to comfort himselfe in all maner of afflictions, and specially to strengthen himselfe in faith: set in order according to the articles of our faith, by Daniell Toussain, minister of the worde of God: with a comfortable preface of the author, vnto the poore remnant of the Church of Orlians; containing a short recitall of extreme and great afflictions which the said church hath suffered. Englished out of French, almost word for word, by Ferdenando Filding.; Exercice de l'âme fidele. English.	Tossanus, Daniel, 1541-1602.; Filding, Ferdenando.	1583 (1583)	STC 24144; ESTC S100748	160,179	397

THE Exercise of the faithfull soule That is to say Prayers Meditations for one to comfort himselfe in all maner of afflictions and specially to strengthen himselfe in faith Set in order according to the Articles of our faith By Daniell Toussain Minister of the worde of God With a comfortable Preface of the Author vnto the poore remnant of the Church of Orlians containing a short recitall of extreme and great afflictions which the said Church hath suffered PSAL. 90. Turne thee againe O Lord at the last How long be gracious vnto thy seruants Comfort vs againe after the time that thou hast plagued vs and for the yeeres wherein we haue suffered aduersitie Englished out of the French almost word for word by Ferdenando Filding Imprinted at London by Henrie Middleton for Henrie Denham 1583. To the right worshipfull and his especiall good master Walter Raleigh esquier RIght woorshipfull the great and good affection which I haue borne to you euer since J was first acquainted with you hath alwaies bin a stirring mee forward to bewray the force of my inward good will by some outward shew and now at length it hath compassed that which it coueted of long and offereth vnto you in value more than great first written in French by a woorthie man whose name and profession it beareth now denized in English almost word for word by a well willer of yours though scant able to reach to the originall depth of the natiue writer Yet J thought it good rather to hazard my owne credite with some note of infirmitie than to haue this argument vnharboured in English with the infinite losse of so great a commodity For what is more profitable to a Christian man than to haue his soule continually exercised in the traine and practise of a liuely faith the performance whereof this treatise vndertaketh whose recommendation I will not meddle with least by saying either too too little or too too base J impaire that which will commend it selfe beyond comparison To the English Christian I discharge my selfe by vttering that in zeale which J conceiue to be most profitable for eche his soule To your worship I recommende my labour as the true signe of a trustie mynde wherein if it shall please you to bestowe some though the least time I dare assure you of great profite for the comfort of your conscience and beautifying of your soule Almightie God prosper you in all your good and vertuous attempts and send you that good which both J wish you and this booke pretendeth London the 14. of Iune 1583. Your obedient seruant Ferdenando Filding PRINCIPALL matters conteined in this booke 1 A Preface brieflie reciting the calamities of the Church of Orlians and the comfortes that wee ought to oppose against the same euill 2 The principall Creedes and confession of the vniuersall Church 3 Manie notable places of the olde newe testament fitly applied to euerie article of our faith inriched with considerations meditations and praiers 4 A comfortable discourse of death 5 Praiers for diuers necessities 6 A Treatise of S. Cyprian concerning praier FINIS ❧ VNTO THE poore remnaunt of the Church of Orlians which are scattered here and there groning with true faith after the Lord grace health comfort and peace from and through our Lorde Iesus Christ ABout tenne yeares past when the Church of Orlians was in her flowers and I then hauing this honour to be one of the Ministers thereof then I set forth certaine Prayers and Meditations vppon certaine notable places of the scripture which I had gathered out and laid aside for mine owne priuate vse yet notwithstanding being requested of sundrie good and godlie men I was content that manie others should inioy the same And that they might be pricked forwardes to ardent prayer and to all holie and Christianlike Meditations who were accustomed to waxe cold or at least but leukewarme in time of prosperitie foreseeing likewise that all the rest wherewith the Church doeth glad her selfe in this world was but a truse and small respit and that it behooued them 2. Timo. 3. ver 12. The late M. Caluin in his preface vpon Daniel 61. truelie aduertised the Churches that they should haue as yet great fightes Psal 66.27 