the sight of God and he found no stedfastnesse in his saints Ps 143.2 In his sight shall none that liueth bee iustified We euery day descrie in our selues many sinnes and yet cannot know how often wee sinne For who can vnderstand his faults and therefore it followeth Ps 19 1â— Clense me ô Lord from my secret sinnes Forasmuch therefore as there is no man which hath not sinned he onely is blessed Psa 32.2 to whom the Lord imputeth no iniquitie and whose sinne is couered Let it be sufficient to vs to the attainment of all righteousnes to haue him propitious vnto vs whom onely we haue offended Whatsoeuer he hath decreed not to impute vnto vs is as if it neuer had beene for who shall accuse-them whom God hath absolued Neuerthelesse lest any man should please himselfe as being innocent and so by extolling himselfe should fall the more he is put in remembrance that he sinneth daily in that hee is commanded to pray daily for his sinnes saying Forgiue vs our trespasses as wee forgiue them that trespasse against vs. When a man heareth a sentence out of the Word against couetousnesse being pricked in heart he hateth that couetousnesse he commendeth the contempt of all things and he accounts no more of golde than of the dust but so soone as his minde shall beholde what it may desire he forgetteth that which before hee commended Wee are manie times fraighted with our sinnes and wee confesse them vnto God but presently wee returne to the same sinnes againe for the most part wee repreliend our owne liues and yet we gladly doe that which wee reprooue in our selues The spirit raiseth vs vp to righteousnesse and the flesh bindeth vs to the custome of sinning the minde withstandeth the delights of the flesh but presently with the delights thereof it is captiuated Woe be euen to the laudable life of men if they should bee iudged without mercy because they many times offend God with that whereby they imagine they please him for many times our righteousnesse being brought to the touchstone of his diuine iustice is vnrighteousnesse and that is loathsome in the sight of a seuere Iudge that shines in the eyes of him that doth them Esa 64. All our righteousnesse is like a menstruous cloth If our life should be strictly examined in that fearefull examination none should bee found iust If God should only shew seueritie and in his iudgement should not adde mercie if he should obserue our iniquities and not pardon our transgressions no man could expect the glory of eternall felicitie no man could endure the rigour of so strict an account If the mercy of God were not extended ouer all no man could euer be saued for aâ— their own merits could not create them so their own righteousnesse can not saue them for whosoeuer is saued must be saued by the mercy of God and not his owne merits Perhappes it was good for thee as to such as are proud that thou hast fallen to the end that thou that were caried by pride beyond thy selfe to which condition by sinne thou wert obnoxious by thy fall thou mightest be put in minde of thy selfe and being taught to know who thou art lay aside the pride of thine owne presumption And as for a little durt thou makest not cleane thy garment but thou staiest vntill it hath gathered more filth so thou art fallen into greater sinnes that thou maist clense thee of thy lesse For a great offence by how much the sooner it is known by so much the sooner it is amended but a small fault whilest it is thought to bee none at all is so much the woorse by how much the more securely it is kept in vse and at the last a minde accustomed to small sinnes feareth not to commit the greatest and by so much the more is he carelesse in great sinnes to feare by how much the more he hath learned in light by not fearing to sinne Wherefore deare brother distrust not faint not despair not thou art fallen but thou maiest rise againe thou hast offended God but by repentance thou maiest please him againe He gaue thee commandements that thou shuldest not sinne and yet hee hath giuen to thee sinning the remedy of repentance that thou mightest not despaire for how much soeuer thou sinnest God will pardon if thou do repent CHAP. II. That there is no sinne so great but by true repentance it may be pardoned BVT perhaps thou wilt say I haue offended God more than any man and my sinnes are more in number than the sands of the sea many of my sinnes are of that nature of which S. Matthew speaketh in his twelfth chapter If any man sinne against the Holy Ghost he shall not bee forgiuen neither in this world nor in the world to come My iniquity is greater than that it can be forgiuen Res My deare brother thou liest as Cain did Gen. 4. the pietie of God is greater than thy impietie his mercie greater than thy miserie and therefore doubt not but thou maiest obtein pardon for thy sinnes because the goodnesse of GOD ouercommeth the malice of man All the sinnes that haue beene committed from the beginning of the world vnto this day are finite both in qualitie and number but the mercy of God hath neither number nor measure and therefore it farre exceedeth the number and greatnesse of all our sinnes God can pardon more than man can sinne All sinnes if they be compared to the mercy of God are as a drop of warâ—â— to the whole sea and as a spiders webbe which when the winde bloweth vanisheth away Thou seest the greatnesse of thy disease but not the power of the Physitian and therfore thou despairest of pardon and comparest the mercy of God vnto thy sinnes To despaire is nothing else than to compare God to our sinnes If God being ouercome by the greatnesse of our sinnes can not forgiue thou detractest from his omnipotencie if he will not what hee can thou makest him a lier in that hee will not performe that which by the mouthes of so many his Prophets he hath so often promised vnto vs saying I euen I am he that putteth away thine iniquities Esa 43.25 and will remember them no more Put thou mee in remembrance I despaire more of thee because thou despairest and thou condemnest thy selfe more by despairing than by all the sinnes thou hast committed Thou vndoest thy selfe for euer if with the father of mercy thou haue not recourse to the remedies of repentance It is the death of the soule to commit any sin but to despaire of pardon is to descend into hell it selfe and therefore Iudas is sayd to offend God more in that he despaired of mercy and hanged himselfe than in that out of malice he betrayed him for despaire maketh a maâ— accursed and vnworthy the protection of God But lest thou shouldest gather from hence that God will not pardon thy despaire and thy greater
AN EXHORTATORY Instruction to a speedy resolution of repentance and contempt of the vanities of this transitory life BY SAMSON LENNARD LONDON Printed by M. B. for Edw. Blount and W. Barret 1609. TO THE RIGHT honorable my very good Lady the Lady Dacre of the South I Am not ignorant right honorable virtuous Ladie how poore a help the light of a candle giues vnto the cleere light of the Sun nor how meane a meanes these my labours are to eternize the memory of those your honourable virtues which like the Sun in his sphere disperse their gracious raies to as many as know you or heare of your name You are like the Sun adorned with your owne light as with a garment like the rose in the garden an ornament to your selfe Your honorable progenitors honor you your honorable virtues your progenitors And therfore far be it from you to thinke that my meaning is hereby to giue light to the Sun honor to your honors but as Dauid out of a consideration of the manifolde blessings he had receiued at Gods hands cried out What shall I render vnto the Lord for all his benefits bestowed vpon me and presently answered I will take the cup of saluation and call vpon the name of the Lord so I entring into a consideration with my self what I might returne for those great and manifolde bounties receiued from the hands of your worthie and honorable husband when I had considered what I might consider being guiltie of mine owne inabilities to returne one for a thousand I was inforced to say with Dauid I will take and not giue I will requite by asking more My humble petition therefore to your Ladiship is that you would be pleased to honor this little booke with your honorable protection which though it be offered to the publike view of the world yet it was written for you as not vnbefitting your yeers your zeale your vnderstanding your religion your honour This if you do you shall adde vnto the heape of your manifolde virtues and if with an honourable minde you shall take this from his hands whose custome it hath euer been rather to receiue than giue you shall double your bounties be liberall in receiuing and giuing too And thus wishing to your Ladiship a long life in this world and an eternall in the world to come I rest Your Ladiships in all dutie to be commanded Samson Lennard THE CONTENTS The first part CHAP. I. THat the life of man is vnstable and therefore repentance not to be deferred pag. 1 CHAP. II. How dangerous a thing it is to deferre our conuersion to the houre of death 17 CHAP. III. That our last day is hidden from vs to the end that all the daies of our life should be as our last 30 CHAP. IIII. The great inequalitie betwixt our present pleasures and the paines of hell 50 CHAP. V. That it is better to repent when we are yoong than to put it off vntill we be old 63 CHAP. VI. â—hat no man can repent and yet follow his pleasures 72 The second part CHAP. I. THat restitution is an excellent testimonie of remission of sinnes 91 CHAP. II. That man must not feare his confusion with men that will finde grace and fauour with God 106 CHAP. III. That the grace of God is to be preferred before all temporall riches 123 CHAP. IIII. Almes vnlawfully gotten please not God 140 The third part CHAP. I. THat God doeth not forgiue vs our trespasses except we forgiue those that trespasse against vs. 149 CHAP. II. That no worke that a man doeth be it neuer so good can be acceptable vnto God so long as he is not in charitie with his neighbour 161 CHAP. III. That it is not lawfull to strike him that striketh 169 CHAP. IIII. That by the example of Christ it is no hard matter for a man to pardon his neighbour as often as he offendeth 186 The fourth part CHAP. I. THat God forgiueth sinnes when with a true and contrite heart we consesse them vnto God 206 CHAP. II. That nothing is hidden from God and that at the day of iudgement the secrets of all hearts shall be reuealed 217 The fifth part CHAP. I. THat God is not subiect to passion and neuer forsakes a sinner before a sinner forsakes him 235 CHAP. II. A sinner how he falleth from one sinne into another and so is hardned in his sinnes 256 CHAP. III. That there is no man so great a sinner but by the power of the Creatour he may be conuerted 277 CHAP. IIII. That God is faithfull who suffereth vs not to be tempted aboue our power 292 CHAP. V. That the feare of backesliding should not hinder the rising of him that is fallen 311 CHAP. VI. â—ow miserable the despaire of a sinner is at the point of death 330 CHAP. VII â—f the paines of hell 364 The sixth part CHAP. I. THat we are sinners and haue need of the mercy of God 398 CHAP. II. That there is no sinne so great but by true repentance it may bee pardoned 410 CHAP. III. Examples of such as haue grieuously sinned and afterwards haue beene saued by repentance 421 CHAP. IIII. That God denieth not mercy to him that conuerteth since be inuiteth him that is auerted from him to conuersion 438 CHAP. V. That a sinner being changed God changeth his sentence 453 CHAP. VI. That euen at the point of death repentance may bee profitable to saluation 472 CHAP. VII Of the ioyes of Heauen 484 THE FIRST PART of the exhortatory instruction to repentance and first of the speed to be vsed therein CHAP. I. That the life of man is vnstable and therefore repentance not to be deferred FIRST thou wilt perhaps alledge against thy selfe deare brother â—hat thou canst not vpon the â—udden free thy selfe from â—hy accustomed pleasures What a sinner obiecteth against himselfe and that when thou art old thou wilt be more willing to withstand the temptations and allurements of pleasure and repent thee of thy sinnes Res What man is there that liueth and shal not see death The necessitie of Death Heb. 9. It is appointed vnto men that they should once die from which generall sentence that no man should wax proud no man is exempted Which if it bee true I would but know of thee how long thou thinkest the pleasures of this transitory life may continue with thee For my part I can not imagine that the vttermost thou canst hope can be aboue fifty yeeres The vncertaintie of the day of death in which time see how many dangers hang ouer thy head First there is no man be hee neuer so yoong that can assuredly promise vnto himselfe to liue vntill night Death vshereth an olde man goeth before him comes behinde a yoong man takes him vnawares and to them both nothing is more certaine than death nothing more vncertain than the houre place meanes and maner of death Varro in his prouerbs Neither is it maruell if thou
sinnes from the bottome of his heart The mercy of God towards sinners hee will put all his wickednesse out of his remembrance Res This deare Brother I confesse to be true yea that he is more gentle and mercifull than can bee imagined or beleeued and that hee pardoneth whomsoeuer in time returnes vnto him but yet he that hath made this promise to him that repenteth hath not promised to morrow to him that puts off his repentance till to morrow and persists in his sinnes Did he not expresse his mercy and louing kindnesse sufficiently vnto thee in that with such patience so long a time hee hath tolerated so many iniuries done vnto him by thee and giuen thee time to repent Doubtlesse great is the mercy of God towards thee in this his long stay and attendance for thy repentance For hee staid not at all for the Angels when they should repent but in a moment in the twinkling of an eie hee cast them downe into Hell he staid not for Adam when hee sinned but instantly hee thrust him out of Paradise But thee hee hath tolerated and attended many yeeres God is slow to reuenge he hath dissembled forborne deferred to punish thee being alwaies ready to forgiue Esay 14. but yet this thou must know that as he is gentle in forbearing so he is iust in punishing and whom hee attendeth to conuert not conuerted with a heauy iudgement hee condemneth For God doth so much the more sharply and seuerely punish by how much longer he forbeareth a sinner and his sentence is so much the more heauy by how much greater his patience hath been in forbearing and for the most part by the iust iudgement of God it falleth out that he dying forgets himselfe who liuing forgot God how miserable then is the state of that man who presenting himselfe before so seuere a Iudge hath not so much time as to bewaile those sinnes hee hath committed It is therefore deare Brother a dangerous thing to make thy houre of death thy houre of repentance and to thinke that thou maist not die in thy sinne though thou cease not from thy sinne but still continuest in that estate wherein if death should suddenly assaile thee as many times it falleth out thy soule were vtterly lost and for that moment of time wherin thou art to liue thou leauest thy soule to the danger of eternall damnation which should be dearer vnto thee than the whole World CHAP. II. How dangerous a thing it is to deferre our conuersion to the houre of death BVt be it deare Brother that thou bee mindefull both of God and of thy selfe at the houre of thy death A hard thing truly to conuert at the boure of death and that God doe then giue thee sometime of repentance yet it is to bee feared that thou canst hardly in so short a time so momentary a contrition sufficiently bewaile all the sinnes of thy long life It will hardly bee brought to passe that thou that in the whole course of thy life hast beene accustomed to sinne shouldest vpon the sudden at an instant be made perfect that thou shouldest so speedily quit thy selfe of the snares of the Diuel wherwith in thy whole life forespent thou hast intangled thy selfe that thou shouldest then at the last fall from the Diuell and begin to fight vnder Christ his banner when the war is at an end Doest thou thinke that that tree that neuer was green neuer did flourish or yeeld any fruit can then begin to grow yeeld any when hee is cut downe and cast into the fire Neither can that man