to fooles as papers of infamy Though prodigality bee a vice yet couetousnesse is worse because a prodigal man doth good to many but the couetous person doeth profite none CHAP. 38. Vnlawfull lust is lothsome in God his sight KNowe ye not that ye are the Temple of God and that the spirit of God dwelleth in you If any man destroy the Temple of God him shall God destroy â—saith the Apostle Now commeth the thirde band of enemies to bee spoken of comprised in the lust of the flesh Other vices doe defile but on part of man onely namely the soule but this vice polluteth the whole man Looke not to escape the terible iudgement of God if thou handle the Temple of the holy spirit dishonestly For vnlawfull lust the Lord destroyed the old world with water Sodom Gomora with the fiue citties next adioyning Hamor and the Sichimites Onan and the whole tribe of Beniamin in a maner with the sword For this vice was Amon murthered Salomon bereaued of the Spirit of God Samson blinded Dauid manie waies afflicted the two Elders that accused Susanna vnrustly stoned three and twenty thousand in one day put vnto the sword and most greeuous plagues for this vice hath the Lord sent among his people Fly from this infection and God his spirit will comfort thee haue death in minde and lust will soone bee quenched Auoid idlenesse and repell the tentation of the flesh from thee Remember the fire of hel where fleshly men shal burne for euer and the lust of the flesh will not so inflame thee It seemeth to thee harde to resist tentations but much harder will it bee to suffer the paines of hell Hee that is not deliuered from the first shall not escape the second fire One heate euercommeth another The remembrance of the infernall fire will extinguish the flame of the internall fiâ—e If thou art held with the loue of God al other vanities wil vanish from thine heart Hee is the seruant of Satan which serueth the lust and wicked affections of the mind Of this sinne did the Apostle speake when he said They that doe such things shalt not inherite the kingdome God The sinne of the flesh is a fire of hell and the maintainer thereof is riotousnesse and gluttonie The flame thereof is filthinesse the ashes vncleannesse the smoake infamie the ende vexation of the minde destruction of the bodie shipwrack of a good conscience and an horrible contempt of the holy commaundements of God Many of them bee vtterly cast away through the wrath of GOD which giue themselues to this vice If thou wouldest ouercome thou must flye from this sinne according to the commandement of the Apostle from God himselfe This victorie is gotten by flying and not by violence Daintie fare prouoketh lust but a sober diet with godly exercise keepeth chaste A wonder it is that euer thou canst auoide this persecution of the flesh faring deliciously and liuing in idlenesse The water of teares quencheth the flame of concupiscence and vnlesse thou auoid occasions hereunto it is almost impossible but at one time or other thou wilt yeeld vnto his sinne Few there be but either in youth or in age do humble themselues before this idole and giue themselues to the flesh Many there bee which commende the unspotted life but few retaine the chastitie of the body much lesse of the mind they would seeme honest and praise honesty but yet they auoide not as they ought the occasions which cause them either to bee or to be thought dishonest Their meaning is good but their knowledge is but smal and not sufficient Happy is that soule which in a pure body serueth her spouse Iesus Christ and happy is that man which prepareth in his heart an habitation for the holy spirite Remember still the death the corruption and the filthynesse whereinto our bodies shall bee resolued and doing so much wilt thou bee moued to serue God in all holinesse of conuersasion whereby thou shalt enioy him blessedly in the heauens being deliuered from the fire of hell where they continue boyling in torments which like beastes in this worlde did giue themselues to al inordinate desires of the flesh CHAP. 39. The chaste Christian God delighteth in WIsedome cannot enter into a wicked heart nor dwel in the bodie that is subiect vnto sinne saith the wise man Gather thy senses together and refreine thine appetites Death is come vp into our windowes and is entered into our palaces sayeth Ieremie Vnlesse thou settest a watch ouer thy senses thy soule is in danger to die of an euill death Because Ishbosheth looked not well vnto his doores hee lost his life euen in his owne house lying vpon his bed Consider in thy minde what mischiefe came into the worlde through Euahs casting her eie vpon the forbidden fruite It is not lawfull for thee inordinately to beholde that which is not lawfull for thee in heart to desire Had not Dauid cast an vnchaste eie vpon â—athsheba he had neither lost so many good things neither fallen into so many euils as he did Looke warely vnto thy senses the want hereof brought destruction vnto Olofernes No vice so troubleth th'understanding nor ouerthroweth the reason of man as doeth the sinne of the flesh God who is all simple and pure He fedeth among the lillies as the Spouse doth say signifying thereby how hee is delighted altogether in cleannesse and chastitie The puritie of the creature is most gratefull before God and therein doth he most gladly rest himselfe It is written that There shal not enter into it the heauenly citie any vncleane thing The principall bewtie of the soule is principally ascribed vnto chastitie through bringing the flesh in subiection to the spirite The memorie of the chast persons is afore God immortall and renowmed of men Chastitie is compared vnto the roase not onely for the beautie and sweetnesse thereof but also for that it springeth encreaseth and continueth as the rose doth among thornes For chastitie neuer groweth nor continueth but where there is sharpenesse and austeritie of life and mortification of the flesh it is alwaies in danger where pleasure is Chastitie cannot liue where no fasting is vsed nor temperance appeareth And a wonder it were that such as are not sober should be chaste If thou wilt continue chaste bee still doing of some good worke or other flye the companie of dissolute persons and prepare a place in a pure bodie for the holy Ghost The Doue which Noah sent out of the Arke could haue no footing at all but vpon carion which she liked not and therefore returned vnto the Arke againe The holy Ghost which sometime was resembled to a Doue it cannot abide in bodies that bee vncleane but in the pure and holy Flye the vices of the flesh as thou wouldest the plague or pestilence that thy soule may remaine pure
very deede they are nothiâ—â— so Our soule is no Chamelion thâ— it should liue onely with winde Tâ—â— worlde it openeth his desire it â—â—cheth out and vnfouldeth his will 〈◊〉 laboureth to nourish such as loue 〈◊〉 worlde with the meere winde of vâ—nitie Ephraim is fedd with the wind saiâ— Hosea Vaine we tearm that whicâ— filleth not the place where it is The things of this world they fill not but onely puffe vp our soul make it for to swell Wouldest thou not take him for a very foole that being an hungred should open his mouth and onely take in the aier to appease his hunger withall Surely thou art no wiser than hee which thinkest to satisfie thy minde with the winde of wordly vanitie Of the men of this worlde did the kingly Prophet say Whose bellies thou fillest with thine hidde treasures Lords and great men they vse to lay â—broad the most pretious thinges of â—heir house adorning their haules and great chambers with silke and arras but the things of lesse price account â—hey fling into corners Euen so God â—ath publiquely set abroad the riâ—hes of this glory and holy loue but â—he duste of gold and siluer as vile â—hinges hee hideth vnder the earth â—et a woonderfull thinge it is to obâ—erue how the men of this world coâ—et to satisfie their bellies with the â—asest things The thinges of this world are like vnto sharpe liquor which doth not satisfie but prouoke the appetite to couet after meate They shall goe to and fro and barke like dogs and goe about the citie They shall run here and there for meate and shall not bee satisfied though they tarrie all night saith the Psalmist They shall goe too and fro and compasse about to get honors and riches and yet for al that shall not they be satisfied Thus saith the Lord by the prophet Haggai vnto such fellowes Yet haue sowen much and bring in little yee eate but ye haue not inough ye drinke bul ye are not filled yee cloth ye but ye be not warme The more thou drinkest of these worldly thinges the dryer thou shalt bee and thou shalt shewe thy selfe like vnto that man who to quench his thirst will eat salt and to quench the fire will powre oyle vpon the same The desire of worldly things is infinite and will not bee satisfied CHAP. 2 God alone is to be desired and sought after OPen thy mouth wide and I willfill it saith the Lord When God had commended the obseruation of his commaundementes vnto his people hee then said Open thy mouth wide and I will fill it He speaketh not of the opening the corporall mouth but of the desire which is the mouth of the soule It is not the world that can fulfil the desire of the soule but God alone our creator which saith Enlarge thy desire because I onely and none other can satisfie the same The reasonable soule which is created aâ—ter the image and likenesse of God may well bee occupied about many thinges but it shall neuer bee satisfied nor replenished but with God himselfe In him it resteth securely and reioyceth Happy is that soule to which God is all thinges and to whom besiâ—e God nothing is sweet and precious but all is bitter and vnsauory If our soules seeke comfort in these earthly thinges let it neuer looke for rest and quietnesse The vessell so long as it abideth in the water it seemeth not heauy but as soone as it is taken out of the water the heauinesse and waight of the same appeareth The reason is for that being altogether earth or consisting of that thing which commeth neerest vnto earth it hath most agreement and conuenience with the element of water so long as it swimmeth vppon the water and of earth beeing vppon the earth So when thou art with God in heart by vnfained loue thou art in the element as it were that that is most proper and proportionate vnto thee and there continuing with him thou goest away merrely and with a contented minde but going to the loue of the world thou leauest thy proper element and therefore euery thing seemeth painful and heauy vnto thee The wicked men doe find euen in their greatest dignities much trouble the godly on the other side in reproches quietnesse This sheweth that in God onely there is ioy of heart but without God there is no comforte at all As thy body can take no rest so long as it lieth vpon a narrow peece of wood not answering to the proportion of thy body so shall thy soule neuer find any rest and security in the base thinges of this worlde If thou wouldest enioy life turne thee vnto God It is God that satisfieth thy mouth with good thinges as the prophet sayeth Our appetite will neuer rest vntill it come vnto the end it seeketh Our soule is of that noble nature that nothing can satisfie it but the soueraigne good of all which is God himselfe This moued Dauid to cry As the heart brayeth for the riuers of water so panteth my soule after thee O God My soule thirsteth for God euen for the liuing Gods when shall I come and appeare before the presence of God My teares haue bene my meat day night while they dayly say vnto me where is thy God While the holy prophet was without God hee thirsted greatly and longed that hee might perfectly be satisfied of him according to that of our Sauiour Christ If any man thirst let him come vnto me and drinke Giue not thy minde to the vanities of this world vnlesse you had rather to liue in continuall affliction of the soule than at quietnesse Couet not temporal that thou may est haue eternal glory If thou wouldest attaine thine heartes desire follow the counsaile of the Prophet Delight thy selfe in the Lord and hee shall giue thee thine hearts desire Loue God aboue all and thou shalt liue a merry life not onely in this world but also in the other to come CHAP. 3. It is vnpossible that any thing besides God alone should satisfie the soule of man WHen I awake I shal be satisfied with thine image saide the Prophet to God Whatsoeuer is in the world it is very little in respect of our soule The vessell which is made to receiue God himselfe can neuer be filled with any thing vntil God doe fill it And the cause why they cannot so doe is because they are vaine The thinges of this world doe so occupy the place wherein they be that for all their beeing there the place yet remaineth empty still and gold doth no more satisfie the soule than the wind doth suffice the body So smally can these earthly thinges satiâ—fie the minde the desire thereof beeing infinite Wouldest thou not iudge him a very foole that would presume to flye vp into the skies without winges As impossible is it for thy soule to be satiate with these eathly thinges Temporall goodes they are but
the death of the other They bee so linked together that being two they are yet but one and being one are neuerthelesse two Betweene these twaine passeth the whole course of the life And therefore sundry names and titles are giuen them by the Apostle when hee calleth the one Spirite the other flesh the one the soule the other the body the one the lawe of the minde the other the lawe of the members the one the inner man the other the outward man Walke in the Spirite saith the Apostle If yee liue after the flesh yee shall die but if ye mortifie the deedes of the bodie yee shall liue The flesh lusteth against the Spirit and the Spirit against the flesh A wonderfull warre is this questionlesse wherein peace is sought and in peace warre in death life and in life death in bondage libertie and in ouercomming a mans owne selfe and bringing vnder the inordinate passions of the minde the whole force of a Christian man is declared To bridle thy desires is verie fortitude of the minde and contrariwise in folowing them the weakenes of the heart is declared More valiant is that man which ouercommeth the passions of his minde then hee which subdueth his outwarde enemies Wouldest thou atchieue a greate dominion Then ouercome thy selfe He that ruleth his owne minde is better then him that winneth a citie saith Salomon There be manie that sacke cities but fewe that conquer themselues He that is Lorde ouer himselfe is a mightie Lorde If thou once subdue thy selfe thou shalt easelie subdue all other things He is to bee taken for a good and valiant souldier that can master him selfe And that is the true seruant of Iesus Christ which bringeth the flesh in subiection to the spirite and the sensual parte vnder the obedience of reason If thou bee ouercome ascribe the same to thine owne default If thou pamper thy body in ease with dainty meates and drinke then shal thy soule be vanquished of the bodie The Apostle saith God is faithful which wil not suffer you to be tempted aboue that you be able but wil euen giue the issue with the tentation that ye may be able to beare it It is the manner of those which bee iudges in combates to measure the weapons of those that are to fight together in the listes This doeth God the most righteous iudge for he suffereth none of vs to bee tempted aboue that wee are able to endure When two in all thinges equall enter into the combate needes must hee preuaile which hath another to assist him If thou cheerish thy bodie with ease ' drinke good fare and sleepe thy bodie it will ouercome and thy soule of the body shall bee subdued but if thou assist thy soule with watching and prayer the flesh by the grace of God shall easily bee brought vnder and the soule shall ouercome It is better that the soule should ouercome that soule and body may be saued than that the bodie should preuaile to the vtter destruction both of body and soule If thou loue the flesh make it obedient vnto reason and neuer pamper the same too-much He that loueth hateth and he that hateth loueth Christ Jesus doth say He that loueth his life shall loose it and he that hateth his life in this world shall keepe it vnto eternall life Thus you see how much the victory which the soule atchieueth is better than the victorie of the bodie and what gain is gotten by bringing thine affections vnder the yoake of reason If thou be wise thou wilt helpe the soule to subdue the sensuall part of man the conflict thereof is but short the victory will be glorious and the reward most blessed Shunne no labour if thou lookest for a reward which is not giuen but to him that striueth Bee thou faithfull vnto the death and I will giue thee a crowne of life saith the Lord CHAP. 13. The knowledge of our selues bringeth vs vnto the knowledge of God THE inuisible things of him that is his eternall power and Godhead are seene by the creation of the world saith the Apostle If any creature in the world doth by the creation thereof declare vnto vs the great wisedome and omnipotencie of God surely man doeth the same which is made according to the image or likenesse of God himselfe Many there be which know much and yet they knowe not themselues they see others but they passe by themselues they seeke God in outwarde neglecting inwarde thinges where chiefely hee may bee founde The more thou knowest thy selfe the more perfectly shalt thou knowe God And although by the knowledge of the noble condition of the minde the true and perfect knowledge of Gods greatnesse is best seene and perceiued yet to abase thy pride withall thou hast alwayes before thine eyes the misery of the body and the shortnesse of thy life that thou maiest come by that way vnto some knowledge of God In knowing of thy selfe thou wilt humble thy selfe and in humbling thy selfe thou wilt feare God and because the feare of God is the beginning of wisedome thou art first to begin at the knowledge of thy selfe If thou haue a desire to know who thou art take a glasse and beholde thy selfe in it The glasse that a man may best beholde himselfe in is another man Nowe if another man which thou beholdest is but earth ashes and a very worme surely euen such art thou how rich soeuer and of great estimation thou seemest to be in the world And that thou maiest not bee deceaued beholde not thy selfe in a glasse that is hollow which maketh a shewe of the thing represented therein cleane contrary to that which it is indeede but take vnto thee a glasse that is plaine which setteth out a man according as hee is in truth If thou beholde thy selfe in the inside of a siluer spoone that is bright and cleare thou shalt see thy face with the wrong end turned vpwarde thy bearde aboue and thy fore-head beneath So in man there be two glasses and states one is of life the other of death Life is the hollow glasse which maketh vs to seeme otherwise than wee be It sheweth thee forth to bee sound lustie strong and long-liued all which is vanitie and lies If thou behold therein fresh and lusty youth doe not trust therein for it will deceiue thee Fauour is deceitfull and bewtie is vanitie This false life of ours it seemeth some great thing vnto men when it is nothing so But the state of death or of a dead man is the plaine and true glasse which doeth manifest thinges euen as they bee without fraude and deceite Therefore if thou wouldest see what thou art in deede then looke not vpon thy selfe aliue but vpon another man that is dead So thou shalt perceiue that thou art earth ashes a very sinke of all filthinesse a little set out and beautified on the out side by
