rich and roiall mercies but rather let vs build and bind vpon them for the hauen of mercy is prepared for the repentant Secondly it is our part to beware of doubting distrusting and vnbeliefe for hereby we stop the current of Gods mercy and shut the doores of our hearts that the sunneshine of his grace cannot enter in vnto vs. Lastly wee in this case must not cast our eies vpon our owne vnworthinesse as though we should bring a pawne in our hands and bind God vnto vs by our owne works but wee must take notice of the infinite extent of Gods mercy and compassion and striue to beléeue and apply all the promises of saluation Q. How are they to bee comforted that tremble at and are sore afraid at the remembrance of the last iudgement A. First their feare of the last iudgement so that it bee not vnmeasurable and vnreasonable is a notable alarum to awaken them out of and to kéepe them from the slumber of security Hereupon Saint Paul by the terror of it endeuoured to perswade men to repentance And Saint Ierome whether he did eat drinke sléepe study thought that he heard alwaies sounding in his eares Arise ye dead and come to iudgement Secondly Gods children being in Christ and hauing him for their Sauiour friend mediator and Iudge shall neuer come into the iudgement of condemnation but shall heare that comfortable sentence Come ye blessed of my Father inherit ye the kingdome prepared for you from the beginning of the world Q. What vse in a word is to be made hereof A. We must spiritually imitate the last iudgement by arraigning our selues before the barre of Gods iudgement we must indite and condemne our selues for our sinnes and then the last iudgement shall not minister vnto vs matter of terror but of triumph Q. Js it peculiar to Gods children thus to bee sometimes perplexed with doubting of Gods fauor and their owne saluation A. Yes for first the wicked and prophane man is not sensible of his owne wants but is presumptuous and confident though he be notwithstanding deuoid and destitute of faith and inward holinesse Secondly that the child of God is subiect to such doubtings and wauerings it thus appeareth First satan desireth to sift them only and to spoile them of the rich treasure of grace in their minds and hearts Secondly whosoeuer truly beléeueth féeleth findeth in himselfe many doubtings and distrustings as the whole and sound man perceiueth in himselfe many grudgings of diseases which if he had not health he could not féele Hereupon we reade how many of Gods most worthy seruants haue doubted yea and almost despaired The man in the Gospel whose sonne was possessed with a diuel doubted when he praied Christ to helpe his vnbeliefe Iob 3. 13. Dauid Psal. 77.8 9 10 11. and Psal. 116.1 Ezechias Esay 38. and many others haue béene brought vnto the pit of desperation Thirdly Gods children onely complaine of abhorre and resist doubtings and wauerings yea and pray against them and therefore they must néeds be subiect vnto them Q. What are the principall meanes to suppresse these or the like doubtings A. The consideration of these meditations following First it is Gods commandement that we should beléeue his manifold and precious promises which if wee refuse to doe wee iustly defraud our selues of Gods fauour and of our owne saluation Hebr. 3.18 19. Secondly the promises of grace are generall to all Gods children and shut out no particular person and therefore when such offers of mercy and grace are made vnto vs and confirmed by the Sacraments of Baptisme and the Lords Supper let vs by the hand of faith apply them to our owne soules and consciences Lastly that by doubting of and calling the truth of Gods goodnesse swéet promises into question we offend God as much almost as by any other sinne for hereby we rob God of the glory of his mercy and make him what in vs lyeth a lyer because we will giue no credite to his promises nor apprehend lay hold on them Q. What practise is necessary for our helpe and recouery A. Wee must retire our selues into some secret place humble our selues before God make known our wants vnto him and entreat him to worke faith and suppresse vnbeliefe in vs and he wil heare vs. Q. Comforts and counsell for them that stand in feare and expectation of hell fire A. It is good and profitable euen for the regenerate oftentimes to speake thinke of and stand in feare of hell that they may hereby bee preserued from euill and confirmed in goodnes Hereupon our blessed Sauior thus armeth exhorteth his Disciples against persecution Feare not them which kill the body but are not able to kill the soule but rather feare him that is able to destroy both body and soule in hell fire Secondly there is no hell to the beleeuers for the sting of death is taken away by Christ the godly haue eternall life and are already