Sea or as the starres of Heauen yet we know that he holdeth the Sea in his hand and calleth the Starres by their names for as the Heauen is in comparison of the Earth so are his mercies towards all that call vpon him Why should any then mistrust the benignitie of GOD seeing he is so carefull to assure vs of the forgiuenesse of our sinnes whensoeuer we doe call vpon him Exech Chap. 18. ver 21. If the wicked will turne from his sinnes that he hath committed and keepe all my statutes and doe all that is lawfull and right he shal surely liue and not dye al his transgressions which he hath coÌ„mitted shall not be mentioned vnto him Haue J any desire that the wicked should dye saith the Lord or shall hee not liue if he retourne from his waies Therfore returne and repent you for your transgressions so iniquitie shall not bee your destruction Cast away from you all your transgressions wherby you haue transgressed and make you a newe heart and a newe spirite for why will you dye O house of Israel THe Lord in this place speaketh not directly vnto the sinner which falleth by frailtie and weakenesse of flesh but to the wicked which of mallice and crueltie hath robbed and shed innoceÌ„t blood who hath oppressed the needie and solde the poore for olde shooes who hath whined after his neighbours wife hath bene partakers with the Adulterers which haue runned froÌ„ Bethel to Dan and from Dan to Bethel to serue straunge Gods which haue sacrificed of their owne flesh to Molocke and haue eaten the offringes of the dead to these which â—â—â—nke sinne as water and drawe iniquitie with cords to these I say speaketh the Lord and telleth them that if they doe truely repent them of all their misdeedes which they haue committed they shal neuer be imputed to them againe they shall be deliuered from them and made partakers of eternall life if his repentaÌ„ce be true not fained but yeelds himself wholly to serue his God though his obedience be imperfect and there bee some want in him yet hee shall bee washed in the blood of the Lambe by his woundes he shall be healed and in his weakenesse he shall bee made stroÌ„g he shal be holy because he which hath called him is holy And in this respect are Christians called oftentymes iust in holy Scripture though there bee some imperfections in them daylie to bee seene yet this is shewed to declare the woÌ„derful and great bountie and clemencie of God towards vs that hauing offended him in breaking his ordinaunces and so made guiltie of eternall death yet that he vouchsafeth to call vs againe vnto him and to stretch forth his arme all the day long to take vs vp when we were fallen and exhorteth vs to repentaunce and to newnesse of life which is the token and euident testimonie of a true conuersion and newe regeneration by the holy Ghost And whereas he commaundeth vs to repent adding a promise of life and saluation he sheweth that hee would haue vs touched to the quicke and truely sorie for our faultes committed with firme and stedfast purpose to liue better in time to come so that here wee may knowe what kinde of man he is which shall not perish but shall haue eternall life according to this promise Zach. Chap. 1. ver 3. Returne you vnto me saith the Lord of hosts and J will returne vnto you HEre is an other exhortation to repeÌ„tance ioyned with the promise and reconciliation to God very like vnto that before Math. Chap. 4. ver 17. Amend your liues for the kingdome of heauen is at hand THis is the first exhortation that the Lord made to the people of Israel agreeable to that where Iohn Baptist admonisheth euery one to repentance and amendement of life which that they may the better performe he addeth this reason and promise that the grace of God the remission of sinnes and the reconciliation with God is present and neere to them by the preaching of the Gospell which is here called the kingdome of God for by this meanes the tyranny of Sathan is destroyed and ouerthrowne the force of sinne dead the kingdome of Christ gloriously extolled and lift vp on hye raigning in the hearts of those which by his spirite haue felt the vertue vnto newnesse of life a sufficient token to assure vs in this life to be made partakers of his inheritaunce in the life to come Math. Chap. 9.13 J am not come to call the rightuous but sinners to repentaunce THis is the answer of our Sauiour made to the Pharisies who finding themselues offended that he and his companie did eate with Publicanes and Harlots with sinfull and leaud liuers thought him a glutton and lose fellowe For these men counting them selues onely the people of GOD erred and corrupted themselues in such a sorte that they accounted all other vtterly profayne Whereupon our Sauiour Christ sheweth wherefore he leaueth their companies who so much iustified themselues and