thrones their dominions their Empires or sought their owne glorie made an entraunce ready gate to set vp and establish the sincerity puritie of religion Therefore Christe of him selfe testifieth I séeke not mine one name but my fathers that seÌ„t mée â–ª I haue glorified thee among men and I will glorifie thee againe For if he be our father where is our honor Will the childe acknowledge his parents the wild and sauage beast giue place to them that nourish her succeadeth the fire the heauens in his place and the fire the ayre and she ayre the water and the water the earth and the earth vs shall not we acknowledge and reuerence the Lorde of Hostes who dwelleth betwixt the Cherubynnes and ought to be worshipped of all nations vnder heauen Cyprian hath giuen as touching this firste point hallowed be thy name in mine opinion a verie good reason For saith he wée craue not that God should be sanctified in our prayers who is alwayes holye but that his name sanctified in vs wée might be made perfecte and holy in him Thus I also finde it in the booke of God in that place Be thou holie because I am holy Then our prayer is that being sanctified cleansed made perfect in the Lorde we may be holie and good perseuere therein For this cause Paulinus in the fifth age of the Churche when he liued called our Baptisteries places of restoring againe of man meaning thereby as I do gesse that we ought to rise froÌ„ sinne and liue to life mortifying and beating downe the lustes of the fleshe and as wee shoulde sanctifie the name of the Lorde so we ought in our conuersation and in our walking before him to bee againe sanctified that is walke as holy before him For as the water in the fifth of Iohn did neuer clense make perfect but when the Angell moued it No more is man renued and altered but when the Spirite sanctifieth him And as Sara was not by nature but by promise made a mother and bare a childe So are we holy not of our selues but of the Lorde Therefore we neede daily sanctifiyng and seeing that wee sinne and fall so often wee must rise and be reared vp in Christ in renouation and sanctification of the spirit For this is our sanctification in Paule that we be no fornicatours no worshipers of Idols no adulterers no light persons no folowers of wemen not théeues not deceiuers not haters not drunkardes and these sometime we were but we are washed but wee are iustified but wee are sanctified in the name of our Lorde Iesus Christe Master Gualter vppon this place hath an especiall note as touching this hallowed or sanctified be thy name neyther wil I blame him here in consideration the superstition of the world is so great who begyled in the vanitie of their thoughts are not able or else will not iudge aright of the will of the Lorde He findeth greate faulte for that men take an occasion from the name of God as though the bare rehersall thereof had vertue in it to doe wounders signes and miracles in the earth And of truth that wherewith M. Gualter found fault is so common in the worlde that as euery one is holyest and wil be counted godlyest so is hée in this life peruersist I wish that of Cyris were setled in the mindes of men that beefore they iudge of any thinge in the Booke of God they would consider thrée things the time the person and the matter that is handled which if they were duely wayed it would bee a cause good enough that men should not stray as they do in the iudging of the Scriptures For as out of this place is grounded this error that if wée recken vp the bare name of the Lord it is sufficient for vs if we say sanctified be his name it is enough vnto saluation therfore the commoÌ„ sorte of people repeate and vtter these wordes of Christe but they consider no more and so think that by saying of the same they haue discharged their duetie but this it is grosse and pernitious it sauoureth of the flesh alone that is sluggishe and heauie tired if it take any paines in searching out the wil of God For not euery one the saith Lord Lord shall enter into the kingdome of heauen but be that knoweth the will of my father doeth it This is the onely cause that the heretikes haue erred so grossely heretofore â— haue taken the bare wordes not the meaning of the spirit Therefore to take away all occasion of falshoâ— which is gathered froÌ„ the name of God I save this The name of God in Scriptures doth signify euery thing which is proper vnto him wherby his heaueÌ„ly diuine nature or his works glory appeareth As in Dauid thy name O Lord thy praise endureth for euer it extendeth and reacheth to the ends coastes of the world and againe praise him al you people blesse you the name of the Lorde Iunilius writting against heretickes reckeneth according to the Hebrewes computation eight especiall names giuen vnto God which bee these first God then Lorde also Lorde and God together or else almightie or sufficient or