by euill diet so enemies are an occasion vnto vs of circumspection in our liues and conuersations Rom. 8.28 For we know saith the Apostle that all things worke together for the best vnto them that loue God So that a good man receiueth not a wound by the dart of his enemy but an wholesome plaister to cure the ruptures of his soule and to the furtherance of a godly life Thirdly wee should bee prone and ready to for giue because we can not possibly haue peace with God as long as we be at iarre with our Neighbours and therefore the necessity of it should moue vs to forgiue and loue our enemy If yee bite and denoure one another Gal. 5.15 take heede yee be not consumed one of another saith the Apostle We see in an army that the enemy hath neuer so great aduantage as when the Captaine and Souldiers are at discord and strife among themselues but the whole life of a Christian what is it but a warfare vpon earth And if then wee retaine peace with God and our Neighbours wee need not feare our enemies But therefore wee are vanquished of them because we haue little care of this peace amongst our selues This inestimable treasure Christ left with his true members Ioh. 14.27 My peace I giue vnto you my peace I leaue with you not as the world giueth giue I vnto you This peace of the world is the consent of wicked men amongst themselues against God and good men rather to be called a conspiration then a pacification as Herod against Pilate Pilate against Herod yet both agreed to put Christ to death All the Sonnes of Iacob conspiring against Ioseph were friends in wickednesse and held such firme concord together that for many yeers though they dissented among themselues as it commeth often to passe yet they neuer bewrayed to their Father the selling of their Innocent Brother But this is not the peace of Christ which so maketh both one that wee cannot haue peace with God vnlesse we hold peace with our brethren neither can bee at peace with our brethren except wee bee at peace with God first We are all conioyued in God the beginning and author of all things we all receiued our beginning of him and therefore wee are bretheren and neighbours And for this cause as saith Saint Augustine He created man but one and single De ciuit Dei that by this meanes hee might commend vnto vs the vnity of society and bond of concord If men not only be knit together among themselues by the similitude of nature but also by the affection of cognation so that no man may fall away from the loue of God but hee looseth the loue of his Neighbor also or can put off the loue of his Neighbour but with all he looseth the loue of God and so it followeth that if we bee not at peace among our selues wee haue no peace with God if we haue no peace with God we can neither pray nor per form any duty of godlines therefore saith our Sauiour Mat. 5.23 If thou bring thy gift to the Altar there remēbrest that thy brother hath ought against thee leaue there thine offering before the Altar and goe thy way First be reconciled to thy brother and then come and offer thy guift And againe when hee taught them to pray he added Mat. 6.14 For if yee forgiue men their trespasses your heauenly Father will also forgiue you But if yee doe not forgiue men their trespasses no more will your Father forgiue you your trespasses God will not accept any seruice at our hands except we be first reconciled to our brethren because there is no peace betweene vs and him as long as there is no Christian amity betweene vs and our Neighbours With what face can wee say the Lords Prayer with what conscience can wee craue forgiuenesse of our heauenly Father of our ten Thousand Talents Mat. 18. of our infinite sinnes against his diuine Maiesty when wee will not forgiue our Brother an hundred pence That is a trespasse of no moment in comparison of our greeuous sinnes dayly against God Is not this the Condition which wee make with God As wee forgiue them which trespasse against vs. O foole saith Saint Augusttine thou prayest against thy selfe is it not as if thou hadst said Lord forgiue mee not seale fast my sinnes forgiue me as I forgiue others but thou knowest that I will not forgiue them that trespasse against me therefore O Lord forgiue mee not And thus through thy hard heartednes thou praiest not for thy selfe but bringest a curse vpon thy selfe Fourthly another motiue which should mooue vs to forgiue is because our enemy is worthy rather of commiseration then retaliation and reuenge But to meete now with the vsuall obiection of carnall men How can I they will say refraine from seeking reuenge against him who with his virulent tongue hath impaired my good name who wrongfullie calleth me into the Law which ledeth mee with many contumelies and neuer ceaseth to reproach me I am not so estranged from the common sence of men but I thinke this to bee a grieuous disease among many Let vs learne now how to cure this festered wound weigh first the losse on either side whether I