must be Lapathum Patience This Rue is affliction which hath a profitable effect in those that qnietly digest it Of all the herbes in the garden onely Rue is the herbe of grace How much vertue is wrought in the soule by this bitter plant It is held by some a sicknes it is rather Physick a sharpe and short medicine that bringeth with it much and long health This if they wil needs haue it a sicknesse may be compared to the Ague The Ague shakes a man worse then another disease that is mortall At last it giues 〈◊〉 a kinde farewell and sayes I haue purged thy choler and made thee healthfull by consuming and spending out that humor which would haue endangered thy life Affliction in the taste is often more bitter then a iudgement that kills outright but at last it tells the soule I haue purged away thy foulenesse wrought out thy Iustes and left there a sound man So the good Physician procureth to his Patient a gentle Ague that hee may cure him of a more dangerous disease Vt curet spasmum procurat febrim Christ our best Physician deales a little roughly with vs that hee may set vs straight And howsoeuer the Feuer of affliction disquiet vs a while we shall sing in the conclusion with the Psalmist It is good for me that I haue been afflicted that I might learne thy statutes Saepe facit Deus opus quod non est summ vt faciat opus quod est suum GOD by a worke that is none of his effecteth a work in vs that is his He molests vs with some vexations as hee did Iob which is Satans worke immediately not his that thereby hee might bring vs to patience and obedience which is his work immediatly and wholly not Satans So wee are chastned of the Lord that wee might not bee condemned with the world Bees are drown'd in honey but liue in vineger and good men grow the better affected the more they are afflicted The poore man for his ague goes to his garden and plucks vp thyme The remedy for this spirituall seuer is true but sensible pâtience Men should feele Gods strokes and so beare them It is dispraiseable either to be senselesse or fenselesse Not to know wee are stricken or not to take the blowes on the target of Patience Many can lament the effectes but not the cause and sorrow that God grieues them not that they grieue God They are angry with heauen for being angry with them They with heauen for iustice that is angry with them for iniustice But Maereamus quod mereamur paenam Let not the punishment but the cause of it make thy soule sorrowfull Know thou art whipp'd for thy faults and apply to the prints the herbe Patience Hearts-case and spirituall ioy DOth sorrow and anguish cast downe a mans hart and may he complain that his soule is disquieted within him Let him fetch an herbe out of this Garden called Hearts-ease an inward ioy which the holy Ghost worketh in him Though all the dayes of the afflicted be euill yet a merry heart is a continuall feast This is Heauen vpon earth Rom. 14. Peace of conscience and ioy of the holy Ghost His conscience is assured of peace with God of reconciliation in the bloud of IESVS and that his soule is wrapp'd vp in the bundle of life This may be well called Hearts-ease it is a holy a happy herbe to comfort the spirits When worldly ioyes either like Rahels children are not or like Eli's are rebellious there is Hearts-ease in this Garden that shall cheare him against all sorrowes certainty of Gods fauoâ—r Let the world frowne and all things in it runne crosse to the graine of our mindes yet with thee O Lord is mereie and plentifull redemption And if no body els yet God will be stil good to Israel euen to those that are of a pure heart Those which we call penal euils are either past present or to come and they cause in the soule sorrow paine feare Euils past sorrow present paine future feare Here is Hearts-ease for all these Miseries past are solaced because God hath turned them to our good and we are made the better by once being worse Miseries present finde mitigation and the infinite comfort that is with vs within vs sweetens the finite bitternesse that is without vs. Miseries future are to vs contingent they are vncertaine but our strength is certaine God Noui in quem credidi I know whom I haue trusted Heere is aabundant ease to the heart Balsamum or Faith HAth the heart got a greene wound by comitting some offense against God for actuall iniquity makes a gash in the soule The good man runnes for Balsamum and stancheth the bloud Faith in the promises of Iesus Christ. He knowes there is Balme at Gilead and there are Physicians there and therefore the health of his soule may easily be recouered He is sure that if the bloud of Christ bee applyed it will soone stanch the bloud of his conscience and keepe him from bleeding to death and that the wounds of his Sauiour will cure the wounds of his soule And though this virtuall healing herbe be in Gods owne Garden yet he hath a key to open it prayer and a hand to take it