Psal 42. The said Churche was of number a seuen thowsand persons in time past Iames 5. which were determined to serue God purelie to make their account that they must suffer great persecutiōs during which prayer is the verie stay and comfort to the faithfull soule As alas long since wee haue well prooued when that all the billowes and stormes of the Lord sith these x. yeares haue passed not alonelie generallie through out all Fraunce but particularlie vppon this poore Church of Orlians which in times past wee haue seene a garden of great pleasure a retraite to manie good men and of all sortes and conditions to bee short it was as the repaire and fould of the Lordes sheep in the middest of all Fraūce Now wee doe see it turned into dust and ashes and to become the dwelling place of Dragons and Scorpions we I say vnto whome God hath giuen this grace to escape so manie blouddie Alaroms yea so manie fearefull deathes that we haue perceiued of what force earnest praiers be and what satisfying contentation the faithfull soule hath with God when as all other thinges doe seeme to faile him in such sort as we haue matter to say with the Prophet Dauid in the 119. Psal verse 92. Had it not bin that thy lawe was my delight I had euen then perished in my afflictions Now as the true seruantes of God haue a zeale vnto the ashes and ruines of Sion when it is turned into dust Psal 10● 9. and forsaken of all the world So cannot I so long as the soule panteth within me cease euer with a burning desire to pray vnto God or to haue care of this so desolate a Church of Orlians willing truelie to say with the prophet Esaiah in the 62. Chap. For the loue of Sion I will not keepe silence and as cōcerning Ierusalem I will not cease vntill her righteousnesse shine out as the light that her saluation be kindled as a Lampe in such sort as setting before my eies that at no time praiers were euer more necessarie than in these dayes being on euerie side full of calamitie neither yet the vse thereof better vnderstood of the true faithful than whē as men are in their true schoole that is to say vnder the Crosse And being likewise since the decease of this second Iosias so Christiā a prince as the late my Lord Elector Palatine Federick vnder whom I haue had this honor to preach the word of God more thā 4. yeares being as it were into mine owne wildernesse a part drawen to meditate lamēt the miseries of our time I tooke againe into my handes these prayers that heretofore I had set forth brought to light dedicated to the Church

vnto the poore euen a strength vnto the needie in his trouble a refuge against the tempest a shadow against the heate for the blast of the mightie is like a storme against the walk Thou shalt beate downe the noyse of the strangers as the heate in a drie place And he will destroy the couering that couereth all people and the veile that is spred vppon all Nations He will destroy death for euer and the Lord GOD shall wipe away the teares from all faces and the rebuke of his people will he take away out of all the earth for the Lord hath spoken it And in that day shall men say Lo this is our God we haue waited for him and he will saue vs. This is the Lord we haue awaited for him we will reioyce and be ioyfull in his saluation The 30. of Esai Your strength shall be in silence and in hope The 41. of Esai For I the Lord thy God will hold thy right hand saying vnto thee Feare not I will helpe thee Feare not thou worme Iacob and ye men of Israel I will helpe thee saith the Lord and thy redeemer the holy one of Israel The 42. of Esai I am the Lord this is my name and my glorie will not I giue vnto an other neither my prayses to grauen Images And I will bring the blinde by a way that they know not and leade them by pathes that they haue not knowen I will make darknesse light before them crooked thinges straight These thinges wil I doe vnto them and not forsake them They shall be turned backe that trust in grauen Images they shall be greatlie ashamed The 50. of Esai The Lord God is my helper therefore shall not I be confounded Therefore haue I set my face like a flint and I know that I shall not be ashamed He is neere that iustifieth me Let vs stand together who is my aduersarie Let him come neere to me Beholde the Lorde God will helpe me who is he that can condemne me The 51. of Esai I euen I am he that comforteth you Who art thou that thou shouldest feare a mortall man and the sonne of man which shal be made as grasse And so forgettest thy Lorde thy maker who hath spread out the heauens and layd the foundations of the earth for the heauens shall vanish away like smoke and the earth shall waxe olde like a garment and they that dwell therein shall perish in like manner But my saluation shal