suspect me this sinne O Lorde I am guyly of and I know thou for this sinne hast afflicted me iustly yet deare father I see thy mercie in this that whereas in deede I haue committed many sinnes thou hast passed ouer them and taken this whereof I am not so much guyltie so that now mercifull father I do rather suffer for righteousnesse then for my transgression and my sinne yea holy father I do beholde thy tender mercy in this towardes me that by this euyll report thou goest about to stay me from the sinne and to preuent me that I may neuer fall into the same wherefore seeing it hath bin thy good pleasure to deale thus with me beholde Lord I do repent me of my former sinnes and promyse before thee euen in thy feare neyther to do this nor the like sinne hereafter See heere I beseech you the good profite which a good chylde of God through Gods spirite will take of this slanderous reproch after he hath receiued some godly sorow for geuing the occasion of that report But beholde the contrarie worke of Satan in the hart of vnbeleeuers for he will soone teach them their lesson and cause them to say thus What doth the churle accuse me without a cause doth he father such a villanous acte vpon me who neuer deserued it at his handes surely he shal not say so for nought I will make his saying true and wil do the thing in deede Consider then this you that feare the Lord and see in how tickelysh state they do stande which haue geuen occasion and in what great danger they be to be brought to to commit the same or lyke sinne afterwarde Therefore yf any man wilbe sure to keepe his good name then must he keepe him selfe from all such occasions as in any wyse might impayre or hinder it And this much for this second step whereby we ryse to a good name Thus we haue heard of two degrees towarde a good name in the auoyding of euil and the occasions thereof And these in deede haue a great force to stay an euil name but surely they be not able to buylde vp a good name credite among men To these therefore there must be added a third thing which hath most speciall force to this purpose and that is that we be plentifull in good workes This doth our sauiour charge vs to be carefull of when he sayth Let your lyght so shyne before men that they may see your good workes Many men repine at the good report of an other mā and they be greatly greeued because they them selues be not in the lyke or some greater credite But alas they shoulde rather be greeued at them selues because the fault is in them For they regarde not to doe good they are carelesse of good workes and therefore the Lord is carelesse of them and their credite Well then he that wylbe commended must do the thynges that be commendable he must doe good workes yea he must do good and pursue it yet we must know that it is not one good worke nor two nor three that can gayne vs a good name in deede but it is required of vs that we be Riche in well doing and continually geuen to euery good worke For as pretious oyntment whereunto a good name is lykoned is made of many and most excellent simples so a good name cannot be gotten but by many and most excellent vertues Now when we feele our selues affected to good and to all maner of goodnesse then are we warely to see to two thynges First that all our workes be done with a simple and sinceere affection secondly that they be done with good discretion For when a thyng is done vndiscreetely and without aduice it looseth the grace and beautie of the deede and therefore though the thing be good yet no great prayse doth come of it because it was not done with good discretion likewise when men do things with sinister affections and to some other ende then to the glorie of God they do commonly loose the price of their doinges and hereof it commeth to passe that many men which do good workes to merite by them or to win the fauour of their superiours or to be of good report amongst the people or to some such other ende when I say men do things to this ende the Lord punisheth them with the contrary and in steade of deseruing glory he powreth confusion vpon them in steade of honour he geueth contempt and in steade of riches beggarie And albeit men may pretende the glory of God and face out their wickednesse with a fresh colour yet the Lord will bring their wickednesse to lyght And truely it is marueylous to see how the Lord layeth folly vpon such men so that although that in their wysedome they thinke to bleare the eyes of all men yet the simple sort doth beholde their foolysh shyftes to their discredite therefore when thou hast done well and yet art ill reported off do not straight way storme agaynst him which hath raysed vp this report on the neyther do thou ouer hastely cleare thy selfe but rather before the Lord examine thine owne hart and see with what affection thou hast done it And if we finde wickednesse in our hartes then let vs be humbled before the Lord and know that he hath caused vs to be thus euill spoken off first to correct and secondly to try vs. For when the Lord doth see vs lyke Scribes and Pharisees seeking rewardes then he doth punish vs with the losse of our labour and with shame among men to see if thereby he can bring vs to the fight of sinne which before we neither woulde nor could see And agayne when we haue thus done he doth trie vs whether there be any goodnesse in our harts which may moue