our heauenly Father who hath ioyned our house in such an vnitie that we do not as farre as I see one disdeine the other in necessities and aduersities neither enuie ech other in things succeeding prosperously God of his mercie graūt that band long to continue in the house of Sidmountaine that it may deserue the commendation of Ierusalem euen to be as a Citie which is at peace within it self This was it whereof Dauid receiued much comfort that after great diuisiōs God had graūted in his kingdome the peace and concorde of his people so he saith of his experiēce Behold how good a thing it is and how comely for brethren to dwell euen together He compareth it vnto the precious oyntment powred on the head that spreadeth abroad to the refreshing of the whole bodie and vnto the dewe of Hermon and that which falleth vpon the mountaines of Sion places ryche and fruitfull both with temporal benefites with the spirituall blessings of god This cherefull oyle and freshe dewe of vnitie and concord betwixt you your brethren sisters and friendes God hath blessed you withall suche dewe falleth not in all places such oyle is not to be found in al houses the fresh flower of vnitie and amitie is not to be found in euerie fielde but this as it groweth greene in the Garden of Sidmountaine which if it fade then farewell my part but now flourishing as it doth by the gratious goodnesse of God me thinke you should not but reioyce in the Lord who hath reserued vnto you this piece of Paradise that you may haue the full fruition of that beautiful and sweet smelling flowre of concord Thus I haue endeuoured somewhat to lead you into the consideration of the temporall benefites and blessings of God bestowed vpon you whereout it may be you shal pick some piece of comfort if things worldly and earthly outward and temporall may make any thing in this medicine But it may be that as to the sicke things otherwise sweete become sowre vnsauerie and to the weake and sickely stomake the sweet hony is lothsome so the mothe of pensiuenes hath entered your heart that these weaker medicines may not haue their full force and due operation Nowe after that you haue stoode on this place to see and looke about you what comfort is to be had on earth where you may well espie more then I haue shewed you hencefoorthe Sister let vs get on the mounting wynge of fayth let vs rayse our selues vp through the clouds euē to the heauens let vs come from the fotestoole of God to his glorious seate and that cannot be but comfortable vnto vs to consider For S. Iohn as he describeth his vision when he saw the Maiestie of God sitting on his glorious throne declareth that the throne of God is compassed about with a rainbow a sure seale and token of Gods mercie towards vs that although he often times raine vpon vs yet he wil no more drowne vs This hath euer bene the chief comfort of the godly in al their distresses and afflictions they all had an especial eye this way Reade you the 121. Psal. the 123. Psalme there to consider the practise of the Prophet how he looked toward the throne of god I will lift mine eyes to the Mountaines saith he from whēce mine helpe shall come mine helpe commeth from the Lord which hath made heauen and earth c. I lift mine eyes to thee that dwellest in the heauens beholde as the eyes of an handmayde marke the eyes of her mistres so our eyes wayte vpon the Lord our God vntill he haue mercie vpon vs Now then Sister laying aside all earthly considerations if they will not worke with you let vs looke vpon that helpe that commeth from heauen This as I remember is one amongst the wise sayings of Salomon Heauines casteth downe the hearte of man but a good worde rayseth it vp againe If any mans worde or wisedome may any thing herein preuaile then especially the good word of God which as Dauid sayth is mighty in operation It is so ful of comfort that if grace wanted not to vtter and receiue it accordingly I nothing doubte but if you were halfe dead it would soone quicken and set you vpright againe So sayth S. Paul whatsoeuer is written is written for our learning that we through comfort and pacience of the Scriptures might haue hope Seing then the Lord hath left vs this heauenly treasure here on earth euen to our so great commoditie thereby to learne patience and receiue comfort let vs vse these as our spectacles to behold the mercies of God which of our selues being nothing but blindenesse it selfe are not able to searche out or to see and this shal be as your diet that you resort to those sweete running ryuers springing vp vnto eternall life counselling and aduising you here to laye out the whole line of your life no day nor houre cōmeth