betaketh himselfe and all his to poore sinners though they were wicked and euill in life that by this meanes he might drawe them froÌ„ their vice and iniquities and bring them into the right way To those then which doe repent of their sinnes appertayneth the grace of God for repentance is the very effect of the sonne of God which bringeth saluation vnto all people Acts 3. ver 19. Amend your liues therefore and turne that your sinnes may be put away THose to whom Peter spake in this place had put and deliuered to death the holie and the iust the Prince of life that is to say our Lorde Iesus Christ yet he exhorteth theÌ„ to a godly conuersation of life promising that their sinnes shall bee forgiuen them so that the grace of God is shewed forth to all men whom the Lorde counteth by putting from them their iniquities Acts Chap. 5. ver 31. This is that Jesus whome GOD hath lift vp with his right hand to bee a Prince and a Sauiour to giue repentaunce of sinnes to Jsrael and forgiuenes of sinnes THis is spoken to this ende that the Lord Iesus hath brought vs vnto saluation by repentaunce which is neuer seperated from the forgiuenes of sinne 1. Cor. Chap. 7. ver 10. Godly sorowe causeth repentance to saluation THe profayne and wicked men continually doe reioyce in their wickednesse and harden their harts in their sinnes neuer ceasing till their accursed ioye bee turned into weeping and gnashing of teeth by the iust and feareful iudgement of God who casteth all such into vtter perdition but they which haue the feare of God after that they haue done amisse in any sorte bee greatly sorie in heart weeping and lamenting that haue offended such a gracious God and alwaies suffer extreme greifes because they offended him in breaking his commandements The rulers which had the ouersight of the church of Corinth beeing reprehended by S. Paule for their slouthfulnes and slownes in not acquitting themselues
fayre and cleare fountaine of grace the liuely water that floweth to vs by Iesus Christ by the shedding of his precious blood which is opened to all those which are of the houshold of God and made Citizens of the heauenly and spirituall Ierusalem which is the true Church wherein they wash and purge their sinnes Let vs therefore goe vnto this liuely water and into this life euerlasting where the one neuer stayeth running and cannot be dryed vp nor the possessors of the other shall euer taste of the second death for this spring floweth in great aboundance so that we shal be washed faire and cleane bee our iniquities neuer so foule and polluted Math. Chap. 11. ver 18. Come vnto me all ye that are wearie and heauie laden and J will refresh you THe admirable and bountifull loue of the Lorde Iesus is in this place shewed in that he vouchsafeth to helpe and succour those which be poore and in miserie he will not cast them away neither send them to others to make their mone and complaints but he calleth them himself vnto him I say he which is the very Sonne of God the Lord of glory calleth those vnto him which are oppressed troubled in their consciences by the feeling of their sinnes and therefore promiseth to ayde them and giue them rest the true tranquilitie and happie quietnesse of the soule Let vs goe therefore to Iesus Christ our onely Sauiour and redeemer let vs goe in a true faith and earnest repentāce seeing he stretcheth forth his armes to receiue vs seing he is sweet gētle mercifull of great goodnesse Are we therefore heauy loden with the burthen of our sinnes he will deliuer vs from the yoke and seruitude of the house of bondage Are we ouer hayled and tyed by the tyrannie of sinne and death he will preserue vs from the seruitude of the one and from the deadly sting of the other Iohn Chap. 1. ver 29. Behold the Lambe of God which taketh away the sinnes of the world THis is the testimonie that Iohn the Baptist witnesseth openly of our Lord Iesus Christ who was ordayned and sent of God to be the Lambe without fault without spotte which in former times was figured in sundry Sacrifices of the law yet more especially in the Passouer or Lambe which was offred euery day morning and euening for the sinnes of the Priest and people but this Lambe when none was worthy to offer him vp to his father hath willingly offered himselfe that by dying once for al he might obtaine forgiuenes of sinnes for all and by this meanes he hath brought vs vnto God the father that he might continually not for once acquite and deliuer vs frō our sinnes which is shewed more forceable if wee marke the worde which he vseth he doth take away which is declared in the tyme present and that by the merite of his death which is alwaies of one and the same vertue and perpetual efficacie whereby we obtaine our eternall redemption as it is sayd by the author to the Heb. Chap. 