A Golden Chain, Section 1
HOW A MAN SHOULD APPLIE ARIGHT the word of God to his owne soule.
I.
EVery Christian containeth in himselfe two natures, flatte contrarie one to the other, the flesh and the spirit: and that he may become a perfect man in Christ Iesus, his earnest indeauour must be, to tame, and subdue the flesh, and to strengthen and confirme the spirit.
II
Answerable to these two natures, are the two parts of Gods word. First, the Law, because it is the ministerie of death, it fitly serueth for the taming and mastering of the rebellious flesh: and the Gospell containing the bountifull promises of God in Christ, is as oyle, to power into our woundes, and as the water of life, to quench our thirstie soules: and it fitly serueth for the strengthening of the spirit.
III
Wel then, art thou secure? Art thou prone to euill? Feelest thou that thy rebellious flesh carrieth thee captiue vntounto sinne? Looke now onelyonly vponupon the lawe of God, applie it to thy selfe, examine thy thoughts, thy words, thy deeds by it:Rom. 8. 1…. pray vntounto God, that he would giuegive thee the spirit of feare, that the lawe may in some measure humble and terrifie thee:Pr…. 28.14. for (as Salomon saith) blessed is the man that feareth alwaies, but cursed is he that hardneth his heart.
IV.
In the Law, these are most effectuall meditations to humble and bridle the flesh, which follow. First, meditate on the greatnes of thy sinnes, and of their infinite number: and if it may be, gather them into a catalogue, set it before thee: and looke vntounto it, that thou thinke no sinne to be a small sinne, no not the bare thoughts and motions of thy heart. Often with diligence consider the strange iudgements of God vponupon men, for their sinnes, which thou shalt find, partly in the Scriptures, partly by daily experience. Doubtlesse thou must thinke, that eueryevery iudgement of God, is a sermon of repentance. Thinke oft on the fearefull curse of the law due vntounto thee, if thou shouldest sinne neuer but once in all thy life, and that neuer so little. Remember, that whensoeuer thou committest a sinne,Dan. 7.10. Ier. 17.1. Deut. 22.31 God is present, and his holy Angels, and that he is an eye-witnes, that he taketh a note of thy sinne, and registreth it in a booke. Thinke daily of thy ende: and know that God may strike thee with sodaine death eueryevery moment: and that, if then thou hauehave not repented before that time, there is no hope of saluation. Thinke on the sodaine comming of our Sauiour Christ to iudgement, let it mooue thee continually to watch & pray. If these will not mooue thee, thinke on this, that no creature in heauen or in earth, was able to pacifie the wrath of God for thy sinnes: but his owne Sonne must come downe from heauen, out of his Fathers bosome, and must beare the curse of the law, euen the full wrath of his Father, for thee.
V.
When by these meanes thou art feared, and thy minde is disquieted in respect of Gods iudgement for thy sinne: hauehave recourse to the promises of merciemercy contained in the olde and new Testament. Is thy conscience stung with sinne? And doth the law make thee feele it? With all speede runne to the brasen serpent Christ Iesus, looke on him with the eie of faith, and presently thou shalt be healed of thy sting or wound.Iob. 3.14.
VI.