viz. in beginning and hope passed from death to life 1. Ioh. 3.14 Joh. 5.24 Thirdly Christ did not onely many hundred yeares sithence by his death and soule-sufferings satisfie his fathers iustice for vs but alwayes sitteth on his Fathers right hand to make continuall and effectuall intercession for vs Rom. 8.34 and how then can we possibly perish Lastly our soules forthwith after that they are loosed from our bodies are carried by the blessed Angels into heauen and our bodies shall be raised in glory at the general resurrection how then can we slauishly feare hell CHAP. II. Of doubting of Gods fauour and loue toward vs. Question WHether it be incident to any of Gods children to doubt of his loue and fauour A. Yes verily and that sundry times Q. For what ends A. First that he should know that faith and a ful perswasion of Gods mercies is not naturall or procéeding from the power of a mans owne frée will but spirituall and inspired of God by his spirite Secondly that a Christian séeing his owne weakenesse and how busie Satan is to take the aduātage of his infirmity should by prayer entreat the Lord to strengthen his faith and to ease him of scruples and doubts Lastly that hereby God might traine and exercise his elect in the spirituall battel for they seeing their manifold doubts and ignorances are hereby prouoked to search the scriptures and to take notice of Gods promises that by the due application hereof their faith might bee fortified and strengthned and the remainders of ignorance and doubting be by degrees abolished Q. How shall Gods children comfort themselues when by reason of the number and heinousnesse of their sins they cannot be perswaded that they are Gods children A. By remembring and laying close to their consciences these or the like rules and directions following first it is a great part of our perfection to learne out
and so to lament a mans errours and imperfections Secondly God will pardon all sinnes to them that beleeue and repent be they as the sands of the sea for number and waight and hereupon we reade in the Scriptures how that Iudas hauing committed incest Dauid hauing in the pride of his heart numbred the people and added thereunto adultery and murther Salomon in his defection giuing a toleration to idolatry Peter hauing thrice denied his Lord and Master Mary the Adultresse Paul a blasphemer and persecutor Zacheus an extortioner diuers Conâ—urers whereof we read in the Acts of the Apostles the incestuous Corinthian repented and were receiued into grace and fauour with God Thirdly Christ their Sauiour came into the world to saue sinners and for this end gaue himselfe for them to be an offring and a sacrifice of a swéet smelling sauour to God by death hath destroied the diuell that had the power ouer death and therefore he will deliuer them which for feare of death are in bondage Lastly if they doe but hunger and thirst after grace and in good sadnesse séeke the Lord and the pardon of their sinnes they shall neuer bee sent away empty but be filled with good things and in Gods court get their quietus est Luk. 1.53 Apoc. 21.6 Q. What course must a Christian take that hee may bee eased and disburdened of his doubting A. First he must be prouident that he doe not minister matter and nourishment to this doubting by calling the power truth and mercy of God into question and by giuing credite vnto satan who is alwayes a lyer and a murderer and seeketh his confusion but hee must against hope belieue vnder hope all that God hath promised and vali 〈…〉 st the diuell and hee will flée from him Secondly he must often meditate vpon Gods excellent and abundant mercies and appropriate them to his owne vse and by faith flie vnto the throne of grace and then he shall find help in time of need namely rest to his soule peace to his conscience Psal. 103.9.10.11.12.13.14 15. Lastly hee must not onely conferre with and communicate his doubts and irresolutions to Gods Ministers and his Christian friends that may be the organs and instruments of God to perswade and comfort him but importune the Lord by constant and earnest praier to send downe his holy spirit that may teach him al truth and guide his feet into the way of peace and then he cannot but speed well Q. How shall a poor distressed Christian bee informed and reformed in his perswasion that doubteth whether that Christ be his Sauiour in particular or not A. First he must knew that Gods mercies in Christ cannot for length bredth deepenes and continuance bee comprehended and like the sunne so shine vpon all men and like the running springs so offer themselues to all sorts that none are put by and shut out but by their owne vnbeliefe and wilfulnes and therefore hee must entitle himselfe vnto and make claime of Gods generall pardon in Christ and then hee