the Iudge of the world to giue dome and definitiue sentence both of quicke and dead and that as it were in open court of generall Sessions or assises when as he shall render to euerie man according to his workes vengeance vpon the wicked and reward vpon the righteous destruction and damnation vnto the vngodly but soules health and saluation vnto the Godly Seuenthly 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the day of the Epiphanie not the first Epiphanie when Christs birth was manifested to the wise men of the East by the leading of a starre but when Christs glorie shall be reueiled by the finall eclipse of the sunne the darkning of the moone the falling of the stars and the shaking of the powers of heauen when as the sonne of man shall so come as the lightning commeth out of the East and shineth vnto the West Mat. 24.27 and 29. when as the hearts of all men shal be made manifest Eightly 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the day of visitation when as Christ Iesus the great bishop of our soules shall visit the ample diocesse of his Church and shall call all the cleargie before him and cause them to render account of their cures and charges and shall make those shine as starres for euer and euer that shal winne soules vnto God but will remoue those candles out of their candlestickes or els the candlestickes out of their places which either giue no light or bad light or are either dropping candles by their lewd lothsome life or spitting candles by their troublesome and seditious doctrine Ninthly the day of appearing as in this place because that then our Sauiour the sunne of Righteousnesse shall sodenly pearse the cloudes and breake fourth in glorious brightnesse by the shining beames of his heauenly grace fulfilling the heartes of all the faithfull with the cheerefull light and comfortable heate of his diuine presence which haue lien long as it were in Iosephs colde yrons of aduersitie and affliction and languished in Daniels darke dungeon of despaire As the naturall sunne with his gladsome glee after the dismall darkenesse of the wearie night dispelleth and dispierceth the thicke clouds being long looked and longed for at the last appeareth to the chearing and cherishing of all mankind so called an appearing to the comfort and consolation of the good the godly that when they see the least glimpse and glimmering of him to peepe out or appeare they should then lift vp their heads and looke vp because their redemption is at hand for then and neuer till then shall the workeman receiue his wages the labourer in the Lords vineyard his pennie the faithfull seruant the rule of the Lords house the thriftie vser of his talents the gouernment of so many Cities the constant runner his propounded garland the spirituall souldier his promised crowne the little flocke their prepared kingdome the followers of Christ in their regeneration their thrones of iudgement Which time teacheth vs that we should not so doate as to dreame of any crowne throne or kingdome in this life or once to looke for any paradise heauen or other blessednesse in this world nor any time to hope for any happinesse before our chiefe shepheard doe appeare For as there is no heauenly paradise but in Abrahams bosome nor any pleasures for euermore but at the right hand of God nor any true ioies to be found but in the kingdome of heauen so are we not to enter into this paradise to enioy these pleasures and to be partakers of these ioies vntill the day of his appearing In the meane time therefore we must not with the husbandman looke to reape with ioy before we haue sown with tears nor to looke to liue with him before we haue died with him to raigne with him before we haue suffered with him to be glorisied with him before we haue beene crucified with him to sit with him on his right hand and on his left before we haue drunck of the cuppe that he hath druncke of and been baptized with the baptisme that he hath been baptized with to bee crowned with this crowne of glorie before we haue bin crowned with his crown of thorns to be found as fine gold for the treasure-house of the Lord vntill we bee purged and purified in the fire and fornace of affliction to be good corn in the Lords garner before we haue been sifted by Sathan Finally not to sit on his throne before we haue continued with him in his temptations For first must the Church be militant here vpon earth before it can be triumphant in heauen first must we suffer affliction before we can liue Godly in Christ Iesus and to conclude first must we be in tribulation before we can enter into the kingdome of heauen It followeth in the next words Yee shall receiue c. Now come we to the reward which our Apostle Peter promiseth in the person of our Sauiour Christ which is no light thing of small valew or meane account but the greatest gifte and