father Origen calleth all them brethren of the Phariseis which séeke to entrap men And Aretius a learned man sayth Diabolicum est quaerere quod carpas quod damnes It is deuilishe to séeke to taunt to carpe to condemne Some folowed him to sée as vaine curious persōs do now a dayes which come to Sermons to see and not to learne Domine volumus a te signū videre Maister we would sée a signe of thee but he aunswered and sayd vnto them this euill and adulterous generation séeketh a signe but there shall no signe be geuen to it saue the signe of the Prophet Ionas Some preasse to heare inuectiues Some to be more ready to contēd and a few alas to few for the loue of Gods holy worde as this company And yet not vnlike but that some of them afterward cried Tolle eū crucifige eū away with him crucifie him Such is the inconstācie of the vnconstant multitude To this tendeth the parable of the séede some fell by the hygh wayes side some vpō stony places some among thornes some fell into good groūd brought forth frute some an hūdred fold some sixtie and some thyrtie folde Thus much for that point By the word of God I vnderstād here the word of the Gospell that is that Iesus is the true Messias the sonne of the woman of whom it is sayd Conteret caput Serpentis he shall breake the Serpentes head and valiantly vanquish the power and puissance of Sathan That sonne of Abraham in whom all the nations of the earth shal be blessed The sonne of Dauid which in the house of Iacob shall raigne for euer That sonne to whom it is sayd aske of me I will giue thée the Heathen for thine inheritaunce sit thou on my right hand till I make thine enemyes thy foote stole To be short that ladder of Iacob which reacheth to heauen Christ taught sometyme the law sometyme the Gospell Albeit the Sermon of Christ in the v. vj. vij Math. is a true interpretation of the law yet notwithstāding the law is not the thyng for preachyng whereof Christ was sent in to this world For as we read in Esay 61. 1. vers The spirit of the Lord is vpon me for the Lord hath annoynted me and sent me to preach good tidynges vnto the poore Christ came not as a law maker or a law teacher as Moyses came before Hereunto is added that the word of the law doth slea or kill as S. Paule teacheth but the word of Christ giueth life as he testifieth him selfe veryly veryly I say vnto you if a man kéepe my saying hee shall neuer sée death The law is a knowledge knowen by nature as the Apostle witnesseth The Gospel is not knowē by nature but published frō the secret determination of the Godhead by our Lord Sauiour Iesus Christ Lex per Mosen data est gratia veritas per Iesum Christū facta est The law was geuen by Moyses but grace and truth came by Iesus Christ And our Sauiour saith to his disciples To you it is geuen to know the secretes of the kingdome of god c. And also to Peter he sayth flesh bloud hath not opened that vnto thée but my father which is in heauē Read. 1. Cor. 2. 1. Cor. 4. 2 Cor. 5. Collos 4. 1. Tim. 3. Rom. 16. The law sheweth sinne The Gospell sheweth Christ the Sauiour of the world teachyng that sinnes are forgeuē to all that beleue in him that they are reconciled to god These thynges do the wisemen Prophetes Scribes specially teach which are sent from the sonne of God. The law requireth onely obedience and condēneth the guilty The Gospell giueth remission of sinnes freely in the name of Christ to the penitent relieueth and comforteth the troubled consciences with his sweete promises The promises of the law are conditionall ye shal kéepe my ordinaunces and my iudgementes which if a man do he shall liue in them the promises of the Gospell are certaine and free Come to the waters all ye that be thirsty and ye that haue no money come buy wyne and milke without any money or moneys worthe All haue sinned and haue néede of the glory of God but are iustified fréely by his grace through the redēption that is in Christ Iesus Therfore by fayth is the inheritaūce geuē that it might be by grace The law proposeth preceptes the Gospell hath promises The law is a rule of good workes the Gospell is a doctrine of the person and benefites of the Messias The law denounceth the wrath of God eternall malediction death and damnation to all men for sinne Maledictus omnis qui nō permāserit in omnibus his c Cursed be he that continueth not in all the woordes of this law to do them all the people shall say Amen The Gospell offereth remission of sinnes to all men To giue knowledge of saluation to his people for the remission of their sinnes The law iustifieth none saueth none deliuereth none from sinne but accuseth bewrayeth sinne condemneth all the Gospell of Christ is the power of God to saluation to all that beleue offeryng to all remission of sinnes rightuousnes eternall life To be