keepe them from blame and shame before God seeing he came apparantly into the mids of his owne and his owne receiued him not But be they hote or key cold be they carefull or carelesse be they Gods friends or the Diuels feends be they one or other or neither or all Iohn preacheth to them all at once and teacheth one with another excepting against neither and accepting of al as of one he will graft this science of Christ into the true oliue and if the body cānot nourish it hee will remoue it into the wilde oliue tree he offereth them the sauour of life the Sauiour of the world but if they refuse him he turneth to the Gētiles if the children of the family will not eate their bread giue it to the poore that cry out for hunger at the dores if the true and next legitimate heyre be dead raise vp another heire by adoption if the common directest path be stopped vp all is plaine ground open way in the valley of Bethabara and God is not tide to any man or to any way vnlesse he be his man and it be his way for if once he be Gods chosen seruant and once in Gods booke of life if God shall once say Thou art my sonne and I wil be a father to thee then if euery haire of his head were a Cayn and euery pore of his body a Nymrod though euery drop of his bloud be an Ammon euery blast of his spirit the seuen spirits of Mary Magdalene his haires shal be washed his pores clensed his bloud purged his spirit purified and all his inward and outward man made a liuely sacrifice of a dead a holy oblation of a defiled an acceptable and gratious sauour of a putrified and noisome smell and in a word to Gods children chiefly is this doctrine appertaining which S. Iohn deliuereth here behold the Lambe of God that taketh away the sinne of the world to them specially is it spoken which are written in Gods eternall Register whose faith is euer liuely mouing working neuer idle A foundation surely grounded is not easily remoued but a building vpon sand is soone ouerturned that is bred in the bone wil neuer out of the body but an outward maladie is soone cured a Iewish father maketh a Iewish sonne as the scholler is taught so he beleeueth as the blinde is led so he walketh an owne counteth night as day and the Iewe loueth his owne darkenesse more then the light of Christ and the fault is not in the day but in the oule when Gods holy spirit forsaketh a man he goeth and wandreth he cannot tell whether but is compared to swine that tread vpon pearles to beasts that perish the Iewe will be obstinate in his superstition and wilfull in his blindnes as the Aethiopian will euer be blacke and the diuell a liar at euery hand a reprobate sense may be reproued but neuer amended a peruerse opinion wil very hardly leaue a peruerse and crooked minde superstitious premisses alwaies drawe after them superstitious conclusions Iewish and vncharitable presumptions make Iewish iudgements vnkind and vnchristian thoughts beget vnkind and vnchristian censures a preiudicate minde can neuer determine rightly a purposed inuectiue is commonly more affectionate then reasonable though a voice from heauen approue Christ the Iewish voice in earth will reproue him and his by hooke or by crooke probably or impudently euen Martinlike if the diuell once set in his pawe all the whole house will smell of his rankenes one morsell of leauen leueneth the whole lump of dowe then beware of the leauen of the Iewish Scribes and Pharisees that write vnrighteousnesse and boast of leesings Historians say that the crow and the ape suppose presume their yonglings are faire and so perhaps they are in their kinde but who else will say so besides the crowe and the ape Mercury in his methode imagineth selfe-loue to walke in a gallery beset and hanged with seeing glasses wherein she may view and vaunt hir owne pecock feathers I cannot stand now vpon this common place of wilfull and Iewish obstinacie mixed with hautie and Iewish self-loue the truest historie and poesie in the world is the historie and poesie of the Bible that teacheth the truest and surest beleefe and the truest beleefe neuer refuseth the right sentence or hopeth for more truthes then one faith tempered with charitie pearceth the cloudes and loue among brethren is a sweete smell in Gods nostrels the loue of Iesus is more sweet then the loue of all women for he shall neuer repent himselfe of his loue that loueth Iesus he came to vs as a frend he dwelt with vs as a brother he died for vs as a mother in trauell he rose for vs as a God he ascended for vs as a Captaine a captaine to leade and defend his christian Souldiers to loade and oppresse his Iewish enemies must therefore be loued with the loue of all frendes of all brothers of al children of all creatures of al