Selected quad for the lemma: heaven_n
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A10737
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The repentance of Peter and Iudas Together with the frailtie of the faithfull, and the fearefull ende of wicked hypocrites.
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Richardson, Charles, fl. 1612-1617.; Topsell, Edward, 1572-1625?
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1612
(1612)
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STC 21016A; ESTC S120149
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271,441
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294
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Vse 1 they care not how Qui rem faciunt quocunque modo Horat. lib. 1. Epist 1. lucri bonus est odor ex re Qualibet Iuuen. sat 14. whether by hooke or crooke by right or wrong that thinke the smell of all gaine to be good which way soeuer it coÌ„meth For eueÌ„ as many times the greedy fish while she hunteth after the bait is caught and choaked with the hook so these gredy Cormorants which with an vnsatiable desire do hunt after riches many times get such a sting in their conscience as tormeÌ„teth their soules with endles woe Vse 2 Secondly it serueth to admonish al men neuer to increase their riches by vnlawfull meanes nor to bring home a pennie that is ill gotten least it proue a canker to wast and consume all the rest of their substance Though a garment bee neuer so costly yet if the plague haue infected it we will not meddle with it So though ill gotten goods doe glister gloriously in the eies of men yet because they are infected with a plague which will not only indanger those riches that are iustly gotten but hazard the soule also therefore we should haue no dealing with them For as our Sauiour Christ saith What wil it profit a maÌ„ to win the whole world lose his soule Mat. 16.26 And thus we haue handled the seuerall parts of Iudas his repentance Let vs in a word apply it to our selues We see what hee performed in his repentance we must be carefull to supply that which he wanted or else our repentance will doe vs no good But I feare me if due examination were had it would appeare that many of vs neuer goe so farre in the worke of repentance as Iudas did How then can we hope to be saued since Iudas did all this that wee haue heard and yet is damned Shall hee bee sorrowfull for his sinne shall he confesse his sinne in particular manner and shall he make restitution of that which he hath gotten vnlawfully and yet goe to hell And shall we doe none of all these things and hope to goe to heauen Oh let vs not deceiue our selues As our Sauiour Christ said to his Disciples Except your righteousnesse exceede the righteousnesse of the Scribes and Pharisees Mat. 5.20 yee shall not enter into the Kingdome of heauen So say I in this case Except our repentance goe beyond the repentance of Iudas and all such as Iudas was we shall neuer be saued Shall Kain cry out Gen. 4.13 Exod. 9.27 My sinne is greater then can be forgiuen me Shall Pharaoh confesse his sinne and acknowledge that God is righteous 1. Kings 21.27 Shall Ahab humble himselfe before the Lord in sacke-cloth and ashes Shall Simon Magus be sorie for his sinne Act. 8.24 and desire the Apostle Peter to pray for him Nay to say yet more shall the Deuill himselfe beleeue and tremble Iam. 2.19 and yet be all of them damned And shall we doe nothing at all shall wee neuer be moued and yet hope to be saued Nay rather all these shal be so many witnesses against vs at the great and dreadfull day of iudgement He departed This is the preparation vnto Iudas his wretched end that followed He shunned the sight of men and his conscience tormenting him and driuing him to the gallowes he went aside and sought some secret place If he had conuersed amongst men it is likely hee might haue beene preuented and therefore the Deuill draweth him in to some solitarie place From whence ariseth this instruction Doct. that it is very dangerous for men to liue in solitarinesse Solitarinesse is very dangerous Eccles 4.10 Gen. 2.18 Woe be to him saith that diuine Preacher that is alone The reason is because hee lieth open to tentations and offereth himselfe to the snare of the Deuill Hereupon the Lord said It is not good for man to be himselfe alone If not in Paradise whiles man was innocent much lesse now that he is wholly corrupted And wee see when the Deuill encountred with our Sauiour Christ Mat. 4.1 Gen. 3.1.2 Gen. 34.1.2 2. Sam. 11.2 hee made choise