be for euer and my righteousnes shal neuer be abolished A complaint of the vnbeliefe and Apostasie of men The 2. of Ieremie THus sayth the Lorde What iniquitie haue your fathers founde in mee that they are gone farre from mee and haue walked after vanitie are become vaine and haue not sayde where is the Lorde where is the Lorde that brought vs out of the Lande of Egypt And lead vs through the lande of Wildernesse through a desert and wast land through a drie land and by the shadow of death by a lande that no man passed through and where no man dwelt and I brought you into a plentifull countrie c. O ye Heauens be astonied at this be afraide and vtterly confounded sayeth the Lorde For my people haue committed two euils they haue forsaken me the fountaine of liuing waters to digge them pittes euen broken pittes that can holde no water The 9. Chap. of Ieremie Thus saith the lord Let not the wise man glorie in his wisdome nor the strong man glorie in his strength neither the rich man glorie in his riches but let him that glorieth glorie in this that he vnderstandeth and knoweth me for I am the Lord which shew mercie iudgement and righteousnesse in the earth for in these thinges I delight saith the Lord. The 17. of Ieremie Thus saith the Lord Cursed be the man that trusteth in man and maketh flesh his arme and which draweth his heart from the Lord for he shall be like the heath in the wildernesse and shall not see when anie good commeth but shall inhabit the parched places in the wildernesse Blessed is the man that trusteth in the Lord whose hope the Lord is for he shall be as a tree that is planted by the water which spreadeth out her rootes by the riuer and shall not feele when the heate commeth but her leafe shall be greene and shall not care for the yeare of drought neither shall cease from yeelding fruite O Lord the hope of Israel all that forsake thee shall be confounded They that depart from thee shall be written in the earth because they haue forsaken the Lord the fountaine of liuing waters A godlie example of the three companions of Daniell and of their constancie and faith taken out of the 3. Chap. of the Prophet Daniel ver 16. SHadrach Meshach and Abednego aunswered and said vnto the king O Nabuchadnezar we are not carefull to aunswere thee in this matter Behold our God whome we serue is able to deliuer vs from the hote fierie fornace and hee will deliuer vs out of thy hand O king But if not be it knowen to thee O king that we will not serue thy Gods nor woorship the golden Image which thou hast set vp An obseruation vpon the said place NOte ye that first these good men did verie well see that in partaking neuer so little in the seruice of Idols it was to serue the diuels To partake with the Idolaters is to serue the diuels as it is said in the 106. Psalme ver 37. and also in the 1. to the Corinth 10. Chap. ver 20. As God threatneth also to roote out all those that shal sweare by the Lord or by Melchon in the 1. Chap. of Sophonie For as one Marcus Arethusius aunswered Marcus Arethusius in the historie of Theodoret. When men would not bestowe but one Tournois vnto a wicked act then did euerie man contribute And as on a day the Christians aunswered according as it is written in the same Theodoret in the 4. booke and 20. Chap. When as the tyrantes fumed yet more with rage furie than before they were woont we could not denie nor start frō the trueth seeing that in the world Renouncing of the trueth there could not be found a greater torment than to renounce the truth There is also a goodly historie in the 4. booke of Eusebe and the 13. Chap. When there was mention made of the Edict that Anthonius the Emperor proclaimed forbidding to persecute the Christians for said he You shall make them victorious through their persecutions in that they loue better to die than to obey you An expositiō of the text which is in the 5. chapter 2. booke of Kinges That which some men to couer their wickednesse and ydolatrie doe alleage the place of the soconde booke of the Kinges the 5. Chap. and the 18. ver when Naaman the king of Syreas Connestable saide vnto Eliseus The Lorde be merciful vnto the seruant that

