CHAP. 1. The vanity of all knowledge without the right knowledge of ourselues.

CVRIOSITY, that is, excessiue care for thinges imper­tinent, and litle or no care for thinges important, is a vice so grosse and sensi­ble, that the very Gentils by the light of nature in part perceived it, and so farre as they perceived it, reproved and condemned it. Plut. de Curiositate. One of thē hath written a whole treatise of this argu­ment. [...]encca ad Luc epist. 1. An other complaines that a great part of our life slideth avvaie while we doe evill things, a greater while we do nothing, the greatest of all while we doe things impertinent, and that concerne vs not. No mar­vaile then if the sonnes of light, that is, they that haue beene called to the [Page 2]saving knowledge of God in Christ, reveiled by the Gospel haue so sharp­ly censured this vice, as August. de Trin. l. 4. c, 1. one of them doth in this maner, The knowledge of the world for the most part is accompanied with arrogancie, and curiositie, whence it cōmeth to passe, that the world is ignor ant of things necessarie to be knowne, because it learneth things needlesse to be knowne. Alas what folly is it for men to take such paines in the search of thinges, that, as the Sen. ep. 45 sage Gentill saith, neither hurt him that is ignorant of them, nor profitte him that knowes them; & in the mean season neglect the things that tend to their true happines, & can only pro­cure their sound comfort & content: at whome Bernat▪ de Consid. l. 4. Bernard iustly scoffeth, Doubtlesse, saith he, they very wisely weigh and measure things, who haue: greatest care for the smallest things, and small or no care for the greatest thinges. But the checke which Luk. 10 v. 41.43. our Lord Iesus Christ himself giveth to this fault in reproving Mar­tha that in some sort was guilty there­of, should most moue vs. Martha, Mar­tha, saith he, thou art troubled about many things, one thing is necessarie, Marie hath chosen the good part, which shall not be takē from her.

[Page 3]2 And this vice & vanitie is so much the greater, because not only the knowledge of things meerely imper­tinent, and superfluous, is vnprofita­ble without the knowledge of those things that belong to our true happi­nesse: but even the knowledge of things in part and in some degree ne­cessary is so also. Grammar. What is the skill of Grammar worth, to know how to speake by rule, Rhetorick. and in the meane sea­son to liue without rule? * What a vai­leth the art of Rhetoricke, that our language be eloquent, Logiek. and our man­ners barbarous? * What good can Lo­gicke do vs, to be perfit in art of rea­soning, and yet that all our actions & courses are without reason yea flat repugnant to reason? to bee so armed therwith, that words shal not deceiue vs, and all the while to bee deceived with things themselues; with cove­tousnes vnder pretence of thrift, and good husbandry; with prodigality vn­der colour of liberality, with crueltie vnder shew of severitie, and so forth, which are the most pernicious errors of all, Artithmetick and farre exceede all sophisti­call fallacies of words? * What bene­fit can Arithmeticke yeeld vs, to be a­ble [Page 4]to number all other things, & to haue no care to number either our many sinnes, or our few daies in this trāsitory life? Geometry. * What can Geometrie availe vs, if we bee cunning in measu­ring all other things, and yet to set no measure nor prescribe any bounds to our infinite affections and passions, & to keepe no measure either in our hopes or feares, prosperity or adver­sitie, ioies or sorrowes? Musicke. * What can Musicke steed vs to discerne between concords and discords of sounds, to be pleased with the former, and offen­ded with the latter, and yet to haue our whole life consist of nothing but discordes, iarring not only with o­thers, but also with our selues, having desires contrary to desires, resolutiōs contrary to resolutions? * What will knowledge in Physicke advantage vs: Physicke. if we haue learned what medicine or receipt is good against the gout, the dropsie, the stone, and other bodilie maladies; and yet haue no remedy for anger, envie, lust, covetousnes, and o­ther diseases of the minde? To con­clude, * What are we the better to be never so learned Lawyers, Law. and able to pleade never so sufficiently either in [Page 5]our owne or other mens causes for debts, houses, lands and the like, & to haue never a word to say for our selus whē we must plead for our own souls, how our infinite debt towards God in regard of our innumerable sins may be discharged, and our title to a hea­venly inheritance maintained & iu­stified?

3 Now if the knowledge of things in their place, and degree necessarie, be so vnavailable, and of so smal ac­coūt, without the knowledge of those things which belong to our everlast­ing happinesse and welfare: much more is the knowledge of things su­perfluous, vnprofitable, and meerely vaine. It behoveth vs then to haue speciall care to knowe those thinges which so deepely concerne vs, and to make vse of that excellent speech Aeschylus. of the very prophane Greek Poet, that he is wise, not who knowes many things, but who knowes profitable things: and doubt­lesse true it is which a famon [...] Chri­stian author wrote long agoe, that August do trin. l. 4. c. 1. that soule is more to bee commended which knowes her owne infirmity, then that which not knowing this labors to knowe the com­passe of the world, the courses of the starres, [Page 6]the bottome of the earth, the height of the heavens. Digressions in speech and words are odious much more indeeds and action, and not only odious, but also dangerous and pernicious. And yet if wee duely examine our courses, wee shall finde our whole life to bee nothing else but digressions, and im­pertinencies: and it is greatly to bee lamented that many thousands even of those that professe christianity, go out of the world before they consider wherefore they came into it.

CHAP. 2. A generall consideration of mans miserie.

1. OF what importance the know­ledge of our selues is, we haue heard in the former Chapter. Nowe this knowledge of our selues consists in these two points: the knowledge of our misery, and of the remedies a­gainst our misery. Our misery is two folde, or lieth in two kindes of evils, the evils which we doe, and the evils which we suffer, or as Tertull, contra Mar­cion. l. 2. c. 14. Divines long agoe haue distinguished them, the e­vils [Page 7]of fault, & the evils of paine, that is, sinne and the punishment of sinne. Now although the laws of Method & order require that I should first speak of the first▪ namely the evils of faulte, as being the cause of the later, to weet the evils of paine: yet because we are more moved with the punishments of sinne, then with sin it selfe, I will be­gin with that which is most sensible, applying my selfe herein to our cor­ruption and grosnesse.

2 The evils of paine are of tvvo sorts. For the punishment of sin is ei­ther temporall, to weete all the mise­ries of this present life; or eternall, that is to say, the tormentes of hell in the life to come. The former are so palpable, that the meere natural man feeles them, & grones vnder the bur­den of them, as the complaints of the very heathen manifestly testifie. Sen. prae­fat, in natu­ral. questiō. Se­neca the miracle of nature for morall learning, cries out thus, Ah what a base and abiect creature is mā, except he advāce & lift vp himselfe aboue mā, that is, aboue the condition and state of man, Plin. natu­ral. hist. l. 2, cap. 7. An other saies that this only is certaine that nothing is certaine, and that there is not a more miserable, nor yet for all that a more [Page 8]proude creature than man. And Idem lib. 7 in prooem. againe, that it is vncertaine, whether nature bee a kinder mother, or harder step mother to mā kind. Cic. de re­pub. lib. 3. a­pud August. contra Iuli­an. lib. 4 c. 14, & 15 A third renowned for his lear­ning and eloquence, complaines, that Nature hath brought man forth into the world, not as a mother but as a step mother with a body, naked, weake, and sickly, and a minde, distracted with cares, deiected with feares, faint for labour, and addicted to lust, and pleasures. And hence grew that cō ­mon speech among the Gentils rela­ted by Aristot. in Eudemo a­pud Plutare consolat. ad Apolon. Aristotle, repeated Cic. Tu [...]c. quaest. lib. 1. by Cicero, & Plut. ibid. Plutarch, & fathered by all three vpō Silenus, that the best thing in the world was not to be borne, the next to die soonest. And Senec. cō ­solat. ad Polyb. e 28. Seneca againe exclaimes that our whole life is a penance. Which the Thra­cians confirmed by their practise, cele­brating their childrēs birth with wee ping and lamentatiō, but their death with ioy & mirth, as Herodot. lib. 5. Solin. Poly. hist. cap. 15 Val Maxim. lib. 2 cap. 6. divers ancient writers recorde, thereby insinuating that our life was nothing but miserie, and death the ende of miserie. But Bern de consid. l. 2. a Christiā author more effectually ex­presseth this point thus in substance, that if the greatest man in the world do in a holy meditatiō strip himselfe out of his robes and ornaments of state, which hee neither [Page 9]brought into the world with him at his birth, nor shall carrie out of the world with him at his death, he shall find himselfe to be nothing but a man naked, poore, pitcous, and to be pitied, lamenting that he is a man, blu­shing that he is naked, weeping that hee is borne, and murmuring that he is at all.

3 And thus much in generall (for particularitie would bee infinite) of mans misery in regard of temporall paine, which is all that the heathen & infidel apprehendeth For as for a­ny eternall punishment for sinne af­ter this life, hee never dreames of it, nay makes a iest of it, as wee by Gods assistance shall see * hereafter. Chap. 4, Sect. 3.

4. But the Christian proceedeth further, and touching evills of paine is most troubled with feare of eternal punishment for sinne in the world to come. Hee hath learned out of Gods word Exod. 20. v. 5. that God is a iealous God and full of indignation when he is dishonoured, and we knowe that ielousie is the anger of angers, Exod. 34. v. 7. that the will in no wise absolue the wicked and vngogly, Hab. 1. v. 13 that his eies are so pure, that they cannot endure to beholde iniquitie, Rom. 2, v. 6 that hee rewardeth every man accerding to his workes, Vers 9. that tribulation and anguish shall bee vpon every soule that [Page 10]sinneth, that the sinner daily heapeth vp wrath against the day of wrath, and decla­ration of the righteous iudgement of God, Heb. 10. vers. 31. that it is a fearefull thing to fall into the hands of the living God, Rom 5. vers. 12. that death came into the world by sinne, Rom. 6. vers. 21. and is the end & reward of sinne, Heb. 9. vers. 27. that after death com­meth iudgement. 2. Cor. 5. vers. 10. and that we must all appeare before the iudgement seate of Christ to receiue our meed according to that which wee haue done in the flesh, whether it bee good or evill, Matth. 8. vers. 12. & Marc. 9. v. that whosoever shall be con­demned in this iudgement, shall bee cast for ever into vtter darknes where there is wee­ping and gnashing of teeth. Aug. in lo­cos aliquot ep. ad Rom. numero. 42. Finally, the Christian considers as Saint Augu­stine saies, that every man by sinning sel­leth his soule to the devil, taking the svveet­nesse of temporarie pleasure for the price thereof. And thus much for the evils of paine that make mans state so misera­ble.

5 The seconde braunch of mans miserie, are the evils of fault, or his sinnes, which indeede is the greatest part of his miserie, although commonly it be least felt, and the Infidel scarse feeles it at all. For as Sen. ep. [...]8 a Heathen himselfe well observed, Men are not greaved for their faults before they be gree­ved [Page 11]with the bad successe of their faults; that is, they are not sorie for doing ill, but for speeding ill, not that they are naught, but that they are wret­ched, in a word, they greeue that they are miserable, not that they are wic­ked and worthie to be miserable, that they are punished, not that they haue deserved to bee punished. Which is verified not only in the common sort of whome he meant it, but of the best amongst the Gentils, yea of himselfe too. For howsoever they seeme to teach sometimes that vice is an evill of it selfe, as Plato de Repub l 4. Plato divinely affirmes that no man can doe wrong to another, but first hee must doe wrong to himselfe, and Plutarch. quod solum vitium suffi­ciat ad ho­minem mi­serum red­dendum. another hath writtē a whole Treatise to proue, that vice alone is suffi­cient to make a man miserable which worke of his is pittifully mangled by iniurie of time yet they only appre­hend vice as a political or at the most a morall evill: a politicall evill for as much as it made men subiect to punishment, and obnoxious to pub­like iustice; or as a morall evill that stained and impaired their reputatiō and credit in the world, & hindered that delight which they tooke in ad­miration [Page 12]of their own imaginarie ex­cellencie, which was a meere shaddow or rather a detestable idoll.

6 But the Christian, at least the true Christian is more moved vvith sin than with the punishment of sinne and apprehends sin not only as a po­liticall or morall evill, but as a spiri­tuall evill, that is to say, as it defileth the soule and makes it odious vnto God, and defaceth his image in vs, af­ter the which we were first made, trās­forming vs into the image & likenes of Satan his and our sworne enemie, in a word as it dayly worketh in vs in gratitude, disobedience and rebellion against the most high, in whome wee liue, moue, and haue our being. Our sinnes then are the evils of evils, and it is an vncontroulable principle in Divinity, that the least evill of faulte is worse then the greatest evil of pain and that wee are bound rather to en­dure the greatest evill of paine, then to commit the least evill of faulte. For as long as we bee meerely passiue and suffer only, although the things bee not only grievous, but also infa­mous, they cannot hurt vs, nor en­danger vs, but that rule will ever hold [Page 13]that no man is hurt but by himselfe. Wherefore August. de Civit. Dei lib [...]. cap. 19 S. Augustine saies of the ravishing of Lucretia by Tarquinius, that Tarquiniꝰ & Lucretia were two, & yet it was but one of thē that cōmitted adultery.

7 Sinne then I say is that vvhich principallie makes a man miserable, sin is the very leprosie of the soule, sinne transformes a man into a mon­ster, and makes him a base degenerate creature, yea the worst of all sensitiue creatures. This hath so altered man, that, as Idem Ibid. lib 1▪ c. 2 [...] ▪ S. Augustin elegantly expres­seth it, he that should haue beene spirituall in his flesh, is now fleshly in his spirite: his meaning is, that whereas if man had continued in his innocencie, his flesh should haue beene in a manner spiri­tuall, because all the senses and moti­ons of the flesh shoulde haue beene comely, regular and holy, nowe his very spirit is become fleshly, because all the operations and motions of the very minde and soule are inordinate and vitious. And how fowly sin hath deformed vs, and distempered nature, and what confusion it hath vvrought in vs appeareth by this, that whereas the soule in man, whom some haue sit­ly tearmed a little world, is the princi­ple [Page 14]agent, & the body the instrument, reason the Soveraigne, and appetite and sense the subiects, sin hath turned this little world quite vpside downe. The body is become the master, and the soule the servant; or rather, the body a Lord, and the soule a slaue: ap­petite and sense command and sway, reason is brought into subiection vn­to them, and must do as they wil haue it. Thus as the common saying is, the cart drawes the horse. The soule should lift vp the body, but the body pulles downe the soule, and forceth her to suspend her proper operations, that appetite and sense may act all. Wee place cur happines not in things proper to vs, as the right vse of reason, contemplation of heavenly things, vnion with God, and the like, which indeed are the life of the soule, but in things common to vs, and beastes, in the satisfying, or rather glutting of appetite & sense, although Sen. ep 93 the very Gentill could say, that pleasure is the chiefe good of beastes. Nay sinne makes vs worse then beastes. For although beasts are guided in all their actions with sense and appetite only, yet are sense and appetite in them so regular [Page 15]and vniforme, that they hold one cō ­stant course, only seeking to satisfie nature, not to oppresse it, and there­fore neither surfe it with eating, nor are drunken with drinking, nor in co­pulation betweene male and female exceede the necessitie of generation for multiplication and continuance of their like, which being accompli­shed, they afterwardes liue most tem­perately, and in all these things, as we vse to say doe but their kinde. And all this they doe being destitute of reason and discourse, herein more happy then man Bernard. in Cantic. serm. 8. as S. Bernard well saith, that they are not iudged, because they themselues cannot iudge. But man on whom God hath bestowed reason to cōduct, and direct him in his doings, disdaineth to be governed by reason, yea purposely rebelleth against it, & thinkes it his glory to bee vnresona­ble, he despiseth even pleasure it selfe if it be naturall, and such as God al­loweth him, vsing artificiall enforce­ments as it were to disguise Gods or­dinances, and to forge newe delights of his own, although sometimes they be rather torments then delights. Of all materiall and visible creatures he [Page 16]onely knowes order, and yet onelie breaks order, herein inferior not on­ly to beasts▪ but to senslesse and life­lesse creatures. The sea in ebbing & flowing, the sun and moone in rising and setting, the starres in moving and turning, the very earth in springing and withering keepe a certaine order whereas man must needes be exorbi­tant and out of course, as if his reason had been given him to make him mad and void of reason.

8 And which not a little aggra­vates this part of his miserie, hee is so intangled in the snares of sinne, that of himselfe hee cannot possibly vn­tvvine himselfe, nay to speake pro­perly, hee truelie desires not to vn­twine himselfe, but whereas all other prisoners loath and hate their fetters the sinner loues his, he is in bondage and yet is well pleased with his bon­dage. One would thinke that necessi­ty and vvillingnesse vvere incompa­rible, and coulde not stande togither, yet sinne hath ioined them in one, men cannot chuse but sinne, and yet are willing to sin Thus, Bernar in Cant. serm. 81. as a divine author complaineth after a strange ma­ner, neither necessitie can excuse the will, be [Page 17]cause it is willing, nor yet the will shake of necessitie because it is content to bee allured to evill, and to be over-ruled by such neces­sity; So that this is after a sort a willing ne­cessity, a favorable or gentle violence, flat­tering vs while it forceth vs, and forcing vs while it flattereth vs.

9 And hence it is, that men often relapse into the verie same sinnes which they had formerly renounced and abiured The verie Gentiles per­ceived and condemned this vanity or rather madnesse of men so farre forth as it was a morall evill, the extent whereof we haue seene before, See Barth Keckerman System. Eth. lib. 3. cap. 3. Poly­bius was wont to say, that others thought a mā to be the wisest creature that was, but for his part hee thought him to bee the most foolish, because other creatures woulde be­ware of those things by whom they had bin once hurt, wheras mā oftentimes fals backe againe into the same vices: And Sen. ep. 20▪ & de vita beata ca. 28 as Sene­ca expresses it, returneth to the thinges which he had given over, and condemned, forsaking what hee longed for, and againe longing for what he had forsaken, thus our loue and loathing of the very same thinges play their parts by turnes, and desire and re­morse devide our life betweene them. And herein againe we must needs acknowledge [Page 18]that sinne makes vs worse then beasts. For saith Hieron. ep. 10. ad. Furiam. S. Ierom, the very seely beasts and wandering birds will not bee ta­ken twice in the same traps or snares, & yet foolish man relapseth often into the same vi­ces, that is indeed, is often taken in the very same snares of sinne and Sa­tan. This is the sinners Labyrinth, or maze, whereinto being once en­tred he of himselfe can never get out of it.

