he cannot abide nor permit the sinner to praise him or to name his testament with his mouth as the holy Ghost testifieth and therfore no marvel if he shew such rigor to him at the last day whom he so greatly hateth and abhorreth in this life 2 There might be many reasons alledged of this as the breach of Gods commandements the ingratitude of a sinner in respect of his benefits and the like which might justifie sufficiently his indignation towards him But there is one reason above the rest which openeth the whole fountain of the matter and that is the intollerable injurie don unto God in everie sin that wittingly we do commit which in deed is such an opprobrious injurie and so dishonorable as no mean potentate could beare the same at his subjects hands and much lesse God himselfe who is the God of majestie may abide to have the same so often iterated against him as commonly it is by a wicked man 3 And for the understanding of this injurie we must note that every time we commit such a sin there doth passe thorough our hart though we mark it not a certein practik discourse of our understanding as there doth also in everie other election wherby we lay before us on the one side the profit of that sin which we are to commit that is the pleasure that draweth us to it and on the other part the offence of God that is the leesing of his frindship by that sin if we do it and so having as it were the balances there before us and putting God in one end and in the other the aforesaid pleasure we stand in the midst deliberating and examining the waight of both parts and finally we do make choise of the pleasure and do reject God that is we do choose rather to leese the frindship of God with his grace and whatsoever he is worth besides than to lose that pleasure and delectation of sin Now what thing can be more horrible than this What can be more spiteful to God than to prefer a most vile pleasure before his majestie Is not this worse than intollerable injurie of the Iewes who chose Barrabas the murderer rejected Christ their Saviour Surely how heinous soever that sin of the Iewes were yet in two points this doth seeme to exceede it the one in that the Iewes knew not whom they refused in their choise as we do the other in that they refused Christ but once and we do it often yea daily hourly when with advisement we give consent in our harts unto sin 4 And is it marvel then that God dealeth so severely and sharply in the world to come with wicked men who do use him so opprobriously contemptuously in this life Surely the malice of a sinner is great towards God he doth not only dishonor him by contempt of his cōmandements by preferring most vile creatures before him but also beareth a secret hatred grudge against his majestie would if it lay in his power pul him out of his seat or at the leastwise wish there were no God at al to punish sin after this life Let every sinner examine the bottom of his conscience in this point whether he could not be content there were no immortalitie of the soule no reckoning after this life no judge no punishment no hel consequently no God to the end he might the more securely enjoy his pleasures 5 And bicause God which searcheth the hart and reins seeth wel this traiterous affection of sinners towards him lurking within their bowels how smooth soever their words are therfore he denounceth them for his enimies in the scripture and professeth open war and hostilitie against them And then suppose you what a case these miserable men are in being but seely wormes of the earth when they have such an enimy to fight against them as doth make the very heavens to trēble at his looke And yet that it is so heare what he saith what he threatneth what he thūdreth against them After he had by the mouth of Esay the prophet repeated many sins abhominable in his sight as the taking of bribes oppressing of poore people and the like he defieth the dooers therof as his open enimies saieng Thus saith the Lord of hosts the strong Lord of hosts of Israel Behold I wil be revenged upon my enimies and wil comfort my selfe in their destruction And the prophet Dauid as he was a man in most high favor with God and made very privie to his secrets so he very much doth utter this severe meaning and infinite displeasure in God against sinners calling them his enimies vessels of his wrath and ordained to eternal ruin and destruction and complaineth that the world wil not beleeve this point An unwise man saith he wil not learn this neither wil the foole vnderstand it What is this How sinners after they be sprong up and workers of iniquitie after they have appeered to the world do perish everlastingly And what is the reason of this He answereth immediately Bicause thy enimies ô Lord behold ô Lord thine enimies shal perish and al those that work iniquitie shal be consumed By this we see that al sinners be enimies to God and God to them and we see also upon what ground and reason But yet for the further justifieng of Gods severitie let us consider in what measure his hatred is towards sin how great how far it proceedeth within what bounds it is cōprehended or if it hath any limits or boūds at al as indeed it hath not but is infinite that is without measure or limitation And to vtter the matter as in truth it standeth if al the toongs in the world were made one tong al the understandings of al creatures I mean of Angels and men were made one understanding yet could neither this tong expresse nor this understanding cōceave the great hatred of Gods hart towards every sin which we do wittingly commit And the reason hereof standeth in two points First for that God by how much more he is better than we are by so much more he loveth goodnes and hateth sin than we do and bicause he is infinitely good therfore his love to goodnes is infinite as also his hatred to evil and consequently his rewards to them both are infinite the one in hel the other in heaven 6 Secondlie we see by experience that how much more great and worthie the person is against whom an offence is committed so much greater the offence is as the selfesame blow geeven to a servant and to a prince differeth greatly in offence and deserveth different hatred and punishment And for that every sin which we advisedly commit is done directly against the person of God himselfe as hath beene declared before whose dignitie is infinite therefore the offence or guilt of everie such sin is infinite and consequently deserveth infinite hatred and infinite punishment
Saint Iohn concupiscence of the flesh which conteineth al pleasures and carnal recreations as banketing laughing plaieng and the like wherwith our flesh is much delited in this world And albeit in this kind there is a certain measure to be allowed unto the godly for the convenient maintenance of their health as also in riches it is not to be reprehended yet that al these worldly solaces are not only vain but also dangerous in that excesse abundance as worldly men seek and use them appeereth plainly by these words of Christ Wo be unto you which now do laugh for you shal weep Wo be unto you that now live in fil sacietie for the time shal com when you shal suffer hunger And again in Saint Iohns Gospel speaking to his apostles and by them to al other he saith You shal weep and pule but the world shal reioice Making it a sign distinctive between the good and the bad that the one shal mourn in this life and the other rejoice and make themselves merie 28 The verie same doth Iob confirm both of the one and the other sort for of worldlings he saith That they solace themselves with al kind of musik and do passe over their daies in pleasure and in a verie moment do go down into hel But of the godly he saith in his own person That they sigh before they eat their bread And in another place That they fear al their works knowing that God spareth not him which offendeth The reason wherof the wise man yet further expresseth saieng That the works of good men are in the hands of God and no man knoweth by outward things whether love or hatred at Gods hands