omnipotent or our piller and stay or God of hosts or a iudge and searcher The He rew I haue lefte out for I thinke it not coÌ„uenient the rehersall nowe these onely significations be they that are presented vnto vs and by these names is he called in the scriptures especially by Abraham when he apeared vnto him and then when he spake to Moses Exod. 3.6 Exod. 15. Psalme 86. And the Grecians call him a secret sercher or pearser of all thinges and a sister of our thoughts Wher vnto Peter Martyr Musculus haue in diuers places alluded and maister Gualter semeth to touch the verie same vpon the exposition of the name of god Here vnto I adioyn put those same glorious titles giueÌ„ vnto him by Moses when he desired he might see and looke vppon the Lord god Exod. 34. For then when he passed by in the cloude when Moses was put into a clifte of the rocke and God had put â—â—s hand before him and Moses sawe his backe parts alone he cried out lord God mercifull and liberall â—â—ntle and pitiful of infinite goodnesse and trueth keeping thy goodnesse for thousanâ—s forgiuing iniquitie and transgressioÌ„s and sinnes leauing not vngodlines vnpunished but visiting the sinnes of their fathers in 〈◊〉 sonnes and sonnes sonnes vppon such as feare not him and kéepe not his commaundements This other such like places of scripture do open and shew vnto vs the incomprehencible Godhead of the Lorde which onely is seene in his workes his creation and his creatures and by the same commaunded in this place to exalte magnifie and blesse his name The wicked take occasion as I shewed you before to call on his name verie often and thinke they doe
their partes very conningly and writ very subtellye and comprehended all that they did artificially that therfore they swalowed vp whole multitudes of such as succéeded them For neither Ireneus stayed because that the fathers which went before him knewe the Lorde neyther Origen kepte backe his hand or lefte his pen or dispised labor albeit the matters hee tooke vpon him were described of others And as for those succéeded them eyther faltered they in their spéech or swounded they in common talke or did they fall because Cirill or Ierom or Crysostom or Ambrose plentifully and verye faythfully with great zeale and singuler trauayle painted forth the dealing and conuersatiō of the men that liued then I say naye but those flowing wits did leaue behind them a gret light to their posteritie and they that came after sucked out the Marrow and the strength and robbed their Progenitors and after that became as mighty in their laboures as valyaunt in their wrightinges and as pleasaunt in their tongue and language as the most renowmed men of them that liued in former ages And that I can sée or may iudge as yet our time hath bin as well blessed with flourishinge wittes and our men that now liue garnished with so great knowledge as I doo and dare incourage them al that loue the Lord to procéed manfully in their callinges in as mutch as both our Forfathers haue not stolne away all cōmendation from vs that follow them neyther we shut vp into so narowe a roome but that in the light and beauty of the dayes wherin wée bée wee may amonge many good and excellent writers say something To him that looketh for the first place it is good to contente him with the second or the thirde degrée For him that gapeth to contend for the rest if hée wil be aduertised by mée hée shall thinke himselfe well if hée can haue place with the hindermost So that great thinges shall not dismaye the weake and simple men shall stande by the best But if any one pleased with his condition can kéepe a meane that is hée that shall haue the commendation from them bothe As for this my trauaile and first byrth as it were pained so mutch the more as I desire earnestly the Church of the Lorde God should inioy it séeing it is my first Babe I willingly offer him vnto you all to looke vpon him and this Booke I giue it the rather to young men as I my selfe am but growing vp and attende the good leysure of the Lorde that can increase and strengthen mee and bringe mee vp to greater stature For any fine and conninge feature you shall finde herein I dare not promise so much as any iot therof but as be the bookes of Deuines commonly talkinge to common men laying out the plainenes and behauiour of the people such is this that I giue vnto you If any question with mee for the matter and the substaunce therin contayned let him not thinke hee is in the Goldsmithes shop hée wil be content when hée hath red so much as I haue doone and séene the behauiour of the worlde as all may doo that liue nowe to bestow himselfe in some more homely trade a greate deale Yet I will say something vnto him please it him to enter in to sée what ware I haue and wil he vouchsafe to reade ouer this worke of mine hee shall finde though an vnskilfull Artificer meddeleth