seruants and souldiers in the whole world from the first day to the last There is but one world but one sunne but one king and but one Messias and Sauiour greater then the world cleerer then the sunne stronger then king great without fault cleare without spotte strong without change the world of ioy the sunne of righteousnes the king of peace let vs goe out of this world and dwell in that world walke in that light obey that king but first follow the counsel of Iohn-baptist and beholde behold the lamb of God that taketh away the sinne of the world and then dwel with him walke with him and obey him Thus for vpon the first part of this text which is the historie Now followeth the doctrine which the wicked heare and marke not or if they marke it they soon forget it if they remember the word it taketh no roote in their hearts or if it be rooted it rotteth and withereth at the last and scarcely bringeth foorth the least tokens of regeneration but geueth leaues and no fruite and is therefore cursed with Christes owne curse as the Fig-tree was cursed for bearing no figges Marke c. 11. ver 13 21. Who then must cheefly wey and examine this sentence of Iohn-baptist Let all those that delight in their saluation behold this lambe of God with louing eye and constantly perswade themselues that he taketh away the sinne of the world let all such as loue their owne liues consider this sentence throughly deepely from which al meditations and prayers are growen and vpon which all the bookes and volumes of holy writers and godly learned fathers are buylded written for as al their works belong to the two testaments the old and the new so the two testamentes are singularly belonging to this one sentence But to leaue the longest and largest obseruations it shall suffice to set downe a compendious and if God will a fruitfull exposition Behold saith the Baptist behold with ioy awake
within vs and coole faith by continuance maketh vs stiffe and halfe dead with sinne and altogither vnfit to be our owne martirs in affection or other mens in example let vs beloued stirre and raise vp our fainting soules to a liuely zealous faith let vs good Countrymen quicken our senseles senses with good woords and good workes as effects of good faith that we be not starke dead in sin and rather seeke the saluation both of our soules senses that lasteth for euer then the delight pleasure of either that vanisheth away like a smoke that wasteth like a snaile that withereth like grasse and neuer continueth in one stay Then where shall we seeke this saluation but in the booke of life and in which part of that booke is it sooner found then in the gospel the law of grace what guide or teacher in the gospell can shewe vs a better pathway then Iohn-baptist who was sent frō God as the forerunner of the Christ saith S. Marke in his gospell c. 1. v. 2.3 to tell vs the way the truth and life the eternall word Iesus Christ For Iesus is the way because his doctrine and precept telleth vs the right and ready way to euerlasting life Iesus is the truth because without error he may alwaies and in truth must alwaies be followed in all our iudgements and consultations that we may walke in the light not in darknes Iesus is the life of our liues because without him we are as dust in the winde and straw in the fire and by him we passe through the greatest difficulties and euen the very seas of all deadly dangers and temptations which S. Iohn speaketh by a metaphore metonimy of the effect for the efficient c. 14. v. 6 in him we passe safely from the first day in the beginning of all yea before all measure of times euen vnto this day as S. Augustine writeth largely to Deogratias against Porphyrius in his 49. Epistle Wherefore in these and other respects heare and read I beseech you beloued Christians what the blessed and right honourable Prophet that most noble preacher Iohn-baptist hath taught vs of Iesus Christ in the gospell according to S. Iohn c. 1. v. 29. The next day Iohn seeth Iesus comming to him and saith Behold the Lambe of God that taketh away the sinne of the world This text is short but sweete and weighty as the sunne in heauen seemeth little but is great and mighty in operation all bodies die without the sunne and all soules and bodies perish without the effect of this Scripture Philosophers thinke that the sunne and a man maketh a man but diuine philosophy wil thinke speake and conclude that this sonne of God the sunne and light of mankind maketh and saueth and crowneth man with glory in that he wipeth out and washeth away the sinne of the world the sunne is the hart of heauen the captaine of the stars the eye of the world this worde is the hart of the Bible the cheefe of al words to which our