but al is kept uncertain for the time to come And old Tobias insinuateth yet another cause when he saith What ioy can I have or receive seeing I sit heer in darknes Speaking literally of his corporal blindnes but yet leaving it also to be understood of spiritual and internal darknes 29 These are then the causes beside external affliction which God often sendeth why the godly do live more sad and fearful in this life than wicked men do according to the counsel of Saint Paul and why also they sigh often and weep as Iob Christ do affirm for that they remember often the justice of God their own frailtie in sinning the secret judgement of Gods predestination uncertain to us the vale of miserie desolation wherin they live heer which made even the apostles to grone as Saint Paul saith though they had lesse cause therof than we In respect wherof we are willed to passe over this life in carefulnes watchfulnes fear and trembling and in respect wherof also the wise man saith It is better to go to the house of sorrow than to the house of feasting And again Where sadnes is there is the hart of wise men but where mirth is there is the hart of fools Finally in respect of this the scripture saith Beatus homo qui semper est pavidus Happie is the man which alwais is fearful Which is nothing els but that which the holie Ghost commandeth everie man by Micheas the prophet Sollicitum ambulare cum Deo To walk careful and diligent with God thinking upon his commandements how we keep and observe the same how we resist and mortifie our members upon earth and the like Which cogitations if they might have place with us would cut off a great deal of those worldly pastimes wherwith the carelesse sort of sinners are overwhelmed I mean of those good fellowships of eatings drinkings laughings singings disputings and other such vanities that distract us most 30 Heerof Christ gave us a most notable advertisement in that he wept often as at his nativitie at the resuscitation of Lazarus upon Ierusalem and upon the crosse But he is never read to have laught in al his life Heerof also is our own nativitie and death a signification which being both in Gods hands are appointed unto us with sorrow and greefe as we see But the middle part therof that is our life being left in our own hands by Gods appointment we passe it over with vain delites never thinking whence we came nor whither we go 31 A wise traveler passing by his In though he see pleasant meats offered him yet he forbeareth upon consideration of the price and the journey he hath to make and taketh in nothing but so much as he knoweth wel how to discharge the next morning at his departure but a fool laieth hands on every delicate bait that is presented to his sight and plaieth the prince for a night or two But when it commeth to the rekoning he wisheth that he had lived only with bread and drink rather than to be so troubled as he is for the paiment The custome of many churches yet is to fast the even of every feast and then to make merrie the next day that is upon the festival day it selfe which may represent unto us the abstinent life of good men in this world and the mirth that they have in the world to come But the fashion of the world is contrarie that is to eat and drink merrily first at the tavern and after to let the host bring in his rekoning They eat drink and laugh and the host scoreth up al in the mean space And when the time commeth that they must pay many an hart is sad that was pleasant before 32 This the scripture affirmeth also of the pleasures of this world Risus dolore miscebitur extrema gaudij luctus occupat Laughter shal be mingled with sorrow and mourning shal insu at the hinder end of mirth The devil that plaieth the host in this world and wil serve you with what delite or pleasure you desire writeth up al in his book and at the day of your departure that is at your death wil he bring the whole rekoning and charge you with it al and then shal follow that which GOD promiseth to worldlings by the prophet Amos Your mirth shal be turned into mourning and lamentation Yea and more than this if you be not able to discharge the rekoning you may chance to hear that other dreadful sentence of Christ in the Apocalips Quantum in delicijs fuit tantum date illi tormentum Look how much he hath been in his delites so much torment do you lay upon him 33 Wherfore to conclude this point and therwithal this first part touching vanities truly may we say with the prophet David of a worldly minded man Vniversa vanitas omnis homo vivens The life of such men containeth al kind of vanitie That is vanitie in ambition vanitie in riches vanitie in pleasures vanitie in al things which they most esteem And therfore I may wel end with the words of God by the prophet Esay Vae vobis qui trahitis iniquitatem in funiculis
woonted errors unto the truth in both these respects I thought your G. would so much the rather accept of them For having had so long experience of the world as you have very likelihood teacheth that needs you must grow more and more from the love therof and it is sufficiently known unto al that having found this mercie your selfe to be delivered from the former ignorance to be brought to the knowledge of the truth you have in like sort in this long course that God hath given you much called on others to do the like These bookes therfore that treat of the same I thought should be the rather welcome And I beseech almightie God the fountain and giver of al good things to give you grace so to consider of the one and to go on forward in the other as that more and more departing from the love of the world and more and more performing the work of the ministerie you bring the former at length to nothing and make the other a pollished work for the day of the Lord. Your Graces most humble in the Lord EDM. BVNNY The Praeface to the Reader COncerning the former of these two Bookes gentle Reader I have to admonish thee of certain things therunto belonging and first as touching the Author of it then as touching the booke it selfe Who it is that was the Author of it I do not know for that the Author hath not put to his name but only two letters in the end of his praeface which two letters I have set down under the title of the booke it selfe But whosoever it is that was the Author of it himselfe doth set down both the occasion wherupon he wrote it and what was his intent and purpose therin The occasion of it was that one Gasper Loart Doctor of Divinitie and a Iesuit frier had before written a booke of much like argument in the Italian toong which a countrie-man of ours at Paris in France had about four yeers since translated into English and had done as he thought much good therby Wherupon the Author heerof minding to have imprinted that again and to have inriched it both with matter and method he found the course that he determined to have this issu in the end that he thought not good to imprint again that booke of Doctor Loarts but rather to make another of his own and to gather in therunto whatsoever is in that booke or others such like to this effect Which course when he had taken he thought good to follow this order therin first to shew how to resolve our selves to serve God indeed then how to begin to do it and lastly how to continu unto the end And so setting in hand with the work and having finished the first part that hath he sent over in the mean season until he shal be able to finish the rest His intent and purpose was as himselfe doth witnes that his countrie-men might have some one sufficient direction for matters of life among so many bookes of controversies for that those though otherwise he account them needful do help but little he saith oft times to good life but rather fil the heads of men with a spirit of contradiction contention that for the most part hindereth devotion Insomuch that he much misliketh that men commonly spend so much of their time so unprofitably talking of faith but not seeking to build theron as they ought to do and so do but wearie themselves in vain making much ado