short the law is to be terribly thundered to the wicked negligent and impenitent the Gospell is sweetely to be sounded to those that acknowledge their sinnes and hartily repent for the same The swéete proclamatiō of Christ teacheth the same Come vnto me all ye that labour sore and are laden and I will ease you c. Of this we haue example in the Prophet Nathan who by a similitude thundered the law agaynst kyng Dauid Dauid repenteth saying I haue sinned against the Lord Nathan pronounceth the Gospell The Lorde hath put away thy sinne thou shalt not dye The worde of God or doctrine of Christ is called the worde of God that is the doctrine which Christ him selfe reuealed to men Whereof the principall point is frée remission and forgiuenesse of sinnes by fayth in Christ Iesus The efficient cause of this Gospell is the whole Godhead the eternall Father eternall Sonne and eternall holy Ghost The mouyng cause is the excéedyng mercy of God and his passyng loue toward mākynd So God loued the world that he gaue his onely begottē sonne that whosoeuer beleueth in him should not perish but haue euerlastyng lyfe The first instrumētall cause is the sonne of God our Lord Iesus Christ An other instrumentall cause are the Prophetes Apostles Euangelistes other teachers of the doctrine of the Gospell Therfore the Apostle sayth Let men estéeme vs as the Ministers of Christ and disposers of the secrets of god We together are Gods labourers c. we are messengers for Christ euen as though God did beséech you through vs. The materiall cause is Christ with all his
benefites The formall cause is the gladsome message of free remission of sinnes purchased by Christ Iesus The finall cause is that mankynd beyng deliuered out of the handes of his enemies Death Sinne Hell Sathan should serue God in holynesse and righteousnesse all the dayes of his lyfe He that is of God heareth Gods word he loueth it beleueth it doth it These thyngs are included in the word Heare The word of God hath sūdry hearers some receiue it some receiue it not Note the parable of the seede The séede of the word of God when it was sowed fell some by the wayes side some vpon stones some vpō thornes and some in good ground c. but more strictly and briefly the word of God hath two sortes of heares Elect and Reprobate The elect say with Peter Domine ad quem ibimus verba vitae aeternae habes Maister to whom shal we goe thou hast the wordes of eternall lyfe The reprobate say Durus est hic sermo This is a hard saying who can heare it Can this mortalitie put on immortalitie Cā this corruption put on incorruption Can Christ be God and mā Can God beget a sonne as of late the deuill of Norwiche deuilishlye sayde yea worse then a deuill was he For the deuils in the former Chapter acknowledged Christ crying and saying Thou art Christ the sonne of God but this deuill denyed Christ The word of God is preached in vayne to many the hony is lost that is put into vessels of gall the fishe is cast away that is cast into dry pooles and the séede perisheth that is sowed vpon the sand S. Cypriā sayth Certe labor irritus est nullius effectus offerre lumen coeco sermonem surdo sapientiam bruto Cum nec sentire brutus possit nec coecus lumē admittere nec surdus audire Truly it is lost labor and to no purpose to offer light to a blind mā speach to a deafe mā wisedome to a grosse head seyng that a grosse head cannot perceiue a blinde man can not see a deafe man can not heare The auncient father Origen sayth Quāto melius esset nonnullis omnino non audire verbum Dei quam audire cum malitia vel audire cum hypocrisi melius autem dicimus ad comparationem malorum How much better were it to some not to heare the word of God at all thā to heare it with malice or to heare it with hypocrisie we say better in respect of euils Excellent is this word therefore ought we to heare it It differreth from ours manifoldly in truth for God is true yea truth it selfe man is false yea falshode it selfe Omnis homo mandax Euery mā is a lyer It differeth from ours in profit Lord to whom shall we go sayth Peter thou hast the wordes of eternall lyfe our wordes haue no profit they are wordes of eternall death It differeth in certaintie for very truth and certainty it selfe sayth that the most firme Elements of heauen earth shall passe but his word shall in no wise passe The Prophet Esay sayth Verbum Domini manet in aeternum The word of the Lord endureth for euer Mary hath chosē the good part which shall not be taken away from her our wordes are vncertaine as vnconstāt as the Weather-cocke We say and vnsay and vnsay and say againe That which liketh vs to day misliketh vs to morow It differeth in power as soone as hee had sayd to the band of men and officers of the hyghe Priestes I am he they went backewarde and fell to the