and stable age Aganst the which opiniō and reason thus I answer that we haue as great necessitie as had the ancient fatheres to be taught by sermones to be confirmed by sacraments to be exercised in commune prayers and to make confession of our faith And to this purpose pertaine so manye promises especially those that Esay writeth by whom god pronounceth that his churche shall haue infinite children whome it shall not only conceiue and beare but also norishe and bring vp The whiche thinge can by no means be denied but that it perteineth vnto the kingdome of Iesus Christ and to this oure time especially Now God dothe planely and euidently send home her children into the bosome and lappe of the churche their mother and norce And wherfore dothe he so but that an order rule myght be kept which he hath appointed to gather and kepe together his flockes in the churche The which thing also is expressed lyuely by a very apte and godly simitude which the same prophet vseth where he saith in the .liii. chapter that the Christians shall be like dooues which come to gether by flights into their doouecotes And what is that doouecote I pray you and commōe cote of comforthe for all the faithfull but the place wherin the worde of God is preached the sacraments are ministred and the name of God is called vpon and praised And surely those which thinke thēselfe so stable and stronge that thei haue no nede of this order and gouernance do not yet wel vnderstande their own state and condition For why hath God ordined and appointed vs the sacramēts but that whiles we are closed about and clothed with these bodies we are ouerdull to perceiue spirituall things onles we be holpen vp with such corporall things and sygnes which may be knowē by our syghts and senses The angels haue the veretie and truth of the sacraments the which is to them sufficient but our rudenes and ignorance requireth that God submitt hymselfe much more vnto vs applye himselfe to the weaknes of oure capacitie But these fantasticall Christians which are led with their false opinions and vaine imaginations of their proude hearte must spoyle themselues of their bodies and transforme themselues into angels and then truly thei shal not nede these small aydes and helpes whiche they now so smally do regarde Notwithstandinge they whiche are depriued of the vse and libertie of the sacramentes and of the comforthe of callyng vpon his name and can not feall theire misery to mourne for the same doe far passe all brute beastes in dulnes insensible Moreouer this I do affirme that if Dauid had a iust necessarie cause to make this exclamation O lorde how amiable is thy temple Blessed are thei that dwel in thy house My soule is kendled with moste feruent desire to enter into the courtes of the lord then haue we this day a far greater more iuste and necessary cause that we shoulde be enflamed with care loue and desyre of the churche of God For what were those godly and comfortable things of the temple wherof Dauid had suche necessitie that being absent and depryued of them he dyd accompte his lyfe altogether bitter and vnpleasant They were in effecte and substance the same that we haue this day How be it we do knowe that they were but darke shadowes wherby god did not so declare and set forthe his grace as he hath at this present powred it oute and made it to shine before our eies For god hathe opened and vttered himselfe vnto vs in the hole order of his church so mercifully and so familiarly that the verye heauens seameth after a sorte to be opened vnto vs. Neither do the sacraments signifye Iesus Christe afar of vnto vs lyke as vnder the lawe but they paynte hym before our eies Wherfore we must nedes be to muche vnthankfull excepte we do preferre these so great and so excellent benefytes which God bestoweth vpō vs to that comforth and Ioye which was offered vnto dauid in the temple of zion We are not now in the vtter courtes as Dauid speaketh neither is there ani veal Drawne ani more to hold vs backe frome the santuari wherefore ī wyll affirme plainely that we smally regarde and do not rightly know that greatnes of so liberall benefites when oure desyers are not equall at the least to the godly zele of dauid And this do I speake to teach the matter simply and plaineli as for exhortation it shall folow afterward in due place Now then let vs cōsider what was his so great zele desier that therunto we may apply frame our life as vnto a certain form and rule wherby we shulde lead our lyfe One thing saith he haue I required of the lorde where speaking of one certaine thing he dothe signifie that he was so desirous and care full thereof that he contemned al othere and despised them as thogh he had vtterly forgotten them And had Dauid all other things to be desyred so at wyll that he wanted nothing but this one thing which he so earnestly required Nay surely he was banished his contrey and fled from place to place as an exile And in the same exile and banyshement he wanted hys fathers house and the moste swete company of his frendes familiars he was spoyled of all hys goodes depryued of moste hyghe honors and dignities which he had in his contrey hys wyfe was taken from him Finally he seamed in the exile to be a mā spoiled of al good things and commodities and vtterly deformed and defaced with all calmities and myseries yet for all this of so many so great and moste comfortable things which he then wanted the wante of none was so greuous and painfull vnto hym as that he might not go and haue the exercise in the temple emongs others lyke as he concludeth the same thing in the contrary affection of gladnes whan he had all things at pleasure where he gyueth thankes vnto God for all the benefytes which he had aboundantly bestowed vp on hym after he had spoken of meate drinke and rest and other corporall commodities in the ende of the psalme he thus concludeth his prayer thankesgeuing that he wyll dwell all the tyme of hys lyfe in the temple and house of God By the which desyre and earnest purpose he testifieth that in all his welthe pleasures and quietnes he cared for nothing more nor compted any thing more pleasant or more precious then that kinde of lyfe conuersatiō wherin he was like a shepe in the flocke of the faithfull and ther fed moste sweatly that so he might be led to the chiefe felicitie Wherfore let vs consider diligently that Dauid in all hys changes both in aduersitie prosperitie reteined that mynde and desyre that he might vse that libertie continually which God had geuen to the children of Israel which can be compted no small vertue For we see very many who when they are in danger