but getting but little profit therby much disquieting our selves and others and yet obtaining but smal reward Which complaint of his is just indeed as the matter is handled by many And so having protested his good meaning therin desireth al though they dissent from him in religion yet laieng aside hatred malice and wrathful contention to join togither in amendement of life and in praieng one for another Which we might have heard in his own words but that he interlaceth other things withal that I dare not in conscience and dutie to God commend unto thee Concerning the booke it selfe it seemeth to be most of al gathered out of certain of the Schoole-men as they are termed that living in the corrupter time of the church did most of al by that occasion treat of reformation of life when as others were rather occupied about the controversies that were most in quaestion among them And although my selfe have bestowed no great time in them yet by the little that I have bestowed I see it to resemble them so much especially for the invention of it that as we finde somtimes a readie help in the face of the childe to gesse at the father so in this likewise me think that we have in the booke it selfe that which may lead us to this conjecture But my meaning at this time is no more but this first to shew thee what it was as it is set foorth by the Author himselfe and then what is done therunto by me that so I might get it published to al. As it is set foorth by the Author himselfe if we consider the substance of it surely it was wel woorth the labor a few points only excepted and much of it of good persuasion to godlines of life But if we consider the form or maner of it therin maiest thou finde that it was needful for me before hand to admonish thee of these few things First that throughout the whole booke the Author hath used in those scriptures that he alledgeth the vulgar translation that was before in common use with them and some special words praecisely such as before they have taken upon them to observe and therin stil to discent from us The vulgar translation is known wel inough so that I need to say nothing of it Those special words that praecisely he useth are Our Lord when it is more agreeable to the text to say The Lord iustice for righteousnes poenance for repentance merit for good works or the service of God and a few others Then also in divers parts of the booke there were mingled in withal certain opinions and doctrines of their own profession most of them such as are manifest corruptions and some of them no more but over-venturous and certain places alledged out of others little appertaining to the matter or else more coldly handling the matters propounded than that wel they could match with the residu that are in the Treatise to that purpose alledged In this maner came it into my hands and so it is yet extant among them Now concerning my doings therin first for the substance of it bicause it is much of it good I have so far not only conceived liking of it my selfe but also have done my best indevor thus to publish it unto al that so many as wil may take to themselves the benefit of it In which kind of argument though many others in these our dais have done very commendably likewise Yet I
God in some measure of his majestie did passe by in glorie And when he was past God tooke away his hand and suffered Moises to see his hinder parts only which was notwithstanding most terrible to behold 5 The prophet Daniel also describeth the majestie of this God shewed unto him in vision in these words I did see saith he when the thrones were set and the old of many dais sate down his apparel was as white as snow his haire like unto pure wool his thron was of a flame of fire his chariots were burning fire a swift flud of fire came from his face a thousand thousands did serve him and ten thousand hundred thousands did assist him he sate in iudgement and the books were opened before him Al this and much more is recorded in scripture to admonish us therby what a prince of majestie he is whom a sinner offendeth 6 Imagin now brother mine that thou seest this great king sitting in his chaire of majestie with chariots of fire unspeakable light and infinite millions of Angels about him as the scripture reporteth Imagin further which is most tru that thou seest al the creatures in the world stand in his presence and trembling at his majestie and most carefully attending to do that for which he created them as the heavens to move abovt the earth to bring foorth sustenance and the like Imagin further that thou seest al these creatures how big or little soever they be to hang and depend only of the power and vertu of God wherby they stand move and consist and that there passeth from God to ech creature in the world yea to everie part that hath motion or being in the same some beam of his vertu as from the sun we see infinite beams to passe into the aire Consider I say that no one part of any creature in the world as the fish in the sea the grasse on the ground the leaves of the trees or the parts of man upon the face of the earth can grow moove or consist without some litle stream of vertu and power come to it continually from God So that thou must imagin God to stand as a most glorious sun in the midst and from him to passe foorth infinite beams or streams of vertu to al creatures that are either in heaven earth the aire or the water and to every part therof and upon these beams of his vertu al creatures to hang and if he should stop but any one of them it would destroy and annihilate presentlie some creature or other This I say if thou shalt consider touching the majestie of God and the infinite dread that al creatures have of him except only a sinner for the devils also do fear him as Saint Iames saith thou wilt not marvel of the severe judgement of God appointed for his offence For sure I am that very shame of the world maketh us to have more regard in offending the poorest frind we have in this life than a wicked man hath in offending God which is an intollerable contempt of so great a majestie 7 But now if we adjoin to this contemplation of majestie another consideration of his benefits bestowed upon us our default wil grow to be far greater for that to injurie him who hath done us good is a thing most detestable even in nature it selfe And there was never yet so fearce an hart no not amongst brute beasts but that it might be woon with curtesie benefits but much more amongst reasonable creatures doth benificence prevail especially if he come from great personages whose love and frindship declared unto us but in smal gifts doth greatly bind the harts of the receavers to love them again 8 Consider then deer Christian the infinite good turns and benefits which thou hast receaved at the hands of this great God therby to win thee to his love that thou shouldest leave of to offend and injurie him and albeit no toong created either of man or Angel can expresse the one halfe of these gifts which thou hast receaved from him or the valew of them or the great love and hartie good wil wherwith he bestowed them upon thee yet for som memorie sake I wil repeat certain general and principal points therof wherunto the rest may be referred 9 First then he hath bestowed upon thee the benefit of thy creation wherby he made thee of nothing to the likenes of himselfe and appointed thee to so noble an end as is to serve him in this life and to reign with him in the life to come furnishing thee for the present with the service and subjection of al creatures The greatnes of this benefit may partly be conceaved if thou do imagin thy selfe to lak but any one part of thy bodie as a leg an arm an eie or the like and that one should freely geeve the same unto thee or if thou wantest but any one sense as that thou were deafe or blind and one should restore sight or hearing unto thee how wouldest thou esteeme of this benefit How much wouldest thou professe thy selfe beholding unto him for the same And if the gift of one of these parts only would seeme such a benefit