out and to lay it on his sores faith This is a soueraigne herbe and indeed so soueraigne that there is no herbe good to vs without it It may bee called Panaces which Physicians say is an herbe for all manner of diseases and is indeede the principall herbe of grace for it adornes the soule with all the merits and righteousnes of IESVS CHRIST Saint Iohns-wort or Charitie DOth the world through sweetnesse of gaine that comes a little too fast vpon a man begin to carry away his heart to couetousnesse Let him look in this Garden for the herbe called Saint-Iohns-wort Charity and brotherly loue It is called S. Iohns herbe not vnproperly for hee spent a whole Epistle in commending to vs this grace and often inculcated Little children loue one another And he further teacheth that this loue must be actuall For he that hath this worlds goods and seeth his brother hath need and shutteth vp his cowels of compassion from him how dwelleth the loue of God in him He hath no such herbe as Saint-Iohns-wort in his garden The good Christian considers that he hath the goods of this world to doe good in this world And that his riches are called Bona Goods Non quod faciant bonum sed vnde faciat bonum not that they make him a good man but giue him meanes to doe good to others He learns a Maxime of Christ from the world which the world teacheth but followeth not that is to make sure as much wealth as he can as if it were madnes to leaue those goodes behind him which he may cary with him This policie we all confesse good but faile in the consecution The world
way the blow will come nor where it will light Therefore Put on the whole armour of God that yee may bee able to stand against all the wyles of the diuell The loins the brest the head the feete all parts must bee armed The fruite of the Spirit those happy fruits which the Spirit of God worketh in vs and bringeth out of vs is manifold Galat. 5. Loue ioy peace long-suffering gentlenesse goodnesse faith meeknesse c. The Apostle chargeth vs to bee rich in good workes 1. Tim. 6. And for this cause bowes his knees vnto the Father of our Lord Iesus Christ that according to the riches of his glorie wee might be filled with all the fulnesse of God The reason is giuen by Christ. To whom much is giuen of them shall much be required And it was his commendation of Mary Magdâ—lâ—n that because shee had much forgiuen her therefore she loued much Happie then is that ground which abounds with good herbes the fruits of faith patience content charitie Not our riches but our worâ—s shall follow vs. Goodnesse shall only giue Pulchrum sepulchrum and as we vse to sticke dead bodies with herbes so these herbes our fruitfull good workes shall adorne and beautifie our memorialls when the name of the wicked shall â—ot I know England inueigh the Papists till their galls burst is full of pious and charitable workes It is a Garden full of good herbes Not to vs but to God bee the prayse who hath moued such instruments to workes of his glory Yet Queâ—on fecimus ipsi vix ca nostra voce let â—uery man quiet his owne conscience with the good herbes his owne garden produceth The rich man growes easily richer so the good man easily better It is the custom of most men to be pleased with a very little religion For the world wee are enraged and transported with such a hunger that the graue is sooner satisfied but a very little godlinesse contents vs. But if we would not bee barren nor vnfruitfull in the knowledge of our Lord Iesus Christ we must sayth the Apostle abound with these herbes And then for a proportionate reward An entrance shall be ministred vnto vs abundantly into the euerlasting kingdome of our Sauiour Christ. Blessed is he that brings forth herbes many herbes and lastly such as are 4. Meet for them by whom he is dressed THe word By whom may as well be translated For whom 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Two instructions are here necessarily offered vs. 1. By whom this goodnesse comes 2. For whom it must be intended 1. By whom it is dressed GOD is the Husbandman that dresseth this ground and causeth in it Fertillitie It was the Pelagian errour A Deo habemus quâ—d homines sumus a nobis ipsis autem quod iusti sumus We are beholding to God that we are men to our selues that we are good men But the contrary is here euident God doth not onely make the ground but hee makes the ground fruitfull he raines vpon it hee dresseth it hee blesseth it Christ sayd not Sine me parum potestis facere sed sine me nihil Without me ye can doe nothing sayth our Sauiour and to the best men euen the Apostles not a little but nothing If God had onely made thee a man and thou made thy selfe a good man then is thy worke greater then Gods worke For Mel us est iustum esse quam te homâ—nâ—m esse Our meere being is not so happie as our better being No this Text conuinceth that lye For according to that distinction of grace 1. Here is