are knowen vnto all men for me to make further mention of them they are not necessarie Verse 3. Because the vngodlye man boasteth in the desires of his soule And the couetous man blessing him selfe blasphemeth the Lord. HEre the holy Ghost beginnes a large description of Antichrist whose markes and tokens are all euidently seene in the Popes Iurisdiction and sway The first marke is Impietie by which name are comprysed worshipping of Idolles and heresies Manyfeste erroures are there in the Popes doctrine quite contrary to the foundation of Gods woâ—de as els where ofte I declare There are also in this Iurisdiction most grieuous superstitions worshipping of Saintes prayer vnto the dead and a manifolde prophanation of the Supper of the Lord. These apparant furyes doth the Bishoppe of Rome confirme as cruell as euer Nero was againste honest and godly persons The second marke is Couetousnes which as the roote of all mischiefe raging in the worlde spreadeth vnreuenged in the dominion of Antichrist For the Bishoppes of Rome fight not for maintenance of Religion but for mens wealth or riches That is with vnsatiable co â—eteousnes hunt after dignitie wealth and pleasures and support false opinions because they are the strengthes and maintenance of wealth The thirde proper marke of Antichrist is Blasphemie For as his minde is polluted with idolatrie so is his tongue defyled with blasphemie Of this Marke Daniel in his 11. Chap. saith He shall extoll himselfe aboue all Gods and he shall speake marueylous thinges againste the God of Gods For no man is ignoraunte with how great impudencie the Pope placeth himselfe aboue all authoritie of Canonicall Scriptures of the Churche of God of Sinodes and finally of all iudgements whereas in déede God alone is I let passe here these other blasphemies which my tongue both shunneth and shiuereth with horror to name Verse 4. The vngodlie in respecte of the pride of his wrath careth not There is no God thinketh he alwayes in his heart THe fourth marke of Antichriste is his detestable Pride which is accompanyed with vnbrideled Wrath. Christ in humilitie and meekenes surmounteth all Angels and men as it is sayde Mat. 11. Learne ye of me because I am meeke and humble of heart But the aduersary of Christ farre passeth all deuils in pride and greedye desire of reuenge That this Affirmation by proofe is most true the Histories of Emperours doe witnesse Of whom some euen for trifling matters were excommunicate others troden vnder foote and others most vnworthely handled by the Bishops of Rome The fifte Marke which declareth Antichrist is Epicuriall Contempt of God For it is manifest true that the Court of Rome is nothing els but a Schoole of Epicurisme wherein al honest opinions touching God his prouidence the iudgement of God following after this Verse 9 He lieth lurking in secrete places like a Lion in his denne That he may catch the poore whiles he snare him in his grinne Verse 10. And hee humbleth himselfe and crowcheth downe craftelie that in his strength hee may caste downe the poore THe nienth and last Marke of Antichrist is his Nerolike crueltie For as the Deuill the Father of Antichrist is both a Lyer and a Murtherer So the son followeth the Fathers example who syth he is the enemie of the true doctrine is bent to al occasions of hurting them which teach a right And where he can ouercome with manyfest vyolence he slayeth many but where hee cannot vse his violence he doth most subtilely lay snares for the godly and prouoketh Princes to hatred Now let a man consider what a monster Antichrist is puffed vp with these vices mischiefes viz. By reason of his vngodlynesse Coueteousnesse Blasphemy Pride Desire of Reuenge Restles busines Prophane security Sophistrie and crueltie Verse 11. For hee hath saide in his hearte God hath forgotten all Hee hides his Face and will not see for euer ALl beastly crueltie of Antichrist ryseth of a Giant-like and Cyclopical barbarousnes which staÌ„deth in no feare of the heauenly God but consecrateth his sacrifice vnto the greatest Belly God For wherein this perswasion resteth that God is nothing that there is no prouidence that all Religions are forged and friuolous In these appeareth a deuillish confusion of all wickednesse and mischiefes O god vouchsafe to â—uerte this plague farre from vs. Verse 12. Arise O Lorde God and let thy hand be exalted Doe not thou forget the poore THe seconde pare of this Psalme is a Prayer wherein the Church craueth of God that shee may be delyuered from the tirannie of Antichrist For neyther is there any more grieuous Monster nor any plague more cruell neyther furie which more prouoketh Gods wrath in the flooddes of hell then the Popes tirannie full of snares guyle vyolence and Epicuriall securitie And because euerie our prayer receyued from the holy Ghost hath effecte of promise and of prophesie let vs confer the euente with the foretokening thereof For in this last age of the world D. Luther being by God inspyred reuealsd Antichrist and refourmed the doctrine and called back the Church in his time vnto the fountaines of veritie He shewed the difference betweene