all idle slothfulnes in the matters of God and our saluation and to fill our harts full of vnfained loue to himselfe aboue all things and to our neighbors as to our selues and for his owne sake euen to our enimies that sathan our sworne enimie that soule flie of hell may neuer finde so much as one chinke or chap where through he may créepe into our harts Amen Amen AS in a true perfect and certaine clocke the whéeles being tempered and in equall and due proportion diuided do performe their courses and do keepe their seuerall compasses without iarring or differing one from another euenly and alike so that one moouing the others are mooued and one standing the rest are still and stir not so that though they be many in number in frame fashion and agréement they are but one Euen so in a Christian commonwealth there ought to be one and the selfesame will and so great a concord and likenes of mindes reconciled and drawen togither by vertue it selfe and so inseparably linked one to another with the infringible band of sincere loue in Christ that though in bodies they be infinite and innumerable yet in vnanimitie consent and good agréement in the Lord Iesu they should be all as one man This is that vnitie and brotherly loue which God himselfe so highly commendeth in the mouth of his prophet saying Behold how good and how ioyfull a thing it is brethren to dwell euen togither c. To this end came our sauiour Christ that I may vse the words of Zacharie euen to guide and direct our feete into the way of peace And the holy Apostle doth admonish vs to kéepe the vnitie of the spirit in the band of peace And to the Romanes he saith The kingdome of God is not meate and drinke but righteousnes and peace Againe is not that example of our sweete sauiour woorthie of all men to be imbraced and imitated Simon saith Christ to Peter of whom do the kings of the earth take tribute or poll mony of their children or of strangers Peter answered Of strangers then said Iesus Then are the children frée Neuertheles saith Christ least we should offend them go thy way to the sea c. and pay for thée and me Lo◠to auoid offence and to preserue peace what our sauiour Christ himselfe was contented to do euen that he néeded not and was frée from Much to blame therefore are all they and far from following the steps of Christ which séeke not by all meanes lawfull and possible to maintaine the vnitie and peace of the church of Christ The enimies of this peace are very intolerable men The Lord by his prophet calleth them wicked and vngodly men There is no peace to the vngodly And Salomon doth number them among the enimies of God which do sowe discord and dissention among brethren EVen as the spirit of man doth not strengthen the members of the body vnlesse they be fast and surely ioined togither So the holy Ghost doth not reuiue and comfort the members of the Church when they fall away and will not continue in league and fellowship with the seruants of God Longer than they are fast bound and knit to the congregation of Gods people in loue and peace in Christ the holy Ghost doth minister no strength no consolation no comfort vnto them There remaineth nothing else in such men but a numnesse and an extreme blindnes in heauenly things And whiles in their arrogancie and pride they forsake and condemne the church of God bicause they cannot draw it into subiection to their fond and fantasticall humors they become of men diuels incarnate AS the pilote of a ship without the shine of sunne or moone cannot take the hauen of any land So a man without the light of grace can neuer attaine to the hauen of glorie but howsoeuer he persuadeth himselfe that he casteth his anchor in a place of safetie it falleth out in the end that he casteth it vpon a rocke where there is no hope of saluation AN eagle so long as hir yoong ones be not very flidge and throughly feathered she doth not suffer them to go out of the nest and to flie abroad but after they be perfectly winged in the beautie strength of their feathers she throwes them out of the nest that they may flie and exercise their wings and feathers and vse them to the end wherfore they haue them Euen so our sauiour Christ that heauenly eagle after his resurrectiō commanded his disciples to stay at Ierusalem as it were in a nest and not to depart thence vntill in the day of Pentecost he had filled them with the grace of the holy Ghost then he commanded them that passing through the world and traueling through diuers coasts of the earth they should publish abroad and spread far and neare the Gospell of his kingdome This example of Christ is followed at this day to the great comfort and benefit of Christ his church when godly Archministers lay not their hands vpon any to admit them to be laborers in the Lords vineyard nor to do the office of a minister vntill they finde them sufficiently learned and well furnished with gifts and graces from God so far as they be able to discerne and iudge EVen as the eagle hauing hir yoong ones shut vp in the nest although she flieth excéeding high pearseth the loftie aire yet she withdraweth not hir eies from hir yoong ones but still beholdeth them and they also crying after their maner with their stretched out necks do looke after hir Euen so the Lord Iesus ascending into heauen did behold his disciples and they also hungring and thirsting after him did fasten their eies vpon him and did not lose the sight of him vntill he pearsed and broke open the heauens and entred into the presence of his father And although they were diuided from him in body yet in hart and minde they followed him still And Iesus that heauenly eagle séeing from heauen a fierce and cruell hauke preparing to destroy his nest and to kill his yoong ones he on the other side prepared himselfe and came against the hawke ouerthrew him and laid him prostrate vpon the ground The hawke was Saule who that I may speake as the scripture speaketh breathing out threatnings and slaughter against the disciples and seruants of the Lord he went vnto the high priest and desired letters of him to Damascus against all the Christians that he should finde there c. but the Lord Iesus did hurle him against the ground and gaue him for meate vnto his church and to the yoong ones of his nest whom he sought to destroy who now being called Paul doth recreate and refresh the whole church of God with holy most heauenly doctrine Behold how the lord hath euer prouided well for his nest that is his church his saints and seruants And this is our comfort in all
stéedily looke vpon the bright sphere of the sunne he should become blinde bicause the weake sight of his eies is not able to abide so great a brightnes So whosoeuer trusting to his owne wit shall cast the eies of his minde vpon the woonderfull and vnspeakable brightnes of the secrets of God he shall be ouerthrowen of the same and the sight of his minde being blinded and put out he shall neuer attaine to that which he would bicause the great and hidden mysteries of the most high God cannot be comprehended by mans wit being puffed vp with pride or else there should be no difference betwéene God and man if man of himselfe could attaine vnto the secrets of Gods eternall maiestie sealed vp in his blessed word and not to be opened but by the mightie power of his most holy spirit So much did those things signifie which were in sanctis sanctorum hid and couered Paule perhaps leaning trusting to his owne wit before he receiued the faith of Christ would pearce into Gods mysteries but comming far short of his purpose he wandred in a great and dangerous error and would néeds being inflamed with hatred euen kil those Christians with the sword whom he ought not to haue wounded or vexed with a word But a light from heauen compassed him about and falling to the ground he saw nothing yet his eies open as before wherby his former disposition was signified but afterward when he did cast downe and truly humble himselfe and all his pride laid apart came to Ananias he receiued his sight And in that his humilitie he said I am the least of the apostles which am not woorthie to be called an apostle bicause I persecuted the Church of God Dauid saith The Lord openeth his