men than God of riches then of conscience nor to set more by humane favour than divine that no pleasure whatsoever is to be preferred to heaven nor these instable things unto eternall ones And truely saies St. Chrysostome He can find nothing on earth to bestow his affection on who hath but once savoured of celestiall things This light of understanding our good God was pleased should shine most plentifully on St Austins soule when being advised sayes he to make reflection on my self I entred into the inmost of all my selfe and there saw with such an eye as my soule afforded me the invariable light of God which whosoever knowes doth know eternity and I perceived my selfe to be so farre estranged from thee in an uncouth land and not much unlike to this light of understanding was that light of devotion of which St Bernard speaketh Beseech for thy selfe sayes hee the light of devotion a bright Sunny-day together with a Sabboth and repose of mind where like on old souldier priviledg'd with rest for his long service thou maist passe over all the labours of thy life without any labour at all in running with a dilated heart the way of the Commandments of God whence it will arrive that what at first thou underwentest with force and bitternesse of mind thou shalt afterwards performe with much sweetnesse and consolâ—t on to which likewise the royall Psalmist invites us where he sayes Accedite ad eum illuminamini Taste and behold the sweetnesse of our Lord. And this is he delightfull light of heart that flame burning with the very spirit of pleasure which God makes us every day more and more partakers of and with proportion to this light inkindled in our bosomes God who is incapable of all augmentation and and every way immense doth yet after a wondrous manner receive increase himselfe Embleme II. A preparation to death I am in a Straight betwixt two hauing a Desire to depart to bee wth Christ. Phil 1. v. 23. The second Signe Of Predestination IS a readinesse to die which is signified by a dead mans Scâ—ll with these words Coâ—retor e ducbus desiderioum habens dissolvi esse cum Christo Phil. 1. I am in a straight betwixt two having a desire to be dissolved and to be with Christ Et vos similes estote hominibus expectántibus Dominum suum c. and be you sayes our Saviour like to men awayting their Lord at his returne from some Nuptiall feast that when he comes and knocks they may straight wayes open unto him Then sayes St Gâ—egorie it is that our Lord doth knock when by visiting us with any grievous sicknes he deâ—ounceth unto us that death is neere at hand and then wee readily open unto him when we entertaine his summons with a friendly welcome That guilty person makes small haste to oâ—en the Judge the doore who dares not issue out of his bodies prison to meet with him neither can bee with any security behold his countenance whom he knowes he hath affronted in such unworthy manner whereas he whom his hopes and actions have rendered secure will presently open unto him when he knocks he wil be glad and take it for an honour that hee calls him and be cheerefull in the midst of teares in consideration of his future recompence Phil. 1. Why then doe we not dâ—sire with the Apostl to be dissolved and be with Christ seeing it is every wayes bâ—tter than to â—ive here prolonging of our wofull banishment It is impossible that he shouâ—d dye ill who hath lived well Psal 119. neither on the contrary that he should dye well who hath lived ill and what is our liâ—e which wee are so fearefull to be deprived of but a scene of mockeries a sea of miseries where in what ship soever we embarke our selves whether decked with gold silver and pretiouâ— stones or but simple wood all 's one there is no avoyding of the swelling waâ—es of being often dashed against the opposite rocks and ofâ—ner grounded on perillous flats and sholes Happy â—s he who hath passed this dangerous sea happy he who is safely landed in the haven and hatâ— no more reason to complaine who chances â—o dye before he is well struck in yeâ—rs than one for comming too soon to his journieâ— end â—hy then should we feare death which is but the end of our labors the begâ—nning of our recompence It is the judgement of God upon all flesh which none in former ages could ever avoyd nor ever will in any ensuing times all must follow as many as went before and we are all borne on this condition for to tend thither where every thing must go â—eath is the end of all to many a remedy and every good mans wish as being to godly men no other than a deliverance from all paine and griefe and the utmost bound beyond which no harm of theirs can advance a pace What madnesse then were it in us to oppose our selves to such an universal decre of Almighty Gods to refuse to pay a tribute that is duely exacted of every one and pretend to an exemption that is granted to none How much more sublime is the Christian Theology which teacheth us to make life the subject of our patience and death of our desires Solin de mirab mundi The Swan if we wilâ— believe Solinus lives ever groaning and sorrowfull and onely sings and rejoyces upon the poynt of death and so it becometh the godly to doe who are to depart to the fruition of an endlesse joy So did that white aged swan holy Simeon welcome his approaching death with this melodious song Nunc dimittis c. Lord now lettest thou thy servant depart in peace and why then shouâ—d we lament when this poor cottage of ours doth fal to ruine as if we were ignorant that when this house of earth our habitation here decayes God will prepare us a better one in heaven a house not made by hands but an everlasting one The first Paragraph VVHosoever lyes in a hard and painfull bed makes little difficulty to rise at any time onely they seek excuses and delayes who lye lazing in their softest downe and are unwilling to forgoe their warmer nests Is thy life irkâ—ome to thee I trust then thou wilt not be sorry to passe to a better one hast thou thy hearts content in my opinion then it is high time for thee to close up thy dayes before thy prosperity overwhelme thee as it hath many more with some disasterous ruine at the last Wherefore sayes Tertullian we are no wayes to fear that which secureth us from all other feares God delivers that man from a long torment to whom he allowes but a short terme of life Which conâ—â—deration made the holy Martyr Saint Cyprian when the Emperour Valerian pronounced this sentence aâ—ainst him We command that Thracius Cyprian bee executed by the sword to lift up his hands and eyes to heaven and cheerefully answer
eyes but shalt not eate of it and so it came to passe This is right the punishment of many in these days they see plenty of this heavenly bread but never taste of it They see men communicating in every Church they looke into but Communicate not themselves They are bid Depart because they will goe whether the Pâ—iest will or no. They are excluded fâ—om this holy Table for no other reason but because they exclude themselves The third Paragraph AS for the Holy men to be deprived long of this bread of Life they like true Sonnes of GOD interpret it as a signe of their Fathers high displeasure and indignation farre they are from neglecting any occasion of receiving it for they are not ignorant with how great and Fatherly a providence Almighty GOD hath provided for every severall Creature their proper food Eagles prey on lesser Fowle the Whale devoures the lesser Fish the Lyons other savage Beasts Horses and more Domestick Cattell feed upon Oates and Hay And for Man bread growing on the Earth is ordained for Food of such as have no higher ambition but to bee sonnes of men but for those who aspire to become sonnes of God this bread descending from heaven is their chiefest