THE SICK-MAN'S Comfort, against Death and the Devil, the Law and Sin, the Wrath and judgement of God.  
Translated out of French into English, by I. E.  
LONDON Printed by john Wolf. 1590.   

The sick-man's Comfort against Death and the Devil, the Law and Sin, the Wrath and judgement of God.  
THe life of man stuing in this vale of misery, is environed and compassed in round with mountains of infinite calamities and tribulations: whereof some are but incident to some particular men, other more common & general to all: as Death, and diseases, which hasten and procure men to die; which amate us so much the more, when they come upon us, by reason they are so dangerous, and by reason that we cannot avoid them: for albeit that Kings, Emperors, Princes, and other Potentates may preserve themselves for a while from the danger of diseases, and prevent 'em by the help of God, using such good and lawful means, as he hath given them for their comfort and preservation: yet without exception not one, no not one is found amongst them, that can save, or may exempt himself, but he must die: first or last, either in battle by the sword, or in his bed, by sickness: or else, by such accident, as the divine providence of God hath set down before he was borne. David could tell us this, in many places: in the 82. Psalm, where 
Psal. 82.  he speaketh of Princes: I have said, ye are Gods, and ye are all children of the most high. But ye shall die like men, and fall like one of the Princes. And in another place: There be some that put 
Psal. 49.  their trust in their goods, and boast themselves in the multitude of their riches. But no man may deliver his brother, nor make agreement with God for him: for it cost more to redeem his soul, so that he must let that alone for ever: Yea though he live long and see not the grave. For he seethe that wise men also die, and perish together as well as the ignorant & foolish, and leave their riches for other, whom they have not known. And in another place he speaketh of the end and condition of all men in general: What man is he, 
Psal. 89.  that liveth, and shall not see death, and shall deliver his own soul from the hand of Hell? And again in the next Psalm following: Thou turnest man 
Psal. 90.  to destruction. Again, thou sayst, come again ye children of men. We see then, that it is God's decree and ordinance inviolable, that all men that come into the world, come but conditionally, n●…t to make any long tarrying, as the Trees which are fastened deep within the earth by the roots, and have a long time of abode granted them: but to pass away swiftly, as doth the Current of a running River, and to be gone, assoon as it 
2. Sam. 14.  shall please the Lord to call them away again. And for all that (as the Prophet saith) we seek to come to composition with Death, or to have some days of truce and respite to delay his coming: yet we see daily our date is out, and the day of our assignation is soon expired, when we must appear before the dreadful judge at a certain hour, and at the same instant we must hear from his own mouth the sentence definitive, 
Psal. 62.  either of life or Death, for ever irrevocable. What shall we then do? we must first and chief have a care, not as Aza 
2 Chro. 16.  had, to seek out skilful Physicians, to take the potions and drugs that they shall minister, to save us from sickness, which otherwise would be incident unto us: nor as Mithridates had, to keep in store many preservatives and medicines, for fear of empoisoning by our familiar friends: we must not provide a brave and goodly Horse, a sword of the 
Psal. 38.  best and trustiest making, an armour of proof, to put our trust therein, as though these could save us from the hazard of the battle. For all this cannot infringe the ordinance of God, nor once save us from his anger, nor any jot turn away from us the effects and execution of his divine will. But the chiefest care and consideration that we must have, if we either mean to prevent the mischiefs, which may be fall us hereafter, or remedy those which are happened unto us already, is humbly to desire, and diligently to seek for the grace and favour of God, which is the most sovereign and readiest remedy that men may find for the speedy redress of all calamities and adversities, where with they shallbe afflicted. Now for that I am earnestly entreated by some of my brethren and friends to select and set down in writing certain places of holy scripture, for the comfort of such as be sick, to strengthen them against the horrors and apprehensions wherewith they are commonly saised, as well of their sins and offences, as of Death, of the Devil, and of the displeasure & judgement of God, which are more horrible a great deal, 
Rom. 13. 1. Cor. 13. 1. Cor. 12. Ephes. 4.  than all the other. Finding myself bound hereunto by Christian charity, by the band whereof all the members of Christ's body are firmly linked together: and knowing besides that it is a piece of the charge, that God hath laid on the necks not only of the Ministers of the Gospel: but also of the Superintendents, which are joined with them for aiders and fellow-helpers: I would in no wise make refusal, to satisfy my brethren in this their request: although I know well enough, that many of my fellow-labourers, on whom God hath bestowed greater talents, might be better spared, and were fit to be employed in this business, than myself: nevertheless, seeing that the members in what rank or degree so ever they be, ought not to refuse any labour or service for the body, if it lie in their power to do, I will attempt by the help of God, to do that I am able, by his grace, to content and satisfy them in their desire. Omitting then many other kinds of afflictions, by the which it pleaseth God to chastise and keep under his children, let us speak here only of Sickness and Death, and set down summarily consolations fit for the purpose, to instruct and keep men in ure, to abide patiently their sickness and diseases: the which are not casual things, and matters of mere chance, now happening to one, now to an other, by rash and unadvised rencounter: but we must think that they are all sent upon us by the providence of God.  
And although the ends and occasions of Sickness be divers, yet the Author is always one, & is the same, who is the giver of all health and welfare. For from the mouth and ordinance of God (as saith jeremy) proceedeth good 
Lament. 3. 38. Amos. 3.  and evil, which is contrary to good. And there is none evil (as Amos saith) be it within the City or in the field, but it cometh from God. So then as peace and war, poverty and riches, liberty and imprisonment are from God: so in like manner are health, & sickness. David in all his anguishes confesseth this: For in the sixth Psalm he saith: O Lord 
Psal. 6.  rebuke me not in thine anger, neither chastise me in thy sore displeasure. Acknowledging that the anguish and sickness wherewith he felt himself so grievously afflicted, was the very pricking and working of God's displeasure, whom he knew he had sore offended. He saith as much in another Psalm: Thine arrows 
Psal. 38.  have light upon me, and thine hand lieth upon me. And in the two and thirty Psalm, Thy hand is heavy upon me day and night. And again in the 39 Psalm, I was dumb and spoke nothing, I kept silence even from good, and my sorrow was more stirred. My heart was hot within me, and while I was musing the fire kindled, etc. Ezechias 
Isay. 38.  & job likewise do attribute their sickness to none other but to God. And job said, that in the very stinch that 
job. 1. & 19  came from his flesh halfe-rotten, and in the multitude of loathsome worms that issued from his body, he still beheld but one hand of his Saviour to touch him, to the end he might heal him again with the other. The very Heathenish Infidels have sometimes acknowledged that their Sickness and diseases proceeded from none other cause but from God, who then punished them because of their offences. As Pharaoh and his family 
Gen. 12. Exod. 9  in the days of Abraham, the Egyptians in the time of Moses, & the Philistians in the time of Samuel, when they kept the Ark of Covenant captive and prisoner in their own country, after they had taken it in the war, wherein they vanquished the children of Israel. We must then conclude, that diseases, and generally all afflictions and adversities do come from God, who doth nothing but with great justice and by 
Psal. 33.  his heavenly wisdom. For all his actions are so well directed, that nothing may be found in them, but is done with weight, number and measure, and for great reason, although the cause thereof be sometimes unknown to us. As then the Goodness, the Power, the Wisdom, the justice, the Equity, Constancy, and verity, which appear in all the works of God, are the motives and causes why we allow of them and praise them: So confessing all these virtues in our sickness and other adversities, which are the handiwork of God and of none other, ought we not to take them in good part, and to arm ourselves with this faith and holy cogitation against the impatience and murmuring of our heart, which doth prick and provoke us to stomach, and be angry with God, yea and sometimes to blaspheme his holy name horribly, when he will not do as we would have him, and fulfil the wicked and disordinate desires of our sinful flesh, which if he should do, he should become like unto 
Psal. 50.  us, who are but flatterers and dissemblers of our own vices and abominations. Contrariwise to become holy, good and virtuous, we must labour to be like unto him, and to submit all our desires and will unto his wil For otherwise we are indeed but hypocrites, and although that in our prayers we crave and desire that his will be done, our 
Mat, 6.  heart doth secretly make our mouth be found a liar, and doth by and by tell us in our ear: ha, hypocrite that thou art, if thou mightest choose, thou hadst rather have thy own will to be done, than Gods will. When a man speaketh to us of God's providence, and asketh us, if every thing that God doth, be good, and well done, we can tell him by and by, it is: and so we say to our neighbours & friends, when we see them in any anguish or affliction, to give them the best comfort and counsel that we can, and for the best and spéediest remedy, we tell them then, it proceedeth from the providence & will of God. But when it cometh to the point to apply it to ourselves, we do as Physicians, who can minister good medicines, and give skilful counsel to others, but will follow none themselves. Nevertheless there is nothing so needful and wholesome for us, as to occupy ourselves daily in meditating of the providence of God, and to acknowledge that it guideth, governeth, and disposeth all things: to the end, that beholding always the workman in his workmanship, we may by and by like of it, and allow it, knowing that he letteth nothing go out of his shop, before it be thoroughly polished, well trimmed, perfect and accomplished, as it should be in all points. And if we give such credit to cunning Artificers, to accept of their workmanship, so soon as we see their mark, shall we do so great injury to God, as not to allow and esteem of his works, wherein we see the marks and prints of his bounty and justice so evident and apparent to the eyes of all men?  
Very true it is, that that which doth come directly from his bounty, pleaseth us better, then that which proceedeth from his rigour & justice: as is seen in the works of Nature, some seem more pleasant and delectable than other some: the day is more comfortable to us then the night, the summer more pleasant than the winter, the sunshine and clear weather maketh us a great deal gladder, than the black, pitchy, dark, rainy, and stormy season doth. So when God smileth upon us, and showeth us the light of his countenance, and by his mild and gracious dealing towards us, doth cherish and make much of us, embracing us with his mercy on every side, multiplying without cease his graces upon us, and every day endewing us with some new benefit (as the Prophet 
Psal. 89.  saith) that without doubt is far more acceptable unto us, then when he showeth us his stern and frowning looks, & makes us feel the rigour of his wrath, and the sting of his justice. Did not David 
Psal. 89.  take greater pleasure in hearing the goodly & large promises that God made 
Psal. 18.  unto him, to establish him in his kingdom, and to give it to him and to his children for ever, to give him victory over all his enemies, the which were as thick in every corner, as the dust in the 
Psal. 132.  market place, to make his fame and renown to fly and resownde in all quarters amongst strange Nations, to hear God with his own mouth say, that he 
1. Sam. 13. Psal. 78.  had found him a man after his own heart, to consider how God took and chose him even from his sheep, to exalt him above all the houses of Israel, and how God, did (as it were) degrade altogether the house of Saul, to enrich and adorn him with their spoils, having none other reason to do all this for him, but of his mere grace and good will. I ask you then, whether these so great and evident tokens of the bounty and mercy of God towards him, were not far easier to be digested, than the grievous reproaches that he made him of his ingratitude after his fall? And the fearful threatenings 
2. Sam. 12.  that he used to discover and publish openly all his offence? to make murders and bloodshed abound in his house? and that the honour of his wives should be stained by his own son? And yet notwithstanding such executions of gods justice were very hard, and a burden for him almost insupportable: yet did he endure all things patiently, and submit himself wholly to the will of God, assuring himself of his mercy (of the which 
Ab. 〈◊〉. 3.  he remembreth himself always in his judgements) that the burden, which he would lay upon him, should not be to cast him down utterly. We have one notable example of his patience & humble obedience that he resolved to yield unto God in all his adversities, when with so modest & mild a spirit he suffered the vile & opprobrious injuries wherewith Semei reproached him, when he was constrained to fly in all haste, and to forsake the City of jerusalem, to save 
2. Sam. 16.  himself from the conspiracy that his son and all his people had wrought against him. For the principal cause, that made David so mild and patiented, was, that he did refer all the presumptuous insolency, and sauciness of this little Puppy, to the providence of God, who had raised him up to greet him with these injurious words, to make him humble, and to make trial of his patience & virtue. And what was the cause wise, that job after so manifold and 
job. 1. & ●….  great losses of his goods and children, and finally of the health of his body, did bless and praise God so sincerely and heartily, as ever he did before in time of his prosperity, and even then when he had his heart's desire, but a special care that he had of the providence of God, the which he did contemplate and behold steadfastly in all his miseries, that he might receive them from his hand as his blessings and special favours, that he bestoweth upon his dearest and best beloved children? Then it is not enough that we believe that all sicknesses and diseases are sent from God: but we must believe that all their circumstances come from him also: as if they be grievous and tarry long with us, if they be loathful and full of pain and languishing, and sometimes if they be incurable, so that by reason of their contagion, they cause our friends and kinstolke to refrain from visiting and comforting us, and insomuch that we can have no remedy, no more than had the poor woman, which had an issue of 
Mat. 9 Luke. 5.  blood for the space of twelve years, and the poor man that being saised and benumbed 
joh. 5.  with a palsy all over his body, kept his bed 38. years, and in all that space could never get any remedy. We must then attribute all this unto God, and think that he is just and free to disperse the goods and evils, which he taketh out of his treasury, to bestow them where he thinketh best, and in such portion and measure as pleaseth him, so that no man may complain justly of him, or demand of him by any reason, wherefore he doth thus or thus.  
After that we be fully resolved in our minds, that not only all sicknesses and diseases, but also all other harms and evils whatsoever do proceed from God, who pleaseth by his providence to send them for our chastisement, having already gathered some comfortable sayings to encourage us withal: now for our better comfort we must consider, who this God is, that doth send us these afflictions, & how near us he is: for it is not such a God, as these Gods are, whom 
Psal. 96. Psal. 115.  the foolish Heathen people do adore, and are nothing at all indeed, unto whom they address themselves, they cannot see at all with their eyes, nor hear with 
Act. 14. Heb. 1 Esay. 40. Psa. 147 R●…m. 4. Apoc. 1.  their ears, nor smell with their noses, nor taste with their tongues, nor speak with their mouths, nor take or give with their hands, nor walk with their feet, and to be short, they can neither do good nor harm: For they are not so much as mortal, as are men and beasts, but things altogether dead, which have in them no sense, no understanding, no moving, no feeling, or force at all. But the God, in whom we believe, is the Creator of heaven and earth, who maketh by the only powrable virtue of his word all things that are in this world to live and die, and to breath again: who with one of his fingers doth measure the earth, and hold it up with the tip thereof, as it were with a fishooke: who knoweth the number and the names of all the stars, who calleth the things that are not, as if they were: who carrieth the keys of life and death, who is infinite in himself, and all his virtues are infinite: for his bounty, mercy, wisdom, justice, and verity, are so incapable and incomprehensible, that their longitude, can no more be fathomed than their largitude, nor their largitude can no more be measured then their profundity, which are past all length and largeness, all height and depth, all count and capacity.  
Now this good and great God, is not 
1. Cor. 3. Psa. 5. Psa. 17. 7. Cor. 6.  far from us, neither by his presence, nor by his affection: he is in us as in his own Temple to sanctify us, he is about us, to guard and keep us with his favour, & to hide us under the shadow of his wings. He is dwelling in us, as in his own house to guided and govern us, to enrich us, to garnish and deck us up: our thoughts and hearts are his galleries wherein he walketh and taketh his pleasure, there talking with us by holy thoughts & inspirations, that he doth put in our minds. And although that he fill both heaven & earth, & that the love that he beareth to all his creatures, be the 
Psa 148. job. 3. Eph. 6.  cause that he aid & assist them, providing all things necessary to nourish & preserve them: Nevertheless herein is his tender love most of all seen, in that he hath so much honoured us, & born us so great good will as to espouse us, & to comoigne and unite us so unseperatly with himself, & by the means of such an union to receive us into his fellowship to be partakers of all his graces, gifts, & benefits for ever. Even so then, as a woman which perceiveth herself entirely beloved of her own husband, need not fear that he will at any time misuse her: so ought we to assure ourselves, that God who doth love us above measure, cannot do or suffer to be done to us any thing that shall not be for our benefit. For if then when 
Rom. 5.  we were enemies (as saith S. Paul) we were reconciled to him by the death of his son, much more being already reconciled we shall be saved by his life. Is there any thing to be imagined more absurd, then to think that GOD, who is the sovereign good, can be the Author of any evil? Or 
jam. 3.  can we have from one Fountain or spring, both salt water and sweet water?  
The heretics, as Martion and the Manichees, to show that they had such blasphemy in horror and detestation, would establish two principles: the one of life and light: the other of death and darkness, persuading themselves by 
Psa 68  no means, that from God, who is the fountain of life & of all felicity, might proceed any misery or affilction: wherein they were not deceived, but in this only, that from a good Maxim they drew a naughty conclusion: For in truth, the good in so high degree as God is, that is to say, sovereign and infinite, cannot produce any evil, no more than fire can any thing that is cold: light, darknen: or life, death. And the reason is, because God, after that he had created the world and all that therein is contained, & considered thoroughly all the workmanship of his hands, bear witness that they were all perfect good. And this is not simply to be understood of all things that God created and made, but it extendeth also to all things that God doth, without any exception.  
For seeing that God is always like 
Psa. 102. jam. 1.  to himself, and that in him, as Saint james saith, there is no changing at all, no not the least shadow of alteration: and as his bounty is eternal, so at all times can it produce nothing but good works, and do those things that are good. And this is the reason which he gave, answering by his Prophet to the people, who complained of the grievous 
O seas. 13.  calamities that did overpress them: that he was by no means the causer thereof: as for him, he only had procured their benefit and safeguard, but that they were cause of their own ruin, and of all the desolations that happened to them in their country. For as the fire kindleth 
Similitude.  but fire, and other things semblably do produce things of their own quality and nature alike, so doth God to, from whom can proceed none evil because he is perfectly good. But then will some man say: why, sickness and diseases, famine, poverty, dearth, & wars, are not these evils & plagues that God doth send upon us, and is not he then the author and causer of them? God sendeth them in deed, as well upon the good as the bad: on the one, to punish their sins, which is a very good deed, and a deed of justice: on the other to try their patience, or to bring them to repentance. Thus if we would be good servants and fitly apply these sicknesses that God doth send amongst us, referring them to their right end, we should reap thereby much profit & many goodly instructions. First then there is nothing so needful, as to know our own sins, the corruption and vice that is in us, to the end we may humble ourselves before God, and dispose ourselves to beseech and seek his grace and favour, the only mean whereby they may be remitted covered and hid before him, that so we may avoid and escape his judgement, and the condemnation which otherwise shall be appointed for us, if our sins be not pardoned. But we are so naturally blinded in our own judgement, by reason of the excessive self-love that we have in ourselves, which doth blindfold our eyes that we cannot perceive nor discover the malice, hypocrisy, false dealing, pride, vanity, defiance of one another, injustice, impiety, idolatry, inhumanity, and all this lump of wickedness which lurketh in our heart from our birth, & hatcheth every day more and more, as occasions shall serve to commit evil. For although we seek to keep close for a while the malice which we have conceived in our hearts as women do, which say they are not with child, till their belly begin to swell, and till the day of their delivery draw near, and then they must needs confess that which before they stoutly denied: So do we never confesie our sins until we be by manifest proofs convinced, and yet then we stand to debate and diminish still some thing from the enormity of our faults and offences, whereof we have a notable example in our first Parents, who when they stood before the face of God (from whom 
Gen. 3.  nothing may be concealed or hidden) their own consciences accusing them, yet they sought by all crafty means they could, to counterfeit and lay one from another the fault that they had committed, & could not be induced, neither by the fear and reverence of God, who being present spoke unto them, neither by the accusation and witness of their own consciences which urged them sore on every side, but to confess clearly and without any doubling, their disobedience, their ingratitude and ambition, by the which they were cast headlong from the happy & blessed estate wherein they were a little before. Whereby we may see how hard a matter it is for men to acknowledge and confess their sins sincerely and without hypocrisy. We may see also by the patriarchs, who 
Gen. 42.  dissembled all their wickedness, & cruel, and inhumaine-conspiracie that they had wrought against their poor brother, which they never acknowledged till they were constrained by the anguish and distress, into the which God brought them, to make them remember & call to mind. And how long time was David a sleep in his sin, and never once thought upon it, till he felt the hand of God touch him so sore, & that he found himself almost entrapped of his enemies, as he confesseth himself: Thy hand is 
Psa. 3●….  heavy upon me day and night, & my moisture is turned into the drought of Summer. Then I acknowledged my sin unto thee, neither hide I mine iniquity: for I thought I will confess myself my wickedness unto the Lord, and thou forgavest the punishment of my sin. And Saint Peter, after that he had so often times denied his master, swearing and cursing himself if he ever had known him before: had he not persevered still in his sin, and abandoned himself wholly from the Church of God, as judas did, and many other Apostates which do so daily, if jesus Christ had not cast his eye upon him, & by his looking upon him, pierced so deep within his conscience, to make him feel and bewail his sin? And likewise S. Paul, 
Luk. 22.  who like a mad & raging beast, ran about every where, seeking to kill and slay all the poor Christians he could come by, in what case had he been if he had not repent him of his sins? But contrariwise had he not persisted in his 
Act. ●….  obstinacy and hardness of heart to waste and scatter the flock, had not the strong and mighty arm of the shepherd, w●…o watched carefully to save his flock, stopped him of his journey and kept him short, by force, making him to acknowledge & perceive the great hurt and injury he did to the poor sheep. By these few examples we may easily perceive, that men, although they beover whelmed and filled with an infinite number of sins, yet they cannot acknowledge them, or have feeling of them, if God do not give them the grace to set them before their eyes. And this is the reason that in many places of holy Scripture Repentance (which partly consisteth in the knowledge and displeasure that man conceiveth of his sin) is called the gift of 
2. Tim. 2.  God. For as we cannot know God, nor those good things which we ought to seek in him, and to hope for from his bounty: if first we be not lightened inwardly by his holy spirit, and outwardly instructed by his holy word: So we cannot well know ourselves, nor thoroughly sound out the vice and mischief which lieth lurking in our hearts, if the spirit of God do not give us eyes to behold ourselves in the mirror of his Law. For to behold ourselves perfectly, and to see what is within us, we cannot do naturally, no more than the old foolish woman Lamia could, whom Fables report to have had once two eyes, but because she would see nothing in her house she pulled them both out, and cast them both out of doors, to go spy and mark all that was done at her neighbour's houses. And to this agreeth very well the Fable of Esope, who said, that every man carrieth a Wallet upon his shoulder, and in the hinder part we put our own faults, to the end we may never see them: and in the former part, we carry our neighbour's faults, to the end that by seeing of them we may find some matter to speak ill of them and slander them.  