10 This I say is the evil of evils, & makes man miserable, even sin consi­dered in it selfe, without regarde of a­ny punishment either temporal or e­ternall, which notwithstanding inse­perably accompany the same. And surely the spiritual man cannot chuse but be ashamed of himselfe, yea loath himselfe, and conceiue indignatiō a­gainst himselfe when he seriously cō ­sidereth his sinnes barely in thēselus, both for the importāt reasons before specified, and also because it is an in­tollerable ingratitude against God, that he having made all other things for man, and man for himselfe, those other things do still serue man, & yet man will not serue God. O what vn­kindnes is this that God should make [Page 19]all creatures serue vs, yea and a great many of them to maintaine our life by their death, and yet wee should re­fuse to serue him? This should most pinch man; & doth the spiritual man. And this is the proper difference be­tweene morall repentance, & Theo­logicall repentance, that by the for­mer men are grieved that they haue offended against honesty, but, by the latter that they haue offended against piety. This made Rom. 7, [...].24. the blessed Apo­stle to cry out against the bondage of sin in this passionate mann [...]r. O wret­ched man that I am, who shal d [...]l [...]uer me frō the body of death? He 2. Corinth 11. vers 23. else where makes mention of his imprisonments, his whippings, his stoning, and sundry o­ther extremities, which hee had indu­red, but none of these made him crie when he spake of them, only when he comes to speake of his bondage vn­der the tyranny of sinne, then he can­not chuse but breake out into wofull exclamation. And the same affection although not the same degree of affe­ction is in all the godly, that abhorre sinne even as hell it selfe Aug epist, 144. as S. Augu­stine notably saith. Hee that is afraid of hell fire, is not afraid to sin but to burne; he [Page 20]is afraid to sin, that hateth sin it self as he ha­teth hell fire. And thus haue I in gene­rall decyphred and discovered mans miserie, I say only in general, for to a­natomize it in particular, were to roaue in a sea that hath neither bot­tome nor shoare. It remaineth that we should nowe come to the true re­medies thereof but that I thinke it expedient first to speake of the cause thereof, sith the knowledge of the cause of any evil brings great light to the cure; and before that againe to shewe mans grosse ignoraunce of the right causes of his misery, and this God willing shall be the argument of the next Chapter.

CHAP. 3. The gentils miserable ignoraunce of the true cause of mans miserie.

1 VVe haue heard in the former chapter, that mans misery is so sensible, that the very heathens haue apprehended it, and much com­plained thereof, specially of the evils that man suffers in this world: for as for the evils which he doth, which are far the greater, & of greater force to make him miserable, they were but coldly touched therewith. But as con­cerning [Page 21]the cause, either of the one, or the other kinde of miserie, they were altogither ignorant thereof, & therfore no marvel if they knewe not the true remedies either against the one or the other. And surely touching the cause of mans misery their con­ceipts & coniectures were so strange, that it is doubtful whether we should more piety them, or laugh at them.

2 The general cōceipt of the most sufficient among them, much more of the vulgar sort was that the first brāch of mans misery, namely the manifold and grievous evils which he suffereth in this life, grew from this, that Gods providence was confined in the high­er parts of the worlde, and descended not nor extended to things below the moone. Of this opinion were manie Philosophers. Many▪ saith August. de Genesi ad literam. S. Augu­stine, haue thought, that indeede the high partes of the worlde are governed by Gods providence, but that this lowe parte of the earth and the aire next aboue it, vvhere windes and clowds do rise, are rather tossed to & fro by casuall motions. In this error was Aristotle himselfe, who thought that Gods care for the affaires of the world, reached not below the moone, [Page 22]as a great many of the chiefest anci­ent fathers report of him, but aboue the rest Ambrol. de offic. lib. 1. ca. 13. S. Ambrase, who most excel­lently confures that his profane fan­cie at large, and I cannot here omit one golden speech of his that way, Qu [...]s ope­ [...]ator negligat operis [...]ui curam? Quis deserat aut destitu [...] at quod iple condendū putatits Si iniutia est regere, non ne est maior iniuria fecil se [...] Cum ali­quid non fecisse nulla sit iniustitia non curare antem quod feceris sum­ma est in­clementia. What workeman, saith he, can neglect the care of his worke? who can forsake and a­bandon that which himselfe thought meete to make? if it be a wrong to God to rule, was it not a greater wrong in him to make? Sith not to haue made a thing at al is no iniustice, but not to care for that which one hath made, is greater crueltie. Thus the most iudicious Philosopher dreamed that God had no care of men nor their af­faires, and therefore no marvaile if he in Plaut cap. in prologo. the Poet, speaking popularly cry out, Enim vero Dii no [...] qua fipilas ho­mines ha­bent. that the Gods made tennisbals of men, tossing them to and fro they cared not how Hence then, namely from Gods neglect and contempt of men & their affaires, some held that mans so mise­rable state in this world did proceed.

3 Others thinking this too grosse, & that such an imputation did much derogate from the wisedome & good­nes of god, devised another shift and starting hoale to helpe the matter, to weete that mens soules were created [Page 23]long before their bodies, and lived in heaven, but committing some great offence there, were condemned to be ioined vnto bodies here on earth, and so to endure those infinite miseries wherevnto mans life is subiect, by way of penāce for the faults they had done in heaven. And this being first forged by heathens, seemed so proba­ble, and was so plausible, that after­wards many great persons in the very Church also greatly liked it, and set it abroach. Touching the Gentils Cicero in Hortensio apud Aug. contra Iuli [...] an. l. 4. c. 12. & 15. Tul­ly himselfe professed his approbation of this opinion, namely that we were borne into this wretched worlde for some fowle matters cōmitted before in a former world to suffer punishmēt here for the same. Who also compares mans case herein to that of those, which fel into the hands of theeues of Tuscany mētioned by Aristotle, who were dealt with after this lamentable manner The one halfe of them were left aliue the other halfe murthered, then the living were bound backe to backe to the dead, and so rotted with them; and that even so our soules were coupled with our bodies, as the living with the dead for the greater [Page 24]torment And as for Divines in the Church, that they also applauded to this invention and vaine imaginati­on, appeareth by the testimonie of S. Hieronim. epist. 8 ad Demetriad. Ierem, who warneth a religious wo­man of his time to take heed of the Origenists who vsed to buzze into the eares of the simpler, that very reason cōstrained them to beleeue, that mens soules had lived in heaven first, and that for some old faults commit­ted there, they were punished here, & adiudged to be put into bodies as in­to prisons, and to doe penance in this vale of teares. And the reason that constrained them to bee of this minde, was forsooth, that yong chil­dren many times were borne defor­med and monstrous, were subiect to sicknesse, and greevous pangs, & of­ten times were punished with death it selfe before they had actually offen­ded, which could notstād with Gods iustice, vnlesse they had sinned before their comming into the world. The vanitie of which imagination shall, God willing appeare hereafter. Thus they seeling this part of mans misery and not knowing the cause thereof, runne into many sottish errors August. [...]bi supta hac s [...]ct. lit. mar­gin. d. as S. [Page 25] Augustine saith of Tullie, Hee sawe the thing but knew not the cause of it.

4 And as for the cause of the other and greater evill, namely sinne, the generall opinion and conceit was, that it proceeded only, either from il education, or at the least from mans bad husbanding of his owne free will which was equally inclinable to good or evill. Which if they had vnder­stood of the first man Adara when he fell, had beene true and sound: but of this they never dreamed. They thought that man considered in the state of corrupt nature, or as hee is now of himselfe, was without sinne by birth, and had equall power to do good or evill, to be vertuous or viti­ous, and as I said, that it was only bad education and imitation of the bad, or bad imploiment of his freewill & naturall faculties of his soule, that made him naught; in which errour wee finde the very best and wisest to haue been Cie, Aead. quae [...] lib. [...]woud [...]: & Tusculan lib. 4. The Stoicks, the best of all Philosophers for moralitie, were so blinded herein, that they thought even good and lawfull affections to be meerely of ill custome, not of na­ture, much more that corrupt and e­vill [Page 26]affections were so. And Seneca epist 22. Seneca brings in nature complaining of her children as degenerate, and telling them that she brought the forth with out passions, and evill desires & lusts, without feares, without superstition, without trechery, & the like; & Seneca c. pist. 116. in an other place makes this the only cause that we are naught, because wee vvill not vse the strēgth which nature hath givē vs to shake of our vices, which is abundantly sufficient to doe it. Not to bee willing saith hee, is the cause hereof: but not to be able is made the pretence and colour. Chap 5. Sect. 8. We shal haue occasion * here­after to speake more of this blindnes and madnesse of the Gentils touching the cause of this part of mans mise­rie, namely sinne, when wee shal come to handle the remedies which they prescribed for the same. And as for the falshoode thereof it shall bee she­wed * in place convenient. Chap. 6. Sect 4.

CHAP. 4. That as the Gentiles knewe not the true cause of mās misery so nether did they know the vtmost height of it.

1 AS wee haue seene in the former Chapter that the blinde hea­thēs knew not the cause of mans mi­sery, so it resteth to bee here declared that they knew not the true measure and greatnes thereof, nay were meer­ly ignorant of many principall bran­ches of it.

2 One speciall point of our mise­rie is, that by sinne we incurre the dis­pleasure of God, and become liable to his wrath and vengeance, who by na­ture is an adversary to all sinne and sinners, Chap. 3. sect. 1. as hath beene * before shewed at large But this the heathens appre­hended not. For not only Ovid. A­mor lib 3. eleg. 3. & de arte aman­di. lib. 1. the pro­fane Poet imagined, that God did wincke at mens sins, yea allow them, nay laugh at them, but also the chiefe Philosophers thought & taught that God was not offended with any thing that mē did, much lesse would punish it. Sen. ep. 31. Seneca the most morall of them, and the wonder of wit tels vs, that no man knowes God, and that many thinke ill of him, and that without any danger. In Idem de bene fici [...]s lib. 7. c. 1. another place hee thinkes hee hath spoken wisely, when he speakes most beastly, saying that one principall point for the attainement of perfect [Page 28]happinesse is, to shake of all feare of God and man, and to resolue that we are not to feare much from man, but frō God nothing at all. Idem de ira l. 2. c. 27. In another, that there are some that haue neither will nor power to hurt, as the Gods, whose nature is wholy mild and gentle, and who are of power only to relieue and cherish, but not to annoy or affl ct. And Plutarch. tractat de superstit. another famous both for his learning and diligence, yea for his vertue too, so far as heath­nish blindnes would permit, makes it flat superstition, to thinke that God would hurt any, being superlatiuely good, yea goodnes it selfe: both being childishly deceived in this, that they thought, that for God to punish anie for their wickednes, and to do harme were all one, See Tertul cent. Marci [...] on. lib. 2. c. 14. & Lac­tant. de ira Dei cap. 17. whereas it is a maine branch of his goodnes to hate evil, & take vengeance on evill doers. With­out the which no earthly Prince de­serues the name, nor can maintaine the reputation of good.

3 Secondly they bewraye most grosse ignorance touching mans mi­sery in this, that they thinke it is all ended by death: whereas the far grea­ter and more grievous part thereof followeth after death, as we haue hard [Page 29] Chap. 2. sect. 4. before. Yet herein the most re­nowned of them haue shamefully erred, & drawne others into error. Cie Tuse. quaest [...]ib 1. Tul­ly in a large discourse takes it for grā ­ted, that after death men either shall be happy, or else not be at all. Senec de remediis fortui. orum Sene­ca peremptorily avoucheth, that all things are ended by death, yea death it selfe. Which speech of his Tertul. de resurrect. carnis cap. 2. & de ani. ma cap. 42. Tertullian both iustly reproues, and pithily confutes. And in Sen. conso sat, ad Ma­triam. c. 19 another place the same Sene­ca more distinctly affirmeth, that those things that make bell so terrible vnto vs, are but a meer fable, that no darknes, no prison, no lake of fire are appointed for any after death, that there shall be none arraig­ned, no iudge to condemne, that those that devised these things haue but frighted vs with scarre-crowes, that death is the disso­lution and end of all griefes, beyond which our evils do not reach. The same in effect is delivered by Epict. dis­sertat. lib. [...]. cap. 13. Epictetus, otherwise almost more then an humane author. But most blindly and profanely of all others writes Plin. hist. [...]at. lib 7. cap 55. Pliny hereof, although in most elegant words and plausible language. The summe whereof is this that all men are in the same case after their last day, as they were before the first day, and that there is no more feeling either in [Page 30]the body or soule after the day of their death than there was before the day of their birth, that they may thinke otherwise are foolish and absurde, as if there were any difference betweene the manner of mans breathing, & other creatures, or as if there were not many other creatures of longer continuance than man, of whose eternitie notwithstanding no man dreames, that these are but childish i­maginations, and false conceipts of mortality that affects immortality. and woulde never haue an end, &c. Thus were the hea­thens ignorant of the chiefest braun­ches of mans passiue misery, namelie Gods vengeance on sinners, and the full execution thereof after death in the world to come.

CHAP. 5. That the Gentils being ignorant both of the cause and the greatnesse of mans misery, haue grossely erred in the true remedies a­gainst the same.

1 NOw the blinde heathens being so grossely ignorāt both of the cause, & also of the measure & great­nesse of mans misery, it must needs be that they were ignorant of the true [Page 31]remedies for the same. The things that make mans state so miserable, as hath * formerly beene said, are prin­cipally two, the evils wee suffer, Chap. 2. sect. 1, and the evils which we do, vvith the for­mer whereof carnal & natural mē are most moved, although they shoulde be most moved with the latter, Chap. 2, sect. 6. * as hath bin shewed. Touching the evils which we suffer, as sicknesse, famine, pestilence, war, poverty, banishment, imprisonment, torments at our ene­mies pleasure, vnhappy matches, and the like both innumerable and into­lerable crosses, and last of all death it selfe, which although to natural men it hath seemed the end of all evils, yet withal they haue takē it for the high­est evill, the remedies which they by their best meditation and study could devise against thē, are very poore, yea miserable, and therefore vnfit to re­lieue misery.

2 For let vs heare what they can say touching these thinges that so much trouble & vex vs in this world. Indeed mē haue strained their spirits to the highest, & wonderously labou­red to fortifie their mindes against all occurrents of that nature, but vvith [Page 32]poore and pitifull successe For if we reade those which with most particu­larity haue handled this argument, as two specially haue done Senec. de remediis fortuit. the one an­cient, Petrarch. de remed. vtrius (que) for­tunae. the other of later times, wee shall see they feed vs with words and winde, and giue vs only verball com­forts against reall evills. I must for­beare the particulars, and insist only in those generall remedies wherein all agree. The first was devised by the founder of the Stoicall profession Zeno, and carries a goodly shewe of securing vs that way. Cic Tuse. quaest. lib. 2. His best mu­nition against this branch of humane misery was that nothing could make a man miserable but evill, that onely vice is evill, and therefore that onely vice could make a mā miserable; that poverty, sicknesse, banishment, im­prisonment, cold, hunger, famine, whipping, racking, cruell kindes of death, were no vices, and therefore no evills; no evills, and therefore could not make vs miserable. And Sence. de constant. sa­pient. sive de tranquil. vi [...]e. lib. 2. Seneca straines the point yet farther telling vs, that a wise and vertuous man cannot be wronged by any. But alas, what poore and cold comforts are these? What, is sicknesse, impri­son. [Page 33]famine, whipping, racking, hanging, burning, and other like, or greater torments the lesse or easier, because I am told they are no evils? What fond cavillation and sophisti­call delusiō is this, that because these be not evils of fault, therefore they be not evils of paine, or no evills at all. Cicer. qu [...] supra hac sect. lit. mar. giu c. A heathen author himselfe iust­ly laughs at this vanitie, and pithily confutes it The Stoics, saith he, conclude by certaine v [...]ine cavillations, that pain [...], or griefe is no evill, as though the word [evil] did trouble vs not the thing. Why dost thou mocke me ô Zeno? for when thou deniest that which is so terrible to me to be an evill, thou dost but cousen me, and I would glodly know of thee, why that which seemes to mee most miserable, should not bee evill. Thou saist that nothing is evil, but that which is naught and dishonest. In so saying thou dost but re­turne to thy olde fooleries: for by all this thou dost not take away the things that tor­ment me. I knowe well enough that paine is not wickednesse. Never tell me what I know well enough already, proue to me that there is no oddes in the matter, whether I bee in paine or not in paine. And here it is wor­thy of observation, that when these Gallants that thus in wordes braved [Page 34]al outward paine and griefe incident to the body, came to practice & acti­on, they recanted these brags, which they had vttered in their idle specu­lations. So Tullie himselfe who much inclined to this paradox of the Stoics, and laboured to fortifie his spirit thereby against these evils of paine, when it came to triall, miserably dis­covered his weaknesse, & that in the least and lightest of these externall crosses, namely banishment Dio Cassio­us hist Ro­man. lib. 38. For hee so basely behaved himselfe therein, that one Philiscus of his olde acquain­tance sharply reproved him for the same: and specially because himselfe had spoken and written so stoutly in contempt of all such casuall grievan­ces, & given very good counsell to o­thers. Whose poore excuse of such his weakenesse was, that it was one thing to advise others, and another to comfort our selues when the case was our owne. But most memorable to this purpose is the behaviour of Cie. Tuse. quaest. lib 2. Heracleotes Dionysius Zenoes own scholler, by whome having beene taught this stout contempt of paine, as be­ing no evill, afterwards having a bit­ter and extreame fit of the stone, hee [Page 35]recanted his error, and cried out that all which his master had maintained touching that point was false, & that hee now found and felt the contrary, namely that paine was an evill.

