asked it thrise upon his knees with the sweat of blood what reason hast thou to think that he wil let passe so many sins of thine unpunished What cause hast thou to induce thy imagination that he wil deal extraordinarily with thee and break the course of his justice for thy sake Art thou better than those whom I have named Hast thou any privilege from God above them 15 If thou wouldest consider the great and strange effects of Gods justice which we see daily executed in the world thou shouldest have little cause to persuade thy selfe so favorably or rather to flatter thy selfe so dangerously as thou doest We see that notwithstanding Gods mercie yea notwithstanding the death and passion of Christ our savior for saving of the whole world yet so many infinite millions to be damned daily by the justice of God so many infidels heathens Iews and Turks that remain in the darknes of their own ignorance among Christians so many that hold not their profession truly or otherwise are il livers therin as that Christ truly said that few were they that should be saved albeit his death was paid for al if they made not themselves unwoorthy therof And before the comming of our savior much more we see that al the world went a-wry to damnation for many thousand yeers togither excepting a few Iews which were the people of God And yet among them also the greater part it seemeth were not saved as may be conjectured by the speeches of the prophets from time to time and specially by the saiengs of Christ to the Pharisies and other rulers therof Now then if God for the satisfieng of his justice could let so many millions perish through their own sins as he doth also now daily permit without any prejudice or impechment to his mercie why may not he also damn thee for thy sins notwithstanding his mercie seeing thou dost not only commit them without fear but also dost confidently persist in the same 16 But heer som man may say If this be so that God is so severe in punishment of everie sin and that he damneth so manie thousands for one that he saveth how is it tru that The mercies of God are above al his other works as the scripture saith and that it passeth and exalteth it selfe above his iudgements For if the number of the damned do exceed so much the number of those which are saved it seemeth that the work of justice doth passe the work of mercie To which I answer that touching the smal number of those that are saved and infinite quantitie of such as are damned we may in no wise dowt for that beside al other prophets Christ our Savior hath made the matter certain and out of question We have to see therfore how notwithstanding al this the mercie of God doth exceed his other works 17 And first his mercie may be said to exceed for that al our salvation is of his mercie and our damnation from our selves as from the first and principal causes therof according to the saieng of God by the prophet Perditio tua Israel tantum modo in me auxilium tuum Thy only perdition is from thy selfe O Israel and thy assistance to do good is only from me So that as we must acknowlege Gods grace mercy for the author of every good thought and act that we do and consequently ascribe al our salvation unto him so none of our evil acts for which we are damned do proceed from him but only from our selves and so he is no cause at al of our damnation and in this doth his mercie exceed his justice 18 Secondly his mercie doth exceed in that he desireth al men to be saved as Saint Paul teacheth and himselfe protesteth when he saith I wil not the death of a sinner but rather that he turn from his wickednes and live And again by the prophet Ieremie he complaineth greevously that men wil not accept of his mercie offered Turn from your wicked wais saith he why wil ye die you house of Israel By which appeereth that he offereth his mercie most willingly freely to al but useth his justice only upon necessitie as it were constrained therunto by our obstinate behavior This Christ signifieth more plainly when he saith to Ierusalem O Ierusalem Ierusalem which killest the prophets and stonest them to death that are sent unto thee how often would I have gathered thy children togither as the hen clocketh hir chickins underneath hir wings but thou wouldest not Behold thy house for this cause shal be made desart and left without children Heer you see the mercie of God often offered unto the Iews but for that they refused it he was inforced in a certain maner to pronounce this heavy sentence of destruction and desolation upon them which he fulfilled within fortie or fiftie yeers after by the hands of Vespasian emperor of Rome and Titus his son who utterly discomfited the citie of Ierusalem and whole nation of Iews whom we see dispersed over the world at this day in bondage both of bodie and soul. Which work of Gods justice though it be most terrible yet was his mercie greater to them as appeereth by Christ words if they had not rejected the Son 19 Thirdly his mercie exceedeth his justice even towards the damned themselves in that he used many means to save them in this life by calling upon them and assisting them with his grace to do good by mooving them inwardly with infinite good inspirations by alluring them outwardly with exhortations promisses examples of other as also by siknes adversities and other gentle corrections by giving them space to repent with occasions opportunities and excitations unto the same by threatening them eternal death if they repent not Al which things being effects of mercie and goodnes towards them they must needs confesse amidst their greatest furie