Gratia operans God begins the worke he makes the ground good sanctifies the person 2. Here is Gratia cooperans God that begins performes the worke he raineth vpon he dresseth the heart and so causeth it to produce herbes 3. Here is Gratia saluans whereby hee crowneth our will and worke in the day of our Lord IESVS It receiueth blessing from God So Qui viret in foliis venit a radicibus humor The sappe of grace which appeares greene and flourishing in the branches and fruit comes from the root Now in all this Deus non necessitat sed factlâ—tat God induceth the good to good by alacritie not enforceth against their wills Quoniam probitate coacta Gloria nulla venit For God doth not worke vpon vs as vpon blockes and stones in all and euery respect passiue but conuerts our wils to will our owne conuersion Qui fecit te sine te non iustificabit te sine te Fecit nescâ—entem Iustificat volentem Hee that made thee without thy selfe will not iustifie thee without thy selfe without thy merite indeed not without thine act He created thee when thou knewest it not he doth iustifie thee with the consent of thy owne will Let this consideration lay vs all prostrate before the foot-stoole of God kissing the feete of his mercy who is the Beginner and finisher of our faith Who hath made the ground good and encreased the number of herbes with his holy dewes from heauen dressed it with his graces and promised to reward it with his blessings Thus By whom now For whom Meete for them who dressed it AND is it possible that man should produce herbes meete for the acceptation of God Hath he not pure eyes which see vncleannesse and imperfection in all our workes Is there any man so happy as to bee iustified in his sight No but it pleaseth him to looke vpon our workes in the Crystall glasse Christ and because they are the effects of a true faith in him to esteeme them meete S. Peter sayth This is thanke-worthy if a man for conscience toward God endure griefe suffering wrongfully Doe euen our sufferings then merite 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 euen this is grace To you it is giuen not only to beleeue in him but euen to suffer for his sake This was none of yours but giuen you And when you haue suffered yet you must truely with Paul reckon that the afflictions of this present world are not worthy of that high inestimable waight of glory There are no workes acceptable Quae praecedunt instificandum sed quae sequuntur iustificatum which goe before Iustification but these that follow it All of vs as Luther was wont to say haue naturally a Pope bred in our bellies a Mountebanke-opinion of our owne worth Narcissus-like wee dote vpon our owne shadowes and thinke our workes acceptable enough to God If wee haue prayed releeued beleeued the history of the Gospell or attentiuely heard the word these are works meete for God The Monke had but one hole in his Cell and though it was in the toppe vpward to heauen yet the Diuell made a shift to creepe in there The Serpent thrusts in his head often in some cracke of our good workes Luther paradoxically 〈◊〉 â—niustitiarum â—ere sola causa 〈◊〉 Almost the only cause of all vnrighteousnesse is a too-well conceited
his Wife but his life One day pursuing his sports he fell into a quarrell where at once he receiued a bruise on his left breast and lost his ring in the scuffing The tumult ouer hee perceiued the danger whereinto his owne heedlesnesse had brought him and in bitternesse of soule shedde many teares In his sorrow he spied a booke which opening he found therein his ring againe and the first words hee read were a medicine for a bruised side It directed him three herbes whereof a playster applyed should not faile to heale him Hee did so was cured was secured The application is this The great King of heauen marries to man poore man his owne daughter Mercie and euerlasting kindnesse But threatens him that his side must not looke black his heart must not bee polluted with spirituall adulteries nor must he loose his wedding ring loue to God and his Saints lâ—â—â— hee forset both Gods mercy and his owne saluation Man in the pursiue of worldly affaires quarrels with his neighbours and scâ—ffles with cotention So his heart takes a bruise and looks blacke with hatred And Charity his wedding ring is lost in these wilfull turbulencies and vexations What should hee doe but mourne Loe God in his goodnesse directs him to a book the holy Gospell There the Spirit helpes him to his ring againe his former loue and to heale his bruise prescribes him three herbes First Rue or herbe of grace which is repentance this teacheth him to sorrow for his strife and emulation and purgeth away the bruised bloud The second is the 〈◊〉 deluce Thankfulnes he considers how infinitly God hath loued him therefore he must needes loue God and in him his Beatus qui amat te amicum in te inimicum propter te Hee 〈◊〉 it impossible to loue him