sustenance this celestiall bread this bread of the Sonnes of God this bread of Angels with an ardent desire with a humble affection with a tender reverence they receive most frequently and rather chuse out of piety to incurre the note of presumption by declaring themselves Children than of enemiâ—s out of a too faulty bashfulnesse During which banquet if our blessed Saviour should addresse his speech in this manner to any of the number of predestinate Consider seriously what I have suffered for the love of thee thou mayst well count the thornes my head pierced but canst never number those torments I have sustained for tâ—ee in every part of me besides â—y body was all goard with boudy whips and nailes but how much my heart hath suffered is beyond expression It was little lesse than a death I suffered for thee even in the garden when the anguish of my minde drew as much bloud from mee as the Souldiers afterwards in my flagellation And now consider with tâ—y selfe what mine enemies inflicted on me when even my best friends spared me not thou knowest upon how hard a bed I was content for thy sake to render up my Ghost and my love that thou maist know what an ardent one it was would resolve on no death to dye for thee but the most bitter and ignominious of all when it finding none more bitter and ignominious than the Crosse made choyse of it And thus behold how I have dyed for thee and have been still ready to dye for thee a thousand times Wherefore tell me what wilt thou suffer for mee againe if thou desirest that my love to thee should be perpetuâ—ll thou must love me againe who have so loved thee For my part I have loved thee unto death even unto the death of the Crosse it rests that thou wilt declare how farre thou wilt extend thy love for me againe Who now all of that happy company will not presently answer him all bathed in affectionate teares even unto the death O my most loving Loâ—d even unto the Crosse it self so it bee thy divine pleasure my love shall extend it selfe And who shall grant unto me that happinesse to dye for thee O Iesus my sweetest Iesus or who am I that I should be thought worthy for to dye for thee O what a love was this of thine my dearest life that thou wouldest suffer thus that thou wouldest dye thus for me without any the least merit or desert of mine such sighes as these such most chaste aspirations use commonly to bee the table talke at this sacred banquet and thus a soule becomes intimately united unto Almighty God For which reason wee place this frequency of Communion provided that our affections be sincere at least though otherwise not so inflamed as wee could wish among the principall signes of Predestination But alas there are but too too many Christians yet who whatsoever is delivered to them by way of Sermon or of written books are so dead asleep in the Lethargy of their deboysht lives as neither the examples of the more pious sort nor admonitions of holy Saints can stirre them up to a more frequent use of this holy Sacrament O Christians what Rocks of Ice what deadly cold is that which freezes up your hearts that thus you avoyd the comfortable beames of this all-cheeâ—ing Sun Do you not perceive that this is nothing else than the meere stratagems of your enemy who endevours all he can to extinguish wholly in us the fire of this divinest love to the end that being all stifly frozen with this pernicious cold of mind we may live no otherwise then if we were wholly dead perish in the filth and sordidnesse of sinne and never arrive to the kingdom of the lâ—ving but those who love our Saviour Christ with constant affections are delighted with nothing more than in often repairing to him for as Cassiodorus saith admirably well Inaudita est ditectio quae amicum amat praesentiam ejus non amat It is such an affection as was never heard of that one should love his friend and not be delighted in his company Embleme IV. Renouncing All Worldly things What things were gaine some those I counted losse for Christ Philip 3. V. The fourth Signe Of Predestination IS an intire renunciation of all we have which hath for its Device a bare Altar dispoyled of its ornaments with this Motto Quae mihi fuerunt Lucra Phil. 3. haec arbitratus sum propter Christum detrimenta But what things were gaine to me those I counted losse for Christ Our Saviour proclaims aloud Qui non renuntiat c. whosoever renounceth not aâ—l he stands possest of cannot be my Disciple Hee commands to relinquish all hee counsells us to dispossesse our selves of every thing and who then that hath any Christ an blood in him but will put on this resoâ—ution I had rather become poore than Gods enemy I had rather be deprived of all my substance then of his holy grace Poverty hath made many merchants not of spices Draperies or such commodities but of heaven Simile est regnum coelorum homini negotiatori c. The Kingdome of heaven saith our Saviour is like a Merchant travailing in quest of richest pearles who having found one more precious than all the rest goes and sells all that hee hath to purchase it And such a Merchant as this is so farre from thinking he hath received any detriment by departing with all he had as he accounts his stock exceedingly improved by the purchase of a Iewell of such inestimable price He but receives a bill of exchange of our Saviour Christ upon the delivery of those slight commâ—â—ities the paiment of which wil â—ender him happy above measure he hath
in fire thou shalt not burne neither shall the flames scorch thee for so God uses to drench us both in water and fire but suffers us neither to be buâ—nt nor swallowed up he makes triall of us both in freezing cold and glowing heat but for those whom he hath predestinated to everlasting life he neither permits the fire to consume them nor waters drowne them for God is faithful saith the Apostle who wil not suffer you to bee tempted above that which you are able but will make your profit of temptation that you may be able to sustaine Blosius doth treat excellent well of this signe of predestination where he affirmes that there is no more infallible signe of divine election than when a man undergoes affliction or what else adversity not onely without repugnance but with patience and due submission since nothing saith he is more profitable for him than to suffer And this is the inestimable jewell of that ring with which God espouses to himselfe a pious soule whose prerogative is so great as St. Chrysostome doth solemnly affirme Nihil esse melius quam male pati propter Deum That nothing is better than to suffer evill for Almighty God For then the elect may wel be said to drinke of the torrent in the way Psal 109. for which their heads shall be exalted afterwards even to heaven Now they are pressed downe and trodden under foot that afterwards like palmes they they may rise the higher for it It is 〈◊〉 verity which God would have us throughly penetrate that the good which wee aspire to is infinite and of difficile accesse a d therefore not to be attaâ—â—ed to buâ— by much pâ—ine and labâ—ur in confâ—rmity to which tâ—at holy Anchoâ—iâ—e said excellent well Marcus that God well knowing our â—mbecillity â—oth use to bestow no remarkable favour upon any one whom he hath not first apted for the receiving of it by sâ—me or other â—rudâ—nt calamity So Moses had no â—oonâ—r forsaken the Court of Pharaoh by the eâ—press command of God himselfe but presently both poverty ignomiâ—y and contempt with the extreme danger â—f his life by the procurement of the King And lastly his flight and banishmeâ—t did all conspâ—re to work his destruction We mâ—y perceive saith St. Gregory thâ—se whom God elects by their pious actions and bitter sufferings whom likewise it may be gathered how rigorously our