there Philoxenus for I know as honest men as euer broke breade y t kéep good houses giue much to the poore no craft nor crinking in buying and selling and yet iwis they will not goe a furlong out of their way to heare a Sermon and doe you not thinke that these are sounde Christians Philox. I dare not say so for what haue you héere reported but Socrates Aristides Scipio or Fabritius each of the haue performed as much and more too for although at some times those men may shewe themselues very careful of Christian ciuilitie and may also for a fashion decrée such constitutions and laws as of themselues beeing good may rightlie tend to the performance of honestie yet because they are not truly and inwardlie touched with a loue of religion they are but makers of sects fleshlie not hauing the spirit therefore in effect no better than Balaams blinde Asse that braied forth the truth on a sodaine without anie tast or féeling anie force thereof in her selfe or like to that same proude Priest Caiphas who prophesied at vnawares of the passion of Christ hee himselfe not vnderstanding therein the hid mysteries of God but with the wicked king Saul he vttered a bare sound of words without anie sense in himselfe And yet for all this I denie not but the Lord in his singular mercie may turn these their attempts to the good of his Church euen as also hee turned the prophesies of that bewitched Balaam into a singular blessing of Israel How be it as concerning themselues they féele not the power of that spirit which so extraordinarilie worketh in them Wherefore the Lorde for his mercies sake enlighten the eies of your heart and circumcise the foreskinne of your vnderstanding Autophilus that you maye hunger after the breade of life more desirously then as yet you doe I praie you answere me this one thing Is it not a token when you loath your meate that your bodie is out of temper and that you are ill at ease Autoph You haue hit the naile on the head for when I am in health I haue a verie good stomacke to thrée meales a daie Philox. Certainly if your bodie were no better dieted than your soule you woulde quickly bée hunger staruen Héerein is a proportion betwixt your soule and your body that euen as your bodie if it bée not diseased will couet repast foode and sustenante the loathing whereof is a token of distemperature In like manner the longing after the word of God is a token that thy soule is in good plight in perfecte state and in the pathe to eternall felicitie whereas on the contrarie side the loathing of the worde the sural delight thou takest in hearing it taught and preached bewraieth a crazed and a cursed soule in the broade waie to euerlasting death damnation Wherfore I counsell thée as one that pittieth thy case doe as they do that are diseased in bodie Like as they take counsel of skilfull Phisitions that by receites of medicines they may recouer theyr former health haue a good stomacke to their meate euen so sithence Gods word goeth against your bad stomack and that you cannot digest the same yea rather your soule lotheth than loueth it bow the knées of your hart the Lord stretcheth out his armes daily to embrace you He knocketh at the doore of your conscience with many good perswasions exhortations that hée may bring you to repentaunce Christe the Phisition of your soule is easie to bée spoken withall hée is more readie to graunt than you are to aske Pray vnto him that by the power of his holie spirit hee may worke in your soule an hungring after the word which is the bread of saluation a thirsting after the drinke of life wherof whosoeuer drinketh shal not thirst for euer Consider y e néedfulnes of this food wherof if you do but meditate no doubt it shal cause an appetite vnto the same vnlesse you be vtterly by the bewitching of sathā bereft of your wits and haue no care of your soules health That soule must néeds perish which is destitute of heauenlie foode For without the worde there is no faith and he that beléeueth not shall perish euerlastingly The wrath of God abideth vpon him that beléeueth not sayth our sauior Christ To conclude Gods worde is the incorruptible séede as S. Peter teacheth wherewith the children of wrath thorowe the fall and corruption of our first parentes are begotten borne anew by the vertue grace of Christe Iesus Wherefore if your soules health the escaping ftom daunger of eternall damnation if the desire you haue to be called the sonne of GOD may preuail with you heare the word of God and not for fashions sake but as one that would vnderstand the wil of his maister Heare it I saie kéepe it follow it meditate on it daie and night Autoph I were sicke in déede Philoxenus if all this counsaile were necessarie I wil now saie more since you moue me vnto it I know as much as the wisest of them can teach me They can teach me n◠more but the Lordes praier the Apostles Créed and the ten commandements and this could I doo many yéeres agoe it is but learning one lesson of the Prophet Dauid that is to wit Eschue euill and doo good or els this briefe Epithome of the ten commandementes Loue God aboue all thinges and thy neighbour as thy selfe There is not anie one of them that can teach me anie more Philox. There is no Christian as I hope of your minde for then the wrath and indignation of GOD cannot bee but hotly kindeled agaynst them Autoph Yea ten thousand Philox. The more the worse If it were so easy a matter to become a good Christian the Disciple of Christe to learne the wil of God as you make it what néed we of the Prophets Christ or his Apostles what néede wée of the writs of the sacred Scriptures What néede wee the Preachers and Pastours of our soules so diligentlie to labour to bring man to saluation so