middle age is nothyng olde age is not long and therfore as I said this lif through the consideratioÌ„s of the pleasures and commodities of it shoulde little moue vs to loue it but rather to lothe it God open our eies to see these thinges and to wey them accordingly Secondly coÌ„sider the miseries of this life that if so be the pleasures and coÌ„modities in it shuld moue vs to loue it yet y t miseries might counteruaile and make vs to take it as we shoulde doe I meane rather to desier to be losed and disâ—â—ssed hence then otherwise Loke vpon your bodies se in howe many perils and dauÌ„gers you are Your eyes are in daunger of blindnes and blerednes your eares in danger of deaf nes your mouthe and tongue of cankers tothache and dumnes your head in danger of rewmes megrims your throte in danger of horsenes your handes in daunger of goutes palseys c. But who is able to expresse the nuÌ„ber of disseases wherto mans body is in daunger seynge that somme haue written y t more then ¶ ¶ ¶ diseases may happen vnto man I speake nothing of the hurte that maye come to our bodies by prisons venemous beastes water fier horses men c. A gayne loke vpon your soule se howe many vyces you are in daunger of as heresie hypocriidolatrye courtouines idlenes securitie enuie aÌ„bition pride c. Howe many temptations maye you fall into But this shal you better se by lokinge on your olde falles foily and temptatioÌ„s and by loking on other mens faules for no maÌ„ hath done any thinge so euil but you may do the same Moreouer loke vpoÌ„ your name and se howe it is in daunger to sciaunders false reportes Loke vpon your gâ—oâ—es se what danger they are in for theues for 〈◊〉 c. Loke vopon your wyse children parents bretherne systers kinsfolkes seruantes frendes and neighbours and behold howe they also are in daunger both soule body name goodes as you are Loke vpon the common weale and contrey loke vppon the churche vpon the mynisters and maiestrates se what great dangers they are in so that if you loue them you can not but for the euyll whiche may come to them be heauy and sadde You knowe it is not in your power nor in the power of any man to hinder all euyll that maye come Howe many perils is infancie in danger of what danger is youth subiect vnto mans state is ful of cares age is full of diseases and sores If thou be ryche thy care is the greatter if thou be in honour thy perilles are the more if thou be pore thou art the more in daunger to oppression But alas what tongue is abie to expresse the myserablenes of this lyfe the which considered shuld make vs little to loue it I can compare our lyfe to nothing so fytly as to a shyp in the middes of the sea In what danger is the shippe and they that be in it Here are they in dauÌ„ger of tempest there of quicke sandes on this syde of pyrates on that side of rockes now may it leake now may the mast breake nowe maye the master fall sicke nowe may diseases come amongste the maryners nowe maye there dissension fall amongst them selues I speke nothing of want of fresh water meate drinke and suche other necessaries Euen such an other thinge is this life Here is the diuyll there is the world on this side is the sleshe on that syde is synne which thurowly cleaueth vnto our rybbes and wyll do so long as we be in this flesh and natural life so that none but blind men can se this life to be so muche so greatly to be desired but rather as the men that sayle are most glad when they approch to the hauen euen so should wee be most glad when we aproch to the hauen that is death whiche setteth vs a land whose commodities no eye hath seene no toung can tell no harte can conceiue in any poynt as it shoulde Happy oh happy were wee if wee sawe these thinges accordingely God open our eies to se them Amens If any man would desire testimonies of these things although experience a sufficient mistres is to be credyted yet wyll I here marke certaine places wher vnto the reader may resorte finde no lesse then I saye but rather much more if that with diligeÌ„ce he reade wey the places Iob the .v. calleth this life a warfare In the .vii. chapter he paynteth it out something liuely vnder diuerse similitudes Saint Iames compareth it to a vapour Al the booke of Ecclesiastes teacheth it to be but vanitie Sainct Iohn saith it is altogether put in euill Daniell sayth the best thynge in this lif is but vanitie labour and sorow But what go I her about seinge that almeste euery leafe in the scripture is ful of the breuitie and miserie of this lyfe So that I think as sainct Augustine doth write that ther is no man y t hath liued soo happely in this worlde that wold be content when death commeth to goo backe againe by the same steppes wherby he hath come into the worlde and lyued except the same be in dispaire and looke for nothinge after this lyfe