eares must giue eare and on which our eyes must alwaies looke For in this verse are cōtained the lawes of Moses and Israël with the prophecies of all prophets both great and small in that Iohn calleth Iesus the lambe of God and the fruit of the new Testament both in the Euangelists Apostles springeth and groweth from this ground in that he is said to take away the sinne of the world Then was Simplicius but a hellish iudge to count the tales of Aegypt and the tables of Moses alike and Galen was but a prophane humorist and Lacuna his shadow little better to mislike the creation of man and misreport the wonders of the red sea ignorantly then are the Pelagians peruerse and miserable disputers which denie and euacuate the baptisme of infants because Christ alone washeth and purgeth thē like them which would hinder the beginning of a thing because it shall at last be made perfect or say you must not vse an instrumēt because there is a principall or warme your self at a fire because the sun is the chiefest workemaster of heate warmnes But to let passe all dilating cōparatiue amplifications of words sentēces togither with other necessary occasiōs of discourse Marke beloued what is here written with the finger of God pen of the holy ghost the next day Iohn seeth Iesus cōming to him and saith and tell me if euer you heard a more louing a more gratious and cōfortable saying behold the Lambe of God that taketh away the sinne of the world O bountifull Iesu ô sweete Sauiour ô mercifull annointed of God the Father what is man that thou art so mindfull of him or the sonne of mā that thou so regardest him our bodies are brim full of sinne wickednes as the stables of oxen asses ouerladen and ouercharged with dunge and filthinesse the goodnesse of our soules is like a mēstruous rag as Esay witnesseth c. 64. v. 6. whose word is as an inuiolable seale a sure bond What is then within vs worthy of thy loue ô Christ or what is without vs worthy of thy liking ô son of Dauid ô son of God ô sunne and light of heauē earth we looke vpon thee with Iohn-baptist ô that we could alwaies looke vpō thee we see thee come to vs as did Iohn-baptist ô neuer turne thy backe vpon vs but euer come to vs stay with vs euer we reioyce in thy name that thou art a lambe to vs and a lion of Iuda to the enimies that thou dischargest the debts of the righteous and leauest the wicked in the debtbooke to be arrested and imprisoned till they haue paide the vttermost farthing we looke on thee with ioyfulnesse ô Iesu as infants looke vpon a light the wicked see thee with dazeled eyes as the Sodomites groped in the darke Genesis c. 19. v. 11 we walke in thy sun-light and are comforted we are blacke and sunburnt with walking we are black ô Iesu but louely before thee the wicked are parched with thy beames thy heat maketh their heads to ake their harts to pant their spirits to faile them that they may as it were call for butter out of a lordly dish milke out of a bottle with Sisara or some other delight which their sensuall soules long for and afterward be nayled to the earth with the hammer of one deceitfull Iahel or other close enimie in their sleepe and securitie or come to such like sudden and vile death And this in effect is the generall summe and chiefe purpose of this text Of the ioyfull estate of the godly by seing Christ and The wofull fall of the wicked by turning frō him Now to proceede in the playner exposition of euery portiō and particularity of this verse we see in it both a briefe History and a blessed Doctrine The History is that when Iohn saw Iesus comming to him he gaue out among the people his iudgement of
the ordinary meanes of all persuasion for as he tolde them before of Christs power and honour in confessing himselfe vnworthy to loozen his shoe v. 27. that he might make them stand in awe and feare of him the best way to moue some kinde of natures which must be constrained and compelled by authoritie and shame or els cannot obey so now he commendeth the goodnesse the mildnesse the meekenesse and mercifull loue of Iesus to allure and drawe the rest vnto him by faire meanes and as the proudest Pharisee should reuerence him for his glory so the poorest Publican would imbrace him for his clemencie yet cannot the Paganes or enemies of Iesus take from this poore title any occasion of contemning him and disdayning his gouernment not any second Iulian or Lucian or counterfet Martin for that true Martin Luther and that truer Martin Bucer and that Saint Martin the Bishop and that Martin Chemnisius were learned and good men of God and full of zeale they were set and planted against Baal and Bell and Antichrist by imitation of Elias of Daniel and the rest can despise this lambe of God