others either more then we will offer or as much as we do vnto any of theÌ„ yet this very booke shal suffice for all which is so translated both by G. C. into English by Petrus Burgundus into Latine both following one and the same Italian translatioÌ„ for the Author himselfe was a Spaniard and wrote in the Spanish tonge that hee which hath but one eye sufficiently may perceiue that either the English is meruailously augmeÌ„ted which hath a great deale more than the Latine or the Latine hath left out very much for it is but an Epitome or an Abstract as it were in respect of the English Nowe if G. C. hath truely expressed the letter and deliuered the Authors minde faithfully which he trauailed to do both for his owne honestie and the Readers satisfaction surely Burgundus hath neither truely expressed the letre nor faithfully deliuered the authors minde and so neither dealt honestly with the Author nor satisfied the christian Reader for he wonderfully varieth froÌ„ the English not onely in respect of the letre but so in respect of the matter as if purposely it were done to shred off many things that were superfluous I say not onely in the English but also in the authenticall copy Again if Burgundus haue done well for he is but a translator nether and no paraphrase then doubtlesse G. C. is much to blame which inserted so much I say not simply matter but errors too as are not to be read in the Latine copie Now whether of them haue dealt the more sincerely I leaue it to their iùdgement which haue the Italian the Spanish copies the Authors owne wordes which I neither haue nor can get but their owne doings as they haue may I trust deliuer me from blame so they troubled me in such sort when I tooke this worke in hand that I was enforced to vse a Christian libertie in the doing hereof therby to cul from them both such things as were for the benefit of the Church and in them both to ouerpasse whatsoeuer was to much redounding in words or otherwise erronious for matter out of theÌ„ both to frame such a treatice varieing so little as might bee from the Authors purpose as shold be profitable â—or the Church of God and offensiue to none that haue any sparkles of true wisdome in their mindes And though the diuersitie of translations and in the traÌ„slations the great diuersitie had not moued yet the errors were so many and the scriptures in many places so vainely applied so vntâ—uly expounded so dangerously wrested and many things so falsesly collected from the word of God both in the English also in the Laten coppâ— as any may perceiu by those Tables aÌ„nexed to the end of this book that howsoeuer they might be tolerated if the book were of coÌ„trouersies in ReligioÌ„ yet being purposely penned to stir vp the affectioÌ„s of Christians to the loue of God and of heauenly thinges I cold not discharge the duty of a true seruant in the house of God if I did not both cut off many thinges which they had and vse an extraordinary liberty in citing expounding applying alleaging of Scripture and in the whole matter least vnder the preteÌ„ce of mouing the godly readers to loue the good thinges of the spirit they were allured withal to the likeing of most dangerous errors vntruthes which God abhorreth and so they should reape not so much benefite by that which is good as hurt which is the drift of Sathan to their soules by that which is wicked The dooing whereof if it please not mine aduersaries to make theÌ„ to like it I will spend noe more wordes at this time I trust none that be truely religious and godly wise whom I chiefly respect but will interpret my paines in the best parte and withall wish that what else any of the contrary side in respect of Religion shal publish to this ende effecte if it cannot for some causes vtterly bee expressed which is impossible yet it may carefully and wisely both be perused reformed that good none hurte may redounde vnto the people of God And this I haue thought good to dedicate vnto your worshippes as in that respect before cited so partly to signifie that the good will friendship which from the first time I was acquainted with you I haue found at your handes is not forgotten though little spoken of on my parte and prtely by some work of mine own hauing none other thing so good to requite in some sort the benefits receiued from you both and though I desire you not to take it in good parte because I need not not in respect of the worthinesse of the thing so much as of the goodnesse of both your natures yet most earnestly I beseech the almighty God namely for you that as by the greate wisedome wherewith yee be inspired froÌ„ aboue and by the experience yee haue gotten in the world yee knowe how vaine and deceitful the world and the things in the world are so more and more yee may grow both into a detestation of all the vanities of the same whatsoeuer and into the likeing and louing and longing for those thinges which are truely glorious and to be desired and for the which we are created in the heauens and that which I pray for you by name I desire also not onely for my selfe but besides for all the rest of our friendes wheresoeuer Your W. in the Lord Tho. Rogers THE First booke which displayeth the vanities of this worlde CHAP. I. We must contemne this vaine worlde if wee would enioy God CHRIST our redeemer doth say No man can serue two maisters Sweete is the coÌ„fort of God yet not to all men but to them onely who despise the vanity of the world For it cannot be that a man should enioy God and with all inordinately desire the things of this life All men indeed are desirous to enioy the sweet conuersation of the Lord but few are willing to forgoe their own priuat commodities * and from the hearte to contemne the goodes of the earth they desire I graunt the inward comfort of the soule but so that with it they may satisfie the appetites of their fleshlie minde But thou who art purposed to follow Christ thou must denie thy selfe that hauing forsaken the world Christ may bee thine Christ and the Deuill are enemies one to the other and hauing nothing in common betweene themselues they cannot inhabite together in one place Deliuer thy selfe from the loue of the world if thou wouldest that God shoulde haue accesse vnto thy soule For thou shalt neuer taste how sweete God is vntil the goodes and pleasures of this world are loathsome and vnpleasant vnto thee And perswade thy selfe that then and not afore thy soule shall be able to receaue the consolation of Christ Iesus when as bitter thou abhorrest the thinges of this world As it
thy sinnes Thou shouldest rather feare and tremble in this vale of teares than be ioyfull vaine glorious for thou knowest neither how acceptable thy works are in Gods sight nor yet how long thou shalt continue in doing wel Let him that thinketh he standeth take heede lest he fail saieth the Apostle If thou do vainly boast of the glory giuen vnto thee of God thou shalt be depriued of the same So saith the writer of the â—salmes In my prosperitie I said I shall neuer be moued because he gloried in himselfe he had a shameful downefal as himselfe doth say Thou didest hide thy face and I was troubled If thou doest any good at al it is by the power of God why then braggest thou in those good thinges which are not thine They be the foolish virginâ— without oile in their lampes which seeke the vaine and outward glory of this world If thou dost glorifie thy selâ—e thy glory is not worth a strawe If the Angels of so great honor and excellenciâ— in heaueÌ„ do seeke onely the glory of God how much more ought vile mortal man to humble him by renouncing al vain glory Learne miserable man to be lowly in heart that thereby thou maiest get fauour before GOD which through pride and vanitie the wicked Angels haue forgon CHAP. XI Vaine glorie is to bee eschewed HE that reioyceth let him reioyce in the Lord saith th' apostle Reioyce not of thy works for all the glory of the seruant of Christ should rest in God alone Despise the vaine glory of this world if thou desirest to haue more grace before the Lord. The more shouldest thou feare that thou proue not vaine glorious the more zealous thou art of the glory of God Vaine glory ariseth of some good thing but it goeth not away with that good but mightilie encreaseth For as God of his goodnes fetcheth good out of euill so the Diuel thorough his naughtines draweth euill out of good For out of a good work he draweth vain glorie that the worker may attaine no reward at Gods hande When thou thinkest thou doest much thou doest but a little in respect of other holy men The thing which semeth white compared with snowe wil straight appeare in a manner blacke If thou wouldest calle to remembrance how great thinges holy men of God haue suffered and with what austeritie of life they haue humbled their bodies thou wilt say thy selfe that little thou hast donne Acknowledg thine owne imbecilitie and how weake thou art neuer so vainely doe thou vaunt thy selfe Let not this vanitie moue thee vnto good workes neither looke for a rewarde from men The wind-mil wil not turne about nor grinde the corne vnlesse a gale of wind doe driue the same about so many wil not grinde the corne of good workes except they be moued there-unto by the winde of vanitie Thou leesest the price and praise of wel doing if onely vanitie moue thee to do wel And albeit thou do all which the lawe commaundeth yet â—hat hast thou whereof to boast â—hen yee haue don all those thinges â—hich are commaunded you say we are â—worâ— profitable seruants saith Christ 〈◊〉 thou shouldest al thy life long serue â—OD yet still thou shouldest thinke 〈◊〉 vnprofitable For wouldest thou more exactly â—eigh these thinges with thy selfe â—ou couldest not but see that very â—â—ten thou hast offended God And â—en and not afore hast thou donne 〈◊〉 when thou art of opinion that â—â—ou hast done nothing Destroy not the fruite of thy labours either consume thy sweate in vaine â—od he knoweth and that much betâ—â—r than thou whatsoeuer thou doest â—nd what thy workes deserue hee â—â—ill not leaue a cup of cold water â—iuen of thee to the least of Gods â—hildren vnrewarded Then why praisest thou thy selse 〈◊〉 thou ignorant that so doing thou â—halt haue no praise of God Take 〈◊〉 selfe but for one altogether vnâ—â—ofitable and so God hee will take â—ee for one of his profitable and â—erfect seruantes If thou praise thy selfe thou shalt be dispraised though afore thou seeâ—mest to be worthie all praise commendâ—tion If thou thinke thy selâ— vnprofitable thou shalt forth with beâ— profitable though afore thou weâ—â— worthy all blâ—me and reproch It is necessary to call thy wits toâ—gether To forget thy good deedes it is a good thing If thou haue thy sinnes in obliuion which thou ought est to haue in continuall memorie why hast thou not the good which thou hast done in obliuion alâ—o He lâ—ieth vp a good treasure which forgetteth his good deedes The Saintes in olde tâ—â—e did labor much to call backe their sinnes into remeÌ„braunce and therefore they were humble But the Pharisie through pride dâ—d cast away himselfe euen when he seemed to be most thankefull vnto God If thou praise thy selfe both God will abhor and men will hate thee If thou wouldest haue thy deedes to be great count them but small else can they not be great Therefore in all things be thou lowlie before God and so thou shalt receiue the greater grace at his haÌ„ds CHAP. 12 They which would bee great in this world are become vaine men BE not highe minded but feare If thou wouldest bee great in heauen be litle in earth Thou hast knowne many which haue been great and mighty in this worlde whose memory now is buried with their bodies How many great Prelates and men of power haue there been whose vanitie is vanished like the smoke of whom no man now hath any care at al Dead they are and others occupie their places which neuer thinke whether their soules be either in ioy or paine Why seekest thou rule and to be of power Why dâ—sirest thou to be great in this world â—aue not others been in thâ—t state which thou labourest for and hath not the world forgotten them Dost thou not consider the ende of them That which came vnto them happen wil vnto thee for the world will not leaue his old wont Thinke how they did rise and againe how they did fall and that their fal was the greater the higher they aspired Hee whom those great men contemned in their life doth either bury them with dust or tread vpoÌ„ them lying in the graue RemeÌ„ber how in that state which thou desirest others haue been whose names thou knowest not and the worlde hath so forgot as if they had neuer been and touching their bodies they be reduced into dust and ashes Respect not so much the time present as to come neither esteeme the honor which this world doth offer thee but marke what wil followe afterward Fasten thine eie vpon the thinges which will ensue after this short life and liue content in that state or condition whereunto God hath called thee Thinke not through the instinct either of Sathan or of the worlde how thou wilt serue God in an high calling better than in a low degree Honor blindeth the eyes of men-Greate men
to beholde not our selues but other things withall Thou â—ust vse the creatures of God not for 〈◊〉 behold them nor thy selfe in theÌ„ â—ut God who for all things is highly 〈◊〉 be praised If thou louest thy selfe because â—â—ou art faire I demaund commeth â—â—at beuty of thine from the body â—r from the soule Not from the boâ—y For take the soule from the boâ—y the beuty foorth-with is turâ—ed into foule deformity It is the â—ule which giueth beuty to the boâ—y Is thy body beutifull in thine eies â—hen loue the soule the more which the cause of that beuty If the preâ—nce of the soule be the cause of such â—euty how beutifull then is the soule â—er selfe In the soule consisteth the true â—euty in comparison whereof all oâ—er beuty is but a shadowe which passeth away in the twinckling of an eie Abide not in the contemplation of 〈◊〉 the outward barke but consider the roote euen God I meaÌ„e the author of all beuty Trust not in thy beuty which quickly vanisheth away which sicknes commeth Thy daies run-away like a post youth passeth and thou withal vnto age and so vnto death And then I beseech you what shall become of al that corporall beuty Fire doth not so inflame aâ— beutie doth For no man is burned of the fire but hee which toucheth it but beuty burneth a far of Consider a while with thy selfe what filthines lieth hidde vnder that painted figure of beuty Fall not suddenly at the first viewe of a beutifull body but consider aduisedly the vanity of the same so with a pure and good soule cleane from all such vanity shalt thou serue thy God Aboue all thinges apply thy selfe to the adorning of thy soule with that inward beauty which is of continuance for that outwarde is vaine corruptible momentany and transitory whose ende and that vpon the sudden is meere misery and wretchednesse CHAP. 16 Gaie costly apparel is but a vaine thing BE not proud of clothing and raiment saith a wise man Had not the superfluitie of apparel been an euil thing neither â—ould Christ haue commended Iohn â—aptist as he did for his base artire nor S. Luke dispraised the rich â—lutton for his pompous garmentes Besides the Lord saith how They â—hich weare soft clothing are in Kings â—ouses he meaneth of temporall Kinges not of the King of heauen â—l which doth shewe that to take a â—ride in gorgious attire is a vaine â—hing in the sight of God When thou doest attire thy selfe so pomâ—ouslie if thou doest it not to an ill â—nd yet at the least thou loosest time which is to bee had in great estimation Commonly they who are so arâ—aied they couet to be seen and proceed smally in godlinesse but waxe colde in true deuotion And when they haue bestowed greatest cost and taken the most paines to pranck themselues out yet are they not coÌ„parable to the lillies in the field as neither Solomâ— was in al his glory Hauing food and rayment let vs then with be content saith Th'apostle Simple common apparel agreing to each mans calling may suffice the seruant of God As for al curiosity abandon it because it is a token that thou hast smal regard of matters spiritual when thou art so occupied about thinges corporall While Solomon gaue his minde earnestly to the setting out of himselfe anâ— his court he so forgat both himselfe aâ—d God too that he fell at the end to flat idolatry Man looketh vpon the