amisse but in the Scriptures you may find comfort Yea there ye shall meete with the fountaine of all comfort the Spirit of God chering and cherishing you after a heauenly and marueylous maner Presently for my part I chiefly commit your cause to his cure and by his grace I shall endeuour to giue you some taste of that precious liquour God graunt it be not marred for lacke of a better vessell First therfore I am persuaded that you nothing dout of your adoption and election in Christ Iesus that your name is entred in the booke of life and that you are surely sealed vp for a saued sanctified soule This foundation being layd on so sure a groūd hauing our hands fastened on this hold what storms or floods of affliction may there arise but we may considering the tender mercy of God towardes his chosen children endure with patience ouercome with comfort and wade thorowe with ioy knowing sure we shal haue a day and seeing certainely although a farre of the quiet and glorious hauen we haue to arriue at It is a most comfortable saying which the Apostle vttereth vnto you We knowe saith he that all things worke together for the beste vnto them that loue God euen to them that are called of his purpose This one sentence so setting foorth the care that God your heauenly Father hath ouer you might satisfie you if you could weigh it as it is worthie Great and manifolde were the miseries which that chosen of God suffered reade you the 11. of the 2. to the Corinthians You shal finde there at what hard meat how sowre sauce the Lord set that his paineful and faithfull seruant as stripes perilles both on Sea and land euill entreatie both of the Iewe and the Gentile the deceit of false brethrē wearinesse painfulnesse watching hunger thirst colde nakednesse and all kinde of persecutiō Yet he hauing that confidence and stedfast perswasion of the eternal prouidence of God that he turneth all things to the
his abiding is in heauen his eyes beholde these sonnes of men and laugh them to scorne and at the length shal talke with them in his furie powring vpon them from heauen snares fyre and brimstone whose cup and portion shal be burning storme and tempest Let them persuade them selues and beleeue darkenes to be light trueth falsnes blindnes sight and life death and bring this to passe that mens eyes may seeme with a skinne or slime of superstitious ignorancie to bee couered and made blinde yet can the Lord and also will when he seeth time restore light trueth sight life againe to the aduancement of his owne glorie the comfort of his Church and vtter confusion of his enemies Folowe therefore after the Lord crye vnto him with the two blind men desire him of his mercy to restore your sight mistrust not but he is able to doe it saye with them that you so beleeue and the Lord wil make you answere and performe it in dede after your faith be it vnto you If you truste in the Lord and confesse him to be omnipotente why should you feare the crueltie of Antichrist who afflicteth Christ in his mēbers persecuting and punishing their soules with superstition idolatrie and vnbeliefe and afflicting their bodies with hunger imprisonment exile and painful death Hath not God aforetime assisted his to wade thorowe and ouercome the paines of all these yea in the middes of the bitter stormes to take great pleasure And is he of lesse power to helpe vs shall not we now by his assistance be so able to abide and take pleasure in paines as our brethren haue bene before vs My brethren be strong in the Lord and through the power of his strength learne to whatsoeuer estate God shal call you therewith to be content knowing how to be lowe how to exceede euery where and in al thinges instructed both to be full and to be hungrie both to haue plentie and to suffer neede yea to do all things through Christ who strengtheneth you by whom also you shal ouercome For if you be troubled on euery side yet shall you not be without shift when you bee vexed with pouertie you shall not be vtterly without somewhat wrapt in persecution not forsaken therein cast downe yet perishe not that the excellencie of the power may bee Gods and that you may onely glorie in the Crosse of Christ By the crosse he entred into glorie and they that are his must enter in the same way The Princes had no power ouer him further then was giuen them from aboue neither haue they ouer you no not to plucke of one heare of your head for they be all numbred and not one falleth away without the will of your heauenly Father who worketh all things for the best to all them that loue him And woulde we not haue all things worke to our most aduantage In worldly things we seeke after most gaine and wil