richest reward that can be giuen and receiued a bountie beseeming the person of our Sauiour the bestower and worthy the partie that is partaker Kings and Princes when they liberally conferre gifts and rewards they giue not toies and trifles but great and royall guerdons such as are agreeable to their maicstic and magnificence Aristotle writes of his Magnanimus that he bestowes benefits vpon others freely and franckly and that herecompenceth aboue measure and proportion and that he will not vouchsafe to giue light little things but precious and peerelesse presents But howsoeuer the Philosopher frame such a man according to his owne fantasie as a Phaenix seldome or no whereto be found yet such a one the Scripture describeth God the Father and Christ Iesus his sonne and our Sauiour to be in all respects as first to be the giuer of all things and that liberally 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and not vpbraidingly and those that he doth giue to be 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 good gifts and perfect gifts Iames 2.17 farre surpassing in worth and worthinesse the gifts of any Palatines or Potentates Kings and Keysars Conquerors and Monerches in the world Pharo King of Egypt gaue noble gifts vnto Ioseph when he gaue him his owne signet to weare on his hand fine garments of linnen to put on his backe a chaine of golde to put about his necke and gaue him to wife a Princes daughter and made him Vice-roy of all his land and gaue him his best coach but one to sit in Gen. 41. Saul king of Israel honourably rewarded Dauid when as hee gaue him his royall robe and all his Princely garments vnto his sword his bow his girdle and made him lieutenant generall of all his forces and smally his owne daughter to wife 1. Sam. 18. The Queen of Saba gaue princely presents to Salomon when shee gaue him sixscore talents of golde and an exceeding quantitie of sweete odours and an infinit number of precious stones
is of the Genus of it which is Mysterie Now therefore of the other part which is the difference in the same definition being here called not only a mysterie but also a great mysterie Great In this word our Apostle amplifieth this mysterie of godlinesse in way of comparison preferring and extolling it aboue and before all mysteries for euen in the chiefe points of our religion in the principall articles of our faith in the deepe mysteries of God some are greater more excellent and heauenly then other some In which respect our Apostle calleth also the spirituall marriage betweene Christ the bridegroome and the Church his spouse a great mysterie Ephes 5.32 So called here great as truth is said to be great and strongest euen by the voice of all the people 3. Esd 4.14 As being greater and stronger then wine then the king then women As the Sunne and the Moone are called Great lights 1. Gen. 16. in comparison of the rest of the Plannets and all other fixt starres being greater then any of them all As Niniuie is called a great and excellent Citie because it was of three daies iourney Ionas 3.3 As the stone that was laide against Christs Sepulchre a great stone because it was the greatest that could be gotten Mat. 27.60 Mysterie great in 3. respects This being great in three respects first in regard of the cause secondly of the matter thirdly of the effect thereof Great therefore because the efficient cause and Author of this mysterie is great euen God who is not an Idoll as the Gods of the Heathen but great and terrible Deut. 7.21 euen a great Lord feared aboue all Gods Psal 96.4 and of whom againe the Prophet Dauid saith who is so great a God as our God Psal 76.14 As in respect of our Sauiour Christ Iesus the mouth word and wisedome of his father the speaker opener and vtterer of this mysterie who is called the great prince Michael Daniel 22.1 and a great Prophet by the common opinion of the people Luk. 7.16 the great high priest by the Apostle Heb. 4.14 and the great shepheard of the sheepe 13.20 And in respect of the Apostles the preachers and publishers of this mysterie who were the great doctors of the people and therefore called Pillours of the Church 2. Gal. 9. and great Apostles 2. Cor. 11.5 Yea and greater then he then whom there was not a greater borne of women euen Iohn the Baptist For euen so great doth our Sauiour Christ make euery one of thē when he saith He that is least in the kingdome of God is greater then he Luk. 7.28 For who so great as the Creator founder of all the world who so great as the great Sauiour and redeemer of al mankinde who so great as those holy and heauenly Ambassadours of God vnto all the people and nations of the world Not Iupiter so great the father of all the Heathen Gods although the Romans call him Optimum Maximum Nor Diana Iupiters daughter so great although the Ephesians crie out neuer so often Great is Diana of