not In so dooing we shall bée afrayde to condempne vnto death so lightly him for whoÌ„ Iesu Christ fréely hath shed his bloud In such sort that we leauing all disordinate desire of vengeaunce and carnall affection as spirituall men may discerne and discusse spirituall thinges Amen Apocalip 6. b. ¶ I sawe vnder the alter the soules of them that were killed for the word of God and for the testimonie which they had And they cryed with a loude voyce saying how long tariest thou Lord holy and trewe to iudge and to auenge our bloud on them that dwell on the earth A Prayer O Lord and father of our Lorde Iesus Christ which art meruailous in puissaunce and infinite in mercy Extende thy clemencie and fatherly goodnesse vppon those Who of an vndiscréete zeale and following the traditions of their fathers doe bandon theÌ„selues against thy sonne Christ â–ª and doe shed daylie the bloude of thy seruauntes Regarde their threateninges and giue vnto those which do adore and feare thée to declare thy word with al boldnesse breake the force strength of thine enimies by the sword of thy mouthe that they acknowleging thy maiesty may be wise as serpeÌ„ts innocent as doues To conclude that euery one may call vpon thée and magnifie thee in the middest of the nations séeing the chaunging of thy right hande And as thou hast foreshewed by thy Prophet that at the birth of thy welbeloued sonne our Lorde Iesus Christ the people shall breake their swoordes and speares to make sithes sickles and sawes herof that one people lift not vp weapon against an other But that thou wilt giue vnto them a newe heart and a newe spirite and that thou wilt take that stonie heart out of their bodies for to cause them to walke in thy commaundements to kéepe thy lawes Giue vnto vs grace in this meane libertie of religion and exercise of the same That the wicked béeing slaine with the breath of thy mouth the Wolfe may dwel with the Lambe and the Leopard shall lie downe by the Goate the Lyon and other cattell may keepe companie together so that a little childe may driue them foorth I doe meane that no man do any hurt vnto thy holy mountaine But that the earth be filled with thy knowledge as if the waters of the sea did couer all thinges Finally that we may all walke in the lyght of our LORD Iesus Christ to whom be glorie for euer Amen ¶ A BRIEFE DEMONSTRAtion vnto those which of a set purpose do turne themselues from the knowne veritie without any force and compulsion Hebrewes 10. e. Cap â–ª 2 ¶ If we sinne willingly after that we haue receiued the knowledge of the trueth there remaineth no more sacrifice for sinnes FOrasmuch then as the lawe of the Lorde hath bene published with thunderinges and lighteninges and that the same Lorde did sometime manifest and shewe him selfe vnto the people in figure and shewe of a burning bush As also it appeareth that the holy Ghost descending vpon the Apostles there came a sound from heauen as it had bene the comming of a mightie winde Truely we cannot be ignoraunt what the troubles are to the manifestation of the lawe bicause of those which doe speake against the true religion as it is written that Iesus Christ shall be the fall and resurrection of many in Israel and a signe which shal be spoken against Also that the lawe doth ingender in vs trouble vnder consideration of the paine appointed for the transgressors of the same Forasmuch as it is an heauie thing that a mans owne conscience beareth record of his wickednesse and condemneth him Insomuch that there is no meanes to appease such differences but in the peace of him who hath reconciled all thinges vnto GOD his father and to set at peace by the bloud of his crosse both things in heauen and thinges in earth Euen as in the olde lawe there was no better remedy for the biting and stinging of the Serpent then by the beholding and looking vpon the brasen serpent lifted vp in the wildernesse According as Iesus Christ sayth in saint Iohn that as Moses lifted vp the Serpent in the wildernesse so must the sonne of man bée lifted vp That none that beléeueth in him perish but haue eternall life And nothwithstanding that there was as wel in the law of Moses as in the christian lawe great troubles and contradictions yet truely there is great difference of the one and of the other For the one doth set before vs threatnings the other doth declare vnto vs peace the one doth represent a Moses terrible and fearefull the other doth represent vnto vs in persoÌ„ a gentle and gracious Iesus Christ The one doth rebuke our faultes transgressions the other doth bring vnto vs our grace and satisfaction Finally the one doth condempne vs of eternall death the other doth iustifie vs before God in the death of his onely welbeloued sonne our Lord Iesus Christ And euen as in the lawe that is written Moses is iustly condemned for that hée fayled towardes GOD at the waters of striefe And the children of Israel are rebuked bicause they murmured against the same Lord desiring the pleasures of the countrey of Aegipt Euen so in the lawe euangelicall Iesus Christ will not hold for vngiltie those which for common