But it is a marvelous thing that our sins should be diseases so grievous, so dangerous, and so mortal, and yet that they should be so little perceived and regarded of those that are infected therewith: For we see how Idolaters, hypocrites, ambitious, avaricious & voluptuous people are merry and frolic without any sign or conceit of sorrow to complain in any wise of their malady. And more than that, the Idolater never taketh greater pleasure, then when he beholdeth, kiss●…th & adoreth his Idol. Again, the hypocrite is never better content, then when by the show of some counterfeit virtue he can come to in●…nuate himself into the good opinion of some, and so get reputation and fame to be virtuous and godly. And others think themselves never more happy than when they have the full fruition and peaceable possession of the honours, riches and pleasures of this world which they desire so much: & the cause of all this is, that they feel not their sickness, the which is by so much more dangerous. For as among the diseases of the body none are more pernicious than those which bring least dolour and pain, as are the Palsies, Letargies, apoplexies, and other cold Cathars and tetters: for they are for the most part uncurable. This made an ancient father say, that he desired not to be sick at all: but if it chanced that he were sick, he desired also to have some feeling of his disease, giving us to understand thereby, that there is nothing more dangerous then to be sick, & not to perceive or think it. What shall we then say to ourselves, who never think that we are so vicious as we are, and yet we can think well enough that we are far more virtuous th●…n we be either? For we never balance and weigh our vices and our virtues, but with false weights and measures. For when we weigh our own vices we take a very light weight, but we take one that is somewhat heavier for our virtues, the which we esteem always to be greater than they be, by reason of this furious fantasy or self love which dimmeth our eyesight and judgement. And even as the mists and vapours which rise from the earth towards the evening or morning, being opposite between the Sun and us, make the Sun to seem a great deal bigger than it is: So when we do contemplate our own virtues clean through this self love of ours, which doth so blind the eyes of our judgement, we suppose them to be far greater and per fecter than they are in deed. What must we then do to correct and amend this false judgement of ours, whereby we esteem ourselves to be more virtuous and a great deal less vicious than in deed we be. We must learn to know ourselves, and therefore must meditate in the law of God day and night, directing by it all our thoughts, our affections, our words, our deeds, and in sum, the whole estate of our life, as by a right and true rule, by the which we ought to measure the same. But for that we are Trevants and negligent scholars, and for that we do not our de●…oyre wholly to apply ourselves to this study, God as a good schoolmaster, careful for the profit of his children and scholars, is feign to take his rod oftentimes in hand, to awake us and set us forward, and by sickness and other mortifications of our flesh, to make us know the vile corruption that lieth hidden within us. For there is nothing that holdeth us better under the obedience of God's holy will, then good discipline (as Esay saith:) Let men learn righteousness, when the judgements of 
Esa 26. Psa▪ 119.  God are upon the earth. And David saith: Before I was afflicted I went astray, but now I keep thy law. And by and by he saith again: It is good for me that I have been afflicted, that I may learn thy statutes. It is then very expedient for us to have some sickness and adversities if we can tell how to use and apply them well: for they make us know and feel our sins, as on the contrary side, health and prosperity do make us clean forget them: for then, when in the flower of our age we are healthful and lusty, & all things laugh and smile upon us, we think upon nothing but skip and fetch gambols as young Fawns and other beasts do. If any man would come near us to give us good counsel, he should lose his pain: for there are none more backward, more untamed, more high-minded, and more untractable than men titled and favoured by Fortune, and ●…uffed up by her prosperities. That which God reproached the people withal by his Prophet: How often 
jer. 22.  have I spoken unto thee in thy prosperity, but thou wouldst never once 
Pro. 1.  hear: and this hath been thy fashion from thy youth upward. And Solomon speaking of the property of the foolish, saith that, it is their ruin and undoing. Certainly it is very hard (as Xenophon saith) that a man should be wise and wealthy all at once, and that being lifted up to the top of honour, and a bounding in riches and pleasures, to confess himself to be dust and ashes, as 
Gen. 1●…. Psa. 39  Abraham did, or to be nothing but vanity, as David did: but far from this God wots, the rich men when they are in the prime of their riches and prosperities, they think themselves to be some Gods or else demie Gods: so did Sennacherib, Nabuchodonozor, Antiochus, 
Esa. 16.  Theus, Xerxes, Alexander, king Herod, & Domitian, who became so proud, presumptuous and high minded, because of their prosperity, that they would make themselves equal with God. Philip king of Macedonia considering this, to the end he might not by the happy success of his affairs fall into any such insolency, commanded a groom of his chamber to say unto him a loud every morning as soon as he waked, (Philip) Remember thou art but a mortal man. And sure he did very wisely, foreseeing how slippery a thing prosperity is, which doth make men strait drunk, and lulleth them fast a sleep, sooner than any sweet wine, when they drink it, or the noise of a soft wind that bloweth within their hearing, when they are ready to fall a sleep. The sicknesses then, which do awake us and make us confess what our estate is, and that sin is the chiefest cause that doth engender them, are very wholesome and needful for us, and we ought to take them for warnings that God doth send, to make us remember him, & to do our endeavour to seek for him, and such things as appertain unto him, which thing we shall do, if we confess first before him our faults from a contrite 
Psa 40.  heart, altogether humbled & brought down with the inward feeling of his anger, and with a deep displeasure that we have offended him so grievously, after so manifold benefits, graces and favours received at his hands, in so great abundance that we cannot so much as number & count them, much less comprehend them. Here is then lively to be touched and pricked with the apprehension and feeling of our own ingratitude, we must call to mind, how that being created after the image and likeness of 
Gen. 1.  God, and by this means honoured above all the other creatures of the earth, without having any respect to the honour and dignity, wherein he had placed us, we have not only blemished and changed his image, but almost altogether defaced and quite blotted it out, 
joh. 1.  wholly swerving from justice, holiness and verity, which are the virtues, by the which we may resemble him, for to follow the errors and vanities of this world, the foolish desires, and inordinate lusts and concupiscences of our flesh, to follow our own ways, and to be brief to represent in all the course and state of our life, the very portraiture and image of the devil. After that he had taken us out of the darksome pit of ignorance, wherein we were buried, and made shine over us the brightness of his face by the lively preaching of his Gospel, and by the knowledge and understanding that he had given us of his son, that we might follow him, who is the light of the world, and 
john. 1. Eph. 5.  have no more to do with the works of darkness. But leaving our guide, and quite forsaking the way that he had traced for us to follow, we have strayed and gone wrong a thousand and a thousand ways, and as poor blind men, having no body to conduct us, and set us in the way but our own appetite and foolish fantasy two other blind guides, we have been often at the pits brink in danger to fall in, and to be lost for ever, had it not pleased this good GOD, by his bounty to surmount our malice, and to remember 
john 5. Heb. 2.  us then, when we had clean forgotten him.  
Moreover, he had delivered us from the bondage of the devil and sin, which was far more intolerable and cruel than that slavery of Egypt or Babylon could be, and made us free, to the end that we should hold fast our liberty which he had purchased so dearly for us by the death of his only and well-beloved son. But how often have we looked 
Gen. 19  behind us as the wife of Lot did? and not only repent and been sorry for coming out of our Egypt, but also taken the way back again, to yield our necks into the same yoke of slavery, out of the which we were made free, choosing rather to live with shame & ignomy most miserably under the tyranny of the devil, of the world, and of our sinful flesh, then to live happily and in honour under the kingdom of the son of God. Likewise, how have we acknowledged this great grace and unspeakable favour that he hath showed us, when he is come to find us out at the very brothelhouse of our sin, whether we being transported and carried headlong by the spirit of fornication, we run out of all square and order, and give ourselves over wholly to the devil, who is our bawd in every corner where we meet his portraiture and image, committing villainy and abomination with him publicly, and cannot withdraw ourselves by no fear, shame, or reverence of God, who is beholder of all this our filthy and slinking dealing, and yet for all that he hath taken us into his own house, to marry us and join us to him by a knot and bond of love, which cannot be undone or broken, ask none other dowry with us but chastity & pudicitie, promising us to forget all our life passed, so that hereafter we will be true to him, and keep our faith and loyalty that we have vowed unto him?  
Now considering how often, & by how many means we have defiled this marriage bed, committing fornication with the world and the concupiscences of our flesh, making our God, some of their riches, some of their bellies and pleasures and others of their estates and honours: worshipping our own passions & pleasures, which we have placed in our heart, as it were upon an high altar, and in the highest place of the Temple of God, which therewith we have profaned & polluted, and by consequent, have deserved to die the death, that is, to be clean scraped out of his favour, and blotted out of the book of life for ever. And what a shame and confusion is this, for us to be chosen & elected out of the wicked race of this world: & of the children of wrath 
Eph. 2.  that we were naturally, to be made the children of God, to this end that we should live and die in his service, & vow for ever unto him a love, a fear, an honour and obedience from the bottom of our heart, & the uttermost of our power, and yet in all our conversation we have always showed ourselves rebellious, licentious, perverse, and stiff-necked, rejecting all good discipline, stopping our ears as the serpent doth, for fear lest we should hear the sweet enchantment of the Gospel, taking again our sto●…ie and uncircumcised hearts, to this end that we might not engrave the promises and laws of God therein? How oft 
Mat. 23.  hath the shepherd assayed to gather us under his wings, as a Hen doth her chickens, and we would not? How oft hath he knocked at our doors, and we would never so much as once open to him? How many times hath he stretched 
Esa. 65.  forth his arms to embrace us, but we were stubborn, and would not be touched? When he sought us, we hide ourselves, when he called us, we would not answer at all. When he commanded us to get up and follow him, we were strait weary. When he hath smitten us, we were hardened as the smiths Anvil with the strokes of the hammer. When he made much of us, we flattered ourselves. Whether he 
Matt. 11.  would allure us by fair promises, or make us afraid by menacings, we have still hardened ourselves not to believe the one, and to make but a mockery of the other? To be short, what means so ever he hath used to catch us, like wily and crafty foxes, we have kept our 
Esay. 5.  selves still aloof off him. Likewise we were his vineyard, wherein he took all his delight, wherein he spared no cost to prune and trim, and to bring it to all perfection. He had planted in it a passing good young vine, made it clean, cast a ditch about it, hedged and enclosed it on every side, hoping to have some good fruit in due season: but alas, he is greatly disappointed for whereas we should bring him forth good raisins, we have brought forth nothing but wild and sour grapes, doing all that we could, to make him cut us off from the stock of his vine, and like old and withered vine branches, to cast us an hundred 
Mat. 21. Psa. 1.  and an hundred times into the fire to be burned for ever. And what is the reason likewise that being barren and fruitless trees in these acceptable days and season of our salvation (as the Prophet sayeth) jesus Christ finding no fruit in us, hath not cursed us the same hour, that he did the withered fig tree? for how should we be able to excuse this sterility and barrenness? were not we planted along the clear currants of the rivers of the word of God, by the which we were daily watered? and yet have we brought forth no more fruit than briars that grow upon heaths, or thorns that grow in hedges. And seeing that the Axe is laid to the root of 
Mat. 3.  the tree which bringeth not forth good fruit: who is he that hath saved us from being cut up by the root, and from being cast into the fire of Hell, to be burned there for ever? We cannot deny but we have been as unprofitable straw, and that often times we have laid nothing but stubble and straw upon the precious foundation of ourselves and of the Church. Who letted then that we 
1. Cor. 3.  had not been carried away clean with the wind, and that the fire had not consumed us and all our building. The 
jer. ●….  Prophets they reproached juda, for that she had justified her sister by her licentiousness a dissolutions, unto the which she had abandoned herself more than her sister had: But we may well confess that we have justified them both, for what kind of wickedness have we omitted or forgot to put in practice? as impieties, blasphemies, profanation of the true and sincere service of God, contempt of his word, injustice, oppression, violence, rebellion, disobedience, hatred, envy, murder, fornication, whoredom, detraction, have they not, and do they not still reign amongst us? If we may judge the goodness of the earth by the good fruits that it bringeth forth, 
Heb. 6.  being well filled and well watered by rain from heaven: what may we judge to the contrary of that which hath had all costs, both trimming, tilling & watering, and abundant and infinite of blessings from above from the father of lights, and yet bringeth forth nothing but nettles, thorns and thistles? What 
jam. 1.  endeavour have we done, or what duty or diligence have we showed, I do not say of children, servants, or friends (as we are accounted) and as we ought to be: but I mean of the least and simplest creatures that are in the world, the which contains themselves every one in the obedience of their Creator, never changing their rank and place, wherein he hath appointed them to be, and never being awearie to do and execute his will and commandment? Our fathers have seen, and we also have seen after them, that the heaven, the Sun, the Moon, the stars, the Elements, all living creatures, the plants and trees have contained themselves within the compass that God limited them after their creation, & kept the same measure in their dioceses in all their doings and movings that God had given them to observe, never going out of their ranks, nor troubling the order that God had appointed in the universal world. But men have been irregular & heteroclites, and now we are more than ever before: and that which is worse than all the rest, we see many at this present day, who to fill up the measure of all their other wickedness, add thereunto a certain impudency & shamelessness, stopping their ears at all good 
Esa. 3.  lessons, showing in all their behaviour & gesture the very shameless forehead of an impudent harlot. Where is become at this day among sinners, that shamefastness 
Dan. 9 Luk. 18.  & confusion that was seen in Danie●…? Where is the poor Publican, that durst not cast his eyes up to heaven for shame he had so offended his good God? What is become of that flood of tears that distilled 
Luk. 7.  from Marie Magdalen, that sufficed to wash the feet of our Saviour Christ? Where are these eyes now turned into fountains of waters, as were those o●… the Prophet jeremy bewailing the 
jer. 9  sins & miseries that are in this world? Where is the bitterness of heart wherewith S. Peter was seized so soon as he remembered his own sin? Where is 
Luk. 22. Act 2.  that compunction and sorrow, that the people showed to have after the good lesson that S. Peter gave them concerning his wicked consenting to the death of our Saviour jesus Christ to satisfy the appetite and envy of the Sacrificatours? Where is that sorrow and inward grief of heart wherewith David was so sore disquieted in mind when he groaning and sighing said: I fainted in my mourning: I make my bed every night to swim, and water my couch with tears. And in another place saying: 
Psa. 8.  I know mine iniquities and my sin is always before me? Where is become the sackcloth and ashes wherewith the Ninivites did show their repentance to be sincere and unfeigned: by 
joh. 3.  the which they shall without all doubt condemn at the day of judgement all this masq●…ed ra●…le of Penitents which we may daily see in I●…alie & in A●…ignon? Where may one of them be found at this day, that for the great heaviness & displeasure that they take to have offended 
Esa 22.  God, pull their hair and rend their beard from their chin, as the Prophets required in their time of those that they exhorted to repentance, to turn away the displeasure of God from them, when they were threatened, and to appaise it when they were punished? Where shall we find one whose soul is pierced with such sorrow and heaviness, whose heart is humbled and brought so low, as the Prophet joel requireth, with a 
joel. 2.  conscience almost desolate and comfortless, with a deep displeasure void●… of all dissimulation and hypocrisy, presenting himself before the majesty of God, to make him a true confession of his sins, and in all humility to beseech and require his mercy and pardon? Hereby may we perceive what is the hardness & contumacy of our hearts, the little feeling we have of our sins, the little fear we have to offend God, the little love and reverence we show unto him, and the little obedience and homage that we yield unto him. And being 
Act 10.  such (good God) what good faith or belief can we have in thee? Faith (as saith Saint Peter) purifieth our hearts. What faith then can they pretend to have, who have their hearts yet full of filth and corruption? Who have them puffed up and swollen with ambition, pride, avarice, pleasures, impatience, revenge, hatred, envy, and other like passions and affections of the flesh altogether disordinate and without all measure. Faith doth regenerate us, and make us new creatures: of earthly, it maketh us heavenly: of carnal men, it maketh us become spiritual: of the children of wrath and darkness, it maketh us children of light and grace: and to be short, of very devils it maketh us Angels of heaven. Who so ever then hath his heart tied to earthly things, and thinketh nothing or little at all on the things which are 
Galat. ●….  from above, who joineth not himself with the spirit in the battle, to fight against the flesh, but being assailed and set upon by his own concupiscences, giveth them place straight, and maketh himself his own slave and prisoner, he abuseth the grace of God, and in steed of retaining it, and keeping it still with him, living in his fear, and in the obedience of his holy will, turneth it clean away, and driveth it far from him, by licentiousness of life, whereunto he doth give over himself, under a vain confidence that he hath to find it always at his pleasure: ready to excuse and cover all his sins. So he deceiveth himself much weening to be faithful, and yet hath no better faith than the very devils: neither can his faith assure him at the day of judgement more than theirs can.  
Likewise, doth not faith exempt 
joh. 3. & 5. Rom. 8.  us from the judgement and condemnation of God, as jesus Christ sayeth: He that believeth shall not come into judgement at all. And Saint Paul saith: That there is no condemnation to them 
Ibid.  which by faith are graffed into the body of jesus Christ: but they which live after the flesh, and stand in no awe to do those things which God hath forbidden: and contrariwise to omit and neglect those things which he hath commanded to be done? how can they escape the judgement of death, and of the curse pro 
joh. 3. Psa. 44. Rom. 3.  nounced in the law against all them that transgress it, seeing that they do it wittingly, willigly, and of deliberate purpose? If their conscience condemn them, God who is greater than their conscience, who knoweth and soundeth the depth of their hearts, how shall he forgive them? Likewise: faith, when it is a true faith doth invest us with justice and the spirit of jesus Christ, which are so linked together, and do so follow one another, that the one cannot be found without the other. Seeing then that the spirit of God cannot be resident in us, but must needs work his effect, that is to say, must illuminate, sanctify, quicken, guide and govern us in all our counsels, thoughts, affections, words and actions. What faith, I pray you, do we think we have, if we do not 
Gall. ●…. Eph.  show it forth by an holy and laudable conversation, mortifying and crucifying our flesh with all the lusts thereof, putting off our old man with all his affections, flying and detesting all kind of sin, and embracing all kind of virtue: 
Thes. 5. Matt. 10. Ezech. 33.  abstaining not only from evil, but also from all that which hath any show or appearance of evil. And to conclude, continuing this holy exercise without any interruption unto the end of our life: For if any one shall (as the Prophet sayeth) do the best he can to live well for a while, and after shall come to wander and go aside from the right way, before he be arrived at the end of his journey: God shall have no remembrance of any good deeds that he had done before, and shall not allow him so much as one of them, when he shall come to hear his count: For he promiseth not salvation & life everlasting to those that shall begin to do well, but to those only who shall courageously and with an invincible heart persevere to the end. And he giveth not the price and 
1. Cor. 9  crown of immortality but to those that run out to the end of the lease, and have truly combated all the time of their life. For what availeth it a merchant which saileth into India to rig his ship with some rich merchandise, if after he hath escaped many perils at Sea, and sailed fortunately 14. or 15. Months together, he then come to strike against some rock & suffer shipwreck before he ever come to his iurneyes' end. All those which departed out of Egypt under the conduct of Moses entered not into the land of Canaan, for the greatest part were left behind and died by the way, and were shut out of the rest that God had promised to their fathers, because of their infidelity & other vices, which the Apostle nameth in the first Epistle to the Corinthians. So we 
1. Cor. 10.  must never hope to enjoy that life everlasting, and most blessed & happy estate that he hath promised and reserved for his elect, if we do not persevere unto the end in the faith of his word, and in the obedience of his holy will, which thing to do is granted to very few persons. 
Rom. 10.   
Moreover, faith, when it is true & lively is it not accompanied with a certain zeal & dehemencie of the spirit, which bringeth it forth, to confess the name of God publicly, to sing Psalms to him, to set forth and tell of all his wondrous works, and to make also public profession of jesus Christ and of his gospel, and without all fear, shame, and dissimulation, to maintain and defend the truth constantly against all those which resist and withstand the same? But if we will examine thoroughly, and without all flattery, truly judging of all our actions, we must needs confess and acknowledge that in the most of us, there hath been a marvelous great slackness of duty herein, for that we have been wonderful cold & fearful, when we should oppose ourselves against the wicked, and have endured to see & hear them blaspheme the holy name of God, of jesus Christ, to speak ill of religion, of the Gospel and of the truth, holding our peace and suffering in our presence the honour of God, not only to be dishonoured & spoken ill of, but also to be trodden under foot without ever opening our lips in speaking one word in defence thereof. What zeal have we showed also, to restore the Tabernacle of jacob which was thrown down to the ground? What pity & compassion have we had seeing the ruins and horrible desolations happened so long time together to the poor city of Zion? Is there any one amongst you that can truly say, he hath laboured as much as in him lieth by all means possible to build again the Temple of God, and to make up again the breaches that the enemies had made in every side of his church? How 
Agg. 1.  many may be found amongst us, that may not justly be reproached for ceiling & trimming their own houses, and yet let God's house lie waste? For in deed few there are that have such a care and zeal as appertaineth by right to the pure and sincere service of God to restablish it, when it is corrupted and profaned, and to maintain it when it is in perfect estate. And for all that we be so cold & careless to labour to reduce the state & order of the Church unto her former dignity and splendour, that God might be preached. known, and adored in spirit and truth, as he requreth in his word, yet is there not he amongst us, who thinketh not himself to be as faithful and as good a Christian as the best, although he seek the kingdom of God and the righteousness thereof, but when he hath leisure, and when he hath dispatched all his other business. Yet to be short, the surest judgement that one may give of a good tree, is by the goodness of the fruit. We may also judge of our 
Matt. 6.  faith that it is good, when it setteth our consciences at rest, and when we neither feel fear, mistrust, scruple, remorse, doubt, pain or torment which may vex us before God: but we are altogether resolute and assured to be acquitted in his judgement, & cleared from all crimes and accusations that the devil can lay against us, by means of the ransom that jesus Christ paid by his death and blood for our sins, and by this payment satisfied fully for us to 
Mat. 20. 1. Tim. 1. Rom. 10.  h●…s own justice. Likewise, when it doth incite us to pray continually, be it in prosperity to thank and bless him, or be it in adversity to prostrate our selves before him, humbly beseeching him that he will deliver us, or if it please him to set down otherwise, to mitigate and assuage our adversity, and on the other side so to strengthen us, that we may conform ourselves wholly to his will, to abide and bear all patiently, so long as it shall please him. If to conclude, it inflame and kindle the love of God and of our neighbours in our hearts, so that we burn with a fervent desire to serve and honour God, to invite and 
Gal. 5.  bring every one to know and glorify him, and that nothing displease us more than to see his holy name dishonoured and blasphemed: and for our neighbours that we love them as our own flesh and blood, as members of the same body with us, as our own brethren, and as children of one the very same father that we and they have together in heaven, and that we make demonstration of the love that we bear unto them by all means possible, desiring their welfare, ease, honour, quietness, preferment, and profit, as our own proper good, helping them in their necessities with money, counsel, favour, friends, labour, good word, and without any exception, with all that shall lie in our power to do. But I pray you, who is he amongst those that have best profited, and proceeded furthest in the knowledge and fear of God, that dare vaunt himself to have such a faith, the which shall be able to fight against the devil, and against all the gates of Hell, and make us invincible against all temptations wherewith we may be assailed, and shall fetch all our cogitations from earthly matters, and ravish us, & carry us up aloft above the heavens by a certain hope of immortality and of the happy life that God hath promised and prepared for us: and this hope shall strait make us forget the world and all the glory thereof, all her pomps, pleasures, riches and magnificence, and to make no more account of these transitory and corruptible things, then of dung, by reason of the pleasant taste that it shall give us of the sweetness of the joys in heaven, by the which she shall blot out and extinguish by and by all feeling and remembrance of all other pleasures, as it happened to the 
Mat. 17.  three Disciples, in whose presence our Saviour Christ was transfigured in the Mount. For scant had they had but the least taste of the blessed and happy estate, but even then at that instant they lost clean the remembrance of all things in this world: desiring nothing else, but the only continuance of that happy estate wherein then they were.  
