A divine herbal together with a forrest of thorns In five sermons. ... By…A divine herball together with a forrest of thornes In five sermons. ... By…

Meet for them who dressed it.

Meete for them who dressed it.

AND is it possible, that man should produce herbs meet for the acceptation of God? Hath he not pure eyes, which see uncleanness and imperfection in all our works? Is there any man so happy, as to be justified in his sight? No; but it pleaseth him to look upon our works in the Crystal glass, Christ; and because they are the effects of a true faith in him, to esteem them meet. S. Peter saith,¹ This is thank-worthy, if a man for conscience toward God endure grief, suffering wrongfully. Do even our sufferings then merit? [Greek or Hebrew] even this is grace. To you it is given not only to believe in him, but even to suffer for his sake. This was none of yours, but given you. And when you have suffered,² yet you must truly with Paul reckon, that the afflictions of this present world are not worthy of that high inestimable weight of glory. There are no works acceptable (Quae praecedunt instificandum, sed quae sequuntur justificatum) which go before Justification, but these that follow it. All of us, as Luther was wont to say, have naturally a Pope bred in our bellies; a Mountebank-opinion of our own worth. Narcissus-like, we dote upon our own shadows; and think our works acceptable enough to God. If we have prayed, ⟨p. 55⟩relieved, believed the history of the Gospel, or attentively heard the word, these are works meet for God. The Monk had but one hole in his Cell, and though it was in the top, upward to heaven, yet the Devil made a shift to creep in there. The Serpent thrusts in his head often in some crack of our good works. Luther paradoxically. […] niustitiarum ere sola causa […]. Almost the only cause of all unrighteousness, is (a too-well conceited) righteousness. We are easily induced to think our selves every one,