at his hands or not Art thou perswaded of mercie Assure thy selfe thy conscience is in a good estate thou hast health in thy soule for by the keeping of faith the conscience is preserued as saith the Apostle 1. Tim. 1.19 Keepe this perswasion preserue it whole and sound hurt it not bring not thy soule into doubting stay not nor hinder thy perswasion if thou desire to keepe health in thy soule for if thou doubt or any way diminish thy perswasion and assâ—rance assuredly thy assurance cannot so soone be hindered nor diminished but at that very instant shall follow the diminishing of the health of thy soule yea it cannot be but in that very article of time shall follow the hurt of thy conscience for faith will not dwell but in a whole conscience Therefore at what time thou doest any thing against thy conscience at that very time thou losest a degree of thy perswasion of the mercie of God and vntill such time as thou fall downe at the feete of Christ and obtaine mercie for that wicked deede purchase peace at his hands and repaire thy perswasion thou shalt euer doubt of mercie and want health in thy conscience Then this is the first lesson to keepe health in your soules to be perswaded of mercie The second lesson to keepe a good conscience or to keepe health in thy soule is this Ye must flie eschue and forbeare whatsoeuer may trouble the health of your soule whatsoeuer may trouble the quietnes and peaceable estate of your conscience cast it out forbeare it and eschue it This generall is good But let vs see what it is that troubles the quiet estate of the conscience Onely sinne nothing but an euill nature Therefore we must of necessitie to keepe health in our soules forbeare and eschue sinne we must flie and auoide sinne It is not possible that ye can keepe a good conscience and serue the affections of your heart therefore to keepe peace and health in thy soule thou must take leaue of thy lusts thou must renounce the lusts affections of thy heart and thou must not do as thou wast wont to do thou must not be giuen to the seruice of thine affections of thine appetite to put them in execution as thou hast formerly done But in case thine affections or lust command thee to do any thing what is thy part Thou must try how far this may stand with the good will of God and how far that affection which commands thee may agree with the law of God Is there such an harmonie as that thing which thine affection commands thee may stand with Gods law and holy will Then no question it is a sanctified affection thou maist put it in execution But after this tryall if thou finde thine affections to be exorbitant and out of rule carrying thee from God and against his law beware of it resist it put it not in execution for if thou fulfill the will of thine affections what pleasure can it bring with it It may well bring a flattering pleasure in the entrie but it closeth euer with a bitter remorse in the end Then to eschue this bitter remorse should ye not all try your affections Ye must examine and try them by the square of Gods law ye must see how far they agree with his law and how farre they dissent from it and so farre as they are dissonant fâ—om that law let euery man deny himselfe renounce his affections and so this triall being taken in this maner by thy selfe it sanctifieth thine affections maketh Christ to lodge in thy soule maketh thy conscience to be at rest And the holy Spirit this way maketh both body and soule to be in good health and to reioyce Then flie from sinne This is the second lesson The third lesson is this Study to do well Wouldest thou keepe health in thy soule Studie to do better and better continually At the least haue a purpose in thy heart to do better daily which is the last lesson Seeing that when we studie to do best and that the iust man that is the most holy man falleth so often as seuen times a day yea rather seuenty times what is thy part in these slips and snares Though thou fall as thou canst not eschue to fall lie not still there sleepe not there where thou hast falne it is a shame to sleepe there therefore arise againe And how shouldest thou rise By lifting vp thy soule and running to the Fountaine of grace and mercy by repairing to Christ Iesus to obtaine mercy for thy soule and to craue that he would send out of himselfe that measure of peace that may put thy conscience at rest and restore thy soule to health So lie not where thou fallest but incontinent arise and craue mercy and in obtayning mercy thou shalt repaire thy fall thou shalt amend thy life by repentance and by repentance thou shalt get peace thou shalt haue thy conscience at rest and get health to thy soule Now keepe this rule if thou desirest to keepe thy soule in health looke that thou sleepe not in sin as Dauid did lie not still when thou art falne and so fall from one sinne to another as from adultery to murther from murther to the