outward apparance but the Lord beholdeth the heart If therfore thou spend â—uch time vpon outward thinges thou giuest the world to know how thy desire is to please men and so doing thou art not the seruant of Christ according to the doctrine of S. Paule Wert thou truely mortified as thou shouldest bee all these suprefluâ—â—us cares which not onely hinder but also quite cut-off the adorning of the inner man would be abandoned The Apostle saith that the holy meÌ„ before the comming of Christ They wandred vp and downe in sheeps Skins and in goats Skins For consideâ—ing that naked they came out of their mothers womb and naked they should out of the world againe they were content to liue attired euen like pilgrimes vpon this earth Before man fel through sinne he â—eeded none apparell For as the Sunne is clothed with light so was man adorned with grace and the liâ—ly is not so white as hee was bright for innocency But hauing no sooner lost that innocency hee blushed to be seen naked therfore vnto our first parents did the Lord himselfe make coates of Skines and clothed them He that boasteth of his apparel is like vnto that man which braggeth of the clouts that couered his filthy soares which glory turneth vnto his greater shame For a foole is â—ee sthat glorieth of his soares sicknes It seemeth Iob was simply attired whne he said I haue sowed a sack cloth vpon my skine Course was the apparel of holy King Dauid wheÌ„ he said I was clathed with a sacke God he threatneth to theÌ„ which take a prid in their apparel by the Prophet Esay The worme is spread vnder thee and the wormes couer thee declaring that by these vanities God is much offended Let euery man carefully take heede that he deuise no newe and strange attire and feare we the heauy iudgement of God denounced by the prophet Zephaniah I will visite the Princes and the kinges children and all such as are clothed with strange apparel For in such there waÌ„teth neither lightnesse oâ— minde nor vaine glory Ecclesiasticus doeth say A mans garment and his excessiue laughter going declare what person hee is The delicacy of apparel declares the leuity and infirmity of the minde Therfore cast them from thee if thou couet to bee taken for a sober and honest Christian. Thou takest that from the poore which thou bestowest immoderately vppon thy selfe Weare not that apparell which beseemeth not thy calling but cloth thee so as thou maist seeme to haue an honest mind voide of all vanity Thinke how thy Sauiour Christ hunge naked on the Crosse for thy sake and spare vaine expenses so shalt thou be free from many friuolous and idle cogitations CHAP. 17. It is a vaine thing to boast of the worthinesse of our ancestors I Shall say to corruption Thou art my father and to the worme Thou art my mother and my sister saith Iob Wouldest thou see the originall of thy stocke Doe but open the graue and there beholde it It is an argument of great vanity that the son of Adam a vile worme dare boast himselfe so much because of the noblenesse of his stocke or kinred A wise man he was that said whâ—â— profite these great titles why are those armes and ancient enfignes Though euery corner of thine house were filled with monumentes of thy ancestors yet vertue alone is the true nobility It were better for thee to
belonging to the body they haue scarce any time to thinke of matters pertaining to the soule Wordly thoughts aud cares bee the children of riches and the occupations busines which they bring with them doe suffocate aod choake vp all good motions of the spirit Despise the vanitie of these incorruptible goodsr so the more freelie shalt thou serue God For it is vnpossible for thee to fly vp vnto heauen vnlesse thou breake the bondes of this world wherewith thou art deteined Let not the pleasure of this world separate thine heart from the loue of Christ. Poyson commonly is giuen in some sauery and well relished meate but hee that receiueth the same liueth not long after Riches are sweete to such as loue them but such as embrace them they puffe vp with pride and so bring them vnto euerlasting destruction The preacher saith He that loueth riches shal be without the fruicte thereof And they that will be rich fall into tentation and snares and into many foolish noysom lusts which drown men in perdition destructiō saith the Apostle Al creatures be such vnto man as man is vnto himselfe A good man cannot be the worser for these outwarde thinges nor an euil man the better What good doeth an heape of riches to this corruptible flesh they cannot deliuer the soule from death O happy is that soule which is not subiect vnto riches The men of riches haue slept their sleepe saith the prophet men of riches that is the seruants of riches not the masters That gaine which is gotten with the losse of a good name may well be counted a great losse and no gaine at all When the seruantes haue a care of the maisters good estate then may the masters giue themseules to ease But so it is not with riches for they are so farre from vnburdening their masters of care that they presse them sore with worldly cogitations A very vaine man art thou if thou place thine happines in these corruptible goods Despise therfore from thine heart al these earthly riches so shall thy minde be filled with most heauenlie treasure CHAP. 19. Al earthly riches but vaine I Haue counted al thinges bnt losse and doe iudge them but dung saide the Apostle when he spake of these worldly thinges He could finde nothing more fit then the very dung whereunto hee might compare the riches of the earth And surely though otherwise they were of great account yet in respect of heauenly treasure they are of litle or no price at al. For what is gold the verie drosse of the earth What siluer and precious stones the dregs of the ground gathered together on a heape What be your fine sattins damaskes and al kinde of silkes the dung of vile wormes What is your best cloth the wool of sheep What be your costly furres the skinnes of dead beastes Your painted palaces your loftie toures your sumptuous buildings your large populous tounes what are they Euen verie earth What is honor Nothing To conclud what soeuer is in the world it is but dust Doest thou loue the good thinges of the earth if they may be called good Surely thou louest nothing but earth Consider the vanitie of those thinges which the world offereth vnto thee beware thou set not thine heart vpon them A wonderfull thing it is that thou so excellent a creature made to serue to haue the ioy euen of GOD himselfe canst so debase thy selfe as to cast thy minde vpon so vile thinges If thou wouldest bee accounted noble loue noble thinges I meane thinges spiritual according to that nobilitie which God hath imprinted in thy noble heart Euen as loue doth change the louer into the thinge loued insomuch that hee is not his owne but the thinges which is loued So in louing these vile thinges of the earth thou giuest that which is better for that which is worse that is thou giuest thine heart which is all pretious euen for very doung which is most filthy These thinges are farre vnseemely for a man of reason whereby thou shewest that not onely thou art forgetfull of thine estate but also renouncest al thy chiefest priuileges God therefore would haue thee to loue him not because his heauenly Maiestie doth neede thy loue but for thine owne aduauntage and preferment For while thou transformest thy selfe into his likenesse as it were through loue thou gettest great commoditie For thou giuest that which good is for that which for excellencie is so surpassing that it cannot sufficiently be either praised or prised God in depriuing his especiall friend Iob of al his earthly substance at the instance of Sathan would haue thee to learne how little he esteemeth the goods of this world Open thine eies consider how shamefully thou debasest thy selfe man while inordinatly thou couetest after earthly riches and againe how worthily thou lookest vp when thou despisest them Reclaime therefore thy mind from al these vanities and giue it wholy to the seruice of Christ CHAP. 20 To be proud of riches it is a vaine thing I Compare not pretious stones vnto wisdome for all gold is but a litle grauel in respect of her and siluer shall be counted but clay before her saith the wise man To be worldly rich is to bee verie poore Cast not thy minde vppon the vanitie of creatures but lift it vp vnto heauen where God is Humble not thine hearte before these earthly thinges God hath made thee to loue heauenly and to contemne the thinges of the world And because hee seeketh thy good hee hath laid al necessarie thinges which hee knoweth thou shalt neede vppon the face of the ground as bread wine flesh and such like that readily thou maiest find them but as for things lesse necessary as gold and siluer hee hath buried them deepe in the earth that as they are out of sight so they should bee out of mind Couet not greedily for vaine things Dauid saith O ye sonnes of men how long wil ye turn my glorie into shame louing vanitie and seeking lies Seeing God hath endued thee with reason why abusest thou it in placing thine happinesse in earthly goodes when thou art created to be the heire of heauen All that thou louest is vanitie saith the Psalmist and whatsouer the worlde promiseth thee is but lies This gold is but earth and this silke whereof thou vauntest it commeth from the vilest wormes These pretious stones wherewith thou glitterest and those borders of imbrodered worke which thou settest out to th'vttermost what are they all but vanity Glory not therefore in thine apparell nor in thine hangings nor in thy glorious cortins such like for these be not the riches these make not a man rich these make not him that is foolish wise that is proude lowely that is cholerike patient that is incontinent chast that is vnciuill courteous they make neither the angry man milde nor the enuious charitable and louing but the contrary they doe Then
if nothing they further vnto vertue but hinder much why so impatiently dost thou couet them Art thou so blinde that thou seest not how embracing riches thou nourishest a serpent or scorpion in thy bosome For as the scorpion will kill them with poyson which cherished them with their heate so these riches which with the heate of in ordinate desire thou doest nourish and augment they will eate thy bowels gnaw thy conscience choke the good spirit hinder thee from saluation aud bring thee to destruction both of body and soule This is that thou louest O thou blind man this is that thou seekest this is that lastly that destroieth Call thy wits together a little and behold the falsehood of these riches so shalt thou lift vp thy mind not onely vnto the liking but also vnto the louing of thinges far much greater and euery way more true CHAP. 21. To loue riches and earthly thinges it is meere vanitie LOue not the world nor the thinges in the world saith S. Iohn By the light of nature wee are taught not to loue these natural thinges in regarde of themselues For loue is a thinge so pretious that it should bee bestowed onely vppon him who can with like affection of loue answere the good wil. But seeing no creature natural can with like measure recompenc thy loue therfore thou oughtest not to applie thine heart to the thinges of this world Doubtlesse couldest thou perceiâ— thus much in desiring to enioy the thinges which be ordained onely for thy vse thou doest peruert the order of God God alone thou must enioy by louing him as the soueraigne good thing from the bottome of thy heart but vse thou must the things of the world as seruants referring the loue of them vnto God and to the setting out of his glory God created man after his owne likenes to the end that as other liuing creatures do he should loue his like Seeing therfore thou hast no likenes with earthly thinges thou art bound of equity to loue not these earthly thinges but God after whose similitude thou art made All the while that Iacob had children by Leah and her handmaide he neuer thought of returning into his countrey but so soone as Rahel had borne him a sonne he had a longing forthwith to returne home againe So the men of this world while they are occupied about earthly thinges they are forgetfull of the Celestial countrey but when they once bring out the fruite of Godlines then begin they to loath their former state and greatly to desire the happinesse of heauen When the king of the Egyptians was dead the children of Israel sighed for their bondage and cried God heard their mone but afore his death though they cried bitterly yet were they not heard Both good and badde al crie vnto God but none be heard saue they which haue killed the kinge of Egipt that is the loue of this world which worldlinges haue not Let the loue therefore of the worlde once be dead and God wil heare thy praier out of hand It is the lawe of vnfained loue that you doe shewe your selfe to bee such as that is which you loue Our soule is like vnto waxe which taketh the forme of that which is imprinted thereupon As that is which you loue such is thy soule earthly or heauenly If thou puttest a glasse toward heauen thou shalt see the figure of heauen there-vpon if thou turne it to the earth warde there shalt thou beholde the figure of earth So thy soule is like vnto that whereunto thou appliest the same insomuch that whatsoeuer goodnes or badnes is in thee thou maiest ascribe the same to that thing which thou so leuest Nebuchad-nezzer louing the world became a beast and did eate grasse like an oxe but lifting vp his eies vnto heauen by true repentance hee came againe vnto his former shape When God had made the Sunne the Moone and all other creatures hee saide of them all that they were very good for such did approue them but man being created he was neither said to be good nor ill not thereby preferring other creatures aboue man for whose sake they were all created Why then said God of all other creatures how they were good and said not so of man who was better then they The reason is because God he looked that man according to his freewil should worke and as he made his choise so should his titles be good or euil When hee loued the good he was good but when he loued the euill he was ill For man onely of all creatures had free libertie to chuse either good or ill The holy Apostle speakinge of certaine wicked men saide They turned the glory of th'incorruptible God to the similitude of the image of a corruptible man and of birdes foure footed beastes and of creeping thinges As they made God such were they themselues the images â—â—ey made of God were not so vnlike him as they resembled their images which they made The proper seate of the soule is in heauen where they onely do inhabite which be perfect men as the apostle doth say Our conuersation is in heauen Loue not riches and thou shalt be rich It is great riches not to couet riches Who possesseth much Euen hee that desireth little God gaue in commaundement that no man to his proper vse should take any parte of the rich spoiles of Iericho which in respecte of the mutabilitie thereof representeth the worlde the treasures whereof should not bee desired of Christians least they com vnto that destruction which Adam did CHAP. 13. The rices of this worlde are to be contemned WHosoeuer renounceth not all that he hath he cannot be my Disciple saith our Sauiour Christ Despise from thy hart these transitory things They which followed Christ frosooke so much riches as they could desire which followed him not And so infinite is our will in coueting that he shall neuer be satisfied which foloweth the same and he which renounceth it renounceth al thinges Insomuch that poore S. Peter left as much indeede as ambitious Alexander could in heart desire These thinges if thou contemne thou shalt find thy selfe but if thou doe them loue thou dost for-doe thy selfe Happy is that soule which earnestly despiseth these transitory thinges which the couetous minde so greedily desireth For by contemning thinges corruptible the riches which are eternal be attained Golde and siluer are to loade a beast not a man Yet no beast is so voide of vnderstanding that willâ—ngly will take more than it can beare Onely the couetous man as more voide of reason than a beast will offer himselfe to beare it lay on him what or how long soeuer yee will But if thou be wise thou wilt vnburden thy selfe by renouÌ„cing the vaine riches of this world so assure thy selfe thou shalt goe the lighter A fond man thou art that may haue poore men in ough to beare