afflictions doe dâ—strust of his grace puissance and goodnesse For he hath said whosoeuer shall knowledge me before men him will I knowledge also before my father which is 〈◊〉 heauen But whosoeuer shall denie me before men him wil I also denie before my fatheâ— which is in heaueÌ„ That is the cause wherfore he requireth of vs that our lamps may bâ— alwaies burning burning I say of thaâ— heauenly fire whereof our Lord speaketâ— in this manner I am come to sende fire on earth and what is my desire but that it were all ready kindled and he would that we should not be betweene both or luke â–ª warme but that we should be hotte or colde and that we should cast our sorowes and afflictions vpon the loue of him which hath borne our paine and taketh away our infirmitie and hath bene wounded for our offences and smitten for our wickednesse For in all those thinges we are more then vanquishers bicause that he hath first loued vs. Furthermore inasmuch as the same Lord doth admonish vs that he will be with vs alwaies euen vntill the ende of the worlde Truely in what kinde of affliction so euer it bée wee ought alwaies to assure our selues in that woorde and not to bee lyke vnto that disciple of Iesus Christ our Sauioure the whiche did feare the windes and outragiousnesse of the weather in the presence of him which hath the power not onelie to commaunde both the sea and the lande but by one breath of his mouth can at one moment bringe to naught and destroye all the
not keeping his commaundementes lawes and ordinaunces That when you shall haue the thinges that you desire and your riches and goodes increased then your hart rise and you forget the Lord your God which hath deliuered you frō the hand of your enimies Learne by the example of the people of Israel that he which ought to be right hath kicked he I say which was made fatte thicke and smooth hath forsaken and let God go that made him and despised the God of Israel that saued him As also the same Lord doth witnesse by his Prophet that the iniquitie of Sodome was pride aboundance of bread and idlenesse On the other side submit your selues therfore vnder the mightie hande of God that he may exalte you when the time is come Cast all your care on him for he careth for you Be sober and watch for your aduersarie the diuell as a roring Lyon walketh about séeking whō he may deuoure Sée that ye loue not the worlde neither the things that are in the worlde For all that is in the worlde as the lust of the flesh the lust of the eies and the pride of life is not of the father but of the worlde and the worlde passeth awaie and the lust thereof but he that fulfilleth the will of God abideth for euer And truely we knowe that we are of God and that the world lyeth in wickednesse Déerely beloued absteine from fleshly lustes which fight against the soule And as obedient children not fashioning your selues vnto the olde lustes of your ignoraunce But as he which called you is holie euen so be ye holy also in all manner of conuersation And in al sobernes trust perfectly on the grace that is brought vnto you by the reuelatiō of Iesus Christ And beware my brethrē of the great Babilon the mother of fornicatiō with whom haue cōmitted fornicatiō that kings of earth that they are droncken with the wine of hir fornication For although that that woman was araied in purple and crimson and guilded with golde and precious stones and pearles yet truely she had in hir hand a cup ful of abhominations and filthines of hir fornication And as it happened at the subuersion and destruction of Sodome and of Gomorra that Lots wife looking backe was turned into a piller of salt And euen as Dina the daughter of Iacob going out to sée the daughters of the lande was rauished by the Princes of the sayd lande Feare on your part that ye taking to great pleasure in worldly things ye be not seduced and deceiued and forsaking the commaundements of the Lorde ye be not destroied For as it happened that the children of Israel being induced and prouoked by the wiues of the Madianits did trespasse against the Lord bicause of Peor It is also to be feared that you following to much that which is of the world You do altogether forget the homage obedience which you doe owe vnto the Lord. To be short if the enimie doth oppresse you stand therefore and you loynes girde about with veritie hauing on the brest plate of righteousnesse and your féete shode with the preparation of the Gospell of peace Aboue all take to you the shield of faith wherewith ye may quench all the fierie dartes of the wicked And take the helmet of saluation the swoord of the spirite which is the worde of god And pray alwaies with all manner prayer and supplication Be strong in the Lord and in the power of his might put ye on the whole armoure of God that he may stande stedfast against the craftie assaultes of the Diuell for we wrestle not against flesh and bloude but against rulers against powers against the worldly gouernours the Princes of darknesse of this world against spiritual wickednesses which are aboue If the world do pursue you set your faith as a fort in