constancie which he requireth in his word We muste also admonishe and solicite them by al wayes not to rest in places where men are fast on slepe in their voluptuousnesse but to applie diligently this thought and wyl that thei confesse the glorie due vnto god For we are not taught of god onely for our selues but that euery man after the measure of his faith shuld brotherly communicat with his neighbors and distribute vnto them that thing he hath learned and knowen in gods schole Nowe se we then that it is profitable yea truly necessary so well to our selues as to our brethren that the remembrance of this doctrine shulde be renued very oft especiallye seyng the text it selfe which we shal expound doth leade vs to the same purpose Dauid doth openly protest and as it wer doth make a solemne vow that he wil neuer be partaker in the sacrifices of Idolaters and also that he wyll so detest and greuously hate the idols that he wyl not at anye time once name thē as though he shuld defile his mouth in naming them This is not the fact of som one man but the example of Dauid the most excellent kinge and prophet which oght to be vnto al gods children a certain comon rule to ryght and godly life And to th entent we may the better perceaue this thyng and more vehemently be moued with the true fear of god the cause is to be noted which he addeth wherein truly resteth as it were a certain foundation of that same alienation and offence wherby he doth most greatly abhorre the communion of idolatours The lorde saieth he is myne enheritaunce But is not this thing comon to all faithful and godlye men There is no man truly whych wold not glorie in so excellent athyng And this is sure without al doubt that god being once geuen vnto vs in the person of his sonne doth dayly entise vs to possess him But ther be veray fewe which ar so affected in this part as the greatnes and worthines of this same mater shuld seme to aske and deserue Nether truly can we by any meanes possess god onles on this condition that we also be come hys Dauid therfore of good right and worthely did set the foundation of hys godlynes and religion in this sentence and reason seing that god is his enheritaunce he wil refrain from all pollutions of idoles which do turne vs from God hymselfe This is the cause why the prophet Esay when he had vpbraided the iewes that they had geuen themselues to fals and strange goddes whō they had made added afterwarde theis saith he ar thy portion signifieng by these words that god doth deny to the worshippers of idoles all bond felowshyppe of couenante and disenheryteth them and vtterly depriueth them of that so infinitly great benefite whiche he wold haue bestowed on them geuing him selfe vnto them Som man will except and sai that the prophet entreateth in that place only of them which put their affiance in idoles and deceaueth them selues thorow opinion and incredulitie I graunt but this also I answar yf they that do transferre gods honour vnto idoles are vtterly separated and cut of from his felowship they also doe are and decline some what from him which doe feine them selues to consent to supersticions thorow feare and weakenesse of mynde For no man can in heart or any conformable fashion or in wyll and in purpose of minde or faining or by any true or fained waye approch to idols but he must so far go back frō god Wherefore let this sentence be thorowly persuaded and remaine depely printed in our heartes that thei which seke god with a tru and pure minde to the ende to possesse him for their enheritance wyll haue no communion and felowship with idoles with whome god hath that diuorce and debate that he wold haue al his to proclaim and make continuall and deadlye war vpon them And in this place Dauid by name doth expresse that he wyll neuer be partaker of their oblations nether haue theyr names in his mouth and talking He might haue said on this wise I wil not deceyue my self with vnwise and folishe deuocions of the vnbeleuers I will not put my trust in suche abuses nor I wil neuer forsake goddes truth to folow these lies but he speaketh not on this maner but doth rather promise constantly that he wyll neuer be cōuersant among theyr ceremonies Therfore he doth testifie so far furth as concerneth the seruice of god he will abide continually in al puritie and holynes both of bodye and soule And first in this place we muste consider whether this be not idolatrie to signifie and declare by outward tokens our agremēt with those supersticions wherwith the seruice of god is corrupted vtterly peruerted Thei that swim as the cōmon saying betwixt two waters allege this saiyng seing that god wold be honored in spirit idols cā by no meanes be honored vnles a mā put his trust in thē But to this may be easly answered that god doth not so require the spiritual seruice adoration of the minde that he granteth and remitteth the other part of our nature vnto idols as though that part shuld seme nothing at al to belong vnto him For it is said in many places that the knees must be bowed before god also the hands lifted vp to heauen What then surely the chief honor that god requireth is spiritual but the outward signification wherbey the faithful do testifie that it is god only whō thei serue and honour must so immediatly folow that thei must at one time be ioined together But one place shal so suffice for al to cōfute that obiection which thei snatch of one word that thei shal be plainly rebuked conuict In the .iii. chap. of Daniel it is writtē that Sidrach Misach Abdenego refused denied vnder any maner of colour to consent vnto the superstition set vp erected by Nabuchodonosor declaring that thei wold in no wise honor his gods If these goodly wittie sophisters had bene there at that time wold haue laught to scorne the simplicitie of these thre seruants of god For I suppose thei wold haue taunted them with such like words you folish mē this truly is not to honor them seing you put no affiance in these thynges There is no idolatrie but where there is deuociō that is to say a certain bending application of the minde to honour and worshippe the idoles But these godly men did folowe a better wiser counsell for this answer which thei made proceded not of their owne wit but rather of the holy gost which moued thē thus to speake whō if we wil not resist we must accept this place this example as a certen rule definicion that idolatry is an outward action against gods honor yea although it procede not frō the wil and purpose of the mind but be only colourable and feined In which matter thei make goodly
