Gildas Salvianus: The Reformed Pastor

If the God of heaven that knew our hearts, had in the midst of our Prayers and Cries on one of our Public monthly Fasts, returned us this answer with his dreadful voice, in the audience of the Assembly, You deceitful hearted sinners; what Hypocrisy is this, to weary me with your cries for that which you will not have if I would give it you! and thus to lift up your voices for that which your souls abhor! what is Reformation, but the instructing and importunate persuading of sinners to entertain my Christ and Grace as ⟨p. 381⟩offered them, and the Governing my Church according to my word? and these which are your work, you will not be persuaded to when you come to find it troublesome and ungrateful! when I have delivered you, it is not me but your selves that you will serve; and I must be as earnest to persuade you to reform the Church in doing your own duty, as you are earnest with me to grant you liberty for reformation? and when all is done, you will leave it undone, and will be long before you will be persuaded to my work. I say, if the Lord or any Messenger of his, had given us in such an answer, would it not have amazed us, and have seemed incredible to us, that our hearts should have been such as now they prove! and would we not have said as Hazael, Is thy servant a dog, that he should do this thing? Or as Peter, Though all men forsake or deny thee, I will not! Well Brethren! too sad experience hath showed us our frailty: We have denied the troublesome and costly part of the Reformation, that we prayed for! But Christ yet turneth back, and looketh with a merciful eye upon us. O that we had yet the hearts, immediately to go out & weep bitterly, and to do so, as we have done, no more, lest a worse thing come unto us, and now to follow Christ through labour and suffering, though it were to the death, whom we have so far forsaken.

If the God of heaven that knew our hearts, had in the midst of our Prayers and Cries on one of our Publike monethly Fasts, returned us this answer with his dreadful voice, in the audience of the Assembly, You deceitful hearted sinners; what Hypocrisio is this, to weary me with your cries for that which you will not have if I would give it you! and thus to lift up your voices for that which your souls abhor! what is Reformation, but the instructing and importunate perswading of sinners to entertain my Christ and Grace as ⟨p. 381⟩offered them, and the Governing my Church according to my word? and these which are your work, you will not be perswaded to when you come to find it troublesom and ungreatful! when I have delivered you, it is not me but your selves that you will serve; and I must be as earnest to perswade you to reform the Church in doing your own duty, as you are earnest with me to grant you liberty for reformation? and when all is done, you will leave it undone, and will be long before you will be perswaded to my work. I say, if the Lord or any Messenger of his, had given us in such an answer, would it not have amazed us, and have seemed incredible to us, that our hearts should have been such as now they prove! and would we not have said as Hazael, Is thy servant a dog, that he should do this thing? Or as Peter, Though all men forsake or deny thee, I will not! Well Brethren! too sad experience hath shewed us our frailty: We have denyed the troublesom and costly part of the Reformation, that we prayed for! But Christ yet turneth back, and looketh with a merciful eye upon us. O that we had yet the hearts, immediately to go out & weep bitterly, and to do so, as we have done, no more, lest a worse thing come unto us, and now to follow Christ through labour and suffering, though it were to the death, whom we have so far forsaken.