my self is not in the gospel neither yet father mother sister brother kinsmā y t one should in loue be preferred before another The loue that springeth out of Christ excludeth no man neither putteth difference betweene one other In Christ wee are all of one degree without respect of persons Notwithstanding though a Christian mans hart be open to all men receiueth all men yet because his abilitie of goods extendeth not so farre this prouision is made that euerie man should care for his owne housholde as father mother thine elders that haue holpen thee wife children and seruants When a man hath done his duetie to his houshold and yet hath further aboundance of the blessing of God that he oweth to the poore that cannot labour and cannot get worke and ar◠destitute of friendes to the poore I meane which he knoweth and to them of his owne parish For that prouision ought to be had in the Church that euerie parish prouide for the poore If his neighbours which hee knoweth bee serued then is hee debter to the brethren a thousand miles off if he heare of their necessity haue himself anie plentie yea to the verie Infidels he is a debter if they need as farre forth as he doth not maintaine them against Christ. Thus is euerie mā that needeth my help my father mother sister brother in Christ euen as euerie man that doth the will of the father is father mother sister and brother vnto Christ. Timoth. Now ye somewhat perswade me of that which me thought at the first blush was against common sense Euseb. By Gods grace I will perswade you more yet How if our sauiour Christ Iesus should now dwell vpon the earth in pouertie want could you not be contented to bestow halfe your goods on him Timoth. Halfe my goods Nay truely all and my heart blood for I knowe if I should loose my life for him I should saue it Euseb. Verie well Christ is all in all Euerie Christian man to another is Christ himselfe and whatsoeuer is doone to the poore is doone to Christ himselfe and therefore your neighbours neede hath as good right in your goods as hath Christ himselfe which is heire and Lord ouer all And looke what you owe to Christ that you owe to your neighbours neede to your neighbour owe you your heart and life and whatsoeuer you haue or can doe Timoth. Wee need not giue our reliefe except the poore require it Euseb. Aske or not if they want you are bound to relieue them As Christ loued you so loue them Christ loued you being his enimie when I am sure of it you neuer asked remission of sinnes Timoth. Wee neede not releeue them often need we Euseb. Yes as long as you are able and as oft as they want If Christ should forgiue vs but once we should come short of heauen Timoth. The world is full of naughtines and lewde people take pleasure in dooing wrong and in slandering and in hindering their brethren how can you liue among them in quietnes do you vse to giue like for like Euseb. No you must vnderstand that there bee two states or regiments in the worlde the kingdome of heauen which is the regiment of the Gospell and the regiment of the worlde which is the temporall kingdome In the first state there is neither father nor mother neither maister mistres maide nor seruant nor husband nor wife nor Lord nor subiect nor inferior woman but Christ is all each to other is Christe himself there is none better then other but all alike good all brethren and Christ onlie is Lord ouer all neither is there any other thing to doo or other law saue to loue one another as Christ loued 〈◊〉 In the temporall regiment is husband wife father mother sonne daughter mistres maide man-seruant subiect Lord Now euery person is a double person and vnder two regimēts in the first regiment I am a person of mine owne selfe vnder Christe and his doctrine and maye neither hate nor be angrie and much lesse fighte or reuenge but must after the example of Christe humble my selfe forsake and denie my selfe and hate my selfe and caste my selfe awaye and bee meeke and patient and let euery man goe ouer mee and treade mee vnderfoote and doo mee wronge and yet I am to loue them and praye for them as Christ did for his crucifiers for loue is all and whatsoeuer is not of loue is damnable and cast foorth of that kingdome In the temporall regiment thou art a person in respect of an other thou art husband father mother daughter wife lord subiect and there thou must doe according to thine office If thou be a father thou must doe the office of a father and rule or else thou damnest thy selfe thou must bring all vnder obedience whether by faire meanes or by foule thou must haue obediencc of thy wife of thy seruants and of thy subiects if they will not