3 A second supposed remedy a­gainst these evils of pain both taught and practised by carnall men is volū ­tary death, or selfe murther, whereby men at their pleasure might free thē ­selues from all these evills of paine. Herevpon Oedipus apud Sence The [...]ai act 1. Sen. 1. he cries out in the Tra­gedy, that death is to be foūd every where, and that God in this hath provided won­derous well for mankinde: that, whereas any man may take our life from vs, none can take death from vs, meaning that none can let vs from dying, having power to kill our selues when we please. And least we should thinke this to bee but a Poeticall fiction whereby men are made to speake what the Poet plea­seth, let vs heare the wisest and wor­thiest of the Gentiles speaking in good earnest of this matter. Quintil. instit. or at. li [...]. [...]n pro [...]emio. Quinti­lian affirmes that no man is long in paine, or sorrow, vnlesse it bee through his owne fault, meaning that by killing himself he may be rid of it when he pleaseth. Yea even Seneca himselfe appr [...]ues [Page 36]of this selfe-murther or killing our selues to ende all paine. Are we in di­stresse and miserie? Why, Sen ep. 12 saith hee, there are many and short and easie waies to free our selues. Let vs giue thankes to God, that no man can be compelled to liue whe­ther he will or no. And Idē ep. 70. againe, If thou wilt follow my counsell, so prepare thy selfe, that thou maist entertaine death, nay if need be, that thou maist send for it. For it makes no matter whether death come to vs, or wee goe to death. Yea Sen. ep. 71 hee mockes and de­rides those that made any scruple thereof. And Idem de ira lib. 3. c. 15 in another place, saith he, Which way soever thou lookest, there is an ende of all evils to bee found. Dost thou see an high and steepe place, by falling down from it, thou shalt fall into liberty; feest thou such a sea, such a river, or such a pitte, liberty lies in the bottome of them, if thou haue the loart to cast thy selfe into them. Dost thou see a tree whereon others haue beene hanged, there hangs liberty, if thou wilt hang thy selfe. Dost thou see thy owne necke, throate, heart▪ &c, they are all places of escape to flie away from bondage. Are these too hard and painfull meanes to get out, and wouldst thou yet knowe the way to liberty? Every vaine in thy body is a way to it. Sen. ep, 89. Againe he tels vs, that if sicknesse bee incurable, and [Page 37]disable the soule to execute her pro­per actions, shee may as well goe out of such a body at her pleasure, as a mā may out of a rotten and ruinous te­nement, or dwelling house. So Epict. dis­sertat lib. 2. cap. 16. E­pictetus himselfe the wonder of hu­mane both wisdome and piety, saies that as they are fooles, who whē they haue sufficiently refreshed themselus at a feast, yet will sit longer, yea even vntill they loath their meate, and are ready to vomitte, so they are fooles, that having had their fill of this pre­sent life, yet will liue longer. And in Epict. lib. 1 dissert. c. 24 another place, Even as, quoth hee, boyes when they are wearie of any player sport vse to say, I will play no longer: so men when they are weary of living, must say, I will liue no longer. And therefore in Idem lib. 1. cap. sen. dissertat. 9. an other place hee laughes at their sim­plicity that complaine of poverty & want, What fooles, saith hee, are they that when they haue filled their bellies to day, sit weeping and pensiue bethinking what they shall eate to morrow. Base slaue, if thou haue meate, thou hast it: if thou hast it not, thou maist be packing out of the world, the dore is open. So Sen. ep. 12. Seneca highly commends that speech of Epicurus, that indeed it was a misery to liue in necessitie, but that [Page 38]there was no necessity for a man to liue in necessitie. Meaning that every man by killing himselfe might free himselfe from it. Yea which is strange Plato de legibus l. 9. Plato himselfe, that approached so neere to Christian truth in many points, al­though he appoint some publike in­famy in the maner of burial for those that kill themselues, yet it is with di­vers exceptions, and amongst others this is one, if a man so doe by meanes of povertie and want. And to cōclude Plin. nat. hist. lib. 2. cap. 63. Pli­nie would haue vs beleeue, that our mother the earth having pitty vpon vs, doth bring forth poysōs, that we may dispatch our selues out of this wretched world when there shall be due occasiō. And this was practised by those that were counted very worthy men, Plutarch. in vita Ca­ton. Do Cas­sius [...]ist Ro­man, lib. 43. as by Cato when Pompey whose part hee had taken was overthrowne by Caesar, kil­ling himselfe, as it was conceived, principally because he would not be beholding to Caesar for his life, or at least would not be put to death at his pleasure. Cornel. Nepo [...] in vita Tit [...] Pompon. Attici. Likewise by Pomponius At­ticus, who being impatient of a cruell diseale that tooke him in his olde age, willingly famished himselfe to death, and could not bee dissuaded [Page 39]from so doing by the prayers and teares of his nearest and dearest allies and friends. But particulars of this nature are infinite, and therefore let these suffise.

4 Now howe poore a remedie this is for a man to kill himselfe when he is in misery, may sufficiently appeare by that which hath already beene spoken touching the wofull state of man after this life dying out of Gods favour, as they that thus make away themselues needs must. So that this is not to avoid misery, but to change misery, yea to change the lesser mise­ries for the greater, and as wee vse to speak, to leap out of the frying pan into the fire. Yea the Gentils them­selues saw at last the vanitie & absur­dity of this remedy, deriding those that because they would not be put to death by others, put themselues to death. Sen. ep. 71 Seneca, who as wee haue seene so much favoured this prophane con­ceipt, yet in some places forgetting himselfe, truely saies, that it is follie for a man to die for feare of death: and Martial e­pigt. lib 22. epigram. 80 ano­ther saies it is madnesse, Hic rogo no [...]uror est ne moriare mo [...]i [...]. I pray thee, saith he, is not this madnes to dy least thou shouldst die? Others haue seene the vn­lawfulnes [Page 40]hereof, namely Cicero de senect. & in somnio Sci­pionis. that this is to forsake the standing wherein God our Ge­nerall hath placed vs, and to refuse & shun the office which God hath assigned vs in this world: Arist. Eth lib 3. cap. 7. others, obserue the basenesse of it, that it is a token of a coward, and not of a valiant man, sith valure consists in a pa­tient enduring of al extremities. And ther­fore Martial. epigram. the very profane Poet scoffes at Cato for killing himselfe, of whom we haue heard before, truely affirming, that it is an easie matter to cōtēne death in our misery, & that he is the valiant mā that cā patietly beare miserie. Yea Virgil, Aed. lib. 6. some haue gone farther, and seene the danger hereof also, namely that it is punished in the life to come, placing those that haue offended that way in hell, & that in such torments, as they wish them­selues backe againe, & vpon that con­dition would be content to endure al the miseries incident to this life. Lo the poore remedies that nature can teach vs against this first kinde of e­vils, namely the evils which we suf­fer.

5 Now touching the evils which wee do, which as hath beene shewed, we should hold the greatest, as natu­rall men haue lesse knowne and felt [Page 41]them than the former, so haue they beene lesse either carefull or able to finde out any sound and effectuall re­medies against them, nay I may bold­ly speake it, that as they giue vs foo­lish Physicke against the former, so they giue vs ranck poison against the later. And as it fals out in bodily dis­eases, that i [...] the Physitian mistake the causes of them, they apply medicines cleane contrary, and such as exaspe­rate the evill not asswage it; so it fa­reth with the maladies of the minde, if they that professe skil to cure them erre in the originall ground of them, insteed of healing them they poyson them and make them far worse.

6 The guilt of sinne which al men carry in their bosome tels them that sinne needes some purgation and ex­piation, or else they must incurre the indignation and vengeance of God. But when it comes to particulars, what the true meanes of delivering vs from the danger of sinne should be, here the wit of man is a ground and vtterly amazed and confounded, and the best remedies it can devise in this case are either foolish as wee haue seene they were against the first kind [Page 42]of evils, namely of paire, or els impi­ous and wicked.

7 See Natal. Comes My­thiol. l. 1. c. 11.12. Some thought that sinne was blotted out & Gods wrath appeased by offering of flowers, franckincense, and other sweere perfumes, but sup­pose that every meane person coulde be as liberal that way as Alexander the great, Plutarch. Apopht Re­gum. & Im­perat. who vsed to sacrifice with so much franckincense at a time, that Leonidas his steward reproved him for it, telling him that hee must first con­quer the country where frankincense grew, before he wasted it so prodigal­ly, suppose, I say, every man could be so costly in that respect. yet who that is well advised, can dreame, that the sweet smell of hearbs & perfumes can take away the filthy stinke of sinne? Others thought by certain washigns with peculiar & hallowed waters the filth of sinn was washt away, as if that which made the skin cleane, made the heart also cleane, and that purifie the minde which never came neere the minde. Others truely iudging these cures to bee light, and superficial, though it must be death and bloud at least that must do away sinne, vsually killed beasts of al sorts in great abun­dance, [Page 43]and sacrificed them to appease Gods anger, and make satisfaction for their transgressions. But heare a­gaine reason awaked will tell vs, that if all men còuld bee as bountifull as Iulian the Roman Emperour vsually was, Ammian. Marcellin. lib. 25. of whom the iest went, that if he had returned with victorie in his last actions against the Parthians, the very kinde and race of buls, oxen, and kyne would haue beene extinguished by meanes of his monstrous excesse in sacrificing of beasts, if, I say, everie man could and should be at such cost that way: yet what strange blindnesse were it to thinke that the bloud of beasts could purge the sinnes of men, or that man should commit the fault, and beastes should beare the punish­ment of it?

8 But the remedies which the na­tural man devised against this second branch of our misery namely sinne, were not only foolish, but also wicked & pernicious For first, some looking further into the matter, and conside­ring that it was no reason, that man should offende and beastes should be punished, & die for his offences, per­ceived that in all equitie man must be [Page 44]punished for the faults of man. See Natal. Comes My­thol. l. 1. c. 8. And therefore most nations vsed to sacri­fice certaine men at certaine times of the yeare to make an atonement for the sinnes of all the rest. So Plutarch tractat. de supe [...]stit▪ the Car­thaginians sacrificed their own childrē to Saturne, being present thereat, and looking on, and such as had no chil­dren of their owne, bought the chil­dren of the poorer sort, as if they had beene lambs, or goates, and the order was, that the very mothers of them must be present at the sacrifice with­out making any shewe of sorrowe or compassion at the sight, and if they did, they forfeited the price of them, and yet their children were sacrificed neverthelesse. The wickednes where­of is so palpable, that Silius Ita li cus lib. 4. Lucret. lib. 2. some of the heathenish idolatours thēselues per­ceived it, and cried out against it, yea Plutarch. quo supra. some were so moved therwith, that they disputed the point whether A­theisme were not far better, then su­perstition, and much inclined to the affirmatiue part. Lucret. quo supra. Others here vpon directly became Atheists, crying out that religion was the cause of all im­piety. And which is yet more strange, the Gentils were so blinde in this [Page 45]point, that some of them, Strab. [...] ▪ as the Leu­cades, yearly made choice of some no­torious malefactour, & sacrifized him for the vvhole, as though his death could expiate the sins of others, who had deserved many deathes for his owne sinnes: vvhereas indeede Bernard. ad Milites templi, c. 4. the death of the best man now in the state of sinne cannot profit an other, si [...]h every man oweth a death for himself. But as hath beene said, this remedy is not only foolish & vnprofitable, but also impious and detestable, Ang. de [...]i­vit. Deili. 6. cap. 12. making God more cruell than any man; for what man, although iustlie angrie, would bee appeased by such a bloudie & barbarous meanes? How were they blinded that thought one sinne vvas a remedie for an other, & that so hai­nous a sinne as murther; that they purged sinne, when they added sin to sinne, that they appeased Gods wrath when they most grievously kindled it?

9 Secondly for cure of this so great an evill, namely sinne, they sent vs to a supposed power in our selues, whereby we are able, if we please, to shake of all sinne, yea vtterly to con­quer the least evill motions and affe­ctions [Page 46]of the minde as we haue heard Char. Sect. 4. before, and so insteed of healing sin thrust vs into one of the greatest sins in the world, namely pride & selfe li­king. Hence came that saying that went for a principle amōg thē, Vnusqui [...] ­que fortune suae faber. that every mon was the forger of his owne for­tune, that is, had power to frame and shape his owne state and condition, & to make himselfe good or bad, hap­py or miserable. So Ovid. de Ponto eleg. [...]. ad Ger­manicum. one flatters a great man. The Gods grant thee l [...]ng life, for as for other things thou wilt giue them to thy selfe; and Horat, ep. 18. lib. 1. another flatters him­selfe to the same effect, saying, It is e­nough that I pray to Iupiter for long life and riches, for as for a good mind and vertu [...], I will giue that to my selfe. Neither are wee to thinke that these were only Poeti­call florishes, sith the best Philoso­phers in their most serious discourses and meditations affirme & maintaine as much or rather more sometimes. Arist. Eth. Aristotle layeth this for a groūd, that both vertue and vice are in our power, or else we were neither to bee praised for well doing, nor dispraised for ill doing: & Cie de na­tura Deorū lib. 3. Cice­ro, most profanely a voucheth, that wee truly & iustly glory of our vertue, which we would never doe, if it were the gift of God, [Page 47]and not a thing of our owne. And Sen. ep 31 Seneca is angry with those that trouble the Gods with their prayers that they might be happy, saying withall, make thy selfe happy, as if he had saide. It is a matter in thine own power, what nee dest thou be beholden to God for it? Nay Idē ep. 54. hee goeth farther and tels vs, that in some respect, man hath the advan­tage of God himselfe; sith God is happy by the benefit of nature, but that man is happy by his ow [...]e good hushanding of his minde, being indifferent liable to felicitie or misery: that is, God is happy of ne­cessity, but a wise and vertuous man by election and choice, for as much as whereas he might be either miserable or happy, he by his free choise & wise managing of his will makes himselfe happy▪ To conclude Senec. de vita beata c. 8. he affirmes that one principall step and degree vnto happinesse is for a man to admire him­selfe, that is, to d [...]ate vpon his owne excel­lencie.

10 But alas what poore comfort is there in all this. For first, so far of is it that mā hath any such power to shake of sinne, as hee is of himselfe in irre­mediable bōdage vnto it, as hath Chap. 2. Sect. 8. al­ready beene declared, neither is hee [Page 48]naught by ill education, or custome, but by birth, or rather before his birth, as shall God willing appeare Chap. 6. Sect. 4.1. hereafter: so that to bid a man not to sin, is to bid him not to eate when he is hungry, not to drinke when hee is thirsty, not to sleepe when hee is drowsie, and overwatched, or rather indeed, to bid him not be hungry, not to be thirsty, not to be sleepy or drow sie; yea it is al one, as to bid water not to moisten, fire not to heate, the sea not to ebbe or flow, the sunne not to moue, sith he can no more of himselfe forbeare to sinne, thā those creatures can suspend such their natural actiōs and motions.

11 Yea not only is this remedy al­so vaine, but here vnder colour and shew of remedy, is there most deadlie poison ministred vnto vs. Being dead lie sicke we are made beleeue wee are hoale, being by nature Eph 2.3. as the Apo­stle tels vs the children of wrath, and Psal 51.7. as the kingly Prophet saith, formed and conceived in sinne, we are tolde, that we may chuse whether we will be guilty of sin, or no, and that sin comes only of ill custome; being most mise­rable bond-flaues, wee are borne in [Page 49]hand that we are free men, or might be free men if wee woulde our selues, the falshood whereof hath been she­wed before; having iust occasion to hang downe our heades we are coun­selled to beare them aloft, & to looke bigge, and whereas we should be asha­med of our selues, & loath our selues we are taught to admire our selues & doate vpon our selues, which is the very high way to make vs incapable of mercy and favour. For as Aug. deli­be [...]o Arbi­trio lib. 3. S. Augu­stine well saith, What can be more vnwor­thy of mercy than prowde misery? And in­deed he makes himselfe vnworthy of pitty, that stands vpon high & prowd tearmes, when nothing can releeue him, but pitty. The dissembling of miserie, saith Ber. serm. quodam. Bernard, shuts out mercie: and they shall never be accepted as worthy, that pre­sume they are worthy. Many in regard of this life haue perished without mer­cie, because in their stoutnesse they would not bee beholden vnto mercie. It were easie to giue instances hereof both in ancient and later times, but generality herein is sufficient It must be humiliation and submission, that must procure offendours favour; not presumption or peremptory standing [Page 50]vpon their iustificatiō in a bad cause. To counsell the malefactour to plead his innocency when his capitall of­fence is notorious and manifest, what is it else, but to helpe him the sooner to the gallowes? Whereas perhaps by confessing himselfe guilty, and suing for a pardon in time, hee might haue beene acquitted. And thus wee haue seene that all the remedies which na­turall reason hath beene able to de­vise against our misery, that is, against the evils which we suffer, or the evils which we doe, against our paines and punishmentes, or against our sinnes which are the cause therof, are either vaine and ridiculous, or impious and pernicious.

CHAP. 6. That true religion revealed vnto vs by Gods worde only discovereth vnto vs the cause of our miserie.

1 HOw ignorant the naturall man is touching the cause of his mi­sery, hath sufficientlie appeared by things already spoken. It remaineth that wee nowe shewe the true cause [Page 51]thereof, which only Gen c. 3. Gods word no­tifies vnto vs: and that is, that our first parents Adam and Eue beeing created by God and placed in Paradise in a most happy and pleasant state of life, only restrained from tasting of the fruit of one only tree, to vveete the tree of the knowledge of good and e­vill, as a triall of their subiection and loyalty, by the Divels suggestion Gods deadly enemy & theirs, presu­med to eate thereof, and so lost the loue, and favour of God, and incurred his displeasure and indignation, and consequētly became subiect to al mi­sery & calamity not only in this life, but also in the life to come.