vtterly corrupt the christian sinceritie And here in we differ as true martyres of Iesus Christ from the furious and stifnecked men which suffer for their owne folishe opiniōs Secōdly we ought to be so minded that being assured of the right and goodnes of the cause we shoulde be enflamed with this due desier to folowe god whither so euer he shal cal vs to embrace his word with suche reuerence as it is worthy and being called backe frō the deceitfull fashion of this worlde as men rauished with their whole minde and endeuour should be caried to an heauenly lyfe But O most miserable case that when the lighte of god doth shine vnto vs in these daies so bright as it did neuer shine in the remembrace of men yet so litle zeale fauour and loue should be founde Wherein our miserie is so much the greater that in so great filthines vnthankfulnes we are not ouerwhelmed with blushing shame For we must shortly come before that iudge before whom our vice and euell which we by all meanes go about to hide shal be brought forth with that rebuke check wherby the iust cause of our destruction shal appeare For if we be so endetted bounde to god that for the knowledge he hath geuen vs we ought to geue to him honourable and thankfull testimony why is our stomak so abashed fearful to entre into the battell Especially seing god in this our age hath so opened himself that it may be rightly sayd and truly that he hath opened plainly set furth the greatest treasures of his secretes May not this be said that we so think of god as thogh we semed to stād no nede of him at all For if we had any cōsideratiō of his maiestie we durst neuer be so bold to turn the doctrine which procedeth out of his mouthe into philosophie and vain speculation In fine we can haue no excuse but this must be vnto vs the greatest shame yea an horrible condemnatiō that in so great knowledge obtained by the singular goodnes of god we haue so litle loue minde to defend kepe the same For first yf we wil call to our remēbrance the martyrs of old time cōpare their wonderful cōstancie with this our tender slouthfulnes we shall finde passing great cause to detest our own filthines For thei wer not for the most part so trauailed exercised in the scriptures that thei could lernedly despute of al matters But first of al thei knew held fast this that there is one god whō thei oght to serue and honor then that thei were redemed with the blood of Iesus Christ that in him only in his grace thei shulde put their affiaunce and trust of saluacion Moreuer they did iudge all other inuencions and ordinances of men to worship god so vnworthy filthines that thei coulde easly condemne al idolatries superstitions to cōclude in few words this was their deuinitie ther is one only god the maker of the whole world which hath declared vnto vs his wil by Moses the prophets then by Iesus Christ hys apostles We haue one redemer wyth whose blood we wer bought by whose grace we hope to be saued Al the idoles of the worlde are to be detested accursed Thei came stoutly and boldly to the fier or other kinde of death and punishment instructed with no other doctrine and more hidden knowledge And the numbre of thē was not smal as of two or thre but so great that the multitude of theē which were cruelly vexed tormented of the tyrants semed innumerable and infinite But we are so taught instructed that we passe all our auncetours in knowledge vnderstanding of holy scripture We thinke in our selues and it is true as touching the vnderstāding of the scripture god hath endued vs with so much knowledge as he hath geuē to any age at any time And yet there is in vs scantly the least droppe of feruent loue towards god Ther is no reasō whi we shulde norish this nice cowardnes of minde onlesse we wold willingly wittingly prouoke the wrath vengeance of god against our selues What must we then Truly we must take to vs a stout bold cōstāt mind We must chefly cōsider how precious honorable the cōfessiō testificatiō of our faith is befor god For we do litle know howe god doth esteme this cōfession when our life which is of no value is more set by deare vnto vs. Wherein our wonderfull and beastly folishnes is shewed for we can not in this sort spare our life but we must nedes confesse that we set more thereby then by gods honour and our owne saluacion A certain heathen man could vse this saying that it is a miserable thing to forsake betray the causes why we life for the conseruacion of life Yet he and his like did neuer know truly to what end mē wer set in the world and wherefore thei lyued therein Thei might wel say that vertue is to be estemed and folowed that we oght to liue an honest life without blame But all their vertues were nothing els but colours and shadowes But we haue better vnderstanding whereunto our life must be referred which is that we honour god with al praise and glory that he himself may be our glory Without him our life is miserable the which we can not continue the least moment but we shall heape vpon our selues a perpetuall malediction And yet we ar nothing ashamed for the winning of a few dayes for this feble life to refuse the eternal kingdom to seperat our selues from him by whose power we are continued in this life Yf a mā shuld examine the most vnlerned yea those whose wit is so dased and whose life is so voluptuous that they be most like to brute beasts what maner of life is appointed them they durst not say plainly openly that it should consist only in eating drinking and sleping For thei knowe that they are created to a better worthier and more higher thyng which is nothing els but to serue and honour god with al kinde of honour to suffer our selues as good children to be ordered and ruled by our most benigne father that after the end of thys frail and vnsure life we may be receiued into his eternall heretage In the appointyng winning of this end consisteth the chefest and greatest point of our felicitie yea all the whole weight of euerlasting life But when we cary our mindes and thoughts another wai do snatche fast hold of this presēt life worse thē a thousand deathes what excuse cā we haue For to lyue and be ignoraūt of that causes wherfore we lyue is vnnatural But to forsake the causes wherfore we liue here for the desier and loue to prolōg our life as it wer for thre daies in this deceatful world and to be separated from god the author of lyfe is suche a bewitching and furiouse