we neglect that in heauenly things For to winne a small summe of money we will take vpon vs a farre iourney in daunger of robbing in perils of drowning and let for no payne perswading our selues that God wil be with vs assist and prosper vs in all our trauayle and shall wee refuse to traueile by land to passe the seas to suffer what paine soeuer thereunto belongeth to winne the penny of euerlasting life mistrusting that God will not be with vs ayde and further vs in whatsoeuer painefull perill we shall come in O blinde incredulitie that makest easy things to seeme hard by working an vnwillingnes in the mindes of men whome thou rulest If men forsake their own willes submitting them selues wholy vnto Gods will what thing can bee to harde But if we will followe the appetites and delicate nicenesse of our owne willes what can be easy Crye therefore with Christ deare brethren Not our wylles but thy will O heauenly Father be done So eschue troubles as may stande with his good will and pleasure When they come vpon you embrace them willingly suffer them patiently wade thorowe them faithfully for that is his good will and pleasure Folowe the example of Christe of the Prophetes Apostles and holy martyrs who were not wedded to their owne willes but submitted them selues wholy vnto Gods will who wrought so with them that in pouertie they wanted not necessaries in prison among rauening Lions they liued harmeles in the middes of fyre they burnt not in the most cruell torments they felt no payne and trusting to the faithfull promise and mightie ayde of their heauenly Father desired rather to be exercised vnder the crosse to die with Christ then to be at ease and liue with the world Abraham with his Father Thare forsooke his natiue countrey and from thence was commaunded to depart into a countrey whereof he neither knewe the name where it was neither what cōmodities were therein for men to liue withall neither yet could he abide there any whyle for a great dearth did oppresse the whole land so that he was compelled to flye into Aegypt where he was in daunger of much displeasure for he perceiued before he entred that he must forgoe either his wyfe or els sustaine daunger for keeping her Hee was constrained oftentimes to remoue his habitation not without great losse trauayle and perill Iacob also went forth of his natiue countrey into a straunge place partlie for that his father would not that hee should be ioyned in mariage with the daughters of the Idolatours of that countrey partly to flye the crueltie of wicked Esau his naturall brother where he serued Laban fourteene yeres for his two daughters in keeping his sheepe a painefull kinde of labour Afterwarde in his olde daies was constrained by the force of a great dearth to remoue into Aegypt where his ofspring was grieuously molested many yeres Ioseph was solde by his brethren to the Ismaelites and by them vnto an Aegyptian where he susteined great paine and perill in a straunge countrey The Prophete Ely being persecuted by the wicked Iezabel fled from post to pillar The Prophete Daniel with a great number of good and godlie Israelites were caried into Babylon captiues there to liue in captiuitie in a straunge countrey among their deadly enemies The Apostles of Christ and many godly men and also women in their time forsooke all they had and went into straunge coūtreis for the Gospels sake And after their time to this our time the Ecclesiastical histories are full of the examples both of men and also women that left landes and goodes fled their countreis and did choose rather in an vnkoth and vnknowē land to liue in hardnes with freedom of conscience to serue God after his wil then to tarie at home in wealth with bondage of conscience and dishonour the Lord in disobeying his holy will. It is not read that any of these did murmure grudge to leaue their houses landes goodes and natiue
one that sought his bloud And likewise Absolon that wicked childe vnnatural sonne with what a fatherly affection did he pitie his case crying whē he heard the certaintie of his death in such sort as is expressed in the 2. of Sam. 18. My sonne Absolon my sonne my sonne Absolon would God I had died for thee So verely ought our cases and calamities to be common and I especially haue iuste occasion to beare the burthen with you being vnto me a true Sister a Sister by naturall natiuitie a Sister by heauenly regeneration one with whome I haue enioyed the sweete and who with me hath not refused the sowre wherefore as I cannot but with brotherly affection be sorie for your sadnes so when I somewhat lift vp mine eyes toward heauen haue in consideration the infinite mercies and marueilous