Ezech. 18.33 and which will not giue place to his admonitions but yet hee is also full of compassion and pitie towarde poore sinners which acknowledge their faultes which humble themselues before him Ioh. 1. which with weeping teares sighes and feruent praiers aske pardon at his handes If wee confesse our sinnes saieth Saint Iohn the Lorde is faithfull to forgiue vs them Hee which confesseth and acknowledgeth his trespasses and forsaketh them Prou. 28. shall obtaine mercie saieth Salomon I graunt your sinne is great but yet Gods mercie is greater Rom. 5. Heb. 4. Where sinne hath abounded saieth the Apostle there grace hath abounded much more Let vs drawe néere then with assurance to the throane of grace that wee maie obtaine mercie and finde grace to bee holpen in due time This is the exhortation which the spirite of God maketh vnto you speaking by the Apostle to the Hebrues that hee maie take from you all distrust of reconciliation and of grace There bee examples in the Scriptures which will well fitte your purpose for this matter as that of Dauid that of Manasses and that of Peter Which I praie you reade and meditate vppon them diligentlie not to the ende you maie flatter and bring your selues fast on sleepe in the infirmitie of your fleshe and that you maie thereby couer excuse and lessen your sinne as manie doe to their iudgement and condemnation for such exāples are not set before vs to this ende but rather to the end you may strēgthen and arme your selues against the temptations of Satan who if he sée that God toucheth your hearts with anie repentance wil do what he can to cast you headlong into dispaire moreouer it is to the end you maie come to the throne of the grace of God by the self same waie may enter in by the verie same gate wherby they came entred in thither And what waie gate is this it is true repentance and a true liuelie faith accompanied with true amendement without which all the rest is as nothing Marke what Dauid did So soone as he was tolde of his fault by the Prophet Nathan hee sought no starting holes or friuolous excuses to cloake or couer the same anie manner of waie but on the contrarie hee confesseth it and doeth fréelie acknowledge it he himselfe condemneth it and accuseth himselfe before God he doth wonderfullie humble himselfe with wéeping sobbing sighing night and daie And as he was not ashamed to committe the sinne no more was he ashamed to confesse and acknowledge the same openlie and as it were to make an honourable amendes for the same before the whole Churche that was in his time and that was to come afterwarde For the Psalmes which hee made are as it were a publike confession to be briefe hee sheweth all tokens and testimonies of a true penitent heart which was contrite and humbled through the feeling of sinne and by the knowledge of the wrath of GOD which beateth him downe euen to the depth afterwarde hee riseth againe by the meanes of faith which setteth before him the greatnesse and the multitude of the compassions and mercies of this most mercifull father to whom he maketh recourse with feruent praier to craue pardon and mercie Which thing hee doth with certaine perswasion and assuraunce that the Lord would receyue him to mercie as hee did through his grace Marke then what manner repentaunce and faith that of Dauids was and what was the fruite thereof Nowe all this was acompanied with a readie amendement for after that the Prophete was humbled before the Lorde after that hee had craued pardon and after that hee perceiued that the wrath of GOD conceiued against him was appeased and that his conscience was at rest what doeth hee Doeth hee lye wallowing still in his filthe Doeth hee driue off to amende him selfe and to repaire his fault vntill suche time as hee might commodiouslie doe it without anie lette or hinderaunce of other businesse Not so but hee resolueth out of hande to walke all the rest of his life in the feare and obedience of the Lorde consecrating him selfe whollie to his seruice Thus did Manasses king of Iuda for after that hee was tolde of his faultes and iniquities not by some Prophet but euen by the Lord himselfe who because he would not loose him 1. Chr. 33. spake to him with his fatherlie rodde deliuering him vp into the handes of the Assyrians which bounde him with manicles and chaines and carried him to Babylon After that hee was thus visited by the Lorde it is said that he humbled himself before him that is to saie that hee acknowledged and confessed his faultes with griefe and sorrow when he perceiued the wrath of God which he had deserued It is said further that hee praied vnto the Lord that is he had recourse vnto his grace and mercie with full confidence and assurance that he should obtaine it As indéed the Lord was mercifull vnto him for it is said that hee heard his prayer he receiued him into fauour againe and made him returne to Ierusalem that he might establish him again in his kingdome Hereupon insued a readie chaunge and amendment for he tooke away the strange gods and idols that were in the house of the Lord he broke downe all the altars which he had built contrarie to his commandement hee reedified the true altar of the lord and offered thereon peace offerings and sacrifices of praise Also he gaue commaundemēt throughout al