pray thee doth thine enemy hurt most himselfe or thee He looseth Gods fauour and friendship in vsing thee so iniuriously in reproaching thee he reproacheth God himselfe and in sinning he betrayeth his soule vnto eternall torments and looseth without repentance those eternall ioyes Which the eie hath not seene 1 Cor. 2 9. the eare hath not heard neither hath entred into the heart of man which God hath prepared for them that loue him Hee hath obscured thy good name but he hath betrayed his owne soule he hath but rent thy garment but hee hath wounded his owne heart he hath taken scarce a haire from thee but hee hath bereft himselfe of an eie This being so if there bee in thee the bowels of charity shouldest thou not rather take pitty vpon thine enemy which hath so harmed himselfe then greately to bee mooued in that hee hath done thee a little iniury This the Holy Prophet signifieth when bee saith Ps 113 11. They came about me like bees but they were quenched euen as a fire among thornes The Bee stingeth thy finger but pulleth out his owne bowels Animasque in vulnere ponunt They kill themselues with their stinging and thou enioyest the hony If therefore thou wouldest enioy the hony of heauenly glory it is needfull that thou suffer persecution of these waspish enemies where as the reuengerneuer wanteth a re-action on himselfe whilest he seeks vengeance on man findes vengeance of God whilest he shooteth the sting of reuenge he emptieth himselfe of the bowels of mercy Col. 3 1◠kindnesse humility c. Phocion and Aristides two Noble men of Athens the one being condemned to exile the other to death vnworthily
Aristides going in to exile prayed that all things might succeede so happy and prosperous with the Athenians that they might neuer hereafter haue neede to remember Aristides Phocion being about to drinke the poysoned Potion Plutarch wherewith hee should die charged his sonne that hee should neuer reuenge his vniust death vpon the Athenians Thrasibulus that Noble Citizen of Athens Val max. who expelled the thirty Spartan Tyrants by this meanes restored the former freedome to his Country hee caused the law of perpetual obliuion of former iniuries to bee enacted which they called Legem obliuionis the law of forgetfulnesse Let Christians then be ashamed not to aspire vnto that perfection heerein which many wise Heathens haue attained vnto How far this brotherly forgiuenesse is to be extended our Sauiour himselfe sheweth in the parable of the Vnmercifull Seruant Mat. 18.35 which owed ten thousand Talents concluding in these words So likewise shall my heauenly Father doe vnto you except you forgiue from your hearts each one to his brother their trespasses In these words first wee are taught to whom this precept of forgiuing of iniuries pertaineth None are exempted which professe to be Christs Disciples for he saith Except yee forgiue each one that is of what degree state or condition soeuer he be of rich or poore Noble or Ignoble King or beggar we are all sinners and doe pray daily Forgiue vs our debts as wee forgiue our debtors Let the proud obserue this which being puffed vp with the confidence of their birth or dignities thinke that they may lawfully despise wrong and tread vnder foot the simple obscure and poore man Secondly hee sheweth whom hee should forgiue His brother He might haue said his follow seruant but hee would haue vs to lift vp our eyes higher and to consider that all men are not onely of the same condition as seruants but also of the same nature and dignities as the Sonnes of God who was so farre from contemning the base and obscure that hee would haue his onely begotten Sonne to bee contemptible and poore that he might make vs rich Thirdly hee teacheth what wee should forgiue Their trespasses He speaketh indefinitely that hee might comprehende all things wherewith our neighbour hath offended vs for how great soeuer is the iniury done vnto vs it may in no sort be compared vnto that wherein wee haue offended God Fourthly hee expresseth the measure and manner of forgiuing saying From your hearts that is not in naked words with an hypocritical and dissembling heart but truly and seriously that not so much as a sparkle of enuie hatred or rank or remaine behind in our hearts which particle reproueth their contumacy Which say they will forgiue but withall protest they cannot forget the iniury neither can they endure the sight of such as haue offended them These forgiue not from their hearts but in words onely nay not so much as in words seeing they foster in their hearts the memory thereof and doe not conceale it Wee should in forgiuing of iniuries imitate the example of our heauenly Father who so forgiueth our iniquities that hee remembreth them no more for if our sinnes were still in remembrance with God how could the hope of our saluation be firme and certain vnto vs And therefore the Princely Prophet prayeth That God would not remember the sinnes of his youth Psal 25.7 And