celeritie vnto the graue Againe Iob he likened his life vnto a shippe The shippe is not made to rest but to sayle towarde the hauen In like sorte thou art not made to abide in pleasure but by labour and toile to come vnto the Hauen of thy saluation And as the shippe sayleth most swiftly and leaueth no printe or signe of it selfe so our life it goeth away speedily and no memory remaineth of vs after we bee gone What is become of so many Kinges and Princes which liued somtime in the worlde They passed away swiftly and left no token or signe of their being here Great are the dangers whereunto the shippe is subiect vnto sayling in the Sea Shee may drinke water and so be drowned she may sinke into the sandes shee may be ouerwhelmed by tempestes or broken into peeces with rockes or burned by pyrates If thou consider the daungers wherein thou liuest thou shalt finde how thou art open to no fewer daungers then the shippe is The mariners now and then hoyse vp the sayle and parte from the hauen with a ioyful winde and weather but after they haue sayled a while they fall vpon a rocke and then turned is the mirth into mourning So when a man is borne the friends and parentes they keepe a feast with mirth and much a doe but all in vain For when by some mischance or infirmitie hee dieth then is all the mirth turâ—ed into mourning and lamentation In the morning saith Dauid it flourisheth and groweth but in the euening it is cut downe and withereth Neither can any man how greate soeuer he be auoide these daungers of mans life Yea the higher a man is for calling the more painefull and miserable a life doeth hee leade The hearts of Princes and great men haue many a thorne in them couered from our eyes and hid with the costly attire and with garments of their bodies Full of eares is their life and with much feare doe the mighty men of this world giue themselues to rest though these lie vppon neuer so costly and soft beds no taste haue they in a manner of all their commodities Neither much delight can they take in their ordinary pleasures they be so cloyed with the common vse of them and when sicknesse and misfortunes do come their parte is greater in them then other mens is because they haue beene long inured to pleasures and delectation and through the continuall licentiousnes which they haue liued in they thinke they were not borne for any aduersity at all Inferior and priuate persons they both sustain lesse troubles and enioy greater comfort forasmuch as they haue beene brought vp in trauell taking paine Notwithstanding this life is to all men both penal and dangerous through the pleasure of God because hee would haue all men by their miseries to seeke those ioyes which neuer shall haue an end CHAP. 38 To put off our amendement from time to time it is a vaine thing MAke no tarrying to turn vnto the Lord and put not off from day to day for suddenlie shall tâ—e wrath of the Lord break forth and in thy security thou shalt be destroyed and thou shalt perish in time of vengeance saith Ecclesiasticus Thou oughtest speedily to amend thy life for thou hast not one houre to liue that thou art sure of I desire not the death of the wicked but that the wicked turne from his way liue saith the Lord God God doth here promise thee pardon when thou dost returne but he promiseth thee not that to morrow thou shalt returne Why deferrest thou to repâ—t from day to day when perhaps thou shalt not see another day after this The man which hath store of riches and faire inheritance of his own neede care the lesse though he spend some of his moueable thinges but he which hath no more than day by day he earneth and must beside giue an account to his maister for that also for this man to lauish out his ear-rings vnthriftily it is a foolish thing Thou art not sure to liue one day more and yet lookest thou for an other yeere to turne vnto the Lorde Thou which art so poore of time that thou hast not one houres life of certainty to reckon vpon wilte thou so liberally promise to thy selfe many yeares to liue Waste not the time vnprofitably which God hath giuen thee I pray thee Promise not so manie thinges to thy selfe for thou art poore and miserable and it maie be to morowe a straite accounte shall be exacted of thee for the time passed giuen vnto thee of God to amende thy wicked life in Thou liuest in continuall daunger like a sheepe in the wolues mouth What remedie hast thou but to call for the helpe of thy shep-herde euen Christ Vnlesse thou wilt bee swallowed vp of death and that speedelie Doe not promise to thy selfe any long life The wise man saith A wicked promise hath vndonne manie a man Knowe you not that the Father hath put the times and seasons in his own power not in thine The Prophet saith It is time for thee Lord to worke for they haue destroied thy law vnlesse thou haue regarde of the time God he will shorten thy daies In the time of Noah God graunted an hundred and twentie yeeres for the worlde to repent but because they spent the time which God gaue them so ill he tooke from those yeres twentie and raised the floud in the hundred yeere If thou abuse time time shal be taken fom thee The health of the body is attained after little and little for it is not of any necessity that health should come vnto any man vppon the sudden but the helth of the soule as a thing much for the behoofe of man therefore it may be gotten at an instant Thou hast nothing at all of time but the very instant which may serue for thy conuersion Look not for another day because it may bee a count may bee exacted of thee to day Be diligeÌ„t in working sith thou art so nigh vnto thine ending This life was giuen to thee to the ende that in the same thou sâ—ouldest labour and seeke to attaine euerlasting life He that promiseth to do a peece of worke by a certaine time it stands him vpon to free himselfe from all other businesse that hee may keepe his promise Our Sauiour calleth the time of this present life the day in which we haue to worke for whoÌ„ the night of our death approacheth then can we worke no more wee can neither gaine nor loose This is the time which God hath giuen thee to seeke his euerlasting sauour in Haue an eye vnto the worke which thou hast now in hand neither suffer thy selfe to bee drawne from the same If the world call and will thee to giue it ouer hearken not vnto it if it bid thee to leaue this worke promising thee for so doing riches and promotion say thou canst not so doe because
euen deuoure and eate vppe the poore the waues of the sea bee neuer at rest but alwayes are mouing and working so the hearts of worldlinges they are neuer quiet but are continually beaten vp and down with the heauy thoghts cares of the world This made the Prophet Isaiah to say The wicked are like the raging sea that cannot rest whose waters cast vp mire and dirt Daniel hee saw the foure windes of the heauen striue vpon the sea The companion of honor is care and with riches go carefulnesse â—nd among the dignities and â—anitieâ— of the worlde is mixed pride and arrogancy for the most part You shall see few rich men but they haue store of sinnes few men of greate calling but they are proud few that followe the trades in the worlde that loue God from their heart yea a wonder were it that a man wrapped among the busines of this world should put his confidenc in the inuisible God Happie is that man which setteth not his heart vpon the vaine thinges of this world which are so full of daungers and trappes and drawe hedlong vnto hell If thou wouldest bee deliuered fâ—om them flie with Eliah into the wildernesse of true repentance Much trouble in the world thou mightest auoide if diligently thou didest thinke thereof but he that doth not somuch as feare them falleth into them ere hee be aware When there is a calme in the sea the Sailers be in good safetie but when such a storme doth arise that doth hazarde the ship and all therein then is it their manner for the sauing of their liues to throwe their goodes ouer boorde If then for the safetie of the bodie men will euen throwe awaie their temporall riches how much the rather should wee doe the same if they bee an impediment to the spirituall proceeding Preferre not therefore I pray you these momentaâ—y and transitory things to those true riches and eternall And seeing the world is like in many respectes to a tempestuous sea where daunger is present looke well to thy self that with Pharao the King of Egypt thou bee not drowned therein CHAP. 9 Men are not to bee without care of their saluation liuing in this dangerous world ELiah lay and slept vnder the iuniper tree saith the Scripture Way fairing men doe vse to rest them and to sleepe vnder the shadow of a tree as they iourney by the way and when the shadow is gone and they beginne to awake they finde themselues all in a sweat by reason of the parching heate of the Sunne Are not all the things of this world as a shadow in which the seruantes of this world doe lie and rest themselues while being forgetful of their owne saluation they repose confidence in the vaine honours of this worlde If thou trust in the fauour of princes thou sleepest vnder a shadowe which soone is gone for their fauor continueth not and quickly mayest thou come into disgrace with them if they do liue but if they die being honoured before of some thou shalt then be forsaken of all Cursed bee the man that trusteth in man saith the scripture Put not your trust in princes nor in the sonne of man for there is none helpe in him You can promise to your self nothing certaine from these men for if they fauour you to day they may abhorre you to morrow Sleepe not vnder the buckler of strange friendshippe or of riches for these last not Trust not in bewtie for as a vapor it vanisheth soone away Put no confidence in the glory of this world For as the winde it is quickly gone As for honours alas they passe away euen as a smoake and as a shadow Whatsoeuer things are in this world they slide away and are transitorie euen thy selfe man shortly shalt be carried to the graue Saul he put his trust in the strength of his men and weapons which hee had about him and therefore betooke himselfe to sleepe to the â—azarding of his person Euen so many men reposing trust in the strength of their bodies and youth put off the amendment of their liues securely from time to time whereby they fall into the danger of leesing the life of their soules for euer and euer The Sonne of Saul Ishbosheth hee slept at noone day on his bed in a troublesome time where hee was smote slaine and beheaded Take heede that the like come not vnto thee as it can hardly bee auoided if thou sleepe securely in the vanities of this world Death it will come at the length and being awaked out of thy slumber of sinne thou shalt find thy selfe â—ast headlong into that vnquenchable fire of hell At the point of death how wilte thou be troubled in minde when all the thinges wherein thou trâ—stedst thou shalt see coÌ„uerted into a smoke and shadow Sleepe not therefore in the shadowe of worldly vanitie least in death thou finde thy selfe enuironed with sundrie afflictions and torments CHAP. 10. It is a miserable slauerie to serue the world BEcause your fathers haue forsaken me saieth the Lord c. yee shall serue other Gods day and night They which giue themselues to the satisfying of their owne desires they shall suffer such torments as be intollerable The fained loue of Delilah it was the cause why Sampson did leese both his eyes and his liberty beeing made a slaue to grinde in the prison house Thou art like vnto blinde Sampson whosoeuer thou art which sub duing the vnrulie passions of his heart through the discipline of the worde Doth it not argue great folly in that man which beeing free to the preiudice of his owne libertie will enter into matrimonie with a womaÌ„ that is bond And is it not as greate foolishnes despising the feare of God for the will to submit it selfe to the seruitude of creatures and the bondage of the world Did not Sampson declare a great ouersight in that knowing himselfe often to be deceaued by Delilah and that she ment nothing more then to deliuer him into the handes of the Philistines his enemies yet had rather with the danger of bondage to serue and obey her as it fell out to his vtter ouerthrow than to crosse her desire or to bridle his owne affections Into the same reproach thinke not but thou shalt fall if thou beleeue the enticements and falsehood of this flattering worlde Take heede least the world do make a sale of thee as Delilah did of Sampson If it doe with Sampsons thine eyes shal bee plucked out so that thou shalt not beholde the deceipts the cares and troubles of the world nor taste any whit how sweet the yoake of thy Sauiour Christ is Oh how much better is it to serue God and so to raigne than by seruing the world to feele that intollerable hunger and thirst in the pit of hell Being warned therefore by the danger of other men casting off that most grieuous yoake of the worlde put thou vpon
knew him not meaning Iesus Christ. And no maruell hauing their eyes so full of earth They haue wandred as blinde men in the streâ—tes sayeth the prophet Ieremiah of worldly minded men which are so blinde that they suffer themselues to bee led about euen of the blinde vnto the example of wickednes They which are bodily blinde in deed they know yet that they are blinde but none are so wretchedly blind as the men of this world while they haue them in derision which vse the sight of their eyes The Lord said vnto the sinnefull Pharisies Now ye say we sâ—e therefore your sinne remaineth and being so blind that they thinke all others blind sauing themselues and such as they be therefore their impietie is the greater as was that of the seuenty Ancients of whom Ezechiel speaketh from the mouth of the Lord Beware therefore of such a blindenesse that thou fall into absurde and intollerable errors to the dishonour of God CHAP. 18 Great is the sorrow which worldlings doe feele when they must eyther leaue this world or go vnto hell torments THE labour of the foolish doth wearie him sayeth Salomon When death once approacheth then will it grieue a worldling to leaue this world for no man can leaue that hee loueth without much griefe That which the world loueth it getteth with great labour it keepeth with great feare it leaueth with great sorrow In the Reuelation it is written that They shall haue no rest day nor night which worship the beast and his image no more shall they that worship their beastly appetites and affections Terrible will that houre be when the body of a worldly man brought vp deliciously shal be separated from the soule to bee deuoured speedilie afterwarde of wormes It will be a greiuous thing for the riche man to depart from his riches and estimation in the worlde which so inordinately he loued The horses of great men goe trapped richly all the daie with manie seruing men attending vpon them but when they come vnto the stable at night or to the ende of their iourney all their glorious furniture is taken from them and nothing there continueth with them but spurgals bruzes and wearinesse In like sort the rich and great men of the world they are woondered at so longe as they are iourneying in this life but when they come vnto their graue euen the end of their iourney their glorie leaueth them and nothing els do they beare awaie but woundes vices and wickednesse Kinges and Princes also are not like to carrie awaie their goâ—de or their siluer from hence but onely the faultes which they haue committed while they were of auctoritie Consider therefore how irksome it will be for a worldly minded man to leaue this life which he loueth world which is so forgetful and vnthankeful Vnlesse thou iudge of the worlde as it is thou art not meet for to meete Christ. Therfore our Sauiour he calleth such vnto him not as thinke the yoake of this world to bee sweet but which deeme it greeuous and burdensome The world vseth to giue after a short pleasure euerlasting torments but God for a little paines for his sake giueth ioyes that shall haue no end Marie Magdalene that holy woman she in her troubles resorted vnto Christ in the house of the Pharisei obtained remission of her sinnes but desperate Iudas in troubles flying vnto the comfort of the worlde did hang himselfe and so â—el hee head-long into hel insomuch that she truly repenting shewed her selfe wise but he despairing of Gods mercy proued extreemely foolish Is it not better then to serue God and so to enioy eternall blisse than to serue this corruptible worlde and after to be tormented for euer with the Deuil and his Angels Surely it is better in this life to want a little short pleasure than with the same to be tumbled hedlong into hel better is it to liue obediently according to the lawe of God than wickedly to serue the worlde which by certaine coloured things which it calleth good snarleth and seeketh thine vtter ouerthrowe At that same rigorous passage of thine out of this world by death wheÌ„ al thinges wherein thou puttest thy trust shal see â—e in thine â—ies to bee but dirt and dung how then wil thy former folly thinkest thou grieue thee at thine heart Marke I pray you what a notable reward the world the Diuel and the flesh do promise vnto you euen such a reward as if thou haue it thou canst not haue the reward of heauen What shalt thou reape of the flesh but corruptiâ—â— as S. Paul doth say What shalt thou receiue of the deuil but intolerable tormâ—Ì„tes What of the world but speedy forgetfulnesse They promise largely these tyrantes but they performe slowly No man did euer yet serue the worlde but he was sorry for so doing at one time or other It would continually be serued and yet for all the seruice done it maketh his seruants either for hunger to starue or else with strips to be thrust naked out of doors In a word looke for no recompence of the world besides griefe and anguish of heart No man that wise is will enter into seruice with an other man except first he doe knowe what wages hee shall haue for his paines but with these tyrantes whom I haue named no couenant is to bee entered into because they will promise much and performe nothing that good is But if thou wilt serue Christ though thou suffer troubles yet in the midst of them thou shalt bee sure to finde consolation both inwarde and aeternall Man that is borne of a woman is but of short continuance The paines of good men are quickly gon but the sorrowes of the wicked shall euermore endure Better were it for thee by obedience to go into the fire of affliction than after thy pleasures of the worlde to bee damned for euer Let not thy laboures dismay thee which haue an ende with thy life but feare those troubles which when thy life hath an ende do begâ—nâ—e and shall neuer come to an ende From those paines neither friendes shal deliuer neither riches nor any friendship of man shal saue thee The world it shal haue an ende but God and his seruantes shall endure for euer Trust not in the world for it plaieth the hangman with thee which first conducteth thee by the faire greene way of his false consolations and after with all possible speede thrusteth thee downe to hel Doe you not see what a good recompeÌ„ce you receaue for al your seruice CHAP. 6 Soone are they forgotten and ouerthrowe which giue themselues to serue the world I Haue seene the wicked strong and spreding himselfe like a baie tree yet he passed away and loe he was gone and I sought him but he could not be found The worlde doth highly now and theÌ„ aduaunce them which serue it but they haue no sooner