secrets inclosed in his word to those that feare him In which words our God promiseth that he will vnfold and reueale to godly and humble men of hart the secrets and priuities of his holy oracles Vpon whom shall I looke saith the Lord but vpon the sillie poore man that is contrite in hart and trembleth at my words Héerehence commeth that saying of the blessed virgin He hath beholden the lowlines of his handmaidē THou shalt sée somtimes in the aire a cloud hauing the figure and likenes of a tall and mightie man which by and by is spred abroad and representeth huge and high towers but in the turning of an hand being taken with a blast of winde it is dissolued and vanisheth away Euen such is the trust that we put in this transitorie world This world doth set before vs in the conceit of our imagination that we shall be great men and that we shall be very famous and attaine to great dignitie it doth promise vnto vs mountaines of golde and huge and lofti◠towers of honor and renowme but all these things are towers builded in the aire and castles made of winde and grounded vpon vanitie which are dissolued and dispersed most suddenly Iohn the seruant of God did well consider of this when he gaue this counsell Loue not the world nor those things that be in the world the world passeth away and the lust of the same And Paule saith The shape of this world passeth away he saith not the substance of this world but the shape passeth away If then this world must néedes passe away and returne to it nothing againe if that we take to be a substance be but a shape thinke we then that our life our hope our riches our pleasures shall continue no surely For Iames saith Our life is as a vapour appéering for a very short time and our life is dissolued as a cloud in the aire AS our eies which do behold heauen and earth and other innumerable creatures of God do not sée themselues but looking in a glasse by that meane they perfectly sée themselues So we do not sée and consider our owne frailtie and brickle estate but if we will set before our eies the glasse of the remembrance of death and the true knowledge of our selues beholding diligently I say that cléere glasse we cannot choose but very plainly sée our selues and what we be Iames the apostle doth point vs to the law of our God and willeth vs to vse that glasse to behold our selues in Indéed it is a true glasse it wil not flatter nor deceiue vs it will tel vs that we be but dust and that we shall againe returne to dust Iames séemeth to say plainly to vs thus Know your selues and least ye be deceiued behold your selues in the glasse of truth which is the perfect law of libertie Sée what thou art and what thou shalt be Remember that thou art a man and consequently dust and ashes O that we would remember this O that we would be content to imbrace this most certaine truth O that this glasse might neuer depart out of our hands and harts Augustine that learned teacher saith well Before thou wast man thou wast earth and before thou wast earth thou wast nothing Héere thou maist easily sée thy progenie thy nobilitie and the woorthinesse and excellencie of thy stocke and linage Be not proud therefore for thou art but dust and ashes EVen as a little bird shut vp in a cage although it be very pretious and costly and be made of Cedar Iuorie or gold yet she desireth to go out and striueth to haue hir libertie and in hir eager and earnest desire to be gone she doth oftentimes thrust hir bill through the loupes of the cage So the soule of a vertuous man inflamed with an vnfained loue of God being shut vp and holden in the coupe of his bodie although he abound with all necessaries fit for the preseruation of this temporall life yet most earnestly desireth to depart hence and to go to his countrie which is heauen And in token that he would faine go thither he fetcheth many a déepe sigh and many a gréeuous grone and doth full often craue of his creator with his chéekes all to bedewed and smeared with the teares of his eies that this exilement being finished he might rest for euer in that happie and holy house of blessed soules where he may haue the fruition of his God and euerlasting life through Iesus Christ his onely sauiour and redéemer Euery Christian man although he haue wealth at will and haue stately and roiall houses glittering and florishing with Iuorie and golde yet ought he to aspire towards heauen and in hart and desire to flie towards his best countrie saying with the Apostle I would faine remooue hence and go to dwell with the Lord. And againe I do séeke or desire to be dissolued and to be with the Lord Iesu EVen as vipers do eate out and teare in péeces the bellies of their bréeders that themselues may get out So not the Iewes onely but the Papists also do mangle and teare in péeces the law of God
religion be That saying of our sauior Christ of necessitie must euer be true and infallible He that exalteth himselfe shall be brought lowe and he that humbleth himselfe shall be exalted IT behooueth that sinne and iniquitie may greatly displease thée that the loue of thy selfe may be turned into a sincere loue of God For if thou shalt east into an hot burning fornace wood and stickes that be scare and drie and ready to burne there will arise and burne out a most pure and cleare flame of fire But if thou wilt cast into the same fornace gréene sticks wet and stinking rushes or some other such matter they will burne in déede but the fornace and whole house will be filled with smoke and will be euen blacke by reason of the thicke darknes which procéedeth of the foule and stinking smoke So the hart of man is a furnace continually burning if thou wilt nourish it with cogitations and heauenly meditations of the loue of God there will appéere and shine out of it a pure flame and bright light of true and vnfained loue to God and man But if thou wilt cherish and maintaine it with thoughts and deuises of selfe loue then it will be full of vile smoke stinch and darknes They perished saith the apostle in their own imaginations and their foolish hart was darkened The fountaine and originall of all euils and the center from whence the lines of all abhominations do flow is mans inordinate selfe loue Augustine saith that Adam did fall into that ouermuch loue of himselfe before he did eate the forbidden fruit And the same author saith that two loues did build two cities the loue of God Ierusalem and mans selfe loue Babylon It is selfe loue that Christ speaketh of sayeng He that loueth his life shall lose it And Paule saith In the latter daies men shall be louers of themselues couetous hautie high minded proude c. And againe we must not please our selues And Peter calleth the wicked and vngodly bold and pleasers of themselues There is no misery comparable to this that a man knoweth not his owne miserie And of follies there is none greater then not to know a mans owne follie but to haue an ouer well wéening of himselfe It is excéeding great and very laudable wisdome that a man cast downe and condemn himselfe that he may auoid the heauy iudgements of God and condemnation with the wicked world For the more vnperfect that we esteeme and iudge our selues to be the néerer to true perfection do we come For this in some measure is perfection euen to know and to acknowledge our owne imperfection EUen as after great showers and stormes of raine the aire is clensed and cléered So after great troubles sorrowes afflictions and temptations cleannes of hart quietnes of minde and peace of soule and conscience do follow AS with a pile or stacke of seare and dry wood the fire is quickly kindled and caused mightily to flame out Euen so the outragiousnes of carnall and fleshly lust is greatly prouoked mooued and stirred vp through rioting banqueting quaffing gussing swilling and continuall féeding and pampering of the belly and by taking the bodie from good lawfull and honest exercises and giuing it to idlenes slothfulnes and ouermuch ease and rest from labours EVen as of ouermuch fulnes of the stomacke and superfluitie of meats groweth that obstruction which the physitions do call oppilation or stopping whereupon bréedeth a continuall headach and that frensie which bringeth