carefullie to sowe the séede of the worde so vigilantly to keepe watch on the Lords tower so earnestlye to labour in the Lordes vineyard so painfully to séeke for to driue away the wolues from the Lordes flocke so industriously like good husband men to till the Lordes ground so zealously to plant true pietie in the heartes of people and to plucke vp wickednesse and vngodlinesse by the rootes Philox. In déede as you saie Autophilus the Lordes prayer the Créede the tenne Commaundementes to eschue euill and doe good to loue GOD is soone sayde but not so soone learned as you take it And first as concerning your praying I beléeue you vse it but a little You count so easie for if if you were set to the schoole all your life I thinke you woulde scarse take out this lesson Be feruent in praier For first in euerie godlie prayer must of necessitie bée these fiue
good Ministers so charitably as he doth insomuch as if he had twēty Ecclesiasticall liuings he had rather to bestowe ninetéene of them vppon blinde watch men than one vpon a vigilant shephearde that hath care to look vp the lost shéepe of Israel Here if I should but glaunce at our English Simoniacks I knowe that I should rather displease than content Wherfore I will say nothing of Church robbers marchant buiers of Ecclesiasticall dignities following the steppes of their grand patriarch and predecessor Simon Magus I wil not say that they are more wicked vngodly than the Iewes for they wold not put the price of bloude in their treasurie but these merchauntes haue so enlarged their consciences that they can find in their hearts to make merchandise of mens soules for money I will winke at the iugling that is now a daies touching this sinne of Symonie and the pretie fine plaies betwixt maister Parson his Patrones as if they would cast a mist before his sight that made the eie by making a faire glose vpō a bad matter and putting a golden coat vppon an ill fauoured bodie But heare you Sirs all this will not pay the shot when the reckoning comes to be made I could say howe that Gentlemen Papists bestow most commonly their Ecclesiasticall liuings vpon dirt dawbers such as are in no indifferent measure graced for that calling that thereby they may bring the Gospell of Christ Iesus into contempt Tse tse not a worde of the corruption of couetous Gentlemen in this point how farre they will séeke within sixe moneths for sir Iohn lacke latine lack learning lacke conscience and religion that will make no bones to commit Symonie Oh what kéeping counsaile on both sides Maister Parson sweares that if he haue twentie poūd yerely rent of an hundred he hath the whole giuen him The Patrone saith as he is a Gentleman he hath giuen him al and yet his conscience witnesseth that he hath giuen him the third parte Thus if both they can plaie fast and loose cleanlie to dazle the eies of the world they care not if for companies sake they goe both together to their craftes maister which taught them the tricke of suche sleightie conueyances In the meane time neither the Patrone if he may sheare the sheepe while maister Parson sheareth the hogges and scumme the best fat from his pot neither maister Parson if he may haue a litle liuing careth what doth become of poore soules for whom Christ Iesus vouchsafed to shed his most precious bloud but by whose meanes so euer it commeth to passe that the flocke of Christe suffereth spirituall famine he shall as surelie answere for the same as hée which beholdeth that so horrible an offence liueth for euer For this is the cause that where there ought to bée such as are able to teache to reprooue correcte and instruct such as ought to bée starres to giue light to the Church both in regarde of their doctrine and conuersation there are wandering Planettes giuing no light neyther in their doctrine nor in theyr deedes Agaynst whome the curse of GOD is threatened Woe bee vnto the shepheardes of Israel that feede themselues should not the shepheards féed their flockes Yee eate vp the fatte yee cloathe your selues with the wooll the best fedde doe you slaie but the flocke doe you not feede the weake haue you not strengthened the flocke haue you not healed the broken haue yée not bound together the driuen away haue yet notbrought againe c. Autoph If you would inueigh against Symony Philoxenus you may go to Rome for it is banished many yeares agoe out of England As for that which you cal Symony it is nothing else but a simple contract which y e lawiers call Do vt des I giue that thou maist giue againe And if this be not done without crazing of a mans conscience I doubt we haue a thousand crackt consciences in England Philox. Alas good sir Symony how is he put to his shiftes and yet all wil not pay the shot when the reckoning comes to bée made Notwithstanding were it not for this same Do vt des many which set their talents like Eagles on Ecclesiasticall liuinges which flaunt it out like braue lads of this world set a brazen face on the matter might go in thréed bare cotes hanging downe their heads for very shame and herein I appeale to their owne consciences if there be any conscience at all in them For certainlie if they did beare that zeale to the ministerie which at a blushe many of them doe pretend they would not geld the liuings of poore ministers to mainteine their own surpassing pride But to leaue them Autophilus and to come to your selfe I praie you tell mée how many sermons you haue heard within one whole yere Autoph That I may not lie vnto you I haue not heard many For I am none of those that wil go foure or fiue miles to a Sermon and yet I trust I shall doe well enough for all that as long as I haue a good faith in God doe no bodie no harme What man should I leaue