when it is discommended of ill men and they are to bee praysed which vile persons dispraise It is no reproch at al vnto the light that the Battes and Owles cannot away therewith Yee are the children of the light sayeth the Apostle to all good christians What communion hath light with darkenes knowledge is contemned of the ignorant and fooles despise wisedome and instruction Therefore let not the childreÌ„ of the light be grieued though they be hated and persecuted of the sons of darkenes If blind men iudge amisse of colours the blame is not to bee laid vpon the colours which may be good and beautifull but vpon the censurer which lacketh iudgement To bee praysed of the vngodly is to bee dispraised and to bee dispraised of them it is hie commendation So then to despise iniuries and reproaches it is a signe of a minde that is rightlie noble He that is slow to anger is better than the mighty man and he that ruleth his owne mind is better than him that winneth a citie saith SalomeÌ„ Vertue it withereth without an aduersary True loue it is fixed in the bottom of vertue and is tried by affliction The patient man is the Lord of himselfe He that knewe of what loue to vsâ—ward God sendeth tribulation doutlesse he would receaue it with a gratefull heart AduersitÃe it is the good gifte of God sent of his maiestie to such as he liketh and loueth wel for the setting out of their soule A sicke man impatient causeth a Physition to be rigorous If thou chafe at the bitternesse of the medicine thou doest but augment thy paine but that which is taken with a willing minsd it hurteth not The chiefest part of wisedome is patience And yet maruell it is that rather thou haddest to abide without God than to suffer somewhat If thou desirest health neuer wrest the rasor out of the Chyrurgions hand Flie not the troubles which make for the welfare of thy soule abide aduersity if thou desirest health The Apostle saith Blesse them which persecute you Blesse â—say and curse not And again Wee are euill spoken of and we pray we are persecuted and we suffer it Saile thou with a contrary wind as Christ sayled vpon the crosse wheÌ„ hee praied for his enemies did good to his very persecutors As for the wicked they suffer also much persecution and troubles because the pleasure of God is that of the torments of hell they shoulde haue some taste in this present worlde If thou see a man to bee grieuously offended for the affliction that is laide vpon him assure thy selâ—e it is a signe of his farther troubles in the time to come But if he thank God for the same then know againe that his defects shall bee put away and his rewarde shall be very great The chosen and elect people of God they are patient in troubles A most acceptable sacrifice vnto God is patience in aduersity tribulation Be therefore of a patient minde if thou be sad to day thou shalt be glad to morrow if troubled to day thou shalt bee comforted the next day Bridle thine anger and lay a bitte vpon thy tongue for breaking oâ—â— into intemperate speech Take not aduersity too greeuously and drowne not thy selfe in a litle water When thou hast humbled thy bodie with fasting releiued the poors by thy liberalitie and showen other fruites of a penitent soule little shall all this profite thee afore God 〈◊〉 thou be carried away with the vaine prayses of men Patience is like a treasure hid in the field where patience is there is silence but the impatient man troubleth many with his wordes He that can bridle his tongue is a prudent man and worthy all prayse and the more thou dost sacrifice thine heart vnto God the more acceptable shalt thou be in his sight Haue thou patience therefore assure thy selfe that all things shal bee remedied in time To conclude Be thou faithful vnto the death and I will giue thee the crown of life sayeth the Lord CHAP. 24. The world is not to be accounted of FLie out of the middest of Babel saith God The worlde is â—ul of confusion there little order is but exceeding horror there golde is more esteemed than vertue and transitorie things preferred afore spirituall riches So full of confusion is the worlde that it exalteth the wicked and casteth downe the good The world promoteth Iudas but keepeth backe the vertuous from preferment He that well considereth the confusion and disorder of the world will neuer set his heart thereupon The pleasures and comfortes of the worlde they bee more noysome than the waters of Ierico more changeable than the moone Hardly shalt thou go forward in the way of godlines liuing in the same Abraham looking toward Sodom and Gomorah and toward all the lande of the plaine sawe the smoke of the lande mounting vpp as the smoke of a furnace And hee that looketh into the world aduisedly shal finde from thence the smoke of pride and vanitie and the flame of disordinate concupiscence to arise Holy and good men the nearer that they drawe vnto death the more earnest they bee about al good workes They which were to eat the Passeouer did first circumcise themselues according to the commaundement of the Lord If thou circumcise not thine heart from the inordinate loue of this world and the delightes of the same looke not to haue anie taste of the spirituall comforts of the soule If thou haddest come lying vpon a low and moist flower and one should tell thee if thou remoue it not it will â—ot and putrifie wouldest thou not for the preseruation of the same remoue it into some higher roome But God himselfe in his worde hath warned thee not to laye â—hine heart vpon the lowe and base thinges of this earth but to place the same vpon hie and heauenly matters and yet wilt thou not harken vnto his wholesome counsaile CHAP. 25. The world neuer keepeth at a stay THou hast made the lande to tremble and hast made it to gape heale the breaches thereof for it is shaken sayeth the Prophet The very change of the worlde were there nothing besides weâ—e sufficient to cause the same to break into splintes and peeces God himselfe the master workeman of al doth tell thee how heauen and erth shall passe away And S. Iohn saith The world passeth away the last thereof â—onors vanities do fal and alter euery moment Consider how great the chaunge is The monarchy of the worlde began â—irst with the Assyrians from thence it came vnto the Persians from the Persians vnto the Grecians and from the Grecians vnto the Romaues and from the Romanes it is nowe come vnto the Almans Now if the Empire which is the chiefest place of honor hath so often been changed from one people to another nation where can you finde in this worlde any thing
and rose-vp to play Because they did not auoide bibbing pleasure they fel to adore idols in steede of the liuing God To bee short therefore shunne all whatsoeuer it bee that may drawe thee on vnto the euill way I meane of perdition and remember that he which regardeth not his enimie maie quickly bee destroyed CHAP. 27. Euill company must be taken heede of HE that tucheth pitch shal be defiled with it and hee that is familiar with the proude shal be like vnto him saith a wise man Of il companie il behauiour is gotten If thou wilt be the good seruant of Iesus Christ fly the societie of wicked men Many are the ministers of Sathan sent by him into the worlde for the destruction of the good More hurt do men by naughtie examples of life than do theeeues and murtherers by their cursed actions For theeues do spoile men of theire earthly riche and murtherers do but kil the body which is mortall but il examples take away the spirituall treasure and slay the soule the most pretious part of man By howe much the soule is more noble than the bodie by so much the more pestilent are they which are ill mannered than they which are infected with the plague The companie of naughtie packs is to be shunned euen as the pestilence for easilie will one imitate that euill which he seeth donne immediatlie before his face God he gaue the Israelites a straight commaundement that they should make no marriages with the Gentiles whome they had cast out leaâ—t they learned and followed theire wicked trades of life The sonnes of Seth which represented the children of God because they tooke vnto them the daughters of me they proued so il that God by a huge water drowned al the worlde sauing but a very few The holy Prophet whom GOD sent into Samaria was slaine of a Lion by the way as he rode because he did eate and drinke with a lying Prophet contrary to the commandement of God Iohoshaphat that good king of Israel beeing in company with wicked Ahab was wel neere slaine for his labor was greatly rebuked for the same by the prophet of God Vices be sooner learned than vertues and therfore take heede of wicked company for it is infectious The Iewes which were the chosen people of God because they companied with the Gentiles they were reproued by Isaiah the prophet when he saide The siluer is become drosse their wine is mixt with water Now as wine mingled with water doeth leese much of the force so a good man through vsing wicked company doth leese much of his goodnesse and waxeth cold in matters of God And as wine delayed though it leese not all it strength yet looseth his colour so if thou delight in wicked company thou shalt loose the good opinion that men conceiued of thee For such as a mans companion is such is himselfe taken to be If thou wouldest know thi'nclination of a man marke the men with whom he is familiar For like will to like as the saying is This made Elihu to reprehend Iob euen for that he went in the company of them that wrought iniquitie and walked with wicked men It is a great signe that he is nought which keepeth companie continually with such as bee nought To bee good among wicked persons is as easie a matter as to swimme against the streame Yea it is verie hard among sinners to liue without committing sinne There bee fewe that liued as Lot did in the middest of Sodome whom God by his Angel plucked-out of that citie that hee might not perish with the wicked S. Paul magnified the Philippians because in the middest of a naughty and crooked nation they shined as lights in the world The Church is commended which flourisheth as the lillie among thornes It is a very hard matter for the tender and delicate lillie to saue her selfe whole amonge the sharpe and piercing thornes God saith to his Prophet Ezekiel And thou sonne of man feare them not neither be afraid of their words althogh rebels and thornes be with thee thou remainest with Scorpions If it be so hard a thing to leade a good life among euill men it followeth that to enter into friendship with them it is very dangerous CHAP. 28. The company of good men is to be frequented WIth the godly thou wilt shewe thy selfe godlie and with the vpright man thou wilt shew thy selfe vpright saith the Prophet If thou vse the company of good men though thou wot not either how or how much thou profitest in vertue yet thou shalt well perceiue in the ende that thou hast gonne forwarde Saul being among the Prophetes became himself a Prophet and did Prophesie S. Peter when he was among the rest of the Godly Disciples confessed Christ to be the sonne of God but hauing left them and being ioyned to the wicked in the house of Caiphas he denied him whom he confessed before If thou puttest dead coales among the coales that burne they will soone bee on fire If thou resortest to men that bee godly zealous thy zeale will bee inflamed though otherwise thou be cold It was well for Laban that Iaakob â—oiorned in his house for hee coulde say The litle that thou haddest beeâ—fore I came is increased into a multitude and the Lord hath blessed thee by my comming The Lord blessed the AEgyptians house for Iosephs sake the blessing of the Lord was vpon al that he had in the house and in the field For Iehoshâ—phats sake the Lorde by Elisha his prophet sent raine vpon the hoste of wicked men Moe examples there bee in the Scriptures which teach howe that wicked men are blessed many times for the sake of good men which liue amonge them Thomas the Apostle beeing absent from the rest of his sellow Apostles beheld not Christ with them being new â—sen from the dead But afterward in company of the faithfull himselfe come vnto faith On the day of Penticost where the Disciples were all with one accâ—râ—e in one place the holy Ghost deâ—cended vppon them al to their exceeding comfort If thou abid with good men thou shalt with them haue a part of the spirituall blessinges of the holy Ghost which with wholesome admonitions will with-drawe thee from euill workes and adhort vnto a godly conuersation Forsomuch as ill wordes corrupt good maÌ„ners haue a regard vnto what company thou dost resort As necessary and as profitable as a good ayre and wholsome scituation is for the bodie so necessary for the health of the soule is the company of the seruants of Christ. If then for the health of the body thou shunnest contagious places why for the good of thy soule doest thou not flye the fellowship of the wicked and ioyne thy selfe to the godly Flie therefore all wicked company as from the fire of hell and vse the familiaritie of good
as meates to inflame thy desire As it were folly to heape woode more and more for the quenching of a fire so as great folly should it bee to goe about with the dry wood of worldly things to quench the fire of our desires The reason is Nothing in this worlde hath any resemblance with the soule of man God hath made vs for himselfe therefore our heart abideth vnquiet vntill it rest in him that made it All thinges be ordained of God according to the proportion of the nature it hath The horse is not satiate with flesh nor the Lyon with grasse because it agreeth not with their nature Our soule therefore beeing a spiâ—it how can it be satisfied with corporall thinges What fellowshipe hath gold with the spirite Nothing of this world is any whit conformable to the soule of man Before the Chameleon the worlde setteth winde wherewith the proud person delighteth yet is the soule no Chameleon Vnto some it giueth iron to liue with all as vnto the Oyteriges and also vnto couetous men vnto others clay as vnto carnall beastes vnto others venime as vnto the enuious but because all these bee earthly and haue none agreement with the soule it cannot bee sustained with earthly thinges only grace and the giftes of the holy Ghost as spirituall thinges doe minister sustenance vnto the soule And although pride enuy and the like are thinges spirituall yet they yeelde not food to our spirite as neither doe many corporal thinges satiate the body For God alone is the nourishment of our soule and nothing beesides because it hath no proportion at all with our soule If thou shouldest demaunde why bread doth nourish our bodies and not poysâ—n what reason else may bee giuen but that bread agreeth wel with the nature of man and poyson doth not Euen so because God alone agreeth with the nature of our soule hee alone can satisfie our desire And his filling neither quencheth nor hindreth our desire This spiritual foode hath also this aduantage which our bodely nourishment hath not for that our bodely sustenance engendreth still a satiety and loathing in them that doe take of it which the meate of the soule doeth not but the more it is eaten the more it is desired Couet thou in the world neither to bee great for that is a vexation of the spirit nor to bee rich and renowned for that is a burden and an intolerable care Turne therefore vnto the Lord thy God who is thy foode and the sustenance of thy soule to thine exceeding comfort CHAP 4. Ther is no tranquility of mind but in God alone REturne vnto they rest O my soule saith the Psalmist The sicke maÌ„ though hee change his beddes neuer so often yet shall hee neuer finde ease vntill his paine bee taken away wherewith hee was so troubled Thou doest carry about with thee the sicknesse of worldly loue but vntill thou cast the same cleane away from thee looke neuer to find any case in the delicate beds of honors riches or delightes Loue God onely and aboue all and thou shalt haue rest turne thee vnto him and hee will giue thee quietnesse Ionas seuering himselfe from God could neuer bee quiet and when hee fled into the shippe hee fel vppon a storme For where God is not ther be the stormes and tempsts But when Ionas gaue himselfe in the belly of the whale to pray he was deliuered from the deuouring fish and danger of the sea Seeke not for any rest in the things of this life There is no perfect ioy in this world for battell there is without on euery side and within thee fears and terrour Thou bearest about with thee a continuaâ—l affliction In vaine is it therefore to change thy place except thou alter thy minde from vice vnto vertue For thou must turne thee vnto God if euer thou wouldest enioy any quietnesse of minde or bodie This is a short and readie way for thee to come vnto that safetie and peace of minde which thy soule desireth Onely thinges spirituall and not temporall doe bring the quietnes that is of continuance So longe as Iaakob liued with Laban hee was in continuall trouble and affliction but hee was no sooner gone from him but hee was comforted euen by the Angels of God So if thou serue the world looke for nothing but labour and troubles If we would bee deliuered from euil then must we goe out by the way we came in againe if we would attaine vnto any good and perfect thing we are to enter the way we came out Euery thing by nature desireth to returne vnto that from whence it had his beginning for that is the perfection of the same The Bul when he is wel baited returneth out the same way that hee came into the baiting place and that by the â—ustinct of nature So thou when thou art well baited vppe and downe here in the world endeauour thou to goe out againe the same way thou cammest in For it is the onely remedie to atchieue perfection thether to returne from whence thou camest And because God is the onely fountaine from which all good thinges doe proceede for euerie good giuing and euerie perfect gift is from aboue if thou desirest quietnesse and ioy indeede it is needefull that thou turne the vnto the Lorde thy God Nothing commeth vnto his perfection vntill it bee reduced vnto the generall originall of the same Seeing therefore God is our author and fountaine of all the good whatsoeuer wee haue no maruaile though the soule so vehemenâ—ly doe desire God to the end that of him she may attaine al maner of good things For whatsoeuer good there is either it is God himselfe or it commeth from God The comming of a King into a barren countrey causeth a plenty to be in that lande so long as hee is there but when hee departeth it becommeth barren againe So when God is in our soule by grace there is no want of any good thing but if God bee absent from the same the soule it must needes be without fruite barren and withered Through God his presence thou shalt haue abundance of all good thinges with all manner of quietnesse but if thou haue not God with thee what peace or comfort canst thou haue As God sent amonge the Egyptians busie and vnquiet flies to annoy them so he sendeth superfluous cares to disquiet the men of this world whereas Israel which is the true people of God shâ—ll haue the sweete Sabbath of the blessed â—est It is a great torment of minde to burne with the desire of earthly thinges but the greatest comfort that wee can haue is to fixe the minde vppon God and not vpon the worlde He which hath God hath a merrie heart but they which hunt after worldly things liue in a perpetuall affliction of the spirite CHAP. 5 No trust is to be reposed in any thing of this world TRust thou in the Lorde and doe good saith
