euery where to whom be all honour and glory for euermore ¶ The seconde part of the Homilee for rogation weeke IN the former part of this Homilee good Christian people I haue declared to your contemplation the great goodnes of almightie God in the creation of this world with all the furniture thereof for the vse and comfort of man whereby we might the rather be moued to acknowledge our duetie againe to his maiestie And I trust it hath wrought not onelye credit in you but also it hath moued you to render your thankes secretly in your heartes to almightie God for his louing kyndnes But yet peraduenture some will say that they can agree to this that all that is good parteyning to the soule or what soeuer is created with vs in body should come from God as from the aucthour of all goodnesse and from none other But of suche thinges as be without them both I meane such good things which we call goodes of fortune as riches aucthoritie promotion and honour some men may thynke that they should come of our industrie diligeÌ„ce of our labour and trauayle rather then supernaturally Now then consyder good people if any aucthour there be of suche thinges concurraunt with mans labour and indeuour were it meete to ascribe them to any other then to God as the Panim Philosophers and Poets did erre which toke Fortune and made her a Goddesse to be honoured for such thynges God forbid good Christian people that this imagination shoulde earnestlye be receaued of vs that be worshippers of the true God whose workes and proceedings be expressed manifestly in his worde These be the opinions sayinges of Infidels not of true christians For they indeede as Iob maketh mention beleue and say that God hath his residence resting place in the cloudes consyder nothyng of our matters Epicures they be that imagine that he walketh about the coastes of the heauens and haue no respect to these inferiour thinges but that all these thinges shoulde proceede either by chaunce or at aduenture or els by disposition of fortune and God to haue no stroke in them What other thing is this to say then as the foole supposeth in his heart there is no God Whom we shall none otherwise reproue then with Gods owne words by the mouth of Dauid Heare my people sayeth he for I am thy God thy verye god All the beastes of the wood are myne Sheepe and Oxen that wandreth in the mountaynes I haue the knowledge of all the 〈…〉 les of the ayre the beawty of the feelde is my handy worke myne is the whole circuite of the worlde all the plentie that is in it And againe by the Prophete Hieremie Thinkest thou that I am a God of the place nye me sayeth the Lorde and not a God farre of Can a man hide him selfe in so secrete a corner that I shall not see him Do not I fulfill and replenishe both heauen earth sayth the Lorde whiche of these two shoulde be most beleued Fortune whom they paynte to be blynde of both eyes euer vnstable vnconstant in her wheele in whose handes they saye these thyngs be Or God in whose hand and power these thynges be in deede who for his truth and constance was yet neuer reproued For his sight loketh thorowe heauen and earth and seeth all thinges presently with his eyes Nothing is to darke or hidden from his knowledge not the priuie thoughtes of mennes myndes Trueth it is that of God is all ryches all power all aucthoritie all health wealth prosperitie of the which we shoulde haue no part without his liberal distribution and except it came from hym aboue Dauid first testifieth of rychesse and possesiions If thou geuest good lucke they shall gather and if thou openest thy hand they shal be full of goodnesse but yf thou turnest thy face they shal be troubled And Salomon sayth It is the blessyng of the Lord that maketh riche men To this agreeth that holy woman Anne where she saith in her song It is the Lord that maketh the poore and maketh the riche it is he that promoteth pulleth downe he can rayse a needye man from his miserie from the dounghill he can lyfte vp a poore personage to sit with princes and haue the seate of glory for all the coastes of the earth be his Nowe yf any man wyll aske What shal it auayle vs to knowe that euery good gyft as of nature and fortune so called and euery perfecte gyft as of grace concernyng the soule to be of God and that it is his gyft onlye Forsoothe for many causes is it conuenient for vs to knowe it For so shall we knowe if we confesse the trueth who ought iustly to be thanked for them Our pride shal be thereby abated perceauing naught to come of our selues but sinne and vice yf anye goodnes be in vs to referre all laude prayse for the same to almyghtie god It shal make vs not to aduaunce our selues before our neyghbour to despise him for that he hath fewer giftes seeyng God geueth his giftes where he wyll It shall make vs by the consyderation of our giftes not to extoll our selues before our neyghbours â—t shal make the wyse man not to glory in his wysdome nor the strong man in his strength nor the riche to glory in his riches but in the liuing god which is aucthour of all these lest yf we should do so we myght be rebuked with the wordes of saint Paul What hast thou that thou hast not receaued and if thou hast receaued it why gloriest in thy selfe as though thou haddest not receaued it To confesse that all good thinges commeth from almightie God is a great poynt of wysdome my freendes For so coÌ„fessing we know whyther to resort for to haue them yf we want as saint James bid vs saying If any man wanteth the gyft of wysdome let hym aske it of God that geues it it shal be geuen hym As the wyse man in the want of such a lyke gyft made his recourse to God for it as he testifieth in his booke After I knew sayth he that otherwyse I coulde not be chast except God graunted it and this was as he there wryteth hye wysdome to know whose gyft it was I made haste to the Lorde earnestly besought hym euen from the rootes of my heart to haue it I woulde to God my frendes that in our wantes and necessities we would go to God as saint James biddeth as the wyse man teacheth vs that he dyd I woulde we beleued stedfastly that God only geues them If we did we would not seeke our want and necessitie of the deuil and his ministers so oft as we do as dayly experience declareth it For yf we stand in necessitie of corporal health whyther go the coÌ„mon people but to charmes witchcraftes and other delusions of the deuill If we knewe that god
shoulde not worshippe images and that we should not haue images in the Temple for feare and occasion of worshyppyng them though they be of them selues thynges indifferent For the Christian is the holye Temple and lyuely image of God as the place well declareth to suche as wyll reade and weight it And where as all godly men dyd euer abhorre that any kneelyng and worshipping or offeryng should be vsed to them selues when they were alyue for that it was the honour due to God onlye as appeareth in the Actes of the Apostles by Saint Peter forbidding it to Cornelius and by Saint Paul and Barnabas forbiddyng the same to the Citezins in Lyftra Yet we lyke mad men fall downe before the dead idols orimages of Peter and Paul and geue that honour to stockes and stones whiche they thought abhominable to be geuen to them selues beyng alyue And the good angell of God as appeareth in the booke of S. Johns reuelation refused to be kneeled vnto when that honour was offered hym of John Beware sayth the angell that thou do it not for I am thy felowe seruaunt But the euyll angell satan desyreth nothyng so muche as to be kneeled vnto and thereby at once both to robbe God of his due honour and to worke the damnation of suche as make hym so lowe curtesie as in the storic of the Gospell appeareth in sundry places Yea and he offered our Sauiour Christe all earthly goodes on the condition that he woulde kneele downe and worshyp hym But our Sauiour repelleth Satan by the Scriptures saying it is wrytten Thou shalt worshyppe thy Lorde God and hym alone shalt thou serue But we by not worshyppyng and seruyng God alone as the Scriptures teacheth vs and by worshypping of images contrary to the Scriptures plucke satan to vs and are readye without rewarde to folowe his desyre yea rather then fayle we wyll offer hym gyftes and oblations to receaue our seruice But let vs brethren rather folowe the counsell of the good angell of GOD then the suggestion of subtyll satan that wycked angell and olde serpent Who accordyng to the pryde whereby he firste fell attempteth alwaye by suche sacriledge to depryue God whom he enuyeth of his due honour and because his owne face is horrible and vglye to conuey it to hymselfe by the mediation of gylte stockes and stones and withall to make vs the enemies of God and his owne suppliantes and slaues and in the ende to procure vs for a rewarde euerlastyng destruction and damnation Therfore aboue all thinges if we take our selues to be Christians in deede as we be named let vs credite the worde obey the lawe and folowe the doctrine and example of our Sauiour maister Christe repelling satans suggestion to idolatrie and worshyppyng of images accordyng to the trueth alleaged and taught out of the Testament and Gospell of our sayde heauenly doctour and scholemaister Jesus Christe who is God to be bicssed for euer Amen ¶ The seconde part of the Homilee agaynst perill of Idolatrie YOu haue hearde welbeloued in the fyrst parte of this Homilee the doctrine of the word of God against idols images agaynste idolatrie and worshipping of images taken out of the scriptures of the olde Testament the newe and confirmed by the examples as well of the Apostles as of our Sauiour Christ him selfe Nowe although our Sauiour Christe taketh not or needeth not anye testimonie of men and that whiche is once confirmed by the certaintie of his eternall trueth hath no more neede of the confirmation of mans doctrine and wrytinges then the bryght sunne at noone tyde hath neede of the light of a litle candle to put away darknes and to encrease his lyght yet for your further contentation it shall in this second part be declared as in the begynnyng of the firste parte was promised that this trueth and doctrine concernyng the forbidding of images and worshipping of them taken out of the holy Scriptures aswell of the olde Testament as the newe was beleued and taught of the olde holy fathers and most ancient learned Doctours and receaued in the olde primatiue Churche which was most vncorrupt and pure And this declaration shal be made out of the sayd holy Doctours owne wrytynges and out of the auncient histories ecclesiasticall to the same belongyng Tertullian a most auncient wryter and Doctor of the Churche who lyued about one hundreth and threescore yeres after the death of our Sauiour Christe both in sundrye other places of his workes and speciallye in his booke wrytten agaynst the maner of crownyng and in another litle treatise entituled of the souldyers crowne or garlande doth moste sharplye and vehementlye wryte and inuey agaynste images or idols And vpon S. Johns wordes the firste Eyistle and. v. Chapter saith thus Saint John saith he depelye consydering the matter sayth My litle chyldren keepe your selues from images or idols He sayth not nowe keepe your selues from idolatrie as it were from the seruice and worshyppyng of them but from the images or idols them selues that is from the verye shape and lyknes of them For it were an vn worthye thyng that the image of the lyuyng God should become the image of a dead idoll Do not you thynke those persons whiche place images and idols in Churches and Temples yea shryne them euen ouer the Lordes Table euen as it were of purpose to the worshipping and honouring of them take good heede to either S. Johns counsels or Tertullians For so to place images and idols is it to keepe them selues from them or els to receaue and imbrace them Clemens in his booke to James brother of the Lorde sayth What can be so wycked or so vnthankfull as to receaue a benefite of God and to geue thankes therefore vnto stockes and stones Wherefore awake ye vnderstande your health for God hath neede of no man nor requireth any thyng nor can be hurt in any thyng But we be they whiche are eyther holpen or hurte in that we be thankfull to God or vnthankfull Origenes in his booke agaynste Celsus sayth thus Christian men and Jewes when they heare these wordes of the lawe Thou shalt feare the Lorde thy God shalt not make any image do not onlye abhorre the Temples aulters and images of the gods but if neede be wyll rather dye then they shoulde defyle them selues with anye impietie And shortlye after he sayth In the common wealth of the Jewes the caruer of idols and image maker was cast farre of and forbidden least they shoulde haue any occasion to make images whiche myght plucke certayne foolishe persons from God and turne the eyes of their soules to the contemplation of earthly thynges And in an other place of the same booke It is not only sayth he a mad and â—rantike parte to worshyp images but also once to dissemble or wynk at it And a man may know God and his onely sonne and those whiche haue had suche honour geuen them by God
