helpe him which neither trusted in him nor craued his helpe For we know what a proud stomacke that man had I bring forth one example but if we diligently weigh what hath caused all prophane men so stoutly to fight euen in good causes we shall finde that ambition was the chiefe cause that moued them No meruayle then though God did forsake them at the very pinch because they were vnworthy to féele his helpe Thus Daniel expresseth that he was preserued safe because hee beleued in his god And the Apostle did meane this in the eleuenth chapter to the Hebrues when he sayth that some were saued or deliuered from the mouth of the Lyons by fayth Therefore he noteth the cause why Daniel was preserued and he stirreth vs vp vnto fayth But here must we learne what force is in the word of Beleuyng and what it doth conteine in it For the Prophet doth not simply say that he was preserued because that he beleued the God of Israel to be the true onely God the maker of heauen and earth but because hee committed his life vnto God because he rested wholly vppon his grace because he assured him self most certainely that he could haue none other but a happy end if he serued him Because therefore that Daniel was certainly persuaded that his life was in the hand of God and that he did not trust in him in vayne and that he did ieopard him selfe boldly without all feare for the true worship of God therfore he sayth that he beleued in God. We sée therfore that this word of Beleuing is not taken so barely as the Papistes do dreame for hereof came that fond imagination of their implicate and intricate faith and of the dead faith or faith without forme for they suppose that faith is nothing els but a confused conceiuyng of the Godhead When we conceiue then that there is a God the Papistes do counte it to be faith But the holy ghost doth teach vs farre otherwise For we must remember that saying of the Apostle that we do not beleue God aright vnlesse we be persuaded that he is the rewarded of al that séeke him Wherfore this persuasiō is included in faith that God doth not deceaue his worshippers Now we must marke the maner of seking god God therfore is sought not by any foolish arrogancy as though we could by our merites binde him vnto vs but he is sought by faith he is sought by humility he is sought by prayer Therfore when we know this that God is the rewarder of all those that seke him that we know how he must be sought this is the true faith So Daniel doubted not but the God would be his deliuerer because he was fully persuaded of that true Religion which he had learned of a child and whereunto he fully trusting called vpon God continually This was then the cause of his deliueraunce In the meane time it is certaine yet that Daniel did not beleue God as though hee had bene already instructed of the end and successe For he rather committeth his life vnto God because he was ready to dye Therfore Daniel could not know this before he was cast into the denne and deliuered vnto the Lyons whether God would deliuer him as we haue also sene before in his felowes God if he will can deliuer vs but if not we are ready to worshyp him and we will not obey thy commaundement And if Daniel had bene taught before of that which did come to passe afterward his constantnes had ben worthy of no great prayse but because hee would boldly suffer death for the true worship of his God and could deny him selfe and renounce the world this is a true and vndoubted proofe of his faith and constancy Therfore he beleued in God not that he hoped for such a miracle but because he knew that hee should be happy if he remained stedfast in the pure worship of God Euen as Paul sayth Christ is to me aduauntage both in life and death Therfore Daniel resteth wholly vppon the helpe of God and shutteth his eyes as concernyng the ende that should folow neither was he ouer carefull for his lyfe but because his minde was lifted vp to the hope of a better life therefore although hee should haue dyed an hundreth deathes yet would not he cease to beleue For our belefe extendeth it selfe beyond the boundes of this transitory and corruptible life as is well knowne to all the godly 24 And by the cōmaundement of the kyng these men which had accused Daniel were brought were cast into the denne of Lyons euē they their children and their wiues and the Lyons had the mastry of thē and brake all their bones in peeces or euer they came at the ground of the denne By this circumstance the power of God did shine forth more manifestly in sauing Daniel because they were straightway torne in péeces of the Lyons which had wickedly accused him But if any man should say that the Lyons were full or that there was some other cause why Daniel was not torne in peeces wherfore then whē he was drawē forth were the beastes straightwayes so mad that they did teare deuoure not onely one man but a great cōpany Of many nobles none escapeth safe Then are their wiues like wise cast into them and also their children but the Lyons could scarce be able to deuoure so many yet euery one of them perish both great small How then escaped Daniel We sée that God by this comparison would make manifest his power lest any man should obiect that Daniel was forsaken of the Lyons because they were now ful did not desire the pray For then they would haue bene cōtented with thrée or foure men but now they deuoure both men womē and children Hereby then it appeareth that the mouthes of the Lyons were bridled by God seing that Daniel was safe a whole night and they were killed as soone as they were cast into the denne because we sée agayne that the beastes were driuen to a sodayne rage that they did not tary till they came to the grounde but did teare them as they were fallyng The Prayer GRaunt almighty GOD seyng that we are created by thee and placed in this world and that we are also nourished by thy liberality to this end that our lyfe should be cōsecrated vnto thee graunt we beseech thee that we may be ready both to liue and to die vnto thee and that we seeke none other thyng but to maintayne the pure and sincere worship of thy name Furthermore that we may so rest vpon thyne onely helpe that we doubt nothing to breake thorow all dangers and to offer our selues to present death as oft as it shall please thee beyng comforted not onely with thy promise which is eternall but by so many experimentes which thou hast geuē of olde that we at this day should know thy power to be still of such force that
