The Tenth Sermon, the Second on on the Second Chapter – Ephesians 2:4-6
The Tenth Sermon, Which Is the Second Upon the Second Chapter 3. We also walked with the disobedient, doing the pleasures of the flesh and of the thoughts, and were by nature the children of wrath as others are.
4. But God, who is rich in mercy, through his great love whereby he loved us, 5. Even at the time when we were dead by sin, quickened us together with Christ, by whose grace you are saved,
6. And raised us with him, and made us sit with him in heavenly places in Jesus Christ.
I began this morning to show you how St. Paul meant to extend God's goodness to all men, so that no one should have cause to boast of himself, as though he had any worthiness alone by himself. Truly, if ever there were any nation in the world advanced above others, it was the Jews, for God had accepted them for His own household and called them a holy lineage and His own inheritance. In that respect, therefore, the Jews seemed well worthy to have preeminence above others. However, to the end that none should darken the grace of our
Lord Jesus Christ, he says that even they also were the children of wrath, so it stood them in good stead to be drawn out of the dungeon of confusion, whereof I spoke this morning. To be brief, St. Paul shows here that even those whom men would deem to be the most excellent can bring nothing of which to brag or to purchase
themselves estimation before God, but are all received to grace to be made heirs of the heavenly life by means of our Lord Jesus Christ.
Now here a question might be asked: Why does St. Paul set the heathen men on even ground with the Jews, seeing that God had set such odds betwixt them? For it might seem that all the promises were annulled: and that would be doing wrong to God, rather than to men. If we grant (as of necessity and reason we needs must) that God's choosing of Abraham's offspring was not in vain, and that His telling of them that He accepted them to be of His household and Church was not to deceive them, they must needs be nearer and more familiar to God, and they must needs have some mark whereby to be gathered unto Him. It seems then that St. Paul should not have abased the Jews after that sort. But in another place, he shows that all this agrees full well if we consider the Jews (on the one side) in the state of God's chosen and peculiar people, and (on the other side) what they be (of themselves) and what they have deserved before God. For in the Epistle to the Romans, after that St. Paul has given sentence upon the whole world, showing that there is not any one who is not damned and forlorn, he moves this question: Seeing then that God gathered Abraham's lineage and dedicated it wholly to Himself, what shall become of them? Shall there be no holiness in them? For it seems otherwise that God had but dallied, and that His saying in the holy scriptures, that He had not dealt so with any other nation, was nothing worth. But St. Paul says that, in truth, men ought to commend the grace that God vouchsafed to show forth upon His people: and so consequently that they are to be preferred before all the whole world, so far forth as they are endowed with the benefits which they had by God's promises. However, he adds forthwith, that inasmuch as they are descended from Adam's race, and are sinners, as well as all other men, and there is nothing in our whole nature but corruption and frowardness, all men must be fain
to stoop, and all of us must needs acknowledge that one of us cannot be singled out from another, according as we have seen heretofore in the second chapter to the Galatians, where St. Paul told St. Peter thus: "Yea, we be Jews by nature, and it seems that we ought to go alone by ourselves, seeing that God is our King, and has sanctified us, and vouchsafes to dwell among us." Well then, it seems at the first blush that we should shake off the Gentiles, as unclean persons, and such as have no acquaintance with God. But let us come to account
(says he) and there is none of us all but he is endangered to God, and must needs perceive himself to be a wretched sinner. Since it is so,
God must be the judge of all men, and we must needs sink before His majesty till we are reconciled to Him by our Lord Jesus Christ. To be brief, St. Paul's meaning in this text is not to deface God's grace, but to show that the Jews had not any other means in themselves whereby to obtain the salvation and heritage of heaven than only by being members of our Lord Jesus Christ, and that they must always be fain to take themselves first for cursed and damned. For the worthiness which they have is but as a windfall, and they are born in sin and subject to cursedness, no less than all other men, and God's accepting and choosing of them to Himself was a special and (as they say) a supernatural gift. You see then that by nature the Jews are forlorn as well as the rest of the whole world, and yet nevertheless that God has also received them to mercy.
By the way, we must mark that under the word Nature, St. Paul shows not only that we are sinners by custom, so that every one of us thrusts his fellow out of the way, and we are too much inclined to follow the evil rather than the good, but also that there is a further matter in it, which is that every one of us brings sin with him even from his birth. To eat and to drink are things that accompany us, but yet is sin more rooted in us than all the things that belong to this life.