aunswered to you that was vnto them Nowe come therefore dearely beloued without delay and chearefully enter into Gods feastyng house and become partakers of the benefites prouided prepared for you But see that ye come thyther with your holiday garment not like hypocrites not of a custome and for maner sake not with lothsomnesse as though ye had rather not come then come yf ye were at your libertie For God hateth punisheth such counterfaite hypocrites as appeareth by Christes former parable My freend sayth God how camest thou in without a wedding garment And therfore commaunded his seruauntes to binde him hand foote and to cast him into vtter darknesse where shal be weeping and wayling and gnashyng of teethe To the intent ye maye auoyde the lyke daunger at Gods hand come to the Church on the holyday come in your holyday garment that is to say come with a cheareful and a godly mind come to seeke Gods glory and to be thankfull vnto hym come to be at one with thy neighbour and to enter in frendship and charitie with him Consyder that all thy doings stinke before the face of God yf thou be not in charitie with thy neighbour Come with an hearte syfted and clensed from worldly and carnall affections and desires shake of all vaine thoughtes whiche may hynder thee from Gods true seruice The birde when she wil flee shaketh her winges Shake and prepare thy selfe to flee hyer then all birdes in the ayre that after thy duetie duely done in this earthlye Temple and Church thou mayest flee vp and be receaued into the glorious Temple of GOD in heauen through Christe Jesus our Lorde to whom with the father and the holy ghost be all glory and honour Amen ¶ An Homilee wherein is declared that Common prayer and Sacramentes ought to be ministred in a tongue that is vnderstanded of the hearers AMong the manifolde exercises of Gods people deare Christians there is none more necessary for al estates and at all times thē is publique prayer the due vse of sacramentes For in the first we beg at Gods hande all suche thinges as otherwyse we can not obtayne And in the other he imbraseth vs and offreth him selfe to be imbrased of vs Knowyng therfore that these two exercises are so necessarie for vs let vs not thinke it vnmeete to consyder fyrst what prayer is and what a sacrament is and then howe many sortes of prayers there be howe many sacramentes so shal we the better vnderstand howe to vse them aright To knowe what they be saint Augustine teacheth vs in his booke entituled Of the spirite and the soule He sayth this of prayer Prayer is saith he the deuotion of the minde that is to say the returning to God through a godlye and humble affection which affection is a certaine willing and sweete enclining of the minde it selfe towardes GOD. And in the seconde booke agaynst the aduersarie of the lawe the prophetes he calleth sacramentes holy signes And writing to Bonifacius of the baptisme of infantes he sayth If sacramentes had not a certayne similitude of those thinges whereof they be sacramentes they shoulde be no sacramentes at all And of this similitude they do for the moste part receaue the names of the selfe thinges they signifie By these wordes of saint Augustine it appeareth that he aloweth the common description of a sacrament whiche is that it is a visible signe of an inuisible grace that is to saye that setteth out to the eyes and other outwarde senses the inwarde workyng of Gods free mercie and doth as it were seale in our heartes the promises of god And so was circumcision a sacrament whiche preached vnto the outwarde senses the inwarde cutting away of the foreskin of the hearte and sealed and made sure in the heartes of the circumcised the promise of god touching the promised seede that they loked for Nowe let vs see howe many sortes of prayer and howe many sacramentes there be In the scriptures we reade of three sortes of praier whereof two are priuate and the thirde is common The first is that whiche Saint Paul speaketh of in his Epistle to Timothie saying I wyll that men pray in euery place lyfting vp pure handes without wrath and sttriuing And it is the deuout lifting vp of the minde to God without the vttering of the heartes griefe or desyre by open voyce Of this prayer we haue example in the first booke of the kynges in Anna the mother of Samuel when in the heauinesse of her heart she prayed in the temple desyring to be made fruitefull She prayed in her heart sayth the tert but there was no voyce hearde After this sorte must all Christians pray not once in a weeke or once in a day onlye but as saint Paul writeth to the Thessalonians without ceassyng And as Saint James wryteth The continuall prayer of a iust man is of much force The second sort of prayer is spoken of in the Gospel of Matthew where it is sayd When thou prayest enter into thy secrete closet and when thou hast shut the doore to thee pray vnto thy father in secrete and thy father which seeth in secrete shal reward thee Of this sorte of prayer there be sundry examples in the scriptures but it shall suffise to rehearse one which is writtē in the Actes of the Apostles Cornelius a deuoute man a captayne of the Italian army sayth to Peter that beyng in his house in prayer at the ninth houre there appeared vnto hym one in a white garment c. This man prayed vnto God in secrete and was rewarded openly These be the two priuate sortes of prayer The one mentall that is to say the deuoute lifting vp of the minde to God And the other vocall that is to saye the secrete vtteryng of the griefes desires of the heart with wordes but yet in a secrete closet or some solitarie place The third sort of prayer is publique or common Of this prayer speaketh our Sauiour Christe when he sayth If two of you shall agree vppon earth vpon any thing whatsoeuer ye shall aske my father which is in heauē shal do it for you for wheresoeuer two or three be gathered together in my name there am I in the middest of them Although God hath promised to heare vs when we pray priuately so it be done faythfully and deuoutly For he sayth Call vppon me in the day of thy trouble and I wyll heare thee And Elias being but a mortall man sayth Saint James prayed and heauen was shut three yeres and sixe monethes and againe he praied and the heauen gaue rayne Yet by the histories of the Bible it appeareth that publique and common praier is most auaileable before god and therfore is much to be lamented that it is no better esteemed among vs whiche professe to be but one bodye in Christe When the citie of Niniue was threatned to be destroyed within xl dayes
the same that they choose continually to abyde and dwell in sinne The thyrde sorte he calleth scorners that is a sorte of men whose heartes are so stuffed with mallyce that they are not contented to dwell in sinne and to leade their lyues in all kynde of wickednesse but also they do contempne and scorne in other all godlinesse true religion all honestie and vertue Of the two first sortes of men I will not say but they may take repentaunce and be conuerted vnto god Of the third sort I thinke I may without daunger of gods iudgement pronounce that neuer anye yet conuerted vnto God by repentaunce but continued on still in their abhominable wyckednesse heaping vp to them selues damnation agaynst the day of Gods ineuitable iudgement Examples of such scorners we reade in the seconde booke of Chronicles When the good kyng Ezechias in the beginnyng of his raygne had destroyed idolatrie purged the temple and refourmed religion in his Realme he sent messengers into euerye Citie to gather the people vnto Hierusalem to solemnize the feast of Easter in such sort as God had appoynted The postes went from citie to citie through the land of Ephraim and Manasses euen vnto Zabulon And what did the people thinke ye Did they laude and prayse the name of the Lorde whiche had geuen them so good a kinge so zelous a Prince to abolish idolatrie and to restore againe Gods true religion No no. The scripture sayeth The people laughed them to scorne and mocked the kynges messengers And in the laste Chapter of the same booke it is written that almyghtie God hauing compassion vppon his people sent his messengers the Prophetes vnto them to call them from their abhominable idolatrie and wicked kinde of liuing But they mocked his messengers they dispised his wordes misused his Prophetes vntill the wrathe of the Lord arose against his people and till there was no remedie For he gaue them vp into the hands of their enemies euen vnto Nabucodonozar kyng of Babilon who spoiled thē of their goods brent their citie and led them their wyues and their children captiues vnto Babylon The wicked people that were in the dayes of Noe made but a mocke at the worde of God when Noe tolde them that God woulde take vengeaunce vppon them for their sinnes The fludde therefore came sodainely vpon them and drowned them with the whole worlde Lot preached to the Sodomites that except they repented both they and their Citie shoulde be destroyed They thought his sayings impossible to be true they scorned and mocked his admonition and reputed him as an olde doting foole But when God by his holy angels had taken Lot his wyfe and two daughters from among them he raigned downe fyre and brymstone from heauen and brent vp those scorners and mockers of his holye worde And what estimation had Christes doctrine among the Scribes and Pharisees What rewarde had he among them The Gospell reporteth thus The Pharisees whiche were couetous did scorne him in his doctrine O then ye see that worldly riche men scorne the doctrine of their saluation The worldly wyse men scorne the doctrine of Christe as foolishenesse to their vnderstanding These scorners haue euer ben and euer shal be to the worldes ende For Saint Peter prophesied that suche scorners shoulde be in the worlde before the latter daye Take heede therefore my brethren take heede be ye not scorners of Gods most holy worde prouoke him not to powre out his wrath now vpon you as he did then vppon those gybers and mockers Be not wilfull murderers of your owne soules Turne vnto God whyle there is yet tyme of mercye ye shall els repent it in the worlde to come when it shal be to late for there shall be iudgement without mercy This might suffise to admonishe vs and cause vs henceforth to reuerence Gods holy scriptures but all men haue not faith This therfore shal not satisfy and content al mens mindes but as some are carnal so they will stil continue abuse the scriptures carnally to their greater dampnation The vnlearned and vnstable saith saint Peter paruerte the holy scriptures to their owne destruction Jesus Christ as saint Paul sayth is to the Jewes an offence to the Gentiles foolishnesse But to Gods children as wel of the Jewes as of the Gentiles he is the power and wisdome of god The holy man Simeon sayeth that he is set foorth for the fall and rysing againe of many in Israel As Christe Jesus is a fall to the reprobate which yet perishe through their owne default So is his worde yea the whole booke of God a cause of dampnation vnto them through their incredulitie And as he is a rysing vp to none other then those whiche are Gods children by adoption So is his worde yea the whole scripture the power of God to saluation to them onelye that do beleue it Christe him selfe the Prophetes before him the apostles after him all the true ministers of Gods holye worde yea euery worde in Gods booke is vnto the reprobate the sauour of death vnto death Christ Jesus the prophetes the apostles and all the true ministers of his worde yea euery iot and title in the holy scripture haue ben is and shal be for euermore the sauour of lyfe vnto eternall lyfe vnto all those whose heartes God hath purified by true fayth Let vs earnestlye take heede that we make no iesting stocke of the bookes of holy scriptures The more obscure and darke the sayinges be to our vnderstanding the further let vs thinke our selues to be from God and his holye spirite who was the aucthour of them Let vs with more reuerence endeuour our selues to searche out the wisdome hidden in the outwarde barke of the scripture If we can not vnderstand the sense and the reason of the saying yet let vs not be scorners iesters and deryders for that is the vttermost token and shewe of a reprobate of a playne enemie to God and his wysdome They be not ydle fables to iest at whiche God doth seriouslye pronounce and for serious matters let vs esteeme them And though in sundrye places of the scriptures be set out diuers rites and ceremonies oblations sacrifices let vs not thynke straunge of them but referre them to the tymes and people for whom they serued although yet to learned men they be not vnprofitable to be cōsydered but to be expounded as figures and shadowes of thinges and persons afterwarde openlye reuealed in the new Testament Though the rehearsall of the genealogies petegrees of the fathers be not to much edification of the playne ignoraunt people yet is there nothyng so impartinently vttered in all the whole booke of the Byble but may serue to spirituall purpose in some respecte to all suche as will bestowe theyr labours to searche out the meanynges These may not be condemned because they serue not to our vnderstandyng nor make not to our edification But let vs turne our labour to