just Iudge will punish the reprobate at the latter day when he is so severe now towards those whâ—m hee affecteth most Wherefore those Chistians doe much deceive themselves who imagine to goe whole as it were to heaven without being well bruised before for let them but take a generall view of of all and they will find that the richer men are in vertue the more they are stored with tribulations and that those commonly who most abound in wealth and are the greatest favourites of fortune are those who most excell in wickednesse Such beasts as are designed for the shambles we see are suffered freely to grase in the best pastures whilst others are tired out with toyle and labour even so those who are predestinated to heaven and not suffered at liberty to disport themselves but are alwayes with afflictions Insomuch as the same Blosius truely affirmes from the authority of another holy person Quemcunque Deus potioribus donis exornare sublimiterque transformare decreviâ— eum non blandè mol iter lavare seâ— totum in mare amaritudiâ—is iâ—mergere consuevit That when God once decrees to advance a man to any eminent degree of perfection and endow him with his richâ—st favours he uses not only to dip him lightly in but even to plunge him into a whole sea of bitternesse The secoâ—d Paragraph THE Doctrine of Hippocrates and Galen is to preserve and cherish our selveâ— to hate and abnegate our selves is the Doctrine of Câ—rist Insomuch as all those who have ever attained to celestiall beatitude may appropriate to themselves that saying of Themâ—stocles 1 Cor. 12. Perieramus nisi periissemus we had perished if wee had not perished Many have beene preserved by being lost and without doubt as many had b ene as unhappily lost if God by their happy losse had not prevented it And So Saint Paul when others imagined him utterly to be lost began then first of all to think that he had found himselfe Placet mihi in infirmitatibus c. I am delighted saith hee in my infirmities in contumelies and necessities in my distresses and persecutions for Christ seeing I am thâ—n most potent when I am most infirme and St Bernard as if he were tired with seeking out Almighty God Circumire Domine possum coelum terram mâ—â—re aridam nusquam te inveâ—iam nisi iâ— Crucâ— ibi dorm s ibi pascis ibi cubas in meridie I may circuit heaven and earth saith he O Lord the sea and the dry land and yet find thee no where but on the Crosse there thou sleepest there thou feedest there thou reposest thee at noone-day Wherefore let us follow our Lord like dutifull servants and avoyd eternall torments by the compendious way of our short sufferance here Athanasius being condemned to banishment by Iulian the Apostata and perceiving the Christians of Alexandria to weep bitterly at his departure bade them be of good comfort for said he this is but a little cloud which will bee blowne over presently and truely all that seems most terrible in this mortall life is but as a hovering cloud that will soone be dissipated and câ—anged into eternall serenity The ancients had their Apâ—lles so industriouâ— as he never omitted day wherein hee had not drawne some line so in like manner all Christians who would live exemplarly ought to dâ—sir that no day might passe withou such clouds â—s these wherein they might suffer somewhat for God Almighties sake The h avens appeared to holy Iob not onely cloudy but even as obâ—urate as â—ro and yet as Tertâ—llian sayes he resisted the enemy with a great variety of patiâ—nc as h of calamities assaulted him inâ—omuch as neither all his substance madâ— a prey unto the enemy nor all his children oppressed in one universall ruine nor lastly his bodies intollerable infirmities could any wayes remove him from his patience Oh! what a trophee did God erect of that man to his enemies shame what a glorious standard of him did he advance when at the report of each one of his heavy losses he answered nothing â—lse but God be thanked a saying in which God rejoyced and the devill was confounded utterly a saying for which hee deserved to have all doubly restored to him againe therefore we may conclude that in suffering we doe but as it were by great iournies make towards our heavenly Countriâ— The 3. Parag aph AMong those many wayes which lead to heaven there is none more sure nor direct than the Kings high way the Crosse peâ— multas tribulationes oportet nos intrariin
on the condition that from thence thou reflect a disdainfull eye on none but on thy selfe and t is is true greatnesse true magnanimity to entertaine in high places humble thoughts and as fast as thou art exalted to debase thy selfe and which is more proper to the Predestinate to touch heaven with their merits whilst in their owne conceit they yet lye groveling on the ground Divinae gratiae familiaris esse solet humilitas Hom. 4. supra missus est c. Betwixt divine grace and humilitie sayes St. Bernard there is a strait league of friendship What a sublime humility is that which honour cannot remove nor glory make arrogant For a despicable person to abase himselfe is not much but humilitas honorata humility in honour is a rare vertuâ— indeed Doe you heare this O yâ—e Kings yee Princes and Potentates of the earth Do you heare this â—ou who are no lesse learned than arrogant you whose possessions make you despise all other men Raâ—a virtus est humilitas honorata humility in honour is a vertue deserving all admiration It is the proper effect of true humility to make those condemne themselves by their owne verdicts for most unworthines who in the judgment of heaven are esteemed for grea est sanctity So Abraham a man most acceptable to Almighty God accounted himselfe no other than dust and ashes St. Peter the Rock upon whom Christ built his Church openly and ingenuously professed himselfe a sinfull man St. Paul that â—â—ssâ—ll of election and Prince of 〈◊〉 reputed himselfe but as an abortive issue and unworthy the tiâ—le of an Apostle This hold for certaine the base of all true height and dignity is no other than humility and a contemptible opinion of our selves The first Paragraph PRide is the ruine of all vertues and the steep precipice of Angels and of men Good God what a change what a commuâ—ation was then between heaven and earth when the most glorious amongst Angels was cast headlong downe from heaven to earth whilst the miserablest poâ—rest soule on earth was elevated by the hands of Angels unto heaven Lucifer through his pride did fall from thence whither poore ulcerous Lazarus was exalted for his humility who it is credible did not so often number his vertues as his sores no doubt out of genuine selfe contempt of his seemed more patient unto all than unto himselfe It is a very true and significant saying of a certaine Saint â—arum valet qui se aliquid valere censet nil penitus valet qui se multum valere autumat He is worth but littlâ— who in his owne account seems to â—e wâ—rth any thing and he nothing at all who conceits himselfe much worth With whom St. Bernard doth well accord where he saith Omnia illâ— dâ—sunt qui nihil sibi deessepuâ—at That he wants all who imagines himselfe to want nothing And we may add that they scarcely seeme to be borne for heaven who whilst they are selfe-conceited of their owne actions become as sharp censurers of others lives as they are foolish admirers of their owne and whilst with an affected blindness they bleare their owne judgements of themselves can never judge aright of other men Out upon this vanity Can we think that heaven will ever give admittance unto such pride as this no it is onely for the predestinate who censure nones lives so rigorously as their owne who oftner â—â—t in judgement on their owne manners than on other mens and are so farre moâ—e severe unto them elves