Truly, the heathen men will think it strange that the young babes,
which are not able to discern between good and evil, nor have any discretion or will, should already be sinners and damned before God, according to St. Paul's saying, who calls them the children of wrath.
But yet we must needs yield ourselves to condemnation whether we will or no. As soon as babes are able to make any sign, it is certain that they will show enough and too much, that they are froward and naughty, and that there is a secret poison lurking in them. And that although they cast it not out at first, yet they are as a brood of serpents. Since it is so, let us understand that St. Paul does not without cause call us the children of wrath, as well as the Jews, not excepting the very infants out of the number, whom men term innocents, and take them so to be. For we must not regard our own opinion, nor the things that we see before our eyes, but we must give glory unto God, who is the competent judge thereof, although we find it incomprehensible. However the world goes, we must always come back to what is said in the fifty-first Psalm, namely that we not only offend God daily in diverse manners, but also are loathsome to Him beforehand, even before we have either done or thought anything, because we were begotten in sin and cursedness. And by that word
Children of Wrath, St. Paul means that we are the heirs of death, and that God must needs be our enemy, even as soon as we are conceived. Yet God is not cruel, nor does He hate the things that are of His own making. That is true if we had such pureness in us as was in our forefather Adam, according to this saying, that all things which God made were good. God then should hate His own workmanship in us. But we must conclude that since He hates us and is as it were armed to take vengeance on us all, we have well deserved it. And that although sin cannot be pointed out with the finger, as you would say, yet God knows it well enough, and we must hold our mouths shut at it. That is in effect the thing that we have to gather upon this text, in applying it to St. Paul's meaning. For if the Jews, who seemed to have or ought to have some peculiar prerogative, are
nevertheless included under the general state of men, what can we allege who are born Gentiles, if we will presume to bring any bravery before God? So then, we have well wherewith to be confounded double, seeing that they, in comparison of whom we are nothing, have nonetheless no entrance into the kingdom of God but by His only free mercy, and by being reconciled by means of our Lord Jesus
Christ.
But there is yet one more question or doubt. For how should the Jews be God's enemies, seeing He had avowed Himself already to be their Father? Some might say that the seeing of the things that were figured, and the truth and substance of them, remained as yet to be accomplished. But we have to mark further that although God had adopted the Jews in Abraham, yet they were received in Jesus Christ, and that grace was grounded upon Him, according to this saying, "In thy seed shall all nations of the earth be blessed." And we have seen in the Epistle to the Galatians, that the said seed must be referred to our Lord Jesus Christ, for without Him there is no unity but utter scattering asunder. Since it is so, it is not to be marveled that the receiving of the Jews into the Church, as well as the receiving of the Gentiles, is attributed here by St. Paul to the only freely bestowed goodness of God.
However, there is yet a second point, which is not to be forgotten: which is, that although the Jews had obtained such grace, yet they abode in suspense till the coming of the Redeemer. And for that cause, we shall see in another place that those who were near, and those who were far off, were reconciled by Him. For we know that there is no atonement to be made with God without the shedding of blood. Now the sacrifices of the Law could not put away sin, nor pacify God's wrath and cursing. When men offered the blood of an ox, or of a calf, or of a lamb, it was not to make atonement with God;
there was no such power in the brute beasts, for the thing that is corruptible does not attain to the soul. Therefore it is to be concluded that the Jews were God's children by hope, and yet that they were utterly separated from Him until the atonement was made in the person of the Redeemer. And by that means did God show Himself favorable towards them, as He did towards the rest of the world. And for that cause also does St. Paul add that God, being rich in mercy, has quickened them, as He did the Gentiles, even according to His great love wherewith He loved them.
The chief point (as I told you this morning) that St. Paul handles is that we should learn to be ashamed, yea and to loathe our own wretchedness, by resorting to our original state, and by considering in what plight God finds us, and out of what a dungeon we pass when
God reaches us His hand. And the second is that we should magnify His goodness so much the more because it is an incredible thing that He should vouchsafe to cause the doctrine of life to come down to the bottom of hell to quicken us, for we were sunk down there. Therefore we must mark well these words, where it is said that God, being rich in mercy, quickened us when we were dead, according to the great love which He bears us. True it is that this title might always agree unto God, because He neither abates nor increases, and so shall God be evermore rich in goodness. But we must also mark the circumstance of the place, and the matter that St. Paul treats of here, which is that God has uttered the inestimable treasures of His mercy upon us according to the greatness of our miseries. And for that cause also he adds the great love wherewith He loved us. For there must have been such a goodness in God as is able to ravish us, seeing it surpasses all our capacity, and that we are not able to taste a hundredth part of it, though we give ourselves never so much unto it.