that in his whole life time neuer did any good then yeeld fruits worthy repentance when the axe is laid to the root to cut him off from the land of the liuing and to cast him into that fire that shall neuer bee quenched But how dangerous a thing it is and how neere to vtter destruction to put off our repentance to the houre of death S. Augustine telleth vs. August de poenitentia distinct 7. If any man in the extremity of his sicknesse shall repent him of his sins and be reconciled vnto God and so depart out of this life I confesse vnto you we cannot deny that he requireth but yet wee cannot presume that hee departeth the childe of God whether he depart secure out of this life I know not repentance wee may impose security wee cannot giue Shall I say he is damned No and yet I will not say hee is saued Wilt thou therefore bee freed from this doubt auoid this vncertainty Repent whilest thou art in health which if thou doe I dare boldly affirme thou maist be secure because thou repentest at that time when thou couldest haue sinned But if thou wilt repent when thou canst not sin thy sinnes haue forsaken thee not thou them Thus far S. Augustine Deferre not therefore thy repentance vntill thou cannot sin Seneca Plerique metu peccare cessant non innocentia profecto tales timidi non innocentes dicendi sunt for though it bee the will of God to pardon thy sinnes yet hee requireth a willingnesse in thy selfe not a necessity loue and charity not only feare They that at their end compeld by necessity turne vnto God seeme not to repent for loue of God but for feare of hell Then they 〈◊〉 vnto God when in the â—orld which all their life â—me they haue serued they â—n no longer continue â—heras if they might longer â—â—ide therein they would â—ot yet forsake those delights which they are neuer content â—o leaue till they can keepe â—hem no longer They leaue â—ot their sinnes but their sins â—caue them who are not led by their owne wils but necessity In the whole volume of the booke of God there is only one Luke 11. and that was the good theefe that truly repented at the houre of his death Ille vt nullus desperet solus vt nullus praesâ—emat He is left vnto vs for an example that no man should despaire he only that no man should presume Who thogh hee were by this last confession of his acknowledgement of Christ vpon the Crosse after a sort baptized and in that innocent state so departed yet such as are already baptized haue no warrant from thence to sin and to persist in their sinnes For they that would neuer bee conuerted when they might being conuerted when they could not sinne doe not so easilie attaine that they would For a sicke man hath many lets and hinderances that withdraw him from repentance Impediments to repentance First the presence of his carnal friends whom perhaps hee hath loued vnlawfully and beyond measure â—he remembrance of his pasâ—â—d pleasures and temporall â—essings which hee leaueth â—t without much griefe of â—eart an vnspeakable sorrow 〈◊〉 the separation of the soule â—om the burthen of the boâ—y insomuch that a man â—an hardly think of any thing â—lse but that griefe wherewith hee is tormented in his
man that thou art knowest thou not that that wound is taken in a moment of time that in a yeere is not cured againe It is speedily and easily receiued but the cure thereof is many times impossible An inheritance is not so easily recouered as lost and the conditions of a purchase are not so short as of an alienation For where the alienation is short the recouerie is for the most part impossible So the action of sinne is short but the recouerie of that which by sinne is â—ost were impossible if God â—ut of his mercy gaue not the â—edicine of repentance And â—herefore put not off from â—ay to day but whilest thou â—ast time doe good Say not with the sluggard Yet a litâ—le and yet a little I will sleep 〈◊〉 my sinnes and then I will â—ise againe and repent me of â—hem for whilest from day 〈◊〉 day thou deferrest thy reâ—entance thy time passeth aâ—ay without fruit and thou neuer repentest and so the â—udge commeth at a time vnâ—ooked for and inslicteth a punishment when thou lookest for a blessing Now is the time precious and that thou spendest without profit but there will come a time when it would glad thee at the harâ— if thou hadst but one houâ—â— to amend thy life nay thoâ—â— wouldest giue a thousand worlds to haue it and yeâ— thou canst not But happiâ— wert thou if the losse of time were al thy losse and that the heape of thy sinnes did not euery day increase but out and alas by those meanes thou shouldest please God thou stirrest him more to anger by how much the longer thou liuest by so much the more thou sinnest and by how much the longer thy life is by so much the greater thy sin is And so those times of thy lise which thou shouldest vse as helps to repentance thou makest helps to thy farther condemnation Now thou turnest thy time of repentance into sinne but the seuere Iudge when hee commeth will turne those offered times of mercy into thy greater punishment and condemnation Thy sinnes die not with thy yeeres Custome hardly remooued neither are they worne with the course of time but like a monster with many heads they grow and â—ncrease with thy yeeres and with the minuts of thy life thou addest sinne vnto sinue and thou multipliest them beyond all number The longer the â—â—st is in the iron the more it eateth into it with more difficultie is gotten out and by how much the longer thou art accustomed vnto sinne by so much the more hardly art thou drawne from it Now quit thy selfe of the snares of sinne lest the longer thou continuest the more thou be intangled and the more hardly thou escape them The mountaine of thy sinnes doth euery daie increase and therewithall the strength of thy yeeres doth decrease therefore whilest thy sinnes are fewest and thy body strongest thou shalt shake them off and beare the burthen of repentance with more ease There is no reason that thou shouldest put off the whole burthen to old age which of all other is the weakest or that thou shouldest thinke that that mountaine of sinne that hath beene so long a gathering should by a momentarie repentance when all thy spirituall faculties are decaied vanish away If a seruant that hath receiued from his lord and master many testimonies of his â—oue and liberality towards him shall in the best strength of his yeeres when hee is fitâ—est to do him seruice for sake â—im and betake himselfe to â—he seruice of his deadly eneâ—ie with a resolution afterwards when hee is weary with offending him to serue him again when his strength â—s weakned and his time â—hortned will you not thinke â—im an vndutifull seruant vnworthy any fauour at all If 〈◊〉 steward shall serue strangers and the enemies of his lord and master with the daintiest dishes at the Table and set before his lord the basest and coursest diet who can thinke that man a faithfull and honest Steward What sufficient punishment can a master lay vpon such seruants Are they not worthy euen in thy owne iudgement to bee bound hand and foot and to be cast into vtter darknesse where there shall bee weeping and gnashing of teeth And yet thy selfe art this wicked seruant and this vnfaithfull steward that seruest the Diuel in the strength of thy yeeres and purposest to serue God in the weak declining state of thy old age that sacrificest to the Diuell the flower of thy youth and 〈◊〉 God the leese and dregges â—f thy old age Matth. 18 And thereâ—re thou art worthy that a â—ilstone should be hanged aâ—out thy necke and to be cast â—â—to the bottomlesse pit of â—ell For it is iust and right â—â—at thou being dead shouldst euer want torment that â—hilest thou liuest wouldest euer want sinne that then â—est about to do good when â—ou must cease to doe good 〈◊〉 ill that then purposest to â—ght when the battell is at 〈◊〉 end and there wanteth â—e pricke of the flesh to bufâ—et thee and to resist the law â—f thy minde for he shall neâ—er be a valiant soldier in his weake and dying age that â—n the strength of his youth â—laies the sluggard and runaway And therfore my deâ—â—â— brother put not off from day to day to turn vnto the Lord no deferre it not vntil to morrow nay to the next houre nay moment of time but arise and at this verie instant begin to repent saying vnto thy selfe Thou hast plaid enough thou hast eat and drunke enough now is the time to fight These daies require a new life new maners CHAP. VI. That no man can repent and yet follow his pleasures BVt perhaps thou wilt say thou wilt repent Repentance and pleasure stand not together euery day performe the works of repentance but yet thou wilt withall follow the delights and pleasures of this life Know therefore deare brother that thou art heerin far deceiued for as it is impossible that fire should burn in the water so is it impossible that worldly pleasure should continue with repentance These two are conâ—arieties that the mother of aughter this of mourning â—hat dissolueth this bindeth â—hat addes a burthen heauier â—an lead vnto the soule and â—nketh it to the bottom this â—iueth wings vnto the soule â—hereby it is carried vnto â—eauen that in all things oâ—eyeth the flesh this maceâ—teth it bringeth it into oâ—edience that withdraweth man from God this reconcileth him that obey eth the diuell this serues God Thou canst not serue two masters God and the Diuell Thou canst not take vp that crosse wherwith thou crucifiest thy flesh and the concupiscence thereof and follow Christ and yet obey the concupiscence of thy flesh Luke 9. Thou an vnworthy of Christ if thoâ— bee not a companion with him in his crosses for thoâ— trauellest a contrary iourney from God if thou follow the pleasures of this life whâ—â— thy Captaine and Leadeâ— Christ Iesus holdeth the quite contrary
yet forasmuch as he is willing to minister vnto thee an occasion of pity and meeknesse hee considereth thy charity and mercie towards thy neighbour that hee may conferre vpon thee his charity and mercy And therefore hee commandeth When ye shall stand and pray forgiue if ye haue anie thing against anie man that your father also which is in Heauen may forgiue you your trespasses Mark 11.25 For if you will not forgiue your father which is in Heauen will not pardon you your trespasses So that thou seest that to obtaine forgiuenesse at Gods hands thou needest not to passe the Seas to make long iourneies to clime high mountaines to disburse great summes of money but the Lord that desireth rather to finde him that hee may pardon than that hee may punish putteth it as it were in thy own power to auoid the seuerity of his iudgement As long as thou continuest in this life thou canst not be without sinne and therefore it were wisdome in thee to embrace so gentle a condition as by forgiuing another mans sinnes to blot out thy owne being offended by another man to forgiue him if thou desire to be forgiuen of God to pardon a light offence to thy neighbour for whatsoeuer one man can commit against another is but light that God may pardon thee so manie millions of sinnes There is no better meanes after thy sinne to bee reconciled vnto God than that thou being offended with thy brother bee reconciled vnto him If thou seeke after the multitude and magnitude of the mercies of God doe thou likewise multiply and magnifie thy owne mercies towards thy neighbour that shewing mercie thou maiest receiue mercie For though God haue need of no mans helpe and be free from all sin yet he forgiueth his seruant those infinite wrongs hee receiueth how much more then oughtest thou that hast need of remission and art guilty of a thousand sinnes to forgiue the wrong that is offered by thy fellow seruant With what face canst thou looke that God should pardon thee thy sinnes when thou wilt not pardon thy neighbour his Wilt thou haue God to exercise his mercy vpon thee and wilt thou exercise thy seuere iudgement vpon thy neighbour Thou shalt haue no excuse at the day of iudgement because thou shalt be iudged according to thy owne sentence that thou halt done vnto others thou shalt suffer thy selfe Thou shalt haue iudgement without mercie that shewest no mercie vnto thy brother For what punishment art thou not woorthy of who maiest with so great facilitie obtain mercie at Gods hands and yet art content to betray thy owne saluation Our Sauiour Christ Iesus when hee prescribed a forme of praier vnto vs and taught vs to pray promised his fatherly mercy but yet he added a law that we should so begge forgiuenesse for our trespasses as wee forgiue those that trespasse against vs. Yea sorasmuch as hee knew that all men are lyers and that if their sins should bee first forgiuen them they would not afterwards forgiue their trespassers hee commanded we should first forgiue them before we aske forgiuenesse at his hands But thou with what hope canst thou pray that still reseruest rancour in thy heart against another For as thou praying liest when thou saiest I forgiue others their trespaspasses yet forgiuest them not so when thou praiest that thy trespasses may bee forgiuen thee of God they are not forgiuen For it is as much as if thou shouldest say forgiue not mee my trespasses committed against thee because I forgiue not others their trespasses against mee When thou powrest out such praiers vnto God who considereth the heart not the word thou art for a threefold cause made guiltie First because thou art a begger and goest about to deceiue God whilest thou praiest vnto him to forgiue thy debts as thou forgiuest thy debtors and yet thou forgiuest them not thou sparest them in nothing Secondly because though thou madest not this praier vnto God yet thou oughtest to forgiue thy brother his debts Thirdly though it were not thy dutie to doe it yet forasmuch as being warned by thy Iudge thou ceasest not thou exasperatest the anger of the Iudge against thee What hope of forgiuenesle canst thou haue if at that very instant when thou praiest vnto God and beggest mercy at his hands thou minister greater occasion to stirre vp his anger against thee As if a man should fall downe before thee and begge mercie at thy hands and in the middest of his petition should espie his enemie and surceasing to intreat thee should go about to murther him would it not mooue thee to greater anger against him than before Couldest thou possibly think him worthy of mercy thinke it is thus no otherwise with God himselfe But perhaps thou wilt say from this time forward or so long as I am not in charity I wil not say the Lords praier or at leastwise I wil omit that condition As wee forgiue those that trespasse against vs. Resp Except thou praie as Christ hath taught thee thou art not Christs disciple Hee that made this praier is hee that heares it if thou shalt omit this condition Christ will not know that praier that he hath made and as thou hast shut out mercy in thy praiers towards thy neighbour so God wil shut the gate of mercy against thee Wherfore deare brother if thou wilt haue thy sins forgiuen thee of God forgiue thou thy brother not onely with thy outward lippes but thy heart too not with a fained peace but a sincere loue so as by thy actions thou worke no reuenge and in thy heart thou reserue no malice Driue away all hatred from thy minde and loue thy enemie with all thy heart And forasmuch as the proofe of thy loue is the performance thereof in thy actions thou shalt alwaies do him good in thy affections wishing him the blessings of grace and of glorie of nature and of fortune as they may bee helpes and furtherances to saluation And thou shalt doe him good in effect too as time place shall serue especially in those things that appertaine to the health of his soule CHAP. II. That no work that a man doth be it neuer so good can bee acceptable vnto God so long as he is not in charity with his neighbour FOrasmuch as all sins are extinguished and blotted out by subsequent good works proceeding out of a true and liuely faith the sin of discord must bee verie great which if it be not vtterly extinct it suffereth no good worke to follow it For it is written Mat. 5.25 If thou bring thy gist vnto the altar and there remembrest that thy brother hath ought against thee leaue there thine offering before the altar and goe thy way first be reconciled to thy brother then come and offer thy gift Iudge then how great an euill discord is for which that must bee vndone by which sinnes are released the gift of an vncharitable man
