good God is since it can be well with none that depart from him Let vs returne at the last vnto our selues and descending as it were from heauen let vs looke a litle vpon what is our owne Doe wee thinke wee shall go into the house of the Lord What are we that we should goe thither Mortall and abiect creatures earth and ashes But yet he that hath promised is our father and is omnipotent Can not he make an angell of a man who made a man of the earth By life we are men by hope angels to whom in our countrey we shall be like and equall A merchant when he buyes a thing and takes assurance for it though as yet he haue not his wares yet he secures himselfe he shall haue them God the Father hath promised vnto vs his glorie and for an earnest pennie in the meane time he hath giuen vs his only Sonne in the Sacrament of his bodie and blood and hath inspired into our hearts his holy Spirit There with an open face we shall see him with greater ioy and more securely whom heere we see mystically yet fruitfully in his Sacrament Despaire not therefore to come to this place and expect the promise of thine inheritance Hope is necessarie for a wandring pilgrime it is that that comforts him in the way for a traueller that laboreth in his iourney is therfore content with patience to beare his labour because at last he hopes to come to the end thereof take away his hope of the end and his strength failes him hee is presently wearie with going A Physitian drawes forth his instrument to lance a wound and he sayth to his Patient Be patient and beare a little in the paine he requires patience but after the paine he promiseth health but the sicke bodie except he proposed vnto him hope of recouery he would faint in that paine which he endureth In the warres the hope of honor mitigateth the griefe of the wounds so to those that beare the yoke of Christ the hope of glory is a great comfort raiseth the minde vnto God and that euill which they outwardly beare inwardly they feele not Hope brings no small pleasure when that which was hoped is once attained Temporall things not had afflict when they are had seem base and contemptible Thou louest thy wife not yet maried whom perhaps thou hatest when thou hast her What is the reason thereof Because she appeareth not such being maried as thou didst conceit her to be before thou hadst maried her But God who is beloued being absent growes not more base being present the fruition findes more in him than the cogitation could forme or imagine of him We shall loue God more when we shall see him if we can loue him before we see him he is more feruently beloued being gotten than desired Except he be first loued he can not afterwards be possessed and yet he is not therefore possessed because he is beloued because it is necessarie and our dutie that aboue all things he be beloued Vanitie of vanities and all is vanitie how great a miserie is it to lose the Creatour for the creature to follow the shipwrack of this world and not rather flie to the Sanctuarie of God and to taste how sweet the Lord is and how great the multitude of his mercies If thou wouldest consider what and how great things are promised thee in heauen all things thou enioiest vpon earth would seeme base and contemptible What then is the reason dear brother that thou runnest not vnto heauen where thou shalt see God without end possesse him without losse loue him without loathing Many of thy parents brethren sisters and friends expect thee there millions of saints desire thy company now seâ—â—â—ed of their owne happines carefull of thine Of whose company lest thou shouldest be deceiued thou must vse thy best indeuor it is no difficult matter if thou wilt not burthensome if thou attend it Only repent and the kingdome of heauen is at hand To which he bring vs that liues and reigneth without end Amen By that which hath beene spoken The Conclusion of the sixth part thou plainly seest my dear brother how good and mercifull God is how ready to pardon sinnes The riches of whose goodnes the 〈…〉 considering calleth him not only a merciful God but mercy it selfe Thou God hast taken me vp thou art a mercifull God nay mercy it selfe Consider the bosome of his diuine goodnesse how open the lap of his mercy is and despaire not cast not downe thy selfe faint not with mourning the gate of mercy and the treasury of his goodnes is set wide open vnto thee and wilt thou fall into the bottomlesse pit of despaire God inuiteth thee to repentance he offereth forgiuenesse he putteth foorth the right hand of his helpe and doest thou turne thy face from him Heauen is set wide open vnto thee and wilt thou descend into the pit of hell The diuell knowing how excellent a thing repentance is hath tempted thee to this despaire hath taken from thee thy hope which is the foundation and anchor of thy saluation and the conductor of our iourney vnto God If therefore thou desire to escape the snares of the diuell and by hope to take holde of the mercies of God only depart from euill and do good for the first step to saluation is to decline from euill the second to hope for pardon Which hope of Gods mercie is not sufficient to saue thee without the feare of his iustice for in vaine shalt thou hope in his mercie except thou likewise feare his iustice For God who is mercifull is likewise iust and therefore considering how mercifull he is despaire not considering how iust neglect not thy sinnes There is no securer way than vnder hope to feare and to ioyne those two together lest perhaps an vnwarie minde may deiect it self by despair or fall by presumption It is to be feared lest thou fall into another bottomlesse pit and thou die by presuming of the mercy of God that couldest not die by despairing of it and thou haue in thy heart cogitations diuers from the former but not lesse dangerous and so thou beginnest in thy heart to say At what houre soeuer I shall repent God will put out all my wickednesse out of his remembrance and therefore why should I rather conuert to day than to morrow But my deare brother what if thine end bee before to morrow For hee that promiseth vnto thee so much mercy if thou repent promiseth not to morrow if thou persist in thy sinnes It is to bee feared lest whilest conuersion is put off to the end an vnexpected death may rather preuent then repentance helpe Lest therefore by hoping thou shouldest encrease thy sinne the day of thy death is vncertaine and lest by despaire thou shouldest encrease it there is offered vnto thee the hauen of repentance Which notwithstanding that in the 〈◊〉 of thy daies it bee good yet that
