priest of the olde lawe must necessarily be a naturall man then that he must do the worke of the people in thinges apperteining to God thirdly that he must doe it with some sacrifice fourthly with compassion for the peoples errours in all which Christ onely is excellent aboue all other Now the Apostle goeth forward and yet sheweth a fifte propertie of the high priest afore and that is that he was called of God and thrust not himselfe into that roome function To this purpose now it followeth And no man taketh vnto him selfe this honour but he that is called of God as was Aarō then in the two verses following sheweth howe in this also Christe excelled Aaron and had a more glorious calling then he first because an high decree of God was pronounced by the Prophete in which vnder the name of a soone God ordeyned him priest saying Thou art my sonne this day haue I begotten thee Againe he called him not vnto a priesthood of signes and shadowes which endured but for a while but he called him to the true priesthood it selfe which chaunged not but made him a priest for euer after the order of Melchisedech So as the sonne is higher then a seruant the trueth better then the figure of it and that which abydeth euer better then that which in time is abolished so much this calling of Christ exceedeth Aarons calling and all the priestes of the lawe Heere let vs first learne sith the Apostle speaketh plainely No man taketh honour to him selfe but he that is called of God as Aaron was that bothe it is vnlawfull for any man without a calling to take vppon him the ministerie neither yet any calling ought to be which is not according to the will of God for seeing the ministerie is honourable and hee is iustly honoured that executeth it faithfully how can I exalt my selfe but of right I ought againe to be brought lowe and in steede of glorie haue shame for what doe I in this but rob Christe of his glorie who is head of his Churche and appointeth ministers whom hee will who ruleth in the house of Iacob and ordeyneth officers at his owne pleasure If in an earthlie kingdome subiectes would presume to take offices at their owne choice were it not extreme confusion vtter reproche and shame vnto the prince howe muche more to bring this confusion into the Churche of Christ Therfore both our Sauiour Christ himselfe did openly ordeine his own apostles neuer any of them executed that office but with protestation that they had this calling of God therfore their Epistles beginne as you reade Paule an Apostle of Iesus Christ. Peter the seruant of Iesus Christ. And y same frō the beginning hath beene a perpetuall lawe in the church of god Moses Dauid Esay Ieremie and all the residue they tooke not this honour to them selues but were called of God in the name of God they declared vnto the people his visions and his wordes from which if they declyned to the righte hand or to the leste they made them selues sinners and not onely thus it is in the ministerie but for as much as the Apostle giueth it a generall terme No man taketh honour vnto him selfe euen in the common wealth in matters of this vaine life not onely the God of peace wil not haue his people to liue in confusion euery man to exalte himselfe but also limitteth to euery one the bounds of his calling in which God hath giuen him honour and without which bothe hee sinneth against God and offendeth his Prince that hath appointed him The Iustice muste deale with those thinges whiche apperteine vnto a Iustice a iudge with the things of a iudge and as it is rebellion for the priuate man to resist the magistrate so is it presumptiō in a magistrate to take vpō him aboue his calling We haue gotten amōg vs I know not what prouerb which cōmonly we call A cast off our office if this bee to cast off the lawe of our calling and take more honour then is giuen of the higher power we deserue it right wel if for such prety castes our selues should be cast quite out of our places for in matters aboue vs we be all priuate men and must goe vnto them to whom God hath giuen the iudgemente where we our selu◅s haue the place of honour there let vs be faithful as before the Lord. The second thing to be learned in these wordes is that we haue all such a calling as we may be sure it is of God for we must be called of God as Aaron was Heere dearely beloued I woulde wee had no cause to complaine or seeing thinges are so ill as they are I would we had the spirite of the prophete Ieremie to wishe that our handes were full of water or in our eyes were a founteine of teares that we might weepe day and night for the sinnes of our nation then the Lorde in due time would hearken vnto vs and the highest from his holy seate woulde regarde vs that our eyes might see all our ruines restored But nowe touching this calling in magistrates and officers of our common wealth I will say no more but in one worde as the scripture speaketh God calleth him vnto his dignitie who is orderly appointed and is a man of courage fearinge God dealing truely hauing no respecte of persons and hating couetousnesse otherwise if by bribing by ambition or by any vnlawfull meanes he come to his preferment the more he knoweth himselfe the more he wil feare least his calling be not of God but this they will regarde to whome it belongeth our speciall doctrine here is in the callinge of the ministers wherof by the grace of god I wil tel you the trueth but because this and other thinges are nowe in bitter controuersie betweene our selues so that the vncharitable wordes of our mouthes are witnesses against vs of the euill affections of our hearts and our hurtfull doings one toward another do shew abundantly