the Lawe and the Gospell He made manifest the righteousnes of faith Toke away errors touching the doctrine of repentance Distinguyshed the true worshipping of God from the hipocrisie of mans traditions and shewed the vse of the Sacramentes which are by God instituted Touching which matter well considering it becommeth all the godly throughout the world to ioyn together their prayers and sighes and to craue with feruent heartes that GOD woulde vouchsafe to confirme this that hee hath wrought in vs for his holy temple sake Verse 13. Wherefore shall the vngodlie blaspheme God For hee hath saide in his hearte Tush thou wilt take none account THe reason of his prayer is taken from the cause final As if he thus sayde Defende and delyuer thy church and represse the furies of the enemies of the gospell that their blasphemies may be refuted and that all men may know there is a God in deede vpon whome the Church of Christ cryeth and calleth It lyketh me in this place to repeate a shorte fourme of Prayer which D. Luther prescrybed in his booke of the Turkish warre Looke vpon vs O God our Father and geue vs remedie For the Deuill the Bishoppe of Rome and the Turke are more thine aduersaries then oures when they scourge vs they also scourge thée For the doctrine which we preache is thine and not oures But Sathan cannot abide this and will be worshipped in thy place and thrustinge thy worde out of place he practyseth vyolently to thrust vpon vs false doctrine and lyes Awake therefore Oh my God and thy holye name which they pollute and defile thou thy selfe reuenge and suffer not this imurie to be wrought any longer by theÌ„ which punish not our offences and sinnes But endeuoure to extinguish thy worde in vs and so farre bende their force that thou
for my banishment and losse of my kingdome but for an other farre more lamentable mischiefe because I feele the wrath of God and acknowledge that I haue geuen the cause therof by so many my sinnes and offences which haue folowed my fall For my sake saith he God being angry with me hath suffered sedition to be stirred vp euen of my owne Sonne After the sedicion folowed the defyling of my wyues and much slaughter through out my whole kingdome and many other mischiefes which accompany ciuill discordes and innumerable soules oppressed with eternall wrath of God by meanes of the sedicion Many of the saintes because of offences dyed for sorowe and also many of the saints through contagion of sedicion haue shaken of the holy Ghost and are oppressed with the eternal wrath of God Neyther is it doubtfull but some of my wyues are euen dead for very sorow Thus I beholding so huge a multitude of euils saith Dauid do thinke my selfe to be the plague of Gods Church a vessell of his wrath and peraduenture am for euer cast from Gods fauoure Verse 3. But thou O Lorde art my defender my glory and the lifter vp of my heade EVen as in the nature of thinges there are chaunges as of the day and of the night of sommer and winter So in the brests of the Godly ones ther is great interchaunge of temptations and consolations Wherefore as the next verse discribed a most sorowfull temptation So this verse painteth out faithe wherein he assureth himselfe he was not forsaken of God But truly receyued hearde and shall féele helpe mitigation and deliuerance from God And although not onely mine enimies cry out that I am forsaken and cast awaye of God but also my conscience accuseth me by the Law Yet notwitstanding I do not swerue away from thee but I flee vnto thee crauing and expecting delyuerance or surely mitigation For I knowe that prayer made in faith of the Sonne of God is not in vayne as Epicures do thinke for as much as thou hast both geuen vs commaundementes of prayer and a promise of hearinge Verse 4. I cryed vnto the Lorde with my voyce and he heard me out of his holie hill Verse 5. I slept and slombered and awaked again because the Lord did comforte me A Consolation taken from the verie deed Thou hast often times preserued mee callings vpon thee Therefore I nothinge doubt but henceforth thou wilt saue me calling vpon thee And with this verse agreeth that saying of S. Paule 2. Cor. 1. Wee haue receyued in vs the answere of death to the end we should not put confidence in our selues but in God which raiseth vp the dead which hath taken vs out of so great daungers whereupon also we do conceyue hope that it shall come to passe that he will hereafter deliuer vs also Therefore being confirmed with these examples of deliuerances let vs be more feruent in praying and let vs crâ—ue that our determinatioÌ„s and the euentes thereof may be gouerned by God For as saith S. Paule He is the same Lorde ouer al and rich towardes al that call vpon him For as without respecte of any personne he is angry with sinne in all men so he receyueth all men equally which flee vnto his Sonne the Mediator Verse 6. I shall not feare many thowsandes of people which encompasse me rownde about IN the whole Booke of Psalmes this order is to be obserued He being tempted Prayeth Praying he is delyuered and being delyuered he geueth thankes So in this place Dauid being delyuered