to be the footstoole of the spirit But if thou abide constant in the spirit thereby art possessor of thy owne soule and a commander of things transitorie thy sowing to the spirit shall make thee to reape of the spirit and thy Haruest shall bee life euerlasting Thou shalt also stop the mouthes of them that speake euill of Dignities and for the abuse would take away the vse Thou shalt bee called a builder of Sion and a repayrer of the breaches of Ierusalem But on the otherside They that sow to the flesh shall of the flesh reape corruption They that build vp a Babell shal be stricken with confusion They that partake with the Harlot in her sinnes shall partake with her in her plagues and * Reuâ— 18 7 8. one of her chiefe sinnes is Pride and her plagues are Mourning Famine Death and Fire Their soules shall be banished from the Tree of Life which is the extremity of hunger They shall be sent into weeping and gnashing of teeth which is the most bitter mourning and to the second Death where the Worme dyeth not and the fire neuer shall be quenched CHAP. XIII A double fault in teaching one that fretteth the whole flesh the other nourisheth the proud flesh one thinkes to saue men by angring despising them the other will not saue them rather then offend them OVr Sauiour CHRIST sayth Wâ— to you when all men speake well of you and Saint Paul sayth I seeke to please all that by all meanes I may winne some In these two Sayings there is a shew of Contrariety between the Master and the Seruant Christ accounts them accursed with whom all are pleased and yet Paul striues to please all though those with whom all are pleased bee accursed And according to the misinterpretation of these two places haue risen two Errours the one of them that thinke their Ministery neuer well set on worke or sufficiently confirmed vntill it hath stirred vp the whole World against them The other of them that thinke it the chiefe discretion of their Ministery not to speake any thing which by a reproofe of euident sins may hazard the loue of any of their hearers But Verity being euer the Companion of Vnity and Christ and Paul speaking both infallible Verity they are certainly at Vnity Now this Verity like a right Line will plainly shew the crookednes of both these Errours and this Vnity will condemne their contentiousnesse that fal out about the defence of Errours Christ speakes not to this end that the Ministers should labour for hatred or striue that men should speake ill of them but he sayth That the ill speeches of men are ordinary consequents of a faithfull Minister yea a faithfull man Hee doth not tell the Ministers that they should follow hatred but he tels the Ministers that hatred will follow them Hee doth not set the Minister by the eares with the World but hee saith the World will take the Minister by the eares Hee is of Saint Pauls minde that he would haue the Minister in all indifferent things to please all but yet he denounceth that though such courses be taken of pleasing yet the very exercise of the Ministery will mostly get displeasure And heereof no better example then Paul himselfe with whom though striuing to please all yet the most of all were much displeased So that both these Sayings may bee harmoniously contracted into one sentence Striue to please all that you profit some yet striuing to please all be ye sure that some will bee displeased For the Seed of the Serpent will hate Seed of the Woman and the World that only loues her own will hate them that are not of the World But that we wander not on eyther hand into these diuers Errors let vs find out the right paths of truth euen the true Lawes of pleasing and displeasing In pleasing let this bee the first Law That Ministers are to propose a good end in their pleasing they must not please men to their damnation nor please them to Gods dishonour nor for their owne vaine glory but they must please them to saue them and to bring them to serue and glorifie their Creator Secondly they must please them in things lawfull euen in things good or at least indifferent They may not please them in euill that good may come thereof neyther may they sooth them in their sinnes which is to edifie the Kindome of Satan but if there bee at anytime a conniuencie at no hand may there be a combination nor incouragement it must bee for the more profit euen to watch a better oportunity And still be it prouided that no perfect peace by any meanes be made with sinne Aboue all let a Minister striue to please in holinesse of life for the beautie thereof hath often stolne away the hearts of the gain-sayers and gained their affections euen against their wils Yea let his Gesture haue an amiable comelinesse befitting one that is a Man of God And such is a graue Humility euen without Pride or Basenes not carnally but spiritually both confident and humble Thirdly let them please them in the wisdome and discretion of their Dispensation Let them giue the great Ones their Honours and