ÍI 140 Chap.] o. Of Hope, Prefumption, and Defpair. Com. r. Pfal,rr9.49. the word unto thy Servant, upon which thou haft caufed me tohope. And There- fore it werea point of high prefumption for a man to continue in lin,in hope ofGods Mercies, without repentanceand amendment of life, whereas there is nopromife of God, that unrepentant finners fhould findmercy. 2. The other extreme' is Defperation, which is oppofite and flat contrary to Pre- fumption, andHope too ; for whereas true Hope conceiveth a thing pof iible, though it be hard, and Prefumption takes it tobe polfsble,but not hard ; Defpair thinketh it to be fo hard, that it is impoffible. Defpair is of two forts. r. The firft is the Epicurean Defpair. And it was the Ifraelite, fault. Hefmote P[a].TS.so. ( faid they ) the ftony Rock, that the waters gufhed out , and the (creams over- flowed, Can he give bread alto ? Can he provide flefh for his people ? St. Gregory 3.Moral. giveth us aNote. Bccaufe the Ifraelires ex luxtsria were not fed with Quails as their loft came upon them,prefently defperaverxnt, they defpaired of Gods Omnipotencie, or of his care in protecting them, and providing for them. And when a man con - ceiveth, that either the thing promifed will be always fxtxrtsm, to come, or if it hath no tafte at all with him, or that it is a thing not much to be cfteemed, he giveth himfelf to fenfuality, as St. Axgxfline faid, Sxia non poffxm babere qua ero,becaufe I cannot have what I hope for ( at my own will) t will have thofe things which are contra fßem, that is, thofe things which I can have in this life, which being prc- fent cannot be theObject of Hope, according to the Epicures Rule, Ede, bibe, lade, ?oft moron nxlla volxptas ; eat,drink, play, for there is no pleafure after death to be hoped for. t 2. The fecond is more to bepitied, but no lets dangerous than the other, which sCer,s.7. is defpair in Gods Mercy. The'Apoftie was afraid left the incelluous perfon fhould have been fwallowed with this. This error arifeth upon an imagination that there may proceed fetch evil from the Creature, as God cannot matter; whereas it is moft certain, that Gods mercies exceed all fin. And this was Cain'scafc and error. My Gen.4:i4. iniquity is greater than can be forgiven. St. Ambrofe writing upon that place, faith, .L1entiris Cain, Cain, thou lyeft ; for if it were poffsblc or lawful to think that any one Attribute of Godhad larger dimenfions than another, it mutt needs beMercy, that would be moft tranfcendent, becaufe it is an Attribute which reaeheth unto Pfal.36t. theHeavens, whereas his righteoufnefs ftandeth like the ftrong Mountains, and his Judgments like thegreat Deep. Therefore theSchool -men difputing the cafeof 7a- do, whetherhis betrayingof Chrift, or defpair of Gods mercy was the greater fin, they refolve that his defpair was the greater, becaufe it rejected the Medicine of Gods mercy and Chriftsmerits, by which the other finmight have been cured, and fo it was limply incurable. Defpair not therefore, nor let the Devil perfwade thee, that God is poor in mercy and only can forgive (mall fins ; for his mercy is over all his works. The means toattain and preferve hope are thefe. a. To confider the end of our Prev,11;7, Hope, whichextends it felf beyondthis life. The Wife man faith, when a wicked man dieth. his expectation (hall perifh, and the hopeof unjuft men perifheth, but the ¡Taft hath hope in death. The confederation ofour end raifeth our hope higher than this life. And in another place he tells us, that furely there will be an end, andour s3:rt, hope (hall not becut off; it endslnot with our life ; and therefore St. Peter(quoting 1561s6.9. a place in the'Pfalms) faith,Our heart (hall beglad, and our flelh (hall refs inhope. A&.z.z6. Sothat death doth not put an end toour hope. 2. To confider the Examples of others. That the Patriarchs andFathers loft not PfaLss,4,ç. the fruit of their hope. Our Fathers (faith the Pfaimift) hoped in thee, they trufted in thee, and thou didft deliver them. Theycalled upon thee and were holpen, they put theirtrufe in thee, and were not confounded. And by theft Examples we fhould be quickned in our hope. For it is the Devils politic to lay defpair as an Engine to entrap us; perlwading us, that there were never fuch tanners as we are, and there- fore never were any in the like cafewith us. But if we look back into theScriptures, we (hall finde him to be but a feducer in this. 3. A third is our own experience of Gods ftrengtlsening us againft former tent tations, and of our own former deliverances from fin and danger, which may iaea.s7.37. make us fay with David , The Lord that delivered nie ont of the paw of the L en, and ont of the paw of tie Bear , he will deliver me oat of tin hand ofthis Phi»
RkJQdWJsaXNoZXIy OTcyMjk=