2 It may seeme that this offence was not so hainous nor deserved such severe punishment. But we must con­sider that many and grievous iniqui­ties yea abominations lurked in this fact. For first of all, God having ex­presly told thē that whensoever they shoulde taste of this forbidden fruite, they should die the death, that is, they should surely die, they harkening to the serpent telling them the contrary make God a lyer, yea take the Devils word before his. Now how great a [Page 52]wickednes this was, the simplest may easily perceiue. Secondly here vvas great ingratitude and vnthankfulnes. The Devill tels them that God had dealt craftily with them in telling thē there was such daunger in eating of that fruit, whereas indeede it had that vertue to make them equall to him­selfe, and therefore in pollicie he for­bade them to taste of it. Which neces­sarily argues that they were malecontent with their present estate, as if God had dealt niggardly with them, and had not bestowed so much vpon them as hee might haue done, and so in effect, that the Devill would by his counsell and advise do more for thē then God had done or woulde doe. Thirdly & principally, here was high treason against the most high, accom­panied with detestable blasphemie. For they eating of the forbiddē fruit, because as the Devill informed them therby they should be equall to God, manifestly shewed that they disdained to be Gods vnderlings, and to hold a happines from him by inferiority and dependancie, and would be happy ab­solutely, and of themselues without being any way beholding to God for [Page 53]the same. Now when the subiect deni­eth homage and fealty to the Sove­raigne, the Creature to the Creator, man to God, what can it bee but high treason, yea highest treason as com­mitted against the highest? Besides it could bee no lesse than abhominable blasphemy, that a mortal man should so much as admit a thought to make himselfe equal to the immortal God, much more to desire it, yea to attempt it.

3 And yet further this doth not a little aggravat their sin, that they thē had absolute power not to sinne. To expresse this pointe, I had rather vse Saint Augustines wordes then mine own. If, saith Aug. de ei­vitat Dei li. 14. c. 15. he, any man thinke that Adams condemnation was either too heavy, or vniust: surely hee knowes not howe to weigh the matter, namely how great the iniquity of sinning was, vvhen there was so great easines not to sin. And a little after, Where there is great punishment threatned for disobedience, and the matter commāded by the creatour to be obeyed, so easie, who can sufficiently declare how great a wickednesse it is not to obey in a matter so easie, & where there is so great power to obey and so greate danger for not obeying?

[Page 54]4 I omit many other considerati­ons which might farther aggravat the greatnesse of our first parents sin. But that which hath beene alreadie saide may suffice. Only this I thought good not to omit, that it may be replied by some, that howe great soever their personall offence were, yet what rea­son is it that their posterity shoulde beare the smart thereof, and that in so hard measure, as wee see and feele by common experience, that they doe? The answere is easie, that Adam had either happinesse or miserie in his owne hands, not onely for himselfe but for all his: and therefore by ma­king himselfe miserable willinglie, I meane, at least, willingly doing the thing that iustly made him miserable hee also iustly drewe miserie vpon all his. We see that even humane iu­stice punisheth the children for the offense of the fathers. He that com­mits treason not only dyeth himselfe for it, but brings miserie vpon all his children, who by his offense loose all their goods and lands that otherwise should haue descended vnto them, as also if the parties so offending bee of such quality and ranke, their nobility [Page 55]and advantages of birth, and paren­tage. Again, we as commonly kill the yong foxes, wolues, and such like ra­venous and noisome beasts as the old, although as yet they haue done no a­ctuall harme, because we knowe they are of the same nature, that the olde are, and lacke not malice but time to hurt and destroy. Much more therfore may God, that more hates malignitie of nature in man, than man doeth in beastes, manifest his wrath against mankinde even in their infancie, knovving that the roote and seede of all evill lurkes in them from the wombe, yea in the wombe, and that the poison of sinne and wickednesse is even incorporated into their es­sence. And this is the cause of all those miseries and extremities which many times wee see yong children to endure. The ignoraunce of which point drewe the Gentiles out of the Church, and hereticks in the Church into that ridiculous errour * before specified, Chap. 3. Sect. 3. that mens soules had com­mitted some foule fault in heaven for the which they were sent into bodies here on earth to doe penance for the same. Now man having thus vvilling­ly [Page 56]seperated himselfe from God his Creator, and the onely author of his happinesse, it is no marvaile if he be­came subiect to all kinde of miserie. This was, saith Aug. de ci­vit Dei lib. 6 cap. 13. S. Augustine, a perverse haughtinesse, to forsake that originall cause wherevnto only the soule ought to cleaue, & after a sort to become his owne originall, that is, to leaue God, and goe about to be his owne God, and to be happy without being beholding to God for it. And a little after, Man by affecting to be more then he was, is now lesse then hee was: and while he made choice to be suffici­ent of himselfe, forsook him that only coulde be sufficient for him. And Ambro. de Elia & iein­mio cap 4. S. Ambrose brings in God expostulating & rea­sonning the matter with man after his fall, thus, Didst thou thinke to bee like vnto vs? therefore sith thou wouldst be what thou wast not, thou hast ceased to be what thou wast. And Bernard. tractat. de gratia & li­bero arbit. S. Bernard verie sweet­ly expresseth this point, saith he, they (to wit our first parents) which woulde needes be their owne, became not only their owne, but the Devils also, that is, the Di­vels slaues, held in bondage by him at his pleasure, as 2. Tim. 2.36. the Apostle speakes. This was a wofull alteration that mā who was the sonne of God, while hee [Page 57]would be Gods equall, ceased not on­ly to be his sonne, but also his servant and became the servant of sinne and Sathan And what a miserie it is to be in bondage vnto sin, yea what an evil sin of it se [...]fe is, Chapt. [...]. sect. 5. & 6. hath * already beene sufficiently declared.

CHAP. 7. The true remedies which Christian Reli­gion affordeth against the first kind of mans miserie, that is, the evils of paine.

1 VVHat poore & cold comfort naturall mē, yea the best of naturall men, and as it were the flow­er of them haue beene able to finde out against mans double miserie, namely the evils of paine, and the e­vils of fault, that is, the evils which he suffereth, and the evils which hee doth, sufficiently appeareth by things * before spoken. Chap. 5. throughout. Let vs now see what better reliefe and remedy true religi­on yeeldeth vs in that behalfe. As for the evils of faulte, that is, sinne the cause of all evils of paine, the remedy that Christianity affordeth vs, is free pardon of our sinnes and reconcilia­tion [Page 58]to God by faith in Iesus Christ. As for the evils of paine, they are of two sorts: either of temporary paine in this world; or of eternall paine in the world to come. The remedies a­gainst the former, namely temporary paines in this world, are the gratious change of them vnto many profita­ble vses: the remedie against the lat­ter, namely eternall paines in the world to come is all one with the re­medie against the evils of faulte, or sinnes. For the same mercy of God which frees vs from sinne, doth with­all free vs from the eternall punish­ment due vnto sinne, and therefore I will ioine them both in one in the next Chapter. For howsoever the strict lawes of order require I shoulde first speake of the evils of fault as the cause of all evill of paine, and then of the evils of paine that proceede there of: that is, first of sinne; and then of the punishments for sinne: yet, be­cause the evils of paine, that is, pu­nishments for sinne, specially tempo­rary punishments, whereof I only in­treate here, that is, the miseries and afflictions of this life, are more sensi­ble to our nature then the evils of [Page 59]fault, that is, than sinnes themselues, as also because they be the lesser evils of the two, howsoever more felt, I ra­ther regarding the conveniencie of matter, than curiosity of methode, wil speake of them first.

2 The first consolation then a­gainst all worldly miseries, is this, that whereas of themselues they are tokens of Gods wrath & displeasure, and a part of his iustice vpon sinners beginning in this world, and ending in the worlde to come, or rather to speake properly never ending, and are a tast, and as it were fore-runners of hell torments; now cleane contra­ry, vnto all that are in Christ, and by faith in Christ stand reconciled vnto God, whereof by Gods assistance wee shall [...]eare more at large in the next Chapter, they are signes and pledges of his loue and favour. A strange alte­ration, that they which before vvere heralds of defiance, shoulde now bee messengers of peace, and proclaimers of amity and loue: yet that the case thus standeth, is manifest by Gods ex­presse testimonies. My sonne, saith Prov. 3 11. & 12. Sa­lomon, that is God by Salomon, despise not the chastisement of the Lord, nor be wearie [Page 60]of his correction: For the Lord correct­eth every one that he loueth▪ as a father doth the sonne to whom he wisheth good. And the Heb. 12.5. & 6. Vers. 7. & 8. Apostle repeating it almost word for word, * inferreth out of it by necessary consequence, that affli­ction beeing the badge of all Gods sonnes, therefore they that tasted not of it were bastardes and not sonnes. And so Apoc. 3.19. Christ himselfe professeth to the Church of Laodicea, that hee dealt thus with all that he loved, namelie that he exercised them with affliction As many, saith he, as I loue, I rebuke, and chastise. Thus all afflictions & worldly crosses to the faithful are so many to­kens, sent from heaven to earth from God to man, from Christ to the Chri­stian, to assure vs of loue and favor; & who would not be glad, nay prowd to receiue loue tokens from an earthlie king, how much more from the king of heaven?

3 Secondly it is to be considered that these evils of paine are not on­ly comfortable for testification, but also proficable in operation, & bring forth most notable effects in the god­ly. So saith Ps 119. v. 67. & 71. David, Before I was affli­cted, went astray: but now doe I keepe thy [Page 61]commandements. And againe, It is good for mee that I haue heene in trouble, that thereby I might learne thy statutes. And Heb. 12.10. the holy Apostle is bold to say, that God chastiseth vs for our good, that wee may be made partakers of his holinesse: novve all chast [...]semēt for the present seemeth not to be ioyous, but grievous; but afterward it brin­geth the quiet fruit of righteousnes to them that are exercised thereby. And Rom. 5. [...].3.4.5. S. Paule goeth yet further, affirming that affli­ctions to those that are in Christ, mi­nister matter not only of profit, but also of glorie. Therefore, saith hee, Wee glory in tribulation, knowing that tribula­tion bringeth patience, and patience experi­ence, and experience hope, and hope maketh not ashamed.

4 And hence it is that Divines reach that afflictions to speak properly, vnto the godly are not punishmēts but ought to bee tearmed by some o­ther name So saith Chrysost. in 1. Corin. hom. 28. S. Chrysostome; wee are not punished, but instructed: so that our affliction is for admonition, not for condem­nation; for Physicke, not for torment; for cor­rection, not for vexatiō. That is in a word, all our tribulations are for instructiō, not for destruction.

5 The very heathēs could see that [Page 62]some benefit did grow from trouble & miserie. As first, that it was a counter­poyson against the danngers of too much prosperity, as pride, riot, wan­tonnes, and the like, which haue been the bane of many men. Herod. l. 3 Amasis king of Aegypt desired that he & his might tast of adversity, and vnderstanding of the incomparable prosperity of Po­licrates Prince of Samos, who was so luckie in all his affaires, that when of purpose he had cast his signet that had in it an Emerald of wondrous value, into the sea, he had it brought to him again in the belly of a fish that short­ly after was served in at his table, hee presently renounced the amitie and league that had beene long betweene them, suspecting that some great mis­chiefe would befall him, wherein hee would be loath to share with him: as indeede it fell out; for being craftily trained into the hands of his enemies he was crucified aliue. Yea Iuvenal. Satyr. 6. the verie Poet observed and complained, Heu pati­mur longae pacis mala­saevior armis Luxuria in­cumbit &c. that in his time they were even sicke with ease & prosperity; & more plagued with peace, thē ever they had beene with wars. And Sen. ep 52. the Philosopher wittily saies of Hanniball effeminated by ease & delicacie, that [Page 63] he overcame by armes: but was himselfe overcome by vices: Idem ep. 19.115. who also notes, that this was the spoile of Mecoenas, and not only of him, but generally of very many whō prosperity brought to a madnes of vanity & luxury. Againe they saw that sometime crosses occa­sioned encrease of iudgement, and bred an experimentall knowledge which was not a little to be esteemed. So Chion in ep. quadam Chion gaue harty thankes to the crosse windes that kept him at Byz ā ­rium against his will: because by this meanes he grew acquainted with Ze­nophon arrived there during his cō ­strained stay, & greatly benefited him selfe by cōference & intercourse with him. And Plutarch. Apopht. Re­gum & Im­perat. Themistocles being banished by his vnkinde country, was wont to say to his followers, Except we had been vndone we had beene vndone. So much did hee thinke hee had gained by his banishment; because he thereby grew in favour with the king of Persia, and was greatly advaunced and enriched by him.

6 How much more thē may Chri­stians picke profite out of adversitie, yea such profit as the blinde Gentils never dreamed of? For all that they [Page 64]gained or possibly could gaine by ad­versity, was but a civill & morall wis­dome, or reformatiō of their outward behaviour in this present worlde and in regard of men: But the Christian taketh out farre higher lessons from adversity.

7 For first hereby they learne cō ­tempt of the world, which is no small matter. For how dangerous a thing the loue of the worlde is appeares by this that it is incompatible with the loue of God, & cannot stand with it. Know yee not, saith Iam. 44, S. Iames, that the friendship of the worlde, is enmitie vvith God? Whosoever then will be n friend of the world, becommeth the enemie of God. And saith Ioh. 1.2. vers. 15. S. Iohn, See that yee loue not the world, nor the things of the worlde: if any man loue the world, the loue of the father is not in him. Thus we see that of necessi­tie wee must bee out of loue with the world, if we woulde bee in loue vvith God: enemies with the world, or else we cannot be friends with God. The contempt of the world then toucheth vs as neerely as our verie salvation, neither can there bee any salvation without it. But now what can so well teach vs the cōtempt of the world, as [Page 65]experience of the vanities and mise­ries of the world? It is then a speciall token of Gods loue and favour when he by afflictions & crosses makes the worlde bitter and vnsavorie vnto vs, therby to waine vs frō the loue ther­of. As mothers or nurses when they would weyne sucking children do vse to annoint their teates with worme­woode or some other bitter thing, thereby to make them weary of suck­ing, and to leaue the sweet for avoy­ding of the bitter, so God when hee woulde weyne his children from the loue of the world, by adversities and crosses maketh it bitter and vnsavory to them, least they should too deepe­ly sucke in the poyson thereof, yea e­ven sucke themselues to death, as car­nall men that liue in all prosperity & iolity vsually doe, according to that saying of wise Pro. 1.32. Salomon, that the ease of fooles killeth them, and the prosperity of the foolish destroieth them; by fools meaning the wicked, whom prosperity makes wanton and foolish, depriving them of all spirituall vnderstanding, if they had any, or else keeping them from ever having any. And this as Ier. 48.11. Ieremie or rather the Lord by Ieremie witnes­seth [Page 66]was the over throw and ruine of the Moabits, because Ierem. 48. ver. 11. Moab was quiet e­ven from his youth, and sate vpon the Lees, nor was powred out from vessell into vessel, nor lead into captivitie. Thus a flattering world poysoneth▪ but a frowning world preserveth: a flattering world defileth, a frowning world purifieth: in a word, a flattering world damneth a frowning world saveth. And who woulde not bee content to haue the world his stepmother, so that hee may haue God his father? And how neces­sary it is that the world should bee a step-mother vnto vs that wee might not over loue it, appears by that gol­den speech of Augustine. an ancient divine; Be­hold, saith he, the world is stormie and tē ­pestuous, and yet wee loue it, what should we doe if it were calme? How wouldst thou imbrace and cole a beautifull worlde, that makest so much of a fowle and deformed world? howe greedily wouldest thou gather the roses of it, that canst hardly hold thy hands from the thornes of it? That is, how should we doare vpon the world, if it were an indulgent mother; that can scarse forbeare to loue it, being a curst stepmother?

8 Besides the miseries of this life [Page 67]do serue notably to mortifie our lusts, and concupiscenses. For, as prosperi­ty is oile to kindle them: so adverfi­ty is water to coole and quench thē. Hereby anger is mitigated, lust aba­ted, pride deiected, and in a word, all inordinate affections & desires recti­fied. Hence it is that affliction in holy scripture is often tearmed a fornace, yea a fiery fornace: because it purgeth out our corruptions, and maketh se­peration betweene the golde and the drosse of our soules, betweene our vi­ces and our vertues. And hence it cō ­meth, that our very enimies are our servants and procure our good, when they seeme most to hurt & annoy vs. Wouldst thou know how this comes to passe, saith Augustin. de tempor. sermo 78, S. Augustine? Why they so serue vs as files and hammers serue gold; as milles serue wheate, as ovens serue for the baking & making of bread, finally as straw, and chaffe in the fornace serveth gold, where the chaffe is co [...]sumed to nothing, but the gold remaineth yea is made better then it was, being purifi­ed thereby. Which resemblances, if wee well marke them, are very proper & excellent. For one would thinke that the file by galling, & the hammer by beating should marre the golde; & yet [Page 68]they both better it: one would thinke that the chaffe which nourisheth the fire in the Goldsmiths fornace should be hurtfull to the gold, as also the mil to the wheate which it grindeth to powder, and the oven to the loaues which it burneth and scorcheth with so violent heare; and yet are all these things brought to their perfection by the things which in shew so much an­noy them: gold by the file, hammer, & burning chaffe; wheare by the mill, & loaues by the oven; And so a true Christian is purified and perfected by the things that threatē him destructi­on, namely by crosses and [...]ffictions.