the Ephesians Nor Mercurie so great the interpreter and messenger of the Gods although the Grecians name him Trismegistos And according to the greatnesse of this God so is the greatnesse of this mysterie Againe it is great in respect of the matter which it containeth and that not onely in regard of quantitie but also of qualitie as first great in quantitie because it containeth all things requisite to bee knowne of God and necessarie to be beleeued of vs euen the whole dutie of man consisting in two things in fearing God and keeping his commandements which is the end of all as Salomon saith and the sum of all the olde Testament Eccl. 12.13 As also the summe of all the new Testament which is comprised likewise in two commandemēts in louing God with all our harts c. and in louing our neighbour as our selfe vpon which two things hangeth as our Sauiour in the Gospell the whole law and the prophets Mat. 22.40 and this in respect of the whole Scripture in generall Which may be called the great Pandects of Gods holy lawe wherein all things are set down so perfectly and fully concerning our saluation as that there is nothing wanting nor superfluous in the same and therefore nothing to be added thereto nor taken there from insomuch that it may be said of this booke of God so called of the Greeke 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 in way of excellencie and singularitie as being the booke of all bookes as Martialis of Liuie Pellibus exiguis arctatur Liuius ingēs c. so Pellibus exiguis arctantur biblia magna Omnia quae tamen haec nō capit orbis habet Not as the Poet that his studie could not holde but as the Euangelists that the whole world could not containe the things that are comprised therein Ioh. 20.25 And last which maketh the studie of the Scriptures and profession of diuinity to be most hard long and infinit of all other although to some shallow heads shuttle braines and simple wits it seemeth to be a kinde of knowledge that is plaine easie and soone learned contrarie to the iudgement and prescript of Esra in the 1. psalme being a Preface to all the rest of the Psalmes that for the necessitie vtilitie difficultie and profunditie thereof wee must meditate therein day and night not in the booke of the Psalmes onely but in the whole lawe of God otherwise then a number of vaine worldlings do fondly suppose who deem peeuishly peruersly that the holy Scripture is but a toy and triflle and the matter thereof too base as beeing too course and grosse for the fine edge of their politicke sconces Such as Galen the physitian who reading the first booke of Moyses Genesis dispraised the same as wanting sound and sufficient arguments of proofe saying scoffingly that Moyses the Author thereof affirmed much but confirmed nothing As also Alphonsus the tenth king of Spaine who reading in the beginning of Genesis the Historie of the Creation found great fault with the first making of the world and the things that are therein and said blasphemously that if he had been present at the Creation he would haue ordained or ordered things in a better course And as Cardinall Bembus saide vnto Sadolet a Byshop most irreligiously when as hee comming vnto him and finding him diligently studying the Scriptures and painefully writing a comment vpon the Epistle to the Romans Lay aside this trash and trumperie such vanitie becomes not a man of thy grauitie And finally as Clement the fift Pope of Rome most wickedly and Antichristianly said that he might decree anie thing against the Epistles of Paul and the olde testament as being greater then Paul or any other Author of the olde Testament in the decrees of his Parliament holden at Rome called Decisiones Romae 1. Dist 10. cap. Si Papa Which common prophane opinion and corrupt iudgment is the cause why
〈◊〉 〈◊〉 as it is in this place in Matt. mentioned before for that this word is here taken in the bad and not in the good part it is manifest as also in Matthew although Beza be of the contrarie opinion therein iniuriously and rashly controuling the iudgement of Erasmus and that because Luke in harmonie consent with Matth. 22.25 vseth the simple for the others compound Beza which is but once in the whole Scripture so taken and no where els and that therefore is meant thereby not tyrannicall rule but all ciuill gouernment of temporall good politicke magistrates But it may be said of him as it is in the Prouerb of Bernard Beza non vidit omnia although otherwise a learned father and an excellent writer verie well deseruing of the Church of God But to put this matter out of controuersie if we will make Marke a moderator between Matthew and Luke and take him for a Iudge betweene Beza and Erasmus we shal find not that word which is in Luke but that which is in Matthew and that which is in my text and who will not say that the place of Luke is to be