faithfull keper When he hath ordeined and kept diligentlye this maner and fashion of lyfe yf afterward he fal in to the handes of enemies let him thinke and persuade himselfe that he is brought into that place of god for this cause that he mai haue him a witnes of hys sonne Therefore seing he is called and brought to that confession by the certain decree of god there is no way to go backe onles he wil be vnfaithfull vnto him to whome we haue promised all our endeuours both to liue and dye yea whos 's we are although we had promised nothing at all I meane not hereby to driue euery man of necessitie at all time to geue a full and perfect confession of their faith no not some times when thei be asked For I knowe-what measure and moderatiō S. Paule vsed who was as ready with heart and minde to defende the gospell as any other Neither was this spoken by the Lorde Iesus and promised without a cause that god woulde geue vs in that tyme and matter a mouth and prudence As though he would haue sayde the office of the holy ghost is not onely to confirme vs that we may be willing bolde and stronge but also it consisteth in geuing vs iudgement prudence and counsail how we may as it becometh vs gouerne and rule our selues in so great and so harde a matter Truly this whole treatise is to this end that they that be in such distresses shoulde desier and receyue from heauen that moderacion and prudence not folowynge the counsel of the fleshe to seke some shiftes to escape But ther be that do obiect in this place that the lorde Iesus yea whē he was asked woulde make to them no answere But I saye that this sufficeth not to take awaye that rule which he hath geuen to vs to witnes our fayth then when the confession thereof is necessarily required Furthermore that he did neuer dissemble or kepe silence for this purpose to saue hys lyfe Last of all that he dyd neuer make so doubtfull an answere but it conteined an apt testimonie of that which he had spoken before or els did first satisfie thē that lay in waite to marke both his words dedes Wherfore let al christiās be wel persuaded sure of this thing that no man oght more to esteme his life then the testimonie of the truth wherin god wil haue the praise glory of his name to appear Is it without a cause that he calleth his witnesses for this doeth the worde martyr signifie who are broughte to make answere before the enemies of faith and religion Or is not this rather the cause for that he wold vse al their speakyng and whole course of life to the confession of his name Wherein euery mā must not so loke to his neighbour felow that he will seme to do nothyng at al without his example and testimonie And this curiositie is so much the more to be eschued because we are prone to this vice of our own nature Peter whē he had heard of Christ that he should be led in his old age whether he would not he enquired what shuld become of Iohn his felow cōpanion There is none of vs which to auoide perill and daunger woudl not gladly make answere in that wise because when we shoulde suffer any thing by and by this cometh into our minde what is the cause wherefore I shoulde suffer more then others But Iesus Christ doth coūsel monish other wise vs al in comon and euerie man priuatly to be prepared and readie that as he calleth one or other so euerie mā comforth in his ordre And I haue shewed this before that we shal be vnarmed and vnprepared to take and suffer martyrdō onlesse we be fēsed and armed with the promises of god Now remaineth to declare plentifully such promises not that we wil sett forth euerie one exactli but to shewe the chefe and most excellent thing wich god wold haue vs to hope for to comforte vs in our calamities And there be thre such thinges the first that seing al the times both of our lyfe and death do consist in his hād he wil so defend vs by his power that not one heare of our head shal fall but after hys wyll Wherfore al faitfull men oght thus to be perswaded in whose handes so euer they be tossed that god in no wise will lay a side that gouernaunce custodie which he hath taken vpon him for them with so great care Yf this perswasion of gods fatherly care and prouidēce did rest and cleaue depe in our hartes we shuld be deliuered out of hand of the greatest part of these doubtes difficulties which do now trouble hinder our duty We behold now the bitterness of the tyraunts vnbridled crueltie brawling pinishly in al sharpnes of punismēts And here by we iudge that god hath no more care nor regard to defend and kepe vs in sauetie And therfore we be so stirred prouoked by our own reasons to looke and prouide for our selues as though the whole hope of gods helpe and succour were clean taken awaie But on the other part the so great prouidence of god as he hath shewed vnto vs oght to be vnto vs like a stronge fenced castle which can be ouercome with no power Let vs therefore learn and hold fast thys short sentence that our bodies are in his hand power who also did creat them And this is the cause wherfore god hath deliuered hys after a merueilouse sorte and contrarie the opinyon and hope of all men as Sydrach Misach and Abdenago forth of the burning ouen Daniel out of the lions denne peter out of Herods prison where in he was short watched most diligētly fast boūd in chaines By these examples he wold declare vnto vs that he could staye our enemies as it were with a certaine bridle and that he had that power that when he wold he could preserue and as it were pluk vs out of the mouth of death it self Not that he doeth alwaies thus deliuer his from such perils but of right hauing the autoritie to apoint our life death he will haue vs persuaded that we are so continued and kept vnder his custodye and tuition that what so euer the tyraunts do inuēt or with what furie so euer thei set vpon vs yet it is only in his hand to apoint lyfe or death and therefore thys mater oght onely to be refferred to hys wil. But yf he suffer the teraunts to kyl vs yet our life is vnto him deare much more sett by of hym then it is worthie The which he did plainly declare to be so when he pronoūced by the mouth Dauid that the death of his saints was honourable and preciouse in his sight And also whē he say by esay that the earth it self shuld shew forth the bloud that was shedde which semeth al to gether hidden Now then let the enemies of that gospel be