but confusion Thus I trust you se y t though the commodities of this life were suche as could cause vs to loue it yet the breuitie vanitie and miserie of it is such as should make vs little to regarde it which beleeue and knowe death to be the ende of all myseries to them that are in Christ as we all ought to take our selues to be being baptised in his name for our baptisme requireth this faith vnder peyne of damnation although we haue not obserued our profession as we should haue done if so be we nowe repente and come to amendment To suche I say as are in Christ death is to be desired euen in respect of this that it deliuereth vs from so miserable a lyfe so daungerous a state as we now be in Do that I maye well say they are senseles without wyrte voyde of loue to god voide of al hatted sense of sinne wherwith this life floweth that rather desire not to departe hense out of al these miseries theÌ„ here still to remaine to their continuall greefe But if these thynges wyll not moue vs I would yet wee beheld the commodities whervnto death bryngeth vs. If we be not moued to leaue this lif in respect of the miseries wherof it is full yet we should be moued to leaue it in respecte of the infinite goodnes which the other lyfe wherto death bryngeth vs hath moste plentifully Men though they loue thinges yet for things whiche are better can be contente to forgoe them euen so we now for the good things in the lif to come If we consider them shall and wil be content to forgoe the most commodious thinges in this present life
let vs then eate and drynke for to morowe we shal die Lorde deliuer vs from this Sadduceal and Epicureal impietie graunt vs for thy mercies sake deare God that we may be assuredly perswaded that there is in dede an eternall life blysse with thee for thē that putte their truste in thee amongest whom accompte me for thy mercies sake Agayne thys eternall life and the place appointed for them that bee thy seruantes all men doe graunt to bee with thee Not because thou arte euerye where they doe therefore thynke so of eternall lyfe that it is euery where For they by thy word do knowe that in as muche as no man can see thee and lyue this eternall life and thy blessed presēce is moste pleasaunte and hadde in fruition after in an other world wherunto by corporal death they doe depart and are translated to a place aboue them where thou dwelleste in a lyghte where vnto no man can approch Abrahams wsome they reade was aboue as the place for the wicked was alowe and beneath Helias was caught vp into heauen and thy sone our deare sauiour praied that wher he is those also might be which thou haddest geuē him and might see his glory Nowe hee deare father we learne by thy spirite was asceuded and taken vp in his very body into heauen whether Steueu loked vppe and sawe thy Christ standing on thy right hand to whom he praied Oh Lorde Iesu receaue my Spirite Graunte I beseche thee gracious God and father that I maye haue a cleane harte more more to see thee and so in spirite to see and loke vppon often thys place whether brynge me at the length in body also I hūbly pray thee Now what a thing this euerlasting lyfe is no man is hable to conceaue much lesse hable to vtter For the peace of God whych is eternal life passeth all vnderstanding The eie hath not seene the eare hath not hearde neyther can mans hart cōceaue those thin ges which thou deare god haste prepared for them that loue thee whatsoeuer therefore can be spokē or imagined of thy kingdome of the clerenes ioye and felicitye of the same is nothinge in comparison as we may see by thy Prophets which because they could not otherwyse vnder corporall things haue shadowed the same So that the confidence of eternal lyfe what a thing it is can in no wise be tolde Howe ve it somewhat we maye be broughte into some sighte of it by earthly thinges to thynke on thys sorte If God haue geuen here so manye thinges in a straunge place how many are the great good thinges that be at home if in a prison are so many mercies how many are they in the palace If the wicked haue so many benefites what is y e store prepared for thy seruāts Oh Lorde if thy children fynde such comforts in y e daye of teares and mourninge what shall they fynde in the daye of the mariage If wyth beastes men being haue y e vse of so innumerable blessings oh howe many are the blessinges which they shal enioye wyth thy Angelles and with thee thy selfe O deare God when they shall see thee and haue the fruition of thee in whom is fulnes without lothing of all good and faire thinges so that nothinge can be more desited and that for euermore This thy Chyldren doe not so see as they nowe beleue it I say that euē in their bodies they shal see it for euer as Iob said They beleue that they shal see thee and their owne eies behold