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A06447 The sinners guyde A vvorke contayning the whole regiment of a Christian life, deuided into two bookes: vvherein sinners are reclaimed from the by-path of vice and destruction, and brought vnto the high-way of euerlasting happinesse. Compiled in the Spanish tongue, by the learned and reuerend diuine, F. Lewes of Granada. Since translated into Latine, Italian, and French. And nowe perused, and digested into English, by Francis Meres, Maister of Artes, and student in diuinitie.; Guía de pecadores. English Luis, de Granada, 1504-1588.; Meres, Francis, 1565-1647. 1598 (1598) STC 16918; ESTC S108893 472,071 572

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brother of the louers of God this the sleepe which they sleepe Therefore with this sweete and amiable humming and murmuring and with this acceptable and delightfull harmony of the creatures the quiet soule is brought to bed and beginneth to sleepe that sleepelesse sleepe of which is written I sleepe and my hart watcheth When as therfore this most sweet Bridegrome seeth his spouse sleeping in his armes hee keepeth and preserueth her in that lyuing and vitall sleepe and commaundeth that none doe awake her saying I charge you ô daughters of Ierusalem by the Roes and by the Hinds of the field that yee stirre not vp nor waken my loue vntill she please Tell mee what nights seeme these vnto thee What night of the children of this world can be more sweet or pleasant Who at this time walke laying snares and setting nets for the chastity of virgins and innocent Matrons that they may destroy their good names their own soules rushing both body and soule into destruction heaping and storing vp for themselues the wrath of God against the day of the wrath of God and their owne perdition ¶ Of their comforts and consolations who first begin to serue God and are Punies and Nouices in his Schoole TO all things which hetherto haue beene spoken perhaps thou wilt ahnswere with one obiection saying these consolations and blandishments which wee haue hetherto handled are not common to all but proper vnto the perfect but that one may become perfect many things are required It is true that these belong to such men yet our most kind Lord by the sweetnes of his blessing doth meete with them who first begin giuing vnto them at the first as vnto children milke and afterwards teaching them to eate bread and more solide meates Doth not that solemne day come into thy minde which the father celebrated for his prodigall child Doost thou not know of the feast and the guesse inuited Art thou ignorant of the musicke and reioycing that there was made What doe these things meane but to signifie the spirituall ioy with which the soule is delighted when she seeth her selfe brought out of Egipt and deliuered from the hand of Pharao and from the seruitude of the deuill How shall not that pleasant banquet be prepared for a seruant made free How shall hee not inuite all creatures that they may meete together and with him giue thanks to his deliuerer How shall not he sing first and thereby also inuite others saying Let vs sing vnto the Lord for hee hath triumphed gloriously the horse and him that rode vpon him hath he ouerthrowne in the Sea Which thing if it be not so where is the prouidence of God which prouideth for euery creature most perfectly according to his nature fragility age and capacity For it is certaine that men yet carnall and drowned in the world cannot tread this vnusuall and vnfrequented path neyther tread the world vnder theyr feete vnlesse the Lord stretch forth his hand and preuent them by the like sweetenes and delectablenes It pertayneth therefore to the diuine prouidence when it is determined to take man from the world to prepare this way and to make it plaine that this new trauailer may walke more easily by it those difficulties being taken away which might terrifie him and draw him backe to the world A most excellent and plaine figure of this way is that by which the Lord brought the children of Israel into the Land of promise of which way thus writeth Moses When Pharaoh had let the people goe God carried them not by the way of the Philistims Countrey though it were neerer for God sayd least the people repent when they see warre and turne againe to Egipt The same prouidence that then God vsed in bringing his people out of Egipt into the Land of promise he now vseth in bringing those to heauen whom he first taketh out of this world We must know in this place that although the comforts and delights of the perfect are very great and excellent yet so great is the goodnes and piety of our God especially towards little ones and young beginners that he respecting their pouerty he himselfe doth helpe them to build them a new house and