of kinde that thei seeme vtterly to be brute beastes For we were created to another end farre contrarye that whiles we remain in this worlde we should with our whole minde care contende towardes the heauenly kingdome of God And this is the very cause wherefore this present lyfe is named a certain pilgrimage course or trauaile Wherefore who soeuer will not wittingly and willingly depriue himself of the eternall inheritance of the kingdom of god he must nedes begin his course and iorney at this principle to wit that he oght to cut of al the folishe light desires wherby he may be reteined withholden in the worlde so that his chiefe care desier always be to draw nere vnto God and that he haue none impediment but that in minde desier at the least he hast thither In minde I say and desier at the least because it were greatly to be desired and wished that all earthly affections which do withdrawe vs from God shoulde be vtterly plucked vp rooted forth of our mindes that we might spedily passe ouer the race and space of this world which we haue to runne thorow and to atteyne to that place whither our iorney lieth But because we are so far vnable to haue such a mynde as is pure and voyde from all euel affections this remaineth that we conquer and ouercome all the impedimentes that hynder vs that what faut or stoppe so euer be in vs we pursue our course with that minde and desire that in our greatest infirmities we alwayes preferre the heauenly life to al worldly thinges But nowe let vs consider by what wayes and meanes we may learn this It neither lieth in mans wit nor authoritie to inuent or appoint them but those wayes are to be troden and holden which god hath ordeined and appointed vnto vs whereof the chiefe and most sure are here named of Dauid that is to say the order and policie and state of a churche so gouerned that we maye be taught therein and instructed in the worde of god that we may worship him with common consent pray vnto him and praise him with one voyce haue the right vse of his sacramentes as the aydes and stayes of his whole worship and religion For these are the rules wherein we must exercise our self that we may be confirmed in faith in the feare of god in holines finally in contempte of the worlde and loue of the heauenly life And to this purpose and none other perteineth Dauids testimonie and praier that emonges many thinges which he was moued to wishe and desire in his banishment this was the chiefe principal that he might dwel in the temple of god For vnder this name of the temple he doth comprehend that fredome libertie wheteby he may both worship god purely godly with the faithfull and geue the confession of his faith prayse god and make his praiers and to be partaker aswel of al these so great comfortes and ioyes as also of the sacraments which were in that temple rightly and lawfully institute For at that time in dede God had chosen a certaine place in the which he commanded to offer sacrifice vnto him and to shew him all reuerence and honour whereby thei might professe and testifie that he was their only god in whom thei put their trust by whose lawe they should be instructed and finally shuld ther haue al the tokēs of hys presence And doubtles he hymself vttereth most plainlye what it is that he chiefly regardeth in this request when he desireth to dwell in the temple of god seyng he doth ioygne this therevnto that he doth require this for that cause that he may behold the beauty of the Lorde Wherein he declareth that the temple of it selfe was nothyng neither that he had fastened his eyes vpon it alone but that he rather had his hart and hys minde bent vpon that vse and worshyp whereunto it was consecrate and appointed If we sholde suppose that he regarded or desyred nothing saue the buildyng made of woode stone we sholde iudge far a mysse and iniuriously of this most godly and wyse man for this colde not be geuen hym as a commendation of vertue but a wicked superstition We must therfore rather iudge and beleue of such a man that by the declaration of suche a feruent desyre he hath testified how honorable he esteamed the outward order and regiment wherby the faithful are gouerned in the churche And to vtter in fewe wordes what I iudge hereof he signifieth and declareth that it is a singular benefite and suche a special prerogatyue as can not for the great dignitie therof sufficiently be pryced to remaine and lyue in the churche that he may be partaker of all those thīgs wherby God doth vouchsafe to allure and to ioyngne his children vnto hym And let vs note diligently his dignitie and authoritie the speaketh thus For he was not one of the rude multitude a man wtout knowledge and experience but the moste excellent prophete that euer was bothe in vertue and knowledge and inspiration of the holy ghoste He doth not here speake what is profitable or comfortable for the multitude but in this peticiō hauing only regarde of his own profite and welthe he dothe witnes moste planly that he neithere wisheth nor desyreth any thinge more earnestly then to be in that company assimbly of the people of god wherin he may declare his faithe and may cōfirme and edefye himselfe by the holy sacraments and the holsome doctryne there preached Nether gyueth he this testimony in this place only but also in many other he declareth his moste feruent desyre to the same as in the former psal he saith O lord I loue the habitacion of thy house and the place wherin thy glory hath his residens Again psalme .xlii. lyke as the Hyndebrayeth for the water brokes so my soul panteth after god my soull is a thyrst for God euen for the lyuing God saing whan shall I come and appeare before god It had bene enogh to haue sayd these wordes but his vehement affectiō doth cary him higher For emmediatly he addeth that he was fed with teares in steade of breade al that time that he was absent colde not come to the temble of god And he forthermore adioyned that this hearte is powred forth lyke water within hym selfe for the remembrance of that tyme whan he come to the temple with the multitude of the faithfull to prayse God Thē after so many so greate mornīgs and wailings and desyres most lamētably oppressed he fyndeth no better comforthe then in that expectacion and hope which he conceiueth of god that he wyl restore agayne vnto hym the benefyte comforth whiche he had loste My soule saith he why arte thou so vexed so vnquiet and troubled within me put thy trust in God for I wyll yet giue hym thankes for the comforthe of his countenaunce And in the .lxxxiiii. psalme he declareth
