another place he complaineth yet as the prophet saith God wil have his day with these men also when he wil be known And that is Cognoscetur dominus iudicia faciens God wil be known when he beginneth to do iudgment And this is at the day of death which is the next dore to judgement as the Apostle testifieth saieng It is appointed for al men once to die and after that ensueth iudgement 3 This I say is the day of God most terrible sorrowful and ful of tribulation to the wicked wherin God wil be known to be a righteous God and to restore to every man according as he hath done while he lived as Saint Paul saith or as the prophet describeth it He wil be known then to be a terrible God and such a one as taketh away the spirit of princes a terrible God to the kings of the earth At this day as there wil be a great change in al other things as mirth wil be turned into sorrow laughings into weepings pleasures into paines stoutnes into fear pride into dispaire and the like so especially wil there be a strange alteration in judgement and opinion for that the wisdom of God wherof I have spoken in the former chapters which as the scripture saith Is accounted holy of the wise of the world wil then appeere in hir likenes and as it is in very deed wil be confessed by hir greatest enimies to be only tru wisdom and al carnal wisdom of worldlings to be meer folly as God calleth it 4 This the holie scripture setteth down cleerly when it describeth the verie speeches and lamentations of the wise men of this world at the last day saieng touching the vertuous whom they despised in this life Nos insensati c. We senseles men did esteem their life to be madnes and their end to be dishonorable but look how they are now accounted among the children of God and their portion is with the saints We have erred from the way of truth and the light of righteousnes hath not shined before us neither hath the sun of understanding appeered unto us We have wearied out our selves in the way of iniquitie and perdition and we have walked craggy paths but the way of the Lord we have not known Hitherto are the words of scripture wherby we may perceave what great change of judgement there wil be at the last day from that which men have now of al such matters what confessing of follie what acknowledging of error what hartie sorrow for labor lost what fruitles repentance for having run awry Oh that men would consider these things now We have wearied out our selves say these miserable men in the way of iniquitie and perdition and we have walked craggie paths What a description is this of lamentable worldlings who beat their brains daily weary out themselves in pursuit of vanitie and chaf of this world for which they suffer notwithstanding more pains oftentimes than the just do in purchasing of heaven And when they arrive to at the last day wearied and worn out with troble and toile they finde that al their labor is lost al their vexation taken in vain for that the litle pelfe which they have gotten in the world and for which they have strugled so sore wil helpe them nothing but rather greatly afflict and torment them for better understanding wherof it is to be considered that three things wil principallie molest these men at the day of their death and unto these may al the rest be referred 5 The first is the excessive pains which commonly men suffer in the separation of the soul and bodie which have lived so long together as two deer frinds united in love and pleasure and therfore most loth to part now but onlie that they are inforced therunto This pain may partly be conceaved by that if we would drive out life but from the least part of our bodie as for example out of our little finger as surgeons are woont to do when they wil mortifie any place to make it break what a pain doth a man suffer before it be dead What raging greefe doth he abide And if the mortifieng of one little part onlie doth so much afflict us imagin what the violent mortifieng of al the parts together wil do For we see that first the soul is driven by death to leave the extreeme parts as the toes feet and fingers then the legs arms and so consequently one part dieth after another until life be restrained onlie to the hart which holdeth out longest as the principal part but yet must finally be constrained to render it selfe though with never so much pain and resistance which pain how great strong it is may appeer by the breaking in peeces of the very strings and holds wherwith it was environed through the excessive vehemencie of this deadly torment But yet before it come to this point to yeeld no man can expresse the cruel conflict that is betwixt death and hir and what distresses she abideth in time of hir agonie Imagin that a prince possessed a goodly citie in al peace wealth and pleasure and greatly frinded of al his neighbors about him who promise to assist him in al his needs and affairs and that upon the sudden his mortal enimie should come and besiege this citie and taking one hold after another one wal after another one castel after another should drive this prince only to a little tower and besiege him therin al his other holds being beaten down and his men slain in his sight what fear anguish and miserie would this prince be in How often would he look out at the windows and loope holes of his tower to see whether his frinds and neighbors would come to help him or no And if he saw them al to abandon him and his cruel enimie even ready to break in upon him would he not be in a pitiful plight trow you And even so fareth