considering that they are conuersant among many occasions of sinning and that their passions are not as yet mortified that they might carry away the victory that they might be deliuered from the violence of their flesh that they might be driuen from the milke of the world and be tyed in such straight bonds of loue that they should not returne into Egipt and to theyr fathers house he filleth them with a ioy and consolation so powerfull that although they be but beginners and that they haue made but an entrance yet they haue according to their proportion a certaine likelyhood and similitude of the delights and ioy of those that be perfect Tell mee I pray thee what other thing would God signifie by those feasts of the old Testament when hee saith that the first and last day should be of equall worship and solemnity The sixe dayes betweene were of lesse solemnity but the first the last were beyond the rest famous and had their peculier prerogatiues What other thing is this then a shadow and an image of this we speake of Vpon the first day the Lord commanded that the same solemnity should be kept which was vpon the last that wee may vnderstand that in the beginning of the conuersion and in the ende of the perfection the Lord doth celebrate a solemne feast for all his seruants in these considering their proceedings in the other their great necessity vsing towards these iustice with mercy towards the other vsing onely grace or mercy to one giuing the reward of Vertue to the other help in need When trees blosome flourish and when they haue their ripe fruite they are most faire to the eye The day wherin the spousage is contracted and wherin the marriage is solemnized and the wedding consumated are more solemne and renowned then the rest In the beginning the Lord doth affiance and betroth the soule to him but when he taketh her into his house hee maketh a feast for her at his owne cost and charges and that feast is not conformable or aunswerable to the merrits and deserts of the Bride but to the riches of the Bridegrome sending all thinges and all prouision out of his owne houses and saying Wee haue a little sister and she hath no breasts Therefore it is necessary that he nourish his owne creature with the milke of an other Wherefore the same Bride talking with her Bridegrome sayth The young damsels haue loued thee He doth not say the women or Matrons which are soules founded and rooted in vertue but hee sayth young damsels young maydes which are soules which first begin to open their eyes and to looke vpon this new light these sayth the Spouse haue loued
acknowledge the effects of the Diuine iustice For as no man can denie but that it is a great blessing of GOD to preserue a man from sinne so it is a great punishment and a notable token of wrath when God permitteth that a man falleth into sinne So we reade in the second booke of the Kings that the wrath of the Lord was kindled against Israell therefore he moued or permitted Dauid to fall into the sin of pride when he commaunded Israell to be numbred In Ecclesiasticus also when as many sinnes had been remembred he addeth A mercifull man shall be deliuered from them all and he shall not wallow in them For euen as one the one part the increase of vertue is a reward of vertue so not sildome it is a punishment of sin that God punisheth sinne with sinne or that God suffereth other sinnes to be done and committed So we see that that great punishment was no other which was inflicted for the greatest wickednes in the world that is for the death of our Sauiour then that which the Prophet denounceth against the workers of it saying Lay iniquitie vpon theyr iniquitie and let not them come into thy righteousnes that is to the keeping of thy cōmaundements And what followeth The same Prophet straightwayes after telleth and expoundeth himselfe Let them be put saith he out of the booke of life neither let them be written with the righteous If therefore the punishment be so great and the tokens of Gods wrath so notorious that he punisheth sinnes with sinnes how is it that thou seest not so great arguments of the Diuine iustice amongst so many kinde of sinnes with which this world now in this age doth flow and swell If so it pleaseth thee cast thine eyes about after the manner of them who are in the midst of the maine Ocea to whom nothing is seene but the sea and heauen as the Poet sayth and scarcely thou shalt see any other thing besides sinnes and thou seeing so many sinnes wilt thou not see the Diuine iustice Doost thou not see water beeing in the midst of the Sea Yes certainly And if all the worlde be a Sea of sinnes what els shall it be but a sea of the Diuine iustice It is not needfull that I should descend into hell and there see how the Diuine iustice rageth it suffiseth that I onely behold