Acts and Monuments Volume 2 Part 2, Book 11 · Account 18 · Letter 7
An other letter to Iohn Careles, profitable to be read of all them which mourne in repentaunce for theyr sinnes.An other letter of M. Philpot to the same partye.
THe God of all comfort, and the father of our Lord Iesus Christ, send vntounto thee my deare brother Carles, ye inward consolation of hys holy spirite, in all the malicious assaultes and troublous temptations of our common aduersarye the deuill. Amen.
That God geueth you so contrite a hart for your sins I cannot but reioyce to beholde the liuely marke of ye children of God, whole propertie is to think more lowly and vily of themselues, then of any other,To this letter Careles maketh a very godly aunswere, which you shall see after in his story. and oftentymes doe set theyr sinnes before them, that they might the more hee stirred to bring forth the fruites of repentance, & learne to mourne in this world, yt in an other they might the more be stirred to bring forth the fruites of repentance, & learne to mourne in this worlde, that in an other they might bee glad and reioyce. Such a broken hart is a pleasaunt sacrifice vntounto God: O that I had the like contrite hart. GOD mollifie my stony hart, which lamenteth not in suche wyse my former detestable iniquities. Praysed be God yt he hath geuen you this sorrowful hart in respect of righteousnesse & I pray you let me be partaker of these godly sorrowes for sin, which be ye testimony of the presence of ye holy ghost Did not the sword of sorrow pearce the hart of the electe & blessed mother of our Lord? Did not Peter weepe bitterly for his sinnes, which was so beloued of christ? Did not Mary Magdalen wash the feet of our sauiour with her teares, & receaued therwithall remission of her seuenfold sinnes.
Be of good comfort therefore myne owne deare hart,Math. 15. Psal. 125. Psal. 51. Luke. 7. Sorow in a Christian man ought to be moderate. 1. Thess. 4. in this thy sorrow, for it is the earnest peny of eternal consolation. In thy sorrow laugh, for ye spirite of God is with thee. Blessed be they (sayth Chryst) that mourne: for they shall be comforted. They went forth and wept saythe ye prophet such shall come agayne, hauing theyr gripes full of gladnes. And although a sorrowfull hart in consideratiō of his sinne, be an acceptable sacrifice before God, whereby wee are styrred vp to more thankfulnes vntounto God, knowing yt much is forgeuen vsus that we might louelove the more: yet the mā of God must keep a measure in ye same,2. Cor. 7. least he be swallowed vp by too much sorow. S. Paul would not ye Thessaloniās to be sory as other mē which hauehave no hope: suche a sorrow is not cōmēdable, but worketh dānation, & is far frō ye childrē of God, who are cōtinually sorrowfull in god whē they look vpō their owne vnworthines, with hope of forgeuenes. For God to this end by his spirite setteth the sinnes of his elect still before them, yt where they perceiue sinne to abound,Rom. 5. there they might be assured yt grace shall superabound: & bringeth them down vntounto hell, yt he might lift thē vp with greater ioy vntounto heauen. Wherefore myne own bowels in Christ, as long as you are not voyd altogether of hope: be not dismayd through your pens…e hart for your sinnes, how huge so euer they hauehave bene, for God is able to forgeue more then you are able to sinne: yea, and he will forgeue hym which with hope is sory for his sins.
But know brother, that as oft as we doe go about, by the helpe of Gods spirite, to do that is good,Sathans practise to bring the godly repē tance of a sinner, to desperatiō. the euill spirite Sathan layeth hard wayt to turne the good vntounto euil & goeth about to mixe the detestable darnell of desperation with the godly sorrow of a pure penitent hart. You be not ignoraunt of hys malicious subtletie, and howe that continually he assaulteth ye good which the grace of God planteth, I see the battel betwixt you and hym, but the victory is yours, yea and that dayly: For you hauehave layde hold vppon the anker of saluation, whiche is hope in Christe, the which will not suffer you to be made ashamed.