all the same so resortyng thyther ought with all quietnesse and reuerence there to behaue them selues in doing their bounden duetie seruice to almightie God in the congregation of his Saintes All which thinges are euident to be prooued by Gods holye worde as hereafter shall playnelye appeare And firste of all I wyll declare by the scriptures that it is called as it is indeede the house of God and temple of the Lorde He that sweareth by the temple sayth our sauiour Christe sweareth by it and hym that dwelleth therein meanyng God the father whiche he also expresseth playnely in the Gospell of Saint John saying Do not make the house of my father the house of marchaundize And in the booke of the Psalmes the Prophete Dauid sayth I wyll enter into thyne house I wyll worshyp in thy holy temple in thy feare And it is in almost infinite places of the scripture specially in the prophetes and booke of psalmes called the house of God or the house of the Lorde Sometyme it is named the tabernacle of the Lord and sometime the sanctuarye that is to say the holy house or place of the Lorde And it is in lykewyse called the house of prayer as Salomon who buylded the temple of the Lorde at Hierusalem doth ofte call it the house of the Lorde in the whiche the Lordes name should be called vpon And Esaias in the. 50. Chapter My house shal be called the house of prayer amongst all nations Which text our sauiour Christ alleageth in the newe Testament as doth appeare in three of the Euangelistes and in the parable of the Pharisee and the Publicane whiche went to pray in which parable our sauiour Christ sayth They went vp into the temple to pray And Anna the holy wydo we and prophetisse serued the Lorde in fastyng and prayer in the temple nyght and day And in the storie of the Actes it is mentioned how that Peter John went vp into the temple at the houre of prayer And saint Paul praying in the temple at Hierusalem was rapte in the spirite and did see Jesus speaking vnto him And as in all conuenient places prayer may be vsed of the godly priuately So it is most certaine that the Churche or temple is the due and appoynted place for common and publique prayer Nowe that it is lykewise the place of thankes geuyng vnto the Lorde for his innumerable and vnspeakeable benefites bestowed vppon vs appeareth notably in the latter ende of the Gospell of saint Luke and the begynnyng of the storie of the Actes where it is written that the Apostles and disciples after the assention of the lord continued with one accorde dayly in the temple alwayes praysyng and blessyng God. And it is lykewyse declared in the first Epistle to the Corinthians that the Churche is the due place appoynted for the reuerent vse of the Sacramentes It remayneth nowe to be declared that the Churche or temple is the place where the lyuely worde of God and not mans inuentions ought to be read taught and that the people are bounde thyther with all diligence to resort and this proofe likewise to be made by the scriptures as hereafter shall appeare In the storie of the actes of the apostles we reade that Paul and Barnabas preached the worde of God in the temples of the Jewes at Salamine And when they came to Antiochia they entred on the Sabbath day into the Synagogue or Churche and sate downe and after the lesson or readyng of the lawe and the prophetes the ruler of the temple sent vnto them saying Ye men and brethren yf anye of you haue any exhortation to make vnto the people saye it And so Paul standyng vp and makyng scilence with his hande sayde Ye men that be Israelites and ye that feare God geue eare and so foorth preachyng to them a sermon out of the scriptures as there at large appeareth And in the same storie of the actes the seuenteenth Chapter is testified howe Paul preached Christ out of the Scriptures at Thessalonica And in the fifteenth Chapter James the apostle in that holy councell and assemblie of his felowe Apostles sayth Moyses of olde tyme hath in euery Citie certayne that preache hym in the Synagogues or temples where he is read euerye Sabbath day By these places ye maye see the vsage of readyng of the Scriptures of the olde Testament among the Jewes in theyr Synagogues euery Sabbath daye and sermons vsually made vpon the same Howe muche more then is it conuenient that the Scriptures of God and specially the Gospell of our sauiour Christ should be read and expounded to vs that be Christians in our Churches speciallye our sauiour Christe and his apostles allowyng this most godly and necessarie vsage and by theyr examples confirming the same It is written in the stories of the Gospels in diuers places that Jesus went rounde about all Galilee teachyng in theyr Synagogues preaching the Gospell of the kyngdome In which places is his great diligence in continuall preachyng and teachyng of the people most euidently set foorth In Luke ye reade howe Jesus accordyng to his accustomed vse came into the temple and howe the booke of Esaias the prophete was deliuered him howe he read a text therein made a sermon vpon the same And in the. xix is expressed howe he taught dayly in the temple And it is thus written in the. viii of John Jesus came agayne earlye in the mornyng into the temple and all the people came vnto hym and he sate downe and taught them And in the. xviii of John our sauiour testifieth before Pilate that he spake openly vnto the world and that he alwayes taught in the Synagogue and in the temple whyther all the Jewes resorted and that secretely he spake nothing And in saint Luke Jesus taught in the temple and all the people came early in the morning vnto hym that they myght heare hym in the temple Here ye see aswell the diligence of our sauiour in teaching the worde of God in the temple dayly and specially on the Sabbath dayes as also the redynesse of the people resortyng altogether and that early in the morning into the Temple to heare hym The same example of diligence in preachyng the worde of God in the Temple shall ye fynde in the Apostles and the people resortyng vnto them Act. the. v. Howe the Apostles although they had ben whypped and scourged the day before and by the hygh priest commaunded that they shoulde preache no more in the name of Jesus yet the day folowyng they entred earlye in the mornyng into the Temple and dyd not ceasse to teache and declare Jesus Christe And in sundrye other places of the storye of the Actes ye shall fynde lyke diligence both in the Apostles in teachyng and in the people in commyng to the temple to heare Gods worde And it is testified in the
that most odious and abominable vice Of the whiche ordinaunces and lawes so geuen by the Lorde to his people concerning that matter I wyll rehearse and alleage some that be moste speciall for this purpose that you by them may iudge of the rest In the fourth Chapter of the booke named Deuteronomie is a notable place and most worthy with all diligence to be marked whiche begynneth thus And nowe Israel heare the commaundementes and iudgements which I teach thee sayth the Lorde that thou doyng them mayest liue and enter possesse the lande which the Lorde God of your fathers wyll geue you Ye shall put nothyng to the worde whiche I speake to you neyther shall ye take anye thyng from it Kepe ye the commaundementes of the Lorde your God which I commaund you And by and by after he repeateth the same sentence three or foure tymes before he come to the matter that he woulde specially warne them of as it were for a preface to make them to take the better heede vnto it Take heede to thy selfe sayth he and to thy soule with all carefulnes lest thou forgettest the thynges whiche thyne eyes haue seene and that they go not out of thy heart all the dayes of thy life thou shalt teach them to thy children and nephues or posteritie And shortly after The Lorde spake vnto you out of the middle of fire but you hearde the voyce or sounde of his wordes but you did see no fourme or shape at al. And by and by foloweth Take heede therefore diligently vnto your soules you sawe no maner of image in the day in the which the lord spake vnto you in Horeb out of the myddest of the fyre least peraduenture you beyng deceaued shoulde make to your selues any grauen image or lykenesse of man or woman or the lykenesse of any beaste whiche is vppon the earth or of the birdes that flee vnder heauen or of any creeping thing that is moued on the earth or of the fishes that do continue in the waters leste paraduenture thou lyftyng vp thyne eyes to heauen do see the sunne and the moone and the starres of heauen and so thou being deceaued by errour shouldest honour and worshyp them whiche the Lord thy God hath created to serue all nations that be vnder heauen And agayne Beware that thou forget not the couenaunt of the Lorde thy God whiche he made with thee and so make to thy selfe any carued image of them whiche the Lorde hath forbidden to be made for the Lorde thy God is a consumyng fyre and a ielous god If thou haue chyldren and nephues and do tary in the lande and beyng deceaued do make to your selues any similitude doyng euyll before the Lord your GOD and prouoke hym to anger I do this day call vppon heauen and earth to wytnesse that ye shall quicklye peryshe out of the lande whiche you shall possesse you shall not dwell in it anye long tyme but the Lorde wyll destroye you and wyll scatter you amongst all nations and ye shall remayne but a verye fewe amongst the nations whyther the Lorde wyll leade you away and then shall you serue gods whiche are made with mans handes of wood and stone whiche see not and heare not neyther eate nor smell and so foorth This is a notable Chapter and entreateth almoste altogether of this matter But because it is to lōg to write out the whole I haue noted you certayne principall poyntes out of it First howe earnestly and ofte he calleth vpon them to marke to take heede that vpon the perill of their soules to the charge which he geueth them Then howe he forbyddeth by a solemne long rehearsal of all thinges in heauen in earth and in the water any image or lykenes of any thyng at all to be made Thirdly what penaltie and horrible destruction he solemly with inuocation of heauen earth for recorde denounceth and threatneth to them their children and posteritie if they contrary to this commaundement do make or worshyppe anye images or similitude which he so straightly hath forbidden And whē they this notwithstanding partlye by inclination of mans corrupte nature moste prone to idolatrie and partly occasioned by the Gentiles and Heathen people dwellyng about them who were idolaters dyd fall to the makyng and worshyppyng of Images GOD accordyng to his worde brought vppon them all those plagues whiche he threatned them with as appeareth in the bookes of the kinges and the Chronacles in sundrye places at large And agreeable hereunto are many other notable places in the olde Testament Deuteronomie xxvii Cursed be he that maketh a carued image or a cast or moulten image whiche is abomination before the Lorde the worke of the artificers hand and setteth it vp in a secret corner and all the people shall say Amen Reade the xiii and. xiiii Chapters