it in thys world But if thou wilt be blinde and see nothing that is without thee at least looke into thy selfe For if thou beest endangered with sinne thou art within the reach of the Diuine iustice and as long as thou liuest secure vnder it so long art thou endangered and so much the more perrillous is thy danger by how much longer thou hast beene endangered with it So Saint Augustine liued some-times in this most wretched estate as he testifieth of himselfe saying I was drowned in the Sea of my sinnes and thy wrath had preuailed against me and I knewe not I was made deafe with the noyse of the chaines of my mortality and of thy wrath and the ignorance of my fault was the punishment of my pride Wherefore if God punish thee with this kind of punishment permitting thee to lie drowned in the deepe sea of sinnes and so to blindfolde thee in the midst of thine iniquities what doost thou speake of a thing so contrary to thy selfe Let him speake and make his boast of the mercy of God who is worthy of mercy and let him that is punished with the iustice of the Lord speake of iustice Doth the mercy of God so patiently permit thee to liue in thy sinnes and will it not permit thee that at length thou fall into hell O that thou wouldest be wise and know how short the way is that leadeth from the fault to the punishment and from grace to glorie What great thing is it for a man in the state of grace to ascend into heauen and what maruell is it if a sinner descend into hell Grace is the beginning of glory and sin of hell hell is the reward of it Furthermore what is more horrible fearfull then when as the paines of hell are so intollerable as before we haue sayde yet neuerthelesse God permitteth the number of the damned to be so great and the number of the elect so few How small the number of these is least thou shouldest suppose that it is a deuise of mine owne hee himselfe telleth vs who numbereth the multitude of the starres and calleth them all by their names Who trembleth and quaketh not at those words which are knowen to all but eyther ill vnderstood or sildome called to remembrance For when as certaine had asked Christ said Lord are there but fewe that shall be saued he aunswered Enter in at the straite gate for it is the wide gate and broade way that leadeth to destruction many there be which goe in thereat Because the gate is strait and the way narrow that leadeth vnto life few there be that finde it Who would haue vnderstood this in these words that our Sauiour vnderstood if simply he had spoken it not with an exclamation and an emphasis O how strait is the gate and narrow the way The whole world perished in the waters of the deluge onely eyght persons were saued which as Saint Peter testifieth in his Canonicall Epistle was a signe by vvhich is signified how small the number is that is saued if they be cōpared with the number of those that are damned Sixe hundred thousand men the Lord brought out of Egipt into the wilderdernes that he might bring them into the promised Land besides women and chyldren who were not numbred in thys iourney they were many thousand wayes helped of the Lord notwithstanding by their sinnes they lost thys Land which the Lord of his grace and fauour had promised them and so of so many hundred thousand men onely two entred into that promised Land Which almost all the Doctors doe thus interpret that by it the multitude of the damned is insinuated and the paucity of those that are to be saued that is That many are called and few chosen For this cause not sildome in the sacred Scripture the righteous are called Iemmes or precious stones that thereby might be signified that theyr rarenes is as great in the world as precious stones be and by as great a quantitie as other stones exceed precious stones by as great the number of the wicked exceedeth the number of the righteous which Salomon closely insinuateth when he sayth That the number of fooles is infinite Tell me then if the number of the righteous be so small vvhich both the figure the truth testifie to be true when thou seest by the iust iudgement of GOD that so many are depriued of that felicity to which they were created why doost thou not feare that common danger and that vniuersall deluge If the number were