Seeing then that faith, hope & charity, which are the three principal virtues whichought to shine in all our lives, & in all the actions of a Christian man, are in us very unperfect, & God wots, but weak, and that in the perfectest and purest men that live in the world there are found so many doubts, such unbelief, vain fears, cares, presumption, hatred, malice, choler, and other infinite like passions and desires, the which as stains do blot out all the lustre and beauty of the virtues that are within us?  
We must, when we come to present ourselves before the face and Majesty 
Confession of the sick.  of our▪ God, with the sick persons whom we will comfort and give some good instruction, begin to make an humble confession of our sins: first acknowledging our ingratitude and great negligence, to hear, read, and meditate in his word, to put it in practice, to take some profit by the singular gifts and graces, that he hath bestowed upon us, to consider and have still before our eyes the end and scope of our vocation, to refer and direct the whole estate of our life, to walk in his fear, not to stain his Image, which is renewed and graven again in us by the fountain of our regeneration, to keep the faith and loyalty that we promised him in the holy covenant that he made with us, to live and die to his glory: to offer up our bodies to him in sacrifice, living holy and agreeable to his will: and not to fashion ourselves like unto this world, to live and walk in the spirit: not to accomplish the desires of the flesh, to walk as becometh children of light: 
Rom. 12.  to keep sure footing in the liberty, into the which he hath freely set us: to take heed we be not brought again under the yoke and servitude of sin, to fight valiantly against the lusts of our flesh: to resist the devil: to have a care that sin rule not over us: to rule the whole course of our life so well, that we may be free not only from sin, but also from suspicion of any crime, to 
Gal. 5. Rom. 6.  take diligent heed, that our liberty be not an occasion that our flesh grow too inordinate, and that we commit none act that may scandalise our neighbours, or may in any wise induce our adversaries to blaspheme the name of God and of jesus Christ, and to defame the religion that we profess: to seek nothing but those things which are from above: and to have our heart, our understanding, and all our affections fixed in heaven, to keep always our lamps burning, 
Col. 3.  and our reins girded up, to watch for the coming of our Saviour and to be ready to follow him, and to do by his grace, all that he should please to command us: to pray and praise God uncessantly: to depend wholly upon his providence: to refer ourselves and all our affairs unto him: to resign our will wholly unto his: and finally, to love him with all our heart, with all our soul, and all our thought, and to love our neighbour as our own selves. Then after we have proposed unto the sick person the faults that he hath committed, to make him afeard, and by this means to prepare him to require and receive the grace of God: we must set before his eyes, what he hath justly deserved by his sins, that is, to be swallowed up by the anger and displeasure of God, which he hath heaped up unto himself persevering in his sins, abusing so long time the patience and long sufferance of his mercy, and likewise to be overtaken by his judgement, which (as the Apostle sayeth, is ready for all them which disobey God, 
Rom. 2.  and especially for those his servants which know his will, and being thoroughly instructed of their duty, neglect and make none account thereof. Likewise, that all the curses contained in the Law, set down for the transgressors thereof, fall upon his head: for that he hath not only once or twice by reason of ignorance and frailness behaved himself lewdly, but hath violated the holy ordinances of God, as often as he hath been provoked thereunto by the 
Rom. 5. 1. Cor. 15.  instance of the devil, and of his own concupiscence: likewise, that he is banished and shut out from the kingdom of heaven, for that the flesh, after the which he hath lived cannot inherit the kingdom of heaven: For if our first parents were chased shamefully out of Paradise, wherein they were placed after their creation for one only disobedience: What doth he deserve now that doth sup up and drink daily so many rebellions and iniquities as it were water? Likewise, that he is condemned to death eternal, and appointed for ever to the ●…ire of Hell, with devils and the reprobate, for that is the reward and hire of sin. And to be short, that he hath deserved to go strait down to Hell, and there to be buried, and to suffer in the unquenchable flames such ●…ormentes as the wicked rich man did, for having disdained the poor in their affliction, and neglecting to secure them in their need, not using such humanity towards 
Luke. 10.  them, as he desired of others, being driven to the same necessity himself. When he have laid all this to the sick man's charge, and in the Law as in a Mirror we have set before his eyes to behold his judgement and sentence of condemnation: When we perceive him wounded and pierced to the heart with sorrow, we must then lay to his wound some assuaging medicine, & do as the Masons do when they hew their stone: first they give great blows with their hammer, & make great pieces fall off, & then they poolish it over so with a plain, that the strokes are no more seen: so must we do, after we have handled the sickpatient roughly, & thrust him down to hell by the rigorous threats of the law: we must comfort him, and fetch him again by the sweet and amiable promises of the Gospel, to the end the sowplenes of this oil may assuage the nipping sharpness of the law: for the good tidings and news, that he shall hear of the grace of God shall make 
Col. ●…. 2.  him clean forget all the sorrow and desperation into the which the law had before driven him: showing him first, that the handwriting that is against us, which was contained in the law, is clean torn in pieces, abolished & hung upon the Cross of jesus Christ: and 
Gal. 3.  that jesus Christ hath redeemed us from the curse of the law, when he became cursed for us himself: For it is written, cursed is every one that hangeth on the tree) and this he suffered, that the blessing of Abraham might come upon the Gentiles, and that we might receive the promise of the Holy Ghost by faith. And that Christ is the end of 
Rom. 10.  the law in righteousness to all believers: who by the perfect obedience that he showed God his Father in fulfilling all his commandments in every point, not missing one jot, forsaking not the cursed death of the cross for our sakes, (for such was the will of his father) he hath purchased us a pardon and general abolishing of all our sins, and a release of all our debts and obligations, the 
1. Pet. 1.  which he hath paid for us, not in gold, silver, or precious stones, but with his own blood, which is a price and ransom incomparable to be spoken of. Having purchased us besides a righteousness, the which he alloweth unto us by our faith, & the assurance that we have by his word and sacraments, whereof his holy spirit doth bear witness within our hearts: we ought to cast away all fear and conceit of our sins, of death, the devil, of the rigour and curse of the law: and finally, of the anger & curse of God. For to begin with our sins, we being clothed with the righteousness 
Rom. 4.  of jesus Christ, must assure ourselves, that all our sins are so hid and covered, that they may not be perceived or discovered before the eyes and face of our God: but being altogether wiped out as with a sponge, and scattered as a cloud with the wind and 
Esay. 43. Esay. 1.  the Sun, and although they were as red as Scarlet, yet shall they be as white as snow (as Esaie sayeth) and before him David: Purge me with Hyssop, and I shall be clean: Wash me, 
Psa. 51.  and I shall be whitter than snow. And it skilleth not what, nor in what number they be: so that they be not sins against the Holy Ghost: neither skilleth it in what manner they have been committed, be it by ignorance, infirmity, or deliberate malice: for sin cannot so abound, but the grace of God which is our means and mediator by the death and righteousness of jesus Christ, must needs abound more. And albeit the sin which is committed against the Majesty of God, which is infinite, be therefore reputed infinite: yet that argueth not that the blood of jesus Christ which by the eternal spirit is offered up to God himself without any spot, doth not purge and make clean our consciences from dead works, to serve the living God, as the Apostle writeth to the 
Heb. 9  Hebrews: For the divinity being inseparably united with the humanity in the person of jesus Christ, is cause by his omnipotency, that his death hath an infinite virtue to redeem us, & his righteousness an infinite power to sanctify us, and his life to quicken us, and to make us happy, immortal and blessed: for that being God, as he is stronger than the devil: so also are his works more of force to save us, than are those of his enemy to confound and destroy us. His righteousness, hath more force and efficacy to justify us, than sin (whereof the devil is author) hath to condemn us. His innocency and pureness, to wash us and make us clean, than this unclean spirit hath filthiness and uncleanness to pollute and defile us. His light is clearer to lighten us, than the darkness of the prince of this world, to make us blind. His truth to instruct us, than the lies and errors of the father of lies to deceive us. To be brief, his life hath more virtue to raise us up to life again, than the enui●… of the murderer and manslayer hath to kill and slay us. Wherein we see that the son of God, as Saint john sayeth, is not come into the world, but to destroy the works of the devil, and that in his blood all our enemies, that is to say, all our sins have been drowned, as Pharaoh and the Egyptians enemies of the people of God, were discomfeted and swallowed up in the red Sea. This is the stronger man whom S. Luke said, came upon another strong 
Luke. 11.  man, fought with him and overcame him, and took from him all his weapons and armour wherein he did trust, that is, sin, death, and the law: leading 
Eph. 4.  with him Captivity captain, when he ascended up into heaven: so that the devil being now disarmed, hath no power to hurt us any more, neither by our sins which jesus Christ hath washed away in his blood, nor by death, which he hath overcome and swallowed up in dying for us: nor by the law, which he hath fulfilled and satisfied fully, submitting himself for us to the curse which was to light upon our heads. And although the devil be always our adversary, and that by the envy that he beareth us, and the malice that he oweth us, to do us a mischief, and to hinder us for ever attaining to that felicity, from the which he was cast down headlong by his pride, he runneth about like a roaring Lion, seeking whom he may 
1. Pet. 5.  devour: yet we may resist him well enough standing firm in our faith, and anchoring in the assurance that we have of the remission of our sins, the which is perpetual, as is the virtue and efficacy of the death of jesus Christ, by the which it hath been obtained for us: this is the freedom of the Church, within the which all the faithful must retire themselves when they are pursued by their own consciences, and followed with other Sergeants of God's justice, whereunto the Prophet David doth exhort us: Let Israel wait on the Lord, 
Psa. 130.  for with the Lord is mercy, and with him is great redemption: and he shall redeem Israel from all his iniquities. And in another place: The sacrifices of 
Psa. 51.  God are a contrite spirit: a contrite & a broken heart the Lord will not despise. And jesus Christ the sovereign Physician of our souls, who is come into this world but to seek that which was lost, to cure and heal that which was sick, (and as the Prophet sayeth) to bear our infirmities and langours upon him, shall he have any greater pleasure, then to see us run to him to be disburdened of our heavy sins? hath he at any time refused a sinner or publican that hath come unto him? He is (as the Prophet David sayeth) The Lord is full of compassion and mercy, 
●…say 53. Psa. 103.  slow to anger and of great kindness. He will not always chide, neither keep his anger for ever. We may see that clearly by the examples of the Publican, of the poor woman sinner, of the 
Mat. 16.  prodigal son, of the good thief, of David, of Saint Peter, of S. Paul, and the Steward that owed his master ten thousand Talents, which were forgiven him as soon as he by acknowledging and confessing the debt, had desired his master to have pity on him. Tell me, for what end hath the father sent his son into this world? Wherefore 
Esay. 6.  was he anointed with the holy Ghost? was it not to tell the poor Captives, that he was come from heaven, to pay their ransom, and to fetch them out of captivity: and to tell the poor prisoners, that he was come to set open the prison doors unto them: to tell those that were indebted unto him, that he would forgive them all: and to the sick, that he would heal them all.  
The Apostles that he sent into all parts of the world, what did he give them in charge? was it not to publish the glad tidings of the Gospel, that was the remission of sins, to all In the name of jesus Christ? If then their labour were not in vain, and in like manner, the labour of all the true and faithful ministers of jesus Christ, that have been since their time, we must assure ourselves of the remission of our sins.  
And more over, if our sins be not pardoned by believing in him, the birth, death, resurrection, ascension, intercession, and in sum, all the mystery of jesus Christ and our redemption should be nothing worth, made of no efficacy and valour, and 
1. Cor. 15. Matt. 1.  all our faith but vain. Likewise, how can we believe that he is our jesus and Emmanuell, if he do not save us from our sins, and so take away the enmity that is between us and him, which let him that he cannot join himself unto us? And what assurance should 
●…s. 59 Heb. 8. jer. 3.  we have that the new alliance and covenant that he hath made with us, hath been good in law, and ratified by his death and blood which he hath shed for us, if he had not forgotten quite all our iniquities, and written his laws in the tables of our hearts by his holy spirit, seeing that those are the promises and conditions upon the which it was bargained and agreed upon? What profit should we have by his priesthood, if the Sacrifice that he offered to his Father for our redemption, if we abide yet in our sins? And what shall it avail us, 
john. 2.  if he were not the propitiation and agreement for our sins, and not only for ours, but also for the sins of the whole world? How can we assure ourselves that he is our advocate and mediator, and under this assurance go to the throne of Grace to obtain mercy & favour to help us in time of need? We must not then doubt of the remission of our sins. And as David sayeth: As 
Psa. 103.  far as the East is from the West, so far hath he removed our sins from us. How can we stand in doubt of this, seeing that we bear the mark & print not only in our hearts and consciences, but also in our bodies of the two great broad seals of the Chancellor of the kingdom of heaven: that is to wit: Baptism and the Holy Supper of the Lord. Let the sick man than assure himself if he believe in the forgiveness of sins, he obtaineth it by and by: For God dealeth with us according to our faith. Saint Ambrose writeth, that all that we firmly believe we obtain: for we can believe nothing but that which God hath promised us, who is most faithful, and so true in his promises, that the very infidelity and unbelife of men cannot make him a liar. And albeit the 
Rom. 3.  wicked rejecting and contemning the word and promise of God by their contempt and obstinacy make it, that doth not produce the effect, in showing the virtue that it would have to save them, if they did believe it: yet that cannot bring any prejudice unto others that do receive it and obey it: and cannot hinder that they believing and by faith apprehending it in their hearts, be not quickened: no more than a man that would shut his eyes in the day, and would see no light, can hinder him that holdeth his eyes open and beholdeth the light. For the light and colour are the objects of the eye, the which being open, sound, and of a quick fight, apprehendeth by and by things object unto it: So the promises of God be the objects of Faith, which causeth a man to receive them incontinent, as they are announced unto her, so that the spirit of God have touched and prepared his heart before. For otherwise, if it remain in his stony nature, the spiritual seed which is sown can take no root at all, nor fructify no more than the seed that is sown upon stones, or upon ground that is not tilled. The sick man being resolved then of remission of all his sins, may not doubt but that he is in the favour of God, and that thereby he must look for life everlasting undoubtedly, and all the blessedness that God hath promised to his children: for there is nothing that may shut or debar us from it except only sin, the which being not imputed unto us, but covered and blotted out clean, what may now hurt us, or bring us out of God's favour? And if by faith we be united inseparably 
Eph. 3. Psa. ●…6.  with him, who is the fountain of life, and the fullness of all good, what can we desire, but we shall strait find in him? What mischief or misery may we fear being in his favour?  
Now being assured that he will continue towards us the good will that he beareth us for ever, and that there is no creature in the whole world that can alter it from us, as Saint Paul 
Rom. 8.  sayeth to the Romans: I am assured, that neither death, nor life, nor Angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come, nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature shallbe able to separate us from the love of god, which is in Christ jesus.  
And a little above this place, saith he: What shall separate us from the love of Christ? shall tribulation, or anguish, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword? Every man then that hath once been graffed in by faith into the body of Christ jesus, & by consequent is the adopted son of God, & received into his grace & into his house, as his child, departeth not from thence 
Rom. 5.  any more: but even as he is assured of his election by his calling and justification, which followed the one the other: so is he also of his glorification which is the conclusion, and as it were the crowning of his salvation: for the gifts and calling of God are without repentance. That which the Apostle writeth most evidently to the Romans: Those whom 
Rom. 8.  he hath predestinate, he hath also called: and those whom he hath called, he hath also justified: and those whom he hath justified, he hath also glorified. And although we have yet many vices and infirmities in us, and that it chance that we fall grievously sometimes, as it happened to David, S. Peter, S. Paul, and almost to all the Saints: yea, to the perfectest that ever were: yet there is one point, upon the which we must rest, & be well grounded, whereby we must comfort ourselves greatly, and hold out against all the assaults and temptations of Satan: this is it, that 
1. ●…o. 3. & 5.  Saint john saith, Who soever is borne of God, sinneth no more, (that is to say) the sin unto death: for the seed of God remaineth in him, that cannot sin, because he is borne of God That which he declareth better in another place. All iniquity (saith he) is sin: But there is a sin which is not unto death. We know that whosoever is borne of God sinneth not, but he that is borne of God, standeth upon his guard, that the tempter touch him not. For by this he giveth us enough to understand that faith and the word of God, which are the soul and the foundation, be never wholly and altogether plucked up and banished from the heart of the elect, and therefore they cannot sin in that sin that Saint john calleth, to death. For although that faith be sometime as it were buried in them, having no moving or feeling, no more than a dead thing. Yet it is not altogether extinguished, no more than fire covered with a few cenders, albeit it show not the flame and heat: nor no more dead, than a tree in Winter, when all the sap is got into the root, and it bringeth forth no blossoms, nor leaves, nor fruit, as though it were not alive: the sap nevertheless remaineth at the heart hidden within in the root: and this is the reason why David speaking of the faithful man sayeth: Though 
Psa. 37.  he fall, he shall not be cast off, for the Lord putteth under his hand. And in another place: I will keep my promise that I have sworn unto him, and show my favour unto him for ever.  
And in the four score and ninth Psalm: I said, Mercy should be 
Psa. 89.  set up for ever: Thy truth shalt thou establish in the very Heavens. I have made a covenant with my chosen, etc.  
And in another place more plainly: I will not fail David: his seed shall endure for ever, and his throne shall be as the Sun before me. He shall be established for ever more as the Moon, and as a faithful witness in Heaven. But if his children forsake my law, and walk not in my judgements: If they break my statutes, and keep not my commandments? Then will I visit their transgressions with the rod, and their iniquity with strokes: yet my loving kindness will I not take from him, neither will I falsify my truth. My covenant will I not break, nor alter the thing that is gone out of my lips. And in the 23 Psalm: Doubtless, 
Psa. 23.  kindness and mercy shall follow thee all the days of thy life: and I shall remain a long season in the house of the Lord. And in the thirtieth Psalm: He endureth but a 
Psa. 30.  while in his anger: but in his favour is life. Weep may abide are evening, but joy cometh in the morning.  
