without abatement al goodnes without any evil Where youth florisheth that never waxeth old life that knoweth no end beautie that never fadeth love that never cooleth health that never diminisheth joy that never ceaseth Where sorrow is never felt complaint is never heard matter of sadnes is never seen nor evil successe is overfeared For that they possesse thee O Lord which art the perfection of their felicitie 15 If we would enter into these considerations as this holie man and other his like did no dowt but we should more be inflamed with the love of this felicitie prepared for us than we are and consequently should strive more to gain it than we do And to the end thou maist conceive som more feeling in the matter gentle reader consider a little with me what a joiful day shal that be at thy house when having lived in the fear of God and atchived in his service the end of thy peregrination thou shalt come by the means of death to passe from miserie and labour to immortalitie and in that passage when other men begin to fear thou shalt lift up thy head in hope according as Christ promiseth for that the time of thy salvation commeth on Tel me what a day shal that be when thy soul stepping foorth of prison and conducted to the tabernacle of heaven shal be received there with the honorable companies and troups of that place With al those blessed spirits mentioned in scripture as principalities powers vertues dominations thrones Angels Archangels Cherubins and Seraphins also with the holie Apostles and disciples of Christ Patriarches Prophets Martyrs Innocents Confessors and Saints of God Al which shal triumph now at thy coronation and glorification What joy wil thy soul receive in that day when she shal be presented in the presence of al those states before the seat and majestie of the blessed Trinitie with recital and declaration of al thy good works and travels suffered for the love and service of God When there shal be laid down in that honorable consistorie al thy vertuous deeds al the labors that thou hast taken in thy calling al thy almes al thy praiers al thy fasting al thy innocencie of life al thy patience in injuries al thy constancie in adversities al thy temperance in meats al the vertues of thy whole life When al I say shal be recounted there al commended al rewarded shalt thou not see now the valure and profite of vertuous life Shalt thou not confesse that gainful and honorable is the service of God Shalt thou not now be glad and blesse the hour wherin first thou resolvest thy selfe to leave the service of the world to serve God Shalt thou not think thy selfe beholding to him or hir that persuaded thee unto it Yes verilie 16 But yet more than this when as being so neer thy passage heer thou shalt consider into what a port and haven of securitie thou art come and shalt look bak upon the dangers which thou hast passed and wherin other men are yet in hazard thy cause of joy shal greatly be increased For thou shalt see evidentlie how infinite times thou were to perish in that journey if God had not held his special hand over thee Thou shalt see the dangers wherin other men are the death damnation wherinto many of thy frinds and acquaintance have fallen the eternal pains of hel incurred by many that used to laugh and be merie with thee in the world Al which shal augment the felicitie of this thy blessed estate And now for thy selfe thou maist be secure thou art out of al danger for ever and ever There is no more need now of fear of watch of labor or of care Thou maist lay down al armor now better than the children of Israel might have done when they had gotten the land of promise For there is no more enimy to assail thee there is no more wilie serpent to beguile thee al is peace al is rest al is joy al is securitie Good Saint Paul hath no more need now to labor in the ministerie of the word neither yet to fast to watch or to punish his bodie Good old Ierom may now cease to afflict himselfe both night and day for the conquering of his spiritual enimie Thy onlie exercise must be now to rejoice to triumph to sing Halleluias to the lamb which hath brought thee to this felicitie and wil keep thee in the same world without end What a comfort wil it be to see that lamb sitting on his seat of state If the wise men of the east came so far off and so rejoiced to see him in the manger what wil it be to see him sitting in his glorie If Saint Iohn Baptist did leap at his presence in his mothers belly what shal his presence do in this his roial and eternal kingdome It passeth al other glorie that saints have in heaven saith Saint Austen to be admitted to the inestimable sight of Christ his face and to receive the beams of glorie from the brightnes of his majestie And if we were to suffer torments every day yea to tollerate the verie pains of hel for a time therby to gain the sight of Christ and to be joined in glorie to the number of his saints it were nothing in respect of the reward O that we made such account of this matter as this holy and learned man did we would not live as we do nor leese the same for such trifles as most men do 17 But to go forward yet further in this consideration imagin besides al this what a joy it shal be unto thy soul at that day to meet with al hir godly frinds in heaven with father with mother with brothers with sisters with wife with husband with maister with schollers with neighbors with familiars with kindred with acquaintance the welcoms the mirth the sweet imbracements that shal be there the joy wherof as noteth wel Saint Cyprian