9 Neither doe the miseries of this life only mortifie our vices, but also either breed, or at least increase ma­ny excellent vertues in vs, as hath in part * alreadie beene touched. And therfore In this chap. sect. 3. [...] 2. Corinth 4 vers. 16. the blessed Apostle ioineth both these benefits together, saying that while our outward man perisheth, our inward man is renued thereby: meaning, that as afflictions do weaken and cō ­sume our naturall life; so they streng­then & further our spiritual life. And ô happy losse that causeth such gain, ô happy smart that causeth such ease, [Page 69]yea ô happy death that causeth such a life. Thus we ever come out of affli­ctiō better thē we were before. Wher­of we haue a notable resemblance, or rather a type & prefiguration in the children of Israels bondage in Aegypt recorded by Genes 15. ver. 13. & 14 Moses in his holy histo­rie. God fore-told that they should be slaues in Aegypt for many yeares, and suffer great affliction there: but yet that in the end they should come out of it, and that with advantage, namely with gold, silver, iewels, and far grea­ter substance thē they had when they went thither, as Exod 12. v. 35.36, & the event indeed manifestly shewed. Even so it fareth with all true Christians; they must go into Aegypt, and endure bondage there, that is, they must suffer many troubles and miseries in this life: but they shall come out of them in better case then they were before. But what? doe Gods children come out of their troubles and adversities with more gold, and silver, or with better appa­rell then they had before, as the Isra­elites did out of Aegypt? No surely: but yet with far more pretious things then golde, or silver, or gorgeous at­tire, namely with more knowledge, [Page 70]with more wisedome, with more po­tiēce, with more humility, with more zeale, with more contēpt of this tran­sitory life, aed more longing after the life to come, which is eternall. Now what goodly treasures are these, and how farre more pretious then those which the Israelites brought out of Aegypt after their long bondage and manifold grievances there? Tertull de p. [...]. ētia. c. 7 Tertullian saith strangly, Let the whole world perish so that I may gaine patience. If hee helde that one vertue of patiēce worth the buying at so high a rate, evē with the losse of the whole world: how much more should we thinke so many other vertues together with it, worth the buying with some short & transitory adversities and crosses of the world?

10 Last of all a true Christian hath by the benefit of his holy profession this notable comfort against the mi­series of this present life, that making such religious vses thereof, as hath beene said, he is acquitted of eternall miseries of the life to come. So Luc. 16. ver. 25. A­braham frō heaven tels the rich glut­ton in hel, Remember, saith he, that thou receivedst good thing in this life & Laza­rous evill: therefore now is he comforted, at [Page 71]thou art tormented. And, saith 1 Corinth. 11. vers. 32. S Paul, When we are iudged of the Lord, wee are corrected to the ende we should not be dam­ned with the world. Thus, if God cor­rect vs, the Divell shall haue nothing to doe with vs. And how happy would the sonne thinke himselfe, that ha­ving deserved to bee strangled by the hangman, might scape by whipping, and the whipping too referred to his owne father? Thus the evils of paine or the afflictions of this life to a true Christian minister many comforts, & yeeld them many benefits, so that we should rather desire them, then bee o­vermuch afraid of them, or dismaide with them, Therefore Bern in Cant. ser. 42 S. Bernards meditation is excellent touching this point, that God is never more angry then when he is not angry, that is, when hee sheweth no tokens of his displeasure by correcting vs. For although this may seeme to be mercy and favor, yet saith he I will none of this mercy; this mer­cy is worse then all wrath or anger. To cō ­clude, let vs make such holy vses of the miseries which we endure in this life, as hath beene shewed; and they shall serue vs for an acquittance of al miseries, and torments in the life to come.

CHAP. 8. That the Christian religion only affordeth vs true remedy against the second kinde of e­vils, that is the evils which wee doe, or our sinnes.

1 THAT the greatest evils in this worlde, are the evils which wee doe, that is, our sinnes hath been Chap. 2. Sect 5. al­ready sufficiently declared: Chap. 5. Sect. 7. & 8. as also that the best remedies that naturall men, though never so wise & learned haue beene able to devise against the same, are of no force, nay that they are rasher poysons then medicines. Let vs now see what helpes and com­forts Divinity and true religion will afford vs againe the same.

2 And first wee must admit it for a ground that neither our selues, nor a­ny other like vnto our selues, (that is, meere men) can remedy this mat­ter; that is, deliver vs from sinne. For both we and they are so captivated & enthralled therevnto, that wee can­not possibly free our selues from it, as hath beene Chap. 2. Sect. 8.1 & Chap. 6. Sect 4. before declared, wherevnto we may adde that golden [Page 73]speech of Bern. trac [...] de gratia & libero arbi­trio. Bernard, that although power were given to mans will to stand & not fal: yet not a power to rise againe, if it did fall. For it is not so easie for a man to come out of a pit, as to fall into a pit. It is in vain then to seeke helpe either from our selues or others like vnto our selues, in this case, namely against sinne.

3 Here mans state being both so miserable, and also so remediles, God steps in to stelpe him, when hee was not able to helpe himselfe, and after an incomprehensible manner so tem­pered mercy and iustice one with the other, that neither sinne shoulde bee simply pardoned, nor yet the sinner be condemned, but that both the of­fense should be punished, and yet the offender absolved. This may seeme strange, and indeed is most strange, & therefore Rom 16. ver. 25. & Colos. 1. vers, 20. in the scriptures is called a mistery, yea a hiddē mistery, yea a mistery hidden from the beginning of the world vn­till the fulnesse of time, that is, vntill the time appointed by God in his infinit wisdome for the revelation thereof. This mistery in few wordes is, that God sent his only sonne Iesus Christ into the worlde to take vpon him the nature of man in the wombe, and of [Page 74]the substance of the virgin▪ Mary, and in this nature to preach all truth and to fulfill all righteousnesse in his life, and afterwardes to suffer a most both ignominious and painful death vpon the crosse, that by his bloud he might wash away mans sins, & so reconcile to himselfe all those that by faith em­braced him as their redeemer, and ap­plyed to thēselues that most glorious and soveraigne sacrifice of his death and passion. The summe whereof, Ioh. 3.16. the Evangelist cōprehends in these few but golden words; So God loved the world, that he gaue his only begotten sonne, to the end that whosoever beleeved in him, should not perish, but haue life everlasting. For the better vnderstanding wherof we must obserue that the humane na­ture in Christ is not a distinct and se­verall person by it selfe, as Peter, Iohn, and such like: but so vnited to the di­vine nature that did assume it, as they both make but one person, so that all that is in it, is truely said to be Gods, and al that was done by it; to be done by God; Act. 20.28. his bloud was Gods bloud, his death Gods death, &c: which ne­cessarily: implyeth the perfection of all his actions, beeing the actions of [Page 75]him that was God as well as man, and both God and man in one person. Se­condly we must note that all that hee did or suffered in his humane nature thus vnited to the divine, he did and suffred for vs, that we might haue the benefite of it: he tooke our evils vpō him, our sinnes and death due to our sins; and imparted his good things to vs, his innocency, obedience, holines and righteousnesse, & finally his suf­ferings partly in his life time, but principally at his death vpō the crosse his humiliation is our exaltation, his condemnation our absolution, his death our life.

4 This course was most effectuall and availeable in this case, yea in the apprehension of man only of force & possibilitie to remedy this branch of our miserie, namely our sinnes, and condemnation for sinne. For first, Chrysost. in prior ep. ad Timoth. hom. 7. he that is to reconcile persons that are at variance & difference one with the other, must haue interest in both; else is he vnfit to reconcile them, and bring them friends: wherefore God and man being at variance, it was re­quisite that he which shoulde recon­cile them shoulde be both God & mā. [Page 76]Againe man having sinned, iustice re­quired that man should be punished, & having sinned vnto death should be punished with death; but now a meer mās death could not salue the matter for as formerly hath been shewed, the death of one sinner cannot pay the debt and death of another, every sin­ner owing a death for himselfe. And besides, he that was to deliver others from the danger of penalty and death was not only to suffer death, but also to vanquish & overcōe death which a meere mā could never haue don God could not dy, & mā could not recover himselfe, when he should dy: where­fore the Mediatour was to be man to suffer death, and God to vanquish death Thus as Anse [...]m. tract cur Deus homo a Divine of mid­dle times sweetly saith, Sith such a satis­faction was requisite as none but God could make, & none but man was bound to make: he that was to make it, was to bee both God and man. Thus our Christian religion only directs vs to the meanes where­in there is possibility of saving vs frō our sins, and hence it is, Mat. 1. v. 2 [...] that Christ had the name of Iesus, that is, of a Sa­viour, as he that only could and would do this so great a worke.

[Page 77]5 And that he as well would do it, as could do it, yea therefore only was incarnated and suffered death that he might do it, is most evident. Cyp. de I­dolor. vani­tate. Christ was made that which man was, that man might be made that which Christ was. And, as Bernard. in vigilia nativit. Do­mini. Bernard saith, why was the son of God made the sonne of man, but that the sonnes of men might be made the sonnes of God? Surely Gregor. homi [...] 34. in [...]vangel. this cannot but yeeld man boldnes with God, that God himselfe is become man. August in Psal. 148. There is no cause nowe why man should doubt of living for ever, sith God hath died for him. For shal not he liue for ever, for whome hee died that liues for ever? Verily it is no­thing so strange that mortall man should liue, as that [...]he immortal God should die, specially since this death of the son of God was vniust & with­out cause in respect of himselfe, and therefore must needs be available for some others, as August de temp. serm. 101. S. Augustin excellēt­ly saies, Death could not be conquered but by death, therefore Christ suffered death that an vniust death might overcome iust death, and that he might deliver the guilty iustly, by dying for them vniustly. And thus August. de verbis Do­mini secund Lucā; & de temp. serm. 141. by taking vpon him our punishment, without taking vpon him our fault; he hath dischar­ged [Page 78]vs both of the punishment, and the fault. And that by good right, Bernard. ad milites templi, c. 4. sith although because he was mā he could die, yet because he was iust, he ought not to haue died, & he that had no cause to die for himselfe, in rea­son and equity should not die for others vn­profitably. Neither surely did hee, but to greatest purpose, namely, that the sonne of God dying for the sonnes of men, the sons of men might be made the sonnes of God, as we heard before out of S. Bernard, yea that of bad servāts men might be made good sonnes, as Aug. ser. 28 Saint Augustine speaketh: and this glorious mystery of our Saviours incarnation and passion must needes bring foorth glorious effects, Ansel. in c [...]. ep. ad Eph this strange and vn­speakeable loue of God that his only sonne should die for vs, that a Lord should die for servants, the creatour for the creature, God for man, this strange loue I say, must needs be of strange operation, as it is Bern. feria 4. heb dom. paenolae. even to make of sinners iust men, of slaues brethren, of captiues fellow heires, and of banisht persons kings.

6 Why then shoulde our sins dis­may vs, if we be vnfainedly sorrie for them, and by faith haue recourse vn­to Christ that hath borne the punish­ment of them? O let vs thinke vpon [Page 79]this comfortable chāge, August. m Psal. 2 [...]. c. narrat. 2. that Christ made our faults his faults, that hee might make his righteousnesse our righteousnesse. Iust. Mar­tyr ad Di­agnetum. O sweet exchange, o vnsearchable skill, that the vnrighteousnes of many should bee hidden in one that is righteous, & the right­teousnesse of one should cause many that are vnrighteous to be accounted righteous. Al­though we bee not, nor cannot bee without sinne, yet as long as our sins are not imputed to vs, they cannot hurr vs. The princely prophet David as August. in Psal. 32. c▪ na [...]rat. 2. S. Augustine well obserues, saies not they are happy that haue no sinne, but whose sinnes are covered. Surely if God haue covered our sinnes, he will not see them; if he will not see them, he wil not examin thē; if he will not examine them, he will not pu­nish them. August. in Psal. 119. According to the groundes of our Christian faith, they are accounted for no sinners, to whome their sinnes are not imputed, & Idem de nuptiis & concupise. cap 26▪ not to be held guilty of sinne is not to haue sinne, or, to bee without sinne. Do we fail in our obediēce to the law of God & many times break his cōmā demēts? Why Idem re­tract. lib 11▪ cap. 19. all the commādements are thē held to be kept, whē all is pardoned that is not kept. Bernard in Cantic. serm 33 & in Annunciat Mariae serm It is thē a sufficient righte­ousnesse to haue our vnrighteousnes forgiven, and to haue him only favo­rable [Page 80]to vs whome only wee haue of­fended. True it is that that which is done cannot but be done, and yet not being imputed, it is all one, as if it had not beene done.

7 This plea must needs confoūd the Devil, and put him to silence. For Bernard. if Adams sinne could make vs guilty shall not Christs righteousnes much more make vs innocent? Shall there be more vertue in the seed of the first Adam, then in the bloud of the secōd Adam? Doubtlesse the greatest force and efficacy is ever in the greater and stronger agent, and therefore Christ is fat more able to saue then Adam to condemne, and why should not wee haue righteousnes from another, as well as wee had guiltinesse from ano­ther? 1. Corinth. vers. 1. specially sith p. 190. Christ was made righteousnesse vnto vs by God the father: and shall not that righteous­nesse be ours which was made over to vs, and made over by God himselfe? Carnall generation from Adam shall never be of such force to damne vs, as spirituall regeneration in Christ to saue vs. And if Sathan say vnto vs that a bad father soulde vs, wee may presently answere that a good bro­ther [Page 81]hath ransomed vs.

8 Finally, what could wee wish more? An [...]elm. cur Deus homo lib▪ 2▪ Being miserable creatures, and not able to free our selues from the bondage of sinne and Satan, God the father saies vnto every one of vs, take my sonne and giue him for thee, and the sonne himselfe saith, take me & redeeme thy selfe with me. Idem in meditat. What sweeter entreatie can there bee, then to intreate the father in the sonnes name, yea for his only begotten and most dearely beloued sonnes sake? By this kind of mediation many captiues haue been set free, many malefactors haue obtained their pardon, many that every houre looked for the stroak of death haue had their liues given them. O happy and thrice happy are they that are allowed this favorable and gratious accesse vnto the father in the name of his sonne, & cā plead thus, O Lord remember what a good sonne hath suffered, and forget what a bad seruant hath done.

9 There remaineth yet another singular consolation against so great an evill, to wit sinne, and that is, that God in his infinite wisdome turneth our very sinnes themselues to our be­nefit [Page 82]and advantage, so farre of is it that they shall condemne vs. Rom 8. vers. 28. The Apostle saith that all things worke togi­ther for the good of those that loue God, Bernard. serm. de fa­lac praesen­tis vitae, & in Psal. 15. serm. 2. which is so true, that evē the things which properly are not thinges but the corruptions of thinges, as griefe, sicknesse, death, and finally sinne it selfe doe so. The latter may seeme strange, and yet it is true, namely that even sinne worketh for the good of the faithfull, yea sinne is made a me­dicine for sinne. We know how foule a sinne pride is, and how deepely it is rooted in our corrupt nature, or ra­ther incorporated into it, Hier. ep. 30 wee had rather bee without golde it selfe then without pride and selfe liking. Bernard. [...]pist▪ 143▪ To doe greate workes and haue humble thoughts is far a harder matter then much fasting, long watching, and o­ther the like corporal afflictions. Nay to doe any good worke be it never so meane and not to glory in it, is a ver­tue that is found but in few, and yet to be proud of well doing, is little better then ill doing. And August de tempor. serm. 49. some haue ventured to affirme that an humble sinner is better thē one that is proud for doing good, and that God is more [Page 83]pleased with humilitie in ill doing, then with pride in wel doing. At least this we may be bold to say Gregor. Moral. lib. 19 c, 12. & 13. that pride marres the luster & grace of our best actions and makes them meerely vn­profitable vnto vs, and they that o­vercome their vices, by being prowd of it, are overcōe by that which they had overcome, & foiled by their own victorie. We see then of what neces­sity humilitie is, without which all vertues are no vertues, and how abo­minable pride is, that in a maner tur­neth all vertues into vices. Whence Aug. ep. 52 S. Augustin professeth, that if he were demanded what were the first point of Chri­stianitie, he would answer humility, if what were the second, he would likewise say hu­mility, if what the third, his answer also should be, humilitie, Cie. de o­rat. lib. 3. even as the Orator being asked what was the first, second and third point of eloquence, answe­red still, vtterance. Now there is no­thing so effectuall to kill that mon­ster of pride, and to breed this excel­lent vertue of humilitie, as sinne it selfe, when God giues vs grace to bee humbled with the consideratiō there­of. August. [...]e Civ. Dei. lib. 11. c. 14. We may then be bold to say that it is profitable even for good men to [Page 84]fall into some manifest sin that they might be displeased with themselues, who fell by pleasing themselues. In a word the sinne of pride cannot be cu­red but by other sinnes which makes vs ashamed of our selues, Ezech. 6. vers. 9. & 20. vers. 43. & 36▪ vers, 31. yea and e­ven to loath our selues, and to blush to our selues, when sometimes others commend and extoll vs, that are not privie to our faults. So by this means we are preserved both from flattering our selues and also from applauding to others when they flatter vs, yea frō taking pleasure in their iust praises, Hieron. ep 32. Aug. ep 64. which is exceedingly dangerous, & yet almost impossible to bee avoided saving by this meanes. And as our sinnes and slippes keepe vs in humi­litie, so doe they also teach vs feare, care, and circumspection, that after­wards we will not so easily bee over­taken againe, so that we may well cō ­clude with Bern. quo supra lit. marg. g. S. Bernard, Doe not his sinnes turne to his good, that riseth from his sinnes more humble, more fearefull, more carefull and warie then he was before? Doubtlesse his very fall is happy that is taken vp by hu­militie. This is the vnsearchable wise­dome and inestimable goodnesse of God to cure sinne by sinne, and to [Page 85]turne poyson it selfe into a medicine.

CHAP. 9 Consolations against certaine circumstan­ces of sinne, namely long continuance there­in, before our conversion; and relapse into it after our conversion.

1 Thus we haue heard what reme­dies Christian religion affor­deth against sin, in respect of the sub­stance thereof. But now there are cer­taine circumstances of sin which doe not a little aggravate the same, and wherwith the conscience many times is much terrified. Which are princi­pally two, late repentance for sin, and relapse into sin after repentance.