Respects let Festus be called Noble and let King Agrippa haue his commendations of beleeuing the Prophets for this is not to giue Titles or to call good euill but to speake truth and to giue honour to whom honour belongeth A wicked Man may be outwardly honorable and thou mayst not rob him without because hee is alreadie robbed within Thou mayst cast him downe by spirituall iudgement but not degrade him of his temporall dignity thy weapons are spirituall not carnall and thy Masters Kingdome is not of this World If thou doe otherwise rayle on the Pope as much as thou wilt thou art surely a limbe of him for he robs men wholy of temporall honour for spirituall offences and thou robbest them in part Eccl. 12.12 But thou shalt prooue thy selfe an ill Fisher for soules if thou wilt not bayte thy doctrine or behauiour with that sweetnesse or ceremony by which the fish will byte the better and be the sooner caught In summe know the estate of thy Flocke in particular to bee to euery one a seuerall Man in thy priuate conuersation and still one man in the publike Be that to euery Man by which thou mayest winne him most For thou must bee all for gaine a true Worldling but of another World Thirdly in indifferent things as lawfull and decent recreations allow them yea sometimes therein ioyne with them God that filleth vs with food and gladnesse allowes these blessings especially to his blessed ones the rest haue it by stealth Let vs not make the gate of Heauen narrower then God hath made it neyther let vs make Religion a ghastly thing by vnnecessary opposing of Nature for the businesse of Religion is not to crosse Nature created but Nature corrupted euen our Corruption not our
destruction for the Church of God seeing her desperatenes hath nothing left but to cry continually Come out of her my people that yee bee not partaker of her plagues And God himselfe seeing her in the same remedilesse case that he saw Iuda and Israel 2. Chron. 36.16 beeing still the same God will no doubt vse the same Iustice and according to his owne Word will send downe that Angell of Power which shall lighten the Earth with his Glory and cry mightily with a loud voyce Babylon the great is fallen is fallen and become the habitation of Deuils and this is the reason of her torments because she faith I sit as a Queene and am no Widdow and shall see no sorrow But if withall some plaine particulars bee desired by which men without labour may see that they haue erred who cannot erre and therefore erre againe in saying they did not erre before not to referre them to the large Treatises of these Controuersies let them consider some few positions which are direct Oppositions to the Word of God S. Iohn sayth 1. Ioh. 1.7 The bloud of Christ purgeth vs from all sin Bellarmine sayth Iudic. de lib. concord That good Workes deserue remission of sinnes Saint Paul sayth 1. Cor. 1.15 That when the people vnderstandeth not he cannot say Amen neyther is edified Vers. 16 17. and withall commands That all things should bee done to edifying and to that end that when a strange tongue is spoken one should interprete or otherwise the speaker in an vnknown tongue should hold his peace Verse 16 17 18. But the Councell of Trent sayth in the Decree of the Sacrament cap. 9 That whosoeuer holds that Masse should bee said in the vulgar Tongue let him be accursed Againe the Commandement saith That no Image shall bee worshipped but Bellarmine sayes they may be worshipped and Azorius sayes with the worship of the sampler and so the Crucifixe with the worship of Christ. Christ sayth That the Apostles shall not bee like the Princes of the Earth in Dominion but the Papists say That to the Pope is giuen all power and the vse of both Swords yea they are set aboue Princes And surely to sum vp these foure points together Idolatry magnifying of their owne Merits staruing of Soules and intolerable Pride their Corruption is abominablyeminent so that it must bee a blinde man that seeth it not and a Whores fore-head that confesseth it not And assuredly for foure transgressions and for fiue if not fiftie God will certaine punish them especially for these crying ones by which God himselfe hath his honor communicated to Stockes the Son of God hath this honour diuided with the sonnes of men Those which are called Gods are subiected to the pride of the Man of Sinne and the Church of God for whom Christ dyed and shed his bloud hath their bloud spilt by ignorance and not knowing the Councell of God Acts 20.27 So by these short patternes we may know what kind of stuffe their Religion is made of yea to what a Religion they haue tied themselues by the sacred and fearefull bands of Canons Curses Since then they haue bound themselues to their diseases what remaynes to vs but this Curauimus Babylonem non est sanata abeamus quisque in terram suam Come out of her come out of her my people that ye be not prtakers of her sinnes and that yee receiue not of her Plagues CHAP. IX