Likewise in the 65 Psalms: Blessed is 
Psa. 65.  he whom thou choosest, and causest to come to thee. He shall dwell in thy courts, and we shall be satisfied with the pleasures of thine house, even of thine holy Temple. And last of all, in the 119 Psalm: I pray thee that thy 
Psa▪ 119.  mercies may comfort me according to thy promise. These and other like places of holy Scriptures must we allege unto the sick patient to strengthen his faith, and to arm him on every side, for the venomous darts and arrows of Satan, that on what side soever he assail him, he may find no place unarmed, where he may wound and hit him. For no doubt the devil will do what he can by all the treachery he can devise, to shake the foundations of our faith, and so to overthrow us quite. But to defend and save ourselves, we must always keep ourselves within our fortress, and never departed from the promises of God, whatsoever he allege to the contrary. Let us set before him that which Esaie sayeth: Israel shall be 
Esa. 45. Esa. 51.  saved in the Lord with an everlasting salvation, and we shall not be ashamed or confounded world without end. And in another place: The Heavens shall vanish away like smoke, and the earth shall wax old like a garment, and they that dwell therein shall perish likewise, but my salvation shall be for ever, and my righteousness shall never fail. And lest the great signs that he shows us often times of his anger and displeasure should breed in our hearts too great a fear, and so we should fall to despair of his promises, let us hear what the Prophet saith in his 54. Chapter, 
Esay. 54.  speaking to the Church in the name of God: For a little while have I forsaken thee, but with great compassion will I gather thee. For a moment in mine anger I hide my face from thee for a little season, but with everlasting mercy have I had compassion on thee, saith the Lord thy redeemer. For this is unto me as the waters of Noah: for as I have sworn that the waters of Noah should no more▪ overflow the earth, so have I sworn that I would not be angry with thee, nor rebuke thee. For the mountains shall remove, and the hills shall fall down, but my mercy shall not departed from thee, neither shall the covenant of my peace fall away, saith the Lord that hath compassion on thee. To the same purpose God speaketh by Oseas the Prophet unto his Church: that he will marry her unto himself in righteousness, and in judgement, and in mercy and compassion: showing thereby that the alliance and covenant that he will conclude with her shall be firm and inviolable, and that he will establish and ground her in himself, that is to say, in his mercy, truth and justice, requiring only that she would walk uprightly before him, & that in all her ways she would follow him in all perfect integrity, keeping herself as much as she can from all counterfeiting and hypocrisy. This must be diligently marked: For the devil, to make us afraid, and to make us doubt of the effect of the promises of God when we are ready to appear before his judgement seat are cited, and our cause ready to be called: If he see that we stand fast, resting upon the word of his Gospel, wherein he doth offer unto us his grace, he will grant us, that all that God saith is tru●…, and likewise that he offereth us freely his grace, and life everlasting by his promise: but forsooth, that he cannot perform that which he hath promised by reason of our indignity. For that we having so oft offended him, since we have been lightened and regenerate by the knowledge of his truth, & had so much favour at his hands, beside, as to be received into his family, and to be adopted his children. Bb our own ingratitude we have made ourselves uncapable of his benefits, and unworthy to have the promises performed that he hath made unto us. Thereupon to repulse this temptation, which is the greatest of all, and more dangerous than any, wherewith we may be assailed. We must first note, that as the good will and pleasure of God hath been the first motyfe to stir him up to make this alliance and covenant with us, and to offer us freely the promise of salvation, by the which he declareth himself to be our God, and receiveth us to be his people: as also his grace is the only means to induce him to perform it towards us. And this was the cause why Saint Paul said: that the reward of sin is death, but the gift of 
Rom. 6.  God which is his grace is eternal life. Whereas if he should have drawn an argument directly from the Countries, me thinketh he should have said, that as life is the reward of our righteousness, so death is the gu●…rdon of our sins. But to give us to understand, that life which is the effect of the promise, is as well given to us gratis, as the promises which doth offer it to us, he hath attributed it wholly to the grace of God, making no mention of our works or virtues. This is confirmed by the 4. to the Romans, and in 32. Psalm, where David declareth that the blessedness of man consisteth in this, that God alloweth his righteousness without works saying: Happy are they whose iniquities are forgiven, and whose sins are covered. Happy is the man unto whom the lord shall impute no sin. Seeing then that the life and blessedness that God doth offer us by his promises, are not granted unto us in am and favour of any merits or virtue, that is in man. But by the only grace of God, it followeth then, that as the price and dignity of our works cannot purchase us life everlasting, so also our unworthiness cannot hinder us from attaining to the same. For it is the more gift of God, which he bestoweth upon whom it pleaseth him, according to his mercy, and not according to the merit of our righteousness which are not only unperfect, but also polluted with much uncleanness, because that our hearts from whence they proceed, cannot be so well cleansed in this world, but still there doth remain some stains and corruption, whereby they are defiled. Which is the cause that the prophet prayeth to God so fervently, that he would not enter into judgement with him. Saing: Enter not into judgement with thy servant, for in thy sight shall none that liveth 
Psal. 143.  be justified. And also where he saith: If thou O Lord straightly markest iniquities, 
Psal. 130.  O Lord who shallbe able to stand? And that Saint Augustine in his confessions, hath this excellent and memorable sentence: Our righteousness shallbe cursed, if it be examined and judged without his mercy. But nevertheless that can not let us, why God should not give life everlasting, as he hath promised us. So that we acknowledge, feel and confess our own unworthiness. For nothing can make us more capable (and if it may be said also) more worthy of the favours and blessings of God, than the knowledge and feeling, that we have in ourselves to be altogether unworthy. What worthiness might the Thief have that hung upon the Cross hard by our Saviour jesus Christ, who had continued in his théeving and wickedness, till the last hour of his life, never acknowledging his Saviour jesus Christ, till the very hour that he should render up the Gost. And yet he had no sooner opened 
Luke. 27.  his mouth to confess himself sincerely, and to ask mercy and pardon of jesus christ, but he heard by and by, this day shalt thou 
Luke. 16.  be with me in paradise. What worthiness might the poor Publican have, who for the great shame and horror that he had of all his life before past, durst not lift up his eyes to heaven, nevertheless, as soon as he began to confess the pitiful and miserable estate wherein he was, and prayed God to have compassion upon him, all his sins were pardoned him, and he went justified and righteous home to his own house? What worthiness, I pray you, was found 
Act. 9  in Saint Paul at Damascus, when transported with a rage and fury to give information according to his Commission, that he had obtained of the high Priest, for all them that confessed the name of jesus, to bring them bound and manacle●… to jerusalem, there to endict them and to condemn them to death? and yet for all that he was so horrible a blasphemer and persecutor of jesus Christ and of his Church, and therefore not only unworthy to be numbered amongst his Apostles (as he himself confesseth) but also amongst his sheep. God forgetting in a moment all the injuries that he had done unto him, and unto his Church, made him a special instrument, and a chosen trumpet amongst all his companions to publish his Gospel throughout all the world. Who would say that he had any respect unto the merit and worthiness of his gests and actions, when he did advance him to so great honour. Loving him as much or more than he did any of his fellows? Seeing that he himself doth so highly commend the grace of God, to the which he doth attribute what good thing soever he did either think, or speak or do in all his life. It is then the only grace of God which is the foundation and mean of life everlasting, that we hope for: as it is also of the righteousness and holiness of life, by the which we attain unto it. This jesus christ did teach, when speaking of his sheep he saith: that they 
john. 16.  hear his voice, and follow him, and y●…t for all that he giveth them eternal life. Signifiyng thereby, that it is freely given them, and of a pure gist and not in lief or respect, that they have heard his voice and followed his traces. This may also be gathered, 
Exod. 20.  out of the words of Moses, in the 20. of Exodus, where God promiseth to show mercy upon thousands towards them that love him and keep his commandments: Whereby we must note, that he doth not promise his servants any other recompense for their good deeds, but to show mercy towards them and their posterity. And as much may we observe in the 24. Psalm. Where the Prophet speaking of those, that went up to the hill of the Lord, saith, that it shallbe. He that hath innocent hands and a pure heart, 
Psal. 24.  which hath not lift up his mind unto iniquity, nor sworn deceitfully: and a little after he saith: He shall receive a blessing from the Lord, and righteousness from the God of his salvation. This is the generation of them that seek him, of them that seek the face of the God of jacob: to give us to understand that whatsoever we have done to obey God to wash our hearts from all wicked thoughts and affections, and our hands from all wicked works, to humble ourselves under the hand of God, and to presume nothing of ourselves nor of our own virtues, notwithstanding all this we cannot go up into the hill of the Lord, but only by the gracious favour that he shall show unto us, and by the merciful dealing that it shall please him to use towards us. And this is the best thing to comfort us withal, and to put our hope in full assurauncè: that it be grounded upon his mercy & truth, which are firm and immutable, and not upon the merits and worthiness of our works and virtues, which are very unperfect. Now if we perceive the sick man to be fully resolved of the remission of his sins, and that in his mind there remain no fear or conceit of them, that may trouble his conscience: then must we go further with him, to strengthen him against the horror and apprehension that he may have of death, showing him by the word of God that it is vanquished and swallowed up by the death of jesus Christ: who, speaking by the mouth of his Prophet, he saith unto death. O death I will be thy death and destruction: For seeing that the sting of 
Osee. 13. 1. Cor. 13.  death is sin, and the power of sin is the law, jesus Christ fulfilling the law for us, hath by that means taken away the sting of death. So that it cannot hurt us any more, and hath overcome and vanquished the power of sin, so that it cannot condemn us no more. And although it be a certain decree and ordinance of god, that all men shall die, and that coming from dust, they shall return to dust: nevertheless to speak properly, the separation of the body and the soul in the faithful, ought not to be called death: So jesus Christ, speaking to his disciples of Lazarus, who was dead, said, that he slept. This phrase of speech is very usual in the old Testament, to signify the death of the 
john. 11.  Fathers. Saint Paul useth it likewise writing to the Corinthians and Thessalonians, 
1. Cor. 15. 1. Thes. 4.  of those that should departed this life before the day of the resurrection, whom he calleth sleeping. But he giveth it a more honourable title in his epistle to the Philippians, where he calleth it a dislodging or departing of the Soul from the Body. Which agreeth well with the words of jesus Christ, who advertising his Disciples, 
Phil. 1.  of his death that was at hand, told them that the hour drew near, in the which he should pass out of this world to God his father, calling the death of his body, but a passage, by the which we go out of this vale of misery, to enter into possession 
john. 13.  of Paradise: that is to say: of a place of assured tranquillity and rest, and full of all delight & pleasure. The ancient Greeks called death Thanaton: which is as much to say: 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉: in english thus: From hence to God: or 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉: which signifieth consecration, as one should say: a solemn Ceremony, by the which, the faithful are wholly dedicated unto God, never afterward to do any thing, but sing praise to him and sanctify his holy name. 
Math. 20.  And also our Saviour hath also called it baptism, for that by death we pass as it were through a gate, and as it were over a water, to go to a place of rest and pleasure, whether we purpose to go. And if the body which the Greeks call 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, to show that it is as it were the grave and sepulchre of the soul, which they call with a name very near unto the other, called 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, wherein it seemeth in this life the soul is buried, when it pleaseth God to fetch it from thence, it is not, as though he should make it come forth of the grave and raise it up again: What is the occasion then that men may have to fly from this corporal death, and to have it in such horror? Seeing that separating the soul from the body, setteth the soul out of prison, and sendeth it to enjoy liberty in heaven, there to be made much of in the bosom of jesus christ, and to enjoy with him and with all the happy souls, the eternal comforts promised and reserved for the elect people of God? The body on the other side lieth in the earth, as in a bed, there to sleep and take his rest at his ease, being never wake or troubled in his sleep, neither by fearful dreams nor cares, nor fears, nor cries, noises, or any thing else that may disquiet the same, sleeping there till the day of the resurrection, when it shallbe waked 
2. Cor. 15.  by the sound of God's Trumpet, and knit again to the Soul, having left behind in the earth his mortality, dishonour, and weakness, having put on his robes of glory, power, immortality and corruption. Whereby we may see, that it is without curse, that men fear so much this corporal death: the which doth but separate for a time the soul from the body, for the great profit of the one and of the other. For the body is by this means out of all danger, not only of sin, and of the miseries that wait thereupon, but also of all temptation, remaining and resting in the earth, in certain hope of the resurrection, and of the life everlasting. And although it seem to be altogether deprived of life lying in the earth, because that the soul being departed from it, leaveth it without any more ving or feeling, and it putrefieth and goeth into earth, yet being always accompanied with the spirit and infinite power of God which quickeneth all things, it is not altogether void of life as Saint Paul saith: If the spirit of him which raised jesus Christ up from the dead, dwell within you. He also which hath raised him up, shall also quicken your mortal bodies, because of his spirit which dwelleth in you. This is the reason, why in another place, drawing out unto us the portraiture of the resurrection of our bodies to come, he brings in an example of the seed, which is cast into the earth, the which hath life in it, although being in the Garner, it semeeh to have none, and holding it in our hands we cannot judge, but that it is a thing dead and without life. Yet when it is cast into the earth, where a man would think the life, if it had any, would be smothered and taken away, it shows itself and grows, as it were, from the rottenness from whence we see the ear cometh, which nourisheth and grows afterwards, showing plainly by evident tokens the life that was hid in it before it was cast in the earth. So God in the holy scripture 
Math. 22.  caleth himself the God of Abraham, long time after Abraham's death, and saith that he is not the God of the dead, but of the living. Then it followeth, that not only the soul of Abraham, which he redeemed by the death of his Son, is yet living, since it hath been separated from the Body: but that the body which is partaker of the same redemption, which is knit and incorporate to jesus Christ to be one of his members, and hath been consecrated and sanctified unto God, that he may dwell 
1. Cor. 3.  therein as in his holy Temple, is not clean without life, although it be putrefied in the bowels of the earth. For so much as it is always accompanied with the grace of God, and jointly with the soul comprised in the everlasting covenant, that he hath made with his people, which covenant is a fountain and vain of life, not only to the souls, but also the bodies of all the faithful. And if as Saint john saith, they be 
Apoc. 14.  most happy and blessed which die in the Lord, and that no blessedness can be without life: we must needs conclude the one of these two things: either that no blessedness can come to the body, or else if it may come, that the body is not deprived and void of all life lying in the earth. For although it be putrefied and have no sign of life in it at all, yet retaineth it in itself, as it were a seed and stack which shall appear at the day of the resurrection, when the spirit of God pouring out his infinite virtue on our bodies, shall raise them up again, and shall make them shine with the glory and brightness that he hath promised his elect. And even as in an egg, there is a chicken, and a certain life which is evidently perceived, when the hen hath heated and hatched it by her heat: so immortality and life everlasting, whereof both our souls and bodies are called to be partakers, from the time that we have received the Gospel of Christ (which is a word of life and a seed incorruptible) shall shut up till the last day by the power of our God, which shall then make us new 
2. Pet. 3.  again, as he shall do the Heavens, the earth and all other creatures, which then shall fully be delivered from the bondage of corruption,. Whereof we are also assured 
Rom. 8.  by the baptism that is given us in the name of the Father, of the Son, and of the holy Ghost. For the water which hath been poured upon our bodies, which the Scripture calleth the laver of Regeneration, is not only to assure us, that our souls are washed and purged clean by the blood of jesus Christ, for the remission of our sins, but also our bodies, And that being both together covered and clad with the righteousness and innocency of the son of God, and beside sanctified by his holy Spirit, they are by and by put in possession of life everlasting, and altogether made free and delivered from the slavery of death, which hath no power, as we said, but only where sin reigneth, which is the only cause of death. The holy Supper of our Lord in the which taking by faith bread and wine, which are given unto us by the hands of the minister, we are received to the partaking of the flesh and blood of jesus Christ, and so united and incorporate 
john. 6.  with him, that for ever (as Saint john saith) he dweleth in us and we in him, doth it not assure us also that being inseparably joined with the life, and with him that is cause of life, we can neither die either in soul or body, by reason of this union which is common both to soul and body? The death of the body ought not to seem so horrible, and hideous, as it doth unto others, who are frighted as little children with a mask or false vizard. For if the mother should come to her child with a monstrous and ugly face to be seen, he would be afraid and run away from her, crying: but so soon as she should have plucked off her false vizard, he would run unto her and kiss and embrace her. So must we do, to be delivered from fear and frighting of death, wherewith we are naturally faised, we must pluck off her mask and vizard, and must behold it with that form and face that Christ our Saviour did, when he overcame death. For even as by his Cross he hath discharged us of the curse under the which we were, and hath turned the curse into a blessing: So by his death hath he not only mortified, but also quickened our death, so that now it is become an haven of health, and a door to enter into the kingdom of heaven, and to take possession of that blessed life, which God hath promised to his elect children. That which doth cause us to fear, is that we do behold it, in the mirror of the law, where it doth show itself unto us under a most terrible shape to behold, and like a Sergeant armed with the anger of God, and with all the threats and curses set down in the law against those that do transgress the same, who cometh to execute his office and to cite us to appear presently before the judgement seat, and to hear the sentence of the last and sovereign judge, by whom we are sent unto everlasting fire, without any hope of comfort, or ever to have any other company, but with Devils to torments us. Which imagination if it come in our mind when we are ready to die, it cannot be, but we shall take such a conceit and apprehension, that shallbe enough to overthrow us clean, and cast us down into the pit and gulf of desperation, if it should continue long with us. But to get it away, we must do as they who have their eyes dazzled by looking too long of one colour, that is twinkling and glimmering. To get their sight again, they must cast their eyes upon some other colour that is more lively for the recreation. So when we feel ourselves brought into so dangerous a case, by reason of the fear and apprehension that the law causeth us to have of death, we must behold her face in the mirror 
Act. 2.  of the Gospel, where jesus Christ sets it down to be more sweet, well favoured, and most amiable, where as Moses in his law had made it most ugly and horrible to behold: It hath now never a sting to prick us, neither any cords, chains or bands to keep us under her jurisdiction: For jesus Christ being risen from the dead hath broken them, as Sampson by a marvelous strength did break (as man would break a thread) the great cords and cables wherewith the Philistines thought they had bound him so sure, and so manacled him, that they thought he would never have escaped their hands. Yet they were deceived, for when they came upon him with great fury and violence, than they perceived he broke them all a sunder as easily, as a man should break a little string half burned a two. So death thought when she had made jesus Christ to die, she had overcome all, and subdued all things under her power, and that she had set her Empire in so sure estate, so that it could never decay: yet she found herself vanquished and throne under feet, that she shall never be able to rise again.  
For so writeth the Apostle to the Corinthians, 
1. Cor. 1●….  that death hath been swallowed up in victory, that is meant of that which she thought to have gotten, when she made jesus Christ to die. Death then is not to be feared, for these reasons that we have already alleged, but rather to be desired for some that I will allege hearafter. For first it setteth our souls at liberty, and maketh them free from torments, anguishes, fears, desperations, cares, covetousness and other lusts, whereby they are cruelly tortured, mean while they are penned in this loathsome prison of our vicious, mortal and corruptible bodies: It delivereth likewise ou●… bodies from innumerable dangers, whereunto they are opposed as well on sea as land, as in any other place wheresoever they converse. From many kinds of sicknesses and sores, which do undermine and bring us to our end, with intolerable pain and 〈◊〉. Likewise from necessity and pain of working and labouring, unto the which we are subject, by reason of sin, and lastly from a great care, that we have continually, to get and seek out all means to nourish, cloth, get us abiding places, and all other things that are needful to maintain this miserable life. But all this is nothing in respect of the good it doth us, putting us out of all danger of sinning any more, and of being tempted of the devil, of the world and of our own proper lusts and concupiscences, which never cease to stir us up to do evil, and provoke us every hour to offend God, and so to procure upon ourselves all the curses that he threateneth in his law to all those that transgress and disobey them. With what zeal and vehemency? with 
1. Co●…. 12.  what sighs and groans did the Apostle ask and beseech of God to deliver him from the body of sin. From this angel of Satan 
Rom. 7.  which did buffet him? And after this long and lamentable complaint that he made of the law, which he saw in his members contrary to the law of his understanding, which made him captive to the law of sin, which was in his members, at the conclusion of his discourse, what a loud cry he made from the bottom of his heart? Alas, wretched man that I am who shall deliver me from this body of sin? See then what piteous moan this holy parsonage made to see in himself the tyranny of sin, and to see himself so forced and constrained to do that evil which he detested, and to leave undone the good which he desired and coveted to do with all his heart? O most happy death the which doth bring us out of so cruel and irksome▪ slavery: who will then consider what a misery it is to live in the midst of the Church amongst 
2. Tim. 3.  the barbarous people, and such as the Apostle did prophesy should come in these latter days, that is to say: men that should love themselves, avaricious persons, vanters, proud, backebiter, disobedient to father and mother, ingrateful persons, despisers of God, without any natural affection, false accu●…ers, immodest, cruel, hating those that are good, traitorous, rash ambitious, lovers of worldly pleasures, rather than of God, having but an appearance of godliness, but observing no form thereof. And on the other side to be environed and compassed in round with the professed and mortal enemies of the Gospel, and of jesus Christ, and of his Church, which made dogs and wolves, which made men, which care neither for God or his grace, curious persons, over hasty, outrageous, profane, blasphemers, having neither ●…aith, law, fear, or conscience to repress there malice and malignity. Who shall but regard what a trouble and vexation it is, to live in this wicked & perverse world, and be forced to see so many abominable impiety and sacrileges committed, and to hear so many execrable and horrible blasphemies, that they spit out without any fear or shame against Heaven, against the throne and majesty of God: shall he not lament his life so long in this world? and say with the Prophet David: 
Psal. 120.  Woe is me that I remain in messhech, and dwell in the tents of Kedar: my soul hath too long dwelled with them that hate peace. I seek peace and when I speak thereof they are bent towarre.  