next c. As commonly if a man sleepe in sin and rise not in time one sinne will draw on another for there is no sinne alone but alwaies the greater and more haynous that the sinne is it hath the greater and worse sins wayting on it Therefore when ye fall delay not to arise but repaire to the fountaine of mercie and seeke grace in time run to prayer run to the Church of God wheresoeuer it be whether in the field or in the towne run to Christ Iesus and craue mercy of him that ye may haue peace in your consciences and so by these meanes euery one of you shall preserue health in your soules By these meanes ye shall learne what difference is betwixt this liuing word of mercy and grace which sounds in our religion and that slaying letter that killeth the soule of euery one that heares it I meane that idolatrous doctrine of that dumbe Masse I mention this vnto you because I see that many in these daies are falne to it and the Lord is beginning to abstract his grace and mercie from this Countrey for the contempt of this quickning word which hath so clearely sounded here and which our Countreymen for the greatest part running headlong to the diuell in a dumbe guise trauell vtterly to banish Is not this a miserable thing that so few of you haue eyes to consider and discerne of the time of peace mercy and grace which is so abundantly offred The Lord of his mercy giue you eyes in time Thus far concerning the reasons wherefore euery one of you should trie examine your owne consciences and this triall ought not to be for a day or for a yeare but it ought to be euery day and
heart is willing in some measure to renounce it selfe This lesson is often taught vs by our Sauiour Christ we must both take vp the crosse and renounce our selues also before that we can follow him The more that this thirst groweth in the heart the more this renouncing of our selues groweth in the heart the more that this thirst decayeth is diminished in the hart the more we cleaue to the woâ—ld the more we loue the flesh and the more are we ruled and guided by them So either we must nourish a thirst of righteousnesse a hunger of life euerlasting a thirst of mercie a hunger after that iustice that is in Christ or it is not possible that in any measure we can be his disciples Now to proceede The heart that after this manner is prepared that with a thirst to be reconciled is resolued also to renounce it selfe this heart in the which there remaineth so earnest a thirst is neuer frustrate of the expectation is neuer disappointed But as the Lord hath imprinted in it an earnest studie to be reconciled and to lay hold on Christ so in his mercie he grants vnto that heart the possession of mercie he puts that heart in some measure in possession of mercie which it seeketh in possession of Christ Iesus himselfe whom it seeketh the which apprehension which it hath of Christ the heart sensiblie feeleth and apprehendeth in that peace which he giueth to the conscience So that the conscience which was terrified exceedinglie gnawen and distracted before by the approching of this peace and of Christ with his graces incontinent it is quieted and pacified there cometh a calmnesse and soundnesse into the heart and all troubles and stormes are remoued With this peace is conioyned a taste of the powers of the world to come the heart gets a taste of the sweetnes that is in Christ of the ioy which is in the life euerlasting which taste is the only earnest pennie of that full and perfect ioy which soule and bodie in that life shall enioy And the earnest penny as ye know must be a part of the summe and of the nature of the rest of the summe And therefore that earnest pennie of ioy assures vs that when we shall gette possession of the whole summe it shall be a strange ioy and these documents lift vp the heart and make it not to linger nor wearie in the expectation of that life but being refreshed now and then therewith by so many earnest pennies they assure vs of the full fruition of that ioy for the which in patience we will sustaine all troubles So as the holy Spirit worketh a thirst in vs to be with Christ a thirst of mercy and reconciliation with him the same holy Spirit disappointeth not that same expectation and thirst but putteth the soule and heart in possession of Christ by the which the conscience is pacified the heart is reioyced and we get a taste of the sweetnes and of the power of that life to come The sensible feeling of the which taste that passeth all naturall vnderstanding what doth it in my heart and conscience It worketh a wonderfull assurance and perswasion that God loueth me The feeling of his mercie in the bowels of my heart in the bottome of my conscience worketh a certaine assurance and perswasion that he is my God that he wil saue me for Christs sake that the promise of mercy which I durst not apply vnto my conscience before now by the feeling of mercie I