shal be unspeakable Ad to this the daily feasting and inestimable triumph which shal be there at the arrival of new brethren and sisters comming thither from time to time with the spoils of their enimies conquered and vanquished in this world O what a comfortable sight wil it be to see those seats of Angels fallen filled up again with men and women from day to day To see the crowns of glorie set upon their heads and that in varietie according to the varietie of their conquests One for martyrdom or confession against the persecutor another for chastitie against the flesh another for povertie or humilitie against the world another for many conquests togither against the divel There the glorious companie of Apostles saith holy Cyprian there the number of rejoising prophets there the innumerable multitude of martyrs shal receive the crowns of their deaths and sufferings There triumphing virgins which have overcom concupiscence with
by to watch the same The prophet David to signifie the very same thing that is the infinite multitude of snares in this world saith God shal raign snares upon sinners That is God shal permit wicked men to fal into snares which are as plentiful in the world as are the drops of rain which fal down from heaven Every thing almost is a deadly snare unto a carnal and loose harted man Every sight that he seeth every word that he heareth every thought that he conceiveth his youth his age his frinds his enimies his honor his disgrace his riches his povertie his companie keeping his prosperitie his adversitie his meat that he eateth his apparel that he weareth al are snares to draw him to destruction that is not watchful 49 Of this then and of the blindnes declared before doth follow the last and greatest miserie of al which can be in this life and that is the facilitie wherby worldly men do run into sin For truly saith the scripture Miseros facit populos peccatum Sin is the thing that maketh people miserable And yet how easily men of the world do commit sin and how little scruple they make of the matter Iob signifieth when talking of such a man he saith Bibit quasi aquam iniquitatem He suppeth up sin as it were water That is with as great facilitie custome and ease passeth he down any kind of sin that is offered him as a mā drinketh water when he is a thirst He that wil not beleeve the saieng of Iob let him prove a little by his own experience whether the matter be so or no let him walk out in to the streets behold the doings of men view their behavior consider what is done in shops in hals in consistories in judgement seats in pallaces and in common meeting places abroad what lieng what slandering what deceiving there is He shal find that of al things wherof men take any account nothing is so little accounted of as to sin He shal see justice sold veritie wrested shame lost and equitie despised He shal see the innocent condemned the giltie delivered the wicked advanced the vertuous opressed He shal see many theves florish many usurers bear great sway many murderers extortioners reverenced honored many fools put in authoritie and divers which have nothing in them but the form of men by reason of money to be placed in great dignities for the government of others He shal hear at every mans mouth almost vanitie pride detraction envie deceit dissimulation wantonnes dissolution lieng swearing perjurie and blaspheming Finally he shal see the most part of men to govern themselves absolutely even as beasts do by the motion of their passions not by law of justice reason religion or vertu 50 Of this doth insu the fift point that Christ toucheth in his parable and which I promised heer to handle to wit that the love of this world choketh up and strangleth every man whom it possesseth from al celestial and spiritual life for that it filleth him with a plain contrarie spirit to the spirit of God The apostle saith Si quis spiritum Christi non habet hic non est eius If any man hath not the spirit of Christ this fellow belongeth not unto him Now how contrarie the spirit of Christ and the spirit of the world is may appeer by the fruits of Christs spirit rekoned up by Saint Paul unto the Galathians to wit Charitie which is the root and mother of al good works Ioy in serving God Peace or tranquillitie of mind in the storms of this world Patience in adversitie Longanimitie in expecting our reward Bonitie in hurting no man Benignitie in sweet behavior Gentlenes in occasion given of anger Faithfulnes in performing our promises Modestie without arrogancie Continencie from al kind of wickednes Chastitie in conserving a pure mind in a clean and unspotted bodie Against these men saith Saint Paul there is no law And in the very same chapter he expresseth the spirit of the world by the contrarie effects saieng The works of flesh are manifest which are fornication uncleannes wantonnes lecherie idolatrie poisonings enmities contentions emulations wrath strife dissention sects envie murder droonkennes gluttonie and the like of which I foretel you as I have told you before that those men which do such things shal never obtain the kingdome of heaven 51 Heer now may every man judge of the spirit of the world and the spirit of Christ and applieng it to himselfe may conjecture whether he holdeth of the one or of the other Saint Paul giveth two pretie short rules in the very same place to trie the same The first is They which are of Christ have crucified their flesh with the vices and concupiscences therof That is they have so mortified their own bodies as they strive against