and torments that his judgements are tru and justified in themselves and no wais to be compared with the greatnes of his mercies 20 By this then we see that to be tru which the prophet saith Misericordiam veritatem diligit Dominus God loveth mercie and truth And again Mercie and truth have met togither iustice and peace have kissed themselves We see the reason why the same prophet protesteth of himselfe I wil sing unto thee mercie and iudgement O Lord not mercie alone nor judgement alone but mercie and judgement togither that is I wil not so presume of thy mercie as I wil not fear thy judgement nor wil I so fear thy judgement as I wil ever dispair of thy mercie The fear of Gods judgement is alwais to be joined with our confidence in Gods mercie yea in verie saints themselves as David saith But what fear That fear truly which the scripture describeth when it saith The fear of the Lord expelleth sin the fear of God hateth al evil he that
considerations Saint Paul used when he said The sufferings of this life are not woorthy of the glorie which shal be revealed in the next The second Saint Peter used when he said Seeing the heavens must be dissolved and Christ come to iudgement to restore to every man according to his works what manner of men ought we to be in holie conversation As who would say No labor no pains no travel ought to seem hard or great unto us to the end we might avoid the terror of that day Saint Austen asketh this question what we think the rich glutton in hel would do if he were now in this life again Would he take pains or no Would he not bestir himselfe rather than turn into that place of torment again I might ad to this the infinite pains that Christ took for us the infinite benefits he hath bestowed upon us the infinite sins we have committed against him the infinite examples of saints that have troden his path before us in respect of al which we ought to make no bones at so little pains and labor if it were tru that Gods service were so travelsome as many do esteem it 3 But now in very deed the matter is nothing so and this is but a subtil deceit of the enimie for our discouragement The testimony of Christ himselfe is cleer in this point Iugum meum suave est onus meum leve My yoke is sweet and my burden light And the deerly beloved disciple Saint Iohn who had best cause to know his maisters secret herein saith plainly Mandata eius gravia non sunt His commandements are not greevous What is the cause then why so many men do conceive such a difficulty in this matter Surely one cause is beside the subtiltie of the devil which is the cheefest for that men feele the disease of concupiscence in their bodies but do not consider the strength of the medicine given us against the same They cry with Saint Paul that They find a law in their members repugning to the law of their mind which is the rebellion of concupiscence left in our flesh by original sin but they confesse not or consider not with the same Saint Paul That the grace of God by Iesus Christ shal deliver them from the same They remember not the comfortable saieng of Christ to Saint Paul in his greatest temptations Sufficit tibi gratia mea My grace is sufficient to strengthen thee against them al. These men do as Helizeus his disciple did who casting his eies only upon his enimies that is upon the huge armie of the Sirians ready to assault him thought himselfe lost and unpossible to stand in their sight until by the praiers of the holie prophet he was permitted from God to see the Angels that stood there present to fight on his side and then he wel perceived that his part was the stronger 4 So these men beholding only our miseries and infirmities of nature wherby daily tentations do rise against us do account the battel painful and the victory unpossible having not tasted indeed nor ever prooved through their own negligence the manifold helps of grace and spiritual succors which God alwais sendeth to them who are content for his sake to take this conflict in hand Saint Paul had wel tasted that aid which having rekoned up al the hardest matters that could be addeth Sed in his omnibus superamus propter eum qui dilexit nos But we overcome in al these combats by his assistance that loveth us And then falleth he to that woonderful protestation that neither death nor life nor Angels nor the like should separate him and al this upon the confidence of spiritual aid from Christ wherby he sticketh not to avouch That he could do al things David also had prooved the force of this assistance who said I did run the way of thy commandements when thou didst inlarge my hart This inlargement of hart was by spiritual consolation of internal unction wherby the hart drawn togither by anguish is opened and inlarged when grace is powred in even as a dry purse is softened and inlarged by annointing it with oil Which grace being present David said he did not only walk the way of Gods commandements easilie but that he ran them even as a cart wheel which crieth and complaineth under a smal burden being dry runneth merilie and without noise when a little oil is put unto it Which thing aptly expresseth our state and condition who without Gods help are able to do nothing but with the aid therof are able to do whatsoever he now requireth of us 5 And surely I would ask these men that imagin the way of Gods law to be so hard and ful of difficultie how the prophet could say I have taken pleasure O Lord in the way of thy commandements as in al the riches of the world And in another place That they were more pleasant and to be desired than gold or pretious stone and