A cure of that Monasticall Melancholy that cuts off a Christians hands and turnes him all into eyes CHrysostome speaking comparatiuely of an actiue contemplatiue life * De Sacer. lib. 6. preferreth â—he vertue of the actiue before the conteÌ„platiue of the Priest before the Monke as of a King before a priuate Man For hee saith the contemplatiue Man sayleth in the Harbour and passeth a good life but it is in safety and quietnesse But the actiue Man goes through the World and yet is none of the World he meetes with tentations fights with them and ouercomes them he steereth his course aright through stormie and tempestuous Oppositions Againe he sayth that the Minister labours with his minde the Monke with his bodie On the other side Gregory * Moral in Iob l. 6. c. 18. Ezek. l. 2. Hom. 3. preferreth the Contemplatiue before the Actiue and to prooue it saith that the Contemplatiue Man enioyeth his Creator is already in Heauen the World is trodden vnder him and he feasteth on Blessednes so that he is as farre aboue the Actiue as Heauen is aboue Earth as blisse is aboue this miserable and sinfull World Now there beeing but one Truth how shall wee find this one Truth in this seeming diuersitie of Opinions For Truth is only to bee found in Vnity and not in contrarietie Yet by the Candle of Gods Spirit and Word let vs seeke this Groat of Truth that otherwise may bee lost in the darke First true it is which Gregorie sayth That Contemplation is heerein more excellent then Action That Contemplation seemes to gather the fruit and Action but to sow it So as gathering is more excellent then sowing so Contemplation seemes to exceed Action And as attayning the Hauen is more comfortable then tossing in the Sea so Contemplation is farre sweeter then Action But yet on the behalfe of Action must we consider two assured Truthes First that this World is made for another World and it is not the place of Rest but the way to Rest and our busines in this World is to prouide for a happinesse to be enioyed in another World Then though enioying in it selfe bee better then working yet vpon this consideration of circumstances it may bee better to worke then to enioy For if working here increase our enioying hereafter and enioying heere diminish our enioying hereafter doubtlesse it is better to worke in this place of working that wee may enioy in the place of enioying then by imperfect enioying here in a place of working hereafter to diminish our ioyes in the place of perfect enioying To gather fruit in an vndue time abateth of the bignesse and sweetnesse We must not think to haue our Heauen here but wee must labour in the sixe dayes of this life to enioy an eternall Sabbath hereafter We must heere bee turners of our Talent that being faithfull in little we may rule ouer much and not thinke that binding vp our Talent we may be idle heere and glorious hereafter we may not imagine that man had a body giuen him to liue only in his soule but the Maker of the body will also haue the seruice of the body and that not in workes of Pietie alone but of Charity also euen of mutuall helpe and benefit as being part not of a Separation but of a Communion of Saints Therefore though Peter thought it good to bee still in the contemplation of Glorie and would faine haue built Tabernacles therein Yet Christ carries him downe againe from the Mountaine of Vision into the
surely that we may farther see the absurditie of this Pride wee can vse no better meanes for the begetting of Humility then the consideration of those excellencies on which the Flesh vsually begetteth Pride For doest thou enioy a great measure of Gods chiefe Graces Doe but as Iacob did Take but one of the least of these Graces and set them in one balance and thy selfe in the other and the voice of Humility cannot but break out of thy mouth Lord I am lesse then the least of thy blessings If with Dauid in one sight thou beholdest thy own naturall corruption misery and the great workes which God hath wrought both in thee and for thee Humility must speake out of thy mouth as it did out of Dauids Lord what is man that thou art mindfull of him and the sonne of man that thou regardest him And thy Psalme shall beginne and end not in thy owne excellence but in the excellence a Psal. 8. of God Lord how excellent is thy Name in all the Earth Surely if thou takest a true account of what thou hast receiued of God thou hast taken a true account of what thou owest him now the more thou hast receiued the more thou owest and the more thou owest I hope thou wilt not bee the more proud but the more humble Though God alloweth thee enioying of his graces yet thou owest him the seruice glory of them therefore think as well of the greatnesse of thy obligement as of the greatnesse of thy exaltation by them The more graces thou hast receiued the more seruice doth God exspect and a larger account And though the man that sits downe and swells in Spirituall excellencies seemes to be at his