perceiue and know that I haue beene a true Prophet in these things which I haue admonished thee of Then thou shalt see thy selfe compassed about with dolours loaden with those things that are yrkesome vnto thee and miserablie afflicted with the presence of death wayting for the condition which straightwayes shall be awarded either that thou shalt be for euer happy or for euer vnhappy O perrilous estate ô hard and dangerous way ô sentence after which euerlasting death or euerlasting life is to be expected ô who can alter this Decree at that houre ô who shall be able to heare that sentence My brother now thou hast aduantage doe not neglect it now thou hast time make the Iudge thy friend that hee may be sauourable vnto thee Heare therefore and follow the counsell of the Prophet who saith Seeke yee the Lord whilst he may be found call vpon him whilst hee is at hande For now the Lorde is at hand to heare vs albeit wee see him not In the houre of iudgement we shall see him but hee will not heare vs vnlesse we be such as are to be heard now Against them that through the hope of the Diuine mercie doe continue and perseuere in theyr sinnes CHAP. XXVII SOme men there are that persisting and continuing in their wicked life doe cheere vp and comfort themselues in hope of Gods mercie and the merrits of Christes passion and to these as to the other their errour is to bee showen Thou sayest that the mercy of God is vnmeasurable infinite for he willingly would be crucified as a malefactour for sinners I confesse indeede that his mercy is exceeding great for it suffereth thee to vtter so lauishlie such cursed blasphemie as that thou wouldest his goodnes bounfulnes should be a fautour and a fauourer of thy wickednesse and that his Crosse which hee apprehended as a meane to destroy the kingdome of sinne should be made of thee a meane to strengthen and defence sinne and whereas thou shouldest offer a thousand lifes vnto him if thou haddest so many because he hath sacrificed his life for thee there thou takest an occasion to denie that one vnto him which thou hast yea vvhich thou hast receiued of him This grieueth thy Sauiour more then the death did which he suffered for thee for hee who neyther lamented nor deplored his own death most greeuously lamenteth and bewaileth thy sinnes in the Prophet saying The plowers plowed vpon my backe and made long furrowes Tell me I pray thee who hath taught thee thus to argue that because God is good and gracious thou shouldest conclude that it is lawful for thee to sinne and to follow wickednes The holy Ghost seemeth vnto me to conclude after another manner that because God is good and gracious he gathereth that he is worthy to be worshipped obeyed and to be loued aboue all things And because God is good it is meete that I be good also and that I should trust in him who although I be a most greeuous sinner yet is ready to receiue me into fauour if I with all my hart will be conuerted vnto him Because God is good and so good it is double wickednes to offend so great magnificent a goodnesse Therefore by how much the more thou doost exemplifie the goodnes of GOD by so much the more thou doost aggrauate thy sinne which thou committest against him And it is meet and equall that so great a sinne should be punished for it is the nature and dutie of the Diuine iustice which also thou esteemest not to be contrary but the sister and the auenger of the Diuine goodnesse that it should not leaue so enormous an iniury vnpunished Thys kinde of excuse is not newe or sprung vp of late but very old and vsuall in the world This in times past was the difference betweene the true and the false Prophets because the true did denounce the threatnings of God against the people and did exaggerate and aggrauate his iustice but the false on their owne heads did promise false peace and mercy But when the punishments of GOD did approue the veritie of the one part and the falsehood of the other the true Prophets sayde Where are now your Prophets which prophecied vnto you saying The King of Babell shall not come against you nor against this Land◠Thou sayst that the mercy of God is great Thou which sayst so credite me GOD hath not opened thine eyes that thou mightest see the greatnesse of his iustice For if thou haddest thine eyes open to behold it thou wouldest say with the Prophet Who knoweth the power of thy wrath for according to thy feare is thine anger But that thou mayst be freed from this dangerous perrilour errour I pray thee let vs dispute of the matter a little and be ruled by reason Neyther thou nor I doe see the Diuine iustice as it is in it selfe that we may come to the knowledge of the measure of it Neither doe we know God himselfe in this worlde but by hys workes Therefore let vs enter into the spirituall world of the holy Scripture then let vs goe out into this corporall world wherein we liue and let vs out of them both reason what the Diuine iustice is that by this meanes we may know it Certainly this consideration will be most profitable For besides thys end which now we propose vnto our selues we shall reape also out of it another fruite for it will a fresh stirre vp in our harts the feare of the Lord which as the Doctors say is the treasure the keeper and burthen of our soules For euen as a ship is not safe without balas or lastage for it is easily tossed with euerie winde nowe no this side and now on that to the great danger of the shyp so is the soule endangered which lacketh the ballas burthen of the diuine feare This feare poyzeth the soule that the windes of worldly fauour or of diuine graces doe not tosse and pusse it vp and so ouerthrowe it Although it be defenced yet if it hath not his balas it is in ieopardy Neither onelie the Punyes and Incipients but also those that are growen old must necessarily liue in feare in Gods house Not onely the sinners and guiltie must feare who haue great cause so to doe but the righteous also are not to be freed who haue no such great cause to feare Sinners must feare because they haue offended and also the righteous least they should offend theyr faultes and misdemeanors past ought to strike feare into them but the dangers to come ought to terrifie these But if thou desirest to know how this holy feare is engendered and wrought in thee I say that it is wrought when it is infused by grace and it is preserued and increaseth by the consideration of the works of the Diuine iustice of which we begin now to speake Consider of them often and reuolue
them in thy minde by little and little thou shalt feele this feare wrought in thee ¶ Of the workes of the Diuine iustice whereof mention is made in the holy Scripture THE first worke of the Diuine iustice which the holy Scripture remembreth is the damnation of Angels The beginning of the wayes of the Lord was that terrible bloudy beast the Prince of deuils as it is written in the booke of Iob. For seeing that all the waies of the Lord are mercy and iustice vntill this first sinne the iustice of GOD was not yet reuealed which was hid in the bosome of the Lord as a sword in a scabberd This first sinne was the cause why this sword was vnsheathed Consider now how grieuous and terrible this first plague and punishment was lift vp thine eyes and thou shalt behold wonderfull things thou shalt see I say the most precious iewel of the house of God thou shalt see the chiefest beauty of heauen thou shalt see that Image in which the Diuine beauty shyned so cleerly this I say thou shalt see falling from heauen like an arrow and that for the onely thought of pride The Prince of all the Angels is made the Prince of deuils of most beautifull he is made most horrible and deformed of most glorious he is made most vilde and disgracious of one most acceptable gracious of all those creatures which God had made or euer would make he is made the greatest the most malicious enemie What astonishment thinkest thou and what admiration was this to the heauenly Spirits who know from whence and whether this so noble a creature fell With what feare did they all pronounce that of Esay Howe art thou fallen from heauen ô Lucifer sonne of the Morning Descend afterward a little lower to the earthly Paradice and there thou shalt see a case no lesse feareful vnlesse there had been a remedy vsed for this mischiefe For that the Angels should fall it was needfull that they all should actually offend But what hath the creature which is borne actually offended in why he should be borne the child of wrath It is not needfull that he should haue actuall sinne it sufficeth onely that he be borne of that man that had offended and by offending had corrupted the common roote of all mankind which was in him this I say is sufficient why he is borne in sinne The glory and Maiesty of God is so great that when as one onely creature had offended him the whole kinde deserued so seuerely to be punished For if it was not sufficient to Haman that great friend of King Assuerus that he might reuenge himselfe of Mardocheus of whom he supposed that he had receaued an iniury not only to punish Mardocheus but for the greatnes of his honour to cut off the whole nation of the Iewes for the deniall as he iudged of a small reuerence why doest thou meruaile if the glory and maiesty of God which is infinite requireth like punishment Behold therfore the first man is banished out of Paradice for a bit of an apple for which euen to this day the whole world is punished And after so many thousand yeares the sonne that is borne bringeth with him out of his mothers wombe the staine and blemish of his father and not when he can offend himselfe by reason of age but in his very natiuity he is borne the child of wrath and that as I haue sayd after so many thousand yeares After so long time this iniury could not be buried in obliuion being deuided among so many thousand thousands of men and punished with so many scourges Yea all the torments which men haue suffered from the beginning of the world to this day all the deaths which they haue vndergone and all the soules which burne and shall burne in hell euerlastingly are sparks which haue originally proceeded from that first sinne all which are arguments and testimonies of the Diuine iustice And all these things are also done and brought vpon vs after the redemption of mankind wrought and made by the blood of our Sauiour Iesus Christ Which remedy if it had not beene wrought there had been no difference betweene men and deuils for of themselues there had beene as little remedy and hope of saluation to the one as to the other What doest thou think of this punishment I thinke that it is a reasonable sound argument of the Diuine iustice But because this heauy and greeuous yoke is not taken away from the sonnes of Adam new and moe kinds of punishments haue sprung from it for other sinnes which haue beene deriued from that first All the world was drowned with the waters of the deluge The Lord rayned from heauen fire and brimstone vpon those fiue polluted and sinfull Citties The earth swallowed vp Dathan and Abiron aliue for a certaine contention that was betweene them and Moses A fire went out from the Lord and deuoured the two sonnes of Aaron Nadab and Abihu because they had not obserued the right and due ceremonies in the sacrifice neyther did the dignity of their priesthood profit them any thing nor the holines of their father nor that familiarity which theyr Vncle Moses had with the Lord. Ananias and Saphira in the new Testament because they lyed vnto S. Peter which seemed to be but a small matter fell downe dead and sodainly yeelded vp the ghost But what shall we say of the hidden and secret iudgements of God Salomon who was the wisest of all men and whom God so tenderly loued that he was sayd to be the Lords beloued by the hidden and secret iudgement of God came to that extreame abhomination and that most abhominable sinne that he fell into Idolatry What is more fearefull then this But if thou shouldest know of moe iudgements of this kinde which daily happen in the Church perhaps thou wouldest no lesse feare these then thou dreadest that Because thou shouldest see many starres falling from heauen to the earth thou shouldest see many who did eate the bread of Angels vpon the Lords table to fall and slip into such calamities that they rather desire to fill their bellies with the drasse and swash of Swine thou shouldest see many whose chastity was purer and more beautifull then a Porphirite to be blacker then a cole The causes of whose lapse were their sinnes But what greater signe of the Diuine iustice canst thou desire thē that God for the iniury done vnto him wold not be satisfied but with the death of his onely begotten sonne before he would receaue the world to his fauour What manner of words I pray thee were they which the Lord spake to the women which followed him lamenting and bewayling Daughters of Ierusalem weepe not for me but weepe for your selues and for your children For behold the dayes will come when men shall say Blessed are the barren and the wombs that neuer bare and the paps
acknowledge the effects of the Diuine iustice For as no man can denie but that it is a great blessing of GOD to preserue a man from sinne so it is a great punishment and a notable token of wrath when God permitteth that a man falleth into sinne So we reade in the second booke of the Kings that the wrath of the Lord was kindled against Israell therefore he moued or permitted Dauid to fall into the sin of pride when he commaunded Israell to be numbred In Ecclesiasticus also when as many sinnes had been remembred he addeth A mercifull man shall be deliuered from them all and he shall not wallow in them For euen as one the one part the increase of vertue is a reward of vertue so not sildome it is a punishment of sin that God punisheth sinne with sinne or that God suffereth other sinnes to be done and committed So we see that that great punishment was no other which was inflicted for the greatest wickednes in the world that is for the death of our Sauiour then that which the Prophet denounceth against the workers of it saying Lay iniquitie vpon theyr iniquitie and let not them come into thy righteousnes that is to the keeping of thy cōmaundements And what followeth The same Prophet straightwayes after telleth and expoundeth himselfe Let them be put saith he out of the booke of life neither let them be written with the righteous If therefore the punishment be so great and the tokens of Gods wrath so notorious that he punisheth sinnes with sinnes how is it that thou seest not so great arguments of the Diuine iustice amongst so many kinde of sinnes with which this world now in this age doth flow and swell If so it pleaseth thee cast thine eyes about after the manner of them who are in the midst of the maine Ocea to whom nothing is seene but the sea and heauen as the Poet sayth and scarcely thou shalt see any other thing besides sinnes and thou seeing so many sinnes wilt thou not see the Diuine iustice Doost thou not see water beeing in the midst of the Sea Yes certainly And if all the worlde be a Sea of sinnes what els shall it be but a sea of the Diuine iustice It is not needfull that I should descend into hell and there see how the Diuine iustice rageth it suffiseth that I onely behold it in thys world But if thou wilt be blinde and see nothing that is without thee at least looke into thy selfe For if thou beest endangered with sinne thou art within the reach of the Diuine iustice and as long as thou liuest secure vnder it so long art thou endangered and so much the more perrillous is thy danger by how much longer thou hast