more sweeter than hony or the hony comb By which words he yeeldeth to vertuous life not only du estimation above al treasures in the world but also pleasure delite and sweetnes therby to confound al those that abandon and forsake the same upon idle pretensed and fained difficulties And if David could say thus much in the old law how much more justly may we say so now in the new when grace is given more abundantly as the scripture saith And thou poore Christian which deceivest thy selfe with this imagination tel me why came Christ into this world Why labored he and why took he so much pains here Why shed he his blood Why praied he to his father so often for thee Why appointed he the sacraments as conduits of grace Why sent he the holie Ghost into the world What signifieth this word Gospel or good tidings What meaneth the word grace and mercy brought with him What importeth the comfortable name of Iesus Is not al this to deliver us from sin From sin past I say by his only death From sin to come by the same death and by the assistance of his holie grace bestowed on us more abundantly than before by al these means Was not this one of the principal effects of Christ his comming as the prophet noted That craggy wais should be made straight and hard wais plain Was not this the cause why he indued his church with so many blessed gifts of the holie Ghost and with divers special graces to make the yoke of his service sweet the exercise of good life easie the walking in his commandements pleasant in such sort as men might now sing in tribulations have confidence in perils securitie in afflictions and assurance of victory in al temptations Is not this the beginning middle end of the Gospel Were not these the promises of the prophets the tidings of the Evangelists the
Christ hath placed both his feet I wil not sing unto thee judgement alone nor yet mercie alone my God but I wil sing unto thee with the prophet David mercie and judgement joined togither And I wil never forget these justifications of thine 3 Saint Austen handleth this point most excellently in divers places of his works Let them mark saith he which love so much mercie and gentlenes in our Lord let them mark I say and fear also his truth For as the prophet saith God is both sweet and just Dost thou love that he is sweet Fear also that he is just As a sweet Lord he said I have held my peace at your sins but as a just Lord he addeth And think you that I wil hold my peace stil God is merciful and ful of mercies say you it is most certain yea ad unto it that He beareth long But yet fear that which commeth in the verses end Et verax that is He is also tru and iust There be two things wherby sinners do stand in danger the one in hoping too much which is presumption the other in hoping too little which is desperation Who is deceived by hoping too much He which saith unto himselfe God is a good God a merciful God and therfore I wil do what pleaseth me And why so Bicause God is a merciful God a good God a gentle God These men run into danger by hoping too much Who are in danger by despair Those which seeing their sins greevous and thinking it now unpossible to be pardoned say within themselves Wel we are once to be damned why do not we then whatsoever pleaseth us best in this life These men are murdered by desperation the other by hope What therfore doth God for gaining of both these men To him which is in danger by hope he saith Do not say with thy selfe The mercie of God is great he wil be merciful to the multitude of my sins for the face of his wrath is upon sinners To him that is in danger by desperation he saith At what time soever a sinner shal turn himselfe to me I wil forget his iniquities Thus far S. Austen beside much more which he addeth in the same place touching the great peril and follie of those which upon vain hope of Gods mercie do persevere in their evil life 4 It is a very evil consequent and most unjust kind of reasoning to say That forsomuch as God is merciful and long suffering therfore wil I abuse his mercie and continu in my wickednes The scripture teacheth us not to reason so but rather quite contrarie God is merciful and expecteth my conversion and the longer he expecteth the more greevous wil be his punishment when it commeth if I neglect this patience And therfore I ought presently to accept of his mercie So reasoneth S. Paul which saith Dost thou contemn the riches of his long suffering and gentlenes Dost thou not know that the patience of God towards thee is used to bring thee to repentance But thou through the hardnes of thy hart and irrepentant mind dost hoord up to thy selfe wrath in the day of vengeance at the revelation of Gods iust iudgement In which words Saint Paul signifieth that the longer that God suffereth us with patience in our wickednes the greater heap of vengeance doth he gather against us if we persist obstinate in the same Wherto Saint Austen addeth another consideration of great dread and fear and that is If he offer thee grace saith he to day thou knowest not whether he wil do it to morrow or no. If he give thee life and memorie this week thou knowest not whether thou shalt enjoy it the next week or no. 5 The holie prophet beginning his seventith and second psalme of the dangerous prosperitie of worldlie men useth these words of admiration How good a God is the God of Israel unto them that be of a right hart And yet in al that psalme he doth nothing els but shew the heavie justice of God towards the wicked even when he giveth them most prosperities and worldlie wealth and his conclusion is Behold O Lord they