is that thou hast loued Wherefore my deare brother prefer the grace of God before the remporal blessings of this life lose these to get that Restore to thy neighbour what is thy neighbours to God what is Gods So possesse the things of this world that thou bee not possessed by them so passe by thy tēporall blessings that thou lose not the eternall vse thy temporall goods desire eternall those thou must lose whether thou wilt or no these thou shall neuer lose except thou wilt Let the world bee thy peregrination heauen thy rest * ⎠* CHAP. IIII. Almes vnlawfully gotten pleaseth not God BVt perhaps thou wilt say I confesse that I vniustly deteine other mens goods but yet I giue much almes do much good with them I comfort those that are in prison I cloath the naked I receiue strangers Res Thou doest benefit thy selfe nothing at all my deare brother if thou comfort one by wronging another Thou thinkest thou giuest thou giuest nothing that is thine owne take not away and thou hast giuen Doest thou thinke to iustifie thy theft thy extortion if out of the goods of the poore thou giue a small almes One is fedde where many hunger and with the spoiles of many few are clothed Hee to whom thou giuest reioyceth hee from whom thou takest mourneth hee prayeth for thee the other crieth for vengeance vnto the Lord against thee which of these two will the Lord heare Feare thou that he will heare him that curseth as the Lord himselfe witnesseth There was a Iudge saith he in a certaine citie which feared not God neither reuerenced man and there was a widow in that citie which came vnto him saying Luke 18. Do me iustice against mine aduersarie And hee would not doe it for a time but afterward hee sayd with himselfe Though I feare not God nor reuerence man yet because this widow troubleth me I will do her right lest at the last shee come and make me wearie And the Lord sayd Heare what the vnrighteous Iudge sayeth Now shall God auenge his Elect which cried day and night vnto him yea though hee suffer long for them I tell you he will auenge them quickly Thou seest heereby that God approoueth not such almes neither doth it please him that one should be releeued out of the losse of another or that that should bee violentlie taken from one which is mercifully giuen to another That almes is not acceptable vnto God which is gotten by vnlawfull and vniust meanes but that only which is giuen by a iust possessour out of goods iustlie gotten And this is the reason that sacrifices gotten by robbery the Lord refuseth saying Esay 61.8 I the Lord loue iudgement and hate robbery for burnt offering Which Salomon doth likewise insinuate saying Eccl. 34.21 Whoso bringeth an offering of the goods of the poore doth as one that sacrificeth the sonne before the fathers eies With how great hatred God beholdeth such a sacrifice appeareth in that it is compared to the sorrow of a father for the death of his childe for what thing can bee more intolerable than a slaine sonne before the eies of his father But thou that gettest by violence what out of pitie thou giuest vnto God thinkest with thy selfe how much thou giuest but not how much thou hast taken away thou numbrest thy gift but thou thinkest not of thy sinne Thou giuest thine nay another mans vnto God thou giuest thy selfe to the diuell Thou thinkest that God puts his iustice to sale if whilest thou giuest vnto God for thy oppression thou thinkest thou mayest therefore oppresse scotfree yea thou makest God a companion in thy sinne in that thou thinkest he consenteth to thy sinne by accepting an almes of goods gotten by sinne It is one thing to doe the workes of mercy for sinne another to sinne to doe mercie if that may bee called mercy which by an interposed sinne of robberie or oppression confoundeth whatsoeuer good there is in mercy But suppose thy goods are lawfullie gotten and thou hast neuer wronged and mā yet canst thou thinke that it is lawfull for thee to keepe those goods vnprofitablie that may doe good to manie wherof thou art made by thy heauenlie master not a lord but a steward When thou ministrest necessarie things to those that want thou giuest not thine but thou restorest to them their own thou doest rather pay a debt of iustice than execute a worke of mercy and in doing otherwise thou doest euery day almost kill as many as die for want of comfort when thou canst giue it them But thou when thou giuest a small matter to thy God in his poore members that giueth all thou hast vnto thee hauing oppressed thy neighbour canst thou thinke him abundantly satisfied if thou giue that vnto him thou hast wrongfully taken from another Thou must not helpe one with the hurt of another Though thou giue much to the poore yet thou art not quit of thy theft vntill thou haue giuen to him from whom thou hast taken Thou oughtest not to detaine vnto thy selfe that thing thou hast found if thou bee any way assured that the right master thereof hath not forsaken it but seeketh after it And therefore saith S. Austin That which thou hast found and restored not thou hast robbed hee that denies it being demanded if hee could hee would take it God searcheth the heart not the hand Wherefore deare brother thinke not thy selfe heereafter iustified in this if of thy goods wrongfully gotten thou giue vnto the poore if thou violently take from one and mercifullie giue vnto an other for almes out of thy goods well gotten cannot iustifie as being but the fruits of that faith that must iustifie The Third Part of the exhortation to repentance CHAP. I. That God doth not forgiue vs our trespasses except wee forgiue those that trespasse against vs. THirdly thou wilt perhaps say thou art content to repent Matth. 