he doth not boast of his merites as I haue sayd but he would that the deliueraunce offered him frō heauen should be a witnes of the true and pure worship of God that he might make king Darius ashamed and that he might shew that all superstitions are wicked especially that he might admonish him of that sacrilegious decrée wherby hee did arrogate vnto him selfe the highest dominion so that he abolished as much as lay in him the whole deitie Therefore that the Prophet might admonish the kyng hereof he saith that his cause was iust And that the solution may bee the more easie we must note that there is a difference betwixt eternall saluation and speciall deliueraunces God doth deliuer vs from eternall death and doth chuse vs vnto the hope of eternall life not because hee findeth any righteousnes in vs but because he hath chosen vs fréely and therfore doth he make perfect in vs his worke without any respect of workes Therefore for as much as belongeth to eternall saluation there can be no respect of iustice because when God will search vs he shall finde nothing but cause of damnation But as concernyng particulare deliueraunces there God can looke on euery mans iustice not that it is our owne but whom he gouerneth with his spirite that they may obey his vocation to thē also he reacheth forth his hand and if they be in ieoperdy for that they study to obey him he deliuereth thē This is as if a mā should say that God fauoreth good causes but this perteineth nothing to merites Therefore as concerning this place the Papistes dote ouer childishly which do thereby gather merites For Daniel meaneth no other thyng but to maintaine the pure worship of the onely God as though he should say that God did not onely make a counte of him but that there was an other cause of his deliueraunce that is because God would shew in dede and by experience that his cause was iust He addeth and also before thee O king I haue commited no wickednes It is certayne that the Prophet did violate the kynges commaundement Wherefore then doth he not willingly confesse this yea why doth he affirme that he had not trespassed against the king Verely because he had faithfully behaued himselfe and serued the king iustly and vprightly in all thinges he might purge himselfe of the sclaunder wherwith he was charged that he had despised the kinges commaundement For Daniel was not so bound vnto the kyng of the Persians but that God might chalenge vnto himselfe that which can not be taken from him We know that earthly Empires are ordayned of God but vnder this cōdition that he should lose nothing of his right but that hee alone should haue the preeminence aboue all other and that all Maiestrates and rulers and whatsoeuer is hygh in the world should bee brought vnder and be subiect to his glory Because therefore Daniel might not obey the kinges decrée vnlesse he denyed God as we haue séene before he trespassed not againct the kyng when he went forward constantly in that exercise of holynes whereunto hee had accustomed himselfe that is in praying vnto God thrise a day And that this may be more euident that sentence of Peter must be remembred feare God honour the king These two are ioyned together so that the one can not be separate from the other Wherefore the feare of God must go before that kinges may obtayne their authority For if any man beginne at the reuerence of an earthly prince setting God aside he doth wickedly for this were to peruert the whole order of nature Therefore let God be feared first of all thē let earthly Princes enioy their authority yet in such sort that God be preferred aboue all as I haue sayd Daniel therefore doth defend himselfe by Gods right that he had committed no trespasse against the king euen because he beyng compelled to obey the commaundement of God despised that which the king commaunded on the contrary For earthly Princes depriue themselues of all authority when they rise vp against God yea they are vnworthy to be counted amongest the company of men We ought rather to spit in their faces then to obey them when they deale so proudly and stubbernly that they will spoyle God of his right and as it were occupy hys throne as though they could plucke hym downe from heauen This is the sense of this place 23 Then was the kyng excedyng glad for hym and commaunded that they should take Daniel out of the denne so Daniel was brought out of the denne and no manner of hurt was found vpon him because he beleued vpon his God. Daniel confirmeth that which he spake before of the affection of king Darius Therefore as he returned sorowfull into his palace abstained from meat and drinke and cast away all pleasures and delicates so also hee reioyced when he heard that the holy seruaunt of God was so maruelously deliuered from death Afterward he addeth and by the commaundement of the king Daniel was brought out of the denne and no manner of hurt was found on hym This could not be ascribed to fortune Therefore God did