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A04926
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A faythfull admonition made by Iohn̄ Knox, vnto the professours of Gods truthe in England whereby thou mayest learne howe God wyll haue his Churche exercised with troubles, and how he defendeth it in the same.
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Knox, John, ca. 1514-1572.
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1554
(1554)
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STC 15069; ESTC S108127
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51,531
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126
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vnto the worlde the tyrannye that lurked in their 〈◊〉 breastes then wilt thou breake their I awe bones wilt shut them vp in their caues againe that the generacion posteritie folowynge may prayse thyne holy name before thy cogregacion Amen When I fele any taste or mocion of these promyses then thinke I my selfe moste happy and that I haue receyued a iuste compensacion albeâ—…t I al that to me in earth belongeth shulde suffer the present death know ynge that God shal yet shewe mercy to his afflicted churche within Eng lande and that he shall represse the pride of these present tyrauntes lyke as he hathe done of those that were before our dayes And therfore beloued brother in our sauioure Iesus Christ holde vp to God your haÌ„des that are fainted thorowe fearâ—… let your hertes that haue in these dolourouse dayes â—…cped in sorowe awake and heare the voyce of your God who swereth by him selfe that he wil not suffer hys churche to be oppressed for euer Nei ther that he wil despyse our sobbes to the ende yf we wil rowe stryue agaynst this vehement wynde I meane yf that we wil not ruÌ„ne backe headlinges to Idolatrie then shall this storme be aswaged in despite of the deuel Christe Iesus shall come with spede to your delyueraunce he shal pearce thorowe the wynde and the ragyng seas shal obey and beare his feete and body as the massie stable and drie land Be not moued froÌ„ the sure foundacion of your fayth For albeit that Christe Iesus be absent from you as he was from hys disciples in that great storme by his bodely presence yet is he present by his myghtie power and grace Be staÌ„deth vpon y e mouÌ„taine in securitie rest that is his fleshe hole humanitie is now in heaueÌ„ caÌ„ suffer no suche trouble as somtymes he dyd And yet he is ful of petie coÌ„passioÌ„ doth coÌ„sider al our trauail anguish laboures wherfore it is not to be douted but that he wil sodenlye appeare to our great coÌ„forte The tyraÌ„tes of this world can not kepe backe his coÌ„ming more theÌ„ might the blu stering wind raging seas let Christ to come to his disciples wheÌ„ they lo ked for nothing but for preseÌ„t death And therfore yet agayn I saye beloued in the Lorde Let youre herts attend to the promisses that God hath made vnto true repentaunte synners and be fullye persuaded wyth a constant fayth that God is alwayes true and iust in his perfourmaÌ„s of his promeses Yow haue hearde these dayes spoken of very playnly whan youre hertes could feare no daunger because yow were nyghe the lande and the storme was not yet risen that is ye were yonge scolers of Christe wheÌ„ no persecucion was seen or felt But now ye are coÌ„me into the middes of the sea for what parte of Englande herde not of youre profession And the vehement storme wherof we than almoste in euery exhortacion spake of is nowe suddenly risen vp But what â—…ath God brought yowe so farre furth that you shal both in soules and bodies euery one perish Nay My hole trust in Goddes mercy and truthe is to the contrarie For God brought not his people into Egypte and from thense thorowe the red Sea to th entent they should therin perish but that he of theÌ„ shuld shewe a most gloriouse delyuerance Neither sent Christe his Apostles into the middest of the sea and suffred the blusteringe storme to assault them and their bote to th enteÌ„t thei shuld ther perish but becanse he wold the more haue his great good nes towardes theÌ„ felt and perceaued in so mightely deliuering them oâ—…t of the feare of peryshinge giuing vs therby an example that he wold do the lyke to vs yf we abyde constant in owr profession and fayth withdrawinge owr selues from supersti cion and Idolatrie We gaue yow warning of these dayes long a goo for the reuerence of Christes bloude let these wordes be marked The same truth that spake before of these most dolorouse dayes forspake also the euerlastinge ioye prepared for suche as shuld continue to