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EXperyence gotten by patience, doth beget and bryng foorth hope, for hauyng experience in the might and potencie of God, wée come and grow to haue a sure hope in hym, bycause that how much ye more & greater our trial & experience is: so much the more
firme, certeine & sure is our hope: as Dauid, Danyell, and many other ho∣ly men, which hauing prooued, and be∣ing experiēced by great & terrible tri∣bulatiōs, haue passed thorough ye pikes of thē with great hope: for yt they had a feeling of ye power & presence of God in them, & thereby assured of ye fauour of him, yt they were imboldened and brought into so sure a hope, yt none e∣nimy nor nothing, could ouercom nor preuaile against them. Dauid beyng moued with the féeling of this fauor, and full of firme hope in the goodnesse of the Lord, which did susteine him a∣gainst his enimies, & bring him forth of all his troubles with victorie, sayd:* 1.1 with all my hart haue I called on thée O Lorde, and I will loue thée O my strēgth: O Lord thou art my strēgth, my Rocke, my defēce, my libertie, and my god. And I wil put my whole hope and trust in thee my buckler and my shield, I wil call vppō thee, & so I shal bee deliuered from myne enymyes. The troubles & sorows of death haue invironed & cōpassed me round about,
but I called vppon the Lorde, and hée hath hard me from his holy Temple. In lyke maner it happeneth and fal∣leth out to all the faithfull: for after that our faith is proued, experienced, and founde good, by the pacience & suf∣ferance that God hath giuen vs: Euen then our hope doeth so increase, that we conceiue a moste firme securitie and certeintie of our saluation. And so: by means therof, we begin to féele and know without doubt that we can not be lost nor forsaken: but that for a more certeintie, we shall obteine and come to ye pure port of eternal health. And hereof S. Iames speaketh and sayeth.* 1.2 Blessed and happie is the man that suffereth temptations: for when he is tryed he shal receiue the crowne of lyfe, which God hath promysed to them that loue him. In varyable and firme is this hope, bycause it is foun∣ded & grounded vppon Iesus Christ, of his wordes and promises. Wher∣of it is spoken in Mathew and Luke,* 1.3 (in Christes Gospell by them wryt∣ten) Blessed arte thou that mournest,
for thou shalte be comforted: Blessed arte thou when men reuyle and ab∣horre thée, persecute thée, and speake all maner euill sayings of thée, for my name sake: Blessed arte thou ye wée∣pest, for thou shalt laugh: Blessed art thou when men hate thée, thrust thée out of their company, and rayle & ab∣horre thy name as an euill thing, for the sonne of mans sake.* 1.4 Reioyce you all then and be glad for beholde your rewarde is great in heauen: For so persecuted they the Prophets.
The foundation of our hope beyng grounded vppon these promises and such lyke: The Apostle sayeth it shall neuer be confounded. For that if wée beleue and trust firmely in the fulfyl∣ling of thē, we shall neuer be defrau∣ded from the fruites of our hope, nor shall not be confoūded before the chil∣drē of this world: nor yet haue shame of our hope and trust, in those diuyne promises. For that we shall be assured to obteine the fulfilling of them, and besides remayne without feare of our worst enimyes: for they shall not bée
able to say yt our hope is had in vaine, but shall with their owne eyes, full surely sée vs saued therby.* 1.5 Dauid doth declare and confirme this vnto vs by his owne experience, saying, in ye Lord haue I trusted, & I shall neuer be cō∣founded.* 1.6 And Esay sayeth, he that be∣leueth in the Lord shall not be cōfoū∣ded.* 1.7 And by S. Paul it is said, by hope we be alreadie saued. Fynally by the holy ghost it is pretēded, to giue vs all to vnderstande, that as many as trust in God, shall bée saued & set frée, from all tribulations both temporall and eternall by Iesus Christ. So that being anymated and imboldened by this hope, wée may reioyce in them and say with Sainct Paule,* 1.8 if God bée with vs, who can bée against vs. Hée that spared not his owne sonne, but gaue hym for vs all: howe is it possible that hée shoulde not gyue vs all thyngs in hym. Who shall ac∣cuse or laye any thyng to the charge of the chosen: it is God that iustifi∣eth, who shall then condempne: it is Christ that is deade, yea rather
rysen agayne: which is also on the ryght hande of God, and maketh in∣tercession for vs.