of the booke of wysedome concernyng idols or images howe they be made set vp called vppon and offered vnto and how he prayseth the tree whereof the gybbet is made as happye in comparison to the tree that an image or idoll is made of euen by these very wordes Happie is the tree wherethrough ryghteousnesse commeth meaning the gybbet but cursed is the idoll that is made with handes yea both it and he that made it and so foorth And by and by he sheweth how that the thynges whiche were the good creatures of God before as trees or stones when they be once altered and fashioned into images to be worshypped become abhomination a temptation vnto the soules of men and a snare for the feete of the vnwyse And why the seekyng out of images is the begynnyng of whoredome sayth he and the bryngyng vp of them is the destruction of lyfe for they were not from the begynnyng neyther shall they contynue for euer The welthy idlenesse of men hath founde them out vppon earth therefore shall they come shortlye to an ende and so foorth to the ende of the Chapter conteynyng these poyntes Howe idols or images were fyrste inuented and offered vnto how by an vngratious custome they were establyshed how tyrauntes compell men to worshyppe them how the ignoraunt and the common people are deceaued by the cunnyng of the workeman and the beawty of the image to do honour vnto it and so to erre from the knowledge of God and of other great and many mischefes that come by images And for a conclusion he sayth that the honouring of abhominable images is the cause the begynnyng and ende of all euyll and that the worshippers of them be either mad or most wycked See and view the whole Chapter with diligence for it is worthy to be well consydered speciallie that is wrytten of the deceauing of the simple and vnwyse common people by idols and images and repeated twyse or thrise least it shoulde be forgotten And in the Chapter folowyng be these wordes The paynting of the picture and carued image with dyuers colours enticeth the ignoraunt so that he
that they be called Gods But it is not possible that anye should by worshypping of images get any knowledge of God. Athanasius in his booke agaynst the Gentiles hath these wordes Let them tell I pray you how God maye be knowen by an image If it be by the matter of an image then there needeth no shape or fourme seeyng that God hath appeared in all materiall creatures whiche do testifie his glorye Nowe if they say he is knowen by the fourme or fashion is he not better to be knowen by the lyuyng thynges themselues whose fashions the images expresse For of suretie the glorye of God shoulde be more euidentlye knowen if it were declared by reasonable and lyuyng creatures rather then by dead and vnmoueable images Therefore when ye do graue or paynte images to the ende to knowe God thereby surelye ye do an vnworthye and vnfitte thyng And in an other place of the same booke he sayth The inuention of images came of no good but of euil and whatsoeuer hath an euyll begynnyng can neuer in any thyng be iudged good seeyng it is altogether naught Thus far Athanasius a very auncient holy and learned Byshop and Doctor who iudgeth both the first beginnyng the end and altogether of images or idols to be naught Lactantius likewise an old and learned wryter in his booke of the Origine of errour hath these words God is aboue man and is not placed beneath but is to be sought in the hyghest region Wherfore there is no doubt but that no religion is in that place wheresoeuer any image is For if religion stande in godly thinges and there is no godlynesse but in heauenly thynges then be images without religion These be Lactantius wordes who was aboue xiii hundreth yeres ago and within three hundreth yeres after our sauiour Christe Cirillus an olde holy doctour vpon the Gospell of Saint Iohn hath these wordes Many haue left the creatour and haue worshypped the creature neyther haue they ben abashed to say vnto a stocke thou art my father vnto a stone thou begottest me For many yea almost all alas for sorowe are fallen vnto suche folly that they haue geuen the glorie of deitie or God head to thinges without sense or feelyng Epiphanius Byshop of Salamine in Cipres a verye holye and learned man who lyued in Theodosius the Emperours tyme about three hundreth and ninetie yeres after our Sauiour Christes ascention writeth this to Iohn Patriarke of Hierusalem I entred sayth Epiphanius into a certayne Churche to pray I founde there a lynnen cloth hangyng in the Churche doore paynted and hauyng in it the image of Christe as it were or of some other Saint for I remember not well whose image it was therefore when I did see the image of a man hanging in the Churche of Christ contrary to thauethoritie of the scriptures I did teare it and gaue councell to the kepers of the Churche that they shoulde winde a poore man that was dead in the sayde cloth and so bury hym And afterwardes the same Epiphanius sendyng another vnpaynted cloth for that paynted one whiche he had torne to the sayde Patriarche wryteth thus I pray you wyll the elders of that place to receaue this clothe whiche I haue sent by this bearer and commaunde them that from hencefoorth no suche paynted clothes contrary to our religion be hanged in the Churche of Christe For it becommeth your goodnes rather to haue this care that you take away such scrupulositie which is vnsitting for the Churche of Christe and offensiue to the people committed to your charge And this Epistle as worthy to be read of many dyd saint Ierome hym selfe translate into the Latine tongue And that ye may knowe that saint Ierome had this holy and learned Bishop Epiphanius in most high estimation and therfore dyd translate this Epistle as a wrytyng of aucthoritie heare what a testimonie the sayde saint Ierome geueth him in another place in this treatie agaynst the errours of Iohn Byshop of Hierusalem where he hath these wordes Thou hast sayth saint Jerome Pope Epiphanius whiche doth openlye in his letters call thee an Ieritike Surely thou art not to be preferred before hym neyther for age nor learnyng nor godlynesse of lyfe nor by the testimonie of the whole worlde And shortlye after in the same treatie sayth Saint Jerome Bishop Epiphanius was euer of so great veneration and estimation that Valens the Emperour who was a great persecutour dyd not once touche hym For heritikes beyng princes thought it theyr shame yf they shoulde persecute suche a notable man And in the trypartite ecclesiasticall hystorie the. ix booke and xlviii Chapter is testified that Epiphanius beyng yet alyue dyd worke miracles and that after his death deuils being expelled at his graue or tombe dyd rore Thus you see what aucthoritie saint Ierome and that moste auncient hystorie geue vnto the holy and learned Byshop Epiphanius whose iudgement of images in Churches and temples then begynnyng by stealth to creepe in is worthy to be noted First he iudged it contrary to Christian religion and the aucthoritie of the scriptures to haue any images in Christes Churche Secondly he reiected not only carued grauen and moulten images but also painted images out of Christes Churche Thirdly that he regarded not whether it were the image of Christe or of any other saint but beyng an image woulde not suffer it in the Churche Fourthlye that he dyd not onlye remoue it out of the Churche but with a vehement zeale tare it a sunder and exhorted that a corse shoulde be wrapped and buryed in it iudgyng it meete for nothyng but to rotte in the earth folowyng herein the example of the good kyng Ezechias who brake the brasen serpent to peeces and burned it to ashes for that idolatrie was committed to it Last of al that Epiphanius thinketh it the duetie of vigilant Byshoppes to be carefull that no images be permitted in the Churche for that they be occasion of scruple and offence to the people committed to theyr charge Nowe wheras neyther saint Hierome who did translate the sayde Epistle nor the aucthours of that most auncient historie ecclesiasticall trypartite who do most highly commende Epiphanius as is aforesaid nor no other godly or learned Bishop at that time or shortly after haue wrytten any thing against Epiphanius iudgement concerning images it is an euident profe that in those dayes whiche were about foure hundreth yeres after our sauiour Christe there were no images publiquely vsed and receaued in the Churche of Christe whiche was then muche lesse corrupt more pure then nowe it is And where as images began at that tyme secretelye and by stealth to creepe out of priuate mens houses into the Churches and that firste in paynted clothes and walles such Byshops as were godlye and vigilante when they espied them remoued them away as vnlawfull contrary to Christian religion as dyd here Epiphanius to whose iudgement you haue not onlye Saint
women shortly after fell on heapes to worshyppyng of them And at the last the learned also were caryed away with the publique errour as with a violent streame or fludde And at the seconde counsell Nicene the Byshoppes and Cleargie decreed that images shoulde be worshypped and so by occasion of these stumblyng blockes not onlye the vnlearned and simple but the learned and wyse not the people onlye but the Byshoppes not the sheepe but also the shepheardes them selues who shoulde haue ben guydes in the ryght way and lyght to shyne in darkenesse beyng blynded by the be witching of images as blynde guydes of the blynde fell both into the pitte of damnable idolatrie In the whiche all the worlde as it were drowned contynued vntylourage by the space of aboue eight hundred yeres vnspoken agaynst in a maner And this successe had Gregories order whiche mischeefe had neuer come to passe had Byshoppe Serenus way ben taken and all idols and images ben vtterly destroyed and abolished for no man worshippeth that that is not And thus you see how from hauing of images priuately it came to publique settyng of them vp in Churches and Temples although without harme at the fyrste as was then of some wyse and learned men iudged and from simple hauing them there it came at the last to worshippyng of them Firste by the rude people who specially as the Scriptures teacheth are in daunger of superstition and idolatrie and afterwardes by the Byshoppes the learned and by the whole Cleargie So that laytie and Clearge learned and vnlearned all ages sectes and degrees of men women and children of whole Christendome an horrible and most dreadfull thyng to thynke haue ben at once drowned in abhominable idolatrie of all other vices most detested of God and moste damnable to man and that by the space of eight hundred yeres and more And to this end is come that beginning of settyng vp of images in Churches then iudged harmelesse in experience proued not onlye harmefull but exitious and pestilent and to the destruction and subuertion of all good religion vniuersaliye So that I conclude as it may be possible in some one Citie or litle Countrey to haue images set vp in temples and Churches and yet idolatrie by earnest and continual preachyng of Gods true worde and the sincere Gospel of our sauiour Christe may be kept away for a short tyme So is it impossible that images once set vp and suffred in temples and Churches any great countreys muche lesse the whole worlde can any long tyme be kepte from idolatrie And the godly wyll respect not onely their owne Citie Countrey and time and the health of men of their age but be carefull for all places and tymes and the saluation of men of all ages At the leaste they wyll not lay such stumblyng blockes and snares for the feete of other countreymen and ages whiche experience hath alredie proued to haue ben the ruine of the worlde Wherefore I make a generall conclusion of all that I haue hitherto sayde yf the stumblyng blockes and poysons of mens soules by settyng vp of images wyl be many yea infinite yf they be suffered and the warnynges of the same stumblyng blockes and remedies for the sayde poysons by preachyng but fewe as is alredy declared yf the stumblyng blockes be easy to be layde the poysons soone prouided and the warnynges and remedies harde to knowe or come by yf the stumblyng blockes lye continuallye in the way and poyson be redye at hand euery where and warnynges and remedies but seldome geuen and if all men be more redy of them selues to stumble and be offended then to be warned all men more redie to drynke of the poyson then to taste of the remedie as is before partly and shall hereafter more fully be declared and