the ende The trouble is comme O deare brethern loke for the comforte and after the example of the Appostles Abyd in resistinge this vehement storme a litte space The thyrd watch is not yet ended Remembre that Christe Iesus came not to his disciples till it was the fourth watch and they were then in no lesse daunger than yow be nowe for theyr fayth faynted and their bodies were in daunger But Christe Iesus came whan they loked not for him And so shal he do to yow yf you wil continue in the profession that yow haue made This darre I be bold to promese in the name of hym whose eternal veritie and gloriouse gospel ye haue harde and receaued Who also putteth in to myn hert an earnest thrist God knoweth I lye not of your sal uacion and some care also for you re bodies which nowe I wil not expresse Thus shortly haue I passed thorowe the outrages tempest wherin the disciples of Christe were teÌ„pted after that the great multitude were by Christe fedde in the deserte Omit tinge many profitable notes which myght wel haue bene marcked in the terte because my purpose is at this present not to be tediouse nor yet curiouse but onlie to note such thinges as be aggreable to these most dolorouse dayes And so let vs nowe speake of the ende of this storme and trouble in which I finde foure thinges cheflye to be noted 1. Firste that the disciples at the pre sence of Christe were more affrayed then they were before 2. Secondlye that Christe vseth no other instrument but his worde to pacifie their hertes 3. Thyrdlye that Peter in a feruencie firste left his bote and yet after feared 4. Last that Christe permitted neyther Peter nor the rest of his disciples to perish in that feare but gloriously deliuered al and pacified the tempeste Theyr greate fear and the cause therof are expressed in the texte in these wordes When the disciples sawe him walking vpon the sea they were afrayed sayinge â–ª that he was a spirite And they cryed thorowe feare It is not my purpose in this treaties to speake of spirites nor yet to dispute whether spirites good or bad maye appeare and trouble men neither yet to inquire why maÌ„nes natur is affrayed for spirites and so vehementlie abhorreth their presen ce and company But my purpose is only to speake of thinges necessarie for this tyme. And firste let vs consyder that ther was thre causes why the disciples knewe not Christe but iudged him to be a spirite The first cause was the darknesse of the nyght The second was the vnaccustomed vision that appeared And the thirde was the dauÌ„ger and tempest in which they so earnestly labored for the sauegard of their selues The darknesse I saye of the nyght letted theyr eyes to see hym And it
Amos Daniel Christe Iesus him selfe after him his Apostles expressedly to haue na med the bloude thristy tyrantes abhominable Idolatrers and dissemblynge ypocrites of their dayes Yf that we the preachers within the realme of Englande were appointed by God to be the salt of the earth as his other messengers were before vs. Alas why helde we backe the salt where manifest corrupcion dyd appere I accuse none but my selfe The blynd loue that I dyd beare to this my wicked carcase was y e chefe cause that I was not feruent faith ful enoughe in that behalfe For I had no wil to 〈◊〉 the hatred of al men against me And therfore so touched I the vices of meÌ„ in the pre sence of the greatest that they might se themselues to be offenders I dare not saye that I was the greatest flatterer but yet neuertheles I wold not be sene to proclaime manifest warre against the manifest wicked Wherof vnfainedly I aske my God mercye As I was not so feruent in rebu king manifest iniquitie as it became me to haue ben so was I not so indifferent a feeder as is required of Christes stewarde For in preaching Christes â—…ospel albeit myne Eye as knoweth God was not muche vpon worldly promocion yet the loue of frendes and carnal affeccioÌ„ of some men with whom I was most familiar allured me to make more re sidence in one place then in another hauing more respect to the pleasure of a fewe theÌ„ to the necessitie of many 〈◊〉 daye I thought I had not synned yf I had not bene idle but this daye I knowe it was my dutie to haue had consideracion how loÌ„ge I had remained in one place how many hongry soules were in other places to whome alasseâ—… none toke payne to breake and distribute the breade of lyfe 〈◊〉 remaining in one pla ce I was not so diligent as myn office required but sometyme by coun sel of carnal frendes I spared the bo dye some tyme I spent in worldlye busynesse of particuler frendes and somtyme in takyng recreacion pastyme