whereby the true Church of God is discerned from that false and bastard Church which wanteth both true faith Ephe. 3.14 true inuocatiō Now I bowe the knees of my soule to the Father of our Lorde Iesus Christ to the end that according to the riches of his glorie The Pastors of the Church of Orlians that were preserued M. Gallars M. Anton. Chanorrier M. Robert Mason M. Pet. Baron Daniel Toussain he will graunt vs that wee may be strengthened by his spirit that Christ may dwell in you through faith through the which you may be rooted and grounded in all true knowledge of his will And as it hath pleased him in the middest of so manie floudes miraculouslie to keepe the Pastors of your Church whom God be praised he employed alwayes to his seruice that it will please him to shewe you this fauour raysing vp your estate as from death to haue strength to reioyce againe and that quicklie to the end that we may altogether as it were created anew sing vnto him a newe song to his honor vnder the protectiō of the shadow of his winges Frō S. Lābert within the coūtie Palatine this 20. of Iuly 1578. Daniel Toussain THE FOVNDATION and spring of all holy prayers and christian meditatiōs ought to be faith Behold where fore we shall set heere in the entrie the articles of our faith which some call the symbole of the Apostles as in deede they conteine a summarie of the Apostles doctrin as is to be sene of that which is written in the 15. Chap. of the 1. vnto the Cor. vers 3. elswhere it is to be seene by the writings of the elders as by the cathechisme of Cyrill and the treatise of S. Ambrose of Cayne and Abell and in the 8. Chap. of S. Augustines booke named Enchiridion that is to say Manuel that these Articles of the faith were holden amongest them as the true beginninges and foundation of Christian religion I Beleeue in God the Father almightie maker of heauen and earth And in Iesus Christ his onelie sonne our Lord. Which was conceiued by the Holie Ghost borne of the virgine Marie Suffered vnder Ponce Pilate was crucified dead buried he descended into hell The thirde day he rose againe from the dead He ascended into heauen and sitteth on the right hand of God the Father Almightie From thence shall he come to iudge the quicke and the dead I beleeue in the Holie Ghost The holie Catholike Church The communion of Saints The forgiuenesse of sinnes The resurrection of the bodie And the life euerlasting Amen IN the yeare of our Lord 273. in the Synode of Antioch was condemned the heresie of Samosatenus who would not auowe Iesus Christ to be the worde subsisting but made thereof a sound or decree of God not a seconde person of his diuinity in such sort as against his errours was published a confession by George Neocoefariensis as is to be seene in the 3. booke of Eusebius IN the yeare of our Lord about 332. 1. Synode called vniuersall was vnder Constantine the Great assembled a Synode or Councel to the assisting whereof there were 328. Bishoppes at Nice a citie in Bythinia there where was chieflie condemned the heresie of Arrius who dinied the true sonne of God equall with the father and of the same substance In this Synode were made plaine and cleare against Arrius the Articles of faith which concerne Iesus Christ by a confession as followeth 1 I Beleeue in one God The Symbol of Nice the Father Almightie maker of heauen and earth and of all things visible and inuisible 2 And in one Lorde Iesu Christ the onely begotten sonne of God begotten of his Father before all worldes 3 God of God light of light verie God of verie God begotten not made beeing of one substance with the Father by whome all thinges were made 4 Who for vs men and for our saluation came downe from heauen 5 And was incarnate by the Holie Ghost of the virgin Marie and was made man 6 And was crucified also for vs vnder Poncius Pilate he suffered and was buried 7 And the thirde day he arose againe according to the Scriptures and ascended into heauen and sitteth at the right hand of the Father 8 And he shal come againe with glory to iudge both the quicke and the dead whose kingdome shall haue none ende 9 And I beleeue in the holie Ghost the Lorde and giuer of life who proceedeth from the Father and the Sonne who with the Father and the Sonne together is worshipped and glorified who spake by the Prophets 10 And I beleeue one Catholike and Apostolike Church 11 I acknowledge one Baptisme for the remission of sinnes 12 And I looke for the resurrection of the dead the life of the world to come Amen IN the yeare of our Lorde 386. Seconde Councell there assembled at Constantinople the second Synode called vniuersall which confirmed and ratified the confession made at Nice adding onely that which followeth against the heretike Macedonius who denied the true diuinitie of the holie Ghost We beleeue in the holy Ghost Lorde and giuer of life proceeding from the father and the sonne who with the father the sonne together is worshipped and glorified HEere followeth the Symbole or confession of Athanasius Bishoppe of Alexandria being chosen fiue monthes after the Councell held at Niece who hath abiden great combats for the pure doctrine of the sonne of God against the Arrians WHosoeuer will be saued before all things it is necessarie that he holde the Catholike faith Which faith except euerie one doe keepe holy and