people that are according to our prouerbe He is as bad as a Iew. Finally by the woeful plagues not to speake here any thing of the torments of hell which is the worst of all which God hath sent downe immediatly from heauen vpon some of them in particular as vpon Herod Pontius Pilate and others For Herod to passe ouer all the rest and to make him an instance for all was thus plagued First he had a most scorching burning feuer by which he was inflamed exceedingly as well in the inward parts as in the outward Secondly there was in him an insatiable desire of food which could not be abated or be remoned away by all the meate and drinke which he did ranonously deuoure in great abundance Thirdly he had the bloody flixe Fourthly he had the colicke Fiftly he had the goute in his seete Sixtly his priuy members did so swell and rot that wormes did breed in the same And lastly he was from the top of the head vnto the sole of the foote so corrupt rotten that there came such a stinke from him that no person could well endure it and so in this woefull manner he ended his life and gaue vp the ghost Hauing thus seene the truth of all matters and found euery thing agreeable to the words of the text let vs now descend vnto the doctrine Doct. which may be gathered out of the same In few words it is nothing else but this that though we haue many enimies and sore aduersaries as Dauid and Christ had yet they shall not preuaile against vs but we shall prenaile against them doe they what they can as Dauid and Christ did Israel in Aegypt was cruelly handled but yet the more the Aegyptians did vexe them the more they multiplied and grew as it is in Exod. 3.12 And when they had done all the spite that they could doe against them yet at the last they were deliuered out of their hands they themselues being oftentimes plagued by the Almighty for their sakes and in the end most fearefully drowned in the red sea as it is apparant in the 14. Chap. of the same booke Mention is made of a great battell that was fought betweene Christ and the diuell and their armies in the Reuelation Chap. 12.7 c. But if you marke the sequele thereof you shall finde that Christ and his side had the victory For as it is witnessed of the Dragon who is the diuell and his Angels who are his souldiers that they preuailed not neither was their place found any more in heauen in the 8. verse of that Chapter so it is recorded to the glory comfort of all those who take Christs part that they ouercame the diuell the accuser of Gods children by the bloud of the Lambe and the word of their testimony in the 11. vers thereof But to omit other testimonies examples whereof the holy Scripture is full and frequent in this case let the words of our Sauiour Christ suffice vs at this time He tels vs in Math. 16.18 that the gates of hell whereby is meant all the power and force thereof shall not ouercome his Church or be able to ouerthrow such as do depend vpon him by a true and iustifying faith And in the 7. Chapter of the same booke towards the latter end thereof he doth shew the stablenesse of those that doe belong to the Lord haue a care both to heare the word of God and also to do it by a notable comparison wherein he doth resemble them to an house that is built vpon a rocke which cannot be cast downe by any tempest of weather whatsoeuer but doth stand alwaies still and cannot fall A thing neuer to bee thought of enough it is so full of comfort and consolation vnto euery godly soule chiefly vnto him that is afflicted here in this world But what might the reason thereof be may a man say that thus the godly should alwaies preuaile and be neuer ouerthrowne by their enimies but ouercome them rather Experience doth teach vs that they are fewer in number then the wicked are that they are weaker for strength and power that they are more simple for wit and policy and that they are more carelesse for diligence and watchfulnes then their aduersaries be How comes it then to passe that they haue the vpper hand The Prophet Isay doth declare it vnto vs in the 8. Chapter of his Prophecy and the 10. verse thereof Reason It is in few words because the Lord is with for thē For first he is stronger then all beeing able to resist all power that is made against his to do whatsoeuer he will both in heauen earth Secondly he is wiser then all seeing how to preuent them in all their waies and how also to bring matters to passe for the good of his Thirdly he is diligenter then all to stand as it were vpon his watch and to take his aduantage when it is offered him For he that keepeth Israel doth neither slumber nor sleepe Psalme 121.4 Lastly he is happier then all to haue good successe in all his enterprises For he doth prosper still in all things which he doth take in hand and none can resist a thought of his yea the very word that goeth out of his mouth doth accomplish that which he will and prosper in the thing whereunto he doth send it Isay 55.11 In warre all these foure things are respected in a captaine that will still ouercome First that he be strong Secondly that he be wise Thirdly that he be diligent And lastly that he be fortunate For the victory goes not alwaies with the strong nor alwaies with the wise nor alwaies with the diligent nor alwaies with the fortunate but sometimes with the one of them and sometimes with the other But looke where all foure doe concurre together there is alwaies the victory And