unto thee how great oughtest thou to esteeme the free gift of so manie parts together 10 Ad to this now as I have said that he hath created thee to the likenes of no other thing but of himselfe to no other end but to be his honorable servant in this world and his compartener in kingly glorie for al eternitie to come and this he hath done to thee being only a peece of dirt or clay before Now imagin thou of what maner of love proceeded this But yet ad further how he hath created al this magnificent world for thee and al the creatures therof to serve thee in this busines the heaven to distinguish times and seasons and to geeve thee light the earth and aier and water to minister most infinit varietie of creatures for thy use and sustinance hath made thee lord of al to use them for thy comfort and his service And what magnificent gifts are these And what shameful ingratitude is it to turn the same to the dishonor and injurie of so loving a geever as thou dost by using them to serve thee in sin 11 But yet consider a little further the benefit of thy redemption much greater than al the former which is that thou having lost al those former benefits again and made thy self guiltie by sin of eternal punishment wherto the Angels were now delivered for their sin committed before God chose to redeeme thee and not the Angels and for satisfieng of thy fault to deliver his own only Son to death for thee O Lord what hart can conceave the greatnes of this benefit Imagin thy selfe being a poore man hadst committed a greevous crime against a kings majestie together with some great man of his cheefest nobilitie and that
in another place Audite coeli auribus percipe terra Harken ye heavens and thou earth bend hither thine eares Filios enutrivi exaltavi ipsi autem spreuerunt me I have norished up children and have exalted them and now they contemn me What a pitiful complaint is this of God against most vile and base worms of the earth But yet God amplifieth this iniquitie more by certain examples and comparisons The oxe saith he knoweth his owner and the asse knoweth the manger of his Lord and maister but yet my people know not me wo be to the sinful nation to the people loden with iniquitie to this naughtie seed to wicked children What complaint can be more vehement than this What threatning can be more dreadful than this wo comming from the mouth of him which may punish us at his pleasure 19 Wherfore deer brother if thou have grace cease to be ungrateful to God any longer cease to offend him which hath by so manie wais prevented thee with benefits cease to render evil for good hatred for love contempt for his fatherly affection towards thee He hath done for thee al that he can he hath given thee al that thou art yea and in a certain maner al that he is woorth himselfe and meaneth besides to make thee partaker of al his glorie in the world to come and requireth no more for al this at thy hands but love and gratitude O deer brother why wilt thou not yeeld him this Why wilt thou not do as much to him as thou wouldest haue another man to do to thee for lesse than the ten thousand part of these benefits which thou hast receaved For I dare wel say that if thou hadst given a man but an almes at thy dore thou wouldest think him bound to love thee for it albeit thou hadst nothing in thee woorth love besides But now thy Lord besides these his gifts hath infinite causes to make thee love him that is al the causes which any thing in the world hath to purchase love and infinite more besides for if al the perfections of al things created in heaven and in earth which do procure love were put togither in one as al their beautie al their vertu al their nobilitie al their goodnes and the like yet thy Lord and Savior whom thou contemnest doth passe al this and that by many and infinite degrees for that he is not only al these things togither but also he is very beautie it selfe vertu it selfe wisdom it selfe sweetnes it selfe nobilitie it selfe goodnes it selfe and the very fountain and welspring where hence al these things are derived by litle peeces and parcels unto his creatures 20 Be ashamed then good Christian of this thy ingratitude to so great so good bountiful a Lord and resolve thy selfe for the time to come to amend thy course of life and behavior towards him Say with the prophet which had lesse cause to say so than thou Domine propitiare peccatomeo multum est enim O Lord pardon me mine offences for it is great in thy sight I know there is nothing O Lord which doth so much displease thee or dry up the fountain of thy mercy and so bindeth thy hands from dooing good as ingratitude in the receavers of thy benefits wherin hitherto I have exceeded al other but I have done it O Lord in mine ignorance not considering thy gifts unto me nor what account thou wouldest demaund again of the same But now seeing thou hast vouchsafed to make me woorthy of this grace also wherby to see and know mine own state and default I hope hereafter by direction of the same grace of thine to shew my selfe a better child towards thee O Lord I am overcome at the lenth with consideration of thy love and how can I have the hart to offend thee hereafter seeing thou hast prevented me so many wais with benefits even when I demanded not the same Can I have hands ever more to sin against thee which hast given up thine own most tender hands to be nailed on the crosse for my sins heretofore No no it is too great an injurie against thee O Lord and wo woorth me that have done it so often heretofore But by thy holy assistance I trust not to return to such iniquitie for the time to come to which O Lord I beseech thee for thy mercy sake from thy holie throne of heaven to say Amen CHAP. VIII Of what opinion and feeling we shal be touching these matters at the time of our death THe holie scriptures do teach us and experience maketh it plain that during the time of this life the commodities preferments and pleasures of the world do possesse so strongly the harts of manie men and do hold them chained with so forcible inchauntments being forsaken also upon their just deserts of the grace of God say and threaten what a man can bring against them al the whole scripture even from the beginning of Genesis to the end of the Apocalips as indeed it is al against sin and sinners yet wil it prevail nothing with them being in that lamentable case as either they beleeve not or esteem not whatsoever is said to that purpose against their setled life and resolution to the contrary Of this we have infinite examples in scripture as of Sodom and Gomorra with the cities about which could not heare the warnings that good Lot gave unto them Also of Pharao whom al that ever Moises could do either by signes or saiengs mooved nothing Also of Iudas who by no faire means or threatnings used to him by his maister would change his wicked resolution But especially the prophets sent from God from time to time to dissuade the people from their naughtie life and consequently from the plaegs hanging over them do give abundant testimonie of this complaining everie where of the hardnes of sinners harts that would not be mooved with al the exhortations preachings promises and thunderings that they could use The prophet Zacharie shal testifie for al in this matter who saith of the people of Israel a litle before their destruction Hoc ait Dominus exercituum c. This saith the Lord of hosts iudge iustly And so foorth And presentlie he addeth And they would not attend but turning their baks went away stopped their ears to the end they might not heare and they did put their harts as an adamant stone to the end they might not heare the law and the words which God did send in his spirit by the hands of the former prophets wherby Gods great indignation was stirred up 2 This then is and alwais hath been the fashion of worldlings reprobate persons to harden their harts as an adamant stone against any thing that shal be told them for the amendement of their lives and for the saving of their souls Whiles they are in helth prosperitie they wil not know God As in