so in fine the poyson continually and deepely drunke of many the remedie seldome and fayntly tasted of a fewe Howe can it be but infinite of the weake and infirme shal be offended infinite by ruine shall breake their neckes infinite by deadly vâ—nome be poysoned in their soules And howe is the charitie of God or loue of our neyghbour in our heartes then if when we may remoue suche daungerous stumbling blockes suche pestilent poysons we wyll not remoue them What shall I saye of them whiche wyll laye stumbling blockes where before was none and set snares for the feete nay for the soules of weake and simple ones and worke the daunger of their eternal ruine for whom our Sauiour Christe shed his precious blood where better it were that the artes of painting playstering caruing grauing and foundyng had neuer ben founde nor vsed then one of them whose soules in the syght of God are so precious should by occasion of image or picture perishe and be loste And thus is it declared that preachyng can not possiblye stay idolatrie if images be set vp publiquely in Temples and Churches And as true is it that no other remedye as wrytyng agaynst idolatrie counsels assembled decrees made agaynste it seuere lawes lykewyse and proclamations of princes and Emperours neyther extreame punyshmentes and penalties nor anye other remedye coulde or can be possiblie deuised for the auoydyng of idolatrie if images be publiquely set vp and suffered For concernyng wrytyng agaynste images and idolatrie to them committed there hath ben alleaged vnto you in the second part of this treatise a great manye of places out of Tertulian Origene Lactantius S. Augustine Epiphanius S. Ambrose Clemens and diuers other learned holy byshops and doctours of the Churche And besides these all histories ecclesiasticall and bookes of other godlye and learned byshoppes and Doctours are full of notable examples and sentences agaynst images and the worshyppyng of them And as they haue moste earnestly wrytten so dyd they sincerely and most diligently in their time teache and preache accordyng to their wrytynges and examples For they were then preachyng Byshops and more often seene in pulpittes then in prynces palaces more often occupyed in his legacie who sayde go ye into the whole world and preache the Gospell to all men then in imbassages and affayres of princes of this worlde And as they were moste zealous and diligent so were they of excellent learnyng and godlynes of lyse and by both of great aucthoritie and credite with the people and so of more force and lykelyhood to perswade the people and the people more lyke to beleue and folowe their doctrine But if their preachynges coulde not helpe muche lesse could their writynges which do but come to the knowledge of a fewe that be learned in comparison to continuall preachyng whereof the whole multitude is partaker Neyther dyd the old fathers Byshoppes Doctours seuerallye onlye by preachyng and wrytyng but also together great numbers of them assembled in synodes and counsels make decrees and ecclesiasticall lawes agaynst images and the worshipping of them neyther dyd they so once or twyse but diuers times and in diuers ages and countreys
assemble synodes and counsels and made seuere decrees agaynst images and worshyppyng of them as hath ben at large in the seconde parte of this Nomilee before declared But all their wrytyng preachyng assemblyng in counselles decreeyng and makyng of lawes ecclesiasticall coulde nothyng helpe eyther to pull downe images to whom idolatrie was committed or agaynst idolatrie whilest images stood For those blynde bookes and dumbe Scholemaisters I meane images and idols for they call them laye mens bookes and Scholemaisters by their carued and paynted wrytynges teachyng and preachyng idolatrie preuayled agaynst all their wrytten bookes and preachyng with lyuely voyce as they call it Well if preachyng and wrytyng could not keepe men from worshyppyng of images and idolatrie if pennes and wordes coulde not do it you woulde thynke that penaltie and swordes myght do it I meane that prynces by seuere lawes and punishmentes myght stay this vnbridled affection of al men to idolatrie though images were set vp and suffered But experience proueth that this can no more help agaynst idolatrie then wrytyng and preachyng For Christian Emperours whose aucthoritie ought of reason and by Gods law to be greatest aboue eight in number and sixe of them successiuelye raigning one after another as is in the histories before rehearsed makyng moste seuere lawes and proclamations agaynst idols and idolatrie images and the worshipping of images and executing most greeuous punishmentes yea the penaltie of death vpon the mainteiners of images and vppon idolaters and image worshyppers could not bryng to passe that either images once set vp myght throughly be destroyed or that men shoulde refrayne from the worshyppyng of them beyng set vp And what thynke you then wyll come to passe yf men of learnyng shoulde teache the people to make them and shoulde maynteyne the settyng vp of them as thynges necessarie in religion To conclude it appeareth euidently by all stories and wrytynges and experience of tymes past that neither preaching neyther wrytyng neyther the consent of the learned nor aucthoritie of the godly nor the decrees of counsels neyther the lawes of prynces nor extreame punyshmentes of the offendours in that behalfe nor no other remedy or meanes can help agaynst idolatrie if images be suffered publiquelye And it is truely sayde that tymes past are scholemaisters of wysedome to vs that folow and lyue after Therefore in tymes past the vertuest and best learned the moste diligent also and in number almoste infinite auncient fathers Byshops and Doctours with their wrytyng preachyng industrie earnestnes aucthoritie assembles and counselles coulde do nothyng agaynst images idolatrie to images once set vp What can we neyther in learning nor holinesse of lyfe neither in diligence neither aucthoritie to be compared with them but men in contempt and of no estimation as the world goeth now a fewe also in number in so great a multitude malice of men What can we do I say or bryng to passe to the stay of idolatrie or worshippyng of images if they be alowed to stand publiquely in temples and Churches And if so many so mightie Emperours by so seuere lawes and proclamations so rigorous and extreame punishmentes and executions coulde not stay the people from settyng vp and worshypppng of images what wyll ensue thynke you when men shall commend them as necessarie bookes of the lay men Let vs therefore of these latter dayes learne this lessen of the experience of the auncient antiquitie that idolatrie can not possiblie be separated from images anye long tyme but that as an vnseparable accident or as a shadowe foloweth the body when the sunne shyneth so idolatrie foloweth and cleaueth to the publique hauing of images in Temples and Churches And finally as idolatrie is to be abhorred and auoyded so are images whiche can not be long without idolatrie to be put away and destroyed Besides the whiche experimentes and proofes of tymes before the very nature and origine of images them selues draweth to idolatrie most violently and mans nature and inclination also is bent to idolatrie so vehemently that it is not possible to seuer or parte images nor to kepe men from idolatrie if images be suffred publiquely That I speake of the nature and origin of images is this Euen as the fyrste intention of them is naught no good can come of that whiche had an euyll begynnyng for they be altogether naught as Athanasius in his boke against the gentiles declareth and saint Jerome also vppon the prophet Jeremie the. vi Chapter and Eusebius the seuenth booke of his ecclesiasticall historie the. xviii Chapter testifieth that as they first came from the Gentiles which were idolaters and worshippers of images vnto vs and as the inuention of them was the beginning of spirituall fornication as the worde of God testifieth Sap. 14. So will they naturally as it were and of necessitie turne to their origine from whence they came and draw vs with them most violently to idolatrie abominable to God and all godly men For if the origine of images and worshipping of them as it is recorded in the eight chapter of the booke of wysedome began of a blynde loue of a fonde father framing for his comfort an image of his soÌ„ne being dead and so at the last men fel to the worshiping of the image of him whom they did know to be deade Howe much more will men women fall to the worshipping of the images of God our sauiour Christ his saintes if they be suffered to stande in churches temples publiquely For the greater thoppinion is of the maiestie holines of the person to whom an image is made the sooner will the people fall to the worshipping of the sayd images Wherfore the images of God our sauiour Christ the blessed virgin Mary the apostels martirs and other of notable holinesse are of all other images most daungerous for the peril of idolatrie and therefore greatest heede to be taken that none of them be suffered to stande publiquely in Churches and temples For there is no great dread least any should fall to the worshipping of the images of Annas Cayphas Pilat or Iudas the traytour if they were set vp But to the other it is alredy at full proued that idolatrie hath benâ— is and is most lyke continually to be committed Nowe as was before touched and is here more largely to be declared the nature of man is none otherwyse bent to worshipping of images if he maye haue them and see them then it is bent to whoredome and adultrie in â—he company of harlots And as vnto a man geuen to the lust of the fleshe seyng a wanton harlot sitting by her and imbracing her it profiteth little for one to saye be ware of fornication God will condempne fornicatours and adulterers For neyther will he being ouercome with greater enticementes of the strumpet geue eare or take heede to suche godlye admonitions and when he is left afterwardes alone with the harlot nothing can follow but wickednes Euen so suffer images
a shadowe As for vertue we dyd neuer shewe any signe thereof And thus we are consumed in our wickednesse If thou sayest that the custome is to be folowed the vse of the worlde doth compell thee to suche curiositie then I aske of thee whose custome shoulde be folowed wyse folkes maners or fooles If thou sayest the wyse then I say folowe them For fooles customes who shoulde folow but fooles Consider that the consent of wyse men ought to be alleaged for a custome Nowe if any lewde custome be vsed be thou the firste to breake it labour to diminishe it and lay it downe and more laude afore God and more commendation shalt thou win by it then by all the glory of such superfluitie Thus ye haue hearde declared vnto you what God requireth by his worde concernyng the moderate vse of his creatures Let vs learne to vse them moderatly as he hath appoynted Almyghtie God hath taught vs to what end and purpose we shoulde vse our apparell Let vs therfore learne so to behaue our selues in the vse thereof as becommeth Christians alwaies she wing our selues thankfull to our heauenly father for his great and mercyfull benefites who geueth vnto vs our daily bread that is to say al thyngs necessarie for this our needie life vnto whom we shall render accomptes for all his benefites at the glorious appearing of our sauiour Christe to whom with the father the holy ghost be all honour prayse and glory for euer and euer Amen ¶ An Homilee or Sermon concerning prayer THere is nothing in al mans lyfe welbeloued in our sauiour Christe so needeful to be spoken of daily to be called vpon as heartie zeious deuout prayer the necessitie whereof is so great that without it nothing may be wel obteyned at gods hande For as the Apostle James saith Euery good perfect gift commeth from aboue and proceedeth from the father of lyghtes who is also said to be rich and liberal towardes all them that cal vpon hym not because he eyther wyll not or can not geue without askyng but because he hath appoynted prayer as an ordinarie meanes betweene hym vs There is no doubt but he alwayes knoweth what we haue neede of and is alwayes most redy to geue aboundaunce of those thynges that we lacke Yet to the intent we myght acknowledge hym to be the geuer of all good thynges and behaue our selues thankfully towardes hym in that behalfe louyng fearyng and worshippyng hym sincerely and truely as we ought to do he hath profitably and wysely