with confocations and paltripolitanes and pitomes and pistles and such cacozelies he is vtterly deceiued he enterfires and ouer-reaches too much The Practise or the Fox of popish prelates and the liues or lambe of Christian Prelates are as farre asunder as the tales of mort Arthur and the bookes of Moses as the golden legend of Iron Saints and the Actes of the Apostles as the scenes of Dauus and the Psalmes of Dauid as the writings of Martin the workes of an honest man that is sober toward the world and godly in respect of heauen I say no arte or mart of such husie-bodies mote-spiers can iustly neglect and abase this lambe of God because hee is the lion of the Tribe of Iuda Reuel c. 5. v. 5. because he is the ruler of the world Esay c. 16. v. 1. because a thousand thousands of Angels and foure and twentie Elders fall downe before him sitting on the Throne and ascribe all wisdome all riches all strength all blessings to him for euer and euer Reuel c. 5. v. 12 13. yea euen that famous and renowmed golden fleece of Iason were it the Philosophers stone or the treasures of those coūtreies or the goodliest arte or thing in the world is vile and abiect as dung in the presence of this eternall lambe though those iolly heathen galoping wits magnifie it neuer so stoutly And the least proximitie of his bodily much more of his ghostly vertue and sauour is more effectuall and soueraigne against the heate of sinne and flesh then all Agnus castus of Galen in the world ministred in leaues in decoction in powder or any way els to worke an effect like the name The calfe in Dan and the calfe in Bethel hath been broaken nowe Iesus is himselfe that fatted and prepared Calfe which is slayne to make them good cheere that will repent and returne to the Father the Memtiphical God the bul Apis which those calues imitated as some thinke is destroyed from Egypt and the mighty prince of Nilus his regions reioyceth in the bloud of king Dauids ofspring and in the spirit of Peter and Paul and all Paynims idols and euery other beast must giue place and praise to this best and liuing lambe of God let the mountaines leape like lambs let the litle hils skip like yoong sheepe seeing God hath sent so mighty and gentle a lambe among vs which is a lion to the wicked and impenitent resisters a lambe to the godly and humble soules Then what doth this lambe seeing he is so mighty and maruelous and what good commeth to vs by his goodnesse that he is so good he is a lambe whose offering is our iustification he taketh away the sinne of the world and herein consisteth our sanctification in that he died for vs we are iust and free from the curse of lawe in that he acquiteth vs we are holy and blamelesse in Gods sight whose eye-lids trie the children of men he hath taken our weaknesse vpon his shoulders and hath sustained our griefe saith Esai c. c. 53. v. 5. hee hath cast our sinne into the bottom of the sea saith Michaeas c. 7. v. 19. He hath himselfe borne in his body our transgressions on the tree saith Peter 1. epistle c. 2. v 24. he is the full propitiation for our sinne saith Iohn 1. epistle c. 2. v. 12. he is our aduocate to the father our mediator our intercessor in counselling vs in guiding vs in defending vs he is euer and onely to be loued feared obeyed loued because he hath bought our loue so deerely feared because he may in equitie forsake vs obeyed because none can direct vs more safely Then what huge and monstruous sinne was that which the sonne of the immortall God could onely beare what a vile and excessiue what a deadly fierce what a damnable and heauy sinne was it which Iesus alone was able and none other to take away Adam might say he taketh away sinne Noah might say he taketh away sinne al ages before Christ and since Christ might say with the Baptist tollit peccatum that is saith Caluine fert and aufert 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and Schoolemen confesse that he onely doth this by forgiuing vs that is past by helping vs against present sinnes by bringing vs to heauen where sinne hath no place they should not denie that tollit belongeth to all times not onely to the supper of Christ or any one time seeing in true faith he was the lambe euer as in true sense he was the lambe once for euery time is present with God and eternity is but to day with him who begat his sonne from euerlasting and yet said this day haue I begotten thee Psal 2. v. 7. and tollit not tollet saith Theophilus Quasi semper hoc ipso faciente as if it were the nature of Christ to purge sinne as of Helleborum to purge the head which naturall history like all other is alwaies written in the present time so Angelica preserueth from the plague at all times and Iesus taketh away