Letter 50. To a Cavalier his friend
I Have understood the reasons, whereby you would persuade me, that it is more securely fit for you, to dwell in the City, then in that town. And though indeed they be subtle, yet they do not move me much. For the most certain of all is that, which we do, after the example of Christ our Lord; and which we obtain at his hands by prayer; and which we see clearly by experience, and not that, which on the other side, we take to be convenient for us, through a mere humane and perhaps a perpetual kind of judgement. Who can doubt, but that you, as being an Inhabitant of that City, and withal a great favourer of my meanness, and desiring much, that I should continue to live there, are both judge and witness, in your own cause. And therefore the time which you spend in seeking reasons, were better employed, upon making devout prayers. And it will happen to you as Saint Bernard faith it doth between the preacher and his hearers, If thou wil● persuade, saith he, thou must do it more by sighing then by exclaiming. And though in that which I have said, me thinks you have committed some excess; yet in another thing, you have the better of it, and you edify me; Namely, in your having written three letters to me, without having received any one answer of mine. I esteem this favour, as much more than speaking by word of mouth, as there is difference, between doing, and saying. And it is a thing, which I desire much, at his hands who writes to me. For I find so many who are impatient with me●, upon this occasion; that I had rather ●hey wrote not at all, then that they should be offended with me so soon. And so much of this.
What shall I now say to you, or what shall I beg of you, since you are so much my good Lord; but that (forasmuch as you are a Cavalier of honour,) you resolve to fight; and that you be not called by a wrong name, a thing from which a christian ought most to fly, for such a one must love sincerity, and be that very thing, which he appears to be. I know well, that the vigilancy of our mortal enemy the devil, is so great, that, for the drawing us to be of his party, and for fear lest we should gain that, which he hath lost, he will often make you feel, ●ob. 7. That the life of man here on earth, is a continual warfare; and now and then will make you groan under the affliction of his extreme importunity, and cry out to our Lord, from whom succour comes. D●●●●● 〈◊〉 patior, respond pro me. O Lord I suffer violence, do● thou answer for we. And now since you have one already, who makes you remember that you live in war, I will put you in mind in what sort you are to wage it, that so you may overcome. For we cannot expect, as a fruit of this war, but either great felicity, or great misery; since the triumph of this victory is to be, God possessed for all eternity; and the loss by being vanquished, is the loss, and that for ever, of almighty God.1
O that a man were able to thunder out so strong a voice, as that it might reach to the ears of all mankind; and might astonish them with the fear of hell, & encourage ch●●● with the hope of heaven! O you Sonn●● 〈◊〉 Adam, how long will you be so blind as 〈◊〉 to see this? how long will you be so deaf, as not to hear this? how long will you be so insensible, as that this truth will not be able to penetrate to the very lowest, and mo●t inward part of your hearts? Tell me; why have you rendered yourselves so basely, under the fee●e of your enemies; and why do you run after them, with your hands tied up, without either fear or shame? Do you not know that be who suffers himself to be overcome by sin, John, 〈◊〉. us taken prisoner by the devil? Do you not know that the wages which sin giveth is death, both of body & soul in hell, and that for all eternity? why do you wish yourself so ill, as to go hunting after Your own mischief; giving stabs as it were to your own souls, by being so mightily enraged for every little offence which may be offered you? And why have you not a feeling of the loss of God, & of his freindshipp; since you have so quick a sense, when there is question of a little riches, or honour, which whether it be kept or lost, it makes you, in very deed, neither more nor less? what will you answer in the day of visitation, and anguish, which is coming towards you, when these shadows being past, and this sinoake being vanished, you shall be summoned to leave that flesh, which you loved so much, and to forgo this present world, which you so esteemed, and you shall be presented before that rigorous judge, whom you will find so much the more severe against you; as he hath found you less obedient to him?
What would you have him do? would you have him know you for his Cavaliers, you who have gone fight in his enemy's camp, on their side? And whilst he maintained you with his blessings, and even with that very life, whereby you live, you would needs obey the laws of his mortal enemy, when, the while, you detested his? what would you have God do? would you have him pay you for the service which you have not done? Into what reasonable mind can it sink, that I should serve one man & demand my pay of another? with what colour can I, who have offended a man ask him a reward (when I have do●●●) as of a faithful servant? Let us not be deceived, O men, in this; No man shall reap, Gal. 1 2. Cor. but according to that which he hath sown. He who soweth in flesh, shall reap corruption; and he who will reap life, must sow in spirit, for grapes grow not out of thernes, nor figs out of thistles.