al the vices sins repeated before and yeeld not to serve the concupiscences or temptations therof The second rule is If we live in spirit then let us walk in spirit That is our walking and behavior is a sign whether we be alive or dead For if our walking be spiritual such as I have declared before by those fruits therof then do we live have life in spirit but if our works be carnal such as S. Paul now hath described then are we carnal and dead in spirit neither have we any thing to do with Christ or portion in the kingdome of heaven And for that al the world is ful of those carnal works and bringeth foorth no fruits indeed of Christs spirit nor permitteth them to grow up or prosper within hir thence is it that the scripture alwais putteth Christ and the world for opposite and open enimies 52 Christ himselfe saith that The world cannot receive the spirit of truth And again in the same Evangelist he saith that Neither he nor any of his are of the world though they live in the world And yet further in his most vehement praier unto his father Pater iuste mundus te non cognovit Iust father the world hath not known thee For which cause S. Iohn writeth If any man love the world the love of the father is not in him And yet further Saint Iames that Whosoever but desireth to be frind of this world is therby made an enimie to God What wil worldly men say to this Saint Paul affirmeth plainly that this world is to be damned And Christ insinuateth the same in Saint Iohns Gospel but most of al in that wonderful fact of his when praieng to his father for other matters he excepteth the world by name Non pro mundo rogo saith he I do not aske mercie and pardon for the world but for those which thou hast given me out of the world Oh what a dreadful exception is this made by the savior of the world by the lamb that taketh away al sins
19.20 Deu. 10. Heb. 10. Psa. 118. Heb. 12. Mat. 26. Great and strange effects of Gods iustice Mat. 7.20 Whether Gods mercie be greater than his iustice * * Spread foorth over al his works as both Augustine and Ierom do read In omnia or In Vniversa opera eius Tom. 8.11 on behalfe of his children For even they also have their works so unperfect and their faith so weak that but in the depth of the mercie of God they cannot in any wise be saved no not the best that ever was But concerning that he doth so resolutely set down so many thousands to be damned for one that is saved it is somwhat more than the word it selfe doth warrant or the proportion of the mercie of God compared with his justice may seem to bear And seeing that this whole treatise in these four next sections viz. 16.19 is grounded upon a wrong text therfore it is to be read so much more warily and no further to be accounted of than it may be found to have the word of God to warrant the same Psa. 144. Iac. 2. Mat. 7.20 Ose. 13. 2 1. Tim. 2. Eze. 18. Iere. 3. Mat. 25. Iosephus de bello Iud. lib. 1. cap. 1.2 3. * * As afore not as though the meaning shuld be that God were more merciful than just holie wise or such like Psal. 83. Psal. 84. Psa. 100. Psal. 33. Eccl. 1. Prou. 1. Eccl. 7. Eccl. 15. Eccl. 7. Eccl. 2. The praise of tru fear Pro. 14. Ecc. 1.2.15 Psa. 112. Eccl. 1. Psal. 24. Psal. 30. Psal. 60. Psal. 62. Psa. 144. Iob. 9. Psal. 9. Mat. 25. Luc. 16. Mat. 7. Luc. 13. Mat. 12. Mat. 27. Mar. 15. Iohn 2. D. Thomas secunda secundae q. 14. art 1.2.3 * * Those six that Thomas there nameth are desperation presumption impoenitencie wilfulnes impugning of the known truth and envieng of the grace that is given to another Al which may indeed be easily found to go against the spirit of God But that they may be accounted to be that same that in the scripture is called sin against the holie Ghost and excluded al hope of pardon that is not so easily to be granted for that the properties therunto assigned do not seem to be so fully found in any of these A wilful resisting of the known truth not of infirmitie for fear or favor but of meere malice for hatred of it even only for that it is the truth may seem to come much neerer unto it than al things considered those others do Neither doth he set them down absolutely to be six several sorts of that sin but in that sense that himselfe doth there limit Why presumption is a sin against the holie Ghost Rom. 13. Pro. 28. 2. Ioh. 4. 2. Tim. 4. 1. Pet. 1. Phil. 2. An obiection answered 2. Tim. 1. Servile fear and the fear of children Rom. 8. How the fear of gentils was servile 1. Pet. 3. * * Divers so take it but it seemeth rather in my judgement that such as expound it as if the apostle forbad them to fear those adversaries of theirs do come somwhat neerer to the sense of the place Two things to be noted * * Truth it is that such fear serveth wel to such a purpose But the fear that in this place is spoken of seemeth by the circumstances of the place not to be the servile but the childlike fear As also another sense of this place may stand likewise viz. that to fear the Lord is the first or principal part or greatest point of al wisdome For that whosoever feareth the Lord shal so govern his wais and have al things fal out so wel that al the wisdome in al the world besides can never be able so to forecast for al events For the Lord himselfe taketh upon him the protection government of those that fear him on whose behalfe he maketh al things to fal out to the best Prou. 1. Ion. 13. Mat. 3. 1. Ioh. 4. Tract 9. in epist. 1. Ioh. * * Then is it not that servile fear Luc. 12. Mat. 10. 2. Cor. 5. 