it with a poore soul at the hour of death The bodie wherin she raigneth like a joly princesse in al pleasure whiles it florished is now battered and overthrown by hir enimy which is death the arms legs and other parts wherwith she was fortified as with wals words during time of helth are now surprised and beaten to the ground and she is driven only to the hart as to the last and extreemest refuge where she is also most fearcely assailed in such sort as she cannot hold out long Hir deer frinds which soothed hir in time of prosperitie and promised assistance as youth physik and other humane helps do now utterly abandon hir the enimie wil not be pacified or make any leag but night and day assaulteth this turret wherin she is and which now beginneth to shake and shiver in peeces and she looketh hourly when hir enimie in most raging and dreadful maner wil enter upon hir What think
as for example within are the rebellions of his concupiscence and other miseries of his mind wherwith he hath continually to make war if he wil save his soul. Without are the world and the devil which do never cease to assalt him now by fair means and now by fowl now by flatterie and now by threat now alluring by pleasure and promotion now terrifieng by affliction and persecution Against al which the good Christian hath to resist manfully or else he leeseth the crown of his eternal salvation 4 The verie same also may be shewed by the examples of al the most renowned saints from the beginning who were not only assalted internally with the rebellion of their own flesh but also persecuted and afflicted outwardly therby to confirm more manifestly this purpose of God As we see in Abel persecuted and slain by his own brother assoon as ever he began to serve God also in Abraham afflicted diversly after he was once chosen by God and most of al by making him yeeld to the killing of his own deer and only child Of the same cup drank al his children posteritie that succeeded him in Gods favor as Isaac Iacob Ioseph Moises and al the prophets of which Christ himselfe giveth testimonie how their blood was shed most cruelly by the world The affliction also of Iob is woonderful seeing the scripture affirmeth it to have come upon him by Gods special appointment he being a most just man But yet more woonderful was the affliction of holie Tobias who among other calamities was striken blind by the falling down of swallows dung into his eies of which the angel Raphel told him afterward Bicause thou wert a man acceptable to God it was of necessitie that this tentation should proove thee Behold the necessitie of afflictions to good men I might ad to this the example of David others but that the apostle giveth a general testimonie of al the saints of the old testament saieng That some were racked some reproched some whipped some chained some imprisoned others were stoned cut in peeces tempted and flain with the sword some went about in hair-cloth in skins of goats in great need pressed and afflicted wandring and hiding themselves in wildernesses in hils in caves and holes under ground the world not being woorthy of them Of al which he pronounceth this comfortable sentence to be noted of al men Non suscipientes redemptionem vt meliorem invenirent resurrectionem That is God would not deliver them from these afflictions in this life to the end their resurrection and reward in the life to come might be more glorious And this of the saints of the old testament 5 But now in the new testament founded expressedly upon the crosse the matter standeth much more plain that with great reason For if Christ could not go into this glorie but by suffering as the scripture saith then by the most reasonable rule of Christ affirming that The servant hath not privilege aboue his maister It must needs follow that al have to drink of Christs cup which are appointed to be partakers of his glory And for proofe herof look upon the deerest frinds that ever Christ had in this life and see whether they had part therof or no. Of his mother Simeon prophesied and told hir at the beginning That the sword of tribulation should passe hir hart Signifieng therby the extreme afflictions that she felt afterward in the death of hir son and other miseries heaped upon hir Of the apostles it is evident that beside al the labors travels needs sufferings persecutions and calamities which were infinite and in mans sight in tollerable if we beleeve S. Paul recounting the same beside al this I say God would not be satisfied except he had their blood also and so we see that he suffered none of them to die naturally but only Saint Iohn albeit if we consider what Iohn also suffered in so long a life as he lived being banished by Domitian to Pathmos at another time thrust into a tun of hot oil at Rome as Tertullian and Saint Ierom do report we shal see that his part was no lesse than others in this cup of his maister I might rekon up heer infinite other examples but it needeth not For it may suffice that Christ hath given this general rule in the new testament He that taketh not up his crosse and followeth me is not worthy of me By which is resolved plainly that there is no salvation now to be had but only for them that take up that is do bear willingly their proper crosses and therwith do follow their captain walking on with his crosse on his shoulders before them 6 But heer some man may say If this be so that no man can be saved without a crosse that is without affliction and tribulation how do al those that live in peaceable times and places