declare his power that Daniel escaped so safe that the Lyōs did not touch him Doubtles he should haue bene torne in péeces if God had not shut the Lyons mouthes but this also did make very much for the amplifiyng of the miracle that no hurt was foūd vpon his body nor any signe that the Lyons had once touched him Therfore that the Lyons did so spare hym it was done by the secret counsel of god And this was also more manifestly knowne whē hys false accusers were cast into the denne because they were straight way torne in péeces and deuoured of the Lyons as we will shew hereafter But the reason is to be noted which is added that he was preserued because he did beleue in his God. For many tymes we sée that some man maintayneth a good cause and yet it hath very euill successe because he taketh in hand to do that by his owne wisdome policy and industry which otherwise were worthy some commendation It is no meruaile then though they be many times destitute of good successe which yet vndertake to mayntayne good causes as appeareth in al prophane persons For the histories of all ages do shew that often tymes euen they which haue taken in hand good quarels haue perished which came to passe by the wicked confidence that they had in themselues euen because they were not bent to serue God but rather sought prayse and worldly fame Wherefore as ambition caried them away so also they flattered themselues in their owne counsailes And hereof came that saying of Brutus that vertue was but a vayne thing because he thought that he was euill intreated when he had fought for the maintenaunce of the liberty of the people of Rome and yet found the Gods not fauourable but angry against hym As though forsooth that God were bound to
euident For who is that God sayth he He excepteth no god If a man aunswere that he speaketh by comparison because he would defend the glory of his God that he worshypped yet when hée belcheth forth this blasphemy agaynst all Gods surely his arrogancy is intolerable yea it was a deuilish fury which droue him so farre Now let vs come to the chief point where Daniel declareth with how great constancy Sadrach Mesach and Abednego were endued 16 Sadrach Mesach and Abednego aunswered and sayd to the kyng O Nebuchadnezer we are not carefull to aunswere thee in this matter 17 Behold our God whom we serue is able to deliuer vs from the hoate fiery fornace and hee will deliuer vs out of thy hand O kyng 18 But if not be it knowne to thee O king that we will not serue thy Gods nor worshyp the golden Image which thou hast set vp This is the chief thyng to be considered in this hystory that these three holy men dyd remaine constant in the feare of God though they dyd know most present daunger of death to hang ouer their heades Wherefore when death was set before their eyes they turned not backe from their right course but they set more by the glory of God then by their owne life yea then by an hundreth lyues if it had bene nedefull to haue bestowed so many and that had bene graunted vnto them Daniel doth not rehearse all their wordes but gathereth a brief summe onely in the which yet that inuincible power of the holy ghost wherewith they were indued doth playnely appeare Surely this was an horrible threatnyng when the kyng sayd If ye be not ready to fall downe before the Image at the blast of the trumpet ye shall the same houre bee cast into the firy fornace When the kyng thundered after this maner they might be shaken as mē For we know how deare life is vnto vs how the feare of death smiteth all our senses But Daniel rehearseth all these circumstances that we may know that there is more strength in the seruauntes of God when they are led with his spirite thē that they should geue place to any threatninges or fall downe for any terror They aunswere the kyng that there nedeth no long consultation For in that they say that they are not carefull they signifie by this word that the matter is determined as that worthy saying of Cyprian is reported by Augustine Whē the Courtiours did counsell him that he should regard hys lyfe for the Emperour dyd agaynst his will iudge hym to torment whē flatterers dyd thus vrge him of euery side to saue his life by deniall of Religion he aūswered In a matter that is holy or of Religiō there nedeth no deliberation So do these holy men say We care not that is we neuer enter into consultation or deliberation what is expedient what is profitable No this is already concluded that we by no meanes will bee drawne from the pure worshyp of god If thou read it we ought not to aunswere thee it will be almost the same sense For they declare that the feare of death is in vayne set before them for they are vtterly determined and their hartes settled not to swarue one straw bread from the true and lawfull worship of God. And here they do vse two reasons to reiect that which the kyng propounded They say that God hath power and strength enough to deliuer thē Agayne though they should dye yet that they do not so much esteme lyfe that they will deny God to prolong it Therfore they declare them selues to be ready to dye if the kyng will so rigorously vrge them to worshyp the Image This place is worthy to be noted For first this aūswere is to be learned that when men are about to bryng vs to deny God we must shut our eares and take no farther aduisement For euen then begyn we to do great iniury vnto God when we dispute whether we may decline from hys pure worship or no what so euer cause may therunto moue vs And would to God this were well knowne to all men that the glory of God doth excell and surmount all thinges that all must be brought law when the diminishyng or obscuryng therof is intended But this craft beguileth many now