sinne at all times so Herbagrace driueth away venimous serpents and Iesus driueth away diuels so Christ said of the future time as if it had then bin present I lay downe my life Iohn c. 10. v. 15. And as euery thing hath his definition in the present time to signifie a perpetuity of that property so this definitiue word of the lambe of God is deliuered and receiued by the present time as the inseparable effect and property of the lambe alwaies abiding and alwaies present as is the present time for Christ was an high Priest not after the order of Aaron which was for a time so long as he which offered liued but after the order of Melchisedech which cōtinueth a priest for euer without beginning without end offering himselfe in
be manifest vnto all men as also theirs was 2. Timo. c. 3. v. 8. Neither am I only to complaine of Lucian or those other vaine greekish wits as of Iannes and Iambres and such like and far aboue any such but diuers learned Romans of much better note when they liued and euer since reputed very sensible reasonable wise men cast themselues headlong into the same damnable gulfe of blasphemy and Atheisme If any man loue not the Lord Iesus Christ let him be anathema and had in execration yea let him be maranatha and abhorred vnto the death 1. Cor. c. 16. v. 22. Lord God what should I say to the two Plinies the vncle and the nephew famous learned men but alas most wretched soules to God whereof the one in his naturall history l. 7. not subtilly or sophistically like Aristotle or his Arabian and corrupt interpretour Auerroes but flatly and resolutely denieth the immortalitie of the soule the other l. 10. reporteth of Christ and the primitiue christians of his age as he listeth in the aboūdance and liking of his owne carnall conceit measuring the soule by the body the line by the timber these are fleshly they are makers of sectes they haue not the spirit and therefore they mislike the fruits hereof as S. Iude saith v. 19. I cannot deny but Cornelius Tacitus is a graue wise historian in many points yet how lightly and foolishly nay how wickedly and impiously doth he report of Christ and his professed followers l. 15. wherefore these are no more to be esteemed of vs eyther for their oratourship or other learning then Tertullus that oratour and Elymas that cunning man were esteemed of the Apostles Acts c. 13. v. 10. c. 24. v. 16. The like censure I and all good Christians must giue of Suetonius in the life of Nero Claudius of Symmachus in Prudentius works of Celsus in the bookes of Origene of too many other in that kinde who either reuiled Christ in abhominable most hellish tearmes of a notable malefactor and seducer of the people in very trueth no better then hungrie rauenous dogges licking vp the vomit of the Pharisees Mat. cap. 27. v. 62. or els acknowledged his only humanitie without any christian confession of his deitie Such is the fashion of the worlde and such is the guise of disguised malignant worldlings to rayle on the person whom they may see when they cannot disgrace his vertues which they will not see to respect the men that are of meane estate without regard of their stately and excellent gifts to vse generall reproofes without particular proofes and rather be content to call him good then leaue him out of the Libell to soare aloft and houer in the ayre like a spirite of the aire and yet at length to licke dust and seize vpon flies and wormes and meanest things to carry a great name euen a title of Legions and yet to end but in brutish and hoggish conquestes vpon the worst and vilest matters These disloyalties and misdemeanors are too well knowen among some men and I would to God they were either lesse notorious or more abhorred I confesse many bookes are otherwise of very great importance and worthy the reading but Christ knoweth how much better it were quite to banish them the Countrey then that they should creepe into the least credite with vs in any such matter of faith and religion we must not iudge of Angels by the deuils will or learne of our enemies how to vse our frendes we must haue no felowship with the vnfruitfull works of darkenesse of pride of malice of blasphemie but rather reproue them as S. Paul teacheth the Ephesians c. 5 v. 11 c. Men voide of the feare of Gods holy church and geuen ouer to a recklesse sense seeme they otherwhile to the world neuer so sensible neuer so reasonable neuer so learned neuer so wise neuer so hardie neuer so subtile both cast away themselues in the end and doe either little or no good nay exceeding much harme without the good direction and reformation of a christian spirite which buildeth not vpon flesh or bloud or vpon any goodly shew of humane witte reason learning experience