where no persecution is no trouble no affliction or tribulation To which I answer first that if there were any such time or place the men living therin should be in great danger according to the saieng of the prophet They are not in the labor of other men nor yet whipped and punished as others are and therfore pride possessed them and they were covered with iniquitie and impietie and their iniquitie proceeded of their fatnesse or abundance Secondlie I answer that there is no such time or place so void of tribulation but that there is alwais a crosse to be found for them that wil take it up For either is there povertie sicknes slander enmitie injurie contradiction or some like affliction offered continually For that those men never want in the world wherof the prophet said These that do render evil for good did detract from me for that I followed goodnes At the least wise there never want those domestical enimies of which Christ speaketh I mean either our kinred and carnal frinds which commonly resist us if we begin once throughly to serve God or else our own disordinate affections which are the most perilous enimies of al for that they make us war upon our own ground Again there never want the temptations of the world devil the resisting wherof is much more difficult in time of peace and welth than in time of external affliction and persecution for that these enimies are stronger in flatterie than in force which a godly father expresseth by this parable The sun and wind saith he agreed on a day to prove their several strengths in taking a cloke from a waifairing man And in the forenoon the wind used al violence that he could to blow off the said cloke But the more he blew the more fast held the travailer his cloke and gathered it more closelie about him At afternoon the sun sent foorth his pleasant beams and by little and little so entered into this man as he
by to watch the same The prophet David to signifie the very same thing that is the infinite multitude of snares in this world saith God shal raign snares upon sinners That is God shal permit wicked men to fal into snares which are as plentiful in the world as are the drops of rain which fal down from heaven Every thing almost is a deadly snare unto a carnal and loose harted man Every sight that he seeth every word that he heareth every thought that he conceiveth his youth his age his frinds his enimies his honor his disgrace his riches his povertie his companie keeping his prosperitie his adversitie his meat that he eateth his apparel that he weareth al are snares to draw him to destruction that is not watchful 49 Of this then and of the blindnes declared before doth follow the last and greatest miserie of al which can be in this life and that is the facilitie wherby worldly men do run into sin For truly saith the scripture Miseros facit populos peccatum Sin is the thing that maketh people miserable And yet how easily men of the world do commit sin and how little scruple they make of the matter Iob signifieth when talking of such a man he saith Bibit quasi aquam iniquitatem He suppeth up sin as it were water That is with as great facilitie custome and ease passeth he down any kind of sin that is offered him as a mā drinketh water when he is a thirst He that wil not beleeve the saieng of Iob let him prove a little by his own experience whether the matter be so or no let him walk out in to the streets behold the doings of men view their behavior consider what is done in shops in hals in consistories in judgement seats in pallaces and in common meeting places abroad what lieng what slandering what deceiving there is He shal find that of al things wherof men take any account nothing is so little accounted of as to sin He shal see justice sold veritie wrested shame lost and equitie despised He shal see the innocent condemned the giltie delivered the wicked advanced the vertuous opressed He shal see many theves florish many usurers bear great sway many murderers extortioners reverenced honored many fools put in authoritie and divers which have nothing in them but the form of men by reason of money to be placed in great dignities for the government of others He shal hear at every mans mouth almost vanitie pride detraction envie deceit dissimulation wantonnes dissolution lieng swearing perjurie and blaspheming Finally he shal see the most part of men to govern themselves absolutely even as beasts do by the motion of their passions not by law of justice reason religion or vertu 50 Of this doth insu the fift point that Christ toucheth in his parable and which I promised heer to handle to wit that the love of this world choketh up and strangleth every man whom it possesseth from al celestial and spiritual life for that it filleth him with a plain contrarie spirit to the spirit of God The apostle saith Si quis spiritum Christi non habet hic non est eius If any man hath not the spirit of Christ this fellow belongeth not unto him Now how contrarie the spirit of Christ and the spirit of the world is may appeer by the fruits of Christs spirit rekoned up by Saint Paul unto the Galathians to wit Charitie which is the root and mother of al good works Ioy in serving God Peace or tranquillitie of mind in the storms of this world Patience in adversitie Longanimitie in expecting our reward Bonitie in hurting no man Benignitie in sweet behavior Gentlenes in occasion given of anger Faithfulnes in performing our promises Modestie without arrogancie Continencie from al kind of wickednes Chastitie in conserving