he hath not seene and to hate his Image which he hath seene The third 〈◊〉 which will grow the faster for iniuries Many wrongs hereafter shal not put him out of charitie A good plaister of these herbes will draw his bosome white againe And when it is so let him vse Iecurarta Lâ—â—er-wort a continuall application of loue to his heart that he keeping his ring of faith sure from loosing and his brest from the selfe-procured blowes of contention hee may hold also his wife for euer that beautifull daughter of the King Gods eternall mercy Lilly or Purenesse of heart DOth a man perceiue his heart a little beguiled with oâ—tentation and desires hee to seeme better then he is And how easily is man wonne to answere his commenders speculation Let him fetch the Lillie purenesse of heart which is an herbe of grace growing in the humble valley of a meeke spirit yet is white and louely He knowes God can vnmask the vizarded face and turne the inside outward If a man be a Herod within and a Iohn without a wicked Polititian in a ruffe of Precisian-set God can distinguish him There are too many of these that stand vp in the fabricke like Pyramides it were better for vs for themselues if they were but good honest pillars Plaine-dealing is a good plaine song and makes better musicke then a forc'd squeaking trebble that troubles vs all with â—ouelties Shallow honesty is more commendable then the profound quicke-sands of subtiltie and one leafe of the Plane-tree is better then many handfuls of the pricking Holly They search out iniquities they accomplish a diligent search both the inward thought of euery one of them and the heart is deepe But when God shal wound them with his arrowe They shall make their tongue fall vpon themselues Such a mans owne witte shall snare him and hee shall sing or rather sigh Ingenio perii They are glad of Christs Crosse not to suffer for it but to enioy plenitude of riches by it And so like many in great Funerals reioice to bee mourâ—ers that they may get some of the blackes Put them to no charges and they 'l make you beleeue they are strongly strangely religious But 2. Sam. 24. Shall wee offer burnt sacrifices to the Lord our GOD of that which cost vs nothing Christ compares this man to a painted sepulcher Sepulchrum quasi semi-pulchrum sayth one Extra nitidum intus foetidum But let them be the men they seeme and not nettles in the midst of a rose-cake The good great man though hee bee able securely to doe much mischiefe regards more the sins indignitie then his owne indemnity Enula campaâ—a or Obedience PErhaps euill example hath suddenly and without prouided consideration led a man into euill Let him runne to this Garden for Enulaeampana This herbe is that Christ enioined vs. Search the Scriptures adhere to the word of the Lord. This shal giue decision of al doubts and teach thee what path to flye what way to take It is giuen of this herbe Enula campana reddit praecordia sana It is true of our constant cleauing to the word that it shall purge the hart of what corruption soeuer bad precedents haue put into it Of all the herbes in thy Garden loose not this Forgoe not the Sword of the Spirit it is thy best weapon Heart-wort or Affiance in Gods promises IT may be sorrow of heart for sinnes hath cast a man downe and he is swallowed vp of too much heauinesse There is an herbe to comfort him called Heart-wort affiance in the mercifull promises of God past to him by Word Oath Seale Scriptures Sacraments and therfore infallible At what time soeuer what sinner soeuer repents of what sinne soeuer God wil put all his wickednesse out of his remembrance Hee will not let that promise fall to the ground but meets it with peace and ioy Blessed are they that mourn for they shal be comforted He beleeues that his wet seed time shall haue a glad haruest for they that sowe in teares shall reape in ioy Hee perswades himselfe that the dayes of mourning will passe ouer as the winde blowes ouer the raine and then God will wipe away al teares from his eyes with the hand of mercie This confidence in the midst of all sorrowes is his Heart-wort Hyaeinth or Following Christ. SAy that the Christian hath met with some guilded pill of corruption some poysonous doctrine yet plausible to flesh and bloud Let him search this Garden for Hyacinth or Soâ—sequium Tornesol an herbe that duely and obediently followes the Sunne Doe thou follow the Sunne of righteousnesse and let his bright beames guide thy course who hath promised to teach all those that with an humble heart and earnest prayer seeke it at his hands Follow the Sunne and he wil bring thee where he is to heauen at the right hand of his Father Let no wandring Planet erre thee but adhere to the Sunne with a faithfull imitation Care-â—way IF worldly troubles come too fast vpon a man hee hath an herbe called Careaway Not that hee bequeathes himselfe to a supine negligence as if God would fill his house