with it yet so much both of housholde stuffe and other furniture if hée can place it well and bestowe it in his house as is able to suffise the best learned man that I knowe to stop vp more then one creuice or two in his study Neyther can I see if so bee this worke were taken in hand by any other learned and skilfull in iudgement but that hee whiche looketh on it might receiue greate comfort and singuler pleasure in the same Consideringe that hee looketh vpon the Lorde God and talketh familiarly with Christe and is bolde to presente him selfe beefore Aungelles and powres and prayeth for his Bretheren and is harde of so good and gratious a Lorde as our God is That giueth when hée asketh openeth when hée knocketh bestoweth when hée demaundeth that shal feare him and call on his name faythfully Also whosoeuer buieth of his Marchandrise and vseth it well to the glory of the Lorde and profitinge himselfe with others hée layeth not vp treasure that is to be taken frō him but caryeth it with him vnto Heauen and it lyeth by him for euer And amonge all the thinges pretious and excellent that I haue seene on earth neuer tooke I more comforte in any one then this that the glory of the Lorde and the sweetnes of his worde and this helpe wherin by prayer I haue all that is necessary both heauenly and terrestriall tittelled mee from time to time till I had inioyed them of trueth neuer rauished with any pleasure of man so much as of late in the meditation and heauenly spéeche that I had when I questioned too and froe with the Lorde God what it was hée would haue his people and poore famely that pineth away in this world to looke vpon From whom I receiued this message that séeynge it pleased him to make choyse of the sonnes of men and to take vnto him those that he loued in this life they ought therfore to disioyne themselues and forsake the company of vnbeléeuers praying for and meditating heauenly thinges castinge vp their mindes to Heauen and reposinge their hope on the God of glorye that hath giuen vnto vs his liuery and his colyzen to bee knowne as his Seruauntes euen by prayer and earnest inuocation vpon his name the order frame wherof I haue largely set downe in my first Booke After this that no man bee excusable but vnderstande so mutch as is set downe by the Lorde when anye one shall come beefore him that hee may not speake vnknowne thinges or praye when hée vnderstandeth not or vtter that hee knoweth not or powre out before God and his Aungelles and all the honorable company and assembly of Sainctes vnaduisedly that which hee regardeth not for this cause haue I vnfolded the darkenesse of speeche and layde open to euery Babe if so hee can reade the wordes of our Sauiour Christe set downe by him in the eleuenth of Luke all which you shall finde layd on a heape and knitte vp togeather in my second Booke Of those that come betwixt eyther precepts eyther rules either exhortations eyther demaundes eyther things that bee amisse eyther such as bee well eyther life cyther dealinges and demeanor of men that shewe themselues in their proper places them I exhorte euery man to take priuatly vnto him not to vse them as common vnto all As concerning my iudgement indiuers poinctes of Religion and called in controuersy by men of our time I haue looked at them handled them I haue not to the decidinge of them I haue selected out an other time and
earth to heare vs And if wée cease not in praying how can he be flow in hearing His scholler Lactantius as Ierom recordeth trayned vp at Rome was not of so sounde a iudgement in this as was his maister That supposeth vs if wée aske any thyng of God to be tempted of God to know thereby if wée be thereof worthy Chromatius Bishop of Aquileia may well abide the toutchstone herein that bindeth Prayer to haue his only successe by fayth As for Epiphanius of Eleutherapolis in Palaestine his doynges they bee very pleasaunt and his writynges exquisite he hath also bin a witnes how wée should walke in prayer before the Lorde his iudgment is to call on God only one true and perfecte Lorde and on Christe the Sonne of God with the spirit procéeding from them both And that rare man of God then whom Stridon in the borders of Dalmatia and Pannonia saw neuer as yet a perfecter Ierom I meane so much alowed determineth of this very wisely whose admonition I would it were ingrafted in vs to the full or els I would that graue father liued now whose looke and countenance might withdrawe vs from our vanityes his milde and sugred speech is not vnlike to this Cease not to pray continually and giue not place vnto the Lord in season and out of season and bée importunate vpon him euen as that widow is to that same vniust steward that hard the stony iudge who oftentimes withdrew him selfe This Ierom is hee that so often if chaunce afordeth and I haue to deale with him rauisheth mee so sodenly