Iuda that they should serue the Lord the God of Israel to bee short he made such and so readie an amendment of all his faultes that he did indéede declare that there was no feigning nor hipocrisie in his repentance and in his faith but that it was pure intire and sincere Such was his reuersiō such was that of Sainct Peter True it is indéede that there is not so ample mention made of it in the Gospell as of that of Dauid and that of Manasses for it is onely said that after that Sainct Peter had denyed his maister and that Iesus Christ had beheld him the Cocke cruel then was he so well awaked and touched at the quicke Mat. 26. Mat. 14. Luk. 22. that he rushed out of the Priestes house and wept bitterly Now that which followed thereupon sheweth plainely that his fault was forgiuen For Iesus Christ tooke him afterward for his disciple and continued him in his office of an Apostle Then wee maye conclude that this faith and repentance was true and intire for that his bitter wéeping shewed that he was throughly touched with his fault and that he was extreemely grieued at it not onely because he saw the punishment which hée had deserued if God would haue handled him sharpely and seuerely but principally by reason of his too monstrous vnthankfulnes backsliding and disloyaltie which made him ashamed before God and men If then his repentance were true and intire whereby hee was beaten downe euen to
offence of his Church and to your owne vtter destruction vnlesse you repent To you it is I say that I direct this my worke particularlie that I may louingly and brotherlie conferre with you touching the offence which you haue committed beseeching you in the name of the liuing God that you would find some spare time to reade it pondering together with me the reasons which shall be therein set downe before your eyes out of the word of God And that not onelie to the end you may approue the same as all those will not sticke to doe which will not flatter them selues nor stubbornlie withstand the trueth of God but aboue all that hauing approued the same there may be in you an holie resolution accompanied with the effect thereof that is in summe that you may with speede repaire by a true and readie conuersion that fault which you haue committed Which being well considered and weighed as it ought together with the circumstances thereof you shall full well know and shall be inforced to graunt that it is nothing so small and light as the enimies of your saluatiō would make you belieue namely the diuel the flesh and the worlde which indeuour moreouer to cast you into a déepe sléepe and so to besot you that you may not anie longer haue anie feeling of your faults but may more and more plunge your selues in filth mire that you may there continue and finally become Antechrists a people without God and without religion that is to say being wholie become slaues to Sathan as is befallen to more people in our countrie of Fraunce then were to be wished through the iust iudgement of God Furthermore when you shall well perceiue the greatnes and hugenes of your fall it must needes come to passe that you shall see the horrible fearefull iudgements and vengeance which the Lord bringeth vpon all those who through their slacknesse an disloyaltie haue beene the cause that his holie name hath béene profaned and their neighbors offended Which knowledge may serue to bring you to a true deiection and humilitie before the maiestie of God not that you may faint and sinke down vnder your burden and so fall into despaire through the consideration of your transgressions and by the sight of Gods iustice but rather that being by this meanes humbled in the presence of God you may be the better brought to draw neare vnto him or rather to speake more properly to prouoke him to draw nearer to you according to that which the Prophet saith that The Lord is nigh vnto those that are comfortles beaten downe and broken in hart and saueth them that be of a contrite spirite euen through the feeling of their sinnes and iniquities so that a man may truelie say that such humilitie is as it were the first gate or dore to enter in vnto the throne of the grace and mercie of God who is in such sort iust to punish sinners in his wrath euen those which are obstinate and which harden their harts when they heare his voice and abuse his patience that he is also readie to show mercie he is pitifull gentle and merciful to all those which being conuict in their conscience and hauing accused themselues before God returne vnto him without faining throwing them selues as it were into the armes of his most bountifull father to secke for grace at his hands These are my brethren the principall points which I mean by the grace of God to laie open vnto you in this my present writing that is a briefe collection of that which you must doe that you may escape the iust wrath and indignation of the Lord and bee reconciled to him This is that which I require at your hands for the glorie of God and for your owne benefit and saluation this is that which all your brethren members whom God hath preserued desire and craue daylie at the hands of God with gronings sighes and most feruent praiers This is that which the Angels of heauen looke for at your handes that they may reioyce and praise God for your