Be not discomforted that you hauehave this conflict: but be glad that God hath geuen you the same to try your faith, & that you might appeare dayly worthy of the kingdome of God, for the whiche you striue. God beholdeth your stryuing faith against Sathan, & is pleased wt your mighty resistance. The spirite which is in you, is mightyer then al ye aduersaries power. Tēpt he may, & lying awayt at youre heelees, geue you a fall vnwares: but ouercome hee shall not: yea he cannot,Gods children fall. The deuills children lye still. for you are sealed vp already wt a liuely fayth to be ye childe of God for euer: & whō God hath once sealed for hys owne, hym he neuer vtterly forsaketh. The iust falleth 7. times, but he ryseth agayne. It is mās fraylty to fall, but it is ye propertie of the deuils child to lye still.
This strife against sinne is a sufficient testimonye that you are the childe of God, for if you were not,Luke. 11. you shoulde feele no such malice as he now troubleth you withal. Whē this strōg Goliah hath ye hold, al things be in peace which he possesseth, & because he hath you not, hee will not suffer you vnassaulted. But stand fast,Strife agaynst sinne i… a token of Gods child. Iames. 4. & hold out the Buckler of fayth, & with the sword of Gods promises smite hym on ye scalpe, yt he may receiue a deadly wound, and neuer be able to stand agaynst you any more. S. Iames telleth you that he is but a coward, saying: Resist the deuill and he will flye away. It is the will of God that he should thus long tempt you and not go away as yet, or els he had done wyth you long ere this. He knoweth already that he shal receiue the foyle at your hands, and encrease the crowne of your glory: for he that ouercommeth shall be crowned. Therefore glory in your temptations, since they shall turne to your felicity. Be not afraide of your continuall assaults: which be occasions of your daily victorie.… The woorde of God abideth for euer. In what houre soeuer a sinner repenteth him of his sinnes, they be forgeuen. Who cā lay any thing to the charge of Gods elect: Do you not perceiue the manifest tokens of your election? First your vocation to the Gospell, and after your vocation, the manifest gifts of the spirite of God geuen vntounto you aboue many other of your condition, with godlinesse which beleueth and yeldeth to the authority of ye scriptures, and is zealous for the same? Seeing you are Gods owne dearling, who can hurt you? Be not of a deiecte minde for these temptations, neyther make your vnfained frends to be more sorrowful for you, then neede doth require.
Since God hath willed you at your baptisme in Christ to be carelesse, why doe you make your selfe carefull: Cast all your care on him.… Sette the Lorde before your eyes alwaies, for he is on your right side, yt you shall not be mooued. Behold the goodnesse of God toward me. I am careles, being fast closed in a paire of stockes, which pinche me for very straitnes: and wil you be careful? I wil not hauehave that vnseemely addition to your name. Be as your name pretendeth, for doubtles you hauehave none other cause but so to be. Pray, I beseech you, that I may be stil careles in my careful estate, as you hauehave cause to be carelesse in your easier condition. Be thākful and put away all care, and then I shall be ioyfull in my straite present care. Commend me to all our brethren, and desire them to praye for me, that I may ouercome my tēptations: for the deuil rageth against me, I am putte in the stockes in a place alone, because I would not answer to such articles, as they would charge me wtall in a corner at the bishops appoyntment, and because I did not come to Masse when the bish. sent for me, I will sic all the dayes of my life in the stockes (by Gods grace) rather then I wil consent to ye wicked generation. Praise God & be ioyfull, that it hath pleased him to make vsus worthy to suffer somwhat for his names sake. The deuil must rage for 10. daies. Commend me to maister F. and thanke him for his lawe bookes, but lawe, neither equitie wil take any place among these bloud thirsty. I would for your sake their vniust dealing were noted vntounto the parlament house, if it might auaile. God shortē these euil daies, I hauehave answered the bish. meetely plaine already, and I said to him, if he wil cal me in open iudgement, I wil answer him as plainly as he will require: otherwise I hauehave refused, because I feare they will condemne me in hugger mugger. The peace of God be with you my dear brother. I canne wryte no more for lacke of light, and that I hauehave wrytten I can not reade my selfe, and God knoweth it is wrytten farre vneasily. I pray God you may picke out some vnderstanding of my minde towards you. Wrytten in a Colehouse of darkenesse, oute of a paire of paynefull stockes, by thine owne in Christ.
Iohn Philpot.