that I hardly leaue him For this cause his neate and pleasaunt stile requireth mee to taste of one or two more of his sayings It foloweth in the same place not farre of If hee giueth to him that asketh if hee findeth that séeketh if hee openeth when one knocketh it appeareth hee will not bee slowe to him requireth And therfore hee promiseth a reward already for such as demaund and sayth Ierom This Gate wherin the iuste man doth enter is sutch a one wherin are hidden a number of pleasant and delicate things to him that seeketh them Diuers there be that of late and now also haue writte hereof how to â—â—me vnto Christe but in this place I take the fathers for they are sound and very strong in this and very good whose cumly age I must reuerence in that the younger forte and wee also euen in these last yeares are beighly bounden to them so that small cause there is for any to repent him of readinge them whose diligence hath brought to passe that we with lesse payne may teache ours Iulius Firmicus Maternus vnder the Emperour Constantine and his Sonnes an Astrologian at the first and so it séemeth still for hee clymeth vp very hie and mounteth to the Heauens neither looketh hee for any mans helpe in his prayers hée is raysed vpwarde to God hee suffereth no man to bée called on but the name only of Christ The manner also and condition of prayer is séene plentifully in that same borne at Africa a very worthy man of God Caius Marius Victorinus reckoned of Ierom among them of his number and Catalouge worthy and famous wrighters For beside that euer hée did on the Articles of fayth or els in the payne hée tooke agaynst Heretickes no where doth hee séeme to haue delte precisely and more warely then in his opinion of prayer acknowledging Christe to bée sufficient and the only true bread from Heauen to feede vs. There commeth now vnto my hand a man of truth scase worthy the naming among the Fathers for his so vile and euill dealinge and as you may know him a Cinnick fitter for the staffe and the shacky heare then to iudge of Religion borne at Alexandria at what time Gregorie Nazianzen taught at Constantinople hee was brought to Cristianitee by preachinge This Maximus Aegiptius by his wilye sleights hauing gotten many froÌ„ Byantius corrupted one Peter Bishop of Alexandria created this Aegiptius Bishop Yet this man otherwise a faythfull steward in the house of God whrot many good bookes I therfore take his well meaning minde of prayer euen especially agaynst the wicked the they may know that a wicked man hath taught them to praye often his readynes was séene in this for that hée instructed all flesh to pray continually hée adioyneth his reason in an other place The sedulyte and forwardnes of a man calling on the Lorde if it hée donne rightly is that which commendeth the soule of man spoken as I thinke to stir vp the sloth in vs to pighte vs a place in Heauen where the soule of man resteth The liuely exposition thereof is well noted in that hée debarreth vs from all manner contemplations in the earth hee leaueth no roome for the thoughtes of man in time of prayer no not so mutch as to thinke of him that hurt thee or of thy enemy but freely to lay aside all grudginges debates strifes enimyties to repose one only hope in god And I like his reason wel and it is alowed in the Booke of God for that our praying it is a quieting of our mindes so that it appeareth by all those that wente before that terror shoulde strike vs for we speake to God that the world must forsake vs for wee seeke heauen the body leaue vs for wee speake in spirit our wealth must not trouble vs our treasure is aboue nor our enemyes greue vs for wee are freends with Christ On this our prayer there is depending two things the first is calling vpon him The second is geuinge of thankes vnto him If thou aske to wholme it is it is to god If thorow wholme it is through Christ if the meane to him it is faith if wherin in is his bloodsheading and death Therfore Paull continue in prâ—ier and watch in the saine with thankes geuing prayinge for vs that God may open vnto vs the Doore of vtterance to speake the mistery of Christ For euen now doo wee see our full redemption if calling on the Lord wee repose our trust in the only mediator Iesus Christe the Sonne of God beeing nothing careful but that in al things wée let our requests be shewed vnto God in prayer and supplication with giuing thankes For hee is the God of peace which doth kepe our mindes and hartes in Christe Iesus That wee must pray you haue harde what prayer is I haue set downe suffer mee though breefely but to know how wee must vse it and so wee shall discharge our dâ—tye more fully Ephraem a Sirian for so is hee called by Theoderet in an homely of prayer reckoned amonge theÌ„ of Caesarius hath giuen a very good light to this our question Let sayth hee thy calling on the Lord bee as that which was of Hanna Mother vnto Samuell that sat wéeping in spirit and groneing and that was meeke and milde in hart not seene of men not gased vpon of