7 but thou canst not forgiue him that hath offended thee yea thou art resolued to reuenge thy wrongs Res First thou must vnderstand my deare brother that according to that measure that thou measurest to others it shal be measured to thee againe this is a certain rule set down by God himselfe that as thou wilt haue thy sinnes forgiuen thee so must thou forgiue the trespasse committed against thee Thou art in debt and others indebted vnto thee Thou art a debtour to God for manie and greeuous offences thy brother is indebted vnto thee for small and sleight iniuries Behold then how louing and easie a condition God offereth that is that thou shouldest forgiue what is owing thee and what thou owest shall bee forgiuen vnto thee Otherwise thy sinnes can no way bee forgiuen thee if thou shew thy selfe inexorable to forgiue thy neighbour in vaine thou hopest of pardon for thy sins except thou first pardon his For though the God of peace and consolation can without this forgiue all thy sinnes
this time hee hath repented and God hath pardoned and if God haue wilt not thou Wilt thou still persecute him whom God hath absolued and require that debt that God hath pardoned God is made a friend to thy penitent brother and art thou still his enemie Wilt thou hurt him whom God loueth Take heed I say for if thou bee contrarie to God in his works thou art not Gods friend but his enemy What good would this thy furious and reuengeful mind do thee if to day which may fall out thou shouldest happen to die Doest thou think that when thou art buried in hell thou canst hurt thy enemy yet liuing and reuenge thy wrongs Yea rather he is strongly reuenged of thee in that thy hatred towards him hath brought thee to that place and that hee whilest thou art in torment hath time to begge mercy at Gods hand to obtaine his grace in this life and his glory in the life to come Wherfore deare brother that thou maiest truely loue thy brother being hurt hurt not being slandered slander not hate not him that hateth thee detract not from him that detracteth from thee for it is a more grieuous thing to ouercome a wrong by patience than by reuenge Whether the wrong be iustly or iniustly offered beare it patiently euer remembring that thou hast deserued more greater things for thy sinnes Which thy great and manifold sinnes if thou wilt haue forgiuen thou must needes forgiue those few and small trespasses thy enemie hath committed against thee CHAP. IIII. That by the example of Christ it is no hard matter for a man to pardon his neighbour as often as he offendeth BVT perhaps thou wilt say it is not once that he hath wronged me but many and sundrie times and still he hates me and persecutes me and therfore who can indure it Resp My deare brother as often as thy brother shall sinne against thee Matth. 18 21. so often doeth the Lord command thee to forgiue him To whom Peter came and said Master how oft shal my brother sinne against mee and I shall forgiue him Vnto seuen times Iesus said vnto him I say not to thee vnto seuen times but vnto seuen times seuen times See heere hee setteth downe a finite number for an infinite as if he should say as often as thy brother shall sinne against thee so often forgiue him How greatly and how often soeuer thou sinnest against God so often out of an humble and contrite spirit and an assured hope in the mercies of Christ Iesus thou asking forgiuenesse hee forgiueth and yet shall it seeme a greeuous and an irkesome thing vnto thee a vile and base worme to forgiue thy brother Man can but lightlie wrong thee and seemeth it so heauy a thing to thee not to bee reuenged If thy brother sinne against thee seuentie times seuen times forgiue him yea if a hundred times nay how often soeuer yet forgiue him As often as hee offends thee so often forgiue him if thou wilt that Christ shall forgiue thee as often as thou offendest If thy brother hate thee hate not thou him if hee persecute thee persecute not him but arme thy self against him with the armour of patience not of furie that if he will needs perish thou perish not with him but he die and be damned aliue without thy company But thou wilt say it is a hard thing euer to beare and forbeare and to bridle thy wrath against him Res Yea rather my deare brother it is a more hard and difficult thing to keepe malice rancor in thy heart than to quit thy selfe of it there is no labour in learning it much in retaining it To be freed from anger brings rest and peace to the mind and it is an easier thing to forget iniuries than to remember them There is nothing more greeuous to a man than the remembrance of forepassed wrongs and one man cannot wish a greater mischiefe to another than to wish him haunted with this diuell malice and desire of reuenge For as the first thing that a worme feeds vppon is the wood wherein he is bred so wrath doth first hurt and afflict his hart from whence it springeth Thy minde of it selfe is vnquiet enough and doest thou with hatred and malice increase and exasperate it Thou hast many other crosses from outward causes and yet thou