conuersion Briefly this is that whereunto you are called and inuited by the goodnesse and clemencie of our heauenlie father who stretcheth out his armes vnto you to imbrace you as his children Wherfore it standeth you vppon to looke to it for the case so standeth that you must now either honour or dishonour God you must either be saued or else condemned Now forasmuch as my desire is to help comfort you therein I wil take paine through Gods help to make these things more plaine somewhat more largely in order to deduct them First of al then if you be desirous to come to the true knowledge of your fault that you may detest the same obtaine pardon for it at the handes of God you must beware that you weigh it not in a false ballance such as is that of Satans the flesh the world the sworne enimies of our saluatiō for these shal not be your iudges at the last day but you must peyze thē in the seales of the wil of God which is declared vnto vs in his word for that is the onlie most certaine and most perfect rule whereto all our actions must be referred wherwith they must al be hedged in and according to the which alone men shal bée iudged of the Lord. I know full well that all those which haue forgotten themselues in this case forsaking the profession of true religion that they may raunge themselues vnder the banner Antichrist must not be placed in one the same ranke For one sort is so fallen that they are as it were out of all hope euer to be able to rise againe of which sort are that heape and rabble of hypocrites which had intruded themselues into the Church of God making a show that they would folow Iesus Christ and make profession of his Gospell notwithstanding forasmuch as they neuer had anie sparkle of true godlines neyther anie will to renounce their concupiscences and the vanities of this world that they might dedicate cōsecrate thēselues to God to follow Iesus Christ to reforme their life according to the doctrine of his Gospel it is come to passe that their hypocrisie is discouered for séeing they could not so long as they professed religion giue their lustes the bridle and run into al filthinesse dissolutenes and infamous facts giue ouer themselues to their delights and filthy pleasure satisfie their ambitiō couetousnes enioy their ease delicates cōmodities of this life take their pastime and so liue in such rest according to the flesh that they might not bée disquieted or troubled any maner of way Briefly seing they coulde not serue two maisters which were quite cōtrary the one to the other that is to say God the Diuell they forsook God gaue thēselues to follow the world which is as it were the diuels bawd other some staid not til they might be
To be briefe what constancie and stabilitie can be expected at their handes if they become members of the Church of God séeing you haue so offended them and made them to stumble by your apostasie In summe then so farre of is it that you haue procured their good and commoditie in doing that which you haue done that on the contrary you haue purchased them the greatest euill and curse that could befall them for you haue drawen them with you to the way of destruction yea you haue euen thrust them into hell there to abide for euer if God bee not mercifull to them and you Furthermore what honour haue you procured them in teaching them by your example and it may bee by leading and carying them your selues into the brothelhouse to commit whoredome with Idols Had not this béene greater honour to haue continued in the house of the Lord to haue sit at the table with the sonne of God to haue dronke of his cup and to haue eaten the bread of Aungels with the Saintes then to be in the infamous house of this great whore to sitte with her ruffians and baudes to receiue at her execrable handes the cup of her filthines and vncleannes which the Apostle calleth the cup of deuils Moreouer into what danger haue you brought both them and also your selues Those to whom God hath giuen eies to sée sée by the accomplishment of the signes that were foretold by the spirit of God that Antichrist doth now put in practise his last indeuours séeing the measure of his impieties and abhominations is growen vp to the full as he doth plainely declare in these last times by that outragious violence which he vseth nowe as if hee were mad foming out his rage more furiously then euer against the Church of Iesus Christ And therfore they conclude by the word of God that the Lord will not be long neither wil he deferre to display his fearefull iudgements vpon this cursed Babilon For which cause the spirit of God exhorteth vs to come thence saying Come out of her my people that you be not partakers of her sinnes and that you be not punished with her for her sinnes are come vp to heauen and God hath remembred her iniquities c. Lo here then a trumpet from heauen which soundeth and warneth you that the eternall will send out his thunder and lightning vpon Babilon and yet you are so vndiscréet as to runne into her together with your wiues and children there to saue your selues If you sée an house on fire or some lightning frō heauen fall vpon it wil you be so foolish and mad as to run into it there to saue your selues and your young children and that which is deare pretious vnto you And yet you haue done thus