thee whē these our corporall eyes our bodyes being reysed shall doe theyr duties Suche a knowledge of thee they beleue to haue as shal not be onely intellectuall and by faith as nowe it is but euen a ful sight and fruition yea a coniunctiō felowship with thee Now they see but in a glasse euen in a dark speaking but then they shal see face to face For fayth though it be the substaunce of thinges hoped for and a certaine dark sight of thee yet it may not be cōpared to the rewarde of fayth and glorious sighte which we shal see in the lyfe to come when fayth and hope shal cease Now thy childrē knowe that they bee thy sonnes thoughe it yet appeare not what they shal be we know say they that when our Christe God and man shal apeare then shal we be like vnto him for we shal see him euen as he is Oh great prerogatiue to see Christ as he is which is not to bee considered so muche for the manhod as for the Godheade it selfe as Paule doth also write that when all thinges are subiect vnto the sonne then shall he be subiect vnto thee deare father allo that God may bee all in all And therfore Christe oure Sauiour prayed for vs that we myght knowe thee the only true God Not that our Chryste thy Sonne is not with thee the true coequal and substancial God but that we might know howe that after the iudgement suche a mysterie of hys mediatorship shall not bee in heauen as is nowe in earth Thē thou blessed trinitie God the father God the sonne God the holy ghost shalt be al in all thou shalte be the ende of our desires thou shalt be loked vpon without ende thou shalt bee loued without lothing thou shalte be praysed without werines Althoughe lothsomnes be wonte to followe fulnes yet our fulnes in the contemplaciō of thy pleasurs shal bring with it no kinde at all of lothsomnes Sacietie of ioyes shall be in the beholdinge of thee pleasures are in thy righte hande for euer we shalbe satisfyed whē wee aryse after thyne Image I meane in the resurrection Oh deare Father shewe thy selfe vn to vs and we aske no more Oh graunt vs with thy Sainctes in euerlastinge lyfe to prayse wyth perpetual praises thy holi name Happy then and happye agayne were we if that day were come that we myghte singe wyth thy Aungels elders and innumerable thousands a newe songe and say thou christ Iesu which waste slayne art worthy to receaue power and ryches and wysedome and strengthe and honoure and glory blessing In this blessed life al kind of maladyes griefes sorrowes and euilles bee farre away and all full of all kinde of mirthe ioye and pleasure Oh that we mighte see nowe a lyttle with S. Iohn that holye Cytie newe Ierusalem discending from heauen prepared of GOD as a bryde trunmed for her husbande Oh that we mighte nowe something heare the greate voice speakynge out of the throne beholde the tabernacle of GOD is with men he will dwell with them and they shalbe his people and he shall be vnto them their God he wyll wype awaye all teares from theyr eyes and death shall be no more nor wepinge nor crying nor sorrowe for the former thinges are gone ¶ A Meditacion of the blessed state and felicitie of the lyfe
to come THis body is but a prison wherein y e soule is kepte and that verely not beautifull bright but darke and most dirtie disquiet fusty fraile and filled vp with muche vermine and venemous vipers I meane it coÌ„cerning our affaccions standing in an ayre moste vnholsome prospect most lothsome if a man consyder the excrements of it by the eyes nose mouth eares hands feete and al the other partis So that no bocardo no little ease no dungeon no bishops prison no gate house no sinke no pit maye be compared in any poynte to be so euill a pryson for the body as the body is for and of the soule whereby the chyldren of God haue bene occasioned to crie and lament their longe being in it Oh sayth Dauid how longe shall I lye in this prison Oh wretch that I am sayth Paule who shal delyuer me out of this body of sinne which is an heauy burthen vnto y e soule as y e wise maÌ„ saith And therfore the godly crye nowe let thy seruant depart in peace Oh that I were dissolued had put of this earthly and fraile tabercle Take me vnto thee and bringe my soule out of this prison that it may geue thankes vnto thee O Lord. For so long as we be in this body we caÌ„not see the Lorde yea it is an heauy habitation and depresseth down sore the spirite from the familiaritie which it els shoulde haue with God This world and life is an exile a vale of miserye a wildernes of it selfe being voyde of all vertues and necessaries for eternal life ful of enemies sorows sighings sobbinges groninges miseryes c. In daunger to hunger colde heate thirst sores sicknes temptations troubles death and innumerable calamities being momentanie short vnstable and nothing but vayne and therfore is coÌ„pared to a