a dayes that they thinke it lawful to way as it were in balance whether it be better for a tyme to turne from the true worshyp of God when any profite doth offer it selfe of the other side as we do sée at this day such dissemblers of whom the world is full to haue their colours to cloke their wickednes when either they worshyp the Idoles with the wicked or els they deny either priuely or openly the true Religion O what is to be done the man that is in any office will say I sée how much good I can do if I dissemble a little and do not shew my selfe what I am for this playnes would not onely hurte me priuately but all others If the kyng haue none that may sometymes pacifie his anger the wicked thereby shal be vnbridled and haue their will and libertie to driue hym vnto all cruelty It is better therfore that some kéepe a meane and so hearken and lye in wayte what the wicked do and so though they can not do it openly yet by some secret practises they may turne away the daunger from the heades of the godly When they obiect these Argumentes they thinke that God is aūswered As though Sadrach Mesach and Abednego could not haue pretēded the same or as though it had not come into their mindes thus to say behold we are now armed with some authoritie to helpe our brethrē and what a barbarous crueltie will be executed amongest them if the open enemyes of Religion come into our place for as much as lyeth in them they will dostroy and roote out of the earth our nation and all memory of true Religion Is it not better then that we for a tyme gyue place vnto tyranny and to this cruell commaundement of the kyng then to leaue our place destitute which straight wayes shall be occupyed with outrageous enemyes who will vtterly ouercome our miserable nation which is to much oppressed already I say they might haue gathered all these clokes and colours to excuse their infidelitie if for the auoydyng of daunger they had knéeled before that golden Image but they do not so Therfore as I haue already sayd thē hath God his due and true honor when his worship is determined with out all doubtyng and that we are fully persuaded in this that nothyng ought to be so deare vnto vs that we may thinke it lawfull to swarue though neuer so litle from that profession which hée commaundeth and requireth in hys word To be short here is that securitie which ought to confirme the true worshyppers of GOD set agaynst all the craftes and croked counsailes which they inuēt that do lose the cause of lyfe for the
loue of lyfe as the Poet sayth For wherfore do we liue but to serue to the glory of God This cause why we lyue do we lose for the loue of lyfe when we beyng ouer carefull to lyue in the world do not regarde the end of our lyfe So then doth Daniel set forth the simplicity which the children of God must nedes folow agaynst all the subtill reasons which the dissemblers inuent to couer their wickednes with some coulor Therfore we are not carefull Wherefore Because we know assuredly that the glory of God is more worth then a thousand lyues or what soeuer the sense of the flesh can minister vnto vs Then where this magnanimitie shall take place all doubtfull wranglyng shall vanish away they which are called into daunger for the testimony of the truth shal not weary them selues with vayne reasons For as I haue said their eares shal be shut vp agaynst all these alurementes of Sathan And when they do adde That God is able to saue them and if he will not yet that they are ready to dye they declare what should erect and lift vp our mindes aboue all temptations euen that our lyfe is precious vnto God and that he can deliuer vs if he will. Seyng then we haue succour enough in God let vs not thinke that there is any better way to saue our lyfe then to geue our selues wholly vnto his protection and defence and so cast vpon hym all our cares Agayne in the second member this is to be noted that if God will set forth hys glory by our death this is a lawfull sacrifice which we must offer vnto hym and that true holynes can haue no force in vs vnles our lyues be in our hands that is to say except our lyues be alwayes prepared for sacrifice The Prayer GRaunt almighty God that wheras we see the wicked to be caryed with so great rage after their fond and filthy imaginations and that they are so puffed vp with so great pride and arrogancy that we may learne true humilitie and so subiect our selues vnto thee that we may depend wholly of thy mouth and that we enterprise nothyng without thy warrant And when we haue learned what worshyp pleaseth thee that we may constantly continue in the same vnto the end and neither by any perils neither by any threatnynges or cruelty to be moued away from our stabilitie neither that we be led out of the way at any tyme but perseueryng in the obediēce of thy word thou mayest allow our endeuour and seruice and so knowledge vs for thy children that we once may be gathered into that euerlasting heritage which thou hast prepared for all the members of thy sonne Christ So be it We haue noted the constancy of Sadrach Mesach and Abednego grounded vppon these two reasons that they were surely persuaded that GOD was the keper of theyr lyfe and that they should be deliuered by his power frō present death if it were so profitable Secondly because they had determined with them selues that they would dye boldly and without feare if God would haue such a sacrifice offered vnto hym And that which Daniel speaketh of these thrée men perteineth vnto vs all Therfore may we gather hereby a generall doctrine when daunger commeth vnto vs for the testimony of the truth that we learne first to lay vp our lyfe in the hand of God secondly that we be ready to dye boldly and without feare