Who shall seperate vs from the loue of hym: shall tribulation, anguyshe, persecution, hunger, nakednesse, pe∣rill, or the sworde. No: God forbyd,* 1.9 for that it is written, for thy sake are we killed all ye day long, & are accoun∣ted as shéepe appoynted to be slayne. And yet in all these things we are vic∣tors, & victorious, by yt good god our fa∣ther who so loueth vs. Thus if ye foun∣dation of our hope be by faith, we are thē perfectly sure we shall neuer come to confusion:* 1.10 and that no creature can parte nor seperate vs from the loue and charitie of God, which is in Iesu Christ our Lorde. Bycause of necessi∣tie by hys rightuousnesse, he is to ful∣fill in vs all things, as the holy Ghost hath spokē. That is to say:* 1.11 if we suffer with Christ, we shall also reigne with hym, and if we be dead with him, we shall lyue togyther with him also.
And therfore if we doe communicate togither in his passions, and do suffer
and be killed with him, we may assure our selues, that we shal also liue with him for euer. So that the tribulatiōs and persecutions which we suffer for his sake, with pacience, is a frée con∣firmation, and full assurance of our hope in his eternall kingdome, of the which he hath alreadie taken possessi∣on, is glorified, and doeth reigne ther∣in to his owne vse, and ours.
So that we may sée, that all that God doeth, is to assure vs, (& to make confirmation accordyngly) of our sal∣uation: the which hée hath giuen vs in Christ. And to confirme in vs also, the rest of the effect of his diuine coun∣sell which was determined before the beginning of the worlde. And as this his counsell is mutable, so muche the more is the fuming furie of his eny∣myes and of the diuill their capteyne, set agaynst vs: who as he is the prin∣cipall minister of all the mischief and tribulatiōs that we suffer. So he doth as muche as in hym is to obteyne the victorie of vs, as wel in administring temptations to vs interiorly, as exte∣riorly:
wherby he would by one mean or other, plucke and seperate vs from the right way. When he doeth come to the combate to fighte for victoorie: the villayne is so nymble, dyligēt, and subtil as is possible: all his armye of Soldiors and warriours are armed and set in aray for the best aduaun∣tage as hée thynketh: And all to de∣riue vs from the firmnesse of our faith that we haue in Christ. He doth shew vs the greatnesse of his estate, and of all his furniture, for that hée woulde make vs afrayd, to faynt, and bée dis∣mayed at the full fiersenesse of hys force. And when as this is thus she∣wed vnto vs, there is a certeyn num∣ber of vs, that are troubled, and doe thinke them selues as shéepe among Wolues, & in ye mouthes of Wolues. When as they sée them selues forsa∣ken of theyr friendes and famyliars, abhorred & denyed of theyr kinsfolks, forsaken and without helpe of them that were déepest in debte for theyr friendship. And that all the world doth reioyce to sée them so afflicted, as whē
the sentences of their condempnors thunder out so terribly against them, as though it were from the mouth of almightie God pronoūced. Thē great are the troubles & sorowes that they suffer in their myndes: it séemeth then vnto them, that both heauen & earth is beset wt ire & wrath against thē,* 1.12 & that god & his creatures make mortal war euen to distroy them. Thē for another practise may they sée ye kings Princes & rulers (which ought to be their defē∣dors in Gods causes) to rise & stand vp against them, & doe say all wt one voice togither: kill thē, kil thē, as traytors & enimies to God & our kingdō. On the other side they sée torments, tortures, and stout sturdy stomackt tormētors, stād redy prepared for them, wt shame, infamy, cōfusion, & reproch, to be recei∣ued before their friends, familiars, & enimies, they doo sée ye terrible & fear∣ful face of direfull death, & the slauish hāgman or executioner ready to light ye fire to burn them, & to stretch ye roape to strāgle them. In all these troubles, there is not one to cōfort them, but in
stead & place of cōfort, they doo vse ex∣ortatiōs to blaspheme (or speake blas∣phemy of ye redēption obteined by) Ie∣sus Christ. These I say: these are wō∣derfull anguishes, sorows, & troubles in their thus troubled minds. And yet they doo increase frō degrée to degrée, for all this time,* 1.13 they either thinke ye God is a sléepe, there is no God, or els yt he hath forgotten them. And then the diuil plyeth him by all the meanes he may, to bring them to dispair: he doth procure persuasions vnto them yt they would deny, abhorre, & cursse God: thē he doth leaue to entreat them in this maner, & will suffer no man to succor them. So yt more gréeuous is this an∣guish to ye mynde of those members, thē were presēt death to their bodies.
Psal. 18. & 1.2.
Iames. 1. & 12.
Mat. 5. & 5. &c. Luk. 6. &c 20. &c.
1. Pet. 2. & 4.5.6.
Psal. 31. & 1. &c. Psal. 71. & 1. &c.
Esay. 28. & 16.
Rom. 8. & ••4.
Rom. 8. & ••1.32. &c.
Psal. 44. & 22.
Rom. 8. & 35.39.
••. Tim. 2. &. 7.10. &c. Rom. 8. & 11.12.17. &c.
O great Ire of the diuil and his seruāts.
Psal. 43. &. 1.2.