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
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
Lord is hard at hande to them that are of a troubled hart and will saue the humble and lowly in spirit And the Lords words by Ose the prophet are these In their tribulation they will rise vp earely and call vpon me For the Lord his maner and custom is to helpe and succour the afflicted which call and crie for his heauenly comfort Héerehence is that of the Euangelist Iohn Your sorrow shall be turned into ioy And that of the apostle As you are companions of the passions and sufferings so shall yée be of the consolation and comfort And that also in the Actes We must enter into the kingdome of God through many tribulations And holy Iohn in the reuelation speaking of the saints which haue and shall haue the fruition of God in heauen saith Those are they that came from great tribulation Héereupon Augustine saith excéeding well That the Lord hath appointed thée to suffer it is a scourge of him that chastiseth thée and not a punishment of him that condemneth thée Who woulde not then be well contented with troubles and afflictions Who would not willingly vndergo the indignation malediction and persecution of wicked men Who would be afeard of the spite malice and whatsoeuer this wicked world can say or do Séeing the sequell vnto the sons and daughters of God is to be exalted and extolled into heauen and to be placed there at the right hand of the almighty through and with the Lord Iesu world without end The forenamed saints of God and other holy men from age to age in the midst of their calamities did still remember themselues to be men borne vnder that condition that their liues should euer be open and subiect to all the ineuitable darts of infinite troubles and that there was no refusing to liue and leade their liues in that condition whereunder they were borne And whiles they called to minde the euents of other men they knew right well that no new thing had happened vnto them And indéede the remembrance of mans condition and estate and of a common law and lot as it were incident to al doth mitigate the paine of troubles and doth make their burden the easier to bear And this is a thing euer obserued and noted in the children of God that they are so far from impatience and from repining at their afflictions that euen in the depth of their miseries they thinke themselues happy that they are counted woorthy to suffer any thing for Christs sake It were a great booke matter to remember all those that are mentioned in the holy scriptures which euen shrinking and falling away from God haue béene recouered reclaimed and healed by afflictions and tribulations as it were with physicke and medicine from heauen O how great is thy goodnes how incomparable is thy clemencie how infinite and endles is thy mercy O heauenly and most holie father Which dost therefore afflict vs that tho◠maist chéere vs vp againe Thou dost therefore hold vs downe that thou maist comfort vs and dost suffer vs to fall into diuers and sundry calamities that we may learn to know thy righteousnes and mercies All these things thou dost not of hatred to vs warde but of loue not to destroy vs but to bring vs to thy glorie AS the aire is cléered with the brightnes and shine of the sun and when the sun is downe and set the aire is couered with darknes Euen so the minde of man when it is purged cleared with heauenly wisedome sought and drawne out of the word of God doth shine most excellently and sendeth foorth a pure and perfect light of christianitie which may most easily be decerned to procéed and to come from God himselfe But being without that true light it is ouerwhelmed with an horrible and fearfull darknes and giueth out nothing but filthy mists and stinking vapors which do spring and rise out of the corruption and rotten nature of man and euen from hel and sathan himselfe How can it be that darknes and blindnes should remaine and rest in that hart of man which the holie Ghost the authour of all light and the onely light it selfe hath chosen to be his owne seat and holy habitation Can error flowe out of the most pure fountaine of wisedome It is not possible that from the onely centre of all goodnes a line of wickednes should be drawne And can the fruits of death grow out of the trée of life These are vnpossible things And on the otherside where the holie spirit of grace and might hath not place and possession there is nothing to be found but blindnes error sin iniquitie and all abhomination yea and all the fruits of eternall death it selfe EVen as a bitter potion is not saide to be vnprofitable nor without hope when health and soundnes doth follow although it be excéeding bitter to him that taketh it So sharp and pinching calamities wherewith the Lord doth exercise now and then his children are not to be counted idle and in vaine when some peace of conscience and comfort vnto our soules do follow that when the iustice of God is séene many may be amended and the faith and patience of many may be tried For nothing is more auaileable for the aduauncing of the praise and commendation of true vertue then calamitie it selfe taken and borne