that euil will hath taken deepe root within vs I protest y I haue neither part nor fe lowship in this diuisiō but in loue vnitie I beare him witnesse who speaketh trueth and beare with his errour who is deceiued acknowledging my self more vnworthie then either both And that you dearly beloued may hold fast the bonde of peace and not be broken off with euerie temptation I befeeche you consider but this with me hath not God giuen his gifts diuersly to one more to one lesse to one ten pounds as it is in the parable to another but one and can we thē all know a like must we not of necessity one know more another lesse one be more wise another lesse one vnderstand this truth another that euen as God reuealeth it and euerie one of vs haue our wantes in which wee may bee better taught and shall it not be euer so as long as our knowledge is in part we see not the
of health as Sainct Paule saith in which they might haue ben heard But god at the last hath visited vs this vanitie is scattered away I would y remēbrance of it were gon with it An other propertie is here attributed to Christ that he was faythfull that is constant and vnmoueable in his loue til he had finished our reconciliation a lesson vnto vs y loue should not faint within vs nor we be wearie with the labour and trauell of it for true it is loue is not an idle affection to say I would hee were well Or God helpe him but loue is painefull to helpe in time of neede and well willing that no paine can wearie it So S. Paul saith Eternall life is giuen to thē which looke for it in continuāce of wel doing And in another place he bideth vs not to be wery of wel doing for we shal reape the fruit of it not be wearie a thing dearely beloued cōfessed of al men yea the verie Gentiles knew it y all my well doing is nothing worth if at last I would leaue my brother in miserie not help him stil. But it is a thing practised of verie few when I haue once or twise traueled in my brothers cause not to be wearie but to helpe him stil this corruption of y world let vs take heede of it correct the frowardnes of our own nature Tell me I pray if I saw a man like to drowne in y mids of the Thames what if I came vnto him and brought him nigh to the shore and then lest him drowning by the banck side what good did I to him Sure no more then he that looked on and let him alone in the middes only I made him languish with a vaine hope whereby his death was the bitterer And tell me thou fainting wearie friende if Christ should haue done so with thee how great had beene thy miserie If he had endured for thee the paine of his birth the trauel of his life the affliction of his flesh the reproches of men the tentatiōs of the diuel then had left thee in bondage of death whiche thou couldst not escape what hadst thou beene the better Let vs learne then to be faithfull as he was faithfull endure to the ende in well doing I speake this with griefe to see y world how euerie man is left in his righteous cause faire words goodly countenances are not hard to gett but a faithfull heart to deliuer the iust out of trouble I haue seene it in Christ I haue not else found it in one Yet this I am sure of he that is faithful in this behalfe he is like vnto Christ and Christe liueth in him And thus farre of the last verses of this second Chapter Now let vs come to the third Therfore holie brethren partakers of the heauenly calling cōsider the Apostle high Priest of our professiō Christ Iesus Now y Apostle leaueth to make any further description of the persō of Christ wherof we haue heard beginneth a more particular declaration of his offices first how hee is our Prophet to the 14. verse of the next chapter And now let vs learne to be fruitefull hearers and this exhortatiō let it make vs wise that carefully diligently we may hearken and learne the my sterie of y Lord Iesu in which we be saued that we may haue the testimonie in our selues that we be y children of the Newe testament Therefore holy brethren c. Let vs marke diligently euerie woorde in this excellent exhortation for they are not onely a wise persuasion to moue vs to care and diligence in learning but the exhortation is so gathered out of the former doctrine that this one sentence is a plaine expositiō of all the doctrine taught before from the eleuenth verse to the end of the Chapter He saith first Therefore Or for this cause as if he would say Seeing it is so with vs seeing God hath receiued vs into this grace seeing such an excellēt prophet is giuē vnto vs let vs heare him So in the first worde he sheweth that this exhortation is according to his former doctrine Then he calleth them Holie alluding to that he spake in the eleuenth verse He that sanctifieth they that are sanctified are one to teach vs that we be holie that we are one with Christ and y by his spirit sanctifying vs we be receiued into his felowship He calleth them Brethren repeating that he taught in the 11. 12. verse that Christ hath taken our nature we are euen as his brethren fellow-heires with him in the kingdome of his Father and that this is the meaning of Brethren the words following declare Partakers of the heauenly calling these wordes shewe what brotherhood he speaketh of that is a heauenly brotherhood which we haue with Christe for Christ the sonne of God who hath brought downe heauenlie giftes hath imparted himselfe vnto vs made vs fellowes with him in these heauenly blessings first reuealing his fathers wil then defending vs from our enimies and at last presenting vs faultlesse before God abolishing the diuel and the feare of death of whiche heauenlie giftes he spake in the 12. 13. 14. 