increasest thy burthen and art not at peace with thy owne heart First suppresse thy familiar enemie that is thy carnall concupiscence before thou prouide to make warre against others For though thou be able to ouercome all the enemies thou hast yet new will arise whereof some will sooner oppresse thee than thou all See now which of the two is the more easie to retaine rancour or to leaue it As it is easie and light for an humble man to quit himselfe of enuie and malice so is it a matter of great difficultie to a man of a proud spirit If thou call to mind the passion of Christ there is nothing so hard that with a willing mind thou maist not beare Doest thou not remember how much more hard and bitter things Christ hath suffered when he laid downe his own soule for thee How great and how many slanderous reproches sufferered he of the Iewes How many blowes How many scourgings being mute and silent How patientlie turned hee not his face from the prophane spittings of wicked men How meekly did he yeeld his diuine head to the crown of thorns How contentedly when hee was thirsty did hee take the bitternesse of gall How willingly being life it selfe did he suffer death But who and by whom hath hee suffered these cruelties The creator by his creatures God by men the lord by his seruants the giuer of all good things by vngrateful wretches than which what thing can bee more intolerable And yet being scourged with whips crowned with thorns wounded with nailes crucified being vnmindfull of all these his miseries and torments hee still pitieth those that pitie not him healeth those that wound him giueth life to those that kil him when with a pleasing acceptance much deuotion of spirit fulnesse of charity hee doth not only spare vnto his enemies the life of that holy Lambe but praieth vnto his Father for them saying Luke 23. Father forgiue them they know not what they doe Heere consider the manifold miseries of his body there the manifold mercies of his heart and neuer forget his abundant charitie and wonderfull patience for he tolerateth those hee could punish and cast into the bottomlesse pit of hell Hee that iudgeth and to whom the Father hath giuen all iudgement will not reuenge himselfe but forgetteth and forgiueth his wrongs yea praieth for his persecutors leauing vnto vs an example of his patience that we may follow his steps that as often as others shall offend vs we may bee stirred vp to patience not reuenge For if our master when hee was murdered did loue his enemies how much more
into the broad and spacious way that would haue led them to destruction afterwards to haue found the strait way that leadeth vnto life thou shouldest not despaire to finde the same as they did and when thou seest many vnrighteous men by the grace of God iustified and saued thou likewise shouldest not cast away the hope of thy saluation Aaron Exod. 28. Numb 15. Marie Aaron after his repentance for the molten Calfe was chosen by God to be high Priest Marie his sister after she was stricken with a leprosie because she murmured against Moses by repentance was cured and receiued her ancient gift of Prophesying Dauid Dauid who was a king and a prophet a man that God had found out according to his own heart and out of whose loynes the Messias was promised to come into how foule and grieuous sinnes did he fall Hee receiued by the mouth of the Prophet Nathan strange comminations of a grieuous reuenge and yet all that anger of GOD with two words hee turned into mercy I haue sinned saith hee against the Lord and presently the Prophet did not onely answer him The Lord hath remoued thy sinnes from thee but that spirit of prophecie which by sinne he had lost he recouered againe and for Dauid his seruants sake God turned away much euil from the children of Israel Achab. Achabs hart was hardned he many times contemned the Lord chiding him he added sinne vnto sinne 1. Kin. 21. and Naboth being slaine hee possessed his vineyard yet at the last being terrified by the threatnings of God and guilty of his owne sinne hee repented in sackecloth and ashes and so prouoked the Lord God vnto mercy And the word of the Lord came to Eliah saying Seest thou how Achab is humbled before mee because he submitteth himselfe before mee Manasseh I will not bring that euill in his daies Manasseh exceeded all that were before him in the impiety of his sinnes 2. Chro. 33. ouer threw the obseruation of the Law and the worship of God and yet after those bloody finnes hee was reduced to his kingdom and numbred amongst the sonnes of God Nabuchadnezzar Dan. 4. Nabuchadnezzar of all men the proudest acknowledging no Lord did arrogate to himselfe diuine honour and yet God being willing to reclaime him after he had beene seuen yeeres a madde man and liued like a beast hee brought him to himselfe againe and restored him to his kingdome who being thus restored and hauing thus made triall of the mercy of God hee praised and glorified his holy name But to omit innumerable examples in the old Testament The prodigal child Luke 15. The prodigall childe who had consumed his substance with harlots being returned to his father by repentance receiued not onely a kisse from him but had the fat calfe killed and receiued his former grace and fauour Zacheus Luke 19. Zacheus a Publican yea the chiefe amongst them made restâ—tution foure fold of all he had taken from other men and receiued Christ into his house Mathew Mathew of a Publican became an Apostle and an Euangelist Marie Magdalen Mary Magdelen consumed the vnlawful loue of the flesh that was in her with the firie zeale of the loue of God and so much fauour she found with God that she was a messenger to the Apostles themselues of the resurrection of our Sauiour Peter Peter an Apostle and pillar of the Church 