which when they sawe they were depriued of they gaue their minde vnto the worlde againe which they renounced before and the cause was they subdued not their owne affections as they should neither were truely mortified because they forsooke not themselues Be it alwayes in thy mind to serue God and then though thou finde no comfort in thy selfe yet thinke that thou art occupied in his seruice and that it is his will that thou shouldest haue no further comfort thereby than hee should thinke it conuenient If thou wilt profite in the seruice of God learne to denie thy selfe euen in euery thing Many denie themselues in some but not in all thinges They are obedient in all thinges which doe like them but in the thinges which are contrarie to their humors they finde themselues But thou must in all thinges bee readie to yeelde vnto Gods will and vtterly forsake thy selfe for his sake The carefull Merchant sold all that he had to buy the pearle Ananias and his wife Sapphira were killed with present death for that they gaue parte of their money vnto God and reserued part for themselues If thou wilt serue God thou must as occasion is offered forgoe all and reserue nothing for thy selfe Through renouncing of thine owne will the will of God getteth the dominion ouer vs and so mans will is transformed into the will of God when man for Christes sake is readie to endure all manner of aduersitie Hadst thou once gotten a full victorie ouer thy selfe in a small time thou shouldest greatly profit in the schoole of Christ. Our Sauiour Christ he sought not his own glory but thine the Lord of heauen descended not into the earth for his owne profite but for thy coÌ„modity Why then seeking thy selfe dost thou forget him which for thy sake so forgat himselfe that hee gaue himselfe vnto the death to saue thee A good wife and an honest is she that wil please none but her husband and happy is that soule which onely seeketh to please delight her spouse Iesus Christ. Blessed is that soule whose onely desire is to haue the fauour of God and vtterly contemneth all other loue Christ is a good husband and worthy solely and sincerely to bee loued Therefore thou shouldest forsake all and deny thy selfe to the end thou mayest enioy the sweete friendship of Iesus Christ. CHAP. 11. A good Christian will take it patiently when he is despised LET vs cast away euery thing that pressed down and the sinne that hangeth so fast on let vs run with patience the race that is set before vs looking vnto Iesus the author and finisher of our faith who for the ioy that was set before him endured the crosse and despised the shame is set at the right hand of the throne of God saith the Apostle It is thy dutie to bee dead and estranged from all the inordinate affection of humaine praises honors and fauor and to desire of all men to bee contemned and put to shame Alas fewe there bee which seeke to be adorned with such vertues If any be founde which hunt not after dignities yet are there almost none that loue to be contemned and put to rebuke It thou desire these thinges with all thine heart God will graunt them vnto thee If God doe not send thee aduersitie it is not because it is not good for thee but because thou art so weake that thou art not fit for the same beeing yet smally mortified For God is vnto nothing more ready than to laye afflictions and tribulations vppon him which is truely mortified in some good measure knowing that they that ouercome shal be crowned with glory wherof he would haue his friendes to bee partakers All things which either thou wouldest or canst desire of God which belong not vnto the due mortification and despifing of thy selfe for Gods sake haue some-what within them sauouring of thy corrupt nature and selfe loue and although in part thou hast put away from thee the loue of thy selfe yet secretlie returneth it vnto thee againe by seeking somewhat of thy selfe and thine owne commoditie which thou wert not aware of and so many times when we thinke that wee are farre from our selues we are not so Hence it is that thou which before thou haddest it desiredst some great aduersitie but once falling into a little trouble thou diddest â—ainte foorth with because thoroughly thou haddest not contemned thy selfe for selfe loue did still lurke in thy minde and it was no sooner touched but it rose againe Though thou sleepe now and then yet art thou not altogether dead Happie is that man which is so dead to himselfe that hee desireth to be contemned of all men Our Lorde gaue vs a most perfect example of mortification when vpon the crosse he saide My God my God why hast thou forsaken me So the seruant of God ought so to content himselfe when hee is forsaken that yet hee faint not therein albeit he be depriued of all sensible perceauing the comfort of the spirite for a time as our Sauiour was vppon the crosse It is not againe the propertie of Gods children to place the last ende of their prayers in the sensible vttering of them by the mouth to be heard of men But seeing that an eye is alwaies to be cast vnto that which God would haue vs to doe ascende once vnto this perfection which consisteth in the essentiall loue of God so that in all things thou maiest do his wil through contempt and mortification of thy selfe and that onely for Gods sake not for thine owne either glorie or commoditie Happie is hee which is so mortified that hee is readie to endure euen extreame 〈…〉 for the loue of God and 〈…〉 stil his fauor Happy is that man which inflamed with the loue of God is content with all his heart to be destitue of all sensible so he may enioy the essential loue of the holy Spirite Happy is hee which coueteth to imitate Christ Iesus in the crosse abandoning all consolation of earthly and corporall things Happie is that soule that is so dead to it selfe that it liueth without these strange affections such a soule is pure without sinne quiet without disturbance free without molestation depriued of worldly honour but adorned with vertues clarified in vnderstanding lifted vp in spirite vnited vnto God and blessed for euermore CHAP. 12. That bodie shall bee blessed which is subdued of the soule PVt on the whole armour of God that yee may bee able to stand against the assaults of the diuel saith S. P. u. Thou canst not liue without warfare for wheresoeuer thou art thou shalt haue a battell because in thy bosome thou bearest him that euermore will gaine say thee In one and the same man the Apostle setteth downe vnto vs two men so ioyned together and so compact that the one cannot bee without the other and yet are they so diuided that the life of the one is
a liuely hewe that life hath lent thee there thou shalt see the foundation of your stocke and the largenesse of thy dominion That which thou now art thine ancestors were and as they are such shalt thou bee If thou looke well into thy selfe thou shalt finde greate matter why to contemne thy selfe For what art thou as touching the bodie but a vessell of corruption And in respect of thy soule setting the grace of God apart what art thou but an enemie vnto righteousnesse the childe of wrath a friend of vanitie a worker of iniquitie a despiser of God euen a creature proane vnto all wickednesse vnapt to doe well What art thou but a miserable creature in thy counsailes blind in thy wayes ignorant in thy wordes vaine in thy deedes faulty in thy destres◠filthy to conclud in all thinges vile great onely art thou in thine owne opinion Therefore if thou seeke to knowe thy selfe it will cause thee neither to bee proude nor ambitious nor disdainefull it will make thee to beare iniuries with a quiet mind in asmuch as thou shalt finde thy selfe to bee a miserable sinner and worthy of all mē to be hated and contemned Know thy selfe as admonished from heauen What booteth it to know the seuen liberall sciences and to bee a great Doctor in al the arts if thou art yet ignorant of thy selfe It is better to know thy selfe than to haue all the Scripture at thy fingers ende Consider who thou art whence thou camest where thou art and whether thou art going Thou art a mortall man a little earth a vessell of corruption full of misery standing in neede of many thinges thou wert conceiued in sinne thou camest into the world with paine to thy mother and griefe to thy selfe enuironed thou remainest with al manner of dangers and thou art bounding towarde the graue of putrefaction Iob saith I am become like ashes and dust Let the light of God teach thee who thou art Thou sayest thou art rich and encreased with goods and hast neede of nothing and knowest not how thou art wretched and miserable poore and blind and naked CHAP. 14 Miserable is the condition of man in this world MAN that is borne of a woman is of short continuanc and full of troble saith Iob What thing is so miserable as man Must not the body which thou so makest of die at the length and rot in the graue And what is more horrible than a dead man How much so euer thou wert made of beeing aliue none no not thy verie friendes will abide thee after thou art dead Is not the state wherein thou liuest a certaine vnhappy bondage It is a miserable thing to be borne a slaue to liue a slaue and to die a slaue Behold I was borne in iniquitie and in sinne hath my mother conceiued mee saith Dauid O miserable life inuironed about with so many dangers and periles For one pleasure wee receaue a thousand sorrowes so that this life may iustly bee tearmed a death and not a life There is no creature more needy than a man for hee is driuen to begg his meate and rayment of the beasts and earne his bread with the sweate of his brows al which for the most part the birdes and the brute beastes haue of themselues and haue no neede to begge or to aske of any other Some liuing creatures haue wings to fly withall others haue clawes and teeth both to defende themselues and to hurt others others are light of foote to runne from dangers Al which man hath not and those which hee hath bee not in such measure in him as in them so that hee is fain to borrow helpe from those base creatures Whereby hee may learne to bring downe himselfe in the eies of God by humility and to lay-away the pride of his mind Man hath no peace in this worlde for hee can neither rest himselfe alwaies nor alwaies watch When he seemeth best in health then hath hee sundry infirmities to disquiet him as hunger thirst wearisomnesse and diuers other necessities heate cold stormes tempests lightninges thunder plagues poyson periles by sea perils by land griefes and diuers infirmities and laste of all death it selfe Eli the priest of the Lord when little hee thought of death he suddenly fell from the seate backward and brake his neck This may teach thee that when thou sittest and thinkest thy selfe most sure thou maiest take a fall and die The sleepe which thou vsest for the great ease benefit of the body howe full is it of false and vaine imaginations It is meere blindnesse and folly to loue this world so replenished with miseries wherein if any good thinge bee founde that good is mixed with innumerable sorrows and molestations which are to those that set their delight in the world euen the beginninges of the perpetuall tormentes of the reprobate in hell It is easier many times to bee in tormentes and paine than to expect the same And because that euery day thou lookest for the sentence of death to bee pronounced against thee and knowest that the life which thou liuest is miserable and not to bee tearmed in deede a life as neither death may properly bee called death but a sleepe the Lord would haue this life to bee full of all manner miseries that disliking it thou maiest couet and long after the life in heauen Thinke how this life was giuen thee of God as a ship to carry thee like a traueler thorough the raging seas of this troublesome world wherin thou wert to endure manifolde dangers and perils and that to the intent thou shouldest the more earnestly desire the other life which is the sure harbarough and hauen of most blessed comfort If this life should haue bene all prosperous and pleasant it so would haue drawen a man to the likeing thereof that hee would quite haue for gotten the other life for the enioyning wherof hee was created The manifold euils and miseries which continually thou sufferest they inuite and call thee vnto the desire of the celestiall paradise The troubles of this life doe make thee to goe vnto God many times by harty prayer and beeing thus pressed with afflictions a wonder it is that yet thou art no more willing to leaue this miserable state wherein thou art Cast not thine heart vppon these transitory thinges Here thou art subiect to continuall debate and troubles in ouercomming whereof thou shalt get a Crowne of perpetuall glory God seeing that naturally thou art desirous of quietnesse hath thought good that this life should bee full of troubles to the end thou shouldest loue and long for that quietnesse which is eternall in the heauens CHAP. 15. It is expedient that we know so much of God as he hath reuealed of himselfe in his worde I haue heard of thee by the hearing of the eare but now mine eie seeth thee Therefore I abhorre my selfe and repent in dust and ashes saith
knowledge both of God and himselfe and that beeing attained hee falleth out of loue with this world and thereby God blesseth him with newe strength to serue him withall CHAP. 17. He that will liue with Christ must first die to the world FOr thy sake are we slaine continually saith the Psalmist Happie is that soule to which Christ both in life and in death is aduantage So long as thou liuest in thy flesh thou must die to the world that after thy death thou mayest liue for euer with Christ. Thou shalt bee quiet within if thou vse not to gad much abroad but to keepe thy selfe at home He that feruently seeketh after outward things must needs waxe cold in the matters of God If thy disordinate appetites and desires of the world be not dead in thee looke neuer to obtaine the true comfort of the spirit Christ he died for all that they which liue should not hence forth liue vnto themselues but vnto him which died for them and rose againe I liue yet not I now but Christ liueth in me saith the Apostle That Christ may come into thy soule it is needefull that first thou die vnto sinne and that the inwarde man may liue the outwarde man must be mortified Yee are dead and your life is hid with Christ in God saith the Apostle Thou diest when thou ceasest to be such as thou wert before in wickednesse If we liue in the spirite saith the Apostle let vs walke in the Spirite For if ye true after the flesh ye shall die but if ye mortifie the deedes of the body by the Spirite ye shall liue Saul he spared Agag and put him into prison being commanded from God himselfe to destroy all the Amalikites and to haue no compassion vpon anie of them So many doe enclose and shut vp their wicked passions for a while but they kill them not presently as God would haue them to doe For it is not enough for thee to imprison thine affections that they burst not forth but thou must besides kill them so that all inordinate concupiscence and desire of the worlde haue no life at all in thee There bee diuers and sundrie persons which like the trees in winter seeme as it were dead vnto the world but they are no sooner ill entreated but they cannot onely murmur but raile too For the rootes beeing left aliue they beginne to spring againe assoone as the tentation of sommer commeth vpon them Because thou hast let goe out of thine handes a man whom I appointed to die thy life shall goe for his life saith the Prophet vnto Ahab The life which thou giuest vnto thy fleshly parte which God will haue killed it shal be recompensed by the death of thy soule Consider aduisedly who it is that liueth within thee If the flesh doe liue than is the spirite dead Thou shalt neuer giue thy selfe vnto deuoute prayer and meditation vnlesse first thou bee mortified in minde yea it is necessarie that all thy spirituall exercises beginne at mortification Manie will flie without winges They profite smallie which are not mortified Of this be thou sure thou shall neuer see God vnlesse thine affections are so rauished with the loue of God that thou art throughlie minded in regard thereof to despise thy selfe The pure loue of God maketh thy minde simple and so free from all worldly desires that it doth without all paine and labour mount vp vnto the Lord. If thou wert dead vnto the world the world also would bee dead vnto thee againe as it was to the glorious Apostle S. Paul Euen as the sea retaineth in it those men that bee liuing and casteth out to