working of God our heauenly Father concerning his chosen children and sanctified Sainctes here on earth then me thinkes I receiue so plentifull ioye of spirit and prouision of patience against those stormes and tempestes of aduersities and afflictiōs which I know I haue in the way of my pilgrimage to passe and which I know by the course of Gods working abyde certainly for all true stedfast Christians that in vttering the same vnto you it may be I shall giue you some occasion of comfort God therefore I beseeche him guide my hand and direct my heart and so beholde you with his Fatherly eye and cherefull countenance that we may both receiue comfort of his holy Spirit the true cōforter promised by our Sauiour that we may reioyce one with another and both in the Lord. Now there are diuers meanes that God hath ordeined prouided for the cherishing and refreshing of heauie heartes and sorowful soules for some there are which are proper to the bodie as earthly and temporall other concerne the minde as Ghostly and continual which wheras they are to be had neither of them are to be refused forasmuch as God therein with our vse and commoditie looketh to reape the fruite of his owne glorie S. Paul alloweth Timothie and counselleth him for his weake stomaks sake moderately to drinke wyne and Salomon lykewise Giue the strōg drinke vnto him that is readie to perishe and wine vnto them that haue griefe of hearte Concerning these although they be somewhat besides my care yet this I may truely saye that you haue to thanke God with a most chereful spirit that he hath not left you so destitute in this behalf as he hath thousands of other our brethren Howe many are there not far from you if you list as I thinke you doe to beholde them and consider them with some comparison in respect of whom you must nedes cōfesse your selfe and happie handmaid of God as whose hope is their cōfort patience their pleasure their wine a cuppe of colde water and whom for their apparel necessitie alloweth no more then their bare naked skin how many poore Lazars are there that would be glad to gather vp the crummes vnder that table where your hand is free without grudging You say peraduenture sometimes in your fit I am a miserable woman But what may they saye that haue neither cloth nor clout to defend them from the bitter byting colde what may they say which many times haue neither bitte of bread neither droppe of drinke wherewith to satisfie the griedie worme of hunger or to quenche the drie disease of thirst How many are there which in comparison of you and me although peraduenture the leaste of xiiii who being driuen to the draffe of hogges may say with the prodigal sonne In how farre better case are the hired seruantes of that house then we seely soules are doutlesse hauing as we haue although we did get it hardly buye it dearely yet should we be in farre better state then a great number which by experience knowe what the want of those necessaries are which God of his gratious goodnes hath with a liberall hand bestowed on vs his euill deseruing seruantes and who for any thing to be sene in our selues deserue as euill and worse thē many of those nedy naked soules which at sundrie times faint for want of foode as the bare beastes stand open to all winde and weather subiect to all aduentures free from no aduersitie Dauid well considered these benefites of God which we because that we haue not felt the lacke of them make litle accompt of God satisfieth saith he the thirstie sottle and filleth the hungrie soule with good things and numbring diuers other the like benefites which Gods people dayly receiue at his hande hee crieth out twise or thryse with earnest zeale O that men woulde acknowledge before the Lord his louing kindnes and his wonderous workes before the sonnes of men Let vs likewise acknowledge the goodnes of God toward vs in this behalfe And me thinkes Sister if these outward earthly thinges may anie thing make in the matter you haue iust cause to reioyce Dauid you know complaineth often times that his familiars and kindred started from him in his aduersitie for beside the multitude of his enemies which as he maketh his accoūt were more then heares vpō his head he saith also I am become a stranger vnto my brethren euen an aliant vnto my mothers sons In another place he vttereth as a part of his griefe that he was bereft of his Father and Mother Concerning those pointes you are not so farre in as Dauid was you haue brethren you haue sisters I know that account your case their common case That God hath visited our Father I craue as great part of that plague as the best or the worst of you that God hath so preserued our