him Doubtlesse such trials are necessary for vs that as the loue of God bearing soueraignty in our hearts should make all the loues and delights of our life sweet so the feare of God in vs exceeding all other feares should make all the euills of this World to seeme lesse bitter Now as touching our purpose We see Abraham which had beene sufficiently tryed before in bearing his Crosse now put to the highest triall of all Whether he can sustaine to sacrifice his Sonne He had passed a long Pilgrimage before these things through many banishments and difficulties to fourescore yeares of Age he held his troubled life in Care in Euils in Danger in Bitternes in Feare He was twise driuen to depart the land to which he was called by promise and for necessity of Famine to flie to Aegypt his deere Wife was twise plucked out of his bosome He warred with foure Kings not without great danger of his life his Wife continued barraine on whose issue the Hope of his life attended When he had a Sonne by Hagar he is driuen to abandon him Now Isack is Borne he hath the Promise sealed in his bosome he hath quiet and rest in his old age But see God thundreth from Heauen and rowseth Abraham out of the onely ioy and content of his life Abraham take now thy only Sonne Izack whom thou louest Let Abraham teach vs what our life is He which bore the greatest loue to God what did hee but sustaine the greatest Triall Hee which held as a great Captaine in the hoste of God the buckler of Faith before vs all how notably doth hee shew the danger of so many sharpe encounters by so many dints of temptation and the impression of so many fiery darts of the Diuell Now as through Faith he ouercame in all so by him wee are taught that our life is nothing else but a certaine order and ranke of temptations where when one endeth another beginneth wherefore the Wise man saith My sonne when thou wilt come into the seruice of God stand fast in righteousnesse and feare and prepare thy soule to temptations But let vs not feare those euills which neuer linne mouing and tumbling vs vntill they haue set vs vpon the Rocke which is higher than they Let vs not feare that fire which can burne nothing but our drosse Let vs not feare those wounds which can let forth nothing but our corruptions but let vs brandish the sword of the Spirit against all spirits against the spirit of the flesh which seeketh sweet things against the spirit of the world which coueteth vaine things and against the lying spirit which was a murtherer from the beginning The iust shall liue by faith By Faith here iust Abraham liued by the Faith in which he offered his sonne Isack he ouerthrew the tentation which otherwise had ouerthrowne him Si credis caues si caues conaris conatum tum neuit Deus voluntatem inspicit luctam cum carne considerat hortatur vt pugnes adiuvat vt vincas certantem spectat deficientem sublevat vincentem coronat If thou haue Faith saith Saint Augustine thou wilt attend to thy Faith and God knoweth thy endeuour and considereth thy striuing with thy flesh and looketh into thy will and exhorts thee to the fight and helpes that thou maist ouercome and beholds thy striuing and proppeth thee when thou art falling and crowneth thee when thou hast ouercome But come we to the temptation it selfe where finding it said that God proued Abraham we learne that God hath his manner of tempting and prouing vs but such as is for our good and the exercise of our faith whose end is no other than to bring forth the light of good workes and a more sweet sauour of our life Neither is that of Saint Iames repugnant which saith No man is tempted of God but of his owne concupiscence For his purpose is onely to refute their damned blasphemy which to acquite themselues would make God the Author of their sinne therefore Saint Iames telleth vs that we must ascribe the causes of sinne to our owne concupiscence For the roote of them is from our owne heart For albeit Satan instill his poison and kindle with his bellowes a fire of euill desires in vs yet it is our owne flesh that is first mouer and our owne will which we obey For as corrūption could not by the heate of the ayre ambient enter into our bodies if our bodies did not consist of such a nature as hath in her selfe the causes of corruption No more could sinne which is a generall rot and corruption of the soule enter into vs through the allurement or prouocation of outward things if our soules had not first of themselues receiued that inward hurt by which their desire is made subiect to sinne as the womans desire was made subiect to the husband and as the Philosophers say the Matter to the Forme Now the forme of this temptation Moses setteth down in the