and I will be their God and they shal be my people and therefore I haue come out of the middest of them And Depart sayth our Lord and touch not any thing that is vncleane and I will receiue you and I will be your Father and you shal be my Children saith our Lord omnipotent Hauing heard these promises thou art to procure with courage to make thy selfe a meerâ— stranger to this people both for the good which is promised and for the euill which thereby thou shalt auoyd It (e) The extreame danger of ill coÌ„pany is no safe thing for thee to remayne vnder a house which infallibly will fall and ouerwhelme as many as are in it And we would not giue him meane thankes who should aduertise vs of such a danger which we might decline Well (f) Hearken well for heere it is the Angell of God that speakes then know thou for certayne and I aduertise thee of it on the part of God that the day will come wherein that vision shal be spiritually accomplished which S. Iohn (g) Apoc. â—8 saw concerning this wicked people when he said I saw another Angell that descended from heauen who had great power and he made the whole earth become all light by his bright splendour and he vttered a voyce with great strength and sayd Babylon the great is fallen it is fallen and it is made the habitation of Diuells and of euery impure spirit and of euery horrible and vncleane bird And afterward he sayd That an Angell tooke vp a huge stone like such an one as they vse in milles and threw it into the sea and sayd with this force shall the great Citty of Babylon be plunged into the sea and it shal be heard of no more And to the end that such as haue a desyre to saue themselues may not grow carelesse by conceauing perhaps that the scourge of God will not lay hold vpon them whilest they are in company with the wicked the same S. Iohn affirmeth that he heard another voyce which sayd thus from heauen Get thee out from Babylon O my people and be not partaker of her sinnes and do not receaue of her markes for her sinnes haue reached vp to heauen and our Lord hath remembred her impietyes And (h) In what maÌ„ner the society of the wicked is to be fled although it be a thing very profitable to a good man euen corporally to fly the company of the wicked and for such an one as is but a beginner in goodnesse it is euen necessary vnlesse he meane to vndoe himselfe yet that going out of the middest of Babylon which heere is commanded by God is to be vnderstood as S. Augustine saith for a going out with the hart from amongst the wicked louing that which they abhorre and abhorring that which they loue For if wee looke but vpon that which is externall Hierusalem and Babylon may be not only in the same Citty for as much as concerneth corporall presence but euen in the same house But if we respect their harts they wil be found to be far a sunder and Hierusalem which is the Citty of God wil be found to be in the one Babylon the Citty of the wicked in the other Forget therefore thy people and get thee vp to the people of Christ being well assured that thou shalt neuer be able to begin the leading of a new life vnlesse with griefe thou first forsake thy old Remember how S. Paul (i) Heb. â—3 saith That our Lord Iesus for the sanctification of his people by his bloud suffered death without the gates of Hierusalem And since that is so let vs goe towardes him out of our tentes and let vs imitate his dishonour This saith S. Paul giuing vs this lesson thereby That Christ did therefore suffer without the Citty to giue vs to vnderstand that if we meane to follow him we must also go our of the Citty whereof we haue spoken which is the congregation of such persons as (k) The very root of all sin loue themselues after an inordinate manner Christ our Sauiour could easily haue cured the blind man in (l) Marc. â— Bethsaida but he chose to draw him out and so to giue him his eyesight and thereby to make vs also know that when we shal be retyred from that common life which is lead by the multitude we are to be cured by Christ in following that (m) Matt. 7. straite way wherein truth it selfe hath told vs that few do walke Let (n) If we pretend to serue christ our Lord we must forsake and forsweare the seruice of the wicked world no man deceiue thee Christ will none of them who will both performe his will and the will of the world And by his owne blessed mouth he hath assured vs That (o) Matt. 6. no man can serue two maisters And since he sayd That he was not of the world that his disciples were not of the world and that his kingdome was not of the world it is not reason that thou be of it if it were but for feare of not comming to such an end as ouertooke the disobedient (p) 2. Reg. 1â— Absolom Who being hanged by his hayre vpon an oak was transpierced with three lances by the hand of Ioab and so as he was hanging