ry, we care not for Christ: but when we be in
tribulation, and cast in prison, then we have a desire to him; then we
learn to call upon him; then we hunger and thirst after him; then we are
desirous to feed upon him. As long as we be in health and prosperity, we
care not for him; we be slothful, we have no stomach at all; and
therefore these sauces are very necessary for us. We have a common
saying amongst us, when we see a fellow sturdy, lofty, and proud, men
say, "This is a saucy fellow;" signifying him to be a high-minded fellow,
which taketh more upon him than he ought to do, or his estate requireth:
which thing, no doubt, is naught and ill; for every one ought to behave
himself according unto his calling and estate. But he that will be a
christian man, that intendeth to come to heaven, must be a saucy fellow;
he must be well powdered with the sauce of affliction, and tribulation;
not with proudness and stoutness, but with miseries and calamities: for
so it is written, _Omnes qui pie volunt vivere in Christo persecutionem
patientur_; "Whosoever will live godly in Christ, he shall have
persecution and miseries:" he shall have sauce enough to his meat. Again,
our Saviour saith, _Qui vult meus esse discipulus, abneget semetipsum et
tollat crucem suam et sequatur me_; "He that will be my disciple must
deny himself and take his cross upon him, and follow me." Is there any
man that will feed upon me, that will eat my flesh and drink my blood?
Let him forsake himself. O this is a great matter; this is a biting
thing, the denying of my own will!' As for an ensample: I see a fair
woman, and conceive in my heart an ill appetite to commit lechery with
her; I desire to fulfil my wanton lust with her. Here is my appetite, my
lust, my will: but what must I do? Marry, I must deny myself, and follow
Christ. What is that? I must not follow my own desire, but the will and
pleasure of Christ. Now what saith he? _Non fornicaberis, non
adulteraberis_; "Thou shalt not be a whoremonger, thou shalt not be a
wedlock-breaker." Here I must deny myself, and my will, and give place
unto his will; abhor and hate my own will. Yea, and furthermore I must
earnestly call upon him, that he will give me grace to withstand my own
lust and appetite, in all manner of things which may be against his will:
as when a man doth me wrong, taketh my living from me, or hurteth me in
my good name and fame, my will is to avenge myself upon him, to do hi