patiently for Christs sake AS yoong chickins are in safetie from the hauke and puttocke so long as they straie not from about the wings of their dams and when they do straie far from them they are easilie taken of euery vermine Euen so they that depart not from God but kéeping themselues neere vnto him do walke and lead their liues within the compasse and limits of his laws and ordinances are most safely kept by him from the force inchantments engins and all the subtle deuises of sathan and his instruments but if they forsake God and not regarding his word diuide themselues from him by their sins and iniquities they must néedes fall into the tallons and iawes of that tyrannicall hawke and hound of hell from whence there is no deliuerie Whose whole indeuor and labor is like a roaring lion to séeke whom he may deuoure EVen as it is a thing very commendable and worthy praise that a soldier do euer beare about him the signes and badges of his captaine that it may appéere to whom he belongeth So is it no little honor to a true christian man to passe through manie dangers and to be experienced in many troubles and to indure many affliction◠for his captaine Christs sake For sorrowes vexations and tribulations are the armor and badges of Christ And therefore the apostle which for Christs sake suffered many things saith I do beare about in my body the marks of the Lord Iesu EVen as the sun which vnto eies being sound and without disease was very pleasant and wholsome vnto the same eies when they are féeble
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
sore and weake is very troublesome and hurtfull and yet the sunne euer all one and the selfe same that it was before So God that hath euer shewen himselfe benigne and bountifull to those that were kinde and tender harted towards his saints and mercifull to those that shew mercie vnto the same men when they fall into wickednes and grow to be full of beastly crueltie the Lord sheweth himselfe to be very wrath and angrie and yet still one and the selfesame immutable God from euerlasting to euerlasting So that we sée the Lord to beare and shew himselfe vnto men according to that which he knoweth them to be The prophet Dauid had great knowledge and no small experience of this when he said The Lord will reward me according to my righteousnes and according to the cleannes of my hands in his owne eie sight with the holy thou wilt be holy and with the froward thou wilt deale frowardly When the wicked and vngodly do prouoke the Lord to anger and euen pull vpon themselues through their rebellion and hardnes of hart some iudgements plagues or scourges then they thinke that the Lord dealeth hardly and frowardly when as notwithstanding he is most holy and most iust AS a looking glasse doth shew whatsoeuer thou shalt set against it if thou shew thy selfe pleasant and milde vnto it it also will shew it selfe milde and pleasant vnto thée and if thou beest angrie and full of wrath and indignation thou shalt perceiue in like maner the countenance of the glasse to be as it were furious and cruell to behold whereas notwithstanding the glasse is one and the same So God whereas he is one and the selfesame immutable and euerlasting God and as it is said in the booke of Wisedome A glasse without spot or blemish is sometimes compared to a gentle lambe and sometimes to a fierce and terrible lion Esaias saith of him Euen as a shéep vnto the slaughter was he led and as a lambe before the shearer so he opened not his mouth And Iohn Baptist saith of him also Behold the lambe of God that taketh away the sinnes of the world And Christ speaketh of himselfe Learne of me for I am méeke and lowly in hart These and such other places do shew the mildnes and kindnes of our God But the prophet Esay speaking of him againe saith The furie of the Lord is waxâ—n hot against his people And a little after His voice is as the roring of a lion And Amos the prophet saith A lion of the tribe of Iuda hath the victorie Christ himselfe affirmeth that he is mercifull towards them that be mercifull saying Blessed are the mercifull for they shall obtaine mercie And touching the Lords maner of dealing with cruell and vnmercifull men Iames the apostle saith He shall haue iudgement without mercie that sheweth no mercie himselfe Thus do we plainly sée how diuersly the Lord sheweth himselfe to wit mercifull to those that be mercifull and to those that be mercilesse and cruell he sheweth himselfe sharpe and seuere Christ declareth in his Gospell that he will say vnto the good in the last iudgement day Come ye blessed children of my father possesse a kingdome prepared for you from the beginning of the world for I was hungrie and ye gaue me to eate c. O swéete and comfortable saying to the children of God And to the wicked he will say Depart from me ye cursed ones into euerlasting fire prepared for the diuell and his angels for I was hungrie and ye gaue me not to eate c. O dolefull and fearfull curse well had it béene for them if they had neuer béene borne Our sauiour Christ in his holy Gospell that he may teach vs his care loue towards vs compareth himselfe to many things calling himselfe somtimes a shepheard