of sinne might be destroyed that hencefoorth wee should not serue sinne The Apostle in thys place by the old man and the body of sinne vnderstandeth our sensuall appetite with all the euill inclinations that proceede from it Hee sayth that thys together with Christ is crucified-vppon the Crosse for by thys most noble and excellent sacrifice we haue obtayned grace and strength to weaken and debilitate this Tyrant so that wee are free from the seruitude of sinne as before I haue shewed Thys is that great victorie that great benefit which the Lord promiseth by Esay saying Feare thou not for I am with thee be not afraid for I am thy God I will strengthen thee and helpe thee 〈◊〉 I will sustaine thee with the right hand of my iustice Behold all they that prouoke thee shall be ashamed and confounded they shall be as nothing and they that striue with thee shall perrish Thou shalt seeke them and shalt not finde them to wit the men of thy strife for they shall be as nothing and the men that warre against thee as a thing of naught For I the Lord thy God wil● hold thy right hand saying vnto thee Feare not I will helpe thee Thys sayth Esay Tell me who shall faile hauing such an helper Who will be faint-harted and discouraged who will feare or dread his owne wicked passions seeing that grace doth thus vanquish and ouercome them ¶ An aunswer to certaine obiections IF thou shalt say vnto me that alwayes some reliques remaine in a man which accuse him and doe beare witnes against the righteous as we reade in the booke of Iob. The same Prophet answereth vnto this saying They shall be as though they were not For although they remaine they remaine onely for our exercise and not to our ruine they remaine that they may stirre vs vp not intangle vs in the snares of sinnes they remaine that they may yeeld vs occasion to attaine a crowne and not to ouerthrow vs and cast vs downe they remaine for our tryumph not for theyr conquest to be briefe they remaine so to profit vs that they are for our tryall humiliation that we may know our selues and our owne weakenes that thereby wee may acknowledge the glory and grace of God so that thys remainder doth redound to our commodity Whereupon euen as wilde beasts according to theyr nature are hurtfull vnto men and yet when they are tamed doe them good seruice so when as the purturbations of our soule are gouerned and moderated they helpe vs in many exercises of vertue Goe to then tell me If God doth thus strengthen and defend thee who vpon the earth shal be able to hurt thee if God be for thee who is against thee The Lord is my light sith the Prophet and my saluation whom shall I feare the Lorde is the strength of my life of whom shall I be afraid When the wicked euen mine enemies and my foes came vpon me to eate vp my flesh they stumbled and fell Though an host pitched against mee myne hart should not be afraid though warre be raised against me I will trust in this Truely my brother if thou beest not mooued by thys promise to serue God thou art very slothfull and vild I will not say vncleane and corrupt And if these words are not of credite with thee thou art a very Infidell It is God who saith vnto thee that he will giue thee a new essence and will make thy stony hart fleshy and will mortifie thine affections and that he will so change thine estate that thou shalt not know thy selfe when thou seekest for thine affections and passions thou shalt not finde them he shall make them so weake and infirme What could he promise more what canst thou further expect and hope for what is wanting vnto thee but a liuely Fayth and aliuely Hope that thou mayst trust in God shroud thy selfe vnder his almighty arme Surely I thinke that thou canst aunswer nothing at all vnto these things except perhaps thou wilt say that thy sinnes are many and great and therefore this grace is denied vnto thee Vnto this I aunswer that thou canst not offer greater iniury vnto God then to say so seeing that by these words thou doest signifie that there is somthing for which God eyther will not or cannot helpe his creature when as he is conuerted vnto him and desireth mercy and pardon at his hands I would not that thou shouldest credite me credite that holy Prophet who then seemed mindfull of thee and was willing to helpe thee meete with thine infirmities when he writ these things saying Now when all these things shall come vpon thee eyther the blessing or the curse which I haue set before thee and thou shalt turne into thine hart among all the nations whether the Lord thy God hath driuen thee and shalt returne vnto the Lord thy God and obey his voyce in all that I commaund thee this day thou and thy children with all thine hart and with all thy soule then the Lord thy God will cause thy captiues to returne and haue compassion vpon thee and will returne to gather thee out of all the people where the Lord thy God had scattered thee and will bring thee into the land which thy fathers possessed and thou shalt possesse it And a little after The Lord thy God will circumcise thine hart and the hart of thy seede that thou ●ayst loue the Lord thy God with all thine hart and with all thy soule that thou mayst liue O that the Lord would now circumcise thine eyes and take thee out of this darknes that thou mightest clearely see this manner of circumcision Be not so ignorant and rude that thou