that which necessity constraineth vs to craue at the hands of God is it not meet that wee should shew the same to our brethren Wee would not that God should remember our sinnes and shall wee keepe in memory old grudges and offences of our brethren and neighbours Surely such make themselues vnworthy of the mercies of God Being destitute of faith working by loue Gal. 5.6 Most memorable and neuer to be forgotten was the dealing of the holy Patriarch Abraham with his nephew Lot when Sathan assaied to kindle contention betweene them by reason of their quarrelling seruants Abraham being euerie way the better man being his Vncle and his elder Who already had seene the day of Christ Iohn 8.56 had also learned the lesson of humility of Christ hee stood not vpon his Summū Ius his right reputation but came first to Lot and was the profferer of peace saying Gen. 13.8 I pray thee let there bee no strife betweene me and thee and betweene my heardmen and thine and why for wee are brethren Hee sought peace Concedendo de suo Iure By yeelding of his right Now there are Christians to bee found saith Musculus which will not yeeld one foote of their right for brotherly vnities sake this proffer of Abraham is counted but folly now yea of those which yet would be esteemed his children Lastly this benefit also we make through patience towards an enemy which is not the least that being accustomed to deale iustly and friendly with an enemie wee shall the better frame our selues to liue sociably and kindly with our familiar friends and to doe nothing fraudulently and deceitfully in friendship Let vs therefore I beseech you cast out of our minds the remembrance of iniuties which is the very wood and fuell to nourish reuenge and which exasperateth our harts against our brethren Col. 3.12 Let vs as the Elect of God put vpon vs tender mercy kindnesse long suffering forbearing one another and forgiuing one another as Christ for gaue you euen so doe ye Let this sweet promise of our Sauiour And ye shall be forgiuen quench in vs all rancor and malice and ouersway in our thoughts all reasons of flesh bloud which seeke to moue vs to reuenge consider that in no other Petition in the Lords Prayer we so pray as to indent with God but in this onely Forgiue vs as wee forgiue others In which couenant with God if wee bee found liars we pray in vaine our prayers are against our selues seeing our sinnes are not forgiuen because wee are not truly inserted in the body of Iesus Christ vnlesse we forgiue one anther except wee manifest our faith in loue towards our neighbor Forgiue saith Saint Augustine lest whiles thou denie mercy to thy brother thou shut the mercy of thy Heauenly Father from thy selfe Iam. 2.13 For there shall bee iudgement mercilesse to him that sheweth no mercy But if all this cannot suppresse the rage of thy wreakefull humour but thou must needes seeke reuenge I will permit thee to be carried with the current of thy passions vpon condition that thou wilt bee angry with him that indeede hath done thee that iniury And who is hee verily as Basil saith euen hee which ruleth in thine enemies heart the Diuell I meane which inflameth him with the firebrands of wrath and armeth him with his spirit against thee it is hee that vseth thine enemies hand as a Sword to strike thee and his tongue as an arrow to shoote at thee If an horseman should strike thee with his speare wouldest thou bee
teacheth vs to cōmend our selues and all our petitions to the will of God The fourth that it was with sorrow for hee was in an agony and this putteth vs in minde of that of the Apostle Rom. 8.26 The spirit helpeth our infirmities for wee know not what to pray as wee 〈◊〉 but the spirit worketh 〈◊〉 for vs with sighes which cannot be expressed The fift that it was with perseuerance for hee came three times vnto his Disciples three times and in three places was hee tempted and three times did he here pray and willed his Disciples Mat 26.41 To watch and pray that they enter not into temptation Oh what deuotion was here his last supper being ended he goeth forth accompanied with his Disciples and speakes vnto them as a louing father vpon his death-bed when hee hath not much to say giues his Children precepts at parting which they should remember when he is gone from them of which precepts this was not the lest Watch and pray Mat. 26.41 that you enter not into temptation And surely wee haue no sweeter incense then our deuotion offered vp by prayer we haue no better Oratours to pleadeour cause no surer Ambassadours to conclude our peace then our humble supplications to Almighty God who healeth our sicknesses and forgiueth our sinnes who sitteth euer in commission to heare our suits and looketh that wee should send vp prayers and petitions to him that hee may also send downe his mercies and graces to vs. By which meanes we enter into a spirituall traffique with God himselfe we giue a cup of could water and he returnes a fountaine of the