than to all besides as they easily pardon others never themselves when they have dâ—ne amisse Miserable as we areâ—â—ho being but dust and shadow s dayly gliding away after those who are vâ—nished before can yet glory in our own Progenitor shâ—w ong ranged statutes of our Ancestours as if he were a man who can number more men of his linage past Homo vanitati simil s factus est die ejus sicut umbra praetereunt Man is become like unto vanity and his dayes doe vanish away like a shadow Wheresoever we reflect our eyes we finde cause sufficient to dissolve them into teares If we fixe them on heaven whilst we behold our Country aloof we cannot but consider our selves in banishment if on earth it is but the upbraiding remembrance of our grave and however we betrample it for the present with our feet it makes full account to have the disposure of our heads at last finally if on our selves O what a fair and ruddy fruit but alas all worme-eaten within where ordour stench corruption death it selfe have taken their lodgings up If we con iâ—er our owne hearts what a foule abysse and depth it is all beset with knotted beds of Snakes and Add rs woe woe 's us we even swarme with vices and yet cannot contâ—mne our â—elves we bee oppr ssed with a world of follies miserie and sinnes and yeâ— aff ct the reputâ—tion of wise happy learned and holy men The predestinate the while convert all this unto their greater profit out of the considerations of their daily actions and themselves doe draw forth motives of their own contempt These can easily with St. Paul be induced to slight and contemne all other things who have first learned to slight and contemne themselves This bâ—ing so whosoever desires to be truely happy indeed must procure to take diligently out this lesson of his owne contempt from whence he is to proceed excepting God to contemne all other things The Predestinate can best relish that excellent saying of Saint Chrysostome Hom. 3. in Mat. Minimum de se sensisse tam mâ—gram est quam es maximas fecisse It is as great matter for a man to account but little of himself as to have exployted mighty things As also that of our Saviour Christ he who aspires to be greatest among you shal be the least in the Kingdome of heaven if ever they arrive to so much happines They are not ignorant how the way of humility is craggy and painefull at the first but afterwards it becomes more easie and delightsome They know there rests â—f their journey but this one steep ascent and so gratefull unto all who direct them on their way they climb it up with all alacrity They love to be contemned they affectionately imbrace the occasions they reioyce to see themselves despised and more insult over themselves in the meane time than any enemy These when they are injured are so far from revenging their quarrell by the sword as they utter not a word in their owne defence Hâ—re none stretches forth an arme or brandisheth a sword to vindicate a wrong as knowing the more profit redounds unto them the more they are contemned The predestinate only know as â—en deeply read in the schoole of Christ our Saviour that they are never the worse for mâ—ns deriding nor lesse for tâ—eir contemning them Tantus est unusquisque 1. Kinâ—s 16. quantus est in occulis Dei A
man is no more than just as hee appeares in God Almighties eye non pilo major c. not a haire greater neither doth God judge by mens estimation When we seeme little to our selves we seeme great to God and then least to him when we appeare the greatest to our selves The deeper a Well is the more purer is it water and the moâ—e vile esteem one conceiveth of himself the more gratefull he is unto Almighty God All which seems eminent in us is to be abased our high spirits level ed with the ground anâ— the universall fabrick of our pride buried under the heaps of our miseries ignorances and imperfections Musk as they say having lost its savour by being buryed in some stinkâ—ng dunghill recovâ—rs it gaine and so if we â—ut truely enter into the consideration of our owne vilenesse and surquedy we shal exhale not any such odour as we did before but that of the amendment of our selves the onely conducing meanes to our salvation The second Paragraph A Holy religions man being demanded once which in his opinion was the most expeditious way to heaven answered Si se homo sem per accusat For a man ever to accuse himselfe Lib de virg c. 31. And this according to St. Augustine is the very sum of all Christian learning and St Ambrose avouches Lib de virg c. 31. A pol. de dau c. 9. Signum electorum est male de â—e sentire vulnus suum agnoscere That it is an infallible signe of the â—lect when one ackn w edges his infirmities and thinks contemptibly of himselfe on the contrary Reproborum est proprium semper prava agere In. c. 5. Iob. nunquam quae egerint retractare c. sayes St. Gregory It is the custome of the reprobate to bee alwayes committing evill and never willing to amend their wickednesse but they passe over all they doe in the blindnesse of their minds and nothing but punishment can make them sensible of the harme they doe whereas the elect doe dayly trace out their actions to the very fountaines head of those thoughts from whence they sprung Neither for this are they ever the more secure since they know there are many things may escape their observation which onely the all-searching eye of Almighty God perceives The Sonne of Syrach counsailes us Eccl. 3. quanto magnus es humilia te in omnibus coram deo invenies gratiam The greater thou art humble thy selfe the more in every thing and thou shalt finde grace before Almighty God seeing the power of God is onely great and hee is honoured in the humble Assuredly among all others it is the greatest perfection to have a true knowledge of our owne imperfections and that soule merits more of true praise in understanding it selfe than in neglecting that to know the course of the Starres the limits of the Earth the vertues of Plants the abstruse sublimity of Heaven and the Earths unfathomed profundity Aug. Wouldst thou contrive some ediâ—â—ce of eminent altitude thinke first of laying the foundation in Humility all naturally aspire unto the top but Humil ty is the fi st stâ—p unto it Our Coâ—ntrey is high the way unto it low and who can seriously wish to arrive unto it who refuseth to goe the way But alas it is a misery which Saint Hierom doth worthily deplore Hier. epist 27. Multi humilitatis umbram veritatem pauci sectantur that many follow the shadow of humility but few the substance few indeed but those few â—nely happy those few of the Predestinate who the more they behold the more they dislâ—ke themselves and those the more pretious in the eyes of God the more they appeare contemptible in their owâ—e Qui minus se vident Greg. lib. 33 â—oral c. 5. minus sibi displicent sayes Saint Gregory Those who least consider themselves are those who displease themselves the least Many whilst they know many things are ignorant of themselves and in Gods eyes seeme the lesse the greater they seeme in their owne To conclude the best and safest ascent to Almighty God is by the way of the knowledge of our owne unworthinesse and Cassiodorus said excellent well Psal 6. descendendo coelum ascenditur That by descending wee ascend to heaven Embleme IX Loue of our enemies Bee not ouercome of euill but ouer come euill w th good Rom. 12. V. 2â— The Ninth Signe Of Predestination IS to love our enemies Ad Rom. 12. The Device is two thwarted Launces combined in the middle with an Olive wreath those signifying Hostility this used by the Ancients as an Embleme of Peace their being united in the bond of amity The Motto is Noli vinci a malo sed vince in bono malum Be not overcome with evill but overcome evill with good