shouldest deeme this circumcision to be corporall for of such a circumcision our hart is not capable What circumcision then is this which the Lord here promiseth Surely it is the superfluity of our affections and of our euill appetites which springeth from our hart and bringeth great hinderance to our Diuine loue He promiseth therfore that he will circumcise and lop off all the barren and hurtfull branches with the knife of his grace that our hart being so pruned and circumcised may imploy and bestow all his strength vpon the branch of the Diuine loue Then thou shalt be a true Israelite then thou shalt be circumcised of the Lord when hee shall take away and cut out from thy soule the loue of this world and shall let nothing remayne in it besides the entire loue of God I would haue thee diligently to marke that that which God in this place promiseth to doe that he doth commaund thee to doe in another place that when thou art conuerted vnto him thou shouldest doe it thy selfe saying Circumcise the foreskinne of your hart c. And how Lord that which thou promisest to doe thy selfe now thou commaundest that I should doe it my selfe if I must doe it how
giue thanks to GOD for the Corinthians saying that in all things they were made rich Calling them absolutelie rich signifying that others were not to be called properly rich but rich in this world or rich men of thys world ¶ All this afore-said is explained by a notable sentence of the Gospell ALthough thys afore-said seemeth to be expounded and approoued plainly enough yet for the further confirmation of it I will ioyne moreouer a notable sentence taken out of the Gospell by which our Sauiour aunswereth to Saint Peter demaunding what reward he his fellow Disciples should haue who for the loue of their Maister had left and forsaken all Verily I say vnto you saith he as it is in Marke there is no man that hath forsaken house or bretheren or sisters or father or mother or vvife or children or lands for my sake and the Gospels but hee shall receiue an hundred fold nowe at this present houses and bretheren and sisters and mothers and children and lands with persecutions in the world to come eternall life These be the words of Christ which are not lightly to be passed ouer For first thou canst not denie but that heere is made a difference and a distinction betweene a reward which is giuen in thys life and that which is in another whilst one is promised as to come the other is offered as present Thou canst also lesse denie but that these promises are ratified and certaine neither euer doe they deceiue them to whom they are promised For heauen and earth shall perrish but one iote or one title shall not escape of these things till all be fulfilled although they seeme vnpossible For euen as we beleeue that God is three and one because he said so although otherwise it seemeth vnpossible so we also must beleeue thys trueth although it passeth all vnderstanding for it hath the testimonie of the same Author who only is truth it selfe in all his sayings Tell mee therefore I pray thee what is this hundreth fold which is giuen to the righteous in this life For we see for the most part that to them is not giuen great dignities not loftie honours not large possessions nor the magnificent furniture of this world but that many of them doe liue in corners buried in the obliuion and obscurity of the world expecting their last houre in pouerty misery and calamity Which seeing that it is so how can the infallible truth of this sentence be defended vnlesse we confesse that God in this life doth giue to his those gifts and those spirituall riches which may satisfie a man without any externall pompe of this world with greater felicitie with greater ioy sufficiencie and quiet then the possession of all the goods of this world Neyther is this so much to be meruailed at For as we beleeue that it is not of any necessity to God that hee should nourish mens bodies with bread onely for he hath many other meanes to that end so is it not necessarie to him that he should satisfie soules with temporall blessings onely For he can doe this most easily without them as hee hath most certainly done in all his Saints Who were endued with that spirituall ioy and mirth and with that affection of deuotion that their prayers exercises teares and delights exceeded all the solaces and pleasures of this world And after this manner it is most certainly verefied that an hundreth fold is receaued for that little they left for they receaue for deceiptfull and apparant things those that be vndoubtedly true for things vncertaine certaine for things corporall spirituall for carefulnes security for troubles quietnes for perturbations peace and inward tranquility to conclude for a life impure vicious and abhominable they receaue a life