men to a madnes Euen so of a depraued and dishonest loue of this life of the corruption of manners of gluttonie and excesse eating doth spring an vnbridled and vntamed lust whereof ariseth that phrenetical madnes of heretikes and a corruption of their vnderstanding in matters of faith They which care not to kéepe a good conscience do at length fall to an incurable contempt of faith The apostle therfore ioyneth faith and a good conscience togither The which conscience saith he whiles some cast from them they haue made shipwracke of their faith If therefore thou wilt that the almightie shall like and allow of thy faith be sure that thou kéepe a good conscience without the which thy faith is dead and will do thée no good The Emperor Traianus compareth the treasure of rich men with the spleen EVen as when the spleen increaseth the other members ioyntes and parts of the bodie do consume and pine away So the great treasures and riches of couetous tyrants increasing the wealth of subiects and inferior persons is weakened and diminished whiles they pill and poll away their substance and goodes to enrich themselues withall And euen as the spléen increasing the other members do decrease So couetousnes growing greater and greater all vertues do vtterly decay and vanish away Bountifulnes liberalitie charitie truth righteousnes and all such excellent qualities are no more found in those men which are strangled and poisoned with a great and gréedie desire of worldly riches For being drowned in couetousnes they can neuer lift vp their harts to God nor stretch foorth their hands to do good to their brethren God giueth vnto men riches wit industrie knowledge and many other things signified and vnderstood by the name of Talents to the end that they should honor and worship God and bicause they should do him faithfull and true seruice which is the giuer of all good things The Euangelist saith that the Lorde called his seruants togither and gaue vnto them his goods Riches then and all goods whatsoeuer men haue in their possessions are not their owne but the Lords vnto whom they must make an account for the same The Apostle saith What hast thou that thou hast not receiued And the holy prophet his words are plaine The earth is the Lords and all the fulnes of the same the round world and they that dwell therein thou art then a seruant a steward a bailife the things which thou hast are Gods not thine they be his goods which he hath deliuered vnto thée that thou shouldest vse and bestow them not vpon thy foule lusts nor filthie pleasures vaine delights nor to hurt thy brother neither that thou shouldest hide them but to his good liking honor and glorie that his Gospell may be preached his poore seruants and distressed children reléeued that the honest causes of poore widowes and orphanes may be defended and that other such charitable déedes should be done and practised that the Lord finding thée faithfull in thâ—se small things may at the length giue thée greater matters that is the kingdome of heauen and the ioies thereof but if thou be faithlesse in these he will neuer trust thee with those Take héede and beware therefore that thou do not lauish waste and consume the Lords goods in the seruice of the flesh world and diuell It is a lamentable thing to sée how many yea innumerable men in these daies
to attende vpon his pleasure and to waite on his will he would haue vs not in part but wholy to giue them vnto him and without the hart he will receiue and take in good part at our hands and lips nothing But we on the otherside giue nothing lesse to God then our harts What is it that cannot and may not command our harts and haue them at pleasure sooner then Christ Iesus that with the death of his owne hart gaue life to our bodies and soules If the worlde do but a little smile vpon vs and giue vs but an alluring looke and a faire though a false word we will by and by follow it and bestow vpon it all our attendance If the diuell himselfe can make vs beléeue that we shall either haue profite or pleasure by doing his wil our harts mindes wils and all are readier for him then for Iesus Christ O matchles yea monstrous madnes they that séeke our destruction can sooner with a pleasant looke then Christ with the giuing of his life for vs haue vs at commandement Christ would haue vs to mortifie our earthly members as fornication vncleannes inordinate affections euill concupiscence and couetousnes which is idolatrie But who doth not nourish pamper and cherish all these The Lord woulde haue our conuersation in heauen but we are altogither earthly and carnally minded The Lord would haue our féete to stand within the gates of Ierusalem but we loue rather to be trampling the stréetes of Egypt Babylon and Sodom The holie ghost would haue vs to fight a good fight to finish our course after the will of God and to kéepe the faith not onely in words but also in life and déedes Indéed we are apt and ready to fight for worldly promotion honor dignitie reuenues and riches but for heauen and heauenly things we will neuer striue take no paines nor once trouble our selues we will haue i◠with ease and all maner of pleasure or else not at all farewell it The courses we take héere in this life are very bad and the end vnlesse we repent is like to be woorst of all And whiles we haue no care to kéepe good consciences it is vnpossible for vs to kéepe faith Let stande before vs Christ and sathan the one pointing vs to heauen and eternall felicitie but the way to it ful of troubles gréefes and sorrowes the other pointing to hell but the way to it ful of delicates pleasures and daintie delights and let God call and the diuell call and I speake it with gréefe of hart the diuell is like to haue the greater number to follow him for those short pleasures and Christ but a fewe to follow him bicause they must go loden with crosses Daily experience doth teach vs no lesse when all our actions are carnall haue onely but a little outward shew and no taste at all of true godlines nor so much as any rellish of the spirit and loue of Christ Some will abstaine from the committing of many grosse sins now and then and yet not that I feare greatly in any true and sincere loue to God but either for feare of shame and punishment in this worlde or else feare of vengeance in the world to come which both are vnprofitable for the Lord hath no pleasure in forced seruice he will haue it voluntarie with the hart and procéeding of loue not of a seruile feare otherwise it shall be numbred with the rest of our sinnes This doth greatly condemne vs that though we do not such things our selues yet we can without trouble of conscience gréefe of hart or vexation of minde sée and heare the Lords name blasphemed his saboth vnhalowed idolatrie committed parents dishonored whooredome theft murder and couetousnes commonly vsed and all the lawes of God vtterly contemned and it shall neuer offend the greatest number so much as a thorne in a foote or a blaine vpon a finger What other thing is this but to forsake God in the plaine field and to be afeard to serue him in truth and sinceritie least we should thereby purchase mans displeasure Vnlesse therefore we learne to serue him better in more truth with greater zeale and singlenes of hart we haue nothing else to looke for but that he will forsake vs both in this worlde leauing vs destitute of his assistance that our enimies may pray vpon vs and also in the world to come in giuing out against vs his malediction curse wo and sentence of death The Lord make vs new creatures and giue an vnfained loue of himselfe déepe roote in our harts drawing after it a chéerefull obedience to his sacred word and the selfe same to our brethren wherwith we loue our selues so that all be in God that we may escape dangers in both the worlds that when death that inexorable executioner shall do his office we may arriue at the safe and happy hauen of Gods euerlasting kingdome purchased and paide for by Christ and kept in store for all those that beléeue aright and shall liue and die in him But alas the most part of vs as yet vntill it shall please the almightie to inrich vs be like proud beggers which not being woorth one