a pure mind in a clean and unspotted bodie Against these men saith Saint Paul there is no law And in the very same chapter he expresseth the spirit of the world by the contrarie effects saieng The works of flesh are manifest which are fornication uncleannes wantonnes lecherie idolatrie poisonings enmities contentions emulations wrath strife dissention sects envie murder droonkennes gluttonie and the like of which I foretel you as I have told you before that those men which do such things shal never obtain the kingdome of heaven 51 Heer now may every man judge of the spirit of the world and the spirit of Christ and applieng it to himselfe may conjecture whether he holdeth of the one or of the other Saint Paul giveth two pretie short rules in the very same place to trie the same The first is They which are of Christ have crucified their flesh with the vices and concupiscences therof That is they have so mortified their own bodies as they strive against al the vices sins repeated before and yeeld not to serve the concupiscences or temptations therof The second rule is If we live in spirit then let us walk in spirit That is our walking and behavior is a sign whether we be alive or dead For if our walking be spiritual such as I have declared before by those fruits therof then do we live have life in spirit but if our works be carnal such as S. Paul now hath described then are we carnal and dead in spirit neither have we any thing to do with Christ or portion in the kingdome of heaven And for that al the world is ful of those carnal works and bringeth foorth no fruits indeed of Christs spirit nor permitteth them to grow up or prosper within hir thence is it that the scripture alwais putteth Christ and the world for opposite and open enimies 52 Christ himselfe saith that The world cannot receive the spirit of truth And again in the same Evangelist he saith that Neither he nor any of his are of the world though they live in the world And yet further in his most vehement praier unto his father Pater iuste mundus te non cognovit Iust father the world hath not known thee For which cause S. Iohn writeth If any man love the world the love of the father is not in him And yet further Saint Iames that Whosoever but desireth to be frind of this world is therby made an enimie to God What wil worldly men say to this Saint Paul affirmeth plainly that this world is to be damned And Christ insinuateth the same in Saint Iohns Gospel but most of al in that wonderful fact of his when praieng to his father for other matters he excepteth the world by name Non pro mundo rogo saith he I do not aske mercie and pardon for the world but for those which thou hast given me out of the world Oh what a dreadful exception is this made by the savior of the world by the lamb that taketh away al sins
threatnings of holy scriptures to al admonishments of Gods servants and to al the other meanes which God doth use for their salvation 12 Good Lord who would wittingly commit any sin for the gaining of ten thousand worlds if he considered the infinite damages hurts inconveniences and miseries which do come by the committing of one sin For first he that in such sort sinneth leeseth the grace of God which was given him which is the greatest gift that God can give to a creature in this life consequently he leeseth al those things which did accompany that grace as the vertues and gifts of the holy Ghost wherby the soul was beautified in the sight of hir spouse and armed against the assaults of hir enimies Secondly he leeseth the favor of God and consequently his fatherly protection care and providence over him gaineth him to be his professed enimie Which how great a losse it is we may esteem by the state of a worldly courtier which should leese the favor of an earthly prince and incur mortal hatred by the same Thirdly he leeseth al inheritance claime title to the kingdome of heaven which is du only by grace as S. Paul noteth and consequently depriveth himselfe of al dignities and commodities folowing the same in this life as the condition and high priviledge of a son of God the communion of saints the protection of Angels and the like Fourthly he leeseth the quiet ioy and tranquillitie of a good conscience and al the favors cherishments consolations and other comforts wherewith the holy Ghost is woont to visit the minds of the just Fiftly he leeseth the reward of al his good works done since he was born and whatsoever he doth or shal do while he standeth in that state Sixtly he maketh himselfe giltie of eternal punishment and ingrosseth his name in the booke of perdition and consequently bindeth himself to al those inconveniences wherto the reprobate are subiect that is to be inherit or of hel fire to be in the power of the devil and his angels to be subiect to al sin and temptation of sin and his soul which was before the temple of the holy Ghost the habitation of the blessed Trinitie and place of repose for the Angels to visite now to be the nest of scorpions and dungeon of devils and himselfe a companion of the miserable damned Lastly he abandoneth Christ and renounceth the portion he had with him making himselfe a persecuter of the same by treading him under his feete And crucifieng him again and defiling his blood as the Apostle saith in sinning against him which died for sin and therfore the same Apostle pronounceth a marvelous heavie sentence against such in these words If we sin wilfully now after we have receaved knowledge of the truth there remaineth no more sacrifice for sins but