beene endangered with it So Saint Augustine liued some-times in this most wretched estate as he testifieth of himselfe saying I was drowned in the Sea of my sinnes and thy wrath had preuailed against me and I knewe not I was made deafe with the noyse of the chaines of my mortality and of thy wrath and the ignorance of my fault was the punishment of my pride Wherefore if God punish thee with this kind of punishment permitting thee to lie drowned in the deepe sea of sinnes and so to blindfolde thee in the midst of thine iniquities what doost thou speake of a thing so contrary to thy selfe Let him speake and make his boast of the mercy of God who is worthy of mercy and let him that is punished with the iustice of the Lord speake of iustice Doth the mercy of God so patiently permit thee to liue in thy sinnes and will it not permit thee that at length thou fall into hell O that thou wouldest be wise and know how short the way is that leadeth from the fault to the punishment and from grace to glorie What great thing is it for a man in the state of grace to ascend into heauen and what maruell is it if a sinner descend into hell Grace is the beginning of glory and sin of hell hell is the reward of it Furthermore what is more horrible fearfull then when as the paines of hell are so intollerable as before we haue sayde yet neuerthelesse God permitteth the number of the damned to be so great and the number of the elect so few How small the number of these is least thou shouldest suppose that it is a deuise of mine owne hee himselfe telleth vs who numbereth the multitude of the starres and calleth them all by their names Who trembleth and quaketh not at those words which are knowen to all but eyther ill vnderstood or sildome called to remembrance For when as certaine had asked Christ said Lord are there but fewe that shall be saued he aunswered Enter in at the straite gate for it is the wide gate and broade way that leadeth to destruction many there be which goe in thereat Because the gate is strait and the way narrow that leadeth vnto life few there be that finde it Who would haue vnderstood this in these words that our Sauiour vnderstood if simply he had spoken it not with an exclamation and an emphasis O how strait is the gate and narrow the way The whole world perished in the waters of the deluge onely eyght persons were saued which as Saint Peter testifieth in his Canonicall Epistle was a signe by vvhich is signified how small the number is that is saued if they be cōpared with the number of those that are damned Sixe hundred thousand men the Lord brought out of Egipt into the wilderdernes that he might bring them into the promised Land besides women and chyldren who were not numbred in thys iourney they were many thousand wayes helped of the Lord notwithstanding by their sinnes they lost thys Land which the Lord of his grace and fauour had promised them and so of so many hundred thousand men onely two entred into that promised Land Which almost all the Doctors doe thus interpret that by it the multitude of the damned is insinuated and the paucity of those that are to be saued that is That many are called and few chosen For this cause not sildome in the sacred Scripture the righteous are called Iemmes or precious stones that thereby might be signified that theyr rarenes is as great in the world as precious stones be and by as great a quantitie as other stones exceed precious stones by as great the number of the wicked exceedeth the number of the righteous which Salomon closely insinuateth when he sayth That the number of fooles is infinite Tell me then if the number of the righteous be so small vvhich both the figure the truth testifie to be true when thou seest by the iust iudgement of GOD that so many are depriued of that felicity to which they were created why doost thou not feare that common danger and that vniuersall deluge If the number were
heauen care not what men thinke or suspect by thee in earth Humble satisfaction which would willingly content all answereth Occasion of detraction nor suspition of surmizing is to be gyuen but if thou beest rightly accused or lawfully conuinced confesse but if vniustly or wrongfully deny with an humble protestation because the Apostle admonisheth that we should giue no occasion to the deuill by reason of ill report Which is detested in them who consenting to the Christian fayth satte downe to eate meate sacrificed to Idols Sorrowfulnes sayth What hast thou whereof thou mayst reioyce when as so great euils are spoken of thee Consider how greeuously they looke who are in such bitternes Spirituall ioy aunswereth I know that there are two kinds of sorrowfulnes one which worketh to saluation the other to destruction one which dâ—â—weth to repentance the other which leadeth to desperation Thou art knowne to be one of them but that which worketh death Therefore I am not to be heauy and sorrowfull at these things as thou wouldest perswade me but contrarily I ought to reioyce for those thinges which yet are not vnderstoode because the giuer of euerlasting ioy sayth Blessed are yee when men reuile you and persecute you and say all manner of euill against you for my sake falsely Reioyce and be glad for great is your reward in heauen Drowsines or Idlenes sayth If thou attendest reading and continuall study thine eyes will waxe dim if thou pourest forth teares aboundantly thou wilt be blind if thou giuest thy selfe much to singing of Psalms thou wilt catch the swimming of the head if thou spendest thy selfe with daily labour how shalt thou be enabled for spirituall labour The exercise of vertue aunswereth Why doost thou vse so vaine excuses and proposest vnto thy selfe so friuolous procrastination Knowest thou whether thou shalt liue to morrow or no Yea thou knowest not whether thou shalt continue one houre in this life Is it slipt out of thy mind what our Sauiour sayth in the Gospell Watch therefore because yee know neyther the day nor houre Wherefore shake off this slugishnes of thy body and alwayes remember that neyther the tender nor the effeminate nor the slothfull nor the luke-warme but the violent and feruent doe take hold of the kingdome of heauen Dissolute wandering sayth If thou beleeuest that God is euery where why doost thou keepe one place aboue all other where so many euils are committed and rather goest not vnto others Firme stability aunswereth If it be so as thou affirmest that God is euery where then this place where I am is not to be left which thou willest me to forsake because God is also in it But thou sayst I seeke for a better and I finde a better I aunswer Shalt thou finde a better or such an one as thou knowest that the deuill and his angels and man haue lost Be circumspect therefore what thou doost for the first angell fell from heauen and the first man bâ—â—â—ng expelled out of Paradice came into the miserie of this world Desperation sayth How many and how great be the faults and transgressions which thou hast committed and yet thou hast not bettered thy life neyther hast amended thy conuersation for behold as thou seest custome hath so fettered thee that thou art not able to arise Thou endeuourest to rise but being ouer-loaden with the burthen of sinnes thou fallest downe againe Therefore what wilt thou doe seeing that certaine damnation hangeth ouer thee for thy sinnes past and no amendment commeth for those that be present vnlesse thou beware that thou lose not the pleasures of temporal delights seeing that thou canst not attaine the ioyes of the world to come The assurance of Hope aunswereth If thou speakest of crimes and transgressions behold Dauid guilty of adultery and murther freed and taken by the mercy of the Lord out of the iawes of hell Behold Manasses the wickedst impurest and vildest of all sinners one of the most damnable and detestable men that euer liued by repentance returned from death to life Behold Mary Magdalen polluted and stayned with innumerable blemishes of sinnes penitently running to the fountaine of piety and mercy washing the feete of the Lord with her teares and wiping them with her haires and also kissing them and annoynting them with oyntment she herselfe was washed from her sinnes Behold Peter bound with the chaines of his deniall broke in sunder the knots of infidelity with his bitter teares Behold the theefe that in the moment of one houre passed from the Crosse to Paradice Behold Saule persecuting the Church of God slaying many for the name of Christ and as I may say bathing himselfe in the blood of the Martirs being made an Apostle was changed into a vessell of election Therefore where so many and so great examples goe before let no place be left for desperation seeing that it is written At what time so euer a sinner repenteth himselfe and turneth 〈◊〉 the Lord he shall be saued Couetousnes sayth Thou art altogether without fault in that thou desirest 〈◊〉 possesse those things thou hast and wishest some things thou hast not not because thou greedily desirest to multiply much but because thou fearest to want and that another man keepeth ill thou spendest better The contempt of the world aunswereth These things are not procured of the men of this world without danger and offence because by how much euery man beginneth to possesse more by so much he coueteth to haue more and it commeth to passe that he hath no measure in coueting whilst he posteth to engorge himselfe with the infinite cares of this world For as the Scripture saith A couetous man shall neuer be satisfied with money Gluttony sayth God hath made all cleane things for our feeding he that refuseth to be satisfied with meat what other thing doth he then contradictorily deny a gift giuen him Temperance aunswereth One of these which thou namest is true For least man should pine and dye through hunger God hath created all things for his feeding but least he should exceede measure in eating he hath also commaunded to him abstinence For amongst other euills Sodome especially perished by fulnes of bread the Lord testifying it who speaketh to Ierusalem by his Prophet saying This was the iniquitie of thy sister Sodome fulnesse of bread Wherfore as a sicke man commeth to Phisicke so euery one should come to feede on dainties that is not seeking for pleasure in them but releefe of necessity Vayne foolish mirth sayth To what end doost thou hide the ioy of thine hart within thee Walke merrily abroade and frolicke make thy selfe and thy neighbours laugh make them merry with thy mirth Moderate sadnes answereth From whence hast thou thys myrth Hast thou already ouercome the deuill hast thou already escaped the paynes of hell Doost thou nowe returne out of banishment into thy Country hast thou already receiued security of thine election Or hast thou forgotten
perfection of al things God all in all The mistery of Circumcision Augustine in the 17 chapter of his Manuel Apoc 21. Dan. 12. Esay 64.1 Cor. 2. Augustine in the 15. chapter of his Manuel All things to be suffered for the heauenly glory Apoc. 4. Apoc. 7. There are but two wayes Ieremy 24. A similitude The greatnes of the punishment by reason of the greatnes of God Ieremy 5. Ierem. 10. Psal. 105. Iob 26. Apoc. 18. Heb. 10. Math. 10. Ecclesi 2. The greatnes of the iustice of GOD. Numb 16. Deut 28 The husbaÌ„d without the knowledge of his wife shal eate his sons and so shall the wife without the priuitie of the man that they might eate alone Of the mercie of God the greatnes of the punishment is gathered A similitude The two coÌ„minâ—s of Christ coÌ„pared In his first Sermon of the Natiuitie of our Lord. Psalm 68. Rom 2 Heb. 10. The punishment ought to be like to the sin From the person of the executioner that is of the deuill the greatnes of the punishment is gathered Iob 1. In the 4. booke of his Dialogâ— chap. 37. A fearefull horrible example Apoc 9. A description of the deuils power Exod 8. The conclusion A fearfull saying Esay 33. Dan. 3 A notable Allegory Mich. 1. Math. 5. It is a wonder that among Christians so many men are found wicked and vicious A similitude Whence this negligence is Ezech 12 Esay 28 Eccle. 8. All things happen a like to the good and euill Eccle. 9. Mala. 3. Luke 19 Men are ignorant of those good things that are in Vertue Vertue like vnto Christ. Colos. 3. A similitude Helpes of God by which we ouercome the difficulty of Vertue Vertue is an habit Psalm 84. Mala. 3. A comparing of the life of good men and ill men Esay 66. Diuine bládishments with which the righteous are cherished Prou 8. Good men truely rich 1. Cor. 1. Marke 10. What this hundreth fold is what goods be those that God bestoweth vpon the good To the vertuous those things are vnpleasant which before did please A notable example The sweetnes and pleasure of the righteous yea in their greatest greefes and sorrowes The proposition The prouidence of God is the fountaine of all good things Two things are to bee considered of in euery place of Scripture the Commaundement and the Promise Psalm 41. Psalm 34 Testimonies of the diuine prouidence Ecclus. cap. 15. 34. Psalm 37 Psalm 34 Luke 12 21. Zach 2. The Angels do keepe vs. Psalm 91 Luke 16 Psalm 34 4. Reg. 6. Cant 6. Cant. 3 God turturneth euils into good to those whoÌ„ he loueth Rom 8. He is not onely good and gracious to the righteous but also to their family Exod. 20. Gen. 17 and the 24. God blesseth a wicked maister for the sake of a good seruant God is called a father Psal. 103 Esay 63. God is more then a mother Esay 49. Deut. 32. Deut. 1. We are the sonnes of God and so are we called Ier 31. God a Pastour or sheepheard Ezechiel 34 Esay 40. Diuers names of God God is called a Bridegrome Ierem 3. Gene 2. Ephe 5. God all in all Ambrose of virginitie A similitude How pleasant are the promises of the diuine prouidence vnto a righteous soule The prouidence of God doth yeeld great matter of reioycing to the good Psalm 32 Psalm 144 Abac. 3. An expostulation of God with man Ierem. 2 The wicked are neglected of the lord Hosea 1. Hosea 2 Zach. 11. Deut. 32. Esay 5. How dangerous a thing it is to liue in this world without the diuine help God doth not onely permit euils but also he sendeth them Amos 5. Hosea 5. Amos 9. A fearefull place In howe great danger a man liueth hauing God his enemy and angry with him Iob 9. Psal. 8. Hosea 4. A similitude What the soule is without God After the diuine prouidence the grace of the holy Ghost is the beginning of all blessings What the grace of the holy Ghost is A similitude Grace doth deifie Gala 2. Grace is a supernatural forme Two soules of man Grace is a spirituall ornament Esay 6 Psalm 44. 1. The worke of grace maketh a man acceptable to God 2. It strengtheneth man Cant. 6 3. It maketh our works acceptable vnto God 4 It adopteth vs to be the sonnes of God Luke 10. The Forrest of the effects of grace Grace maketh our soules the dwelling temple of God This knowledge doth proceede from grace The first reason It is a property of grace to illuminate the vnderstanding Psal 27. Foure gifts of the holy Ghost belong to the vnderstanding Grace why it is called an Vnction Psal. 23. Psal 51. The second reason The will is a blind faculty Iohn 1. God is the Glasse of a purified soule God hath giueÌ„ knowledge to beasts to flie hurtfull things to embrace wholsome What thys supernaturall knowledge is Cant 5. Heb. 4 Testimonies of the Scripture as coÌ„cerning this knowledge Iohn 14. Iohn 6 Ierem. 31 Esay 54. Esay 4â— Prou. 9. In the first booke of his great Morals chap. 34. Psal. 37. Psal. 25. Psal. 94. Psal. 25. Ierome Psal. 119. The dignity of this doctrine See S. Ierome more at large in his 103. Epist to Paulinus c. 1. Philostratus in the life of Apollonius Tyaneus Psal 119 Esay 58 For what this wisedom is profitable Ecclus 27. Ambrose to Simplicianus Epist. 7. The dignitie of that wisedome Iob 28. Prou 2. The vnderstanding of the righteous increaseth Prou 4. Iob 4 The darknes of the wicked Exod 10 Esay 59 Psalm 9 Other mens sentences iudgemeÌ„ts are to be heard Gala 1 Exod 18 A similitude Psal. 97. Euill men thinke that there is no pleasure in Vertue Psal. 31. Psal. 35. The flesh also of the righteous reioyceth Psal 118. Psal. 68. Psal. 36. A similitude Psal. 89. How great the spiritual ioy is God as he is great in iustice so is he great in mercy Cant. 1. How great the force is of the sweetnes of the heauenly wine Holy Effrem A similitude Spirituall languorment Cant 5. Iohn 11 Coniectures of the greatnes of the spiritual delights 1. Psalm 18 Esay 64 1 Cor 2. Vertue hath her delights Psalm 37 Psalm 84 Cant 1 Apoc 17 Esay 56 The pleasure of the righteous is felt in their praiers Of the chast wedlock of the Worde and of the soule c. 22. Iohn 17. Gene 32 Math 17. Cant 2 Cant 8 Psalm 34 Psalm 73. The change of the righteous How a long night is to be passed Cant. 5. Cant. 2. Luke 15. Exod. 15. The entrance and beginnings of conuersion haue their pleasures Exod 13. Lâ—uit 23. Num. 28. In the beginning and in the end of the conuersion ther is a solemne feast Cant 8. Cant. 1. WheÌ„ce ioy and carefulnes ariseth in the nouices of Christ. A similitude Luke 15. A similitude Psal 65 Why the wicked doe not feele the sweetnes of God Blessednes two fold Time is very precious In the