Ely seeing the people of Israel had 
1. Kings. 16  forsaken GOD, and had given themselves over to Idolatry, and perceiving the strange cruelties on the other side that Achab and jezabel did use against the Prophets and servants of God, being a weary of his life, got him into the desert under a juniper tree, and there he prayed unto god, that he would take him out of this life, that he might not behold any longer that he did then behold and see: so also is it not possible for a man, be he never so strong hearted, seeing the disorder and confusion that reigns now a days in the world, and how every where (except in very few places) Piety and justice are altogether overthrown, faith and the fear of God, virtue and verity are clean banished from the company of most men, but he shall feel in his heart strange pangs and passions of sorrow, and that to turn away his eyes from such pitiful sights he shall desire with all his heart, that his soul might dislodge quickly from this earthly Tabernacle, to take up and have a new dwelling place in Heaven, where we have a permanent City, and an habitation well fenced and fortified against all dangers, and that then shallbe fully accomplished that which the Prophet saith: 
Psal. 121.  The Lord shall preserve thee from all evil, he shall keep thy soul. The Lord shall preserve thy going out and thy coming in from henceforth and for ever. And beside, this will greatly increase our desire, for that dislodging from this world, we shallbe suddenly transported up into Heaven, where we shall see God face to face, and jesus Christ in his glory: by which sight the Angels of heaven, and all blessed Spirits are so ravished, that they desire and seek none other thing at all for their contentment and pleasure, as 
Psal. 16.  saith the Prophet. In thy presence is the fullness of joy, & at thy right hand there is pleasure for evermore. The Queen of Saba having seen Solomon and heard 
1. Sam.▪ 10.  his great wisdom by the answer that he made to all questions that she demanded, having moreover considered and remarked the order and pomp of his Court: being as one ravished and in an estasis she began to cry: O how happy are the servants of thy house, that may behold thy face every day, and understand thy profound wisdom, that cometh from thy lips? How much more happy than they shall we be then, seeing fully the glorious face of our God? all the divine treasures of his heavenly wisdom being opened unto us. If Moses thought himself happy and was accounted one of the greatest Prophets of the world, because he had seen on lie the hinder part of God, what shall w●…e be when we shall see him face to face, as he is in all his glory? Many kings and prophets in the time of our Fathers, have greatly desired the coming of jesus Christ, and would have thought themselves most happy, if they had seen God manifestly in the flesh as Saint john Baptist, Simeon, & the Apostle did, how happy then may we think ourselves at this present day, when by our death we have this prerogative to see him in his glory and majesty, clothed with his royal rob, sitting at the right hand of God his Father, having authority and power in heaven and earth, to govern and dispose all things according to his good pleasure, treading upon all his enemies, as upon a footstool under his feet? When he transfigured himself in the mountain, Peter, john, and james, seeing but a little beam of his glory, were so suddenly ravished in themselves, that forgetting all other things, they desired for all felicity, but that they might continue still in that joy and pleasure, wherein they were at that hour. Now let us think if never so little taste of the life to come, hath been able so to ravish these three Disciples, how shall it be with us, when according to the good hope that we have, we shall have the whole precious stone and drink our fill in this stream or rather in this Sea of pleasure and all perfect contentment. When this everlasting joy whereof the Apostle speaketh, shallbe poured upon our heads. And this joy shallbe doubled, when with jesus Christ we shall see this noble and glorious company of Angels, Archangels, dominions, powers, patriarchs, prophets, apostles, martyrs, and generally all the triumphant Church of the blessed souls, which do nothing but sing incessantly, the praises of God: crying: Holy, Holy, Holy Lord God Almighty, who waist, art, and art to come for ever. Likewise to him that 
●…poc. 5.  sitteth on the throne, and to the Lamb, be honour, praise, glory and power for ever & ever. It was marvelous pleasant in old time to behold the solemn meeting of all the Tribes of all the people of Israel in 
2. Sam. 23.  jerusalem, when Salomou having finished the Temple, did dedicate it with an infinite number of burnt offerings and other sacrifices, with sweet perfume and incense, with prayers and thanksgiving, and such mirth and melody of all the people that the like was never seen nor heard off before. There was likewise two other notable assemblies in jerusalem, which are 
1 Sam. ●…. 2. Chro. 30.  very famous in holy Scripture, the one in the reign of Ezechias: the other in the reign of josias: when these two good princes moved with a zeal of godliness and the service of God, that before had been pitifully corrupted by the idolatry and impiety of their predecessors, with an heroical and magnanimous heart, undertook to pu●…ge the holy land, of all filthy & stinking abominations, wherewith both the bodies & souls of divers were infected, taking clean away the stews & Idols of all the county of judaea, and abolishing clean all the false services that their hypocritical fathers had invented and established against or clean beside the word and ordinance of God, having no warrant for it at all. And to renew the covenant of God, which was almost forgotten, and clean defaced out of the people's heart, assembled all the inhabitants of the Country, with whom after the law was read publicly, they solemnized the Easter with great solemnity, than ever was seen or heard of before. And who was he amongst that company think ye, that seeing such an assembly gathered together for so good an end, whose heart did not leap in his belly for joy, seeing God present in the midst of his holy people, hearing the agreement that was renewed between the parties, and the solemn promises and protestations, first that GOD made respectivelye to his people, assuring them of his favour for ever, and then that his people made unto him, promising him never to go from him, but to keep his covenant for ever, and never change his true service ever hereafter honouring him only, and sanctifying his holy name. And sure such assembles of the militant church, whereof some steps we have seen in this latter age, if Antichrist and his adherents did not disturb them would be an excellent thing, and most to be desired of all earthly treasure: 
Psal. 26.  as the Prophet saith. O Lord I have loved the habitation of thine house & the place where thine honour dwelleth. And also here he saith: As the heart braieth 
Psal. 42.  for the rivers of waters, so panteth my soul after thee O God: my soul thirsteth for God, even for the living God, when shall I come and appear before the presence of God? And in the 92. Psalm: It is a good thing to praise the Lord, and to sing to thy name O 
Psal. 92.  most highest: To declare thy loving kindness in the morning, & thy truth in the night. These places and infinite other do show sufficiently what account we ought to have of holy assemblies, which he did prefer before all worldly pleasures. And to say the truth, every man which knoweth and feeleth in himself, what is the love, bounty, sweetens, mercy, goodness, wisdom, faithfulness, patience, truth, power greatness, majesty, justice, liberality, and other sovereign and infinite virtues of God, can never content himself sufficiently to think upon them, to declare them to others, to admire and adore them, and to invite not only the angels and all the holy company of Heaven, but also all the elements, all living creatures, all plants yea all creatures without life to magnify his holy name, and to be filled with joy, when he shall hear it exalted, and glorified. Albeit the praises and thanksgiving that men yet living do sing unto the Majesty of God, cannot be so holy, or well directed, but they want somewhat: for being always unperfect, as we are, unto what degree of faith and charity soever we have attained: and having beside this flesh with us which doth fight continually against the spirit, and keepeth it in bridle, and pulleth it back when it would lift itself up unto God, it is impossible that we should hear the word of God with such zeal & attentiveness, as we ought, neither that we should make our confessions, prayers and thanksgiving, with such humility and affection as is required of us. Yet when we hear in the midst of the assembly, the Psalms and spiritual songs resound from the mouths of the faithful, although they be but weak, frail, poor and miserable sinners, we rejoice and are ravished with the joy that we feel inwardly in our hearts. What may we then think of the pleasure and joy that we hope to receive in Heaven, when our souls being departed out of our bodies and ascended thither, shall hear the sweet music and harmony of Angels, and other blessed spirits, singing together the praises of God, with so melodious a tune, that ●…he contentment and pleasure that they shall take thereby, shall make them in an instant forget not only all other displeasure, but also all other pleasure that ever they felt? As a pale of water being cast into the sea, is by and by no more perceived, and as the brightness of the stars appears no more as soon as the Sun beginneth to shine, and to cast his glorious beams over the face of the earth. Moreover when we die in the faith of our Lord jesus Christ, at that very instant we are blessed and most happy, that is to say: we have no more thoughts and desires, but such as are pure and holy, and at the very hour of death have their full period. Which is no small felicity, for we have the flesh no more contrary to our spirit, our appetites no more rebelling against reason, nor the law of our members no more repugning the law of God: but all tumults and troubles being assuaged in our hearts, we have a soul spiritual, calm, peaceable, living to God altogether, which doth always cleau so fast unto him, that it can no more by any temptation, or any otherways be withdrawn from his love, or his service, nor from beholding of his face. Is there any thing more pleasant to behold then a City governed with good policy, where all the Citizens and inhabitants are so loving one to another, firmly joined together with an unfeigned bond of amity, which committeth no wranglinges, strifes, debates, quarrels, partialities, divisions, tumults or seditions to arise amongst them, they do hold so together, and live all in amiable love and concord. Is there likewise any thing more to be desired, then to see a family well ordered, where the father and mother, the children, & servants, do live together in the fear and obedience of God, and do contain themselves within their duty, and do not let slip or go beyond in any thing, the rule & measure that God hath set down in his law? Saint Paul in many places doth tell us of the wonderful 
Rom. 12 1. Cor. 12.  harmony, which is between the members of man's body, of their mutual communication, faculties & powers, not one envying the dignity of another, or despising his companion for his baseness: by this comparison teaching the Church, what fraternity & just proportion ought to be between the members thereof, for the health & preservation of every member in particular, and of the whole body in general. What goodlier sight is there, than this to be seen amongst men? And what better melody can there be, than a Lute well tuned, and well touched? But what heavenly harmony is there in the soul, when it agreeth so well in all her powers, that our understanding thinketh on nothing more than on God, & our will loveth, desireth, and aspireth to nothing, but to him: our memory hath nothing to remember but him, for so is it with her, when having left this body, she is received into Paradise. For than she is filled with GOD, who is in her. From 
●…. Cor. 15  thence forward all things (as the Apostle saith) that is to say, all her thoughts, all her love and desire, all her cogitation, to be brief, all her good, all that ever she hath, all her wishing and contentation is fixed in God. Seeing then that by death we do achieve so great a benefit, that in all this life in what estate so ever we be, we cannot find the like: for there is living in this miserable world neither King nor Caesar, noble man of mark, or merchant, lawyer or labourer, who complaineth not of his estate often, and hath just occasion so to do, when his affairs fall out contrary to his desire, hope, and expectation: are not we then greatly beholding to death, that in the twinkling of an eye, doth give us the fruition of the sovereign felicity, which doth consist in the perfect tranquillity of our souls, and in the full satisfaction of all our desires. The which vain men seek in vain to have in this life in the transitory trash and treasure of this present world.  
There is yet one thing more which should make us embrace death willingly, when our hour is come: which is, that it doth set us in possession of all the goods, that jesus Christ hath purchased for us. For while we live in this world we are not saved (as the Apostle saith) but by hope only. But when by death we depart from hence, than we enjoy life everlasting, and that pleasure which is so great, that neither eye, ear, understanding, or heart of man may conceive or apprehend the greatness thereof. It was a joyful thing I think, for the people of Israel, after their long and irksome slavery wherein they were detained in Egypt, after so long wandering, and many unhappy reencounters, that they had in the deserts of Arabia for forty years together, when at the last they saw themselves arrived at the banks of jordaine, and had but to pass over the river to enter into the possession of the land that GOD had promised to their Fathers, which they had so long waited for before.  
A young man that hath been many years ward under a rigorous and severe Tutor, who hath misused him, and dealt very hardly with him, keeping him short of those things which were necessary for him, hath he not great cause to rejoice, seeing the date of his wardship to draw out, when he shall have all his goods at his own pleasure, and he at no man's controlment any more.  
The children that descend of any noble family, that are brought up under the king, or in the house of any great Prince or Signior, to wait upon them, being brought up under the hand and correction of a sharp and cursed squire, who doth keep them in, with a severe and rigorous discipline: are not they full glad, when they are out of their waiting office, free from the fear and servility wherein they were so long & rigorously detained? The young maidens that have all their youth been straightly kept within their fathers and mother's door, they rejoice greatly when they hear they shall be married, & a great deal more when they are betrothed, but their greatest pleasuxe and joy is, when they are married and given into the hands of an husband, whom they love and like well of. For so they have their hearts desire. We also that here on earth, by the preaching of the Gospel of jesus Christ, and by faith which we have fixed in his promises: have as it were betrothed ourselves unto him, what cause shall we have to rejoice, when our souls departing from our bodies, shall mount up into the heavens to espouse him, and there to solemnize the feastifal day of our marriage with such joy and gladness, as shall never have end, and never be interrupted or troubled, neither by death, disease, or any other accident that ever may bechance. Then will our spouse coming before us say unto us that which is written in the Canticles: Come he there, my sweet one, enter into the closet of thy love. The winter is passed, so are also the rain, the snow, the hail, the cold and frost, and all the sharp and bitter season which thou hast been feign to endure hitherto with great pain and sorrow. And now the spring, into the which thou art entered shall endure for ever, and the pleasures that she bringeth with her shall never have any end. Enter then my sweet one into the joy and rest of the Lord. Then shall be fulfilled the saying of the Prophet. They 
Psal, 126  that sow in tears shall reap in joy. They went weeping and carried precious seed, but they shall return with joy, and bring their sheves with them. So being out of our wardship, and taken from under the hand and discipline of our Tutor, we shall be set at full liberty, and in possession of that inheritance that GOD our good Father hath promised us, and appointed us, when he adopted us for his children, and heirs of the inheritance of eternal life, and of the kingdom of heaven, which we may well hope for whilst we are here, but to say or think what it is, it is impossible for any tongue or eloquence, be it never so singular: for the greatness thereof far passeth all human capacity.  
Man having built this fortress against the fear that the sick man may have of death, we must also set down some thing against the fear of the devil, 
Heb. 2  who is Emperor of the kingdom of death. For he is the enemy that gives the last assault, that plants all his artillery, and employs all his engines against us, to make us yield. But we being under the defence and safeguard of our shepherd, who is careful and vigilant to keep us, and stronger to defend us, than this 
john. 10  ravening wolf or furious lion can be to assail us, we ought not to fear at all. For who can take us out of his hands, seeing that he and his Father (who is greater than all) are but one essence, power, glory and majesty? We are then assured, that as there is no subtlety or fetch that can surprise or go beyond his wisdom: so is there no force sufficient to encounter with his puissance. Let us keep ourselves then under the shadow of his wings, and assure ourselves that he will keep us safe, that neither the devils nor any other creature shall be able to hurt us: as the Prophet saith: Who so dwelleth in the secret of the most high, shall abide in the shadow of the almighty: I will say unto the Lord, O mine hope and my fortress. He is my God, in him will I trust. And after that he had named some dangers, by the which he assured the faithful they could never be hurt: in the end he cometh to the devils, the ancient and mortal enemies of mankind, and speaketh on this wise: Thou shalt walk upon the Lion & Asp, the young Lion and the Dragon shalt thou tread under feet. Because thou hast loved me, therefore will I deliver thee, I will exalt thee, because thou hast known my name, etc. Where we may behold the victory which he doth promise us of the devils. And the example of the Apostles, unto whom Christ gave power 
Luke. 9  over devils, so that they were constrained to acknowledge the power, that he had given the Apostles over them, obeying unto those things that they did command in his name, may put us in good security, that fight against them, so that we be furnished, with the same weapons that they were, that is to say, with faith and the word of God, we shall be sure to have the victory of them, and by the buckler of our faith to break off their fiery darts. Your adver sarie the devil (saith 
1. Pet. 5  Saint Peter) walketh as a Lion, roaring round about you, seeking whom he may devour, to whom you must resist being grounded in the faith. And Saint 
1. john. 2 Mat. 16  john saith, Ye are strong, and the word o●… God remaineth among you, and ye have overcome the wicked spirit. And jesus Christ speaking of faith, did he not promise that the gates of hell, that is to say, all the counsel, craft, fetches, means and power that the devil is able to devise and make, are not able to encounter with her, and cannot resist the word of God. That which we see clearly appear in the example of jesus Christ. For the devil 
Mat. 4  being come to assail him, and having assayed all means possible that he could, to make him fall in distrust of God, he could bring nothing to pass, but lost his labour, for he found him so well armed on every side with the word, that he was glad to forsake the field, and was glad to be gone with shame leaving him. If we then be also well armed, we need not fear, what he can hurt us, nor stand in doubt but we shall be couquerours both of him and of 
●…. Cor. 10.  all our other enemies. As Saint Paul saith, The weapons of our war are not carnal, but mighty through God to cast down holds, casting down the imaginations, & every high thing that is exalted against the knowledge of God. Whosoever then would stand in fear of the devil, being armed with saith and with the word of GOD, should show thereby, that he knoweth not what is the force of the one or of the other, nor what is the power and might of him who conducteth us, and knowe●…h 
Luk. 11. 5 john. 12. 1. john. 3 Apoc. 12  not under what standard we fight. For hath not our Captain broken the serpent's head? Hath he not dispossessed the strong man of his fortress, and taken all his armour from him? Is it not he that hath cast out the Prince of this world, and destroyed all the works of the devil? Is it not this grand Captain Michael, who already hath got the victory against the Dragon and his Angels, and hath them in chase, till he have defeated and ulterly overthrown them for ever. But to take better heed of him, we must note two special points of policy in him, whereby he thinketh to over-catch us, if he see us virtuous, to puff us up with a vain presumption of ourselves, of our own works and virtues. But on the contrary side, if he see that we are vicious, and that in this life we have been licentious and dissolute, then will he lay before our eyes as much as possibly he can, the grievousness and enormity of our sins, that he may thrust us hea●…long into a desperation of the grace of God. These are the two halters, wherewith (as Saint Augustine saith) this hangman of mankind doth use to strangle men. But we have already showed how we may avoid these temptations. And as for our good works, we know that they are all so filthy & unperfect, that we can make no more account of them before the face of God, then of old and unclean rags. And again, that our sins cannot be so great, but the mercy of God doth surmount them, nor so unclean, but the righteousness & blood of jesus Christ is able to wash them clean, & make them as white as snow. Nor finally, so damnable, but in confessing them with humility and contrition, God 
●…. john. 1  will show himself faithful to pardon and forgive them every one. It resteth now that we set down some assurance to comfort the sick man against the fear that he may have of the judgement of God. For when we see ourselves cited by sickness to appear quickly & personally before his tribunal seat, if we have in us but the least spark of grace, we shall call to mind that which is said in the holy Scripture: that is to say, that it is an horrible thing to fall into the hands of the living God.  
First, that there is no partiality or exception of persons, that is to say, no respect unto greatness, dignity, nobleness, riches, beauty, knowledge, parentage, alliance, 
Rom. ●…  to no such matter, which is of account and much regard among men, causing them oftentimes to serve a little, & go awry in their judgements from the true rule of justice, but it is not ●…o in the judgements of God, which being immumutable and impassable, can nothing at all alter his will. By reason whereof all his judgements are measured by the rule, and pronounced according to the rigour of the law. Then that all our thoughts, affections, words, deeds, and actions, and generally all the course of our life from the beginning to the ending is unfolded and sifted out thoroughly. That the books and registers are brought forth, wherein are noted all the faults that ever we have committed by thought, word or deed, with all their circumstances. Likewise that judgement shall be given without mercy: and to be short, that no virtue of ours is allowed of, nor any righteousness accepted that is not pure and perfect in all points. I say then, when we come to set these things before our eyes, concerning this fearful judgement, the which we can by no means avoid or escape. And on the other side, when we come to set these things before our eyes, the vice, the corruption, and imperfections which are in us, and the infinite number of sins that we have committed against the first and second Table, that is to say, against God and man: it must needs be that we remain greatly astonished and forlorn: considering that we have so many adversaries and accusers, which will not cease to persecute us extremely, that is to say, the devil, the law, and our own consciences: which produce against us a thousand & a thousand informations, seeking to condemn us, considering the quality of the crimes whereof we are convinced. And these things cannot we withstand, nor any wise escape the rigour of the judgement of God, but in confessing our debts first, and then next to have recourse to the death of our saviour jesus Christ to be forgiven. For it is otherwise in the judgement of God then in the judgement of men: by the which a person accused is condemned as soon as he hath by mouth confessed himself to be guilty of the offence: but contrariwise the confession of our offences is one of the means whereby we obtain remission, and are absolved and justified before God, as saith Saint john. If we 
1. john. 1  confess our sins, God is faithful & just to pardon them, and to make us clean from all iniquity. And David saith: I acknowledged my sin unto 
Psal. 32  thee, neither hide I mine iniquity: for I thought, I will confess against my self mine wickedness unto the Lord, & thou forgavest the punishment of my sin. After the confessing and acknowledging of our sins, we must have recourse unto jesus Christ the just, who isour advocate to God the Father, and the propitiation for our sins, and repose ourselves wholly upon him, referring our cause unto him: for having put it into his hands, it cannot choose but go on our sides. For when we appear before the judgement seat of God, we cannot be condemned, what accusation or crime so ever be brought and alleged against us by our 
john 3. Luk. 21  adversaries. He which believeth in me saith he, cometh not into judgement at al. And in another place to comfort his disciples, he exhorteth them to have an eye to the last judgement day, & seeing it draw nigh, to lift up their hands and to rejoice, for that the full and perfect redemption is reserved unto that day. And S. Paul confirmeth the same in his Epistle to the Romans, with a marvelous grace & magnificency of speech. Who shall commence any 
Rom. 8  accusation against the elect of God? god is he which justifieth, who shall then be able to condemn? Christ is he which is dead, & who is moreover risen again, who is also at the right hand, and doth make intercession to God for us. We must then conclude, that which he saith in the beginning of the Chapter: That there is no condemnation to those that are now in jesus Christ, that is to say, which walk not according to the flesh, but after the spirit, And that as jesus Christ their head cannot be saved but with those that are his members: so they cannot be condemned, but he should also be condemned with them, by reason of the inseparable union which is between the head and the members.  
Moreover, that jesus Christ being dead for us, hath suffered the punishment and curse which was due unto us, because of our sins, and by consequent hath fully satisfied the justice of God, we need not fear that he will exact of us any more the payment of debts, the which he hath forgiven and acquitted us: for that were to go against the justice not only of God, but also of man, to demand to be pardoned debt twice, having then yielded ourselves wholly and referred all our matters into 
Rom. 8. Hebr. 9  the hands of our Soviour jesus Christ, let us not fear to be overtaken by the judgment of God, where the Son is continually before the face of the Father making intercession for us, carrying us upon his shoulders and in his breast, as the high Priest did in old time carry the names of the twelve Tribes of Israel, to present them before the Lord, although he entered into the Sanctuary with a plate of gold upon his forehead, wherein were engraven these words. The holy one of the Lord. To the end he might make them acceptable to the Lord, which was a type of that which jesus Christ our high and everlasting Priest after the order of Melchisedech did exhibit and represent in very deed upon the Cross, when offering himself in sacrifice for us to God his Father, he did sanctify and make us acceptable unto God for ever. We must not then fear that being in state of grace as we are, having an Advocate towards God, in whom he is well pleased, he can or will condemn us, when we shall appear before him in judgement, and shall be clothed in these goodly long garments, whereof is spoken in the Apocalippes, the which are died and washed in the blood of the Lamb, and shall bring tustification with them. When we shall thus have exhorted the sick man to take a good heart and not to be afraid, neither of his sins, nor of death, nor of the Devil, nor of the judgement of God: if we see that he be loath to leave the world: and that his honours, riches, pleasures, case, and that he beareth yet to these earthly and corruptible things, doth make him loath to forego them, and troubleth his mind wonderfully, that it cannot resolve to m●…rch merrily whether 
1. joh. 5. 2.  God doth call it. Then first must we make relation unto him, that this world is altogether set upon wickedness, & drenched in sin: that it shall pass away, & quickly be faded away with all her concupiscences: that it doth not know God at all: that we are no more children of this world: that God hath taken us clean out of this 
〈◊〉 Cor. 11.  world, to the end we should not be condemned with it: that we cannot love this world, but we must needs be enemies unto God. That the Devil is the Prince of this world: and that by consequence, we 
Gal. 5.  cannot love this world, or the things that be in this world, but we must needs be vassals & slaves of the prince of darkness: That we cannot be faithful, nor true members of jesus Christ, but the world must be crucified to us, and we to it. That by the example of the Apostle, we make no more account of the world, with all his glory, pomp and superfluity, then of the dung of the earth, or of a flower that is faded and withered: that we are here but as passengers and strangers, and cannot make any long time of abode, as in a City, and habitation that shall last for ever: but we lodge here as in an Inn, and must be ready to gird up our loins, and dislodge betimes in the morning, to be trudging still outward, till we come to the place where we mean to take up our lodging and rest for ever: that is to wit, in heaven, wherein we ought to have our hearts, our thoughts, our desires, and all our affections, altogether fixed already, and there, as the Apostle saith, should we have all our 
Phil. 3.  conversation. For being raised up from the dead with jesus Christ, and united unto him unseperably, although our bodies be far separate and distant from his: yet ought we always to be present with him in our spirits and souls, and to forget clean the world and the earth, seeking after and thinking on nothing more than of those things which are from ahove. Our heart should it not be where our treasures are? and where are our treasures but in heaven, where jesus Christ is in his glory? who hath our lise 
Co●…loss. 3.  hidden in himself, and not only all the treasures of the knowledge and wisdom of God: but also of all the gifts, graces, honours, riches and blessings, that God the father hath given him to bestow upon his Church whilst she is here militant in hope, and when she is alone triumphant, she shall enjoy the full fruition thereof, when our souls leaving these filthy, stinking and obseure prisons of our bodies, shall be carried, as was that of poor Lazarus, into the bosom of Abraham, by the Angels there to rest and rejoice for ever, as it is written: The children of thy servants shall continue, and 
Psal. 102.  their seed shall stand fast for ever in thy sight.  