grounde Note here the power of the word of God They came armed they came to take Iesus and after they heard his mightfull word they fell to the groūd Mathew sayth Docebat eos tāquam authoritatem habens He taught them as one hauyng power and not as the Scribes Our wordes are sinnefull corrupt and vnperfect It differeth in spirit The wordes that I speake vnto you are spirit and lyfe But our wordes are prophane and transitorie Christ sayth Qui de terra est terrenus est de terra loquitur He that is of the earth is earthly and speaketh of the earth It differeth from our woordes in swéetnes The seruaunts of the Phariseis high Priestes which were sent to take Christ returned and said thus of the excellencie of his word Nunquam sic loquutus est homo Neuer mā spake as this mā doth Not Demosthenes out of whose mouth flowed fluddes of eloquence not Cicero the Father of eloquence not eloquent Pericles of whom it is written that he did thunder out his wordes But Christes Argumentes were so mighty and his woordes so swéete that a certaine woman hauyng great admiration therof lifted vp her voyce and sayd vnto him happy is the wombe that bare thée and the pappes which thou hast sucked To be brief this word differeth in perfection In his word all things endure Take away this perfect word what is man a brute beast Take the Sunne out of the world what remaineth Horrible darknes Lactantius sayth Lumen mētis humanae Deus est remoto Deo coelestique doctrina omnia erroribus plena sunt God is the light of mans soule If you set a side or put away from you God his heauenly word All thynges are ful of errours Take away this word what is a man a captiue of Sathan a pray of death a slaue of sinne a firebrand of hell Ignorantia Scripturarū Christi ignorantia est Ignoraūce of the Scriptures is ignoraunce of Christ As far as heauen is distant frō earth so farre ought heauenly thynges alwayes to be preferred before humane things yea incomparably ought they alwayes to be preferred It is cōpared to the Sunne whose office is by spreadyng of his radiant and bright beames to expell darknes and to dispose euery thyng to beare frute Right so the office of Gods word is with his bright shinyng beames of grace to expell the darknes of heresies errours to take away the cold frost of iniquitie and to dispose and frame euery man and womā to bring forth the frutes of pietie godlynes It is compared to fier for that it enflameth vs by loue The two Disciples whiche went to Emans sayd after that Christ had interpreted vnto them in all the Scriptures did not our hartes burne within vs while he talked with vs by the way and opened to vs the Scriptures and Christ sayth I am come to send fier on the earth and what is my desire but that it be already kindled It is likened to a glasse in this glasse euery man may sée whence he came what he is whether he goeth his sin his banishmēt his miserie S. Hierō geueth swéet coūsaile to a certain virgin Vtere lectione diuina vtere speculo vide speculū foeda corrigenda pulchra cōseruāda pulchra faciēda
God vseth a pollicie against Sathā maketh that which séemeth a curse a blessing that which séemeth a blessing to be a curse Ioseph obeyed his fathers commaundement and went vnto his brethren and his brethrē by the instinct motion of Sathan sold him but God turned this into blessing So we read of Dauid so of the Apostles of many other whose curses haue bene turned into blessinges This is the condition and state of men in this world Generally good men lyue in aduersitie and wicked men in prosperitie I say generally For it commeth sometymes to passe that good men lyue in prosperitie and wicked men in aduersitie But this seldome falleth out and among a hūdred good men scarse one or two lyue prosperously in this world The generall sentence therfore stādeth firme and infallible good men are plagued with aduersitie euill men florishe in prosperitie accordyng to the Prouerbe Quo peior eo fortunatior the worser man the better lucke Christ playnly sheweth this condition and estate of mens affaires in the exāple of Diues and Lazarus You sée often tymes the most wicked me most fortunate and the most godly most miserable But Respice finem marke the end and fret not thy selfe because of the vngodly neither be thou enuious agaynst the euill doers For they shal be cut down like the grasse and be withered euen as the gréene herbe Put thou thy trust in the Lord and be doyng good dwell in the land and verely thou shalt be fed Delight thou in the Lord and he will giue thée thy harts desire Laūch thou into the déepe and let downe thy not in the name of the Lord to make a draught alwayes remembryng the heauēly saying of the Prophet Dauid Some put their trust in chariots and some in horses but we will remember the name of the Lord our god So