Mother the mirrour of al mothers therein you haue as great part as the best of vs As for open enemies that seeke your hinderance or that reioyce at your aduersitie I know none you haue but you know your self a number of your friends that vnfainedly wishe your prosperitie Our Sauiour you may remember complained that the Foxes had holes where to couch them and the birdes of the aire haue their place of rest but the Sonne of man had not where to hide his head O that we could that we would compare our selues in our aduersities with our Sauiour the Sonne of man the verie Sonne of God of him to learne patience then no doubt but by him we should receiue comfort Cōsider therfore the goodnes of God how he hath prouided for vs by the gentlenes of our deare Mother a place which we vse as an home and habitation and that no Foxe hole but thankes be to God a warme and wel feathered neste where we haue free egresse and regresse This scripture was fulfilled in our Sauiour They of a mās owne house are his enemies and he thereof complaining saide He that eateth bread with mee hath lift vp his heele against me but thankes be vnto
faith the bloudie woundes of your sauiour and redemer and these being considered what are our greatest griefes but fleabites in comparison besides that inward anguishe and passion of the soule farre passing his outwarde apparent pangues whereby he felt the seuere iudgement and wrath of God the rewarde of our euil deserts Come you hither Sister with your heauie burthen and here refresh you for here is the well and the water of life receiue you hence the most comfortable aqua vite stilling downe from the crosse of oure redeemer and peacemaker Christ Iesus the righteous God hath laide vpon you some kinde of crosse but none such as his owne Sonne your Sauiour hath borne before you God hath thought good for some purpose appertaining to his glorie to put you to some paines O why should you or any of vs grudge to take on vs the yoke of God he hath not spared his deare and onely Sonne to make him a mā a seruant a sacrifice for our soules redemption which were once solde vnder sinne the slaues of Satan But were it happie were you if it were so in deede that you had to pledge your sauiour where he hath begun vnto you if that you hong on the crosse together with him had you not then comfort enough by you could you not well content your selfe to be baptized with his baptisme whose handmaid I know you will not denie your selfe to be is it not enough for the seruant to be serued as his master were you in the place of the penitent theefe crauing his pardon as he did hang together with our sauiour would you haue despaired would you haue mistrusted might you be comfortlesse would you not reioyce But you will say he had his Sauiour present before his eyes But O you of litle faith if you haue not as good assurāce of mercy as he do you not cōsider that by the iudgement of our Iudge they are most blessed which beleue and see not But he happie mā heard those ioyfull wordes at his redemers mouth To daie thou shalt bee with me in paradise And is that sufficient why then haue not you as sure an obligation the warrant of his word his testament sealed with his most precious bloud or els are you left out of that will Doth he not say vnto you as directly as to any other Come vnto me and I shall refresh you Doth he not say vnto you Aske and haue seeke and find knocke and it shall be opened are you not assured of that absolution in the daye of the Lord his appearance Thy faith hath saued thee goe thy waye in peace are you not to be numbred among them to whom it shal be said Come ye blessed of my father when that Christ saith vnto you he that beleueth hath euerlasting life when that he saieth I bring the water of life I am the bread of life I am the vine you are the braunches I am the good shepherd the true Messias the redemer of the worlde the physition of the sicke comming to saue that which is lost in al these can you not picke out that promise to be with him in paradise I dare not doubt Sister that you are to seeke concerning these thinges you haue I nothing mistrust laide the foundation of your fayth on Christ the right rocke of saluation then can you no more doubte then if you had the possession of paradise alreadie euen as it was prepared for you from the beginning seing that he made the graunt that hath the whole matter in his handes and in whome there is no guile Stand therfore stand stiffe and fall not let not go this handfast which if you doe no winde or weather may rise in the worlde that shall any whit moue you or your so sure building standing on so good a groūd and so sounde a rocke S. Iohn in his first