15. verses After he addeth The Apostle and high priest of our profession In these words he teacheth what offices he had before attributed to Christ in y texts alledged first y he is our prophet calling him by the name of Apostle that is the messinger of God to teach vs our profession verse 12 then y he is our priest to present vs before God as verse 13. And although as I haue often tolde you his kingdome is also manifestly proued by that is saide afore yet by this place I gather that the Apostle hath especially and of purpose onely taught this that Iesus Christ God and man is only our Prophet priest to declare and worke our saluation exhorting vs now to learne carefully so great a mysterie Now let vs consider further this exhortation to see what profitable thinges we haue to learne in it where we are first called Holie Brethren we may see in these wordes a good image of the Churche of Christe Brethren as is said noteth our vnitie with Christ our head by the participation of his spirit so the church is a people graffed into Christ y is made members of Christ and sanctified with his spirite This is our knowledge of the church which is true and catholique it is not in any obseruation of time of place of person but where this brotherhood is a people ioyned to the Lord Iesus and sanctified by him there is the church to talke of any places it is great follie Christ will not haue his Churche to be known by countrie or kinred or respect of persons but only by this that they are graffed in him and made a holy brotherhod And here let vs learn what is true holinesse euen to be made partakers of
hande and foote back and side shall haue experience of his anger all the thoughts of their harts shal be wounded with death and so much the more vnspeakable because their bodyes shall feele and their minde knowe the immortalitie of death and euerlasting destruction that is vppon them whiche extreeme wretchednesse no horrour of darcknesse no weeping and gnashinge of teeth no gnawinge of conscience no eternall fire doth fully and inough set out vnto vs. But this we leaue to the reprobate men who euen to this day haue sould their heartes to conceiue mischiefe and it repenteth them not Let vs feare now in the day of health and better thinges are appointed for vs We shall heare an other voice Come ye blessed into eternall life possesse the kingdome prepared for you from the beginning which voice shal enter depe and into all our members bring a sensible feeling of the loue of God and his greate glorie when with heart and minde wee shall see and knowe our inheritaunce with God in eternall glorie wherevnto if nowe we be raysed vp and the promises of God beginne with vs this vnspeakable and glorious hope so that our heartes be fast holden in the loue of it neuer to chaunge for worldly vanitie or rather shame woorse then vanitie for with what name shall we name it that is exalted against the Lorde if I say thus the woorde of God bee vnto vs wee haue sealed it that his word is liuing and entreth into the diuision of the soule and the spirite and we haue beene fruitfull hearers of all this longe exhortation which the Apostle hath made and ended to stirre vp his brethren faithfully to heare this prophet of God his sonne Iesus Christe and our sauiour who hath reuealed all his wil vnto vs And thus farre of this former parte of the Epistle in which we are taught that Christe is our only prophet but the time is paste Now let vs pray c. The xxj Lecture vpon the residue of the chapter the 14. 15. 16. verses 14 Seeing then that we haue a geat high priest which is entred into Heauen euen Iesus the sonne of God let vs holdefast our profession 15 For we haue not an hye Priest which cannot be touched with the feeling of our infirmities but was in all thinges temped in like sorte yet without sinne 16 Let vs therfore go boldely vnto the throne of grace that we may receiue mercie and finde grace to help in time of neede WE haue heard dearely beloued howe the Apostle hath taught that Christe is nowe our onely Prophet what care we should haue diligently and faithfully to harken vnto him if we will not be guiltie before God of great condemnation and iudgement The reasons are of the Apostle to proue him our onely Prophet first because God sending his onely begotten sonne into the worlde made man like vnto vs and reuealing the will of his father vnto vs the excellencie of his person inforceth vs to confesse that God ordeyneth him alone to be our Prophet Againe he was faithful in the house of God and then what nedeth any other prophet vnto vs thirdly he was more honourable then Moses in this office many wayes to be preferred afore him therfore no other Prophet is to bee ioyned with him Fourthly the Prophet Dauid said To day if you hear his voice c. which we must needes vnderstand to be a perpetuall prophesie and therefore accomplished in Christ whome we must heare if we wil beleeue and be saued Last of all the force strength of the word of God is such as it must needes warrant the maiestie of God in Christ the author of it and as n one other hath that glory so none to be our prophet but he alone vnto all those reasons he hath added as you haue heard ernest exhortatiōs to giue more weight vnto them for the better persuasion of his brethren to whome he writeth Nowe he beginneth the other principall point of this first part of the Epistle that is to proue that Christ is our only priest which disputation he continueth to the eleuenth chapter as we shal god willing heare He beginneth it firste with an exhortation as he vsed the like often before and as I saide to make vs more carefully regarde his woordes Sith thē we haue a great high priest who