Rest and iourneys End yet be not thou emulous of him for hee hath taken his reward before his time The true and kindly reward of Spirituall graces is a Spirituall happinesse which being put ouer to another life which also is Spirituall he is altogether short of it who in this life indeauours to find it Hee that in Spirituall graces aymes at temporall rewards as his chiefe ends this man makes the Spirit a drudge to the Flesh he makes the Israelite to build Towers for the Egyptian he hath begunne in the Spirit and ends in the flesh and woe be to him whose end is worse then his beginning 2. Pet. 2.20 But let Spirituall honour and aduancement be vsed and employed by the same Graces by which they were gotten and let Grace then florish and fortifie most when it is most manured dressed and encouraged The higher Grace is aduanced and rewarded the more power and the more matter it hath for good workes A man truly Spirituall knowes his owne dignitie and nobililie that he is a sonne of God a Citizen of Heauen an inheritour of a kingdome and hee doth not value any worldly honour equall with this Therefore for any outward additions hee will not abate his inward excellence neither will he giue away the greater for the meaner But he sayth to outward dignities as God sayd to the Prophet Let them returne to thee but returne not thou to them He will haue outward things by a Spirituall vse to become Spirituall but he will not suffer himselfe who is Spirituall by Carnall things to be made carnall If Religion beget wealth he will not suffer the daughter to eat vp the mother but the mother commands the daughter keepes her in obedience to that which bare her otherwise it were a most notable sacriledge to take the things of the Spirit from the Spirit and to giue them to the flesh and the very prophanenesse of Belshazzar to drinke carnall carowses in the spirituall Vessels of the Temple But let vs remember the hand of God was against him on the Wall and the hand of God was quickly vpon him with a finall ouerthrow Knowing therefore the terror of the Lord let vs striue to please him let vs feare to offend him and this shall wee doe if we follow our Sauiours counsell by giuing the things of God vnto God Neyther let any man thinke it an easie thing in outward aduancements to continue inwardly spirituall or to vse outward things in a spirituall manner For prosperity hath bin found a most dangerous temptation and it requires great care and a strong spirit rightly to mannage it There is ancient league betweene our flesh and the World the knot where of though it bee cut by the Circumcision of the spirit yet the smiles and glances which the World casts on vs in outward glory and prosperity doe easily awake the loue that was layd to sleepe and entise the flesh to renew her first Friendship with the World Therefore hath hee need of the faith of Moses that will refuse the pleasures of sinne and change them for the coldnes and abstinence of Mortificatiō But let him with Moses haue an eye to the recompence of the reward and that sight will make him resolute Let him remember the good Seruant who the more Talents hee receiued of his Master the more hee increased not to himselfe but to his Master And the more Talents he increased to him the more Cities he receiued of him Let him with Saint Paul not looke on the things that are seene but on the things that are not seene because the things seene are but temporall but the things not seene eternall and then if hee be wise hee will vse things temporall for the aduancement of things eternall and not lose things eternall by a carnall fruition of things temporall To conclude if the man that hath inward Graces by those Graces haue gotten a spirituall Eminence that hee shines as a greater Starre from which the lesser differ in Glorie let him indeauour to preserue and increase his excellence as well as to obtayne it This shall he doe if hee adde one Grace more to the rest of his Graces and that is Humility For Humility is a Grace that is the keeper of Graces yea it is an increaser of them So a Christians chiefe way of aspiring is by Humility and by lownesse to be exalted On the otherside if Grace be followed by Pride Pride lessens that wherein it seekes to fasten her rootes so that the more proud a man is of Grace the lesse cause of Pride he is likely to haue for Grace will lessen as Pride increaseth Againe hath thy inward excellence receiued the addition of some outward Dignitie let the spirit that got it command it doe thou make it spirituall and let it not make thee carnall Doe not thou lose that which thou art for that which thou hast but bee thou still thy selfe and let the things of Nature bee the seruants of Grace Be thou still spirituall in thy affections in thy actions for if thou abide in the spirit thou abidest in thy excellence and if thou goe from the spirit to the flesh thou goest downe really though thou mountest imaginarily for the top of the flesh is too bad