he dyed For thus shall it happen to the man who is disobedient to our Lord of heauen Which Lord he doth euen persecute by his wicked life and whose affections thoghts like so many haires of the head do hold him hanging vpon this world For all his ambition is how he may be made great vpon earth and that he may haue faire dayes in this transitory life of his But what can he get by this since the tree whereon he hanges is an (q) Remember the story of the prodigal son Oake which yealdes no fruit but for swine And so this world giues no contentment or fruit at all but to bestiall men whome the Diuell doth passe through with three lances pride of life the desires of the flesh and concupiscence of the eyes the (r) How miserably sinners at treated by the diuell not only in the next life but euen in this Diuell I say who is called the prince of this world because he ruleth and commandeth wicked men whilest yet he treateth his followers in such a fashion as that he fills them not with so much as the food of swine but like as to another (Å¿) Iud. 1â— Adonibesech he cutteth off the endes of their feet and of their hands to disable them from doing any thing that is good and then he casteth them vnder the table that they may feed yet still not vpon full dishes but vpon the crumms that he knoweth not how to bestow elsewhere He keepeth them hungry for the present and he will carry them afterward with himselfe to a place where there will be eternall hunger in company of other torments
is very little And therefore falling vpon their faces they adore him vvith a profound silence confessing that he only is his own perfect prayse to which they are not able to reach And this silence is an honour very fit for God for it is a confession that such prayse is due to him as cannot be expressed by all the creatures Of this honour Dauid (l) Psal â—4 sayth To thee O God is prayse due in Sion In such sort that although in heauen there be an incessant voyce of diuine (m) Isa 6. prayse saying Holy Holy Holy Lord God of hoastes with other admirable prayses which day and night they yeild to him yet do they also confesse in silence that our Lord is greater then they can either expresse or vnderstand For (n) Psal 17. he mounted aboue the Cherubim and he flew vpon the winges of the wind and there is none how speedy soeuer that must thinke to ouertake him And all they who shall know see him must be faine to say that which the children of Israel sayd when they saw bread comming from heauen Man-hu which signifieth what is this Admiring as the Queen of Saba did that infinite abysâ—us of light whereof although they shall see in heauen much more then they heard therof on earth yet can they not comprehend it all Such is the God whome vve haue and such doth our Fayth teach him to be singing that which Dauid (o) Psal â—0 sayth The heauen of the heauen is for our Lord because the secret of what he is after the aforesayd manner is for himself alone since he only comprehendeth himself CHAP. XXXII How agreable to reason it is to belieue the Mysteries of our Fayth although they exceed all humane reason ALTHOVGH thou hast heard that our Fayth belieueth certayne thinges which by reason alone cannot be arriued to yet take heed thou do not thinke that to belieue them is a thing either against reason or without reason For as it is very (a) For if he could it would not be fayth but knowledg farre from him that belieueth euidently to vnderstaÌ„d that which he beleeueth so is it farre from the beliefe of a Christian to be light or to wauer in belieuing For we haue such reasons to belieue as that we may dare to appeare and giue account of our Fayth before any Tribunall how exact soeuer as (b) 1. Pet â— 5. S. Peter doth aduise that we Christians should be prepared to do This thou shalt easily vnderstand by the similitude which heere I put If thou shouldst heare say that a man borne blind had suddenly recouered his sight or that a dead man were restored to life it is plaine that thy reason could not reach to the meanes of doing this because it would exceed the boundes of nature and reason doth not reach to supernaturall thinges But yet so (c) Note this well for it iustifyeth Catholike giueth ProtestaÌ„ts reason to be both more pious and more prudent many and so well conditioned witnesses might auow the hauing seene it that not only it would be no leuity to belieue it but it would be incredulity and hardnes of hart not to beleeue it For though reason cannot reach to know how a blind man may come to see or a dead man return to liue yet at least it reacheth to this That it is reason to belieue such and so many witnesses And (d) Obserue well these gradations for they are most reasonable and they are all in fauour of Catholiques if they should dye in confirmation of that which they affirmed there