I had forgot myself for I was speaking to dead men, as if they were alive. What doth it profit to sound a trumpet to him who is in the profundity of deafness? what doth it profit me, to say Hear this, to men with whom it enters not, even by the very first gates, of their hart. What shall we do, O Lord? for now I se● that the threat which was made by the Prophet Esay is fulfilled. Hearing you shall bear, and 〈◊〉 understand, and seeing you shall see, Esay. and yet not see. For neither words nor scourges, nor swee●●e usage cann suffice to waken those miserable creatures out of their deadly sleep; till their end arrive, when they must hear the sentence which sends them to Hell, and then must feel eternal torments, without any remedy thereof. A great misery is this, & he is happy, whom our Lord hath delivered from it; giving him notice of his wicked ways, and a will to walk afterward, in such as are good. Remember you therefore that day, wherein God called you, and know that then God opened your ears, and eyes, to the end that you might both see, and hear; severely and as truly, as if he had cured some pe●son, who had been blind, and dumb. And remembering it, give great ●hankes for the same; since a gift was then given you, if you disposed yourself well to receive it, which is more worth, than all things else; since freindshipp with our Lord, was given you, to which no other thing may be compared. And let the sign of your true gratitude, be a faithful care of persevering to keep your eyes, and cares open towards Almighty God. For he would be much more blame-worthy, who should fall when his eyes were open, and might see that he were falling; then another who had no eyes in his head. It is one thing for a soul to do absurd things; another thing, for a man, who is of judgement. And so the fall of one, whom our lord hath raised, and placed upon his feet, and given him light, wherewith to see; is more displeasing to his divine Majesty; then they which he took, before they knew or loved God. I beseech you therefore admonish those new Cavaliers of the king of heaven, that they undertake not this business in jest, since both the punishment of negligence, and the reward of due care which is taken in it, is no matter which indeed endureth jest. God is a great Lord, and he will be served with much diligence; and he inflicted no less punishment upon the slothful servant, then to cast him bound, hand, and foot, into exterior darkness; which signifies a being excluded, from all the blessings of God, and of his house.
And since to the end that we may be favourites with an earthly king, and to acquire the possession of a little earth, there is a necessity of taking care, of watching, of troubles, yea and sometimes, even of shedding blood; let not them grow faint, in the combat; since God whose cause it is, will be their captain in the strength of whose arm, they shall infallibly go victorious out of the field.
The enemy whom they are to overcome, and the City which they are to subdue, is their own proper will. Let them place that will, before themselves; and against that, let them level all their shot; and to that let them say. Thou art the enemy of God, since thou desirest that which is contrary to him, and therefore thou art my enemy. For I wholly belong to God. I am the fre●nd of his friends; and the enemy of his enemies. I will have no peace with thee, that so I may have no war with God. Let God reign in my hart, and not mine own disordered will. I will govern myself according to that, which he commands, and not according to that I list. I will beg of my God, that he will be pleased to show me his holy will, and that shall be my law, though mine own will would fain have it otherwise. Let it pain me or let it please me, I am resolved to ●●e myself fast to God, since besides that I own to him otherwise; he was fastened to the Cross for me. Nay I am undone if I go not to him, since all that which comes not to him here, with love; shall be divided from him, in the next life, by his hate. Let it cost me my blood, so that I may not lose my God, but that I may hear this word from his blessed mouth. Rejoice thou good and faithful servant, enter thou into the joy of thy Lord. In fine, all that which passes is very short; and all this is temporal; and the rest eternal; all this is light, and that, is full of weight. And therefore let us say from the hart, with David.2
One thing have I desired of our Lord, and that will I seek, that I may dwell in the house of our Lord for ever. And let this be our conclusion, that heaven did never cost dear. Our Lord grant it to you, and to us all, even by his own de●re blood. Amen.3
Footnotes
Chapter 21 of 57