without abatement al goodnes without any evil Where youth florisheth that never waxeth old life that knoweth no end beautie that never fadeth love that never cooleth health that never diminisheth joy that never ceaseth Where sorrow is never felt complaint is never heard matter of sadnes is never seen nor evil successe is overfeared For that they possesse thee O Lord which art the perfection of their felicitie 15 If we would enter into these considerations as this holie man and other his like did no dowt but we should more be inflamed with the love of this felicitie prepared for us than we are and consequently should strive more to gain it than we do And to the end thou maist conceive som more feeling in the matter gentle reader consider a little with me what a joiful day shal that be at thy house when having lived in the fear of God and atchived in his service the end of thy peregrination thou shalt come by the means of death to passe from miserie and labour to immortalitie and in that passage when other men begin to fear thou shalt lift up thy head in hope according as Christ promiseth for that the time of thy salvation commeth on Tel me what a day shal that be when thy soul stepping foorth of prison and conducted to the tabernacle of heaven shal be received there with the honorable companies and troups of that place With al those blessed spirits mentioned in scripture as principalities powers vertues dominations thrones Angels Archangels Cherubins and Seraphins also with the holie Apostles and disciples of Christ Patriarches Prophets Martyrs Innocents Confessors and Saints of God Al which shal triumph now at thy coronation and glorification What joy wil thy soul receive in that day when she shal be presented in the presence of al those states before the seat and majestie of the blessed Trinitie with recital and declaration of al thy good works and travels suffered for the love and service of God When there shal be laid down in that honorable consistorie al thy vertuous deeds al the labors that thou hast taken in thy calling al thy almes al thy praiers al thy fasting al thy innocencie of life al thy patience in injuries al thy constancie in adversities al thy temperance in meats al the vertues of thy whole life When al I say shal be recounted there al commended al rewarded shalt thou not see now the valure and profite of vertuous life Shalt thou not confesse that gainful and honorable is the service of God Shalt thou not now be glad and blesse the hour wherin first thou resolvest thy selfe to leave the service of the world to serve God Shalt thou not think thy selfe beholding to him or hir that persuaded thee unto it Yes verilie 16 But yet more than this when as being so neer thy passage heer thou shalt consider into what a port and haven of securitie thou art come and shalt look bak upon the dangers which thou hast passed and wherin other men are yet in hazard thy cause of joy shal greatly be increased For thou shalt see evidentlie how infinite times thou were to perish in that journey if God had not held his special hand over thee Thou shalt see the dangers wherin other men are the death damnation wherinto many of thy frinds and acquaintance have fallen the eternal pains of hel incurred by many that used to laugh and be merie with thee in the world Al which shal augment the felicitie of this thy blessed estate And now for thy selfe thou maist be secure thou art out of al danger for ever and ever There is no more need now of fear of watch of labor or of care Thou maist lay down al armor now better than the children of Israel might have done when they had gotten the land of promise For there is no more enimy to assail thee there is no more wilie serpent to beguile thee al is peace al is rest al is joy al is securitie Good Saint Paul hath no more need now to labor in the ministerie of the word neither yet to fast to watch or to punish his bodie Good old Ierom may now cease to afflict himselfe both night and day for the conquering of his spiritual enimie Thy onlie exercise must be now to rejoice to triumph to sing Halleluias to the lamb which hath brought thee to this felicitie and wil keep thee in the same world without end What a comfort wil it be to see that lamb sitting on his seat of state If the wise men of the east came so far off and so rejoiced to see him in the manger what wil it be to see him sitting in his glorie If Saint Iohn Baptist did leap at his presence in his mothers belly what shal his presence do in this his roial and eternal kingdome It passeth al other glorie that saints have in heaven saith Saint Austen to be admitted to the inestimable sight of Christ his face and to receive the beams of glorie from the brightnes of his majestie And if we were to suffer torments every day yea to tollerate the verie pains of hel for a time therby to gain the sight of Christ and to be joined in glorie to the number of his saints it were nothing in respect of the reward O that we made such account of this matter as this holy and learned man did we would not live as we do nor leese the same for such trifles as most men do 17 But to go forward yet further in this consideration imagin besides al this what a joy it shal be unto thy soul at that day to meet with al hir godly frinds in heaven with father with mother with brothers with sisters with wife with husband with maister with schollers with neighbors with familiars with kindred with acquaintance the welcoms the mirth the sweet imbracements that shal be there the joy wherof as noteth wel Saint Cyprian shal be unspeakable Ad to this the daily feasting and inestimable triumph which shal be there at the arrival of new brethren and sisters comming thither from time to time with the spoils of their enimies conquered and vanquished in this world O what a comfortable sight wil it be to see those seats of Angels fallen filled up again with men and women from day to day To see the crowns of glorie set upon their heads and that in varietie according to the varietie of their conquests One for martyrdom or confession against the persecutor another for chastitie against the flesh another for povertie or humilitie against the world another for many conquests togither against the divel There the glorious companie of Apostles saith holy Cyprian there the number of rejoising prophets there the innumerable multitude of martyrs shal receive the crowns of their deaths and sufferings There triumphing virgins which have overcom concupiscence with
prophet And why so Bicause we draw therin with a sweet companion we draw with Christ that is his grace at one end and our endevor at the other And bicause when a great ox and a little do draw togither the waight lieth al upon the greater ox his nek for that he beareth up quite the yoke from the other therof it commeth that we drawing in this yoke with Christ which is greater than we are he lighteneth us of the whole burden and only requireth that we should go on with him comfortably and not refuse to enter under the yoke with him for that the pain shal be his and the pleasure ours This he signifieth expreslie when he saith Come you to me al that labor and are heavie loden and I wil refresh you Heer you see that he mooveth us to this yoke only therby to refresh and disburden us to disburden us I say and to refresh us and not any way to load or agreeve us to disburden us of the heavy lodings and yokes of this world as from the burden of care the burden of melancholy the burden of envie hatred and malice the burden of pride the burden of ambition the burden of covetousnes the burden of wickednes and hel fire it selfe From al these burdens and miserable yokes Christ would deliver us by covering our neks only with his yoke and burden so lightened and sweetned by his holy grace as the bearing therof is not travelsome but most easie pleasant and comfortable as hath been shewed 10 Another cause why this yoke is so sweet this burden so light and this way of Gods commandements so pleasant to good men is love love I mean