obeye in loue thou must chide fight and correct as farre as the lawe of GOD and the lawe of the lande will suffer thee Now to the purpose whether a man maie resist violence and defend or reuenge him-himselfe I saie naie in the firste state where thou art a person for thy selfe alone and Christs disciple there thou must loue and of loue doe studie and enforce yea suffer all thinges as Christ did to make peace that the blessing of God may come vppon thee Which saith blessed are the peacemakers for they shall bee the children of God If thou suffer keepe peace in thy selfe onely thy blessing is the possession of this worlde but if thou so loue the peace of thy brother that thou leaue nothing vndoone or vnsuffered to further it thou shalt possesse heauen But in this worldlie state where thou art no priuate man but a person in respect of other thou must and art bounde vnder paine of damnation to execute thine office Of thy seruants thou must exact obedience and must not suffer thy selfe to bee dispised If thou art a ruler thou must take imprison and sley to not of malice and hate to reuenge thy selfe but to defende thy subiectes and to maintaine thine office the ruler must not oppresse his subiects with rentes fines and customes at all neither pill them with taxes and such like to maintaine his owne lustes but bee louing and kinde vnto them as Christ was to him for they be the price of his bloode I will shewe my minde more plainelie by one example You are in your fathers house among your brethren and sisters there if one fight with another or if anie doe you wrong you maie not reuenge or smite for that pertaineth to the father onelie But if your Father giue you authoritie in his absence and commaunde you to smite if they will not bee ruled but abuse you then you are another person Notwithstanding yet you haue not put off the first person but are a brother still and must
as may appear in Caine Saul Achitophel Iudas and now of late in Iohn Hoffmeister a monke Latomus who for the space of certaine daies neuer left crying that hee was damned because that hee had wilfully persecuted the Gospell of Christ and so he ended his life Therefore most worthie is Paules counsell for the moderating of this sorrow It is sufficient saith he vnto the incestuous man that hee was rebuked of manie so that now contrariwise ye ought rather to forgiue him and comfort him lest he shoulde be swallowed vp of ouermuch heauines And further hee giueth another reason which followeth lest Sathan should circumuent vs for we are not ignorant of his enterprises And indeed cōmō experiēce sheweth the same that whē any man is most weak then Sathā most of all bestirreth himselfe to worke his cōfusion The third is that all mē which are hūbled haue not like measure of sorrow but some more some lesse Iob felt the hand of God in exceding great measure whē he cried O that my grief were well weied my miseries were laid together in the ballance for it would be now heauier then the sand of the sea therefore my words are now swallowed vp for the arrowes of the Almightie are in me and the venome thereof doth drinke vp my spirite and the terrors of God fight against me The same did Ezechia when on his death bed he said he brake al my bones like a Lion and like a Crane or a swallow so did I chatter I did mourne like a doue c. Contrariwise the thiefe vpon the crosse and Lydia in her conuersion neuer felt any such measure of grief for it is said of her that God opened hir heart to be attentiue to that which Paule spake presently after she intertained Paul and Silas cheerefully in hir house which she coulde not haue done if shee had beene pressed downe with any great measure of sorrowe neither are any to dislike themselues because they are not so much humbled as they see some others for God in great wisedome giueth to euery one which are to bee saued that which is conuenient for their estate And it is often seene in a festred sore that the corruption is let out as well with the pricking of a small pin as with the wide lance of a Raser XII The fourth thing in true humiliation is an holy desperation which is when a man is wholly out of all hope euer to attaine saluation by any strength or goodnes of his owne speaking and thinking more vilely of himselfe then any other can doe and heartily acknowledging himselfe to haue deserued not one onely but euen tenne thousand damnations in hell fire with the diuell and all his Angels This was in Paule when hee said of himselfe that he was the chiefe of all sinners This was in Daniell when in the name of the people of Israell he praied and said O Lorde righteousnes belongeth vnto thee