of the wildernesse implying that such places are fittest for his working And therefore wee reade that when Euah was stragling alone from her husband curiously viewing the pleasures of the garden the Deuill set vpon her and caused her to tast the forbidden fruit When Dinah Iacobs daughter was wandring alone from her Fathers Tents idly to see the fashions of the countrie Shechem the sonne of Hamor caught her and defiled her And when Dauid was walking alone on the toppe of his house he was tempted to lust after Bathshebah and to commit adulterie with her So that we see what occasions of sinne are offered vnto vs when wee are alone and how ready we are to yeeld vnto them And therefore a Vnum primò aggrâ—ssus vt lupus ouem secernere à grege vt accipiter columbam ab agmine volantium separare tentauerat Nam cui non est aduersus omnes satis virium circumvenire quaerit solitudinem singulorum Cypr. lib. 1. epist 1. Mich. 2.1 one saith wel that as the Wolfe laboureth to seperate the sheep from the rest of the flocke and the Hawke to seuer the Pidgeon from the rest of the flight So the Deuil laboureth to single out men from the societie of others that so he may the more easily ouercome them For hee that hath not strength enough to set vpon al together seeketh to circumuent them one by one Yea the greatest iniquities and grossest sinnes that haue beene done in the sight of the world were first plotted and purposed warped and contriued by men alone As the Prophet Michah saith of wicked men They worke wickednesse vpon their beds and when the morning is light they practise it And wee haue all experience of this in our selues For we are no sooner from companie but armies of ill thoughts and desires like so many swarmes of Bees about a mans eares are solliciting and offering themselues vnto vs. And this the Heathen man knew also when he said b Nemo est ex imprudentibus qui relinqui sibi debeat Tunc mala confilia agitant tunc aut alijs aut ipsis futura pericula struunt Tunc cupiditates improbas ordinant tunc quicquid aut metu aut pudore animus celabat exponit c. Seneca Epist 10. There is no indiscreet or foolish man that ought to be left to himselfe For then euill counsels doe molest him then hee deuiseth danger either to himselfe or others Then he frameth euill desires then the mind laieth open whatsoeuer either for feare or fauour it concealed before c. And we want not examples of many that being alone haue fallen into fearfull dangers This serueth first of all to reproue the Papists who so Vse 1 highly commend their Eremitical life as though it were the most excellent and the most perfite estate But wee see
they doe any thing it is closely and couertly that no man may see them Ioh. 3.1.2 Like to Nicodemus that came to Iesus to be instructed but it was by night Though himselfe were a ruler of the Iewes Ioh. 19.38 9.22 yet he durst not auouch his loue to Christ And Ioseph of Arimathea was also one of Iesus his Disciples but it was secretly for the Iewes He durst not be to knowe of it So the parents of the blind man to whome Christ had giuen sight durst not confesse all that they knew of Christ for feare of the Iewes But this sinne is very grieuous Heb. 10.38 and therefore the Lord threatneth that if any man in faint-heartednesse for want of patience doe withdrawe himselfe his soule shall haue no pleasure in him And the fearefull and vnbeleeuing Apoc. 21.8 which for want of faith in Gods promises for that is the cause of fearefulnesse dare not stand to the profession of the truth shall haue their portion among murderers and whore-mongers and sorcerers and such like persons in the lake which burneth with fire brimstone which is the second death Neither is there any sin that in this life doth he so heauy on the conscience as this when a man for want of spirituall courage shall cowardly betray and forsake the truth As may be seene in the lamentable example of Iudge Hales Foâ— pag. 1282. 