highest sort whereas God doth seeme to shake the faith of his word in the heart of his holy seruant by a contrary engine of the same word To this God citeth Abraham by name twice to obedience that hee might haue no doubt who is the Author of the temptation Had he not beene certainely perswaded that it was the voyce the word of God with which hee stood charged to offer his sonne Izak hee might most easily auoyde any other temptation or whatsoeuer Art or subtilty the Diuell might haue vsed to batter his faith Now hauing no other standing but in the Word no other sword to fight against distrust he seemeth to be entrapped in his standing and with the same Sword himselfe is wounded with which hee should haue hurt the enemy For beloued brethren if this Sword being but taken from vs we must needs fall what shall wee doe when God seemeth to strike at vs with the edge thereof Now this was Abrahams case Let vs then heare the Word speake Take thy sonne Izhak whom thou louest c. We see with what griefe and resisting we endure the searching or cutting of our naturall affections though sinfull how then must it grieue him to vndergoe the rasing out of tender pitty of fatherly compassion which not onely were planted by Nature in his heart but were fed and cherished by Gods owne word If Zipporah could say to Moses thou art a bloudy husband for causing her to circumcise her son might not Abraham vrged by commandement to sacrifice his sonne say This is a bloudy word If the child had beene commaunded to haue attempted some hard thing against the father the like difficulty of execution had not ensued For albeit the commandement biddeth the sonne to Honour his father whereas no word of command vrgeth the father to honour the sonne This is done to no other end but to require the loue of children to
TWELVE SERMONS Viz. 1 A Christian exhortation to Innocent Anger 2 The calling of Moses 3 Abrahams Triall 4 The Christian Souldier 5 The fulnesse of Christ. 6 The Rule of Christian Patience 7 A Christian mans fulnesse 8 9 10 The Marigold and the Sunne 11 12 The Sinners Looking-glasse Preached by THOMAS BASTARD Master of Arts and sometimes Fellow of New Colledge in OXFORD PSAL. 56. 10. I will reioyce in the Lord because of his word In the Lord will I reioyce because of his word LONDON Printed by T. S. for Mathew Lownes dwelling in Paules Church-yard at the signe of the Bishops head 1615. TO THE RIGHT HONORABLE MY singular good Lord and Master THOMAS Earle of SVFFOLKE Lord Treasuror of ENGLAND c. My Lord THat of Artaxerzes king of Persia was neuer too highly set prised which said that it was of no lesse kingly bounty and humanity to accept of little things than to giue great I haue receiued great things from your Honours fauour euen a daily portion by which I my selfe and my little family is sustained besides other graces of which you haue vouchsafed mee from the first houre of my admission into your seruice And now what haue I to offer vnto my Lord but euen this little handfull of flowers which I haue gathered by my Study and Meditation to make to your Lordship a sweet smell of my duty Which if it shall please you graciously to accept you shall more enrich fill my desire by this receiuing than by giuing For to an honest minde it is sweeter to be regarded than rewarded And what greater reward can be giuen to him that striueth to be thankefull than to finde himselfe accepted in that in which he seeketh most to please I hope these flowers to them which peruse them shall not prooue vnfruitfull being gathered out of that field of the Scriptures on which the Holy-ghost hath breathed As the fruit of the Husband is sweet to the Spouse so he is to her as the Rose of the field and the Lilly of the Vallies Such is the word of God being broken and diuided aright that it doth both sauour and fresh and feede and nourish the soule of man Therefore as it is called The word of Life The bread of Life so it is called The sauour of life vnto life I haue not taken my Texts of Scripture from one place as if a man should gather hearbs in a garden from one bed as they grow and lie together but I haue selected and chosen my parcels out of diuers places of Scripture and knit them vp in this little bundle here Knowledge there Patience in another place the duety of a Christian Then Faith and Obedience Againe the fulnesse of Christ Againe the Flowers of the Prophets to these Contrition Humility and Loue with exhorting to meeknesse and for bearing c. All mixed with Instructions and reproofes and twisted and made vp with the bindings and testimonies of the Apostles and Prophets Sic positi quoniam suaues miscetis odores Because of diuers places of Scripture thus set and