and to vs open shame as appeareth this daie c. Lastly the same was in the prodigall childe who saide Father I haue sinned against heauen and against thee and I am no more worthie to bee called thy sonne XIII Many are of opinion that this sorrow for sin is nothing else but a Melancholike passion but in trueth the thing is farre otherwise as may appeare in the example of Dauid who by all coniectures was least troubled with Melancholie and yet neuer any tasted more deepelie of the sorrow and feeling of Gods anger for sinne then hee did as the booke of Psalmes declareth And if anie desire to knowe the difference they are to bee discerned thus Sorrow for sinne maie be where health reason senses memorie and all are sound but Melancholike passions are where the body is vnsound and the reason senses memorie dulled troubled Secondlie sorrow for sinne is not cured by any Phisicke but onelie by the sprinkling of the bloud of Iesus Christ Melancholike passions are remoued by Physicke diet musicke and such like Thirdlie Sorrowe for sinne riseth of the anger of God that woundeth pearceth the conscience but Melancholike passions rise onelie of meere imaginations stronglie conceiued in the braine Lastlie these passions are long in breeding and come by little and little but the sorrow for sinne vsuallie commeth on a sudden as lightning into a house And yet howsoeuer they are differing it must be acknowledged that they may both concurre together so that the same man which is troubled with Melancholie maie feele also the anger of God for sinne XIIII Thus it appeareth how God maketh the hart fit to receiue faith in the next place it is to be considered howe the Lord causeth faith to spring and to breed in the humbled hart For the effecting of this so blessed a worke God worketh foure things in the hart First when a man is seriously humbled vnder the burden of his sinne the Lord by his spirit makes him lift vp himselfe to consider to ponder most diligentlie the great mercie of God offered vnto him in Christ Iesus After the consideration of Gods mercie in Christ he commes in the second place to see feele and from his heart to acknowledge himselfe to stande in neede of Christ and to stand in neede of euerie drop of his most pretious bloude Thirdlie the Lorde stirreth vp in his heart a vehement desire and longing after Christ and his merites this desire is compared to thirst which is not onelie the feeling of the drines of the stomacke but also a vehement appetite after drinke and Dauid fitlie expresseth it when he saith I stretched foorth my handes vnto thee my soule desireth after thee as the thirstie land Lastlie after this desire he beginnes to praie not for anie worldly benefite but onelie for the forgiuenesse of his sinnes crying with the poore publican O God be merciful to me a sinner Now this praier it is made not for one day onelie but continuallie from daie to daie not with the lippes but with greater sighes groanes of the heart then that they can be expressed with the tongue Nowe after these desires and prayers for Gods mercie ariseth in the heart a liuelie assurance of the forgiuenesse of sinne For GOD who cannot lie hath made his promise Knocke it shall bee opened and againe Before they call I will aunswere and while they speake I will heare Therefore when an humbled sinner commes crying knocking at his mercie gate for the forgiuenesse of sinne either then or shortlie after the Lord worketh in his hart a liuelie assurance thereof And whereas hee thirsted in his hart being scorched with the heate of gods displeasure beating vpon his conscience Christ Iesus giueth him to drink of the well of the water of life freelie hauing dronken thereof he shall neuer be more a thirst but shall haue in him a fountaine of water springing vp
condemnation but shall most certainely escape the same Take this for a most certaine truth that the man that hates dislikes his sins both before and after hee hath done them shall neuer be damned for them Christian. I am euen hart sicke of my manifolde sinnes and infirmities these good words which you speak are as flagons of wine to refresh my wearie laden and weltting soule I haue begunne to flee sinne and to detest it long agoe I haue beene oft dipleased with mine infirmities and corruptions when I offende God my heart is greeued I desire to leaue sinne I flee the occasions of sinne I woulde faine fashion my life to Gods word and I praie vnto God that he woulde giue mee grace so to doo and yet which is the griefe by the strength of the flesh by the sleights and power of Sathan I am often ouertaken and fall maruellouslie both by speach and by deed Minister