If then we do but languish in this world where we live as poor strangers in exile amongst a number of barbarous and rude people, ought we not to be full glad, when God calleth us away to reclaim us into our own country, where, with our brethren, the patriarchs, the Prophets, Apostles, and Martyrs, & of all other blessed spirits, we shall peaceably enjoy together the glory, honour, trust, rest, and all that perfect felicity that he promised and prepared in his kingdom for all his elect. A marvel then that men, yea the faithful themselves, who are not only instructed by the word of God, but also by daily experience, they find that all lusty and glory of this world, are but mere vanities, illusions and dreams, which pass away quickly, do suffer themselves so to be bewitched and enchanted by their flatteries and delicacies, that at the last they became senseless beasts, as were the companions of Ulysses, by the charms and enchantments of Cirre. For is not their judgement corrupt and simple, that being loath to leave this world, to go up into heaven, and preferring the things that are mutable, uncertain, transitory and corruptible, which ask infinite pains to get them, and as many cares to keep them, and more gréeses and sorrows to forego them, before the blessings which God doth promise us in his kingdom, which are certain, immutable, incorruptible, eternal and assured, which cannot choose but bring to them which possess them a true and perfect contentment of the mind. Wherein we do, (as our first fathers did) for one Apple, forego, not an earthly, but an heavenly Paradise, where are such delights and pleasures, as are not to be imagined. For one mess of pottage we sell our birthright, and all that belongs thereunto, as Gsau did. We desire rather Garlic and Oynions of Egypt, than the holy land, with all her abundance and blessings. We had rather with the prodigal child live with Hogs with draff, and washing them to be nourished and brought up in the house of our heavenly Father, with bread of Aungles.  
And lastly, after the example of Lot's wife, we cannot forego the infamous pleasures of our Sodom, but we had rather perish with them, then to be saved in forsaking them. So lamentable is our case, that we may say of ourselves with the holy Prophet: Understand ye unwise among 
Psal. 94.  the people, and ye fools when will ye be wise? For what maketh us make so great account of this world, and that which is in it, but a damnable desire, the which doth b●…nde us so, that it maketh us often times take light for darkness, and darkness for light again, sour for sweet, and sweet for sour again? To the end then that we be not deceived in our own judgements, we must not ground them upon any outward appearance, nor uppn the common error of men, who being sensual, approve and reject all things as they are agreeable and contrary to their sense and appetite.  
But we must judge all things, as the Apostle saith, by the word of GOD, which is an infallible rule to discern truth from falsehood, and not to follow in our own judgements our own reason or carnal wisdom, the which is enemy to God, and doth for the most part justify that which he doth condemn. Let us now see then what the word of God doth teach us concerning the world, and those things which are in the world. Love 
1. john. 〈◊〉.  not the world, (saith Saint john) nor the things that are in the world: For if any man love the world, the love of God remaineth not in him. For that which is in the world, to wit, the concupiscence of the flesh, the lusts of the eyes, pride and presumption, are not of God, but of the world: See then what the Apostle doth teach us of the world, that we must not love it, if we will that God love us.  
And Solomon when he speaketh of it, saith, that after he had long time with great diligence considered the estate of this world, the variety and inconstancy of human spirits, the divexsitie of studies whereunto they apply themselves, the mutability and sudden change of their counsels, the simple judgement that they have to praise or dispraise, to esteem or neglect, to love or hate, to purchase or disdain or let slip those things which were set before them in this world, he knew not only by reason, but also by experience, that the desires of most men were but only foolishness and vanities, which they do as it were, worship, moved thereunto by the rashness and temerity of their own appetites, the which for that they are blind, and will not be directed by any good reason, are easily carried every where, whether pleasure and the Devil doth prick them forwards: some ambitiously purchase the honours and promotions of this world, and in climbing unto them violate all law and right, forget all piety and humanity, care not what trouble and confusions they make, stir up, favour, and enterleague with the wicked, hate and reject the good and virtuous, war upon the country wherein they have been begotten, brought up, and suckled, deprive it of liberty if they can, and by a cruel tyranny which they use, bring into a miserable slavery, as julius Caesar did his, and before and after him many others: doth not this plainly show, that there is nothing more true than that which, jesus Christ said unto such ambitious fellows: That which is highly esteemed 
Luk. 16  among men, is for the most part abominable before God. And how can they please him seeing the greatest part believe not in him nor in jesus Christ? As it 
john. 5.  is written in S. john. How can ye believe, seeing ye seek glory one of an other, and seek not the glory that cometh from God alone? And in another 
john. 9  place, the Pharasies and chief rulers of jerusalem condemning themselves said, is there any of all the Princes that hath believed in him, meaning jesus Christ? And in Saint Matthew, I thank 
Mat. 11. 18  thee O Father Lord of heaven & earth, that thou hast hid these things from the wise and men of understanding, and hast revealed them unto babes. We must not then be loath to forego the honours and promotions of this world, which causeth us for the most part to forget God and ourselves, and do distract our minds from the study and exercise of virtue, which persuade us rather to seek our own glory then the glory of God, make us disdain our neighbours, and forget that we are but dust and ashes, and lastly bring us to worship the very Devil, and make us senseless as brute beasts, as saith the Prophet: Man is in honour he unerstandeth 
Psal. 49  not, he is like to beasts that perish. And a little before he speaketh of the drifts and foolish imaginations of these ambitious hearers: They think their houses shall continue for ever, even from generation to generation, and call their lands by their names: but man shall not continue in honour, he is like the beasts that die. Now as we ought not to be heavy and sorrowful to bear the honour and great estate, that we have in this world, for those reasons which are already set down: so must we not be sorrowful for riches and temporal goods, when departing this life we are constrained to leave them behind us. For to speak properly they are not the true riches of God's children, nor the inheritance that their father keepeth for them, and that jesus Christ hath purchased for them. For his kingdom, (which is the riches that he hath promised us) is not of this world, but heavenly. So the glory, power, estate, riches, honour, pleasure, counsel, peace and all the felicity of this kingdom is altogether divine and spiritual. jesus Christ, who is the king, what temporal goods hath he possessed or purchased being in this world, where he was not master of so much as the little birds or the foxes are, that is to say, of a nest, a cave, or a hole to hide his head in? And the Apostles, who were the Princes of his kingdom, what revenues I pray you, or great possessions had they in this world? Saint Peter said, speaking to the people 
Acts. 3.  which lay at the gate of the Temple begging an alms, gold & silver have I none, but such as I have, I give thee: in the name of jesus of Nazareth rise up and walk. And S. Paul saith, we are as 
2. Cor. 6.  poor men, and yet we make many rich, as having nothing, and yet possessing all things. We see then hereby that the goods that God will enrich his children withal, are not earthly and corruptible goods which are subject to thieves, to rust and moths: but spiritual goods, certain and permanent, which cost nothing, neither to get them nor to keep them. For God of his free bounty doth bestow them upon us, and keep them for us, and there is none that can take them from us, but he himself, that which he doth never but by constraint, either through our ingratitude towards him, or else by abusing them in applying them to some other end, than he appointed when he bestowed them upon us. The goods that we ought to make account of and purchase, and to take heed that we lose them not, are the heavenly riches, as the grace of God, our adoption, faith, the word of the Gospel, hope, charity, patience, humility, the peace and tranquillity of our consciences: and especially the righteousness of jesus Christ, which is the fountain, from whence do spring and flow to us all the graces, favours and blessings of God. For so much as by it, and by the partaking there of we are reconciled and reunited unto him, kept in his favour and grace, whereby we conceive a hope certain and infallible of life everlasting, which is the very heap and fullness of all good, and of all the true felicity that we can desire. It is thither then that we must always aspire, thither must all the thoughts of our spirits, and all the desires of our hearts reach: this is our sovereign good, and the mark of our blessedness, and not this transitory trash that maketh the possessors thereof nothing at all the better: but is occasion that they become oftentimes the worse, if they take not good heed as the Apostle saith, making them 
1. Tim. 6.  to be puffed up with a vain presumption, and to be proud and stately, to put their confidence in the instability of their riches, not to be sociable or affable, but insolent, arrogant, and outrageous, as the Psalmist sayeth: Their pride is as a chain unto them and cruelty covereth them as a garme●…t. And speaking of the confidence that they have in their riches, he sayeth in an other place, Some boast in their goods, and boast 
Psal. 49.  themselves in the multitude of their riches. And by and by mocking them he saith: Yet a man can by no means redeem his brother: he can not pay his ransom to God. And in an other place where he speaketh of both together that is to say, of the violence and oppression that these rich men, and the mighty ones of this world do use towards the poor, and of their vain hope, he sayeth: Trust not in oppression or robbery, 
Psal. 62.  e not vain, if riches increase set not your hearts thereon. This is the reason why our Saviour jesus Christ, calleth riches, the riches of iniquity, not 
Luk. 16  that they are not the creatures of God, and good, when men can tell how to use them well, and to employ them as God hath commanded: but for as much as every man almost doth abuse them, using them after his disordinate lusts: and as Saint Paul sayeth, the Devil serveth his turn with them, as with grins and nets to entangle men, to make them fall into many foolish desires, which lead them to destruction, yea and sometimes make them swerver from the faith, and become Apostates, as we see many now a days, who being reprehended for that they are revolted and gone out of the Church, have none other answer to excuse themselves and to colour their Apostasy withal, but that they will not lose their goods, having rather to perish utterly in keeping them a little while, then be saved for ever in foregoing them. Wherein they show that they are far from following the counsel of jesus Christ, and from being any of his disciples, whom he counseled that if their hand or foot offended them they should by and by cut them 
Mat. 19  off and cast them from them, for it is better to go into the kingdom of heaven halt and maimed, then having two hands and two legs to be sent into everlasting fire: and likewise the eye is a part of the body which we account dearest, if it make us offend, we must pluck it out, and cast it away: for it is better to be blind, and to enter into life with one eye, then having two to be cast into hell fire. What should we then do with these temporal goods, when we perceive that by them we are withdrawn and holden back from following jesus Christ courageously? Is it not more expedient and safer for us to break through these snares, which hold us so fast, and to escape away, then to tarry, and being taken, to fall in to the hands of Fouler? Crates the Thebaile perceiving that the goods he did possess did withdraw his mind from the study of Philosophy, and that the care that he had to look after them, would not suffer him to have any leisure or liberty at all in spirit, took them and cast them into the sea: saying merrily, he had rather they should be drowned, then that they should drowned him. And if a poor Pagan had done this for a desire he had to attain the knowledge of moral virtues and Philosophy, that he might order and govern the state of his life well: what should we do that are Christians, instructed by the word and spirit of God, who have the promises, and certain and assured hope of life everlasting, and of the kingdom of heaven, whereof we do not doubt to have the full sruition at the last. Let us leave then the goods of this world to worldlings, and to those that have no other hope, nor other Paradise but in this world. If we have any goods let us possess them as though we had none at all, and let us take but as much as will serve our turn, that is to say: for our food and clothing. That which jesus Christ taught his disciples in the form of prayer that he gave unto his disciples, where he teacheth them to demand nothing but their daily bread. Condemning thereby all delicacies, excesses, licorousnes, wantonness, sumptuousness, riot, and all other vain superffuities of this world: for the world as it is corrupted and excessive in all things, doth not think itself rich but in superfluous things only: but the children of God must be contented with things needful for the body, & must think themselves rich when they have but crusts of Barley bread, or a few little fishes roasted, as our saviour jesus Christ and his disciples had: or a little cake baked in the cinders, as Elias had: or Locusts as john Baptist had, to nourish himself withal, and to clothe himself with a rug coat made of Cammelles hair. In any case they must possess riches, and must not suffer themselves to be possessed by them. They must rule over them, and not be in subjection to them. To conclude, whether God give them any, or whether he take them away, they must be as ready to leave them, and to bless and praise the name of God as well for the one as for the other, as that good man job did. The third concupiscence that is in the world, and is the most dangerous of all, is the concupiscence of the flesh, which Solomon setteth down at length in the book of the Preacher, to show that it is most usual, and the very spring from whence all other vanities do flow. For there are few men in the world or none at all, who seek not the pleasure and contentment of the flesh. Some delight in building sumptuous houses to continue their names for ever, as the 
Psal. 49.  Prophet David saith: They think their houses and habitations shall continue for ever, even from generation to generation, and call their lands by their names. But man shall not continue in honour, he is like the beasts that die. Some take great pleasure in having goodly gardens, orchards, closes, and fine smooth allies bordered round about with roses and sweet flowers, to have shadow and fresh air in the Summer. Some in clothing themselves gorgeously, & others do spend almost all the day in combing and curling their hair, in beholding their faces in glasses, in setting their ruffs, in perfuming themselves: many delight to have their houses furnished with rich and sumptuous household-stuff, to adorn their halls and parlours with goodly hang of tapistry, with fair painted Tables, with costly séelings of beds, with exquisite covertures, with chains of gold, and the richest imbrodery that they may find, with bedsteads of ivory, and abundance of silver and gold plate. Others would have their tables covered with the rarest & most dainty dishes that might be gotten for money, and the finest robes that might be come by, to dress & season their meat. Some delight to pass their time in good company, to laugh and be merry, to dance, to leap, and to do the things which are not decent to be written or named. And what is all this but the marks, monuments, and trophies of the excess, dissolution and vanity of Christians. And we may say of these, as it was said of the golden image that Phryne a famous strumpet in Athens, caused to be erected in the midst of the City, with this goodly superscription, Hear are the triumphs and spoils of the dissolute, infamous, and lascivious Greeks'. That was done then, but in one only City of Gréece to tax the licentious living of the Citizens. But at this present day amongst us Christians, there is no house in the Cities, no village in the Country, where we may not behold the armouries of the world, and of this unclean spirit who is Prince thereof set up, even upon the blessed Sabbath day, which God hath reserved to himself, that in the same all the world should think upon nothing else, but sanctifying and blessing his holy name. But GOD knows, of the seven days in the week, there is none so much profaned and blasphemed, as the Sabbath day, which now seems to be made for to invent pastime for the devil, for the lusts of our flesh, dancing, feasting, and such other disports as the flesh and the devil desire. Who can then with any reason be sorry for these pleasures when they take their leave of us, the which bring nothing with them but shame and dishonour, spoil and loss of goods, thousands of diseases both to the soul and body, ruins and desolation of whole famylies, Countries and Kingdoms, contempt of virtue and all honesty, hatred of God & all true religion, both which these swine have such in horror, that by their good will they would never hear any talk of God or religion. They do not only make us dull blockish and effeminate, but also make us like to bruit beasts, and bring us oftentimes to our destruction. Let us then take heed not to be seduced by their flattery and fair face. Their beauty▪ that is apparent outwardly, is alluring and deceiveth them, who taketh not heed of the poison that lieth secretly hid underneath. As the silly bird & fish are caught with the hook, enticed unto it, and deceived by a bait which covereth the same. Let us then take heed unto them behind and not before, as Aristotle most wisely doth admonish us: for as pleasures before seem as fair as Sirens, but if you look behind them, they draw after them a long tail of an ugly serpent, the very sight whereof would make a man afeard. Is any man able to count the floods of mischiefs and miseries that are arrived unto us, by that little pleasure that our first parents had in eating the forbidden fruit? What was the cause that God who is so patiented and so slow to anger, sent that great deluge of waters, by the which he defaced every living soul from the face of the earth, reserving alive but only Noah and his family, and the living things that he took with him into the Ark? Were not the filthy fornications that did reign at that time among men, who took all women & maids which pleased them, to use them, neglecting the order and honesty which God had commanded, in instituting the holy Sacrament of marriage in the beginning of the world, the occasion of that so horrible and fearful judgement of God? What was the cause semblably of the subversion and utter overthrow of Sodom and Gomorrha, but their infamous abominations and filthy pleasures▪ that they took in banqueting and all kind of excess? Wherefore was God so angry with his people in the wilderness, where at once he made three and twenty thousand die, and a great number beside, but because of the filthy abominations that they committed with the Mad●…anites? And the Quails that they had to satisfy their gluttish appetite, whereof God would eternize the memory, commanding the place where they had lived so delicately to be called The sepulchre of Concupiscence. What fell out afterward in the house and City of Hemor, because his son Sichem had ravished Dina, the only daughter of jacob? And in the house of David, for having enticed to wickedness the wife of his se●…uant Urias? And in that of Solomon his son, who was so wise, and had received such honour and favour of glory, riches and puissance, and at the end of all this so many excellent and goodly promises of God, that by good right he might be called a pearl far exceeding all other Kings and princes of the earth? And yet for all that, the voluptuous pleasures of this world handled him so, that they took clean away his understanding even in old age, when he should have had the staiedst wisdom and setledst judgement of all, and made him not only to forget God and his bounden duty towards him, but also to sacrifice to Idols, as a man clean bereft of his wits, only to please his wicked concubines, who were strangers, with whom he acquainted himself against the express commandment of God, whereupon a thousand plagues fell upon his house and his posterity. The house of Ahab, was it not utterly subverted because of the great abominations that did reign in it? What was the cause of those lamentable Tragedies written of the ruin and desolation happened to the house of Priamus, a King renowned for his riches, treasure, greatness, pomp and wealth amongst the greatest and most ●…mightie monarch of all Asia, was it not the foolish love of Paris and Helen? Did not the like fall out in the Court of great Agamemnon, after he was returned conqueror of his enemies from Troy, so famous and rich with the spoils, that he got thereby the impudence and unchaste behaviour of his wife Clytaemnestra and her adulterer Aegysthus. The spoils that were done in the Province of jonium in Cyrus' time, and all the miseries and distresses that overflowed all that Country, which was the most pleasant and fruitfullest territory in all Asia, (as Herodotus reciteth) were occasioned in the same manner. But what is he that can reckon up all the mischiefs and inconveniences that this cursed fleshly concupiscence hath already bred, and doth breed daily? Well did Plato term it a bait of all mischiefs and enormities. And the Emperor Aerianus did portrait it out properly, comparing it to a pill that his gilded on the out side, to swallow it down with more ease: but when we come to digest it, than we feel the bitterness thereof, and this is the difference between them, that the pills do purge and void the infections and gross humours which are in the body, to recover health: but the pleasures on the other side increase & procure them, and do corrupt altogether the good disposition both of the body & the soul. When we are debarred from these pleasures, and have the use of them no more, by reason of death, diseases. penury, old age, or by any other means, we should rejoice as much as if we were escaped out of the hands of some cruel and outrageous tyrant. For there can be no tyranny more cruel than that of these voluptuous pleasures (as Cicero faith) for that the one can but hurt our bodies and goods, the other doth rack and torment our souls and consciences in a strange manner. Whosoever then doth desire a freedom and quiet of conscience to possess his soul in tranquillity without any disturbance or trouble of mind, which is the most sovereign good that is in this world may be sought or found, he must bid adieu to all worldly pleasures, and be glad with all his heart when they take their leave for altogether, as they do at the house of death. These things must we set before the eyes of the sick, who shall feel themselves tied fast by the leg to their ease and the vain and deceitful pleasures of this world. And again, we must show them the pleasures that tarry for them prepared in the kingdom of heaven, which are so great, that the very sent and taste that the Apostles and Martyrs felt, have made them strait forget this world with all her vain delights, before they ever departed from her out of this life. How great a joy shall it be then to us when we shall drink our fill of the river of these pleasures? When we shall see plainly the face of our God and saviour jesus Christ, when we shall sit at his table with the patriarchs, Abraham, Isaac, and jacob? When we shall hear the melodious music of Angels singing continually, To the holy, holy, holy, great God of hosts be all praise, glory and honour for ●…euer? God shall wipe the tears from the ●…ies of his children, and then bring them into full fruition of his joys and rest? when he shall make them sit near unto him upon seats, that long since he caused to be built and prepared for them, to be judges altogether of the world and the devils. And lastly, when in stead of the Sun and Moon he shall make a perpetual light shine over them comforting them for ever. This pleasure shall be (as jesus Christ said) no momentary thing, but a pleasure and joy that lasteth for ever, and not as the pleasures of this world which fade away in time, and lose quickly their savour, be they never so great and dainty at their beginning. This we see in many men daily by experience, who covet and desire many things eagerly & very vehemently, which when they have once obtained, and have had their pleasure a little while, than this great heat beginneth a little and little to quench and diminish, and in the end is altogether extinguished. And so it falls out oftentimes with us, when we have had our pleasure oftentimes of that which we have with so great affection desired, we disdain it afterward, and repent with great displeasure with ourselves, whereof we have in the Scripture a notable example in Amnon the son of David, & his sister Thamar. 