wound hatred for hatred presently added But I say vnto you resist not euill but whosoeuer shall smite thee on thy right cheeke turne to him the other also Which law hee himselfe obseruing was readie for the saluation of vs all not only to turn the other cheek but in his whole bodie to be crucified that being taught by his example thou shouldest rather offer thy other cheeke than being stricken to strike againe for scholars must be followers of their master And yet wilt thou being stricken strike againe when thou art commanded rather to turne thy other cheeke But perhaps thou thinkest that if thou strike him thou hast giuen him cause to feare to strike againe yea thou hast prouoked him the rather to strike again for wrath is not pacified by wrath but more inflamed and an iniurie receiued by reuenge is not taken away but increased For what end can there be of mutuall iniuries if euery man proceed in the reuenge of his owne wrongs Enmitie on both sides increaseth hatreds grow strong reuenge more bloody If therefore he haue wronged thee haue recourse to thy superiours take a lawfull course against him by which meanes thou shalt right thy selfe better and hurt him more If hee haue iustly stricken thee be angry with thy own fault not with him because he persecuteth not thy selfe but thy sinne It is lighted vpon thee for thy owne correction Thou hast sinned but thou hast not yet receiued worthie punishment for thy sinne but thou art lesse hurt than thou deseruest and the reuenge is farre inferiour to thy sault the punishment comes farre short of thy desert It was his purpose perhaps to punish thy sinne it is thy part thankfully to accept of this discipline If thy conscience tell thee thou deseruest as much as he gaue thee why doest thou adde sinne vnto sinne by thy impatiencie Forgiue him therefore lest thou forgiue not thy self for hee could not persecute thee if hee were not permitted by the Lord either to punish some sin that is in thee or thereby to double thy ioy in that being wicked thou art corrected being good exerciseth If a childe had discretion hee would not hate the rod which his mother takes into her hand for his amendment But suppose thy enemie do offend thee vniustly perhaps thou hast as vniustly offended him and yet hee hath taken no indirect course to bee reuenged vpon thee but with patience hath borne thy wrongs or perhaps though he now wrong thee yet in former times hee hath pleasured thee as much and if so it is the part of an ingratefull minde by remembring one wrong to forget many benefits But let vs yeeld vnto thee that thou didst neuer offend him and that thou neuer receiuedst any benefit at his hands yet it is an vnworthy thing to make thy selfe more wicked by reuenging another mans wickednesse and to commit a new sinne by punishing another mans iniquitie Hee hath offended thee but yet such are his offences as they no way equall those for which thou beggest forgiuenesse at Gods hands As often as hee offendeth thee so often doth hee minister occasion to thee of the remission of thy sinnes at Gods hands if thou remit his Whereas if all men were perfect how couldest thou suffer any thing for Gods cause Many times it falleth out that thine enemie doth thee more good than thy friend for he whilest he accuseth thee of thy faults compelleth thee to flie from them ministreth vnto thee matter of patience and occasion to humble thy thoughts touching thy selfe whereas thy friend by flattering thee cheereth thee vp in thy infirmities prouoketh thee to iterate thy sinnes and whilest thou hearest thy selfe commended by him he is an occasion either of vaine glorie or error But perhaps thou wilt say that thy enemy is not worthy to be forgiuen Res Yea my deare brother is not thine enemy worthy to bee forgiuen and is there any worth in thee why God should pardon thee those manifold transgressions committed against him What wert thou when he laid down his life for thee wert thou not his enemie What hadst thou deserued at his hands that he should pardon thee The Creatour forgiueth his creature and shall not one creature forgiue another one sinner another sinner If God as often as thou hast offended him should as often haue reuenged himself vpon thee and entred into a strict examination of thy sinnes thou haddest long since perished and beene damned in hell With how great loue doth the Lord tolerate thee euerie day iterating thy old sinnes â— With how great mercy yea being grieuously offended doth he receiue him that repenteth him of his sinnes and turnes vnto him With how great liberalitie though thou euery day offend doth hee euery day suffer thee to inioy his benefits O euill seruant the Lord forgaue thee all thy debt Matth. 18.32 because thou praiedst him oughtest not thou also to haue pitie on thy fellowes euen as he had pitie on thee If therefore thine enemy be vnworthy to be forgiuen and that thou do good for ill yet there is worth enough in Christ that for his sake thou shouldest doe it with whom thou hast deserued to bee thus punished howsoeuer thou hast not deserued of thine enemie to be thus afflicted The good are scourged by God the Iudge of all by the ministerie and helpe of wicked men whom hee vseth as his torturers and the executioners of his iustice and as a louing father after the chasticement of his childe casteth the rod into the fire so our God the father of vs all those wicked that he vseth in this world for the chastisement of his children when hee hath finished his work he casteth into hell fire and reuengeth himselfe vpon them for the reuenge they haue done vpon his children according to that hee hath premised Rom. 12. Vengeance is mine and I will repay Hath not God sufficiently reuenged thy wrong vpon thy enemie in that for thy cause hee hath withdrawne from him his grace In that hee hath powred forth his wrath vpon him and condemned him to eternall punishment which deseruedly he inflicteth vpon him if without repentance hee depart out of this life And therefore thou hast not so much reason to be angrie with him as to bee mooued with compassion towards him Howsoeuer thine enemie rage against thee better is thy iust sorrow in bearing thy wrong than his vniust ioy in offering it Leaue therefore reuenge vnto God whose it is and when he hath reuenged thy quarrell sufficiently let not thy cruelty euer wound thine enemy and persecute him The seruant is not aboue his lord nor the disciple aboue his master nor man aboue God Thy fellow seruant thy condisciple thy brother the lord in his iustice hath corrected and murmurest thou that art in the same condemnation and contentest thou not thy selfe with his sentence but still thinkest the law is in thy owne hands and thou maiest bee Iudge in thy owne cause Perhaps by
that thou werâ— but to increase thy happinesse aboue that it was Onely be thou of a good courage and constant in the hope of thy saluation he hath satisfied for all thy sinnes he hath taken away the sinnes of the whole world how much more the sinnes of one man When thou wert not he made thee being conceiued in sinne in thy baptism he clensed thee how much more after this being againe polluted can he purifie thee Hee tooke the slime of the earth and made man tell mee if thou canst how of earth made he flesh how the sinewes how the bones how the skin how the veines the eies how framed he euery member Was it not earth he tooke vp was it not one onely substance only the art and virtue of the artificer was added thereunto and so he made this excellent creature As thou canst not tell how thou wert created so thou canst not tel how thou shalt be cured for as fire when it is put to briers and brambles suddenly consumeth so fraile a matter so the goodnesse of our Lord God with the deaw of his mercy suddenly quencheth the fire of our sinnes and for euer consumeth them For his will is that none doe perish but that all doe conuert and liue Thou knowest not how good and gracious the Lord is how great his mercies are Thou imaginest him to be seuere and cruell that is milde and gentle him hard and implacable that is mercifull fierce and terrible that is amiable and thine owne iniquitie lies to it selfe For the will of God is thy sanctification hee healeth the broken harted refresheth those that labour and come vnto him and in the beginning of our conuersion annointeth our wounds with the oile of his mercy lest the greatnesse of the disease or difficultie of the cure should seeme to bee more dangerous than it is And therefore saith the Prophet Isaiah Esai 55.7 Let the wicked forsake his waies and the vnrighteous his owne imaginations and returne to the Lord and he will haue mercie vpon him and to our God for hee is verie ready to forgiue Behold heere it is sufficient to please God if thou doe but rest from doing wickedly and learne to doe good Onely confesse thou hast sinned and the beginning of thy conuersion is alreadie done onely purpose a new life thou hast made one step to heauen Heerein is all the difficultie to begin to enter into the way of repentance which thou hast no sooner begun but he that gaue thee the grace to begin taketh thee by the hand and leadeth thee to the end Yea he that began thy good work in thee by preuenting by prosecuting will end it Hee that gaue thee the will will likewise giue thee the power to perfect it If thou put thy trust in him he will after thy strength thy youth shall be renued like the eagle thou shalt take vnto thee the wings of the eagle thou shalt runne but not labour thou shalt walk but not be weary because the Lord shal be with thee who shall comfort thee in all thy tribulations There is no man to whom this corruptible bodie and earthly tabernacle is not buâ— thensome but yet thou must endeuour to ouercome the concupiscence of the flesh by the vigor of the spirit and thou that alwayes feelest thy selfe to be resisted by thine owne concupiscence alwayes expect an assured assistance from God As the earth expecteth from heauen raine and light so shouldest thou expect from God grace and mercy Wherfore deare brother since thou wantest not an able and willing Physitian to cure thee and to clense thee from all pollution of sinne neither neglect nor defer it Thy repentance he will not despise if it be heartie and though thou haue sinned in the highest degree yet if thou returne he will gladly receiue and embrace thee and cure the sicknesse of thy soule Onely despaire not thou but that thou mayst returne to the state of thy first innocency if thou do but begin to affect a new life CHAP. IIII. That God is faithfull who suffereth vs not to be tempted aboue our power BVT perhaps thou wilt say When I begin to returne vnto God and set forward my selfe in the way to heauen and forsake my ancient custome of sinning I am presently assaulted with new desires of the flesh and whatsoeuer before hath been pleasing vnto me in this world is made a snare and a temptation vnto me and those things that were accustomed to loue mee being a sinner being a conuertite withstand my endeuors to liue well My ancient pleasures returne vnto my minde and whilest I resist them afflict mee with strange combats That sinne which in the sight of God is blotted out by repentance I call to minde againe sinne conquered brings mee delight And so by little and little being ouercome by new temptations I yeeld and returne to my old vomit again and so my last errour is worse than the first Res It is a token my deare brother that God with great loue and clemencie watcheth ouer thee in that he presenteth before thy eies thy bewailed sinnes which the mercifull GOD would not fet before thee to â—ewaile if his purpose were â—o call thee to a strict account for them and to punish thee for it seemeth that hee is willing to hide them from his iudgement because in his mercy preuenting thee hee maketh thee thine owne Iudge that being iudged by thy selfe thou maiest not be iudged by him The best way to satisfie the anger of God is an often detestation of sinne he that truly repenteth is alwayes in sorrow and labor he sorroweth for sinnes past laboreth to auoid sinnes to come When the Lord looseth thee from the band of thy sinnes he bindeth thee with a band of euerlasting detestation of them that whensoeuer thou remembrest them thou shouldest be sorry thou hast committed them Reioice therefore when thy conscience is touched with those sinnes that by repentance are wiped away if thou approoue them not nay reproouest them if it please thee not that thou hast committed them naie displease thee And yet I denie not that hee that is lately turned vnto God by repentance by the remembrance of his sinnes past may againe be tempted because as wood nourisheth fire so desires feed our cogitations and hee that entreth into the way of repentance is more strongly tempted by the enemie For our aduersary the diuell neglecteth the tempting of him of whose heart he hath alreadie taken quiet possession For if thou resist temptation thy labour is great but if thou yeeld though it seeme to bee nothing yet it is farre greater because whilest thou sleepest securely vnder the intollerable yoke of a cruell tyrant Eze. 13.10 thou saiest Peace peace and there is no peace There is no peace I say with God with the diuell no not with thy selfe For after that thou ceasest to resist temptations thinking therby to finde peace in this world yeeldest and
sinnes but onely thy lesser heare what he sayth in the three and thirtieth of Ezekiel At what houre soeuer a sinner repenteth him of his sinnes from the bottome of his heart I will put out all his wickednes out of my remembrance Hee excepteth no maner of sinnes neither litle nor great for hee that died for all can pardon all only be thou sorrowfull and turne vnto God and he is ready to forget and to forgiue If thy sinnes are many and great the mercies of the Lord are more in number and greater than they God will bee mercifull vnto thee and according to the multitude and magnitude of his mercies will hee pardon the multitude and magnitude of thy sinnes Whereas thou obiectest vnto me that in the twelfth by S. Matthew Whosoeuer shall sinne against the Holie Ghost it shall not be forgiuen him c. I answer that it is true That the sinne against the Holy Ghost that is that committed out of malice against the goodnes and mercie of God which is properlie attributed to the Holie Ghost is therefore said to be irremissible because it directly oppugneth the goodnesse and mercy of God which is the beginning of the remission of sinnes and so that is excluded whereby sinne should be forgiuen as that disease is said to be incurable which directly taketh away the remedies of the cure This sinne is said to be irremissible not because it can not be forgiuen to him that repenteth but because hee that so sinneth doth either despaire or presume of the mercy of God and so addeth sinne vnto sinne and neuer repenteth and so being obstinate in his wickednesse as seldome or neuer he comes to repentance so seldome or neuer he obteineth remission of his sinnes But yet we are not to despaire of any sinner whatsoeuer so long as he liueth and the long sufferance of God expecteth him to repentance He is a Pagan or a lew to day may he not be a Christian to morrow He is an heretike to day may hee not be a true Professour to morrow He is a Schismatike to day may he not embrace the peace of the Church to morrow We are not therefore to despaire of any man so long as hee remaineth in this life because sometimes that repentance which by the diffidence of our age is deferred by more mature counsel is perfected Whilest we are in this life there is no sinne no iniquitie which may not bee healed by the medicine of repentance if it be pure and sincere What offence can be greater in a man that is sicke than to kâ—â— his Physitian and if this may be forgiuen what may not be pardoned Christ Iesus being fastened to the Crosse prayed for his crucifiers saying Luk. 23. Father forgiue them they know not what they do If there were hope of saluation in those that killed their Sauior who should despaire of saluatioÌ„ The Lord inuited Iudas that betraied him to repentance to beg mercy at his hands when hee forewarned him of his treason when hee washed his feete when hee called him friend when he tooke a kisse at 〈◊〉 hands If then our Sauior diâ— not onely forgiue his crucifers but prayd vnto his father for them if he inuited Iudas to repentance how much more will hee pardon thee if thou do repent thou that art an adorer of his Maiestie not his murtherer a lamenter of his death not a derider of his passion a contempler of his mercies