Haue courage my good brother for whereas you haue an affection to doo the thinges that are acceptable vnto God it argueth plainely that you are a meÌ„ber of Christ according to that of Paul They which are of the spirite fauour the things of the spirite Well then if Sathan euer obiect anie of your sinnes to your make aunswere thus that you haue forsaken the first husbande the fleshe and haue espoused your selfe to Christ Iesus who as your head and husbande hath taken vpon him to answere your debts and therefore if he vrge you for them referre him ouer vnto Christ. For there is no sute in lawe against the wife the husbande liuing yea I adde further if you bee ouer caried with Sathans temptations and so fall into anie sinne you shall not answere for it but Sathan it shall surely be rekoned on his score at the daie of iudgmeÌ„t for he was the author of it if you fal by the frailtie of your flesh it shal perish therefore but you shal stil haue Christ you aduocate Christian. Indeede as you saie I haue in me an affection to please God but when I come to performe my obedience there I faile Minister Therefore marke this further As long as the children of God are in this life God regardeth more the affection to obeie then the obedience it selfe And they shall bee vnto mee saith the Lorde of hostes in that daie that I shall doe this for a flocke and I wil spare them as a man spares his owne sonne that serueth him The Father when he shall set his childe to doe anie busines though he doe it neuer so vntowardlie yet if he shew his good will to doe the best hee can his father will bee pleased and so it is with the Lorde towarde his children you looke to haue some perfection in your selfe but in this life you shall receiue no more but the first fruits of the spirite which are but as a handfull of corne in respect of the whole corne fielde and as for the accomplishment of your redemption you must wait for it til after this life you would bee kissed with the kisses of Christs mouth but here in this world you must bee content if you maie with Marie Magdalen kisse his feete For the perfection of a Christian mans life standes in the feeling and confessing of his imperfections And as Ambrose saith obedience due to God stands more in the affection then in the worke Christian. But why will God haue those whom he hath sanctified labour still vnder their infirmities Minister The causes are diuers First hereby hee teacheth his seruaunts to see in what great neede they stand of the righteousnes of Christ that they maie more carefullie seeke after it Secondlie he subdueth the pride of mens hearts humbleth them by counteruailing the graces which they haue receiued with the like measure of infirmities Thirdlie by this meanes the godlie are exercised in a continuall fight against sinne and are dailie occupied in purifieng themselues Christian. But to goe on forward in this matter there is another cause that makes me feare lest I haue no true repentance Minister What is that Christian I often times finde my selfe like a verie timberlog void of all grace goodnes frowarde and rebellious to anie good worke so that I feare lest Christ haue quite forsaken me Minister As it is in the strait seas the water ebbes and flowes so is it in the godlie in them as long as they liue in this world according to their own feeling there is an accesse and recesse of the spirit Otherwhiles they bee troubled with deadnes and dulnes of heart as Dauid was who praied to the Lorde to quicken him according to his louing kindnes that he maie keepe the testimonies of his mouth and in another place he saith that Gods promises quickened him Which coulde not be vnlesse he had beene troubled with great dulnes of heart Againe sometimes the spirite of God quite withdraweth it self to their feeling as it was in Dauid In the daiâ— of my trouble saith hee I sought the Lorde and my soule refused comfort I did thinke vpon God was troubled I praied and my spirite was full of anguish Againe will the Lord absent himselfe for euer and will he shew no more fauour hath God forgotten to be mercifull c. The Church in â—hâ— Canticles complaineth of this In my beddâ—â— sought him by night whom my soule loued I sought him but I found him not And againe my welbeloued put in his hand by the hole of the dore and 〈◊〉 heart was affectioned towardes him I rose 〈…〉 pen to my welbeloued and my hands did 〈…〉 myrrhe my fingers powre myrrhe vppon â—…dles of the bar I opened to my welbeloued 〈◊〉 my welbeloued was gone and past mine heart was gone when hee did speake I sought him but I coulde not finde him I called but he answered me not Contrariwise God