that vvee should be called but he addeth that we are that the base estate and small confidence of man might euidently know the bountifulnes and liberalitie of God and that we might see that it is not a name of honour or title but rather of the deed and thing it selfe But if it be so great an euill to be hated and reprobated of God what great good will it be to be beloued of him and to remaine in his fauour This truly is an Axiome of the Phylosophers that a thing is so much the better by howe much his contrary is worser And therefore it necessarily followeth that that is the chiefest good whose opposite is the chiefest euill as we haue said that that is to be hated of GOD. But if in this world it be esteemed a matter of great moment if any man bee had in honour estimation amongst his Superiors as with the Emperour King or Prince or such great honorable estates I pray thee what will it be to haue found fauour and grace with the highest Prince the supreame Father with the most glorious excellent and noble Lord in comparison of whom al the principalities and dignities of this worlde are as though they were not Which fauour also is so much the greater by hovve much more it is freely gȳuen for it is certaine that as it is vnpossible for a man to be able to doe any thing before hee vvas created whereby he might deserue to be created for then hee was not any thing so also without all doubt is it that he can do nothing after that he is fallen into sinne whereby hee may deserue Iustification not because he is not but because he is euill and hated of God Another benefit followeth this going before that it deliuereth and freeth a man from the condemnation of euerlasting punishment of which hee was guiltie by reason of his sinnes for sinne doth make a man abhominable vnto God no man can liue without Gods fauour without his owne extreame harme Hence is it that the sinners forsaking God because they sinne and contemne him that they deserue to be contemned to be remoued out of the sight of God beeing banished from his company and from his beautifull dwellings and because they forsaking God doe loue the creatures with an inordinate loue it is meete that they should be punished in all things and be tormented with eternall payne to which visible punishments being compared they rather seeme paynted then true To this so great vnhappines that euerlasting worme doth also come which alwayes gnaweth the bowels and conscience of the wicked But what shall I say of the society of those cursed spirits and of all the damned What shall I speake of that obscure and lamentable Region full of darknes and confusion Where there is no order but where continuall horror abideth where no ioy is found no peace no rest no content no hope but perpetuall complayning and euerlasting gnashing of teeth exceeding outragiousnes and fury continuall blasphemy and eternall malediction From all these euils the Lord hath deliuered all them whom he hath iustified who after that they are reconciled to him and receaued into his fauour they are free from this wrath and from the punishment of his vengeance Behold an other benefit more spirituall which is the reformation and renouation of the inward man which was defiled and polluted through sinne For sinne doth not onely depriue the soule of God but also doth spoile and rob it of all supernaturall strength and fortitude and of all other riches and gifts of the holy Ghost with which it was adorned beautified and enriched by and by after that it is depriued of these graces it is wounded maymed and depriued also of the naturall blessings For seeing that man is a reasonable creature and sinne is a work done against reason and seeing that it is naturall that one contrary should destroy an other the consequent is that by how much more sinnes are multiplied by so much more the faculties of the soule are destroyed and disturbed not in themselues but in their aptnes to worke By these meanes sinnes doe make the soule miserable weake sluggish and instable to euery good worke but procline prompt and ready to all euill weake and feeble to resist temptations and flow to walke in the wayes of Gods commaundements They depriue her also of the true liberty and rule of the spirit and they make her the captaine of the deuill the world the flesh and of her owne appetites And by this meanes shee liueth in captiuity more hard and intollerable then that of Babilon and Aegipt Furthermore all the spirituall powers of the soule are made also sluggish and slothfull so that they doe not heare diuine inspirations and heauenly voyces they doe not see the great euils prepared for them they doe not smell the sweete fauour of Vertue nor the most beautifull paths and examples of the Saints they doe not tast how sweet the Lord is neyther doe they feele the scourgings nor acknowledge the benefits by which they are prouoked vnto his loue and besides all these they take away the peace and ioy of the conscience they doe extinguish the heate and seruour of the spirit and doe leaue a man filthy blemished deformed and abhominable in the sight of God and in the sight of all his Saints From all these euils this benefit doth deliuer vs. For so bottomlesse are the mercies of God that he is not content to haue pardoned our faults and to haue receaued man into fauour vnlesse also hee expell all these euils which sinnes bring with them reforming and renuing our inward man By this maner he healeth our wounds he washeth away our spots blemishes he breaketh the bonds of sinne destroyeth the yoake of euill concupiscences deliuereth vs from the seruitude of the deuill mitigateth and aswageth the fury and rage of our peruerse affections and perturbations and doth restore vnto vs the true liberty beauty of our soule doth giue vs the peace and ioy of a good conscience doth reuiue our inward sences doth make them prompt and fit to euerie good worke and slow to any euill Maketh them strong and valiannto resist the temptations of the deuill and doth inrich vs with all good works To be briefe he doth so absolutely renue and repaire our inward man with all his powers that the Apostle calleth such men iustified renued yea new creatures This renuing is so great that when it is made by Baptisme it is called regeneration but when by repentance it is called a resurrection and rising againe not onely because the soule is raysed from the death of sinne to the life of grace but because after a certaine manner it also imitateth the beauty of the future resurrection This is so true that no tongue of man is sufficient to expresse the beauty of a iustified soule This onely knoweth that Spirit that maketh it beautifull and his Temple
and placeth his seate and mansion in it Wherefore if thou comparest all the riches and honours of this world and all naturall graces with the beauty and riches of a iustified soule all will seeme most obscure and most vild in comparison of it For as great difference as there is betweene heauen and earth betweene a spirit and a body betweene eternity and momentary time so great difference also is there found betweene the life of grace and the life of nature betweene the beauty of the soule and the body betweene the inward riches and the outward betweene the spirituall strength and the naturall For all these are circumscribed within certaine limits they are temporall and appeare onelie beautifull to the corporall eyes to which a generall comming of God is sufficient but to the other a speciall perticuler and supernaturall comming is required Neither can they be called temporall when they bring vs to eternity neyther can they be called altogether finite because they bring the infinite God to vs in whose eyes they are so precious and of such valour that by theyr beauty they prouoke God to loue vs. Furthermore when as God could haue wrought all these things by his helpe and will he would not doe it but it pleased him to adorne the soule with infused vertues and with the gifts of his holy Spirit with which not onely the very Essence of the soule but also all her powers are clothed and adorned with these diuine habites To all these diuine benefits the eternall and infinite goodnes of God doth ioyne another that is the presence and ayde of the holy Ghost and so of all the most sacred Trinity which doth turne into a iustified soule and doth come that he may dwell in her that he may teach her how to vse rightly so great riches as a good father who not content to haue giuen riches to his sonne but doth giue him also a Tutor who well knoweth how to dispose bestow them Insomuch that euen as Vipers Dragons and Serpents doe dwel in the soule of a sinner which are a multitude of ill malignant spirits who chose their habitation and abiding in such a soule as our Sauior saith in Mathew so on the cōtrary part the holy Spirit with the whole blessed Trinity doth enter into a iustified soule casting out al monsters and infernall beasts doth consecrate it for a Temple vnto himselfe and doth place his seate there as the Lord expresly testifieth in the Gospel saying If any man loueth me he will keepe my sayings my Father will loue him and we will come vnto him and will dwell with him By the vertue of these words all the Doctors as wel Ecclesiasticall as Schoolemen confesse that the holy Ghost himselfe by a certaine speciall peculier meanes doth dwel in a iustified soule distinguishing betweene the holy Ghost his gifts saying moreouer not only these gifts to be giuen of the holy ghost but also the holy Ghost to giue himselfe who entring into this soule doth make it his Temple habitation placing his seate in it Therfore he doth purge and sanctifie it doth adorne it with his gifts that it may be an In worthy of such a guest These benefits afore-sayd doe not suffice vnlesse that admirable one come to which is that all the iustified are made the liuely members of our Sauiour which before were dead members for they did not receaue and take their influences from the head Christ. Hence others and those very great prerogatiues and dignities doe proceede for hence it is that the sonne of God loueth them as his owne members and hath no lesser care of them then of himselfe he is no lesse carefull for them then for his owne members without intermission hee poureth his vertue and grace vpon them as the head vpon his members to be briefe the eternall Father doth behold them with fauourable eyes no otherwise then the liuely members of his onely begotten Sonne vnited and incorporated with him by the participation of his spirit Of the same dignity it proceedeth that when those that are iustified doe aske for fauour and grace of God they aske it with great confidence for they know that they doe aske it not onely for themselues but also for the sonne of God himselfe who is honoured in them and with them For seeing that it may not be denied but that which the members doe the head also doth the same it followeth that seeing Christ is their head when they aske any thing for themselues they aske it also for him For if it be true that they as sayth the Apostle who offend against the members of Christ doe offend against Christ himselfe and if Christ doth say that he suffereth persecution when his members doe suffer persecution as he sayde to his Apostle persecuting his Church why doest thou meruaile my brother if I say that when the members are honoured that then Christ himselfe is also honoured Which seeing that it is so how great confidence will a righteous man haue in his prayer when he considereth that desiring fauour and grace for himselfe after a certaine manner he also desireth the same of the eternall Father for his best beloued sonne Is it not true that when fauour is done to any man for the loue of an other that it is done principally for him for whose loue it is done For wee beleeue that he that showeth mercy to a poore man for Gods sake that he not onely doth shew it to the poore man but also to God himselfe Neyther heere yet is an end of the heauenly benefits for to all these benefits afore-sayd this as last is ioyned to which all the other are appoynted and ordayned that is the right and possession of eternall life which is giuen to the iustified For as that our infinite and vnmeasurable Lord in whom together shineth all iustice and mercy adiudgeth to euerlasting payne those that doe not repent so hee taketh to eternall life all those that truly repent And when as he could haue pardoned man of all his sinnes and receaued him into his friendship and fauor with communion and participation of his glory yet he would not doe it but those to whom for his mercies sake he remitteth sinnes he also iustifieth whom he iustifieth those he maketh his sonnes whom he maketh his sonnes those also he maketh heires and pertakers of his celestiall inheritance together with his onely begotten sonne Hence ariseth that liuely hope which maketh the iustified merry and glad in all tribulation by reason of the pledge and earnest of this infinite treasure For although they see themselues brought into straights to be afflicted with infirmities to be oppressed with the miseries of this life yet they know that the afflictions of this present time are not worthy of the glory which shall be shewed vnto them And also they know that this light affliction which is but