my pleasures and profites and fall to following the Preachers Doe they thinke that none shall bee saued but such as reade Scriptures and heare Sermons God shield man but they which doe not go to heare Sermons should be saued as well as they Why may not one serue God at home in his house hauing good bookes and good praiers as well as if he heard all the sermons in the Countrie You shall neuer make me beléeue the contrarie I haue the Bible in my house and a few praiers and now and then I haue a litle crash for recreation sake Philox. O fie Autophilus thou standest too much in thine owne light and bewraiest what follie and ignoraunce is in thée if thou thinkest to bee saued by any other meanes than that which God hath appointed in his holie word what madnes can bee like vnto this that when GOD hath absolutelie spoken anie thing in his worde wee should excepte agaynst it and so as it were giue him the lie When GOD hath tolde vs that the teaching of his worde is the ordinarie meanes to saluation shall wée hope to haue fellowshippe amongest the elect children of GOD and yet despise the good meanes that GOD hath ordayned to bring vs into his kingdome When GOD hath aduouched a thing to our faces will wée saie I hope it is not so This is nothing else but infidelitie which vomiteth vp al good things poisoneth the verie entrayles of a man stoppeth the waie to good graces and barreth vs from repentaunce Wherefore vse thy libertie saie thou art a Protestaunt renounce the Pope yet excepte thou louest the preaching of the worde euen as thou louest thine owne soule and doest delighte in the Gospell of our sauiour Christ as in thy life thou dost walke in the sinnes of a corruptible man Autoph Stay
are turned to sinne being no better as they procéede from their vncircumcised lips than the sacrifice of fooles And in déede as without faith it is vnpossible to please God so it is not so easie a matter to attaine to some perfection thereof as many doe estéeme it For true faith is the speciall gifte of God No man commeth to mee vnlesse my Father drawe him sayth our Sauiour Christ Againe Flesh and bloud sayth Christ to Peter cōfessing him in a true faith hath not reueled this to thee but my father which is in heauen Vnto which Paul semeth to alude saying We are not able to think anie good thing of our selues but all our abilitie is of God Now then Autophilus try and examine your selfe whether you be in the faith or or no least you dreame of a shadow not hauing the substance Autoph You doe me great wrong if you doubt of my faith for I promise you I am past all doubt for that matter Philox. I offer you no wrong in wishing you to make tryall of your faith because I sée you glory in that which you haue not Beware therefore least that there bee in you an heart of infidelity to fall away from the liuing God For this know and the spirit doth witnes the same there is no filthy concupiscence of adultery no rotten wordes of vncleannes no oppressing of the poore no gréedy desire after worldly gaine no falling away from the liuing God for such vanities but infidelitie is the root and the braunch the beginning and the ending an vnbeléeuing heart causeth all in all Autoph I cannot but confesse thus much in the meane while Philoxenus I hope you are well perswaded of my faith Philox. I am perswaded you make the bare title of faith and christianitie a shrouding shéete for your sinnes For how shoulde you haue the thing when you reiect the meanes wherby God doth giue the same which is the ministerie of the worde Not that it consisteth in their power to giue faith for y t is done by the power of the holie spirite which God sendeth into y e harts of his children to open the eies of their vnderstāding y t that may bee rooted inwardly which by the ministerie of the worde toucheth their eares outwardly So that there is a perpetuall relation betwixt the word of God and a true faith And in déed it is as vnpossible to separate faith from the worde of God as it is to take the light from the Sunne whereof it hath y e beginning For which cause the spirit of the Lord crieth out by y e mouth of the Prophet Esaie saying Heare me and your soule shall liue And Iohn the Euangelist pointing out the fountaine of this faith sayeth Haec scripta sunt vt credatis These things are written that you may beleeue And y e prophet Dauid being about to exhort y e people to faith speaketh after this manner To daie if you wil heare his voice c. Wheras to heare oftētimes is takē to beléeue The Lord might frō heauē without preaching haue bestowed in Christ faith vpō Cornelius y e centurion at Caesarea but yet by an Angel hee sendeth him to the preaching of Peter whilest Peter preched god worked effectually in his hart by y e power of his holy spirite causing him to beléeue his preaching according to y e of y e Apostle Who is Paul or what is Appollo but ministers by whō you haue beleeued according as God hath giuē to euery one I haue plāted Apollo watered but God hath giuen increase So then hee that planteth is nothing nor he that watereth but God which giueth increase Which doctrine agréeeth with Augustine where hee sayth That which we haue to learn at mens hands let euerie one learne yea learn at mans hands without disdaine let vs not go about to tempt him in whom we beléeue neither beeing deceiued let vs not thinke scorne to go to Church to heare or learne out of bookes loking stil when we shall be rapt vp into the third heauen So that faith cōmeth by hearing hearing by the word But how shal they beleeue in him in whō they haue not heard how shal they heare without a preacher All this I speak to this end Autoph y t you may know how faint your faith is because I perceiue in you such hypocrisie