not a contemner of his infirmities Wherfore my deare brother let neither the qualitie nor the quantity of thy sinnes discourage thee from the assurance of thy hope yea though thou wert guiltie of all the sinnes which haue beene committed since the beginning of the world yet â—hou oughtst not to despaire because the goodnes of God farre exceedeth the malice of man If thou couldest sinne as much as God is good thou mayest despaire but since that can not be thoâ— that despairest of thy selfe being wicked trust in God who is better than thy selfe Hast thou sinned repent thee of thy sinnes Hast thou sinned a thousand times repent a thousand times Repent for the kingdome of heauen is at hand GOD would neuer haue exhorted thee to repentance if his purpose were not to pardon thee if thou doe repent Betweene repentance and the kingdome of heauen there is no distance of time but repent thou of thy sinnes and instantly the gate of mercie is set wide open vnto thee Thy sinnes make a separation betweene thee and GOD which obstacles if by repentance thou take away thou shalt sticke vnto God and be one spirit with him Yeeld fruits woorthy repentance contraries redeeme with contraries and thou which before diddest that which was contrary to God doe now that which is opposite to the diuell CHAP. III. Examples of such as haue grienously sinned afterwards haue beene saued by repentance BVt thou wilt obiect that in the 7. by S. Matthew Mat. 7 1â— Strait is the gate and narrow is the way that leadeth vnto life and few there be that finde it And that in the 4. of the first by S. Peter If the righteous scarsely be saued where shall the vngodly and the sinner appeare Res It is true my deare brother that few find the way of life but what is the reason Doubtlesse because few there are that seeke it But euery one that seeketh findeth that asketh receiueth and to euery one that knocketh it shall be opened Who is he therefore that findeth it not who receiueth not or to whom is it not opened Certes only to him that seeketh not that asketh not that knocketh not The reason why the righteous shall hardly be saued is this because there is no man found worthy saluation by his own righteousnesse for God will not saue vs by the works of righteousnesse which wee haue done but according to his free mercie in Christ Iesus It is the worke of God not our endeuour that we are saued for that little of goodnesse that is in vs nay which God worketh in vs is nothing if it be compared to that eternall blessednesse in the life to come Heauen belongs to the righteous only by the rigor of Gods instice but to the end that all may be saued it belongeth vnto sinners also by the bountie of Gods grace Christ hath deserued Paradise for vs all and hath restored vnto vs by his death his fathers inheritance Luk. 14. Hee calleth vs to that heauenly banquet hee will haue his house filled with ghests yea hee compelleth the weake and the blinde and the lame to come in that it may appeare that no man is shut out from those celestâ—all and eternall ioyes the number of the saints of God being out of the number of sinners euer supplied But forasmuch as examples moue more than words there is hope that thou that hearkenest not vnto my words wilt be stirred vp by the examples of other men that when thou shalt see many that were sometimes entred
of reuenge from him that contemneth that at one time or other he may offer his grace of remission to him that repenteth The Lord deferreth his comming if hee would hee had beene already come but yet he putteth off his comming lest hee should finde that in thee that hee must punish If hee would thy damnation whilest thou wert in thy sinnes he could haue cast thy soule into hell it is the mercie of the Lord that thou art not consumed For whereas thou fearest not God and yet liuest thou ceasest not to sinne and yet prosperest what is it else but that the mercifull God is willing by long expectation to correct thee whom by seeing thy sinne hee will not instantly destroy whose goodnesse that it may ouercome thy malice and patience mollifie the obstinacie of thy heart like a good mother by flatterie hee allureth thee vnto him whom he can not recall by threatnings in that hee draweth not from thee his blessings he suffereth the sun to shine vpon thee as well as vpon others and prouideth all things necessarie for thee as wel as for others O the vnspeakable mercy of God! we sin and he spareth we offend and he pardoneth we haue offended him in manie things hee withdraweth his blessings from vs in nothing whereby hee sheweth how good a God he is toward the iust who is so mercifull towards sinners In the Gospell euen with teares hee followeth Ierusalem which by her pertinacy in sinning had procured her owne damnation How often sayth hee would I haue gathered thy children together as the hen gathereth her chickens vnder her wings and thou wouldest not Our mercifull Father weepeth that he might not saue those that were desperately wicked and doest thou doubt hee will not be mercifull to thee turning vnto him There are two arguments in him of his naturall goodnes and clemencie his longanimitie in expecting and his facilitie in pardoning because hee both patiently expecteth sinners and louingly receiueth penitent sinners he both by his patience tolerateth the sinnes of men and by their repentance releaseth them that they may returne though late and be ashamed that they should be expected Whensoeuer they are conuerted hee forgetteth sinnes past and he promiseth future amendment Oh the great patience of God! hee spareth contempts pardoneth denials he seeth thee to sinne and yet hee suffereth thee first he forbiddeth thee to sinne and when thou hast sinned he attendeth thy repentance to pardon thee If thy seruant should speake proudly vnto thee and turne his backe towards thee thou wouldest no doubt seuerely correct his contempt but thou turnest thy backe to God and he turneth towards thee thou fliest from him and he followeth after thee hee seeth that his pitie and compassion is despised and yet he yet expecteth thee to pitie thee with al exhortatiō bountie inward inspiration Thou wilt not doe the will of God for thine owne good thine owne commodity how then should hee heare thee in the day of thy tribulation praying vnto him when thou refusest to heare him intreating thee for thine own good For how often hath God said vnto thee Turne vnto mee and yet thou hast not turned If he would not haue mercy on thee thou wouldest intreat mercy at his hands now hee would haue mercy and thou wilt not he inuiteth thee to repentance and thou neglectest it If thou feare not the iustice of God reuenging at the least blush at his goodnesse calling thee vnto him and thou that being stricken couldest haue suffered the punishment due vnto thy sinnes blush at the least being expected lest whom thou now seest calme and peaceable thou bee not able to behold angry and implacable For whilest he seeth those remedies which hee hath ordained for thy saluation turned to the encrease of thy sinne that loue which he hath conferred vpon thee hee turneth to thy greater condemnation that by so much the more he may punish by how much the more he hath expected Wherefore deare brother whilest our mercifull God forbeareth thee whilest hee staieth his hand from reuenge begge his mercie whose law thou hast contemned It is lawfull for him to aske pardon to whom it was not lawfull to offend Aske remission of thy sinnes by praier seeke it with watching and fasting doe what thou canst that thou maiest increase in well doing and by perseuerance thou shalt receiue what thou askest that importunitie is pleasing to a mercifull God which is odious vnto men Let the remission of sinnes bee intreated with instant praier that that God whom thy sinnes hath made angry thy dutifull seruice may pacifie and he that for thy sinnes was offended with thee by repentance may become louing and mercifull vnto thee CHAP. V. That a sinner being changed God changeth his sentence BVT thou wilt say God is not as man is that hee should lie Nu. 23.19 nor as the sonne of man that hee should bee changed And in the 18. of Ezechiel hee saith The soule that sinneth shall die This sentence of God is immutable because God can not bee changed Res It is true my deare brother that that soule that sinneth shall die because by sinne hee deserueth eternall damnation but repentance healeth this death of the soule Repentance restoreth what sinne detracteth by this the life of grace is repaired wherin the soule departing flieth vnto the life of glory neither doe forepassed sinnes more hurt him than forepassed diseases and wounds a sound man Though this soule haue sinned yet it shall not die because by repentance that sin is blotted out by which it was obliged to eternal death The cause ceasing the effect likewise ceaseth and God knoweth how to change his sentence if thou know how to change thy life If thou beleene not me beleeue God The wickednesse of the wicked shall not cause him to fall therein Eze. 33.12 in the day that he returneth from his wickednes And in another place Hier. 18.8 If this nation against whom I haue pronounced turne from their wickednesse I will repent mee of all the plagues that I thought to bring vpen them God who is immutable and impassible can bee affected with no change no passion and yet hee is said to change and to repent not according to the verity of the thing but according to the maner and similitude of man For as a man is saide to change and to repent when hee changeth his counsell and will not doe that euill which he had purposed to doe So God is said to change to repent when he bringeth not vpon a man that euil which he threatned Wherein hee changeth not his counsell for those things which hee appointed from beginning doe immutablie come to passe but that thing which of it selfe is mutable he altereth as it pleaseth him as the goodnesse or wickednesse of men require which argueth no change in God but in the will of man Hezekiah was sicke vnto death 2. King 20.1 and the prophet Isaiah came vnto him
and said Thus saith the Lord Put thy house in order for thou shalt die and not liue Then he turned his face to the wall and praied to the Lord and wept sore And afore Isaiah was gone out into the middle of the court the word of the Lord came vnto him saying Turne againe and tell Hezekiah Thus saith the Lord God of Dauid thy father I haue heard thy praier and seene thy teares behold I haue healed thee and the third day thou shalt goe vp to the house of the Lord And I will adde vnto thy daies fifteene yeeres The Nineuites heard Ionah the Prophet threatning them Ionah 3. Yet fortie dayes and Nineuy shal be ouerthrowen but the men of Nineuie fainted not in their mindes but though they doubted whether the Lord would be intreated yet they did all flie to repentance as to the gate of saluation beleeued in the Lord proclamed a fast and from the least to the greatest put on sackcloth and sate in ashes saying Who can tell if God will turne and repent and turn away from his fierce wrath that wee perish not And God saw their works that they turned from their cuill wayes and he repented of the euill that he had sayd that he would do vnto them and he did it not Hezekiah by praier and tears obteined of God that hee recalled his sentence past The repentāce of the Nineuites preuailed with God so much that hee reuoked his sentence touching the destruction of that city yet neither were they false Prophets who at what time they had deserued to die for their sinnes foretolde it but the great bountie of the mercy of God deferred their death and ruine at that time which before all worlds he had preordained If therefore these barbarous and heathenish people despaired not and though their sentence were past against them yet fainted not in their hearts why doest thou wretch that thou art despaire why faintest thou Thou robbest GOD of his mercy without which kings are not kings but tyrants That sentence The soule that hath sinned shall die is to be vnderstood of that soule which hath not repented of her sinnes as is sayd of humane iudgements That if any man hath done this or that he shall die the death and yet alwaies it is to be vnderstood except the partie condemned by the kings mercy be pardoned The iustice of God is not as the iustice of man in this by how much the more a guilty man confesseth his fault by so much the more punishment doth hee draw vpon himselfe but in that of God by how much the more a sinner accuseth himselfe by so much the more doth he finde the mercy of God towards him as God repelleth him that defendeth his sinnes so hee receiueth him that confesseth them If thou knewest the power of repentance thou wouldest not despaire of the forgiuenesse of thy sinnes our mercifull God doth gladly forget that wee are nocent and he is alwayes ready to esteeme our repentance as innocencie for if we repent vs of our sinnes wee haue alreadie escaped the rigor of a seuere sentence God imputeth not vnto vs our former life so wee repent vs of it but seeing our works changed he gladly changeth his sentence because hee would the life of a sinner not the death neither doth he take pleasure in the perdition of soules but his will is our sanctification To those that stand if they fall he threatneth punishment that fearing that they may not fall but yet he promiseth mercie to those that fall that trusting thereon they may rise again those he terrifieth lest they presume in their goodnesse these he comforteth lest they should despaire in their wickednesse As a kinde and louing mother threatneth stripes to her beloued sonne whom if acknowledging his fault hee beg mercy at her hands her motherly loue doth easily pardon so likewise our mercifull God patient of great mercy though hee be iustly angry with our sinnes yet asking pardon with much facilitie he is pleased Can a mother forget her childe Isa 49.15 and haue no compassion on the sonne of her wombe though shee should forget yet will not I forget thee sayth the Lord. A louing mother doth greatly desire the health of her sicke sonne but much more doth God desire the saluation of a sicke soule Though no humane goodnesse may be compared to the infinite goodnes of God yet forasmuch as there can be no greater example found of affection in the highest degree than of a mothers towards her sonne therefore the loue of God towards sinners is compared to a motherly affection There is no man so inflamed with the loue of his spouse as GOD with the loue of thy soule Greater loue than this hath no man Ioh. 15.13 when any man bestoweth his life for his friends Christ if thou hadst been alone hee had suffered and died for thee before he would haue suffred thy soule to haue fallen into the iawes of the diuell For for whom died he For the iust Aske Paul Christ saith he died for sinners If there had been no sinne in the world Christ had not shed his blood for what necessitie had there beene that God should shed his blood but to redeeme both thine and the sinnes of the whole world The least droppe of his precious blood did abundantly suffice for the redemption of all mankinde but yet to the end he might expresse his great loue towards vs he powred out his whole blood for vs he spake many things he did many things hee suffered many things to redeeme vs though those whom he created with his only word he could likewise haue repared with his only word He tooke vpon him our death that he might giue vs life he gaue life vnto vs hee receiued death from vs and yet not for his owne desert but for vs. He came into the land of our perigrination to take vpon him what here abounded reproches scourgings blowes spittings in the face contumelies a crowne of thornes the crosse and death these abound in our countrey to these and the like merchandize he came What gaue he heere for that he heere receiued He gaue exhortation doctrine remission of sinnes he broght vnto vs from that countrey many good things and in ours he endured many euill So much his loue preuailed that he would be with vs where we were and where he is we shall be with him Where I am Ioh. 12.26 saith he there shall also my seruant bee What doth God promise vnto thee a man That thou shalt liue with him for euer and doest thou not beleeue it Beleeue beleeue it is more that hee hath done than that he hath promised It is more incredible that a dead man should bee eternall than that a mortall man should liue for euer Thou art to liue with him for euer for whose sake hee is dead that liues for euer Secure thy selfe that thou shalt receiue his life whose death thou hast for an earnest