And why? For when St. Paul says that God loved us, he speaks expressly of himself and of such like, who had been chosen from
among that people, whereas the greater part of them was cut off. For although the Jews were the firstborn and had preeminence above us, as by right of inheritance, and that we be but as silly things born out of season, as St. Paul speaks of himself, yet nevertheless we see that they are now banished from God's kingdom and have become a precedent that ought to make the hair stand up upon our heads when we behold the wrath and vengeance of God that is uttered upon them. Therefore, whereas St. Paul and some small number more were chosen from among the Jews, it was through God's love which had the greater appearance towards them. Likewise, nowadays, if the Gospel were preached purely throughout the whole world, and faith given indifferently to all men, so as there were none but he should be touched immediately with the Holy Ghost, and all of us were alike, it would seem to be as the course of nature. And just as meat and drink are common to all men, so it would seem that we had this of our own natural motion, and that it were not a special grace of God. But when we see so many countries hunger-starved, so as there rains not one drop of good doctrine upon them, but rather the wretched people are fed with lies and trumperies of Satan, and that on the other side God enlightens us here and waters us with His word, whereof comes that but of the great love whereof St. Paul speaks here? Again, many men have their ears beaten with the Gospel, and yet it is apparent to men's eyes that they become hard-hearted by it and wax worse and worse. For it is certain that a man shall not see so horrible monsters in the papacy as where the Gospel is preached and professed, for they will say they are reformed, and yet they seem to be devils incarnate, and we need not to go far to see such sights. So then, let us mark here that we must not surmise that any of us has aught wherewith to please God more than his fellows, nor presume to make any account of ourselves. Instead, we must always repair to the fountain that cannot be drained dry, and not go to the pits that are full of holes and can hold no water, or rather which have nothing but slime and filth
in them, (for all the gloriousness and bravery of men is no better) but draw from the said love of our God, and confess that God must not be persuaded or moved by other folks, but only that it pleased Him to love us freely by receiving us unto Him and by enlightening us with His Holy Spirit in the faith of the Gospel. And so you see what Saint
Paul meant to note here.
Now on the other side, to prevent men (who are always subtlewitted, seeking some shifts and starting holes or other) from excusing themselves by being under the tyranny of the devil, or alleging that the same ought not to be laid to their charge, Saint Paul shows that the said bondage ceases not to be wilful. I showed you this morning that notwithstanding all our free choice, and notwithstanding our reason and will, yet we are as it were fettered to Satan's service, so as we can do nothing but all naughtiness, nor should we be any better by nature than the arrantest thieves in the world if God had not pitied us, accordingly as Saint Paul sets forth all other men unto us as a looking glass, yea, even such as despise God and all order, and are driven by Satan into all outrage, saying that we should be like them if God had not been merciful to us.
But now there are many who grudge against God and go to law with Him, saying: If free will is so defaced, what shall become of us? If men were able to give themselves unto goodness, and yet made none account of it but gave themselves to evil, surely it would be good right and reason that they should be held for guilty. But if they cannot but do evil, why should God condemn them? At least they ought to be borne with, seeing it is apparent that they are held under Satan's dominion, even from their mothers' womb. Lo, what many men allege in hope to wash their hands. Yea, and they are not contented to justify themselves by vain shifts, but they also rail against God, as though He were the cause of their damnation. But
Saint Paul, to prevent such slanders, says that those who are under the bondage of Satan and of sin cease not for all that to be condemned by good right. For they are not constrained thereunto by force: they are subject indeed, but that is with their own good will.
And that is why he says that even such as are brought back again to our Lord Jesus Christ have walked in the lusts of the flesh; that is to say, that before God had changed them, and brought them to His obedience by His Holy Spirit, they walked in their own wicked lusts.
True it is that men will grant their nature to be sinful, but yet they say it suffices that the will be otherwise. All men will grant that it is the will which puts the difference between vice and virtue. But when the philosophers spoke after that fashion, they were of the opinion that we have a free and frank will. And that is the thing that deceived them because they knew not that we were marred by the fall of Adam, and yet notwithstanding cease not to be justly accursed, forasmuch as our offending of God is with our own good will. And therefore also he adds again, doing the desires of our flesh and of our thoughts.