As concernyng the first experience teacheth vs that many fayle from God and from the profession of theyr fayth because they can not stand sure in this point that God is strong enough to deliuer them It is true that this is spoken of all men that God hath a care ouer vs Agayne that our lyfe is in his hand but scarcely the hundreth man hath this firmely and certainly fastened in his hart for euery one searcheth a way and meane to saue his lyfe as though there were no power in god Therefore he at the length hath rightly profited in the word of the Lord which hath learned that his lyfe is cared for of GOD and also that hée hath helpe and defence sufficiently in him For he that is gone thus farre may safely enter into daūger an hundreth tymes for he will not doubt to folow whether soeuer God calleth For this one thyng doth deliuer hym from all feare and care that God can take hys seruauntes out of a thousand deathes as it is sayd in this Psalme In hys hand are the ishues of death For death semeth to cōsume all things but God deliuereth out of that deuouryng gulfe whom he pleaseth So this persuasion shall suffice vs to a stable and inuincible constancy But it is necessary that they which cast their whole care of their lyfe and safety vpon God haue a cleare conscience that they doubt nothyng but that they mayntaine a good cause And this is also expressed in these wordes when Sadrach Mesach and Abednego do say Behold our God whō we worshyp When they alledge the worshyp of God they testifie that they haue a sure grounde and that they do nothyng rashly that they are the worshyppers of the true God and that they labour for the defence of Religion For this is the difference betwixt the Martyrs and mad men which oft tymes are iustly punished for their madnes because they are about to peruert all thynges For we sée very many to be driuen with theyr owne rage and if such be put to death they are not to be nombred amongest Gods Martyrs For the cause maketh the Martyr as Augustine saith not the punishment Wherefore there is no small force in these wordes when these thrée men do affirme that they worshyp God for by this they do glory that they do not rashly enter into the daunger that standeth before them but for the true worshyp of God. Now come we to the second If God will not deliuer vs frō death know thou O king that we will not worshyp thy Gods. I sayd first of all that our lyfe must be committed wholly vnto God before we can be prepared constantly to vndertake any great daunger and that the desire of this earthly and and transitory lyfe ought not to hynder nor hold vs from a frée and plaine profession of the truth for the glory of God ought to be more precious vnto vs then a hundreth lyues Wherefore we can not be witnesses of God vnles we lay downe the desire of this life or at the least preferre Gods glory before it In the meane season it is to be noted that this can not be done except the hope of a better lyfe do rauish vs vnto it For where the promise of the eternall inheritaunce is not fastened in our harts we cā neuer be drawne away frō the world For naturally we couet to be and that affection can not be drawne frō vs except faith get the mastery as Paul sayth We would not be vnclothed but would be
clothed vpon this mortalitie Paul affirmeth that men naturally can not be brought willyngly to go out of the world except as is sayd before that fayth get the victory But whē we vnderstand that our inheritaunce is in the heauens that we are straungers in the earth thē do we put of the desire of this earthly lyfe whereunto we are to much addicted These two are the thynges then which do prepare the childrē of God vnto Martyrdome that they doubt nothyng to offer thē selues and theyr lyues into the handes of God for a sacrifice that is to say if they be persuaded that theyr lyfe is preserued of God and that he wil be an assured deliuerer if he sée it to be expedient Agayne when they clime vp aboue this world and aspire vnto the hope of that eternall and euerlastyng lyfe so be ready to forsake the world And in their wordes a great magnanimitie may bée noted when they say Be it knowen to thee O king that we worshyp not thy Gods neither the Image that thou hast erected for here they accuse the kyng after a sorte that he wil be so arrogant to appoint Religion at his pleasure Thou hast set vp an Image but thine authoritie is to vs of no valure for we know that it is a fayned God whom thou wilt haue to bée worshipped vnder this Image But the God whom we worshyp hath opened hym selfe vnto vs and declared that he will not be worshypped vnder any Image We know that he is the maker of heauen and earth and that he hath redemed our fathers forth of Aegypt that he would chasten vs whē he cast vs forth into this banishment Because therfore a sure stabilitie of our faith is manifest vnto vs we vtterly despise thy God thy commaundemēt in this point 19 Then was Nebuchadnezer full of rage and the forme of his visage was chaunged agaynst Sadrach Mesach and Abednego therfore hee charged and commaūded that they should heate the fornace at once seuen tymes more then it was wont to be heat 20 And hee charged the most valiant men of warre that were in his army to binde Sadrach Mesach and Abednego and to cast thē into the hote fiery fornace At the first sight God séemeth here to forsake hys seruantes because he doth not openly helpe them The kyng commaundeth them to be cast into a fiery fornace no helpe appeareth from the heauens Wherfore this was a full and perfect triall of their fayth They were now armed as we did sée before to suffer all things For they do not aunswere so constantly onely because they trusted in the present helpe of God but because they were