very well That hee beholdeth the earth and hee maketh it to tremble he toucheth the mountaines and they smoake And that the starres and pillers of heauen tremble and quake at his reproofe And it is said of him not without reason that before his maiesty those great principalities and supreame powers doe tremble not because they are not secure of their owne glory but because the greatnes of the diuine Maiesty doth strike feare and trembling into them If therfore they that be perfect be not without feare what shal they doe that are guilty and contemners of the diuine Maiesty They are those vpon whom hee wil poure out the fury of his indignation This is one of the principal reasons why the greatnes of this punishment is to be feared as S. Iohn plainely teacheth in his Reuelation where he after this manner speaketh of the scourges and torments of the Lord. Therefore shall her plagues come at one day he speaketh of Babilon death and sorrow and famine and she shall be burnt with fire for strong is the Lord God which will condemne her The Apostle also was not ignorant of the strength of this Lord and therfore he sayd It is a fearefull thing to fall into the hands of the Lord. It is not a fearefull thing to fall into the hands of men because they are not so mighty but we may escape their violence and flye from their fury neyther haue they such authority that they can thrust the soule into hel Therfore our Sauiour sayd to his Disciples Feare not them that kill the body but cannot kill the soule but rather feare him who can cast both body and soule into hell fire These be the hands into which the holy Apostle sayth that it is a feareful thing to fall Of these things it is no hard matter to gather what is the nature of those hands of which Ecclesiasticus speaketh If we doe not repent we shall fall into the hands of the Lord and not into the hands of men By all which it is most manifest that as God is great in power in Maiestie and in all his works so he will be great in wrath in iustice and in the punishments of the wicked The same also is yet more plainly seene in examining the Diuine iustice the effects aud executions of which be these punishments Thys is after some manner knowen by the effects that is by the feareful punishments of God inflicted at diuers times vpon wicked men sundry of which are remembred in the Scriptures How terrible was the punishment of Dathan and Abiron and of all theyr complices whom the earth opening her mouth swallowed vp with theyr Tents and all their substance and they went quick into hel because they had stirred vp sedition against Moses and the Priests Who euer heard such like kind of threatnings as those that are read in Deuteronomie and they are purposed and threatned against thē who doe not obserue the Lawe of the Lord where amongst other horrible and feareful threatnings thus sayth the Lord Thou shalt be besieged in all thy Citties throughout all thy Land which the Lord thy God hath giuen thee And thou shalt eate the fruite of thy bodie euen the flesh of thy sonnes and thy daughters which the Lord thy God hath giuen thee during the siege and straightnes wherein thine enemies shall enclose thee So that the man that is tender and exceeding daintie among you shal be grieued at his brother at his wife that lieth in his bosome at the remnant of his children which he hath yet left For feare of giuing vnto any of them of the flesh of his children whom he shall eate because he hath nothing left him in that siedge and straightnes wherwith thine enemie shall besiedge thee in all thy Citties The tender and daintie woman among you which neuer would venter to sette the sole of her foote vpon the ground for her softnesse and tendernesse shall be grieued at her husband vvhich lieth in her bosome and at her sonne and at her daughter and at her after birth that shall come out from betweene her feete and at her children which shee shall beare for when all things lacke shee shall eate them secretlie during the siedge and straightnesse vvhere-with thine enemie shall besiedge thee in thy Citties Horrible and to be trembled at are these punishments yet both these and al other with which men haue at any time been punished in this world are no other thing then a smal shadow and a figure of those punishments which tarry for the damned in the other world for that shall bee the time in which the Diuine iustice shal shine vpon and against those that heere haue refused his mercy But if the shadow be so horrible who shal be able to sustaine the truth of the matter and the thing it selfe If now when as the Diuine iustice is as yet tempered with mercy and the cup of the wrath of the Lord is mixed with the water of his grace be so bitter what will it be when it shall be drunke pure without mercy especially of those that would shewe no mercy to theyr neighbour although the punishment will alwayes be lesse then the desert and merrit of the sinne Neyther onely dooth the greatnesse of the iustice argue the greatnes of the punishment but also the greatnes of the mercie of the goodnes of which wicked men presume so much For what is more admirable then to see GOD clothed with mans flesh and in it to suffer all kinde of torments reproches euen from his entrance into this life to his going foorth of it which he ended vpon the Crosse What greater mercy then to come into this world and to take vppon him the debts of the vvhole world that he might disburthen the world of them to shed his blood for them who shedde his blood Therefore as the works of the Diuine mercie are admirable so are the workes of the Diuine iustice to be feared for there is not in God lesser or greater but seeing that God is wholy and all that hee is in himselfe therefore as much as his mercie is so much necessarilie is his iustice in those things that pertaine vnto it For euen as by the greatnes of one arme we gather the quantity of the other so by the greatnes of the arme of the Diuine mercy we measure also the quantity of the Diuine iustice seeing that there is one and the same measure of them both Now therefore tell me I pray thee if in that time in vvhich GOD would shewe his mercy to the world hee wrought so admirable things and so incredible to the world that the world supposed them to be foolishnes when the time of hys second comming shall approch in which he determineth to shewe the greatnesse of his iustice what doost thou thinke that hee vvill doe hauing so many moe greater occasions by howe much there
shall be moe and greater offences of men For the mercie of GOD had not any thing that might prouoke it or desire it seeing there was nothing in mans nature that might deserue it but the Diuine iustice shal haue so many pricks motiues and pullers on for reuengement as there hath been sinnes committed in thys world ánd of these sufficient coniectures may bee taken how great and howe terrible the Diuine iustice will be This thing Saint Bernard excellently declareth in a certaine sermon of the Natiuitie of our Lord Looke how milde gentle he was saith he in his first comming so hard and inexorable will he be in his second and as now there is no man that may not be reconciled so after a short time there shal be no man that may Because as the gentlenes and benignitie appeared beyond all hope and esteeme so we must expect the sharpnes and seueritie of the iudgement to be God is vnmeasurable infinite in iustice as he is in mercy great to pardon great to punish but mercy doth challenge the first place that if we will iustice might not be found vpon whom it should be extended This sayth Bernard By thys it sufficiently appeareth how that by the mercie of God the quantitie of his iustice may be gathered The diuine Psalmographer doth most excellently shew thē both This is our God sayth he euen the GOD that saueth vs and to the Lord God belong the issues of death Sure God wil wound the head of his enemies the hearie pate of him that walketh in his sinnes Thou seest by these my brother that the Lorde is as seuere to his enemies and to those that rebell against him as he is kinde and mercifull to his friends The same thing the Diuine pacience doth most plainly teach which hee vseth as well towards the whole world as towards all sorts of men good and euill For we see many men so disordered and dissolute and of so reprobate a life that from the first time that they begin to open theyr eyes of reason euen to the last day of theyr life doe consume and spend the greater part of theyr life in offending God and contemning his diuine commaundements hauing neither respect nor regard of the promises threatnings benefits or coūsels of God or of any other thing Neuerthelesse in al the time of theyr life the great goodnes of God wayteth for them wyth great patience not cutting off the thred of theyr life not ceasing to call them by many wayes to repentance although he see no token of amendement in them But when that long patience shal come to an end if he shal poure vpon them the store-house of his wrath whom so many yeeres by little and little he hath beene gathering into the bosome of his iustice with what force with what violence thinkest thou that they shal be ouerwhelmed What other thing would the Apostle signifie when he said Despisest thou the riches of his bountifulnesse and patience long sufferance not knowing that the bountifulnesse of GOD leadeth thee to repentance But thou after thine hardnesse and hart that cannot repent heapest vnto thy selfe wrath against the day of vvrath of the declaration of the iust iudgement of God Who will reward euerie man according to his workes What is it that he sayth thou heapest wrath vnto thy selfe but that hee may signifie that as one gathering a treasurie doth daily adde a penny to a penny doth heape riches to riches for so the masse dooth increase so the Lord doth euery day enlarge the heape of his wrath as the wicked man by his ill actions dooth increase accounts to be rendered for them Tell mee I pray thee if any man in gathering treasure should so closely and diligently sticke to it that neyther any day or houre should passe in which hee woulde not adde somewhat to it and that by the space of fiftie or sixtie yeeres if at any time afterwards he should vnlock his doore enter into his treasure house what great store of treasure should he finde there O vnhappy man doost thou not marke that neyther day nor houre passeth in which thou doost not augment the heape of Gods wrath which is reserued for thy destruction that is increased and augmented by euery sinne that thou committest For although there were no other thing but the dishonest looke of thine eyes the impure thought or vncleane desire and the hatred of thine hart the word and periurie of thy mouth these were enough alone to fill the whole world But if to these all thy other vices sinnes be ioyned meditate I pray thee what an vnmeasurable masse of the wrath of GOD thou hast heaped to thy selfe by the space of so many yeares If the ingratitude and maliciousnes of peruerse men be well searched into they will shewe vnto vs the greatnesse of the Diuine punishments That thys is true consider the goodnesse and liberalitie of GOD towards men consider moreouer that which he dyd and sayd in thys world with that which he suffered for them all Consider also the commodities and necessaries for the vse of men prepared of hym that they might liue well and all other things that he hath pardoned vnto sinners or winked at how many blessings he hath bestowed vpon them and from hovve many euils he hath deliuered them and many other kind of fauours and benefits which daily he bestoweth vpon them All these things increase and multiply the heape of Gods vvrath Moreouer call to thy minde the forgetfulnesse and negligence of men towards God and also theyr ingratitude and rebellion lastly their blasphemies and contempt as well of God himselfe as of his commaundements which are so great that not onely they looke for no gaine or profit of theyr sinning but oftentimes of onely maliciousnes they tread foolishly all that vnder theyr feete which the Lord hath commaunded He therefore that without any reuerence or shamefastnes despiseth so great a Maiestie no otherwise then if he were some Figge-tree God who so often as Paule speaketh hath troden vnder-foote the son of God and hath counted the blood of the Testament as an vnholie thing wherewith he was sanctified he that so often hath crucified him with his works worse then the works of Pagans what other thing is to be looked for of him when the houre of rendering an account shall come then that he giue the honour to God or suffer so much punishment as he hath iniured God For seeing that GOD is a iust Iudge it is his duety to bevvare that the punishments be not lesse then the iniuries done but that they be like to the sinne of him who hath beene iniurious In thys case if it be God to whom the iniurie is doone vvhat sentence shall be pronounced against the body and soule of the condemned that the iniury doone may bee recompenced by worthy punishment But if in the satisfaction of the offence done to God the
righteous the hope of the wicked betweene the prosperity of the one and of the other What greater commodity can arise from a tree then to be planted after that maner that the Prophet speaketh Beleeue me such is the condition and estate of the righteous to whom all things fall out prosperously and with whō all things goe well because they are planted by the current of the Riuer of Gods grace But on the contrary part there can be no worser estate of a tree then to be wilde then to be planted in a dry ground in the wildernes in a land of salt it dooth not yeeld fruite in due season to be briefe it is farre remooued from the sight and tillage of men By thys comparison the wicked may easily vnderstand that they in thys life cannot haue a more miserable estate because they haue eyes remoued yea quite turned from God who is the fountaine of liuing water and haue theyr eyes sette and fixed and theyr hope reposed vpon frayle deceitfull creatures which are vnderstood by a dry land desert vnoccupied By this also it is manifest in how excellent a place the world it selfe is planted which certainly is planted in a dry barraine ground seeing it hath the footing of his hope placed on a foundation so weake which is no hope but errour vanitie and confusion as before we haue showen Tell me I pray thee vvhat misery can be greater then this what pouertie more naked thē to liue without hope Therefore seeing that man is through sinne left so poore and naked as before we haue declared and that the hope of the Diuine mercy is so necessary for him what shall bee left vnto him who hath lost it which might haue strengthened and confirmed him Wee see that all liuing creatures in theyr kinde are brought foorth perfect that nothing is wanting vnto them for the preseruation of theyr life But man through sinne is so desolate and so bereft of all things that hee hath nothing of those things which are needfull and necessary for him but he must liue of almes and be relieued from the diuine mercy Then if thys meanes be taken away what shall be the life of man Surely lame maimed full of a thousand defects What other thing is it to liue without hope then to liue without God What other thing is left vnto man of all his auncient patrimony to preserue his life besides this onely support and helpe What Nation was euer so barbarous so voyde of all religion that had not some knowledge of God or of some Dietie whom it did not worshyp with some certaine honour adoration of whom also it did not looke for some benefit of the Diuine prouidence In that short time that Moses was absent from the chyldren of Israell the people thought that they had beene vvithout a God and as rude and ignorant began to exclaime and to speak to Aaron Arise make vs Gods to goe before vs as if they durst not goe any further without some God Wherby it is manifest that mans nature although it alwayes knoweth not the true God yet it is necessary that it know some God And although man is ignorant of the cause of his owne frailtie yet he acknowledgeth his owne frailtie and for this naturally seeketh helpe of some God Euen as Iuie naturally seeketh for some post or tree which it may leane vnto or some wall by which it may bee supported and creepe aloft it beeing not able to sustaine and held vp it selfe And as a woman naturally seeketh for the