from feares which are the feelinges of Gods wrath doth now with a cherfull voyce geue thankes vnto God for his consolation and victorie witnesseth that faith is not an idle knowledge but a confidence setled in God and from an hye dispysing the furtes of the worlde and of the deuill according to that saying 1. Iohn 5. This is the victorie that ouercometh the worlde euen our faith Verse 7. Arise O Lorde saue me my God because thou hast smitten all mine enimies vpon the iawe bone thou hast broken the teeth of the vngodlie HE mixeth a prayer with thankes geuing as S. Paule knitteth these together in the 1. Thessal 5. without ceasinge praye in all thinges geue thankes Neyther in deed is it obscure why God requireth thanks geuing For first he will haue vs assure our selues that good thinges are not geuen vs by chaunce but that God doth truly care for vs and that he heareth oure prayers and that we are helped of God Moreouer he will haue this our confession to be a witnesse before other men of his prouidence and he will that others shoulde be confirmed that they may truely belieue that God hath care ouer mans affaires and that the prayers of the Church are heard of him Verse 8 With the Lorde there is saluation and thy blessing is vpon all thy people IN conclusion he prayseth God that this name is not a vaine thing that he doth not neglecte men but trulye heareth such as vnfainedlye praye vnto him in the church and kepeth his promises He discribeth also his church from other nations which blaspheme Christ affirming his blessing that is to say promise of the forgeuenes of sinnes and of lyfe euerlasting is no where to be founde but in his church With this consolation or comforte let vs confirme our selues against the thunder boltes of the Popes vniust excommunication and let vs beleue that God blesseth when our enimies vniustlye curse vs. ⧠The fourth Psalme Cum inuocarem exaudiuit me Dominus THE ARGVMENT SEeing there be many things which can disturbe the godlie minde from his quyet state Then euen speciallie doth that tentation trouble vs when we consider our own miseries the prosperitie of the vngodlie For the thing it selfe the euent thereof sheweth that the Church and all the godlie ones are burdened with greater multitude of calamities then the other filthy skome of mankind And contrariwise wee may see the vngodlie puffed vp with fortunes fauour and despising a farre of the miserable and sorrowfull societies obseruers of the heauenly doctrine These sorrowful spectacles doe often moue the godlie ones to thinke that in vaine they bestow so great studie and diligence in expounding and defending the doctrine deliuered from God that they are much wiser which follow pleasures whatsoeuer pertaineth therunto with al care and trauaile For they which singularlie loue the studies of heauenlie doctrine not onely neglecte worldlie matters but also are proudlie derided and troden vnder foote by the wicked and are caste out to all tormentes of Tirantes and Heretickes But vnto this no light stumblinge block is opposed a strong conclusion drawen from a comparison beetweene benefites spiritual corporal And though riches and honoures are the giftes of God yet they onelie serue but to the vse of this mortall and fickle life neither are they that principall good thing to the which mans nature is speciallie ordeined For what
be expounded in wordes yet in the godly ones there is such a feruencie and earnest desire to worship God that this saying of Virgill may be borrowed well touchinge them Possunt quia posse videntur They can because they seeme to be able This may also be spoken exclusiuely in such maner that the vniuersall parte may be reduced vnto a certaine likenes and of others the exclusiue signifyed Q. D. as thus I will declare nothing but thy marueilous workes That is thy marueylous gouernment and defence of the Church against Tyrantes fanaticall reachers and other their mischieuous mates For in déede a great miracle is the conseruation perpetuall of the Church amidst so great downfals and deuastations of Imperies As in the Deluge all other opinions and sectes were ouerwhelmed Noah and his Familie onely preserued and that euen by Gods manifest helpe in déede Verse 3 Because thou hast turned mine enemies backwardes they shall fall and pearish from thy face AS if he sayde great and weyghtie is the cause why I should with heart and mouth render thankes vnto thee For that thou subduest and subuertest the enemies of thy Church and not onely preseruest some priuately which know thee aright but also safegardest other congregations publiquelie and the ministerie of thy Gospell and some habitations for exercise of godly studyes But this speech They shall perish from before thy face seemeth to be borrowed out of the historie which is recyted in the 14. of Exodus viz. And now approached the Morning watch and beholde the Lord looking vpon the Tentes of the Aegyptians through the fierie and clowdie Piller slew the hoast of them and ouerthrew their Chariots and they were throwen into the Sea For the face or beholding of the Lord signifyeth a deuine terror by meanes whereof in