determined to dye and a better life dyd so comfort their mindes that they were content to lose this present lyfe This was the cause that they were not afrayde for the terrible cōmaundement of the king but they followed theyr course euen to suffer death without all feare for the honor of god For there remayned no thyrd thing but eyther to chuse to dye or els to deny the worship of the true god By the which example we are taught to premeditate this immortall life in our quiet state that if it so please God we do not doubt to lay downe our liues for the testimony of the truth for this is one cause why we are so fearefull Agayne when we doo come into present daunger then doo we tremble and quake because whiles we are forth of danger we vaynely imagine to our selues a continuall securitiy So long therefore as God geueth vs quietnes we must apply our myndes to meditate the life to come that the worlde may waxe vile vnto vs and that we may be ready so oft as néede shal be to geue our bloude for the testimony of the truth For this history is not set forth vnto vs that we should onely commend and magnify the vertue and constancy of these thrée holy men but it is set forth for vs to imitate theyr constancy And concerning the king Nebuchadnezer here Daniel agayne as it were in a glasse doth shew vnto vs the pride and arrogancy of kinges when theyr commaundementes are not obeyed Surely a hart of yron should haue bene mollified with this answere that Shadrach Meshach and Abednego did commit theyr liues vnto God and therfore could not for feare of death be drawn from theyr fayth But he is filled with anger Cōcerning this rage we ought to consider what power Sathan hath ouer mē whē he hath them in his clawes They haue no moderation nor rule of themselues although at other times they make a fayre shew of vertue As this king had many tokens of vertue as we haue sene before but because the deuill doth now styr hym there appeareth nothing in hym but crueltie and rage Forthermore let vs remember that our constancy doth please God although it doo not shew forth the fruite therof before the world For many vnder this colour spare themselues to liue in their pleasures because they thinke it a rashnes to offer themselues to death when there appeareth no profit And many excuse themselues vnder this pretence that they striue no more for the glory of God because they should lose their labour and theyr death should be fruitles But we doo heare Christ pronoūce this to be a pleasant sacrifice vnto God when we offer our liues for the testimony of the heauenly doctrine although the generation before whom we testify the name of God be crooked adultrous yea though it waxe the more stubbern at our constācy And such an example is here set forth vnto vs in these thrée holy persons For how so euer Nebuchadnezer waxed more more outragious with their bolde confession yet did that playne confession please God and they did not repent it although they did sée no such fruit of theyr constancy as they desired And the prophet doth expresse the circumstance to declare the kinges rage that he commaundid the fornace to be made seuenfolde hoater then it was wont and chused of his strongest men to cast these into the fornace But as it appeareth by the successe all this was done by the secret prouidence of god For the deuill might els haue obscured the miracle if all doubtes had not bene remoued But when the king commaundeth the fornace to be made seuenfolde hoater and did chuse out his strongest men to doo the execution God by deliuering his seruauntes tooke away all doubtfulnes that the more light should shine forth of that darkenes which Sathan thought to haue blinded men withall the kinges policy and his power Thus God vseth to disapoynt the wicked and the more witty that they be to obscure Gods glory the more doth God cause both his glory and his doctrine to shyne forth Like as here as it were in an image Daniel doth paynt vnto vs that the king Nebuchadnezer left nothing vndone whiles that he would thus smite a terror vnto all the Iewes with this
confirmed by this example as if God did hereby set forth vnto vs the Image of his iudgement as in a glasse This is one lesson Also the cause is to be noted why God maketh opē warre agaynst all the proud because we can lift vp our heades neuer so little but we fight agaynst god For all rule and power is in hys hand yea our life is in hys hand Neyther are we any thing neyther can we do any thing but onely of hym and by hym Who soeuer chalengeth therefore thys or that be it neuer so little to hymselfe he withdraweth so much from god Wherefore it is no maruaile though God do testify that he can not abyde the hygh countenaunces of men for they do wilfully prouoke him to anger when they vsurpe the least thing that can be vnto themselues It is true that Cities are built by the industry and labour of men and that those kynges are worthy commendation that eyther built Cities or fortifie them so that due prayse remayne vnto God and nothing be taken therefrom But when men extoll and magnify themselues and wyll haue their power séene they bury the blessing of God as much as in them lyeth Then is it necessary as we haue sayd that their sacrilegious temerity robbing God of his honor be called to accompt Also the kyng sheweth hys vanity when he sayth I haue built it for my princely palace and for the excellency of my maiestie By these wordes he doth not dissemble but that he regarded hys owne glory in all hys buildinges to the entent that hys name myght be aduaunced amongest hys posterity To be short therefore would he both in his lyfe and after hys death be thus renowmed in the world that God should be nothing in respect of hym and so all the