ordered the sweetest smells are made Right Honourable whatsoeuer these are or whatsoeuer I am my selfe the Labour is yours and the Labourer Accept the ready heart and thankefull study of Your Honours most humble and deuoted Seruant THOMAS BASTARD A CHRISTIAN EXHORTATION to Innocent Anger The first Sermon EPHES. Chap. 4. Vers. 26. Be angry but sinne not Let not the Sunne goe downe vpon your wrath WHereas all our Passions haue their roote in the minde and cannot be moued thence nay whereas they haue their right vses so that without them there must needes ensue a naturall vacuity of Sense and dulnesse in the heart the Apostle first allowing that which is naturall in our affections permitteth anger secondly he forbiddeth that which is contrary to Nature Sinne not thirdly if wee haue sinned hee willeth vs to shake it off quickely Let not the Sunne goe downe vpon your wrath To vs it seemeth strange that the Apostle should say Be angry and sinne not For wee know not what to say of Anger but either that it is an hot appetite of reuenge or a seething of the bloud about the heart or a short madnesse or some such like affection But if we marke the scope of the Apostle well He doth not in saying Be angry permit but command some anger Why the Apostle doth not forbid Anger we haue this reason because the passions of our mindes are 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 of themselues indifferent neither good nor euill Our Anger then as it respecteth her end is good or euill For there is a time when it is a fault to be angry and there is a time when it is a fault not to be angry There is lawfull vse of Anger as of Loue of Hatred and of Sorrow For there is a godly Loue a godly Hatred a godly Sorrow a godly Anger aswel although not as often as the contrary Neither doe I speake of this passion as it is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 a first motion without assent as in the very infancy of her cause For I doubt not but that all the affections of man are as man is conceiued in sinne yet so that by originall sinne the reasonable parts those faculties which moue to Anger are hurt But that part in which Concupiscence moueth is infected with taint of sinne Here I speake of a deliberate Anger confirmed by reason and act of our will with which we may as well please God as with our Almes or Prayers or any other worke of godlinesse Now although the same sinne which hath blemished our vnderstanding defaced our purest minde hath made much more deformed and vgly those affections which sit beneath the Will and being but her sollicitors haue their place in that part which is more subiect to Concupiscence yet hath not sinne preuayled to destroy the nature and substance of them Now if in their Nature they be not abolished much lesse in their right Vse The Philosopher said well of Anger that it is the whet-stone to Fortitude Basill calleth it a sinew or tendon of the soule giuing it courage and constancy and that which is remisse and tender hardening as with yron and steele to pierce and goe through her businesse To be angry saith S. Hierome is the part of a man and were not Anger by suffrage of Saint Chrysostome neither could teaching auaile neither iudgement stand neither sinnes be repressed The Stoicks hould a vacuity of affections and condemne them all as vnlawsull why because they draw vs to disorder and outrage but this is not the nature of our affections but the affection of our corrupt nature Christ himselfe was not without affections he was angry when he cast the Marchants out of the Temple pittifull when he saw the people scattred like sheepe without a shepheard sorrowfull when he cryed ouer Ierusalem And we know that Anger Repentance Mercy
and Hatred are attributed to God himselfe which if they were simply and by nature euill should neuer haue beene ascribed to him It cannot then be denied but that Anger is vpon iust causes to be permitted Now let vs see in regard whereof it may be commanded There is a time when Gods honour is defaced and then be angry through iust zeale as Phinehas was with Zimry and Cozby but in this kind of anger sinne not be not ouer iust There is a time when our brother is to be reproued in this reproofe sinne not be not too sharpe and bitter in rebuking and in this place we may well cary with vs the rule of the Apostle Brethren if any man be ouer taken with a fault you which are spiritual instruct such an one with the spirit of gentlenesse considering thy selfe least thou also be tainted First the ve ry insinuation were enough to perswadevs seeing we are al brethren Secondly there is no difference betweene them and vs but in time they may preuent vs in sinning we shall follow