at some other times sheds abroad his loue most aboundantlie in the hearts of the faithfull and Christ lieth betweene tho breasts of his Church as a posie of myrrhe giuing a strong smell Christian. But how can he be a Christian that feels no grace nor goodnes in himselfe Minister The child which as yet can vse no reason is for all that a reasonable creature and the man in a soune feeles no power of life and yet he is not dead The Christian man hath manie quaumes come ouer his heart and he falles into manie a soune that none almost would loke for anie more of the life of Christ in him yet for al that he may be a true Christian. This was the estate of Peter when he denied our sauiour Christ with cursing and banning his faith onelie fainted for a time it failed not Christian. I haue nowe opened vnto you the chiefe things that trouble me and your comfortable answers haue much refreshed my troubled minde The God of all mercie and consolation requite you accordinglie Minister I haue
euen of religion whereof I see you are an olde professor And first of all let me be bold to aske this question of you how it pleased God to make you a true Christian and a member of Christ Iesus whom I see you serue continually with a feruent zeale Eusebius For that olde acquaintance that was betweene vs and for that you are desirous to liue a godly life in Christ Iesus I will not conceale the good worke of my God in me therefore I pray you marke a little what I shall say and I will declare vnto you the truth euen foorth of the feeling of mine owne conscience The fall of Adam did make mee the heire of vengeance and wrath of God and heire of eternall damnation and did bring mee into captiuitie and bondage vnder the Diuell And the Diuell was my Lorde and my ruler my heade my gouernor and my prince yea and my god And my will was locked knit faster vnto the will of the Diuell then coulde an hundred thousand chaines binde a man vnto a post Vnto the Diuels will did I consent with all my heart with all my minde with all my might power strength will and life so that the lawe and will of the Diuell was written as well in my heart as in my members and I ran headlong after the Diuel with full soule and the whole swing of all the power I had as a stone cast vp into the aire commeth downe naturally of it self with al the violent swing of his own weight O with what deadly venemous heart did I hate mine enimies with howe great malice of minde inwardlie did I sley and murther With what violence and rage yea with what seruent lust committed I adulterie fornication and such like vncleannes With what pleasure and delectation like a glutton serued I my bellie With what diligence deceiued I Howe busilie sought I the things of the world whatsoeuer I did worke imagine or speak was abhominable in the sight of God for I could referre nothing vnto the honour of GOD neither was his lawe or will written in my members or in my hart neither was there anie more power in me to followe the will of GOD then in a stone to ascend vpward of it selfe And besides that I was a sleepe in so deepe blindnesse that I could neither see nor feele in what miserie thraldome and wretchednes I was till Moses came and awaked mee and published the lawe When I heard the lawe truelie preached how that I ought to loue and honour God with all my strength and might from the lowe bottome of the heart because hee did create mee lord ouer it and my neighbour yea mine enemies as my selfe inwardlie from the ground of my heart because God hath made them after the likenesse of his owne Image and they are his sonnes as well as I and Christ hath bought them with his bloud and made them heires of euerlasting life as well as I and howe I ought to doe whatsoeuer God biddeth and to abstaine from whatsoeuer God forbiddeth with all loue and meekenesse with a feruent and burning lust from the entire of the heart Then beganne my conscience to rage against the lawe and against God No sea bee it neuer so great a tempest was so vnquiet for it was not possible for mee a naturall man to consent to the lawe that it should be good or that God should be righteous which made the lawe in as much as it was contrarie vnto my nature and damned mee and all that I could doe and neuer shewed mee where to fetch helpe nor preached any mercy but onelie set mee at variance with God and prouoked and stirred mee to raile on God and to blaspheme him as a cruell tyrant And indeed it was not possible to doe otherwise to thinke that God made me of so poisoned a nature and gaue me an impossible lawe to performe I beeing not borne againe by the spirite and my wit reason and will beeing so fast