the place where our everlasting residence should be which if the Lord did not the nature of man is so corrupt and the vanities of the world so agreeable to him that without all question hee would be more carefull and mindfull of the earth and earthly things which are daily present before his eies nor of the heaven and of heavenly things which hee sees not and are onely to come and not present Secondly by affliction the heart of man is stirred vp to serue God and to be charitable towards his neighbour For we see that in time of sicknes of povertie of sorrowe of apparent or imminent danger wee are very devout and loving one to another and will both crye vnto the Lord for help and will haue compassion vpon such as are in distresse which in time of prosperitie wee regard but little For when wee haue things flowing with vs according to our hearts desire Incontinent we fall in a carelesse securitie and becomes colde and slothfull in religion and froward one towards another which thing adversitie doeth remoue and remeid Thirdly the Lord by trouble lets vs knowe when wee are cast downe howe vnable we are to helpe our selues And likewise he lets vs knowe his great mercie and power in raising vs vp againe which makes vs to drawe neere vnto him in time of trouble and to feare to offend and fall from him when wee haue once apprehended him and tasted of his mercie loving kindnes Fourthlie the seed of sinne and of all vice which is naturallie sowen in all our hearts is snibbed and pressed down with trouble But in time of prosperitie it ever springs vp and brings forth the fruits of iniquitie Fiftly affliction brings forth greate patience in vs for beeing experimented with the discipline and correction of the Lord that experience of his justice and mercie and of his woonderfull workes ingenders as the Apostle saith Patience and Patience brings forth experience and experience ingenders hope Last of all the sharpnes of adversitie which wee suffer makes vs both to know the sweetnes of prosperitie and what our Saviour Iesus Christ suffered for vs which should inflame vs with an exceeding great loue and thankfulnes towards him But it is a small thing of any trouble which can come to the righteous man for as David subjoynes to his saying which I cited in the beginning The Lord delivers him out of them all Therefore let vs lay this for a ground infallible That the Lord shall ever send either an hastie deliverāce to his servants in their trouble or else shall giue them such strength and patience to abide the same that they shall haue as great joye and contentment in time of adversitie as others haue in time of prosperitie And when it pleaseth the Lord to glorifie himselfe by their death they are sure of the joy and life eternall Take heede to the hastie deliverance of Hezekiah when he was sick to the patience of Iob and to the long suffering of Paul which hee did beare with joye and gladnesse The other question why the righteous suffers willinglie the troubles and wrongs which they might easilie eschew contrary to mans nature and naturall reason shall receiue this answere This saith our Saviour Iesus Christ If any man will come after me let him deny himselfe and take vp his crosse daily and follow me To deny our selues is to quite and renounce all those things which are agreeable to our corrupted affections and not to seek and haunt our own pleasures our owne profite our owne praise our owne wit and our owne will But to set them all aside in so far as they may be hinderful to the true service and worshipping of God To take vp our crosse daily is to prepare vs for daily affliction and to vnderlie one trouble after another for the obedience that wee owe to God and to followe the example of our Maister and Saviour Iesus Christ in leading an holy pure and sinceare life Againe he saith Whosoever shall forsake houses brethren or sisters or father or mother or wife or children or lands for my names sake hee shall receiue an hundreth fold more and shall inherit everlasting life And againe hee saith He that looseth his life for my sake shall saue it Now concerning suffering of injury and wrong thus saith the Lord Blessed are they that suffer persecution for righteousnes sake for theirs is the kingdome of heven whereby it is to be vnderstood that they that suffers for their faults and offences are not partakers of this blessing but only such as innocently and patiently suffers injury and wrong Herefore the Apostle Peter saith Let none of you suffer as a murtherer or as a theefe or as an evill doer or as a busie body in other mens matters but if any man suffer as a Christian let him not be ashamed but let him glorifie God in this behalfe Againe our Maister saith to his Disciples Blessed are yee when men reviles you and persecutes you and saith al manner of evill against you for my sake falsly Rejoice and be glad for great is your reward in heaven And againe hee saith Resist not evill but whosoever shall smite thee on the right cheeke turne to him the other also Item loue your enemies blesse them that curse you do good to them that hate you pray for them which hurt you and persecute you that yee may be the Children of your Father that is in heaven For hee makes the Sun