farthing will boast of great wealth So many brag of great holines but haue none and of great faith as though they could remooue mountaines out of their places and yet know not what true faith is How fearful a saieng is that of Christ When the sonne of man shall come to iudge the quicke and the dead do you thinke that he shal finde any faith vpon the earth As if he should saie he shall finde very little howsoeuer now all perswade themselues that they be faithfull inough The Lorde amende vs for we haue receiued great and infinite good things from the Lords hand both for our bodies and soules but in giuing thanks we are like to the nine leapers mentioned in the Gospell which neuer turned backe to thanke God for their healing The Lord hath poured vpon vs infinite dewes of his swéet and blessed word and yet still we continue to be those drie trées to whom his curse cutting down and casting into the fire belongeth The Lord grant that with all spéede we may turne from our sinnes to righteousnes and holynes of life that God may turne his anger from vs and his fauor towards vs Amen MArcus Antoninus with an oration that he made vpon the death of Caesar is said to haue greatly delighted the people of Rome and that he mooued very many of them to shed great store of bitter teares when he put them in remembrance of the great benefits which they had frō time to time receiued of Caesar withal did shew them Caesars garment wherin his enimies Cassius Brutus had slaine him all full of blood whereat they were so mightily mooued that they expulsed the homicides out of the citie so that they durst not if they woulde liue any
by and by iudge that the prince or gouernor of the same is iust and very mightie and wise though thou seest him not Euen so in the huge greatnes of this world and the agreement and well hanging togither of the things contained in the same though differing in their natures and the apt and fit placing of the whole it cannot be but that thou wilt presently conceiue in thy minde that there is a great a wise and mightie creator and preseruer of these things For not onely the mighty works of God in this great world but also his incomparable workmanship in the little world that is in man himselfe for so he is called of some do teach vs woonderfull knowledge of God The prophet Dauid speaking to God saith Thy knowledge O Lord is made woonderfull by me As if he should say By the knowledge of my selfe O Lord I am come to a woonderfull knowledge of thée AS the cause of trées and plants of their rootes stocks stems and boughes is in the séede So the cause of our transgressions foule sinnes and most dangerous iniquities is our owne corruption wherewith we are mooued and inclined to all euill and the ignorance and not knowing of our selues wherewith we are greatly hindred in the knowledge of our God and do also most sharply censure those things in others which we do loue and cherish in our selues We must know also that selfe loue is vnto vs a perilous theefe for it doth rob vs of the knowledge of our selues it blindeth our eies and darkeneth our vnderstanding It is a very common théefe so ranging and robbing in euery place so raigning and ruling without controlment yea it is so welcome to high and lowe that that saying of the apostle may séeme to haue beene spoken of these our daies Dangerous times will come saith he and men shal be louers of themselues O how true is it yea it is to too true that we neuer set our selues before our owne eies that is we neuer stay we neuer examine our owne thoughts words and works but let them passe and go on like roages and vagrant persons till by some others they be apprehended they go vntouched of our selues we be lynces that is earnest priers into the liues of others but about our owne liues we are very moles or wants that is starke blinde EVen as whéeles do run most lightly So godly men and vertuous women are most easily mooued to euery good action vpon any occasion offered If they do but heare of the wants miseries calamities pouertie imprisonment and sicknes of their poore brethren they presently begin to care for them and to cast with themselues how they may reléeue them succour helpe and comfort them The troubles and afflictions of their Christian brethren are to them as if they were their owne AS a whéele doth touch the ground onely with one side or a little part and with the other is lifted from the earth So a man that feareth God and loueth righteousnes and is carefull for the saluation of his soule dwelleth héere vpon the earth onely in bodie but in affect and desire he is lifted vp on high and so dwelleth in heauen in his meditations and the thoughts of his hart AS men in a cléere and bright shining night passing or trauelling néere vnto a déepe riuer do plainly sée and behold in a calme the shadowes and beautifull likenesses of the round moone and glistering stars but those stars and moone though they séeme to be in the waters are notwithstanding placed in the skies Euen so men that haue gathered and learned wisedome out of the word of God and do direct the whole course of their liues by the line of the same although they séeme to be in the flood of this life which daily is tending towards the sea of death yet in spirit and in minde they are fixed and placed in heauen and leading an heauenly and godly life they contemne and despise all those things which vnto the wicked and vngodly do séeme great high and precious matters and do draw after them with great force the most part of the world AS it behooueth him that walketh vpon coardes strained and fastened on high diligently to looke to his footing that he may not totter or decline this way or that way bicause he must néeds perish if neuer so little hée misse his way Euen so it standeth vs vpon to be warie and carefully to looke about vs and to take good héede where we set our feete that is our affections and the delights of our harts least we fall downe headlong into the bottomlesse gulphe of Gods displeasure For if we will fire our affections and bende our wils with a deliberate consent to do the thing that is euill vniust and vngodly making no conscience of any thing that we do be it neuer so opposite and contrary to the will of God it cannot be but falling from the state of grace we shall fall most suddenly and shamefully into the infernall pit of hell death and damnation From whence there neuer was there is not neither euer shall be any returne nor deliuerie Our blindnes in heauenly things héere shal be most iustly rewarded with intollerable tortures in most horrible feareful and stinking darknes there where no ease end nor remedie shall euer be found Let vs therefore be very carefull and take good héede that we lose not our eies and indéede our eies are then put out and we do vtterly lose our sight when we giue our selues ouer to carnall delights to fleshly lusts to worldly pleasures and to loue more the things that are below in the earth then those things that are aboue in heauen with God euerlasting life it selfe This was shadowed in Samson for the Palestines pulled not out the eies of that famous man vntill he had slept in Dalilaes bosome neither shall thy enimies blinde thée vnlesse thou wilt resigne thy selfe to foule delights filthy pleasures Whersoeuer soule lustes and forbidden pleasures do beare the sway there is no place for temperance and in the kingdom of dishonest loue vertue is not known And where vertue is wanting there is no wisedome and where wisedome is banished there is no sight but a miserable blindnes of minde and where Sathan the God of this world hath blinded mens mindes there is most certaine death and lamentable destruction The deuill that old serpent our deadly enimie doth so extremely hate vs that he layeth and kéepeth a continuall siege against all vertue and doth what he can to poison and to kill it euen in the hatching We haue great néede therefore of manie eies and many and continuall watchings that we may auoyde and escape his deceits that he trap vs not Pharao would kill the male children of the Israelites in their birth bicause the people of God should not increase this was the commandement of the deuill of Egypt and now Sathan doth what he can to kill