〈◊〉 Christ but he went forth and wept bitterly and so was receiued vnto mercy Paul Paul of a persecutor of the Church of God became a Doctor and an Apostle of the Gentiles Dismas the theefe Luke 23. But that which giueth vs greatest hope of remission is the theefe vpon the crosse who euen by his own iudgement had deserued death whose offence was certaine and therefore had deserued both temporall and eternall damnation who now was condemned to a temporall death and was neere an eternall and yet at the verie instant of death acknowledging Christ he only said Lord remember mee when thou commest into thy kingdome and presently it was answered This day thou shalt bee with mee in Paradise To a theefe hee promised a kingdome to one crucified heauen and to one condemned paradise The grace of God promising was more abundant than the praier of the theefe intreating for he promised more than the theefe asked Hee that came such vnto the crosse by sinne see what hee departed from the crosse by grace From the prison he ascended to the crosse and from the crosse into paradise from the punishment of his offence hee mounted to the reward of his vertue But to what end doe I produce so many examples so many testimonies of the mercy of God There is not a leafe in the booke of God wherein the mercie of the Lord doth not shine yea the whole earth is replenished therwith Thou that hearest how many there haue beene cured of their sinnes what receiuest thou else but an earnest penny of the mercie of God Therefore hath the omnipotent God permitted his elect in some fiâ—â— to fall that as they haue risen againe so they that haue fallen in the like should likewise hope to arise and whom they followed sinning they should likewise follow repenting What other thing in all these canst thou see but the vnspeakable mercie of our Redeemer who hath set those before thine eies as examples of true conuersion whom after their fall by repentance he made to liue But if yet thou heare mee not and beleeuest not that a sinner can bee saued heare God rather than my selfe beleeue him not me he is the trueth it selfe hee cannot be deceiued hee cannot deceiue I will not saith he the death of a sinner but that hee conuert and liue God will not the death of a sinner who would die for his sinnes his will is that his death be fruitfull and by it his redemption plentifull Yea the verie name of Iesus that is our Sauiour what else doth it promise to a sinner than mercie and saluation He came into the world to faue sinners and to free them from that damnation wherewith they were held Mat. 9. The whole need not the Physician but they that are sicke and therefore hee came not to call the righteous but sinners to repentance Mat. 15. He was sent vnto the lost sheepe of the house of Israel It is not the will of the sheapheard that one of his sheepe should perish who hauing a hundred sheepe if he lose one of them leaueth ninetie nine in the wildernesse and seeketh him that he hath lost vntill hee haue found him Euen so it is the will of our Father and our Creatour that not one of his children perish and if he perish it is by his owne will not the will of God for the mercy of God is common to all granted to euerie one that asketh and he offereth himselfe to euery one that seeketh him No man wants his
helpe but he that refuseth it and neglecteth the asking of it Reade ouer the whole life of Christ and thou shalt find none that hath euer cried out Iesu thou sonne of Dauid haue mercy vpon me but presently he obreined mercy He healed the sicke fed the hungrie eased those that laboured strengthned the weake clensed the leprous gaue sight vnto the blinde raised the dead absolued the penitent Wherefore deare brother say no more heereafter vnto me I am proud couetous wanton polluted with all manner of iniquitie and therefore I cannot bee saued I will not haue thee alledge these or the like excuses thou hast examples of all sorts thou maiest flie vnto what hauen thou wilt If thou haue fainted in thy faith looke vpon Peter If thou haue robbed thy neighbour consider the theefe if thou haue beene vnchaste looke vpon Marie Magdalene and so of the rest who haue fallen into the same sinne that thou hast but yet haue not despaired of pardon as thou doest and therfore comming with faith and confidence in the merits of Christ Iesus to the throne of his diuine mercie haue found more grace and mercy than they had reason in respect of their owne sinnes to looke for Be thou likewise by their example as confident as they were faint not but by repentance turn vnto God If thou aske the same mercy that they did doubtlesse thou shalt obtaine the same mercy that they did Aske and thou shalt receiue seeke and thou shalt finde The Lord knoweth not how to deny it vnto him that with an humble and contrite hart shal beg it at his hands CHAP. IIII. That God denieth not merâ—â—â— him that conuerteth since 〈◊〉 inuiteth him that is auerted from him to conuersion BVt thou wilt say I consider with my selfe what a difference there is betwixt God and mee and that I am deseruedly excluded from his presence and therefore despairing to obtaine mercie and accounting my selfe vnworthy to come vnto him I dare not lift vp mine eies vnto heauen Res God my deare brother whose nature is goodnesse it selfe is altogether milde and mercifull and more prone to pitie and compassion than to reuenge he is rich in mercy and bountifull in grace It is his propertie alwaies to haue mercie and to forgiue and therefore he cannot denie him mercy that with a coÌ„trate hart beggeth it at his hands He despiseth no penitent sinner but him that doubreth whether hee may aske for no man hath hoped in him and hath be ene confounded No man in time hath begged mercy and hath taken the repulse If God did not heare