supportation and shadow of man for she as an imperfect creature knoweth that the ayde and helpe of man is necessary for her so mans nature beeing needfull and wanting many things doth seeke for the shadow and refuge of God These things therefore beeing thus wee may easily coniecture what is the life of those men who liue in this wretched miserable widowish estate forsaking God and beeing forsaken of God I would gladly knowe this one thing They that lyue after thys manner how doe they comfort themselues in theyr miseries howe doe they defende themselues in dangers vvho doth cure theyr infirmities with whom doe they confer of their businesse of whom doe they aske counsaile in doubtfull matters of whom doe they seeke for help in theyr necessities with whom doe they traffique with whom are they conuersant whom doe they sticke to to be briefe by whose help doe they escape the snares of this life who haue not any refuge If the body cannot liue without the soule nor the soule without God surely God is no lesse necessary for the one life then the soule is for the other And if as we haue said before liuely hope be the anchor of our life how dare any man vndergoe the dangers of this tempestuous sea his shyp beeing destitute of this anchor of hope If hope be the shielde by which wee defend our selues how can men defend themselues in the midst of theyr enemies beeing without this shield If hope be the staffe by which mans nature is supported in all her weakenes and frailtie vvhat shall weake and feeble man doe without the staffe of this hope Hetherto as I thinke we haue sufficiently showed what is the difference betweene the hope of the righteous and of the wicked and what is the nature and condition of them both That is one of them hath God for his defence and bulwarke but the other the broken staffe of reede of Egipt which he that leaneth vpon it goeth into his hand and shooteth it through For it is meet that that error which he committeth in hoping in things so vncertaine and doubtfull relying altogether on them that he should be corrected no otherwise then by hauing mischance and being deceiued by them as the Prophet Ieremy plainlie testifieth who when he would denounce the destruction and ouerthrow of the kingdome of Moab he sayth thus For because thou hast trusted in thine owne workes and treasure thou shall bee taken and Chamos the God in whom thou trustest with his priests and Princes shall goe away into captiuitie Consider therefore what kinde of ayde that is the trust of which is the ruine and ouerthrow of him that so trusteth Therefore let these things suffise which haue beene spoken of the priuiledge and prerogatiue of hope which although it seeme almost to be the same with the speciall prouidence of God of which wee haue spoken before yet it is not the same for they differ betweene themselues as the effect and cause of a thing For although there be many foundations of thys hope as the goodnes of God truth of the same God and the merrits of Christ yet the principall ground is the fatherly prouidence of God from which ariseth thys hope confidence For to know that God hath so great a care ouer him and that he is defended and gouerned of him with so
Saint Isidore doth consent vnto this He that would sayth he be certaine of the remission of his sins in the houre of death let him repent whilst he is in health and then let him lament deplore his iniquitie and wickednes But he that hath liued wickedly and repenteth at the houre of his death it is most certaine that he is in very great ieopardy For euen as his damnation is vncertaine so also his saluation is doubtfull Surely these words are very dreadfull but those more fearefull which Eusebius the Scholler of Saint Ierome writeth and which his glorious holy Maister spoke being at the poynt of death stretching him selfe vpon the earth arrayed in rugged and course Sack-cloth but because I dare not relate them with that rigour that they are written least I should minister occasion of distrust and despaire to those that be weake and faint-harted let him that pleaseth reade them he shall finde them in the fourth tome of saint Ieromes workes in a certaine Epistle of Eusebius to Byshoppe Damasus as touching the death of Saint Ierome whose beginning is To the most reuerent Father c. Where amongst other things hee sayth But some man will say That man that hath done wickedly all the time that he liued and repenting at the houre of his death he shall obtaine pardon of God Alas how vaine a supposall and how false a meditation Scarcely of an hundred thousand men whose lifes haue alwaies beene wickedly led scarcely I say one deserueth fauour at Gods hands A man altogether borne and brought vp in sin who hath neither seene nor acknowledged GOD neither is willing to heare of him neither knoweth when he sinneth nor what repentance is vnlesse perhaps he sometimes dreame of it and altogether intangled in worldly busines whom the loue of his children whoÌ„ he must forsake oppresseth whom infirmitie amateth vvhom the losse and griefe of riches and temporall blessings shaketh excruciateth because he seeth that he can no longer enioy them what repentance can he bring forth acceptable to God which he at all would not bring forth nor once medle with if he had any hope of recouery Certainly I will conclude as I thinke he that whilst he is young strong feareth not to offend God in death he deserueth not to finde any fauour of God What repentance is that my beloued children which a man onely maketh for this respect because he seeth that hee can liue no longer Who if he should recouer of his sicknes would becom worser then he was before I haue knowne many peny-fathers and helhound vsurers who may rightly be termed the deuils Alcumists or the deuils Mint-maisters that haue beene sorry and penitent when they haue thought that there was no way with them but death but after that they haue beene recouered their lifes haue beene a great deale more wicked and detestable then it was before This I hold this I thinke to be true this I haue lerned by long experience that his end is not good whose life was alwayes euill who feared not to sinne but alwaies liued in the vanities of the world Hetherto Eusebius by whose words it is manifest how suspected that repentance was to this holy Doctor Ierome which was made at the houre of death of him who had continued in sinne all the time of his life Neyther heere the iudgement of S. Gregory is to be kept close as concerning this matter who vpon these words of Iob For what hope hath the hypocrite though he be nâ—uer so couetous if God take away his soule Will God heare his cry when trouble commeth vpon him sayth God heareth not his cry in the time of trouble who in the time of peace and prosperity hath not heard the Lord crying vnto him in his commaundements For it is written Hee that turneth away his eare from hearing the law his prayer shall be abhominable Therefore the holy man beholding how those that contemne the law and all right paths doe at the last cast conforme themselues vnto prayer sayth Will God heare his cry Those words doe iumpe with those of our Sauiour who sayth Afterward came also the foolish Virgins saying Lord Lord open to vs. And it shall be answered vnto them Verily I say vnto you I know you not Because then so much the more seuerity shall be vsed by how much the more mercy hath now beene extended and then iudgement shall be seuerely and strictly executed vpon them whom now persisting in sinne mercy patiently wayted vpon These be S. Gregories words Another Doctour of the Church sayth It is a hard thing that then that is at the poynt of death true repentance should be when it commeth so late When as anguish and payne tormenteth the body and greefe oppresseth the sences scarcely can a man thinke of any other thing Greatly suspicious ought that repentance to be which seemeth constrayned The coniecture is easie that a man should thinke that himselfe is vnwilling to doe that which he hath no ability to doe Possibility doth very well proue the willingnes If thou doost not whilst thou mayst thou manifestly shewest that thou art vnwilling to doe Another Doctour of the Church doth also subscribe to all this Seeing therefore sayth he that a fruitfull repentance is not the worke of a man but of God by his mercy he can inspire it whensoeuer he will and reward those by his mercy whom he could condemne by his iustice But because there are many things that hinder and hold backe the sicke partie and him that languisheth and faynteth through sicknes it is dangerous and neere vnto destruction to protract and defer repentance till death But a meruailous great thing is it if God at that time inspire any man with true repentance Consider I pray thee how fearefull and dreadfull these words be Who then is so bold and audacious that dare expose this great treasure to so great hazard Is there any thing more precious in this world then saluation Who therfore is so inconsiderate and vnaduized that dareth presume to say that he doth not passing ill that committeth so great treasure to such danger These be the iudgements of the holy Doctours by whom we may euidently gather how great theyr folly and madnes is without an especiall care to sayle ouer this so dangerous a Sea of which the most expert and experienced Mariners haue spoken so doubtfully and with so great feare To dye well is an Art which ought to be learned all 〈◊〉 life long For in the houre of death so many and so great are the discruciatements that cause death that scarce remayneth any time to learne to dye well ¶ The authority of Schoole Doctours concerning this matter IT remayneth now for the greater confirmation of this matter that we see what the Schoole Doctours thinke of it Among others there is one that excellently handleth this matter agreeing in all things vnto vs putting and inferring this conclusion Repentance
which neuer gaue sucke Then shall they begin to say to the mountaines Fall on vs and to the hils couer vs. For if they doe these things to a greene tree what shall be done to the dry As if the Lord would haue sayd if this tree of life and innocencie in which there is neyther worme found nor any corruption of sinne so burne with the flames of the Diuine iustice for the sinnes of others how thinkest thou will a dry and barren tree burne which not charity but the own proper malignity condemneth to the fire And if in this work of mercy thou doest see so great rigour of iustice what will it be in other matters in which so great mercy is not seene But if thou beest so dunsicall and blockish that thou canst not conceaue of the force of this argument at the least looke vpon the paynes of hell and see what an exceeding huge punishment that is with which the Diuine iustice punisheth one sinne how I say that sinne that is done in a moment is punished with euerlasting torment Behold how this dreadfull and terrible Iustice ioyneth her selfe to this Diuine mercy which thou so greatly extollest What can be thought of more horrible and fearefull then to see how that high and supreame Lord of Lords from the throne of his glory will behold a soule which shall be tortured and tormented so many thousand thousands of yeares with the intollerable punishments of hell yea he shall reioyce that it is thus plagued and it shall be pleasurable vnto him to haue the punishment without end without terme or limit and vtterly without any future hope of remedy O the altitude of the Diuine iustice worthy of all admiration ô secret ô the Abysse of this most deepe profundity What man will be so mad who will be so berest of all reason and iudgement that if he consider these things wil not tremble wil not stand astonished vtterly amazed at such great and dreadfull punishments ¶ Of the works of the Diuine iustice which are seene in this world BVt leauing the bookes of the holy Bible a little let vs goe out and view this visible world for in it we shall finde great arguments of the Diuine iustice I assuredly affirme vnto thee that they that haue their minds illuminated but with the least beame of the Diuine light knowledge doe liue in this world in great feare and exceedingly doe dread the works of the Diuine iudgements because seeking an issue and passage out of them and how to be freed from them they finde none other but onely a simple humble confession of the fayth they haue in Christ. Who doth not tremble to see the vniuersall face of the earth couered with infidelity to see how fruitfull the haruest of the deuils is that fill the lakes of hell with the wretched soules of men to see the greater part of the world yea after the redemption of mankind drowned in the former darknes How small I pray thee is the region of the Christians if it be compared with the Kingdomes and Empires of the Infidels It is but a small corner of the world if thou exceptest the new and late discouered regions of India which are daily more and more discouered and doe come to the fayth All besides the deuils doe oppresse with their tiranny and they mourne vnder the powerfull and tirannicall empire and dominion of the King of darknes where neyther the Sunne of righteousnes shineth where the light of truth riseth not where neyther the water rayneth nor the dew of the Diuine grace descendeth as neyther in the mountaynes of Gelboe where the deuils make such hauock of soules which they gather cast into eternal inextinguible fire For it is without all controuersie that as without the Arke of Noah in the time of the deluge none was saued nor any in the Citty of Iericho without the house of Rahab so none shall be saued that is found without the house of GOD which is his Church But looke vpon that part which Christians inhabit looke vpon the doings and affaires of Christians how they are ordered and managed in this most corrupt and deprauate age of the world and thou shalt confesse that in this misticall body from the sole of the foote to the top of the head there is scarce any one sound member to be found Looke into which so euer you please of the most famous Citties of the world in which at the least there is any footsteps of learning and doctrine yet extant afterwards runne through the lesser Townes Villages Streets and Castels and thou shalt finde those people of whom that of Ieremie may be rightly and truly affirmed Runne to and fro by the streetes of Ierusalem and behold now and know and enquire in the open places thereof if yee can finde a man or if there be any that executeth iudgement and seeketh the truth that is that is righteous in deede and I will spare it Furthermore I say not runne thorow ware-houses shops tauerns publique places of meetings for those places are for the most part dedicated to tryflings toyes lyings and deceits but also the houses of neighbours attend and harken as Ieremie and thou shalt vnderstand that there is no body that speaketh that that is good neyther shalt thou heare any thing besides murmurings lyes cursings oathes and blasphemies heere strifes and contentions doe resound there threatnings and flaunderous reproches are heard No man repenteth him of his wickednes saying What haue I done To be briefe in very deede thou shalt see and vnderstand that the harts tongues of men are busied about no other matters but their earthly owne commodities neither shalt thou heare GOD to be named after any other manner but in oathes and execrable cursings whereby his name is blasphemed which remembrance of his name the Lord complaineth of in the same Prophet saying They remembre mee but not as they ought swearing falsely by my Name So that by the exteriour markes a man can scarcely knowe whether the people be Christian or Heathen vnlesse by that manner that we know bells which are seene a farre of but are knowen by the sound so thou mayest know them by theyr oathes and blasphemies which are heard when thou art neere thē otherwise they could not be knowen or discerned what they are But I pray thee howe can these be numbred with those of whom Esay speaketh All that see thē shall know them that they are the seede which the Lord hath blessed But if the life of Ghristians ought to be such that they that see them a farre of may discerne and iudge them to be the sonnes of GOD what account are they to be made of who rather seeme scoffers mockers and despisers of Christ then true Christians Wherefore seeing that the sinnes enormities of the world are so many and so great how can it be that thou manifestlie doost not see