Christ our Saviour doth commend unto us a most solemne manner Ego autem dico vobis diligite inimicos vestros c. I say unto you love your Enemies bee beneficiall to those who hate you and pray for those who persecute you and caluminate you that so you may be sons of your Father which is in heaven You will say perhaps it is difficile and painable I grant it but the more difficile it is the more gratefull it is to God the more available to your self There are divers wayes to expresse our charity all much conferring to the remission of our sins but among all none more efficatious than from our heart to forgive those who have offended us Our Saviour Christ hanging extended on the Cross and having no part of his Sacred body entire from stripes and wounds but onely his blessed tongue made it his first care to imploy that member in interceding for those who crucified him in their words and actions and so became a most potent and prevailing Advocate for his enemies In which doctrine dictated from the Crosse our blessed Master hath had but a few disciples it is true but yet never wanted some and to instance in onely one did not the heavens open whilst Saint Steven was praying for his enemies as if all the heavenly Citizens had flocked to the sight of so noble a spectacle and whilst the same holy Protomaâ—tyr prayed for himselfe standing but for his enemies with bended knees did he not instantly behold the heavenly curtaines drawn and Iesus standing at the right hand of his fathers vertue and omnipotency In which deare Lord if I may expostulate thy meaning without presumption what unusuall manner of proceeding is this to award him a just triumph and the reward of victory before the fight hee hath scarsely opened his mouth to speake and the heavens are open already he is not yet departed this life and notwithstanding hee enjoyes thy blessed vision How comes it that that beatitude even issues forth of the gates of heaven to encounter this happy Martyr on his way which other Saints must penetrate to the most interiour retirements of thy
O volubility O inconstancy of ours more variable than fortune it selfe which when it ceaseth to be good onely by degrees at least becommeth bad Prov. 11. Impius facit opus instabile The worke of the impious is unconstant and wavering But on the contrary the pathes of the just are like a resplendant light Procedit Prov. 4. crescit usque ad perfectum diem which gains of the skie encreases to a perfect day The Predestinate have such a horror from any sin as they wholly break of all commerce with it thy know how dangerous a thing it is to dally in this manner with Almighty God to repent us of one sin to day and to morrow to commit others to repent afresh They never remember without hearty sorrow on what guilty tearmes they once stood with Almighty God not forget how hamously then they offended him which is our onely efficatious way to obtaine grace and favour of Almighty God who then forgets himselfe offended by us when we with sorrow remember our offence Embleme XI Propension of our Will to good I haue inclined my heart to performe thy statutes alway euen unto the end Psal 119 V. 112. The eleventh signe Of Predestination IS the propension of our will to good whose Device is an Ancho with these words Inclinavi cor meum ad faciend as justificationes tuas in aeternum propter retributionem Psal 119. I have inclined my heart to fulfill thy Lawes for ever c. This inclination of our mind doth then declare it selfe when one shall have firrmly resolved with himselfe never although it imported the losse of his life and all he had to defile his conscience with any deadly sin Psal 118. â—uravi statui custodire judicia iustltiae tuae I have resolved and sworn sayes the royall Prophet to observe the judgements of thy righteousnes St Iohn Quod si cor nostrum c. Iohn 5. If our owne hearts reprehend us not then we may confidently have our recourse to God Father Lewis of Granado affirmes that it is a signe of all others the most evident of reprobation when one doth easily and without any sense of sorrow fal into mortal sin He is but too far gone in wickednes who will not so much as seriously desire to returne to good whereas to be willing to become good is a great part of goodnesse For the predestinate as they would nothing which is evil so would they nothing but what is pleasing to God Wherfore with St. Paul every houre and moment they are crying out Acts 9. Domine quid me viâ— facere O Lord what would you have me to doe thâ—re is nothing which for your sake I will refuse nothing which I shall esteem too hard or difficile nothing so painfull or grievous but in having you for help and guide I will with my sufferance overcome it all Psal 39. and there where my ability comes short I will supply with the ardency of my desires where my feet connot carry me I will mount upon the wings of my cogitations and as the Heliâ—trop to its beloved Son so I O Lord wâ—l wholy convâ—rt my will to thine In capite libriscriptuâ— est de me ut facerem voluntatem tuam In the beginning of the book it is written of me that I should doe thy will It hath been mire onely desire O my Lord c. I have obtained to place thy Law in the middest of my heart in the middest of my memory my understanding and my will St. Bernard one ever ready prest for to obey the Divine will pauperimus ego sayes he non habeo nisi unum minimum voluntatem meam non dabo illam ad voluntatem illius qui toto se totum me comparavit Miserable and needy wretch as I am I have but one mite this Will of mine and shall I not bestow that upon his Will who to redeeme me wholly did wholly give himself Without doubt it is most just and reasonable that the Divine Will should be the Author and a rule to ours Constitui conformavi voluntatem meam divinae c. I have resolved sayâ—s Epictetus to confoâ—me my Will to the Divine Will Wil he visit me with sicknesse then be it so that I enterprise any thing I will undertake it then that I possesse any thing his pleasure be it that I forgoe it behold I am prepared finally that I should dye I am content And who now when I am thus resolved can inforce mee to an thing against my willl more then they can God himselfe Thus much had a Heathen conceived of these verities who onely lived in the blind night of ignâ—rance and what a shame then were it for Christians in the cleare Sun-shine of Christianity not to behold as much as he Fiat volunt as tua thy Will O Lord be done in earth Matth. 1.3 as it is in heaven Wherefore accingâ—mini estote filii pote tes ut pugnetis adversusnationes c. arme your selves and be mighty sâ—ns that you may fight against these nations against the frequent assaults of vices but as it shall be the will of heaven so be it done The first Paragraph IN Cities according to the principal clock the common ones use ordinarily to be set and why likewise should not the wills of every man conforme themselves like little clocks unto the great celestiall one onely the Will of Almighty God Sicut fuerit voluntas in coelo sic fiat As the Will shall be in heavâ—n so let it be It is incredible how â—ratefull unto God is such an act as this God congratulated with himselfe as for some extraordinary happinesse Inveni David filium lesse virum secundum cor meuâ— qui faciet omnes voluntares meas I have found David the sonne of lâ—sse a man according to mine owne heart who performes my will in every thing God had long sought for such a man he layd wayt for one of that mind and disposition who in all occurrences should propose unto himselfe no other aime than the performing of his wil and having found such an one even like one overjoyed our most bountifull father cryes out Iâ—veni qui faciet omnes voluntateâ— meas I have found him who will doe my will in every thing And tâ—is was the reason why the Son of God was so exact himselfe in fulfilling his fathers will Descendide coelo non ut faciam voluntatem meam sed voluntatem ejus Iohn 6. q i misit me I have descended from h aven not to doe mine owne will but the will of him who sent me From the rule of this direct and soveraigne Will they are but too farre swarved who not onely not obey at a beck but ever stir not for its absolute command Prov. 14. Sapiens timet declinat a malo stultus transilit confidit the wise man feares and so escapes evill whilst the foole is confident and boldly leaps into