somtimes an husbandman somtimes a man somtimes an housholder and somtimes also a king calling his seruants to their accounts rewarding wel the good and condemning the bad and somtimes also a king bidding all to a marriage and to a wedding dinner For thus it is written The kingdome of heauen is like vnto a man a king which made a great marriage for his sonne He is called a man a king that we may vnderstand him to be bountifull and mercifull toward vs. But not long after it is said When the king heard it he was angrie When he is noted to be angrie he is not called a man a king but king onely And as we read the scriptures we find that Christ is called by diuers and sundrie names and all to expresse his nature and disposition vnto vs. He is said to be woonderfull a branch iust comely beautifull Iesus Messias a sauiour saluation a rocke a corner stone a counsellor strong beloued the sun a captaine a giant a bridegroome the east the prince of peace the father of the world to come a lord an high priest a physition Emanuel an eagle a mediator a fountaine of water of life the bread of life the way truth and life a light the roote of Iesse a swift destroier and by many other names is he called as we shal finde in the scriptures as we read and marke them well and yet he the same God and as Iames the apostle saith Without any shadow of change He brought and aduanced the people of the Hebrewes to great dignitie and againe did throw them into extreme ignominie but the change was in them and none in him He placed them in the land of promise and brought them into the captiuitie of Babylon and all these things did he without any alteration in himselfe to shew both his mercie and his iustice EVen as a twig or branch taken from a very good and fruitfull trée and graffed in the trunke or stocke of some wilde trée as a crab thorne or such like doth draw the trunke or stock to the nature of the twig or branch that now it beareth other leaues and other fruit than it was woont to do So the doctrine of Christ well planted and surely graffed in our barren harts doth draw vs and conuert vs vnto and into it selfe and causeth vs to beare other goodly leaues of holy and godly words and other most pleasant and wholsome fruits of vnfained vertues and graces But by the way we must néedes crop and cut off the boughes of our old sinnes that Christ may be graffed in vs and then no doubt our fruit shall be such as God for his sonnes sake will accept and take in good part at our hands A good trée cannot beare bad fruit nor an euill tree good fruit No man can be delighted with the foule pleasures and filthie delights of the world and the flesh and with the ioyes of heauen at the same time No man can be giuen both to the contemplation of heauenly things and to the wisedome of the flesh Truth and lying things euerlasting and things most vile
flesh and blood the world and diuell haue their harts those go downward and take roote below Such men are like vnto trées which in the swéete and pleasant spring time will be well stored and full of goodly blossoms and wil make a franke offer and a large promise of much fruit but when the fruit is looked for and should be gathered there is none to be had they were but bare leaues and idle blossoms Such trées did Christ himselfe méete with when he was héere belowe vpon the earth in his bodie and at this day the whole world euen euerie citie and towne is very full of such trées yea it is hard to finde one house wherein there groweth not such a trée Well the Lord did curse them then and be we sure he will not blesse them now he that then did cause them to be cut downe and cast into the fire will in like maner cast into the fire and torments of hell all those that séeke him with their lips and are far from him with their harts Vngodly men which are delighted in forbidden things they come not néere the waies of the Lord whatsoeuer shew of holines they make with men they sit downe and rest themselues in the seate of wickednes for they haue onely their lips gilded with holines there is not one dram of godlines in their harts The prophet doth testifie so much when he saith that they which worke wickednes walke not in the Lords waies their harts are so far from séeking after God or any good thing that indéede they séeke after euill things as Salomon in his Prouerbs affirmeth Yet neuertheles there be some though the number of them be not great that euen as great and mighty vapors with the force and power of the sunne are taken and lifted vp from the earth and do séeke after the sunne by whose strength and vertue they are carried vp on high and growing into cloudes do euen follow the sunne So I say there is a remnant and a little flocke of Christs that in a true vnfained and sincere loue of God are lifted vp from the loue of this world and from all earthly and fleshly affections so far as is possible for man in this life to be and do séeke the Lord and his kingdome in the singlenes of their harts and thinking the time of their abode héere in this vale of all miseries to too long they daily sigh and grone for a dissolution and the comming of Christ to iudge the quick and the dead But this number is very