glewed yea nailed and cheined vnto the wil of the Diuell This was the captiuitie and bondage whence Christ deliuered mee redeemed and loosed me His bloud his death his patience in suffering rebukes and wronges and the full wrath of God his prayers and fastings his meekenes fulfilling the vttermost points of the lawe appeased the wrath of God brought the fauour of God to mee againe obtained that God should loue mee first be my father and that a mercifull father that would consider my infirmitie weaknesse and would giue mee his spirit againe which hee had taken awaie in Adam to rule gouerne and strengthen mee and to breake the bandes of Sathan wherein I was so straight bound When Christ was on this wise preached and the promises rehearsed which are cōtained in the booke of God which preaching is called the gospell or glad-tidings and I had deepelie considered the same then my heart began to waxe soft melt at the bounteous mercie of God and kindnesse shewed of Christ. For when the gospell was preached the spirite of God me thought entred into my heart and opened my in warde eyes and wrought a liuely faith in me and made my woful conscience feele and taste how sweet a thing the bitter death of Christ is how merciful louing God is through Christs purchasing and merits and made mee beginne to loue againe and to consent to the lawe of God how that it is good and ought so to bee and that GOD is righteous that made it lastlie it wrought in me a desire to bee whole and to hunger and thirst after more righteousnesse and more strength to fulfil the law more perfectlie and in all that I doe or leaue vndone to seeke Gods honour and his will with meeknesse euermore condemning the imperfectnes of my deeds by the law Now then this good work of God to my saluation standeth in two pointes the working of the law and the working of the gospell the preaching of the lawe was a key that bound and damned my conscience the preaching of the gospell was an other key that loosed me againe These two salues I meane the lawe the gospell vsed God his preacher to heale and cure mee a wretched sinner withall The lawe did driue out my disease and made it appeare and was a sharpe salue and fretting corasiue killed the dead flesh and losed and drewe the sore out by the roote and all corruption It pulled from me all trust and confidence I had in my selfe and in mine owne workes merits deseruings and ceremonies and robbed me of all my righteousnes made me poore It killed me in sending me downe to hell and bringing mee almost to vtter desperation prepared the way of the Lord as it is written of Iohn Baptist. For it was not possible that Christ should come vnto mee as long as I trusted in my selfe or in any worldly thing or had anie righteousnes of mine owne or riches of holie workes
of the fruit which God had forbiddeÌ„ him he hath made vs all to rue it euen till this daie but here thou seest the fruits that grow not in the earthlie Paradise but on the tree of life which is within the heauenlie Hierusalem Fear no danger be bold in Christ to eate of the fruit as God hath commanded thee it wil quicken thee reuiue thee being dead thou caÌ„st not do SathaÌ„ a worse displeasure thaÌ„ to feed on the godly fruit of this tree to smell on the sweete leaues which it beareth coÌ„tinuallie that giue such a refreshing sauour VII Most men now a daies are secure cold in the professioÌ„ of the Gospel though they haue the plentiful preaching of it And the reason is because they feel not in theÌ„selues the vertue and mightie operation of Gods word to renue them they cannot feel it because they do not applie the word aright vnto their own soules Plaisters except they be applied in order time be laied vpon the wound though they be neuer so good yet they caÌ„not heal so it is with the word of God the parts of it which except they be vsed in order time conuenient wil not humble and reuiue vs as their vertue is VIII The common Christian euerie where is faulty in this thing Whereas hee loueth himselfe wisheth al good that maie be to himselfe hee doth vsuallie applie vnto his owne soule the Gospell alone neuer regarding the law or searching out his sins by it Tell him what ye will his song is this God is merciful God is merciful By this meanes it coÌ„meth to passe that he leadeth a secure life maketh no conscience of couetousnes of vsurie of deceit in his trade of lying of swearing of fornication wantonnes intâ—mperaÌ„cie in bibbing quaffing c. But he plaieth the vnskilful ChirurgioÌ„ he vseth healing plaisters before his poisoned and cankred nature haue felt the power paine of a Corasiue And it will neuer be wel with him vntill