1. Cor. 9. The conclusion 1. Cor. 4. Eph. 5. Pro. 18. The cause why the divel persuadeth us to delay Rom. 2. Lib. 8. conf cap. 7.18 The causes which make our conversion harder by delay The same shewed by comparisons An example Tract 49. in Ich. Iohn 11. Mat. 9. Luc. 7. Eccl. 10. Iob. 20. Exo. 32. A comparison Ingratitude Mala. 1. Deu. 25. Levi. 3. Num. 18. Malac. 1. Eccl. 5. Serm. 1.10 de sanctis The losse of time A comparison Pro. 20. The obligation and charge by delay Rom. 8. Rom. 2. Lib. de la. li. 5. ep 5. ad cor Ep. 27. ad Eustoch Ad virg lap sam c. 8. Psal. 26. The example of the theefe saved on the crosse discussed * * The blessed virgin likewise other godly women were by but said nothing that we read of in his defence a plaine breach of the first fift sixt and ninth commandements Serm. 120. de tem * * The blessed virgin S. Iohn others as afore and this staggering must needs be sin The general way 2. Cor. 11. Psal. 61. Eccl. 21. Gal. 6. That the conversion made at the first day is very dowtful The first reason The second reason 2. Reg. 16. 2. Reg. 19. 3. Reg. 2. The third reason Iere. 13. The fourth reason 2. Cor. 11. Prou. 1. Iere. 35. Pro. 11. Psa. 149. Prou. 1. Psal. 58. Prou. 1. Apoc. 2. Herod Marc. 6. Herod the second Luc. 11. Luc. 23. Mat. 14. Pilate Mat. 27. Agrippa Acts. 26. Pharao Exod. 9. Acts. 24. Felix The dangers of passing the day of our vocation Exo. 33. Rom. 9. Luc. 21. Eccl. 5. Heb. 3. Acts. 7. Apoc. 3. Psal. 94. Godlines the only gain of time Deu. 32. Exod. 9. Mat. 25. Heb. 12. 2. Mac. 9. Esai 55. 2. Cor. 6. Tract 33. in Ioh. Of sloth 1. Cor. 6. Pro. 21. Mat. 25. Mat. 21. Four effects of sloth 1 Drowsines Pro. 19. Ephes. 5. Mar. 13. Mat. 24. and 25. Pro. 6. 24 2 Fear Pro. 19. Psal. 52. Pro. 22. Pusillanimitie Eccl. 22. * * The vulgar translation so readeth but now it is found that therin it misseth the sense of the text in both these places heer alledged And yet the matter it selfe is tru though it have no warrant hence Lazines Pro. 26. Pro. 13. Pro. 19. Means to remoove sloth 1. The. 3. Mat. 20. Iohn 15. Luc. 13. Mat. 11. Eccl. 9. Pro. 10. Pro. 20. Cap. 3. Pro. 6. Colos. 1. Rom. 12. Gal. 6. Of negligence Epicurism or life of Epicures Phil. 3. Rom. 16. Titus 1. Eccl. 2. Of careles Atheists Deu. 22. Apoc. 3. Luc. 6. Mat. 12. Mat. 6. The cheefe cause of Atheism at this day 1. Ioh. 2. A comparison The way to cure careles men Deut. 6. Mat. 22. Luc. 10. Deut. 6. and 11. Iohn 1. Luc. 10. 1. Ioh. 2. Luc. 18. Ephes. 5. Luc. 21. Mat. 24. Mich. 6. Rom. 11. Rom. 12.
loveth us and tendereth our case most mercifully 31 But yet heer is one thing to be noted in this matter and that is that Christ suffered the ship almost to be covered with waves as the Evangelist saith before he would awake therby to signifie that the measure of temptations is to be left only unto himselfe it is sufficient for us to rest upon the apostles words He is faithful and therfore he wil not suffer us to be tempted above our strength We may not examin or mistrust his doings we may not inquire why doth he this Or why suffereth he that Or how long wil he permit these evils to reign God is a great God in al his doings and when he sendeth tribulation he sendeth a great deal togither to the end he may shew his great power in delivering us and recompenseth it after with as great measure of comfort His temptations oftentimes do go very deep therby to try the very harts and reins of men He went far with Elias when he caused him to fly into a mountain and there most desirous of death to say They have killed al thy prophets O Lord and I am left alone and now they seeke to kil me also He went far with David when he made him cry out Why dost thou turn thy face away from me O Lord Why dost thou forget my povertie and tribulation And in another place again I said with my selfe in the excesse of my mind I am cast out from the face of thine eies O Lord. God went far with the apostles when he inforced one of them to write We wil not have you ignorant brethren of our tribulation in Asia wherin we were oppressed above al measure above al strength insomuch as it lothed us to live any longer But yet above al others he went furthest with his own deer Son when he constrained him to utter those pittiful most lamentable words upon the crosse My God my God why hast thou forsaken me Who can now complain of any proofe or temptation whatsoever laid upon him seeing GOD would go so far with his own deer only Son 32 Heerof then insueth the third thing necessarie unto us in tribulation which is magnanimitie grounded upon a strong and invincible faith of Gods assistance and of our final deliverance how long soever he delay the matter and how terrible soever the storm do seem for the time This God requireth at our hands as may be seen by the example of the disciples who cried not We perish before the waves had covered the ship as Saint Mathew writeth and yet Christ said unto them Vbi est fides vestra Where is your faith Saint Peter also was not afeard until he was almost under water as the same Evangelist recordeth and yet Christ reprehended him saieng Thou man of little faith why diddest thou dowt What then must we do in this case deer brother Surely we must put on that mightie faith of valiant king David who upon the most assured trust he had of Gods assistance said In Deo meo transgrediar murū In the help of my God I wil go through the wal Of which invincible faith Saint Paul was also when he said Omnia possum in eo qui me confortat I can do al things in him that comforteth and strengtheneth me Nothing is unpossible nothing is too hard for me by his assistance We must