vndefiled without doubt hee shall perish euerlastingly And the Catholike faith is this that we worship one God in Trinitie and Trinitie in vnitie Neither confounding the persons nor diuiding the substance For there is one person of the Father another of the Sonne and another of the Holie Ghost But the Godhead of the Father of the Sonne and of the Holie Ghost is all one the glorie equall and the maiestie coeternall Such as the Father is such is the Sonne and such is the Holie Ghost The Father vncreate the Sonne vncreate and the Holie Ghost vncreate The Father incomprehensible the Sonne incomprehensible and the Holie Ghost incomprehensible The Father eternall the Sonne eternall and the Holie Ghost eternall And yet they are not three eternalles but one eternall As also there bee not three incomprehensibles nor three vncreated but one vncreated and one incomprehensible So likewise the Father is almightie the Sonne almightie and the holie Ghost almightie And yet they are not three almighties but one almightie So the Father is God the Sonne is God and the Holie Ghost is God And yet are they not three Gods but one God So likewise the Father is Lord the Sonne Lorde and the Holie Ghost Lorde And yet not three Lordes but one Lorde For like as wee be compelled by the Christian veritie to acknowledge

and make head against the diuel for he himselfe doth alleage the scripture and therfore if we be not well seene or exercised therein he will trouble and ouercome vs. Let vs also pray this good God that he will giue vs his holy spirite which is the true teacher and expounder of the scripture the which the deuill in not being able to haue hath nothing but the barcke of the scripture and is easie to be vanquished and ouercome by those which are caried by the spirite of God Of prayer which is one of the effectes of Faith 7. Chap. of S. Matthewe Aske and it shal be giuen you seeke and you shall finde knocke and it shall be opened PRAYER O Lorde GOD seeing that thou thy selfe doest offer thy selfe vnto vs with so great kindenesse and sweetenes suffer vs not that we be negligent in calling vpon thee neither permit that we become restiffe in asking when as thou art readie to giue And to this effect graunt vs grace to feele howe much thy helpe is necessarie for vs euen for vs poore creatures which haue not neither possesse we any thing but of thy fauour and grace and yet neither that which we haue can prosper without thy blessing We therefore namely do acknowledge the great wantes and defectes which are in vs in respect of those heauenly things For neither faith hope nor charitie can be in vs vnlesse thou doe store vs with thy light S. Iames. 1. and helpe our infirmities For all good guiftes doe come from aboue from thee thou father of light Wherefore should we not then call vpon thee hauing thy promises Or wherfore shold wee goe elsewhere synce that in thee is all aboundance and sufficiencie Giue vs grace O good God not onely to pray to thee but also to knocke at thy gate It seemeth that it is somtimes shut against vs and that thou hast no care ouer vs as in verie deede the gates of grace were shut vp against vs because of sinne But we haue our mediator Iesus Christ at thy right hande who hath promised to open it vnto vs. Open therefore vnto thy children that knocke thou which hast giuen thy deere sonne for vs giue vs faith that may bring vs vnto thee and also hope which may entertaine vs in faith and giue vs in summe that which thou knowest farre better than we to be necessarie for vs for thy sonne Iesus Christes sake A notable sentence to hold the faithfull in a true confession of Gods name taken out of the 10. Chap. of S. Matthew FEare ye not them which kil the bodie but are not able to kill the soule But rather feare him which is able to destroy both the Soule and bodie in hell Whosoeuer therefore shall confesse me before men him will I confesse also before my father which is in heauen But whosoeuer shal denie me before men I will denie him before my father which is in heauen MEDITATION THe feare of death is the thing that dooth most turne away men from our Lorde The feare of death and from the imbracing of his worde For Iesus Christ sheweth what the follie of man is in this we feare death for feare of losing life But man cannot take away life wherefore are they then afraid For life is in the hand of God who hath giuen it But if it be a question of sorrowes and tormentes then death is no more it that we feare Iob. 5. for they are the sorrowes wherein we be borne as the bird to flie and those which we ought patientlie to beare euen as a valiant souldier beareth certaine woundes to be after crowned As concerning the bodie that is put in the graue we doe not thinke it lost because that