sinners in vaine had that Publican said O Lord be mercifull to me a sinner He that iudgeth will bee intreated not to punish sinners hee that knoweth how much reason he hath to be angrie with vs looks that they that haue as much reason to intreat should by praiers obtaine mercy at his hands He will be pacified by intreatie that knows how insupportable his anger is He is a witnesse to himself that hee desireth to haue mercie on those that call vpon him in that he prouoketh vs therunto Ps 50.15 Call vpon me saith he in the day of trouble so will I deliuer thee and thou shak glorifie me And in another place Math. 7.7 Aske and it shall bee giuen vnto you Seeke and yee shall finde Knocke and it shall be opened vnto you If our carnall parents yea which are euill can giue to their children good gifts how much more shall your Father which is in heauen giue good things to them that aske him If thou doubt to come vnto God because of thy sinnes be confident to come because of that goodnesse which as a father hee oweth to his sonne Be bold with him in whose image thou seest thy selfe woonderfull in whose similitude surpassing excellent What fearest thou his Maiestie who maiest gather confidence from thy originall The generous alliance of the soule with God is not idle and the similitude is a witnesse of the â—lliance Euery like doeth willingly admit his like into societie and by nature like will to like The Mediatour betwixt God and man Christ Iesus made man for men sheweâ— himselfe milde and merciful to men And lest there shoulâ— remaine vnto thee any cause of despaire and to the 〈◊〉 hee might shew vnto the man what hope thou maieâ— haue with God God waâ— made man and thy aduocare thy Iudge He will not deny himselfe to him that asketh who of his own accord offered himself to him that asked not he seeking shall find him who gaue the meanâ— to finde to him that soughâ— not and will open to him that knocketh that stands a the doore and incessantly knocketh The conuersion 〈◊〉 a sinner delighteth him and canst thou conuerting despaire of forgiuenesse He desireth more to pardon â—han thou to be pardoned to â—orgiue thy sinnes than thou â—o forsake them and to reâ—ent thee of them He is more willing to sane thee by his â—ercy than thou to perish â—y thy sinnes thou wouldest â—ie by sinning but he wil not â—hy death but still expecteth hee to repentance He standâ—th with much loue and chaâ—itie at the doore of thy hart â—rying Pro. 23. My sonne giue mee â—hy heart and he professeth â—f himselfe Apoc. 3. If any man will â—pen vnto me I will come in vnto him If a poore man hauing â—ighly offended his king hall first be sollicited by his â—ing to peace and reconcilement it is a great argument of his princely benignitie now since with great conâ—â—dence a poore man should come vnto God doest thoâ— feare to bee conuerted vnto him that intreateth thee to turne vnto him and yet not only is not turned from those that turne vnto him but turneth to those that turne from him and exhorteth them to conuersion Eze. 18.31 Why will ye die saith the Lord ô house of Israel returne and come vnto me Iere. 3.1 and ye shall liue And iâ— another place If a man put away his wife and shee goe from him and become another mans shall he returne againe vnto her shall she not be polluted But thou hast played the harlot with many louers yet turne again to me saith the Lord. He bringeth in the similitude of a woman that hath been vntrue to her husband and is put away by him that he may tell vs how mercifull he is that he putteth not vs away Thou hast played the harlot with many louers yet turne againe to me saith the Lord. See here hee calleth vnto him that sinfull soule which before hee pronounced polluted to receiue it into the bosome of his pitie which is alwaies open neither doth he contemn a spotted life What tongue is sufficient to expresse the inward compassion of so mercifull a God What heart is not astonished at the riches of so vnspeakable mercie Hee is despised and yet expecteth seeth himselfe to be contemned yet ceaseth not to call Hee hath a long time stayed the sentence
penny And therfore saith S. Paul Rom. 5.10 If when wee were enemies wee were reconciled to GOD by the death of his Sonne much more being reconciled wee shall be saued by his life It is a greater thing to die for sin than to take away sinne To the reparation of the celestiall mansions not to eternall damnation hath the Lord created and redeemed thee For if hee had desired thy damnation when thou sinnedst hee had cast thee into hell Heereby thou maiest gather that he delighteth more in thy reparation than thy damnation that there is greater ioy with him and his Angels for one sinner that conuerteth Luk. 15.7 than for ninetie and nine iust men that need no amendment of life Which the Lord himselfe hath prooued by a threefold example of the lost sheepe which being found the shepheard with ioy laid vpon his shoulders and brought him to his fold of the lost groat which being found she calleth her friends and neighbours saying Reioice with mee for I haue found the piece which was lost and of the prodigall childe for whom being returned to his father the fat calfe was killed which was not done for that sonne which continued with his father By how much the more we are sorry for a thing lost by so much the more do wee reioice when it is found and therefore there is more ioy in heauen for a sinner that repenteth than for a iust man that needeth no amendment For a repentance inflamed with loue after sinne is more acceptable vnto God than an innocency dull carelesse with securitie by grace As a captaine in the warres loues more that souldier that after his flight returneth and valiantly encountreth his enemie than him that did neuer flie and neuer performed