y t whē you come to y e sermon which is seldome inough it is more for fashiō than for edifying as you report of your selfe when as w tout hearing of the worde you can haue no faith at all But well may you mock y e world deceiue your self but God neither is mocked nor deceiued for if true faith the glory of God the saluatiō of your soules be not appointed as y e purpose of your cōming to heare the word preached you had better stay at home than come count your selfe amongst y e nūber of the faithful to worship the deuel euen thē whē you wold séeme most saintish cōming with no more reuerēce to y e same nor w t so good a minde as you would go to sée some Histrio play y e foole to heare a tale of Robin hood neyther regarding y e honour due to God nor godly things nor making any difference betwixt the eternall truth veritie olde wiues tales fables which thing if nothing els declare yet your drousines in attending your lazines and slacknes in praying your slender profiting in learning proueth to be true So y t although you will séeme Christes schollers yet your fruite declareth that you are the disciples of the deuill Yea although you séeme to be members of Christ his Church you are the synagogue sinke of Sathan Autoph I maruell Philoxenus that you wil be so cholerik in these matters since these thinges touch more than a few and some of them I am sure more wiser than your selfe Philox. God make them wise to saluation wherein if some of their wisedome shuld be weighed in a ballāce persuade your self that they wil proue thēselues as wise as fooles as senslesse as stocks more brutish than wild beasts Autoph Do you thinke y t if the matter were so daungerous their case so desperate as you account it y t they wold not looke more straitly to themselues Yes I warrant you y e cup cōpanions Ale bibbers Ale knaues Ale knights I would haue said would not lie quaffing drinking so fréely vntil their legs can neither go for stōbling nor their tongs scarse cal for their penie pots for wambling especially on the Sabboth when they should serue God Do you thinke that Dicke swash would make no more bones to crucifie Christ himself wounding tearing him from top to toe if he thought that blaspheming of the name of god were so dānable as it is thought to be Do you thinke that the filthy lecherer and loose liuing man would wed himselfe to lust the couetous
bée a Tailor a weauer a Cobler or of some such like occupation then to learne the duety of a Christian Autoph I cannot tell but I haue knowne one bound Apprentice to one of these occupations seuen yeares and yet in the ende hath carried away no more cunning then he hath néede off Philox. Oh good Lorde what blockishnes is this We will binde our children Apprentises to base trades and occupations seuen or eight nine or tenne yeares and estéeme it litle inough yea and all we wil contend with our trades to haue a good report and to be famous but to attain to the perfection of a Christian life to walke worthy of Gods seruants fructifying in euery good worke to become creatures of Christ to do good workes wherein he hath prepared that we shoulde worke to learne to die vnto sinne and liue vnto righteousnesse to learne to decline from euil and doe good to leaue to doe peruersly learne to doe well how lumpishly and drowsily wée goe about either as though we supposed the duety of a Christian not worthy the learning or the rewarde not worth the trauell If one man in a Country should pay his seruants greater wages by a thousand degrées then the rest who woulde not count himselfe a happy seruant if he might come into fauour and seruice with so good a Master surely either must we count Christ a lyar or else praise him for the best pay Master which promiseth such infinite rewardes to those which serue him as namely that they shoulde eate with him and drinke with him yea at his owne table raigne with him and possesse his kingdome and such like Oh hearts made of hard mettall which so great rewardes cannot mooue Autoph Who is it that sayth he doth not serue him Philox. I knowe they will say so they serue him a trust indéede if a man had such seruauntes hée woulde sende them packing Is it good seruice for a seruaunt to say to his Master Sir your worke shall be done and doe it neuer a whitte No no good pay Masters must haue good seruauntes God must be serued with all our hearts all our mindes and with all our strength the loose man cannot yéelde to concupiscence and serue God the couetous man cannot lay vp treasure in earth and in heauen Let vs then deare brethren for Christ his sake practise that same good counsaile of the Apostle Let euery man prooue and examine his owne workes whilest yet there is time and place of repentance least that we tumble headlong into the bottomlesse pitte of perdition and come with a tardé peccauimus It is to late to locke and make fast the dore when the Stéede is stollen as the mercy of God if we vse it in time may serue for our Saluation so if we vse delaye and make no account of the same but refuse it when it is offered it will turne to our bitter curse and damnation The night will come when no man can worke any longer let vs not refuse so precious a iewell as time is A good husband will sowe his séede while it is faire weather and a prudent Merchant will lay out his money whilest the market endureth there is none but will consider these thinges vnlesse he be wilfully blinde and giuen ouer to the mischiefe of Sathan vnlesse as it is faide by the Prophet Hee hath made a league with death and a couenant with hell it selfe Vnlesse he will count it but a gamball play to cast himselfe headlong to destruction and damnation both of body and soule I cannot deny but the diuel hath blinded