of Christe of his Apostles that vsed alway to praye may the more inslame vs There shal be therfore no iteration of that now let vs onely cousider what it is that is publique and what therein to bée required The custome of méeting at cōmon prayer it is no new thinge it hath bin from all beginninge wherin the Churche of God hath flourished For I doubt not but the poore offeringe of Caien and of Abell was a thinge generallye vsed of the Church in that time and donne of them as taken from the vse of the Congregation or meetinge then vsed and albeit the Church was small and they destitute of the Sacramente of the Tree of life Yet they had so much as did signely vnto them a cextainty of their saluation And there is in that place opened to vs that in the time of Seth men began to call on the name of the Lorde Not that God had no worship or that there were none that serued and called on his name but then the Church which was before darkened I take it to haue bin agayne newly restored So that it seemeth to mee they knew the Lorde and that openly such as weare his I might speake of Abraham and of his time how hée also repayred the house of God And in Sodom also was God knowen Agayne Abraham prayed for Abimelech and his householde For as Nemrod had his solempe places for his Idolles as is mentioned by Berosus the Chaldean and Manetho the Aegiptian Préeste after the flood So doubt I not but God had his abidynge place thoughe not so playnely described by the Prophets Now in Moses his time it was without all controuersy fully ratefied and established when after the delinery of the Law vnto his seruaunt Moses in glory and great Maiesty hee seuered Aaron from the rest and put vpon him moste gloryous apparrell and gaue him the Préesthoode for euer and the gouernment of the Tabernacle to him and his in a perpetuall generation Very notably approoued by Iosuah when thei eate the passouer in Ierico after their iourney in the Wildernesse Also more liuely set out in their solempne méeting and comming vp thyther to worship God where the Lottes were cast bee fore the Lorde to deuide the inheritaunce of Israell After this you shall sinde euery wheare great méetinges of all Israell and of the whole Congregation I referre it therfore to them that will search the Booke of God and though vnwiltinge yet as interrupted heare to sée the state of our daies in that a more bright and comly platforme hath very seldome bin drawen out in any Churche then in ours But so sluggish and carelesse liues I speake of some I know it so mutch breatch and contempte in others I haue seene it So small regard to the Temple and loue and zeale to the house of God for I haue hard it as in few common wealthes hath béene red the lyke that is it which is most pittifull I only wish that men in our dayes where the Harrow is not vsed nor inginnes of Iron framed or the torturs and exiles putte in practise as is els euer ye wheare would more willingly agree togeather then as yet they doo In the histories of the persecutions vnder Dioclesian and Maximine the Emperor there is mention made very often of the places that Christians met in But as it appeareth before Constantine their places whytherto they commonly resorted weare but homly and not so trimmed as ours termed by the name of Dominica and as Eusebius recordeth Oratoria and in Nazianzen the Church is called Basilica and so I finde it in Ambrose But for this I think no man will striue vnleast Ethnicke like wée take that which men vse so much at this day to praye abroad for that in persecution it was not lawfull for them to come to Churches Or there is a reason found out and so it may bee to praye in the Churchyeardes and at Graues and Sepulchers of the dead because in the persecution and tyranny of Gorgias of Alexandria they were content or compelled rather to ly at the Graues and Sepulchers of their Fathers Unhappely I thinke was that storye taken in hande and in an euill time if it bée grounded theare to prostrate themselues in feelds to lie at the foote of Hilles to praye without the walles and Townes and gates of the Citties for that Christians had so small a libertye vnder Valence of Antioch But where so euer it be fetched for that it is vntrue looke about search other Historyes gather as well that which is good sée mely as that which is erronious you shal finde many examples of Christianity For these arguments taken from the custome of the nations and from the Gentilles for that contrary to the rule of the Booke of God they appoynted at their seuerall pleasures this or that it is not to bée liked of But as euery Cuntrye hath his custome in comming to prayse the name of God if it were in holes Caues of the earth as the Indians