9. And this benefite being so precious great serueth not for one or two onely neither for one onely Nation but reacheth ouer al people and euery Nation of the earth as this word world proueth Let vs not then doubt that our sinnes are remitted by the death of Christ whose death should nothing auayle vs if we should not receiue the fruite of it by faith in his promises seeing that sinne dwelleth in vs continually as it is prooued in the 7. Chapter to the Romaines Therefore we receiue pardon for them continually by him who hath brought vs to the throne of grace where with boldnesse we may call his father abba our father Acts Chap. 5. ver 31. This is that Jesus which God hath lifted vp with his right hand to bee a Prince and a Sauiour to giue repentaunce to Israel and forgiuenes of sinnes THe Empyre and soueraigne dominion of Christ is here shewed vnto vs by S. Peter to the ende he might declare vnto vs the power spirituall libertie which he bestoweth on his Church meaning his people of Israel that is to say that by him our sinnes are remitted with chaunge of newnesse of life promised to our eternall saluation These two graces then being ioyned together can neuer bee seperated that thereby none may doubt of the obtayning of this excellent benefite purchased by the Lord Iesus which otherwise would pull back from his highnes and debate his power who will for these benefites be honoured in word and glorified in deede Acts Chap. 13. ver 38. Be it knowne vnto you that through this man our Sauiour Christ is preached vnto you forgiuenes of sinnes THis place is like vnto the former concerning the benefite purchased by Christ by whom we obtayne forgiuenes of our sinnes a thing worthy of all men to bee had in memorie of the which euery man ought to bee certaine and resolued in the assurance of his saluation Rom. Chap. 5. ver 8. God sheweth his loue towards vs seeing that while wee were yet sinners Christ dyed for vs much more now being iustified by his blood we shal be saued from wrath through him for if when we were enemies we were recōciled to God by the death of his sonne much more being reconciled shal be saued by his life and not onely so but also reioyce in God through our Lord Iesus Christ by whom we haue obtayned reconciliation THis is to assure vs of the loue and mercie of God towardes vs and of our saluation when we consider what Christ Iesus hath done for vs who beeing the Sonne of God iust and innocent suffered so many torments for vs vniust and guiltie so that now wee are purged and made cleare of al our faults and iniquities yea we are acquited and absolued from the wrath and anger of GOD who is wholly quieted peace being made betweene him and vs by the reconciliation of the Lord Iesus who is the meanes by the vertue of his death and preseruer of our life by the vertue and power of his dietie for our life is hid in him our death is buried in him in him therefore all our glory consisteth for there is nothing wherein wee may glory our selues nor our works but onely in the great fauour and mercie of our God and in the grace and mercie of our Lorde and Sauiour Iesus Christ Iohn 1. Epist 1. Chap. ver 7. The blood of Jesus Christ cleanseth vs from all our sinnes ALthough we bee guiltie and polluted with many sinnes which are in the eyes of the Lorde stayned and filthie yet the holy Apostle doth assure vs that wee are washed and purified from them not by any counterfeite water of mans fancie nor by a fayned imagination of fire in Purgatorie in any other worlde neither by the blood of Martyrs as some haue falsly taught but only by the precious blood of the Sonne of God which is of such efficacie and continuall
an assurance of the remission of sinnes with the most notable promises of GOD conteyned in the holy Scripture as well in the old as new Testament briefly expounded and applied vnto the same IF hee to whome the forgiuenes of sinne is giuen froÌ„ whome sinne is put away bee happie as it is sayd in the xxxij Psalme Happie is the maÌ„ to whom God imputeth no sinne He needeth not to doubt but on the contrary parte he is vnhappie which is tyed and bound in sinne he must looke for none other thing but for his coÌ„demnation and ruyne onely Be it for a time he liues in ease takes his pleasure and altogether giues himselfe to delight though he be increased with honor and euery bodie doe loue and cheare him yet he is neuerthelesse vnhappie if he be not set at libertie by grace and forgiuenesse of his iniquities for sinne is a burthen so hard heauie that no man is able to beare it pulling downe euery one that is laden with it from whence it appeareth that some do bowe vnder it and falles into ruine and brings them selues into dispayre as it happened to Iudas Other being oppressed in such sort that they cannot scant receiue any