shâ—ll neuer miscarrie Secondly if a man bee teachable and fractable and doe humbly sue and seeke vnto Christ for assurance of faith he shall vndoubtedly obtaine it Lastly seeing that in the worke of our redemption specially God worketh by contraries out of darkenes he draweth light out of sinne sanctimonie out of want wealth out of reproch renown and out of death life c he must with faithfull Abraham contrary to hope belieue vnder hope and he shall at length be assured that Christ is his Sauiour Obiection Where there is no Word of God there is no faith but there is no particular word of God to ascertain mee that Christ is my Sauiour in particular how then can I haue any speciall perswasion of faith A. Though thy name bee not mentioned and expressed in Scripture yet there is that which is equiualent thereunto namely a commaundement to belieue and a promise of saluation to him that beleeueth Math. 28.18 19. Secondly if thou canst not at first be perswaded that Christ is thy Sauiour in particular be a diligent hearer frequent and feruent in prayer an ordinary resorter to the Lords Supper a conscionable liuer and conferre with thy Pastor and christian brethren and it shall be said vnto thee as vnto the woman of Canaan Great is thy faith bee it vnto thee according to thy desire Obiection But Hypocrites Heretickes and prophane persons may make an apply of the generall promise and yet bee farre wide of any true assurance A. Their application is but a meere deceit or illusion for they make an application presumptuously hauing neither the hand of faith nor the seale of sanctification The Diuell plaieth the iugler with them and maketh them belieue that they see that which they see not and to be full of faith when they are starke banckrupts in all sauing grace But it is farre otherwise with Gods children for they being indued with the spirit of grace appropriate Gods generall promises to themselues for when God in the preaching of the gospell saith Seeke yee my face they answere O Lord wee will seeke thy face and when God shall say thou art my people they shall answere The Lord is our God Zach. 13.9 Lastly Gods elect when they are adulti and tall men in Christ they doe firmely beleeue and so vndoubtedly know it as a man that holdeth a pretious iewel in his hand knoweth so much otherwise they should find no comfort in their calamities nor be thankfull to God for graces receiued Math. 9.2 Math. 15 28. Psal. 143.12 Rom. 4.22 Q But my faith is full of weakenes ignorance doubting and therefore I feare that I haue no faith at all A. Deare Brother you haue no such reason of feare and doubting for albeit your knowledge which is the eye of your soule be somewhat dimme yet blessed be God it séeth him that is inuisible and though the application of faith in you which is the very life of your faith is but féeble yet it is sufficient to touch the hemme of Christ his garment and so to saue you and as for other parts of it such as are confessioÌ„ for sinne godly sorrow for the same hunger after grace and earnest desire of pardon they are strong sound and sure and of such force as the gates of hell shal not preuaile against them and the least sparke of this faith quencheth all the fiery darts of the diuell and no maruaile for Christ your blessed Sauiour wil not quench smoaking flaxe nor bruise a broken réede but will perfit the begun work of grace in you Secondly by your owne confession a weake faith so it hath Christ onely so as he is reuealed in Scripture for his onely obiect is a very true faith a weak and sickly man is a true man so a weak faith is a true faith and therefore it hath in the Scriptures the
of peace and the entrance into paradise to all beleeuers Q. Why doe holy and regeneraâ—â— men die seeing that their sins are forgiuen them A. First because the remainders of sinne are left in them which cannot be abolished but by changing corruption into incorruption and this cannot be performed before the last day Secondly the law of nature must bèe fulfilled as well in them as in any other Lastly the quality of death is changed in the beléeuers for it is not death but a sleepe and not a punishment but a fatherly correction yea and a spéedy passage to eternall life Q. Seeing that the soules of the Saints are immediately after their departure out of the body glorified why are the bodies so long kept vnder the power of death and not iointly glorified with their soules A. First the body did sinne last and therefore is glorified last for this standeth with the proportion of iustice Secondly God in detaining the body for a time in the earth which is the first death doth hereby declare his mercy in deliuering both soule and body froÌ„ the second death Thirdly wee must by death bee made conformable to Christ our Sauiour that wee may raigne