would be more reason to belieue it And if they should worke other miracles as great or greater then the former in confirmation thereof the fault of not belieuing it would then be great howsoeuer the thing which they affirmed to haue happened were very strange and high Iust so art thou to vnderstand that there is nothing which reason can lesse reach vnto theÌ„ the cleare vnderstanding of that which is belieued by Fayth nor is there yet any thing so agreable to reason as to belieue it and it is an extreme fault not to belieue it It is certayne that for the true miracles which Moyses wrought the people of Israel belieued him to be the messenger of God and that he spake with God and receaued the law at his handes as giuen by God And so also the Mâ—â—ves who are a bestiall kind of people belieued that Mahomet for a few and they false miracles which he wrought was a messenger of God and as from such an one they râ—ceaued the bestiall law which he gaue them Well then do thou consider the true miracles which haue byn wrought by Iesus Christ our Lord and by his Apostles and by other holy men in confirmation of our faith from that tyme to this and thou shalt find that as easily thou mayst count the sandes of the sea as the multitudes of them and that incomparably they do exceed al the others which haue byn wrought in the world both in quality quantity Three only dead persons were raised to life in the whol course of the old law which continued almost two thousand yeares And if thou consider the new law thou shalt find that S. Andrew alone did raise at once forty dead that so it might be fulfilled which our Lord sayd He (e) Ioan 〈◊〉 14. that belieueth in me shall do greater things then I. And that so his great power may be seene since not only by himselfe but in such other of his seruants as he is pleased to worke he can do what he will though it be nouer so wonderfull I haue related to thee that which one Apostle did at one tyme to the end that hereby thou mayest vnderstand the innumerable miracles which haue byn wrought both by that Apostle and by other both Apostles Saintes of the Christian Church And although in the beginning of the Church there were so many and so great miracles wrought for the confirmation of our faith that the proofe thereof is superabundant yet (f) That true miracles are wrought to this day and the causes why it pleaseth God to worke them so great is the desire which our Lord hath of the saluation of vs all and that we all may come to the knowledge of his truth and that they who do already know it may be comforted and confirmed therein that his prouidence hath care to renew or refresh (g) Of miracles which confirme the faith of Christ this kind of proofe and to giue testimony to the truth by new miracles And so is there hardly to be found an age wherein some Christian or other is not canonized for a Saint which (h) I would to God that any reasonable ProtestaÌ„t would but informe himselfe well of the exact and rigorous care which the Catholike Church doth we when there is question of Canonizing any Saint is neuer done without sufficient proofe of a
ignorant That (a) Eccl. 7. in the day of prosperity which we haue we must be calling those (b) A safe and most profitable aduice miseryes to mind which we may haue and that we must take in those diuine consolations by the weight of Humility accompanying it with the holy feare of God least otherwise he experience that which Dauid himselfe deliuered Thou turnedst thy face from me and I was troubled Another cause of his fall is giuen vs to be vnderstood in holy Scripture by saying that at such tymes as the Kings of Israel were wont to passe into the warres against the infidells King (c) 2 Reg. 1. Dauid stayed at home And walking vp and down vpon a tarrasse of his pallace he saw that which was the occasion of his adultery and of the murther also not only of one but many All this had byn auoyded if he had gone to fight the battailes of God according to the custome of other Kings and himselfe had done so other yeares If (d) A good lesson to vs Catholike to be sympathizing alwayes with the Holy Church our Mother both in sorrow and in spirituall ioy according to the diuersity of tymes occasions thou wilt be wandring vp and downe when the seruants of God are recollected if thou wilt be idle when they labour in good workes if thou wilt be dissolutely sending thyne eyes abroad whilest theirs are weeping bitterly both for themselues and others and if when they are rising vp by night to pray thou art sleeping and snorting and leauing of by occasion of euery fancy the good exercises which thou wert wont to vse and by the force and heate whereof thou wert kept on foote how doest thou thinke to preserue chastity being carelesse vnprouided of defensiue weapons and hauing so many enemies who