shal perish which depart from thee thou hast destroied al those that have broken their faith of wedlok with thee By which is signified that how good soever God be unto the just yet that pertaineth nothing to the releefe of the wicked who are to receive just vengeance at his hands amidst the greatest mercies bestowed upon the godlie The eies of the Lord are upon the iust saith the same prophet and his ears are bent to hear their praiers but the face of the Lord is upon them that do evil to destroy their memorie from out the earth 6 It was an old practise of deceiving prophets resisted strongly by the prophets of God to crie Peace peace unto wicked men when indeed there was nothing towards them but danger sword and destruction as the tru prophets foretold and as the event prooved Wherfore the prophet David giveth us a notable and sure rule to govern our hope and confidence withal Sacrificate sacrificium iustitiae sperate in Domino Do you sacrifice unto God the sacrifice of righteousnes and then trust in him Wherwith Saint Iohn agreeth when he saith If our hart or conscience do not reprehend us for wicked life then have we confidence with God as who would say If our conscience be giltie of lewd and wicked life and we resolved to dwel and continu therin then in vain have we confidence in the mercies of God unto whose just judgement we stand subject for our wickednes 7 It is most woonderful and dreadful to consider how God hath used himselfe towards his best beloved in this world upon offence given by occasion of sin how easily he hath changed countenance how soon he hath broken off frindship how streightly he hath taken account and how severely he hath punished The Angels that he created with so great care and love and to whom he imparted so singular privileges of al kind of perfections as he made them almost very gods in a certain maner committed but only one sin of pride against his majestie and that only in thought as Divines do hold and yet presently al that good wil and favor was changed into justice and that also so severe as they were thrown down to eternal torments without redemption chained for ever to abide the rigor of hel fire and intollerable darknes 8 After this God made himselfe another new frind of flesh and blood which was our father Adam in paradise where God conversed with him so frindly and familiarly as is most woonderful to consider he called him he talked with him he made al creatures in the world subject unto him he brought them al before him to the end that he and not God should give them their names he made a mate and companion
is no quaestion but al were sinners and that very often they daily offended Besides al which their good deeds also but few to speak of were so imperfect for want of tru sinceritie and zeal which never are found since the fal of Adam in any of the children of men that if God should deal in his justice only and not in the depth of his mercie withal not one of those works could ever be accepted of him Hence is it that the children of God acknowledge their uncleannes in al their wais not only in such things as commonly go under the name of sin but in al their holines and righteousnes besides too high a point for the children of the world to attain unto In Christ we finde most absolute righteousnes perfectly wrought insomuch that there was never found any il in him either proceeding foorth by his deeds or words or at any time lurking in his secret thoughts and whatsoever he did or said was ever most godly wherunto the inward disposition of his hart and al his thoughts did ever accord And so must it needs be for that he was both God and man For so commeth it to passe that the infinit excellencies of his Godhead could not have sufficient issu in his manhood to shew foorth themselves to the ful but after they had thoroughly filled al his manhood with al perfection and al the organs and powers therof needs must there be immeasurable abundance left besides al which doth witnes his manhood first to be thoroughly filled So not only it might be but also of necessitie it must be and can be no other but that he loved God with al his hart with al his soul with al his strength and his neighbor as himselfe that al his deeds words and thoughts were ever good and the same in most absolute maner to the uttermost pitch that the capacitie of manhood was able to bear How to procure righteousnes to our selves to make it ours is now to be seen Where first if we come to that righteousnes that is of man either of our selves or others we shal never be able to do any good For first as touching our selves wheras we are not able to fulfil the law there is not in us any righteousnes at al to be had If we could fulfil the whole law never offending in deed word nor thought but ever having al our deeds words and thoughts fully answering to that holines and righteousnes that God requireth then might we stand in the favor of God by our own good works without any help at al by Christ and that by the vertu of the former covenant commonly called the old Testament But if we misse any point of this though we do our best indevor yet are we nothing holpen therby in this matter bicause that God hath not covenanted to accept us as righteous for doing our indevor therin but only by fulfilling the whole law in every point to the uttermost jot Neither can he in his justice accept of any other righteousnes but that which is perfect no more than the law wil adjudge any sum a just paiment be it never so much though infinit thousands so long as there wanteth any one penie of that which is covenant Then if we