comfort and rest I haue seene a man which hauing committed as himselfe doth confesse some great and notorious faults was so abated troubled in his spirite by the memorie of them that he did resemble a poore man which was indepted and condemned to a greeuous sufferance and shamefull death he did alwaies grone and sigh with the trouble and paine of his Soule feeling himselfe so guiltie and doubting of the mercies of God for the inormitie of his sinnes in such sort that he made not any account to eate any meate and refused to take any nourishment if hee had not beene carefully mooued thereunto by those which did keepe him companie his heart being so oppressed with dolor that sometimes he wished that his bodie might bee punished with Iustice and that hee might suffer some greeuous paine to make his torment lesse which hee thought hee had deserued in his soule Sometimes in his anguish he did require to bee comforted and receiued into the Church by publicke pennance but he was a straunger and did but passe away I haue seene an other which hauing a long time abused the true knowledge of God yet at the last had such remorse of conscience which did gnawe his heart so that he was constrayned to lye as sicke and out of breath See therefore how horrible heauie sinne is of it selfe from which whosoeuer is lightned though he bee neuer so poore miserable and dispised of the world or otherwise afflicted he is neuerthelesse an happie man The blinde man of this world doth not esteeme nor iudge of these things otherwise then by apparance of deceiptfull vanities and not in trueth as it appeareth daylie but the spirite of GOD doth teach the godly otherwise as it is afore sayd That man is then very happy that feeleth the grace of God to be such as to haue his sinne forgiuen him for then his coÌ„science is in peace and rest and he feareth not to perish neither hath he the iudgements of God in horror but assureth himselfe of his fauour and bountifulnesse which God is to be esteemed the greatest that a man can receiue in this mortall world Among the Sarasines those which haue not considered of thinges very narrowlie haue yet well knowne that it was a precious treasure not to bee troubled by any committed forfeite of which the most wittie and sufficient among them haue made a treatise which he calleth the quietnesse of the Soule but altogether ignorant of this poynt of the free forgiuenes of sinne as all other Philosophers not esteming any other rest of conscience but in vertue and integritie of life which is but an imagination of no value before God for this man is like vnto him which buildeth without foundatioÌ„ and would make a shew of that thing which is not For to come then vnto such blessednesse and to inioye so happie felicitie wee must knowe that GOD to whom we must giue an accompt is gentle and mercifull to whom wee ought to haue all our refuge being certaine that he will be quiet and mercifull towards vs neither imputing our iniquities but will forgiue vs them freely Then as the mâ—st sicke and lingering deseased haue more neede of remedies for to be helped and eased of their griefe and paine likewise also the most troubled soules which are tormented with sorrowe and anguish by feeling and acknowledging their greate sinnes dreading the anger and most feareful iudgement of God haue more neede of consolation and greater assurances of the mercie of God wherevpon their hope should be totally founded and rooted Who although some times they be debased by diuers temptations yet by the mercies of their God they neuer fall into any dissolation or confusion by dispaire although it happen that the most forwarde in Religion and in the feare of God haue to susteine many temptations of Sathan who doth often giue them hotte skirmishes and shooteth against them his poysoned and mortall arrowes for to abate their faith and to cast them into euerlasting distruction if it were possible for them so to fall and if they some times seeme to doubt being trobled by distrust and fearefulnes yet it neuer happeneth that they can fall vtterly from the trust which they once conceiued of the mercies of God Dauid was not without some anguish and perturbation of spirit when he cried My soule why art thou vexed and why art thou so disquieted within me But when he addeth by exhortation that it should hope still in God he declareth the stedfastnes and constancie of his faith wherein hee saith that he was shut vp from the sight of the Lorde it seemed that by the great aduersitie which hapned to him that God had cast him of and quite forsaken him yet he did not for all this leaue to call and to hope in him so that in the ende he was highly exalted And thus it happeneth oftentimes to the children of God finding them selues intangled with a gulfe of euils their hope