with him Fourthly God will hereby shew the truth of that his threatning Thou art dust and to dust shalt thou returne Fifthly Christ their head and King who is the resurrection and the life and the first fruits of the dead must of necessity be glorified before the members Lastly the bodies of the Saints though lying in the graue and consumed there yet are without sinne and sense of paine and they shall arise againe in glory at the last day and be reunited to their soules c. and both together inherite eternall happines through the power of God Ob. But the bodies of Henoch before the law and of Elias in time of the law neuer died but were rapt and translated into heauen A. First these examples are extraordinary and therefore they are no common rule to others For God did not onely hereby signifie to the world in what account he had them though the world distasted and despised their persons and blessed doctrine but hee made them types and figures of the generall resurrection Secondly some Diuines hold that their bodies though rapt vp into the aire were coÌ„sumed in the aire because Christ in regard of his bodily ascension is said to be the first fruits of the dead Lastly they died an extraordinary death such as we the Saints that shal be found aliue at Christ his comming shall tast of for their bodies were in a moment changed from mortality to immortality and from corruption to incorruption Q. But why doe Infants that are called Innocents die seeing that they doe not and cannot sinne with consent of will nor of knowledge as doe men of yeares A. Albeit they want as yet the power meanes instruments to commit Actuall sinne yet they haue the bitter and poisonfull root of originall sinne in them and in it they were conceiued and borne and the wages euen of it is death Secondly God will sometimes temporally punish or châ—sten the parents in the death of their children because they are flesh of their flesh and bone of their bones and who perhaps would if God granted them longer life match and equall their parents in sinne Q What are we further to consider in prosecuting this argument of death A Foure chiefe branches or partes First some of the principall reputed and supposed euils of it Secondly the benefites of it both Priuatiue and Affirmatiue or Positiue Thirdly the right preparation against it Lastly a right disposition in death it selfe Q What are some of the principall and so reputed euils A. Thrée First the suddennes of it in many Secondly the violent death of many Thirdly the vncomfortable and lamentable effects of it in that it bereaueth vs of the benefite company gifts prayers gouernment of many notable and worthy persons in Church common-wealth and family Q. Now to handle euery member of the diuision in his right place and order is sudden death simply euill and a curse A. I must néeds distinguish of suddeÌ„ death for qui non distinguit destruit artem First in it selfe it is not euill but because it commonly taketh men vnrepentant and vnprepared otherwise the last iudgement should be simply euill because it is sudden seeing that the sonne of man will come in an houre when wee looke not for him but this sudden comming of Christ is not euil but good and happy for Gods children Againe the manner and time of euery mans death is not in his own dispositioÌ„ but in Gods power and hands onely Secondly we must distinguish of it according to the persons vpon whom it seazeth they are either irrepentant persons and thus die and to these death is hel-mouth the beginning of euerlasting torment or repentant and to these it is no curse for Christ hath by his death and passion taken away the curse but it is a short and vnsensible crosse and correction which freeth them from the feare of death and doth speedily conuey them into the hauen of eternall rest Secondly it is not sudden to the godly that long before foresaw it and waited for it Thirdly the sooner that they die the sooner are they blessed for they rest from their labours and their works follow them Lastly many of Gods children haue died suddenly yet they were not hereby defrauded of eternall glory of this number were Iobs children Mephâ—hosheth the infants that the bloudy butcher Herode caused to bee massacred Iohn the Baptist suddenly beheaded c. But as for wicked vnbeléeuing and vnrepentant persons they liue not out half their dayes but sudden yea ordinary death is to them a curse and a swift posting of them into the lake that burneth with fire and brimstone as we may see in Pharaoh Nabal and the rich churle whereof we reade in the 12 of Luke Q. What vse are wee to make hereof A. Seeing that death many times stealeth and encrocheth vpon vs so vnlooked for wée ought daily to prepare ourselues against it by prayer repentance and the practise of good works and to thinke euery day to be the last for as an ancient Father saith vtiliter latet vltimus dies vt obseruentur omnes dies that is the last day is for our profite kept vnknowne that all the rest may be obserued Secondly being prepared and resolâ—ued before hand let vs not feare the circumstances of death more then death it selfe but let vs for our comfort know and be assured that the sting of euery kind of death is taken away by Christs death from the true beleeuers and no manner of death can diuert and diuorce them from Christ their Sauiour Lastly wee must daily commend our soules and spirits into Gods hands as vnto a faithfull Creator not doubting but that hee will receiue and glorifie them but