seek unto others those that now are saints in heaven to have the help of their righteousnes to make us righteous neither have they any such as the law requireth but are for that matter as short as we neither did God at any time make any such covenant with any of us that their righteousnes should stand us in any such steed Now therfore to come unto Christ in him only is that righteousnes to be had that can serve our turn and we have it in him by none other means but only by faith For wheras God hath made his other covenant in him which he calleth the new and the last bicause he never meaneth to make any mo besides that wheras we cannot be justified before him by any righteousnes of our own unlesse we were able to fulfil the law and he therfore hath taken this order that his Son should do it for us to the end that al that take hold therof or rest upon him should have his holines and righteousnes theirs hence commeth it both that such as rest in him by the vertu of his latter covenant have his righteousnes theirs and that they are not other wais justified but only by taking hold on him by faith For neither hath God made this righteousnes of Christ so common to al that unbeleevers may have the benefit of it as wel as the faithful neither hath he by this latter covenant declared himselfe to be of purpose to justifie us by the good works or merits of any but only of Christ. In other things without al quaestion there is a special use of our own good works of the good examples that the blessed saints have given us but in this our justification with God there is no use of them at al. Now therfore concerning the place of Saint Iames that seemeth to attribute our justification partly to our own works and not only to faith in Christ it is evident that he doth not treat of this our first justification but only exhorteth to holines of life and so consequently whatsoever he saith there it is not to be heerunto applied Wheras therfore the apostle Saint Paul concludeth his disputation of that matter that We are iustified by faith without the deeds of the law And Saint Iames in like maner concludeth his that Of works a man is iustified and not of faith only Although it may seem at the first sight that these two are directly contrarie one to the other yet the circumstances of the places and the intent and meaning of either of the Apostles being considered it is found very plainly that they are not contrarie but only divers that is one of them doth not denie that which is affirmed by the other both speaking of one thing but having two several or divers matters in hand ech of them holdeth on his own several way For Saint Paul is in hand with a point of doctrine to shew wherin our first justification consisteth before God and Saint Iames is in hand with a point of exhortation to godlines of life and to that end sheweth that our faith is but vain unlesse that it be in some good measure fruitful by works Wheras therfore although they both speak of faith and justification yet the one doth not mean either that faith or that justification that the other meaneth hence may it sufficiently appeer without any further discourse of the matter that the one of them is not against the other If Saint Iames had been of purpose to have shewed how we are justified before God he would have shewed no other way but only by faith in Christ Iesus as in the chapter before he ascribeth the estate that we have in Christ not unto
prevent it now by amendment of life which only can yeeld thee comfort in that sorrowful day For of good men the judge him selfe saith His autem fieri incipientibus respicite levate capita vestra quoniam appropinquat redemptio vestra When these things begin to come upon other men do you lift up your heads for that your redemption commeth on from the labors and toils of this world And the holie prophet saith of the vertuous man which hath done good works in this life that he shal be at this time Beatus vir An happie man And he giveth the cause Quia in die mala liberabit eum dominus opem feret illi super lectum doloris eius For that God wil deliver him in this evil day and wil assist him upon the bed of his sorrow Which is ment no dowt of the bed of his last departure especially for that of al other beds this is the most sorrowful as I have shewed being nothing else but an heap of al sorrows togither especially to them which are drawn unto it before they are readie for the same as commonly al they are which defer their amendement from day to day and do not attend to live in such sort now as they shal wish they had done when they come to that last passage CHAP. IX Of the pains appointed for sin after this life AMongst al the means which GOD useth towards the children of men to moove them to this resolution wherof I intreat the strongest and most forcible to the common sort of men is the consideration of punishments prepared by him for rebellious sinners and transgressors of his commandements Wherfore he useth this consideration often as may appeer by al the prophets who do almost nothing else but threaten plaegs and destruction to offenders And this mean hath oft times prevailed more than any other that could be used by reason of the natural love which he bare towards our selves consequently the natural fear which we have of our own danger So we read that nothing could moove the Ninivites so much as the foretelling them of their imminent destruction And Saint Iohn Baptist although he came in a simple and contemptible maner yet preaching unto the people The terror of vengeance to come and that the ax was now put to the tres to cut