As if he should say that those who are possessed of Satan, and held under the slavery of sin, cannot allege any compulsion. For why? It is their own will that drives them thereunto. Thus you see in effect how
Saint Paul meant to stop the mouths of all mis-speakers, to the intent that men should not pick any quarrels with God by pretending that they ought not to be blamed for their naughtiness, seeing they are subject to it by nature. But let us mark herewithal how Saint Paul has matched thoughts with the flesh, to the end we might know that sin reaches throughout us, and that we have no part of us clean and pure wherein infection is not spread. For the Papists will well enough confess that we are corrupted in Adam, but they say that we do indeed tend always unto evil when we are tempted unto it, and yet nevertheless that if we hearken unto reason, and bridle our lusts by
ruling them well, then we shall see plainly that we are not altogether unable to do good. And so the opinion of the Papists is that man's free will is not of such force as it was at the beginning, but that it is wounded, yea and sore maimed, albeit that it has yet still some life, that is to say, some virtuousness, as they imagine.
But we have seen this morning that the determinate sentence of the Holy Ghost is more general, that is to wit, that we are not only sick but also dead, till we are raised again by Jesus Christ. Now Saint Paul confirms the same thing, saying that our wicked lusts and the affections that are termed the sensual appetites, wherein we resemble the brute beasts, are not the only things that harry us here and there, but that we must take the matter more strictly. What are all our thoughts, all our determinations, and all that ever is deemed to be best in man? They are (says Saint Paul) stark wickedness. For if God should let us go after our own thoughts, it is certain that there is not a more horrible confusion than that would be.
So then, we see that men are not humbled here by halves to confess only their frailty, and that they have partly need to be succored and helped at God's hand. Instead, we see they are utterly damned before Him, since their thoughts are here called wicked and froward, and that they have nothing in them which provokes not God's vengeance against them. So then, let us on the one side yield ourselves guilty, assuring ourselves that we were justly bereft of all God's graces in the person of Adam. And again, on the other side, let us not take the same for an excuse, in hope to escape by such shift, as who should say, we were not the bondslaves of sin, nor we ourselves any whit to blame for it, because we are held down in Satan's snares and nets even from our birth. But it behoves us to consider always that every one of us shall find the wellspring of his disease in his own conscience. Men may hold plea as much as they list, but if they enter
into themselves, and ask their own consciences, you shall see them condemned and confounded without any nay. When a man has babbled what he can, so as he thinks he has won the goal, by saying that he has no free will of his own, nor ability to resist God, there needs no more but this one word: What thinkest thou to be the thing that provokes thee to evil? Ho, it is the devil. Thou sayest well. But yet mark a little whether that does so fully excuse thee, as that thou perceivest not right well, that thou wast stirred up and driven to it by thine own self-moving: knowest thou not that the wellspring and root of the mischief is in thyself? When thou art so rebellious against God, that thy thoughts are full of untruth and unbelief, and that so much the more because thy lusts are out of square, and embattled against God and His righteousness, even to make war with Him: when thou seest all this, must thou yet hold plea further with Him?
So then, let us not seek any starting holes, seeing we carry a sufficient judge with us, even within us, namely seeing that every one of our own consciences rebukes us. That is the thing that Saint Paul aimed at in this strain. And thereby we also are warned not to presume aught at all on ourselves, but to bridle all our senses and imaginations, and all the understanding and reason which we ween ourselves to have. For until we have so renounced ourselves, it is certain that we shall never be meet to apply ourselves to the serving of God.
And Saint Paul says expressly that those whom God has quickened are by that means made fellows with our Lord Jesus Christ, for it is even He in whom they have their life. True it is that we ought to seek it in God's being: however, forasmuch as that is too high for us, so as we cannot come at it, no nor anything near it, therefore our Lord
Jesus is called the way. And He offers Himself, and tarries not till we seek Him as though He were far from us, but reaches out His arms to allure us to Him, insomuch that in His Gospel He says, "If any man
be athirst, let him come unto me and drink." And this is fulfilled in His person, as has been said before.
So then let this speech be marked, where Saint Paul says that those who were dead before were quickened again by Jesus Christ. And here we see yet better the thing that I touched upon shortly this morning: which is, that Saint Paul speaks not of a visible death, of which men may judge by outward sight, but of the corruption that is in our souls, for he finds fault with us all. How then may we attain to the heavenly life? How shall we be raised and quickened again to possess the heritage that is promised us? We see on the contrary part how we are subject to as many miseries as can be. This therefore must needs be meant of the newness of life which he speaks of in other places. Now it is certain that this life is not yet perfect in us: there is but a little entrance of it, which serves to lead us further and to bring us to the end, which shall be when we come to the full glory that he speaks of here.