ordeyned that in tyme of necessitie we shoulde humble our selues in his sight powre out the secretes of our heart before hym and craue helpe at his handes with continuall earnest and deuout prayer By the mouth of his holy prophete Dauid he sayth on this wyse Call vppon me in the dayes of thy trouble and I wyll deliuer thee Lykewyse in the Gospel by the mouth of his welbeloued sonne Christe he sayth Aske and it shal be geuen you knocke and it shal be opened for whosoeuer asketh receaueth whosoeuer seeketh findeth and to him that knocketh it shal be opened Saint Paul also moste agreeably consenting hereunto wylleth men to pray euery where and to continue therin with thankes geuyng Neyther doth the blessed Apostle saint James in this poynt any thing discent but earnestly exhorting all men to diligent prayer sayth If any man lacke wysedome let him aske it of God which geueth liberally to all men and reprocheth no man Also in an other place Pray one for another saith he that ye may be healed For the ryghteous mans prayer auayleth muche if it be feruent What other thyng are we taught by these and such other places but only this that almyghtie God notwithstandyng his heauenly wisedome and foreknowledge wylbe prayed vnto that he wil be called vppon that he wyll haue vs no lesse wylling on our part to aske then he on his parte is wyllyng to geue Therefore most fond and foolishe is the opinion and reason of those men which therfore thynke all prayer to be superfluous and vayne because God searcheth the heart and the raynes and knoweth the meanyng of the spirite before we aske For if this fleshly and carnall reason were sufficient to disanull prayer then why dyd our sauiour Christe so often crye to his disciples watche and pray Why did he prescribe them a fourme of prayer saying when ye pray pray after this sorte Our father whiche art in heauen c. Why dyd he pray so often and so earnestly hym selfe before his passion Finally why did the Apostles immediatly after his ascention gather them selues together into one seuerall place and there continue a long tyme in prayer Eyther they muste condemne Christe and his Apostles of extreame follie or els they must needes graunt that prayer is a thyng most necessarie for all men at all tymes and in all places Sure it is that there is nothyng more expedient or needfull for mankynde in all the worlde then prayer Pray alwayes sayth saint Paul with all maner prayer and supplication and watche thereto with all diligence Also in another place he willeth vs to pray continually without any intermission or ceassyng meanyng thereby that we ought neuer to slacke or faynt in prayer but to continue therein to our lyues ende A number of other suche places myght here be alleaged of lyke effect I meane to declare the great necessitie vse of prayer But what neede many proofes in a playne matter seyng there is no man so ignoraunt but he knoweth no man so blynde but he seeth that prayer is a thyng most needefull in all estates and degrees of men For onlye by the helpe hereof we attayne to those heauenly and euerlastyng treasures whiche God our heauenly father hath reserued and layde vp for his chyldren in his deare and welbeloued sonne Jesus Christe with this couenaunt and promise moste assuredly confirmed and sealed vnto vs that if we aske we shall receaue Nowe the great necessitie of prayer being sufficiently knowne that our myndes and heartes may be the more prouoked and stirred therunto let vs breefely consider what wonderful strength and power it hath to bryng straunge and myghtie thynges to passe We reade in the booke of Exodus that Iousa fighting agaynst the Amalekites dyd conquere and ouercome them not so muche by vertue of his owne strength as by the earnest and continuall prayer of Moyses who as long as he held vp his handes to God so long dyd Israel preuayle But when he faynted and let his handes downe then did Amaleck and his people preuayle Insomuch that Aaron and Hur beyng in the mount with hym were fayne to stay vp his handes vntyl the goyng downe of the sunne otherwyse had the people of God that day ben vtterly discomfited and put to flight Also we reade in an other place of Iosua hym selfe how he at the beseging
not also heare sinners yf with a true penitent heart and a stedfast faith they pray vnto him Yes yf we acknowledge our sinnes God is faythfull iust to forgeue vs our sinnes and to clense vs from all vnrighteousnesse as we are plainely taught by the examples of Dauid Peter Marie Magdalene the Publicane and diuers other And where as we must nedes vse the helpe of some mediatour intercessour let vs content our selues with him that is the true and only mediatour of the new Testament namely the Lorde and Sauiour Jesus Christe For as saint John sayth If anye man sinne we haue an aduocate with the father Jesus Christ the righteous who is the propitiation for our sinnes And saint Paul in his first Epistle to Timothie sayth There is one God and one mediatour betweene God and man euen the man Jesus Christe who gaue him selfe a raunsome for all men to be a testimonie in due time Nowe after this doctrine established you shal be instructed for what kinde of thinges and what kinde of persons ye ought to make your prayers vnto god It greatly behoueth all men when they pray to consyder well and diligently with them selues what they aske and require at Gods handes lest if they desyre the thing which they ought not their petitions be made voyde and of none effect There came on a time vnto Agesilaus the king a certaine importunatesuter who requested him in a matter earnestly saying Sir and it please your grace you dyd once promise me Trueth quoth the king if it be iust that thou requirest then I promised thee otherwyse I did onlye speake it and not promise it The man woulde not so be aunswered at the kynges hande but still vrging him more and more said It becommeth a kyng to perfourme the leaste word he hath spoken yea yf he should only becke with his head No more sayth the kyng then it behoueth one that commeth to a king to speake and aske those thinges whiche are rightfull and honest Thus the kyng cast of this vnreasonable and importunate suter Nowe if so great consyderation be to be had when we kneele before an earthly kyng howe much more ought to be had when we kneele before the heauenly kyng who is onlye delighted with iustice and equitie neyther wyll admit any vayne foolishe or vniust petition Therefore it shal be good and profitable throughly to consyder and determine with our selues what thinges we may lawfully aske of God without feare of repulse and also what kinde of persons we are bound to cōmend vnto god in our dayly prayers Two thinges are chiesely to be respected in euerye good and godly mans prayer His owne necessitie the glory of almightie god Necessitie belongeth eyther outwardly to the body or els inwardly to the soule Whiche part of man because it is muche more pretious excellent then the other therefore we ought first of all to craue such thinges as properly belong to the saluation thereof as the gift of repentaunce the gyfte of fayth the gifte of charitie and good workes remission and forgeuenesse of sinnes patience in aduersitie lowlinesse in prosperitie and suche other like fruites of the spirite as hope loue ioy peace long suffering gentlenes goodnes meekenesse and temperauncie which thinges God requireth of all them that professe them selues to be his children saying vnto them in this wyse Let your light so shine before men that they may see your good workes and glorifie your father whiche is in heauen And in another place he also sayth Seeke first the kingdome of God and his righteousnesse and then al other things shal be geuen vnto you Wherin he putteth vs in mind that our cheefe and greatest care ought to be for those things which parteine to the health and safegarde of the soule because we haue here as the apostle sayth no continuing citie but do seeke after another in the worlde to come Nowe when we haue sufficiently prayed for thinges belonging to the soule then may we lawfully and with safe conscience pray also for our bodily necessities as meate drinke clothing health of body deliueraunce out of prison good lucke in our dayly affayres and so foorth accordyng as we shall haue neede Wherof what better example can we desire to haue then of Christ him selfe who taught his disciples and all other Christian men first to pray for heauenly things and afterwarde for earthly thinges as is to be seene in that prayer whiche he lefte vnto his Churche commonly called the Lordes prayer In the thirde booke of kinges and thirde Chapter it is written that God appeared by night in a dreame vnto Salomon the king saying Aske of me whatsoeuer thou wylt and I wyll geue thee Salomon made his humble prayer and asked a wise prudent hearte that might iudge and vnderstande what were good what were ill what were godlye and what were vngodly what were righteous and what were vnrighteous in the sight of the Lorde It pleased God wonderously that he had asked this thing And God sayd vnto him Because thou hast requested this worde and hast not desyred manye dayes and long yeres vpon the earth neither aboundaunce of ryches and goodes nor yet the lyfe of thyne enemies which hate thee but hast desyred wisdome to sit in iudgement Beholde I haue done vnto thee accordyng to thy wordes I haue geuen thee a wyse heart full of knowledge and vnderstāding so that there was neuer none like thee before time neither shal be in time to come Moreouer I haue besides this geuen thee that whiche thou hast not required namelye worldlye wealth and richesse princely honour and glorie so that thou shalt therein also passe all kynges that euer were Note this example howe Salomon beyng put to his choyse to aske of God whatsoeuer he woulde requested not vaine and transitorie thinges but the high and heauenly treasures of wysdome and that in so doyng he obtayneth as it were in recompence both riches and honour Wherein is geuen vs to vnderstande that in our dayly prayers we should chiefely and principally aske those things which concerne the kingdome of God and the saluation of our owne soules nothyng doubting but all other thinges shall accordyng to the promise of Christe be geuen vnto vs But here we must take heede that we forget not that other ende whereof mention was made before namely the glorye of god Whiche vnlesse we minde and set before our eyes in makyng our prayers we may not looke to be harde or to receaue any thing of the Lorde In the. xx Chapter of Matthewe the mother of the two sonnes of Zebedee came vnto Jesus worshipping him and saying Graunt that my two sonnes may sit in thy kingdome the one at thy ryght hand and the other at thy left hande In this petition she dyd not respect the glory of GOD but plainely declared the ambition and vaine glory of her owne minde for which cause she was also