2. Sam. 13.  But the true pleasures that the blessed souls enjoy in the kingdom of heaven are of another nature. For in satisfying us, they leave us always in appetite, and in filling us, they leave us always hungry: they quench our thirst, and yet we are always thirsty: so that in contenting and satisfying all our appetites, they leave us still desirous to abide in the same estate always, so that we are never a weary thereof. These are then the true pleasures which we ought always to desire and seek after, and not the pleasures of the world which are al●… but scurvy things. For as those which are full of the itch, whilst they are scratched have some pleasure, and feel some ease, which lasteth but a little, whilst they are in scratching, and by and by upon it there followeth a pain which vexeth them grievously: so the voluptuous men have never no pleasure but it is mixed with a thousand griefs and sorrows. And their pleasure is much like that which they feel who are tickled, which hath a certain vexation and fear which maketh them forget it and hate it by and by. There is yet one grief more which may much torment the sick person, whereof he may be eased: that is, he feareth to be separated by death from the company of his wife and children. The consolation that must be given him, and the remedy that must be used for this, is to allege unto him the promises that God maketh to widows, that he taketh them into his own protection, & promiseth them to have especial care over them, to defend & uphold them against those that would oppress them, & to take a fearful vengeance upon those that should offer any outrageous injuries towards them. Likewise we must allege unto them although that their wives be forsaken of their mortal husband, whom they have espoused in this world: yet they have another husband in another world who is immortal, who is jesus Christ, that shall never abandon them no more than all the rest of the faithful that remit themselves to him, & rely wholly upon him, who being so good a Tutor as he is, they being left unto his protection can want nothing. Then must we show him, that going out of this world, it is as if he and his wife should undertake a voyage together, wherein the one should go before, and the other follow soon after. And lastly, as in the beginning of their marriage, he was not sorrowful to leave Father and mother, to join himself to his wife: so now he should not be more sorrowful to leave his wife to go to God, who should be more dear unto us, than either fathers, mothers, wives, children, or any other thing. And as for his children, he must think upon the promise that God made unto him and them, that he hath sealed and confirmed the same in the Baptism of the one and the other: that is to say, that he will be their God and the God of their posterity. And that must assure him, that the graces and favours that God hath bestowed upon him, shall be continued unto his posterity, as he doth promise expressly in Exodus, that he will show mercy and compassion unto thousand generations, to them that love and fear him, and shall be careful to keep his commandments. What then can be wanting unto those children, who being imitators of the faith and piety of their parents, are assured by the promise of God to be always environed and guarded by his grace and bounty, which grace is the fountain from which all prosperity and blessings do flow unto us? Moses 
Deut. 9  saith, that man doth not live by bread only, but by every word that proceedeth out of God's mouth. Which is not to be understood of food only, but of all rhinges necessary to man's life. The fathers that leave this word to their children, should not be careful of their finding and clothing, or maintenance for them. For they are certain by the word of God, that in seeking his kingdom and the righteousness thereof, they shall have all things that are necessary for this present life. For being their shepherd, as he was of their fathers, how can he forget them, or let slip the care that he hath of his sheep? David speaking of the providence of God, and exhorting every man to rely and trust upon it, 
Psal. 2●…  as he did, saith: The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want any thing. And in another place where he compareth the state of the wicked with the godly, he speaketh thus of the godly: The upright men shall not be confounded in the perilous time, and in the days of famine they shall have enough. But the wicked shall perish, and the enemies of the Lord shallbe consumed as the fat of lambs, even as the smoke shall they consume away. He goeth▪ further. The wicked borroweth and payeth not again, but the righteous is merciful and lendeth. For such as be blessed of God shall inherit the land, and they that be cursed of him shall be cut off. And a little after. I have been young and am old, yet I saw never the righteous forsaken, or his seed begging bread, but he is ever merciful and dareth, and his seed enjoyeth the blessing for eue●…. Let then the sick-man leave his children to the safeguard and protection of God. For he cannot procure them a better or more faithful guardian. He need not stand in fear of them, so they contain themselves within his obedience, and walk in his fear, uprightly in all singleness and simplicity of heart. Hitherto have we spoken of those things which we must set down unto the sick patient, as well to instruct him, as to comfort and exhort him to do his endeavour: and also of the means that he must use to fortify himself against the temptations by the which he may be assailed in time of sickness. It resteth now that we make a recapitulation of all this discourse, that the Reader may comprehend and note briefly the sum of all that we have spoken in this Treatise, and so use it to the comfort of the sick, as he shall find it most expedient.  
Solomon saith, It is better to go in to the house of mourning, then into 
●…ccle. 7  the house of feasting, because this is the end of all men, and the living shall lay it to his heart. Teaching us thereby, that the chiefest study & exercise that a man should use in this life, is to meditate of the srailenes, misery, shortness, inconstancy & uncertainty of the same, always setting our end before our eyes, that is, death, which is ready at every stride that we take, to tread on our heels, and never makes us privy neither hour nor day, when he cometh to call us like a door keeper before our judge, to give account unto him of the whole cour●…e of our life. It is very good then for us to have it always in memory, that we may gird up our loins, & keep our lamps always burning in our hands, lest we be surprised by the quick coming of our spouse unlooked for. But let us be ready to receive him when he cometh, & go with him into his rest. But forasmuch as the love of this life, the sweetness and pleasures of this world do cast us in a sleep oftentimes, and distract our minds from remembrance of these things, to awake ourselves, we cannot do better, then to frequent the houses of those that are visited by the hand of God, and the hospitals and houses of God, not only to see and behold on every side the examples and images of the corruption and mortality of our poor nature, to this end, that we may humble our selves, and contain ourselves within the bounds of modesty: but also to put our charity in ure in comforting and making strong the poor languishing and afflicted members of jesus Christ.  
First, than we must show them that all our diseases come from God, who sendeth them, sometimes to correct us & bring us back from our wickedness, sometime to prove and make trial of our virtue. Giving us by this means matter and argument to make demonstration of the faith and trust that we have in him, to crave his mercies by our earnest prayers and sorrowful sigh, to acknowledge and confess our faults and offences by our grief and displeasure. And to bring the sick person so far, to cause him to make an humble & true confession of his sins, we must first set before his eyes what is the spring and principal cause of all diseases, as well corporal as spiritual, and how that to heal them up, he must take away the causes that engender them: that is to say, our sins, from the which we cannot otherwise be delivered, but by the remission and pardon that God doth give us through his grace, so that as S. 
1. john. 3.  john saith, we do confess them unto him, and be assured, that jesus Christ is our advocate and propitiation to Godward, by means of his justice, by the which he doth hide and deface them, so that they shall not be laid to our charge at the day of judgement.  
And for that the love which by nature we bear unto ourselves, doth so blind us, that we cannot see, or think ourselves to be so vicious and corrupt as we are, we must pull away this vail from before the sick man's eyes, setting before him the law of God, wherein as in a glass he may view and behold all the course of his life, to make him know, that by the same, not only all our actions, but also all our nature is condemned to be abominable, nought and vicious.  
For proof and confirmation hereof, we must allege unto him in general, that we are conceived in sin, that we are all borne the children of wrath, that we are but flesh and vanity, that we are sold under sin, that in us there dwelleth no good thing, that our righteousness is like old rags, and filthy clothes. And to conclude, that we are altogether nothing but dust and rottenness. Then must we discourse unto him all the commandments of God, and show him particularly, that when he would examine himself thoroughly, he should find none of them, but he hath oftentinms transgressed, and beginning with those of the first table, to call to his mind.  
1 That he hath not done his best endeavour, to inquire after God, and to seek to know him.  
That he hath not loved him with all his heart, with all his strength, and with all his soul.  
That he hath not always put his trust in him.  
That he hath oftentimes doubted of his promises, and mistrusted his aid and secure.  
That he hath trusted to the strength of the flesh, and such means that men might provide, rather than to the succour and aid of God.  
That he hath not looked for all his prosperity and increase, from the only favour and blessing of God.  
That he hath not always called upon him in all his actions, with full assurance and hope to be heard and helped of him.  
That he hath not always dreaded and reverenced him, as appertaineth to his high and sovereign majesty.  
That he hath not thanked him, and blessed his holy name, for all things at all times, and as well for his adversities as prosperities.  
2 Then next, that thinking upon GOD, he hath imagined him to be under some human and bodily shape.  
That he hath not conceived him to be a spirit incomprehensible, infinite, invisible, immortal, impassable, immutable, sovereign in power, in bounty, mercy, justice and verity, as an example and mirror of all virtue and perfection, the spring of all life and light, the fountain and fullness of all goodness, the heap of all happiness and blessedness, the beginning and end of all things, who is all in all, and by his only word doth cause all creatures to breed and subsist.  
That he hath not served and worshipped him in spirit and truth, as he requireth of us, and commandeth us in his law.  
That he hath been more curious of ceremonies and exterior shows of piety, then of pity itself, and rather to seem a good Christian, then to be one in deed.  
And lastly, that he hath not always thought in his mind, that the true & lawful service of God doth consist in the only obedience of his will,  
That speaking of the name of God, it hath not been with such respect and reverence of his majesty as is meet.  
That he hath never studied and given his mind to sanctify and glorify his holy name as he ought.  
That by wicked life and conversation he hath been cause that the ignorant and infidels have blasphemed his name.  
That he hath not heard, read, and meditated t●…e word of God with such attentiveness, desire, fear and zeal as is requisite to honour the Lord which speaketh by it, and the name of him of whom it is announced.  
That he hath not always spoken of the works of God, nor acknowledged in them the greatness of his power, wisdom and bounty, with such praise and admiration as they deserve for their abundance and magnificence.  
That being at the table of the Lord, every time that the holy Supper hath been celebrated, he hath not used such humility, devotion and contemplation of the holy mystery, nor hath not lifted up his heart on high t●… heaven, where jesus Christ sitteth on the right hand of God the father, as he should do.  
That in the days ordained to abstain and rest from profane and bodili●… works, to apply ourselves wholly to the sanctifying of his holy name, he hath not given himself at all to the meditation and exercise of spiritual things, thinking upon and seeking nothing else but only those things which are from above.  
That he hath been oftentimes more careful for his worldly affairs, then to seek the kingdom of God, and the righteousness thereof, preferring by this means this transitory and corruptible life, before the eternal and blessed life: the care of this body, before that which he ought to have of his soul: the service of the world and his flesh, before that wherewith he ought to honour God above all things.  
That upon small and light occasions he hath absented himself from the place of Convocations and public assemblies, there to make public confession and protestation of his faith, to show his devotion and the fear of God that is in him, to edify the congregation by his good ensample, and to make known to every man without any shame, fear, dissimulation and hypocrisy, the religion that he will follow and keep, resolving to live and die in the same.  
That he hath not laboured to instruct and catechize his wife, his children, his servants, and all his family, as a good Christian ought to do, calling them morning and evening to Prayers, exhorting them to read and meditate the word of God, to sing Psalms, hymns and spiritual songs in his praise, and to confer among themselves of holy and godly things, and never to mind any thing more than that which may advance and increase daily the knowledge and fear of Almighty GOD among them.  
That after these spiritual exercises to the which he ought chiefly addict●… himself on the Sabbath day, as to hear Sermons and Exhortations with fear and reverence, to be assistant in all humility at the confessions, prayers and thanksgivings that are made to GOD for all the assembly, he hath not employed the rest of the time to visit prisoners, to comfort the sick, to inquire after the poor, and help to relieve their necessity.  
Then when we have briefly discoursed unto the sick person the faults that he may have committed against the commandments which are in the first Table, we must go unto the second, and do also in the like manner.  
5 First, that he hath not yielded such honour and reverence unto his superiors, nor showed his obedience so dutifully and readily: nor lastly, had so great fear to offend, as God doth command in his law. And if at any time he hath performed his duty toward them, than it hath been rather slightly, and more for fear of punishment if he should have neglected it, then for any respect that he bore them in conscience, or desire that he had otherwise to obey unto God therein.  
That he hath not always prayed so duly unto God for their health and prosperity to direct them by his holy spirit in all their counsels, and give them grace so to order themselves in all their actions, by his holy word, and generally to bless and guide them in all their ways, as he is bound by the express commandment of God.  
That he hath not spoken of them at all times reverently, as his duty is: and if in his presence some have spoken evil of them, he hath held his tongue, and answered nothing for them at all.  
That he hath not thought so reverently of his Pastors, who have had charge of his soul, to give unto it the spiritual food, that he hath always respecte●… their authority, hearkened to their voice, taken their good lessons, obeyed unto the true doctrine that they preached, and bended his neck willingly under the sweet yoke of jesus Christ, that they have laid upon him in his name.  
6 That he hath not loved his neighbours as himself, desiring and procuring their good as well as his own.  
That he hath hated them, when he thought to receive some damage or injury by them, desiring their death and some ill hap to befall them.  
That he hath desired & sought means to be revenged of his enemies, little regarding how God hath forbidden it, reserving unto himself the appeal and vengeance of all injuries done unto him, his children and servants.  
That he hath not taken pity of the poor, nor done what he could to help with his goods to nourish, cloth, and harbour them, and to aid them with necessary things for their comfort and solace in their miseries and calamities, wherewith they are compassed in round about.  
That he hath not resisted the wicked and ungodly which did oppress them, and employed all his power and means that he could make, to defend them from the violence and outrage that is offered them.  
That he hath not rejoiced at the prosperity of his neighbours, but hath been icalous and envious of their felicity: when he hath seen God hath blessed them, and preferred them in any higher degree than himself.  
7 That he hath not kept and possessed his vessel: that is to say, his body, in honour and holiness, as he ought to do, nor considered that it was the temple, the which God by his holy spirit had consecrated unto himself, and that he ought for this regard to keep it from all filthiness and pollution.  
That he hath not kept his eyes from wanton looking so carefully as he ought: but in stead of curning them aside, to avoid such sights, he hath let them gaze and run after their own lusts and wantonness.  
That he hath not so chas●…ned & brought his flesh under, as he ought, to make it obedient to the Spirit in all things.  
That he hath fed himself to dainty, and hath not always used such sobriety and abstinence, as is requisite to repress his passion, and to quench the heat of his concupiscence.  
That by devices, letters, presents, laughters, lookings, dancings, gesture, and immodest moving of the body, he hath made attempt to defile the chastity of his neighbour's wife, daughter, or maid servant.  
That in his fashion of appareling himself, he hath sought rather to trim up the outward man, thinking thereby to please the world, then by a modest show and behaviour of himself in his manners and apparel, to edify the Church of God.  
That he hath not been careful enough to keep the chastity of his ears and tongue, neither to speak or hear any dissolute or dishonest purpose.  
8 That he hath coveted to enrich himself by sinister means.  
That in the traffic and affairs that he hath had with his neighbours, he hath not always used that upright dealing, justice, sincerity and equity, that God commandeth, according to the rule of human society, that God will have kept and observed amongst all men.  
That he hath been ready in time of dearth and famine to enhance the price of his wares and merchandise, & so to make his own profit by the public miseries and calamities of many.  
That he hath reserved and locked up in his coffers, caves and garners the surplus of his goods, that God hath given him for the maintenance of himself and his family, being due unto the poor, robbing and defrauding thereby those unto whom it did of right appertain.  
That not considering at all that godliness with a contented mind (as the Apostle saith) is great riches, and therefore it should suffice us to have our clothing and food, and that only which is needful for our bodies, he hath not thought himself to be rich, if besides this he have not many superfluous things.  
That he hath not been liberal, nor ready to give of his goods to whosoever should ask him, considering and believing that it is a more blessed thing to give then to take.  
That he hath not paid his work men every day their wages, but hath made them stay till the morrow.  
9 That he hath not loved the truth in word and deed, doing nothing foolishly and unadvisedly, but showing a gravity and sincerity in all his affairs, customs and countenances, which should be worthy a man of truth and sincerity.  
That in him there hath been false shows and disguising, to exalt and magnify his virtues, or else to hide and excuse his vices by some counterfeit colours.  
That he hath not been so constant to confess & defend the truth against the blasphemers and enemies of the same, nor so valiant to fight against those that by lies and errors seek to impugn the same, as he ought to be.  
That upon envy and malice he hath gone about to backbite and speak evil of his neighbours, falsely condemning them in their actions, that are not blameworthy, seeking by false accusations to obsure the glory of their virtues.  
That he hath delighted to hear flattering tongues that do nothing but gloze with him, and make him believe that he was more virtuous and less vicious, than his own conscience could witness and accuse him in secret.  
10 Lastly, to shut up his confession, we must show him that all his nature, as also that of all other men that live here on the earth, is most vile, vicious & corrupt, and that of himself he can bring forth but bad fruit, as a bad tree doth: that is to say, all wicked thoughts, all inordinate affectiens, all filthy and dishonest talk, and all things contrary to the will of God: leaving undone all that is conformable to his will, and expressly commanded by him.  
Then when we have showed unto him in this manner his faults, to make him have a better feeling of them, and to conceive in himself a greater displeasure and sorrow for them, we must aggravate them unto him by the circumstances of place, time, and person, where he hath committed them.  
And then by feeling them, if we perceive him to be humble and contrite, we must lift him up again, and comfort him, in denouncing unto him the remission and pardon of his sins, and to assure him of it in the mercy of God.  
Then must we discourse unto him the reasons contained in this treatise, to take away the fear that he may have conceived of death, the devil, the judgement of God, and lastly the sorrow that he may have to forego and leave this world, and the things that are therein, in am of the hope and desire that he ought to have of those heavenly & incorruptible blessings. This done, we must kneel down our his knees, and pray unto God for him and all the assembly in this manner.  

A Prayer.  
O God the Father of all consolation, who hast promised to hear all those that call upon thee in sincerity and truth, and to reject none that cometh to prostrate himself before thy Majesty with a sighing soul and sorrowful heart, humble, contrite, and repentant, with the remembrance and feeling of his most grievous sins, we beseech thee altogether in the name of thy son jesus Christ our saviour and redeemer, that it will please thee to extend thy mercy upon us all that are here assembled together, and specially upon this our brother, whom it hath pleased thee to afflict and visit by sickness, and by the same to cover, forget and forgive, and clean to blot out all his sins by the which he hath so grievously offended in all his life. Beseeching thee that 〈◊〉 would please thee of thy great grace and favour, to seal & confirm in his heart by the holy spirit, the forgiveness that thou dost grant unto him by the promise, of all his sins, That he may feel in his conscience, and that with joy and full assurance he may make himself ready to appear before thee, when it shall please thee to call him out of this world: assuring him that there is no condemnation, neither for him, neither for all those which by true faith are united and incorporate in thy son jesus Christ. That not his sins, death and the devil, nor any other creature whatsoever shall be able to separate him from thy love, or cast him out of thy favour and grace, and that thy throne is not a throne of rigorous justice, but an haven of health, a throne of mercy, a sanctuary, & a place of liberty and freedom for all the faithful. Good God strengthen and increase his faith herein, so that he may cover himself as with a shield, & be by this means made strong and invincible against all temptations, wherewith he may be assailed, and that rejecting all other confidence, he rely upon nothing but the sole righteousness, obedience and sacrifice of thine only son, to assure him against the day of thy judgement. And now we heséech thee good God, to give him grace to pardon and forgive from the bottom of his heart all his neighbours, who have by any wise offended him: to the end that he being united by true charity with all the members of the body of thy Church, may also be knit and joined with thee who art the head thereof. Lastly, we beseech thee that it would please thee to give us also grace so well to look into the person and disease of this our brother, that seeing how short and uncertain the course of our life is, we may think betime of our own selves, and retiring our minds from the vanities of this world, we may bestow that little time that we have to live here in learning the wisdom of God, that is, to believe firmly, and to trust in his promises, to show our obedience in all things that he doth command, and to take diligent heed to fly and avoid all things, that he defendeth us in his holy word.   
FINIS.   

A SHORT CONsolation for the sick, taken forth of the holy Scriptures.  
Whosoever is of God, 
john. 〈◊〉 Mat. 7 Heb. 1 Esa. 40 Rom. 5.  heareth God's word, and doth not only hear it, but keepeth and followeth it also: for all things shall have an end and wax old as doth a garment, but the word of God abideth for ever. Now seeing it is so, that by a man sin is come into the world, and by sin death, and thereupon by consequent 
Rom. 7  all afflictions and adversities do depend: very well may the life of man be termed a continual fight here upon earth, where the flesh doth fight against the spirit, and the spirit against the world, the flesh and the devil, who are the deadly enemies of our souls. But following the counsel of the Apostle, to get the victory in the spiritual battle, we must resist and strive against them constantly by faith. 
1. Pet. 5. 1. john. 5. Heb. 11.  For the victory which overcometh the world, is our faith, the which is an assured knowledge of the love of God towards us, by the which he declareth in his Gospel to be our Father and saviour, by the means of jesus Christ his son. Having then such a firm faith for our prinicpall foundation, acknowledge and confess yourself before the majesty of God, to be a poor and miserable sinner, conceived 
Psal. 51. Luk. 17.  and borne in sin and corruption, ready and apt to do evil, unready and unapt to do any good, and that by your vice and sin you have transgressed without measure the holy commandements of God, so that you have purchased by his just judgement utter ruin and perdition upon you. Yet you have great sorrow in yourself to have offended him so grievously, condemning yourself and your vices with true repentance, desiring that the grace of God would secure you in this your great calamity. Pray you then with a firm faith, if you cannot with your mouth, yet from your heart: That God our most merciful Father, would 
Psal. 51. Psal. 142.  not enter into count or judgement with you, but that he would take some pity on you, in the name of his son jesus Christ our Lord, and that he would blot out our sins and stains by the merit of the death and passion of the same jesus Christ, in whose name you present unto him this holy prayer the which he taught us, saying from the bottom of your heart:  Our Father which art in heaven, etc. 

Mat. 6.  Then do acknowledge from the bottom of your heart your unrighteousness, be sorrowful for your sins, repent yourself unfeignedly, and the kingdom of God 
Mat. 3 Tit. 3  will draw●… nigh unto you. Confess that there is no righteousness, no innocency, no good works, neither of yours, nor in you: but that as the child of wrath, conceived 
Ephe. 2. Psal. 51. Rom. 8  and borne in the sin of old Adam, you merit eternal death and damnation. And yet all the sins in the world, when you shall have committed them all, are not able to make you afeard. For jesus Christ the very son of the eternal God, became very man, conceived by the holy Ghost, borne of the virgin Marie, to sanctify you 
Rom. 2 Luk. 1. Math. 1. Phil. 2. Act. 3 Mat. 27  and make you clean from sin. He suffered under Pontius Pilate, many afflictions and injurious torments, making himself a slave and a captive to set you out of captivity. jesus Christ was crucified, as one accursed, upon the tree of the cross, to deliver you from the eternal curse. jesus Christ was dead and shed his precious blood to wash you, to redeem you, and to deliver you from death, hell, and the power of Satan. jesus Christ was buried in the grave, to bury all your sins with 
Esa. 53. Apoc. 1 Heb. 29. 1. Pet. 1 Rom. 6 Act. 2. 1. Pet. 2 Mar. 16 1. Cor. 15 Act. 1 Col. 3 1. joh. 2. Heb. 7. Mat. 25 Psa. 61 Rom. 8.  him, the which he hath borne and blotted out. jesus Christ descended into hell, in suffering an extreme anguish to deliver you from all the pains and dolours of death. jesus Christ is risen up again from the dead to make you rise again in your own bodies resplendent with glorious immortality. jesus Christ is ascended up into the heavens, that after him you should ascend also. jesus Christ sitteth at the right hand of God the father almighty, being your advocate and mediator to him & the propitiation for all your sins. We look that he shall come to judge the quick & the dead, to reward every man according to his works. But to the faithful that believe in him he shall not impute their sins, for having justified them by his grace, he shall make them reign with him for ever in his heavenly throne.  