enticement to sin There is life without death rest without labor vnspeakable ioy without sorrow charitie without discord securitie without care beautie without deformitie How happie is that citie wherein there is euerlasting solemnitie and how pleasant a court that knowes no care Heere is neither labour nor old age nor deceit nor feare of enemies but one voice of reioicing one agreement feruencie of hearts because God shall wipe away al tears from their eies and sorrow from their hearts There veritie reigneth eternall saluation aboundeth there no man deceiues nor is deceiued none that is blessed cast out none that is accursed admitted There is assured securitie secure peace peaceable delight delightful happinesse happy eternitie in that blessedly eternall and eternally blessed life There the essentiall reward which belongs to the essence of blessednesse and without which the soule can not bee truely blessed consisteth in the cleere sight presence of God The sight or presence of God the first gift or grace of the soule and this is the reward of faith because those things that are heere beleeued bâ— faith are there seene in theâ— true forme and likenesse But both these are the gift of the inward man because God whilest we are in the waie is knowen of vs in spirit as it were in a glasse obscurely but in heauen our true home hee is seene face to face not with corporall cies but spirituall as the Prophets being absent in bodie saw manie things done in the spirit and by dreames sleeping knew many things by the spirit though their outward senses were bound And as in a glasse we see onely the image of the thing and that imperfectly so whilest wee heere know as it were by a similitude the inuisible things of God by those things that are made we come to the knowledge of God as it were by a glasse and obscurely but there directly-looking one vpon another wee shall see God cleerely and nakedly euen face to face one in substance three in the difference of persons As many as are there shall together see the whole essence of God bet forasmuch as by reason of his infinitenes he cannot totally be comprehended therefore he shall not be equally seene of all but by a spiritual vision of one more darkly than of another according to that measure wherewith euerie one shall be more or lesse enlightned with the light of glory For as the materiall sunne which equally offereth it selfe to the eies of all is not seene without the emission of the light or beame thereof into the eie of a man and yet all doe not alike see it and looke vpon it but diueisly more or lesse according to the diuers disposition of the eie to see so the eie of the minde being weake is not capable of that excellent light of God except it bee strengthned of God by a created and infused light of glory as it is written In thy light shall wee see light The light of the diuine substance is seene in the light of glory whereby the naturall light of the vnderstanding and the spirituall eye is eleuated more or lesse to the knowledge of God according to that great or lesse faith and charitie whereby it is caried vnto him The face therefore and forme of God shall bee seene more cleerely by one than by another as one and the same thing is better seene from farre by one than by another and one and the same writing beeing read by diuers is diuersly vnderstood which diuersitie proceedeth not from the thing or wrâ—ting but the diuers disposition of the seer and the reader And because God is euery where present by essence therefore he shall not there be seene by distance but whersoeuer the soule is there shall it see God present with it It shall see God in it selfe and it selfe in God God in others and others in God By an vnspeakable meanes shall it depart from it selfe and be turned wholly into the similitude of God Otherwise how shall God be in all if in man there remaine any thing of man 1. Cor. 15. The substance of man shall continue but in another forme another glorie For as a small quantitie of water powred into a great deale of wine loseth it owne nature and is turned into the taste and colour of the wine as burning iron changeth his proper forme and is made like vnto fire as the aire being inflamed by the beames of the Sunne is transformed into the same cleerenesse of light insomuch as that it seemeth not to be inlightned but light it self and as a looking glasse directly stricken with the beames of the sunne receiueth into it selfe the similitude of the sunne insomuch that a man may thinke it another sunne so the saints of God in heauen are totally penetrated with the cleere light of God in their inward parts and so being deiformed are transformed into the similitude of God So to bee affected is to bee deified as it is written Psal 82. I haue said yee are Gods that is by participation for there is one onely God by essence You are deified by him he deifying you And in another place 1. Iob. 32 When he shall appeare we shall be like vnto him for we shall see him as he is And as looking in a glasse a man seeth himself many things besides there present about him so the blessed seeing God together and at once with one and the same vision see themselues and whatsoeuer is necessarie to the perfection of their happinesse They see that their sinnes are forgiuen them not to their confusion but to glorifie the great mercy of God whereby whilest they reioice for their deliuerie from so great a miserie they alwaies magnifie his holy name For how should they giue thanks vnto God if they should not remember why they are to doe it If there bee there so great comfort for sinnes forgiuen how great is there for good works done Though euery mans conscience lie open to one another yet there is no man there more ashamed of his sinnes than he is heere of his wounds that are healed or than an old man of those things he did in his infancie as Peter is no way abashed at his triple deniall nor Mary Magdalene and diuers others at their sinnes formerly committed now pardoned Touching their knowledge if the Prophers as yet mortall men could know manie things past present and to come how much more can God who is a voluntarie and free looking glasse represent whatsoeuer to whomsoeuer and whensoeuer and therefore an old doting decrepid woman in that glory knoweth more than all the Philosophers in the world can know in this life There they know by what meanes the father begot the sonne equall vnto him and that from both the holy Ghost proceeded coequall vnto both What doe not they know that know him that knowes all things They haue alwaies libertie to behold God alwaies to haue him alwaies to possesse him alwaies to
thy selfe that art aboue all price Christ once died for our sinnes the iust for the vniust and doest thou thinke the heaping together of riches to bee more precious than the redemption of thy soule by the blood of Christ For when thou takest another mans goods thou art taken by the Diuell and as long as thou detainest them thou art detained by the Diuell Thou possessest gold and losest heauen thou detainest another mans goods vniustlie and iustlie losest thy heauenlie inheritance The gaine is vniust the losse iust the gaine in thy chest the losse in thy conscience and therefore if thou be wise let that worldly gaine perish that bringeth with it the losse of thy soule What good is it vnto thee if thou gaine the whole world and lose thy owne soule if thou get vnto thy selfe whatsoeuer is without thee and damnest thy inward essentiall part euen that that thou art Woe to thee that spoilest Esay 33.1 when thou shait cease to spoile shalt thou not bee spoiled Those riches that thou hast deuoured When wee die wee leaue all behind vs. thou shalt vomit vp and God will draw them out of thy belly When thou shalt sleepe in death thou shalt carie nothing with thee thou shalt open thine eies and finde nothing Naked thou camest into the world and naked thou goest out thy riches were neither born with thee neither must they depart with thee for as when thou fittest downe at a rich mans table there are set before thee vessels of gold and siluer the vse whereof thou only hast which if out of simplicity thou thinkest to bee thy owne and wilt take them away with thee thou shalt not bee permitted so to doe but rather as a theefe bee apprehended and cast into prison Euen so thou broughttest nothing into the world neither shalt thou carrie any thing out for poore thou camest into the world and poore thou shalt depart At thy death all that thou hast shall bee diuided into three parts Thy body which thou hast so carefully pampered shall be giuen to the wormes Thy soule which thou hast so carelesly neglected shall goe to the Diuell Thy temporall goods which by deceit and villanie thou hast scraped together shall be left vnto thy heires either prodigall or vnthankful who shall make themselues merrie with the fruit of thy labours thy vnrighteousnes whilest thou for them art tormēted in hell Heere they shall enioy thy gooods whilest thou in hell art depriued of all ioy and euerlastinglie tortured for getting those goods heere they shall laugh whilest thou in hell doest weepe Thine heires too if God bee not the more mercifull when they haue heere runne their race shall bee companions in thy torments which companie of theirs shall bee no comfort vnto thee but because thy goods ill gotten were a helpe to their damnation thy damnation shall still be increased If therefore thou pity not thy selfe yet pitie thy children and thy childrens children to the third and fourth generation ouer whose head there must euer hang a iudgement so long as thy euill gotten goods which like a cankar fret and consume the rest of their substance stickes by them And by their wils it is likelie they shall euer sticke by them for how should they after so manie yeeres past make restitutiō of that which is lawfully descended vpon them though vnlawfully gotten by thy selfe Yea it is likely that a long successiue inheritance will so knit their affections thereunto that if they knew the restitution of them would free thee from thy torments they would not doe it And no maruell neither if others loue their owne riches more than another mans soule since thou louest them more than thy owne soule How many like vnto thy selfe haue endeuored to bee rich in this world and haue no sooner gotten them but are inforced as soone to leaue them From whom sudden death hath suddenly and together taken away what soeuer their wickednesse hath neither suddenly nor together gotten to themselues They haue left their riches ill gotten found punishment neuer sought for Their bodies in the graue are deuoured with wormes their souls in hell tormented by diuels And euen so thou deteinest with thy selfe many things vniustly gotten which perhaps because thou art shortly to die thou shalt neuer spend and yet thou shalt giue an account of them vnto God and for them bee damned in hell and it shall nothing pleasure thee among thy torments nay it shall hurt thee much that thou didest heere possesse them But behold almightie God who iudgeth our transgressions and hath called those first to iudgement doth still expect thee to repentance and doth beare with thee that thou maist turne vnto him He hath already pronouneed his sentence against them lest thy soule should likewise perish with theirs hee patiently expecteth thy conuersion and prorogeth his vengeance But thou still persistest in thy sinnes nay thou euery day heapest sinne vpon sinne For as often as thou thinkest with thy selfe that thou keepest another mans goods wrongfully against the wil of the true owner and yet purposest still to keep it not restore it so often thou committest a new sinne Now consider with thy selfe how often by this meanes thou hast sinned Thou hast many times since the detention and possession of thy vnlawfull gaine repented thee of thy sinne but God knoweth to small purpose for thy repentance is sinne August And therfore saith S. Augustine If goods vnlawfully gotten may bee restored and are not repentance is not done but dissembled If thou haue a troublesome creditor thou speedest thy paiments thou giuest him what thou hast and thou borrowest of others if thou want thou fearest if thou shouldest defer thy paiment anie longer he will bee more troublesome and either defame thee or cast thee into prison Fearest thou then a temporall punishment and doest thou presently make satisfaction and yet nothing fearing the eternall punishment of thy soule doest thou not care to make restitution O miserable man and of a preposterous iudgement doest thou feare the punishment of this life and fearest thou not the sorrowes of hell Wherefore deare brother quit thy selfe of those fading corruprible goods which thou vniustly deteinest restore vnto thy neighbor that which is his owne that thou maiest be restored vnto God lest thou lose thy temporall riches and finde the eternall damnation of thy own soule Without the great mercy of God thou canst not attaine to the ioies of heauen except thou make restitution of the vttermost farthing The way to come vnto thy owne is to restore that which is another mans CHAP. II. That man must not feare his confusion with men that will finde grace and fauour with God BVt perhaps thou wilt say if I should make restitution for all the wrong I haue done I should wrong my selfe and whereas I am rich become poore and vnable to maintame my charge and that pompe and credit I liue in and
iust and hateth sin and will not suffer it to goe vnpunished but yet he is likewise mercifull and pardoneth sinne to him that repenteth hee keepeth iustice in mercy and mercy in iustice and therefore it cannot bee but that a iust God will iustly haue mercy vpon thee And therfore can it seeme vnto thee but iust requisite that thou confesse thy selfe a miserable creature that thou maist obtaine mercy Wilt thou that thy sinnes be forgiuen thee and yet wilt thou not seem a sinner What can it profit thee to haue a close a hidden conscience since thou hast God a witnesse of all thy wickednesse Whatsoeuer thou doest God is a spectatour and a perpetuall obseruer of all euen the least thoughts of thy heart And as when wee know that our enemy lies in wait for vs by so much the more we fear him by how much the lesse we see him when we cannot find his snares where they are we fear them where they are not So the creatour of Heauen and Earth who being whollie euerie where seeth thee and cannot be seen of thee is so much the more to be feared by how much the more being inuisible when and how and what he seeth of thy actions thou knowest not Sin there where thou knowest him not to be and if there be no such place but that hee is euer present with thee and seeth all thy secrets how much reason hast thou to watch thy hands and thy tongue and thy hart too that doest all things in the presence of an alseeing God Which if thou wouldest duly consider of thou wouldest bee ashamed of many shamefull actions thou committest in the sight of so great and so omnipotent a God The Fifth Part of the exhortation to repentance CHAP. I. That God is not subiect to passion and neuer forsakes a sinner before a sinner forsakes him FIftly thou wilt say that thou couldest bee content to repent but that God who hath mercy on whom he wil Rom. 9.18 whom he wil he hardneth for thy manifold and grieuous offences hath withdrawen his grace from thee hath forsaken thee and hardned thee in thy sins And therfore since it is not in him that willeth Ibidem nor in him that runneth but in God that sheweth mercy to shake off the yoke of sinne from thy shoulders thou despairest of power to decline from euill and to do good because thou hast made God without whom thou canst not so much as thinke a good thought thine enemie Ibidem Res O man who art thou that pleadest against God Shall the thing formed say to him that formed it why hast thou made mee thus Forasmuch 〈…〉 is made of the earth 〈…〉 worthy to enter into the bottemelesse depth of the iudgements of God neither are the senses of thy flesh sufficient to penetrate into the secrets of so high a maiestie Better is faithfull ignorance though ignorance of good things cannot be good than rash knowledge God hath created thee not to prie into him but to honour him to the end thou shouldest bee an obedient seruant to his precepts not a Iudge of his actions It should suffice a Christian who liueth by faith and as yet seeth not what is perfect but onely hopes