much for this part And whē they had this done they inclosed a great multitude of fishes and their net brake Here we learne the cause of prosperous suceesse and blessing of the Lord which is if at his commaundement we cast downe our nettes Here Christ by a wonderfull miracle proueth his Godhead The circumstaunces declare the miracle to be wonderfull the labour of all the night lost the breaking of the net the sinkyng of the shyp the callyng of partners out of the other shyp the astomeng and great admiration of Peter and others the sudaine forsakyng of all their goodes obedience shewed to the word of Christ The like miracle we haue in Iohn 21. The vse of this wōderfull miracle is that Christ is that Messias that lambe of God that taketh away the sinnes of the world That Christ not onely is Lord of the land but also of the sea and all that therein is In an other place touching tribute Christ sent Peter to the sea saying go thou to the sea and cast an hooke and take vp the fish that first cōmeth vp and when thou hast opened his mouth thou shalt finde a péece of xx pence that take and giue it vnto them for me and thée If Christ be Lord of the sea and all thynges therin thou whiche by fayth art made a member of Christ hast no cause to feare the surges waues and daungers of the sea feare not that which is subiect to Christ thy head must of necessitie be subiect to his members What signifieth the breaking of the net who breake the nette how the nette is broken why the nette is broken these thinges are to be obserued Touching the first The kingdome of heauē is lyke to a net which was cast into the sea and gathered of all kinde of fishes which when it was full the fishers drew to land and sate downe and gathered the good into vessels but cast the bad away So shal it be at the end of the world The angels shall come forth and seuer the bad frō among the iust and shall cast them into a furnace of fyre there shall be wailing gnashing of téeth The net is broken when the concord of fayth in the Church is broken and men falle into wicked heresies and errours They breake the nette which fishe in the night wanting the light of holye scripture and blinded with the darcknes of errours and ignoraunce Euil men which breake the vnitie of of the Church and fall into sectes schismes doe also breake the nette which obey not but cōtemne the calling of god These are euill fishes which are not taken or els breake the nette that is they fall frō grace frō fayth and lose the spirite of god All that were conuerted stode not in the nette of fayth and vertue for many went forth and mightely brake the nette peruerting fayth vertues and Sacramēts Such fishes belong to the kitchen of Sathā Arrius went forth brake the nette began a most pestilent schisme because he could not obtayne the Bishoprick of Alexandria Whose steps many doe follow Sabellius cōtinued not in the nette but went forth and brake the nette So did Fotinus Manicheus and other innumerable Of such S. Io. speaketh saying they went out from vs but they were not of vs For if they had bin of vs they would no doubt haue continued with vs but that it might appeare that they are not all of vs Of such also speaketh S. Paule Now the spirite speaketh euidently that in the latter tymes some shall depart from the fayth geuing heede vnto spirites of errours and doctrines of deuils c. False Apostles brake the net in the Primitiue Church as Luke writeth Then rose vp certayne of the sect of the Pharisies which did beleue saying it was needeful to Circūcise them and to commaund to kéepe the law of Moyses To these breakers of the net S. Paule sayth Christ is become but vayne to you as many of you as are iustified by the law are fallen from grace Of this companye were Himenaeus Samosatenus Alexander and many other heretickes Since the Primitiue Church continually swarmes of heretickes haue broken this nette Wheresoeuer God doth build his Temple there by and by Sathan adioyneth his chappell At this day because the light of the Gospell shyneth clearely legions of heretickes as Anabaptistes Schismatickes Libertines Arrians Atheistes Romish Catholickes the Familie of Loue and others breake the nette of the Gospell Wo be vnto the inhabiters of the earth and of the sea For the Deuill is come downe vnto you which hath great wrath because he knoweth he hath but a short tyme Touchyng the Familie of Loue I say this the deuill transformeth him selfe into an Angell of light Therefore it is no great maruaile that this familie beyng in déede a familie of Sathan should transforme them selues into a familie of light a familie of loue God is light God is loue Chrisost sayth Haeretici omnia habent in similitudine Heretiques haue all thynges in resemblance or likenesse This familie is not a familie of true loue