or wisdome but euen vpon that corner stone and vpon that most sound and inuincible rocke whereon Christ buildeth his church that is a true confession of Christ with S. Peter and a faithfull heholding of the lambe of God with S. Iohn Other good parts and other good gifts are good in their kind at least as the world counteth good and as good goeth now a dayes but alas all other good without this good is too bad What auayleth it to haue all the experience all the policie all the learning all the wisdome all the wealth and plausibilitie in the worlde nay what doeth it profite to winne the whole worlde and to lose thine owne soule there runneth an olde prouerbiall rithmicall verse among Schollers notable for the sense though otherwise not so excellent Hoc est nescire sine Christo plurima scire Qui Christum bene scit satis est si caetera nescit The greatest knowledge without Christ is no better then blind ignorance he that well knoweth Christ it maketh the lesse matter if his knowledge bee the lesse otherwise O it is Christian beleefe Christian zeale Christian humilitie that leadeth to heauen Saluation commeth not of thy selfe or of thy owne witte thou art damned in the first Adam and must either remayne damned still or be regenerate and saued in the seconde Adam Iesus Christ the propitiation of our sinnes the immaculate lambe slaine from the beginning and once offered on the altar of the crosse for all the very true right only lambe of God that taketh away the sinne of the earth we may endeuor to sowe or to plant or to water or to runne or to doe any action but it is God that geueth the increase and victorie God be mercifull vnto vs and geue vs more and more of his mercie that through his grace and spirit we may grow and increase in his vineyard still from better to better to seeke still the finall destruction of these foxes which destroy the vine till we inherite that kingdome and enioy that crowne of glory that is prepared for him and his Angels for him and his elect for him and al good Christians Wee see how throughly the diuell hath playd his part in opposing so many great schollers and od wits in all ages against our sauiour his craft and malice hath left no way vnattempted whereby he may winne the world vnto him he continually goeth and rangeth about like a roaring lion seeking whom he may deuour 1. Peter c. 1. v. 8. O he is a wicked and a crafty diuell and is too well learned to spie his owne aduauntage and euer ready to take the least occasiō of his gaine by our losse of his strength by our infirmity of his comfort by our miserable fall and perdition of setting vp his
Strawe with Leyden and his mate that the Nobilitie must returne back to auncient pouertie and deuide their summes and goods among their needy secular brethren and be reformed for company into a wofull and distressed case till euery one hath inough to liue thereby in some trade without beggery and woe because the first Nobles in this realme and all other liued so at the first in the primitiue Nobilitie following the sunne and moone and all lightes which the higher they are the lesse shadowes they make without such costly traynes and deepe expences and so many good morrowes whilest hūdreds starue for want of that they cast away But they neuer consider that none shoulde want if either those numbers would labour in their vocations soberly and painfully or many other beside Noblemen could doe their dueties neighbourly and willingly toward the impotent creatures the obiects of mercie they remēber not that idlenes destroyeth more then pouerty and that infinite men die or come to nought by their folly not by misorder of superiors by not obeying them not by any fault of them of their owne stonie obdurate wilfulnesse not otherwise O vnthankefull wretchednesse and wretched vnthankfulnes ô disobedient tongues against the law impenitent soules against the gospell ô forgetfull and vngratefull iniquitie ô creatures marprelates most vnkind and barraine of iustice distributiue as Sir Thomas Elyot proueth solemnly l. 3. c. 2. in his gouernour where he thus exclaimeth against thē which dislike the names and ceremonies that appertaine to reuerence and obedience together with the costly rewards ornaments of vertuous and godly men Ought they not to fal prostrate on the ground with fasting and prayer to glorifie God for his most louing and fatherly care for his princely prouidence for his bountifull goodnes euer more and more bestowed vpon vs and them ought they to refuse Gods gracious liberalitie to looke backward whē he looketh forward to thinke they can haue too much of Gods blessings to restraine that which is giuen only to a godly honest end for the sustenance of learned and religious