down for the fire al those which repented not He mooved the verie publicans and soldiers to fear which otherwise are people of verie hard metal who came unto him upon this terrible embassage and asked what they should doo to avoid these punishments 2 After then that we have considered of death and of Gods severe judgement which insueth after death and wherin everie man hath to receave according to his works in this life as the scripture saith it followeth that we consider also of the punishments which are appointed for them that shal be found faultie in that account hereby at lestwise if no other consideration wil serve to induce christians to this resolution of serving God For as I have noted before if every man have naturally a love of himselfe desire to conserve his own ease then should he also have fear of peril wherby he is to fal into extreme calamitie This expresseth saint Bernard excellently according to his woont O man saith he if thou have left al shame which apperteineth to so noble a creature as thou art if thou feele no sorrow as carnal men do not yet lose not fear also which is found in verie beasts We use to load an asse and to wearie him out with labor he careth not bicause he is an asse but if thou wouldest thrust him into fire or fling him into a ditch he would avoid it as much as he could for that he loveth life and feareth death Fear thou then and be not more insensible than a beast fear death fear judgement fear hel This fear is called the beginning of wisdom and not shame or sorrow for that the spirit of fear is more mightie to resist sin than the spirit of shame or sorrow wherfore it is said Remember the end and thou shalt never sin That is remember the final punishments appointed for sin after this life Thus far Saint Bernard 3 First therfore to speak in general of the punishments reserved for the life to come if the scriptures did not declare in particular their greatnes unto us yet are there manie reasons to persuade us that they are most severe dolorous and intollerable For first as God is a God in al his works that is to say great woonderful and terrible so especiallie he sheweth the same in his punishments being called for that cause in scripture Deus iustitiae God of iustice As also Deus vltionum God of revenge Wherfore seeing al his other works are ful of majestie and exceeding our capacities we may likewise gather that his hand in punishment must be woonderful also God himselfe teacheth us to reason in this maner when he saith And wil ye not then fear me And wil ye not tremble before my face which have put the sand as a stop unto the sea and have given the water a commandement never to passe it no not when it is most trobled and the floods most outragious As who would say If I am woonderful and do passe your imagination in these works of the sea others which you see daily you have cause to fear me considering that my punishments are like to be correspondent to the same 4 Another conjecture of the great and severe justice of God may be the consideration of his infinite and unspeakable mercie the which as it is the very nature of God and without end or measure as his Godhead is so is also his justice And these two are the two arms as it were of God imbracing and kissing one the other as the scripture saith therfore as in a man of this world if we had the mesure of one arm we might easily conjecture of the other so seeing the woonderful examples daily of Gods infinite mercie towards them that repent we may imagin by the same his severe justice towards them whom he reserveth to punishment in the next life and whom for that cause he calleth in the scriptures Vasa furoris vessels of his furie or vessels to shew his furie upon 5 A third reason to persuade us of the greatnes of these punishments may be the marvelous patience and long suffering of God in this life as for example in that he suffereth divers men from one sin to another from one day to another from one yeere to another from one age to another to spend al I say in dishonor and dispite of his majestie adding offence to offence and refusing al persuasions allurements good inspirations or other means of frindship that his mercie can devise to offer for their amendement And what man in the world
thou one day lament and bewail and be hartily sorrie for this delay which now thou makest So that by how much the more thou prolongest and increasest thy sin so much greater wil be thy pain and sorrow in thine amendement Alto vulneri diligens longa adhibenda est medicina saith Saint Cyprian A diligent and long medicin is to be used to a deepe sore Our bodie that hath lived in many delites must be afflicted saith Saint Ierom our laughing must be recompensed with long weeping Finally Saint Ambrose agreeing therunto saith Grandi plagae alta prolixa opus est medicina Vnto a great wound a deepe and long medicin is needful 15 Mark heer deer brother that the labor of thine amendement must be very great and that it cannot be avoided What madnes is it then for thee now to inlarge the wound knowing that the medicin must afterwards be so painful What crueltie can be more against thy selfe than to drive in thorns into thine own flesh which thou must after pul out again with so many tears Wouldest thou drink that cup of poisoned liquor for a little pleasure in the tast which would cast thee soone after into a burning fever torment thy bowels within thee and either dispatch thy life or put thee in great jeoperdie 16 But heer I know thy refuge wil be as it is to al them wherof the prophet saith Mentita est iniquitas sibi Iniquitie hath flattered