proud shoote at this marke that they may set themselues in Gods place It followeth The word was yet in the kinges mouth when a voyce was heard from heauen Here we sée how soone God can euen in a moment represse the madnes of them that do outragiously extoll thēselues And it is no maruaile though this voyce was heard sodainly seing there had bene a space for repentaunce geuen before vnto the kyng Nebuchadnezer Now in thys kynde of speach They say vnto thee we néede not to be curious to know who spake The name of the kyng is not geuen hym for honor but in derision as though he should say thou art dronken wyth thy present dignity for whyles all men do honor thée as a God thou doost forget thyne owne fraility howbeit this princely Maiestie and power can not let but that God can cast thée downe because thou wilt not humble thy self willingly thy kingdome is departed from thée Thys was incredible then for Nebuchadnezer was in a quiet possession of the kyngdome No man did shew hymselfe an enemy his Monarchy was terrible to all nations yet doth God pronounce at that present that the kyngdome was departed from hym And thys maketh for the certainty of the oracle that Nebuchadnezer may know that the tyme is now fulfilled and the punishment can no longer be deferred because he had so abused Gods mercy and mocked hys clemency It followeth And they shall driue thee from amongest mē and thy dwelling shal be wyth the beastes of the fielde and they shall make thee eate grasse like the oxen That some mē thinke that Nebuchadnezer was transformed into a beast it is to great an absurdity Therefore we néede not to imagine any such metamorphosis but that he was so cast forth of mans company that except onely mans shape he differed nothing from brute beastes Yea there came such a deformity vpon hym in that exile that he was horrible to looke vpon as we shall sée afterward that all the heares of hys body did grow as the fethers grow vpon the Egles and hys nayles did grow like birdes clawes Thys had he common wyth the beastes and birdes in the rest he was lyke a man For we know not whether God did strike this kyng with madnes so that he ranne away and hid hymselfe for a space or whether he were cast forth by tumult and the conspiracy of hys nobles or by the consent of the whole people Thys we do not know because the histories of those times are vnknowen vnto vs. Now whether he were enraged and so ranne forth of mans company or he were cast forth as tyrantes are many times or not this example is very notable that he remayned with beastes for a seasō Yet is it probable that he was so beside hymselfe that God yet left hym the forme of man and tooke away his reason as shall better appeare by the texte They shall cast thee forth of mans company and thy dwelling shall be wyth wilde beastes and they shall make thee eate grasse like the bullockes That is to say thou shalt be depriued of all thy princely delicates yea of all the commō diet of the vulgare people thou shalt haue none other meat then brute beastes haue And seuen tymes shall passe ouer thee Of thys we haue spoken before Some do restreine it to vij dayes which neither hath reasō nor colour Neither do I expound it of monethes for that had bene a short tyme Wherefore their sentence is more probable which do extend it to seuen yeares For if Nebuchadnezer were cast forth by any tumult he could not be so shortly called in agayne Furthermore because that God would shew in his person an example the remēbraunce whereof might continue many ages I doubt not but that he was seperated from the commō state of men for a long season If it had bene but for seuen dayes or monthes we sée how little Gods iudgementes vnles they be seuere are regarded in the world Wherefore that God myght print thys punishment in the hartes of all he continueth it for a long space I do not say vij yeares precisely for as I sayd the certaine number is put for the vncertayne but I do say that it was a long space Seuen yeares sayth he shall passe ouer thee whiles that thou know that the most high is the ruler in the kingdome of men This is the ende of the punishment Wherein we note that God doth mitigate the bitternes of the payne because he doth limite it vnto a certaine tyme and also had his ende determined that Nebuchadnezer should repent in the end because hee could none other wayes waxe wise but by punishment as the prouerbe is of the foolish So was it of necessitie that kyng Nebuchadnezer must bee compelled by scourges to submit him selfe vnto God because nothyng could be done with him by admonitions neither yet before by heauenly visions God dealeth not thus with all Wherfore we haue here a speciall example of hys clemency and mercy which caused that this punishment which was layd vpon Nebuchadnezer tooke place and was profitable The reprobate do more and more harden their hartes agaynst God yea