suspected of an ouersight in the libraries in leauing out the preposition because he differeth from the other two Euangelists as Beza hath suspected manie places of lesse account and for smaller cause then this And I am perswaded if some originall were throughly searched a 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 would be found in Luke as well as in the rest but who is so blinde as he that will not see for absurd it were that the preposition 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 found in the compound should make no difference from the simple but to stand as a Cypher in Augrim or as a pilcrow in a latine Primmer what simple Gramarian will say this But if any thing be to be gathered out of Luke his difference from the rest it is this that euen the simple also 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 is taken for a seuere tyrannizing and not for serene gouerning and therefore much more 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the compound for that it doth so signifie it appeareth Acts 19.16 which place may stand in steed of a thousand because we will not spend time in repeating manie hasting to other matter Where the euil spirit is said to haue ouercome the foure sonnes of Sceua by a violent assault as it may appeare by the two effects following of rending their cloathes off their backs and wounding them 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 in the originall And therefore Hesicheus hee interpreteth this worde by 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 which signifieth not onely Dominari but domare euen to curbe a man and to keepe him vnder by constraint and in setting himselfe against him to vanquish him by fine force for that the preposition 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 is taken alwaies in the compound for aduersus euerie Grammer scholer knoweth it And the opposition in this place maketh the matter most manifest for these two are put here as Antitheta 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 insinuating thus much vnto vs that a man cannot both 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and also shewe himselfe an example and yet who will not say that manie Kings Princes and Lords both ought to be and are oftentimes in their gouernment presidents and examples of many vertues vnto their people and subiects so that the word is not here barely taken for any lord gouernour simple but for cruell and tyrannicall Lords which wring and wrong the poore people vnderneath them And that therefore though the latter be here inhibited yet the former is not forbidden neither by Peter the Disciple nor Christ the Master being a state which may and ought to stand as well in the Church as in the common wealth where there ought to be gouernment degrees and dignities because of the difference of gifts and graces in one another and that to the glorie of God and good of his people for where there is an 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 there must needs be an 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 For want of gouernment breedes confusion and equalitie brings contempt Here then in a word these Elders of Asia and in them all the preachers of the word of what degree estate condition soeuer are dehorted from all hard seuere austere dominering ouer Gods heritage they must not be 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 to allude vnto the words of our Sauiour in the Gospel Mat. 25.24 Luk. 19.21 As the false prophets did in the daies of Ezechiel for the which he inueigheth against them who did neuer strengthen the weake nor heale the sicke nor binde vp the broken nor brought backe that which was driuen away nor sought that which was lost but did rule them with crueltie and rigour feeding themselues and not their sheepe eating vp the fat cloathing themselues with the wool and killing those that were fed among the flock Ezech. 34.3.4 As likewise the Scribes and Pharises in the time of our Sauiour Christ who did binde heauie burdens grieuous to be borne and layd them on the shoulders of the people c like the taske-masters of Egypt vpon the children of Israel for the which he sharply reproueth them Matt. 23.4 And finally as the Pope Cardinals Byshops and Cleargie of Rome doe and euer haue done since Antichrist put foorth his horns in behauing themselues too loftie and lordly ouer the poore people exercising vpon them an intolerable crueltie and tyrannie and laying on them a yoake of miserable seruitude and slauerie ouerburdening them with their innumerable decrees canons and constitutions powling pilling and impouerishing them with their Peters pence penance pardons and purgatorie and finally vtterly vndoing them by their insupportable impositions exactions and oppressions And as I feare me too manie do in these our daies who follow