The works of the reverend and faithful servant of Jesus Christ M. Richard Greenham,…The workes of the reuerend and faithfull seruant af Iesus Christ M. Richard Greenham,…

When we see then that men turn the Gospel into wantonness, and write against it, is it marvel if the Lord sendeth troubles? No, no, when men shall see such a confusion, let them know that God will clear his justice, and recompense vengeance to the wicked, and restore the godly to their joys; and yet show them that here is no place of rest, but that they must lift up their heads to heaven, where they shall have rest without trouble.

When we see then that men turne the Gospell into wantonnes, and write against it, is it marueile if the Lord sendeth troubles? No, no, when men shall see such a confusion, let them know that God will cleere his iustice, and recompence vengeance to the wicked, and restore the godly to their ioyes; and yet shew them that here is no place of rest, but that they must lift vp their heads to heauen, where they shall haue rest without trouble.

Now let us consider, what these afflictions work in the wicked, and to what end they are sent unto them. Surely to plague them, and to leave them without excuse. They are sent to God his children to humble them, to bring them to repentance, to keep them from evil, to encourage them in good, and to recover them being fallen. But they are sent to root out the wicked, & to consume them from the face of the earth: and therefore he poureth out all the vials of his wrath upon the wicked remnant. And these manifold plagues have often come to pass where the Gospel hath been preached, because as it is the greatest mercy & treasure, if it be received; so the unnatural refusal of it doth cause the greatest judgements. So the Israelites in the wilderness were punished, first by idolatry, then by plagues, & were rooted out of the land. And after Christ had spoken, the Apostles preached, & the Jews remained unprofitable, the Lord in his justice, in that they would not believe the true Christ, suffered them to be deluded by false Christs, and that they that would not profit by the true Apostles, should be deceived by false Apostles, and then ⟨p. 235⟩being punished with famine and sickness they were by the Romans subdued. When the Gospel came to be preached among the Gentiles, and was contemned, the Lord first punished them by suffering them to fall into vile sins, and then after gave them over to the Turk. We see how in the West-country, where the Gospel was preached and refused, the Pope was sent to them. So likewise must we make our profit herein. When God his Spirit falleth plentifully in us, & yet men by his word will not be reformed, the Lord will send heretics and wicked men to corrupt them. And will the Lord thus censure his own people, and will he spare the wicked? No: when we think all is quiet, the Lord will send plagues for refusing the health of our souls; the Lord will send famines for refusing the food of our souls; the Lord will plague us with wars for neglecting the peace of our minds. And