nothing is lost but the infection and corruption the which wee doe desire to loose And our bodies shall rise againe glorious bodies For it is euē as when a man melteth a great masse or lumpe of Copper to make a faire Image of Truelie then is not the copper lost but fined and set in honour Moreouer as a good martyr named Simeon said of whome is spoken in the Ecclesiasticall historie of Sozomene in his second booke and 10. Chap. Seeing that of nature we be alreadie mortall wherefore should we not account this for a great honor when we die for Iesus Christ But our Lord dooth yet vse an other Argument If we feare death then wee must feare the great danger that is euerlasting And that is wherein God may cast those downe headlong that offend him This is the secōd death whereof is spoken in the Apocalyps in the 21. Chap. ver 8. Blessed are they that feare God more than men Alas he asketh no great thing of vs to be short he requireth but that we trust in him and that we confesse his name The Elementes Psal 16. the earth the trees and the riuers doe declare his glorie Psal 148. so doe the byrdes on the braunches Wherefore is it that man which is created vnto his likenesse will not praise the Lord And when we doe confesse him it dooth serue him but for little marrie it dooth bring much vnto vs that he confesseth vs in his glorie and that hee acknowledgeth vs to bee his Now what pitie is it when so manie men shew themselues so slacke and vnfaithfull vnto the Lord some forsaking him and openlie blaspheming him other some being ashamed of him hauing the knowledge of the trueth hidden and shut vp in them Moreouer Titus 1.16 how manie be there which confesse him by their tongues and denie him in their heartes and wicked life O Lord therefore open our lippes and make cleane our heartes so as wee may beleeue with the heart and confesse with the mouth that we be not confounded in this great comming of thy sonne Iesus Christ but rather that we may haue his honor to be reknowledged and also declared thy children and heires of thy kingdome That through faith we goe vnto Christ and what the yoke of the faithful is 11. Chap. of S. Matthew COme vnto me all ye that are wearie laden and I will ease you Take my yoke vppon you and learne of me that I am meeke and lowlie in heart and yee shall finde rest vnto your soules for my yoke is easie and my burthen is light A consideration vppon the said text BLessed are those saith Dauid in the 119. Psalme that are vpright in their way and walke in the lawe of the Lord. But what Where is the man that walketh vprightlie For they are all gone out of the way taking damnable pathes as it is said in the 14. Psalme and in such sort through infidelitie and disobedience are men turned away from the Lord and walke after vanitie they are turned againe into their course saith Ieremie in the 8. Chap. as the horse that rusheth into the battell Now see the sonne of God who so gratiouslie dooth call you againe and bid you to come againe vnto him

which are in earth thinges visible and thinges vnuisible whether they be Thrones or Dominions or Principalities or Powers It appeareth by this place that when it was spoken in the 1. ver and the 1. Chap. of Genes howe God created heauen and earth Creation of Angels we must comprehende there also the creations of the Angelles But as Athanasius sayeth in his questions vnto Antiochus Moses wold not willingly speake much of Angels in the beginning of his historie then knowing the superstition and curiousnesse of the Iewes where of after the Church being more aduaunced was spoken of by the prophetes and Apostles Also mention is made in the first of the Hebrewes of the creatiō by the sonne hath God made the worldes Thou Lorde in the beginning hast established the earth and the heauens are the worke of thine handes The creatures of God are good Nowe must we knowe that God is not the onely creator of all thinges but also all that which he hath created as it proceeded from him is good as it is saide in the 1. Chap. of Genes and in the 4. Chap. of the 1. Epistle to Timoth. But the creatures in part are turned away from God as the wicked Angelles that haue not kept their beginning as it is sayde in the Epistle of Iude. And in speaking lies they spake of their verie owne not according to their first creation man was also lead away by the olde serpent which is the Diuell as wee doe reade in the 3. of Genes and in the 12. of the Apocalyps The creatures which in part had beene created for man hauing sinned were subiect to vanitie as it is saide in the 8. to the Romanes and the earth was cursed as may be seene in the third of Genes Men also greatlie abused the creatures Abuse of the creatures of Iron and steele to murther of wine and of other