men in schooles churches for the reuerence and safegard of the chiefest sober staied men and fathers approued and constant in learning and manners of life not for martinish whelpes that can neither speake well nor do well thrust in by them that now are offended with their dignities as Palamedes and Iosephs bretheren and Aesope were accused for hauing that which was thrust vppon them iniuriously O vos nefarij gnauiterque impudentes libelli nulla est Ecclesiae Anglicanae macula cuius autores fautores non sint vestri laici martinistae as the deuil cast sores vpon Iob and then made his lightheaded wife to vpbrayde him and tell him of that he had against his will It must needs be that offences should come but woe bee to them by whom they come and woe be to you that curse those things which your selues haue caused Math. cap. 18. vers 7. But happie are they that auoid the curse by keeping the right way by not coueting that which belongs only to churchmen contenting themselues with their owne not cōtending for sacred goods and possessions without which interserted among other the whole body of the kingdome would soone prooue a huge monster of ataxy and anarchy with a mouing earth and an immoueable heauen in Copernicus guise neither true astronomer herein nor theonomer howsoeuer he seemeth a reformer to some that are open at all times to receiue all that falleth or commeth next to hand yea if it were in their heat when they haue not their wils to curse God and die to lift fooles on horsebacke and set kings on foote to conuert with our deriuatiue cōuerts the belles into guns the leads into pellets the mother cathedrall churches into close chambers the fonts into basons the organes in water pipes and then themselues into diuels the realme into hell though God hath aboundantly besides their desert indewed them with all kinde of principall and necessary prouision for peace and warre that they might not haue euill eyes because he is good vnto other Math. c. 20. v. 15. How can they be the members of Christ that are the lims of Satan and make a sport of mocking those chiefe men of learning and sober life men casting aside all rayling and vnlearned innouations and as sufficient for their places of gouernment as euer any haue beene in England and notwithstanding the superlatiue of Erasmus concerning the fathers in his dayes How can they be true subiects that tell the Parlement they are starued with their Seruice booke wherein is the most perfit order and matter of diuine prayer and thankesgiuing set downe for all men that rend and cut in peeces hir Maisties irreprehensible Statutes inacted in the first yeare of hir gracious raigne c. 2. spurning them and abusing them rebelliously O good God we beseech thee if they be of thy flocke which haue erred and strayed thus desperatly from thy way of peace and righteousnesse lyke lost or diseased sheepe to open their eares and eyes and harts that they may at length by thy prouident fauourable goodnesse heare see and know what they are doing and vndoing for they are as deafe and blinde and dead in sinne without thee as the Iewes were that stoned thy protomartyr Steuen as the Libertines and Cyrenians were that persecuted thy disciples not otherwise able then with raging wordes hundreds of headlong sectaries to resist their power but onely thought they did well for want of thy spirit and through ignorance of thy holy worde Acts c. 6. v. 10. c. 7. v. 60. Thy primitiue Apostles count it in thy euangelicall histories a glory to thy name increase of thy gospell thy faith thy loue thy church when any maintenance and reuenew was bestowed on them and thy faithfull disciples and laid downe at their hands and feet 1. Cor. v. 16. v. 17. when any zealous patrone or other deuout person by thy fatherly loue and oeconomie was sent to help their christian brotherhoode and felowshippe in thy battels and heauenly embassages the more they receiued the more they reioyced they prayed daily for them which ministred to their wants Philip. cap. 4. v. 18. they were then enrolled among the godly Christians that intertayned and maintained thy Saints the laitie then striued among themselues who should be greatest in christian deuotion in liberality in patronage in loue and such like vertues which vphold mankind 1. Thessal 6.5 v. 12 13. they were such as should be saued saith the Euangelist S. Luke that were added and that added to the church Acts c. 2. v. 47. they were called brethren because they fed of the same table of the same milke of of the same store Acts. c. 21. v. 7. Rom. c. 1. v. 13. and shall their deriuatiue successors ô mercifull God ô bountifull Iesu count it for a dishonor to thy name and a decrease of thy Gospell a decay of thy loue