splendent through vertues and most acceptable to God and Angels So also thou if thou shalt despise temporall good for Christ thou shalt find in him inestimable treasures if thou shalt contemne false and fayned honours thou shalt finde in him those that be true if thou shalt renounce the loue of thy father and mother for this he will delight thee with greater blandishments and cherishing and thou shalt find for a temporall father an eternall if thou shalt cast from thee those pestiferous and venomous pleasures thou shalt haue in him sweeter pleasanter and holier delights When thou shalt come to this poynt thou shalt see manifestly that all things which before did please thee are now not onely not gratefull vnto thee but that they doe bring vnto thee an hatred and dislike of them For after that heauenly light hath illuminated our eyes by and by there is begot a new face of all things and diuerse from the former and all things doe seeme to haue put on a certaine new shape by which they shew themselues to our eyes and therefore that which before seemed sweet is now bitter and that which before appeared bitter is now sweet that which before terrified vs doth now like vs that which before was beautifull now seemeth filthy and although it appeared to be such before yet now it seemeth not such neyther that it was well knowne before Therefore after this manner standeth the truth of Christes promise when for the temporall goods of the body there are giuen spirituall blessings of the soule for those goods which are called the goods of fortune there are giuen the blessings of grace which without all comparison are greater and more effectuall and forcible to enrich and satiate mans hart then all externall blessings For the more confirmation of this matter I will not omit to remember a notable and famous example taken out of the booke called The booke of famous and illustrious men When as sayth the Author Saint Bernard preached the word of God to the people in Belgia and that with a most feruent zeale conuerted the inhabitants to God amongst many other who being touched with the grace of the holy Ghost vvere conuerted to a better lyfe there vvas a certaine noble Knight famous among the Belgians called Arnulphus vvho was bound and tyed to the world with very many and mighty bonds and who was exceedingly ensnared and entangled with wordly vanities This man when at the length he bad farewell to the world and betooke himselfe to a vertuous and heauenly kinde of lyuing this holy father so reioyced at his conuersion that he sayd to them that were present that Christ was no lesse miraculous in the conuersion of Arnulphus then he was in the raysing of Lazarus seeing that Christ had raysed him being so fettered with the chaynes of so great sinnes and buried in such deepe pleasures and had brought him to newnes of life Arnulphus also was no lesse admirable in his proceeding then he was in his conuersion And because it is too long to relate here all the vertues of this man I will onely repeate that which maketh for our purpose This holy man was many times so payned
commaundements which I commaund thee this day the Lord will set thee on high aboue all nations of the earth And all these blessings shall come on thee and ouertake thee if thou shalt harken vnto the voyce of the Lord thy God Blessed shalt thou be in the Citty and blessed in the field Blessed shall be the fruite of thy body and the fruite of thy ground and the fruite of thy cattell the encrease of thy kine and the flockes of thy sheepe Blessed shall be thy basket and thy store Blessed shalt thou be when thou commest in and blessed when thou goest out The Lord shall giue ouer thine enemies that rise against thee that they may fall before thy face they shall come out against thee one way and flee before thee seauen wayes The Lord shall commaund the blessing vpon thee in thy store-houses and in all that thou settest thine hand vnto and will blesse thee in the land which the Lord thy God giueth thee The Lord shall make thee on holy people vnto himselfe as he hath sworne vnto thee if thou shall keepe the commaundements of the Lord thy God and walke in his wayes And all nations of the earth shall see that the name of the Lord is called vpon ouer thee and they shall be afrayd of thee And the Lord shall make thee plenteous in goods in the fruite of thy body in the fruite of thy cattell and in the fruite of thy ground in the land which the Lord sware vnto thy fathers to giue thee The Lord shall open vnto thee his good treasure the heauen to giue raine vnto thy Land in due season and to blesse all the labours of thy hand Tell mee what riches what treasures may be compared to these blessings But if thou shalt say that these promises are rather made vnto the Iewes then vnto Christians for vnto these