the shore such as are dead so the world it maketh greatly of those which liue to the world and suffereth them to haue no rest therein which are as dead thereunto for Christ his sake CHAP. 18. By abstinence the flesh mâ— be brought in subiection to the spirit IF yee liue after the flesh ye shall die but if ye mortifie the deedes of the bodie by the Spirite ye shall liue saith the Apostle Thou shalt neuer please the Spirit except thou subdue thy bodie by abstinence and true repentance for thy sinnes If thou burden thy bodie with much meate thou shalt depresse thy soule through the waight of sinne The diuell by offering the forbidden fruite to our first parentes ouercame them and brought them and vs by them into the displeasure of God The first tentaion wherewith Iob was tried arose from the rioâ—ing and bellie-cheere of his sonnes and daughters S. Paul notwithstanding hee knew himselfe to bee an elect vessel of the Lord yet hee beare downe his bodie and we on the other side knowing our selues most hainous sinners in respect of him wee liue and fare deliciouslie without scruple of conscience Take heede to your selues least at any time your hearts bee oppressed with surfetting and drunkennesse and cares of tâ—tâ— life saith our Sauiour Daniel to bee the better prepared to receaue the heauenly consolations hee was in heauinesse for three weekes of daies and ate no pleasant bread neither came there any flesh or wine into his mouth till three weekes of daies were fulfilled and immediately thereupon he saw most heauenlie visions and reuelations from God If thou wilt ouercome thine enemy bereaue him of his weapons The armor that Satan taketh to foile thee with all is thine owne flesh He that giueth himselfe to bodily plesures shall fall into the snares of the diuell Labour to destroy the idol of the flesh by abstinence watching and praier so shalt thou carrie away from Satan a most glorious victorie Nothing maketh the Diuell more bolde to inuade as thy delicious pampering of thy flesh Hee that thinketh hee can liue chast faring daintelie and deliciouslie deceaueth himselfe and is a foole Take away delicate fare as wood and thou shalt quench the fire of sensuall desire After that Lot had out of measure quaffed vp wine and was drunke hee committed incest with his owne daughters Though a man ascende vnto the mount of meditation and professe religion yet will he fall with Lot vnlesse he keepe a sober diet abstaine It is dangerous riding of a colt which neither is tamed nor hath a bridle Holde in the colt the flesh with the bridle of abstinence least he throw thee downe to thine hurt bind his mouth with bit and bridle as the Prophet saith Rush not violently into the waters of worldly delightes vnlesse thou wilt be drowned as Pharao with all his host were They sunke like stones into the bottome as thou shalt likewise both in bodie and soule vnlesse thou tame and restraine thy flesh with the bridle of abstinence By abstinence much sinne is auoyded vnlawfull pleasure banished our saluation furthered grace confirmed and chastitie is retained It is a shamefull thing for the maister to bee ouercome of the seruant As great shame
is it for man which by creation is made little lower than God to fulfill the minde of so vile a slaue as the flesh is CHAP. 19. The louer of God loueth little company I Wil allure her bring her into the wildernesse and speake friendly vnto her saith the Prophet When God speaketh vnto our soule hee needeth no witnesses When the pleasure of God was to blesse Abraham hee willed him to get him out of his owne countrey and from his kinred and from his fathers house God called Moses out of the mount vnto himselfe and charged that none besides should goe vp to the mount nor touch the border of it As Hagar wandered vp and downe in the wildernesse alone the Angel appeared vnto her to her exceeding comfort Eliah also was farre from the companie of men when the Angell said vnto him Vp and eate God when hee seeth thine heart to bee solitarie and alone hee then desireth to rest in the same and seeing our soule withdrawen from the cares of this world he reuealeth many things thereunto which he would not if he saw it occupied immediatly with the affaires of this world God is a Spirit and therefore careth not so much that the body as the soule should be solitarie Hee may bee said to be a sole man whose minde is not fixed vpon these worldly things O that thou wouldest leaue all these dreames and toies and idlenesse and commend thine heart into the hands of Christ thou shouldest then haue much comfort of the spirite which now thou goest without If thou diddest know what losse thou receauest while thou busiest thy selfe in worldly affaires thou wouldest not thinke it such a paine to serue Christ as thou doest The woman mentioned in the Gospel which was diseased with an issue of bloud came secretly behind our Sauiour touched the hemme of his garment and was presently healed Let euery Christian soule that is diseased and weake drawe neere secretely vnto Iesus Christ for in him it shall finde perfect saluation and true comfort of spirite Thou shalt sooner be cured if thou lift vppe secretlie thine heart vnto almightie God in thy chamber than if all the daie long thou shouldest walke vppe and downe in the market steedes or pallaces of earthlie Princes No tongue is able to expresse the sweetenesse of that prayer which is priuate if it be vnfained Thinke nor thy selfe then to bee alone for as said Flisha They that bee with vs are moe than they that be with them Thou hast neuer more companie than when thou art most solitarie Sweet is the felowship of Iesus Christ and the comfortable societie of the blessed Angels But when thou praiest enter into thy chamber and when thou hast shut thy doore pray to thy Father which is in secrete saith the Lord If thou diddest sauor the thinges of the Spirite thou wouldest not deeme solitarinesse vnnecessarie for prayer It is the nature of them that loue to couet to be solitary and alone Haue you not read that it was the wont of our Sauiour Christ to pray alone vpon the mount of Oliues When our first parentes were alone in paradise they were gratfull to God and to his holy Angels and dreadful to Satan but they had no sooner acquainted themselues with strange company but their eies were opened their bodies naked and they lost the fauour of God to their extreame affliction To bee short therefore thou shalt forgoe thy Lord and maker vnlesse thou carefully doe auoide the company I say not of men but of vngodly and prophane persons Make not so small account therefore of God that for the companie of thy pot companions here thou wilt loose the company of thy God in the world to come CHAP 20 The more wise and godly a mā is the more silent he is and of the fewer wordes IN silence and in confidence shal be your strēgth saith Isaiah Vnlesse thou auoide vnnecessary company and loue silence thou shalt neuer bee perfectly religious S. Iames doth say If any man among you seemeth religious and refraineth not his tongue but deceiueth his owne heart this mans religion is vaine He giueth a great argument of wisdome which is sparing of his speech Whatsoeuer thou hast wonne by prayer thou wilt loose by prating Silence is a good keeper of men in deuotion Maruell not that thou art colde and weake in prayer if thou spende thy time in superfluous and idle speech Learne to hold thy peace if thou wilt profit For why hath God giuen thee but one tongue and two handes but because thou shouldest speake little and doe much God hath appointed two hatches to thy tongue one of them is of flesh as the lips the other of bones as thy teeth this is to the end that beeing so kept in it should neuer speake superfluously but onely when necessity enforceth and ministreth iust occasion When thou bablest or pratest what art thou but as it were a citie without a wall a house without a doore a vessell without a couer or an horse without a bridle What good thing canst thou keep if thy tongue doe runne before thy wit If it bee lauish of speech it will open an entrance for the diuels into thee which will carrie that away which thou hast gotten before Death and life are in the power of the tongue A goodly ornament of all vertues is silence As the vessell that is couered will sooner bee hot and cause the liquour that is in it the looner to boyle than that which is vncouered by reason of keeping in the vapors so if thou keepe thy mouth shut vp close by silence thou shalt the sooner waxe warme and zealous in the seruice of God Vnlesse thou haue learned to hold thy peace thou wilt neuer learne to speake aduisedly The Scripture speaking of the godly man doth say Hee sitteth alone and keepeth silence He that keepeth silence wil the more easely lift-vp his heart vnto the Lord. S. Iames saith Let euery man be swift to heare slow to speake and slow to wrath Easely they fall from the rule of Godlynesse which vnaduisedly doe breake-out into much babling Euen as when you shut a conduct mouth where water passeth the water will straight-wayes mount vp on hie so while you keepe close the lipes with silence the spirite mounteth zelously vnto the sight of God and the soule ascendeth on hie and tasteth the more sweetly the comfortes of the spirite by zelous and earnest prayer But if thou babble with thy tongue thou hindrest thy deuotion and openest a doore to thy watchfull enemie at what time soeuer thou speakest idle wordes The citty of our soule must needes suffer many a sore assault when it is without the walles of silence to keepe of strokes It is written of Nebuchad-nezzer that hee brake downe the walles of Ierusalem robbed the temple and caried the Iewes into captiuity Surely the like would
Satan doe by thee as often as hee seeketh to make the breake thy silence that so hee maye robbe thee and make spoyle of the temple of thy conscience and bring thy soule prisoner into the Babylon of hell it selfe Set therefore a good watch about these least thou bee robed and spoyled of thine enemies HHAP 21 The seruant of God must auoid not onely ill but also idle talke BVt I say vnto you saith our Sauiour Christ that of euery idle worde that men shall speake they shall giue account thereof at the day of iudgement Our heart is like vnto waxe that with cold groweth to bee harde and by heat waxeth softe and tender againe and being once soft it receiueth the print euen of a King or any other great man Thou must stoppe thine eares from vaine and idle talke for they coole and harden thine heart If thou keepe not thy selfe from either vsing or hearing the same little shalt thou profite in the seruice of God Holy and spirituall comunication it doeth inflaÌ„e the hart with heauenly good motions On the day of our Sauiors resurrection the two disciples that went traueling by the way towardes Emmaus talking with our Sauiour Christ had their hearts inflamed within them as they did after say betweene themselues Did not our hearts burne within vs while hee talkedwith vs by thy way and when hee opened to vs the Scripturs Thine heart wil bee well disposed to receiue the impression of the eternall King if thou warme and mollifie the same with the heat of Gods worde With great diligence and care should the seruante of God avoide idle wordes and to reprehend others that vse them If thou bridle not thy tongue in vaine dost thou labour take paines to profite in the seruice of God The Apostle saith the seruant of God must not striue nor bee troblesome one to another by contentions and clamorous speech Lasâ—iuious and wanton wordes are many times odious and oftensiue euen to those which make no profession of religion how much then should they bee abhorred of Christians indeede Be circumspect therfore in thy words and let thy speech bee such as well may beseeme the seruant of Iesus Christ. Of euill wordes much euill doth arise The Apostle saith Euil speakinges corrupt good manners For â—ll wordes wee goe vnto ill deeds As the ship saileth according as the winde doth blows so our soule sailing forward with the prosperous winde of good speech it shall ioyfully attaine vnto the hauen of rest As on the other side if dissolute and wicked wordes bee once blowen into the sailes of thine eares they will carrie thy soule with a contrary wind into the large sea of infinite confusion The wise man doth say Let thy talke hee with the wise and all thy communication in the law of the most high Good wordes doe inflame the hart kindle thy will edifie thy neighbour and encrease the loue of God in thee Idle and vaine wordes on the other side thee distract the spirite quench the zeale diminish deuotion and offend the hearers Mettall is knowne by his sound If golde haue not the sound it shoulde it is reputed for brasse Wordes bee as it were the sounde of the soule If the wordes be clamarous vaine and idle they are but copper and not gold but if they bee graue and good then doe they shew the soule to bee as perfect gold An empty vessell maketh a loude sounde so hee that is most voide of goodnesse is vainest in his speech Bet if thou bee graue and sober in thy wordes euery man will take thee for a staid and stable man It is written of Iudas Maccabeus that hee armed the Iewes not with the assurance of shieldes speares but with wholesome wordes and exhortations Godly wordes and wise are a notable armor but idle speech is very hurthurtfull If the clocke haue his wheele distempered within the bell without will sound false but if they goe true within then will the bell without strike truely and tell the right houre of the day by thy disordinate words thy disordered conscience doth appeare As Peter was warming himselfe in the hall of the hie Priest they that stood by said againe to Peter Surely thou art one of them for thou art of Galile and thy speech is like And else-where in the Gospel it is sayd Of thine owne mouth will I iudge thee O euill seruant By his speech wee know of what countrie a stranger is With what conscience wouldest thou be counted an honest man when thy speech is vaine and altogether dissolute By the breaking out and parting of the flesh in the mouth and tongue the ague is discerned so thine infirmitie is knowen by the words which breake out at thy lips and mouth Before thou vtter any word vse premeditation because men regard not the heart but the speech For by thy wordes thou shalt be iustified and by thy wordes thou shalt be condemned A word once vttered can neuer be reuoked againe And therefore before thou speake ought aduise thy selfe that alterward thou say not I had not thought for so to say is not the part of a wise man But afore all thinges haue alwaies in remembrance that in the day of iudgement thy Lord God will take a straight accompt of all thy wordes and sayinges CHAP. 22 The seruants of God must beware of murmuring backbiting slandering NEither murmur yee as some of them also murmured and were destoied of the destroyer saith the Apostle The tongue of the murmurer is worse than hell for hell is hurtfull onlie to the wicked but the tongue of the murmurer it afflicteth as well the good as the bad yea commonly it is incensed more against the vertuous than against the wicked Hee that snuffeth the candle with his bare fingers though hee defile his fingers yet hee causeth the candle to burne the brighter thereby so hee that defameth and speaketh il of good men defileth his owne soule and conscience but maketh such as are defamed a great deale the more glorious So the Pharisie that murmured about that which the good woman did vnto our Sauiour Christ hee was rebuked but the woman wâ—s most highly magnified and commended The murmurers doe more hurte themselues than other men themselues they kill but other men they profit Miriam and Aaron they murred against Moses and was not Miriam therefore punished with a lothsom leprosse and both Miriam and Aaron rebuked of the Lord of hoste and Moses glorie the greater by the same A good name is to be chosen aboue great riches and a louing fauor is about siluer and aboue gold Lesse doth he offend that taketh away our goods than he which taketh away our good name By the hand the bodie is strucken but by the tongue the soule is wounded the handes can hurt but such as are nigh but the tongue spareth no man be he nigh or far off All other