alike yet there were great cause of feare Why do I say alike Yea such so great are the euerlasting torments of hell that if onely one man of all man-kind were to be banished thether yet we all should tremble and feare When our Sauiour did eate his last Supper with his Disciples and sayd One of you shall betray me they were all exceeding sorrowful began to feare although theyr conscience witnessed their innocencie For when as an imminent mischiefe is grieuous heauie although there be but few to whom it is threatned yet all and euery one feareth least it should happen to him If there were a great Army of men in a fielde and it should bee reuealed from heauen to them all that a little after an Arrow should fall from heauen and should kill one of them neyther was it known whom it should be there is no doubt but that euery one would feare himselfe least it should fal vpon him But what would they do if the greater part of them should be in danger and ieopardy How much greater would thys feare be Tell me ô man thou that art so cunning in fleshly wisedome and so vnskilfull in the busines of thy saluation did God euer reueale vnto thee that there should be so many whom the thunder or sword of the Diuine iustice should smite If thou knowest not this certainly I much lesse beleeue that thou knowest how many and which â—e they that shall escape that plague on which side thou shalt stand and yet doost thou not feare Or doth hell seeme more tollerable vnto thee then the wound of an arrow Or hath God secured thee or hast thou letters of thy securitie or is an infallible charter of thy saluation graunted vnto thee or a priuiledge of immunity and freedom Hetherto there is nothing that promiseth any such like thing vnto thee moreouer thy works condemne thee and according to the present iustice vnlesse thou turne ouer a new lease thou art reprobated and doost thou not yet feare or wilt thou say that the Diuine mercie doth comfort thee Surely that doth not dissolue the works of iustice neither is contrary to them yea if it suffer so many to be damned will it not also suffer thee to be one of them if thou together sinnest with them Doost thou not see that thys vnhappy loue of thy selfe doth blinde thee and miserably deceaue thee whilst it maketh thee to presume other things then are seene in the whole world What priuiledge I pray thee is giuen vnto thee beyond the other sonnes of Adam that thou shouldest not be banished thether whither they are gone whose works tâ—oâ— doost follow But if God be to be known by his works I know what I wil say For although there be many comparisons by which the mercy of God his iustice may be compared between themselues in which the works of mercy doe preuaile yet at the length we finde that in the posterity of Adam of whose seede thou also art borne that there are found many moe vessels of wrath then of mercy seeing that there are so many that are damned and so few that are saued The cause of which is not because the grace and helpe of God forsaketh them or is wanting vnto them For God as the Apostle sayth would haue all to be saued and to come to the knowledge of his truth but because the wicked are wanting to themselues and the grace of God is of none effect in them All these things are remembred more largely and prolixely of me that thou mayest vnderstand that notwithstanding the mercy of God which thou pretendest God suffereth so many to be Infidels and in the Church so many euill Christians and so many Infidels and so many euill Christians to perish so also he will permit thee to perish with them if thou imitatest theyr life Or when thou wast borne did the heauens reioyce or shal the iudgements and decrees of God be changed that the world may be peculier to thee and another to others If therfore notwithstanding the mercy of God hell be so enlarged and so many thousand soules be daily swallowed vp of it shall not thy soule also come thether if thou continuest in thy sinnes But that thou mayest not say that God in times past was seuere and sharpe but now gentle and mild consider that also with this gentlenes and clemencie he suffereth all that thou hast heard neyther shalt thou be free and exempted from it but also thy punishment remayneth for thee yea although thou beest called a Christian if thou beest found a sinner Or therfore shal God lose his glory if he shall condemne thee Hast thou I pray thee any singuler thing in thee for which God aboue others ought to spare thee Or hast thou any priuiledge which others haue not for which he should not destroy thee with others if thou beest not lesse euill then others be Consider I pray thee the sonnes of Dauid for their fathers sake many priuiledges were promised vnto them but neyther for that cause would the Lord suffer their wickednes vnpunished wherefore many of them had but sorrowfull ends Where then is thy vaine trust Why doest thou vainely hope they perishing that thou shalt not perish seeing thou art pertaker of their wickednes Thou errest my brother thou errest if thou thinkest that this is to hope in God This is not hope but presumption For hope is to trust that God will forgiue thee thy sinnes if thou be repentant and sorrowfull for them and turnest from thy wickednes and that then he will receaue thee into fauour But it is exceeding great presumption to beleeue that thou shalt be saued and happy perseuering and continuing in thy sinnes Doe not think that this is a small sinne for it is numbred amongst those which are committed against the holy Ghost for he that presumeth after this maner he offereth no smal ignominy reproch to the Diuine goodnes which especially is attributed to the holy Ghost Such sinnes as our Sauiour testifieth are not forgiuen in this world nor in that to come insinuating that they are remitted with great difficulty for as much as they shut against them the gate of grace and offend a Phisitian who can giue life apply the medicine to the wound ¶ The conclusion of all those things which haue beene spoken in this Chapter LEt vs at the length conclude this matter with that excellent sentence of Ecclesiasticus Because thy sinne is forgiuen be not without feare to heape sinne vpon sinne And say not The mercy of God is great he will forgiue my manifold sinnes for mercy wrath come from him and his indignation commeth downe vpon sinners Tell me I pray thee if of a sinne forgiuen we ought to feare how can it possibly be that thou shouldest be secure by daily adding sinnes to sinnes Marke diligently what he sayth His indignation commeth downe vpon sinners For of this sentence the
whole matter dependeth For we must know that although the Diuine mercy extendeth to the iust and vniust calling these and expecting their repentance and preseruing the other neuerthelesse the great graces the notable benefits which God promiseth to men in the Scriptures especially belong to the righteous who as they faythfully obserue the law and commandements of God so faithfully God keepeth them he keepeth his promises with them and he is a true father vnto them as they are his morigerous and obedient sonnes On the contrary part whatsoeuer threatnings curses and seuerity of Diuine iustice the holy bookes of the Bible contayne all that properly pertayneth to thee and to such like vnto thee How great therfore is thy blindnes and blockishnes who fearest not so great cominations purposely intended against thee and comfortest thy selfe with promises not made for thee O miserable man haue an eye to those things that are spoken of thee and giue to the iust that is theirs Wrath belongeth to thee therfore feare but loue to the righteous let them therfore reioyce and be glad Wilt thou that I shall proue this to be true heare what Dauid sayth The eyes of the Lord are vpon the righteous and his eares open to their prayers But the face of the Lord is against them that worke euill to roote their memory from off the face of the earth Such a like speach is found in Esdras The hand of our God sayth Esdras that is the Diuine prouidence is ouer all that seeke him in truth and his wrath strength and fury ouer them who forsake him Which seeing that it is so why ô wretched man doest thou continue in thy sinne vvhy doest thou deceaue thy selfe vvhy art thou so dull vvhy errest thou thus These testimonies of Scripture are not for thee so long as thou remaynest in the state of damnation the sweetnes of the Diuine fauour and loue speaketh not to thee This is the portion of Iacob it belongeth not to Esau. This is the lot of the righteous thou who art wicked what right hast thou here Leaue of to be wicked and it shall be thine forsake thine vngodly life and the loue of God and his fatherly prouidence shall protect thee and cherrish thee Which if thou doest not thou art a tyrant and doest vsurpe the rights of other men Hope in the Lord sayth Dauid and doe good And in another place Offer the sacrifices of righteousnes and trust in the Lord. This is the best manner of hoping doe not further abuse the mercy of God in perseuering in thy sinnes and in hoping that thou shalt come to heauen It is the best hope to flye sinne and to call vpon God but if thou continuest in thy sinnes this is not to hope but to presume this is not to hope for mercy but it is to doe an euill deed and to offend that mercy For euen as the Church doth profit them nothing who depart from it that they may doe wickedly so also it is meete that the mercy of God should not profit them who continue in their sinnes This before all things the dispencers and Preachers of Gods word ought to consider who oftentimes not marking before whom they make their Sermons minister occasion to the wicked to continue and perseuere in their sinnes They should respect that euen as a sicke and a diseased body the more it eateth the greater harme it taketh so also a soule hardened in sinne the more that it deceaueth it selfe with this kinde of trust the more it is hardened and moued to perseuere in sinne In stead of a conclusion that excellent sentence of S. Augustine shall be By hoping and despairing men perish By hoping naughtily in their lifes but by despairing worser in their deaths Therfore cease my brother and forsake this presumptuous hope remember that as the Lord is mercifull so also he i◠iust Therfore as thou castest one eye vpon mercy that thou mayest hope so cast the other vpon iustice that thou mayest feare For as S. Bernard sayth God hath two feete mercy and iudgement we ought to apprehend neyther of them alone or seuerally for iustice without mercy doth not so make to feare as mercy without iustice doth make men continue and perseuere in a wicked life Against them that excuse themselues saying that the way of Vertue is rough sharpe and difficult CHAP XXVIII WOrldly and carnall men are wont also to bring another excuse that they may seeme not without cause to haue left and eschewd Vertue and Religion saying that it is rough and difficult albeit they are not ignorant that this difficulty ariseth not from vertue her selfe for she is a friend vnto reason and very well agreeth with the nature of a reasonable creature but from the euill inclination of our flesh and our wicked appetities which taketh the originall from sinne Hence it is that the Apostle sayth that the flesh lusteth against the spirit and the spirit against the flesh and that these two doe striue between themselues And in another place he sayth I delight in the law of God concerning the inner man But I see another law in my members rebelling against the law of my minde and leading me captiue vnto the law of sinne which is in my members By which words the Apostle meaneth that the law of God and Vertue doe very well agree with the superiour part of our soule which altogether is spirituall in which the vnderstanding and the will is but her watch and warines is hindered by the law of the members and this happeneth of the euill inclination corruption of our appetites and the passions arising from them which are aduersaries to the superiour part of the soule and to God himselfe which discord contrariety is the cause of all this difficulty For this cause many alienate themselues from Vertue albeit otherwise they highly account of it as also sicke men doe who although they desire health yet they abstayne from and abhor medicines because they suppose them to be bitter and of euill tast Wherefore if we take this errour and opinion from men I take it that we shall performe a thing not to be repented of for this is the onely stay and let that hindereth them from Vertue besides this difficulty there is nothing in Vertue which is not greatly and especially to be desired and affected ¶ How the grace giuen vs by Christ doth make the way of Vertue easie and pleasant FIrst of all in this place we must know that the chiefest cause of this errour is that men onely looke vpon this small difficulty which is found in Vertue and lift not vp theyr eyes to those Diuine helps which God sendeth to ouercome it The errour of the seruant of Elizeus was of this kinde who seeing the army of the Syrians compassing the Citty and Horses and Charets begirding the house of the Prophet saw not the army of the Lord prepared