herein the false prophets Pharises and popish prelates who care not nor spare not to vse hardly not onely the common multitude but also the ministerie of the Church in not only lofttie looking ouer them as the Diuel lookes ouer Lincolne as we say but also in laying greater charge and burden vpon them then they are able to beare But would to God these would remember that for all their superioritie they are but shepheards for all their magistracie they are but ministers and for all their Lordship they are ought to be labourers in the Lords vineyard and louers of the vine which they neither ought themselues to spoile nor waste nor suffer the wilde boare of the wood to roote it vp nor the sauage beasts of the field to deuour it They ought neither to be 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 nor 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 they must not be like the great oakes of Basan and the tall Cedars of Libanon which with their bignesse height hinder the growth of young trees vnderneath them by keeping the moisture of the raine the heate of the sunne and the aire of the winde from them so they to wipe the fat from
first placed wisedome and then knowledge as in the 1. Cor. 14.1 Among all spirituall gists Paul preferreth prophesie which cānot be without knowledge as being an effect thereof as without the which we should blūder in blindnesse grope as it were at noone day and finally fall into the darke dungeon of errour As our Sauiour vnto the Scribes and Pharises in the Gospell You erre not knowing the Scriptures nor the power of God First reproouing them of errour afterwards obraiding against them the cause thereof euen want of knowledge whereas contrariwise the hauing of knowledge is a light vnto our feete and a lanterne vnto our pathes whereby the eies of our soules are opened the vnderstāding of our minds is illuminated and the powers of our harts are enlarged to conceiue and perceiue those things that belong both to this life and the life to come If then knowledge be such an excellent thing with what studie and endeuour yea and with what pains and importunitie ought we to labour to attaine vnto it Euen to leaue no meanes vnwrought no waies vnsought that we may be possessors of so precious a Iewell and so inualuable a treasure And so to seeke after knowledge that we care not for it alone and contemne al other things as not so to stuffe and puffe vp our selues therewith as that we doe not as the Apostle forewarneth Rom. 12.3 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 but to ioyne with our knowledge charitie with our science conscience with our speculation practise and with our contemplation 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 action This being that sweete coupling and louely lincke which the word of God commandeth and commendeth vnto vs the one being friuolous and vnfruitful without the other as knowledge without charitie to be nothing els but madnesse as Festus thought of Paules knowledge when hee obiected against him that too much learning had made him mad or vanitie That knowledge puffeth vp but charitie edifieth And charitie without knowledge to bee nothing els but a fond affection and a deuout dotage but both these combined togither like two twins with two wings equally poised shall giue vs a speedie flight vp into the heauenly aire of the paradise of God for the one being seasoned with the other will make them both sauorie and sweete in the taste both of God and man So shall there bee neither errour in our knowledge nor default in our Action which all Christians ought especially to looke vnto As hereupon Aug he saith Cum cognitio actio dona sint Dei beatum hominem faciant sicut in cognitione cauendus est error sic in actione cauenda est nequitia Errat autem quisquis putat veritatem se posse cognoscere cum ad huc nequitèr viuat De Agone Christi cap. 13. Aug. de Agone Chri. cap. 13. And therefore Peter giueth the like caueat vnto those vnto whom he writeth in the conclusion of his latter Epistle and the two last verses That seeing they had the knowledge of the Scriptures they should beware least they fall not from the stedfastnesse of the truth by being plucked away by the errour of the wicked but should growe vp more and more in grace and knowledge 2. Pet. 3.17 But what shall we saie to the counterfaite Catholiks of the Church of Rome among whom although they bragge and boast of their knowledge and charitie it is nothing els but an Odissea of errors Odissea errorum Ilias malorum and an Ilias of euils that I may vse the prouerbs although profaine yet properly applied vnto them whose knowledge is nothing els but ignorance and their religion Idolatrie their learning errour their life euill their doctrine heresie and their deuotion hypocrisie who are blinde leaders of the blinde telling the people that Images are