be as the scripture saith Quasi Leo confidens absque terrore Like a bold and confident Lion which is without terror That is we must not be astonied at any tempest any tribulation any adversitie We must say with the prophet David experienced in these matters I wil not fear many thousands of people that should inviron or besiege me togither If I should walk amidst the shadow of death I wil not fear If whole armies should stand against me yet my hart should not tremble My hope is in God and therfore I wil not fear what man can do unto me God is my aider and I wil not fear what flesh can do unto me God is my helper and protector and therfore I wil despise and contemn mine enimies And another prophet in like sense Behold God is my savior and therfore wil I deal confidently and wil not fear These were the speeches of holie prophets of men that knew wel what they said and had often tasted of affliction themselves and therfore could say of their own experience how infallible Gods assistance is therin 33 To this supreme courage magnanimitie and Christian fortitude the scripture exhorteth us when it saith If the spirit of one that is in authoritie do rise against thee see thou yeeld not from thy place unto him And again another scripture saith Strive for iustice even to the losse of thy life and stand for equitie unto death it selfe and God shal overthrow thine enimies for thee And Christ himselfe yet more effectually recommendeth this matter in these words I say unto you my frinds be not afraid of them which kil the body and afterward have nothing else to do against you And S. Peter addeth further Neque conturbemini that is Do not only not fear them but which is lesse do not so much as be troubled for al that flesh and blood can do against you 34 Christ goeth further in the Apocalips and useth marvelous speeches to intise us to this fortitude For these are his words He that hath an eare to hear let him hear what the spirit saith unto the churches To him that shal conquer I wil give to eat of the tree of life which is in the paradise of my God This saith the first and the last he that was dead and now is alive I know thy tribulatition and thy povertie but thou art rich indeed and art blasphemed by those that say they are tru Israelites and are not but are rather the synagog of satan Fear nothing of that which you are to suffer behold the devil wil cause some of you to be thrust into prison to the end you may be tempted and you shal have tribulation for ten daies But be faithful unto death and I wil give thee a crown of life He that hath an eare to hear let him hear what the spirit saith unto the churches he that shal overcome shal not be hurt by the second death And he that shal overcome and keep my works unto the end I wil give unto him authoritie over nations even as I have received it from my father and I wil give him besides the morning star He that shal overcome shal be appareled in white garments and I wil not blot his name out of the booke of life but wil confesse his name before my father and before his angels Behold I come quikly hold fast that thou hast lest another man receive thy crown He that shal conquer I
feareth God neglecteth nothing he that feareth God wil turn and looke into his own hart he that feareth God wil do good works They which fear God wil not be incredulous to that which he saith but wil keep his wais and seek out the things that are pleasant unto him they wil prepare their harts and sanctifie their souls in his sight 21 This is the description of tru fear of God set down by the scripture This is the description of that fear which is so much commended and commanded in every part and parcel of Gods word of that fear I say which is called Fons vitae radix prudentiae corona plenitudo sapientiae gloria gloriatio beatum donum that is The fountain of life the roote of prudence the crown and fulnes of wisdome the glorie and gloriation of a Christian man a happie gift Of him that hath this fear the scripture saith Happy is the man which feareth the Lord for he wil place his mind upon his commandements And again The man that feareth God shal be happy at the last end and shal be blessed at the day of his death Finally of such as have this fear the scripture saith that God is their foundation God hath prepared great multitude of sweetnes for them God hath purchased them an inheritance God is as merciful to them as the father is merciful unto his children And to conclude Voluntatem timentium se faciet God wil do the wil of those that fear him with this fear 22 This holy fear had good Iob when he said to God I feared al my works And he yeeldeth the reason therof For I know that thou sparest not him that offendeth thee This fear lacked the other of whom the prophet saith The sinner hath exaspered God by saieng that God wil not take account of his dooings in the multitude of wrath Thy judgements O Lord are remooved from his sight And again Wherfore hath the man stirred up God against himself by saieng God wil not take account of my dooings It is a great wickednes no dowt a great exasperation of God against us to take the one halfe of Gods nature from him which is to make him merciful without justice to live so as though God would not take account of our life wheras he hath protested most earnestly the contrarie saieng that he is an hard and a sore man which wil not be content to receive his own again but also wil have usurie that he wil have a rekoning of al his goods lent us that he wil have fruit for al his labors bestowed upon us and finally that