displeased count on 〈◊〉 to the slaunderer and that thou with griefe hearest themâ— which thing also Salomon teacheth more plainly when he saith As the North-winde driueth away the raine so doth an angry countenaunce the slaundering tongue For as S. Ierome sayth An arrow shot from a bow sticketh not in the harde Rocke but with violence reboundeth backe againe and hurteth him that shot it But if thys Buzzer and Detractor be thy subiect or thine inferious without offence thou mayest commaund him to holde his peace for thou art bound to doe so but if thou caust not commaund him silence at least discreetly with some other discourse breake of the course of his speech or show him that countenaunce whereby he may be ashamed to proceed any further Therefore being modestly admonished he will eyther hold his peace or alte r his speech Otherwise if thou entertainest his talke with a merry and cheerefull countenaunce thou ministrest occasion vnto him to persist in his purpose and so thou doost no lesse offâ—nd in hearing theÌ„ he in speaking For euen as he dooth ill that fireth an house so also he doth ill that when he may quench the fire will not but comming to the flame warmeth himselfe by it Amongst all the kindes of murmuring and detraction that is the worst when as any one detracteth from the estimation of a iust and a righteous man for he by this maner of reproching gyueth occasion to the weake and faint-harted to becom more slow in goodnes neyther to goe forward with so great zeale as they were wont Which albeit he offend not the stronger yet it cannot be denied but that he much wrongeth the weake and vnperfect Least that this kinde of scandall seeme small in thine eyes remember the words of the Lord Whosoeuer shall offende one of these little ones which beleeue in me it were better for him that a Mil-stone were hanged about his necke and that hee were drowned in the depth of the sea Wherefore my brother thinke it a kinde of sacriledge to sharpe and whet thy tongue against them who serue the Lord God for albeit it be true that the detractor speaketh of them yet for the title onely which they haue and the office that they beare they are worthy of honour especially seeing that GOD hâ—th â—ayde oâ— them Hee â—haâ— toucheth you toucheth the apple of 〈◊〉 eye Whatsoeuer we haue hetherto spoken of murmurers detractors and backbyters it is to be vnderstood also of iesten flowters and deriders and much more of them then of the other for this vice hath all the euills and mischiefes in it which before we haue numbred vp and besides those it hath another blemish annexed to it that is pryde arrogancie and contempt of thy neighbour therefore we must eschew and auoyde thys vice more warily then the other as the Lord hath commaunded in his Law when he sayd There shall not bee a tale-carrier or a backebyting whisperer among my people Therefore it is not needfull further to enlarge the vildnes and filthines of thys sinne but let these things suffice which hetherto we haue spoken ¶ Of rash iudgement and the precepts of the Church TO the two precedent sinnes a third is ioyned being very neere vnto them which is to iudge rashly for detracters and slaunderers not oâ—â—ly speake euill of matters past and euident but also of those that are iudged of them and which breed any suspition in them For that they may not want matter of detraction they minister matter vnto themselues interpreting by their peruerse iudgement and peeuish suspition the matter to the worst sence which they ought to haue interpreted to a good meaning Which kinde of iudgement is against the commaundement of the Lord Iudge not that yee be not iudged and condemne not that yee be not condemned With these sinnes which are against God those are numbred which are coÌ„mitted against these foure precepts of the Church which are commended vnto vs vnder commaundement as On the Sabaoth dayes and on certaine other dayes it is thought good by the Church to heare Diuine seruice and sermons to receaue the holy Sacrament of the blessed body and blood of our Sauiour Christ to fast on dayes appoynted and faithfully to pay Tithes For as much as man is bound both by the law of God and man to heare Diuine seruice and sermons he ought not onely to be present in body but also in spirit and to gather vp his spirits that he may heare with vnderstanding and carry away that that may frâ—ctifie in him and nourish him vnto eternall life keeping silence and hauing his hart lifted vp to God considering of the high misteries reuealed in his word with great feruency and deuotion praying together with the congregation and attentiuely hearing that which is deliuered vnto him They who haue families children men-seruants and maydes they ought to be carefull that they come to Church and that they spend the Sabaoth daies holily In which thing many Housholders are faulty and worthy of great reprehension who shall render an account to God for this negligence These are the sinnes which men are wont to fall into more vsually and commonly and all these we ought to eschew with great diligence By this meanes we shall remaine in innocency and we shall keepe our garments white and cleane which Salomon commaundeth At all times sayth he let thy garments be white and let not oyle be lacking vpon thine head Which is the vnction of Diuine grace which yeeldeth light and courage in euery matter and teacheth vs all good for this is the fruite of this heauenly oyle ¶ Of other kinde of sinnes which because they seeme small therfore the world maketh no account to commit them ALbeit these sinnes aforesayd are more principall from which we ought to flie with speciall care and diligence yet the raynes it not to be giuen to other sinnes which seeme lesse vnto vs and which we make no scruple to commit yea I beseech thee by the bowels of Gods mercy that thou beest not of their number who when they heare that one sinne is not so great as another forth-with runne into it without any scruple or regard Remember that saying of the Wise-man Hee that contemneth small things shall fall by little and little into greater Remember that Prouerb For the want of a naile the Iron shooe falleth off and for the want of a shooe the Horse falleth and he perisheth that fitteth on him The houses that ruine threatneth through age â—irst giue a token of their decay by the fall of some stone or â—mall peece of timber and the ruine daily increasing at length â—hey come topsey turuey downe Very well sayth Saint Auguâ—â—ne Contemne not sinnes because they be little but feare them because they be many For many times many little beasts kill Are not the coâ—â—es of sand very small and little but if plenty of them
man page 55 What mischiefe sinnes worke to the soule ibidem The beauty of a iustified soule page 56 By iustification God dwelleth in vs page 57 Iustification doth make vs the liuely members of Christ ibidem Confidence in prayer page 58 Christ is honoured when a righteous man is honoured ibid. By iustification eternall life is giuen ibidem Iustification is of greater value then creation 59 How to know whether we be iustified or not ibidem Of many effects which the holy Ghost worketh in a iustified soule 60 Graces wayting vpon the holy Ghost ibidem After what manner the holy Ghost sitteth in the soule of a righteous man and what he doth there ibidem The holy Ghost is fire a doue a cloud a wind ibidem page 61. The sixt Chapter The sixt Title That the inestimable benefit of the Diuine predestination doth bind vs vnto Vertue page 63. The matters handled in this Chapter Election is the foundation of all benefits page 64. Perseuerance in goodnes is a signe of election ibidem The circumstances in election are to be considered page 65. An Apostrophe to a begger but elected page 67. The seauenth Chapter The seauenth Title That man is bound to follow and embrace Vertue by reason of the first of those foure last things which happen vnto him which is death page 69. The matters handled in this Chapter A rehearsal of the foure last things that happen vnto man to wit Death Iudgement Heauen and Hell Ibidem A terrible and fearefull history out of Climacus 70 Death certaine but the houre of death vncertaine 71 Th◠danger in which he that dieth is 74 Feare the mightiest perturbation of the mind 75 The Sunne goeth downe at noone to the wicked ibidem The things that before seemed pleasant in death are bitter ibidem The accout that shall be required of vs. 76. The history of Arsenius out of the life 's of the Fathers 77 The history of Agathon out of the same booke ibidem A fearefull example of one Stephanus that led a solitary life out of Climacus ibidem Why the Saints doe feare in death 79. Nothing is of force in the houre of death 80 The lamentation of a sinner at the houre of death page 81 The eight Chapter The eyght Title That man is bound to desire Vertue by reason of that second last thing that happeneth vnto him which is the last iudgement page 82 The matters handled in this Chapter The shame of sinners in the last iudgement page 84 How fearefull the sentence of the Iudge is ibidem The paines of the damned 85 The blasphemies of the damned ibidem For what sinnes men are damned 88 Certaine excellent comparisons that agrauate the paines of the damned and the terrour of the last iudgement page 90 Repentance too late ibidem Our accusers in the last iudgement ibidem The ninth Chapter The ninth Title That man is bound to the exercise of Vertue by reason of the third last thing that happeneth vnto him which is the glory of heauen page 91 The matters handled in this Chapter What things are handled in this Chapter to wit the reward of the vertuous which is the glory of heauen in which two things are to be looked vnto the beauty of the place and the dignity of the King ibidem The beauty of heauen is gathered by coniectures ibidem The first coniecture is from the end why heauen was made 92 The second coniecture that it was not onely made for Gods honour but also for the honour of his elect page 93. The thyrd coniecture the price by which it was purchased by the death of God page 95 The fourth coniecture the situation and height of the place 97 The fift coniecture the proportion of the three kinde of places 98. The sixt coniecture the inhabitants dwelling in heauen 99 The power of the Lord. page 92 Reasons why Heauen should be absolute and perfect 93 All things obey the righteous euen in this world ibid. Christ gaue more to his Saints then he vsed himselfe page 94 The price that must be giuen for the celestiall glory 95 The quantitie and quality of the glory of heauen is argued by the greatnes of the place page 97 The beauty of the earth ibidem Three kind of places appointed to men of God 98 From the noblenes of the inhabitants wee may gesse of the glory of heauen page 99 Essentiall glory ibidem God is the perfection of all things 100 God is all in all ibidem The mistery of Circumcision 101 All things are to be suffered for the heauenly glory 102 The tenth Chapter The tenth Title That the last of those foure last things that happen vnto vs that is Hell-fire doth binde vs to seeke after Vertue 104 The matters handled in this Chapter There are but two wayes ibidem The greatnes of the punishment in hell by reason of the greatnes of God page 105. The greatnes of the iustice of God 107 The greatnes of the punishmens of hell is gathered by the punishments of thys lyfe ibidem Of the mercy of God the greatnes of the punishment is gathered 108 The two commings of Christ compared 109 The punishment ought to be like to the sinne page 111 From the person of the executioner that is of the deuill the greatnesse of the punishment is gathered page 112 A fearefull and horrible example of one Theodorus out of S. Gregories Dialogues ibidem A description of the deuils power page 114 The Conclusion page 115 Of the eternity of these punishments 116 A fearefull saying of the eternity of the punishments in hell ibid. A notable Allegory of the Furnace which King Nabuchodonozer commaunded to be heate in Babilon 118 ¶ The second part of the first booke In this second part are handle◠the temporal and spirituall blessings which in this lyfe are promised to Vertue and more particularly the twelue more notable and famous priuiledges prerogatiues which are found in Vertue page 120 The Chapters of the second part of the first booke The eleuenth Chapter The eleuenth Title That we are bounde vnto Vertue by reason of the inestimable blessings which are promised in this present life ibid. The matters handled in this Chapter It is a wonder that among Christians so many men are found wicked and vicious ibidem Whence this negligence of men is page 121 All things happen a like to the good and euill ibidem Men are ignorant of those good things that are in Vertue page 123 Vertue like vnto Christ. ibidem Helpes of God by which we ouercome the difficulty of Vertue 124 Vertue is an habite ibidem A comparison of the life of good men and ill men 125 Diuine blandishments with which the righteous are cherished 126 Good men are truly rich 127 All thys afore-sayd is explaned by a notable sentence of the Gospel ibid. What Christ meaneth by the hundreth fold in the tenth of Marke 128 What goods be those that God bestoweth vpon the good ibidem To the
and put of from day to day the amendment of their lifes and the embracing of Vertue ibidem The matters handled in this Chapter Diuers refuges and euasions of sinners ibidem Against them that deferre their repentance 266 The state of the question handled in this Chapter 267 The iust iudgement of God 268 Causes from whence the difficulty of conuersion ariseth ibidem The first cause is an euill habit and a naughty custome of a life wickedly and vngraciously led ibidem The second cause is the power of the deuill 269 The third cause by reason God is farre of from a soule polluted with the filth of sinne ibidem The fourth cause is the corruption of the powers of our soule ibidem Whether now or hereafter it is more easie to turne vnto God ibidem The force of euill custome 272 The Allegory of Lazarus being foure dayes dead 273 The losse of tyme ibid. The sinnes which we commit we shall heereafter deplore and lament in vaine 274 The reliques of sinne remayne after the sinne is committed 27â— How absurd a thing it is to reserue repentance for old age ibidem The greatnes of the satisfaction that God requireth of sinners 276 Deferring of repentance is a certaine infidelity ibidem Repentance is not to be deferred in regard of benefits receaued at Gods hand ibidem Repentance is not be deferred in regard of predestination 277. We offer the best part of our life to the world the worst to God ibid. What we owe vnto God in respect of our redemption 278 An excellent exposition of a place in the twelueth of Ecclesiastes ibidem The conclusion of the first obiection 279 The 26. Chapter Against them that deferre theyr repentance to the houre of death 280 The matters handled in this Chapter It is dangerous to dispute of finall repentance ibidem Authorities of certayne Fathers concerning finall repentance 281 To be conuerted what it is ibidem To dye well is an Art which ought to be learned all the life long 285 The authority of Schoole Doctors concerning finall repentance 286 The conclusion of Scotus that repentance made at the poynt of death and in extreamity is sildome true which he proueth by foure reasons or arguments ibidem The first reason of the Shoole-man is the great perturbations which arise out of the greatnes of griefes sicknes and the presence of death ibidem The euill disposition and temperature of the body is an impediment of contemplation 287 The second reason of the Schoole-man is that such repentance seemeth to be brought forth not of will but of compulsion whereas repentance ought to be voluntary ibidem The third reason of the Schoole-man is drawne from the custome of sinning 289 His fourth reason is founded in the quality of the valour of the workes which are commonly done at the houre of death 290 Certayne authorities of the holy Scripture confirming the precedent sentences of the Doctors 291 Aunswers to certayne obiections 294 Many miraculous and wonderfull things reserued to the comming of Christ among which the sauing of the theefe on the Crosse was one ibidem The iudgments of God 295 An obiection of the repentance of the Niniuites with an aunswere to it page 296 The conclusion of the former disputation ibidem The 27. chapter Against them that through the hope of the diuine mercy doe continue perseuere in theyr sinnes page 298. The matters handled in this Chapter The difference betweene the true Prophets and the false 299 Whence the Diuine iustice is knowne 300 All men ought to feare ibidem Whence feare is engendered 301 Of the works of the Diuine iustice whereof mention is made in the holy Scripture ibidem The beginning of the wayes of the Lord. ibid. The fall of deuills ibid. The fall of Adam ibidem The hidden and secrete iudgements of God page 103 Of the workes of the Diuine iustice which are seene in thys world 304 The great infidelity of men 305 What it is to trust in God 312 The conclusion of all those things which haue been spoken in thys chapter ibidem The promises of God belong to the righteous and the threatnings to the vnrighteous ibidem