them Thirdly because flesh and blood is insolent the Apostle maketh a distinct choyse of the persons exhorted you that are spirituall you which haue your hearts softned with the vnction of the holy Ghost Fourthly the medicine is set downe we must instruct him shew him the nature and measure of his fault and how to amend it Fiftly the ingredience to the medicine is prescribed with the spirit of meeknesse Sixtly we are bound to it by equality of nature considering thy selfe Seauenthly it is worth the noting that whereas before hee sayd in the plurall number brethren you now by a kinde of selecisme he maketh it euery mans case considering thy selfe least thou also be tainted But to goe forward there is a third kinde of lawfull anger when wee must be angry with our selues for sinnes and trespasses by vs committed but yet in this kinde of anger let vs not sinne that is fall into dispaire for there is mercy with God albeit we haue sinned So the first anger in which we are moued against our brother commeth from a Godly zeale the second when we rebuke our brother for his amendment commeth from our loue to God and the third when we are angry and displeased with our selues for our sinnes is our repentance before God We which haue suffred our affections to stoope downe to sinne and haue suffered our selues to be caried and misled by them knowing now that there is necessary vse of them to good shall we not turne them away from actions of vniustice and restore them to the honour of God and the good of our selues and of our neighbour We which haue beene so often angry and sinned is it not now time to learne to be angry and not sinne How happy shall we be if wee can fence and saue our selues with that sword with which we haue wounded so many of our brethren How happy shall we then be when we haue wonne those preturbations from the Diuell which hang downe so low and easie for sinne and by which sinne taking hold doth clime vp higher into our will and vnderstanding I conclude then with Saint Basile Ser de Ira If you will be angry with out sinning and shew forth the lawfull vse of this affection know that one is allured to sinne another enclineth and allureth him conuert your anger against the latter of these two a murtherer of his brethren a father of lies maligne not him that is ensnared entrapped Be angry where is a fault which may beare anger which cannot be a priuate displeasure but a fáult openly tending to the prophanation of Gods feareful name pollution of his Sacraments and seruice Publique scandalous incorrigible and insufferable faults whereby his Christ is dishonoured his good spirit of grace despighted and the whole congregation and family that is in heauen and earth wounded and blasphemed Be angry with those which are angry with God vpon euery light occasion for euery crosse wherewith they are tryed ready to goe backe and to walke no longer with him or if their mouthes be not filled with laughter and pleasure to their hearts desire and their besties with Garlicke and flesh-pots as in the daies of darkenesse breake forth into termes of highest vndutifulnesse saying What profit is there in seruing God Be angry with those that are angry with the Prophets for prophesying right things vnto them Be angry with the Prophets if they seeke their ease if they preach Lies if they preach not the Word Be angry with the Citty if it repent not at the preaching of the Prophets but when they haue pronounced the iudgments of God take them but for fables and like the sayings and doings of the mad man who casteth firebrands and arrowes and mortall things and saith am I not in iest Be angry with dogges which returne to their vomit though they beene purged seauen times and in a word to knit vp all Be angry with your sinnes the diuell lies vanities your selues Now come we to the prohibition which is the second part but sinne not Heere Saint Paul warneth vs of a pit into which our anger may fall namely sinne A pit more daungerous then that into which Ioseph was throwne by his brethren for many fall into this pit which neuer come foorth againe and this the more carefully we ought to shunne how much the more our nature vergeth downewards and our passions haue their selfe aptnesse and pronesse to that which is euill There is in vs almost an insensible difference betweene anger and sinne and Saint Paul cannot name the one but hee must aduise to cause vs shunne the other so secretly so subtily that which is euill is mixed to that which is naturall the motions of our minds were ordained to this end that they should obey reason but they refuse to obey God But the sinne of anger is so far extended and lyeth so many waies that it may seeme a matter