some of them doo it in or in houses of Réedes as they in very hot Cuntreys doo or in other though vnseemely places to vs as diuers of the nations and as our Irishe men not so far a iourny from vs very beastly people doo yet if that Cuntry whatsoeuer hath any one in him that calleth on the name of Christ hee they bée aswell excepted in their homely Cottages as other people bee in stately ▪ Pallaces And though I alowe not the Iewish tradition renued by Constantine in carrying about a tent squared like the Temples they buylt then for to praise the name of God with his soldiours yet because the meaning of that good Emperour can in no wise be condemned I cannot altogether disallowe the thing But nowe in so great a light where the woorde of God neuer shined more brightly then it doth here I needs must cry out with Ieremie that readier were they in the worlde to offer vp cakes to the Quéene of heauen then they be nowe to giue thanks pay their vowes to the God of Iacob O that I could but ransake out the cause hereof I am persuaded that not onely they whose writings haue béene mistaken of a number to this hower woulde knit them selues as fellowe labourers herein but diuers also whome God hath blessed with great wisedom would imploy their faithfull heartes to redresse it Giue mee leaue here though not so fully yet of truth not altogether rashly to enquire and séeke after this For a little experiensed herein I haue a shrewd gesse at their reasons It may be that the church néedeth some holy water againe as in the time of poperie to purge it a freshe Otherwise I know not but that our temples might please them For if they haue béene vsed euer since Christe our Sauiour the manner I meane of our churches may or ought the
him self but from the father that sent him the had giuē him a commaundement what to say what to speake And sainct Paul saith I make open vnto you the Gospel which I preached whiche you haue receiued wherein you stande and wherein you are saued Therefore we looke not here vpon the madnesse of Enthusiastists that be franticke and thinke they haue the spirite Nor of the Anabaptistes that looke for reuelations and dreames But wee take a meane giuen vnto vs by the spirit which is the word For as man hath power to heare to vnderstande to giue eare to reade so vnlesse there come a schoulemaister to instruct vs and a gouerner to guide vs wee doe as Agrippa did We come but faire and softely I acknowledge an hethnish and as it were an outlandish kinde of reuerence that we giue vnto the lord which is in a bare sight of the heauens vewe of the Elementes that iudgeth there is a Lorde But this it maketh not vnto saluation And for that cause the Prophets the Apostles calleth man but by the name of him that is in darkenesse and in death And therefore sainct Iohn saith the light appeared in darkenes and the darkenesse comprehendid it not And Sainct Paul saith the worldly or fleshly man perceiueth not those things which are of the spirit for they be foolishnes vnto him And Christ himself affirmeth the no man knoweth the father but the sonne he vnto whom he reuealeth him And againe when he asked Peter who saist thou that I am He aunswered thou art Christ the sonne of the liuing god Happie art thou Symon said the Lorde for flesh and bloude hath not reuealed this but my father which is in heauen And therefore verie louingly it is said vnto vs that for this end Christ came into the world euen vnto iudgement that those which are blinde might sée Then this is the ful force and aucthoritie of the spirite that ruleth and altereth the actions in man and maketh the doings of those in the world to be acceptable by quickening reuiuing by altering by renewing the man of God which before was vnperfect That it is the worke of the spirte take that in the Prophet they shal be all taught of god Any that of Christ when the comforter shall come the spirite of truth he shall teach you all things For so I finde it euerie where Lydia did heare whose hart the Lorde opened that she might giue eare vnto the words of Paul. And therefore one of the Prophets I will giue them an heart they shal knowe me So that the true vnderstanding hearing following and obseruing the laws of the Lord from whence come they But from aboue from the Lorde of trueth from him that willeth the saluation of all euen of all those that hee will saue For where Sainct Paul saith that the fulnesse of gentiles shall come in And againe it is saide in the Prophets all flesh shall sée the saluation of our God. I vnderstand it thus Euen as Augustine doth vpon that place in Math. That God willeth all men shal be saued of those saith he whome he hath determined for to saue For as Gregorie Nazianzen confuteth the heretickes that denied the holy ghost to be God out of the first of Iohn that reasoned with him in the same text Euen so do I here For vpon that place