the eies of many miserable wretches that herein they are not different from your opinion that if they can say the ten Commandements they thinke they can doe as much as is requisite but I would to God they would learne one lesson more which Moses taught the children of Israell namely That these wordes must remaine in their hearts that they should meditate vpon them both at home and abroade when they goe to bedde and when they rise in the morning Oh that this lesson were learned all our life long then should we not haue so many nickenamed Christians and then should not securitie sende so many thousand soules to hell fire Not euerie one that sayth Lorde Lorde shall enter into the kingdome of heauen but hee that doth the will of my father which is in heauen It is not inough to professe the faith with our mouth to say Lord haue mercy vpon vs good Lord forgiue vs and all the rest But a good conscience is required and the spirite of renouation Why doe ye call me Lord and doe not those thinges which I commaund you sayth Christ Luke 6. It is not inough to say the temple of the Lorde the temple of the Lorde It is not inough to say I hope to be assoone in heauen as the best I beléeue as well as the best The diuell deludeth thée whosoeuer thou art that so think Not euery one that saith Lord Lord but hee that doth the will of the Lord shall be saued Autoph Then shall none be saued for who is able to do his wil or kéepe his commandements Philox. I knowe Autophilus that none is able to doe his will or fulfill his commaundements but to doe the will of the Lorde is to indeuour our selues with our whole minde and strength to fulfill that which he commaundeth although we doe the best we can we are vnable to performe the same For if we say we haue no sinne wee deceaue our selues there is no truth in vs. And yet the same Iohn sayth Euery man that is borne of God sinneth not That is he is not willingly giuen to sinne as are the wicked which haue no care of his commandements neither to kéepe them nor to meditate vpon them Saint Paul penning the perfect duety of a Prelate to Timothy saith Meditate ponder consider vpon this I did runne the way of thy commaundements which I haue loued Sayth the Prophet Dauid Oh Lorde howe haue I loued thy lawe it is my meditation all the day long It is not without good cause that the Prophet annexeth the louing of the commaundementes and the meditation of them for that which wee loue most dearely commonly that we most thinke vpon yea we ioy to thinke of that which we loue which if it be so surely I doubt many Christians of vs carrie a colde loue either towardes God or his commaundementes vnlesse we will séeme to loue him as he that beate his owne father and saide it was for loue so no doubt we loue him indéede that is to say we will not sticke to giue him a blowe on the face For who so sinneth and offendeth against the Maiestie of God doth as it were strike God on the face and crucifie Christ againe But alasse if euery man woulde enter into some streight examination of himselfe who is there
which with the Prophet Dauid maketh the commaundements of God his daily meditation neither this onely in the day time but in the night also Who is hee that can say Thy iudgementes Oh Lorde are sweeter vnto mee then hony Who is it that can truely say hee hath desired them more then golde and precious stones Nay who is it almost to whom they séeme not as bitter as gall Because they require repentance and mortification who is he but estéemeth that which the Apostle calleth drosse and dung more delectable and pleasant than the iudgementes of the Lord. If a man loueth mee sayth Christ hee will keepe my Commandementes If this were well marked of you it woulde not séeme so easie a matter to be a good Christian as you account it As the children of God are knowne by two markes so are also the bondslaues of Sathan The markes of Gods children are sometimes internall sometimes externall the inward are repentance faith godlines and a sounde conscience the outward hearing of Gods word and godly conuersation So likewise on the contrary side Sathans impes are knowne by their inward and outward notes inwardly in that they are without faith deuoyde of all godlines of an ill conscience of no good affection towardes the Ministery outwardly by contempt of the word and a leude life Ponder these things Autophilus and throughly examine them and sée whether you carry about with you the cognisance of Gods childe or the badge of the diuels bondslaues and after due examination if you finde your selfe rather a limme of Sathan then beloued of the Lord recoyle plucke backe your foote in time lest that the curse of eternall damnation fall vpon you sooner then you looke for it And whereas you saide that to eschue euill and doe good is all that the Preachers can teach you or require at your hands I graunt it so and more then you goe about to performe To sinne of your selfe you are apt inough and the diuell is ready to teach you but if a man should demaund of you how you shall resist sin or doe good I doe not doubt but he shall finde you mum-budget If we had to make warre against any forreigne Prince about to inuade the Countrie wherein we liue and neuerthelesse sit at home in the chimney corner saying amongest our selues we knowe well how to preuent the enimie it is but to muster such Souldiers as are méete for warre to gather an Armie and couragiously to bid them battaile woulde we accompt our selues salfely defensed or destruction further from vs if this were once saide might not rather our ouerthrowe moue laughter to all such as heare of it This proportiō Autophilus would be diligently pondered there is no Christian but hath a continuall combating against