The Governance of Virtue, Part 2 · Section 13 – Section 14
Agaynst pensiuenesse and thought taking for the life.
IF thou be troubled for the preseruacion of thy life eyther in sickenesse, trouble, persecution, emprisonment, or otherwyse, comfort thy selfe with these scriptures.
Sentences out of the olde Testament.
THe Lorde killeth and geueth life agayne.1. Reg. 2. He bringeth euen to hell, and backe agayne.
The Lorde is my light and my health whom then should I feare? The Lorde isPsal. 27. the strength of my life, of whom then should I be afrayd: though an host of men were layde agaynst me, yet shall not my harte be afrayde. And though there arose vp war against me, yet wil I put my trust in him.
He hath geuen his Aungells charge ofPsal. 91. thee, to kepe thee in all thy wayes.
The Aungell of the Lord shall be sentPsal. 34. among all them that feare him, and shall deliuer them.
The sourges of the sea are maruelous,Psal. 93. yea the lord on high is rather maruelous.
They consented all against me, they cō spiredPsal. 31. to take away my life, but in thee (O Lord) hauehave I trusted, and I sayd, thou art my God, In thy hand are my destenies.
Many tribulations fall on y• righteous,Psal. 34. but from them all, the lord deliuereth thē. The Lorde kepeth all their bones, so that not one of them shall be broken.
The health of the righteous is of thePsal. 37. Lord, and he defendeth them in the tyme of their trouble. Yea the lorde will helpe them and deliuer them, and set thē harmeles from the vngodlye: and saue them because they hauehave trusted in them.
Thou haste limitted the waters thesePsal. 104. bounds: which they may not passe.
The Lord is my helper, I will not fearePsal. 118. what man doe vntounto me. The Lord is my deliuerer, therefore will I set nought by mine enemies.
The Lord hath geuen a cōmaundemēt:Psal. 148. and none shall go beyond it, Fyre, Hayle, Snow, Ise, and vapours, stormie windes accomplishe his worde.
Suffer not thy mouth to cause thy fleshEccle. 5 for to sinne, neyther saye thou before the Aungell, there is no prouidence: least peraduenture the Lord being angry against thy wordes do destroye all the workes of thy handes.
Life and death are of God.Eccle. …
Thy prouidence (O father) gouernethSap. 14 all thinges frō the beginning.
Thou (O Lord) art he which hast power of life and death. Who can say that any thing can be done without the Lordes cō maundement? From the mouth of the highest, goeth there not good and ill?
☞ Examples out of the olde Testament.
ESau burned with an immortall hatredGen. 27. 32. 33. against his brother Iacob: because of the blessing wherwith his father had blessed him: and purposed fully in his hart to kill his brother. But Iacob prayed vntounto the Lord, and he mollifyed Esaus hart, in so much, that whan Iacob thought that both he and his shoulde be slaine, his brother Esau came gently vntounto him, louinglye embraced him, kissed him frendly, and for very ioye wept: so mightie is God to mollifie tira…ntes hartes, whan it pleaseth him, and to make them gracious and fauourable to his seruauntes.
Saule persecuted Dauid cruelly, purposing1. Reg. 1…. to kill him, but his labor was in vain.
Iezabel threatned and sware to sley Helias,3. Reg. 19. but the Lorde preserued him.
Sathan coulde doe nothing to Iob, tillIob. 2. God suffered him: neither exercised he hys cruelnes any further against Iob, than he was appointed of God.
The godly woman Susan through theDan. 8. false accusations of ye two wicked iudges was at y• point to be stoned vntounto death, but God wonderfully deliuered her from the handes of her enemies.
☞ Examples out of the new Testament.
FEare not them which kill the body,Mat. 10. and be not able to kill the soule. But rather feare him, which is able to destroye both soule and body in hell. Are not two sparowes solde for a farthing? And none of them fall on the ground without the will of your father. Yea all the hayres of your head are numbred. Feare not therfore, ye are of more value than manye sparowes.
Ye be come out as vntounto a theefe withMath. 26. swordes and staues. When I was daylye with you in the temple, ye layd no hand vppon me, but this is your houre and the power of darkenesse.
Thou couldest hauehave no power at all againstIohn. …. mee (sayd Christ vntounto Pilate) except it were geuen thee from aboue.
All thinges are of him, by hym andMath. 12. in hym.
If we liue, we liue to be at the LordesRom. 14 will. And if we die, we die at the Lordes will. Whether we liue therfore or die, we are in the Lordes hand.
Beholde, I am aliue sayth Christ, forApoc. 1. euermore: and hauehave the keyes of death …nd hell.
☞ Examples out of the new Testament.