And we see also how Saint Paul, setting himself forth for an example, alleges that he had given over all things for our Lord Jesus Christ's sake, yea and even the fond opinion which he had of his own righteousness, insomuch that although men esteemed him as a little angel, yet notwithstanding he knew that it behoved him to be saved by God's free grace in Jesus Christ. And instead of all his honour and riches, he had suffered so many reproaches, so many tortures, so many beatings, and so many imprisonings, that a man would have said he had been lifted up above the world. And yet notwithstanding he adds, not that I am yet come to my mark, but I strain myself forward and forget the time that is past. For if I stay upon the things
I have done already, saying, I have overcome so many encounters, I have dealt thus valiantly, I have not ceased to preach the Gospel everywhere, I have wrought in such wise that the fruit of my doctrine
has come to the whole world, I have passed the sea, I have been among barbarous nations where God and His Gospel were never erst heard of, I have had a number of letdowns, and have overcome them all, I have encountered with thus many enemies and have got the upper hand of them all. If Saint Paul had had all these considerations with him, he would have become cold, for it is an easy matter for us to shrink away when we once think with ourselves, "Alas, I have done enough for my part, now let others march on in their array." And so every one of us would take his leave when he had something or other,
I wot not what. But Saint Paul says that he forgets the time past, to cut off the occasion of slothfulness which might come into his head, and says that he strains himself forward and holds his arms open to attain unto it.
And how long did Saint Paul strain himself forward? Even to the end.
Then let us mark well that our glory shall never be perfect, that is to say, we shall never thoroughly enjoy the glory that we wait for until the end. And therefore it behoves us always to take warning of our own wretchedness, to mourn for it before God, and to confess that we are beholden to His only goodness for all things. Now then, however we fare, we see that we are reformed unto newness of life by God's spirit, and that although we dwell among unbelievers and are subject to many miseries, yea and have sin dwelling in us, yet there is none of us but he feels that the handsels which God has given us of His Holy Spirit are not vain nor unprofitable.
If any man alleges that before such time as Jesus Christ works in us, we have already some life, as is seen, the answer was made shortly this morning: that forasmuch as all that ever men have by nature is not able to bring them unto God, but makes them rest upon this world, none of it ought to be made account of when the heavenly life comes into question. Then let men clap their hands at us on all sides:
yet we are but dead men when God lays the bridle loose on our necks and suffers us to walk after our own fancy and liking. Man may well have some reason, but what can it do so long as it is in its own nature? It will fight against God and against all truth. Yet notwithstanding, man, say they, has a will; howbeit, that the same will is wicked. True it is (as I have said already) that it has no strength in it. Yet notwithstanding forasmuch as man is wicked and froward, and has the cursed root of rebellion in himself, so as he cannot but do evil, he offends God willingly. And seeing it is so, let us boldly conclude that we are in death until we are made partners of the life of our Lord Jesus Christ, and that He deals unto every one of us the Spirit which He has received, in such measure as He lists, according as it is said that God's Spirit rested upon Him, and was given unto Him in all plenty, and that as now He must deal it to every one of His faithful ones. Therefore according as our Lord Jesus
Christ makes us taste of His Holy Spirit, and according as He strengthens thereby, so are we quickened in Him and with Him.
Now hereupon he adds that He has made us to sit in the heavenly places with our Lord Jesus Christ. This serves to magnify the grace that we have hitherto spoken of, yet so much the more. If he had said in one word that we were quickened, it would have been enough, and it ought well to have inflamed our hearts to sing God's praises, to occupy ourselves therein, and to apply all our endeavors thereto. But here is a greater vehemence because of our coldness and laziness.
For Saint Paul has shown on the one side that we were dead and held in bondage under the tyranny of Satan. Alas, these are terrible things. And now he sets down on the other side that God has not only loved us but also glorified us in Himself, and that we are lifted up from the bottom of hell, aloft to the kingdom of heaven, where He has lodged us, and given us seats among His angels.
Seeing then that we hear this, needs must we be too much doted, and our wits too much brutish if we do not make a good earnest to glorify the inestimable goodness of our God, and to conclude that we are so beholden and bound unto Him, that although we should do nothing else all our life long but preach the grace that we have felt by experience at His hand, yet it would be nothing at all. And so you see why Saint Paul has purposely set down that we are lifted up to heaven with Jesus Christ.