the world the flesh and the deuill for which cause our life is called a warfare vpon the earth and euery good Christian a souldier for as souldiers doe lye in wait to beat backe and resist the enemy so ought we to be vigilant in resisting sinne and the temptations thereof and as to know the meanes how to resist the enemies and not put it in practise can profit vs nothing at all so if we say to resist sinne and doe good is the perfect duety of a Christian neither learne how to resist sinne or to doe good it doth nothing at all preuaile If we say to loue God aboue all thinges and our neighbour as our selues is the perfect duety of a Christian and yet neither learne howe to loue God nor exercise charity towardes our brethren we are as neare the perfection of Christianity as he that can say that the chiefest point of a Tailours trade is to to shape and to sewe is neare to the excellencie of a perfect workeman Autoph Well we are deceiued if we loue not God aboue all things you shall hardly make vs confesse the contrary Philox. Doe you remember what you said vnto me when we began to enter into communication Autoph What is that Philox. If you bée not forgetfull you said that if a greater occasion had not vrged you then hearing of the word wée had not met here to day and moreouer that you more estéemed of two hundreth pounds then of thrée hundreth sermons Autoph What prooue you of this Phil. That you loue God nothing at al. Autoph Then it were pity I did liue Philox. You loue the world more then his word Autoph I said not so yet Philox. No what meane your former speaches Autoph Whatsoeuer I said there be no fewe that will confirme it Philox. The more the worse Autoph Should we let all runne at randome and followe the Preachers must we loue God and nothing else Philox. I say not so for all the creatures of God are excéeding good and to be beloued but nothing ought to be made equall in loue with God or to be preferred before his loue Wee must loue God with all our heartes with all our soules and with all our might In regard of which loue we must both loath and treade vnder foote all thinges that séemeth good in all the worlde Yea this loue ouercommeth all mischiefes whatso euer which otherwise séeme inuincible The Apostle Paul proclaimeth this with a zealous and vehement motion Who shall seperate vs from the loue of God Shall tribulation or anguish or persecution or hunger or nakednes or perill or sword as it is written for thy sake are wee killed all day long and are counted as sheepe to the slaughter neuerthelesse in all these thinges we ouercome through him that loued vs. For I am sure that neither death nor life nor Angell nor rule nor power nor thinges present nor things to come nor height nor depth nor any other creature shall bee able to separate vs from the loue of God which is in Christ Iesu our Lorde Hitherto the Apostle The nature of a faithfull friende is not to offende but to reuerence him whom he loueth he is the better when his eye is vpon him his delight is to talke with him his heart is to doe for him his great pleasure to be present with him he willingly will not sée him iniuried nor patiently heare him slandered no crosse nor calamity shall vnlose the long contracted knotte of friendship Indéede we all say we loue God but fewe of vs feare to offend him we can say we like well of his word but we doe not reuerence it as we ought We will talke of him but how in swearing staring cursing and banning but to talke of him or with him as though we loued him that is to giue him thanks praise him or pray vnto him or meditate vpon his worde we vse it but a little And I doubt wee haue many Christians which scarce once in foure and twenty houres make mention of him after this manner The desire we haue to sée our friende is an Argument we loue him dearly the slender desire we haue to sée God that is out
our most gratious God who hath made vs that according to his owne image ransomed vs from the slauery of Sathan when we were lost not onelie redéemed vs but is also well pleased to bestowe a kingdome vppon vs to liue and raigne with himselfe for euer Autoph Who is he but will confesse it Philox. And who is he y t is thankfull for it who wil shew thēselues so thankfull for this benefite so vnspeakable as commonly some will for a slender good turne receaued at their friends hands He that will not go to the dore to heare Gods worde preached will much lesse deny himselfe and take vp his Crosse and follow Christ Autoph I must néedes confesse that I account it an harde saying to forsake and deny my selfe and to followe him Philox. But I can tell you an harder saying then that Autoph What is that Philox. Depart from me ye cursed into euerlasting fire prepared for the diuell And his Angels Autoph I beshrew me if I thought of that Philox. Oh Autophilus remember the ende and thou shalt not doe amisse They that beare the Crosse for Christs sake shall neuer feare that sentence which otherwise is fearefull to a crazie conscience Autoph It is said indéede that the seruaunts of the Crosse which liue after the example of him which was crucified shall approch and come nigh vnto Christ with great boldnes Philox. Why then are we so madde as to feare that which is the way vnto heauen for herein is ioy of minde celestiall comfort aide against enemies perfection of holinesse Then die with Christ and liue with Christ suffer with Christ and raigne with Christ Autoph It may be so I would and yet me thinkes I am loth to forsake this world Philox. But if thou wilt carry the Crosse willingly and chearefully it wil carry thée to an happy ende namely where there is no miserie But if you carry it with a grudging minde it will be heauy to beare and yet shall