1392 1393. who in Queene Maries time being called before the Bishop of VVinchester then Lord Chauncelor for proceeding against certaine masse Priests that were indited before him according to the lawes of King Henry the eight and King Edward the sixt being then yet in force did stand in defence of the truth with good constancie But afterwardes being committed to the Fleet hee was there either by threatnings or flatterie brought to yeeld vnto his aduersaries Which he had no sooner done but he was grieuously afflicted in his conscience insomuch as he attempted to lay violent handes on himselfe and had killed himselfe with his penknife but that the mercifull prouidence of God preuented him But afterwardes being deliuered out of Prison and comming home to his owne house he could neuer find rest till hee had fearefully drowned himselfe in a little riuer Mark 8.38 To conclude our Sauiour Christ exhorting his Disciples to constancy vnder the crosse hee telleth them Whosoeuer shal be ashamed of me and of my wordes among this adulterous and sinfull generation him shall the son of man be ashamed of when he commeth in the glory of his Father with all his holy Angels If we be ashamed of Christ Iesus before a company of sinfull men like our selues what is he the worse for it or if wee confesse him before them what addition of glory hath hee by it He is euery way absolute in himselfe and can receiue neither diminution nor accesse of honour by any thing that we can doe But if he be ashamed of vs before his heauenly Father and the holy Angels if he doe not then acknowledge vs what shall become of vs And therefore in the second place let vs be exhorted to Vse 2 be stedfast and constant in the truth as well in time of persecution as in the daies of peace Wee haue a prouerbe that He is but an idle Swaine that will let his iourney for a shower of raine So he is but an idle Christian that dare not shew his head when a little storme of persecution beginneth to arise He that is truely godly indeed will willingly vndergoe whatsoeuer trouble shall accompany his profession as Moses did chuse to suffer aduersity with the people of God when if he would haue renounced his religion he might haue liued in great pleasure in Pharaos court Heb. 11.25 When we once enter into the profession of Christianity wee must first cast our accounts to see what it will cost vs to be Christians Luk. 14.28.31 as our Sauiour exhorteth We may not dreame of ease and security for then we shal be deceiued But wee must knowe that all that will liue godly in Christ Iesus must suffer persecution either one way or other 2. Tim. 3.12 And that wee cannot enter into the Kingdome of heauen Act. 14.22 but through many tribulations and therefore we must arme our selues against them before hand that we may endure them And to perswade vs the better let vs remember Heb. 2.11 that Christ Iesus our blessed Sauiour though he were the immortall and glorious God yet in loue to vs Was not ashamed to call vs brethren Yea suffered all extremitie for our sakes It was great praise in Moses that being so highly esteemed in Pharaos Court Exod. 2.11 Act. 7.23 yet hee would vouchsafe to visit his poore brethren the oppressed Hebrewes It was singular loue in Ioseph Gen 45.3.4 46.34 that being set next to the King himselfe ouer all the land of Aegypt yet hee was not ashamed of his brethren and of his Fathers house though they were heardsmen and shepheards Ester 4.4 It was great vertue in Ester that being so highly aduanced as to bee made Queene to so great a Monarch Phil. 1.29 yet she was not ashamed of poore Mordecai her vnckle a despised person But all this is nothing in comparison of this that Christ Iesus is not ashamed of vs. And therefore we must not be ashamed of him nor of any crosse that shall befall vs for his sake For this is certaine that whosoeuer hath faith giuen him of God to beleeue in him hee hath also grace giuen him to suffer for him as the Apostle saith * Doct. To dissemble our Religion is to denie Christ I wotte not what thou sayest Wee see that Peter doth not here deny our Sauiour Christ in plaine termes onely he would shift off the matter as cunningly as he could and yet this speech of his must be one of deniall or else hee did not denie him thrice as our Sauiour had foretold Where we may obserue that he that doth but dissemble his faith in Christ is guilty of denying him in the sight of God a Apud eos qui Christianae gratiae participatione redempti sunt peâ—è tâ—l est fidem nollâ—â—ssâ—â—cie quam negare Fulg. de myster Mediat ad Thras Van. sal regem ib. Among them that are redeemed by participation of the grace of Christ it is almost all one not to maintaine the faith and to denie it It is true Euasions are not alwayes vnlawfull nor on some occasion to dissemble the matter A bird is not bound to flie into the net that is set for her No more is a man bound to expose and offer himselfe to danger But so farre as may stand with a good conscience and so farre as hee may doe it without sinne it is lawfull to auoide it VVhen Samuel came to Bethlehem to annoint one of Ishai his sonnes to be King in steed of Saul 1. Sam. 16 1.2.3.4