2 Touching the former, to weete late repētance, there is no cause, why we should be dismaide therewith. For first we are to consider, that although we liue an hundred yeares, yea many hundred yeares, if it could bee, which without extraordinary priviledge ne­ver to be hoped for, cannot possibly be: yet the distance of time betweene the day of our birth & the day of our death is nothing vnto God. Psal. 90. v. 4. 2. Pet. 3. v. 8. For as the Prophet saies, & the Apostle frō him repeates it, a thousand yeares with [Page 86]the Lord are but as one day. Howsoever then to vs things are said to bee done early or late: yet in respect of God nothing is sooner or later, no time is long or shorte, nay no time is either past or to come, but al time is present vnto him. Let our care be that our repentance be vnfaigned, & it shall ne­ver be too late. Againe for our farther comfort herein, let vs obserue, Mat. 20. v. 1.3. &c. that most divine parable of our Saviour Christ touching the laborours hyred by an owner of a vineyarde to worke therein, some of them early in the morning, some at the third howre of the day, some at the ninth, some at the eleventh, & yet whē they came to re­ceiue their wages, they that were ta­ken vp last had as much as they that were intertained first. which insinuats that so wee be brought to serue God truly & faithfully, our late cōming to his service, shal no way preiudice our cōfort, but that we shall be as well ac­cepted, as they that begā long hefore vs. Epieur a­pud Laert, The very heathē could say, that no mā was too old to learne those things which concerned the health of the minde: much more should we resolue that no mā is too olde to learne and practise those [Page 87]things which pertaine to his eternall happines, & welfare. Ioh. 11. vers. 32. Christ raised La­zirus our of his graue; evē after he had laine so long there that hee stunke: & therefore can raise vs out of the graue of sin, although we haue laine so long therein, that we seeme past recoverie, as the sisters of Lazarus imagined of their brother. Let vs therefore assure our selues ^o that while wee bee yet in this world, Cyp. cont. Demetrianū our repentance can never be too late, but that there is a passage from our mortal stroake to immorta­lity, Hier. ep. 7. And that we should not despaire in this regard, God hath left vs a no­table example Luc. 23. v. 40.41▪ 4 [...].43 in holy Scripture, where we read that the penitēt theefe foūd present passage from the gibbet to heaven. Nay where God vouchsa­feth the grace to repent truely, there may be a benefit in repenting lately, yea a double benefit, namely ferven­cie and constancie in the worship and service of God Fervency, because ha­ving lost so much time we should la­bour to fetch it vp and recover it by diligence and industrie, & thinke wee can never serue God enough, because it was so long before we begā to serue him, whom wee should▪ haue served e­ver [Page 88] Seneca Nat quaest. l. 3. in praef. And herein we are to imitate travailers, which by reason of some impediments and lets haue staide be­hinde their fellows: the later they set out, the faster they travaile, and by haste & speed make amendes for their slownesse and slacknes. So late con­version shoulde not discourage vs frō serving of God: but encourage vs to serue him more fervently. The secōd advantage that may bee made of late repentance is constancie. And indeed this benefit doth ordinarily follow it. Many seeme to repent for sinne be fore they know what sin is, or at least effectually apprehende the daunger thereof, and therefore commonly are soone drawne into sinne againe, & so drawne againe into it, as they wil ne­ver after be dravvne out of it, there­fore never attaining to sound repen­tance, because their repentaunce was too young, not repenting when they should, because they repented before they truely could. But cōtrarily they most loath sin, that see their folly and madnes in serving it so long, Luc. 7.47. and the more & greater the woundes of a sin­full soule are, the more & greater will her loue bee to Christ her heavenly [Page 89]Physitian. In a word Sen. ibid. as the very heathen hath well observed, The surest pas­sage from vice to vertue is by the bridge of repentance; and we then most constant­ly cleaue to that which is good, when we haue beene oftenest, and deep liest stung by evill. Thus vvhen God giveth spirituall wisdome to the sin­ner, his late repentaunce shall rather be advātageous, than dānable to him.

3 The second circumstance which maketh sin to terrible in our apprehē sion, & indeed so dangerous in it selfe is relapse into the same sinnes after repentance. How great an evill this is Chapt. 2. Sect. 9. hath already in part been declared. But we may further consider, that this is a step & degree to the feareful state of those, of whom 2. Pet. [...]. [...]2. S. Peter speaketh, the same is happened vnto them which is v­sed to bee spoken in the true proverbe, The dogge is turned to his own vomit againe, & the sow that was washed, to her wallowing in the mire. We should with feare and trembling thinke vpon that, Mat 13, 43. &c. which our Saviour Christ delivereth in the Gospell, that when the vncleane spirit is gone out of a man, if he returne & enter into him againe, he bringeth seaven other spirits with him worse thā himselfe, & taketh strō ­ger [Page 90]possessiō in him thā he had before, so that the last state of that mā is worse thā the first.

4 But yet if through frailty we be overtaken even thus far also as to re­lapse into the same offenses: yet must we not despaire by & by, but there are some comforts, & remedies left vs a­gainst this so dangerous a temptatiō.

5 And first let vs consider, that the worthiest servāts of God were not all togither free frō this relapse into the selfe same sinnes. Gen. 1 [...].8. &c. & 20.2. & [...]. Abraham twice de­nied & disclaimed his own wife, there by greatly engaging & endangering her chastity, & after a sorte becōming a bawde vnto her; vvhich proceeded from infidelity, for that he could not rest vpon Gods protection, but would provide for his safety by devises and shifts of his owne. And Mat. 26.6 [...]. &c. Peter denied his Master Christ not once, nor twice but thrice, & that every time in worse so t than other, first by simple deniall, secondly by oath, thirdly by impre­cation and cursing. Rom. 7.15. & 1 [...]. The Apostle Paul whē he saies of himself, that which I doe, I allow not: for what I woulde that do I not, but what I hate, that do I, speakes not of some one evill act, but of the whole course of his life, which argues [Page 91]not only his doing, but his often do­ing of what he would not, and offen­ding sundry times in the same things. But more manifest is that which hee testifieth of himselfe 2 Cor▪ 12.7. &c. in an other place, that hee was vexed with a pricke or sting in the flesh, even the messenger of S [...]ā that buffeted him, as he speaketh, & that he had prayed thrice to haue it taken away, but could not prevaile in that his suit, but yet received sufficiēt cōfort against al dāger thereof. Here it is apparāt that the Apostle oftētimes offēded in the samething, although he do not speci­fie what it was, & it were fond curiositie in vs to be inquisitiue that way.

6 Furthermore most comfortable in this case is the doctrine of our Sa­viour Christ, M [...]t. 18. v. 21.22. where beeing a [...]ked of Peter, how often hee was to forgiue his brother that offended against him, whether vntill seaven times or no, answeareth him, that hee vvas to doe it not seaven times, but seaventie times seaven times. So Luk. 17.4. in an other place in­structing his disciples in general tou­ching the same point hee saith. If thy brother sinne against thee seaven times in a day; & seaven times a day come againe vn­to thee, & say, it repenteth mee: thou shalt [Page 92]forgiue him. Doubtlesse hee that enioy­neth vs to bee mercifull one to ano­ther, although wee often commit the same offenses one against an other, vpon acknowledgement of the faults and sorrow for the same: will be mer­cifull vnto vs vpon our repentance & submission, although we often offend him in the same manner. He will not practise lesse mercy towards vs, than he requireth that wee should practise one towards another. Our mercie is but a sparckle of his infused into vs by his spirit: and shall a sparke doe more than the whole fire? shall there bee more in the streame then in the fountaine, more in the river than in the maine sea?

7 And here we are farther to note that the true nature of our iustificati­on consists not only in a general par­dō of sins past, but in a particular ap­plication of the pardon of sin graun­ted vs in Christ to our particular of­fences cōmitted in the whole course of our life, and that there is place not only for our first repentance, but for dayly repentaunce according to our dayly sins. And surely [...]sat. 6▪ 1 [...]. Christ would not haue commaunded vs to pray for [Page 93]dayly forgiuenes of sins, if he woulde not dayly forgiue them, not often in­vite vs to repentance, if he would not pardon vs vpon our repentance, and as Ter [...]ul de paenit. ca. 5. Tertullian pithily saies God woulde not threaten him that doth not repent: if hee woulde not pardon him that doeth repent. This is the state of a Christians life August. de Temp [...]erm. 47 & G [...]eg. in Cant. c. 4. that notwithstanding their sinnes, they continue righteous through the dayly forgiuenes of sinne, and recaine their righteousnes by beway ling their vnrighteousnes, so it be vnder faith in Christ. Aug quest. Evang▪ [...]ib. 2. quae [...]t. 33, S. Augustine is bold to saie, that Christ is then slaine to every man, when he beleeveth that be was slain. Thus saith for often woundes hath often salues, or rather one and the selfesame salue, which beeing often applied is suffici­ent to cure our often wounds. Where­fore let vs not be ashamed to bee be­holden to this remedie. Bernard. ep. 112. Let vs be a­shamed that we ran away, but not a­shamed to returne into the fielde a­gaine, and figh [...] againe after flying a­way. Tertul. d [...] poenit. ca▪ 7. Let it grieue vs to offende a­gaine; but not to repent againe: let it grieue vs to come in daunger againe but not to be delivered againe. When we are in danger let it g [...]eu [...] vs to fal [Page 94]sicke againe; but not to bee cured a­gaine. Indeed we should desire and st [...]iue not to sin: but Cypri. ep. 33. as the first de­gree of happinesse is not to sin; so the second is to confesie our sins, & to be sorry for them. And true sorrowe for sin in a manner maketh sin to bee no sin, as not only the Gentill saith Sen. Aga­memn. act 2 in the Poet. Quem poenitet pecas­te pene est innocens. He that is sorry that hee hath done evill is almost innocent: but also Tertull ad Senator. A­po [...]tolat. Non erit in culpa quem poeniter an­te fuisse. an ancient Christian authour sticks not to say; * He shall not be in fault, that is so­rie he hath beene in fault. Wherefore to conclude this point, let this bee our resolution Tertul. de poenit c. 7. that howe often so ever we haue offended, yet there is place for reconciliation, and that God not only may be pacified by ou [...] submissiō and humiliation, but that hee is verie willing and desirous it should bee so, and that therefore Epiphan. haeres. 59. five lib. 2. Tom, 1. While as yet we are in this wo [...]ld combatting with sin, there is a rising after our falling, there is yet hope, as yet a salue, as yet time, for confession, & par­don.

CHAP. 10. Of the greatnesse of Gods mercie, where­with the greatnesse of sinne hath no propor­tion.

1 IF yet we desire to be farther cō ­forted and armed either against the substance of sinne, or those fore­said circūstances thereof, that so aug­ment the terrour of it, we must lastlie consider the infinit greatnes of Gods mercy and goodnes, that needes must be of greater force to saue vs thā our sins can be to condemne vs. Here we are entring into a sea that hath nei­ther bo [...]tome, nor shoare. For as all other of Gods attributs are infinit, so is his mercy also; which that we may the better know, it is to be noted, that there are no qualities in God, but that all that is in him is his verie es­sence. God then is not accidentallie iust wise, mercifull, and the like: but essentially, that is, to speake properly hee is not iust, but iustice it selfe; not wise, but wiledome it selfe; not merci­full, but mercy it selfe. This shewes how great his mercy is, or rather it shewes it not, for what can shewe vs that which is incomprehensible? But yet this in parte insinuates the great­nes of Gods mercie, namely that it is as great as himselfe, and that no mar [...] vaile, sith it is himselfe. But first let vs [Page 96]heare what himselfe testifieth of him­selfe that way that only is able per­fectly to know himselfe.

2 The Lord, Psal. 113. ver 8. & seq. saith David, is mercifull and gratious, of long suffering, and pienteous with goodnes, hee chideth not for ever, nor keepeth his anger alwaies, hee dealeth not with vs according to our sinnes, nor rewar­deth vs according to our iniquities, but as high as the heavens are aboue the earth, so much doth his mercie gue beyond them that feare him, as far as the East is from the w [...]st, so far doth he remoue our sinnes from vs, as a father hath pitty on his children, so hath the Lord pitty on them that feare him; for he knoweth whereof we are made, hee remem­breth that we are but dust. Here we haue not only a profession of the greatnes of Gods mercy in expresse words, but also a liuely resemblance thereof by most proper comparisons, yea most forcible arguments also and reasons for proofe thereof, as God vvilling, shall hereafter be observed. Esai 49. vers. 15. Againe saith the Lord, Can the mother forget her young childe, and not haue pitty of the son of her wombe? but be it that a mother may for­get, yet will not I forget thee saith the Lord. And Esay 55. v 7. [...]9. in the same Prophet, to weete Esay, Let the wicked forsake his evill waies, [Page 97]& the vngodly his imaginations, & retur [...]e vnto the Lorde, and hee will haue mercie on him, and to our God, for he is full of compas­siō. For my thoughts are not as your thoughts nor my waies as your waies, but as high at the heavens are aboue the earth, so high are my waies aboue your waies, and my thoughts aboue your thoughts. And so ser. 3. [...]. in Ieremie, If a man bee divorced from his wife, & shee departing from him shall bee marryed to an other, shall he take her againe, should not the land be defiled thereby? But thou hast plaide the whore with many lovers, & y [...]t returne to me, [...]aith the Lord. And in Ezech 18. ver. 23 31. Ezechiell hee even mourneth for the follie and obstinacie of his people, that woulde not returne vnto him and liue. Am I delighted with the death of a sinner, saith the Lorde, and not rather with this that hee should returne from his waies and liue? Why will yee die ô house of Israell? Out of these Scriptures & the like we may gather many consolations wherby to be per­swaded of the forgiuenesse of our sins. And first let vs cōsider that Gods loue infinitely exceedeth any loue that is to be found in the creatures, being as farre aboue it as the heavens are a­boue the earth, or the vtmost endes of the worlde are distant one from an o­ther. [Page 98]And yet wee see that the loue which is in the creatures is of greate force, and produceth very strange ef­fects; and speciallie that loue where­with God here compareth his, name­ly that of parents towards their chil­dren, who loue thē, yea tenderly loue them, even when they are vnworthy of their loue, and gladly embrace any submission from them. Teren. An­dr [...]a. Act. 5. scen. 3. Propeccato magno pau­lum [...]uppli­cii satis est patri. Even nature hath taught men to plead this, * That a father is satis fied with a little punishment for a great offence. Nay we see that fa­thers cānot but loue their stubborne children, that refuse to submit them­selues. yea that stand at open defiance with them, whereof the Scripture af­fordeth vs a notable example. 2. Sam. 15 ver. 1.2, &c. Absa­lon most vnnaturally rebelled against his father king David▪ after that hee had pardoned him for a cruell and o­dious murther; and sought to depriue him both of crowne and life. For [...]in kings these both goe togither, vvho leaue to bee men when they leaue to be kings, & can no longer hold their liues than they hold their soveraignety. Hee I say, vnnaturally rebel­led against so kinde a father, and was vp in armes against him. And yet [Page 99]see howe his father was affected to­wards him Having raised an armie to suppresse him, Chap. 18.5. & 12. hee chargeth his two principall captaines that they should deale gently with Absalon for his sake. Vers. 31.32 33. And when afterwarde he had newes that he was slaine, he made most piti­full lamētatiō for him, crying out; My son Absalon, my son, my son Absalon, woulde God I had dyed for thee, would God I were in thy steed, ô Absalon my sonne, my sonne. Thus nature forced him to loue even a rebellious sonne. But most memorable is that which happened in our age at Castillion vpon Loing in France. Bodin de repub. lib. 1. cap. 4. A father offering to giue his son a blow for some misdemeanor, the sonne ran him through with his sword. Here the miserable father perceiving him­selfe woūded to death, never left cry­ing after his son as long as he coulde crie, that hee should flie and shift for himselfe, least iustice shoulde take hold on him. O admirable force of fatherly loue, that the father shoulde tender the sonnes life that deprived the father of life. But God doth not only cōpare his loue to a fathers loue but also to a mothers loue, vvhich commonly is the more tender of the [Page 100]two, that sex being passion arely indulgent And of what force a mothers loue is even towards wicked and vn­gratious children the same author in the same place specifieth by the example of a womā of the same natiō, who having a sonne that vsed her most outragiously, reviled her, beare her, threw her at his feete, and amongst many other indignities committed one against her which I thinke vn­meet to be mentioned in particular; yet would never complaine to autho­rity of him: and when the magistrates of their owne accord tooke notice thereof▪ and holding the example in­to lerable, convented him before thē, & gaue sentence of death against him; the mother came crying and howling in most pitifull sort, denying all the wrongs and outrage, he had done vnto her. And no marvell that the pa­rents loue of their children is so ten­der, and vehement, sith wee see howe strong and strange the affection of very beastes is towardes their young ones. The loue of their young ones, Sen ep. 75 saith Seneca, forceth wild beasts to runne vppon the hunters iavelin or speare; Nat. Co­mes de ve­nat. lib. 2. and they vsually either recover them or die in [Page 101]attempting to recover them. Nowe these strong instincts of loue in the creatures are derived from God, and infused into them by him. I speake of the substance and soundnesse thereof. For as for the irregularitie of it spe­cially in men, it proceedes not from creation, but from corruption & de­pravation. But I say, this loue, yea this fervency of loue in the creatures comes from divine instinct. Now if God himselfe infuse so much loue in­to his creatures, how great is the loue that is in himselfe? Doubtlesse here that principle in Philosophie must needs be verified, that that which makes another thing to be so or so, must needes bee more so it selfe. And therefore sith God makes the creatures to loue so strongly, doubtlesse hee himselfe doth loue more strongly, as wee herd before out of Esay that the tēdrest humane loue was inferiour to his, even the loue of a mother towards her child, and that although a mother might forget her childe, yet hee would not forget his people. And no marvell that his loue is so greate, he being loue it selfe. For so wee finde in Scripture, not onely that God is loving, 1. Ioh. 4. [...] 16. but also that [Page 102] God is loue. God saith not that hee is power, or iustice, although hee might truely say so, but when hee would de­fine himselfe and tell what he is, hee makes choice of this attribute of loue and saith he is loue, which notably argueth how greate and strong his loue is.