to rise on the evill and on the good and sends raine on the just and vnjust Farther he saith do good and lend looking for nothing again and your reward shal be great and yee shall be the children of the most high for he is kinde to the vnkinde and to the evill Now of these sayings I gather the conclusion of my answere That the righteous bears such reverence and obedience to these precepts and commandements and beleues these promises so constātly having a sure hope of the reward which is promised That they despise the world and the vanities thereof forsakes and renounceth their houses riches cuntries wiues children friends and possessions and exposes and offers themselues willingly to all kinde of affliction and trouble yea to the very death it selfe knowing that their reward is prepared for them and as the Apostle Paul saith that all the troubles which they can suffer in this life is not worthie of that glory which they shall receiue It is here then to be marked that the righteous receiues not their chiefe reward in this world but in the worlde to come For the reward promised is an euerlasting reward and in this world wee see that nothing is everlasting but all temporal momentine This is a stumbling block to naturall and worldly men To wit that the rewarde of the godly as appears to them is long in comming that they must die the death before they
the fleshe in dignitie and worthines Were it not a great contentment to the mind to haue thy body als bewtiful and of seemlie proportion as thy heart would wishe And that thou were equall in strength speed and agilitie with any other man Likewise that thou were of such skil and dexteritie at al games and exercitions of the body aswell these that are naturall vnto man as in these which needes art and instruction as summing balling handeling of thine armour and others such like that none were able to out-match thee and therewithal to haue thy bewtie ever flourishing never to fade and thy body never to decay but ever to remaine in perfite vigour and strength Moreover wouldest thou not think it a great felicitie to be so pregnant quick of spirit that nothing could seeme hard or difficil vnto thee But that thou hadst the knowledge of all artes and sciences of all tongues and languages and with thy knowledge to haue a facund and ornate tongue to vtter the conceptions of thy mind Farther is it not very delectable to the heart of man to haue obtained a great victory and to haue defait the enemies of his natiue cuntrie brought the same to libertie and freedome by his owne deedes and vertue as the stronge Sampson did in subduing the Philistims David in slaying of Goliah Iudith in killing of Olophernes or as the valiant Roman Cockles did with great praise and commendation of all men It is also no litle contentment to the spirit to haue found out a singular and subtile devise which may bring both great pleasure and great commoditie with it not onely to the inventor thereof himselfe but also to the whole estate of a common wealth Wee reade that Pythagoras for finding out by his own ingyne study of a proposition of Geometrie which indeed is esteemed to be very excellent and of great vse in the Mathematicks and is the 47. Proposition of the first book of the Elements of Euclide for very joy he came forth of his cabinet running and crying with a loude voice as though he had bene transported I haue found it I haue found it and thereafter made a solemne sacrifice and oblation of an hundreth Oxen. See we not also howe great rejoycing it is to the heart of him that hath done a notable and noble act pronounced a wise sentence or made a cunning ornat harangue to the great admiration and praise of the hearers and beholders And were it not a pleasant thing to be promoved by a greate Monarche from the estate of a poore miserable cotter to the estate of a welthie potent Lord and to be received in great familiaritie credite with the same monarche To be short I think the greatest joyes which man can wish or imagine are these To haue all thinges that the heart doth require and to lack nothing To haue knowledge of all things and to be ignorant of nothing To be ever glad and never sorrowfull To be ever careles and without feare and never careful nor in dread To be ever in pleasure and neuer in paine To be alwaies wel content and never miscontent nor displeased To be ever in securitie and never in danger To be ever in peace and at rest and never troubled nor disquieted To be ever at libertie and never in thraldome To be ever in health and in good disposition and never sick nor diseased To be ever in a constant and stable estate and never subject to change nor alteration To be free from all naturall infirmities of the body and all passions and perturbations of the mind but in special from the thraldome of sinne and to haue an absolute power over all our affections concupiscenses To be delighted with every thing and never to see nor heare that thing which is grievous or displeasant To hate or envy no man nor yet to bee hated or envied of any But to loue and like all and to be loved and liked of all men To be honoured and esteemed of all men but in speciall to be in the favor of God and to be reciprocklie beloved of them whome