he wil have account for every word that we have spoken 23 Christ in the three score and eight psalm which in sundry places of the Gospel he interpreteth to be written of himselfe among other dreadful curses which he setteth down against the reprobate he hath these Let their eies be dazeled in such sort as they may not see powre out thy wrath my father upon them let the furie of thy vengeance take hand fast on them ad iniquitie upon their iniquitie and let him not enter into thy righteousnes let them be blotted out of the book of life and let them not be inrolled togither with the iust Heer lo we see that the greatest curse which God can lay upon us next before our blotting out of the booke of life it is to suffer us to be so blinded as to ad iniquitie upon iniquitie and not to enter into consideration of his justice For which cause also this cōfident kind of sinning upon hope of Gods mercie is accounted by divines for the first of the six greevous sins against the holie Ghost which our Savior in the gospel signifieth to be so hardly pardoned unto men by his father and the reason why they cal this a sin against the holie Ghost is for that it rejecteth wilfully one of the principal means left by the holie Ghost to retire us from sin which is the fear and respect of Gods justice upon sinners 24 Wherfore to conclude this matter of presumption me think we may use the same kind of argument touching the fear of Gods justice as Saint Paul useth to the Romans of the fear of Gods ministers which are temporal princes wouldest thou nor fear the power of a temporal prince saith he Do wel then and thou shalt not only not fear but also receive laud and praise therfore But if thou do evil then fear For he beareth not the sword without a cause In like sort may we say to those good felows which make God so merciful as no man ought to fear his justice Would ye not fear my brethren the justice of God in punishment Live vertuously then and you shal be as void of fear as lions are saith the wise man For that perfect charitie expelleth fear But if you live wickedly then have you cause to fear For God called not himselfe a just judge for nothing 25 If the matter had been so secure as many men by flatterie do persuade themselves it is Saint Peter would never have said unto Christians now baptised Walk you in fear during the time of this your earthly habitation Nor S. Paul to the same men Woork your own salvation in fear and trembling But heer some men wil ask how then doth the same apostle in another place say That God hath not given us the spirit of fear but of vertu love and sobrietie To which I answer That our spirit is not a spirit of servile fear that is to live in fear only for dread of punishment without love but a spirit of love joined with fear of children wherby they fear to offend their father not only in respect of his punishment but principally for his goodnes towards them benefits bestowed upon them This Saint Paul declareth plainly to the Romans putting the difference between servile fear and the fear of children You have not received again the spirit of servitude saith he in fear but the spirit of adoption of children wherby we cry to God Abba father He saith heer to the Romans you have not received again the spirit of servitude in fear for that their former spirit being gentils was only in servile fear for that they honored and adored their idols not for any love they bare unto them being so infinite as they were and such notable lewdnes reported of them I mean of Iupiter Mars Venus and the like but only for fear of hurt from them if they did not serve and adore the same 26 Saint Peter also in one sentence expoundeth al this matter For having said Timorem eorum ne timueritis Fear not their fear Meaning of the servile fear of wicked men he addeth presently Dominum autem Christum sanctificate in cordibus vestris cum modestia timore conscientiam
wil promise it I say upon a condition that he might have life again upon condition that the day might be prolonged unto him though if God should grant him his request as many times he doth he would perform no one point therof but be as careles as he were before When such shal crie with sighs and grones as pearsing as a sword and yet shal not be heard what comfort then wil they hope for to find For whither wil they turn themselves in this distresse Vnto their worldly wealth power or riches Alas they are gone and the scripture saith Riches shal not profit in the day of revenge Wil they turn unto their carnal frinds But what comfort can they give besides onlie weeping and comfortles moorning Wil they ask help of the saints to praie for them in this instant Then must they remember what is written The saints shal reioice in glorie and exultation shal be in their mouthes and two edged swords in their hands to take revenge upon nations and increpations upon people to bind kings in fetters and noble men in manacles of iron to execute upon them the prescript iudgement of God and this is the glorie of al his saints Their onlie refuge then must be unto God who indeed is the only refuge of al but yet in this case the prophet saith heer that He shal not hear them but rather contemn and laugh at their miserie Not that he is contrarie to his promise of receiving a sinner At what time soever he repenteth and turneth from his sin But for that this turning at the last day is not commonly tru repentance and conversion for the causes before rehearsed 28 To conclude then this matter of delay what wise men is there in the world who reading this