dare boldly applie and say mercie appertainâ—th to me life and saluation belongeth to me For the conscience being exceedingly terrified and seeing nothing in God but fire and wrath it is not possible but it must flie from him it cannot approch to a consuming fire But from the time that the conscience getteth a taste of this peace mercie and sweetnesse how fast soeuer it fled from the presence of God before now after this reconciliation it will runne as fast to him and will possesse him more more fully So the assurance perswasion of mercie ariseth from the feeling of mercie in the heart and conscience And except the heart feele it and taste it in some measure no conscience dare apply God and his mercie to it selfe I may be sure in generall that all my sinnes are remissible and that I may obtaine mercie before I feele it But to applie this mercie particularly to my selfe vntil I feele a taste of it I dare not So this particular application whereby we claime God and Christ as a property vnto vs as if no man had title to him but we to call him my God my Christ to claime his promises as if no man had interest in them but we this cometh of the sâ—nce and feeling of mercie in the heart and the more that this feeling groweth and the greater experiâ—nce that we haue in our owne hearts of this peace and mercie the more increaseth our faith and assurance Our perswasion becometh sâ— strong that we dare at the last say with the Apostle What can separate vs from the loue of God Neither death nor life nor Angels nor Principalities nor Powers nor things present nor things to come shall be able to separate me from the loue of God which is in Christ Iesus our Lord. This particular application which ariseth no doubt vpon the feeling and sence of mercie is the speciall difference the chiefe marke and proper note whereby our faith who are iustified in the bloud of Christ is discerned from that generall faith of the Papists Our faith by this particular application is not onely discerned from the generall faith of the Papists but it is discerned from all the pretended faiths of all the Sects in the world For the Papist dareth not apply the promise of mercie to his owne soule he accounteth it presumption to say I am an elect I am saued and iustified And fâ—om whence floweth this Onely from hence that in their consciences they haue neuer felt mercie they haue neuer tasted of the loue fauour and sweetnes of God For looke how fast the conscience flieth from God before it get the taste of his sweetnesse it runneth as diligently to him and threatneth loue of him after that it hath gotten that taste So they miserable men content themselues with this generall faith which is no other thing but an historicall faith which groundeth onely on the truth of God whereby I know that the promises of God are true But the Papists dare not come and say They are true in me Why Because they haue not felt it and their hearts are not opened But our iustifying faith as I told you consecrateth the whole soule vnto the obedience of God in Christ. So that it resteth not onely vpon the truth of God nor it resteth not onely vpon the power of God though these be two chiefe pillars of our faith also but especially and chiefely it resteth vpon the mercie of God in Christ.
that ye haue your life and the commodities of it ready to lay downe at his feete ready to offer vp in sacrifice when it pleaseth him Of this I shall gather one or two notes and so I shall end this present exercise The first thing that I wil you to marke is the contrary voices that this King vttereth in the 14. verse and in the verse foregoing Reade these verses and ye shall see how contrary he is to himselfe In the 13. verse ye see he vttereth voices full of doubting and as it appeareth full of despaire at the least full of doubting he vttereth such voices as if God had bene his deadly enemy In the fourteenth ver he vttereth the flat contrary And he maketh his recourse to the same God whom he seeemeth to make his enemy in the 13. verse and he seeketh a blessing of him which testifieth that he trusted in him for none can call on him in whom they trust not So this is his behauiour in this disease one while he thinketh God a consuming fire another while he hath his recouse to him as his onely refuge One while he vttereth voices full of doubting another while he vttereth voices full of confidence Now the question ariseth Is it possible that faith and doubting can haue place both in one soule I say it is very possible there is neuer a one of the seruants of God but they haue had it And this is sure that there is no conscience so at rest that it is without al trouble and no estate of men so quiet that is without some inquietnesse in this life for it is the custome of God to bring his dearest children sometime into doubting suppose he do so yet in the meane time he susteineth them from despaire Know we