according to Ezechiel those more excellent blessings as are the blessings of grace and of glory are promised yet as in that carnall law God did not denie to the righteous Iewes spyrituall blessings so in the spirituall law he doth not withdraw temporall prosperity from good Christians yea hee doth giue vnto them temporall blessings and that with a double commodity neyther of which the wicked haue The first is because as a skilfull Phisitian he bestoweth these blessings vpon them after that measure which their neede requireth that by this way they may be releeued and not waxe proude neyther beeing fatted and crammed kick and spurne This commodity the wicked haue not for they scrape together as much as they are able neuer regarding theyr saluation When as notwithstanding the superfluity of temporall goods is not lesse hurtfull to the soule then that meate is to the body which cannot be by any meanes digested For although it is necessary and needefull to eate for the releefe and sustentation of the body yet superfluity of meate doth very much hurt So although the life of man consisteth in the blood yet too much aboundance of blood is the cause of death and oftentimes killeth men The second commodity is because lesser pelse and a measurable and an indifferent possession of riches doth bring greater quietnes and tranquillity vnto the soule which is the end why men with such greedines desire temporall goods For whatsoeuer God can doe by second causes he can doe it yea more perfectly by himselfe without those meanes So hath hee done in all his Saints in whose name the Apostle sayth Hauing nothing and possessing all things For so little doth suffice vs that we hauing very little and being therewith content we seeme vnto our selues to be the Lords of the whole world A trauailer for his prouision in his voyage carrieth his money in gold for so he is the richer and he is troubled with lesse weight after the same manner also our Lord doth lighten his laying vpon them but easie burthens but yet sufficient and that which may content them After this manner the righteous doe goe naked yet they are content they are poore and yet they are rich But the rich when they are full of wealth yet dye for hunger and when as they sit euen vp to the lips in water yet they are slayne with thirst as the Poets in times past fabled of Tantalus For this and such like causes that great Prophet long agoe did prayse the obseruance of the Diuine law willing that in it all our meditation should be For he knew very well that in this all things were fulfilled These be his words Seate all these words in your harts and in your soules and bind them for a signe vpon your hands and they shall be as frontlets betweene your eyes And yee shall teach and rehearse them continually vnto your children and shall talke of them when yee tarry in your houses and when yee walke by the way and when yee lye downe and when yee rise vp Also thou shalt write them vpon the posts of thine house and vpon thy gates that thy dayes and the dayes of thy children may be multiplied in the Land which the Lord sware vnto your fathers to giue yee for euēr O holy Prophet what I pray thee hast thou found worthy of so great commendation in the keeping of the law It is not to be doubted but thou who wast so great a Prophet and a Secretary of the Diuine counsaile didst vnderstand the inestimable greatnes of this good and knewest that in it were to be found all kinde of blessings present and to come temporall and eternall corporall and spirituall and he that hath satisfied the law hath fulfilled all things Thou knewest very well that a man did not loose his time when hee was occupied in doing Gods will yea then to labour in hys owne Vineyard then to water his gardens to till his fields and to dispatch all his busines better then if he had laboured with his owne hands for he satisfying Gods will casteth all his care vpon God who finisheth all the rest For this is the law of the league and federacie which God made with man that man should keepe his commaundements and God would prouide all necessary things for him and doe his busines Neyther shall this league and couenant be euer violated of God For if man be a faythfull seruant vnto God God will be a faythfull Lord and patrone vnto man This is that one thing which the Lord sayd was necessary that is to know to loue and to serue God for this one thing being kept and obserued all the rest are well and in safety Godlines sayth Paule is profitable vnto all things which hath the promise of the life present and of that that is to come See I pray thee how plainely heere the Apostle promiseth vnto godlines which is the worship and seruice of God not onelie the blessings of eternall life but also of this life as much as are conducent to obtayne the other But we