their amased mindes they fled when no man pursued them This terror is called a deuine inward feare whose notable example Iouianus Pontanus recyteth in his ◠Booke of Fortune cap. 15. When Theodosius Augustus with a very small power of Soldiars waged battle with Arbogastus Francus and Engenius a storme sodenly sent from heauen gaue helpe vnto him and his For such a vehement whirlinge winde bet vpon the backes and faces of his enemies that their owne weapons sent from them rebounded vyolently vpon themselues and their strokes were quyte aueyded and enforced them cowardly to retyre back againe This matter Claudianus remembring saith O nimium dilecte Deo cui fundit ab antris Aeolus armatas acies cui militat aether Et coniurati veniunt ad classica venti Oh thou so much beloued of God whom Aeolus from caues Whole armed hoastes sendes foorth and in distresse thine honor saues With whom when Firmament doth fight in battle force amaine The bustling windes to win thy weale their Trumpets sound againe So then Theodosius ouercame his seditious enemies in a mightie battle of whome the one Arbogastus Francas with his hoast scattered procured his owne death in the slight like vnto Saule The other being Eugenius was commaunded to be slaine and to dye for it according to the Lawes Verse 4. Because thou hast perfourmed Judgemente vnto me and my cause Thou hast sitte vpon thy throane O Iudge of righteousnes THe conflicts of the Church cannot be ended by men in Princely authoritie nor by the pollicie of Magistrates as other publique controuersies touching Ciuill affaires are ended and taken vp For the peruerse and blasphemous Papistes doe not yealde though they bee conuicte by their owne and by the immoueable Testimonies of Gods worde Therefore doth God at length confute the wilfull obstinacie of the vngodly by some notable example vtterly confounding all the whole faction and pack of them as he confounded Pharao Ierusalem after the preaching of the Apostles the Manycheis the Arrians and others Furthermore God alone is a iust Judge because hée seeth the deepe secretes of mans heart and is equall in dealing with vs not vsing partialitie and hath strengthe or power against the vngodly But men eyther sinne in their iudgemente by error or els bee partial in iudging eyther els are not able to execute punishment being destitute of strength and power Wherefore Magistrates must be forgeuen offences which are not notorious Like as Iason Phereus sayth That he which altogether looketh after righteousnes doth in the meane time committee many vniust thinges in smaller matters which are to be forgeuen him that defendeth the state of gouernment and preserueth the rule of the common weale with the iudgemente and lawes thereof And Euripidis saith vnto this purpose that it is profitable to beare with ignorances of great men in authoritie Verse 5. Thou hast rebuked the Nations thou hast destroyed the vngodlie Thou hast extinguished their name for euer and euer GOd by sundry and diuers meanes rebuketh Nations For first by preaching the Lawe and the Gospell he accuseth the sinne of all mankinde as Paule saith Rom. 1. The wrath of God is reuealed from heauen c. Moreouer God reprooueth sinne with horrible and grieuous punishmentes publique and priuat which are as it were the voyce of the Law shewing vs of the wrath of God But whome with the voyce of the Ministerie preaching the Law and the Gospell neyther with signes or tokens of their guyltines she cannot encline to acknowledge their sinne them doeth hee nowe and then shake with vnspeakeable terrors wherein the wrath of God is surely set Aegesippus in his first booke and 8. Cha. Decla-reth how Aristobulus king of the Jewes through sorrow for that he had slayne his own Brother fell into so great a sicknes that hee caste out blood from himselfe which as yet but a Childe when the Kinges Page earyinge away and vnwittinglye poured vpon the bloud of the kinges brother slayne an horrible feare came vppon Aristobulus which both increased his griefe and toke away his life O tragicall example in déede which declareth that God so striketh mens heartes with féeling of his wrath and so rebuketh the vngodly which are vncurable that they fall vtterly into euerlasting destruction But some man will in this place obiecte that the name of the vngodly is neuer rased out of the memory of men when as in histories euery where it is mentioned of Tyrantes and others which haue also stayned themselues with vngodly and mischieuous wickednes I answere It is one thing to speake with commendation and another to keepe in memory which all wise men haue hated and detested The Sodomites were so destroyed that not onely their bodyes and soules were eternally damned but also the name and fame of them euermore hatefull to all men For who is not horribly afrayde to heare Sodome spoken of So Iudas Pilatus Herod Nero and Iulianus like Cattes taking their heeles haue lefte an cuill smell after them as I maye so saye with Aristophanes Verse 6. The strength of the Enemie is fallen away for euer thou hast destroyed their Cities the memory of them is also vvith them selues perished