And hereupon we have a very profitable exhortation to gather, which is that although we are here in the mire and do but crawl like poor frogs, yet ought we to bear this state patiently, forasmuch as on the other side God has lifted us up so high, even us that were nothing, yea, and cursed creatures too. And therefore, whenever we are forced to suffer hunger and thirst in this world, or be mocked by unbelievers, or put to the abiding of many outrages, let us resort to that which is said here: namely, that nevertheless we are set already in heaven with Jesus Christ, albeit not in such wise that it is apparent to our eyes. For in this behalf we must give place to hope, and to that which is said in another text, namely that our life is hid, and that we must hold ourselves quiet till it appears at the coming of our Lord
Jesus Christ.
Thus then you see in effect how it behoves us to understand the things that are spoken here of the diverse state of God's children after they are called to the faith of the Gospel. But by the way, we must not imagine an earthly paradise in this world where we shall have neither trouble nor grief: we must reckon that we shall never live here at our ease, but we must make room for faith, as I said before. And besides this, whereas the Holy Ghost avouches by the mouth of Saint Paul that we shall be lifted up on high, it stands us on hand to cast down our heads, to suffer ourselves to be oppressed by
our enemies, and to be overmastered by them with all pride. We, I say, must suffer these things, and yet in the meantime be fully persuaded and thoroughly resolved of this doctrine, that we for all that shall not fail to inherit the kingdom of heaven, for it is impossible that the head should be separated from the members, and our Lord Jesus Christ is not gone thither for His own sake alone.
We must always repair to that principle. Our confessing that Jesus Christ is risen from the dead and gone up into heaven is not only to glorify Him in His own person. True it is that first of all it must come to pass that all knees must bow before Him, and that all creatures both in heaven and earth, yea and even in hell, must do Him homage. But yet notwithstanding, the union whereof we have treated heretofore is fulfilled in this, that Jesus Christ having gathered us into His body, has begun that thing in Himself which He intends to perform in us, namely when the convenient time comes. So then,
Jesus Christ has gone up into heaven to open us the gate in these days, which was shut against us by Adam's sin, and that is the very manner of our sitting with Him already.
And therewithal Saint Paul shows in one word what he intended.
Indeed, this saying shall be declared more at length in its due place, where Saint Paul himself will treat of it more at large in the next sermon. Yet notwithstanding, we may see what he aimed at, to the end we may have a sure and right mark to shoot at: which is that we are saved by grace, and that no man is able to claim anything of his own. Nevertheless, it is not enough for us to have confessed in one word that our salvation comes from God's free favor, and to have felt it also within ourselves, but we must also therewithal be taken in love with the infinite greatness of the same grace by considering what we are, how all evil comes of ourselves, and that there is no saying nay because our faults do too much convict us, insomuch that if God
should execute a hundred times more rigor against us than He does, we could not contend with Him, nor dispute with Him, but that we should always have this record of our own consciences, that we are justly worthy of death, and that the same is due unto us by our desert.
Then seeing it is so, let us hold fast this doctrine, for we shall have profited greatly for our whole life if we once know that there is not only some one naughty touch but an infinite number of evils in us.
Therefore, let us learn to dislike ourselves, to hate and abhor ourselves, and afterward when we come to the grace that is shown us in our Lord Jesus Christ, let us understand that without that, the devil should need to have full and whole possession of us and reign over us as he had done before. Also, let us beware that we profit ourselves by such grace, so as it may serve to put away all our cursedness. And then let us assure ourselves that not only shall all our miseries turn to our benefit by our Lord Jesus Christ, but also that He will give us such strength, as we may well glory in our state: and although we are driven to fight against many temptations, and that we are frail on our own behalf, yet nevertheless we shall overcome them in such wise as we shall have cause to yield God thanks by our Lord Jesus Christ, insomuch as being joined unto
Him, we cannot fail to come to the full perfection of all good things.
Now let us cast ourselves down before the Majesty of our good God with acknowledgment of our faults, praying Him to make us so to feel them, as it makes us not only to confess three or four of them, but also to go up even to our birth, and to acknowledge that there is nothing but sin in us, and that there is no way for us to be reconciled to our God but by the blood, death, and passion of our Lord Jesus
Christ. And therefore as often as we feel any heartbitings to turn us aside from the grace of God, to cite us to His judgment seat, let us