and slaie all good works and all godly purposes yea he laboureth by all his meanes and instruments to strangle and to smother the very first motions of them in the harts and minds of men least they should increase and multiply he is that dragon with seauen heads which as Iohn saith in the Reuelation stoode before the woman when shée was to be deliuered of hir sonne that euen in the birth he might deuoure hir childe We may very fitly vnderstand by the woman the soule of man which when it thinketh and purposeth to do good works is said to conceiue and when it bringeth foorth and perfourmeth the same in deed is said to be deliuered as a woman of a childe but then sathan is foorthwith most eager and busie to stop the kindlie birth of vertue and godlines and to smother it so that it neuer come to light The Lord strengthen vs against his force and make vs wise against subtiltie that in all his sleights and craftie conueyances he may bée disappointed and we deliuered from him and that we may do the will and walke in the waies of our God mauger sathan and all his meanes EVen as the Ostrige being a great and mightie foule hath wings but doth not flie neither is lifted vp frō the ground with them so very many men in the world do séeme to bée caried vp to heauen vpon the wings of their ceremonies but are in déede in hart mind and desire fast nailed to the earth As the Ostrige hath wings and flieth not so they haue calling but they answere it not they haue knowledge but they practise it not they haue words but they worke not THe Kite being a most gréedie and rauening foule mounteth exceeding high so that you would thinke shee toucheth the gliding clouds and as shee flieth doth spred her wings and yet when shee is at the highest shee hath hir eies fast set and fixed below in the earth pryeng and spieng to catch if shée can some poore chicken or other praie within hir talons indéed shée flieth high but neuer looketh vp towards heauen but altogither downe towards the earth euen so thou shalt sée a number of men faining a certaine sanctymonie and counterfeiting much holines who although they are thought with the contemplation of heauenly things to be rauished and taken vp into the clouds yet they minde nothing lesse then true godlines neither any thing more then earth and earthly things Their studie is for worldly honor their greatest carking and care is for rich and large reuenues for dignities princes fauours and worldlie wealth Such men turne their backs to heauen and flie from God and so being disappointed of that light which they séemed to séeke for they are wrapped in palpable and most dangerous darknes but they that truely séeke after God do by the helpe and assistance of his holie spirite translate and conuey their minds from earth to heauen and so are illuminated with the brightnes of God his grace and loue for so saith Christ himselfe He that foloweth me walketh not in darknes but shall haue the light of life But we shall neuer follow Christ as we ought vnlesse we shall first vtterly denie our selues for he saith If anie man will folow me let him denie himself and take vp his crosse and folow me and then and so often do we denie our selues as treading vnder féete our old and former sins we leaue to be that we haue béene and begin to be that we haue not béene and follow the counsell of the apostle saying Layeng aside our old conuersation and putting off the old man which is corrupted after the lusts of the flesh let vs be renued in the spirit of our minds But alas I speake it with gréefe of hart the most part of the world despising and forsaking God do take for their guide and do folow as their captaine the violent lusts and foule appetites of their owne corrupted and cankered harts But if we woulde consider what that is that driueth vs whither we are going in such great haste what we do whom we folow what woe wée worke our selues and what will be the end we would surelie forsake those waies of our owne and turne our féete into the waies that is into the statutes and lawes of our God Dauid tooke this course and so the Lord graunt we may Amen EVen as a Bird doth not flie with one wing alone but with twaine So it is not enough that we know much of the Lords worde and will but we must do it also It will not suffice vs at the latter daie that we haue béene great professors of the Gospell and are deepely learned if also we haue not béene inflamed with a loue to God aboue all things and haue not loued our brethren as our selues if our knowledge our faith and profession do not mooue vs to praie to God for to visite and to comfort our poore brethren being sicke in prison or otherwise distressed if I say our faith and knowledge yéeld not fruits that we féede the hungrie cloath the naked call into our houses the harborlesse and shall not do to all men as we would be done vnto we shall be beaten with many stripes bicause we knowe the will of God and do it not Blessed onely are they that feare the Lord and walk in his waies And blessed are they that heare the word of God and kéepe it The greatest the highest the best and onely seruice that man can do and bring vnto the Lorde is his obedience to Gods word and the dooing of his will AS hée that maketh tooles and instruments of iron or other mettle maketh not rustines and canker neither is to be blamed if those things which he hath made by reason of too much moisture dust or other corruption shal afterward gather canker or rustines euen so that heauenly workeman our God did not bring in sinne and iniquitie neither can he iustly be blamed if his creatures do staine and blemish themselues with the foulenes of sinne and wickednes for he made them good God saw all things that he had made saith the holie Scripture and they were excéeding good Augustine in his 14. Booke of the Citie of God saith Good things may he without euill things but euill things cannot be without good things bicause the natures in which euill things are in as much as they be natures they are good For they be of God and in some measure they lead vs to the knowledge of him Dauid vnderstāding so much saith Howe excellent are thy works O Lorde thy thoughts are excéeding déepe An vnwise man doth not knowe these things and the foole doth not vnderstande them That man perisheth is damned and goeth to hell is not the Lords fault but mans owne EVen as plants and trées do spread abroad their rootes in the earth from whence they haue their nourishment So christian men bicause they
with the riches goodes naturall gifts and talents which they haue receiued of the Lord do purchase and euen make sure vnto themselues euer lasting confusion death and damnation against the will and commandement of the Lord the owner and giuer of the same Ecclesiasticus saith truly that gold and siluer hath destroied many men If we would follow the counsell of the Apostle we should mortifie couetousnes which he calleth worshipping of idols The couetous man saith Augustine before he gaine monie he loseth himselfe and before he catch any thing himselfe is catched Couetousnes is a cruell tyrant and the riches of couetous men are those idols vnto the which that saying of the Lord by Ieremie the prophet may very well be applied Ye shall serue strange gods day and night which will giue you no rest The old philosophers purposing to describe auaâ—ice or couetousnes did faine that one Tantalus in hell was gréeuously tormented with thirstines and drought in the middest of riuers of waters signifying thereby that couetousnes is a very swallowing gulfe and an insaciable hel where couetous men euen burning with a loue of riches do most earnestly couet and gréedily run after those things wherof they haue great and vnspeakable abundance And the more they haue the more are they tormented with an vnquenchable thirst and an hote burning desire still to haue more and more In my opinion if a couetous man were so mightily and so heauily loden with gold and if it were possible fuller of riches than that ship that came to Salomon from Ophir yet he would neuer be satisfied RIuers and floods although they be most swéete and pleasant yet when they run and enter into the sea they are most bitter kéeping