vs to continue in well doing notwithstandyng we be euyll spoken off Heere then we see what fruite we must make of such reportes namely they must first bring vs to a sight and feelyng of our sinnes and secondly they must cause vs with great vprightnesse to continue in well doing True it is that a man may be accused to haue had this or that purpose in his doinges although he haue done the thinges in the simplicitie of his hart but when a man through examination doth finde his hart vpright then he receyueth great comfort by it then he may commend him selfe vnto the Lord and his cause into his handes for the Lorde maynteyneth good tongues and hartes but he will cut out the tongue that speaketh lyes He will cause the ryghteousnesse of the ryghteous to shyne as the noone day and as the Sunne after a cloude but the wicked shalbe couered with their owne confusion as with a cloake This shall the godly see and reioyce therein but the mouth of the wicked shalbe stopped Thus we haue runne through these thynges whereby a good name may be gotten and not only that but wherby a man may be preserued in a
securitie which bryngeth neglect and contempt of all good meanes whereby they should grow vp in godlines On the left hand others offend being neuer pleased nor coÌ„tended with the they haue in deede forgettyng and lightly esteeming that they haue and still desiring new These men besides that they be vnthankeful do also murmure and grudge agaynst God and are neuer pleased with him Betweene these two the chyldren of God holde a middle and euen course and therefore we shall see these things in theÌ„ First a sight an acknowledging of the wantes which do moue theÌ„ as S. Peter sayth Like new borne babes to desire the sweete and sinceere mylke of the worde that thereby the graces they haue may be increased and their other wantes may be supplyed and so farre are they from being puffed vp with pride that they reioyce wheÌ„ their pripe may be pulled downe or their haughtines abated eyther by some sharpe rebuke or by some fearefull threatning or by some moderate correction from the Lord for they know if it were needefull for S. Paul to be buffited and that by the minister of Satan to the ende that his pride may be beaten downe then it is much more needeful for theÌ„ after more wayes so to be humbled Besides that they do not onely desire the word but they also wayte vpon the Lord vntil it pleased the lord to worke further in them thereby and this wayting is as earnest as theirs who haue watched all the night do wayte and looke for the dawning of the day Secondly as they see their wantes so also they see that grace they haue receiued and for that time well appayde contented therewith and therfore as their wantes do humble them so the graces of God do comfort them and as their wantes do cal vpon them cause them to seeke more so that they haue doth prouoke them to be thankfull for that they haue receiued See then a quite contrary course of the wicked those that do of sinceritie worshyp God I say how contrary the graces gyftes of God do worke in them therefore from the consideraton hereof we may well draw a fourth rule whereby to make triall examinatioÌ„ of our owne selues therfore to conclude this poynt in a word when a man by the spirit of God hath bin inlightned vnto a certaine sufficient knowledge of Gods will when he findeth his affection chiefly aboue al other things set vpoÌ„ God wheÌ„ he findeth a pure sinceere loue of God in his hart not for wages but for that worde of grace which after an vnspeakable maner doth moue him therevnto and when he doth thankfully acknowledge mercies receaued as he doth carefully attende wayte vpon the Lord till he bestow some great measure of graces vpon him he may be vndoubtedly perswaded that he hath found the spirit working in him in a more effectuall maner therefore it shal neuer be taken from him But what then may such men cast off all care No for vnto them doth S. Paul giue this charge for though that the spirite can neuer be taken vtterly from them yet doubtles if they waxe proud if they grow secure if they fall into sinne the graces giftes of the spirite may decay and die in them their cleare loue their feeling their affectioÌ„ and all may be gone so that in their owne iudgement in the iudgement of others it may seeme that they haue quite quenched put out the spirite Neither must this seeme strange for if the image of God which was more perfectly placed in Adam theÌ„ it is now in vs. If I say this image might quite be blotted out lost as we see in was then no maruell if the graces of the spirit be for a time as it were dead drowned in vs and that we may be the lesse offended herewith the Scriptures do offer vnto vs examples of men as hauing bin once effectually and truly borne againe haue yet afterwarde through some sinnes lost the graces of the spirit such were the Galathians for they were truely called effectually regenerate by the spirit Gospell of God as may appeare by this that for the words sake they reuerenced the Apostle as the angel of God yet they were snared with false doctrine fell very dangerously to the choaking quenching the spirit in them the spirit it selfe was not taken from them nay Christ did still continue in their hartes yet for want of godly graces they were as it were without fashion forme so that the Apostle did as it were trauell agayne