Mat. 8.THe ship, wherin Christ and his Disciples were, was greuouslye tossed with the waues of the sea, through y• winde and the tempest that arose, in so muche that it was at the point of drowning. Notwithstanding, neither water, winde, nor tempest, did once hurte it.Math. 8
The deuills had no power to enter into swine till Christ gaue them leaue. If thou cast vsus forth, sayd they, suffer vsus to enter into the herd of swine. Christ aunswered,Iohn. 7. goe ye, and they went.
The Iewes did seke to kill Christ, but hys tyme was not then come. No man dyd set hys handes on hym because hys houre was not yet come.
They went aboute to take Christ, butIohn. 10. he escaped from the midst of their hands.
There came certain of ye Pharisees andLuke. 13. said vntounto Christ, get thee out of the waye, & depart bence. For Herode will kill thee. And he said vntounto thē, go & tell that Fore: behold I cast out deuills, and heale y• people to day and to morow, and the iii. day I make an end. Neuertheles, I must walke to day, and to morow, and the day following: for it can not be that a prophet perish any other where then at Ierusalem.
Herode threwe Peter in prison, boundActs. 12. him faste with chaines: and set certaine souldiours for the more assurance to kepe him, purposing after Easter to bring him forth vntounto the people, and so to hauehave slaine him. But God being mightier then all the tirannie and power of the world sent his Aungell, and deliuered Peter out of prison.
Paule being at Milete gathered aAct. 28. bundel of stickes, and put them in the fire, and sodenlye there came a venemous adder, otherwise called a Uiper, out of the heate, and lepte on his hande. The men
The men that were present and sawe this thinge waited when he shoulde hauehave swollen or fallen down dead sodynly.
But Paule shoke of the vermine into the fier and felt no harme.
Against hunger, pouertie, or carefulnes of liuing.
IF at anye time thou be tempted with the carefulnes of liuing, comfort thy self with these holy scriptures.
Sentences out of the olde Testament.
THey that feare the Lord, shall hauehave no scarcenesse. They which seke the LordPsal. 33▪ shall want no good thing.
Beholde the eyes of the Lord are vponupon them that feare him, and vponupon them thatPsal. 34 trust in his mercy, y• he maye deliuer their liues from deathe and norishe them in the time of honger.
I hauehave bene young and am waxē old, and I hauehave not seene the righteous forsaken,Psal. 37▪ nor his children begging their bread on the earth.
Lay thy care on the Lord, and he shal norishe thee.Psal. 55
All creatures depende vponupon thee (O Lord) that thou shouldest geue them meatPsal. 10… in due time. For thou geuing it them, they take it, and thou opening thy hande, they are well satisfied.
But thou hidinge thy face they are sorowful, & thou taking away their breath, they are but dead, and turned into y• earth that they came of.
The eyes of all things loke vponupon thee,Psal. 165 (O Lorde) and thou geuest them meate in due time. Thou openest thy hande, and replenishest all thinges liuing with thy bles singe.
The Lord geueth meat to the hungry.Psal. 166.
The blessing of the Lord maketh menPro. 10. riche: and there shall no greife accompany them.
The Lord wil not let the soule of the righteous suffer hunger, but hee putteth the vngodly from his desire.
He that tilleth his land shall hauehave plē Pro. 12teousnes of bread, but he that foloweth idlenes, is a very foole.
Good and euil, life and death, pouertyEccle. 11. and riches are of God. Trust in god, abide in thy place. For it is an easy thing in the sight of God, quickly to enrich a pore mā.
Feare not my sonne, we leade a poreTob▪ 4 life, notwithstanding we shall hauehave plenty of all good things, if we feare the Lord depart from all sinne, and do wel.
Examples out of the olde Testament.
GOd fed the people of Israel with meatExod. 16▪ from heauen, and gaue them drinke out of the rock.
God sent meate by the Rauens to Helias.3. Reg. 17.
The Aungell of god tooke Abacuk byDan. 14 the top, and bare him by the heare of the head, and thorow a mighty winde set him vponupon the den wher Daniel was prisoner: and gaue him that meat, whiche the Prophet had prepared for his reapers,
Sentences out of the new Testament.
MAn shall not liue with breade alone,Math. 4 but, with eueryevery word that cō meth out of the mouth of god.
Take no thought, sayinge what shallMath. 6 we eat? or what shal we drīk? or wherwith shall we be clothed, after these things seke y• heathen. For your heauenly father know eth y• ye hauehave nede of all these things. But seke ye first the kingdom of god, & the righ teousnesse thereof: and all these thinges shalbe caste vntounto you.
God geueth vsus abundantly all things to enioy them.1. Tim. … ▪
I wil not fail thee, nor yet forsake thee.Hebr. 13
Examples out of the new Testament.
CHriste at the mariage, turned water inIohn. 2 to wine.
Christe with fiue barlye loues and twoMath. 10 fisshes, fed fiue thousande people and yet remained. xii. baskets ful of fragmentes.