epistle setting Christ Iesus before thē to whom he writeth This we write vnto you saith he that your ioy might be full Verely Sister if we coulde fully consider Christ with his mercie and merites our heartes might not but be filled vp full with ioy for there is nothing so sowre but in Christ it becommeth sweete and sauourie there is no want of any earthly thing but Christ supplieth with a greater measure The braunches that abide in that vine no weather may make them to wither and although they seeme for a season much like to the naturall vine to be as drie and rotten stickes such as men would scarce gather vp in the way yet the heauenly husbandman so cherisheth and tendereth them that in time which he knoweth to be most conuenient euen then they shal shew themselues in their kinde and freshly flourishe in their fruits when all other flowers are faded and other trees which are not planted by him may not longer stand for their rotten roots Let vs therefore stand a litle and see what more comfort we may sucke out of that fresh and fruitfull vine so shall our hearts receiue ioye and our ioye shal be full You haue no landes nor liuinges I thinke in deede any thing superfluous but yet competent and if you were much more needie euen vtterly destitute yet you haue not to take great thought for the matter seeing Christ telleth you you shall haue life euerlasting paradise is your inheritance his owne kingdome is your possession Companie in deede is comfortable but be it that you were berefte of the companie and comfort of your brethren and sisters yet the true Christian cannot be solitary S. Iohn saith If we walke in the light as he walked we haue felowship with him And he him selfe saieth he will not leaue vs comfortlesse or solitarie yea he wil be present with vs vnto the worldes ende that is with all his at al times sending vs the Comforter his holy spirit If we do that which he commaundeth vs then he accompteth vs his friendes his brethren his sisters and that which is chiefest because it is endlesse after we haue rūne out our course we shal be with him in Paradise making continually that prayer for vs vnto his Father which he began here on earth Father I will that they which thou hast giuen me be with me where I am that they may beholde my glorie Beholde you shall beholde the glorie of Christ what then will you take thought for any piece of worldly estimation All the glorie of man saith the Prophet is as the flower of the fielde sone ripe sone rotten but the crowne of glorie which you shall receiue by Christ is incorruptible once founde neuer loste once ripe neuer rotten what neede you passe vpon the wicked earthly Mammon whereas you be most assured of that treasure laied vp for your store in heauen euen Christ Iesus the riches of the riche and high God of heauen It would be a comfort for you peraduenture to haue an head and husband to defende you in
our comfortes I haue but somewhat assaied to playe Iohn Baptistes parte I am not he of whom you must receiue this good gifte but you must looke toward an other Therefore I say vnto you of him whose shoolatchet I am not worthy to vnloose Behold the Lambe of God who bringeth this comfort with him a salue me thinkes sufficient to heale all sores as that he is that Lambe that taketh away the sinnes of the worlde Nature hath so prouided that if we receiue any wound in the head the whelke that is in the hande the corne that is in the foote we soone forget lose the sense thereof O consider Sister howe your head was wounded then shall your handes and your feete the lesse grieue you Nowe againe our head is whole triūphing in heauen why then should our hearts be heauie on earth as though the head had forgotten the bodie or any part thereof No Sister doubte you not he will not suffer an heare to perishe of that bodie which he so dearely purchased seeing that this mightie Michael hath subdued our archenemy that terrible dragon and subtill serpent with his petie captaines death and hell what should we be so much moued with any force of the fleshe or any mischiefe that the worlde may worke vs Yea here also your Sauiour speaketh cōfortably vnto you saying Be of good there I haue ouercome the world Seeing that he hath broken the head of our enemy what should his taile so much trouble vs seing hee hath taken away our sinnes what should any sorowes remaine amongst vs if we sorowe not for our sinnes why doe we lament for any other earthly trifle So Sister if your eye be fully fixed on Christ your redeemer seing his paines and his patience you may not but quiet your selfe considering his merites and his mercie you can nothing mistruste but he that tooke away the