hath entred into heauen Iesus the sonne of God let vs hold this professiō the force of this exhortation is in the excellencie of the priesthood of Christe secretely compared with the priesthood of Aaron who was in nature their brother in person weake as other men in office earthly entring into a tabernacle made with hangs in vertue a figure of a better sacrificer himselfe not profiting at all but Christ is another highe priest in nature the sonne of GOD in qualitie great and full of glorie in office heauenly entering before God to be our mediatour in vertue holie and perfect himselfe to purge our sinnes This the Apostle noteth calling him high priest greate entring into heauen and the sonne of God and so much the more we are guiltie before him if we shal not holde fast and professe all his instruction and doctrine Now least we should thinke the Apostles exhortation is weake and that he taketh it for graūted which is in controuersie for he calleth our sauiour Christ high priest which yet it seemeth he hath not proued we must consider what hath beene spoken before and so we shall see good argumentes in this exhortation for the proof of his cause He hath taught him to be the sonne of God made man reuealinge vnto vs the counsell of his father purchasing a most glorious inheritance for vs and setting vs free from the bondage of the diuel in which wee were holden vnder the feare of death which things before witnessed of our Sauiour Christ and necessarily prouing him for the same cause to be our priest according to that trueth in the beginning of this disputation he calleth him our great highe priest So he beganne before the thirde chapter Consider holie brethren the Apostle and high priest of our profession not yet hauing particularly spoken of those offices but calling him by those names because according to the description of his person before made it must needes followe that he was both our priest and Prophet Another argument of his priesthood is that hee was here in earth afflicted as we be submitting him selfe to death from which he is risen and nowe ascended into heauen therefore he is our priest crucified for our sinnes risen for our iustification and making now Intercession for vs before God his father Thus we see vpon howe good warrant the Apostle in the beginning exhorteth them to acknowledge Christ their priest and thus muche touching this entraunce of the Apostle into this disputation and why he vseth such wordes Now touching the matter To teach that our sauiour Christ is our onely priest he first sheweth by the workes of
holden by traditiōs but writtē by Moses not in doubtful testimonie but in manifest shew of the glorie of god And this their opinion they did not think was any coniectural exposition but the manifest word as it was oft repeated that this should be an ordinaunce to them for ouer For this cause the Apostle hauing compassion vpon his weake brethren who beleued in Christ but were also thus addicted to the law he writeth vnto them this Epistle by all meanes persuading them neuer to ioyne together our sauiour Christ with the Ceremonies of the lawe whose glorie is perfect in him self alone and all height must be abased before him He created alone and he will redeeme alone He made alone and he wil saue alone and to be set in cōparison with him all the gold siluer precious stones all the ornaments of the temple they are but Beggerlie Elements Nothing else in earth nothing vikler earth nothing in heauen nor in the heauen of heauēs no vertue no power no strength no name else that is named in which or by which we can be saued but only the name of Iesus christ And for this cause this epistle was written Wherin it shal be good for vs to marke how from the beginning sathan hath striuen to obscure and darken the glorie of Christe and howe hee hath holden stil the same purpose vnchaungeably euen to our dayes First he chaūged him selfe into an Angel of light with glorious names of Moses Moses vnder pretence of holinesse striuing against trueth a marueylous practise in those dayes inough to haue subuerted the faith of many For who would haue thought that such men so great louers of the lawe of the Temple of Moses should bee enimies of the true Mellias or be ignoraunt of the saluation and spirituall worship which he should teach them But here we learne not to ground our faith neither vpon the glorious wordes nor vppon the glorious hames of mortall men For this deceiued from the beginning but the worde it selfe must bee graffed in vs if we will not erre So now in these our last times in which the diuel striueth as at the firste wee see how many say vnto vs The church the church The pope the pope The fathers the fathers many thousandes are led with this sound of wordes yet in these wordes is no wisedome onely they renewe the olde deceipt in which the diuel first troubled the church of God For what is the Churche they speake of who is the pope who are their fathers are they greater then the Temple then the lawe then Moses if not then their names may be vsed for a cloke of falshood as y others were Then we must trie them and examine them whether it be a true churche or true fathers they speake of To follow a church you know not what is to trust to the Temple you knowe not how And knowe it well such wordes are but mockeries and such spirites are of error and darknesse The effect is proofe inough For the end of their religion is that ignorance is the mother of deuotion Now touching the author of this Epistle who it was it skilleth not For if the name had ben here what had it shewed but that God vsed the ministerie of such a man And now the time is not knowen it