therefore seeing all of them are in God it is no maruell though those whose battels hee doth fight doe alwaies ouercome and get the victory Here I would gladly come to the vse of the doctrine Obiect but me thinks I heare a man obiecting against that which hath bene said saying that it is not true that Gods children do alwaies preuaile against their enimies but that their enimies oftentimes do preuaile against them For we see that they are murdered and put to death Mention is made thereof in the booke of the Reuelation and in other places of the holy Scripture besides And thousand examples euery where do demonstrate the same daily vnto vs. For we do behold stil with our owne eyes and heare with our owne eares that the godly haue the worst end of the staffe as it is in our adage and that the wicked do beare sway and dominion ouer them How then is it true which hath bene spoken that doe the vngodly what they can yet the righteous shall still preuaile against them as here Dauid and Christ did The answere hereunto may easily
4.1 And thus the Beroeans did for when Paul Silas came preached amongst them they receiued the word with all readinesse and searched the Scriptures daily whether those things were so or no as they taught them Acts 17.11 So also did the Ephesians For when some came vnto them and sayd that they were Apostles who indeed were not they examined them and found them liers Reuel 2.2 And so lastly must we our selues do for we must not build our faith vpon men who may deceiue vs but vpon the word of God which cannot deceiue vs. Any thing that is agreeable to the same we must receiue and whatsoeuer is contrary vnto it we must reiect and cast away saying with the Apostles We ought rather to obey God then man Acts 5.29 In the third and last place from this that Councels and Assemblies are as well against the Lord as for the Lord we may learne that we must not be too rash either in iudgement or in speech against the gouernors of our land for that they do condemne conuenticles and all other vnlawfull assemblies It is a thing to be wished that all meetings were for God and the aduancement of his glorie and it would be a thing very profitable if Christians did come together chiefly the Ministers of the word for holy conference in good matters that they might helpe one the other by their mutuall saith and other blessed gifts wherewith they do abound in great abundance But yet seeing many inconueruences oftentimes do come by Assemblies and that there are meetings as well against the Lord as for the Lord by traytors by Papists by Anabaptists by theeues by other malefactors who are enimtes both to God and the good estate of our land let vs not be discontented ouer-much though our meetings be somewhat restrained by law neither let vs repine in our hearts against our gouernours for the same but let vs know that they had some good reason for that which they haue done and that we our selues who are faithfull to God and loyall to our King may take libertie enough in the feare of God to prouoke to loue and to good workes and to be mutuall helpes one vnto the other in all duties of true Christianity if we will our selues Their words do now follow to be handled wherein consider first how they do stirre vp and prouoke one the other to their naughtinesse then the thing it selfe which they would do and gladly bring to passe as being the very issue of their whole counsell and consultation and the maine point wherein their rebellion and treason stood In the handling of these I will be succinct and short but chiefly in the first For that I will but onely touch and away It is expressed in this word Come come say they let vs breake their bands and cast their cords behind vs. In which we see the guise and propertie of the world the wicked haue a Come as well as the godly but farre differing from theirs For the godly haue their Come as a word of encouragement to religion and the exercises thereof as when they say O come and let vs sing vnto the Lord let vs heartily reioyce in the strength of his saluation or as it is in Esay 2.3 Come and let vs go vp to the mountaine of the Lord to the house of the God of Iacob and he will teach vs his wayes and we will walke in his pathes For the law shall go forth of Zion and the word of the Lord from Ierusalem But the wickeds Come is to conspiracie and treason as here we may see in which they are more diligent then the children of light are in their good for their bodies meete their heads meete their hearts meete and both outward and inward they are earnest in euill the encourage one the other therein as much as may be and they haue their come alwayes for all their plots Such a come we reade of against blessed Ieremie Come said the wicked and let vs. imagine a deuice against Ieremy let vs smite him with the tongue and not giue credit to any of his words Ier. 18.18 Such another haue ruffians and theeues and swaggering fellowes in the booke of the Prouerbs Come and cast in thy lot with ours for we will haue all but one purse c. Prou. 1.11 c. Such another hath the harlot to the young man Come let vs take our fill of loue vntill the morning let vs take our pleasure in dalliance for mine husband is not at home he is gone aiourney farre off c. Prou. 7.18 c. But to such cursed comes let vs neuer hearken according to the good counsell which Wisedome doth giue vs in the Prouerbes and namely in the first chapter 15 