almost throughout the East For the Medes and Persians bare rule from the Sea vnto Aegypt Seyng then the Empire was so large Daniel doth not without cause say that the decrée was proclamed throughout the earth Peace be multiplied vnto you We know that kynges do thus faune vpon their subiectes and vse gentle prefaces that they may more easily obteine their purposes and also that they may haue them more obedient subiectes And this is a thyng that costeth them nought to wish peace to their subiectes And in the meane tyme as I haue sayd by this bayte they do often times séeke fauour to prepare their subiectes to further bondage By the name of peace it is wel knowen that a prosperous state is vnderstand as though hee should say I wishe you to do well and prosperously Afterward hee addeth That a decree is made in his presence that is to say that he of his authoritie doth comman̄de all his subiectes that they all do feare and tremble before the God of Daniel By the which feare and tremblyng he vnderstandeth nothyng but reuerence and worship But thus vse all prophane mē to speake which are afrayde at the naming of god Yet it semeth that he would expresse that the power of the God of Israel was euident which ought to moue them all to reuerence and worship him and that with feare and trembling And this maner of speach semeth to be taken of a true principle because God is neuer truly worshipped but when men are humbled and brought downe Therfore God nameth him selfe many tymes terrible not that he would driue his seruauntes to worship him by feare but because as I haue sayd the mindes of men can neuer be well prepared to due reuerence vnlesse they fully perceaue the power of God so that they are afrayde of his iudgement But if feare onely should haue place in the mindes of men he could not frame them to true holines For that sentence of the Psalme is to be considered There is mercy with thee that thou mayest be feared God can not therfore be rightly worshipped or feared vnlesse we be persuaded that hee wil be entreated and that we be sure that he wil be mercyfull vnto vs Yet is it necessary that feare and tremblyng go before which may humble and bring downe the pride of the flesh This is signified by these wordes That all may feare and tremble before the God of Daniel The king calleth him the God of Daniel not that Daniel had made him but because he worshipped him We may rightly say that Iupiter is the God of the Grecians because he was made a God by their foolishnes thereby gate his name and authoritie in the residue of the world And so Iupiter and Minerua and that multitude of the false Gods take their names of their originall There is an other cause why king Darius calleth him the God of Daniel whom Daniel worshipped because hee reueled him selfe to Daniel as he is called the God of Abraham because hee reueled him selfe vnto Abraham But to explicate this thing more manifestly why is hee called the God of Daniel rather then the God of the Babylonians Doubtles because Daniel as hee had learned by the law of Moses so did hee worship God purely which had made his conuenaunt with Abraham and the holy fathers and which had adopted the Israelites for a peculiare people vnto him selfe This did therfore depend of the worship prescribed in the law and the worship did depend of the couenaunt Wherfore the name of Daniel is not put here as though he had libertie to fayne or imagine a God but because he worshipped that God that had reueled him selfe by his word Finally this maner of speach must be thus vnderstand that all mē must feare that God that hath made his couenaunt with Abraham and his posteritie and which hath chosen that nation as a peculiar people to him selfe who hath taught the maner and forme of the true and right worship and hath declared it by his law and whom also Daniel worshipped Therefore let vs learne to discerne the true God from all Idols and mens fantasies if we desire to haue our seruice and worship allowed before him For many imagine that they worship God which yet do wander in all kinde of errours and are not addicted to one true god This is a wicked thing yea it is nothyng but a prophanation of true Religion so confusedly to worship god Therefore we must marke this difference which I haue spoken of that our mindes may euer bee kept within the boundes of the word lest we erre from the true God if so be we couet to reteine him and to folow the Religion that hee alloweth I say that we must abide within the boundes of the word and may neither decline hether nor thether for we shall fall into innumerable deceites of the deuill vnlesse the word kepe vs as it were fast bound vnto it As concerning Darius he did know that there was one most high God but as is sayd before he did not cast away his fayned and wicked Religion wherunto he was accustomed But such mixture of Religiō is intolerable before God. He addeth Because he is the liuyng God and remaineth for euer Here he semeth to bring all the false Gods to nothing But as I sayd all prophane men do so lift vp their mindes to the most high God that yet by and by after they vanish away Therefore if they did acknowledge the true God aright they would immediatly exclude all fayned Gods. But they thinke it enough if God haue the first place and in the meane season they ioyne lesser Gods to him that he may lie hid as it were amōgest the number and yet haue some kinde of préeminence Such was the reason and such was the purpose of Darius for hee vnderstode nothing purely and sincerely of the onely essence of God but supposed the most hye power to be in the God of Israel how soeuer other nations worshipped their Gods. So do we sée that hee departed not from the superstitiōs which he had receiued in his childhode Wherfore there is no cause why we should prayse his godlynes saue onely in this particular action Yet God doth wrast forth of his mouth a confession wherin his nature is described vnto vs He calleth him the liuing God not onely because he hath lyfe in him selfe but also of himself because he is the fountaine and originall of life Wherfore this adiectiue must be taken actiuely because God doth not onely liue but he hath life also of him selfe agayne he is the cause of life because there is no life beside him or without him Afterward hee addeth That he remaineth for euer and so doth he disseuer him from all creatures amongest whom there is nothyng stable nor stedfast For we do know that not onely euery thyng which is vnder the heauen is subiect to chaunges but also the heauen it selfe In this point therfore doth