you beare it perforce but it is necessarie that euery one suffer crosse and calamity for Christs sake Philox. Yea verily Who so euer will liue godly in Christ Iesu must suffer persecution yea and we must of necessitie enter into heauen through many tribulations where the Apostle vseth this worde Oportet againe he whippeth euery childe whom he receiueth if euery one then none excepted which thing is vrged so farre of the Apostle that he séemeth to sette it downe in the same place as an axiom or plaine assertion Autoph Me thinkes I coulde be content to fauour and to follow Christ notwithstanding I would not drink of this cuppe Philox. Christe may haue suche friendes inough which will fauour him and loue his kingdome but fewe that will suffer with him many that will beare him company in comfortable things but relent in aduersitie many that will sitte at meate with him but fewe partakers of his continencie many play the good fellowes at an inch in the breaking of bread but fewe willing to drinke of his cuppe many that wil admire at his miracles which notwithstanding count his Crosse a reproach Autoph Yet cannot I be perswaded but that it is a Paradoxe that all men must drinke of the cup of affliction and for mine owne part I estéeme vertue a most precious gem and could be content to do much if it might be with quietnes of minde but to beare this which you call the Crosse is vnwoonted to me and more then I can well away with and I coulde name some which counte it an vnreasonable demaunde to be touched in this point Philox. You builde vppon a false ground if you thinke it possible to serue God with worldly ease for albeit tribulations and persecutions are not in all ages and all places alike yet is there none of Gods children but at sometimes féele affliction both internall and externall Multae tribulationes iustorum sayth the Prophet Dauid The iust doe suffer many tribulations they that faile in the same shippe with Christe must be tossed with the same tempestious windes and raging waues of the sea He that is of Christ his church must suffer crosses for Christs sake Autoph I thank God I neuer tasted of the cup of affliction so that I knowe not how sower it is neither shal I as I hope Philox. How can that be since the life of man is a warrefare vppon earth replenished with miserie by the iust iudgment of GOD after the fall of Adam What greater warre than continuallie to combat against the concupistence of the flesh to bid battaile against the worlde and the deuill which haue to many gynnes wherewith to beguile vs so many trappes to ensnare vs so many sleightes to supplant vs so many trippes to ouerthrowe vs sometimes to make vs proude by erecting to dignitie sometimes to make vs desperate by detecting vs to pouertie somtimes by flattery to make vs vaineglorious somtimes by threatning to make vs impatient yea verily this olde serpent plusquam mille habet nocendi artes Going about as sayth saint Peter Like a roaring Lion seeking whom hee may deuoure Wheresoeuer God hath a Church the diuell will commonly séeke to haue a Chappell next adioyning where there is a righteous Abell there is commonly a cursed Caine to persecute him where soeuer there is some of Israels séede there is some of Ismaels broode ready to annoy him where there is a Iacob there is an Esau where there is a Dauid there is a Saul where there is Christ there is a Iudas at hand to be tray him where there is a Paul there is a Nero readie like a bloudsucker to persecute him And such affliction hath béene allotted to the Church from the beginning to the time of Noe from Noe to Abraham from Abraham to Moses from Moses to Christ and so shall it be to the worldes ende which indéede is méete and necessarie for hereby we are humbled purged and instructed yea it is as it were a schooling to the children of God The Lorde doth trie by laying his Crosse vppon our neckes and purifieth vs in the Furnace of affliction euen as golde is tried in the fire and as the husbandmen which when their Corne is somewhat too ranke do mow it downe and prune their trées not to destroy them but to make them beare more aboundantly so likewise the flesh of ours in time of peace is luskish lumpish lasie and drowsie slowe to godly and Christian exercises but wedded to earthly dung and giuen to vaine delightes Nowe therefore it is not onely expedient but also verie necessarie that miserie trouble and afflliction should come to stirre vp this dull sluggish lumpe for which cause the Saintes are compared to iron which by vse is somewhat worne and diminished but lying vnused is eaten with ruste more and more Dearely beloued sayth Saint Peter Thinke it not straunge that yee are tried with
diuellish subtlety woluish cruelty or Antichristian hypocrisie they be not scattered Blesse Lord those Cities and Townes where thy Gospell is purely preached that they may liue in peace which loue thy lawe make we beséeche thée peace within their walles and prosperitie within their Palaces make strong the lockes of our Portes and blesse thy children within them put peace for our bandes and fill vs with the fatte of thy Corne that thou King of glorie and Lorde of Hostes mayest enter in by our gates thy pure word not onely abide within our walles but also in our willes Thou which breakest the bowe and snappest the speares in sunder and burnest the Chariot with fire protect vs from slaughter and scatter the Nations which delight in warre Thou Lord extinguish the fire and flames of discorde which canst conclude a peace for vs with the stone of the grounde Compell the Woolfe to lye downe with the Lambe and the Leoparde with the Kidde worke a conuersion in the heartes of those which preferre vncertaine riches and vaine