anie valorous exploit A husbandman loueth more that ground that after the thorns and brambles be digged vp yeeldes a plentifull increase than that ground which neuer had thornes and neuer gaue any increase If therfore thy teares vpon earth bee so great a ioy to God and his Angels how great a ioy shall thy pleasures in heauen be to them This is the meat they feed vpon the fruites they are delighted with if by a true contrition of heart thou mortifie thy sinnes and by a true and vnfained repentance turne vnto God Wherfore deare brother though thou thinke thy selfe condemned by Gods iustice appeale vnto his mercy for it sometimes commeth to passe that whom iustice accuseth mercy absolueth and that punishment which the Lord may iustly inflict hee doeth mercifully pardon For those whom God freely created and redeemed he wil not willingly oppresse and therefore if thou repent thee of thy sinne hee repenteth him of his sentence The vnchangeable God will change his sentence if thou change thy life So shalt thou conquer the inuincible binde the omnipotent and a fearefull Iudge thou shalt change into a mercifull father CHAP. VI. That euen at the point of death repentance may be profitable to saluation BVT perhaps thou wilt say I come too late I haue spent my whole life in sinne I am now at the brinke of death and therefore it is too late at my last houre to turne vnto God Res Thou art a yoong man my deare brother in the strength of thy yeeres thou maiest yet liue many a yeere and haue time enough to repent But yet because there is no man be hee neuer so yoong that can assâ—redly promise to himselfe to liue till night and a sudden death may euerie houre of the day ouertake thee wherein despairing thou maiest obiect this vnto me therefore I haue thought good to satisfie this obiection though thou haddest neuer obiected it Whilest thou liuest whilest thou yet breathest yea when thou liest in thy bed at the point of death thou maiest repent yea and then especially there is yet hope of mercy time of forgiuenes place of repentance God witnesseth of himselfe Eze. 33. that at what houre soeuer a sinner repenteth him of his sinnes hee will blot out all his wickednesse out of his remembrance He that hath said he will put out all his wickednesse out of his remembrance hath excepted no kinde of sinne Though thou want time to confesse thy sinnes vnto God yet in a moment euen in the twinckling of an cie he can haue time to pardon all thy sinnes Thy will is accounted for thy worke and the gronings of thy heart for thy words If therefore at the houre of death thou cease to bee wicked by repentance thou needest not despaire of pardon because thou art neere thine end For God whoconsidereth the end of all men iudgeth euery man according to his end not his former life neither doeth he respect so much what wee haue beene heeretofore as what we are at the end of our life It is no matter how long but how well a man liueth neither doth the quantitie of the crime nor the enormitie of a mans life nor the breuity of the time nor the extremity of the houre exclude a man from pardon if repentance in the end be true and perfect The great and manifold mercy of God is neither limited by time nor equalled by our great and manifolde offences He that truly repenteth and is loosed from that band of sinne wherewith hee was tied and liueth well after his repentance whensoeuer he dieth he may secure himselfe hee goeth to God he shall not be depriued the kingdome of God hee shall not be separated from the people of God Matt. 20. For as they that went into the Vineyard to labour at the eleuenth houre of the day receiued a penny for their hire as well as they that began their labour the first houre and did beare the burthen and heat of the day so not onely to those that from their childehood doe beare the yoke of the Lord is the reward promised but to the last too who in the end of their life turne vnto God is the earnest pennie of eternall life giuen The innumerable sinnes of the Nineuites a short repentance wiped away and the Publican went presently out of the Temple iustified Marie Magdalen was so great a sinner that the Pharisey disdained to see her and yet in a short time she was iustified and clensed from all her sins The theefe hung vpon the Crosse and being instantly to die despaired not of saluation he confessed the Lord vpon the Crosse and euen with the words of his confession he ended his life and yet the Lord possessed him of Paradise before Peter and lest any man should thinke repentance too late hee turned the punishment of murther into a martyrdome It is true that his repentance was late but yet his pardon came not too late he made speed in turning vnto God and God was as speedie in pardoning These shew thee the fruit of repentance the fountaine of mercy the celeritie thereof for they began late to repent and to do good and yet by doing it truly of the last they are