wee loue most intirelie and to be sure and certaine never to die but to liue for ever What then of al these joies and pleasures were they ever injoied by any man or is it possible that any man can injoy them in this life No certainlie they cannot be fully injoyed so long as wee dwell here vpon earth and remaines in this tabernacle of fleshe and blood But these are heavenly joyes pertaining to the life to come which all the faithfull shall vndoubtedlie injoye yea and greater nor these also For the wit ingine of man is able to comprehend and vnderstand these joies before rehearsed But the perfit joy and felicitie of the life to come passeth all vnderstanding But nowe let vs see what warrant we haue of the word of God against these things and howe the spirit of God doth certifie vs hereof We are first certified by the spirit of God that in the life to come wee shall be exeemed from all griefe and sorrow so that our joy and pleasure shall not be mixed with sorrowes as the pleasures of this life are For the Evangelist Iohn saith God shall wipe away al teares from their eyes and there shall bee no more death neither sorrow neither crying neither shal there be any more pain for the first things are passed The former trobles are forgotten saith the Lord by the mouth of the Prophet and shall surely hide themselues from mine eies for Lo I will create newe heavens and a newe earth and the former shall not be remembred nor come into minde But be yee glad and rejoice for ever in the things which I shall create For behold I wil create Ierusalem as a rejoicing and her people as a joy and I will rejoice in Ierusalem and joy in my people and the voice of weeping shall be no more heard in her nor the voice of crying There shal be no more there a Child of yeares nor an old man that hath not filled his daies for hee that shall be an hundreth yeares old shal die as a young man Farther the spirit of God to expresse the joye of the life to come compares it to a day of mariage into the which Iesus Christ is the bridegrome and his Church that is to say the number of his elect is called the bride The Gentiles saith the Prophet speaking of Christs Church shall see thy righteousnes and al kings thy glory and thou shal be called by a new name which the mouth of the Lord shall name Thou shalt also be a crown of glory in the hand of the Lord and a royall diademe in the hand of thy God It shal be no more said vnto thee Forsaken neither shall it be said any more to thy land desolate But thou shalt be called HEPHZEBAH that is to say My delight in her and thy Land
BEVLAH or Maried For the Lord delights in thee and thy Land shall haue an Husband for as a young man marieth a Virgine so shall thy sonnes marrie thee And as a bridegrom is glad of the bride so shall thy God rejoice over thee And in the Apocalips Christs flock saith Halleluiah that is by interpretation praise yee God for our God Almightie hath raigned Let vs be glad and rejoice and giue glory to him for the mariage of the Lambe is come and his wife hath made her selfe reddy And to her was granted that she should be arrayed with pure fine linnen and shining for the fine Linnen is the righteousnes of the Saints Thereafter the Angell of God saith vnto Iohn I will shew thee the bride the Lambs wife and he shewed me saith Iohn the great Citie holy Ierusalem which is the number of the Elect descending out of heaven from God having the glory of God This comparison the spirit of God maketh betweene Christ and his Church because that like as the husband and the wife are made one flesh so are the faithfull made one with Christ by participation of his body blood through faith And as the bridegrome doth procreate Children with his bride So doth Christ procreat Children in his Church by his holy spirit and makes her to be plentiful in bringing forth sonnes and daughters to inherit his kingdome But to returne to the pleasure of the Elect in the life to come it is also compared to a solemne banquet by the spirit of God And in this mountaine saith the Prophet Esay shall the Lord of hosts make vnto all people a feast of fat things Even a feast of fined wines and of fat things full of marrow of wines fined and purified And Saint Iohn in his Revelation saith that he saw a pure river of water of life cleare as Christal proceeding out of the throne of God and of the Lambe which is Iesus Christ and on either side of the River was the tree of life which bare twelue manner of fruites and gaue fruite every moneth and the leaues of the tree served to heale the Nations with It is also saide in the Apocalips Blessed are they that are called vnto the Lambes supper And our maister Christ saith whosoever drinks of the water that I shall giue him shall never be more a thirst but the water that I shall giue him shall be in him a well of water springing vp into everlasting life Moreover the Lord proposeth to the faithfull all the blessings which are contained in the Lawe and so vnder temporall things comprehends the spirituall promises They shall feede in the waies saith the Prophet and their pastures shall be in al the tops of the hilles they shal not be hungrie nether shal they be thirstie neither shall the heate smite them nor the sunne for