are so stout laborious and compleatly armed in fighting against it Do (e) Note not deceiue thy selfe for if thy desire to be chast be not accompanied by deeds which are fit for the defence of that vertue thy desire will prooue vayne and that will happen to thee which did to Dauid Since thou art not more priuiledged more stout nor more a Saint then he And to conclude this matter of the occasions through which this pretious treasure of chastity is wont to be lost thou art to vnderstand that the cause why God permitted that the flesh shold rebell against reason in our first parents from whome we haue it by inheritance was for that they rebelled against God by disobeying his commandement He chastized them in conformity of their sinne and thus it was That (f) Note Lex Taliotus since they would not obey their superiour their inferiour should not obey them and so the vnbridled nesse of this flesh being a subiect and a slaue rebelling against her superiour which is reason is a punishment â—ayd vpon reason for the disobedience with she committed against her superiour which is God Be therfore very carefull that thou be not disobedient to thy superiours least God permit that thy inferiour which is thy flesh do rebell against thee as he suffered Adad to rebell against King Salomon (g) 3. Regâ— 12. his Lord and least he scourge persecute thee and by thy weakenesse draw thee downe into mortall sinne And if with the inward eyes of thy hart thou haue vnderstood that which heere with the eyes of thy body thou hast read thou wilt see how great reason there is that thou shouldest looke to thy selfe and consider what there is within thy selfe And (h) No man can see himselfe exactly but by light from heauen because thou art not exactly able to know thyne owne soule thou art to begg light of our Lord and so to sift the most secret corners of thy hart that there may be no ill thing there which eyther thou knowest or knowest not off by meanes whereof thou mightest through some secret iudgement of God runne hazard to loose the treasure of chastity which yet it doth so much import thee to keep safe by meanes of his diuine assistance CHAP. XIV How much we ought to fly from the vaine confidence of obteyning victory against this enemy by our owne only industry and labour and that we must vnderstand it to be the guist of God of whom it is to be humbly asked by the intercession of the Saintes and in particuler of the Virgin our Blessed Lady ALL that which hath byn sayd and more which might be sayd are meanes for the obtayning and keeping of this pretious purity But it happeneth oftentymes that as although we bringe both stone and wood and all other necessary materialls for the making of a house yet we do not fall vpon the buylding of it so also doth it come to passe that vsing all these remedies we yet obtayne not the chastity which we so much desire Nay there are many who after hauing had liuely desires thereof and taken much paynes for the obtayning of it do yet see themselues miserably fallen or violently at least tormented in their flesh with much sorrow they say We haue laboured all night and yet we haue taken nothing And it seemeth to them that in themselues that is fulfilled which the Wiseman sayd The (a) Eccl. 7. more I sought it the further off it fled away This (b) Take heed of trusting to thy selfe vseth oftentymes to happen by reason of a secret confidence which these proud labourers haue in themselues imagininge that chastity was a fruite which grew from their only endeauour and not that it was a guift imparted by the hand of God And for not knowing of whom it was to be asked they iustly were depriued of it For (c) God sheweth mercy sometyme euen in suffring vs to sal into â—â—nne it had byn of more preiudice to them to haue kept it since withall they would be proud and vngratefull to God then to be without it yet withall to be full of sorrow and humility and so to be forgiuen by pennance It is no small part of wisedome to know by whom chastity is giuen and he is gone a good piece of the way towardes the obteyning of it who indeed belieueth that it comes not from the strength of man but that it is the guift of our Lord. This doth he teach vs in his holy Ghospell saying All are not capable of this word but they to whome it is giuen by God And although the remedies already pointed out for the obtayning of this happinesse be full of profit and (d) We must both worke pray for neither of them both alone will serue the turne that we must employ our selues thereupon yet must that be with this condition that we place not our confidence in them but let vs deuoutly pray to God which Dauid did both practise and aduise by saying I did cast vp myne eyes to the mountayns from whence my succour shall descend my succour is of our Lord who made heauen