of great hardnesse to expresse how diuersly we fall into it It shall suffice for our present purpose to make some briefe obseruations hereof and so to come to our conclusion First Anger bringeth in sinne by rashnesse for what easier way is there to fall then by omitting counsaile and what greater enimie to counsaile then wrath by which when we haue but a little distasted like mouthes of men diseased we relish not of sweet and wholesome counsailes but by heate and distemperature of mind fall into sodaine and violent passions which bring with them shame and confusion and for this cause Socrates when he was angry at his seruant refused to beate him saying He would first whip his anger This was Potiphers fault for when his wrath was kindled by a false suggestion he punished Ioseph with imprisonment albeit his anger tooke occasion from a lie to wrong the innocent I this was Dauids fault when he gaue too hasty credit to false Ziba his accusation and
vs then haue our eye vpon him that we may know this changeable Proteus vnder what forme soeuer he shrowds himselfe When Peter spake like a friend Maister pitty thy selfe Christ spied the diuell there Auoid Satan When Elymas the Sorcerer perswaded the Deputy Paul eied the diuell thou sonne of the Diuell he found him in men-beasts at Ephesus he spide him lurking in his own flesh whither Sathan had sent his messenger to buffet him And it mattereth not whether he seeke our subucrsion by himselfe or by his sworne seruants For as when a Prince suborneth his subiect to worke treason vpon his enemy the benefit redoundeth to the Prince not to the subject so when men draw vs from God the booty is the Diuells O where doth not this subtile Serpent lurke what station haue the Souldiers of Christ without danger where can we put our selues without perill of falling Wee haue a night and clandesline enemy which neuer ceaseth to subuert ruinate and destroy If we had to doe with a bodily enemy wee might sleepe or intermit the watch there might be something vnperfect in our munitions and he not espie it This enemy spies all aduantages his Dragon eye so called of 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 to see pries into all things he intermits no time Then in a word whensoeuer wee may be subuerted wee are taken by him Wee haue seene this our arch-enemy ruling ouer all the Nations of the world fortifying himselfe like a great Monarch with bands of Atheists and Idolatrous hauing built himselfe Altars and Temples in the heathen as strong holdes bearing visible sway and carrying the Kingdomes of the earth in open triumph We haue seene how hee hath warred with the Saints in the Primitiue Church and how deare the cause of Iesus Christ stoode the Apostles and Martires in which prodigall of their liues and bloud charged the enemy in open fight and cast him out rescuing kingdomes and subduing the Nations of the world to Christ and his Gospell howbeit hee hath made a reentry hauing gotten the signiory in Africke and holds them as a prey More he raungeth ouer the great Asia and hath laid it waste I hee is entred into Europe and like the surging and ouerflowing ocean frets at the shoare seeking to breake the bounds hauing gotten ground of the Church but what doe I speake of outlings which haue yeelded ouer see how he hath drawne the Starres from heauen Euen them which professing Christ in his Church doe take now the contrary part And now when wee see without the Church the common enemies brauing the poore Christians despising our little number yet lesse for sects and schismes intestine and ciuill warre when I see amiddest them which professe Christ in one side hote fiery men whetting their tongues in Pulpits with curses and bitter words preaching common Inuectiues as if they had warre with one part of their hearers holding their scute or buckler of Predestination ouer the side they fauour and powring out plagues and curses 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 like stormes in winter on the other When againe I see our aduersaries with bloudy Inquisitions with fire and sword armed not onely with poyson in their mouthes as lying slandering blaspheming for that they count too little but with treasons and all cruel instruments of death sharpned with spite and malice implacable and seconded with hellish policy Heu quantae miseris strages Laurentibus instante what warres what massacres doe threaten vs God thou knowest If euer Christs Church had warre heere is warre It is warre when the enemy batters the walls What is it when hostes habet muros When our enemy possesseth our walls So had wee when wee drew within the walls of our Church that monstrum infelix full of armes and armed