and lied unto hir selfe thy refuge I say wil be to alledge the example of the good theefe saved even at the last hour upon the crosse and carried to paradise that same day with Christ without any further toil of amendement This example is greatly noted and urged by al those which defer their conversion as surely it is and ought to be of great comfort to every man which findeth himselfe now at the last cast therfore commonly tempted by the enimie to despair of Gods mercie which in no case he ought to do For the same God which saved that great sinner at that last hour can also and wil save al them that hartily turn unto him even at the last hour But alas many men do flatter and deceive themselves with misunderstanding or rather misusing of this example 17 For we must understand as Saint Austen wel noteth that this was but one particular act of Christ which maketh no general rule even as we see that a temporal prince pardoneth somtime a malefactor when he is come to the very place of execution yet were it not for every malefactor to trust therupon For that this is but an extraordinarie act of the prince his favor and neither shewed nor promised to al men Besides this this act was a special miracle reserved for the manifestation of Christ his power and glorie at that hour upon the crosse Again this act was upon a most rare confession made by the theefe in that instant when al the world forsooke Christ and the apostles themselves either dowted or lost their faith of his Godhead Beside al this the confession of this theefe was at such a time as he could neither be baptised nor have further time of amendement And we hold that at a mans first conversion there is required nothing else but to beleeve and to be baptised But it shal not be amisse to put to Saint Austens very words upon this matter For thus he writeth 18 It is a remediles peril when a man giveth himself over so much to vices as he forgetteth that he must give account therof to God and the reason why I am of this opinion is for that it is a great punishment of sin to have lost the fear memorie of the judgment to come c. But deerly beloved left the new felicitie of the beleeving theefe on the crosse do make any of you too secure and remisse least peradventure some of you say in his hart my guiltie conscience shal not trouble nor torment me my naughtie life shal not make me very sad for that I see even in a moment al sin forgivē unto the theefe we must consider first in that theefe not only the shortnes of his beleefe and confession but his devotion and the occasion of that time even when the perfection of the just did stagger Secondlie shew me the faith of that theefe in thy selfe and then promise to thy self his felicitie The devil doth put into thy head this securitie to the end he may bring thee to perdition And it is unpossible to number al them which have perished by the shadow of this deceitful hope He deceiveth himselfe maketh but a jest of his own damnation which thinketh that Gods mercie at the last day shal help or releeve him It is hateful before God when a man upon confidence of repentance in his old age doth sin the more freely The happie theefe wherof we have spoken happie I say not for that he laid snares in the way but for that he tooke hold of the way it selfe in Christ laieng hands on the pray of life and after a strange maner making a bootie of his own death he I say neither did defer the time of his salvation wittingly neither did he deceitfully put the remedie of his state in the last moment of his life neither did he desperately reserve the hope of his redemption unto the hour of his death neither had he any knolege either of religion or of Christ before that time For if he had it may be he would not have been the last among the apostles in number which was made the former in kingdom 19 By these words of Saint Austen we are admonished as you see that this particular fact of Christ maketh no general rule of remission to al men not for that Christ is not alwais ready to receive the penitent as he promiseth but for that every man hath not the time or grace to repent as he should at that hour according as hath been declared before The general way that God proposeth to al is that which Saint Paul saith Finis secundum opera ipsorum The end of evil men is according to their works Look how they live so they dy To that effect saith the prophet Once God spake and I heard these two things from his mouth power belongeth to God and mercie unto thee O Lord for that thou wilt render to every man according to his works The wise man maketh this plain saieng The way of sinners is paved with stones and their end is hel darknes and punishments Finally Saint Paul maketh this general and peremptory conclusion Be not deceived God is not mocked looke what a man soweth and that shal he reape He that soweth in flesh shal reap corruption he that soweth in spirit shal reap life everlasting In which words he doth not only lay down unto us the general rule wherto we must trust but also saith further