against the King there comes another advice to David that all Israel was revolted from him and followed Seba Separatus est omnis Israel à David secutusque est Seba. 2 Kings 20. Doe but behold the world you will even say as much of it for Christ another David doth trace us out the way with his owne bloud with his owne gored foot-steps having his head crowned with thornes his shoulders charged with the infamous burthen of the crosse his dying eyes floating with bloud and teares in which dolefull equipage he ascends mount Calvary and invites us to follow him but alas how few are they who doe accompany him who are content to be crucified with him according to their severall conditions So as we may lawfully say that all the world is set upon malice totus mundus in maligno positus est and with their whole hearts follow not Seba but rather Satan and leave our Saviour in Mount Golgotha alonâ— To this purpose likewise may be applyed that other passage of holy Scriptures where 70000. Israelites are recorded to have been consumed by pestilence only because David out of a presumption of his owne forces did cause the people to be mustred All which examples were but the first draught and shadow of the wonderfull scarcity of the predestinate which our Saviour afterwards in his Sermons so lively painted forth Reckon all the Jewes according to the computation of the Apocalyps from Abraham to the day of Judgement predestinate to be saved and you shall find onely 144000. of them scarcely the thousand part to paâ—e on that account And that which is said of them may be applyed with a certaine proportion unto all other Nations for the praedictions of our Saviour have reference unto all forasmuch as hee affirmed not onely of the Iewes that few of them should walk in the narrow path of life but he directs his speech generally to all pauci invenient eam few shall find it In confirmation of this verity the Prophets are every where frequent Hell hath dilated its soule saies Isaiah and opened its mouth boundlesse wide and that because impiety like a fire imbraces all It shall consume the thorne and bryar the very thicket of the grove shall be burnt and the pride of the smoak shall roule along for thorns and bryers shall overgrow the universall earth And where shall you not find whole wildernesses of briars of libidinousnesse and luxury what place is free from the pricking thornes of cares and solicitude not so much of purchasing heaven as wealth So as truly we may say the earth is infected with its inhabitants in that they have transgressed the lawes altered right and antiquated an eternall league all are addicted to their owne wâ—yes and each one unto the most new fangled And Hieremy in no lesse a mournfull Hier. 3. straine bewayles this great penury of the good Circuit the wayes of Hierusalem and behold and observe and search in the streets doe you find a man that doth Iustice and regards his faith Brass and Iron there is corruption in all Not only the rich but what you will more wonder at even the poor are infected with pride and riotousnes and poverty now is in league with vices too a generall corruption hath tainted all aswel brasse as silver and more rich mineralls And the Prophet exploring the origen and soursâ— of all this evill sayes I attended and lâ—stned and no man speaks of any good which is so much verified in these times of ours no man doth repent for his sins Hier. 8. saying what have I done all are attent to their owne courses like horses rushing furiously into the battaile Woe to the earth woe to the men thereof The whole world is filled with aâ—ulteries Neither doth Michaeas lesse lament this excessive dearth of vertue Woe unto me sayes he there is not one cluster of grapes fit to be eaten Mich. 7. the Saint is perished on earth and the upright is not to be found among men Which consideration made the royall Prophet shed so abundant teares God sayth he Ps 13. 1â— hath looked downe from heaven oâ— the sons of men to behold if there were any that would understand and seek after God but all were depraved all were become wholly u profitable there is no man no not so much as one that doth any good And truely whosoever doth but consider these lamentable dayes of ours and the variety of corruption which is crept into our manners he would be of the same opinion with this holy King and conclude our Age most resembling to that immediately before the deluge When there was nothiâ—g but eating and drinking Matth. â—4 marrying and giving in marâ—iâ—ge t ll that dâ—y when Noah entred into the â—rke neither had they any understanding till the deluge came upon them and destroyed them all Even so you will imagine that vertue were wholy banished fom the earth or if perchance any vouchsafe to harbour her it is but only in passing and by way of courtesie not that she can challenge right to any habitation of her owne which is the reason she is no where permanent whilst vice doth so sway all and hath such absolute dominion as it is no longer aâ—le to reckon how many kingdomes it stands possessed of masked injustice and prying envy exployting boldly whatsoever they please that filthy vice of Luxurie odious to heaven and pernicious to earth with an incredible kinde of audacity So that comparing the number of the good reduced unto so few unto so many Myriades of evill we may wel say with Bias Rari boni pravi pâ—urimi and St. Ambrose to this effect in comparison of the reprobate sayes he the number of the Elect is but very small seeing you shall find every where multitudes of sinners every where whole troops of them in the way of perdition so as it may be truely sayd indeed That the wayes of Syon Lament Lamen c. 1 whilst the paths of Babylon do laugh And really whosoever but reflects the eyes of his mind upon the way which he buts upon the precipice of hell he shall perceive it so frequented so thronged with passengers as one shoves another forwards out of a kind of sport or jolity and provoked by one anothers examples they make as much haste to the torments of hell as they would doe unto some solemne feast The whilst the way to vices is not onely proclive but even precipitious on the other side the way which tends to vertue is but narrow frequented but by few and those for the most part of private quality as Isaiah did insinuate in that Propheticall complaint of his These shall be in the midst of the earth Isay 24. in the midst of the people just as if a few Olives which are remaining should be shaken out of the Olive tree and grapes when the Vintage is ended Where the scarcity of the good may be understood by those