procure to be so not only by belieuing the promises in generall nor yet by belieuing that in particuler they are applied to him but by pennance also other meanes which are taught by the Catholike Church Not but that we do neuerthelesse assuredly belieue that many in the same Church are in the state of grace to whom without all doubt God fulfilleth the promises of being their defendour who hope in him but yet for as much as no man can be infallibly sure without speciall reuelation that himselfe is in that state of grace he is to belieue by the Catholike fayth that the diuine assistance is neuer wanting on the part of God but himselfe may and must feare that it will not perhaps take effect in him through his fault or negligence in doing his duty So that with some feare of himselfe and by confidence in our Lord he must procure to encourage and help himselfe by the word of God who promiseth succour to such as fight for him And (i) Note this feare or vncertainty in which God hath left vs of not knowing assuredly that we are in his fauour though it may seeme painefull is very profitable towardes the conseruing of our humility and the not vndervalewing of our neighbours and to spur vs vp towardes good workes And with so much the more caution and consideration must we do it as we are lesse certaine whether we be pleasing to our Lord or no. But do not for all this conceaue that thy hart must be dismayed with vaine feare for as much as this truth which I haue told thee did not keep Dauid from saying If (k) Psalâ— 15. whole armies shall rise against me yet shall not my hart be afraid if warre shal come vpon me yet wil I hope in God So also doth S. Paul (l) Heb. 13. admonish vs that we should serue our selues of those wordes which God sayd I will not forsake thee I will not abandon thee in such sort as that we may confidently say Our Lord is my helper and I will not feare what man can do These and the like wordes do not wholy take away all the feare which a Christian for his owne part ought to haue but it taketh away all excesse thereof by the confidence which is to be placed in God And thus we are to walke between hope and feare and so much more as the loue increaseth so much doth the hope also increase and so much also is feare diminished And (m) An excellent rule therefore if thou haue a mind to feele in thy selfe that courage of mind and the little feare which perfect men do find cast thou away al tepidity from thy selfe take the businesse of vertue to hart and then in that very hart of thyne thou shalt read that courage which now thou readest but in Bookes Then shalt thou be able to fight boldly against the Diuell although he circle theâ— round about to deuoure thee for thou shalt haue a hope to be defended by Iesus Christ who is the strong Lyon of Iuda He alwayes ouercommeth in vs if we do not loose our confidence and if like cowards we do not deliuer vp our selues with our hands bound behind vs to our enemies without resoluing to fight Our Lord doth not suffer these warrs and temptations to come to his friendes but for their greater good as it is written Blessed (n) laâ— 1. is the man who suffereth temptation for he being so proued shall receaue the crowne of life which God promiseth to such as loue him He was pleased also that patience in troubles and the standing fast on foot for his honour in tentations should be the touchstone whereby his friends were to be tryed For (o) Note it is no signe of a true friend if he only accompany another in occasions of case but to stand fast by him in tyme of tribulation And as all men would be glad to haue approued friends to stand fast by them in the tyme of affliction and triall accounting of it as their owne iust so doth God desire to haue his and like a thankfull person he sayth to them You are the men who haue remayned with me in my temptations And as an aboundant rewarder he sayth further to them I (p) Lue â—â— dispose of my kingdome to you as my Father disposed of it to me that you may eate and drinke at my table in my kingdome companions heere in payne and afterwards in the Kingdome of glory Thou must encourage thy selfe to fight manfully in the warrs which are made against thee to deuide thee from God since he is thy helper on earth and thy reward in heauen Remember how S. Anthony being cruelly vvhipped and beaten by the Diuells lifting vp his eyes to heauen saw the roofe of his Cell all open whereby a beame of so admirable light did enter as at the presence thereof all the Diuells fled away and the payne of his wounds forsooke him with profound internall sighes he sayd to our Lord who then appeared to him Where wert thou O my good Iesus where wert thou when I was so ill handled by the enemies why wert thou not heere in the beginning of my combat that so thou mightest haue preuented or cured all my soares