in Iohn by him were all thinges made and without him were nothing made that was made they cauell thus The holy ghost is some thing and existeth Ergo the holy ghost is a creature and made by him That father Nazianzen aunswereth thus Al things were made by him or created of those things saith he which he did make or create And so say I he willeth the life of all and giueth saluation vnto all euen to whom in his secrete power and determinate purpose he will giue vnto To those he giueth Therefore Ieremie had a sore fall here at and stumbled greuously in my iudgment in one place where I finde thus It is our parte to beginne that is good but the part of God to end it our part to offer that we can his part to finish that we wil But howe can we most miserably liuing here on earth will that which is good without the will of God or giue assault thereunto which are of strength to accomplish nothing Augustin fasted hereof and almost poysoned him selfe therewith if he had not lifted his head from the cup as he did For he imagineth that faith whereby wee beléeue in God is not to bee saide the gifte of God but to be within vs as from vs And thereby wée begin to wishe and to aske the giftes of god But he gaue ouer this in the ende and attributeth all vnto the Lorde that helpeth prepareth prospereth and maketh readie all our heartes The diuersitie in those that are baptized sheweth this For all alike receiuing the Sacraments are not like in conuersation in life in manners and children some are taken awaye at the time of regenerating some before they are brought into the Church Others before they come to full groweth dyuers in the middle age of which none of them I know but would go to heauen if it lay in their power to get it But because it is the choise of the Lorde and he clecteth vs wée may cry with Sainct Paule Oh the heighth depth and breadth of the riches of the Lord howe vnsearchable are his woorkes and his wayes past finding out Therefore I like that whiche is in Cyprian That wee must bragge in nothing because nothing is ours Onely among the fathers Clemens and Cyprian are those whose bookes I wishe alone to bee read of suche as God hath giuen wisedome vnto and good iudgement in the discerning of Scriptures For they bee daungerous to wade in and though they were neare the Apostles time yet all the chaffe and the rubbigges that our late writers haue stuffe vp their volumes withall séemeth to bée fetched from thence This disputation might bee prolonged But the searching out of the fathers is a greater labour then can be arraigned vnto soudenly And the lothsome sente wherewithall our late writers dooinges are taynted do discourage mée to meddle with them I briefely ende thus If there be yet a reason to bee shewed in naturall causes Or if we wauer and falter in things that be common with vs If the mouing of the beauens cannot be opened If no man can shewe a reason of the brightnesse in the Sunne nor of the cléerenesse of the ayre or of the operation of the winde or of the order and knitting togéether of the bodie If wee cannot measure out the sinewes or drawe out the ioyntes or vnfolde the secreat creuisses in the head What are wee to reason and dispute with God Howe feedeth hee the young Rauen Howe is the Phenix hatched Howe keepeth he the Storke What daiyaunce hath he
innocent Able by the blood of righteous men and by inglutting him selfe in their innocencie to stande on feete and praunce it to looke alofte and countenaunce it to goe stately to stande stoutly as though hee were moste pure in harte This kinde of man I would hée were not with vs or if hée bée gone let him bée a warning to vs for it is not with our humanitie when God hath giuen vs Bread plenty and blessed vs with aboundance to aske still with Mydas till wée bée choked with Golde So Naball like that wée can not spare Dauid so mutch as thrée Loues of Breade to féede his Seruantes That riche gluttō in Luke as I am perswaded when hée lay in Hell in tormentes and saw Abraham hee woulde willingly haue drawen out his Golde vntill the bottome of his Coffars and haue morgaged all his land and substaunce too for one droppe of water to coole his tongue But goe too thou riche man laugh sporte playe and bée merry Thou knowest thy Heauen and that is Hell. The nexte thing I haue noted is this Fyrst he giueth then to vs Thirdly to day Fourthly Bread. Wherin wee are admonished of the duety of all Christians not to gaze so mutch on the commodity of priuate gayne as to pray and to remember the state of the Church For in that wee pray for vs wée pray for all euen such as bee of the Household of GOD. It accordeth to the doctrine of Paull 1. Corinth 12. That maketh our body vnder one head Christe And that mutuall 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 that compassion and remorse wee haue one of an other is properly set forth to the