small and we may admire them euen as the prophet Esay did and say Who are these that flie like scattered cloudes The Lord if it be his holy and blessed will turne the harts of all hypocrites and carnall worshippers of God to serue him in veritie and in truth and vouch he safe to increase the number of his single harted seruants Amen EVen as the blood in the bodie of a man being corrupted with a poisoned arrow doth by and by flie to the hart euen séeking and hoping as it were to finde some remedie and helpe there and yet doth euen so soone as it toucheth the hart finde death where it sought for life So men when they are sore pressed with calamities do make the world their first refuge and whiles they séeke for succour and comfort of the world they finde no better thing than death where they thought to haue found life Experience doth teach them that they sought for life in the house of death and for a medicine there where no good thing is to be had But it behooueth vs that do professe christianitie and do fight vnder that banner when we labour and are loden heauily with tribulations and afflictions foorthwith to repaire vnto God and with all spéede and possible haste to run vnto Christ who euen from the altar of the crosse where he offered himselfe for vs that by his death he might deliuer vs from euerlasting death calleth vs vnto him Our sauiour Christ is said to make a feast and to eate at the conuersion of a sinner when he forsaketh his wickednes and turneth vnto the Lord with a contrite and sorrowfull hart for his sinnes and offences committed against the word and will of God for so the Euangelist saith Bring hither the fat calfe kill it and let vs eate So that we can no way make the Lord a banket that will please and delight him but by forsaking the world our sinnes and our selues and in appealing to the throne of his grace and mercies seate We heare his voice euery day what meane we that we obey it not Why continue we in sinne which consumeth and rotteth our soules and bodies as rustines doth iron Why go we not home to our heauenly father We know his goodnes we haue great experience of his clemencie loue and mercie and yet still we linger Our patrimonie is gone we haue most lewdly spent wasted and consumed all so that we are no more woorthie to enter into the kingdome of God than are the very foule and dirtie swine and yet nothing wil driue vs to him It is euen as himselfe saith No man can come vnto me vnlesse my father drawe him the Lord then draw vs vnto himselfe What a madnes is it to séeke for helpe reléefe and comfort of the world which séeketh vs onely that it may deceiue and destroy vs The Lord calleth vs to giue vs comfort and vnspeakable ioy and we turne our backs to him the world doth but hold vp a finger and becken vs to it with a purpose to haue our companie to hell and damnation and we run and whine after it like a thirstie infant after the dug of his mother or nurse And thus we passe on séeking for life in the house of death and for ioy in the vale of miserie where none is to be found The Lord open the eies of our vnderstanding and make vs to know and to see that our helpe health comfort and life in this world and in the world to come standeth onely in him that made both heauen and earth Amen IDlenes as it bréedeth pouertie and beggerie in very many which might liue well and in good sort with diligent and faithfull labour So is it very dangerous in those that be rich and féele no smart nor want in this life for whiles they giue themselues to foule idlenes voluptuousnes doth ouercome reason and they are snared and taken in the deadly traps of the deceitfull flickerings of the world and are poysoned with carnall pleasures and fleshly delights which do beare them faire in hand for a little while but at the length do deceiue them and leaue them in shame and confusion For euen as the earth when it is not tilled nor trimmed doth bréede and bring foorth briers brambles and all noisome and vnprofitable things so idlenes in man doth bréede and broode in him vngodly thoughts and
may be vtterly abandoned And if thou for thy part wilt begin euen striue to be the first thou shalt do well Wed thou thy selfe as in déede we all ought to do the will of God whatsoeuer it cost thée somthing for my sake thy poore brother in Christ that most déerely doth loue thée in the Lord Iesu and somthing for thy soules sake to kéepe it out of hell and that it may come to heauen but especially for Gods sake to whom thou owest all obedience and so shall I thinke my paines well bestowed and be ready all the daies of my life to labour still to do thée good Loue to thée in Christ Iesu hath constrained me to send abroad this little booke of Similies to let thée know that I wish well to thée and that I daily desire and beséech the almightie that sinne may be destroied and that the feare of God may euer possesse thée dwell in thy hart and florish in thy hands True it is good reader that we ought to desire to liue no longer than we haue a care to liue well and that the whole course of our liues may be acceptable to God That is the Apostles meaning when he saith Wherefore also we couet that both dwelling at home and