séeking for life in the middest of death for happines amidst cursednes and for saluation there where there is nothing but ruine and destruction And moreouer you thinke your selues verie wise and discreet in that you haue gotten you such a couert whiles the haile doth fall vpon the heads of others But alas this is a poore and daungerous couerture which will at last fall vpon your heades vpon your goods vpon your wiues and children if you come not thence with more speed You wil say that that is your desire that you are not entred into it with anie purpose that you wil continue there alwaies that you hope to returne to the church all this do I beléeue but first of al I answere you that you must not thus dallie with God that it hath fallen out euil with many which haue thus dallied and that by the iust iudgement of God who will not suffer those which mocke him to escape scotfrée as mē do For you shall very hardly find one of an hundred of those which did sometimes reuolt frō true religiō which hath made his accoūt to continue still in that filthy puddle and which hath not fed himselfe with some vaine hope to return to the church again whē the euil time should be ouer But yet it came to passe the Satan taking occasion hereat hath by litle litle extinguished the smal zeale choked the little quantitie of good séed of godlines and of the feare of God which was in them that he might more and more tread them down in the sinke out of the which they could neuer afterward arise by any force or leasure I saie nothing but that which you your selues know ful well and the experience whereof you haue séene in manie And how commeth this to passe if not by the iust vengeance of God who depriueth those of his graces which make themselues vnworthie thereof through their vnthankfulnes and deliuereth those vp into the power of Sathan which abuse his mercy The Lord is not bound to receiue to mercie those that are mockers and contemners of his grace that hee should graunt it them so often as it shall please them to accept it after that it hath bene offered them sundrie times and that they shall haue reiected and dispised the same yea after that they shall haue troade it vnder their féet and put it away from them with their haggish notes delighting more in filth then in this inestimable treasure and this great and precious pearle for buying whereof the good husbandmen and true marchantes of the Lord sell all that they haue as Iesus Christ teacheth vs by those two parables which are in the Gospell Mat. 13. It is thē a iust thing with the lord to punish such mockers and profane men and that diuers waies for to some hee denyeth the blessing of his grace whereof they made lesse account then of a messe of pottage howsoeuer they come to séeke it with wéeping and howling as did that profane Esau They shall crye after me saith the Lord by Ieremie but I wil not heare them O then some there be whom in his iust iudgement he suffereth to become so hardned in their euil and to fal into such brutish blockishnes that being without féeling and not seing the déepe gulph of that wretchednes into which they are fallen they knowe not what néede they haue of the grace of God that they may be deliuered thence whereby it cōmeth to passe that they neuer craue it at Gods handes but dye like brute beasts There be yet some others which are sorer stricken with this lightning of Gods iudgment that is those whom Satā hath cast into such despaire that in stéede of comming to god to craue mercy at his handes they fly from him they hate him they blaspheme him they despise him they are miserably vexed and tormented with remorse of their conscience which is as a worme which gnaweth thē without ende and without ceasing or rather like the infernall furies which pursue them which torment them which hale them tosse them too and fro a thousande waies not suffering them to take anye ease or rest to make short the rest of their
hell we may well say that his faith was of the selfe same stampe and that this looke which the Lord gaue him was of marueilous force and efficacie séeing that being fallen so farre and hauing committed such an horrible sinne that as they say he was not sufficient inough to punish it yet was he not swallowed vp with dispaire but he was raised vp out of that dungeon of destruction euen by apprehending a greater depth then that was that is the infinite depth of the riches of the grace and mercie of God whereunto he had recourse with full assurance that this most bountifull and mercifull father woulde take pittye and compassion on him You see then the repentaunce and the excellent faith of this holy Apostle and also how hee sealeth and confirmeth all by a sodaine and true amendment for immediately after that he saw the breaknecke of destruction and the wofull and miserable estate whereinto he was fallen hee came thence without delay and then went to seeke his brethren and companions that is he came within the lists of the Church again how small soeuer it were at that time and in how poore and miserable estate soeuer it was according to the world so that the poore faithfull could looke for nothing but for the crosse tribulations and persecutions considering the sharpe intertainment which the soueraigne maister and head of the Church had and found This