their right and due course they yéeld pure and wholsome water but once mingled with the sea they are as it were poysoned with bitternes Euen so the wealth and riches of this world although in the course of this life they do highly delight some men which haue them in possession not the lesse when they come to the sea of death whither all floods at the length shall come they séeme to be dolefull sower bitter intolerable and as it were poyson it selfe For rich and couetous men do then finde and féele that their riches wealth and prosperitie which the Lord gaue them to an excellent end haue béene vnto them many times occasions of euill That good man Augustine saith that pride is a sicknes or disease that commeth of riches Also gold is the matter or cause of cares labours toyles feares and of all vnquietnes it is perilous to the possessors of it and a great weakening of vertues in all them that set their harts vpon it And Chrysostom saith that riches are a schoole of malice enuie and hatred Christ Iesus therefore our heauenly schoolmaster saith Blessed are the poore in spirite for theirs is the kingdome of heauen And againe Lay not vp for your selues treasures in the earth Also You cannot serue God and mammon And yet this is euer to be vnderstood that riches of themselues are not euill but as they be to the wicked and vngodly hinderances of vertues so they are to the faithfull seruants of God helps and furtherances of many good things godly actions and very charitable works For godly men do possesse their riches be they neuer so ample and infinite and are not possessed of their wealth and goods their riches are drudges to them and not they to their riches EVen as gold is tried with a touch stone So is man tried with gold And as Chilo the Lacedemonian saith Gold doth most manifestly prooue and declare what they be that owe it And looke what the touch stone is to gold the same is gold to man The touch stone with rubbing the gold or siluer vpon it sheweth plainly what kind of gold or siluer it is and gold it selfe doth in like maner most easily bewray what maner of man one is There is no touch stone in all the world that doth more truly touch and trie al degrées of vertues and vices than gold wealth and abundance of riches The Israelites being very inclinable to the superstitions of the Egyptians were no sooner out of Egypt but they made a calfe of gold and iewels the which they worshipped in stead of God And in the land of promise they oftentimes consumed and wasted their gold and treasure in making of idols Whereupon did arise that great complaint which the Lord maketh by the prophet Oseas saying I haue multiplied their siluer and their gold which they haue made Baal as if he should say I haue giuen the Israelites great store of siluer and gold which they most wickedly haue wasted in making of the idoll Baal And by the same prophet the Lord saith Their siluer and their gold haue they made idols for themselues to serue But men that are godly and of sound and Christian religion do bestowe their goods their wealth and riches vpon building and repairing temples and churches dedicated to the holy seruice and true worshipping of God in féeding the poore saints of God in redéeming captiues in prouiding for poore widowes and orphanes and in doing such other vertuous and godly déedes of charitie The nobles of the Israelites returning from the captiuitie of Babylon did bring their substance and riches to build the temple of the Lord. And Tobias did féede the hungrie and gaue clothes to the naked The wise men of the east contrie opening their treasures offered vnto the Lord gold frankincense and mirrhe And now in our time that is truly offered vnto the Lord and is vnto him a sweete smelling sacrifice which is giuen to the poore distressed seruants of God I remember a report giuen out of one â—medeus when certaine orators talking with him demanded whether he kept any hounds or not he presently shewed vnto them a great multitude of poore beggers sitting all togither these saith he are my hounds with these do I hunt after the kingdome of God these do I kéepe and féede euery day the Lord send many such huntesmen HIeronymus saith that it is a part of sacrilege not to giue vnto the poore that which is their owne That is whatsoeuer thou art able to spare Money meate clothing harbour counsell comfort and whatsoeuer els thou art able to do That is not lost which thou dost distribute among thy poore brethren and sisters in the worlde For as Salomon saith He laieth in bancke vnto the Lord which hath pitie and sheweth mercy vnto the poore It can not be lamented and bewayled inough to sée how infinite thousands in the world do most vainly yea most vilely and wickedly spend and lauish out the goods and riches wherewith the Lord hath put them in trust to the end that they should vse them to his owne glory and the good of his church Some vnder the colour of religion and holines with their goods
naked vpon the crosse Before Christ did appéere in the flesh pouertie might haue séemed verie bitter and full of ignominie vnto men but after that the Emperour of heauen and earth had taken pouertie vpon himselfe and also touching himselfe said The foxes haue holes and the foules of the aire haue nestes but the sonne of man hath not where to laie his head Who doth not now sée that Christian pouertie in the seruants of God doth well become them and is honorable and that it is a true badge of Christian nobilitie IF a king should haue a certaine house fast lockte and close shut vp full of gold precious stones and costly iewels and would promise all those treasures to one that should open the same and would offer vnto thée two keies one of pure gold hanging at a costly string made of silke and golden threads but that would not open the same locke that thou mightest go into the house and the other of iron rustie and ill fauoured to sée to hanging at a thong of leather or whipcorde the which notwithstanding would open the doore and let thée in that thou mightest choose which of these keies thou wouldest were it not better and more profitable for thée to choose the old rustie iron keie then the keie of gold Yes no doubt The golden one indéed is more precious but what auaileth that when it will not open the doore and bring thee to the treasures The iron one is the viler but yet it is the better Such a king is our God and such an house is that heauenly habitation of his saints wherein are inestimable treasures endlesse ioies and vnspeakable good things which are woorthier and more excellent then man is able to expresse For so saith the holie Ghost No eie hath séene nor eare heard nor hart of man conceiued those thinge which the Lorde hath prepared for them that loue him All which heauenlie treasures God hath promised to all them that shal enter into his holie hill or house of saints The golden keie which the most part of this world do choose and trust to that they may enter into heauen is worldly wealth and aboundance of riches ioyned with couetousnes which will neuer open the Lords house where are kept his celestiall and inestimable treasures But that key doth rather open a foule and vile house of this world which is full of all filthines and abominations The iron keie is spirituall pouertie against the which the kingdome of heauen is neuer shut but standeth euer wide open to all them that bring with them that key so saith Christ himselfe Blessed are the poore in spirit for theirs is the kingdome of heauen Let vs therefore make no account of the golden key but let vs for Christ and his kingdom forsake and despise the deceitfull riches of this world which are desired and sought for far and neare by sea and land with dangers and losse of the bodies and soules of many thousands as though men could bribe God for their sinnes and purchase heauen with their worldly trifles and let vs without murmuring and grudging with all patience of hart and minde beare and imbrace pouertie and all those crosses and afflictions which vnto the world séeme bitter and intolerable of which kind very many do happen in the life of man Let vs earnestly séeke after the riches of the Lords kingdome and euerlasting life for they be