Ephes 2. And as the Children in Luke are sayd to daunce when their fellowes daunced and are sayde to wéepe when as they wepte and to bée merry when their companions were glad So in like manner are the Seruauntes of our God that remember the afflictions of our fellowe Brethren and thinke on the calamities of such as suffer with vs For as in heauen there shal be not diuers but one Song one Alleluiah to prayse the Lorde And as there is not many Ierusalems but one Ierusalem And as there is but one Golden Read to measure the Temple So there can not bée neither should there bée any more then one voice in one Church to pray to God. Hee that giueth is God To whom it is giuen is all flesh It is to day for wee alwayes neede it And Breade it is euen all manner sustenance to nourishe vs. The vse hereof is this that wée shewe our selues duetiful and obedient rendering due homage and reuerence to the Lord from whom wée haue all things For if the Oxe knoweth his kéeper and the Asse his Maisters Cribbe Shall Israell and they of the house of God forget the Lorde Fighteth not the Dog for his Maister striueth not the Beare for the safety of hir younge doth not the Husbandman lay his corne to vsury And hydeth hee not his grayne in earth And is not the ground thankefull agayne for his tendinge and care hee had of it Then let man cast his eyes to Heauen and thinke on the Lord that giueth all that hée bée not forgotten of his Father aboue when Christ shall come and deliuer vp the Kingdome to his Father and giue rewarde to them that serue him Thus I haue though very wearysome paraduenture to your hearinge bréefelye passed euer this firste lesson of our first Table concerninge man. Two more there is left behinde which if God permit and my leysure doo afforde it shal be more narrowly and straitly handled hereafter Forgiue vs our Tresspasses as wee forgiue them that Tresspas against vs. I Haue very often made mentiō in this my Treatise of the necessity of prayer now the force therof appeareth so liuely and the greatnes therof is set down so fully that in so good a thing in so perfecte a rule appointed by the Lord I once more am enforced to call you altogeather to assemble your selues as they in Esdras did to vnderstande and heare the Booke of God. For as in the Tables of Stone wherin the commaundements were engrauen The first commaundement auayled not if they made a seclusion of the second No more can that which went before profitt vs of the Lorde and of God and of our bare protestation vnto Christe vnlesse in his mercy hee forgiue vs Wherfore wée are to bée called togeather euery one and to all persons I giue notice of thefame that euery one may iudge his dealinge Then shall wee bée forwarde and attentiue to heare the Lorde when wée are found to agrée and méete as one Or when such A. Zacheus is caught among vs as wil not iudge but forgiue and pay his debts and that can as expedient speake trueth in all As for mée I may doo that which Statius doth in Synephebis and with good cause desire and craue the helpe of all which are as I all wrapt in sinnes And iustly I thinke I can crye cut Pro deum popularium omnium adolescentum Clamo postulo Oro ploro atque imploro fidem Not for a light and trifling thing offence is committed he must die the death Ab amico amante argentum accipere meretrix non vult The money that was offered of the louer is refused of his Peragon But euen to ioyne helpe come in one and marke my speech that haue to doe and to medle with that will accuse you all euen of faith of hope of religion of trueth of allegiaunce Non dijs immortalibus As the Orator reported But to God to the Lord vnto Christ that can consume vs. For iniquitie is the way of all fleshe and the treadings of those in earth is ignoraunce Wherefore lot vs consider the vanitie of man and by déepe consideration open the rawnesse of our nature let vs perseuaer in discerning our owne corruption and offer vp our soules and bodies to the Lorde for he it is wee haue offended Therefore in this next percell though it be but a small bundel is trussed vp the saluation ful drift of vs all that can neuer glorifie the Lorde better nor shew our selues more obedient vnto him then at such time as we debase and humble vs before the Lorde when that arrogancie and the man of pride is laide down our bodis mortified before our god For if we do confesse the Lord to be our father if not on earth but in heauen if we séeke to sanctifie him and to magnifie his name If to reigne in vs by his spirite If that his kingdome should be enlarged his name glorified his praise exalted among the sonnes of men If that his will may bee fulfilled and what please him may come to passe If that he giueth to vs continually and feedeth vs dayly and nourisheth vs howrely and giueth vs bread and meate in due season yet is it nothing it is but a bare knowledge and an hypocriticall