men as the Trojan Horse which hath not ceased to practise all cruelty and hostilitie in the Church And if euill were then to be feared how is it now when the enemy commeth out of the sides and bowells of the Church when he is gotten into the Pulpits and hath diuided our small number and pretending nothing but the pure Word hath sowen that sedition that parts are taken that it is growne to mutiny to sides that almost through the whole kingdome euery towne is at open faction Preacher against Preacher hearer against hearer One side goes from the Sermon discouraged and marked out for reprobate the other hath grace and comfort as solely elected Then spies are sent abroad for more hearers this man is graced and magnified as the onely Preacher if another come they will not heare him And hath not this fiery disposition attended to ruinate the very foundation of the Church as in Brownists and Barrowists But you will say these are zealous and godly men they minde but to mend the couering and alter somewhat of the old building Be not deceiued for it is to be feared they will downe with all for the new sides doe heare them as the onely Preachers and they haue cast imputation on their fellowes of Errour and Popery But be not deceiued deare Christians these are not they which brought you out of darkenes into light which stoode and fought for your Faith and the Gospell when the Truth was at a lowe ebbe and the Church had neede of stowt Souldiers in the cause of Christ. Non his Inventus orta parentibus Infeâ—…it aequor sanguine No lusty youths nor any of this race Did euer shed their bloud in such a case They were Ridleys Latimers and Cranmers playne Souldiers fighters not boasters which died for Christ and his Gospell in those dangerous times they cared for the body of Religion not striuing for the shadow They had the compleate armour of righteousnesse they did not contend about the guilding and enamelling They fought indeed not beating the Ayre with wordes they warred with the common enemy and left not the sword sticking in the sides of their fellowes But see how the Serpent is still a Serpent He is out of hope to hurt vs by our enemies abroad now he seekes to bring the same ruine on vs by our selues If he cannot procure our downefall for want of preaching he will doe it by preaching if he cannot hurt vs by hiding prayers in a tongue vnknowne hee will make vs despise them in a tongue knowne if he cannot obtayne the rule as he is Prince of darkenesse He will in a counterfeit forme attempt vs like an Angell of Light By these let vs learne what we ought to be not onely good souldiers but labouring suffering euill First is a good souldier then suffring euil For an euill man is no souldier but an enimy of Christ Transfuga a run-away he hath forsaken his colours and giuen ouer the cause If we be good then shall we be sure of enemies when first we become good then the fight beginueth My sonne when thou commest into the seruice of God stand fast and feare and prepare thy soule to
temptations As soone as Christ was declared the sonne of God instantly Satan declared himselfe an open enemy and this euery child of GOD shall proue in himselfe What perill was Saint Paul in whiles he was a persecutour was it not a sweet world to apprehend to binde to imprison whome he listed But when he is conuerted to Christ heare what he saies In Perils of water of Robbers of his owne nation of the Gentiles in perils in the Citty in the Wildernesse in the Sea in perils of false brethren See how the world is changed now he must iourny be weary watch fast hunger for our goodnesse will not free vs from danger it is the cause of danger as we see in Abel Are not men slaine for their goods so the treasure of Godlinesse is the sole cause of the enimies assault he will venture most for the richest booty Thus the wicked haue a trebble aduantage of the Godly First their heauen is heere on earth they are in their owne country they seeke no farther Secondly they haue no such treasure being voyde of grace cantabit vacuus coram latrone vâ—…ator He that hath neuer a peny in his purse neede not feare robbing Thirdly their friends are here the world loueth him So standes it not with the Saints of God whose country is not the world whose treasure is not in the world whose friends are not of the world I will briefly shew three things which belong to a good souldier of Christ. First he must haue a good heart the Deuill fights for the heart who then will be a niggard of an hearts courage in an hearts defence they say mens cuiusque is est quisque a Christian should be all heart For so much as we deduct out of courage and resolution for Gods cause so much haue we forfeited