teacheth expressely the doctrine is of god And for this cause to the bookes of holie scripture names are sometime added sometime not that the doctrine of the Lorde might be vnto vs without respect of person And for my parte who wrote this Epistle I can not tell nor I see no cause why I should seeke it For when the spirite of God hath lest it out can I think it the better if I should adde it I remember Athanasius sayeth that since the Gospell was first preached this Epistle was euer thought to be Paules But Eusebius as boldly on the other side saith that he dareth constantly affirm as the sense is the Apostles so the phrase pēning is some other mans but whose God knoweth and thus much of the authour whome we will leaue as we finde him a faithfull wittnesse of Iesus Christ euen to the ends of the world but whose name we knowe not Now for the time in which it was written it is certein it was in y apostles dayes For if it had bene after the destruction of Ierusalem threatning so oft the anger of God to those who would despise his sonne no doubt he would haue mentioned so singular an example Besides this he maketh mention of Timothie as his companion and fellowe who was famous among the Apostles And it is like that this Epistle was written about the later end of the Apostles age because he saith that this doctrine first preached by the Lord hath now bene confirmed vnto vs by them that heard it And noting the time how long the Gospell had bene preached afore he sayth that time required that nowe they should be able to be teachers of it Againe in the x. chapter he putteth them in remembraunce that in times past they had suffered great and manifolde afflictions for the Gospels sake So that we easily see this Epistle as it is holie and Apostolicall in the trueth of doctrine so it hath also the honour of their time And thus farre of the occasion authour and time of this Epistle Now as briefly as I can I will shewe you the argument of the whole Epistle and that is this that onely in Iesus Christ is the forgiuenesse of our sinnes Which argument he handleth thus Firste setting out our sauiour Christ who he is in the ten firste chapiters Then howe saluation is thorough him in the residue of the Epistle In setting foorth our sauiour Christe who he is he sheweth first the nature of his person in the two first chapters then what is his office in the next eight Touching his person he teacheth first that he is perfect God in the first chapter then that he is perfect man in the second Chap. of which we wil speake more particularly in expoūding of the text Of his office whereof we said he intreateth in the viii next chapters he teacheth this firste that he is our Prophet from the beginning of the iii. chapter to the xiiii verse of the fourth then that he is our priest from thence to the xix verse of the x. chapter And though the Apostle of purpose and with great care do plainely teach that Christ is our king yet because this necessarily followeth of the other there was no doubt but that Messias their priest and prophet should be also their prince and king therefore he seemeth not to make any particular intreatie of this as of the other offices but as he was a kingly prophet a kingly priest and the sonne of God so in proofe of all these he maketh with them manifest proofes of his kingdome at in the text more plainely God willing I will
vs If it were thus yet what is become of building religious houses of pilgrimage of numbering many prayers of their holie orders their garments their fasting c All these they let sink in their own shame with out defēce for these applied not the death of Christ vnto vs but in the merite of the worke they were commended But as these haue no colour of good defence so the excuse of the other is very vaine for how say they that the pope or priests applie the me rites of Christ seeing this application cannot stand by their owne confession without a real sacrificing of Christ For saith not y Apostle here that Christ did it by him selfe not onely making Christe the woorke but also the woorkman the price and the chapman the sacrifice sacrificer not al the world can giue any other recompence for sinne but him nor all the world can giue him but him self as both more plainly we shall heare afterwarde And here is expressely saide that he did it by him selfe with as great warrant giuing vnto him y doing as the thing done As wel and with as litle sinne we may choose another sacrifice as another sacrificer For by the same worde of God bothe are giuen to him a like And as there is not mentioned any other thing that euer could be offered so there is not named any other person that euer could offer this But as he is alone our king and alone spoiled principalities and powers vpon his crosse so he is alone our priest and alone he sacrificed vp his bodie once for all Now where it followeth in the Apostles words That he sitteth at the right hand of high maiestie we must first marke the change of wordes where it is vsually saide he sitteth on the right hand of god Here he saith on the right hand of the highest maiestie whiche is as it were an interpretation of the right hand of God signifying nothing else but the power and glorie of God giuen vnto the person of the mediatour according to that saying of Paule God hath highly exalted him and giuen him a name aboue all names Beside this seeing the right hand of God doth signifie his power wee must learne to be wise hearted not make vnto God a right hand or a left like vnto ours Wee know the commandement Thou shalt make vnto thy selfe no grauen image nor the likenes of any thing that is in heauen aboue or in earth beneath or