and iudgement of the worlde If some man wyll say I woulde haue a true paterne and a perfect discription of an vpryght lyfe approued in the sight of God can we fynde thinke ye any better or any suche agayne as Christe Jesus is and his doctrine whose vertuous conuersation and godly lyfe the scripture so liuely painteth and setteth foorth before our eyes that we beholding that paterne myght shape and frame our lyues as nigh as may be agreeable to the perfection of the same Folow you me sayth S. Paul as I folowe Christe And saint John in his Epistle sayth Who so abydeth in Christe must walke euen so as he walked before hym And where shall we learne the order of Christes lyfe but in the scripture Another woulde haue a medicine to heale all diseases and maladies of the minde Can this be found or gotten other where then out of Gods owne booke his sacred scriptures Christe taught so muche when he sayde to the obstinate Jewes Search the scriptures for in them ye thynke to haue eternall lyfe If the scriptures conteyne in them euerlastyng lyfe it must nedes folow that they haue also present remedie agaynst all that is an hinderaunce and let vnto eternall lyfe If we desire the knowledge of heauenly wysedome why had we rather learne the same of man then of God hym selfe who as saint James sayth is the geuer of wysedome Yea why wyl we not learne it at Christes owne mouth who promising to be present with his Churche tyll the worldes ende doth perfourme his promise in that he is not only with vs by his grace and tender pitie but also in this that he speaketh presently vnto vs in the holy scriptures to the great and endlesse comfort of all them that haue any feelyng of God at all in them Yea he speaketh nowe in the scriptures more profitably to vs then he dyd by worde of mouth to the carnall Jewes when he liued with them here vpon earth For they I meane the Jewes coulde neyther heare nor see those thynges whiche we may nowe both heare and see if we wyll bryng with vs those eares and eyes that Christe is hearde and seene with that is diligence to heare and reade his holy scriptures and true fayth to beleue his most comfortable promises If one could shewe but the printe of Christes foote a great number I thynke would fal downe and worship it But to the holy scriptures where we may see daily yf we wyll I wyll not say the print of his feete onlye but the whole shape and liuely image of hym alas we geue litle reuerence or none at all If any coulde let vs see Christes coate a sorte of vs woulde make hard shift except we mought come nygh to gase vppon it yea and kysse it to And yet all the clothes that euer he dyd weare can nothyng so truely nor so liuely expresse hym vnto vs as do the scriptures Christes images made in wood stone or mettall some men for the loue they beare to Christe do garnishe and beautifie the same with pearle golde and pretious stone And shoulde we not good brethren muche rather imbrace and reuerence Gods holy bookes the sacred bible whiche do represent Christ vnto vs more truely then can any image The image can but expresse the fourme or shape of his body if it can do so muche But the scripture doth in such sort set foorth Christe that we may see both God and man we may see hym I say speakyng vnto vs healyng our infirmities diyng for our sinnes rysing from death for our iustification And to be short we may in the scriptures so perfectly see whole Christ with the eye of fayth as we lacking fayth coulde not with these bodily eyes see hym though he stoode now present here before vs Let euery man woman and chylde therefore with all their hearte thirst and desyre gods holy scriptures loue them embrace them haue their delight and pleasure in hearing and readyng them so as at length we may be transfourmed and chaunged into them For the holy scriptures are Gods treasure house wherein are found al thynges needefull for vs to see to heare to learne and to beleue necessarie for the attaynyng of eternall lyfe Thus muche is spoken onely to geue you a taste of some of the commodities whiche ye maye take by hearing reading the holy scriptures For as I said in the beginning no tongue is able to declare and vtter all And although it is more cleare then the noone day that to be ignorant of the scriptures is the cause of errour as Christe sayth to the Saducees Ye erre not knowing the scriptures and that errour doth holde backe plucke men away from the knowledge of god And as saint Hierome sayth Not to know the scriptures is to be ignoraunt of christ Yet this notwithstandyng some there be that thynke it not meete for all sortes of men to reade the scriptures because they are as they thynke in sundry places stumblyng blockes to the vnlearned Fyrst for that the phrase of the scriptures is somtyme so homlye grosse and playne that it offendeth the fine and delicate wittes of some courtiers Furthermore for that the scripture also reporteth euen of them that haue their commendation to be the children of God that they did diuers actes wherof some are contrary to the lawe of nature some repugnaunt to the law wrytten and other some seeme to fight manifestly agaynst publique honestie All whiche thynges say they are vnto the simple an occasion of great offence and cause many to thynke euyl of the Scriptures and to discredite their aucthoritie Some are offended at the hearyng and readyng of the diuersitie of the rites and ceremonies of the sacrifices and oblations of the lawe And some worldly witted men thynke it a great decay to the quiet and prudent gouerning of their common weales to geue eare to the simple and plaine rules and preceptes of our sauiour Christe in his Gospell as beyng offended that a man shoulde be redy to turne his right eare to hym that strake hym on the lefte and to hym whiche woulde take away his coate to offer hym also his cloke with suche other sayinges of perfection in Christes meanyng For carnal reason beyng alway an enemie to God and not perceauing the thynges of Gods spirite doth abhorre suche preceptes whiche yet rightly vnderstanded infringeth no iudiciall policies nor Christian mens gouernementes And some there be whiche hearyng the scriptures to bid vs to lyue without 〈◊〉 without studie or forecasting do deride tâ—e 〈…〉 ities of them Therefore to remoue and put away occasions of offence so muche as may be I wyll aunswere orderly to these obiections Firste I shall rehearse some of those places that men are offended at for the homelynes and grossenesse of speach and wil shewe the meanyng of them In the booke of Deuteronomie it is wrytten that almyghtie God made a lawe yf a man dyed without
issue his brother or next kynsman shoulde marrye his wydowe and the childe that were firste borne betweene them shoulde be called his chylde that was dead that the dead mans name myght not be put out in Israel And if the brother or nexte kynsman would not marry the widow then she before the magistrates of the Citie shoulde pull of his shoe and spitte in his face saying So be it done to that man that wyll not buylde his brothers house Here dearely beloued the pullyng of his shoe and spitting in his face were ceremonies to signifie vnto all the people of that Citie that the woman was not nowe in faulte that Gods lawe in that poynt was broken but the whole shame and blame therof did now redound to that man whiche openly before the magistrates refused to marry her And it was not a reproch to hym alone but to all his posteritie also For they were called euer after the house of hym whose shoe is pulled of Another place out of the Psalmes I wyl breake saith Dauid the hornes of the vngodly and the hornes of the ryghteous shal be exalted By anhorne in the scripture is vnderstand power myght strength sometime rule gouernment The prophet then saying I wyll breake the hornes of the vngodly meaneth that all the power strength and myght of Gods enemie shall not onlye be weakened and made feeble but shall at length also be cleane broken and destroyed though for a tyme for the better triall of his people God suffereth the enemies to preuayle and haue the vpper hande In the â–ª 132. Psalme it is sayde I wyll make Dauids horne to florishe Here Dauids horne signifieth his kyngdome Almightie God therefore by this maner of speakyng promiseth to geue Dauid victorie ouer all his enemies and to stablishe hym in his kyngdome spyte of all his enemies And in the threescore psalme it is wrytten Moab is my washpot and euer Edom wyl I cast out my shoe c. In that place the prophete sheweth how gratiâ—usly God hath dealt with his people the children of Israel geuing them great victories vpon their enemies on euery side For the Moabites and Idumeans being two great nations proude people stout and mighty God brought them vnder and made them seruauntes to the Israelites seruantes I say to stowpe downe to pul of their shoes and washe their feete Then Moab is my washpot and ouer Edom wyl I cast out my shoe is as if he had sayde The Moabites and the Idumeans for all their stoutnesse agaynst vs in the wyldernesse are now made our subiects our seruauntes yea vnderlynges to pull of our shoes and washe our feete Nowe I pray you what vncomly maner of speach is this so vsed in common phrase among the Hebrues It is a shame that Christian men shoulde be so light headed to toy as ruffians do of suche maner speaches vttered in good graue signification by â—he holy ghost More reasonable it were for vaine men to learne to reuerence the fourme of Gods wordes then to gaude at them to his damnation Some againe are oâ—â—ended to heare that the godly fathers had many wiues and concubines â–ª although after the phrase of the scripture a concubine is an honest name for euery concubine is a lawfull wyfe but euery wyfe is not a concubine And that ye may the better vnderstande this to be true ye shall note that it was permitted to the fathers of the olde Testament to haue at one time mo wiues then one for what purpose ye shall afterwarde heare Of whiche wyues some were free women borne some were bond women and seruauntes She that was free borne had a prerogatiue aboue those that were seruauntes bond women The free borne woman was by mariage made the ruler of the house vnder her husband is called the mother of the housholde the maistres or the dame of the house after our maner of speaking and had by her mariage an interest a right and an ownership of his goodes vnto whom she was marryed Other seruauntes and bond women wer geuen by the owners of them as the maner was then I wyll not say alwaies but for the moste parte vnto their daughters at that day of their mariage to be handmaydens vnto them A 〈…〉 ter such a sort did Pharao kyng of Egypt geue vnto Sara Abrahams wyfe Agar the Egyptian to be her mayde So dyd Laban geue vnto his daughter Lia at the day of her mariage Zilpha to be her handmayde And to his other daughter Rachell he gaue another bondmayde named Bilham And the wyues that were the owners of their handmaydes gaue them in mariage to their husbandes vppon diuers occasions Sara gaue her maide Agar in mariage to Abraham Lia gaue in lyke maner her mayde Zilpha to her husbande Jacob. So dyd Rachell his other wyfe geue hym Bilâ—am her mayde saying vnto hym Go in vnto her and she shall beare vppon my knees whiche is as if she had sayde take her to wyfe and the chyldren that she shall beare wyll I take vpon my lappe and make of them as if they were myne owne These handmaydens or bond women although by mariage they were made wyues yet they had not this prerogatiue to rule in the house but were styll vnderlinges and in subiection to their maisters and were neuer called mothers of the houshold maistresses or dames of the house but are called sometymes wyues sometyme concubines The pluralitie of wyues was by a speciall prerogatiue suffered to the fathers of the olde Testament not for satisfiyng their carnall and fleshly lustes but to haue many children because euery one of them hoped and begged oft tymes of God in their prayers that that blessed seede whiche God promised shoulde come into the worlde to breake the serpentes head myght come and be borne of his stocke and kinred Now of those whiche take occasion of carnalitie and euil life by hearing and reading in Gods boke what God hath suffered euen in those men whose commendation is praysed in the scripture As that Noe whom S. Peter calleth the eight preacher of ryghteousnesse was so drunke with wyne that in his sleepe he vncouered his owne priuities The iust man Lot was in lyke maner drunken and in his drunkennesse lay with his owne daughters contrary to the law of nature Abraham whose fayth was so great that for the same he deserued to be called of Gods owne mouth a father of many nations the father of all beleuers besydes with Sara his wife had also carnall company with Agar Saraes handemayde The patriarche Jacob had to his wyues two sisters at one tyme The Prophete Dauid and king Salomon his sonne had many wyues and concubines c. Which thinges we see plainly to be forbidden vs by the lawe of God and are now repugnaunt to all publique honestie These and suche lyke in Gods booke good people are not wrytten that we shoulde or may do the lyke folowyng