to see it to beleeue that with God there can bee no iniustice though the cause of his iustice may bee vnknowen otherwise he that searcheth into the maiesty of God shall bee oppressed by his glory But yet thou iudgest of God in whom there is no gall nor bitternesse who is immutable impassible as thou iudgest of men It seemeth iust vnto man to reuenge his wrong to God to remit and forgiue an offence to him that is penitent It is the maner of a master when he is offended by his seruant to forbidde him his sight to turne his face from him to denie him forgiuenesse but yet betwixt God and thee it is otherwise for thogh thou by the pride of thy heart be turned from God and God in iustice turned from thee yet when with an humble contrite heart thou turnest to him hee disdaineth not with mercie and compassion to turne vnto thee And yet notwithstanding he that from all eternities hath beene alwaies immutable is no way subiect to change or alteration the simplicitie of his nature no perturbation can wound no passion can affect But forasmuch as wee can not speake of God but after the maner of men therefore wee call the temporall punishment of God his anger the sentence of eternall damnation his furie the free bountie of his goodnesse his mercie and so of the rest because these are the works of a man angrie furious mercifull and diuersly affected but yet so that alwayes we censure him a good God we seeke him in the simplicitie of our hearts and we assure our selues there is nothing in him that is not God himselfe For he executeth a heauy iudgment without passion and punisheth the vnrighteous being milde and mercifull Neither in these or any his other works whatsoeuer is there in him any alteration or shadow of changing And as heere by the heat of the sunne manie things are brought to passe without any change in it self or in the heat thereof but onely in those things vpon which it worketh so the God of the whole world according to his eternall will doth euery day create many things and giues them existence without any motion or change of himselfe But yet as a mariner when the ship lancheth from the shore thinks the shore parts from him whereas that remaines firme and immoueable he departeth from it And as if a man shut his eyes refusing to beholde the sunne there is no alteration in the sun but in his eyes so God whilest he doth any thing that seemeth new vnto vs though it were in his will before all beginnings and either sheweth mercie or powreth his vengeance vpon a man whilest man by sinne is turned from God there is no change in God but only in man carying himselfe after a diuers maner But thou departest from God not by any locall distance because as the soule of a man is all in all the body and all in euery part thereof and yet because it hath the greatest operation in the hart is sayd especially to reside there so God though especially he be said to be in heauen because there hee communicateth his glorie to his saints yet he is wholly euery where substantially and filleth the globe of the whole world though to our carnall eyes the simplicitie of his nature bee inuisible This his presence in all places is knowen euery where whilest in all things that are created there appeareth his cooperation sustentation and gubernation without which they would presently vanish and fall to nothing as the presence of our owne soules can no otherwise bee descried than by the vitall operations thereof in it own body Thou departest therfore from God not by any locall separation because thou
with his grace It is a hard thing and onely possibly to the power of God to soften the heart of a man for that which neither by the patience and long sufferance of God is woon to repentance nor is toucht with compunction that which is not broken with feare nor sofrned with loue but is hardned as well with scourges as with benefits lastly that which feareth neither God nor man who can rent in sunder but he that in his passion rent the vaile of the Temple Matt. 27 51. and cloue the stones Who can take away a stonie heart and giue a fleshy heart but hee from whom commeth euerie good and perfect gift euen the Father of light A great sinner hath need of great mercie that where sinue did abound grace may superabound The Lord is faithfull Wisd 1.13 hee hath not made death neither hath hee pleasure in the destruction of the liuing hee will not the death of a sinner but that he conuert and liue For he whose desire it is that sinners doe repent and therby returne vnto God wil not suffer vs to bee tempted aboue our strength but with the temptation will giue vs power to resist and by how much the more fraile we are and in greater necessitie so much the more ready is he to helpe vs if the fault bee not our owne as in the siege of a citie the greatest aide is sent to defend that place that is weakest and where the enemie is strongest The Lord is faithfull and hee that saieth Come vnto mee all yee that labour and are heauie laden and I will refresh you cannot denie himselfe For as a Physician suffereth many wrongs and railing speeches of his lunatike patient and yet is not angry with him but doeth neuerthelesse whatsoeuer the nature of the disease doeth require to the curing thereof wherewith though the sicke man bee afflicted yet on the part of the Physician his affliction is no reuenge of the wrongs receiued from his patient but the cure of his infirmitie in as much as if the sicke man being to recouer health the Physician receiueth ioy and comfort therat with greater alacritie proceedeth in his cure and forgetteth his former iniuries euen so our Lord God whose propertie it is to haue mercy and to forgiue who iudgeth with loue and with great respect disposeth of vs when we are in our greatest madnesse of sinne is neuer moued against vs with any affection of reuenge for those sins we hane committed And forasmuch as he is impassible he punisheth not our sinnes in this life with passible anger but with vnspeakable clemencie with the affection of a Physician not a torturer and that hee doeth not for himselfe as reuenging his wrongs for the nature of God is not capable of any such thing but for our correction and benefit As a louing mother is angry with her sonne that hath offended her reprehendeth him chidech beateth him whom neuerthelesse if she shall see to runne into any danger of his estate or life she presently helpeth him putteth foorth her hand nay endangereth her owne life to saue his and that childe whoÌ„ being angry she did beat as if she had not loued him now she holdeth him vp and saueth him as if she had not been angry when shee beat him Euen so God chastiseth vs for our finnes to protect vs sinners and for the most part out of his mercy he sendeth a temporal punishment lest out of his iustice he should inflict an eternall reuenge And if any man shall persist in his hardnesse and with Pharo grow more whose 〈◊〉 the 〈◊〉 hath long expected not connerted he adiudgeth to â—ernall damnation As a 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 in his garden or 〈◊〉 planteth a tree not that 〈◊〉 should bee cut downe 〈◊〉 cast into the fire and 〈◊〉 when after a long expestâ—â— on he seeth it to bring 〈◊〉 no fruit he cutteth it down and burnes it So our 〈◊〉 full God cutteth off no 〈◊〉 from the land of the 〈◊〉 that yeeldeth any fruit 〈◊〉 testimonie of a true faith 〈◊〉 in that hee willeth the 〈◊〉 of a sinner it is by 〈…〉 sinne committed not of 〈◊〉 selfe but by his conseqâ—â—â— will as Diuines call it 〈◊〉 by he willeth for some 〈◊〉 alreadie done or before all beginnings foreseene and according to this will he would that all reprobates should bedamned whoÌ„ afterwards by his anteced ent will he would saue by al meanes ministing them occasion to attaine saluation As it is the will of a Law-giuer that all his Citizens should bee good and peaceable farre from committing those offences which vpon paine of death he hath forbidden and yet if his ownsonne bee he neuer so deare vnto him transgresse the law hee must die the death though it bee much against the will of his 〈…〉 by his owne 〈…〉 serued death 〈…〉 ture which in our 〈◊〉 rents was whole and entire by their sinne is wholly corrupted and hath altogether lost both righteousnesse and immortality wherby it could beget no other but corrupt vnrighteous and mortal children who as in Adam sining they haue sinned so in the same Adam dying they are dead And therfore whosoeuer hee bee that hath escaped death let him giue thanks vnto God in that hee hath escaped death that was due vnto him and found life not due vnto him To him that is deliuered mercie is shewen without desert to the end hee may giue thanks vnto God vpon him that his damned iustice is executed with desert to the end hee should reprehend nothing in God that neither he should glory in his owne worth nor this complaine of his owne vnwoorthinesse For how should God iustly be accused in his iudgements when hee iustly condemneth a guiltie offender When a debt is truly demanded how can the creditour be iustly condemned So that neither in requiring nor remitting what is due is God with whom there can be no iniustice vniust There is mercy acceptable where reuenge is iust that thereby it may more plainly appeare to him that is freed from iust punishment freely iustified how great a benefit is conferred vpon him in that another not more guiltie than himselfe without any iniustice in him that punisheth is iustly chastized Ro. 11.33 O the depth of the riches both of the wisedome knowledge of Godâ— how vnsearchable are his iudgements and his waies past finding out For who hath knowen the waies of the Lord or who hath beene his counsellour From that which hath been spoken thou maiest gather deere brother how thou runnest from one sinne into another and by long custom art hardned in them thou working it in thy selfe and God withdrawing hiâ— speciall grace from thee God is patient and of lonâ— sufferance hee tollerateâ— thee for beareth and expecteth thee to repentance being alwaies readie to take from thee thy stonie heart and to giue vnto thee a fleshie hart and to mollifie thy benummed insensible hardnesse with the deaw of his grace And though he
desireth the more to haue thy companie to death whom thou canst not better obey than if thou daily sinne by his suggestion and being fallen carest not to rise againe Wherein whilest thou yeeldest thy consent thou seemest to haue made a sure bargaine with him and because thou art irrecouerably fallen thou must necessarily be his companion in his fall too To liue to thee that art infected with the dangerous plague of so many sinnes is not to liue but to confound life and to approch neerer and neerer to the gates of hell Thou art aliue in thy bodie but dead in thy minde That life is not to be called life whereby thou liuest only vnto death for it were better for thee that euery day doest die in thy soule that in bodie thou die quickly better that thou liue not at all that thou wert not borne than by sinne to die daily As often as thou sinnest so often thou deseruest eternall death which if for one sinne thou deserue what doest thou for many for millions of sinnes For so manie and so great sinnes how intolerable shall hell be when for one so many and so vnspeakeable torments must be endured For there shall euerie man haue his damnation so much the more intolerable by how much the greater iniquitie he hath heere But to thee that hast no good thing to alleage for thy selfe but whole mountaines of sinne against thy selfe it is not possible to vtter what plagues and punishments do belong I can not woonder sufficiently how thou canst sleepe securely and enioy thy pleasures without feare For if thou wert odious to a King whom thou hast offended and diddest euery houre expect from him the sentence of a cruell death wouldest thou laugh and attend thy pleasures Now then â—ince for thy many and great offences the sentence of eternall death is pronounced against thee and the Lord to the end he may haue mercy on thee still expecting thy conuersion hath deferred his sentence which perhaps to day nay this very houre he will execute vpon thee how canst thou as it were in an assured peace be secure Thou art in greater danger that goest to thy rest with a conscience clogd with one mortall sinne than with seuen of thy deadliest enemies Doubtlesse if thou diddest but see thine owne soule thou wouldest blush at the foulenesse thereof and if thou knewest how great dangers thou runnest into by sinne thou wouldest thinke of nothing more than how to auoid it By sin thou makest God thine enemie the diuell dry lord and thou that wert first by adoption the sonne of God after sinne art made the seruant and slaue of the diuel yea of sinne it selfe and that which is woorst of all of so many lords as of sins Whosoeuer committeth sinne Ioh. 8.34 is the seruant of sinne A wicked man though he reigne is a seruant of sinne a iust man though he serue is a free man nay hee wanteth not kingly power that knoweth how to rule his owne affections God so hateth sinne that for the hatred thereof he destroyed almost all his works the whole world by a generall flood yea to the end he might vtterly kill it he gaue vnto death yea the shamefull death of the crosse his only begotten sonne And is not his hatred great towards his enemie that to be reuenged vpon him will kill his owne sonne God neither in heauen nor vpon earth hath a friend so deare vnto him but if he finde him polluted with mortall sinne he is presently odious vnto him and that vessell of sinne that is that sinner hee throweth downe into hell fire for a wicked man and his wickednesse are alike odious vnto God As if thou haddest rather to cast a vessel ful of corruption yet of great price into the sea than to scoure and clense it of the filth therof must not that filth and corruption be very hatefull vnto thee for which thou art content to lose so precious a vessell And as a louing mother if shee should cast her little infant whom she dearly loueth into a burning furnace there to perish must it not be some great matter very hatefull vnto her that can vrge her to such crueltie against her owne childe Sinne as much as it displeaseth God so much it pleaseth the diuel insomuch that from the creation of the world he hath euer watched without wearinesse how to allure men vnto sinne and though he obtein his purpose with innumerable numbers of men yet he is neuer satisfied After thou hast once sinned thou art so farre foorth in the power of the diuell that presently by his owne right he may challenge thee to be his and cartie thee with him to eternall torments if he were not staied by the great mercie of God expecting thee to repentance It were better for thee to haue a thousand diuels in thy body than one deadly sinne in thy minde And therefore saith Anselme If I should here see the shame of sinne and there the horror of hell and that I must necessarily bee ouerwhelmed by the one I would rather cast my selfe into hell than suffer my selfe to fall into an insensible feeling of my sinnes yea I had rather being purged and purified from sinne to enter into hell than polluted with the contagion of sinne if it were possible it might be so possesse the kingdome of heauen If sinne be more to be detested than hell what can be more detestable than sinne If there were no sinne there were no torment in hel No aduersitie could hurt if no iniquitie did beare rule for it is only sinne that can hurt and bring to passe that no other thing can do good So long as thou continuest in sinne thou canst doe nothing that is good For as a root giueth no moisture to a rotten bough nor the sunne any light to a blinde eye so thou as a rotten and dead member of the Church for who will say thou art liuing that hast no feeling of compunction in thy heart art depriued of al that good that is or can be in the Church and thou art robbed of all that good that euer thou hast done in thy whole life and of all those virtues and graces which at the first thou receiuedst at Gods hands in as much as they stand thee in no stead to the attainment of eternall life as a dead man hath no power either to enioy his owne goods or to get others And besides a thousand other euils that follow sinne the miserable torment of thine owne conscience followeth thee whithersoeuer thou goest For sinne whilest it is committed pleaseth being committed it tormenteth for the worme thereof neuer dieth and in this life the torment thereof is but an entrance to that which is to come Ps 49.20 O man when thou wert in honour thou vnderstoodest not but wert compared to the beasts that perish and art made like vnto them Thou that through the merits of Christ Iesus wert made woorthy of heauen and all