hee that hath compassion on them shal leade them euen to the springs of waters shal he driue them Lo saith the Lord every one that thirsts come ye to the waters and ye that haue no silver come buy and eat come I say buy wine and milke without silver Harken diligently vnto me and eat that which is good and let your soule delight in fatnes Likewise the Lord speaking to his afflicted members saith O thou afflicted and tossed with tempest that hath no comfort behold I will lay thy stones with the Charbukle and lay thy foundation with Saphires and I will make thy windowes of Emeraudes and thy gate shining stones and all thy bordours of plesant stones And for the farther comfort of his elect hee proceeds and saith All thy Children shall be taught of the Lord much peace shal be to thy Children In righteousnes shall thou be established and be far from oppression for thou shalt not feare it and from feare for it shall not come neere thee For the montains shal remoue and the hills shal fal downe but my mercy shal not depart from thee neither shall the covenant of my peace fall away saith the Lord that hath compassion on thee This is the heritage of the Lords servants and their righteousnes is of me saith the Lord. And insisting in the consolation of his Church this saith the Lord to it Whereas thou hast bene forsaken and hated so that no man went by thee I will make thee an eternal glory and a joy from generation to generation Thou shalt also suck the milk of the Gentiles and suck the brests of kings and thou shalt know that I the Lord am thy Saviour and thy redeemer the mightie one of Iacob For brasse wil I bring gold and for yron will I bring silver and for wood brasse and for stones yron I will also make thy garment peace and thy exactors righteousnes Violence shal be no more heard off in thy land neither desolation nor destruction within thy borders But thou shalt call salvation thy walles and praise thy gates Thou shalt haue no more the Sunne to shine by day neither shall the brightnes of the Moone shine vnto thee For the Lord shall be thine everlasting light and thy God thy glory thy Sunne shal never go downe neither thy Moone be hid for the Lord shall be thy everlasting light and the daies of thy sorrowes shall be ended Thy people also shal be al righteous they shal possesse the land for ever The graiffe of my planting shall be the work of my hands that I may be glorified Moreover the Lord by the mouth of the Prophet comforts his Elect and threatneth the wicked in these wordes Behold my servants shall eat and ye shall be hungrie Beholde my seruants shall drink and ye shall be thirstie Behold my servants shal rejoice and ye shall be ashamed Behold my servants shall sing for joy of heart and yee shal cry for sorrowe of heart and shall howle for vexation of mind and yee shall leaue your name as a curse vnto my chosen For the Lord God shall slay you and call his servants by another name He that shall blesse in the earth shal blesse himself in the true God he that sweares in the earth shal swear by the true God These are hevenly consolations and promises which are partly begunne in this life but shall not be fullie accomplished while the life to come Wherevpon the faithfull flock of Christ takes occasion to rejoice and is prophesied to burst out in these wordes I will greatly rejoice in the Lord and my soule shall be joyfull in my God For hee hath clothed me with the garments of salvation and covered me with the robe of righteousnes He hath decked me like a bridegrome and as a bride attyreth her selfe with her jewells For as the earth brings forth her budde and as the Garden causes to growe that which is sowne in it So the Lord God will cause righteousnes to growe and praise before the Heathen But forasmuch as the pleasures of the soul
forasmuch as such naked assertions vpon conjectures and appearances without farther warrant of Gods word might seeme inautentik and to make no faith Therefore the premises are authorised by divers testimonies of the Scripture wherby the certitude of the joies of the life to come is confirmed Thereafter it is declared how these eternall pleasures shall not onely be extended to the soule of man but also to the body which shall rise againe perfit in all the members and senses and shall be delighted with the owne objects But the chiefe object shall be the Majestie of God containing the perfection of al things wherewith they shalbe whollie repleat So being clothed with the glory and filled with the perfection of the most high the Sonne of mans perfection is thereby summarly collected together with the maner howe the elect shall be exercised in the world ro come Last in order followes the perpetuitie of the time during the which this vnspeakable joy and glory shall endure The which in respect it shall admit no period but shall be comprehended vnder an infinite eternitie the felicitie appeares the more admirable and great Finally by reason of the exorbitant affliction of the godly and raging insolencie of the enemies The conclusion containes a briefe praier to our Lord Iesus Christ to shorten and accelerat his glorious comming that thereby all these miseries may take an end and the eternall felicitie hoped for may beginne