man can let him that is to say that he mourne day night with dauid Thine altars o lorde There is none other thing that I desyre but thine altars o my God and my kinge And the fere of this most holy loue and desire oght so enflame al good hearts that thei shold not thinke it painfull to suffer ani thīg that can come no not to consume themselues wholy by this so great zele and desyre neither that there sholde be any tyme so long differred which shold quenche or diminishe this feruent desyre but rathere continally require this thing most carefully that they maye once be broght vnto Christes folde Moreouer euery man oght to considre thys by hymselfe howe he maye moste speadily get himselfe to the standerd so soone as our lord shal graunt any liberty to come therunto Finalli to make an end of this exhortatiō now it remaīeth that we do diligētly note that which dauid adioygneth that is That he will behold the beawty of the lord consider his temple For it is not enoghe that we shulde be exercised in the outward order discipline of the church except we haue our eies bent and speciall regarde to this end that we maye know god himselfe euer more and more There be two thinges which are heare required the one that we do occupy the time of the preachings publike praiers with all care diligence the other that we do vnderstand the cause of our assemblies comming together in the churches For many do come thither drawen with a certane folishe deuotion thinking that thei haue done their hole deuty yf they come forthe into that place shew thēselues once in the temple let vs take heade therfore diligently deare brethren that we do not fal into any fault of negligence of ignoraunce or of folishnes For it is greatly to be feared lest the most part of thē that ar herew t vs mai be cōdemned in the one of these two vices that either thei are negligēt to come to these assembles in the church or els they do not whaigh with themselues nor well vnderstād wherfore thei do come thither How many are they the come to the sermones which wold be most glad neuer to heare of any sermons But I will not speake of thē which in the hole course of their life do shew thēselues manifest contemners of God I do speake of the contempte which is many who wolde neuer remēbre to come to the sermon but that the sonday doth monishe them moue them to com thither and that for maner sake only as thoghe they wolde then make vp the nomber of mani runīg together to god The bell may well ring daily call thē together But it is sufficient for suche if then at last they come forth in the ende of the weke vnto the church company of the cōgregation Thei are called four times euery sōday but thei come very notably if thei once may be seene to haue beene there For there be many of them also whych take to them thys lyberty that they wyll scarse come euery .xv. Daye And surelye the moste parte prooueth thys prouerbe to be trewe that beyng nygh to the Churche they are verye farre from god And some of them be of that sort which haue lefte their contrey that they might serue god who yet in this part of gods seruice do shew thēselues ouer negligent What oght we thā to do Seing god doeth so shew himselfe vnto vs let vs beholde his beauty not passe by the meanes whereby we may most clearely haue the fruition cōtemplation of this his beautie That is to say to that we may be moued as it were rauished with the loue of him as S. Paul saith that we be transformed changed into his simitude likenes And to come to this point we must consider more diligently earnestly then we haue accustomed what god doth propoūd vnto vs in his church For what is the cause I pray you why we do take so smale profit of the sermons sacramēts but that we giue no diligence to the things that are their spoken done We haue our eares beaten with continual doctrine wheras our minds are voide barren of good mocions not touched with any good affection Moreouer also there be some that here neuer the whole sermon but here there a word or half a word rather with out regard Wherfore Dauid saieth not without great cause that he woulde go to the temple of the lord to visit and regard it with great care diligence and the whole study of his minde And doubtles the excellent treasures of the great wisedome of god which are therein set forth vnto vs are most worthy to haue the eies of our minds wholy bent set thervpō But as I haue now touched god would not haue vs to beholde these treasures only to please our eies so to depart wtout any profit Let vs therefore vnderstand that the doctrine of christ hath then shewed in vs her force fruit when our mindes life maners are so chaunged that we can worship god purely serue him wtout corruption And this is it that Dauid saith psalm lxxxiiii That thei which dwell in the house of the lord shall prayse him for euer Wherfore thē do we assemble our selues īto one place whi is that gospel preached vnto vs why do we vse baptisme the lords supper but that god shuld be praised magnified by vs with all kind of praises the which praise standeth not only in the lips but continueth al the life long and florisheth for euer Therefore saith he in another place I wil wash my hands O lord in innocencie then wyll I enter vnto thyne altare Now do we see what is the true lawfull vse of all the order in the church to wit that we beyng diligently instructed therein may worshyp God purely and as becometh hys seruaunts In the olde time vnder the law thei that came to the temple to worship god especially the preistes whē thei shuld execute their office they continually washed them selues This ceremony in dede is passed awaye but the truth that yet remaineth oght of vs alwayes to be mainteyned and practised And because we nowe do knowe all the wais meanes wherby we may atteyn to the most perfit pure worship of god wherefore we must enter and holde the way of life more warely thē others For the more furtherance that we haue graunted vs by god so much lesse of excuse shal be left onles we do appli the same both vnto our vse profite also to the true worship of god For if we do stumble by the waye it is not because we doe not see a plain troden way before our fete And if we do stray forth of the way wander without assuraunce we can not blame god therfore as though he did not continually set vp the clear light of