verse thereof saying My sonne walke not thou in the way with them refraine thy foote from their path and let vs euer remember what the Psalme saith Blessed is the man that doth not walke in the counsell of the wicked nor stand in the way of sinners nor sit in the seate of the scornefull but his delight is in the law of the Lord and in his law doth he meditate day and night Psal 1.1.2 And so I passe from this point of their wicked and diuellish exhortation and come to the thing it selfe whereunto it is bent onely intreating you by the way that you would learne by their example to be more zealous and earnest in your holy religion then now you are For shall they exhort one the other and whet on each man his brother to wicked abhominations and to dreadfull rebellion and treason and shall not we much more prouoke one the other to loue and to all good works that we may be faithfull seruants vnto God and loyall subiects vnto our King Yes yes beloued it is our duty so to do otherwise these persons may rise vp in iudgement hereafter against vs. Wherefore let vs stirre vp one the other to goodnesse and to all holy duties whatsoeuer saying Come let vs honour all men loue brotherly fellowship feare God honour the King and doe in all points as it doth become vs c. The substance and matter of their exhortation if you marke the text is to cast off all obedience to the iust and holy lawes of the Lord and his Annointed For their words are these Let vs breake their bands and cast their cords behind vs. A diuellish conclusion and a wicked resolution you see it is What! could they in all their consultations find no better matter then this to agree vpon was this the only issue of all their labours Alas alas wee see what man is he is a very beast by his owne knowledge as it is in Ieremy 10.14 and as Paul doth shew he is an enimy vnto God his maker Rom. 5.10 But let vs examine this point a little As all good rulers haue their lawes and statutes for the better gouernment of their people so God hath his lawes and his statutes which he
greatest honour and profit that might be But for the soule and life to come they were vnwise and vnlearned they had no good experience in the word of God nor any sound knowledge to do their soules good but herein I say they were vnlearned and no better then fooles before the Almighty This the Apostle doth make most cleare and euident in his first Epistle to the Corinthians the second chapter thereof the sixth verse and so forward when he saith And we speake wisedome among them that are perfect not the wisedome of this world neither of the Princes of this world which come to nought but we speake the wisedome of God in a mysterie euen the hid wisedome which God had determined before the world vnto our glory which none of the Princes of this world hath knowne For had they knowne it they would not haue crucified the Lord of glory Loe here you see that the Apostle doth not onely say that the Princes of this world who are here in our text spoken vnto by the name of Kings and Iudges are without the true and heauenly wisedome of God but also doth proue it to be so euen because that they did oppose themselues against the Lord Iesus Christ and did put him to death Wherefore here by the way we may obserue that in truth and before the Lord all are fooles and vnlearned who do withstand Iesus Christ and his kingdome and do liue wretchedly and not according to the Lords commandements Howsoeuer they be for this world men of great reach and policie and be well schooled in all kind of literature for the gouernment of humane life and the procuring of much honour and wealth vnto themselues yet being ignorant in the word of God and not seasoned with an heauenly wisdom which may sanctifie them in their waies but do liue vngodly and vnholy liues they euen they whatsoeuer they be be vnwise and vnlearned and no better then fooles idiots before the Almighty For so also it doth please his Maiesty for to style them in his holy word as you may see in many places of the Prouerbes and namely in the first chapter thereof as also in the fourteenth Psalme and sundry other places besides Hereof is it that that comparison is made by our Sauiour himselfe in the beginning of the 25. chapter of the Gospell according to Saint Matthew wherein all wicked persons are compared to foolish virgins as the godly on the other side are compared vnto the wise virgins And hereof also is that saying of Paul that the wisedome of this world is foolishnesse with God and that the Lord knoweth that the thoughts of the wise are vanity 1. Cor. 3.19.20 Obiect Yea but this shall neuer sinke into mine head may some man say that thus the chiefe men of the country those that do beare the greatest stroke and sway amongst men and do know how to rule and gouerne themselues and others well should after this sort be reputed and taken for fooles and vnlearned persons as you speake I thinke rather that the godly and those that do resort vnto Sermons are such for they are simple persons in my iudgement and very idiotes indeed Answ It may be so indeed for the naturall man perceiueth not the things of Gods Spirit for they are foolishnesse to him neither can he know them because they are spiritually discerned as it is in 1. Cor. 2.14 But consider of things well thou that art of that minde and opinion tell me what is the property of a wise man and of one well learned Is it not to walke