The Governance of Virtue, Part 2 · Section 28
¶ Agaynst carnall security and fleshlye liuing withont feare of God.
IF Sathan tempteth thee to liue after the lusts of the flesh without all feare of God and to tak… no thought for thy saluation, that by this meanes he may prouoke thee vntounto all kind of wickednes: loke hat thou by no meanes geuest place to his temptations, but rather watche the more diligently about hyne owne healthe yt he may not preuayle agaiust hee, enarme thy selfe with stronge faithe, & alwaye et before thine eyes these Scriptures folowing.
☞ Sentences out of the olde Testament.
SEeke after God, and your soule shallPsalm. i… liue.
Seke the Lorde whyle he may be found,Esay. 55 and cal vponupon him whyle he is nie. Let the vngodly man forsake his owne wayes, and the vnrighteous hys owne imaginations, and turne againe vntounto the Lord, so shal he be mercifull vntounto him. &c. Folow not the lust of thine owne hearte in thy strengthe, and saye not: tushe, howe hauehave I hadde strength? or who wyll bryng me vnderunder because of my workes? for doutles god shall auenge it. And say not: I hauehave committed no sinnes, & what euil hath hapned to me? For the almightye is a pacient rewarder. Because thy syn is forgeuen thee, be not therfore without feare, neither heape one sinne vponupon another. And say not, tush: the mercye of the lord is great, he shall forgeue me my sinnes be they neuer so many. For like as he is merciful, so goeth wrath from hym also, and his indignation commeth downe vponupon sinners.
Make no tarying to turne vntounto the lord & pute not of from day to day, for sodenly shall his wrathe come, and in the tyme of vengeaunce he shal destroy the.
A man knoweth not his tyme, but like as the fishes are taken with the angle, and as the byrdes are caught with the snare euen so aremen taken in the perillous time when it commeth sodenly vponupon them.
Let thy garments be alway white, and let thine head lacke no ointment.
☞ Examples out of the olde Testament.
THe people to whome. Nohe preached, woulde not amend but wente forth toGen. 7. nousle themselues in all kynde of worldlys pleasures, and euen in the mydes of their riotous liuing, the floude came and drowned them all.
The Sodomites laughing Lot and hysGen. 19. exhortations to scorne, and going forth to offende God with theyr to much beastlike voluptuo…snes whan they thought themselues to be in moste safegard and furdest from any misfortune, were consumed vntounto ass…es wyth fire and brimston from heauē.
The Iewes setting at nought y• admo4. Reg. … nitions of Gods Prophets continued in all their wickednes and euen in the mids of their carnall securitie and fleshly quietnes, god sente their enemies vponupon them, which destroied their coūtrey slew a great number of people, and led awaye most miserable captiues so many as pleased them, leauing the residue behynd them in moste wretched slauery.
Sentences out of the ne… Testament.
WAtche for ye knowe not what houreMath. 24 your lord wil come. Of this be ye sure that if the housholder knewe what howre the thiefe woulde come he would surelye watche and not suffer his house to be broken vp. Therefore be ye also redye, for in such an hour as ye thinke not, wil the son of man come.Mhth. 2
Watch and praye, that ye fall not into temptation.Luc ….
Let your loines be gird about and your lightes be burning, and your selues like men that waite for their maister when he will returne from the weddings, that as foone as he commeth and knocketh, they may open vntounto him. Blessed are those seruauntes, whome the Lorde whan he commeth shall find waking.
Take hede, watch & pray: for ye knoweMarke. 13. not whan the time is: As a man which is gone into a strange country, and hath left his house, and geuen his substance to his seruaunts, and to eueryevery man his worke, and commaunded the porter to watche: Watch ye therfore, for ye know not when the mayster of the house will come, at euē or at midnight, whether at the cockecrow ing, or in the dawning, lest if that he come sodenly, he find you sleping: and that I say vntounto you, I say vntounto all: watch.
Take heede to your selues, least your…uke. 21 hartes be greued with sur…eting and dron kennes, and cares of the worlde, and that daye come sodenly on you. For as a snare shall it come on all them that sit on the face of the earth,
It is euen now hye time that we w…ke…om. 13 out of sleepe.
Beholde nowe is the accepted time,Cor. 6. now is the day of health.
The day of the Lord shall come euen a… Thes. 5.a thefe in the night. When they shall saye peace and no danger, then commeth there on them soden destruction, as the trauayling of a woman with child, & they shall not escape. Let vsus not sleepe as other doo but let vsus watch and be sober.
The Lord is at hand.Phil. 4.
Be patient and settle your hartes, forIacob. 5 the comming of the Lord draweth nigh. Behold the iudge slādeth before the dore.
Be sober and watche, for your aduersary1. Pet. 5. the deuil walketh aboute like a roaring lion, seeking whom he may deuour, whome resist being stedfast in fayth.
The daye of the Lorde shall come as a2. Pet. 3. theefe in the night.
Litle children euē now is the last time.1. Iohn. 2
Yet a little while, & he that shal come,Heb. 10. wil come, and will not tary.
If thou shalt not watch, I wil come onApoc. 3 … as a theefe, and thou shalt not know what hour I will come vpō thee. Behold I come shortly. Hold that which thou hast that no man take away thy crowne.
Beholde I stande at the dore to knock. yf any man heare my voyce, and open the doore I will come in to him, and will sup with him, and he with me.
The time is at hand. He that doth en… Apoc. 12let him do euil stil. And he which is filthy, let him be filthy stil. And he that is righteous, let him be more righteous. And he that is holy, let him be more holy. And because I come shortly and my reward with me, to geue eueryevery man accordinge as his deedes shalbe.
Examples out of the newe Testament.
That seruaunt that diligētly watchethMath. 14 at all hours for his masters cōming & doth in the meane season such things as his ma ster hath appoynted him is blessed: for he shall enter into his masters ioye. But the seruaunt that liueth without care is idle, watceth not, loketh not diligently vpō his office thinketh not of his masters cōming smiteth his fellowes, eateth and drinketh with the dronken that seruant I say, shall hauehave his part with Hipocrites, and shalbe cast into vtter darknes, where wepinge & and gnashing of teeth shalbe.
The 5. wise virgines prepared both lampes and oyle, tarriing, and watchingMath. 25 for the comming of the bridgrome. There fore when he came they being in a redines went in with him vntounto the wedding. But the fiue folishe Uergines slumbred and slepte, so that when the bridegrome came they were vnprepared and hadde no oyle in theyr lampes, and therfore were they shutte out of the dores, and entred not into the mariage. Let vsus therfore watche, for we know neither the daye nor the howre, when the sonne of man shall come.