seemeth to bee swallowed vp and drowned although in the end it freshly appeareth and lifteth vp the head and comming vnto it selfe againe wholy trusteth in GOD and resteth vnremoueable vpon his greate bountie and mercie in which onely they glade and comfort themselues and not by any vertue or desert which is in them aluding to that which is in the 9. Chap of Ieremie that he which glorieth may glorie in the Lorde that is in his blessednes and in his mercie In this point then consisteth our trust by the which wee must needes see what the foundation is and how farre it reacheth if so bee it bee firme and sure and because wee ought to bee certaine and resolued thereof for this cause wee will bring foorth the holy Scripture as wel of the Old
vertue that he can blot out our sinnes perticularly how many soeuer they be Iohn 1. Epist Chap. 2. ver 1. If any man sinne wee haue an aduocate with the father Iesus Christ the rightuous and he is the reconciliation for our sinnes and not for ours onely but also the sinnes of the whole world THere is none without sinne and consequently al are guiltie before GOD yet behold the Apostle witnesseth that the Lord Iesus Christ doth pray and make request for vs as it is sayd in the Epistle to the Romaines Chap. 8. and to the Heb. Chap. 7. which intercession betweene God and man was of such force and vertue that no others but he was found worthie and able to make vs vnderstande the gentle and fauourable goodwill of God the father for he dyed for our sinnes vndertooke to make an agreement and reconciliation for our misdeedes to God which excellent and worthy desert is not onely restrayned to some particuler person but reacheth to all generally that all might perceiue the loue of their Redeemer Iohn 1. Epist Chap. 3. ver 10. In this are the children of God knowne and the children of the deuill whosoeuer doth not rightly is not of God neither he that loueth not his brother and this is appoynted a reward for sinnes THis place is like vnto the place afore rehearsed contayning more fully the loue and mercifulnesse of GOD towards vs in that he hath brought vs againe vnto him by his welbeloued Sonne who gaue himselfe for vs. Of faith in Christ Ioh. Cap. 3. ver 16. God so loued the world that he hath giuen his onely begotten sonne that whosoeuer beleeueth in him should not perish but haue life euerlasting THe beginning and first cause of our saluation is in GOD who in his mercie and fatherly loue saued vs. The second is in Christ who by the merite of his death passion redeemed vs the onely instrument and meanes to obtain such great good is by faith in Iesus Christ which is of such vertue and efficacie that by it man is reconciled vnto God by the free remission of sinne wherfore he cannot fall vtterly in as much as he is deliuered from eternall death and made partaker of an happie life Iohn Chap. 5. vers 24. Verely verely I say vnto you he that heareth my words and beleeueth in him that sent me hath euerlasting life and shal not come into condemnation but passeth from death to life THis is to confirme our selues in the assurance wee haue in Christ and in the certaine perswasion of his doctrine when as wee doe vnderstand that our faith resting in him is not founded vppon a mortall man but on the very and true sonne of God wherefore it is sayde that we are iustified that wee are sanctified in and by the bloud of Christ Iesus Rom. Chap. 3. vers 27. we be absolued from our sinnes neither can bee condemned any wise beeing so warranted by him which is eternall by whome we obtaine life and felicitie which continueth for euer Rom. Chap. 10. vers 9. If thou shalt confesse with thy mouth the Lord Iesus and shalt beleeue in thy heart that God raysed him vp from death thou shalt be saued HOw easie the way of saluation is vnto vs S. Paule sheweth in this place not vsing many words neither sending vs backe to the profound and deepe secrets of almightie God but giueth vs to vnderstand that by the grace of God which is in vs we are saued if so be we hould fast the faith not lightly in the Braine but rooted profoundly in the heart apprehending perfectly Iesus Christ which once died for our sinnes and rose againe for our iustification as it is in the 4. Chap. of this Epistle And although the confession of the mouth bee required which principally serueth for an outward testimony and a manifest declaration of the hope which is in vs yet especially wee must haue the heart lyne lye touched with a sure perswasion of faith whose mouth will not bee stopped Seeing that with the heart we beleeue and with the mouth declare our iustification as the Prophet saith in 116. Psalme vers 10. I haue beleeued and therefore I haue spoken Acts Chap. 10. ver 43. To him do all the Prophets giue witnesse that through his name all that beleeue