3 Furthermore we see by the for­mer testimonies of Scripture, that his loue is transcendent, and aboue rule. He hath limited mans loue, & mercie, and there are many cases wherein men may not shewe mercy. The husband as we heard out of Iere­mie, might not take his wife againe, that had plaid the whore, and depar­ting from him had coupled her selfe to another man. 1 Sam. 2. v. 37. &c. Elie the high Priest was severely punished for being too mercifull to his prophane sonnes. Saul & Ahab both lost their kingdoms for shewing mercy to their prisoners contrary to Gods minde, 1. Sam. 15. the for­mer to Agag. 1 King [...]0 the later to Benhadad: yea Deut 13. [...]. 6 7 8. God made a generall law in ex­presse tearmes, that parents should not pitty nor spare their owne naturall children if they became Idolaters, and worshipped strange Gods, nor brother the brother, nor [Page 103]husband the wife, no not his tenderly belo­ved wife; that their eie shoulde not spare them, but their hands should bee vpon them first, to stone them to death. In these, and many other cases mē might not shew mercy: and if they notwithstanding would be merciful to others, they be­came cruell to themselues, pulling down Gods vengance vpō their own heads. Thus mans mercy is bounded, but Gods is boundles, and transcen­dent, so that he can and doth shewe mercy even in the cases that mē may not. As appeares by that before al­leaged out of Ieremie, that although the husband might not take againe his wife that had gone a who ring frō him: yet God was ready to receaue his people although they had com­mitted spirituall whoredome, & that with many lovers, that is, had defiled themselues with many sorts of Idola­try. And by this priviledge of vnli­mited mercie God comforteth his Church and people Esay 55. v. v. 7, 8, 9. in Esaie, as we haue heard, chiding them for their in­fidelitie, that reasoned thus, We haue so grievously sinned against the Lord, that there is no returning vnto him, or hope of pardon. What? Saith God, Will you measure my [Page 104]mercy by your mercy? Why, there is as great oddes betweene my waies, and your waies; my thoughts and your thoughts, that it, be­tween my mercy and your conceipts of my mercy: as there is distance between heaven and earth. O comforte more worth thē a thousand worlds if there were so many. The Lorde doth not say, that his waies and thoughts of knowledge and wisdome, but his waies and thoughts of mercy, are as far aboue ours, as the heavens are a­boue the earth. And why then should we doubt whether a mercy of such ex­tent either could not, or would not relieue our miserie?

4 Besides this, let vs waigh how the Lord inviteth vs to returne vnto him, speaking thus in effect to the sin full soule; I knowe thou hast shame­fully straied from mee; I knowe thou hast given mee too too many occasi­ons vtterly to cast thee off, and to ac­cept of no submission: but yet returne to mee and thou shalt bee welcome. Thou hast monstrously defiled & de­formed thy selfe: yet wash and purifie thy selfe, nay suffer mee to wash & pu­rifie thee, Esa. 1.18. and if thy sinnes were as purple, they shall be made as white as [Page 105]snowe; and if they were as redde as scarlet, they shall be as wooll. Nether doth God desire only that wee should returne to him, but pittieth our ob­stinacy when wee will not returne, as he saith in Ezekiel, O house of Israel, why will yee die? Luk. 19. vers. 41.42. And so Christ in the Gospell bemoaneth the incorrigible perversnesse and frowardnesse of the Iewes that would not imbrace mercy when it was offered vnto them, even weeping for the same, Matth 23. vers▪ 13. and breaking out into an affectionate complaint, saying, O Ierusalem, Ierusalem, how often would I haue gathered thy children, even as a hen gathereth her chickē vnder her wings. but yee would not? Now hee that invi­teth vs to returne vnto him, yea that lamenteth our folly and frowardnes, that we will not returne; will he not receiue vs when we doe returne? Yes doubtlesse. For sure, Tertul. de poenit. c. 8. as an ancient Divine pithilie & comfortably saith, God would not threaten him that repenteth not, except hee would pardon him that doth repent.

5 Moreover let vs out of the same places of Scripture obserue that God doth not only promise to bee merci­full, but also sheweth reasons, why he [Page 106]wil be mercifull, nay in a sort he must be mercifull. Besides that which hath beene spoken hereof incidentally & as it were by the way, namely that his mercy is not a quality in him but his very essence, and that there is no pro­portion betweene mans tendrest mercy and his; it is more specially to be considered, that he duly waigheth our case and fraile state, namely that wee cannot but offend, & that if he should deale extreamely with vs, wee must needes be destroyed, but he gracious­ly beareth with our frailtie, knowing of what brittle mettle wee are made, and promiseth Esay. 57. v. 15▪ 16. that although hee bee most high, and inhabit eternitie, yet hee will vouchsafe to dwell with the humble and cō ­trite, that he will not alwaies striue, nor bee angry for ever, because if he should, every spirit should be overwhelmed and the soules which he had made. Thus he counteth vs no match for him, and thinks it no conquest to destroy vs, nay rather re­kons this to be his honour and glorie to pardon and forgiue, and to saue where he hath iust cause to condemn. In a word, as a man disdaines to shew his strength vpon a child: so God disdaines to shewe his strength vpon [Page 107]man. Which speeches and the like plainely testifie howe easily God will accept of our submission, and what wrong we doe not only to our selues but also to him, when we imagine he is so severe and righteous that he can not or will not pardon our sinnes, when we confesse them and are har­tely sory for them, whereas hee even delighteth to doe it, and takes plea­sure in it, Psal. 51. v. 18. according to that in the Psalmist, that a bruised spirit and a con­trite heart are a sacrifice to God. Thus God drawes arguments both from our imperfection, and his owne per­fection, to perswade vs of his readi­nesse to pardon, and to let vs see how easily it may be done.

6 To conclude looking backe to the foundation of his mercy, namely the incomprehensible misterie of the incarnation and passion of his sonne Iesus Christ Chap. 8. throughout before declared, wee must needes see that his loue towards mankinde is infinit, and because infi­nite, therefore greater then our grea­test sinnes. Cyprian. sermon de patientia. Christs bloud washed even them that shed it, vpon their re­pentance; and whom then can it not wash? God would haue his owne and [Page 108]only sonne to dy, that mā might liue, & was content that his bloud should be our ransome. Doubtlesle thē, saith Augustin. Ie [...]m. 10 [...]. Augustine, hee that bought vs with so great a price, will not haue vs cast away. Let vs then haue refuge to this infinit mercy of God▪ and our sinnes will va­nish away as a bubble. Our sinnes, saith Basil in. regul. con­tract quaest. [...]3. Basil, may both be measured & numbred; but it is impossible that Gods goodnes should be measured, or his mercies numbred. Let vs then resolue, Anselm. in Meditat. that, although our offenses haue deserved damnation, & our repentance bee not sufficient for satisfaction: yet Gods mercy is grea­ter then all transgression, yea that as far as God is superiour to man, so farre is our wickednesse inferiour to his goodnesse. Wee may then with Bernard. feria 4. hebdom. poeno­sae. Bernard reason thus; What, shall mis [...]rie overcome mercy; & shall not mercy rather conquer miserie? Yes sure Chrysost. proaem in E [...]ai. our sicknesse hath measure; but the medi­cine is without measure: and shal not vn­limited goodnesse prevaile against li­mited wickednesse? or shal not a salue of infinit vertue, cure a soare of finite malignity? Gods mercy is a huge, yea a boundlesse, and bottomlesse sea, and our sinnes compared therevnto are but as a little sparkle: now, saith Chry­sostome, [Page 109]suppose that a little sparkle should fall into the maine sea, could it abide there, would it not instantly be extinguished, and never appeare more? Doubtlesse so great a water must needes out of hand quench so small a fire, yea a sparkle onely of fire. Away then with despaire, and let vs assure our selues, Gregor. Moral. lib. 3 [...] cap. 11. as Gregorie well saith, that despaire for sinne is worse then sinne it se [...]fe.

CHAP. 11. The Christians peculiar comfories against death and the terrours thereof.

1 DEath beeing the greatest tem­porall punishment for sinne, it may seeme to some that I should haue spoken thereof Chap. 7. sect. 2. & se [...] before, when I han­led the remedies against all tempora­rie evils which wee suffer in this life. Notwithstāding I haue purposely, reserved the handling thereof vnto this place; because it may bee obiected a­gainst our deliverance from sinne by Christ declared in the Chapter next before going, that for al that the faith full die as well as other men, and can­not [Page 110]not possibly escape death, but must be and are subiect to the vniversall lawe of inevitable mortalitie. Besides, the chiefe and soveraigne remedy against this evill namely death is our delive­rance from sin, & therefore I thought good to speake of that before, that so I might be the briefer here, referring the Reader to the former chapter, for particularity, and cōtenting my selfe heere with a generall repetition and application thereof.

2 First then as for death, we are to consider, that it is chiefly sinne that makes it so terrible vnto vs, & there­fore 1 Corinth. 15. vers. 56. the Apostle saith, that sin is the sling of death. Now, as wee haue seene at large 8.9.10. in some former chapters, we are so delivered from sin in Christ that it cannot hurt vs, nay is conver­ted to our benefit and profit, & there­fore Death having her strength from sinne is not to be feared, sith sinne which is her sting, is overcome. What need we feare the snake that hath lost her sting? Surely the snake that hath lost her sting can only hisse, and keep a noise, but cannot hurt: & therefore we see that many having takē out the sting will carry the snake in their ve­ry [Page 111]bosomes without any feare. Even so although we carry death in our bo­dies, yea in our bosomes and bow­els: yet sinne which was her sting be­ing pulled out, she can only hisse and stirre, shee may, and ordinarily doeth looke black and grimme, but yet can­not any way annoy vs.

3 Which will bee the more mani­fest, if we weigh that Christ our head hath conquered and quelled this Gy­ant; so that none that bee his, neede stand in feare thereof Death 1. Corinth 15. v. 55 saith S. Paul, is swallowed vp in victorie; &, Revelat. 1. v. 18. Christ was dead, but now he liveth, and that fore­ver, and hath the keyes of hell and death, as he himselfe testifieth of himselfe. Now he that hath the keyes of a place hath the cōmand of it; it is as much then as if it had been said he had the cōmand of death, & power to dispose of death at his pleasure. And will Christ that hath such an enemie at his mercy let him annoy his deare friends, nay his owne members, and so in effect him­selfe? No, no, he conquered death for vs not for himselfe, sith death had no quarrell to him; by his vniust death then hee hath vanquished our iust death, as we heard Chap. 8. Sect. 5. before out of Au­gustin. [Page 112] Bernard. ad mi [...]i [...]es Templi ser­mon. 4. The death of Christ is the death of our death, sith he dyed that we might liue, and how can it bee, but that they should liue for whom life it selfe dyed? Surely death by vsurping vpon the innocent fors [...] ­ted her right to the guilty, & Hieron ad Heliodor. While shee devoured wrongfully, was her selfe de­voured.

4 Yea, in that Christ hath vanqui­shed death, we also may be truely said to haue vanquished it, hee beeing our head, and wee his members, for where the head is a conquerour, the mem­bers cannot be captiues. Tertul de resurre [...]t. carms. [...]. [...]1. Let vs then reioice, we haue already seyzed vpō heaven in Christ, who hath carried our flesh thither in his owne person, as an earnest pennie and pledge of the whole summe that in time shall be brought thither. We may then boldly say, Augustin. in Psal, 148. there is somewhat of ours aboue already; yea, the best part of vs namely our head, and are the members farre from the head? Idem in Psa [...]. 88. Yea, we may assure our selues, that, being members of such a head. yea body to it, we are in [...]ff [...]ct where ou [...] head is For saith Augustin, this body cannot bee behea­ded: but if the head triumph forever, the members must needes triumph for ever also. And that wee haue this benefite by Christs ascension into heaven before [Page 113]hand for vs, Bern. serm. de eo quod legitur a pud Iob. in sex tribulatio. nibus &c. Bernard excellētly shew­eth, Bee it, saith he, that only Christ is en­tred into heaven: yet I trowe, whole Christ must enter, and if whole Christ, then the body as well as the head, yea every member of the body. For this head is not to bee found in the kingdome without his members. Hence it is that the Scripture speakes of the faithfull as already raised from the dead, & placed in heaven with Christ, yea as of them that shall not, nor cā ­not die, as Ioh. 11. vers. 26. Hee that liveth and beleeveth in me, shall never die. And Ioh 5. v. 24. againe, Veri­ly, verily, I say vnto you, whosoever heareth my word, and beleeveth in him that sent me hath eternall life, and shall not come into iudgement, but hath passed from death to life. And, Hee saith Ephes. 2. v. 6. S. Paul, hath raised vs vp togither, & hath placed vs togither in heaven with Christ. He saith not, he will raise vs vp, hee will place vs in hea­ven with Christ: but he hath so raised and placed vs, which is spoken both for the certaintie thereof, & also for the streight vnion betweene the head and the body, by means whereof that which is already actually accomplish­ed in the head, is said to bee so also in the body. In a word, the head being a­boue water, the body can never bee [Page 114]drowned, although it bee never so much beaten and tossed with waues. And thus much for our first and prin­cipall defense against death, the sum whereof is this, that it is not onelie a weakenesse, but also a shame for the members to fear an enemy which the head hath already conquered & sub­dued.

5 There are also diverse other Christian comfortes against death, which I wil briefly touch. And first, as we heard Chap. 7. Sect. 2. & leq before, that all other evils of paine are to a Christian chaunged into another nature, and of punish­ments become favours and benefits: so is it also in this of death. For now it is not a tokē of Gods anger for sin, but an argument of his loue and mer­cy; it is not properly death, but a bridge by which wee passe to a better life, from corruption to incorruptiō, from mortality to immortality, from earth to heaven, that is in a word, frō vanity and miserie, to ioy and felicity. And who would not willingly passe over this bridge whereby hee passeth from all cares and sorrowes, and pas­seth to all delights and pleasures; lea­veth all miseries behinde him, & hath [Page 115]all contentation and happinesse be­fore him?

6 The Gentils taking it for graū ­ted that after death either wee should be happy, or not be at all, and so con­cluding that at least death would free vs from all evill and misery, therevp­on made litle reckoning of death, nay manie times voluntarilie procured their own death, and imbraced it as a rich treasure, as wee haue Chap. 4. Sect 3. & Chap. 5. Sect 3. already heard. But how fowly they were mis­taken herein, hath withall beene suf­ficiently declared. It is the Christian only that enioyeth this benefite by death, namely the exemption from all cares and troubles, and an ende of all sorrowes. Wherefore the death of the godly is called Esai. 57. vers. 2. Dan. 12. v. 2. 1. Thes. 4. vers. 13.14. Revel. 14. v. 13. in Scripture by the names of bedde, of rest, sleepe▪ peace, and such like. being all names of be­nefite and commodity. How sweet is peace to them that haue beene vexed with warres and broiles; how plesant is the bedde, rest, & sleepe to the wea­ry and those that are overwatched? The labourer is glad when his daies work is done; the traveller reioiceth when he is come to his waies ende; the marriner and passenger thinke [Page 116]themselues happy whē they arriue in the harbour; and all men shun paine and desire ease abhorre daunger and loue securitie. It were madnes thē for a Christian to feare so advantageous a death; and to wish for continuance of so wretched a life. I conclude this pointe with that elegant laying Tertul. de testim. ani­mae. cap. 4. of Tertullian; That is not to bee feared which sets vs free frō all that is to be feared. And indeed what weaknesse & folly is it to fear a superfedeas against all the things which heare we do feare?

7 But the true Christian hath yet a farre greater benefit by death. For it doth not only put an end to the evils of paine, but also to the evils of fault; not only to the punishments for sin, but to sinne it selfe, Now we haue of­ten heard before, that the evils of fault are farre worse then the evils of paine; yea, that the least sinne is more to be abhord and shund, thē the grea­test punishment for sinne. H [...]w wel­come then should death bee vnto vs, that endeth not only our sorrowes, but also our sinnes? As long as wee liue here, and beare about vs these earthly tabernacles, wee daily multi­ply our rebellings against God, and [Page 117]sustaine a fierce conflict, and continu­al combat in our very bosomes, while Galat. 5.17. the flesh lusteth against the spirit, and the spirit against the flesh, and Rom. 7.2 [...]. the lawe in our members rebelleth against the lawe of our minde, as S. Paule speaketh, and leadeth vs captiues to the law of sin which is in our members. O bondage of all bondages, to be in bondage vnto sin. Sen ep 37. & 39. The Gen­till that apprehended vice only as a morall evill, could say, that men beeing in bondage to their lusts were more cruellie handled by them, than any slaues were by the most cruell maisters. Howe much more should wee that feele sin as al spiritual evill, and groane vnder the burden thereof, account the bondage there of intollerable, and worse than subiecti­on to the most barbarous Tyrant in the world? And how welcome should he be that would set vs free from the same? Now it is death and only death that can doe this for vs, and indeede doth it for vs. What great cause them haue wee with all willingnesse to im­brace it? Diogenes Laertius vit, Phil. l [...], 7. Zeno the founder of the Stoicall sect helde it lawfull for them that had loathsome diseases, vvhich were incurable to kill themselues, that so they might be rid of them and [Page 118] Con. Ne­pos in vita Titi Pomp. Attici. See also the like of Tul­lius Marcel­linus in Se­neca ep. 78. Pomponius Atticus, & others put it in practise. If they counted it a benefite to be delivered from a loathsome dis­ease of the body by an vnlawfull and wicked death: we haue reason to think it a benefite, yea a singular benefite to be ridde of a loathsome and incurable disease of the soule, namely sinne, by a lawful death, which it pleaseth God to send vnto vs.