greater burthen of your sinnes will also open you a waye out of your sorowes so that nowe you haue no occasion left of mistrust in the goodnes of god For he that gaue vs his Sonne howe should hee not with him giue vs all things also and now your ioye must needes be full as S. Iohn saieth Say not then you are in miserie for you see present remedie hauing good assurance of eternall felicitie And if a mā should aske you how you proue your state to be miserable I am sure you can not proue so fast as I can disproue You will say I am an abiect in the world I answere the more meeter for God the liker you are to your Sauiour so saieth the Apostle to your comfort and mine The vile thinges of the worlde things despised and things of nought hath God chosen I am sad and pensiue you will say my meat doth mee no good I enioye not the world But these are no arguments hereby to conclude miseries For euen the holy and happie Dauid had such sugar and sauce to his meate he mingled his bread with ashes and where was most likelyhood of rest his bed he watered with teares so that of your sorow it selfe you may receiue comfort because that shorte worldly sorowes are but a passage vnto vnspeakeable incredible and eternall ioye and consolation Our Sauiour saith they are happie that lament for they shal be comforted but hee setteth a woe vpon those that laughe so that by his iudgement happines and heauenly happines he speaketh of commeth rather by lamenting then laughing Yea God himself wil take the paines to wipe away the teares of the eyes of such as sheade any vnder the crosse especially in the cause of his Christ You haue litle comfort peraduenture in the worlde yet I am sure more then Lazarus in his penurie or Iob in his perplexitie and the lesse you finde on earth the more belike you shal haue in heauen You knowe the answere to the riche man in the parable that he had his earthly pleasure for his portiō But what an exchange made Lazarus euen eternal pleasure for temporal penurie If you haue not your portion with the riche man here you may the lesse doubte to haue parte and place with Lazarus in the kingdome of god And here let Christ be your comforter You shall lament saith he but the world shall reioyce and in him hee saith you shall haue peace O see that pitifull and sauing Samaritan how he powreth wine and oyle into your woundes euen the peace of conscience the peace of God that passeth all vnderstāding If the world hate you saith he you know that it hated me before you if our Sauiour hath lead vs the waye what should we sticke at the matter where as he hath ouerlept so great blockes why should we stumble so at euery strawe which the deuill casteth in our way The Apostle saith If we suffer with him we shall raigne with him and if we die with him we shall liue with him O Sister let vs not shrinke from our Captaine whome we see already to be a conquerour Let vs prepare our selues patiently to abide the pleasure of God let vs exercise patience in the lighter that we may the better beare the greater burden Let vs liue and die with our Sauiour let vs suffer with him in all patience that we may reigne with him in glorie to the which the afflictiōs of this world with all extremitie as S. Paul hath cast the matter are nothing comparable We hope to haue our part in the kingdome of Christ Iesus let vs not then looke for it there where he hath tolde vs it is not to be found Let vs not seeke after worldly wealth or earthly felicitie let vs not looke here to rule the roste but to be rosted rather of Rulers Our kingdome is where Christ reigneth let that content vs knowing that his kingdome is aboue all powers al things being in subiection vnder his feete Here I leaue you Sister betaking you to Christ who couereth you as one of his chosen chickens vnder the shadow of his cōfortable winges against whom as long as you liue neither the world which he hath cōquered neither death which he hath swallowed vp neither the gates of hel which he hath closed vnto you shal any thing preuaile That which I haue said I haue said once peraduenture as good vnsaid but Christ cōtinually cōforteth you with his sweete promises and euerlasting word of saluation he still crieth vnto you Be of good chere I haue ouercome the worlde reioyce in this sayth he that your name is written in the booke of life Betake you therefore wholy to him reioyce in his crosse resorte to his word whence as out of paradise you may gather flowers sufficient to fill you with ioye And if it hath pleased almightie God any thing to refreshe you with this my poore posy his wil be done his name be glorified Amen I haue my rewarde and he the God of all consolation graunt vs the