themselues that they commit some great sinne that woundeth the conscience that his grace may be more conspicuous and apparant in their recouery and that they hauing felt the waight of Gods displeasure may be more watchfull and wary for the time to come Secondly they must remember that Christ his satisfaction to Gods iustice is of infinite value and worth and that if they doe by the hand of a liuely faith apply it to their soules it will cure the wounds of their soules be they neuer so great Thirdly if they debase themselues before God and strip themselues of all opinion of their own worthines withall truely desire to be reconciled vnto God then God will giue grace to the humble and accept the will for the deede Fourthly that doubting and desperation is like the great monster Golias that defieth the liuing God and therefore we must not yeeld to it but resist it and with the fling and sword of Gods word slay it Lastly they must meditate vpon Gods swéet mercies past present to come laye his pretious promises close to their harts and they will be so many flagons of wine and apples of comfort to reuiue their fainting soules Q. With what considerations shall Gods children comfort themselues wheÌ„ God for the time delayeth either to remoue or to mitigate inward or outward afflictions A. First that God is the author of them and not man onely or principally and that he turneth them in the end vnto the speciall good of his children Rom. 8.18 Secondly that Gods children of all times are subiect to this temptation and are our companions and copartners herein 1. Pet. 5.9 Thirdly that the longer that our temptations endure the more easie will they be and that the more violent they bee like the blustering and stormie windes the sooner they will end for nullum violentum est perpetuum and God will not such is his tender compassion and indulgence haue his children tempted aboue their measure and strength Fourthly that the Lord Iesu hath long sithence drunke vp the poisoned dregges of affliction and hath sanctified and swéetned the remainders of it vnto them Fifthly God is present with his in trouble he by his spirit doth instruct direct comfort and strengthen them and â—ill in good time graciously and gloriously by life or death frée and deliuer them Q. What is a second though an accidentall and occasionall cause that causeth and encreaseth distresse of mind A. Melancholy Q. What is melancholy A. It is in regard of the outward matter and original of it a kind of earthy and blacke bloud especially in the splene corrupted distempered which when the splene is stopt conueieth it selfe to the heart and braine and there what by his corrupt substance and infectious quality and what by corrupt spirits annoieth both braine and heart the seats and instruments of reason vnderstanding and affections Q. How doth melancholly breed and nourish distresse of mind and conscience A. By furthering euill and fearefull conceits for when the mind of the melancholick person hath imagined conceiued and presented to it selfe dreadfull things then affection worketh vpon it and then iointly from the mind and affection disturbed and distempered procéed feares horrours desperations Q How is distresse and griefe of mind to be distinguished from melancholy A. Many waies First melancholy may beare sway and preuaile when the conscience is in a slumber and no whit disquieted Secondly distresse of conscience perplexeth the whole man but melancholy troubleth the imagination only Thirdly distresse of conscience ariseth from the knowledge of sinne and from the feare and féeling of Gods indignation but the feare and distresse that is occasioned by melancholy ariseth from pretended and supposed causes Fourthly he that is distressed in conscience may and hath courage in all other things but the melancholick person feareth misdoubteth euery thing Lastly melancholy is curable by physicke but distresse of conscience can by no other meanes be remoued but by faith in Christ his merits and mediation Q. How is melancholy to be cured A. First the melancholick person must be brought not only to an