The 28. chapter Against them that excuse themselues saying that the way of Vertue is rough sharpe and difficult page 314 The matters handled in this Chapter Vertue is a friend vnto reason ibidem How the grace giuen vs by Christ doth make the way of Vertue easie pleasant 315 From whence the difficulty of Vertue ariseth 317 An answer to certaine obiections 319 For what end the reliques of sinnes and euill appetites remaine in vs. ibid. Another obiection with the answer 320 Spirituall circumcision 321 The commaundements of God are not impossible 322 How charity maketh the way easie and pleasant which leadeth vnto heauen 323 The cheerefulnes of Saint Laurence in his martirdome page 324 Those things which are vncleane to the world are cleane to the righteous ibidem Of other things which make the way of saluation easie and sweet 325. The way of the wicked is hard and difficult 326 All the precedent matters are proued by examples to be true 328 The great changes and alterations which the hande of the highest worketh 329 Thâ— disciples of Christ were on a suddaine made learned ibidem The conuersion of Saint Cyprian 330 The conuersion of Saint Augustine 331 The 29. Chapter Against them that feare to enter into the way of Vertue for the loue of thys world page 335. The matters handled in this Chapter What euills are in the world ibidem How short the felicity of this world is 336 No felicity of the world is lasting ibidem Of the great miseries that are mingled with worldly felicities 337 Some myseries are common both to the good and bad some proper onely to the wicked 338 Euils of God page 339 Punishments are inflicted vpon the wicked by the Ministers of God 340 The euils that passions and affections bring ibidem Of the multitude of the snares and dangers of thys world ibidem Of the blindnes and darknes of thys world page 342 The blindnes of men 342 Of the multitude of sinnes that are in thys world page 343 How deceaucable the felitie of the world is 345 The conclusion of all thys aforesayd 348 What the world is ibidem The world is a hell 349 That true rest and tranquility is found in God alone 349 Obiectiue beatitude ibidem Onely God can satisfie the hart of man page 350 The nature of the Sea-mans Needle ibidem Saint Gregory deplored the losse of his quiet and sweet solitary life 351. Those things which haue beene spoken are prooued by examples ibid. No man happy in thys world 353 The world is an hypocrite 354 The conclusion of the first Booke 356 In Vertue all perfections are found 357 Vertue is loued in an enemy ibidem THE SECOND BOOKE THE Prologue of the second Booke page 365 Matters handled in the Prologue The deuision of the second booke into two
all their tribulations This Dauid confesseth in his Psalmes when he sayth Thou vpholdest me in mine integritie and doost sette mee before thy face for euer That is thou neuer turnest thine eyes from me for that contitinuall care thou hast of mee Also hee sayth in another place The eyes of the Lord are vpon the righteous and his eares are open vnto theyr cry But the face of the Lord is against them that do euill to cutte off theyr remembrance from the earth But because the greatest riches of a good Christian is the prouidence which God beareth ouer him this the more certaine it is and better knowne vnto man the greater is his ioy confidence I thinke that I shall doe a thing worth the labour if I shall adde and bring hether moe places and testimonies of the sacred Scripture seeing that euery one of them are as the Charters and Letter-pattents of a King and new confirmations of the rich promises and legacies of his diuine will Therefore Ecclesiasticus sayth The eyes of the Lord are vpon them that feare him and he knoweth all the workes of man hee is their mighty protection and strong ground a defence from the heate and a shadow for the noone day a succour from stumbling and an help from falling he setteth vp the soule and lightneth the eyes he giueth health life and blessing Hetherto are the words of Ecclesiasticus out of which it is euident and plaine to euery man how many kind of duties there be which GOD supplyeth in the preseruation of man This the Prophet Dauid confirmeth The paths of man are directed by the Lord for he loueth his way Though he fall he shal not be cast of for the Lord putteth vnder his hand Consider I pray thee heere what ill can happen vnto him who falleth vpon a bolster so soft as is the hand of the Lord our God And in another place Many great sayth he are the troubles of the righteous but the Lord deliuereth him out of them all He keepeth all his bones not one of them is broken In the New Testament also more excellent magnificent things are spoken of this diuine prouidence where the Lorde sayth that he onely hath not a care of the bones of the righteous but also of euery one of theyr haires that they fall not nor perrish without his prouidence willing after this manner of speaking to insinuate and intimate vnto vs his greatest and speciallest prouidence towards them For of what thing shall not he haue care who hath a care of all our haires If this seeme too much vnto thee heare that which is no lesse which God speaketh by his Prophet Hee that toucheth you toucheth the apple of mine eye It had beene sufficient to haue sayd hee that toucheth you toucheth me but it is more that he saith he that toucheth any part of you toucheth the apple of mine eye Neyther is our most bountifull Lord content that he hymselfe should alone watch-ouer our safetie but he also willeth that the Angels should be ready to doe vs seruice for so wee read in the Psalmes Hee hath giuen his Angels charge ouer thee to keepe thee in all thy waies they shall beare thee in theyr handes that thou hurt not thy foote against a stone Didst thou euer see I pray thee such a Chariot or Wagon as are the hands of Angels See therfore how the Angels who are our elder brethren doe beare the righteous in their armes who are their younger brethren who as yet know now how to walk alone but must be carryed in the armes of their elders And this they doe not onely in life but also in death at the history in the Gospell testifieth of the rich Glutton in which we see that the begger Lazarus after death was carryed of Angels into Abrahams bosome The diuine Psalmographer confirmeth this The Angell of the Lord pitcheth round about them that feare him and deliuereth them How mightie and strong this garde is the translation of S. Ierome dooth more expresse The Angell of the Lorde compasseth and encircleth them that feare him that he may deliuer them What King was euer founde that had such a garde as our Lord hath giuen vnto vs This is most manifestly seene in the bookes of the Kings the King of Syria comming to take the Prophet Elizeus brought a great Armie with him vvhich the seruaunt of the Prophet seeing feared and began to tremble But the Prophet turning to his prayer prayed the Lorde that hee would vouchsafe to open the eyes of his vnbeleeuing seruant that he might see the Armie which stoode for the defence of the Prophet being stronger by infinite thousands then that which came to hurt and wrong him And hee opened the eyes of his seruant and he saw the Mountaine ful of horses and of fierie Charrets for the defence and gard of Elizeus Like to this gard is that which is mentioned in the Canticles in these words What shall you see in the Shulamite which is the Church or any soule liuing in the state of grace but as the company of an Army that is an Armie of Angels This same also in the same booke is explaned by an other figure when it is said Behold Salomons bedde threescore strong men are rounde about it of the valiant men of Israell They all handle the sword and are expert in warre euery one hath his sword vpon his thigh for the feare by night What other thing is this then that the holy Ghost by this figure might teach and show the great care singuler prouidence by which God defendeth and watcheth ouer the soules of the righteous For whence is it I pray thee that man being conceaued in sin liuing in a corrupt flesh bent to all euill should passe so many yeeres among so many snares and dangers without destruction and vtter ruine of himselfe if hee were not preserued sustayned by the Diuine prouidence Which is so great that it dooth not onely preserue men from euill but also oftentimes it dooth turne the very euills into which men fall through carelesnesse and negligence into a matter of greater good that is as often as by that they are made more wary more humble and more thankfull vnto him who hath drawne them back from so great danger and hath pardoned them so great a sinne For this cause the Apostle sayth Vnto them that loue God all things worke together for the best If this fauour and friendship be worthy of admiration that shall be more worthy that God doth not onely shew this mercy to his seruants but also to their sonnes and Nephewes and to all things that appertaine vnto them as God himselfe testifieth saying I am the Lord thy God a iealous God visiting the iniquity of the fathers vpon the children vpon the third generation and vpon the fourth of them that hate me And shewing mercy
vnto thousands to them that loue me and keepe my commaundements An example of this we haue in Dauid for God would not cast off his sonnes in so many ages although their sinnes had oftentimes deserued it And that onely in respect of Dauid their Father The same thing the Lord sheweth in Abraham when he directed his seruant in his way and prospered his busines when his maister had commaunded him that he should fetch a wife for his sonne Isaack Neyther onely is he good and gracious to the seruant for the deserts of the maister but that which is much more for the loue of a good seruant God hath a care of an ill Maister So he blessed the house of Putiphar the Egiptian as the Scripture sayth for Iosephs sake and encreased all his substance as well in his houses as in his fields notwithstanding that Putiphar Iosephs maister was an Idolater What bountifulnes what prouidence can be greater then that Who is so mad that will not serue a Lord so liberall so faythfull and so louing towards all them that waite and attend vpon him and not onely towards themselues but also towards all things that is theirs ¶ Of the names that are attributed vnto the Lord in the holie Scripture by reason of this prouidence BEcause this diuine prouidence doth extend it selfe to many and wonderfull effects therfore God hath in the holy Scriptures diuers names Hee is most vsually and solemnly called a Father as in like manner God in most places of the Gospell calleth vs his most louing sonnes And not onely in the Gospell but also in many places of the old Testament For so the Prophet sayth in his Psalmes As a Father hath compassion on his children so hath the Lord compassion on them that feare him for he knoweth whereof we be made he remembreth that we are but dust Because it seemed but a small thing to another Prophet that he should be called a Father seeing that his loue and prouidence doth exceede the loue of all fathers he sayth Doubtlesse thou art our Father though Abraham be ignorant of vs and Israell know vs not As if he should say Those that are fathers according the flesh are not worthy that name if they be compared with thee But because in the loue of parents the loue of the mother is commonly wont to be the more vehement and tenderer the Lord is not content with the name of Father but will also be called a Mother and more then a Mother as he himselfe sayth in Esay in most sweet words Can a woman forget her child and not haue compassion on the sonne of her wombe Though they should forget yet will I not forget thee Behold I haue grauen thee vpon the palme of mine hands thy wals are euer in my sight What words can be spoken with a more tender loue Who will be so blind or so blockish who vnderstanding this will not reioyce Who will not be reuiued Who will not lift vp his head hearing that he hath such a pledge of the loue and of the diuine prouidence For he that considereth that it is God that speaketh this whose truth is for euerlasting neyther doth he euer deceaue whose riches haue no end and whose power is infinite whom shall he feare What shall he not hope for How shall he not reioyce at those words When he heareth this assurance of his estate this prouidence and this certaine demonstration of loue What I will yet speake more For the Lord is not content to haue compared his loue to the common loue of mothers but hee chooseth one among all other which excelleth al others in loue that is the Eagle with whose loue he compareth his loue and prouidence saying As an Eagle prouoking her young ones to flye fluttereth ouer her birds stretcheth out her wings taketh them and beareth them on her wings This same thing the same Prophet also testifieth in words more cleare before the people being now ready to enter into the Land of promise The Lord thy God hath borne thee sayth hee as a man doth beare his sonne in all the way which yee haue gone vntill yee came vnto this place And as he himselfe doth take vpon him the name of a Father and of a Mother so hee giueth vnto vs the name of most beloued sonnes as Ieremy testifieth Is Ephraim sayth hee my deere sonne or pleasant child Yet since I spake to him I still remembred him therefore my bowels are troubled for him I will surely haue compassion vpon him sayth the Lord. Euery one of these words because it is God that spake them are worthy that they should be well considered of for they are very forcible to mollifie our harts with diuine loue seeing that he hath loued vs being vnhappy and miserable creatures so tenderly and doth cherish vs so louingly By the same reason of the diuine prouidence God after that he had taken vpon him the name of a Father hee would also be called a Pastour or Sheepheard as wee may see in the Gospell That he might declare how farre this pastorall loue and sheepheardly care doth extend it selfe hee sayde I am the good sheepheard and know my sheepe and am knowne of mine O Lord how doost thou know them with what eyes doost thou behold them As the Father knoweth me sayth he so know I the Father Which is with the same eyes that my Father beholdeth me I behold the Father and with the same I looke vpon my sheepe O blessed eyes ô happy aspect O supreame prouidence What greater glory what greater treasure what greater riches can be desired of any one then with such eyes to be beheld of the sonne of God that is with the same eyes that the Father beholdeth him For although this comparison in euery poynt is not equall for the naturall sonne deserueth more then the adoptiue yet great is that glory that it is worthy to be compared with this Yet what ones and how great the workes and benefits of this prouidence are God by his Prophet Ezechiell doth most plentifully teach in these words Behold I will search my sheepe and seeke them out As a sheepheard searcheth out his flocke when he hath beene among his sheepe that are scattered so will I seeke out my sheep and will deliuer them out of all places where they haue beene scattered in the cloudy and darke day And I will bring them out from the people and gather them from the Countries and will bring them to their owne Land and feede them vpon the mountaines of Israel by the riuers and in all the inhabited places of the Countrey I will feede them in a good pasture and vpon the high mountaines of Israel shall their fold be there shall they lye in a good fold and in fat pasture shall they feede vpon the mountaines of Israel I will feede my sheepe and bring them to their rest sayth the Lord God I will seeke