wil not fear the deferring of his conversion though it were but for one day Who doth know whether this shal be the last day or no that ever God wil cal him in God saith I called and you refused to come I held out my hand and you would not looke towards me and therfore wil I forsake you in your extremitie He doth not say how manie times or how long he did cal and hold out his hand God saith I stand at the doore and knok but he saith not how often he doth that or how manie knoks he giveth Again he said of wicked Iezabel the feined prophetesse in the Apocalyps I have given hir time to repent and she would not and therfore shal she perish but he saith not how long this time of repentance endureth We read of woonderful examples heerin Herod the father had a cal given him and that a lowd one when Iohn Baptist was sent unto him and when his hart was so far touched as he willingly heard him and so followed his counsel in manie things as one Evangelist noteth but yet bicause he deferred the matter and tooke not time when it was offered he was cast off again and his last dooings made woorse than his former Herod Tetrak the son had a cal also when he felt that desire to see Christ and some miracle done by him but for that he answered not unto the cal it did him no good but rather much hurt What a great knok had Pilate given him at his hart if he had been so gratious as to have opened the doore presently when he was made to understand the innocencie of Christ as appeereth by washing his hands in testimonie therof and his wife also sent him an admonition about the same No lesse knok had king Agrippa at his doore when he cried out at the hearing of Saint Paul O Paul thou persuadest me a little to be a Christian. But bicause he deferred the matter this motion passed away again 29 Twise happie had Pharao been if he had resolved himselfe presently upon that motion that he felt when he cried to Moises I have sinned and God is iust But by delay he became woorse than ever he was before Saint Luke reporteth how Felix the governor of Iewrie for the Romanes conferred secretly oftentimes with Saint Paul that was prisoner and heard of him the faith in Christ wherwith hee was greatly mooved especially at on time when Paul disputed of Gods justice and the day of judgement wherat Felix trembled but yet he deferred this resolution willing Paul to depart and to come again another time and so the matter by delation came to no effect How many men do perish daily some cut off by death some left by God and given over to a reprobate sense which might have found grace if they had not deferred their conversion from day to day but had made their resolution presently when they felt God to cal within their harts 30 God is most bountiful to knok and cal but yet he bindeth himselfe to no time or space but commeth and goeth at his pleasure and they which take not their times when they are offered are excuselesse before his justice and do not know whether ever it shal be offered them again or no for that this thing is only in the wil and knowlege of God alone who taketh mercie where it pleaseth him best and is bound to none And when the prefixed time of calling is once past wo be unto that partie for a thousand worlds wil not purchase it again Christ sheweth woonderfully the importance of this matter when entering into Ierusalem amidst al his mirth and glorie of receiving he could not chuse but weep upon that citie crieng out with tears O Ierusalem if thou knewest also these things which appertain to thy peace even in this thy day but now these things are hidden from thee As if he had said if thou knewest Ierusalem as wel as I do what mercie is offered thee even this day thou wouldest not do as thou doest but wouldest presently accept therof but now this secret judgement of my father is hidden from thee and therfore thou makest little account therof until thy destruction shal come suddenly upon thee as soone after it did 31 By this now may be considered the great reason of the wise mans exhortation For-slow not to turn to God nor do not defer it from day to day for his wrath wil come upon thee at the sudden and in time of revenge it wil destroy thee It may be seene also upon what great cause the Apostle exhorteth the Hebrews so vehementlie Dum cognominantur bodie To accept of grace even whiles that very day endured and not to let passe the occasion offered Which every man applieng to himselfe should follow in obeing the motions of Gods spirit within him and accepting of Gods vocation without delay considering what a greevous sin it is to resist the holie Ghost Every man ought I say when he feeleth a good motion in his hart to think with himselfe now God knocketh at my
Pharao had no more greevous way to do it than to say Indurabo cor Pharaonis I wil harden the hart of Pharao That is as Saint Austen expoundeth I wil take away my grace and so permit him to harden his own hart so when he would shew mercie to Israel he had no more forcible means to expresse the same than to say I wil take away the stonie hart out of your flesh give you a fleshie hart in steed therof That is I wil take away your hard hart and give you a soft hart that wil be mooved when it is spoken to And of al other blessings and benefits which God doth bestow upon mortal men in this life this soft and tender hart is one of the greatest I mean such an hart as is soone mooved to repentance soone checked and controlled soone pearsed soone made to bleed soone stirred to amendment And on the contrarie part there can be no greater curse or