circumspectly and to prouide best for himselfe as well for the time to come as for the time that is present Yes for so we are taught in Ephes 5.15 in Luk. 16. the beginning thereof where the steward is commended for a wise man for that he did prouide how to liue when his maister should take away from him his stewardship Well then go on tell me in the second place do those walke circumspectly prouide best for thēselues who do war against the Lord his Annoynted not fore cast what shal become of them after this life but do run on still in their sinnes to be damned for euer Answer me this point if thou canst Suppose thou didst see a man who is but weake and feeble taking vp weapons against his soueraigne Lord and King who is most warlike and potent and challenging him into the field wouldst not thou take him for a foole and one destitute of good sense and vnderstanding But so deale all wicked persons how politick or rich soeuer they be for this world For they are but weake and feeble persons yet they warre against their dread soueraigne the Lord and King euen the mightie God of heauen who is able in the twinckling of an eye to destroy them all And yet shall they bee wise and prudent with thee Suppose againe that thou didst behold one in a place where is both gold and brasse in great abundance and goodly garments together with much base attire so that it should be lawfull for him to take of either of them most freely which he would himselfe yet he would not meddle of the gold goodly garments but would be exceeding busie still in gathering vp the brasse and base attire reaching after one peece here and another peece there what wouldst thou iudge of that partie wouldst not thou take him for a simple fellow and a meere idiote Yes I must needs do that thou wilt say So euen so is the case here with men of this world For whereas they might gather vp gold and goodly garments that is prouide for themselues heauenly graces and euerlasting happinesse in new Ierusalem aboue where are more precious things then euer the eye of man hath seene or his eare hath heard of or can enter into his heart yet they leaue them and occupy themselues wholely in gathering vp the brasse and base attire that is they leaue the cate of heauen and hunt after the world altogether being very busie about the pleasures and commodities thereof which are nothing in comparison of heauen And shall not they then bee vnwise and vnlearned with thee But if thou wilt not count them so yet the Lord doth as thou hast beard and let this suffice vs. And by it let vs bee admonished to take heed of all rebellion wickednesse whatsoeuer lest we our selues be styled after this manner and be registred in the booke of God for fooles vnlearned persons And so much shortly of this point bythe way In that the Kings and Iudges are called vpon to be wise and learned we obserue this doctrine that euery person must labour to get vnto themselues an heauenly wisedome and vnderstanding of the Lords will and word Get wisedome saith Salomon in Prou. 4.5 get vnderstanding forget not neither decline from the words of my mouth forsake her not and she shall keepe thee loue her and she
shall preserue thee Wisdome is the beginning get wisdome therfore and aboue all thy possessiōs get vnderstanding He is very frequent with the like exhortations in many places also of the same booke Reade them I pray at your leasure and marke them well Paul in like manner writing vnto the Ephesians doth stir them vp to the same duty saying Wherefor be yee not vnwise but vnderstand what the will of the Lord is Eph. 5.17 Dauid also inioined the same duty vpon his son Salomon towards the end of his dayes saying vnto him as followeth My sonne know thou the God of thy fathers and serue him with an vpright heart and willing minde as it is in 1. Cron. 28.9 Finally the Lord himselfe doth oftentimes make his moane and complaint for the want of this wisdome and knowledge in his people which is here required of vs all teaching vs thereby how necessary it is for euery one and how well pleasing to himselfe But at this time two places alone to shew the same shall content vs. The one is in Esay 1.3 when he saith The Oxe knoweth his owner and the Asse his maisters cribbe but Israel hath not knowne my people haue not vnderstood The other is in Ieremy 4.22 where you haue these words For my people is foolish they haue not knowne me they are foolish children and haue no vnderstanding they are wise to do euill but to doe well they haue no knowledge By all which places we may clearely see what doth belong to vs euen a sauing knowledge of Gods will and an holy vnderstanding of his waies Wee must not be like to the horse or mule that haue no vnderstanding as Dauid saith in Psa 32.9 but we must be changed by the renewing of our minds that we may know what is the good perfect and acceptable will of God as Paul doth teach vs in Rom. 12.2 And the reasons hereof are many Reasons First because euery man by his owne knowledge is a very beast before the Lord as Ieremy doth witnesse of vs in Ieremy 10.14 and as Dauid doth confesse of himselfe in Psalme 73.22 saying So foolish was I and ignorant I was a beast before thee Secondly because we shall neuer obey the Lord aright vntill we know him and vnderstand his will nor yeeld any faithfull seruice vnto him as it doth become vs. For the ground-worke of all religion the foundation of all true pietie is the knowledge