Wherunto our Lord answered Heere I was froÌ„ the very beginning but I stood looking on to see how thou diddest carry thy self in thy combate And because thou hast fought manfully I wil euer help thee thou shalt be famous throughout the whole earth By these wordes and by the vertue of our Lord he rose vp so full of courage as to find by experience that he had gotten then more strength then he had lost before In (q) A most comfortable and true doctrine this sort doth our Lord treat his friends and he leaueth them oftentimes in traunces of so great danger as that they scarce know where to set a foot nor do they find one hayre of strength by which they can take hold nor are they able to help themselues by the memory of those fauours which in former tymes they had receaued of God but they remayne as if they were naked and in profound darcknes being giuen ouer to the persecution of their enemyes But suddainly when they least looke for it our Lord doth visite them and deliuer them and leaue them with more strength then they had before thrusteth those enemies vnder their feet And the soule howsoeuer it be more weake in nature then the Diuell doth feele in it selfe such a powerfull strength that it seemeth to teare him euen in pieces as a thing that is but weake and without resistance and not only groweth it not able to fight against one but against many Diuells so great is the courage which it feeleth to haue comfreshly towards it from heauen and wherewith it doth not only defend it selfe but it sayth with Dauid I will persecute my enemies and I will take them I will
thing which was to be offered for the taking away of sinne might be subiect to no imperfection or fault Now (h) The necessity which we were in that Christ our Lord should be sacrificed for vs. because no man was without synne this great Priest of ours had nothing else to offer but himselfe making him that was the Priest to be also the sacrifice offering vp himselfe to himselfe he being cleane that he might cleanse vs who were defiled he who was iust to iustify vs who are sinners he who vvas acceptable and esteemed to the end that we might be receiued into fauour Who in our owne respects were offensiue and vnbeloued And this sacrifice was of so high valew both in regard of the thing it selfe and in respect of him who did offer it which is al one that we who were separated from God like lost sheepe were brought backe all washed and sanctifyed and made worthy to be offered vp to God Not that we had any thing of our owne stocke which was fit to please him but being bedewed by the bloud of this Pastour and being adorned with the beauty of his grace and iustice which is bestowed vpon vs for our Lords sake and being incorporated to him we are cleansed from our sinnes and we are beheld by God and made acceptable to him as a sacrifice offered vp by this high Priest and pastour This did (i) 1. Pet. â— S. Peter thus expresse Christ dyed once for vs to the end that he might offer vs vp to God being mortifyed in the flesh and quickned in the spirit And so it appeares how our Abel doth offer vp an oblation out of his flocke which God beheld because (k) Agnus occisus ab origine inuâ—ds first he had beheld his most deare sonne And as there visible fire came downe vpon the sacrifice so also did fire come heere vpon the day of Pentecost in the forme of tongues And this hapned after Christ ascended vp to heauen where he might appeare to the face of God for vs. To the end that we might vnderstand that from the cast of the countenance of God vpon the face of Christ which as it is said (l) Hester â—worâ— of Hesther is full of grace came that fire of the holy Ghost which burnt those giftes which this great Pastour and Bishop offered vp to his Father and they were his disciples both such as were then present and such others as were to follow afterward And as God promised to Noë that whensoeuer it should raine much he was to looke vpon the bow which he placed in the cloudes in token of the league which he made with men not to destroy the earth any more by water so much more God beholding his Sonne being layd vpon the Crosse hauing his armes spread abroad in the forme of a bow doth take the arrowes which he was about to shoot out of that other rigorous bow of his and insteed of punishing he doth imbrace vs being more ouercome to shew vs mercy by this strong bow which is Christ then he was induced by our sinnes to punish vs. And howsoeuer we went wandring away with our backes turned towardes the light which is God and that we would not looke vpon him but passe our dayes in the darcknesse of sinne yet we are brought backe by him vpon his shoulders And because it is (m) It is only for the loue of Christ that God behouldeth sinners with mercy he that bringeth vs our Lord God looketh vpon vs and he maketh vs