remoouing from home we may be acceptable to the Lord. And a little after the same Apostle saith that Christ died for vs that hencefoorth we should not liue to our selues but vnto him that died for vs. Therefore it is a méere vanitie to say we be Christians vnlesse we cast from vs our old corruptions and custome of sinning and be changed in our mindes and become new creatures in Christ Iesu The which thing I do most humbly craue at the hands of God euen for his owne name and his onely sonne Christ Iesus his sake both for thée and me that when the daies of our miseries in this dangerous and troublesome world shall be expired thou and I may haue a ioifull méeting with the rest of the Lords saints and all his holy angels in the glorie of his endlesse blessed and eternall kingdome through Iesus Christ our Lord to whom be all honour power praise glorie and dominion now and world without end A necessarie Table of the chiefe and principall things contained within this booke pointing the Reader to euery page and Similie wherein the same is to be found by these two letters S. P. the first signifieng the Similie the second the Page with figures of both their numbers as followeth WHo they be that are Christs sheepe and who be not Similie 1. Page 1. A veine of our head is cut that the whole bodie may be healed S. 2. P. 1. As the sunne light offendeth bleared eies so the truth offendeth both ignorant and obstinate papists S. 3. P. 2. As al the members of the bodie haue from the soule their moouing and life So euerie part of a commonwealth is gouerned by a godlie prince S. 4. P. 2. The sorcerie of the papists Brownists Familists and such others S. 5. P. 2. The worde of God signified by raine and sweete dewes and the operation of them both S. 6. P. 3. The church of Christ and true religion now established in England ought not to be condemned nor euil spoken of bicause some bad men are mingled with the good S. 7. P. 3. A candle that is put out cannot light another candle S. 8 P. 3. The spots of the world are dangerous and to be shunned of all but especially of them that teach others S 9. P 4. Those ministers of the word shepherds of the Lords flocks which smother their learning and do not impart their knowledge to the church of God do offend greatly S. 10. Pag. 4. Euill and wicked counsell is woont to fall vpon the heads of the first inuentors and giuers of the same S. 11. P. 4. 5. The minde of man without the word of God is barren and bringeth foorth no good thing S. 12. P. 5. People for the most part do imitate their princes whether they be good or euill S. 13. Pag. 5. The end of godly gouernment is peace S. 14. P. 6. Where true iustice hath no place there peace is not to be looked for S. 15. P. 6. The prosperitie of this world is like winters weather the calmnes of the sea and the stabilitie of the moone S. 16. P. 6. The superfluous cares of worldly things laid apart our mindes ought to be occupied in heauen and euer waiting vpon our God S. 17. P. 7. Men are very truly called the sonnes of them whose manners and liues they choose to imitate and follow S. 18. P. 7. As sweete waters are corrupted and spoiled when they run into waters which art salt bitter or vnwholsome So good men are greatly blemished in vsing the familiaritie of the wicked and vngodly S. 19. P. 8. Enuie is alwaies vertues companion miserie onely admitteth no enuie S. 20. P. 8. An enuious man is as vnprofitable to a citie as darnell is to wheate S. 21. P. 8. The enuious man can neither abide a superior an inferior nor an equall He is fitly compared to a viper and to the rustines of iron S. 22. P. 8 9. Enuie is a dangerous disease rife in al places it is a picture of hell S. 23. P. 9. To put any trust or confidence in this world or to depend vpon vaine man is to leane to a broken staffe the rod and the staffe of the Lord are onelie to be leaned vnto S. 24. P. 9. In all our words and actions a measure must be kept and consideration is to be had what agreeth with the time place and persons S. 25. P. 10. Humilitie ought to go before dignity S. 26. P. 10. Many hearers of sermons delight more in the rolling toong of the preacher and his retoricall phrases than in the matter it selfe which he deliuereth S. 27. P. 10. Though sound doctrine bicause it brideleth lusts reprooueth sinne and is a pore and cleere looking glasse for men to beholde themselues in is not welcome to manie yet ought the teachers of the word to continue and to be feruent therein S. 28. P. 10. 11. A common wealth is maintained and vpholden with two things to wit with due reward and due punishment S. 29 P. 11. Men are then woont to be ecclipsed and darkened concerning the loue of God and their neighbors when they growe rich in this world S. 30. P. 11. 12. The getting of great riches is the losse of great quietnes S. 31. P. 12. A iust man is a mightie man be he neuer so poore and a wicked man is vile and base be he neuer so rich S. 32. P. 12. 13. A fine exchange betweene a rich man that is naught and a begger that is honest and vertuous S. â—â— P. 13. As cloudes do couer the sunne so calamiâ—ie darkeneth the minde of man S. 34. P. 13. No sound iudgement can be giuen of a man vntill