This brieflie is the summe and deduction of all which if wee consider Brethren with sanctified and well disposed hearts I think it may serue to our singular comfort in all seasons be as a buckler against al temptations For in time of prosperitie we may lift vp our mindes and be assured that there is yet a greater prosperitie abiding vs which shall endure for ever in the world to come And in the midst of troubles we may settle our selues and find reliefe here when we remember that our sorrowes shal shortly take an end and that we are to receiue a reward even a perpetuall glory of body and soule whereof all our sufferings cannot be worthie Herefore let vs comfort our selues in these things and be content with faith full Abraham to abide here a while vpon this earth as in a strange countrie ever looking as he did for a Citie having a foundation whose builder and maker is God Let vs keepe the profession of our hope without wavering for he is faithfull that promised Let vs haue grace whereby wee may so serue God that we may please him with reverence and feare for yet a very little while and he that shall come wil come and will not tary The loue of God and grace of our Lord Iesus be with you all Amen At Polvvart the 8. day of Aprill 1594. yeares A loving Brother of all Christs little Flock A. H. OF THE FELICITIE OF THE Life to come WEe see that according to the saying of the Psalmist The miseries are manye which righteous men do suffer in this life As povertie sicknes ignominie imprisoning banishment grief of mind and death of the body And these miseries they not only suffer perforce as sent by God whose mightie hand no fleshe is able to resist but voluntarily they incur the miseries trobles which they might eschew all for professing of the name of Christ and imbracing of his true worshipping and service which if they wold forsake deny they might be free from the cruell torment of their bodies they might saue their owne liues enjoy their owne goods and liue at libertie in their owne cuntries Likewise we see that willinglie they suffer wrong injurie and reproch and receiues great shame losse of them whome they might recompence and requite with the like offences Neverthelesse they avenge not themselues although they might but remits the revenge to God Nowe then there results here two questions The one is why the Lord seeing all things are at his gift and disposition doeth so hardly intreate his servants in this life For all the earth is the Lords All beasts are mine saith the Lord on the hilles on the mountains Gold silver and riches hee may giue at his pleasure and high honours for promotion comes neither from the East nor from the West but from aboue To be short he giues libertie and makes the heart cheerfull and glad he hath power to conserue the body in health and to prolong or abridge the daies of man as seemes good in his eies The other question is Why righteous men do voluntarilie suffer and vnderlie those troubles which they might easilie eschew and takes vp patiently the reproches wrongs which they might resist and acquite which is a thing most hard of digestion to fleshe and blood and is plaine repugnant to mans owne nature and inclination The first question contains two parts The one is why God giues not all kinde of temporall benefits to his servants according to their hearts desire The other part is Why God doth so miserablie afflict his servants in this life To the first it is answered That the Lord is a wise discreet stewart and dispensator of his benefits and seeing he hath created and made vs hee knowes our strength and weaknes what is most meete for vs and howe able wee are to beare and vse his giftes and benefites Therefore wee may lay this for a sure ground That the Lord bestowes his temporall gifts on his seruants ever in such measure and in so far as he knowes them to be needful for the pilgrimage of this life and for their eternal salvation Let no man then that fears God think that the Lord hath bestowed lesse or more of his benefits vpon him nor is expedient for the making of his journey for his everlasting salvation which I think should moue every man to settle himselfe and to be hartilie well content with the worldly giftes which God hath given him whether they be much or litle in great mesure or in smal An other reason there is why the Lord giues not these worldly giftes to his servants according to their manlie hearts desire because God rewards not his own according to their worthines but according to his greatnes Which rewarde by the selfe same reason cannot be worldly nor temporall but eternall and everlasting like vnto the giver thereof Thus much concerning the disposition of temporall benefits to the righteous I come nowe to the other part of the first question Why the Lord not onelie denies prosperitie to his servants in such measure as they would wishe but also doeth visit them with great trouble and affliction in this life The causes are many and divers wherefore the Lord doth afflict his own servants First forasmuch as wee haue no permanent dwelling or long residence here he visits vs with troble to the effect that our minde and delectation be not fixed on earthly things but rather should be lifted vppe to