also looke on him And he hath so particuler care of vs that not for so much as any one moment of time doth he remooue his eyes from vs least other wise we should vndoe our selues Whence dost thou thinke did proceed this amourous word which God did speak to a sinner thereby to draw him to repentance I will (n) Psalâ—â— 21. giue thee vnderstanding and will teach thee the way wherein thou art to walke and vpon thee will I place myne eyes but only from that amorous countenance wherewith God beholdeth Iesus Christ who is the wisdome which teacheth vs the true way wherein we may walke without stumbling and the true pastour as he is man by whome we are beheld who as he is God beholdeth vs. Remoouing (o) Note heere a liuely and deare description of the innumerable wayes whereby Almighty â—od sheweth mercy towarde vs through Christ our Lord. the daungers that are before vs wherinto he knoweth that we would fall hereafter holding vs fast against such as do assault vs at the present and deliuering vs from them into which by our fault we haue fallen euer thinking of that which importeth vs though our selues be full of negligence remembring our good when we forget his seruice watching ouer vs when we sleepe keeping vs close to himselfe when we would faine be gone calling vs backe when we fly giuing vs imbracementes when we returne being euer the last in breaking of friendship and the first who begges the renewing of it though he were the person offended and carrying in all and throughout all such a watchfull amorous eye ouer vs as ordaineth all thinges for our good What shall we say or what shall we do for so great fauours but giue thankes to this true Pastour who to the end that his sheep might not be estranged from the eyes of God did offer his owne face to so many affrontes That his Father seing him so afflicted and yet vvithout all fault might behold such as indeed vvere faulty vvith the eyes of mercy And to the end that we might carry this word engrauen both in our harts and vpon our tongues Looke O Lord vpon the face of thy Christ. Knowing well by great experience that God doth much better both heare and see and encline his care to vs then we do to him CHAP. LXXXVIII How it is to be vnderstood that Christ is our Iustice least otherwise we should fall into some errour by conceaning that iust persons haue not a distinct iustice from that whereby Iesus Christ is inst SO much (a) I beseech the Protestát reader vpon my knees that he will reade this following discourse without passion is the cockle which our enemy hath sowed in their hartes who will belieue him that he induceth them to draw peruerse opinions out of the wordes of holy Scripture which speak of this most sweet mystery of Iesus Christ our Lord and of the benefits which we possesse by him and in him Whereof I thought it fit to aduertise thee that so thou mightest be free from danger Do not thou conceaue that because Christ is called our iustice or because it is sayd That (b) Ephes 2. we are made acceptable to God in him or in fine by such other wordes as these that therefore I say they who are in the state of grace haue not a iustice in them which is theirs whereby they become iust acceptable to God and which
nor any good purpose which he hath giuen me towardes his seruice nor one day of heauen which I expect heereafter and as (z) Gen. 31. Iacob affirmed I am lesse then any of the mercyes of God And if our Lord do say that they who do all that which they are commanded are yet to humble themselues and affirme that (a) Luc. 17. they are vnprofitable seruants that they did but that which they were bound to do how much more then am I to humble my selfe since I fall into so many faults by ignorance by weaknes or by malice A slaue I am and a wicked slaue and I serue not God so much as I am able and much lesse as much as I owe him And if he had cast his eye vpon that which I haue deserued of him a long tyme is past since he would haue throwne me into hell for the sinnes which I haue committed and for many other also into which he might iustly haue permitted me to fall Let this be therfore the feeling which thou hast of thy selfe let this be the place wherein thou mayst put thy selfe since this is that which for thy part thou dost deserue And let thy care be to serue our Lord the best thou canst without reflecting greatly vpon how much it is and without conceauing that God is bound to thank thee for it or that thou art able as Iob (b) Iob. â— sayth To answere him one for a thousand of what thou oughtst him And when thou hearest men speake of the much that good workes deserue let not thy hart grow vaine vpon it but say It is thy mercy O Lord thankes be giuen to thee who hast imparted such dignity to our vnworthy seruices And by such meanes as this be thou euer sure to remayne in thy true place