created Hee that hauing a soule liueth as though hee had none and hee that giueth his vnderstanding and mind to the getting of worldly riches and honour doth greatly hurt and endamag his soule for vnto these endes he was not created Happinesse is the finall end of man whereunto all thinges bee ordained Place not thy felicity in earthly thinges for rest shalt thou finde neither in honour neither in riches not in learning nor in any other thing that is created Call home thine heart from all earthly thinges loue God onely of whome and for whom thou art created Despise this present worlde and so shalt thou come vnto thy desired ende This very reason were there no more besides were sufficient to perswade thee to contemne the vanity of the world if thou didest beare in mind that created thou wert for heauen and not for this world Abase not thy selfe so much as to delight in these base and contemptible thinges of this worlde and thou shalt bee quiet heere in this world for the time and happy and gloryous for euer afterwarde in the heauens CHAP. 38. Terrible and horrible shal bee the day of iudgemente vnto the wicked ENter not into iudgement with thy seruant saide the kingly prophet Dauid was the seruant of God and yet loe he had in remembrance the day of iudgement So rigorus shal the iudgement of death bee that euen the holy propheâ— so beloued of God doth quake againe at the consideration of the same Seeing therefore hee that faithfully did serue God so feared Gods iudgement howe much should hee stande in dread of the same which serueth not God but the world Enter not saith hee in iudgemente with thy seruant If the righteous scarsly be saued where shall the vngodly and the sinner appeare It is a thing much to bee lamented that any man should bee addicted to these vanities which wee haue so spoken-of especially beeing so neere vnto the ende wherein God will lighten thinges that are hid in darknesse and make the counselles of the heartes manifest Belshazzar king of Babylon liuing in all manner of voluptuousnesse and satisfying his lustes in all kinde of sinne had suddenly the sentence of Gods displeasure pronounced against him heards Mene God hath numbred thy kingdome and hath finished it Tekel Thou art waied in the balance art found to light Peres Thy kingdome is deuided and giuen to the Medes and Persians The houre is very â—igh at hande when a straight reckoning shal be taken of all thy deedes wordes and thoughtes Al the secretes of thine heart shal be disclosed and with al rigor of iustice punished Thou shalt not haue the face to deny any thing for thine owne conscience shall be thine accuser neither shalt thou haue power and courage to reason the matter before the glorious maiesty of Iesus Christ the King of Kinges Thy sinnes shal be put into the balance and all the circumstances of them shal be waied and all the benefites which God bestowed vpon thee thou most cursedly didest contâ—ne shal be rehearsed Then shal thy kingdome be diuided when thy body shal be committed to the earth to bee deuoured-vp of wormes and thy soule shal bee sent vnto hell there to bee tormented in hel fire To cal then vppon God for helpe and mercy it will not auaile thee Then shalt thou see about thee a seuere iâ—dge with a most angry countenance vnder thee hell wide open gaping to deuour thee on thy right hande thy manifold and outragious sinnes accusing thee on thy lefte a most horrible spectacle of infernall and damned spirites ready to torment thee within thy conscience without the worlde all on a hot fire If our first parentes for eating but a litle of the forbidden fruite contrary to the commandement of God did hide themselues from the presence of the Lord God where wilt thou hide thy selfe when God shall appeare with thousands of his holy Angells to call thee to an account and finde thee euen fully fraughted with sinnes and wickednesse As waxe melteth before the fire so shal the wicked perish at the presence of God It is written Let al the earth feare the Lord let al them that dwel in the world feare him At that day it shal be as great a paine to stand before the glorious maiesty of the Lord of hostes as afterwarde to lie boyling in the pitte of hell for hee shall not appeare vnto them to their ioy but to their shame and confusion The friends of this world they will not be brought to the knowledge of the vanitie wherein they liue till by the punishment in that burning lake their vnderstanding bee inlightened and they bee enforced to bewaile their extreame wretched and cursed estate Despise therefore from thine heart the vanitie and false goods of of this present world least afterward thou repent when it will bee too late CHAP. 39. The remembrance of the paines of hell should reclame vs from sinne IN asmuch as shee glorified her selfe and liued in pleasure so much giue yee to her torment and sorrow saith the Lord If thou didest consider how these pleasures and vanities in which thou liuest shall take an ende thou wouldest liue in sorrow and bitternesse of soule and of such thinges as thou now delightest in thou wouldest take small ioy Iob hee said Such things as my soule refused to touch as were sorowes are my meate In this life men cannot away with any thing that may annoy them and in the next all things will they nill they shal vexe and torment them Gather hence that the more pleasantly men passe their daies heere the more wretchedly in tormentes shall they consume the time in the other world For looke by how much any thing doth resist his contrary so much is the working of that thing perceaued to bee more forceable which ouercommeth and mastereth that which resisted it Fire doth more resist iron than woode but when the fire ouercommeth them both the heate is greater in the iron than in the woode So they which in this life doe feele no sorrow shall be the more tormented in the worlde to come as on the otherside the righteous which in this life haue had no rest shall finde the greater comforte and ioy hereafter The mightie shal mightely be tormented In those daies shall men seeke death and shall not find it and shall desire to die and death shall flie from them Like sheepe they lie in graâ—e death deuoureth them The grasse feedeth the beastes of the fielde and afterwarde it groweth againe so the damned soules in dying they shall neuer die aud though their members bee quarâ—eâ—ed into peeces yet shall they not perish Note by the hard handling of his friendes in this world how greeuosly God will afflict his foes in the life to come The Apostle saith If I should yet please men I were not the seruant of Christ. The holy Martyrs which
people of whom more profite shall you receiue at the length than at the first you would imagine CHAP. 29. The world must be despised in no worldly respects WHosoeuer shall forsake houses or brethren or sisters or father or mother or wife or children or lands for my Names sake hee shall receiue an hundred folde more and shal inherite euerlasting life saith the Lord Many do forsake great possessions which yet receiue no reward because they forsake not these thinges for Christ his sake but seeke themselues loue their owne glorie and couet the praise of men The more thou louest God the more acceptable is that whatsoeuer thou doest Though I feede the poore with all my goods and though I giue my bodie that I be burned and haue not loue it profiteth me nothing saith the Apostle Study thou onely to please God and let his loue onely mooue thee to serue him contemne this world not hoping for any temporall commoditie God he praised Iob and the Diuel replied againe Doth Iob feare God for nought The Diuel he denied not the workes of Iob but he argued vp In euery worke therefore let God be the cause and ende of the same if thou haue no purpose to worke in vaine CHAP. 30. Death is to be had in continunual remembrance WHatsoeuer thou takest in hand remember the ende and thou shalt neuer doe amisse saieth a wise man The remembrance of death it auaileth much to make vs to contemne this world Hee will easily despise all which hath in minde that he shall die Vnto Adam and his wife did the Lord God make coates of skinnes and clothed them that thereby they might haue in remembrance the sentence of death whereinto they were fallen through sinne Seeing thou with all mortall creatures art condemned to die the death and art still going the right way vnto the graue thou oughtest to giue thy selfe vnto continuall mortifying of thy selfe It is a soueraigne medicine for to refraine thy sensual and wicked appetites to haue death in remembrance whereby the bodie shal be turned into duste and ashes and eaten vp of wormes The cogitation of death it throweth water as it were into the fornace of our burning desires to quench them Death is the clocke by which wee set our life in order and the memory thereof doth choake vp much of that loue that wee doe beare vnto the world As Daniel by strawing of ashes in the flore discouered by the print of the feete the deceipt of the false Priestes of Babylon so doe thou cast in thy memorie the ashes whereinto thou shalt one day bee conuerted and thou shalt perceiue the deceiptes of the worlde the subtilty of the Diuel and the secrete tentations whereby the wicked spirits doe impugne thy soule O that these thinges were in thy minde howe purely should the life beleeue the things which dayly thou seest to happen before thy face Thinke that euery moment thou hearest that terrible trumpet resounding in thine eares Arise ye dead and come vnto iudgement The memorie of death in a good man it clenseth and purifieth all that passeth through it as a strainer clenseth all that liquor that is powred into it Driue not from thy mind the remembrance of death for it will detaine thee greatly from reuenging iniuries and from following the vanities of this world which as yet abide in thy minde and study to get the Christian virtues which highly doe please God and are profitable to man CHAP. 31. The houre of death is vncertaine WAtch for yee knowe neither the day nor the houre when the sonne of man will come saith our Sauiour Seeing death is so certaine and the time thereof so vncertaine we are continually to watch and to thinke that euerie day shall bee the last Many doe builde houses yet wot they not whether they shall inhabite them or no Many doe make prouision against the yeere to come which it may bee they shall neuer see They giue themselues to this life which is vncertaine and ouerpasse the caâ—e of death which is most certaine Seeing then with such an earnest studie thou prouidest for vncertaine thinges why prouidest thou not against death which is of all most certaine It is not good to leaue the certaine for the vncertaine Man knâ—weth noâ— his time sayeth the preacher but as the fishes which are taken in an euill net and as the birdes that are caught in the snare so are the children of men snared in the euil time when it falleth vpon them suddenly Why tariest thou longer vpon present things If a King of speciall fauour should giue thee one of the cities of his stingdome and should assigne thee a certaine houre to confirme his graunt wouldest thou not with all studie and diligence endeauour that that houre should not bee ouerslipt But now a farre more excellent and glorious city than any is in this world euen the celestial Ierusalem is promised vnto thee by the vnspeakeable magnificence of the King of Kinges The time of this life is giuen thee to attaine therein this blessed citie Leese not thy time therefore omit not a good opportunitie least thou leese that happinesse which thou so longest for The night commeth when no man can worke No man hath an houre sure of his life Therefore the time being so short and the promises so ample what a woonder is it that many can so idlely passe the time away in vanities and pastimes as though they had yet an hundred yeeres moe assured them to liue and looked for none other world after this life If for the getting of some temporal good thing thou art willing to breake thy sleepe to refraine from meate to absent thy selfe from many meetinges of pleasure and that onely to finish which is in thine handes least the occasion doe slip and thou wottest not when to haue the like againe why doest thou not take the like occasion now giuen thee of God for the attaining of that life which shall endure for euer Those fiue foolish virgins that sufâ—ered the time praeâ—ent unprofitably to passe-away and presumed of the time to come were deceiued of their vaine expectation Disire not a long but a good life nor many but good yeares Endeuor rather to liue well than long and seeke not onely to haue a good-will but adde thereunto good workes Many contenting themselues with a good intentes haue descended into the tormentes of hell Vncertaine is the houre of death which is a thing that should stirre vs vp vnto more watchfulnesse in our calling It were extreme foolishnesse for thee to liue in that state in which thou wouldest not that death should finde thee And seeâ—ing this may fall out euery houre euen in reason it standeth thee vppon to liue well for little doe you knowe the houre when death wil summon you to answere for your life before the iudgement seate of God CHAP. 32. The houre of death is vnknow en because we
harmes done vnto man doe easily receaue satisfaction but the hurt receiued by the tongue can neuer or very hardly bee recompensed That which is taken away by theft from any man may soone bee restored him againe but not so of a mans good name impaired by an euill tongue for although that the defamer doe vnsay that againe which he did slaunderously report before yet is the nature of man so much the more inclined to heare euill than good that the first euill conceiued opinion will not bee so rooted out of the mind but that there will somewhat thereof remaine behind still One of the plagues of Egypt was the plague of Frogges and one of the plagues of the world is the plague of murmurers they sit like frogges all day in the mire and vncleannesse of their owne sinnes and neuer say word of any mans virtue nor speake any whit at all of their neighbours good deedes but in the night when it waxeth darke they make a loud and an euill noise and doe publish all that they can their neighbours faltes and defects The Psalmist doth say They haue sharpened their tongues like a serpent adders poyson is vnder their lippes As the serpentes do feede of earth so the murmurers doe feede of the infamie of their neighbour The Prophet Dauid moueth this question Lord who shall dwell in thy Tabernacle who shall rest in thine holy mountaine Immediatly he answereth He that walketh vprightly and worketh righteousnes and speaketh the truth in his heart He that slaundereth not with his tongue nor doth euill to his neighbour nor receiueth a false reporte against his neighbour God hee made not thy tongue of bone nor of any other harde substance but of tender flesh which may put thee in mind that thy words should be gentle and soft and not rough nor sharpe The murmurers were so hated of the Lord that hee said Certainely they shall not see the land whereof I sware vnto their fathers neither shall any that prouoke me see it and yee shall not doubtlesse come into the land for the which I lifted vp mine hand to make you dwell therein saue Caleb the sonne of Iephunneh and Ioshua the son of Nun And so of sixe hundred thousand men of foote which came out of Egypt onely two persons entered into the land of promise if not into the earthly than how into the promised land of heauen CHAP. 23 The seruant of God must not curiously prie into the dealings of other men WE heard that there are some which walke among you inordinately and worke not at all but are busie bodies saith the Apostle If thou hast any desire to profite in the seruice of God take thou diligent heede that thou make not too earnest inquirie after the dooings of other men And if thou wouldest lead a quiet life be not too inquisitiue what other men doe He that medleth and is busie in other mens matters is euill thought of and hated of all men for his labor yea euen of his very friendes Hence commeth murmuring and hence springeth pride thorough the contempt of others and lacke of knowledge of our selues The riuer that ouerfloweth his accustomed boundes it washeth the bankes that it beateth against whereby the bankes are made the more cleane and the water that washeth them becommeth the fouler and more filthie euen so it fareth with thee when thou goest beyonde the boundes of thy vocation in medling with matters nothing appertaining to thee thou defilest thine owne conscience and giuest them occasion to purge themselues in asmuch as they grow more warie and aduised by thy wordes and thou with a troubled streame of a polluted conscience runnest on stil in thy furious course of vngodlinesse What moueth thee to intermedle in the matters of other men Art thou a iudge or magistrate appointed by auctoritie to see and ouersee others Thou must giue an account of thine owne stewardship not of another mans There is no marchant that will leaue his trade if hee peceaue but hee bee a looser thereby and thou canst no way applie thy selfe to any trade that thou shalt either gaine lesse or loose more than by medling with the liues and dealings of other men which bee not of thy charge Hast thou so little time to looke into thy selfe and so much to prie into other men Whereas thou shouldest bestow little time in seeing into other mens affaires and much in examining thine owne heart and conscience To looke so curiously vpon other men it is questionlesse an argument of an euill minde and of a guiltie conscience No man is more rigorous in fifting other men than hee that is most dissolute himselfe No man is so soone offended at the small offences of others as hee that hath many and monstrous defaultes himselfe And no man iudgeth so sinisterlie of his neighbour as hee which is moste loose aud licentious himselfe While the master is at home in his owne house all that bee in the house doe their duties there but when hee is from home they will doe what they list and take their pleasure So when reason keepeth the house and entereth into the conscience then bee all the cogitations senses and affections set in good order but if reason bee from home and wandereth abroad from house vnto house prying what others doe that while bee all the thoughtes of the minde idlely occupied and no good is done at all Be thou none examiner of other mens liues neither doe as the poore needie taylor dooth that maketh a garment for an other man and goeth himselfe naked If thy neighbour be nought he and not thou shall beare his burden Thou shalt finde for thy selfe enough to doe if thou wilt enter into the consideration of thine owne ife Why like Martha art thou troubled about many things One thing is necessary euen that thou deale with God casting of al other things if thou wilt liue in quiet It is a signe that thou louest God but litle if thou lookest curiously into the liues of other men If needes thou wilt bee an examiner of thy neighbours dealing goe to then seeing him in necessitie take thou compassion vpon his miserie yea helpe and succour him in his neede and to none other end bufie thy selfe about other men Loue all men and flie all vnnecessarie matters so shalt thou bee loued both of God and men and so shalt thou lead a ioyfull and merie life in this world CHAP. 24. One Christian must beare with the faults and infirmities of another BEare yee one anothers burthen saith the Apostle a Suffer your neighbor seeing hee must beare with you in many things Take not such offence at thy brethren neither so easily doe thou obserue their faults Thou hast enough to looke into thy selfe so that thou needest not to obserue curiously what another doth If all men be not of thy disposition blame them not therefore neither bee grieued For though very perfect thou wert