true fear of god to the loue of the worlde I cofesse in dede that all thinges are as they both thinke and speake But if their body were in daunger they were admonished where they might finde both learned and mete physicions and also propre healthefull remedies other helpes either to restore or preserue their healthe then I saye they woulde not say that thei cared not for it or sette lyght by it because that in all places dyseases may come vnto men I graunt that in what place soeuer we be we shall finde infinite occasions to do euelle corruptions and intisemets of the worlde but ther is great difference whether we haue ayds helpes where with we maye other be kepte in office or eles hauing erred from our office maye be restored or whether we be altogether depriued of them let it be agred that vices nowe doe reigne and are of lyke force in the worlde so that by ther poison the air is infected no lesse thē with a pestilence are we not in better condition thē other in that we haue such remedies as are geuen of God to his children wherew t we may ether driue awaye from vs greuous deseases now coming and assauting or els purge and put them awaye being nowe presente Further more I thinke that both the doctrine of the gospell when it is purely preached and also the sacraments when their lawfull vse is kepte and also common praiers and other meanes besydes are alwaes very necessary to styre vs vp and to admonishe vs that we be not infected with the corruptions and tentations of the worlde as it werewith certaine poisons Now all men do know that there is none of all these so great so holsome remedies and benefits in the papistry but cōtrarywise all wickednes and extreme danger of losse of life and saluation Wherfore let vs take head that we do not refuse the help that god most mercifully offereth in this great necessitie wherin we stand ī nead of great help toward our saluation yet ther be some that vomet forth more euidently the fylthe and dissease of their stomake what say thei shal we go to that church wherin with our great grife we shal see those motions and offences which now being vnknowē vnto vs do not offend our eies and myndes if there were soche regimēt and order of the church those places wher the gospell is preached which were to be required for our edification if we were sure to finde none ther but angels which might leade vs into paradise we wolde runne thither with all haste diligence But when we shall come thyther we shall heare many things that shall soore offend vs and see many mo then were necessary Ther wyll be many men prone to al maner of wickednes impudencie which do diffame sklander the gospell by their disolute lyfe vanities pompe pride and dronkenes wylbe more cōmon then were conuenient Moreouer which is moste greuous and intollerable of all many shall shew themselues there so vnruly outrageous contemners of god the more wickednes shall appeare in their lyues then emongs the papists forthermore emongs the magistrates and them that should execute iudgement ther wil be found as much corruption disorder vnrightousnes as ī other places And also in thē that are apointed to preach the gospel many things shal appear which shal seme worthy of reproche rebuke For some of thē wil be neglent in the ministry or so occupied ī their priuat domestical busines that the fidelitie diligēce sincerity that thei shuld sew forth shal not be much regarded of thē And which is the worst of al amōg this kind of mē ther be som so geuen to pleasures that they are prone to al lustes of the flesh belly chere care for nothing els but to liue at ease and to pamper the fleshe and that thei may doe this at more libertie they ioyne thēselues with wicked mē haūt their cōpany in all mischief vilany Well let vs grant so that there is ten times more euill there then ther is in dede or then men do phātasy yet must this excuse be vain alwais vnto thē which make them lets impediments vnto them that thei shold not com to the church of god And that we maye proue this matter let vs mark the example of Dauid that we haue in hand with more depe cōsideration diligence Was ther such iustice integritie obserued in the daies of Saull I besech you in the iudgement other offices as the state of the common welth the dignitie of the church required Nay cōtrariwise we do hear the great cōplaints which dauid maketh oftētimes of the malice of the frauds deceits of the fearcenes the pride both of the king of others that wer ī autoritie ī iudgemēt in cōmon offices And for the priests and Leuites did thei the office of the priesthod ministery of holy things so purely and godly the thei had iust cause to reioyse for thēselues the church Or may we not rather gather that the most part of thē did folow the cōmon vices corruptiōs yea by their flattery fostred nourished wickednes And as touching the people common multitude thei wer ful of hipocrisie manifold sins crimes most manifest yet for all that Dauid doth not therfore abhorre that assembly nether refuseth to com entre into the church nether yet quensheth nor diminisheth his desire that he had to se it It is a very greiuous sore tentation I do grant For the more earnestly that a mā is moued with the zele desire of the honor of god the more great cause hath he to sorow morne whē in the polutiō of his church he doth se him most greatly to be dishonored but the meanes to ouercom all these incōmodities impediments is declared by Dauid to wit that we seke the face of the lord that we set al our pleasur and felicitie of life fully contented in the sight beholding therof that against al the greues that satā doth raise against vs we determine cōclude that nothīg is more pleasant nor delectable then to dwel in the temple of god wher his face mai be sene thus shal we remēbre as oft as such offēcs ar offred vnto vs that satā laboreth after his vsual maner to dazel our eies to troble vs But herein let vs be wise constant the we be neuer drawen away from the cōtemplation therof but that we take our hole and full pleasure of the moste comfortable beholdyng of the same The miserable ydolaters oght to make vs ashamed For if any of them after he haue consumed bothe his body in goyng a folish pilgrimage when he commeth vnto that place whither he purposed do finde an hoste which doth aske money of hym out of all reason or verlets and cruell knaues which doth him iniurie or couetous priests that