towards God whose commandements they are For every man can tel and hath experienced in himselfe what a strong passion the passion of love is and how it maketh easie the verie greatest pains that are in this world What maketh the mother to take such pains in the bringing up of hir child but only love What causeth the wife to sit so attentive at the bedside of hir sik husband but only love What mooveth the beasts and birds of the air to spare from their own food and to indanger their own lives for the feeding and defending of their little ones but only the force of love Saint Austen doth prosecute this point at large by many other examples as of merchants that refuse no adventure of sea for love of gain of hunters that refuse no season of evil weather for love of game of soldiers that refuse no danger of death for love of the spoil And he addeth in the end that if the love of man can be so great towards creatures heer as to make labor easie and indeed to seem no labor but rather pleasure how much more shal the love of good men towards God make al their labor comfortable which they take in his service 11 This extreme love was the cause why al the pains and afflictions which Christ suffered for us seemed nothing unto him And this love also was the cause why al the travels and torments which many Christians have suffered for Christ seemed nothing unto them Imprisonments torments losse of honor goods life seemed trifles to divers servants of God in respect of this burning love This love drove many virgins and tender children to offer themselves in time of persecution for the love of him which in the cause was persecuted This love caused holie Apollonia of Alexandria being brought to the fire to be burned for Christ to slip out of the hands of such as led hir and joifully to run into the fire of hir selfe This love mooved Ignatius the ancient martyr to say being condemned to beasts and fearing least they would refuse his bodie as they had done of divers martyrs before that he would not permit them so to do but would provoke and stir them to come upon him and to take his life from him by tearing his body in peeces 12 These are the effects then of fervent love which maketh even the things that are most difficult and dreadful of themselves to appeer sweet and pleasant and much more the laws and commandements of God which in themselves are most just reasonable holie and easie Da amantem saith Saint Austen speaking of this matter et sentit quod dico Si autem frigido loquor nescit quid loquar Give me a man that is in love with God he feeleth this to be tru which I say but if I talk to a cold Christian he understandeth not what I say And this is the cause why Christ talking of the keeping of his commandements repeateth so often this word love as the surest cause of keeping the same for want wherof in the world the world keepeth them not as there he sheweth If you love me keep my commandements saith he And again He that hath my commandements and keepeth them he is he that loveth me Again He which loveth me wil keep my commandements In which last words is to be noted that to the lover he saith His commandement in the singular number for that to such an one al his commandements are but one commandement according to the saieng of Saint Paul That love is the fulnes of the law for that it comprehendeth al. But to him that loveth not Christ saith his commandements in the plural number signifieng therby that they are both many and heavie to him for that he wanteth love which should make them easie Which Saint Iohn also expresseth when he saith This is the love of God when we keep his commandements and his commandements are not heavie That is they are not heavy to him which hath the love of God otherwise no marvel though they be most heavie For that every thing seemeth heavie which we do against our liking And so by this also gentle reader thou maist gesse whether the love of God be in thee or no. 13 And these are two means now wherby the vertuous life of good men is made easie in this world There follow divers others to the end that these negligent excusers may see how unjust and untru this excuse of theirs is concerning the pretended hardnes of vertuous living which in very deed is indued with infinite privileges of comfort above the life of wicked men even in this world And the next after the former is a certain special and peculiar light of understanding pertaining to the just and called in scripture Prudentia sanctorum the wisdome of saints which is nothing els but a certain sparkle of heavenly wisdome bestowed by singular privilege upon the vertuous in this life wherby they receive most comfortable light and understanding in spiritual matters especially touching their own salvation and things necessarie therunto Of which the prophet David ment when he said Notas mihi fecisti vias vitae Thou hast made the wais of
wherby to shew his abilitie and good wil unto his deer frind so God which hath al occasions in his own hands and passeth al his creatures togither in greatnes of love and nobilitie of mind worketh purposely divers occasions and opportunities wherby to shew and exercise the same So he brought the three children into the burning fornace therby to shew his power and love in delivering them So he brought Daniel into the lions den Susanna unto the point of death Iob into extreme miserie Ioseph into prison Toby unto blindnes therby to shew his power and love in their deliverance For this cause also did Christ suffer the ship to be almost drowned before he would awake and Saint Peter to be almost under water before he would take him by the hand 16 And of this one reason many other reasons and most comfortable causes do appeer of Gods dealing heerin As first that we being delivered from our afflictions might take more joy and delite therof than if we had never suffered the same For as water is more grateful to the waifaring man after a long drith and a calm more pleasant unto passengers after a troublesom tempest so is our deliverie more sweet after persecution or tribulation according as the scripture saith Speciosa misericordia Dei in tempore tribulationis The mercie of God is beautiful and pleasant in time of tribulation This signified also Christ when he said Your sorrow shal be turned into ioy that is you shal rejoice that ever you were sorrowful This had David prooved when he said Thy rod O Lord and thy staff have comforted me that is I take great comfort that ever I was chastised with them And again According to the multitude of my sorrows thy consolations have made ioiful my mind that is for every sorrow that I received in time of affliction I receive now a consolation after my deliverance And again in another place I wil exult and reioice in thy mercie O Lord. And wherfore good king wilt thou so rejoice It followeth immediately For that thou hast respected mine abasement and hast delivered my soul from the necessitie wherin she was and hast not left me in the hands of mine enimie This then is one most gracious meaning of our loving and merciful father in afflicting us for a time to the end our joy may be the greater after our deliverance as no dowt but it was in al those whom I have named before delivered by Gods mercy I mean Abraham Ioseph Daniel Sidrach Misach and Abdenago Susanna Iob Tobias Peter and the rest who took more joy after their deliverance than if they had never been in affliction at al. When Iudith had delivered Bethulia and returned thither with Holofernes head there was more hartie joy in that citie than ever there would have been if it had not been in distresse When S. Peter was delivered out of prison by the angel there was more joy for his deliverance in the church than could have been if he had never been in prison at al. 17 Out of this great joy resulteth another effect of our tribulation much pleasant to God and comfortable to our selves and that is a most hartie and earnest thanksgiving to God for our deliverance such as the prophet used when he said after his deliverance I for my part wil sing of thy