When thou doest meditate on the promises of the Gospel, diligently consider these benefits, which thou enioyest by Christ. Through Adam, thou art condemned to hel; by Christ thou art deliuered from it. Through Adam, thou hast transgressed the whole law; in Christ thou hast fulfilled it. Through Adam, thou art before God a vile, and a lothsome sinner: through Christ thou doest appeare glorious in his eyes. By Adam eueryevery little crosse is the punishment of thy sinne, and a token of Gods wrath: by Christ, the greatest crosses are easie, profitable, and tokens of Gods merciemercy. By Adam, thou diddest leese all things: in Christ all things are restored to thee againe. By Adam thou art dead; by Christ thou art quickned, and made aliue again. By Adam thou art a slaue of the deuill, and the child of wrath: but by Christ, thou art the child of God. In Adam, thou art worse then a toad, and more detestable before God: but by Christ, thou art aboue the Angels. For thou art ioyned vntounto him, and made bone of his bone, mystically. Through Adam, sinne and Sathan hauehave ruled in thee, and led thee captiue: by Christ, the spirit of god dwelleth in thee plenteouslie. By Adam, came death to thee, and it is an entrance to hell: by Christ, though death remaine, yet it is only a passage vntounto life. Lastly, in Adā, thou art poore, and blind, and miserable: in Christ thou art rich and glorious, thou art a king of heauen an earth, fellow heire with him, and shalt as sure bee partaker of it, as he is euen now. Adam, when hee must needs tast of the fruit, which God had forbidden him, he hath made vsus all to rue it, euen til this daie: but here thou seest the fruits that grow, not in the earthly paradise, but on the tree of life,Apoc. 22.2. which is within the heauenly Ierusalem. Feare no danger, be bolde in Christ to eate of the fruite, as God hath commaunded thee: it will quicken thee, and reuiue thee beeing dead: thou canst not doe Satan a worse displeasure, then to feede on the godly fruite of this tree, and to smell on the sweete leaues, which it beareth continually, that giuegive such a refreshing sauour.
VII.
Most men now a daies, are secure and cold in the profession of the gospell, though they hauehave the plentifull preaching of it. And the reason is, because they feele not in themselues the vertue and mightie operation of Gods word, to renue them: and they can not feele it, because they doe not applie the word aright vntounto their owne soules. Plaisters, except they be applied in order and time, and be laid vponupon the wound, though they be neuer so good, yet they can not heale: and so it is with the worde of God, and the parts of it, which except they be vsed in order and time conuenient, will not humble and reuiue vsus, as their vertue is.
VIII.
The common Christian eueryevery where is faultie in this thing. Whereas he loueth himselfe, and wisheth all good that may bee to himselfe, hee doth vsually apply vntounto his owne soule the gospel alone neuer regarding the law, or searching out his sinnes by it. Tell him what ye will, his song is this: God is mercifull, God is mercifull. By this meanes it commeth to passe, that he leadeth a secure life, and maketh no conscience of couetousnes, of vsurie, of deceit in his trade, of lying, of swearing, of fornication, wantonnesse, intemperancie in bibbing and quaffing, &c. But he plaieth the vnskilfull Chirurgian, he vseth healing plaisters, before his poisoned and cankered nature hauehave felt the power and paine of a Corasiue. And it will neuer be well with him, vntil hee take a newe course.
IX.
On the contrarie part, many good Christians leaue to apply the comfort of the gospel to themselues, and onelyonly hauehave regard to their owne sinnes, and Gods infinite vengeance. And euen when Satan accuseth them, they will not sticke to giuegive eare to Sathan, & also accuse themselues: & so they are brought into fearefull terrors, and often draw neere to desperation.
X.
There is a third sort called Sectaries, who addict themselues to the opinion of some man. These commonly neuer apply the law or the Gospell to themselues, but their whole meditation is chiefly in the opinions of him whome they followe. As they that followe Luther, fewe of them followe his Christian life: they regard not that: but about consubstantiation and vbiquitie, about Images and such like trumperie, they infinitely trouble themselues and all Europe too.
And in England there is a schismatical and vndiscret companie, that would seeme to crie out for discipline, their whole talke is of it, and yet they neither knowe it, nor will be reformed by it, and yet they are enemies to it: as for the lawe of God, and the promises of the Gospell, they little regard: they maintain vile sinnes in refusing to heare the reading or the preaching of the word: and this is great contempt of Gods benefits and vnthankefulnesse to him. They are full of pride, thinking themselues to be full, when they are emptie: to hauehave all knowledge when they are ignorant, and had neede to bee catechized: the poyson of Aspes is vnderunder their lippes; they refuse not to speake euill of the blessed seruants of God. Well, doe they aboue all things seeke the kingdome of GOD? then let them be sincere seekers of it: which they shall doe, if in seeking Christs kingdome they seeke the righteousnesse thereof: vntounto which they can neuer come but by the applying of the threatnings of the lawe, and the comforts of the gospel to their own consciences. But whereas they seeke the one and not the other, they giuegive all men to vnderstand with what spirit they speake.