of our being and subsisting to Christ. Doe not Princes when they send treasure by land or sea picke out the most stout resolute the most hardy and ventrous men will they trust cowards We haue grace from Christ as a depositum a treasure committed God hath put vs in trust let not vs basly and cowardly giue it ouer Lucan speaks of Metellus which when Iulius Caesar entred Rome suffring the dishonor of the Citty and the breach of all lawes yet when Caesar brake open the doore of the treasury thrust himselfe betweene and would not let him passe without breaking through his owne sides So the Poet hath Vsque adeo solus ferrum mor temque timere Auri nescit amor pereunt discrimine nullo Amissae leges sed pars vilissima rerum Certamen mouistis opes O cursed gold thy onely loue when state and lawes decay Through fire sword bloody death doth carles make a-way Riches yee vilest part of things for you men kill and slay Shall it be said so the loue of riches feareth not sword nor death O no let onely the loue of Christ contemne death No sacke of a citty is so lamentable as when the Deuill entreth into a soule as when he cries downe with an heart and synks the whole man into ruine and perdition we haue true enemies why haue we false hearts he which hewed vs as I may say out of the dust of the earth was knowne to bring vs to an excellent piece of worke Why then doe wee suffer that enemie which will breake downe all our carued workes with Axes and Hammers We want no courage to stout it and braue it in defence of our wicked liues and lewd manners we will beare no reproofe we will maintayne it to the death we are hardie and resolute to follow causes at Law we spare for no cost though our cause be weake our heart is strong A man is not afrayd to challenge his Brother into the field and to seeke to shed his bloud with hazard of his owne life though he fight against God and the iust Lawes armed with vengeance The World hath her Martyres Sinne hath hers What hath Religion Come on deare Christians let vs 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 First challenge the enemies of our faith We onely which stand for the truth of God haue a strong cause Let vs not haue faint hearts We fight against a fugitiue enemy a Runnagate whom our Captayne Michaell hath so wounded that if we but resist him he will flie from vs Our fellow Souldiers are all the Saints of God Martyrs Apostles Prophets Patriarchs euen that royall Army of God our auxiliares copiae our supplies are the Angels in Heauen which pitch their Tents about vs whom if we could see we should say That more are they that fight for vs then they that fight against vs. Our Captayne our Leader is Christ Iesus which combated the enemy in single fight and is ascended vp on high Principalities Powers Mights and Dominations being made subiect to him Come on I say courage for Heauen for Christ for the Crowne of glory What Dwarfe wil feare to bid defiance to the strongest Champion if a Giant will stand by and abet his quarrell Dominus nobiscum The Lord is on our side that Giant of infinite stature Heere what Dauid the Prophet saith Though an hoast of men were gathered against mee yet will not I be afraid See a little Dwarfe in in this Name defie all names and Powers Angels Principalities Life Death Height depth things present things to come counting his daily killing for Christ more then conquering For know we this no man can be ouercome which hath a good cause if his enemy kill him his cause will saue him then come what will we onely which haue this cause of Christ can say of all our enemies as Socrates said of Anytus and Melitus Me vero Anytus Melitus necare possunt nocere non possunt Our enemies may kill vs but they cannot hurt vs. Finally to make our courage lasting and durable let vs behold our Lord Iesus holding ouer our heads the Crowne of glory and saying Vincenti dabo to him that ouercommeth I will giue the Crowne of life The second in a good Souldier is to haue a good hand or arme for we must not be such onely as may not feare our enemies we must make them feare vs as Pelopidas which when one told him We are in danger of our enemies Why said he more then they of vs For why should we feare carnall or couetous or cruell men if the arme of our Faith be extent and strong they shall rather feare vs. I say then Hostem qui feriet mihi erit Carthaginiensis He that strikes an enemy of Gods shal be to me a good Christian. Strike at Atheists downe with proud Goliah pull away the visards of hypocrites and hit them in the faces feare no mans person no not the Giants For wee haue a Sword of that temper and sharpenesse which will diuide and pierce the diuisions of the Spirit and the ioynts