8 But death doth more for vs than all this. For it doth not only free vs from all evils, and from that evil of e­vils, sinne; but puts vs into actual pos­session of all good things, yea of such good thinges as our eies haue not seene, our eares haue not heard, nei­ther are our harts able to conceiue; & brings vs to that place, where if there were place for any passion, we should be angry with death for not bringing vs thither sooner. But I reserue a more particular declaration of that point, vnto the thirteenth and last chapter.

CHAP. 12. Consolations against the terrours of the generall iudgement.

1 THERE is yet an other thing which considered in it selfe is a greater branch and part of mans mi­sery in regard of passiue evils, than all the rest; namely, the last and gene­rall iudgement, where all flesh shalbe arraigned before Gods Tribunall bar to giue an account of all they haue done, & to receiue their recompense accordingly. The terror wherof I had rather expresse in Anselm. in libro medi­ta tionum. Anselmes wordes, than in mine own O hard distresse, saith he, on one side wil be our sinnes accusing vs, on the other side iustice terrifying vs; vnder vs the gulfe of hell gaping, aboue vs the iudg frowning; within vs a conscience stinging, without vs the world burning. Which way then shall the sianer thus surprised turne himselfe? To hide our selues will be impossi­ble; to appeare will be intolerable. Where­withal then shal miserable man arme himselfe against this so great terrour, & danger? Surely our Christian pro­fession affordeth munitiō against this assault also.

2 And first that which hath beene spoken against the feare of death in the former chapter, serveth also here against the feare of the last iudgmēt. [Page 120]For that which made the first death so terrible and dangerous, the same ma­keth the second death also so to bee, namely sinne: and as deliverance frō sinne doth, as we there heard, free vs from al annoyance by the first death; so doth it also from all annoyance by the second death, that is, eternal con­dēnation at the last iudgement. They that in Christ are cōquerers over the first death; shall not, nor cannot bee conquered by the second death: and Rev. 2c. 6. on those that haue their part in the first resurrection; the second death shall haue no power, saith the spirit. That is, con­demnation cānot take hold on those whom God hath gratiously called to the knowledge and love of his saving truth reveiled by the Gospell.

3 But to come to more peculiar comforts against this matter of ter­rour and amazement, let vs farther consider that Christ had mercy on vs whē we were meere strangers to him, nay even, when we were his enemies, as Rom. 5. v. 8.9.10. S. Paul well vrgeth, God herein, saith he, commended his loue towards vs, that when we were sinners Christ dyed for vs: being thē now iustified by his bloud; much more shall we be saved by him from that wrath. [Page 121]Note that he saith, from that wrath, that is, frō the wrath of the last iudgemēt. For if, saith he, when we were enemies, we were reconciled vnto God, by the death of his sonne: much more being reconciled, wee shall be saved by his life. Wee may easilie perceiue the force of the Apostles comfortable reasoning: to wit, that sith Christ died for vs when wee were sinners, that is, nothing but sin; sure­ly hee will saue vs being now righte­ous in him: if wee were pardoned through his death, when we were eni­mies; wee shall much more bee saved by his life, now that we are friendes. For how incredible is it, nay rather, how impossible, that he which pardo­neth an enemy, should condemne a friend? He loved vs, when wee bare the image of the devill: and will hee not much more loue vs now since he hath in parte repaired his fathers i­mage in vs, and confirmed vs to him­selfe. We were deare to him, when there was no iot of goodnesse in vs: & can hee reiect vs nowe that wee haue some good things in vs, although but weake, specially hee himselfe being the author and former of them by the grace of his holy spirit? And so Ber­nard. epist. 190. Ber­nard [Page 122]reasons. For having spoken of our calling vnto the grace of the Gospell, he inferres this; beeing thus puld out of the power of darknesse, I will not now feare to be reiected by the father of light, being iustified freely in the bloude of his sonne. Why it is he that iustifieth, & who is it that shall condemne? Surely hee will not con­demne the iust, that had mercie on a sin­ner, &c. Thus wee see he reasoneth from that which GOD hath done for vs already, to that which he will doe; yea, in a sort, must doe for vs here after. And we must all reason after the same manner, and saie everie one to his owne soule with Augustin. in Psal. 96. Saint Augu­stine, Thou wast wicked, and hee dyed for thee; thou art now iustified, and will hee for­sake th [...]e?

4 Moreover, to take away the ter­rour of the last iudgement, consider who shall be the Iudge: even Christ himself that was thy redeemer. And hovve canne wee feare such a iudge? How happy in our case, that hee must be our iudge, that was himself iudged for vs? He is our husband and wee his wife; & by whō would the wife chuse to be iudged, but by the husband, spe­cially by so kinde a husbande as wee [Page 123]haue Chapt. 10. Sect. 2. marginal. letter d. before heard him to be, who sheweth that favour that no husband doth: yea he is our head, & we are his mē ­bers, & wil the head giue sentence of condēnatiō against his own mēbers? This in effect were to giue sentēce a­gainst himself He is our advocat and Pro­ctor, & how happy would we think our selues if in causes touching this life our own atturney might be our iudg? He is now thine advocate, August. in Psal. 51. saith Augustine that hereafter shall be thy iudge. Let vs then assure our selues, he vvill not cō ­demne vs, that hath already been, cō ­demned for vs.

5 Yea, so farre of is it, that the last and generall iudgement shoulde be terrible vnto vs, that it should rather minister matter of great ioy and comfort vnto vs. And therefore our Lord and Saviour Iesus Christ having set downe the chiefe signes and tokens that should go before the day of iudg­ment, saith to the faithful, Luc. 21.28 When yee see these things begin to come to passe, looke vp, and lift vp your heads, for your redemp­tion draweth neere. So that by Christes owne exhortation in this place, when wee thinke vpon the last iudgement, we haue cause to reioice, not to fear; [Page 124]to lift vp our heads, not to hang them downe. And that for sundry reasons, but I will specifie one or two that are most materiall, & fittest to cleare this truth.

6 And first, for as much as the dis­solving of the world is for our ful de­liveraunce from the bondage of the world, the māner of dissolving it must needes bee comfortable vnto vs, al­though in it selfe otherwise terrible. Wee see that in particular humane iudgements, the things that are terri­ble to malefact ours, are comfortable to good subiects; and that which ama­seth the theefe, reviveth the true mā. The maiestie of the iudges, their scar­let robes, whose very colour threatēs death, their guard that environ them with holdbards, yea the gibbet, & the hangman are pleasing sightes to the good who knowe that all this is for their maintenance, and sauegard, al­though they miserably terrify the wicked, for vvhose destruction they are prepared. Even so the comming of Christ in maiestie and glorie, the troupe and traine of Angels that at­tend on him, the shrill sounde of the trumpet summoning all flesh to ap­peare [Page 125]are before his iudgement seate, at this great and generall assises, and all other solemnities belonging to the pompe and magnificence thereof. wil cheere vp the faithfull; knowing that all this is to doe them iustice touch­ing all the wrongs and oppressions which they haue sustained at the hāds of the wicked, and terrifie and daunt the wicked only, that now must come to an account for all their enormi­ties and outrages. And as it fareth with them that are narrowly besieged in a strong castle, when a puissant ar­mie is raised to rescue them, & draw­eth neere to the place, and is come within sight, the neighing and tram­pling of the horses, the glitring of the armour, the clashing together of the weapons, the noise of drum & trum­pet are most pleasing vnto them, yea the very roaring of the canon is the sweetest musicke that ever they heard because they knowe that all this is to raise the siege, and set them free: even so the faithfull, being straightly be­sieged in this world as in an impreg­nable fort, by the flesh, sinne and the devill, when Christ shall come in the clowds with power and maiesty, when [Page 126]the glorious army of Angels shall march onward with him as their ge­nerall, when the last trumpet shall be sounded, yea when the earth shal trē ­ble, the sea roare, the sunne shall be darkned, the moon turned into bloud the stars fal from heaven, in a vvorde the elements dissolved, and the hea­vens shall melt, and bee shriveled vp like a scroale of parchment, the faith­full shall reiolce at the sight, as know­ing that al this is but to raise the long and grievous siege vvhich they en­dured in this world, & to set them at liberty for ever; yea to put them in possession of a heavenly kingdome where they shal raigne for ever in vn­speakable blisse.

7 Finally, that we may see vvhat folly it is to be afraide of this iudge­ment, we must remember, that we our selues shall be iudges there. So Christ telleth Peter, Mat. 19.39. that he and the rest that had followed him in the regeneratiō, that is, at the last iudgement, when the worlde should be refined. should sit vpon twelue throans, & iudge the twelue tribes of Israel: which being somewhat obscurely vt­tered, Christ there alluding to the present state of things, the number of [Page 127]the twelue tribes of Israell, and of his twelue Apostles, 1. Cotin [...] c. v. 2.3. S. Paul expresseth more cleerely, applying it in generall to all the faithfull vnder the new Te­stament, affirming that the Saints shall iudge the world yea the Angels, that is to say, wicked men and wicked spirits. And hence Tertul. ex­hortat. ad Martyres cap. 2. Tertullian notably com­forteth and encourageth the Martyrs that were in durance daily expecting the Iudges comming, and to receiue sentence of death. Perhaps, saith hee, the Iudge is looke for; yea but you shall iudge your iudges themselues. Were it not then great folly to feare that iudge­ment, wherein wee our selues shall sit as iudges, iudges, as I haue said, of all wicked both men and spirits, that is, of all our enimies that haue oppres­sed vs? For although Christ our head principally and properly shall be the iudge: yet we that are his members, shall haue a braunch of his authority, and shall be as it were, ioined in com­mission with him. Let vs not thē feare this last and generall iudgement: the bench, not the barre, is our place there.

CHAP. 13. The ioies of heaven, and glorious state of the faithfull af­ter death.

1 BVT that which most of all should comfort vs against our misery & mortality here, and the terror either of particular iudgement by death, or vniversall iudgement at the last day, is this, that not only all these cannot hurt vs, nay are made many waies profitable vnto vs in this world, but that through them we passe to a most hap­py state in the world to come, the ex­cellency whereof requires the tongue and penne rather of Angels then of men to describe it, or rather cannot be perfectly expressed by Angels thē ­selues. I must be content then darkly to shadow it out, sith liuely represen­tation of it is meerely impossible.

2 And first the benefits and com­forts of this life although miserable, as we haue heard, doe argue that a far better state is reserved for vs in hea­ven. We see that God even here on earth notwithstanding our sinnes, [Page 129]whereby we daily offend him, vouch­safeth vs many pleasures, and furni­sheth vs not only with matters of ne­cessity, but also of delight. There is Pas [...] 10 [...] a whole Psalme spent only on this matter, a Psalme worthy to be writtē in letters of gold in papers, walles, & windowes, but specially to be imprinted in every godly heart for the ad­mirable excellency thereof. God can­seth, Cyprian. de patienti [...] saith S. Cyprian, the sunne to rise & set in order, the seasons to obey vs, the ele­ments to serue vs, the windes to blow, the springs to flow, corne to growe, fruits to ri­pen, gardens and orchards to fructifie and aboud, woods to rustle with leaues, mead­dowes to shine with flowers &c. And Chry [...]ōst. de compūct cordis, lib. 2. Chrysostome excellently handling the same point, further shewes that God hath in a sorte made the night more beutifull then the day by infinit vari­ety of bright, and glittering starres, that hee hath beene more mercyfull to man then man would haue been to himselfe, who of greedinesse woulde haue overtoiled himselfe, but that God made the night of purpose for his rest; in a word he saies, and truely saies even of these earthly benefits & commodities, that although we were [Page 130]never so vertuous, nay if wee should die a thousand deaths wee should not be worthy of them. And Silv. Italic lib. 15. the very heathen Poet considering this, could not chule but breake out into admi­ration, saying Quantas [...]pse Deus [...]tos gene­ravit in vsus Res homini plena (que) de­dit bona, gaudia de [...] ­tra O how many things hath God created for mans delight, and heaped ioies vpon him with a bounteful hand? And all this hath God done, as Cyprian saies in the place before alleadged, to good and bad, to the harmelesse and harmefull, to the iust and vniust, to the religious and prophane, finally to the thankefull and vnthankfull. Whence wee may well reason thus, that if God deale so gratiously with vs on earth, hee will doe much more to vs in heaven; if he bestow such be­nefits vpon strangers, nay vpon eni­mies, hee hath better things for his friends; if hee deale so bountifully with slaues, hee will be more bounti­full towards his sonnes. For who e­ver vsed his slaues as well as his chil­dren?

3 Againe the excellency of his creatures argues a greater, yea incomparably greater excellency in the Creatour, Bernard. in festo omniū [...]vorum as Bernard well obserues: Thou wondrest, saith hee, at brightnesse in [Page 131]the sunne, beautie in flowers, savory relish in bread, fertilitie in the earth; now consider that all these are the gifts of God, & there is no doubt, but he hath reserved much more to himselfe, thē he hath communicated & im­parted to the creatures. Therefore when we meet with any thing that is excel­lent in the creatures wee may say to our selues, how much more excel­lent is hee that gaue them this excel­lencie; when we finde admirable wis­dome in men, Seneca de beneficiis lib. 2. cap. [...]9 how they rule al crea­tu [...]es, by cunning overcome them that are farre stronger then them­selues, overtake them that are swif­ter then themselues, out runne the sunne and moone in discourse, telling many yeares before hand what cour­ses they must hold when they shall be eclipsed, &c. let vs say to our selues, how wise is that God that gaue such wisdome vnto men? When wee see a­ny thing strong, as the Elephant, the Whale, winde, Thunder, & the like, let vs say, how strong is that God that made them so strong; when wee see rare beautie in men or women, or most glorious colours in flowers, birds, & other creatures, let vs say, how faire is that God that made these so faire; [Page 132]when wee taste things that are ex­ceeding sweete and comfortable, let vs say how sweete is that God that gaue them this sweetnes? And from al these let vs conclude, that if the crea­tures can afford vs such delight, what will the creatour himselfe doe, when wee shall immediately enioy his pre­sence in the world to come. Surely this world compared to the world to come, is but the gate house or porters lodge to the most magnificent pal­lace, and if the gatehouse be so faire, how faire and glorious is the pallace it selfe.

4 Moreover consider what odd [...]s there is betweene Gods mediate pre­sence and his immediate presence, to enioie him in the creatures, and to enioy him in himselfe. The creatures, yea the most excellent creatures, are as it were a vaile or curtaine drawne betweene God and vs. Nowe then when this curtaine shall be drawne a­side, and we shall see God face to face, how glorious will that sight be? Wee are here, saith Bernard. de consid. Divine Bernard, be­holden to the creatures, yea to the creatures inferiour to our selues: For the very sunne, moone, and slartes al­though [Page 133]they bee superiour to vs in place, yet are they our inferiours in dignitie, and it is a kind of disgrace for the superiour to stande in neede of the inferiour, and yet from this neede are none of the sonnes of men free, vntill they be brought into the gracious liberty of the sons of God. Then indeede shall the glorified per­son be no more beholden to the crea­tures. For what need is there of any staires to ascend by, when hee is now set in the throane, there he sees the word, and in the worde all thinges made by the worde, neither needeth to begge of the things that are made, the knowledge of him by whom they were made. Yea not only this curtain of the creatures shall be taken away, but also that of the word and sacra­ments; For Corinth. 13. v. 8. as the blessed Apostle saith, prophesie shall cease & tongues shall faile, and knowledge shall be a­bolished, that is to saie, knowledge gotten by outward instruction, and the ministrie of men, yea faith and hope shall resigne their offices, nei­ther shall we haue any more vse of them, wee shall haue both immediate knowledge and actuall fruition of all [Page 134]good things, yea of God who is goodnesse it selfe, and who there shall bee all in all to vs. Ibid. Wee see here in a glasse, & as it were in a mist or fogge, but there we shall see face to face, we know here but in part, but there wee shall knowe perfectly. The Apostle is bolde to lay that all the knowledge we haue here is as the knowledge and stuttering of a young childe, yea that his owne knowledge too was such, al­though hee were an Apostle, and a principall Apostle, and thereby insi­nuates that our knowledge here is as far inferiour to the knowledge which we shall haue there, as the knowledge of a childe that stuttereth, and can­not yet speake plaine is to the know­ledge of the greatest clerke in the worlde. Plate in Phaed. The very heathen thought this to be one great benefit, that men, specially wise men had by death, that their knowledge was perfected in the other worlde, and that none could possibly attaine to perfect wis­dome vntill they came thither. How much more should wee count this an inestimable benefit, that in the life to come we shall haue the perfect know­ledge of heavenly things? Doubtlesse [Page 135]as farre as this wide worlde exceedes for light and comfort the narrow and darke wombe of the mother wherein the childe was wrapped before it was borne, so much doth that other world whereinto the faithfull after this life are received, exceede this world; and consider then how great and glorious this alteration and change will bee. There shall bee tranquilitie without storme, liberty without restraint, so­ciety without loathsomnesse, serenity without cloude, ioy without inter­ruption, eternity without cessation. Revel. 2 [...]. vers. 23. This heavenly citty shall haue no need of the light either of sunne or moone, for the glory of God illumi­nates it, and the Lambe is the light thereof. And here, 1. Corin [...]. 15. v. 28. as the Apostle saith, God shall be all in all: meate to our tast, beauty to our eies, perfumes to our smell, musicke to our eares. what shall I say more, Psalm 87 vers. 3. glorious things are spoken of this citty of God but all that can bee spoken thereof is vnder truth, and 1. King. 10 v 7. as the Queene of Saba said of Salomons court, much more will the faithfull say of the Court of heaven when they come there, that the one halfe of the excellencie and [Page 136]glory thereof was not tolde vnto them. To the which place God for his Christs sake bring vs, to whome with the holy Ghost, three persons & one God be ascribed all glory, honor, and praise for euer and euer. Amen.