Fonseca - Houston-Packer Collection. BX1756.F66 D5713 1629

Ó2O lude. Num.;;. Sathans pra- tlifc todcpriuc Iob of Hope. ThcConuerfionof theTheefe curryway miraculous. TheConnerfionOf Feare,,BeatipaaperesSpirito, Bleídareathepoore in Spirit, For they that haue much to loofe,liue (till in feare. A itoutRoman being threatnedbyC afar, told him, c, ihi f menus mecum ademit, Oldagebath made meefearele(e : Hee had but afew yeares to hue, whichmade him efleeeme the lelfe ofthe Joffe ofhis life. But the righteous confiderethwithhimfelfe, that hehath eternal' yeares to look, Ihad thofeyearesHillin mymind; wee thereforevnto them that hauefollowed thewayes ofCain, andare rail away by the deceit ofBaalaìns wages. There are fome which build too,much vpon their owne confidence, like vnto Balsam, whohauing been . bothdifobcdient and couetous,would yet notwithftanding dyethe deathofthe righteous. Without Hope, what good can man inioy ! Thediuell vfed all the tricks and deuices that his wit was able to inuent,to put Tebout of hope : For which endhe madevfeoftwo meanes. Theone hetook from theeartñ,by procuringthat thofe his friends on whom hemolt trufted , and hoped for greateft comfort from them , fhouldcafthim downe,and driue him into defpaire,by their bitter words and (harpe cenfures. Theother fromheauen, by getting fireto defcend from thence ; fpeaking in thefetwo thusvntohim, What fhouldit thou nowdoe but defpaireand die, fee- ing thouhaft nothing tohope for either from heauen aboue , orearth beneath. He hash not onely robbedmee ofmy leaues andmyboughs, tearing downe my branches, but hath rent vp my hopes bythesootes. And yet forall this, faith patient lob,Though hekill me,yet silliarufl inhim. Saint Ambrofefaith,That God doth moftof all refent the finne ofdefperation ; Not becaufeof all other finnes it is thegrcateft, butbecaufe it is moftpreiudiciall to man : for it fhutsvp the paffage tobleffednefhe, and barres the doore ofheauen againft vs; God being more fenfibleof the hurt we doe our felues , than of the wrong weedoe him. And therefore Tudashis defpairedid much more trouble him,than did his felling ofhim : for in felling him, he did but (hewwhat little reckoninghemade ofhis Humanitie ; but in hisdefpairing,thebafè opinionthat he hadof his Diuinitie. Pa illis (asbefore) quiinviamCain abierunt, Woevntothem that hastefollowed the wayes ofCain. Now the worft of thofewayes that Cain tooke, washis defpaire, c7faierefliniquitarmea,quamvtvariant merear ; asifhe fhould hauePaid, God either cannot orwill not pardonfo grievousand hainousa fineas this is. Yet we fee, that God didpermit, that he mightlay fomegood ground forour Feare,that oneofthe theeues fhould be damned : and that it is neither our dying fide by fidewith Chrift, nor his bedafhingvs with his diuineblood, neither the prayer which he made to hisFather with tearesin hiseyes,nor the hauingofthe image ofa ,Crucifixe, or ofthe Virgin Maryhanging at our beds head [but the wea- ring of Chriftin our hearts byFaith] could do this theefeanygood,or keephim from leapingat once from the Cróffevntohell : andyet hewould that the other fhould beCaned, not onely as hewas atheefe, andto finde pardon of that parti- cular offence; as tolay a foundation for the Hope of forgiuenefhe, for all other fineswhatfoeuer committed by vs in this world, and to the end, that his abfo- lution(as Saint Augu(line faith) andhis indulgencemight ferne as acomfortto all Chriftians, For,as in AdamweloftParadife;fo in the theefe we got it againe. CertainedefperatefellowesvtteredbyEZecbiel, Our hones are dryedvp, andour .hope itperifhed : But God in anfwerfayes vnto them,Iwill openyourSepulchres, and put life into thofe your drie bones ; doeye not thereforedefpaire. And for the betteringraftingofthis truth in his peoples hearts, he raifedvpawhole field that was full oftherebones,&c. Arnoldus theAbbot faith, Non &betmeans disina dementia: Sit,qui ináocet ; erit, qui exaudiet : Sit , quipeniteat ; nors deerit, god

RkJQdWJsaXNoZXIy OTcyMjk=