strength and wil exalt thy mercy betimes in the morning for that thou hast been my aider and refuge in the day of my tribulation Such hartie thanks and praise did the children of Israel yeeld to God for their deliverance when they were passed over the red sea in that notable song of theirs which beginneth Cantemus Domino And is registred by Moises in Exodus From like hartie affect came also those songs of Anna Debora and Iudith mooved therunto by the remembrance of their affliction past And finally this is one of the cheefest things that God esteemeth and desireth at our hands as he testifieth by the prophet saieng Cal upon me in the day of tribulation I wil deliver thee and thou shalt honor me 18 Besides al these God hath yet further reasons of laieng persecution upon us as for example for that by suffering and perceiving indeed Gods assistance consolation therin we come to be so hardie bold and constant in his service as nothing afterward can dismay us even as Moises though he were first afeard of the serpent made of his rod and fled away from it yet after by Gods commandement he had once taken it by the tail he feared it no more This the prophet David expresseth notablie when he saith God hath been our refuge and strength and helper in our great tribulations and therfore we wil not fear if the whol earth should be trouble the mountains cast into the midst of the sea What greater confidence can be imagined than this 19 Again by persecution and affliction God bringeth his children to the exercise of many of those vertues that do belong to a Christian man and to enter into some reasonable possession of them As for example Faith is exercised in time of tribulation in considering the causes of Gods exercising of us and beleeving most assuredly the promises he hath made for our deliverance Hope is exercised in conceiving and assuring hirselfe of the reward promised to them that suffer patience Charitie is exercised in considering the love of Christ suffering for us and therby provoketh the afflicted to suffer again with him Obedience is exercised in conforming our wils to the wil of Christ. Patience in bearing quietly Humilitie in abasing our selves in the sight of God And so likewise al other vertues belonging to a good Christian are stirred up and established in man by tribulation according to the saieng of S. Peter God shal make perfect confirm and establish those which have suffered a little for his name 20 Finally Gods meaning is by laieng persecution and affliction upon us to make us perfect Christians that is like unto Christ our captain whom the prophet calleth Virum dolorum scientem infirmitatem A man of sorrows and one that had tasted of al maner of infirmities Therby to receive the more glorie at his return to heaven and to make more glorious al those that wil take his part therin To speak in one word God would make us by tribulation crucified Christians which is the most honorable title that can be given unto a creature crucified I say and mortified to the vanities of this world to the flesh to our own concupiscence and carnal desires but quik and ful of al lively spirit to vertu godlines devotion This is the heavenly meaning of our soveraign Lord God in sending us persecution tribulation affliction in respect wherof holy Iob dowteth not to say Blessed is the man that is
by him that asked pardon even for his tormentors and crucifiers to except now the world by name from his mercie Oh that worldly men would consider but this one point only they would not I think live so void of fear as they do 53 Can any man marvel now why Saint Paul crieth so carefully to us Nolite conformari huic saeculo Conform not your selves to this world And again That we should renounce utterly al worldly desires Can any marvel why Saint Iohn which was most privie above al others to Christs holie meaning heerin saith to us in such earnest sort Nolite diligere mundum neque ea quae in mundo sunt Do not love the world nor any thing that is in the world If we may neither love it nor so much as conform our selves unto it under so great pains as are before rehearsed of the enmitie of God and eternal damnation what shal become of those men that do not only conform themselves unto it and the vanities therof but also do follow it seek after it rest in it and do bestow al their labors and travels upon it 54 If you ask me the cause why Christ so hateth and abhorreth this world Saint Iohn telleth you Quia mundus totus in maligno positus est For that al the whole world is set on naughtines for that it hath a spirit contrarie to the spirit of Christ as hath been shewed for that it teacheth pride vain glorie ambition envie revenge malice with pleasures of the flesh and al kind of vanities and Christ on the contrarie side humilitie meeknes pardoning of enimies abstinence chastitie sufferance mortification bearing the crosse with contempt of al earthly pleasures for that it persecuteth the good and advanceth the evil for that it rooteth out vertu and planteth al vice and finally for that it shutteth the doores against Christ when he knocketh and strangleth the hart that once it possesseth 55 Wherfore to conclude this part seeing this world is such a thing as it is so vain so deceitful so troublesom so dangerous seeing it is a professed enimie to Christ excommunicated and damned to the pit of hel seeing it is as one father saith an ark of travel a schoole of vanities a feat of deceit a labirinth of error seeing it is nothing els but a barren wildernes a stonie feeld a dirtie stie a tempestuous sea seeing it is a grove ful of thorns a medow ful of scorpions a florishing garden without fruit a cave ful of poisoned and deadly basilisks seeing it is finally as I have shewed a fountain of miseries a river of tears a feined fable a delectable frensie seeing as Saint Austen saith the joy of this world hath nothing els but false delite tru asperitie certain sorrow uncertain pleasure travelsom labour fearful rest greevous miserie vain hope of felicitie seeing it hath nothing in it as saint Chrysostom saith but tears shame repentance reproch sadnes negligences labors terrors siknes sin and death it selfe seeing the worlds repose is ful of anguish his securitie without foundation his fear without cause his travels without fruit his sorrow without profit his desires without successe his hope without reward his mirth without continuance his miseries without remedies seeing these and a thousand evils more are in it and no one good thing can be had from it who wil be deceived with this visard or allured with this vanitie heerafter Who wil be staied from the noble service of God by the love of so fond a trifle as is the world And this to a reasonable man may be sufficient to declare the insufficiencie of this third impediment 56 But yet for the satisfieng of my promise in the beginning of this chapter I have to ad a word or two in this place how we may avoid the danger of this world and also use it unto our gain and commoditie And for the first to avoid the dangers seeing there are so manie snares and traps as hath been declared there is no other way but only to use the refuge of birds in avoiding the dangerous snares of fowlers that is to mount up into the air and so to fly over them al. Frustra iacitur rete ante oculos pennatorum saith the wise man that is The net is laid in vain before the eies of such as have wings and can flie The spies of Hiericho though manie snares were laid for them by their enimies yet they escaped al for that they walked by hils saith the scripture wherunto Origin alluding saith that There is no way to avoid the dangers of this world but to walk upon hils and to imitate David that said Levavi oculos meos ad montes unde veniet auxiliū mihi I lifted up mine eies unto the hils whence al mine aid and assistance came for avoiding the snares of this world And then shal we say with the same David Anima nostra sicut passer erepta est de laqueo venantium Our soul is delivered as a sparrow from the snare of the fowlers We must say with Saint Paul Our