rather a certain terrible expectation of iudgement and emulation of fire which shal consume the adversaries To which Saint Peter agreeth when he saith It had beene better not to have knowen the way of iustice than after such knowledge to slide back again from the holie commandement which was given 13 Now then let our worldlings go and solace themselves with sin as much as they wil let them excuse and pleasantly defend the same saieng Pride is but a point of gentrie gluttonie good felowship lecherie and wantonnes a trik of youth and the like they shal finde one day that these excuses wil not be receaved but rather that these pleasant devises wil be turned into teares They shal prove that God wil not be jested with but that he is the same God stil and wil aske as severe account of them as he hath done of others before although it please not them now to keep any account of their life at al but rather to turn al to disport and pleasure perswading themselves that howsoever God hath dealt with others before yet he wil forgive al to them but the holie scripture reasoneth after another maner which I would have every wise Christian to consider 14 Saint Paul comparing the Iewes sins with ours maketh this collection If God spared not the natural boughs take heed least he spare not thee And therupon he inferreth this admonition Noli altum sapere sed time Be not too high minded but fear Again the Apostle reasoneth thus upon the old and the new law he that broke the law of Moises being convicted by two or three witnesses dieth for the same without commiseration or mercie how much more greevous punishment doth he deserve which breaking the law or Christ by wilful sin treadeth the Son of God under his feet polluteth the blood of the new testament and reprocheth the holie Ghost In like maner reasoneth Saint Peter and Saint Iude touching the sin of Angels and ours If God spared not the Angels when they sinned but did thrust them down to hel there to be tormented and to be kept unto judgement with eternal chaines under darknes how much lesse wil he spare us And again If the Angels which passe us in power and strength are not able to bear Gods execrable judgement against them what shal we do Again in another place he reasoneth thus If the just man shal hardly be saved where shal the wicked man and sinner appeere By which examples we are instructed to reason in like sort if God have punished so severelie one sin in the Angels in Adam and in others before recited what shal I look for which have committed so many sins against him If God have damned so many for lesser sins than mine be what wil he do to me for greater If God hath born longer with me than he hath done with many other whom he hath cut off without geving them time of repentance what reason is there that he should bear longer with me If David and others after their sins forgeeven them were nevertheles so sharply chasticed what punishment remaineth for me either here or in the world to come for so many and so greevous sins committed If it be tru that our Savior saith that the way is hard and the gate narrow wherby men go into heaven and that they shal answer for every idle word before they enter there what shal become of me which do live so easie a life and do keepe no account of my deedes and much lesse of my words If good men in old time did take such pains in the way of their salvation and yet as Saint Peter saith the very just were scarce saved what a state am I in which take no pain at al but do live in al kind of pleasure and worldly delites 15 These kinds of consequents were more tru and profitable for us wherby we might enter into some consideration of our own danger and into some fear of the judgements of God for want wherof the most part of sins amongst Christians are committed
down again and imagin with thy selfe which was greater either the joy in getting or the sorow in leesing it Where are now al these emperors these kings these princes and prelates which rejoiced so much once at their own advancement Where are they now I say Who talketh or thinketh of them Are they not forgotten and cast into their graves long ago And do not men boldly walk over their heads now whose faces might not be looked on without fear in this world What then have their dignities done them good 12 It is a woonderful thing to consider the vanitie of this worldly honor It is like a mans own shadow which the more a man runneth after the more it flieth and when he flieth from it it followeth him again and the only way to catch it is to fal down to the ground upon it So we see that those men which desire honor in this world are now forgotten and those which most fled from it and cast themselves lowest of al men by humilitie are now most of al honored honored I say most even by the world it selfe whose enimies they were while they lived For who is honored more now who is more commended and remembred than Saint Paul and his like which so much despised worldly honor in this life according to the saieng of the prophet Thy frinds O Lord are too too much honored Most vain then is the pursuit of this worldly honor and promotion seeing it neither contenteth the mind nor continueth with the possessor nor is void of great dangers both in this life and in the life to come according to the saieng of scripture Most severe iudgment shal be used upon those that are over others the mean man shal obtain mercy but the great and strong shal suffer torments strongly 13 The third vanitie that belongeth to ambition or pride of life is nobilitie