few scattering bunches of grapes by those few Olives which were left to be gleaned whilst the rest were gathered and the excessive multitude of evill by the precedent plentifull harvest of grapes and Olives For there is no truth sayes the Prophet Oseas there is no mercy Ose 4. there is no knowledge of God on earth but slandering lying murther theft and adultery doe swarmâ— sanguis sanguinem tetigit This scarcity of the good is but too apparent which the Prophets thus deplore unto whose teares succeed the Apostles complaints in the new Testament where St. Iohn affirmes all the world to be set on malice Eph. 15. totus mundus in maligno positus est and St. Peter in this manner sorrowfully argues Si justus vix salvabitur peccator imâ—ius ubi apparebunt If the just shall scarcely be saved where shall the wicked and impious appeare St. Paul lamenâ—s wiâ—h often iterating the same Phil. 2. that all seeke things that are their owne not things that are Iesus Christs And our Saviour Christ himselfe affirmes Matth. 11. Luke 6. Luke 8 17. 14. that the kingdome of heaven suffers violence and only the violent take it by force Neither in the meane while abstaines from threatnings Vae vobis c. woe unto you sayes he who are rich for you have your consolation woe to you which are full for you shall hunger woe to you who now laugh for you shall lament and weep And this likewise is lively set before our eyes in the parable recounted by S Luke where one part of the good seed is said to lie withering away among the stones another choaked among thornes and bryars a third lâ—ghts in the high way where it is troden under foot and scarcely a fourth part meets with a fruitfull soyle So likewise of ten Lepers whom our saviour cleansed onely one returned to thank him for curing him of those who were invited to the feast not one but found an excuse to absent himselfe and as often as the fish-poole was stirred by the Angel of so many diseased persons who lay awaiting the occasion onely one was cured Onely a Nicodemus of all the Magistrates of the Iewes would venture to private conference with our Saviour Christ and of so many covetous and wealthy Citizens of Ierico of so many Camels to use St. Bedes phrase laden with their wealth â—nely one Zacheus would discharge his bunchy back of his rich load and restoring all which he had unjustly got assay to enter by the narrow gate Onely one Matthew from his intricate accounts onâ—ly one Magdalen from her dissolute life is recorded to bee converted to a more innocent one St. Paul preaching before a frequent assembly of people at Philippi a City of Macedonia onely one Lydia approved hi Doctrine another time discoursing of Christian Religion at Athens in the publike pallace before a great and learned audâ—tory onely Denys and Damaris assented to what hee said the rest for the m st pâ—â—t moâ—kâ—ng and deâ—iding him and iâ— that renouned assembly of 72. of the Iewish Mâ—giâ—trâ—tes Luke 23. theâ—e was scaâ—ce one or two found who thâ—â—sted nâ—t â—fter ouâ— S vâ—â—urs precious blood Lâ—kewise at his Crucify ng there were many spectators but lovers â—nd imitators of his Crosse a very few So in these our dayes there are many Sermons but rarely any who amend their lives for them vâ—câ—s are s fficiently inveighed agâ—insâ— but seldome sufficiently amended 〈◊〉 men are so far from desiring to amend tâ—em as they cannot endure to have them mentioned Multi vocati pauci electi there are many called but few chosen alas but few indeed There are many sayes St. Gregorie adjoyne themselves unto the faith but few make use of it to attaine to heaven And as upon the floore you shall find more straw than corn more leaves thâ—n fruit upon the treâ—s more prickles than roses on the bryars every where flints but a few precious stones even so the number of those whom the Divine providence promotes to beatitude is but small compared to the multitudes of wicked men How truely hath Ieremy pâ—â—phesied Desolatione desolata est omnis terra c. All the world is wasted with a desolation because there is none who considers in his heart there is none who considers in hâ—s heâ—rt indeed since the thoughts of oâ—r hearâ—s are so fleeting and inconstant as they are still wandering and never can apply themselves long to any thing that is good and vertuous And this is the reason why wee have no more apprehension of hell no more desire and longing after heaven This accusation may bee urged as well against Christians as any other men that they make no account of the desireable Land pro nihile habuerunt terram de fiderabilem Psal 105. for what is more to be defiled than heaven and yet by reason wee have so little commerce with it in thought we either conceit this kingdome of the blessed as some tedious thing or else desire it nothing so fervently as we ought From thence the devil conceives such hopes and acquires such force against us as Iob affirmeth of him Iob 40. Ecce absorbebit fluvium c. That he shall not wonder if he swallow up a floud and hee confides to have Iordan flow into his mouth And for this reason saith that mirrour of patience verebar omnia opera mea sciens quod non parceres delinquenti cap. 9. I was suspitious of all my actions as knowing that thou sparest not the delinquent I have all my words works and even my thoughts suspected when I consider the rigid Iustice of Almighty God This was the motive of St. Hilarions who as St. Hierome recounteth was most grievously peâ—plexâ— at the Article of death and in a deadly feare to present himselfe before the tribunall of Christ There remained but a little vitall heat unperished in his feeble body and excepting his sences there were no signes in him of a living man â—hen sadly lifting up his eyes and voyce together Egredere said he quid times egredere anima mea quid dubites Septuaginta prope annis serviisti Christo mortem times Depart sayd he what dost thou feare depart my soule what dost thou doubt Thou hast served Christ almost these seventy yeares and now at last art thou afraid to dye No his soule was not so much appaled at death as that the approach of that judgement it was to undergoe And now let every Christian consider with himselfe with what security he can revell and take his pleasure whilst such Saints as they doe tremble when they come to dye let them if they think good hoard up treasures of gold and silver mischiefe and ruine one another with mutuall enmity and hate hunt after honours and hauk for soaring glory deny nothing to their humours and delights alleaging forsooth that God allotted the earth of which you are inhabitants to the use of the sonnes of
men and reserved the heavens to be disposed by the soveraigne Lord thereof Take then your liberties in seeing thinking and doing every thing you have a fancy to make as many figaries as you list think every thing lawfull which you have a mind unto let your body take its fill of contentment be sure to live at your ease walke in the wayes of your heart and take your owne eyes for guides Et scitote quod pro omnibus his adducet vos Deus in judicium Eccl. 11. c. But yet be assured that for all these you must render an account to God and though a man live never so many yeares and have past them all over to his hearts content yet hee is to bee mindfull of the dismall time of those many dayes Ibid. which when they arrive will argue all that is past of vanity Wherefore let your endevour rather be to procure by your good works a certainty of your vocation and election Satagite ut per bona opera certam vestram vocationem electionem saciatis Pet. 1. What the signes of predestination are you have already understood 1. Not only to love our friends but our enemies 2. To relieve â—he poor not only by the bounty of our hands but also with the affection of our minds 3. To endure all afflictions patiently and praise God Almighty for sending them 4. To set light by the goods of fortune in regard of heaven 5. and 6. To consider how smally it availes us to hearken to the interiour admonitions of God or exteriour of men if we neglect to put them in execution 7. So to detest our former sins as never to commit the like again 8. To imagine we are not pleas ng to God until we become displeasing to our selves 9. Not to perswade our selves that we love Iesus Christ so long as we love and cherish not his presence within our