meates and foode so of manie other creatures the which wee ought to haue receaued as Gods giftes 1. Cor. 10. and to vse them with all reuerence and vnto the glorie of the creator For so ought the creature be vnto vs as a booke as a certaine Aegiptiā Eremit named Anthonie of whome is spoken in the 8. booke of the tripartite historie and the 1. Chap. saith that the Cloister of this whole world was a goodlie booke wherein there is as many leaues as there are creatures and wherein a man might with great pleasure reade yea and dailie reade againe and learne to know God who sheweth his name great and woonderfull in this great and large world as Dauid singeth in the 8. Psalme S. Augustine in the 21. Chap. of his priuate Meditation O Lorde how great and woonderfull shall the riches be S. Augustines prayer which thou preparest for those that loue thee in the true countrie and euerlasting kingdome when as we shall see thee face to face For if thou doost vnto vs so manie good turnes in this world which is but a prison and doost shew vs so manie excellent thinges what wilt thou doe then when wee shall bee in thy Pallace Graunt vnto vs therefore grace O Lord to aspire vnto this happinesse that eye hath not seene neither eare heard and that mans tongue cannot expresse But the wise man dooth well exhort vs in the 12. Chap. of Eccles to remember our maker before the dayes of aduersitie come In the meane time men for the most part care not at all as the Lord complayneth in the 5. Chap. of Ieremie Feare ye not me saith the Lord Or will yee not be afraid at my presence which haue placed the sand for the boundes of the Sea by the perpetuall decree that it cannot passe it and though the waues thereof rage yet can they not preuaile though they roare yet cannot they passe ouer it But this people hath an vnfaithfull and a rebellious heart they are departed and gone For they haue not said in their heart Let vs now feare the Lorde our GOD that giueth raine both earlie and late in due season hee reserueth vnto vs the appointed weekes of the Haruest Gene. 6. Notwithstanding it appeareth that the world was not created for the wicked for so soone as all fleshe had corrupted his way God sent a floud vpon the earth And as Dauid saith in the 37 Psalme That the wicked and vngodlie shall bee rooted out and the godly shall inherit the land For they shall possesse all thinges in God The Philosophers and others haue truelie considered the creatures of God and haue commended them yet notwithstanding they haue strayed to all vanitie more woorshipping the creatures Rom. 1.25 than the creator not seeing how these visible signes ought to guide vs vnto a consideration of inuisible thinges For when wee doe see anie faire peece of worke this maketh vs to inquire after the woorkeman that wrought it euen so ought a man to inquire after the Lord. Furthermore this world how faire soeuer it is is a bondman and sigheth awaiting the deliuerance of the sonnes of God How much more ought we to aspire vnto heauenlie thinges because that wee tread the earth vnder our feete to shew vnto vs how that man ought to make but little account of earthlie thinges but ought rather to haue his conuersation in heauen Philip. 3.20 where as our head is preparing a place for vs. Of Gods prouidence NOw if God had onelie created the world and that hee did not gouerne it dispose and maintaine it with all her partes he should not bee the almightie but a halfe God This is because when as one speaketh of the creation It is necessarie alwayes to ioyne dailie the doctrine of the prouidence of God as also the Scripture dooth with the woonderfull disposition of all thinges which are in this whole world For hauing made his woorke especiallie man which is as the head of his worke he did not there set him and leaue him but wrought with the Sonne and the holie Ghost dailie blessing multiplying preseruing restoring and disposing all thinges to his glorie and the saluation of his elect as it dooth appeare by these places and examples that follow The 28. of Iob. God daily woorketh The windes the raine The thūders God beholdeth the endes of the world and seeth all that is vnder heauen To make the waight of the windes and to weigh the waters by measure To make a decree for the raine and a way for the lightnings of the thunders The 37. of Iob. God thundereth maruelouslie with his voyce he worketh great thinges which we know not For hee saith to the Snow The snow be thou vppon the earth likewise vnto the small raine and to the great raine of his power with the force thereof hee shutteth vp euerie man Men. that all men may know his woorke At the breath of God the frost is giuē Frost and the bredth of the waters is made narrowe The brightnesse commeth out of