not that this faith of ours is imperfect subiect to a continuall growing and progresse but neuer coming to a perfection so long as we are here subiect to stammering to manifold errors wrastlings and doubtings Yet all these imperfections are freely pardoned in the righteous merites of Iesus Christ. Where is that soule or who is he that hath that soule â—hat if he will examine his faith with the absolute perfection that is in the nature of God to whon nothing is pleasant but that which is perfect who shall not fall in doubting so soone as he beholdeth him Examine your faith with that perfection which is commanded in the Scriptures and with that progresse that is wished for in the holy Scriptures who shall not doubt By this examination let him but cast downe his eyes on the manifold corruption that is in him and on the heauy iudgement of God that hangeth ouer both body and soule for sinne and who will not doubt It is not possible but he must doubt hauing his eyes bent on himselfe and his affections wherewith he is defiled So I say doubting is common to all the best seruants of God There is none of you that will esteeme Paul to haue bene one of the worst and yet his words declare that there was a doubting in his soule for 2. Corinth 4.8 he sayth plainely we are alwayes in affliction but not in distresse We are in doubt but we despaire not So he granteth that there is a doubting in the soule that hath faith onely he denieth despaire As if he would say I giue you to vnderstand that doubting may stand in the soule with faith but not to despaire for the word despaire importeth of it selfe the cutting of the pillars of our beliefe Therefore faith and despaire cannot both stand in one soule But faith and doubting do lodge in my soule and shall lodge in all the soules of the faithfull to the end of the world Vnder doubting he comprehendeth all the errors tentations stammerings and wrastlings wherewith our faith is assaulted full oft which makes vs sometimes incline to despaire sometimes to hope whilest we looke on our selues to despaire and whilest we looke on the mercy of God in Christ Iesus to hope Now the Apostle taketh this doubting to himselfe as a thing whereunto all Christians are subiect There are few of you that know what this meaneth although it is certaine ye may be visited this way therefore keepe in memory this that suppose ye haue not to do with it your selues yet ye may vse it when you visite others for seeing we carry about with vs these bodyes of sinne for the spirit of faith and sanctification filleth not all the soule in this life and the largest part of the soule being defiled with this remanent corruption it must vtter such stuffe as it hath to wit doubting and stammering Now seeing there remaineth in the greatest part this corruption of necessity it must be occupied in doing it must be working And what bringeth it forth Sinne. And what doth the multiplication of sinne but hindereth our faith and perswasion and casteth a veile and a mist betwixt the sight of God and vs and therefore the Prophet calleth it a separation whereby we are depriued of the sight of God which we haue in the Mediator Christ. Seeing then so long as we are in these bodies of â—lay we are subiect to sinne we cannot but doubt For suppose we fall not into these grosse iniquities yet sinne and the guiltinesse thereof bringeth a doubting and casteth a veile ouer the eye of our faith and this veile being on the eye of our fayth out of question it hindreth our perswasion and maketh vs not to be so stedfast in our beliefe as otherwise we would be for he that seeth euill will oft times take one thing for another So this corruption is the cause of our doubting which in some measure is euer in the soule Now what learne we of this first we learne this coÌ„fort that it is no new thing to the seruants of God to vtter contrary voices in their great trouble to vtter voices proceeding of a deepe sense of the loue and the mercy of God in one word and in another word to vtter a feâ—ling of his hatred and wrath as if he were our deadly enemy Sometimes this King vttereth words full of doubting sometime he seeketh benefites of him as he were his good friend Christ vsed these contrary voices There was neuer a speciall seruant of God but they had them And Christ had them himselfe more then any seruant that he hath not proceeding of any doubting or mistrust in the mercy of his Father because in him there was no roote of infidelity but coming of the feeling of his extreme wrath for a time Looke Matthew 26. There he sayth twise ouer Let this cup depart from me And againe he taketh vp himselfe and he sath Not I as will but as thou wilt These are quite contrary he saith to God why hast thou forsaken me and yet he calleth him my God my God So I say it is no new thing to the seruants of God being in trouble and hauing