vntill Christ was fashioned a new in them Dauid also vpon the committing of his sinne was brought into the like case therfore in the. 51. Psal. he prayeth That God wil create in him a new spirit What was the spirite quite gone no for by and by in the same Psalme he prayeth That the Lord would not take away his holy spirite from him how can these two stand together first to pray that a new spirite may be created in him and that the spirit of God may not be taken from him Surely the spirit it selfe was stil in him therfore he prayeth that it may not be taken from him but the graces gratious working of the spirit they were dead gone and therefore he prayeth that they may be renewed in him By this then we see that the very chiefe graces of the spirit may be quenched euen in the most godly when they fall into sin But yet that no libertie may be taken hereby let vs consider what griefe they bring to them selues that do by any meanes loose the graces of the spirit First of all we must know that though the spirite of God cannot be gotten by our labour yet it costeth vs much labour and we must vndergoe much trauel suffer much trouble before the spirite of God do take possession of vs. Now when the graces of the spirit are lost all our labour seemeth to be lost come to nothing Secondly when a man receaueth the spirit of God and by the same spirit is assured that his sinne is forgiuen him and he is in the fauour of God there doth arise in his hart a great ioy in the holy ghost a ioy I say that is vnspeakable glorious and this ioy is lost gone when the graces of Gods spirite are gon with how great griefe wo they know it that in any measure haue tasted of it Againe wheÌ„ the graces of the spirit are choaked in men they haue no haste to do good they haue no affection to goodnesse but all is gone and they are made for the time as it were an vnprofitable burthen of earth What griefe can be greater then this What sorowe cap sinke more deepe then that a good man should be cleane withholden from doing good Moreouer it is sure that wheÌ„ the gyftes of the spirit are in this sort gone that he that was more righteous before may soone fal into greater sins yea and which is more they shall also suffer the reproch of their sinnes For this is a part of the couenant that God made with his That though he will not take his mercies vtterly from them yet he will visite their sinnes with the rodde and their iniquities with scourges and what griefe is this The example of Gods childreÌ„ What hart breaking to Dauid by his owne sonne to be thrust from his kingdome so greeuous that if without any respect of hell or heauen we could consider of them we had rather want all the pleasure of sinne which Dauid enioyed then we would feele the payne which Dauid suffered Last of all when the graces of the spirit of God are decaied they can neuer be repaired and recouered but with much sorow and great danger for it can not but breede much sorow of hart to examine see the greatnesse of them to apply Gods iudgementes to them and to prouoke himself to sorow for them This is as it where to go through the pikes and through purgatorie in this present lyfe yet this must be done before we can recouer Gods grace Agayne it is a very dangerous thing for in such cases men are brought as it were with Ionas into the bottome of the sea and as Dauid saith into the deepe waters so that all the surge and waues do passe ouer him Now we know what danger it is for a man to be thrust ouer head and eares into the deepe waters and therefore they that are in such a case are in great danger wherefore all these thinges considered the losse of all our labour the losse of all true ioy the vnfitnesse to do good the readinesse to sinne the griefe and danger that ensueth thereof will or at the least wyse may cause vs to be ware how we quench the spirite And this is 〈◊〉 vse of the doctrine in humblyng vs which also doth further serue to â—â—mfort vs knowing that we may sufâ—â—â— a great decay of Gods graces yet the rodde or worde of God they â—ay be renewed in vs agayne And thus much of this commaundement that the Apostle giueth heere that we should not quench the spirite FINIS
fact be cast off Some other man taketh an other chylde for the same ende and maketh him heyre in deede Therfore we must thinke that it is righteous with the Lorde to deale thus with vs seeing we are in his hande and we must not be offended though he call some do not inlightē them and although he do not inlyght them and do not continue them and do of his great mercie continue some vnto the ende let vs rather see what vse we may haue of this doctrine First we must take heede that we neuer quench any grace or gyft that God bestoweth vppon vs. Secondly we must labour to haue greater measure of gyftes for the wicked may come to haue some small gyftes and such may be quite taken away from vs. Tastly it doth put a plaine difference betweene the godly and the godles betweene them that beare a shew of holynesse and them that are the Lordes holy ones for the one endureth but a time and the other lasteth for euer Now if we require a further tryall whereby we may know whether we haue receaued the spirite of God which lasteth but for a tyme and that which lasteth for euer with vs then let vs marke those rules which put a plaine difference betweene them First we must marke the inlightnyng and