of being a negligent vnworthy slaue CHAP. CXIII That a man being humbled and abased by the contents of the last Chapter may enioy that greatnes which our Lord vouchsafeth to impart to the workes of such as are iust with confidence and gratitude THY soule being thus secured from the aforesayd daungers by this consideration which our Lord doth teach vs thou mayst securely enioy the greatnes and dignity which he giueth to such as are his and thou art to blesse him in regard that euen to such as naturally are but slaues he infuseth his grace whereby they are made the adopted sonnes of God and if sonnes they are heyres togeather with Christ as S. Paul (a) Rom. 8. sayth Now because it is reason that such as are receaued for the sonnes of God should liue and worke according to the condition of the Father our Lord giues them the Holy Ghost and many guiftes and vertues whereby they may serue him and performe his law and giue him gust And they who for any seruices which they could do how great soeuer they were being considered in themselues did not passe aboue the roofe of their owne houses haue now drunke deeply of the water of grace And (b) How grace doth dignify our works by what meanes this growes this is so powerfull that it maketh a fountaine euen in the bowells of them which sproutes vp as high as eternall life by the valew whereof their good workes how little soeuer they be do also rise vp reach to eternall life because they deserue it for the reasons which are already touched And now reflect vpon the difference that runs between thee being considered in thy selfe and thee when thou art considered in God and in his grace Of thy selfe thou art but a huge bill of debt and how much soeuer thou doest thou art not only vnable to deserue eternall life but not so much as to pay what thou owest whereas in God in his grace the selfe same seruice which thou art bound to do is receaued into accompt for merit of eternall life And our Lord without being obliged so much as to thanke thee and much lesse to pay thee for that which thou doest for him doth yet ordayne thinges in such sort as that the good workes of his seruantes may be rewarded by their possessing him in heauen And though God owe nothing to any man for that which man is able to do for him yet he oweth it (c) How diuinely did S. Augustin expresse this by saying that Deus is debitor bonitati suae I he debtour to his own goodnes to himselfe whose ordination is in all iustice and reason yea and that most entirely to be accomplished Giue therefore glory vnto God for these fauours and know that if he had not bin a Father of mercy to S. Paul in giuing him a life which was full of merits S. Paul would not haue presumed to say when he was neere his death That the iust iudge was to giue him a crowne of iustice God (d) God sheweth his mercy in first giuing his grace and then his iustice in rewarding it according to his promise and it all redoundeth to his glory crowned him by iustice but first he gaue him the merites of grace and so doth all redound to the glory of God eyther vnder the title of a iust Rewarder of that which we haue done well or as a mercifull and primitiue Imparter of the good which we haue done and no man can deny this but he that will depriue God of his honour Put thy selfe therefore into thyne owne true place and esteeme thy selfe worthy of hell and of all miseries and vnworthy of the least good And (e) See heere the excellent immaculate doctrine of the holy Catholik Church yet be not dismaied by this consideration of thyne owne basenes but discharging all kind of pusillanimity hope thou in the mercy of God that since he hath placed thee in his way he will strengthen thee so farre as to proceed therein till thou mayst gather the fruit of eternall life from those good workes which heere by his grace thou didst performe CHAP. XCIIII That from the loue which we beare our selues we must draw a reason of louing our neighbours SINCE already thou hast vnderstoood with what eyes thou art to looke both vpon thy self and vpon Christ our Lord it remaines for the fulfilling of the prophets wordes which bid thee See that thou know with what eyes thou art to looke vpon thy neighbours that so on all sides thou maiest haue light and that no darknes may find thee out And for this purpose thou art to note that he beholdeth his neighbour well who beholdeth him with eyes which (a) The only good payre of spectacles through which we are to looke vpon our Neighbours first did passe both though himselfe and through Christ our Lord. My meaning is this When a man findeth trouble and paine for as much as concernes his body or else affliction ignorance and frailty for as much as concernes his soule it is playne that he feeleth incommodity and his sicknes troubleth him and he desireth nothing lesse then