a knowledge of God in his word and a knowledge of God by his holy Spirit working in our hearts our consciences will then go further and excuse or accuse vs according to the light that is in the word So that the conscience is not acquired or obtained at what time we are enlightened by the working of the holy Spirit hearing of the word of God but our conscience is borne with vs is naturall to vs and is left in the soule of euery man and woman and as there are some sparks of light left in nature so there is a conscience left in it and if there were no more that same light that is left in thy nature shall be enough to condemne thee So the conscience is not gotten or begun at the hearing of the word or at that time when we begin to reforme our selues by the assistance reneâ—ing of the holy Spirit but euery man by nature hath a conscience the Lord hath left it in our nature and except that this conscience be reformed according to the word of God that same naturall conscience shall be enough to condemne thee eternally therefore I say flowing from a knowledge of the minde Last of all I say accompanied with a certaine motion of the heart and we expresse this motion in feare or ioy trembling or reioycing In very great feare if the deede be exceeding heynous and the stroke of the conscience be very heauie then the conscience neuer taketh rest for guiltinesse will euer dread But if the deede be honest godly and commendable it maketh a glad heart and maketh the heart euen to burst out into ioy So to be short in this matter for I purpose not to make a common place of iâ— ye see that in euery conscience there must be two things First there must be a knowledge and next there must be a feeling whereby according to thy knowledge thou appliest vnto thine owne heart the deed done by thee So that as the word it selfe testifieth it ariseth of two parts of knowledge according whereunto it is called science and of feeling according whereunto the Con is added and it is called Conscience Then the word conscience signifieth knowledge with application This conscience the Lord hath appointed to serue in the soule of man for many vses to wit he hath appointed euery one of your consciences to be a keeper a wayter on a carefull attender vpon euery action done by you So that that action cannot be so secretly so quietly nor so closely conueyed but will thou nill thou thy conscience shall beare a testimonie of it thy consciencâ— shall be a faithfull obseruer of it and one day shall be a faithfull recorder of that action So the Lord hath appointed thy conscience to this office that it attends and waits vpon thee in all thy actions Likewise the Lord hath appointed thy conscience and placed it in thy soule to be an accuser of thee so that when thou dost any euill deed thou hast a domesticall accuser within thine owne soule to finde fault with it He hath also placed it in thy soule to be a true and stedfast witnesse against thee yea the testimonie of the conscience resembles not only a testimonie or witnesse but the conscience is as good as tenne thousand witnesses The conscience also is left in the soule to do the part of a Iudge against thee to giue out sentence against thee and to condemne thee and so it doth for our particular iudgement must go before the generall and vniuersall iudgement of the Lord at that great day And what more He hath left thy conscience within thee to put thine owne sentence in execution against thy selfe This is terrible he hath left it within thee to be a very to torture and tormentor to thy selfe and so to put thine owne sentence in execution vpon thy selfe Is not this a matter more then wonderfull that one and the selfe same conscience shall serue to so many vses in a soule as to be a continuall obseruer and marker of thy actions an accuser ten thousand witnesses a Iudge a Sergeant and Tormentor to execute thine owne sentence against thy selfe So that the Lord needeth not to seeke a Sergeant out of thine owne soule to arrest thee for thou shall haue all these within thy selfe to make a plaine declaration against thy selfe Take heede to this for there is neuer a word of this shall fall to the ground but either ye shall find it to your comfort or to your euerlasting woe And this secret and particular iudgement that euery one of you carries about you abideth so sure and so fast within you that do what ye can if ye would imploy your whole trauaile to blot it out thou shalt neuer get it scraped out of thy soule If ye were as malicious and were become as wicked as euer any incarnate diuell was vpon the earth yet shall ye neuer get this conscience altogether extinguished out of thy soule but will thou nill thou there shall as much remaine of it as shall make thee inexcusable in the great day of the generall iudgement I grant thou maist blot out all knowledge out of thy minde and make thy selfe become euen as a blind man I grant also that thou maist harden thy heart