then was the way and gate wherby Dauid Manasses and S. Peter had accesse vnto the throne of that grace and mercie of God The verye selfe same thing is taught vs by the historie of the prodigall sonne which Iesus Christ setteth downe in the Gospel Luk. 15. to shew vs on the one side how greatly they are blindes and voide of vnderstanding which vpon any occasiō whatsoeuer forsake the house of their heauēly father without that which there is nothing but méere hunger pouertie miserie wo and cursednes On the other side this serueth to teach vs by what meanes we may come and bee receiued into fauour This was then a foolish sonne yea blinde and bewitched of Satan who finding it maye bee his fathers gouernment and discipline too hard and austere and being desirous to follow his foolish affections and disordered desires doth withdraw himselfe from his said father goeth out of his house and runneth after his owne lustes he falleth shortly after into a most pitious and miserable estate he which refused to sit at his fathers table doth now sit at table with hogges he which disdained good and honorable intertainement the exquisite and delicate meates iunkates whereof he had sufficient cannot now fill himselfe with the meat of hogges hee which despised the goodly and pretious ornaments wherewith he was cloathed when he was in his fathers house goeth now all tattered and torne like a begger to make short he which might haue bene in full good case if he had would is nowe accursed and brought to vtter destruction through his own folly and consequētly vnworthie euer to come within his fathers dores and to haue so much as a good looke of him whom hee had so grieuously offended Lo here then a childe that was vtterly lost depriued of al goodnes honor and felicitie and plunged as it were in a gulph of woe shame and reproch What remaineth then for him but to dispaire And yet hee taketh not that course but the quite contrarie for he commeth to himselfe hee perceiueth his wretchednes he bewaileth his estate hee is displeased with himselfe for his sinne hee resolueth with him selfe to come and humble himselfe before his father whom he had offended hee purposeth to craue pardon of him assuring himselfe of his goodnes and mercie finallie he commeth out of that filth and without anie more a doe to his father he comes he confesseth and acknowledgeth his sinne to him saying that he had sinned against heauen and against him and he counteth himselfe vnworthy to be taken for his sonne and hauing none other meanes left but to flye to his mercie he beseecheth him to take pitie and compassion vpon him and to graunt him this grace that hee woulde receiue him into his house if not as his childe yet at least as one of his hyred seruauntes acknowledging with Dauid that the condition of the poore porters of Gods house is farre more blessed and honourable then Ps 84. that of the greatest monarches of the earth which are without the Church Thus did this poore prodigall chylde that he might escape out of that wofull miserie into which he was fallen and that hee might recouer that good that honour and that felicitye which hee had lost as indeede all fell out so well that hee findeth his father better disposed more ready and better inclyned to receyue him not as a seruant but as a son then he durst desire In like manner you see that the true and only meanes to obtayne grace and mercye at the Lordes handes is true repentaunce a true faith and true amendment Lo then my brethren what course you must obserue lo here the way which you must follow lo here the gate wherby you must enter in vnto the Lorde to obtayne his fauour But marke well the band and coniunction of these thynges which cannot be answered for deceiue not your selues vnlesse you amend your fault you may wel saye that you acknowledge it that you are grieued at it that you condemn it that you count it so grieuous and so monstrous as that it deserueth a thousand deathes and a thousand hels if there were so many yet all this is nothing but meere hypocrisie and mocking of God and men In like manner if you say that you haue a true and certaine assurance in the goodnes mercy of God Exod. 20. that he will take pitie vpon you and will giue you grace to returne to his Church that also shal be nothing but a false and peruerse perswasion and rather a carnall assurance and confidence then a true faith to bee short all that shal be nothing but a méere mockery of God and an abusing of his patience and consequently a meanes to inflame his anger so much the more against you if there withal you shew not in effect that you do truely repent and that your faith is frée from al dissimulation and hipocrisie This effect is nothing els but a readie change amendment wherunto you are exhorted in the name of God For execution wherof we need not here stand vpon particulars you knowe my meaning wel inough There remaineth nothing for you to do but to haue a good and fréewil proceeding from a true zeale of God and from a feruent desire of your saluation coupled with an holy affection to aduaunce the kingdome of Iesus Christ and to edifie his church If the very same occasions which made you fall do nowe present themselues before your eies and keepe you from amending and redressing your offence whether it be in regard of