of flesh and blood a great perle in the eie of the world but indeed in it selfe and in the sight of God a meer trifle and vanitie Which holie Iob wel understood when he wrote these words I said unto rottennes thou art my father and unto worms you are my mother and sisters He that wil behold the gentrie of his ancestors let him look into their graves and see whether Iob saith truly or no. Tru nobilitie was never begun but by vertu and therfore as it is a testimonie of vertu to the predecessors so is it another of vertu unto the successors And he which holdeth the name therof by descent without vertu is a meer monster in respect of his ancestors for that he breaketh the limits of the nature of nobilitie Of which sort of men God saith by one prophet They are made abhominable even as the things which they love their glorie is from their nativitie from the bellie and from their conception 14 It is a miserable vanitie to go beg credit of dead men when as we deserve none our selves to seek up old titles of honor from our ancestors we being utterly uncapable therof by our own base maners and behavior Christ cleerly confounded this vanitie when being descended himselfe of the greatest nobilitie that ever was in this world and besides that being also the son of God yet called he himselfe ordinarily the son of man that is the son of the virgin Marie for otherwise he was no son of man and further than this also called himselfe a shepheard which in the world is a name of contempt He sought not up this and that old title of honor to furnish his stile withal as our men do Neither when he had to make a king first in Israel did he seek out the ancientest blood but took Saul of the basest tribe of al Israel and after him David the poorest shepheard of al his brethren And when he came into the world he sought not out the noblest men to make princes of the earth that is to make apostles but took of the poorest and simplest therby to confound as one of them saith the foolish vanitie of this world in making so great account of the preeminence of a little flesh and blood in this life 15 The fourth vanitie that belongeth to ambition or pride of life is worldly wisdom wherof the apostle saith The wisdom of this world is folly with God If it be folly then great vanitie no dowt to delite so in it as men do It is a strange thing to see how contrarie the judgements of God are to the judgements of men The people of Israel would needs have a king as I have said and they thought God would have given them presently some great mightie prince to rule over them but he chose out a poor felow that sought asses about the country After that when God would displace this man again for his sin he sent Samuel to annoint one of Isai his sons and being come to the house Isai brought foorth his eldest son Eliab a lustie tall felow thinking him indeed most fit to govern but God answered Respect not his countenance nor his tallnes of personage for I have reiected him neither do I iudge according to the countenance of man After that Isai brought in his second son Abinadab and after him Samma and so the rest until he had shewed him seven of his sons Al which being refused by Samuel they marveled said there was no mo left but only a little red headed boy that kept the sheep called David which Samuel caused to be sent for And assoon as he came in sight God said to Samuel this is the man that I have chosen 16 When the Messias was promised unto the Iewes to to be a king they imagined presently according to their worldly wisdom that he should be some great prince and therfore they refused Christ that came in povertie Iames and Iohn being yet but carnal seeing the Samaritans contemptuously to refuse Christs disciples sent to them and knowing what Christ was thought streightway that he must in revenge have called down fire from heaven to consume them but Christ rebuked them saieng You know not of what spirit you are The apostles preaching the crosse and necessitie of suffering to the wise gentils and philosophers were thought presently fooles for their labors Festus the emperors lieftenant hearing Paul to speak so much of abandoning the world and following Christ said he was mad Finally this is the fashion of al worldly wise men to condemn the wisdom of Christ and of his saints For so the holie scripture reporteth of their own confession being now in place of torment Nos insensati vitam illorum aestimabamus insaniam We fond men esteemed the lives of saints as madnes Wherfore this is also great vanitie as I have said to make such account of worldly wisdom which is not only follie but also madnes by the testimonie of the holie Ghost himselfe 17 Who would not think but that
by him that asked pardon even for his tormentors and crucifiers to except now the world by name from his mercie Oh that worldly men would consider but this one point only they would not I think live so void of fear as they do 53 Can any man marvel now why Saint Paul crieth so carefully to us Nolite conformari huic saeculo Conform not your selves to this world And again That we should renounce utterly al worldly desires Can any marvel why Saint Iohn which was most privie above al others to Christs holie meaning heerin saith to us in such earnest sort Nolite diligere mundum neque ea quae in mundo sunt Do not love the world nor any thing that is in the world If we may neither love it nor so much as conform our selves unto it under so great pains as are before rehearsed of the enmitie of God and eternal damnation what shal become of