so that thou wilt blot out all feeling out of it so that thy conscience will not accuse thee nor find fault with thee but thou shalt haue a delight in doing euill without remorse but I deny that any degree of wickednesse in the earth shall bring thee to this point that thou maist do euill without feare but still the more that thou doest euill and the longer thou continuest in euill doing thy feare shall be the greatâ—r you in despite of the diuell and in despite of the malice of the heart of man thy feare shall remaine And though they would both conspire together they shall not be able to banish that feare but that gnawing of the conscience shall euer remaine to testifie that there is a day of iudgâ—ment I grant also that there shall be a vicissitude and that feare shall not alwaies remaine but shall be sometimes turned into securitie neither shall that securitie alwâ—ies abide but shall be turned againe into feare so that it is not possible to get this feare wholly extinct but the greatâ—r the securitie is the greater shall thy feare be when thou art wakened Thirdly I grant that this feare shall not be blind for from that time a man by euill doing hath banished knowledge out of the mind and feeling out of the heart what can remaine there but a blind feare When men haue put out all light and left nothing in their nature but darknesse there can nothing remaine but a blind feare So I grant that the feare is blinde for neither know they fâ—om whence that feare cometh what progresse it hath wherunto it tendeth where nor when it shall end therefore they that are this way misled
in their soules of all men in the earth they are most miserable For as long as thou maist keepe in thy mind a sparke of this knowledge and spirituall light in the which thou maist see the face of God in Christ wherein thou maist see a remedy in the death and passion of Christ and wherein thou maist see the bowels of mercy offred in the bloud of Christ if thou haue any sparke of this light albeit it were neuer so little to direct thee and albeit this knowledge were neuer so much wounded yet there is mercy enough for thee in Christ but if thou close vp all the windowes of thy soule and of thy heart and make them to become palpable darknesse that thou neither knowest from whence the terror cometh nor yet perceiuest any remedy that is the miserie of all miseries We haue many things in generall to lament concerning the estate of this our Countrey wherein we liue Also particularly There is not one of you but hath great cause to take heede to your consciences now while ye haue time that ye banish not altogether this light which is yet offered vnto you and whereof some sparks yet remaine For I see the most part of men run headlong to banish the sparke of light that is in them and will not rest so long as there is any sparke of it left vntill it be vtterly banished And when they haue so done alas what can follow but a blinde and terrible feare in their consciences which they can neuer get extinguished a feare without remedie a growing feare and not a decaying feare a feare that will deuoure them wholly at the last Therefore euery one of you be carefull of this light that is within you take heede that the foule affections of your hearts draw not your bodies after them see at the least that those affections banish not this light And so long as the Lord offers you this light in time craue that of his mercy he would giue you the grace to embrace it to take a new course and yet to amend your liues while time is giuen you The body shall leaue the soule and the soule shall leaue the bodie but the conscience shall neuer leaue the soule but whither soeuer the soule goeth to the same place shall the conscience repaire and looke in what estate thy conscience is when thou departest out of this life in the selfe same estate shall it meet thee in the gteat Day So that if thy conscience was a tormentor to thee at the time of thy death if thou get it not then pacified it shall be a tormentor to thee in that generall Iudgement Therefore this matter would be well weighed euery one of you should studie to haue a good conscience that when the soule is seuered from the body leauing your conscience at rest and peace with God it may be restored vnto you and meete you againe with as great peace and quietnesse Thus far concerning conscience what it is I beseech the liuing Lord so to sanctifie your memories that ye may keepe these things and that euery one of these things may be so imprinted in your hearts that ye may be mindfull of them all your liues The second thing that we are to speake of is this We are to consider wherefore we should trie our consciences for what causes we should examine our owne soules consciences I will declare the reasons briefly It behooueth euery one of you to trie your conscience Why Because the Lord will make his residence in no other part of