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,…

then remember how vile Christ was to make thee precious to God, consider how he was the servant of all, a reproof of men, a worm, and not a man, trodden down even of the worst kind of men, that he might free thee from thy vainglory and secret pride. Art thou grieved that thou hast presumed on the mercy of God, and doest thou now think no more, nor so much to be in thee as in other men, and that thou art not a sinner alone, but a sinner vilely infected, not resting thy self in any opinion of a civill life? Art thou now as deeply plunged in despair as before thou wast puffed up with presumption? call to mind that Christ was not ⟨p. 369⟩only rejected of men but of God, to bring thee in favour both with God and men, and that he was troubled when he said, Father if it be thy will, let this cup pass from me: remember how he laboured in a sweat and agony, not in a cold sweat, but so as the warm blood was fain to run out of their veins: behold how he was hanged between heaven & earth, as spued out of the one, and accursed in the other, and suffered the heaviness of his soul to free thee from presumption by his mighty humility, & to help thee from desperation by his painful cross. To be brief, there are two kinds of men that cannot rejoice in this cross of Christ, the one, because they have an opinion of their own righteousness; the other, because they are senseless for the security of their sins. For the one, because the feeling of the sore causeth us to make much of the salve, and the sense of sin worketh a joy in the deliverance from sin; it is sure they cannot rejoice in the forgiveness of sin, that never could lament for the guiltiness and grievousness of sin, which are the cause of Christ his death. Wherefore our Saviour Christ Luk. 22. seeing certain women following him with lamentation, and mourning that so good a man so innocently should be put to death, saith to them, weep rather ô daughters of Jerusalem, for your sins, teaching them, that their most special cause of weeping was their own iniquity, which was the cause why now he should suffer death. Now then because we are ignorant, many see not their sins, and for that cause cannot mourn for them.

then remember how vile Christ was to make thee pretious to God, consider how he was the seruant of all, a reproofe of men, a worme, and not a man, troden downe euen of the worst kinde of men, that he might free thee from thy vaineglory and secret pride. Art thou grieued that thou hast presumed on the mercie of God, and doest thou now thinke no more, nor so much to be in thee as in other men, and that thou art not a sinner alone, but a sinner vily infected, not resting thy selfe in any opinion of a ciuill life? Art thou now as deepely plunged in despaire as before thou wast puft vp with presumption? call to minde that Christ was not