N. Such is the great mystery of our 
Mat. 25  redemption, the which by the grace of the holy Ghost you ought firmly believe to have been wrought for your salvation. Doubt not then at all, but by the merit of 
Eph. 1  jesus Christ, the head of his Church, you are incorporate and engrafted a member into the same, thanking him in all humility, that it hath pleased him of his great grace, that you have lived in the communion and fellowship of his faithful people, nourishing you with his word, and with 
Mat. 4 1. Cor. 11  his body and blood, confessing assuredly the great mercy of God by the forgiveness of all your sins, the which he hath vouchsafed you through jesus 
Rom. 5. 1. Cor. 15  Christ, who shall raise you up again at the last day, to make you reign with him in life everlasting, the which he hath promised to all those that believe in him, being baptized in his name. 
Mark. 16   
Now N. seeing that you have this faith, doubt not but to receive the promise of faith: for God is true of his promise, he is no liar, as men are. First heaven and earth shall pass, but the word of God abideth 
Rom. 3 Math. 24. Esa. 40 Gen. 1 1. Tim. 12 Math. 9 1. Tim. 2. Math. 9 Mark. 2 Luk. 5 Tit. 3 1. Tim. 1. Act. 4 Apoc. ●…  for ever. God he is your father and creator, you are his creature & the workmanship of his hands. He hath not made you to destroy you. For he is the saviour of all men, and will not the death of a sinner, but rather that he turn from his wickedness and live. Wherefore I announce unto you in the name of God, that by his great bounty and mercy he doth freely give unto you full pardon and remission of all your sins, by the only merit of his son jesus Christ our saviour, in the shedding of his most precious blood, for it is the propitiation not only for our sins, but also for the sins of the whole 
1. john. 2  world.  
N. jesus Christ sayeth by his own mouth, that all things are possible to him that believeth. Believe then without all 
Math. 17 Rom. 8.  doubt, that jesus Christ investing our flesh is become very man, and died for us, having borne all our sins in his own body, to wipe them out and deface them. Present unto God the precious death of 
Phil. 2. 1. Pet. 2  his son jesus Christ, and by the merit of the same death and passion ask him mercy and forgiveness, saying with great humility and repentance from the bottom of your heart.  
Lord God Father almighty have 
Rom. 3. john. 14  mercy upon me a poor miserable sinner, for the love of thy dear son jesus 
Math. 26 Psal. 30.  Christ my Lord and Saviour: and by the merit of his death and passion please to receive my soul, the which I commend into thy hands.  
N. You must have a firm belief and 
Rom. 8  trust in God. For if he be on your side, who can be against you: for jesus Christ who is the immaculate lamb, hath overcome all for you. He hath offered himself 
Esa. 61. Heb. 7. & 9  once for all, and by that one oblation hath defaced all our sins. He hath razed out our folly and unrighteousness, abomination and the obligation that the devil had against you, and with this good Lord and master jesus Christ God the father hath given you all things.  
N. Fortify yourself then in jesus Christ, who calleth and inviteth you by his Proohets, Apostles, and Evangelists, 
Rom. 8  to come freely unto him, saylng: All you that thirst come to me and drink your 
Esa. 55 Mat. 11.  fill. Come io me all ye that travail and be heavy laden, and I will refresh you.  
N. Believe assuredly that jesus Christ 
1. joh. 5  hath acquitted and discharged you from all your sins, and hath reconciled you to God his Father, unto whom with great humility and repentance say from the bottom of your heart. 
Rom. 3. john. 14. Math. 26 Psal. 30   
Lord God Father almighty have mercy upon me a poor miserable sinner, for the love of thy dear son jesus Christ my Lord and Saviour: and by the meri●…e of his death and passion please to receive my soul, the which I commend into thy hands.  
N. Have then a good hope, for certainly he will receive your soul as his own, for the love of his son jesus Christ our Lord, who is the Saviour 
Mar. 16. Deut. 8 Psal. 2  and redeemer of all those that believe in him. Moses and all the prophets have witnesses, that all Nations shall receive salvation and blessing from 
Esa. 55 Gen. 3. 2●… Math. 9 john. 10  jesus Christ. The Apostles and Evangelists witness, that jesus Christ is not come to call the just, but sinners to repentance, and to give his life for the redemption of many, for he hath shed his blood for the remission of sins. Believe then and doubt not in any 
Heb. 1  case. For jesus Christ hath purged and washed you clean from all your sins, having promised that all those that believe in him and his Father who sent 
john. 5  him, should have life everlasting, and should not come into judgement, but pass straight from death unto life.  
Now N. be of good cheer in jesus 
Esa. 53. Apo. 1  Christ, for he hath loved you dearly, and washed you from all your sins by his blood. Have then a strong faith and valiant resolution to encounter courageously with your adversary. You need none other buckler to defend you, but the precious blood of jesus Christ, the which 
Rom. 5  by the virtue of his death and passion hath reconciled you to God the father: unto whom with great humility and true repentance you must say: 
Rom. 3. john. 14. Math. 26 Psal. 30   
Lord God Father almighty, have mercy on me a poor miserable sinner, for the love of thy dear son jesus Christ our Lord and Saviour: and by the merit of his death and passion vouchsafe to receive my soul, the which I commend into thy hands.  
N. Have a good hope and firm faith that this good God full of mercy and compassion 
john. 10. Act. 4.  will receive your soul as his own, into his hands for the love of his son jesus Christ. For there is none other mean under heaven given unto men, by the which we must be saved, & no other salvation but in jesus Christ. Arm yourselves 
Rom. 8.  then with this jesus Christ, for he hath done all for you. He hath accomplished the law for you. He hath vanquished all your enemies that fight to overcome you. 
Rom. 10   
Now N. rejoice yourselves in God, stand firm in this lively faith. Follow and imitate the holy patriarchs, Prophets and Apostles, who are all saved in 
Heb. 11  this faith, who assured you that your adversary cannot any way hurt you. For 
john. 5 1. joh. 2▪ Psal. 22  your process is gotten by jesus Christ, who is both your judge and your advocate. Wherefore you may boldly say with a steadfast belief, When I should walk in the shadow of death, I shall fear none evil, for thou Lord art with me. Then good N. be never a weary, saying from the bottom of your heart in all true humility and repentance.  
Lord God Father almighty, have mercy on me a poor miserable sinner, 
Rom. 3. john. 14. Math. 26 Psal. 30  for the love of thy dear son jesus Christ our Lord and Saviour: and by the merit of his death and passion vouchsafe to receive my soul, the which I commend into thy hands.  

A very godly Prayer for one that is grievously afflicted by sickness, and ready to die.  ECCLESIASTICUS. 18. Use Physic before thou be sick, examine thyself before thou be judged and in the day of visitation thou shalt find mercy. 
God doth admonish us to pray continually, 
Math. 26  but especially when we are touched with his rods of correction. Wherefore all the kindred & faithful friends who visit the sick person, ought not only to 
Math 6. Math. 4.  visit and have a care of his body, but also seek some spiritual medicine for his soul. And this must be done by good prayers, confession of sins, and Christian exhortation, according to the word of God, without the which no man can live. And that all things may be done orderly and zealously, the assistance must prostrate themselves before the majesty of GOD saying: Our aid is in the name of God. And then say the general confession of sins, and after that this prayer as followeth.  

LOrd God almighty, and Father of mercy, we that are assembled together in the name of thy well-beloved son 
Math. 18 joh. 14  our Lord and saviour jesus Christ, trusting upon his grace and favour, we have been so bold as to come before thee to call upon thy holy name, making our only refuge in thy sovereign bounty, the which 
james. 5  we desire not only to feel and taste in ourselves, but also in the extremity of thy poor creature, who is grievously afflicted with 
1. Cor. 11.  sickness of body, affliction and calamity of mind. We know Lord, that thou dost 
Psal. 78.  justly visit & chastise him with thy rods, to make him understand and feel thy fatherly affection towards him. But thy great mercies which thou wast wont to use towards our Fathers, are not yet at an end, and clean forgotten. For thou art that great God eternal, full of pity and compassion which never changest. Thy 
Math. 26 Psal. 102  holy word doth teach us plain, that the earth is full of thy mercies, the which do far surpass thy justice. Wherefore O Lord, appease thy wrath towards this thy creature. Have pity and compassion on 
john. 14  him for the love of thy son jesus Christ our Lord. Look not upon his sins, but look upon the face of thy Christ, who hath fully satisffed for him in offering to 
Heb 7. & 9  thee the great sacrifice of his body upon the cross. We beseech thee then most gracious and merciful ●…ather, make him ●…éele thy grace, the which thou hast never ●…efused to give unto any of thy ch●…ldren. And because thou art our Father for ever who always knowest what is necessary 
Mat. 6  and expedient for our salvation, we do not pray and beseech thee to prolong or abridge his life, for we rest ourselves wholly upon thy holy will, the which we desire only to 
Rom. 11.  please. Thou art wise enough without any other counsel to dispose of thy creature according to thy good pleasure. But if it please thee to call him away, who is he 
Rom. 8.  that is able to resist? Or if thou wilt restore him his health again, who is he that can or dare reprehend thee? For all things are in thy hands, & nothing is done without 
john. 1 Esa. 22  thy holy will & providence. Although Lord, if of thy favourable grace thou prolong his days, thy rod shall serve for a chastisement to amend him and turn him to thee, & we with him shall yield thee thanks and praise. But if it be thy determinate will to let him pass into a better life, we beseech thee for thy son jesus Christ his 
Apoc. 1. Mat. 16 Psal. 3●….  sake, to forget all his sins and offences, the which thou hast 〈◊〉 out and washed away by the 〈◊〉 of his most precious blood. Let it please thee by the merit of the death 〈◊〉 passion of thy son, to receive his soul into thy hands, when thou shalt call him out of this world. Lord God despise 
Psa. 137 Psa. 129 Psal. 51.  not the work of thy hands: for see here thy poor creature almost at the last gasp, which calleth unto thee from the depth of all his languishes and miseries, presenting thee with his sorrowful & penitent soul, with an humble & contrite heart, the which we beseech thee to accept of for the love of 
john. 14.  thy son jesus Christ our Lord: in whose name thou hast promised to hear our prayers. Wherefore Lord, we beseech thee to take us into thy tuition, and to illuminate our hearts and understandings, that we may still come to thee and call upon thy holy name, as thy son jesus Christ our saviour hath taught us to call upon thee in all time of our need, saying: Our Father which art in heaven, etc.  
Lastly, most merciful and gracious God and father, may it please thee we beseech thee, to uphold us always by thy grace and power, that by the infirmity of our flesh we do not stumble and fall, and for that we of ourselves are so weak, that we cannot stand steadfast one minute of an hour, strengthen us by thy holy spirit, and so arm us with thy spiritull gifts and graces, that we may constantly persevere in the faith, without 
Heb. 11  the which it is not possible to please thee. Strengthen us then day by day in the same faith, whereof we will make confefsion unto thee with heart and mouth, saying: I believe in God the Father, etc.  
Then may they look how the sick person doth, using gracious and Christian speeches unto him, but if no sign of amendment appear, soon after they may find out a fit time●…to ask of him if he would willingly here to speak of God, and to hear his word, whilst he is in perfect sense and memory: then may they begin this little Catechism which followeth.     

A SHORT Catechism to refresh the memory of the sick person in points of Christianity, and to make him chiefly understand the mystery of our Redemption.  
The Minister.  N. 
BRother, every man who 
Gen. 1 Psal. 51. Ephe. 2. Rom. 5  knoweth himself well, and seeth of what condition and quality he is, must surely confess, that albeit he be created after the image and likeness of God, yet that he is conceived and borne in the sin●…e of old Adam, and so made a poor and miserable sinner, ignorant, unconstant, and full of all iniquity, and by consequent, subject to all miseries, afflictions, and adversities, and finally to death. Of all which, sin is the cause, the which God will not suffer to be unpunished, but afflicteth us therefore daily and doth plague and punish us in this world, lest he should condemn us with the world. Wherefore dear brother N. have patience in your sickness and affliction, and you shall possess your soul in 
1. Cor. 11 Psal. 31  spiritual joy. Confess your sin, and accuse yourself before the majesty of Godunto whom you must cast up your eyes to contemplate him by faith: confessing your faith with heart and mouth before all this assistance of your faithful Brethren. For it is written, With the heart man believeth unto righteousness, and 
Rom. 10  with the mouth man confesseth to salvation. Hearken then to these questions that I shall demand of you, and answer to them faithfully, according to the understanding that God hath given you. But if you cannot answer by reason of your 
Math. 10.  feebleness, I will answer for you, and it shall suffice us very well to understand your meaning, and the constancy of your faith, in the which you must live and die.  
Now I must first ask you, wherefore and to what end were you created in this world.  The Sick. 
To know God. 
Cen. 2.   The Minister. 
Was it necessary for you to know God?  S. 
Yea verily: for seeing that he is my 
Psal. 16. & 17.  sovereign God, without the knowledge of him, sure I had been more miserable than the brute beasts.  M. 
Seeing that you know God, you know well that he is power, wisdom, 
Gen. 1. joh. 1. Luk. 1. 1. joh. 5. Gen. 18.  and infinite bounty, one God in three persons, the Father, Son, and the holy Ghost. The only God that A braham, Isaac, and jacob have worshipped in spirit and truth. The only eternal God, who hath created heaven and earth, and all things therein contained. Is not the knowledge that you have of God, such?  S. 
Yes.  M. 
But so simple knowledge of God, is it sufficient to bring you to life everlasting?  S. 
Very hardly. For it is life▪ everlasting, 
joh. 18.  to confess and to know one only God, and him whom he hath sent, his only Son for ever, our Lord jesus Christ.  M. 
Wherefore is it necessary for you to confess and know the Lord jesus Christ?  S. 
Because I must recover in jesus Christ, all that I lost in myself, by the 
Rom. 5 Psal. 51.  sin of old Adam, in the which I was borne and conceived, therefore it was meet for my salvation, that jesus Christ very God, and very man, investing our flesh, should give me of his grace and favour 
Luke. 24 Psal. 21. Rom. 11.  again that which I had lost in Adam.  M. 
Very well said. And therefore 
Math. 1 Luke. 1 Ephe. 2 Psal. 51.  was jesus Christ, conceived of the holy Ghost and borne of the virgin Mary, to purge and sancttifie you, but you for your part, were conceived and borne in sin, and of sinful parents. Wherefore you must confess, that without jesus Christ you had remained a poor 
Rom. 8  and miserable sinner, judged to eternal death.  S. 
So in deed I had. But I firmly believe and confess, that this good jesus 
Rom. 5  Christ hath reconciled me to God his Father.  M. 
But how hath he reconciled you to 
Math. 26. Heb. 7  God the Father?  S. 
By his death and passion in shedding of his most precious blood, for to deliver me from everlasting pains. This good GOD jesus Christ 
Act. 3 Math. 27  hath suffered for me under Pontius Pilate many afflictions, injuries and tribulations. This jesus Christ was crucified for me, as one accursed, upon the tree of the Cross to deliver me from the eternal curse, unto the which Adam had made me subject. This my Saviour jesus Christ was verily buried, to bury with him all my sins, to the end that they should not be imputed unto me before God. This is my Lord and Saviour jesus Christ, 
Act. 2. 1. Pet. 2.  who descended into hell, suffering an extreme anguish and pang for the time, to deliver me from eternal pains of hell.  M. 
All this that you have now confessed 
Esa. 53. Math. 26.  of jesus Christ, is it sufficient to save you?  S. 
No: for the holy scriptures must be in all things fulfilled. For what had this profited me, that jesus Christ was borne, crucified, dead, and buried, and gone down into hell only for me, and if he 
Mar. 10. 1. Cor. 15.  had not rose again? Wherefore I believe and confess that my Lord my head and Saviour jesus Christ, is risen from the dead, to make me rise again with him, as one of his little members, into everlasting life.  M. 
Consequentle it is written, that he 
Act. 1.  is ascended up into heaven, sitting now at the right hand of God his Father. But what profit get you by his ascension?  S. 
My Lord, my head and Saviour jesus Christ, is ascended up into heaven, 
Col. 3. 1. joh. 2.  to make me ascend after him: for where the head is, the members are also, and I constantly believe, that sitting at the right hand of God his Father, he is mine advocate, intercessor, and mediator towards him, assuring me that nothing may hurt me, he being both mine advocate 
Rom. 8. joh. 5..  and judge. Wherefore I need not to fear the day of his judgement, when he shall come to judge the quick and the dead, for I believe and confess with a 
Mat. 25.  steadfast belief, that there is no judgement 
Rom. 8.  or 〈◊〉 for them that are faithful members in jesus Christ.  M. 
Who hath given you the grace to understand and do these things▪  S. 
It is by the grace of the holy Ghost, 
joh. 5.  one only God, with the Father and the Son, by whom we receive all these gifts and graces which are offered unto us in jesus Christ.  M. 
Seeing that you have already confessed, that you are one of the members of jesus Chrst, it followeth then that you are incorporate also into his church, the which you must believe to be holy, catholic, & universal.  S. 
I believe verily the holy Church 
Ephe. 5.  universal, to be washed and made clean in the precious blood of jesus Christ, and I give him most humble thanks that he hath given me grace, to be a little member 
Mat. 4. 1. Cor. 11.  of his church. And being baptized in his name, hath made me live in the communion, unity, and charity of the same, having taught and instructed me by his holy word, nourished me with his very body, and given me his most precious blood to drink in hope of eternal life.  M. 
Seeing you are so surely grounded 
1. Cor. 10.  upon the corner stone, which is jesus Christ, in knowing yourself pefectly, you must also acknowledge the principal good that you have received of this good God jesus Christ.  S. 
Not without good reason. For I will not be ingrateful to acknowledge 
Psal. 51  the gifts and graces which I have received at God's hands. Therefore I confess that I am a poor and miserable sinner, who have grievously offended the bounty and justice of God, having transgressed 
L●…k. 17.  his most holy commandments. wherein I have deserved eternal death and damnation. Nevertheless appealing to the mercy of God, I ask him forgiveness: and believe and confess without all doubt, that he hath given me 
1. Tim. 1. Act. 4. Apoc. 1. Math. 26. Heb. 1  full & absolute forgiveness of all my sins, by the only merit of the death and pass●…on of my Lord and saviour jesus Christ, in the shedding of whose most precious blood, I assure myself sufficiently and thoroughly to be washed and made clean which is the greatest benefit and contentment 
Math. 10  that I could ever receive. This is my faith in the which I will live and die by the grace of his holy spirit.  M. 
Seeing that you have received so great a benefit at God's hand, by the means of his son jesus Christ, it is meet also that you should do that which 
Mar. 1●…  he commandeth you. For even as he hath pardoned and remitted all your sins, so likewise must you pardon from the bottom of your heart, all those that have at 
Math. 5.  any time offended you, for otherwise you walk not in God's commandments.  S. 
Herein I acknowledge the law of jesus Christ to be most holy and perfect, 
Math. 9  commanding us to love our neighbours, our friends and enemies, as ourselves. Wherefore I beseech all those whom by word or deed I have offended to forgéeve 
Luke. 23  me, with as good a will as I forgéeve all those that by any means have ever offended me, wishing with all my heart that I might do them as good service & pleasures as unto my best friends & dearest brethren.  M. 
Seeing that it is the ordinance of God that all men shall die, we cannot resist his ordinance. But we must always conform ourselves to his most holy wil Wherefore dear brother, you must not think ill, if I speak unto you the which the holy prophet Esay told unto king Ezechias, having his message from God: Set thine house in order, for thou shalt die and not live This good counsel should move you to have a great care for the spiritual disposing of your conscience: that is: first to turn yourself unto the Lord, and bewail your sins, as this good king did: crauin●… pardon and pity at his hands, and crying him mercy for your sins, say from the bottom of your heart: Lord, God have pity and mercy on me a poor wretched sinner, for the love of thy dear son jesus Christ my Lord and Saviour. Secondly, you must not forget your family, which by your last will and testament you must set in so good order, that after your decease it may be in peace and quiet without strife, contention, or going to law. Then must you s●… order your family, that every one have their own, without defrauding any person. Leave your wife, your heir▪ your children and kinsmen in good love and charity one with an other, that there arise afterwards no division amongst them. This done, you must so forget all cares and sorrows of this wicked world, which shall pass and 〈◊〉 away, with all the 〈◊〉 thereof. But he which doth the will of God shall abide for ever. As for your children, you are but only their natural Father for a time: but God is their spiritual Father for ever, who hath then in his timely and holy protection, to keep, nourish and preserve them from all evil, so that they will walk in his ways. Moreover, being that you are a Christian, borne a new in the holy Sacrament of Baptism, you know long since, that we have here no abiding City, but we look for a better dwelling place that shall continue for ever. Therefore I beseech you in the name of God, not to be sorry to ●…orgo any thing in this world. For here we are all but strangers as our fathers were. If it please the Lord God then that you shall dislodge and come before him, are not you ready to obey his will and commandment▪ Or if he see it more expedient for your salvation to prolong your life, as he did to this good King Ezechias, will not you be content with that which it shall please him to do with you? Yes surely. For he is your Lord and ma●…ter, you are but his servants: he is▪ your creator, you are but his creature, and the workmanship of his hands. So than you must dispose of yourself at his will, unto the which only you must conform and submit yourself, saying from your very heart.  
Lord God, thou knowest my necessity before I ask, if it be thy will to prolong my life, thy will be done: if it please thee to call me to thee▪ ward, thy will be done also: for thy creature Lord, hath none other will but thine.  
Now dear brother, comfort yourself in the Lord, who if he have ordained to call you, your calling shall be most happy: for you must believe & hope with a strong faith, that he will raise you up again in 
●…. Cor. 13  your own body in a glorious immortality, the which is already purchased and given 
Apoc. 1  unto you gratis, by the virtue and efficacy of the precious blood of our Lord and saviour jesus Christ. In the name of which Lord and Saviour, God bless you and keep you, and make the light of his countenance to shine upon you, and be merciful unto you. Therefore God turn his cheerful face towards you, and keep you in good prosperity for ever. So be it.  
This done, if the sick person do not amend, but draw towards his end, in the agony of his death they should read unto him aloud the Christian Consolation, which is before, and beginneth, Whosoever is of God, etc. And God no doubt shall give him his grace to die his true and faithful servant, like a good Christian and member of Christ jesus. So be it.  
FINIS.