insight we haue into the worde of God Certaine it is that both the godly and wicked are inlightned but the inlyghtning of the godly is one and the insight of the wicked is an other for the knowledge and insight which the godly haue receaued is certayne and distinct therfore in particuler thinges they be able to apply the threatning of Gods iudgementes to the humbling of them selues and the promises of God to comfort them selues Agayne their knowledge is sufficient to direct them generally and particulerly And last of all it neuer fayleth them but directeth them to the end but the knowledge of the wicked is not so for it is a confused and a generall knowledge of the threatninges and of the promises of God yet can they not make perticuler vse of the same Their knowledge is not sufficient nor able to direct them in particulars and therefore doth leaue them in the ende Therfore the knowledge of the godly for the clearenes the certaintie and the sufficiencie of it is compared to the Sunne so the knowledge of the wicked is compared to lyghtnyng which doth not giue any lyght it doth not continue any time and when it is gone men are worse then they were before So doth it fall out with the wicked for beside that their knowledge cloth soone vanish there is in them greater and more dangerous darknes then there was before therein then we see our playne and manifest note of difference Secondly we must come to our affections Certayne it is that the wicked do desire the helpe of God but looke to the cause it wil shew a difference betweene the wicked and the godly The wicked do onely seeke helpe because of some extremitie which they suffer they onely defire to be in the fauour of God because they woulde be freed from griefe and therefore it is common with them to say Oh that I were out of this payne Oh that this sorow were taken from me by which speach they shew that so they myght be at rest or at their ease they would lytle weigh of the helpe and fauour of God But the godly finde such sweetenes in the fauour of God that for the desire thereof they can be content to suffer much and endure the crosse patiently so that at the last they may enioy Gods fauour Not the godly onely but the wicked also are greeued when they haue sinned but the wicked do therefore sorow because their sinne hath or will bryng some punishment vppon them And the godly sorow because they haue offended God and geuen him occasion to draw his fauour from them therefore his correction do they beare patiently but the remembrance of their sinne that toucheth them styll at the quicke and so then in their ioy and in their sorrowe may appeare a seconde difference The thirde difference is in loue for though both of them loue God yet it is after a diuers maner the one of sinceritie the other of wages A poore chylde that is taken vp fedde and clothed wyll loue him that doth thus feede cloth him but if he receaued no more of that man then of another he woulde lyke him and loue him no better then another Euen so is it with the wicked if their bellies be filled if their barnes stuffed and they haue their hartes desire they loue God in deede but it it onely for their belly and their barnes Thus did Saule loue God but it was for his kingdome Thus did Achitophel loue God but it was because he was a counsellour Thus did Iudas loue God but it was because he was chosen to be an Apostle and caried the bagg But what became of their loue histories do testifie Saule was a lytle afflicted and forsooke God Achitophel somewhat crossed in his deuises hangeth himselfe Iudas for gayne of money betrayed Christe his maister Some experience we may see of this among vs Courtiers wilbe professours and Schollers wilbe religious if Courtiers may come to be Counsellours and Schollers may be preferred to chiefest places but if promotion come not then their profession is forsaken and Religion layde aside Do the chyldren of God loue on this manner No the holy Ghost which they haue receaued in effectuall maner doth shedde the seede of loue in their hartes and doth worke in them a speciall lyking of his goodnes of his righteousnes and of his holynes and therefore of sinceere affection they loue him as the naturall chylde loueth his father naturally although he beate him yet beareth he it and styll loueth him so do the children of God deale They haue powred into them as S. Peter sayth a godly nature so that they freely loue God the father and though he afflict them or crosse them in their desires yet they loue him and in loue performe obedience vnto him continually therefore Iob sayth Though he kill me yet will I trust in him they therefore are sayde to haue receaued a free spirite and to serue God in the libertie of the spirite And who seeeth not this to be a playne and manifest difference betweene them therefore we may take it as a thirde marke or rule to proue and try our selues The fourth and last rule is in considering the worke and effect which Gods mercie receaued doth worke in vs for herein do the wicked shew their wickednesse two wayes First on the right hande the mercies of God doe worke in them wonderfull contentation but not such as causeth them to returne all glory to God nay rather it is such as causeth them to take all glorie to them selues for the graces of God do puffe them vp and make them proude and conceyted in them selues Hereof ariseth great