lay-mens bookes Canis in precepi and teaching them that ignorance is the mother of deuction being themselues like the dogge in the manger and semblable to the Scribes and Pharises of whom our Sauiour because they shut vp the kingdome of heauen before men neither going in themselues nor suffering them that would enter to come in Mat. 23.13 And as those Heretikes of whom Aug Superbi sunt non possunt discere quia credere nolunt De Agone Christi cap. 15. or as he saith afterwards in the same booke of the Manichees Tam caeci sunt isti vt scripturas manifestas non intelligant aut tam negligentes salutis suae vt omnino non legant cap. 28. And as for the common sort of them which are contemptuous recusants and Non communicants are they not altogither nusled and misled of them only in superstitious ceremonies without anie smacke or tacke of anie sound Christian doctrine As though the same concerned them not perswading them to make more account of a mumbled masse and mattens then of the Diuine truth of the Gospell So that of them also may it be said in this respect as Aug in the same booke and Chap of the same Heretikes Sed isti homines decipiunt eos qui negligentes sunt in Catholica fide ipsam fidem suam quae in scripturis manifesta est nolunt discere quod est grauius multum dolendum cum in Catholica fide negligenter versantur Haereticis diligenter aures accommodant by whose perswasion the simpler sort are so hardly confirmed in obstinacie and contumacie that with the deafe Adder they will stoppe their eares and will not heare the voice of the charmer charme he neuer so wisely that I may vse the wordes of the Prophet Danid Great therefore was the effect of this excellent ointment whereby they were made partakers of so heauenly a blessing an happie and thtise happy estate in comparison of those miserable Ideots which dissolutely neglect knowledge of those wretched castawaies which stubbornly contemne so gracious a gift and finally of those of the accursed crue which of set purpose withstand and gamesay the truth of Christs Gospell against their own consciences Of which three sorts of the enemies of knowledge there are too manie in these daies which is most lamentable in this noone light of the Gospel And this of knowledge in generall But to come to the verie words of our Apostle who saith not here that they haue onely a bare and naked knowledge but an excellent absolute and perfect knowledge euen that they knowe all things then the which there cannot bee a more bountiful blessing bestowed vpon any the children of God in this life being the faithfull performance of that sweete promise which God made first by the Prophets in the olde testament and after in the new testament by Christ himselfe As first that of Esay 54.13 rehearsed by our Sauiour Ioh. 6.45 They shall all be taught of God Againe that of Ieremy 31.33 repeated by the author of the Hebrewes ch 10.16 Behold this is the new couenant that I will make with the house of Israel After those daies saith the Lord I will put
my law in their inward parts and write it in their hearts I will be their God and they shall be my people and they shall teach no more euerie man his neighbour and euerie man his brother saying Know the Lord for they shall all know me from the least of them to the greatest c. And lastly not to heape vp too many places to this purpose that of Ioel. 2.28 alleadged by Peter Act. 2.17 And it shall be in the last daies saith God I will powre out of my spirit vpon all flesh and your sonnes and your daughters shall Prophesie c. As thus the Prophets so our Sauiour in the Gospell Ioh. 14.26 where he setteth downe both the cause and the effect As the Apostle in this place But the comforter which is the holy Ghost whem the Father wil send in my name he shall teach you all things and bring all thinges to your remembrance which I haue toulde you And the 15.15 Henceforth call I you not seruants for the seruant knoweth not what his maister doth but I haue called you friendes for all things that I haue heard of my Father haue I made knowne vnto you Againe 16.13 Howbeit when he is come which is the spirit of truth he wil leade you in al truth And euen our Apostle himselfe in this selfesame chap. that which he heere affirmeth with all asseuerance ver 27. when he saith Ye neede not that any man teach you but as the same annointing teacheth you all things First because as Aug. saith Nihil scire est bruti omnia scire solius Dei quaedam vero scire quaedam nescire hominis These Christians being therfore but men they could not knowe all things Againe they being but Babes as Iohn tearmeth them oftentimes in this Epistle that is new plants in the garden of the Lord young scholers in the Schoole of Christ tender nouices in the house of God and late conuerts to the Gospell such as were freshly Catechised in the Articles of the faith