of the Lord and his wayes As on the contrary side the cause and fountaine of all disobedience against God is the ignorance of his will and the vnlearnednesse of the same as we haue heard in this Psalme already and as we may see by Hosea his complaint in the beginning of the fourth chapter of his Prophesie where hee doth make his moane that men did lie and steale and commit adultery and that bloud did touch bloud and assigneth this reason of it euen because there was no knowledge of God in the land And surely where men know not God what can bee looked for else but all impietie against God and all vnrighteous dealing against men Lastly because all such as are ignorant of the Lords will doe not onely erre while they are here committing grieuous sinnes against him but shall be damned also hereafter for euer My people saith the Lord in Hosea 4.6 are destroyed for lacke of knowledge And Paul doth shew in 2. Thess 1.8 that when Christ shal come to iudgement and shew himselfe from heauen with his mightie Angels in flaming fire he shall render vengeance vnto them that doe not know God which shall bee punished with euerlasting perdition from the presence of the Lord and from the glory of his power So that if we ponder of all these reasons well we shal easily grant that there is cause sufficient why euery man should labour and striue to plant some heauenly knowledge within his soule and to become wise and learned in the statutes of the Almightie In regard whereof we see first in what great fault the world is in For there is ignorance in euery place Alas alas most men know not aright either that God who hath made them or themselues who are made by him And as for the grounds of true religion and the rules of the Lords worship they are as a sealed and clasped booke vnto them We dwell in a nation and country wherin the word of God hath bene freely read preached many yeares together yet it is pittifull to heare vnderstand what ignorance is still amongst men and how vnwise vnlearned they be in the statutes of the Lord. God amend vs. But here some may say that there was neuer more knowledge in this land then now is at this present To this I answer first that our knowledge is nothing to our long and continued teaching For in regard thereof we ought to be teachers our selues who yet are taught of others and haue need also to be instructed in the very first principles of the word of God and are become many of vs at the least such as haue neede of milke and not of strong meate as the Author to the Hebrews doth speake in the latter end of his fifth chapter Secondly that our knowledge for the most part is not a sauing or sanctifying knowledge but talkatiue and discoursing It hangs vpon our tongue and swimmes about in the circumference of our braine but it sinkes not downe into the bottome of the heart as it ought to do to bring forth a reformed life For we haue many talkers but few true walkers and sundry there are who can discourse at large in matters of religion but few there are who feele the power and force thereof being deaded by the meanes thereof vnto their sinnes and quickened vp vnto all fruitfull workes of righteousnesse whereby God may be honoured and man edified Secondly by this we may see that that doctrine which is most currant at Rome those places where Popery doth beare sway to wit that Ignorance is the mother of Deuotion is most false and erroneous and to be abandoned by vs that are true and holy Christians As Christ doth say to the Sadduces Ye erre not knowing the Scriptures nor the power of God in Mat. 22.29 making there ignorance the cause of error which is cleane cōtrary to their doctrine so he saith to the Iewes Search the Scriptures for in them yee thinke to haue eternall life and they are they which testifie of me in Iohn 5.39 imposing there this dutie vpō all that do intend to be saued at the last to be conuersant in the Scriptures which is dissonant altogether to their practize and teaching If I would stand vpon such a common place as this is I could alledge both places and reasons enough to ouerthrow them in this respect who are herein most like vnto those cursed and hypocriticall Scribes and Pharisies who did shut vp the kingdome of heauen before men neither going in thēselues nor suffering
and vnlesse it be pardoned by the sacrifice of his Sonne which was figured out by those sacrifices which were offered vnder the Law for the sinnes of ignorance it will damne them in hell for euermore and keepe them there in flames of fire that cannot be quenched as thou heardst in effect before Indeed in some cases ignorance doth excuse men in part from the greatnesse of the fault but not in whole from all the fault Secondly that though he shall be beaten with more stripes that knoweth the Lords will and doth it not yet the other which is ignorant of it shall be beaten with stripes and he also shall be cast into hell as well as the former howbeit his iudgement there shall not be altogether so seuere as his And wilt thou willingly be beaten with any stripes and go to that fearefull and euer-tormenting place Lastly that some ignorance doth increase a mans fault and make his iudgement to be the more cruell at the last to wit that ignorance which is wilfull and affected as when a man hath meanes to know the Lords will and yet doth refuse it of wilfulnesse or stubburnnesse euen because he will be ignorant still and not haue knowledge