auayle vs to haue in meditation the fruites and pryce of his passion to magnifie them and to delyght or trust to them except we haue in mynd his examples in passion to folowe them If we thus therefore consyder Christes death and will sticke thereto with fast fayth for the merite and deseruing thereof and will also frame our selfe in such wyse to bestowe our selues and all that we haue by charitie to the behoofe of our neyghbour as Christe spent him selfe whollye for our profite then do we truelye remember Christes death and being thus folowers of Christes steps we shal be sure to followe him thyther where he sitteth now with the father and the holye ghost to whom be all honour and glory Amen ¶ The seconde homilee concerning the death and passion of our sauiour Christ. THat we may the better conceaue the great mercy and goodnesse of our Sauiour Christ in suffering death vniuersally for all men it behoueth vs to descende into the bottome of our conscience deeply to consider the first and principall cause wherefore he was compelled so to do When our great graundfather Adam had broken Gods commaundement in eating the apple forbidden him in paradice at the motion and suggestion of his wyfe he purchased therby not onelye to him selfe but also to his posteritie for euer the iust wrath indignation of God who according to his former sentence pronoūced at the geuing of the cōmaundement condemned both him all his to euerlasting death both of body and soule For it was said vnto him Thou shalt eat frely of euery tree in the garden but as touching the tree of knowledge of good ill thou shalt in no wyse eat of it For in what houre soeuer thou eatest thereof thou shalt dye the death Now as the Lorde had spoken so it came to passe Adam toke vppon him to eate thereof and in so doing he dyed the death that is to saye he became mortall he lost the fauour of God he was cast out of paradice he was no longer a citizen of heauen but a fyrebrand of hell and a bond slaue to the deuil To this doth our sauiour beare witnesse in the Gospell callyng vs loste sheepe which haue goue astray wandred from the true shephearde of our soules To this also doth saint Paule beare witnesse saying That by the offence of onely Adam death came vppon all men to condempnation So that no we neyther he nor any of his had any ryght or interest at all in the kyngdome of heauen but were become plaine reprobates and castawayes being perpetually dampned to the euerlasting paynes of hell tyre In this so great miserie and wretchednes if mankind could haue recouered him selfe againe and obtayned forgeuenes at Gods handes then had his case ben somwhat tollerable because he might haue attempted some way how to deliuer him selfe from eternall death But there was no way left vnto him he coulde do nothyng that might pacifie gods wrath he was altogether vnprofitable in that behalfe There was none that did good no not one And howe then coulde he worke his owne saluation Should he go about to pacifie gods heauie displeasure by offering vp brent sacrifices according as it was ordayned in the olde lawe by offering vp the blood of Oxen the blood of calues the blood of goates the blood of lambes and so foorth O these thinges were of no force nor strēgth to take away sinnes they could not put away the anger of God they could not coole the heate of his wrath nor yet bryng mankynd into fauour againe they were but only sigures and shadowes of things to come and nothing els Reade the Epistle to the Hebrues there shall you find this matter largely discussed there shal you learne in most plaine wordes that the blooddy sacrifice of the olde lawe was vnperfect and not able to deliuer man from the state of dampnation by any meanes so that mankind in trusting thereunto shoulde trust to a broken staffe and in the ende deceaue him selfe What should he then do Shoulde he go about to obserue and kepe the lawe of God diuided into two tables so purchase to him selfe eternall life In deede if Adam and his posteritie had ben able to satisfie and fulfill the lawe perfectly in louyng God aboue all thinges and their neyghbour as them selues then shoulde they haue easily quenched the Lordes wrath and escaped the terrible sentence of eternall death pronounced agaynst them by the mouth of almightie god For it is written Do this thou shalt liue that is to say fulfill my commaundementes kepe thy selfe vpright and perfect in them accordyng to my wyll then shalt thou liue and not dye Here is eternal lyse promised with this condition so that they kepe and obserue the lawe But suche was the frailtie of mankinde after his fall suche was his weakenes imbecilitie that he could not walke vpryghtly in Gods commaundementes though he woulde neuer so faine but dayly and hourely fell from his bounden duetie offending the Lord his God diuers wayes to the great encrease of his condempnation insomuch that the prophete Dauid cryeth out on this wyse All haue gone astray all are become vnprofitable there is none that doth good no not one In this case what profite coulde he haue by the lawe None at all For as saint James sayth He that shall obserue the whole lawe and yet faileth in one poynt is become giltie of all And in the booke of Deuteronomie it is written Cursed be he sayth God which abydeth not in all thinges that are written in the booke of the lawe to do them Behold the lawe bringeth a curse with it and maketh vs giltie not because it is of it self naught or vnholy God forbid we shoulde so thinke but because the frailtie of our sinfull fleshe is such that we can neuer fulfill it accordyng to the perfection that the Lorde requireth Coulde Adam then thinke you hope or trust to be saued by the law No he could not But the more he looked on the law the more he sawe his owne dampnation set before his eyes as it were in a most cleare glasse So that now of him selfe he was most wretched and miserable destitute of all hope neuer able to pacifie Gods heauie displeasure nor yet to escape the terrible iudgement of God wherinto he and all his posteritie were fallen by disobeying the straight commaundement of the Lorde theyr god But O the aboundaunt ryches of Gods great mercie O the vnspeakable goodnes of his heauenly wysoome When all hope of righteousnes was past on our part when we had nothing in our selues whereby we myght quenche his burning wrath worke the saluation of our owne soules and rise out of the miserable estate wherin we lay Then euen then dyd Christ the sonne of God by the appoyntment of his father come downe frō heauen to be wounded for our sakes to be reputed with the wicked
house of God is a place appoynted by the holy scriptures where the lyuely word of God ought to be read taught hearde the Lordes holy name called vpon by publique prayer heartie thankes geuen to his maiestie for his infinite and vnspeakeable benefits bestowed vpon vs his holy Sacramentes duely and reuerently ministred that therfore all that be godly in deede ought both with diligence at times appoynted to repayre together to the said Church and there with all reuerence to vse and behaue them selues before the Lorde And that the sayde Church thus godly vsed by the seruauntes of the Lorde in the Lordes true seruice for the effectuous presence of Gods grace wherewith he doth by his holy word and promises endue his people there present and assembled to the attaynement aswell of commodities worldly necessary for vs as also of all heauenly gyftes lyfe euerlastyng is called by the worde of GOD as it is in deede the temple of the Lorde and the house of God and that therefore the due reuerence thereof is stirred vp in the heartes of the godly by the consyderation of these true ornamentes of the sayde house of God and not by any outwarde ceremonies or costly and glorious deckyng of the sayde house or temple of the Lorde contrarie to the which most manyfest doctrine of the scriptures contrary to the vsage of the primitiue Church whiche was most pure and vncorrupt and contrary to the sentences and iudgementes of the most auncient learned and godly doctours of the Churche as hereafter shall appeare the corruption of these latter dayes hath brought into the Churche infinite multitudes of images and the same with other partes of the temple also haue decked with golde and siluer paynted with colours set them with stone pearle clothed them with silkes and pretious vestures phantasyng vntruely that to be the cheefe deckyng adournyng of the temple or house of God and that all people should be the more moued to the due reuerence of the same if all corners thereof were glorious and glisteryng with golde and pretious stones Whereas in deede they by the sayde images and suche glorious deckyng of the temple haue nothing at all profited suche as were wyse and of vnderstandyng but haue thereby greatly hurt the simple and vnwyse occasionyng them thereby to commit most horrible idolatrie And the couetous persons by the same occasion seemyng to worshyp peraduenture worshippyng in deede not onely the images but also the matter of them golde and siluer as that vice is of all others in the scriptures peculierly called idolatry or worshipping of images Against the which foule abuses and great enormities shal be alleaged vnto you First the aucthoritie of Gods holy worde aswell out of the olde Testament as of the newe And secondly the testimonies of the holy and ancient learned fathers and doctours out of their owne workes and auncient histories ecclesiasticall both that you may at once knowe their iudgementes and withall vnderstande what maner of ornamentes were in the temples in the primatiue church in those times whiche were moste pure and sincere Thirdly the reasons and argumentes made for the defence of images or idols and the outragious decking of temples and Churches with golde syluer pearle and pretious stone shal be confuted and so this whole matter concluded But least any shoulde take occasion by the way of doubtyng by wordes or names it is thought good heere to note first of all that although in common speache we vse to call the lykenesse or similitudes of men or other thynges images and not idols yet the scriptures vse the saide two wordes idols and images indifferently for one thyng alway They be wordes of diuers tongues and soundes but one in sense and signification in the scriptures The one is taken of the Greeke worde 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 an idoll and the other of the Latin worde Imago an image and so both vsed as Englishe termes in the translatyng of scriptures indifferently accordyng as the Septuaginta haue in their translation in Greeke 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and saint Hierome in his translation of the same places in Latin hath Simulachra in Englishe images And in the newe Testament that whiche saint John calleth 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Saint Hierome lyke wyse translateth Simulacrum as in all other lyke places of scripture vsually he doth so translate And Tertullian a most ancient doctour and wel learned in both the tongues Greeke Latin interpretyng this place of Saint John Beware of idols that is to say sayeth Tertullian of the images them selues The Latin wordes whiche he vseth be Effigies and Imago to say an image And therfore it forceth not whether in this processe we vse the one terme or the other or both together seyng they both though not in common Englishe speache yet in scripture signifie one thyng And though some to blynde mens eyes haue heretofore craftily gon about to make them to be taken for wordes of diuers signification in matters of religion and haue therefore vsually named the lykenesse or similitude of a thyng set vp amongst the heathen in their temples or other places to be worshipped an idoll But the lyke similitude with vs set vp in the Churche the place of worshippyng they call an image as though these two wordes idoll and image inscripture dyd differ in proprietie and sense whiche as is aforesayde differ onely in sound and language and in meaning be in dede all one specially in the scriptures and matters of religion And our images also haue ben and be and yf they be publiquely suffred in Churches and temples euer wil be also worshipped and so idolatrie committed to them as in the last part of this Homilie shall at large be declared and proued Wherefore our images in temples and Churches be in deede none other but Idols as vnto the whiche idolatrie hath ben is and euer wyll be committed And first of all the scriptures of the olde Testament condemnyng and abhorring aswell all idolatrie or worshyppyng of images as also the very idols or images them selues speciallye in temples are so many and plentiful that it were almoste an infinite worke and to be conteyned in no small volume to recorde all the places concerning the same For when God had chosen to him selfe a peculier and speciall people from amongst all other nations that knewe not God but worshypped idols and false gods he gaue vnto them certayne ordinaunces and lawes to be kept and obserued of his sayde people But concerning none other matter did he geue either mo or more earnest and expresse lawes to his sayde people then those that concerned the true worshyppyng of hym and the auoyding and fleeyng of idols and images and idolatrie for that that both the sayde idolatrie is moste repugnaunt to the ryght worshipping of him and his true glorye aboue all other vices and that he knewe the pronenesse and inclination of mans corrupt kynde and nature to