the soule but in the conscience He hath appointed his dwelling to be in the heart of man and in the will and conscience of man and therefore it becometh you to make his dwelling place cleane and to take heed vnto your hearts Next though the Lord of heauen made not his residence there yet in respect the eye of God is an all-seeing eye and able to pierce through the very thicknesse of mans flesh how darke and grosse soeuer it be and to enter into the very secret corners of thy conscience for vnto the all-seeing eye of God the most secret corner of thy conscience is as cleare and manifest as any outward or bodily thing in the earth can be to the outward eye of the bodie In respect therefore that this eye is so piercing and that he casteth his eye onely vpon our hearts it behooueth vs to try our hearts Thirdly he is the Lord of the conscience There is no Monarch on earth that hath any soueraigntie or lordship ouer the conscience onely the God of heauen onely Christ Iesus King of heauen and earth is Lord of the conscience he hath power onely to saue and lose Therefore when thou comest to this Sacrament of the Lords Table thou oughtest carefully to looke vnto thy conscience to try and examine the state of it Last of all which is a chiefe reason It behooueth thee to proue thy conscience because the welfare and health of thy soule dependeth vpon thy conscience If thy conscience that is within thy soule be well if it be at peace and rest thy soule is well if thy conscience be in a good estate thy soule must needs be in a good estate if thy conscience be in good health of necessitie thy soule must be in good health for the good health and happinesse of the soule dependeth vpon a good conscience therefore it concerneth euery one of you to try well your consciences There was neuer any law made or deuised that forbad vs to haue a care of our healths it is lawfull for vs to seeke such things as may procure and preserue it but the health of thy soule standeth in the health of thy conscience and in preseruing thereof therefore by all lawes thou oughtest to attend thy conscience If thou keepe thy conscience well thy soule is in health and if thy soule be in health let troubles come what will vpon thy body thou wilt endure them all but if thy soule be diseased with an euill conscience thou shalt not be able to beare out the least trouble that shall come vpon thy body whereas if the conscience were at rest and in good health that trouble could not happen vnto thy body but the strength of a good conscience would beare it out Then haue ye not reason and more then reason to take heede to your consciences to try and examine your consciences in what estate and disposition they stand Now because it is a fruitlesse thing to tell you that health is necessary and not to shew the way how this health may be obtained and preserued therefore to keepe your consciences in quiet and good health I will giue you these few lessons First of all be sure that thou retaine a stedfast perswasion of the mercies of God in Christ Iesus examine when thou liest downe and examine when thou risest vp in what estate thou art with God whether thou maist looke for mercy
yet if ye be touched in your hearts with any feeling or remorse of your life past go not from the Table but come with a prostation of your misery and wretchednesse and come with a heart to get grace If with a dissolute life I meane not of open slanders thou haue also a purpose not to amend but to do worse for Gods sake abstaine Thus far of the thing signified Vnto this generall consideration there remaineth these things yet to be made plaine vnto you First how the signes and the thing signified are coupled together and how they are conioyned Next it resteth to be told you how the signe is deliuered and how the thing signified is deliuered and how both are receiued as they are deliuered This being done I shall speake briefly of the other part of the Sacrament which is the word And last of all I shall let you see what sort of faults they are that peruert the Sacrament and make it of no effect And if time shall serue I shall enter in particular to this Sacrament which we haue in hand Then to come backe againe In the third place it is to be considered how the signe and the thing signified are coupled For about this coniunction all the debate stands all the strifes that we haue with them that vary from the straight truth stand about the matter of this coniunction Some will haue them conioyned one way and some after another way and men striue very bitterly about this matter and continue so in strife that through the bitternesse of contention they lose the truth for when the heate of contention ariseth and especially in disputation they take no heed to the truth but to the victory If they may be victorious and it were but by a multitude of words they regard not suppose they lose the truth Reade their