enticement to sin There is life without death rest without labor vnspeakable ioy without sorrow charitie without discord securitie without care beautie without deformitie How happie is that citie wherein there is euerlasting solemnitie and how pleasant a court that knowes no care Heere is neither labour nor old age nor deceit nor feare of enemies but one voice of reioicing one agreement feruencie of hearts because God shall wipe away al tears from their eies and sorrow from their hearts There veritie reigneth eternall saluation aboundeth there no man deceiues nor is deceiued none that is blessed cast out none that is accursed admitted There is assured securitie secure peace peaceable delight delightful happinesse happy eternitie in that blessedly eternall and eternally blessed life There the essentiall reward which belongs to the essence of blessednesse and without which the soule can not bee truely blessed consisteth in the cleere sight presence of God The sight or presence of God the first gift or grace of the soule and this is the reward of faith because those things that are heere beleeued bâ— faith are there seene in theâ— true forme and likenesse But both these are the gift of the inward man because God whilest we are in the waie is knowen of vs in spirit as it were in a glasse obscurely but in heauen our true home hee is seene face to face not with corporall cies but spirituall as the Prophets being absent in bodie saw manie things done in the spirit and by dreames sleeping knew many things by the spirit though their outward senses were bound And as in a glasse we see onely the image of the thing and that imperfectly so whilest wee heere know as it were by a similitude the inuisible things of God by those things that are made we come to the knowledge of God as it were by a glasse and obscurely but there directly-looking one vpon another wee shall see God cleerely and nakedly euen face to face one in substance three in the difference of persons As many as are there shall together see the whole essence of God bet forasmuch as by reason of his infinitenes he cannot totally be comprehended therefore he shall not be equally seene of all but by a spiritual vision of one more darkly than of another according to that measure wherewith euerie one shall be more or lesse enlightned with the light of glory For as the materiall sunne which equally offereth it selfe to the eies of all is not seene without the emission of the light or beame thereof into the eie of a man and yet all doe not alike see it and looke vpon it but diueisly more or lesse according to the diuers disposition of the eie to see so the eie of the minde being weake is not capable of that excellent light of God except it bee strengthned of God by a created and infused light of glory as it is written In thy light shall wee see light The light of the diuine substance is seene in the light of glory whereby the naturall light of the vnderstanding and the spirituall eye is eleuated more or lesse to the knowledge of God according to that great or lesse faith and charitie whereby it is caried vnto him The face therefore and forme of God shall bee seene more cleerely by one than by another as one and the same thing is better seene from farre by one than by another and one and the same writing beeing read by diuers is diuersly vnderstood which diuersitie proceedeth not from the thing or wrâ—ting but the diuers disposition of the seer and the reader And because God is euery where present by essence therefore he shall not there be seene by distance but whersoeuer the soule is there shall it see God present with it It shall see God in it selfe and it selfe in God God in others and others in God By an vnspeakable meanes shall it depart from it selfe and be turned wholly into the similitude of God Otherwise how shall God be in all if in man there remaine any thing of man 1. Cor. 15. The substance of man shall continue but in another forme another glorie For as a small quantitie of water powred into a great deale of wine loseth it owne nature and is turned into the taste and colour of the wine as burning iron changeth his proper forme and is made like vnto fire as the aire being inflamed by the beames of the Sunne is transformed into the same cleerenesse of light insomuch as that it seemeth not to be inlightned but light it self and as a looking glasse directly stricken with the beames of the sunne receiueth into it selfe the similitude of the sunne insomuch that a man may thinke it another sunne so the saints of God in heauen are totally penetrated with the cleere light of God in their inward parts and so being deiformed are transformed into the similitude of God So to bee affected is to bee deified as it is written Psal 82. I haue said yee are Gods that is by participation for there is one onely God by essence You are deified by him he deifying you And in another place 1. Iob. 32 When he shall appeare we shall be like vnto him for we shall see him as he is And as looking in a glasse a man seeth himself many things besides there present about him so the blessed seeing God together and at once with one and the same vision see themselues and whatsoeuer is necessarie to the perfection of their happinesse They see that their sinnes are forgiuen them not to their confusion but to glorifie the great mercy of God whereby whilest they reioice for their deliuerie from so great a miserie they alwaies magnifie his holy name For how should they giue thanks vnto God if they should not remember why they are to doe it If there bee there so great comfort for sinnes forgiuen how great is there for good works done Though euery mans conscience lie open to one another yet there is no man there more ashamed of his sinnes than he is heere of his wounds that are healed or than an old man of those things he did in his infancie as Peter is no way abashed at his triple deniall nor Mary Magdalene and diuers others at their sinnes formerly committed now pardoned Touching their knowledge if the Prophers as yet mortall men could know manie things past present and to come how much more can God who is a voluntarie and free looking glasse represent whatsoeuer to whomsoeuer and whensoeuer and therefore an old doting decrepid woman in that glory knoweth more than all the Philosophers in the world can know in this life There they know by what meanes the father begot the sonne equall vnto him and that from both the holy Ghost proceeded coequall vnto both What doe not they know that know him that knowes all things They haue alwaies libertie to behold God alwaies to haue him alwaies to possesse him alwaies to