he take a new course IX On the contrarie part many good Christians leaue to apply the comfort of the gospel to themselues and onlie haue regard to their owne sinnes and Gods infinite vengeance And euen when Sathan accuseth them they will not sticke to giue eare to Sathan and also accuse themselues and so they are brought into feareful terrors and often draw neere to desperation X There is a third sort called sectaries who addict themselues to the opinion of some man These commonlie neuer applie the law or the Gospell to themselues but their whole meditation is chieflie in the opinioÌ„s of him whom they follow As they that follow Luther few of them follow his ChristiaÌ„ life they regard not that but about consubstantiation and vbiquity about Images and such like trumperie they infinitelie trouble themselues and all Europe too And in England there is a scismaticall and vndiscreet companie that would seeme to crie out for discipline their whole talke is of it and yet they neither knowe it nor will be reformed by it and yet they are enemies to it as for the lawe of God and the promises of the Gospell they little regarde they maintaine vile sins in refusing to heare the reading or the preaching of the worde and this is great contempt of Gods benefites vnthankefulnesse to him They are full of pride thinking themselues to be full when they are emptie to haue all knowledge when they are ignorant and had need to be catechized the poison of Aspes is vnder their lippes they refuse not to speake euill of the blessed seruants of God Well doe they aboue al things seeke the kingdome of God then let them be sincere seekers of it which they shall doe if in seeking Christs kingdome they seek the righteousnes therof vnto which they can neuer come but by the applying of the threatninges of the law and the comforts of the Gospell to their owne consciences But whereas they seeke the one and not the other they giue all men to vnderstand with what spirit they speake Consolations for the troubled consciences of repentant Sinners Sinner GOod syr I knowe the Lord hath giuen you the tongue of the learned to be able to minister a word in time to him that is wearie therefore I praie you helpe me in my miserie Minister Ah my good brother what is the matter with you and what aile you Sinner I liued a long time the Lorde he knoweth it after the manner of the worlde in all the lustes of my filthie flesh and then I was neuer troubled but it hath pleased God of his mercie to touch my heart and to send his own sonne that good shepheard Iesus Christ to fetch me home to his owne fold euen vppon his owne necke and since that time it is a woÌ„der to see how my poore heart hath beene troubled my corruption so boiles in me Sathan will neuer let me alone Minister Your case is a blessed case for not to be troubled of Sathan is to bee possessed of him that is to be held captiue vnder the power of darknes and to be a slaue vassall of Sathan for as long as the strong man keepes the hold all things are in peace Contrariwise he that hath receiued anie sparkle of true faith shall see the gates of hell that is the Diuell and all his Angels in their full strength to stand vp against him and to fight with an endlesse hatred for his finall confusion Christian. But this my trouble of minde hath made mee oftentimes feare lest God would reiect me and vtterlie depriue me of the kingdome of heauen Minister But there is no cause why it should so doe For how should heauen bee your resting place if on earth you were not troubled how could God wipe awaie your teares from your eies in heauen if on earth you shead them not You woulde bee free from miseries you looke for heauen vpon earth But if you wil go to heauen the right waie is to saile by hell If you will sit at Christs table in his kingdome you must be with him in his temptations You are as Gods corne you must therefore goe vnder the flaile the fanne the milstone and the ouen before you can bee Gods bread You are one of Christes lambes looke therefore â—o be fleeced and to haue the bloudie knife â—t your throte all the daie long If you were â— marke sheepe bought to bee solde you â—hould be stalled and kept in a fatte pasture â—ut you are for gods own occupying thereâ—ore you must pasture on the bare coÌ„mon â—biding stormes tempestes Sathans snatâ—hes the worldes woundes contempt of â—onscience and frettes of the flesh But in â—his your miserie I will bee a Simon vnto you â—o helpe you to carrie your crosse so bee it â—ou will reueale your minde vnto mee Christian. I will do it willingly my tempâ—ations are either against my faith in Christ â—r against repentance for