stable and permanent let vs not set our harts and affections on this world for it waxeth olde rotten it staggereth is ruinous and readie to fall Iob speaking of rich men which do deliâ—iously pamper themselues euery day saith They leade their daies in pleasures and in the twinckling of an eie they go down into hel And Dauid saith They shall leaue their riches for others c. And Salomon saith Thy riches shal do thée no good in the day of vengeance And in the booke of Wisedome What hath pride profited thée and what good hath thy bragging of riches brought vnto thée all these things are gone away like a shadow and as a messenger running before EVen as a firebrand drawen from the fire and lying still waxeth cold and by little and little dieth and is extinct but being mooued and put to the fire burneth and flameth Euen so an idle life doth by little and little extinguish vertue but being well exercised it doth kindle and increase the same Therfore is it said in the booke of Iob Man is borne to labour And Ecclesiasticus saith that idlenes hath taught much mischiefe This mooued the Apostle to will Timothie to watch and to labour in all things And the same Apostle saith that euerie one shall receiue his owne hire or reward according to his labour Lawyers do say that inheritance is had with the burden thereof Séeing then that we be Gods heires and the fellow heires of Christ as the Apostle affirmeth it must néedes be that we come not â—â— our inheritance not with idlenes but loden with great and â—â—auie burdens of aduersities and tribulations and with sore â—â—â—our and gréeuous grones vnder the weight of the same If wâ— shall giue our selues to ease and shall séeke after rest in this lâ—â—â— and so slumber in securitie and idlenes our enimie the diuell â—ill surely deceiue vs. For whiles men slept saith the Eâ—…ist the enimie came and did sowe darnell vpon the wheate Christ himselfe doth highly condemne idlenes when he saith Why stand ye héere all the day long idle And a little after Call the workmen saith he to take their hire Idle persons are not called to take hire but they which haue laboured And they are called from their labours to rest from pouertie to heauenly riches and from their calamities to euerlasting pleasures Yea euen when they be dead then are they blessed and rest from their labours the spirit saith so and therefore it is most certaine and true When Tobias slept there fell out of a swallowes nest doong vpon his eies which made him blinde and wâ—iles we do sléepe and slumber in slothfulnes and idle securitie without being vertuously and godly exercised there creepe out of the nests of our harts most wicked and pestilent cogitations which do blinde and numbe our vnderstanding and carrie vs into most dangerous disobedience and rebellion against the Lord. MEn in these our dangerous daies are very close harted merciles towards the poore afflicted members of Christ And though they hear their cries sée their poore bodies readie to die at their doores in stréetes and in prison yet vntill they perceiue that there is no way but present death with themselues they will impart no part of their goodes and wealth vnto them Such men are like vnto beasts which are not eaten vntill they be dead and boiled or rosted For vntill death hath them in his pot and there boile them after his maner the
poore can haue no releefe at their hands whiles they liue they will do no charitable déedes nor works of mercie onely at the point of death in their last testament they will perhaps leaue some legacies to be giuen when they be dead but death must be sure of them before the poore be sure of a penny It were better done by much to releeue the poore with their owne hands in their life time it is not amisse that they do good then but it were better done before It is to be wished that man would consider whence he hath his name homo and finding that he hath it of humus the earth which yéeldeth to euerie man more than it receiueth at his hands and bringeth foorth and ministreth all maner of fruits to all men with great aduantage he would surely be afeard and ashamed that the earth should condemne him in bountifulnes and liberalitie The Lord doth very earnestly condemne the couetousnes and crueltie of the Iewes towards the poore in Ezechiel the prophet saying They did not stretch out their hands to the poore and néedie And Salomon saith He shall be blessed that hath pitie vpon the poore And indéede what a great blessing is it for things of no valure to receiue great and heauenly riches for dead things matters of life for things transitorie things eternall and to haue the Lord himselfe to be pay maister of all these things And the same Salomon saith that he laieth in banke vnto the Lord that hath pitie vpon the poore and also He that stoppeth his eares at the crie of the poore shall crie himselfe and not be heard And the Apostle calleth couetousnes worshipping of idols and affirmeth that the couetous man hath no inheritance in the kingdome of God He that loueth not his brother whom he seeth how can he loue God whom he seeth not Blessed are the mercifull saith Christ for they shall receiue mercie That man that vnmercifully kéepeth his gold monie meate cloth harbour or other comfort whatsoeuer and séeth his brother or sister want as he hath no loue of God in him so can he not by Christ be saued What then shall become of them which being rich do not onely not succour and comfort the poore but also dismay discomfort and dispoile them of that they haue surely such mâ—st néedes perish For theâ— are fettered and holden in the snares of sathan and wo wo is their reward It is a world to sée how the houses wals chambers bedstéeds and garments of rich men glitter and florish with gold and infinite poore soules that Christ suffered his death for are readie to perish in euerie place for want of foode and necessaries They enrich stocks and stones and suffer the seruants of God to be déepely distressed Whiles they hunt after worldly wealth they let slip the kingdome of heauen O miserable men what get they what haue they what possesse they surely nothing of any valure and yet they lose themselues They haue a vaile before their eies birde lime in their wings and fetters about their féete that they cannot sée the kingdome of God they cannot mooâ—e one feather of a wing towards heauen nor set one foote before another to go towards euerlasting saluation yet such men are merie now but their sorrow is not far off nor long to come AS feathers do lift vp and carrie on high the foules and birdes of the aire So the riches and dignities of this world are woont to extol and carrie men into the aire and clouds of vanitie And as haukes trusting to their wings will flie excéeding high as though they woulde pearce the clouds themselues for their too high flieng are oftentimes lost So men depending vpon the wings of prosperitie being puffed vp and swelled with pride the higher they clime the more mischéeuous is their fall and with the greater disgrace are they hurled downe headlong These be those feathers of vanitie which God commanded to pull out and to cast them into the dust The remembrance of death is a place of dust where we ought continuallie to reuolue in our minds those things which the men of this world do déeme and iudge to be most excellent considering how they all in the twinckling of an eie do vanish away and are consumed and we with them are turned into dust TRées growing in the woode are knowne some by the difference of their truncks or bodies some by the propertie of their boughes branches leaues flowers and fruits but this knowledge is had of them whiles they stande growe and are not consumed but if they be committed to the fire and turned into ashes they cannot be knowne for how is it possible that when the ashes of diuers kinds of trées are mingled togither the tall pine trée should be discerned from the great and huge oke or the mightie popler from a little lowe shrub or anie one tree from another Euen so men whiles they liue in the wood of this world are knowne some by the stocke of auncetors some by the florishing leaues of their words and eloquence some in the floures of beautie and some