in the water vnder the earth Let vs giue our obedience and confesse that God is incomprehensible not like to any thing which possibly our bodilie eyes can see And let vs not seeke vaine pretences that we might committe sinne and see it not to say I will make it for a remembraunce or the more to stirre vp our mindes make it howe thou wilt the precept is broken which saith thou shalt not make it And be thou well assured as long as S. Paules wordes shall betruer then thine so long it shall stand that if thou do make any similitude in the worlde to represent God Thou hast now turned the trueth of God into a lie changed the glorie of the incorruptible God to the likenes of the image of a corruptible creature and if accordingly God giue thee vp to a reprobate sense for this pride in thine owne wisedome he doth with thee but as he did with thy forefathers therfore take heede The cause why the Scripture attributeth vnto God eares and eyes and hands and feete it is because we are not able yet to comprehende any thing of Gods maiestie therfore the holie Ghost applieth speach to our infirmitie that we might by these woordes the Lord seeth heareth kepeth and ruleth al things that in him we might boldly trust Let not vs carrie away this great goodnesse of God into rebellion to leaue his glorie whiche we see onely by faith and make him handes and feete and gray haire like vnto a wretched bodie that is consumed with yeares But the time is past Let vs pray that it would please God our heauenly father to humble our hearts vnder the mightie power of his sonne Christ that wee may feare loue and obey him reioycing in the excellencie of glory that he hath giuen vnto vs who is the sonne of God and the Lord increase in vs our faith and hope that in the assurance of Gods loue our consciences may be at peace and in the reuelation of Gods glorie our hearts may be filled with ioy in the Lord which we be seech God to graunt vnto vs euen for his sonnes sake our only mediatour and aduocate Amen ¶ The third Lecture vpon the 4. 5. 6. and 7. verses 4 And is made so much more excellent then the Angels in as much as he hath obteyned a more excellent name then they 5 For vnto which of the Angels said he at any time Thou art my sonne this day begat I thee And againe I wil be his father and he shall be my sonne 6 And againe when he bringeth in his first begotten sonne into the worlde he saith And let all the Angels of GOD worship him 7 And of the Angels he saith He maketh his spirits his messingers and his ministers a flame of fire IN these wordes as I tolde you the Apostle beginneth to set out the person of our sauiour Christ by comparison with Angels and this comparison he maketh in many pointes as wee shall heare that the more cleare wee see it tho more effectually we might confesse his high Godhead and therefore aboue all thinges to set him alone called in the new testament the high Prieste and Prophet and King of his people And the first comparison here made is of the first title before giuen him that he is the naturall sonne of God begotten of the substance of his father whereby he must needs be one and equall with his father which name as no Angel hath it so no Angel is to be compared to him That thus the Apostle taketh the name of Sonne according to the dignitie of nature it is plaine in his owne wordes saying And is made so much more excellent c. verse 4. making his excellencie according to his name his name according to his excellēcie For otherwise the name of the sonne of God may be giuen to euery one of vs as God calleth Israel his first borne and all the elect the sonnes of God So the magistrates are sonnes of God and the Angels also the sonnes of God but we by adoption grace the magistrate because he executeth the iudgement of the Lord the Angels by creation none of vs according to the worthinesse of our owne nature But by nature substance eternitie as the Apostle here meaneth there is none the sonne of God but Christ alone And that thus Christ is the sonne of God he proueth it first out of the second psalme where it is said Thou art my sonne this day haue I begotten
names it is plaine what storie is ment and we haue in it to learne first how great a crime it is to resist the minister of God for the name of that sinne God hath giuen vnto the place for a perpetuall remēbrance what the punishment of it hath beene and againe what it is to fall from our hope that we haue in Gods prouidence to mistrust him to feare that he wil faile vs for this is to tempt God with which sinne how highly he is displeased the name of the place to this day beareth witnes ▪ which Moses for that cause called tentation And heere againe let vs learne howe and in what case we may giue names vnto places and that is when the remembrance of the name is a putting vs in minde of some speciall worke of God towarde vs as in remembrance of the excellent vision that God gaue Iacob he caled the place Bethel When God gaue to Abraham the life of Isaak his sonne and saued him from sacrificing Abraham called the place Iehouah Iireh Likewise in remembrance of GODS punishments when he diuided the peoples tongues hee called the name of the place Babel When God destroyed from heauen the hoast of Israel with fire for remembraunce of the punishment they named the place Taberah Manie suche examples are in the Scripture good and profitable for vs to followe if we had hearts that feared God and had comfort in the remembraunce of all his workes but we haue leaf◅ that good worke of our forefathers and as time corrupteth all things so it hath here corrupted our manners In deede we giue names still vnto places but not now for any conscience