spirituall graces by sinne art made vnworthy the bread that thou eatest and being depriued of thy greatest good art fallen into thy greatest miserie As vertue is the beauty of the soule so sin is the deformity thereof If thou sawest thy soule thou wouldest blush at the basenesse and misery thereof and wouldest endeuour to recouer the grace of her ancient dignitie If thou haue an arrow in thy body thou hastenest to plucke it out and if thou fall into the durt thou arisest presently The hurt silth of thy bodie doest thou with such diligence desire to free thy selfe of and yet art thou content to suffer thy soule to wallow in her pollution And though the soule was not made for the bodie but the bodie for it yet thou neglectest the care of thy soule and followest that of the bodie with all that is in thee Thou that neglectest thy soule though thou take care to trim vp thy body yet thou neglectest them both whereas if thou tookest care to adorne thy soule though thou neglect thy body thou sauest both CHAP. VI. How miserable the despaire a sinner is at the point of death Consider a little my deare brother how often and how grieuously thou hast offended thy Lord God yea more often more grieuously than many who are now deseruedly tormented in the fire of hell and then call vnto minde how great a benefit God hath bestowed on thee in staying and attending that he might haue mercy on thee in yeelding vnto thee out of his mercy a time of repentance who long since shouldest haue beene tormented in hell fire Whereas if God a iust Iudge strong and patient in al those houres and moments wherein thou hast offended him had permitted thee as he hath diuers others to haue died a sudden death alas where had thy soule beene The Lord hath brought thy soule out of hell Psal 30. hee hath reuiued thee from them that goe downe into the pit and yet thou ceasest not to sinne but more and more thou drawest neere to the gates of hell If all that are damned in bel had but halfe an houre of thy life that by repentance they might rise to a glorious life dost thou think that as thou doest so they would spend it vnprofitablie and neglect their present opportunitie What would they not doe to free themselues from the torment of that fire But thou on the other side whilest the merciful God giueth thee a time of repentance abusest it out of the malice of thy nature to the committing of greater wickednesse The daies will come yea they wil come and not faile Luk. 23. wherin despairingly thou shalt say to the hilles fall vpon me to the mountaines couer mee and then thou shalt crie out for a time of repentance but thou shalt crie not be heard For it is iust that thou that wouldest not turne vnto God whilest â—hou mightest shouldest not haue power to doe it when thou wouldest doe it too late God after death forgiueth not him that before death thought scorne to aske forgiuenesse Wherefore whilest thou hast time doe good for the night will come when thou canst not labour Consider a little vnhappie man that thou art if sudden death should haue inuaded thee impenitent ouerladen with many sinnes not giuing thee any time of repentance in the time instant of death how miserable had thy despaire beene How great had the terror of thy mind been how vnspeakable the feare of the Iudge how great a horror of imminent torment in hell had inuaded thee Then with million of teares thou wouldest thus haue bewailed thine owne damnation O fading and deceitful life full of many snares The complaint of a sinner dying Yesterday I did reioice now I am sorie then I laught now I weepe then I was strong now I am weake then I liued now I die then I seemed happie now am serable and a wretched creature I do not so much lament my departure out of this life as the losse of those daies and moneths and yeeres wherein I haue laboured in vaine and in vaine haue spent the strength of my daies All the time that was giuen mee to liue I haue spent in all maner of sinne and iniquitie and so long as I liued I rather obeied mine own concupiscence than the inspirations precepts of God This rotten carcase of mine which the wormes are presently to denoure I euer tooke care to helpe and to comfort but my soule which presentlie shall be brought before God and his Angels vnto iudgement I contemned 2 King 4.27 tooke no care with vertue and religion to adorne it and this is the cause why my soule is vexed within mee O my vanitie ô my pride ô my pleasure whether are yee gone what haue you profited me What haue you left vnto me for all the seruice I haue done vnto you in the whole course of my life Nothing but a gnawing and tormenting conscience For your seruice I made my selfe an enemie vnto God a slaue to the diuell I lost heauen and got hell I lost infinite ioies and got eternall lamentation I am depriued of the societie of Angels and haue made my selfe a companion to the citizens of nell Pleasures and riches and honors with all the fading allurements of this deceitful world are past and gone and they are as if they neuer had been Wisd 1. they quickly appeared and as speedily they vanish yea they are past away like a shadow like an arrow flying in the aire like a messenger that passeth and is gone like a ship in the sea whose path is not seene The time of my life is past and glided away it cannot return in whose though shortest delay ô how much good could I haue done ô how great a treasure of spirituall goods could I haue gathered vnto my selfe which now in my fading time might haue made mee friends in the eternall tabernacles of God! of the least whereof I should now more reioice than of millions of gold and siluer But a good purpose without a beginning a will without worke good promises without execution and the expectation of a morrow that neuer came haue vndone me Wo be vnto me that so long put it off so long delayed my conuersion How happie is a mature repentance and conuersion because secure Whereas hee that repenteth too late can neuer bee sure because hee knoweth not whether hee repent truely or fainedly for it is likely that hee rather repenteth out of a feare of punishment than out of loue towards God O my gold and siluer ô my possessessions my precious garments wherein I was wont to content my selfe I faile you you faile not me I leaue you I can not carrie you with mee Oh that I had beene so happie as neuer to haue seene you that of all men liuing I had beene the poorest for then had I neuer beene called to an account either for misspending or vniustly detaining you O
with the shadow of death a land of miserie mourning and lamentation where is darknesse and death and no order but euerlasting horror from which Christ Iesus our Lord and Sauiour saue and defend vs Amen By this and much more that may bee spoken The conclusion of the fifth part thou plainly seest deare brother how much it stands thee vpon whilest thou hast time to turne vnto God Wherefore thou that wouldest not staie whilest thou wert well returne whilest thou haft time and thou that wouldest not stand when thou wert vpon thy legges now thou art fallen rise againe What sinnes soeuer thou hast committed in thy youth bewaile with teares wash away the spots of thy forepassed life what thy workes haue polluted let thy lamentations purifie As a new borne babe 1. Pet. 2. desire the sincere milk of the word returne as a little childe into the lappe of thy mother the eternall wisedome of God and sucke the teats of his diuine mercy that so thou maiest grow vnto saluation taste how sweet the Lord is Be sorrie for what is past endeuour to auoide what is to come which that thou maiest doe in all thine actions remember thy last end and thou shalt neuer sinne Labor by so much the more to recouer that thou hast lost by how much the more thou haft endamaged thy selfe by sin Thou that knowest thy selfe to haue committed things vnlawfull endeuour likewise to abstain from some things that are lawfull thou that hast committed things forbidden forbid thy selfe things granted and reprehend thy selfe in small matters who hast offended in great Thou must euerie day by little and little banish vice First determine one daie to abstaine from gluttonie and luxurie which by the assistance of God shall succeed well which day being happily ended resolue with thy selfe to continue two daies together and it shall succeed more easily then a whole weeke then a moneth at the last the grace of God preuenting thee and following thee it shall bee no difficult matter for thee to spend whole yeeres in abstinence and continencie And if euery yeere in this maner thou quit thy selfe but of one sinne in a short time thou wilt grow to be a perfect man in Christ Iesu For by this means thou shalt euery day root out thy sinnes and grow in goodnesse For not to profit in the discipline of maners is to wax worse and worse not to goe forward is to goe backeward When the minde of a man endeuoreth the bettering of it selfe the ship saileth as it were against the streame which if it once cease to ascend without labour it is caried downward for in ascending is paine in descending idlenesse Euen so except by ascending from vertue to vertue thou goe about to attaine the toppe of righteousnes tumbling from one sinne into another thou fallest into a headlong downfall Take heed therefore lest after repentance thou please thy selfe too much and being secure thou liue more loosely but rather bee the more warie and settle thy saluation in the hauen of tranquillitie and though the grace of God giue thee daily victorie yet it taketh not from thee matter of combat but lest thou shouldest wax proud as if the battell were at an end the mercie of God protecting thee alwaies remaineth to assist thee that how often soeuer thou ouercome thou shouldest neuer cease to fight alwaies thinking that there is somewhat behinde that thou shouldest ouercome vntill that which is perfect happen vnto thee and thou bee quit of that which is imperfect in that perfect glory of happines Amen The Sixth Part of the exhortation to repentance Against despaire of remission of sinnes CHAP. I. That we are all sinners and haue need of the mercy of God SIXTLY and lastly thou wilt saie perhaps that thine iniquitie is greater than that it may be forgiuen and therefore being sure of thy damnation thou takest no care to repent Res I cannot but congratulate thy happinesse my deare brother and giue thanks vnto God that thou art not as many other men are who daily sin yet know not that they sinne who alwaies doe wickedly and are neuer toucht with that they haue done who as it were blindfolde runne the race of their life and neuer know what state they are in till they feele the punishment For what thing can be more vnhappie than for a man not to know his owne vnhappines among all the dangers of this life to feele no griefe no infirmitie to be ignorant of his owne disease Euen so there is nothing more dangerous than not to know when we sinne There is now in thee the beginning of saluation in that thou acknowledgest thine owne sinnes Thou hast made no small iourney to eternall felicitie in that thou knowest thine infelicitie Now thou appliest thy self to inward purity in that thou deniest not thine inward pollution and impuritie For by so much the more precious is a man in the eies of God by how much the more contemptible he is in his own eies Not to thinke thy selfe a sinner is to make thy selfe the greater offender and thou wert much to be bewailed if thou diddest not bewaile thy selfe The God of mercy and compassion preuenting thee by pittying thee setteth before the eies of thy minde thine owne sinnes and foretelleth thee what danger there hangeth ouer thy head for them in time to come by all meanes that may bee ministring occasion of thy conuersion that at the least by the fear of punishment thou maiest turne vnto him since thou wilt not do it for the loue of himselfe and so by little and little thou maiest turne thy seruile feare into filiall loue If GOD would strictly punish thy sinnes he would not present them to thy selfe to bewaile them For to that end doeth he offer them to thine owne view that thou maiest be sorie for them and by true repentance blot them quite out of sight This is the mercie of God preuenting sinners to the end they may arise from their sinnes There is no man so circumspect but that he sometimes falleth into sinne and therefore God knowing our weaknesse hath prouided a medicine against this necessitie which the infirmitie of the flesh is subiect vnto It is a humane thing to sinne but a diuellish thing to persist in sinne So long as we beare about vs this fraile bodie of ours we can not bee without sinne no man can saie My heart is cleane I am pure from sinne 1. Ioh. 2. But if wee shall say we haue no sinne we deceiue our selues and the trueth is not in vs because we all haue offended in manie things He cannot be in the world without sinne that came into the world with sinne he that is conceiued in iniquitie cannot liue without iniquitie for in this flesh of sinne no man can challenge a freedome from sinne No man liues without it no not the infant that is but a day old Iob 15.15 the heauens are not pure in
penny And therfore saith S. Paul Rom. 5.10 If when wee were enemies wee were reconciled to GOD by the death of his Sonne much more being reconciled wee shall be saued by his life It is a greater thing to die for sin than to take away sinne To the reparation of the celestiall mansions not to eternall damnation hath the Lord created and redeemed thee For if hee had desired thy damnation when thou sinnedst hee had cast thee into hell Heereby thou maiest gather that he delighteth more in thy reparation than thy damnation that there is greater ioy with him and his Angels for one sinner that conuerteth Luk. 15.7 than for ninetie and nine iust men that need no amendment of life Which the Lord himselfe hath prooued by a threefold example of the lost sheepe which being found the shepheard with ioy laid vpon his shoulders and brought him to his fold of the lost groat which being found she calleth her friends and neighbours saying Reioice with mee for I haue found the piece which was lost and of the prodigall childe for whom being returned to his father the fat calfe was killed which was not done for that sonne which continued with his father By how much the more we are sorry for a thing lost by so much the more do wee reioice when it is found and therefore there is more ioy in heauen for a sinner that repenteth than for a iust man that needeth no amendment For a repentance inflamed with loue after sinne is more acceptable vnto God than an innocency dull carelesse with securitie by grace As a captaine in the warres loues more that souldier that after his flight returneth and valiantly encountreth his enemie than him that did neuer flie and neuer performed anie valorous exploit A husbandman loueth more that ground that after the thorns and brambles be digged vp yeeldes a plentifull increase than that ground which neuer had thornes and neuer gaue any increase If therfore thy teares vpon earth bee so great a ioy to God and his Angels how great a ioy shall thy pleasures in heauen be to them This is the meat they feed vpon the fruites they are delighted with if by a true contrition of heart thou mortifie thy sinnes and by a true and vnfained repentance turne vnto God Wherfore deare brother though thou thinke thy selfe condemned by Gods iustice appeale vnto his mercy for it sometimes commeth to passe that whom iustice accuseth mercy absolueth and that punishment which the Lord may iustly inflict hee doeth mercifully pardon For those whom God freely created and redeemed he wil not willingly oppresse and therefore if thou repent thee of thy sinne hee repenteth him of his sentence The vnchangeable God will change his sentence if thou change thy life So shalt thou conquer the inuincible binde the omnipotent and a fearefull Iudge thou shalt change into a mercifull father CHAP. VI. That euen at the point of death repentance may be profitable to saluation BVT perhaps thou wilt say I come too late I haue spent my whole life in sinne I am now at the brinke of death and therefore it is too late at my last houre to turne vnto God Res Thou art a yoong man my deare brother in the strength of thy yeeres thou maiest yet liue many a yeere and haue time enough to repent