selves 10. To resist stoutly our vitious inclinations especially at first since then every one can overcome them if he list 11. To lay a sure foundation of vertue in our minds lest otherwise we be alwayes wavering 12 To become so familiar wiih death by often thinking of it as we may the lesse feare it when we come to dye for he never dyes unwillingly who dayly and seriously imagines that he must dye at last And this is the way to that life wholly devoyd of death And now let each one take a surveigh of his owne conscience whether these signes of Predestinations whereby he may conceive a certtaine hope that he is not strayed from the way of the good which leadeth into heaven be extant in him or no As for the way of the wicked although for the present it seemeth smooth and levelled yet it ends in hell and utter darknesse at the last and notwithstanding by reason the entrance to it seems so commodious and delightsome there are so many flock unto it to their perditions as our own eyes may testifie that true saying of our Saviour Christ Lata porta speciosa via est quae ducit aâ—perditionem c. that the gate is wide and the way spacious which leads to perdition and many too many alas are those who enter by it It is reported by divers credible Authors that a certaine holy Anchoret beheld in a vision soules falling as thick into hell as flocks of snow or drops of raine insomuch as the damned all amazed at their multitude not without good reason imagined the world to be at an end as thinking it impossible considering their number who descended into hell that any more persons shauld be left alive St. Vincent Ferrerius of St. Dominicks order that mirrour of preachers and religious men did once in a publike sermon discourse with great efficacy of the scarcity of the predestinate and confirmed it with a Wonderfull example whose words in reverence of so great a person I will be as exact in reporting as the difference of language will give me leave Before our Saviours comming into the world says he in humane flesh S. Vinc. Dâ—min Septuag serm 6. post initium more than five thousand yeares were already past and except some of few of the children of Israel all the rest of the world was damned Imagine with your selfe besides in the time of the Law of Moses how many Children have dyed without Circumcision as also in the time of the Law of Christ how many without Baptisme of all which number likewise not one is saved Moreover how many Jewes Sarazens Pagans and Jnfidels how many wicked Christians for faith and Baptisme cannot save a man unlesse they be accompanyed with good life and how many other Christians are there besides who although they have faith are yet proud avaricious of lewd life and given to many other vices c. And here note the example of the Arch-deacon of Lions who having resigned his Benefice undertook a course of austere pennance for forty yeares together in the wildernesse This holy man after his death appeared to the Bishop of Lyons who desiring of him to discover somewhat unto him of the other world the Saint answered that thirty thousand in the world had dyed the same day with him wherof only 5. were saved himselfe and St. Bernard being two of them This is the reason why our Saviour advises us with so much solicitude to eâ—ter by the narrow gate Jntrate per a gustam portam This narrow gate of paradise is the wil of God to which every one must conforme himselfe who desires to enter into paradise The broad gate is our owne will and the spatious way is worldly conversation as to eate and drink our fill to follow our lustfull appetites take our pleasure revenge our selves of those who have injured us and the like So as pauci sunt electi but a few are saved To which exhortation of St. Vincent we will add another example recounted by an approved Author A famous Preacher in Germany named Bertold of Saint Francis Order inveighing once in a great audience with much vehemency of speech against a certaine vice a woman there present conscious of her owne guiltinesse therein conceived so great a terrour at his words that on the suddain in the midst of so great a throng she fell downe for dead But afterwards being restored to life again by the joynt mediation of the peoples prayes she declared unto them how she had bin presented before the judgment seat of Almighty God aâ—d among many other particulars how of 60000. of all nation aswell Christians as infidels who by divers sorts of death had departed this life at the same instant with her onely 3. soules of so huge a multitude entred heaven and al the rest damned to eternal fire O how true is it that many enter indeed by the large and spatious way of perdition St. Chrysostome grounding himselfe on the sence of these words of our Saviour Christ doth confidently affirm that the number is far greater of those who goe to hell but yet the kingdome of God though it hath fewer inhabitants is more capacious Multi sunt plures ghennam ingredientes Tom. 9. hom 14. sed maius est Dei regnum licet habeat paucos And tel me saith he how many think you of those who live in this city shal be saved I know that which I shal say wil â—ffend your eares but notwithstanding I wil utter it Of so many thousand scaâ—cely one hundred I doubt me whether I have not been too large in my account For alas how much malice is there now a dayes in the younger sort in the elder how much negligence c This was the discourse of that most prudent and saintly man that Doctour of the Church and light of the world St. Chrysostome in that mighty and populous City of Antioch and that too in such a time when the fervour was not yet extinguished of the Primitive Church and who then shal wonder if S Paul with so much solicitude doth admonish us to worke our salvation with feare and trembling Ad Phil. 2. cum metu tremore v stram salutem operamini and our Saviout Christ in such expresse tearmes exhorts us to endevour to enter by the narrow gate Luke 13. Truth cryes out unto us strive to labour and endevour with all your forces to enter into this gate by works worthy of repentance into which we cannot bee admitted without much industry and a resolution to overcome all difficulties whatsoever and those who falter and go lingring on may never hope to arrive unto it For unless the minds intention be fervent indeed saith St. Bede and a man forcibly overcome himselfe he wil easily recoyle and be wholly unable to persevâ—r in so narrow a passage so great is the effusion of the unruly appeâ—ites of his flesh to say nothing of the tentations and persecutions which the world and the devill procure those who endevour to enter by this narrow way And even as a water-man who rowes against the streame must adde so much the more force unto his Oare so those who steere on their soules towards heaven in spight of the practises of the enemy must enforce themselves with all the vertue they have to overcome the violence they find with greater violence for feare their soules should be carryed away by force of the streame like boats into irrecoveâ—able errour Evigilate itaque justi 1 Cor. 15. â— nolite peccare Wherefore all you that are just be watchfull and do not sin neither is any to bee accounted watchful but such as in al places at al times so lead their lives as if each day were the lâ—st they should ever see and have so wary an eye over their conscience in all thoughts and works as if they were instâ—ntly to dye Let us therefore doe that whilst we may which otherwise when we may no longer we shall wish to have done Quae seminaverit homo haec metet a man shall reap onely that which he hath sowne and so he who sowes in his flesh doth reap corruption from his flesh againe Gal. 6. whereas hee who sowes in spirit doth reap from his spirit an eternall life FINIS