toward God the better to remember his goodnesse towardes vs but we erecte thereby monumentes to our fleshe and make shrines of pride We do I am affraid as the prophet Dauid saith the wicked do think their houses their habitations shal continue for euer and cal their landes by their names We swell with vanitie and are puffed vp with pride in this hautinesse of heart wee giue names vnto our houses this boasting is not good and of suche high minded men the prophet saith They shal lie like sheepe in their graues death shal deuour them yea al their pompe with them of this let vs beware for it is a sinne that cleaueth fast vnto vs we are easily ledd with it otherwise if God giue vs humble heartes and mindes in the naming of our houses after our owne names or after other there is no hutt at all Now where it is saide They tempted God and proued him in the wildernesse where they saw his works fourty yeeres we must knowe the wildernesse was a terrible and fearefull place full of temptations where the people alwayes wanted sometime meat somtime drinke in feare of enimies in feare of serpentes in muche affliction but what of this yet if they tempt God they are rebellious against god For he that made the wildernesse and all the terrour of it is not his power ouer it to saue his sainct◅s No place no man no terrour must ouerthrowe our hope in Gods prouidence or if it do wee tempt God and prouoke him against vs therefore Dauid saide Though I walked through the vallie of the shadowe of death yet I would not feare because thou art with mee And let vs neuer deceiue our selues for if wee be not as Dauid was to trust still in God yea though he seemed to kill vs Surely let our dayes be neuer so peaceable yet euerie occasion will make vs fall from God. Solomon saith if we faint in the day of aduersitie our strength was neuer great and if with the Israelites we would murmur in the wildernesse with the Israelites we would also rebell euen in the lande of Canaan for they were no more obedient when they had peace when their lande flowed with milke and honie then when they were in the solitarie desert And let vs not looke vpon our fathers example but loke vpō our selues this day doth this peace of the Gospel make vs more thankful or more desirously to giue vs our selues to be seruants of the Lord then we were before whē we felt y prison houses hoat fires of idolatric the Lord knoweth he iudgeth and we are wise if our hearts be settled for no cause at all to leaue our obedience to God then we may be bolde and say with Iob If he wil kill vs let him not spare for we haue not denied the wordes of the holie one let it come that he sendeth Neither the wildernes nor fierie serpents nor yet y fruitful vines and pleasant springs of the land of Canaan shall separate betweene God and vs. And heere that God sayth he did xl yeres shew his woorkes vnto them he meaneth bothe Manna with which he ◅ed them from heauen their continuall leading with the pillour of cloude and pillour of fire and all other miracles whiche he did before them wherein appeareth the long suffering of God and as Paule sayth The riches of his bountifulnes great patience whiche is not ouercome with our sinnes but he once promised it vnto Abraham to giue a land vnto them and all the rebellion of his childrē could neuer falsifie his promise This ought to strengthen our faith to the forgiuenes of our sinnes we haue a couenant of God greater and better they y made with Abraham euen a couenant made in his only begotten Sonne through whom he hath said he is well pleased with vs and will remember out sinnes nor our iniquities any more And let vs not feare neither the greatnesse of our sinne nor the craf◅nes of our enimie but in a repenting and faithful heart trust vnto his promise that can not change his grace nor repent him of his mercie for euer And yet that wee should not be here secure and commit sinne without regarde as men that carrie away the grace of God to wantonnesse thinking any outward calling to be warrant enough of our election To take away the grosse opinion and make vs serch better whether we be the children of the couenaunt or no therfore he addeth that he was angrie with this generation and said It is a people that doe erre in their heartes for they haue not knowen my wayes c. testifying by this threatening that his promises were not to them onely in their birth that they were the children of Israel but much more in this if they walked in the steppes of the fayth of Abraham So all we this day saluation is promised vnto vs in Iesu Christe in a holie couenaunt whiche shall neuer be broken but God will make all our enimies our footestoole and will surely take vs into his glorie But let vs be wise to see whether the couenaunt is made with vs or no for as not all that were borne of Abraham were the children of Abraham so not all that professe the Gospell shall haue