in him might receiue remission of sinne IT is thē by the meanes of faith in Christ that we doe obtaine forgiuenesse of sinne if so be we assure and rest our selues wholy vppon the merrit and intercession of him following the predictions and writings not only of the Prophets but of those also which haue Prophesied in the vnitie of the same spirite whereby we attaine fully all the promises of eternall life by and through the meanes of Christ Iesus and let this be for a full confirmation of this Article Of Repentance FOr so much as the grace of God and saluation hath appeared to al men to the end we might giue ouer al vnfaithfulnesse and worldly desires and that we should liue iustly in all christianitie seeing we be bought by the bloud of the immaculate Lābe Iesus Christ and therefore ought to bee vnto him a peculiar people giuen vnto all good workes for this cause we must take great heede that we abuse not the great benignitie and long sufferance of God by continuing in sinne and iniquitie which is the only meanes to heape vppon vs his wrath and vengeaunce to our condemnation For whensoeuer we erre or fall into sinne whether it be by the imperfection of our nature or frailtie of our flesh sufficient meanes to heape the burning coles of Gods seueritie vpon vs if in iudgement hee should stand against vs yet we must not deferre from day to day but rent our heartes not our garments and in earnest contrition of our soules and sincere repenting by confessing our miserable estate and desirous to bee loosed from the heauie burden of our sinnes shewe all duetie and amendement of life For as saint Cyprian saith that the first degree of our felicitie is to commit no sinne so the second is to acknowledge our sinne committed Therefore whensoeuer we fall as who is not vncleane in the eyes of his Creator And the righteous man sinneth seauen times aday yet we must not lye groueling on the ground but rayse vp our selues by faith in the promises of God in the hope of eternall life assuring our selues that he will receiue vs to mercie and spred vpon vs his grace for he is our Shepheard and wee shall not want he hath placed vs as a signet on his finger and printed vs in the palme of his right hand so that none shall be able to plucke vs of or blot vs out of his remembrance but of his mercie he hath regenerated vs and made vs partakers of the inward washing sealed into vs in the outward Baptisme and grafting vs into the bodie of Christ by receiuing vs into his Church neuer to be hereafter excluded
because they would not frame themselues according to his abhominations For these thinges the wrath of GOD was kindled against him in so much that he was ouercome of the Asserians and lead captiue to Babylon bound with chaynes but being there in anguish he humbled himselfe to God confessing that he had beene wicked cruell and abhominable at whose complaint God had mercie on him deliuered him from such miserable bondage caused him to returne to Ierusalem and set him in his kingdome againe who beeing thankfull to his God for his goodnes tooke away the strange Gods pulled downe the Alters and established the pure seruice of GOD with a straight commaundement to all his people to obserue it giuing in this a ful testimonie of his true repentance and conuersion to God by this we haue an example and euideÌ„t apparant signe of the infinite mercie of GOD towards vs poore and miserable sinners to this end that none dispayre in his sinnes how great and filthie soeuer they bee for as I haue shewed out of Gods word where sinne aboundeth there grace aboundeth much more It was a great and filthie offence when many of the high Priests and Leuites in the tyme of the Captiuitie and when the wrath of God was spred ouer them and ouer al the people because of their iniquities who neuer thought on their transgressions nor sorie for their sinnes in turning to the Lord by a true repentaunce but forgat what he had commaunded them tooke strange wiues lincking themselues to straunge people betrothing their sonnes and daughters in mariage and mingling by this meanes the holy seede with prophane people a thing generally forbidden to all the people of GOD Deut. 7.3 but especially prohibited in Leuit 21.14 Yet when Esdras a soueraigne high Priest a Scribe of the law a rightuous man vnderstood this disorder and confusion he was very sorie and greatly offended making lamentation before GOD for it The people also were taken with feare and trembling acknowledging their faultes and by the commaundement of Esdras sent awaye their strange wiues with their children making certaine Offringes in respect of their sinnes and so the bountie and mercifulnesse of God remayned among them There was a woman sayth S. Luke in the 7. Chapter of the Gospell which was of euill life who hauing cast