in the fruits of honestie manie by their sauage barbarousnes and some by their milde lenitie and kindnes But when death doth bring them into dust and hath mixed and mingled them all togither who can by their ashes earth and dust discerne and know them when the ashes and dust of all are mingled togither what difference is there then betwéene the mightie princes of the worlde and the séelie poore soules that are no account made of into the remembrance of such dust and ashes we ought to cast the beautifull and faire feathers of this world least being puffed vp with our owne conceites and with an ouer well wéening of our selues we vtterlie lose all temperance and measure kéeping and plunge our selues into intollerable errors For it is a plaine case that where vaine glory doth dominéere and beare the rule there is no place for temperance neither can vertue be suffered to be resident in the kingdome of vanitie HAukes of the best kind whiles they liue are highlie estéemed and much made of and are daintily fed and tenderly looked vnto and are caried vpon the fists of great and mightie men but when they be dead they are throwne out vpon the dunghill And on the other side the partridge when she liueth is troubled afflicted pursued of al euery cartar ploughman is readie to fall vpon hir to do hir violence and to kill hir But when she is dead she is brought to the tables of princes and is very honorably set before them So very many that in this life are counted very famous and notable men and do lead their liues in great prosperitie and worldly wealth and haue all things at their wils and pleasures when they remooue hence and go out of this life they shall be hurled vpon that most foule and filthie dung hill of
vexat censura columbas that is It doth fauour rauening kites and pinch nip in the head innocent doues and yet no fault in the law but in the corrupted lawyer S. 101. P. 46. 47. When a man is in prosperitie in all welth and no want infinite numbers of all degrees will make great and large shewes of much loue and friendship towards him but if the winde turne and take away his wealth renoume authoritie câ—edite health and libertie and he be fallen into any disgrace the same winde that did blow away these things will blow away all his friends such friends are at large painted out S. 102. P. â—7 Nothing doth more trie a friend then the bearing of a friends burden When a man is in prosperitie it is hard for him to discerne whether those that pretend friendship to him loue him or his riches most But old experience hath euer prooued that a man hath many friends for his wealths sake but verie few for his owne sake S. 103. P. 47. 48. Man hath no such enimie as his sinnes be they bring and pull vpon him all maner calamities in this life and will bring damnation vpon his soule and bodie in the world to come if he earnestly repent not speedily forsake them S. 104. P. 48. Wheâ— the Lord punisheth and scourgeth his children as though he had vtterly forsaken them then is he most mindfull of his mercy yea he chasteneth to that ende that he may shew mercy S. 105. P 48. 49. The Lords iustice will haue punishment and his promise will haue mercie S. 105. P. 49. Extreame troubles bitter afflictions and manifold pinching and nipping calamities do make a sound and perfect triall of true christianitie vnfained holines and voluntary patiente S. 106 P. 49. To preserue the health of the soule the bodie must be pinched and kept in subiection vnto the spirit the lusts of the flesh and the vnruly affections must be tamed and kept within the compasse of reason and obedience vnto the spirit that they exceede not the limits of modestie S. 107. P. 50. In times past good christians were geatly greeued and would shed many bitter teares to heare and see iniurie and wrong done vnto God his name dishonored but wrongs done to themselues they would take beare very patiently but now in these daies of ours we will with all rage and furie reuenge the least wrong done to our selues but whatsoeuer is done against the Lord doth neuer once trouble or greeue vs S. 108. P. 50. There be many very mischieuous men in these dangerous times which haue in them great pride and very much subtlety mingled togither And these men wil faine a lowlines and crouch greatly to deceiue others and to aduance themselues they work wo to many how humble soeuer they seem to be there is no good thing in them Mortified men that are truelie humbled are more greeued to heare vaine idle and blasphemous speeches then with any violent tortures that can be offered and done to their liues and bodies S. 109. P. 50. 51. That common wealth is in great danger and the people in much miserie where wicked and vngodly men are put in authoritie there vicious men are supported and incouraged but such as are vertuous and feare the Lord they go to wracke hauocke is made of them S. 110. P. 51. 52. When vngodly men oppresse their neighbours and do harme them in their bodies goods or names then do they hurt themselues most for they touch others but in things of the bodie but they kill their owne soules S. 111. P. 52. The seruants of God do profit very much by cruell persecutions and tyrannicall dealings of their enimies and thinke themselues happie that they are thought woorthie to suffer any thing for Christs sake S. 112. P. 52. The more that an humble and faithfull christian shall read or heare the worde of God and the neerer in vnderstanding and knowledge that he shal com vnto the mysteries secrets of God conteined in his word and with the greater purity of mind strength of faith and light of the grace of God he shal looke into them the more profound the deeper the more diuine and heauenly and the more comfortable to his soule shall he finde them S. 113. P. 53. A man is neuer farther short of the true knowledge of the will and meaning of God in his word then when he thinketh with his own wits and cunning to vnderstand it best S. 114. P. 54. The cleere and bright light of the word of God is very comfortable to such as feare him and loue his name but vnto the vngodly it is very offensiue S. 115. P. 54. The hart of man being inflamed with a true and sincere loue of God will giue no place to those daÌ„gerous temptations which are continually houering and flieng about it but being without that loue and being slothfull and idle in holy things and godlie exercises it wil be obuious and wide open to all maner of mischiefes and will be a receptacle of all wickednes and abhominations S. 116. P. 54. 55. The peace and vnitie of the church of Christ is by all possible meanes to be preserued and by the example of Christ we must do euen that we need not to do rather then disturbe the vnitie of the church the breakers of that peace are most wicked men S. 117. P. 55. There be many in these daies which are not ashamed to saie that the church of England is not the church of Christ bicause they can finde no comfort in it The reason why they finde no comfort in it is declared S. 118. P. 56. Man without the light of grace and the assistance of Gods most holie spirit can neuer attaine to the arriuing at the hauen of eternall glory S. 119. P. 56. They that be in authoritie and are to laie their hands vpon men to call them into the ministerie are to take heede that they be men very fit for that function and high calling If they do not they are condemned by Christ his owne example yea the foules of the aire do condemne them S. 120. P. 56. Though Christ Iesus our sauiour touching his manhood be in heauen at the right hand of maiestie power yet the eies of his mercy are stil euen to the end of the world vpon his seruants to defend and preserue them from their enimies and on the otherside they with the eies of their faith do still behold him and call to him for helpe in the perilous times of troubles and dangers S. 121. P. 57. To retaine and holde a fashion or likenes of vertue without the substance of it is nothing else but meere hypocrisie S. 122. P. 58. They that do counterfeit holines haue none are compared to swans whose feathers are white and flesh blacke S. 123. P. 58. Godly men that are truely regenerated and well seasoned with the spirit of grace though they be bred and