malediction laid upon a Christian than to have an hard and obstinate hart which heapeth every day vengeance unto it selfe and his maister also Saint Paul saith it is compared by the apostle unto the ground which no store of rain can make fruitful though it fal never so often upon the same and therfore he pronounceth rherof Reprobae est maledicto proxima cuius consummatio in combustionem That is It is reprobate and next doore to malediction whose end or consummation must be fire and burning 26 Which thing being so no marvel though the holie scripture do dehort us so carefully from this obduration and hardnes of hart as from the most dangerous and desperate disease that possible may fal upon the Christian being indeed as the apostle signifieth the next doore to reprobation it selfe S. Paul therfore crieth Nolite contristari nolite extinguere spiritum Dei Do you not make sad do you not extinguish the spirit of God by obduration by resisting and impugning the same Again Non obduretvr quis ex vobis fallacia peccati Let no man be hard harted among you through the deceit of sin The prophet David also crieth Hodie si vocem eius audieritis nolite obdurare corda vestra Even this day if you hear the voice of God calling you to repentance see you harden not your harts against him Al which earnest speeches used by Gods holie spirit do give us to understand how carefully we have to flie this most pestilent infection of an hard hart which almightie God by his mercie give us grace to do and indu us with a tender hart towards the ful obedience of his divine majestie such a soft hart I say as the wise man desired when he said to God Da servo tuo cor docile Give unto me thy servant O Lord an hart that is docible and tractable to be instructed such an hart as God himselfe describeth to be in al them whom he loveth saieng Ad quem respiciam nisi ad pauperculum contritum corde timentem sermones meos To whom wil I have regard or shew my favor but unto the poore and humble of hart unto the contrite spirit and to such as trembleth at my speeches 27 Behold deer brother what an hart God requireth at thy hands A little poore humble hart for so much importeth the diminitive Pauperculus also a contrite hart for thine offences past and an hart that trembleth at everie word that commeth to thee from God by his ministers How then wilt thou not fear at so manie words and whole discourses as have been used before for thine awakening for opening thy peril for stirring thee to amendement How wilt thou not fear the threats and judgements of this great Lord for thy sin How wilt thou dare to proceed anie further in his displeasure How wilt thou defer this resolution any longer Surely the lest part of that which hath been said might suffice to moove a tender hart an humble and contrite spirit to present resolution and earnest amendement of life But if al togither cannot moove thee to do the same I can say no more but that thou hast a verie hard hart indeed which I beseech our heavenly father to soften for thy salvation with the pretious hot blood of his onlie son our Savior who was content to shed it for that effect upon the crosse 28 And thus now having said so much as time permitted me concerning the first general part required at our hands for our salvation that is concerning resolution appointed by any division in the beginning to be the subject or matter of this first booke I wil end heer deferring for a time the performance of my purpose for the other two bookes upon the causes and reasons set down in an advertisement to the reader at the very first enterance unto this booke nothing dowting but if God shal vouchsafe to work in anie mans hart by means of this booke or otherwise this first point of resolution the most hard of al other then wil he also give means to perfect the work begun of himselfe and wil supplie by other wais the two principal parts following that is both right beginning and constant perseverance wherunto my other two bookes promised are appointed It wil not be hard for him that were once reformed to find helpers and instructors ynow the holie Ghost in this case being alwais at hand there want not good bookes and better men God be glorified for it in our own countrie at this day which are wel able to guide a zealous spirit in the right waie to vertu and yet as I have promised before so mean I by Gods most holie help and assistance to send thee gentle reader as my time and habilitie wil permit the other two bookes also especially if it shal please his divine majestie to comfort me therunto with the gain or good of any one soul by this which is alreadie done that is if I shal conceive or hope that any one soul so deerly purchased by the pretious blood of the son of God shal be mooved to resolution by any thing that is heer said that is shal be reclaimed from the bondage of sin and restored to the service of our maker redeemer which is the onlie end of my writing as his majestie best knoweth 29 And surely gentle reader though I must confesse that much more might be said for this point of resolution that is heer touched by me or than any man can wel utter in any competent kind of booke or volume yet am I of opinion that either these reasons heer alledged are sufficient or els nothing wil suffice for the conquering of our obstinacie and beating down of our rebellious disobedience in this point Heer thou maist see the principal arguments inducing thee to the service of God and detestation of vice Heer thou maist see the cause end why thou wast created the occasion of thy comming