those men that do not only conform themselves unto it and the vanities therof but also do follow it seek after it rest in it and do bestow al their labors and travels upon it 54 If you ask me the cause why Christ so hateth and abhorreth this world Saint Iohn telleth you Quia mundus totus in maligno positus est For that al the whole world is set on naughtines for that it hath a spirit contrarie to the spirit of Christ as hath been shewed for that it teacheth pride vain glorie ambition envie revenge malice with pleasures of the flesh and al kind of vanities and Christ on the contrarie side humilitie meeknes pardoning of enimies abstinence chastitie sufferance mortification bearing the crosse with contempt of al earthly pleasures for that it persecuteth the good and advanceth the evil for that it rooteth out vertu and planteth al vice and finally for that it shutteth the doores against Christ when he knocketh and strangleth the hart that once it possesseth 55 Wherfore to conclude this part seeing this world is such a thing as it is so vain so deceitful so troublesom so dangerous seeing it is a professed enimie to Christ excommunicated and damned to the pit of hel seeing it is as one father saith an ark of travel a schoole of vanities a feat of deceit a labirinth of error seeing it is nothing els but a barren wildernes a stonie feeld a dirtie stie a tempestuous sea seeing it is a grove ful of thorns a medow ful of scorpions a florishing garden without fruit a cave ful of poisoned and deadly basilisks seeing it is finally as I have shewed a fountain of miseries a river of tears a feined fable a delectable frensie seeing as Saint Austen saith the joy of this world hath nothing els but false delite tru asperitie certain sorrow uncertain pleasure travelsom labour fearful rest greevous miserie vain hope of felicitie seeing it hath nothing in it as saint Chrysostom saith but tears shame repentance reproch sadnes negligences labors terrors siknes sin and death it selfe seeing the worlds repose is ful of anguish his securitie without foundation his fear without cause his travels without fruit his sorrow without profit his desires without successe his hope without reward his mirth without continuance his miseries without remedies seeing these and a thousand evils more are in it and no one good thing can be had from it who wil be deceived with this visard or allured with this vanitie heerafter Who wil be staied from the noble service of God by the love of so fond a trifle as is the world And this to a reasonable man may be sufficient to declare the insufficiencie of this third impediment 56 But yet for the satisfieng of my promise in the beginning of this chapter I have to ad a word or two in this place how we may avoid the danger of this world and also use it unto our gain and commoditie And for the first to avoid the dangers seeing there are so manie snares and traps as hath been declared there is no other way but only to use the refuge of birds in avoiding the dangerous snares of fowlers that is to mount up into the air and so to fly over them al. Frustra iacitur rete ante oculos pennatorum saith the wise man that is The net is laid in vain before the eies of such as have wings and can flie The spies of Hiericho though manie snares were laid for them by their enimies yet they escaped al for that they walked by hils saith the scripture wherunto Origin alluding saith that There is no way to avoid the dangers of this world but to walk upon hils and to imitate David that said Levavi oculos meos ad montes unde veniet auxiliū mihi I lifted up mine eies unto the hils whence al mine aid and assistance came for avoiding the snares of this world And then shal we say with the same David Anima nostra sicut passer erepta est de laqueo venantium Our soul is delivered as a sparrow from the snare of the fowlers We must say with Saint Paul Our conversation is in heaven And then shal we little fear al these deceits and dangers upon earth For as the fowler hath no hope to catch the bird except he can allure hir to pitch and come down by some means so hath the divel no way to intangle us but to say as he did to Christ Mitte te deorsum Throw thy selfe down that is pitch down upon the baits which I have laid eat and devour them enamor thy selfe with them tie thine appetite unto them and the like 57 Which grosse and open temptation he that wil avoid by contemning the allurement of these baits by flieng over them by placing his love and cogitations in the mountains of heavenly joies and eternitie he shal easily escape al dangers and perils King David was past them al when he said to God What is there for me in heaven or what do I desire besides thee upon earth My flesh and my hart have fainted for desire of thee Thou art the God of my hart and my portion O Lord for ever 58 Saint Paul also was past over these dangers when he said that Now he was crucified to the world the world unto him and that He esteemed al the wealth of this world as meer doong and that albeit he lived in flesh yet lived he not according to the flesh Which glorious example if we would follow in contemning and despising the vanities of this world and fixing our minds in the noble riches of Gods kingdome to come the snares of the divel would prevail nothing at al against us in this life 59 Touching the second point how to use the riches and commodities of this world to our advantage Christ hath laid down plainly the means Facite vobis amicos de Mammona iniquitatis Make unto you frinds of the riches of iniquitie