works and bookes about this coniunction you wil craue rather conscience then knowledge yea if they had the quarter of conscience that they haue of knowledge no question this controuersie might be easily taken vp but men lacking conscience and hauing knowledge an euill conscience peruerts the knowledge and drawes them to an euill end To tell you now how these two are conioyned it will be far easier for me and better for you to vnderstand to tell you first how they are conioyned for I shall make it very cleare vnto you by letting you see how they are not conioyned but it is not possible to make it so cleare by telling you the manner how they are conioyned Ye may perceiue clearely by your eyes that the signe and the thing signified are not locally conioyned that is they are not both in one place Ye may perceiue also by your outward senses that the bodie of Christ which is the thing signified and the signes are not conioyned corporally their bodies touch not each other You may perceiue also they are not visibly conioyned they are not both subiect to the outward eye So it is easie to let you see how they are not conioyned For if the signe and the thing signified were visibly and corporally conioyned what need were there for vs to haue a signe Wherefore should the signe in the Sacrament serue vs Is not the signe in the Sacrament appointed to leade me to Christ is not the signe appointed to point out Christ vnto me If I saw him present by mine owne eye as I do the Bread what need had I of the Bread Therefore ye may see clearely that there is no such thing as a corporall naturall or any such like physicall coniunction betweene the signe the thing signified So I say it is easie to let you see how they are not conioyned Now let vs see how they are conioyned We cannot craue here any other sort of coniunction then may stand agree with the nature of the Sacrament for nothing can be conioyned with another after any other sort then the nature of it will suffer therefore there cannot be here any other sort of coniunction then the nature of the Sacrament will suffer Now the nature of the Sacrament will suffer a Sacramentall coniunction O but that is hard yet ye are neuer the better for this but I shall make it cleare by Gods grace Ye know euery Sacrament is a mysterie there is not a Sacrament but it containes a high and diuine mysterie In respect then that a Sacrament is a mystery it followeth that a mysticall secret and a spirituall coniuction agreeth well with the nature of the Sacrament As the coniunction betweene vs and Christ is full of mysterie as the Apostle letteth you see Eph. 5.32 that it is a mysticall and spirituall coniunction so no doubt the coniunction betweene the Sacrament and the thing signified in the Sacrament must be of that same nature mysticall and spirituall It is not possible to tell you by any ocular demonstration how Christ and we are conioyned But whosoeuer would vnderstand that coniunction his mind must be enlightened with an heauenly eye that as he hath an eye in his head to see corporall things so he must haue in his mind and heart an heauenly eye to see this mysticall coniunction a heauenly eye to take vp this secret coniunction that is betwixt the Sonne of God and vs in the Sacrament So I need not to insist any longer hereupon except ye haue this heauenly illumination ye can neuer vnderstand neither your owne coniunction with Christ nor yet the coniunction betweene the signe and the thing signified in the Sacrament But I keepe my ground As the Sacrament is a mysterie so the coniunction that is in the Sacrament no doubt must be a mysticall secret and spirituall coniunction Besides this I will let you see by a generall deduction that in euery Sacrament are two things which two haue a relation and mutuall respect the one to the other so that a relatiue coniunction agreeth well with the nature of the Sacrament Then wilt thou aske what kinde of coniunction it is I answer the coniunction that agreeth with nature to wit a relatiue and a respectiue coniunction such a coniunction wherein the signe hath a continuall respect to the thing signified and the thing signified to the signe Then would you know in a word the kind of coniunction that is betweene the signe and the thing signified I call it a secret and a mysticall coniunction that standeth in a mutual relation betweene the signe and the thing signified There is another coniunction besides the coniunction that is betweene Christ and vs that may make this coniunction betwixt the signe and the thing signified in the Sacrament more cleare and this is the coniunction which is betweene the word which you heare and the thing signified by the same word Marke what sort of coniunction is betweene the word which you heare and the thing signified which cometh into your mind the like coniunction is betweene the signe that you see and the thing signified in the