in whō the God of this world hath blinded their vnbeleuing mindes that the light of the glorious Gospell of Christ should not shine vpon them for otherwise the secret of the Lord is reuealed to those that feare him and his woorde is a lanthorne vnto their feete and a light vnto their steps it is not harde but as Salomon saith It is easie to him that wil vnderstand he is a scorner that seeketh it and can not finde it Moses sayth This commaundement which I command thee this day it is not hid from thee nor sarre of it is very nere vnto thee euen in thy mouth and in thy hart to do it The prophet Ose saith of the iudgementes of God vnto his people that they were as the morning light And the Lorde saith by the prophet Esay I haue not s◅okē in secret nor in a place of dark nesse in the earth I said not in vaine to the house of Iacob Seeke ye me And if thus the doctrine of saluation were preached while yet the people were taught by signes figures how clere is it now since the sonne of righteousnes hath shined in perfect light what wrong is it to say still the scriptures are hard and to make them to be Sphynx his ridles or the winding oracles of Apollo whiche are the cleare wordes of the liuing God I appeale to your owne consciences all that haue experience whether haue you found such hardnesse in scripture or whether do you easily see how we are saued in Iesus Christ what obediēce we owe againe vnto god I am sure there is none of you that with a single heart haue come to read the scripture that were euer driuen back with any hardnesse of it How is it then why do the papists stil cry out of the hardnesse of the worde why see they not this easinesse as wel as we sure I will tel you the Lorde is witnesse howe I tell you true Those men they haue come neere vnto God with their mouth honored them with their lips but their harts haue been farre from him ▪ they haue worshipped God in vaine teaching doctrines which were precepts of men and for this cause God hath couered them with a spirit of slumber hath shut vp their eyes the gospell is vnto them as the words of a booke that is sealed so that whether they be learned or vnlearned they can read nothing This is the great hiddē cause their sinns haue found them out gods iudgemēts haue blinded them Another cause that I tolde you before is because they would leade vs blindfolde after the church of Rome this cause I make not of mine owne head thē selues as I said wil confesse it For this is a solemne decree in their late generall counsel of Trident the 4. session the 2. canon that it belongeth to their holy motherchurch to iudge of the sence interpretation of the scripture nether must we presume to leaue those interpretations although they were such as were neuer meete to bee openly taught published And their greate doctour Hossius saith thus if we haue the interpretation of the church of Rome although wee see not howe it can agree with the wordes of the texte yet we must beleeue it But are not these think you vnreasonable wordes if they be not examine mo of their witnesses at last you shall finde it confesse it that they are not onely vnreasonable but exceeding shameles men while they hold this that the scripture is hard and to be vnderstood after the church of Rome for thus they haue termed the scripture dead y◅ke a thing without life a dumbe iudge a nose of waxe a black gospell ynken diuinitie these such other words are witnesses against them to all the world their owne bookes are extant and with what spirite then haue these men spoken surely not with the spirit of the father Dauid or of his sonne Salomon who say The lawe of the Lord is perfect and conuerteth soules it giueth to the simple sharpnesse of witt and to the children knowledge and discretion nor with the spirite of Paule that sayeth All scripture is inspired of God and is profitable to reproue correct instruct and to make a godly man perfect to euery good worke this is not to call the scripture a waxen nose or ynken diuinitie but these speeches are much more agreeable to the spirit of the olde heretiques which said the prophecies were dremes But to let their vncomely speeches go to come againe to our purpose They cry out still that the interpretations of the churche of Rome are the sense of the scripture And would you not now thinke that these interpretations of the Romaine church were merueilous wise graue mysticall seing they would haue all the worlde thus to reuerence them See therfore what they are and iudge I wil alledge vnto you some of them in the weightiest matters of faith You are wise iudge what I say these are their most learned expositions of all other in which they boast not a litile Christ saith Thou art Peter and vpon this rocke will I build my church ergo the Pope is head of the church how groweth this conclusion forsooth thus if vpon this rocke Christ will build his church then vppon Peter for Peter signifieth that rocke If vpon Peter then vpon Peters successour for the trueth doth cleaue vnto the chaire and Peter maketh his success our inheritour of all his goodnes If to Peters success our then to the Pope for Peter was bishop of Rome And if the church be built vpon Peter then Peter was chiefe of all other and so the Pope is head of the church if these collectiōs be not theirs let me be reproued as a slaunderer if they bee theirs then bee you wise to vnderstand what their religion is for all these collectiōs are vtterly vntrue It is vntrue that Peter is that rocke vpon which the church is built for our Sauiour Christ himselfe saith he that heareth my wordes and perfourmeth them he buildeth vpon the rocke It is vntrue that what faith Peter had the same must be left to Peters successours for Scribes Phariseis buyers and sellers succeeded Moses Aaron It is vntrue that Peter was Bishop of Rome for he was the Apostle of circumcision therefore it was vtterly vnlawfull for him to bee a Bishop among the Gentiles Againe they reason thus The Apostles say to Christ Lord behold here are two swordes therefore the pope hath both ciuil ecclesiasticall gouernement might they not better haue reasoned when Peter would haue vsed one sworde Christe cōmaunded him to put it vp therefore no such swoord at all belongeth to him Again they say Christ promiseth to his Apostles the comforter which shall teach thē all trueth therfore the church of Rome cannot erre howe bring they all the Apostles to the Pope of Rome howe doe they