to controll him in his sinnes or to stand vp as a Iudge against him in the end of the world when the bookes of mens consciences shall be opened and euery one iudged according to the things which are written therein for this doth make him to be the more abhominable before the Lord and doth procure vnto him the heauier plagues to be executed vpon him I will shew this vnto thee by a familiar example taken euen from thy selfe Thou hast two seruants the one of them doth reuerently hearken vnto thee to vnderstand thy will and pleasure and he is content to learne it to the vttermost but yet he will do nothing accordingly the other doth so far scorne thee and thy worke that as he will do nothing for thee nor according to thy mind so he will not come into thy presence to heare what thou wilt say vnto him or standing before thee will giue no heede to thy words Which of these two I pray thee is the worse and the viler in thine eyes and which of them wilt thou beate most Is not the latter Yes I must needs confesse that wilt thou say for he doth commit a double fault he will neither heare nor do but the other doth commit but a single fault though he will do nothing yet he is content to heare So euen so must thou iudge of most ignorant persons who do liue now in our dayes For they cōmit a double sin in that they will neither learne the will of God nor do it wheras others cōmit but a single sin in that they only neglect it not do it And therefore I say they are most abhominable before the Lord and shall at the last be beaten of him with more stripes then others shall be Wherfore let this be no impedimēt to thee but rather a spur in thy side to prick thee forward to get knowledge and vnderstanding But what course shall I take maist thou say to attaine vnto it Thou must performe these things First thou must pray earnestly vnto the Lord to intreate him to disclose his minde vnto thee and so to circumcise thine eares and heart that thou maist vnderstand his will and see the wonders of his law For wisedome comes by prayer as Iames doth shew in chapter 1.5 saying If any of you lacke wisedome let him aske of God which giueth to all men liberally and reprocheth no man and it shall be giuen him Secondly thou must regard the Ministery of the word most reuerently and frequent alwaies the holy exercises thereof watching daily as Salomon doth speake in Prouerbes 8.33 at the gates of Wisedome and giuing attendance at the postes of her doores For this is an excellent meanes to beget and to increase knowledge within vs as Paul doth well obserue in many places of his Epistles and namely in the fourth chapter of his Epistle to the Ephesians as we our selues do find to be most true by our daily experience both in our selues and others Thirdly thou must meditate carefully with thy selfe both day and night in the law and word of thy God For as the infant doth grow from strength to strength to be able to go by it selfe by sucking and plucking his mothers breasts so doth the child of God grow from knowledge to knowledge by hanging continually vpon the two breasts of the Lords booke the old and new Testament Fourthly thou must conferre and talke considerately with men of GOd and with such as cary knowledge in their lippes and are able to discouer vnto thee the secrets of the Almighty For they shall make thee to vnderstand that which thou couldst neuer attaine vnto by thy selfe and cause thee to see those points after some cleare and euident manner which were before vnto thee as dark as a riddle it selfe as thou maist see by the example of Philip and the Eunuch spoken of in the eight chapter of the Acts of the Apostles Fiftly thou must teach others circumspectly that which thou thy selfe dost know already and rehearse the waies of the Lord euermore vnto them For by teaching another a man doth teach himselfe and ripen his owne knowledge and iudgement exceeding much as many by their owne practise haue found it to be most true to the great ioy and comfort of their soules Finally thou must abstaine most prouidently from all such things as will hinder thy knowledge and bring a spirituall darknesse vpon thee For as he that would haue a perfect sight to behold all things clearely must beware of euery thing which will blemish his eye so all those that would haue a good vnderstanding in the coūsels of the most High must take heed of all such matters as are a stop and impediment therevnto Now these are in number chiefly three The first is a lodging of the affections of the heart and the cogitations of the minde vpon this world for as outward darknesse groweth sometimes by two much gazing vpon bright and glistering things as in experience we finde by white snow white paper and the like so doth inward darkenesse grow also by fixing the minde too much vpon the glistering glory of this world the pompes and pleasures that shine in it Proofe hereof is that rich glutton that wealthy Barne-builder in the Gospell and that turne-coate Demas of whom Paul speaketh who all were blind you plainly see with gazing too much vpon this tempting world The second is a cōtinuing in euil a doing of things which are wicked naught For as outward darknesse groweth by long being in darkenesse as in a prison or elsewhere for by experience it is found so often so by long custome of walking liuing in the outward works of darkenes groweth a strong thicke inward darkenes in the heart of man or woman