her self at the feete of Iesus Christ weeping receiued of him such ioye and consolation to assure her selfe that her sinne was forgiuen her though they were neuer so great There was also sayth the selfe same Euangilist in the 19. Chapter a man called Zacheus who was a principall Maister of the Custome rich and of a wicked life yet when Iesus promised to lodge with him he shewed that hee was come to seeke and saue that which was loâ—â— by which meanes this poore sinner was receiued into grace with a true repentaunce and goodwill to satisfie againe the hurt which he had done to others I pray you beholde the fall of S. Peter it is an example to euery one who being one of the twelue Apostles and Doctors of the worlde brought vp in the knowledge of the Lord by seeing his wonderful myracles and beeing one of the three witnesses which saued his glorie in the Mountaine promised neuer to forsake him neither in prison or in death yet his infirmitie was so great and so fearefull that he not onely forsooke him but forsware him three tymes yet the Lorde in mercie had compassion on him and behelde him though he had made himselfe vnworthie of the honorable office whereunto he was ordayned but repenting weeping in teares was one of the first which was called vnto his office and fitted with the giftes of the holy Ghost to be a seruaunt and faithfull witnesse a couragious and valiaunt Martyr of Iesus Christ The vnhappie and wicked man which for his misdeeds was hanged on the Crosse had his recourse vnto Iesus Christ in the tyme of death and was not cast away but receiued into ioye and consolation with promise that after his death not after many yeeres or some space of tyme or after he had bene in the forged fire of Purgatorie but presently wheÌ„ he should end this mortal life he should be with Christ in Paradise He was truely execrable which was cut of from the number of the faithfull by the Church at Corinth because against all honestie and ciuility he did entertaine and vncouer the nakednesse of his fathers wife for which cause although he well deserued to be deliuered to Sathan excommunicated and vtterly cut off from the misticall bodie of Christ yet the Apostle S. Paule seeing his repentaunce and vnderstanding the punishment which the Church had layd vpon him vsed clemencie compassion neither would haue the man to suffer any greater seueritie but to haue some regard in comforting him for feare hee should bee swallowed with too great sadnesse See here what examples the holy Ghost setteth forth in holy Scriptures as pure cleare testimonies to proue the great and inestimable mercies of God towardes poore sinners which doe conuert themselues with all their harts without dissimulation vnto him by a true repentaunce and amendement of life These examples be of some force to those whom God hath receiued lately vnto the communion of his grace when as he made a way vnto the Gentiles and called them vnto his Church All those then which haue bene before named were of the people of God of his house of which some haue sinned against the first Table others against the second others against both by monstrous misdeedes some haue robbed some murthered and done dissolutly Some haue committed Adultery Fornication and Incest Some Apostaties Idolators and reuolters from the trueth Some giuen vnto Witchcraft all they neuerthelesse haue bene receiued into the mercie of God O the wonderfull loue of the Lord how excellent and full of compassion is he Who would not be rauished to beholde his stedfastnesse Who would not trust in him to reioyce and comforte himselfe in his mercies who is a strong hould for the poore afflicted a refuge for those that be amased and desolate a comfort to those which are in calamitie the whole hope of the poore It is thou O Lord which doest surmount all our iniquities thou swallowest them downe and bringest them to nothing by acquitting and deliuering vs from them Is there any then that feeleth himself guiltie of any great fault or any sinne committed after they haue bin instructed in their saluation occupying a place in the Sheepe-fould of the Lord let him not dispayre in the clemencie of God seeing he hath here fayre examples before his eyes to followe for his comfort Seeing then it is so by so many places of holy Scripture and by the promises of God by good examples liuely exhortations of the grace and mercie of God offered to vs presently and set foorth by the loue of his beloued sonne our Lord Iesus Christ let vs bee certaine and full assured that if wee beleeue and truely repent and call vpon him with a true heart and affection he will bee pacified with vs what offence soeuer wee haue committed he will wholly forgiue vs. This is then the consolation in myne affliction for thy word O Lord hath quickened mee Psalm 119. FINIS