by exercise of the body And albeit men may iudge these to be light and smale offences yet I knowlege and coÌ„fesse that onles par don should to me be grauÌ„ted in Chri stes bloude that euerye one of these thre offences aforenamed that is to saye the lacke of feruencye in reprouing synne the lacke of indifferency in fedyng those that were hongrye and the lacke of diligence in the execucion of myn office deserued damnacion And besyde these I was assaulted yea infected and corrupted with more grosse sinnes That is my wic ked nature desyred the fauours the estimacion and prayse of meÌ„ against whiche albeit that somtime the spirite of God dyd moue me to fyght earnestly dyd stirre me God know eth I lye not to sobbe and lameÌ„t for those imperfeccioÌ„s yet neuer ceassed they to trouble me when any occasion was offered And so priuely and craftely dyd they entre into my brest that I could not perceaue my selfe to be wounded tyl vaingloâ—…ie had almoste gotten the vpperhande O Lorde be merciful to my great offence and deale not with me accordyng to my great iniquitie but accordinge to the multitude of thy mercyes remoue from me the burthen of my synne for of purpose mynde to haue auoyded the vayne displeasure of man I spared lytle to offende thy Godly maiestie Thinke not beloued of the Lorde that thus I accuse my selfe without iuste cause as though in so doynge I myght appere more holy or that yet I do it of purpose and intent by occasion therof to accuse other of my brethren the true preachers of Christ of lyke or of greater offences â—…o God is iudge to my conscience that â—…do it euen from an vnfayned and sore troubled herte as I that knowe my selfe greuously to haue offended the maiestie of my God duryng the tyme that Christes Gospel had free passage in Englande And this I do to let you vnderstande that the ta king awaye of the heauenly breade and this greate rempest that nowe bloweth against the poore disciples of Christ within the realme of Englande as touching our parte commeth from the great mercye of oure heauenly father to prouoke vs to vn fained repentaunce for that that neither preacher noâ—…pâ—…ofessoure dyd rightly consider the tyme of our mer ciful visitacioÌ„ But altogether so we spent the tyme as thoughe Goddes worde had bene preached rather to satisfie our fantasies theÌ„ to reforme our euel maners which thing yf we earnestlye repente then shal Iesus Christ appeare to oure coÌ„forte be the storme neuer so great Haste O Lord for thy names sake The seconde thyng that I synd to be noted is the vehemencye of the feare whiche the disciples endured in that great daunger beyng of longer continuauÌ„ce then euer they had at any tyme before In saint Mathewes Gospel it appereth that an other tyme there arose a great stormy tempest and sore toffed the bote wherin Christes disciples were labouring but that was vpon the daye lyght and then they had Christe with them in the bote whome they awated and cryed for helpe uâ—…to him for at that tyme he slept in the bote and so were shortly delyuered from their sodain feare But nowe were they in the middest of the raging sea and it was nyght and Christ their comfortour absent from them and coÌ„meth not to them neither in the fyrst secoÌ„de nor third watche What feare trowe you were they in then And what thoughtes arose vp out of their so troubled hertes duringe that storme Suche as this daye be in 〈◊〉 daunger within the realme â–ª of Englande dothe by this storme better vnderstande then my penne can expresse But of one thynge I am wel assured that Christes presence wold in that great perplexitie haue ben to them more comfortable then euer it was before and that paciently they would haue suffe red their incredulitie to haue ben re buked so that they might haue escaped the present death But profitable it shal be and somwhat to our comforte to consyder euery parcel of their daunger And first ye shal vnderstande that when the disciples passed to the sea to obey Christes coÌ„maundemeÌ„t it was faire wether and no suche tempest sene But sodenly the storme arose with a contrarious flawe of wynde when they were in y e middest of their iour ney For if the tempest had bene as great in the beginninge of their entrauÌ„ce to y e sea as it was after when they were about the middest of their iourney neither wolde they haue auentured suche a great daunger neither yet had it ben in their power to haue attayned to the middest of the Sea And so it may be euydently gathered that the sea was calme when they entred into their iourney Secondly it is to be marked by what meanes and instrumeÌ„tes was this great storme