But yet because there is no man be hee neuer so yoong that can assâ—redly promise to himselfe to liue till night and a sudden death may euerie houre of the day ouertake thee wherein despairing thou maiest obiect this vnto me therefore I haue thought good to satisfie this obiection though thou haddest neuer obiected it Whilest thou liuest whilest thou yet breathest yea when thou liest in thy bed at the point of death thou maiest repent yea and then especially there is yet hope of mercy time of forgiuenes place of repentance God witnesseth of himselfe Eze. 33. that at what houre soeuer a sinner repenteth him of his sinnes hee will blot out all his wickednesse out of his remembrance He that hath said he will put out all his wickednesse out of his remembrance hath excepted no kinde of sinne Though thou want time to confesse thy sinnes vnto God yet in a moment euen in the twinckling of an cie he can haue time to pardon all thy sinnes Thy will is accounted for thy worke and the gronings of thy heart for thy words If therefore at the houre of death thou cease to bee wicked by repentance thou needest not despaire of pardon because thou art neere thine end For God whoconsidereth the end of all men iudgeth euery man according to his end not his former life neither doeth he respect so much what wee haue beene heeretofore as what we are at the end of our life It is no matter how long but how well a man liueth neither doth the quantitie of the crime nor the enormitie of a mans life nor the breuity of the time nor the extremity of the houre exclude a man from pardon if repentance in the end be true and perfect The great and manifold mercy of God is neither limited by time nor equalled by our great and manifolde offences He that truly repenteth and is loosed from that band of sinne wherewith hee was tied and liueth well after his repentance whensoeuer he dieth he may secure himselfe hee goeth to God he shall not be depriued the kingdome of God hee shall not be separated from the people of God Matt. 20. For as they that went into the Vineyard to labour at the eleuenth houre of the day receiued a penny for their hire as well as they that began their labour the first houre and did beare the burthen and heat of the day so not onely to those that from their childehood doe beare the yoke of the Lord is the reward promised but to the last too who in the end of their life turne vnto God is the earnest pennie of eternall life giuen The innumerable sinnes of the Nineuites a short repentance wiped away and the Publican went presently out of the Temple iustified Marie Magdalen was so great a sinner that the Pharisey disdained to see her and yet in a short time she was iustified and clensed from all her sins The theefe hung vpon the Crosse and being instantly to die despaired not of saluation he confessed the Lord vpon the Crosse and euen with the words of his confession he ended his life and yet the Lord possessed him of Paradise before Peter and lest any man should thinke repentance too late hee turned the punishment of murther into a martyrdome It is true that his repentance was late but yet his pardon came not too late he made speed in turning vnto God and God was as speedie in pardoning These shew thee the fruit of repentance the fountaine of mercy the celeritie thereof for they began late to repent and to do good and yet by doing it truly of the last they are
good God is since it can be well with none that depart from him Let vs returne at the last vnto our selues and descending as it were from heauen let vs looke a litle vpon what is our owne Doe wee thinke wee shall go into the house of the Lord What are we that we should goe thither Mortall and abiect creatures earth and ashes But yet he that hath promised is our father and is omnipotent Can not he make an angell of a man who made a man of the earth By life we are men by hope angels to whom in our countrey we shall be like and equall A merchant when he buyes a thing and takes assurance for it though as yet he haue not his wares yet he secures himselfe he shall haue them God the Father hath promised vnto vs his glorie and for an earnest pennie in the meane time he hath giuen vs his only Sonne in the Sacrament of his bodie and blood and hath inspired into our hearts his holy Spirit There with an open face we shall see him with greater ioy and more securely whom heere we see mystically yet fruitfully in his Sacrament Despaire not therefore to come to this place and expect the promise of thine inheritance Hope is necessarie for a wandring pilgrime it is that that comforts him in the way for a traueller that laboreth in his iourney is therfore content with patience to beare his labour because at last he hopes to come to the end thereof take away his hope of the end and his strength failes him hee is presently wearie with going A Physitian drawes forth his instrument to lance a wound and he sayth to his Patient Be patient and beare a little in the paine he requires patience but after the paine he promiseth health but the sicke bodie except he proposed vnto him hope of recouery he would faint in that paine which he endureth In the warres the hope of honor mitigateth the griefe of the wounds so to those that beare the yoke of Christ the hope of glory is a great comfort raiseth the minde vnto God and that euill which they outwardly beare inwardly they feele not Hope brings no small pleasure when that which was hoped is once attained Temporall things not had afflict when they are had seem base and contemptible Thou louest thy wife not yet maried whom perhaps thou hatest when thou hast her What is the reason thereof Because she appeareth not such being maried as thou didst conceit her to be before thou hadst maried her But God who is beloued being absent growes not more base being present the fruition findes more in him than the cogitation could forme or imagine of him We shall loue God more when we shall see him if we can loue him before we see him he is more feruently beloued being gotten than desired Except he be first loued he can not afterwards be possessed and yet he is not therefore possessed because he is beloued because it is necessarie and our dutie that aboue all things he be beloued Vanitie of vanities and all is vanitie how great a miserie is it to lose the Creatour for the creature to follow the shipwrack of this world and not rather flie to the Sanctuarie of God and to taste how sweet the Lord is and how great the multitude of his mercies If thou wouldest consider what and how great things are promised thee in heauen all things thou enioiest vpon earth would seeme base and contemptible What then is the reason dear brother that thou runnest not vnto heauen where thou shalt see God without end possesse him without losse loue him without loathing Many of thy parents brethren sisters and friends expect thee there millions of saints desire thy company now seâ—â—â—ed of their owne happines carefull of thine Of whose company lest thou shouldest be deceiued thou must vse thy best indeuor it is no difficult matter if thou wilt not burthensome if thou attend it Only repent and the kingdome of heauen is at hand To which he bring vs that liues and reigneth without end Amen By that which hath beene spoken The Conclusion of the sixth part thou plainly seest my dear brother how good and mercifull God is how ready to pardon sinnes The riches of whose goodnes the 〈…〉 considering calleth him not only a merciful God but mercy it selfe Thou God hast taken me vp thou art a mercifull God nay mercy it selfe Consider the bosome of his diuine goodnesse how open the lap of his mercy is and despaire not cast not downe thy selfe faint not with mourning the gate of mercy and the treasury of his goodnes is set wide open vnto thee and wilt thou fall into the bottomlesse pit of despaire God inuiteth thee to repentance he offereth forgiuenesse he putteth foorth the right hand of his helpe and doest thou turne thy face from him Heauen is set wide open vnto thee and wilt thou descend into the pit of hell The diuell knowing how excellent a thing repentance is hath tempted thee to this despaire hath taken from thee thy hope which is the foundation and anchor of thy saluation and the conductor of our iourney vnto God If therefore thou desire to escape the snares of the diuell and by hope to take holde of the mercies of God only depart from euill and do good for the first step to saluation is to decline from euill the second to hope for pardon Which hope of Gods mercie is not sufficient to saue thee without the feare of his iustice for in vaine shalt thou hope in his mercie except thou likewise feare his iustice For God who is mercifull is likewise iust and therefore considering how mercifull he is despaire not considering how iust neglect not thy sinnes There is no securer way than vnder hope to feare and to ioyne those two together lest perhaps an vnwarie minde may deiect it self by despair or fall by presumption It is to be feared lest thou fall into another bottomlesse pit and thou die by presuming of the mercy of God that couldest not die by despairing of it and thou haue in thy heart cogitations diuers from the former but not lesse dangerous and so thou beginnest in thy heart to say At what houre soeuer I shall repent God will put out all my wickednesse out of his remembrance and therefore why should I rather conuert to day than to morrow But my deare brother what if thine end bee before to morrow For hee that promiseth vnto thee so much mercy if thou repent promiseth not to morrow if thou persist in thy sinnes It is to bee feared lest whilest conuersion is put off to the end an vnexpected death may rather preuent then repentance helpe Lest therefore by hoping thou shouldest encrease thy sinne the day of thy death is vncertaine and lest by despaire thou shouldest encrease it there is offered vnto thee the hauen of repentance Which notwithstanding that in the 〈◊〉 of thy daies it bee good yet that
is not receiued his praiers are not heard for God loueth more the loue agreement of men than his owne honour O the admirable goodnesse and mercie of our God and his vnspeakable loue towards men he resuseth his own honor for our charity one towards another If two be at enmity one with the other no man can bee a faithfull friend to them both and therefore God will not be a friend no not to the faithfull so long as they be in hatred one towards another so long as they professe Christ and yet are enemies God to the end he might impose vpon thee a greater necessity of reconciliation did not say If thou haue anie thing against thy brother for to a man that is willing it is a matter of no difficultie to forgiue an other but he said If thy brother hath any thing against thee go with a willing heart and a good conscience and an humble submission vnto him though he bee farre distant from thee or if thou canst not come where hee is in thy heart bee reconciled vnto him that when thou commest in his presence with thy loue thou maist make amends for the wrong thou hast done him which to a furious man that thinketh he hath iust cause to be angry is a matter very difficult But thy brother hath nothing against thee but thou bearest an intestine hatred against thy brother which thou maist easily pardon and bee reconciled if thou wilt And yet thou presumest with this hatred and malice not only to offer thy praiers vnto God but to come to the Communion of the body and blood of thy Sauiour Christ Iesus and that milde Lambe that peace maker that louer of peace thou presumest to â—eceine into thy cruell and bloody heart boiling with hatred malice against thy brother This thy hatred makes thee vnworthy that corporalll bread that thou eateft and doest thou presume to eat the bread of Angels It cannot bee well with thee if thou wickedly receiue that which is good Thou canst not haue life in thy self when the receiuing of life bringeth death Mat. 5.44 Loue saith the Lord your enemies blesse them that curse you doe good to them that hate you pray for them which hurt you and persecute you Whom then canst thou hate when thou art commanded to be good to thy enemies And yet thou hatest thy neighbour that art forbid to hate a stranger and thou persecutest thy brother being commanded to doe good to thy enemie Thou art enioyned to praie for him and darest thou to pray vnto God against him Canst thou call thy selfe a Christian and yet not keepe the preceps of Christ Neither is it sufficient for thee to make vp the heape of thy punishment by trangressing the commandement of Christ but thou praiest vnto him to doe so too God commandeth thee to loue thine enemy and thou praiest vnto him to kill thine enemie and whilest thou so praiest thou fightest with thy praiers against God who commandeth thee to forgiue whatsoeuer thou hast against thy enemie Mark 11. When ye shall stand saith he and pray forgiue if ye haue anie thing against any man but thou callest vpon God to do quite contrarie to his owne rule but so farre is he from doing that that thou requirest that he turneth the malicious darts of thy prophane mouth against thy selfe and that mischiefe that thou wishest to another lighteth vpon thine owne head He liues yet whom thou cursest and thou that cursest art alreadie made guiltie of his death because since thou canst not kill him with thy sword thou killest him with thy praiers If thou laie not aside thy anger against thine enemie at that instant when thou beggest mercie at Gods hands but euen then remembrest thy grudge when is there hope thou wilt be mercifull So long as thou nourishest this rancor in thy bosome no praier no work shal doe thee any good but euerie houre yea euery minute of an houre thou addest sinne vnto sinne whilest thou remembrest thy wrongs and forgiuest not thy neighbour but purposest to reuenge If euery one that is angrie with his brother be guilty of iudgment how much more shalt thou be guiltie which continuest a deadly hatred against him If it be not lawfull to be angry with thy brother or to say vnto him Raca Ephes 4. or fool much lesse to nourish hatred in thy heart against him Wherfore deare brother let not the Sunne goe downe vpon thy wrath and lest of a mote thou make a beame and thy soule a man-slaier as speedily as thou canst be reconciled to thy brother and pardon his wrongs Yea pray for thy enemie that pursueth thee and slandereth thee that either God wil turne his hart or rightly defend thee and preserue thee euer wishing his saluation whose iniquities thou doest detest that thou maiest be the sonne of the father which is in heauen CHAP. III. That it is not lawfull to strike him that striketh BVT perhaps thou wilt say hee hath wronged thee greatly not thou him he is a wicked man and not worthy to be forgiuen I had rather die than not to bee reuenged of him I will answer a foole according to his follie Res First my deare brother what shall it profit thee if being stroken thou strike thy striker Shall that make amends for thy blow If thou plucke out another mans eie thou recouerest not thy own but with thy eie thou losest thy patience and hast hurt thy owne soule more than thou hast hurt his body The Diuell procureth the wounds of the body to procure the wounds of the soule If thou strike not againe thou seemest to bee ouercome of thy enemie but in the mean time thou hast ouercome the Diuell thou hast lost a member of thy bodie but thou hast gotten honour by thy patience And therefore if thou spare thy enemie thou hast got more to thy selfe than to him and thou art not to consider so much thy owne losse as the gaine of thy patience Whereas if thou strike again thou procurest a losse to thy bodie and thy soule too and thou art not so much hurt by being stroken by thy enemy as thou hurtest thy selfe by thy own impatiencie Wheras outwardlie thou desirest not to be conquered inwardlie thou art grieuouslie wounded whilest outwardy thou desendest trifles inwardlie thou losest matter of moment and then thou art most ouercome when thou wilt not suffer thy selfe to bee ouer come because thou yeeldest to the dangerous passions of anger and canst not rule thy own affections But thou wilt say hee is worthie to bee stricken hee deserues blowes Res Be it so my deare brother but yet thou art not worthie to strike againe because thou art his disciple Exod. 21. that being stricken strucke not again who likewise abrogating that olde law A soule for a soule an eye for an eye a tooth for a tooth Matt. 5.39 a hand for a hand a foot for a foot a wound for a