pleasures of this vile sinnefull and wretched world before the profession of thy truth and preaching of the Gospell Autoph Amen For surely the Lorde hath miraculously deliuered vs from their deuouring and gréedy rauening mouthes Philox. You say well Autophilus in commending him for our maruelous deliueraunce but will you bee mindefull of so great and manifold benefits Autoph I hope so Philox. Then be so Autoph Can you prooue the contrarie Philox. I woulde Autophilus prooued it not It is a common and vsuall practise nowe a dayes amongest Hypocrites to carrie about with them faintlike mouthes and diuelish minds to say Amen to euery good praier with their mouth when their hearts are worldly and wickedly excercised But it is not painted wordes which please the Lorde but the workes of righteousnesse and obedience wherein he delighteth to take vp the Crosse and followe Christ and to deny a mans selfe which Autophilus will neuer doe are two not able markes of Gods children Autoph Be not to rash in iudging Philox. Then leaue to be Autophilus Autoph Indéede so shall I forsake my selfe but as yet I meane it not and yet haue you mooued me so farre that since the Gospell and persecution goe both hande in hande together I coulde be content to suffer sometimes persecutions but not continually for such as I am can hardly away with continual afflictions Philox. I am not ignorant how naturally men are infected with the disease Philautia that is to say selfe loue how much they are addicted to it and they estéeme of themselues But if any man commeth to me sayth our Sauiour and hateth not father mother wife children yea and his owne selfe cannot be my disciple Not that we should enuie or be malitious towards them but that we haue such affections towards them that neuerthelesse the loue of the sonne of God be aboue all thinges Of such an holy hatred Abraham is a worthy example who had rather be cruell against his owne sonne euen to the death then in one point shewe himselfe disobedient Let the husband therefore loue the wife the wife her husband the father his sonne the sonne his father So that their humane loue drawe nothing from the spirituall loue of Christ Nowe therefore Autophilus since there are but two waies the one narrow and rough difficult to the flesh to be traueled the other broade smooth and leading to destruction Tell me briefly whether you had rather goe with worldly ease to eternall damnation then to take vp the Crosse and goe the narrowe waye to life euerlasting for one of them wee must néedes runne at length that is either to ioy or vtter perdition Autoph I cannot tel what you call worldly ease but I am sure I woulde goe to heauen Philox. Walke not then after the flesh but after the spirite they that frame themselues after the will of Christ are his liuely members they which loue not themselues nor the world loath their former life feare to fall into sinne at a worde they which crucifie the fleshe with the affections and lustes thereof shall possesse those ioyes Autoph What I doe it pertaines not vnto you you shall not answere for mée I doubt not but I am cloathed with Christes righteousnesse I hope that Christes perfect obedience yéelded vnto his father shall make satisfaction for me Philox. A goodly countenance of honestie and pretence of fleshly Christianity doe you thinke that Christe will holde you for righteous when you giue your selfe to vnrighteousnesse what is this but a dishonouring of him and a scorning of him for his redemption of you as if Christ shoulde accept the proude man for lowly him for a louer of God which is a louer of himselfe him for a delighter in God which onely delighteth in vaine pleasures him for mindefull of Gods benefits which is altogether vnthankfull him for a chast person which is a whoremonger him for sober which is a drunkard lastly him for a true worshipper which is an Idolater Autoph I hope you cannot iustly affirme that I am stained with any of these vices Philox. Doth your conscience acquite you Autoph What is that to you Philox. I aske you for no harme notwithstanding if euery stitch of your conscience were throughly ript vp I feare we shoulde finde it sore sicke of many of these sinnes Beware of Idolatrie it is the Mother vice from whence doe spring many other Autoph Idolatry quoth you I thanke God I neuer knewe what it meant Philox. So much the worse you may be sicke of that disease and knowe it not Beware of Couetousnesse it is the roote of all euill Which also is called of the Apostle Paul Idolatrie Autoph Call you Couetousnesse Idolatrie either I forgette it or else I neuer learned it as for my Couetousnesse care you not I knowe my selfe to bée farre enough from it vnlesse you will call good husbandry Couetousnesse as many indéede are woont for nowe a daies a man must lashe out sette Cocke on hoope spende all on the poore and in House kéeping or else he shall be counted a Niggarde nay verily doe what we can wée shall offende some parties If we be warie then are wée accounted Couetous if liberall then vnthriftes and thus they terme euery thing at their pleasure Philox. Nay you put on faire visards on beastly and vglie monsters hyding couetousnes vnder the cloke of good husbandrie pride vnder the shewe of handsomenes stoutnes vnder the colour gentrie thus although the couetous of cormerants store vp treasures in their Palaces by violence and robberies eate vp poore men euen as Beasts eat grasse kéeping it vnder nothwithstanding all this is the point of good husbandrie Good husbandrie said I No verilie as bad as may be for the winning of a fewe pence to loose Gods loue and for to haue rich chistes and coffers stuffed with red ruddockes to léese the fauour of the euerlasting God No