and rawly instructed in the first principles and rudiments of Christian religion who because they could not brooke strong meates were faine to be fed with milke as yet and therefore could not haue such a depth of knowledge as to vnderstand all things being herein not vnlike to the Hebrewes of whom the Apostle saith Heb. 5.12 and 6.1 that they were so farre from perfection that they had need be taught the doctrine of beginnings And againe how could these men know all things when as the verie Apostles of our Sauiour themselues although they had been Christs continual Disciples and were daily taught of him both publikely and priuately by the space of three whole yeares and more bewraied themselues oftentimes in the Gospell to bee meerely and miserably ignorant in many matters and misteries of the common saluation yea euen after they had receiued this ointment that is were inspired with the holy Ghost As Mat. 16.6 when as our Sauiour giuing them a caueat to take heed and beware of the Leauen of the Pharises and Saduces they ignorantly misunderstood him to haue spoken of the materiall leuen of bread and not of the spirituall leauen of false doctrine and heresie Againe when as they could not vnderstand that plaine parable of the tares but must needs haue our Sauiour to expound the same vnto them Matth. 13.36 Notwithstanding our Sauiour had tolde them before that they might marke the better that it was giuen vnto them to know the misteries of the kingdome of heauen but to others it was not giuen verse 11. Againe when as our Sauiour telling them apart by the way as they iournied with him Behold we go vp to Ierusalem and all things shall be fulfilled to the sonne of man that are written by the Prophets for he shall be deliuered vnto the Gentiles and shall be mocked and spitefully intreated and spitte vpon and when they haue scorned him they wil put him to death but the third day he shall rise again They notwithstanding vnderstood none of these things and this saying was hidde from them neither perceiued they the things which were spoken Luke 18.31.32.34 besides many other infirmities wants and errours which were too long to rehearse and by which they made our Sauiour and their Master ashamed of them euerie where mentioned in the gospell yea and the chiefest among them euen Peter and Iohn who were accounted pillars euen by Pauls confession Gal. 2.9 First for Peter although Aug call him Aries gregis Dominici euen the bell-weather of Christs flocke yet what saith the same learned Father of him reckening vp his negligences and ignorances if not greater scapes and fowler faults saying Cum in mari titubasset cum Dominum carnaliter à passione reuocasset cum aurem serui gladio praecidisset cum ipsum Dominum ter negasset cum in simulationem postea superstitiosam lapsus esset De Agone Christiā cap. 30. And for Iohn also although he leaned on Christs breast of which as a learned father saith he squeesed out much matter of profoūd wisdome and knowledge and is called the diuine as being the chiefest Diuine of all other next vnto our Sauiour Christ Iesus himselfe And therefore resembled also to an Eagle for soaring aloft aboue the rest of the Euangelists to the highest misteries to the kingdome of heauen Yet how euidently did he togither with his brother Iames declare his ignorant arrogance or his arrogant ignorance when as he asked of Christ to sit either on his right hand or on his left in the kingdome of heauen neither knowing what hee generally asked nor vnderstanding particularly what it is to be on Christs left hand Mat. 20. And afterwards when as he so grossely erred not once but twise euen in the middest of his Reuelations in not knowing an Angel from Christ Iesus himselfe and therefore would haue worshipped the creature for the Creator Apoc. 19.10.22.8 Moreouer the verie Angels themselues knowe not all thinges although they be called Cherubins in the Hebrew and 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 of their perfect absolute knowledge aboue all other creatures as it is manifest Ephes 3.10 where it appeareth that the fellowship of the mysterie which from the beginning of the world had been hid in God was but now that is in Christs time and not before made knowne vnto powers and principalities in heauenly places yea and Christ himselfe is said by the Apostles not to be seene of Angels but after a while euen after his manifestation or incarnation in the flesh and then iustified in the spirit then seene of Augels c. 1. Tim. 3.16 Furthermore when as our Sauiour Christ Iesus himselfe as he was man knew not all things as he confesseth of himselfe in the Gospell That of that day and houre speaking of the last day of his second comming to iudgement knoweth no man no not the Angels of heauen but my Father onely Matth. 24.36 and as Marke hath neither the sonne himselfe 13.31 And