waters of life to vs. Wee giue him with the poore widdowe two mites Ioh. 4.14 and hee giues vs againe the whole treasure of the temple The mercy of God saith one is like a vessell full to the very brim if once his children by the hand of faithfull prayer beginne to take of it it doth ouerflowe vnto them It is not with God as with men amongst whom those who are petitioners are wont to be troublesome vnto him but with God the more we offer vp our praiers vnto him the more wee are accepted of him For with him the gates of mercy are wide open to all poore sinners that will make their prayers vnto him Come and welcome 1 Sam. 2. Hannah being barren by prayer obtained a sonne Elias 1 King 18. raine Elisha a sonne 1 King 4 for the Shunamite which being dead was also by his prayer restored to life Acts 9.20 Peter by prayer raised Dorcas and Paul Eutichus from death to life It is recorded in the life of Martin Luther that a certaine yong man hauing by an indenture of couenants writen and sealed with his owne bloud giuen his soule in reuersion to the deuill that the fiend was forced at the instant prayer of the said Martin Luther to giue to the young man his deed againe Russinus and Socrates also write that Theodosius the Christian Emperour in a great battaile against Eugenius when he saw the huge multitude that was comming against him and so in the sight of man there was an apparent our throw at hand he gets him vp into place eminent in the sight of all the army fals downe prostrate vpon the earth be seecheth God if euer hee would looke vpon a sinfull creature to helpe him in this time of greatest neede suddenly there arose a mighty winde which blow the darts of the enemies backe vpon themselues in such wonderfull manner as Eugenius with all his hoast was cleane discomfited Wherefore being compassed by such a cloud of witnesses let vs sometimes with Abraham Gen. 22. leaue our terrene affaires as he left his seruants beneath when he want into the mount to sacrifice to God so in sicknesse principally and in times of distresse then should wee fly vnto our surest stay of repose then should we ascend into the contemplation of heauenly things and haue recourse to Gods mercy as to a City of refuge Psal 50.15 Therefore as Austin counselleth Demus operam vt moriamur in precatione Call vpon me in the time of trouble and I will heare thee thou shalt prayse me In the time of trouble there is a refuge for extremitie And I will heare thee there is a reward of mercy and thou shalt praise me there is a reflexe of a thankfull duty Christ wils all Mat. 11.28 that are weary and heauy Laden to come vnto him and they shall not loose their labour for he will refresh them In time of neede no surer sanctuary then by humble prayer to repayre to God Psal 123.2 Wherefore as the eies of seruants looke vnto the hand of their master and as the eies of a mayden vnto the hand of her misereis so let our eyes wayte vpon the Lord our God vntill hee haue mercy vpon vs. But as prayer and thanksgiuing is our Christian sacrifice so must it agree with that of the Israelites in sixe points 1. As theirs was seasoned with salt so ours must be with the truth of a good conscience 2. As theirs was brought to the priest so ours must be presented to God 3. As theirs was slaine so when we pray we must kill all our lewd and malicious affections 4. As theirs was washt with water ours must bee with teares of repentance 5. As theirs was without blemish so ours must be without hypocrisie Lastly as theirs was kindled with fire so ours must be with zeale And in this duty we must imitate the blessed Protomartyr S. Steuen who prayed for his enemies saying Lord lay not this sin to their charge we must pray for all men Acts 7. Thus much concerning the sixe duties of mercy belonging to the soule Wherin let vs be mercifull as our heauenly father is mercifull MISERICORS OR Motiues to Mercy The second part Comprehending all duties of mercy belonging to the Body AT LONDON Imprinted by IOHN BEALE 1619. The Argument HAuing dearely beloued brethren finished the former treatise touching all the duties of mercy belonging to the soule I now purpose by Gods blessed assistance particularly to handle the workes of mercy due to the body as they follow in this verse Visito Poto Cibo Redimo Tego Colligo Condo To visit the sicke giue drinke to the thirstie bread to the hungry to helpe the oppressed to cloath the naked to lodge the harbourlesse to bury the dead Visito THe first duty of mercie to the body consisteth in visiting comforting and relieuing all those on whom God hath layd his heauy rod of sicknesse Already sufficient hath beene deliuered in the third worke of mercie to the soule touching spirituall consolation to the sicke and diseased It is the counsell of the Apostle to the Hebrews That we should remember those that are afflicted Heb. 13.3 as if we were also afflicted As if he should say Be ye the members of one body And members be all pertakers of the