acknowledgement of his sinnes in generall but of some speciall sinne in particular that so his melancholike sadnes may be turned into a godly sorrow Secondly hee must bee distinctly acquainted with the precious promises of God made to repentant sinners Psal. 97 10. Thirdly hee must touching the outward state of his body suffer himselfe to be gouerned by his friends and men of skill or else he must be contained in order by violence Fourthly he must suffer nothing to enter into his heart that may vex and disquiet him Lastly the ordinary meanes of physicke must be vsed for it serueth to abate the euill humor of the body and to cure the distemper of it Q. What are the principall and vsuall effects of distresse of soule and conscience A. Six especially first sadnesse and heauinesse secondly troublesome and vnquiet dreames thirdly wearisomenesse of this present life by reason of daily discontentments fourthly desperation of saluation fifthly feare of the last iudgement lastly feare and expectation of hell fire Q. What comforts and remedies are there against this sadnes and heauinesse A. First in this temptation a Christian man must by the feet of his faith and the wings of his affection come yea and flie vnto Christ and take vpon him the yoke of his fatherly correction and then he shall finde rest vnto his soule Secondly let him looke and long for the Lords gracious and fauourable presence no otherwise then the sea-beaten traueller longeth and looketh for the hauen and euen as the eies of seruants looke vnto the hands of their masters and as the eies of a maiden vnto the hands of her mistresse so his eies must wait vpon the Lord his God vntill hee haue mercy vpon him Thirdly he must with Iacob wrestle with God by praier and not cease to vrge and importune him vntill he blesse him and then he shall at length preuaile with him and haue his quietus est Fourthly he must consult and be aduised by the Ministers and Preachers of Gods word to whom he hath giuen the tongue of the learned that they should know how to minister a word in season to the weary and comfort the foeble minded Fifthly the greater that his vnquietnesse is the more must he fasten and fixe his minde vpon Christ in whom alone he shall finde peace For as he that climeth vp a ladder the higher that hee ascendeth the more fast hold he taketh so the more that a man is oppressed with heauinesse the more earnestly should he fix and fasten his mind vpon the Lord Iesu. Sixthly hee must turne and transchange his worldly sorrow into a godly sorrow for then his sadnes shall end in gladnes and his sorrow in singing no otherwise then after raine commeth faire weather and after stormes calmes Seuenthly he
wisedome to the simple the statutes of the Lord are right and reioice the heart the commaundement of the Lord is pure giueth light to the eyes Let vs praise and magnifie God for our gratious deliuerance let vs remember Ioseph his afflictions and helpe our persecuted brethren by our goods and money if wee can and at least by our praiers and intercessions for this euidently proueth that we are feeling members of the same mysticall body wherof Christ is the head CHAP. XI The generall vse and application of the whole Treatise THe quintessence of all that hath beene formerly and at large in this treatise handled may be aptly and pithily reduced to these â—ew conclusions folâ—owing First that man by his first creation was pure holy innocent and liued in a most happy and blissefull estate Secondly that hee by his voluntarie fall and apostasie from God and from his former integrity hath in soule and body corrupted himselfe and all his posterity and not onely depriued himselfe all his sucsessours of all originall holinesse and happinesse but also wholly subiected them himselfe to all plagues and miseries both temporall and eternall Thirdly that sinne is very distastefull odious and stinking in Gods taste sight and nostrils for otherwise the most iust Lord would neuer so grieuously nor with such variety of plagues and punishments execute his indignation not only vpon men of yéeres but also vpon the very infants that haue committed no actuall transgression Fourthly the Lord that draweth light out of darknesse life out of death and in iudgement remembreth mercy hath giuen his onely sonne Iesus Christ to die to make a perfect satisfaction to his iustice for the sinnes of all the elect and to be a perpetuall intercessour for them so that they are not onely freed from the guilt dominion and euerlasting punishment of sinne but also entitled vnto and shall in time certainely possesse euerlasting and vnspeakable glorie and holinesse Fifthly that Christ hath by vertue of faith in his death and merits transnatured and changed to all his elect the temporarie and eternall plagues and punishments