be borne that is to saye there shall be greate aboundaunce The Christians doe almost with one accorde refer it to Christ and thinke that the prophet doeth render the cause why they shoulde be counted amongest the cytesens of Ierusalem whych hitherto were straungers sore enemis because Christ shuld be borne there whose duetie it is to gather mē scatered as membres torne a sonder into the vnitie of fayth hope of euerlastyng life As for the first interpretation because it is altogether wasted it nedeth no refutation As for the seconde because it is more sutle then sounde I doe not receiue The 5. verse And of Zion it shall be said A man and a man is borne in it and the most hiest shall establishe it He continueth the same sentence that newe citizens shall be gathered into the church of god out of diuerse partes of the worlde Howbe it he vseth another figur that straūgers shal be counted amongest the holye people as though they had bene borne of the father Abraham He saide in the former verse The Chaldeans and Egiptians shal become of the housholde of the church The Ethiopans Philistines and the men of Tyre shall be counted amongest hys chyldren Nowe he doth adde in steade of a confirmation that there shal be an infinite multitude of new seed so that the citie shal be filled with a great people which was desolate for a time and afterwarde was but halfe full with a litle nomber of men And this which is here shortely promised is declared more at large of Isay Prayse O thou barren whych diddest beare children for the chyldren of the desolate forsaken are mo then of her whych is maryed Make large the place of thy tent stretche out the cordes and strengthen thy stakes c. Likewise Thy children shal come from farre lifte vp thine eies rounde about for all these shal be gathered to thee And in the xliiii Chapter almost the same maner of speache is fained or at leaste one which draweth neare to this which is here This man shall say I am of the lorde he shal be called by the name of Iacob This man shall write with his owne hand I am the lords and he shall call himselfe after the name of Israell Neyther dothe the prophet without cause signifie by the worde of bearing that the Egiptians Chaldeans and such like shoulde be of the flocke of Gods people For although by nature they were not borne of Zion but ought to be grafted in by adoptyon into the bodye of the holye people yet because our entrye into the church is the second birth this maner of speakyng doth agre very well For Christ doth take the faith full to him in marriage with thys condicion that they forget theyr owne people and their fathers house Psalme .xlv. and being fashioned and borne a new of incorruptible seede into newe creatures maye begin to be the sonnes both of God and of the church Gal. iiii And surely we are borne a new in to the heauenly life none other way then by the ministery of the church But in the meane season we must marke the difference that the apostle putteth betwixt the earthly Ierusalem which as it is a seruaunt so engendreth children to subiection and the heauenly which bryngeth forth fre children by the gospell In the second parte of the verse the long duryng of the same is declared for often times it cometh to passe that the soner that cities doe creepe vp into a wonderfull height the shorter whyle doeth their prosperous state endure And least that the felicitie of the church should seme after this sorte to be vnstable the prophet doeth pronounce that her stabilitie shall be of the lord as though he should saye that it were no merueil though other cities did shake were subiect to diuerse inclinations because they are tossed with the world haue not euerlasting kepers But new Ierusalem is of another sort whose eternitie being grounded in the powre of god shal stand though heauē earth fal The 6. verse God shall count his people by writing he was borne there Selah The prophet meaneth that the name of Zyon shall be so famous that all shall with most feruent desire go about to be counted in the numbre and degre of the citezens thereof For he speaketh of a moste honorable degree as though he should say when god shall make a count of the nations them whom he will chiefly honour he wyll accounte rather to Zion then to Babilon or any other cities For this shall be a greater dignitie to be in the lowest degre amongest the Citizens of Zyon then any other where to be of the chief yet in the meane season he admonisheth vs from whence men that are straungers get such honor so sodenly to wit of the free gyft of god And surely thei which are the seruants of the deuyll and of sinne can neuer get by their owne diligence the fredom of the heauenly citie It is the lord alone who placeth the people in their seueral degrees as it semed good to him and whereas the condicion of men is a like he putteth difference betwixt one another As for the writing whereof he maketh here mencion pertayneth to the callynge for although he hath written his children in the booke of life before the creation of the worlde yet he then counteth them at length in the numbre of his childrē when as he doth seale them being regenerate with the marke of the spirit of adoptiō Aswell the syngers as the players on instrumentes all my fountaynes are of thee The 7. verse Partly the great shortnes partly the doutfull signification of one worde doth make the sentence dark As for the word fountaines there is no dout but that it is translated from the right signification vsed here by a Metapher But for all the that expounders do differ in the declaration of the Metapher Some do expound it hope some affections some the inward thoughtes How be it I would gladly agre to their sentence which interpret it songs if the proprietie of the tonge wold suffer it But because it may seme to far fetched I do receiue that which is most agreable to reason to wit that the countenance is signified for the rote from the which it is deriued doth signifie an eye Nowe must we se what that other membre signifieth Aswell the syngers as the players on instruments It is an abrupt maner of speaking but al men do agree of the sence thereof to wit that there shal be such cause of ioye that the prayse of God shall be set forth with singyng both without instrumentes and also with instrumentes of musicke Therefore he doth establishe that which he saide afore of that great glorious restauration of Sion for by the greatnes of the ioy and manifolde singing of praise he declareth how great the felicitie thereof should be But in the meane season he describeth the end of al the giftes which god doth so liberally powre on his church to wit that the faithfull do witnesse their thankfull minde towardes him with himnes songes More ouer that the prophet declareth that he dothe embrase the church with a syngular loue care and studye to the intent he myght exhorte and kindle all faithfull by his example to the same affection According to thys saiyng let my ryght hande be forgottē if I do not remembre thee Ierusalem in the begynyng of my ioye For then finallye are all our affections in the churche when as we gather our selues frō the wanderyng and vaine distruction of the mynde and despyse the dignities delicate thynges ryches and pompe of this worlde and are content wyth that onelye spirituall glory of the kyngdome of Christ FINES Prynted at London by Roulande Hall dvvellyng in Golding Lane at the signe of the three arrovves 1561.