conversation is in heaven And then shal we little fear al these deceits and dangers upon earth For as the fowler hath no hope to catch the bird except he can allure hir to pitch and come down by some means so hath the divel no way to intangle us but to say as he did to Christ Mitte te deorsum Throw thy selfe down that is pitch down upon the baits which I have laid eat and devour them enamor thy selfe with them tie thine appetite unto them and the like 57 Which grosse and open temptation he that wil avoid by contemning the allurement of these baits by flieng over them by placing his love and cogitations in the mountains of heavenly joies and eternitie he shal easily escape al dangers and perils King David was past them al when he said to God What is there for me in heaven or what do I desire besides thee upon earth My flesh and my hart have fainted for desire of thee Thou art the God of my hart and my portion O Lord for ever 58 Saint Paul also was past over these dangers when he said that Now he was crucified to the world the world unto him and that He esteemed al the wealth of this world as meer doong and that albeit he lived in flesh yet lived he not according to the flesh Which glorious example if we would follow in contemning and despising the vanities of this world and fixing our minds in the noble riches of Gods kingdome to come the snares of the divel would prevail nothing at al against us in this life 59 Touching the second point how to use the riches and commodities of this world to our advantage Christ hath laid down plainly the means Facite vobis amicos de Mammona iniquitatis Make unto you frinds of the riches of iniquitie
they do in althings agree with them Freedom of wil and merit of works were indeed jolly matters to puffe us up higher in our own aestimation but we can be prowd inough without them Sufficient for us it ought to be that we may be saved let us leave the glorie therof wholy to God and take no part therof to our selves Since the fal there is not in man any inclination at al unto good that is of that kinde saving only in those that are regenerate and that which is in them is not ever continual but somtimes very rare and weak likewise and ever is the special working of God in us And though our works that are done in faith and love have reward promised unto them and so consequently by promise du yet are the best of them on our parts or so much therof as is ours so unperfect and weak that by right they could otherwise than by merciful acceptance deserve nothing at al. And when we are sure we have most absolute redemption fully and wholy in the merits of Christ what need we trouble our selves further to search out whether that we may not think that our good works have in some sense merited also Traditions so far as they do not swarve from the written word or are to aedifieng we do not mislike otherwise we think we have alreadie so much to do that is expresly commanded unto us that we think they hinder us much in the service of God that incumber us with more The preesthood and sacrifice of Iesus Christ we account to be of that sufficiencie in themselves and so proper to him alone that we cannot yet be persuaded either that we need or that we may set up any other but that we must needs bewray either our great ignorance in the one or that we have a very slender and over-base an account of the other Otherwise if these wil not serve needs must we be more out of hope to get any good by those that are brought in by them Howbeit his preesthood continueth forever and his sacrifice once made is a ful satisfaction for al so that we need never be careful for any thing else to be joined withal As for their purgatorie and the sillie helps that they have allotted therunto we can neither stand in fear of the one nor if we should be distressed by it can hope of any releefe of the other Of their purgatorie we cannot stand in fear both bicause the scripture doth not tel us of any such place and besides that it lappeth up al forgivenes of sins and remembrance therof to al beleevers in the death and sufferings of Christ and that in so ful and comfortable maner that it leaveth to us no dread at al of any such torments to be afterward suffered for sin by any of us and bicause it is so evident to al the world that it was at the first an heathenish opinion among the gentils before they came to the knowledge of Christ and hath been since used in the church of Rome as a compendious way to get in monie and that beyond al measure and mean The helps that they use to releeve the souls that they suppose to be afflicted therin can do little good both bicause that nothing can be any satisfaction for sin to the justice of God but only the death and sufferings of Christ and bicause that those helps of theirs besides that they are verie weak in themselves are not ordeined of God to be the means to apply the same unto any but only the faith of the parties themselves wrought in them by the holie Ghost In their worshipping of saints and images there is some ods howbeit we cannot finde the better of them both their worshipping of saints I mean to be any better than plain idolatrie so oft at least as it goeth beyond that honor which in the second table and fift commandement is appointed to fathers mothers and reacheth unto the worship which in the first table and in the first second commandements is before taken up unto God As also we think themselves should perceive that if they do it as a dutie that they ow unto them or as a thing that saints do like of or to get some benefit at their hands in al these points they do but wast leese their labor for that they ow them no such dutie neither do they like that they should offer them any such nor yet can help them in those things that they crave at their hands And as for their images neither are they blessed of God to yeeld any such fruit as they require at their hands neither should we so maintain the dignitie of our creation being ordeined to repraesent the person of God to al these his creatures if we shuld so servilely abase our selves to stoks and stones when as the Lord hath made us the head over them not them over us Concerning the marriage of those that are of the clergie seeing that both the scripture alloweth of it in al estates and degrees whatsoever and that God in his wisdome ordeined the same and seeing that the practise of al antiquitie hath had it in continual use it is a thing we think more plain than that we may allow any controversie therof to be made If this wil not serve let them but turn bak their eies to themselves and but make an indifferent search how fowl and manifold pollution hath broken foorth among them since the time that they have abandoned marriage from their orders and that one thing we think wil be sufficient to teach them that heerin they were far overshot and have found it tru in themselves by experience that which before they might have learned at the mouth of the Lord that generally it is not good for any estate of men to live unmarried when as therby they so quikly brought al their orders so fowl out of order As for their inhaerent justice and that with some distempered affections as it seemeth they charge us to allow of none other but that which is putative and only faith the substance of this matter being before specially touched it is not needful heer to say any more therof So these are in effect those great matters for whose sakes we are charged to have translated so corruptly and so consequently in the judgement of some that we have not the word of God at al among us Wherunto would they ad but this little correction that for these matters we have it not to their good liking therunto could we be content to yeeld and therwithal think that we stil must want al authoritie of scripture for thē Otherwise they have sufficiently found even in the ruines of their own usurpation and doctrines that we have the scriptures among us as also not many of themselves do charge us but only for these and for a few such others besides of such like or lesse importance