of sinne into certaine gentle momentanie fatherlie corrections and chastisments Sixthly that God hath not left his people in their crosses temptations and afflictions without hope helpe and remedie but hath giuen them the sacred and all sufficient Scriptures to instruct direct and to confirme and comfort their soules and cosciences in all distresses inward and outward in all afflictions and against all scandals persecutions whatsoeuer Seuenthly God hath prouided for his people Ministers by their pure preching and iudicious writings to resolue them in all doubts and christian friends and acquaintance to solace and support them Wherefore wée must daily blesse God for his infinite mercy in Christ attend vnto and consult the Scriptures our pastours and christian brethren Eighthly wée must make vse of the treatises and volumes of godly learned men who haue trauelled to good purpose in this kind Ninthly wée must in our afflictions and distresses find out confesse and bewaile our particular sinnes and earnestly entreat God for Christ his sake to pardon them for they are the meritorious causes of all our miseries Tenthly we in our miseries and troubles must not murmurre and repine against God nor vse any vnlawfull meanes of ease and deliuerance much lesse despaire of Gods gracious mercy helpe but wée ought to commend our soules bodies and outward state to Gods blessed gouernment and promises wee must desire direction and the spirit of strength and constancie from God and in hope patience waite vpon him vntill hée haue mercy vpon vs. Eleuenthly wée in our prosperity must prepare our selues against aduersity and wee must with such a sympathy and fellow féeling remember them that are in affliction and so endeauour to reléeue and resolue them as if we were also afflicted in the body Heb. 13.3 Lastly when we are recouered out of any temptation or deliuered out of any trouble we must giue God all the glory of it and in our rest and prosperity gâ—ther grace and strength so hearten our selues against the next temptation Now the God of all grace and consolation for Christ Iesus his sake so direct and instruct vs by his blessed spirit to performe all these duties that his Maiestie may haue all the glorie his Church and children good examples of imitation and we our selues haue ioy and comfort in this world and eternall Saluation in the next Amen A LARGE TABLE CONtaining the chiefe points heads and particulars that are handled and applied in both the Bookes of this CHRISTIAN ARMORIE The first Booke CHAP. I. THe originall of mans sinne and miserie What sinne is Who is the subiect of it What be the kinds of it What is originall sinne The titles and names of it The parts causes and vses of it Why the corruption of it remaineth in Gods children What was Adams fall What was the obiect of it Why the eating of an Apple was so grieuously punished The instrumentall and formall cause of his fall How God did forsake our first parents Why did God permit their fall How it can stand with Gods iustice that all Adams posterity should smart for his sinne How can Adams personall sinne be imputed to his posterity How can parents deriue corruption vnto their children The parents doe not beget the soules of their children how can they then infuse corruption into them What vse are we to make hereof What is actuall sinne The oâ—iginall of it The inward and outward causes of it The difference betweene originall and actuall sinne CHAP. II. What followeth sinne Whether afflictions and temporall euils be properly curâ—es and satisfactions to Gods iustice How are they qualified to the beleeuers The sinnes of Gods elâ—ct are forgiuen and why are not the chastisements with aâ—l remoud The vse of the point CHAP. III. What the crosse is Why no â—eruant of God is freed from it What is to bee thought of them that feele no crosse The vse of the point Whether that the crosse be good or not For what ends God doth crosse and afflict his câ—ildren Whâ— doe not the same ends effects and euents appeare in the wicked Arguments to mooue vs to patience vnder the crosse Comfortable conclusions and meditations against the crosse What duties are to bee performed towards the afflicted CHAP. IIII. How the Crosse is to bee diuided and distinguished What comforts are there against warre Comfoâ—ts and holy counsaile for them that are foiled in battaile What duties are to be performed in time of war Comforts against ciuill warre What duties are then to be performed CHAP. V. Whether that the plague be infectious or not Whether a Christian may lawfully flee iâ— the time of the plague Certain obiections answered The duty of them that flee The duties of them that abide at home Why God somtimes doth by the pestilence cut downe and destroy so many thousands Heauenly meditations against