19.20 Deu. 10. Heb. 10. Psa. 118. Heb. 12. Mat. 26. Great and strange effects of Gods iustice Mat. 7.20 Whether Gods mercie be greater than his iustice * * Spread foorth over al his works as both Augustine and Ierom do read In omnia or In Vniversa opera eius Tom. 8.11 on behalfe of his children For even they also have their works so unperfect and their faith so weak that but in the depth of the mercie of God they cannot in any wise be saved no not the best that ever was But concerning that he doth so resolutely set down so many thousands to be damned for one that is saved it is somwhat more than the word it selfe doth warrant or the proportion of the mercie of God compared with his justice may seem to bear And seeing that this whole treatise in these four next sections viz. 16.19 is grounded upon a wrong text therfore it is to be read so much more warily and no further to be accounted of than it may be found to have the word of God to warrant the same Psa. 144. Iac. 2. Mat. 7.20 Ose. 13. 2 1. Tim. 2. Eze. 18. Iere. 3. Mat. 25. Iosephus de bello Iud. lib. 1. cap. 1.2 3. * * As afore not as though the meaning shuld be that God were more merciful than just holie wise or such like Psal. 83. Psal. 84. Psa. 100. Psal. 33. Eccl. 1. Prou. 1. Eccl. 7. Eccl. 15. Eccl. 7. Eccl. 2. The praise of tru fear Pro. 14. Ecc. 1.2.15 Psa. 112. Eccl. 1. Psal. 24. Psal. 30. Psal. 60. Psal. 62. Psa. 144. Iob. 9. Psal. 9. Mat. 25. Luc. 16. Mat. 7. Luc. 13. Mat. 12. Mat. 27. Mar. 15. Iohn 2. D. Thomas secunda secundae q. 14. art 1.2.3 * * Those six that Thomas there nameth are desperation presumption impoenitencie wilfulnes impugning of the known truth and envieng of the grace that is given to another Al which may indeed be easily found to go against the spirit of God But that they may be accounted to be that same that in the scripture is called sin against the holie Ghost and excluded al hope of pardon that is not so easily to be granted for that the properties therunto assigned do not seem to be so fully found in any of these A wilful resisting of the known truth not of infirmitie for fear or favor but of meere malice for hatred of it even only for that it is the truth may seem to come much neerer unto it than al things considered those others do Neither doth he set them down absolutely to be six several sorts of that sin but in that sense that himselfe doth there limit Why presumption is a sin against the holie Ghost Rom. 13. Pro. 28. 2. Ioh. 4. 2. Tim. 4. 1. Pet. 1. Phil. 2. An obiection answered 2. Tim. 1. Servile fear and the fear of children Rom. 8. How the fear of gentils was servile 1. Pet. 3. * * Divers so take it but it seemeth rather in my judgement that such as expound it as if the apostle forbad them to fear those adversaries of theirs do come somwhat neerer to the sense of the place Two things to be noted * * Truth it is that such fear serveth wel to such a purpose But the fear that in this place is spoken of seemeth by the circumstances of the place not to be the servile but the childlike fear As also another sense of this place may stand likewise viz. that to fear the Lord is the first or principal part or greatest point of al wisdome For that whosoever feareth the Lord shal so govern his wais and have al things fal out so wel that al the wisdome in al the world besides can never be able so to forecast for al events For the Lord himselfe taketh upon him the protection government of those that fear him on whose behalfe he maketh al things to fal out to the best Prou. 1. Ion. 13. Mat. 3. 1. Ioh. 4. Tract 9. in epist. 1. Ioh. * * Then is it not that servile fear Luc. 12. Mat. 10. 2. Cor. 5. 1. Cor. 9. The conclusion 1. Cor. 4. Eph. 5. Pro. 18. The cause why the divel persuadeth us to delay Rom. 2. Lib. 8. conf cap. 7.18 The causes which make our conversion harder by delay The same shewed by comparisons An example Tract 49. in Ich. Iohn 11. Mat. 9. Luc. 7. Eccl. 10. Iob. 20. Exo. 32. A comparison Ingratitude Mala. 1. Deu. 25. Levi. 3. Num. 18. Malac. 1. Eccl. 5. Serm. 1.10 de sanctis The losse of time A comparison Pro. 20. The obligation and charge by delay Rom. 8. Rom. 2. Lib. de la. li. 5. ep 5. ad cor Ep. 27. ad Eustoch Ad virg lap sam c. 8. Psal. 26. The example of the theefe saved on the crosse discussed * * The blessed virgin likewise other godly women were by but said nothing that we read of in his defence a plaine breach of the first fift sixt and ninth commandements Serm. 120. de tem * * The blessed virgin S. Iohn others as afore and this staggering must needs be sin The general way 2. Cor. 11. Psal. 61. Eccl. 21. Gal. 6. That the conversion made at the first day is very dowtful The first reason The second reason 2. Reg. 16. 2. Reg. 19. 3. Reg. 2. The third reason Iere. 13. The fourth reason 2. Cor. 11. Prou. 1. Iere. 35. Pro. 11. Psa. 149. Prou. 1. Psal. 58. Prou. 1. Apoc. 2. Herod Marc. 6. Herod the second Luc. 11. Luc. 23. Mat. 14. Pilate Mat. 27. Agrippa Acts. 26. Pharao Exod. 9. Acts. 24. Felix The dangers of passing the day of our vocation Exo. 33. Rom. 9. Luc. 21. Eccl. 5. Heb. 3. Acts. 7. Apoc. 3. Psal. 94. Godlines the only gain of time Deu. 32. Exod. 9. Mat. 25. Heb. 12. 2. Mac. 9. Esai 55. 2. Cor. 6. Tract 33. in Ioh. Of sloth 1. Cor. 6. Pro. 21. Mat. 25. Mat. 21. Four effects of sloth 1 Drowsines Pro. 19. Ephes. 5. Mar. 13. Mat. 24. and 25. Pro. 6. 24 2 Fear Pro. 19. Psal. 52. Pro. 22. Pusillanimitie Eccl. 22. * * The vulgar translation so readeth but now it is found that therin it misseth the sense of the text in both these places heer alledged And yet the matter it selfe is tru though it have no warrant hence Lazines Pro. 26. Pro. 13. Pro. 19. Means to remoove sloth 1. The. 3. Mat. 20. Iohn 15. Luc. 13. Mat. 11. Eccl. 9. Pro. 10. Pro. 20. Cap. 3. Pro. 6. Colos. 1. Rom. 12. Gal. 6. Of negligence Epicurism or life of Epicures Phil. 3. Rom. 16. Titus 1. Eccl. 2. Of careles Atheists Deu. 22. Apoc. 3. Luc. 6. Mat. 12. Mat. 6. The cheefe cause of Atheism at this day 1. Ioh. 2. A comparison The way to cure careles men Deut. 6. Mat. 22. Luc. 10. Deut. 6. and 11. Iohn 1. Luc. 10. 1. Ioh. 2. Luc. 18. Ephes. 5. Luc. 21. Mat. 24. Mich. 6. Rom. 11. Rom. 12.