warfare a womaÌ„s trauaile a shadow a smoke a vapor a worde a storme a tempest in the whych Gods people feele greate molestations grefes and troubles nowe of Sathan hymselfe nowe of the world nowe of their owne fleshe that so wonderfully diuersly daungerously and contrarily that they are enforced to cry Oh Lord wheÌ„ shal we come and appere before thee WheÌ„ shal this misery ende wheÌ„ shall we be deliuered out of thys vale of misery out of this wyldernes out of this continual affliction and most perilous seas But where thou art Oh lord and deare father of mercy there is not only no prison no dolors no sorow no sighings no teares no sicknes no hunger no heate no colde no payne no temptations no displeasure no malice no pride no vncleanes no contention no tormentes no horror no sinne no filth stink dearth death no weping teares misery myschiefe There is I say not only no such thynge or any euill noysome or displesaunt thyng but al libertie all light all plesantnes al ioy reioycing mirth pleasure pastime health wealth ryches glory power treasure honor triumphh comfort solace loue vnitie peace concord wisedome vertue melodye mekenes felicitie beatitude and all that euer can be wished or desired in moste securitie eternitie and perpetuitie y t may be thought not only of maÌ„ but of Angels and Archangels yea aboue all thoughts The eye hath not seene the lyke the eare hath not heard it nor no hart is able to conceyue in any poynt any part of the blisseful beatitude which is wyth thee moste deare God and father most deare lorde and sauiour most gracious good God and comforter where thou art O blessed God The ArchaÌ„gels Angels thrones powers Dominations Cherubiâ—s Ceraphins Patriarkes prophets apostles martyrs virgins confessors and ryghteous spirites cease not to singe nighte and day holye holye holye Lorde God of Hostes honour maiestye glory power empire and dominion be vnto thee Oh God the creator Oh Lord Iesu the redeiner Oh holy spirite the comforter In recordation of this oh how thy Children reioyce howe contemne they the pleasures of thys worlde howe little esteme they anye corporall griefe or shame how desire they to be with thee Howe amiable are thy tabernacles Oh Lorde God of Hostes say they my soule hath a desire to enter into the Courtes of the Lorde my hart and my soule reioyceth in the liuing God blessed are they that dwell in thy house they y t may alwayes be praysing thee For one day in thy courtes is beter theÌ„ a thousaÌ„d els wher I had rather bee a bore keper in the house of my God then to dwell in the tentes of vngonlynes for the Lord God is a lyght and defence And againe lyke as y e harte desireth y e water brokes so longeth my soule after thee oh god my soule is a thirst for god yea euen for the liuing god WheÌ„ shal I come to appeare before the prsence of god My soule thirsteth for thee my flesh also loÌ„geth after thee in a barren dry land where no water is They thy chyldren I meane O lord desire the day of that their redemptioÌ„ they still crie let thy kingedome come they cry come lord Iesus they lift vp their heads lokynge for thy apearing oh lord which wil make their vile body lyke to thine own glorious and immortall body for when thou shalt appeare they shalbe like vnto thee Thy Angelles wil gather them together they shall meete thee in the cloudes and be alwayes with thee They shal heare thys ioyfull voyce Come ye blessed of my father possesse the kingdome prepared for you from the begin ning Then shall they be like to thy Aungels Then shal they be like vnto the Sunne in thy king dome TheÌ„ shal they haue crownes of glory be endewed with white garments of innocencie righteousenes with palmes of victory in their handes Oh happy is he that may but see that immortall and incorruptible inheritauÌ„ce which they shal enioy for euermore Amen ¶ A short introduction to the vnderstanding of the Scriptures conteininge the summe of all the Diuitie necessarie for a Christian conscience By Iohn Bradford A Man that is regenerate and borne of God the whiche thinge y t euery one of vs do beeleue oure baptisme the SacrameÌ„t of regeneration doth require vnder paine of dampnation and therfore let euery one of vs with the virgin Mary say be it vnto me O Lorde according to thy worde accordinge to thy sacrameÌ„t of baptisme wherin thou hast declared our adoption and let vs lament the dowting hereof in vs striuing against it as we shalbe made able of the Lorde a man I say that is regenerate coÌ„ sisteth of two meÌ„ as a man maie saie namely of the olde man and of the newe man The olde man is like to a mightie Giant such a one as was Goliath for his birth is now perfecte But the newe man is like vnto a little chylde suche a one as was Dauide for his birth is not yet perfecte vntill the day of his generall resurrection The