expugnable against hir pleasures for this is the victorie that ouercōmeth the world euen our faith By which meanes Samuel Dauid and the other prophets haue subdued kingdomes wrought righteousnes obtained the promises stopped the mouthes of Lyons quenched the violence of fire escaped the edge of the sword If your flesh bée weake watch and pray that ye fall not into temptation And beléeue that the Lord which is faithfull shall not suffer you to be tempted aboue your strength but shall in the middest of the temptation make away that yée may be able to beare it To conclude assure your selues vpon the word of God when he saith that his shéepe do heare his voyce and he knoweth them and they followe him and and he will giue vnto them eternall life and they shal neuer perish neither shall any man plucke them out of his hand bicause that his father which gaue them him is greater then all Remember that Moses and Aaron did not enter into the lande of promise bicause they beléeued not the LORD that he might be sanctified by them in the eies of the children of Israel No more then those which were gone out to search the lande shall sée the same lande which I the LORD sware vnto their Fathers But his seruaunt Caleb bicause there is an other manner spirit with him and bicause he hath followed the Lorde vnto the vttermost God gaue him the saide lande for an heritage Finally bicause that the capitaine of Samaria would not beléeue the promise which the Lord made vnto him by the mouth of the prophet Eliseus foreshewing the great aboundance plentiousnesse within a little space was depriued from the fruites therof and troden vnder foote that he died Wherfore be not as some faithlesse people distrusting of the promises of him which is the God of veritie But rather be ye imitators and followers of Gedeon who béeing come to the assault blewe with his trumpet helde his lampes in his hande and brake his pitchers figuring vnto all true Christians that they ought alwaies to kéepe that light of faith to be like vnto the seruaunts attending their masters when they shall bée retourned from the mariages And as the trumpet to lift vp their voice in the middest of all daungers for to magnifie and praise the Lord. Furthermore if néede bée or if the case so require not to spare their bodies which are but as earthen vessels to that heauenly treasure In so dooing beléeue assuredly that by the same meanes by them which they doe thincke to destroy and ruinate the worke of God by the same meanes it shall be established amplified The which is also figured vnto vs by examples in the booke of Exodus where the king of Aegypt purposing to exterminate and altogether to ruinate and destroye the people of God afflicting them through a long seruitude and bondage in making morter bricke and other bondage worke in the fieldes was partly a cause that the Lorde did multiplie and increase his people aboue al other people and prospered
his faithfull seruaunt Moses amonge the middest of all his enimies In like manner the Lord did set vp Ioseph in the house of Pharao then though his brethren did sell him to the Ismaelites thincking thereby altogether to deface his memorie from the earth Furthermore did bring to naught all the deliberatioÌ„s of Haman conspiring the death of Mardocheus and of the Iewes Finally the same Lord did drawe from those that were slaine a little Ioas against the rage and fuerie of quéene Athalia his mother The same doth sufficiently teach vs that the meanes that our enimies doe take for to subuert the true christian religion the same meanes doe serue for to encrease and defend it against all the enimies of the crosse of Christ For euen as the good hearbe the more that it is pressed the more smelling it is Euen so the good men the more that they are afflicted of the world the more they do magnifie the religion of the lord The which the Apostle doth witnesse by his owne example when he doth write vnto the Phillippians that the thinges which haue happened vnto him are turned to the great furthering of the gospell So that his bandes in Christ are famous throughout all the iudgement hall and in all other places insomuch that many of his bretheren in the Lord are bouldned through his bandes and dare more franckly speake the word And truely God doth not measure his workes according to the thoughtes of men As it is written by the prophet Esaie that his thoughts are not our thoughtes nor our wayes are not his wayes but as farre as the heauens are hier then the earth so farre doe his waies excéede ours and his thoughtes ours Thou doest sée in Daniel that greate and meruailous Image yea of which the beholding of him was terrible and grimme broken by a little stone hewen out of the rocke without mannes hande Figuring that eternall kingdome of Iesus Christ which â—ought to bring to naught and breake all the monarches and kingdomes of the worlde and be established for euer Thou doest reade in the Scripture of one little Dauyd a figure of the true Disciples of the LORD all readie to fight against the great Philistian without swoord buckler or speare but in the name of the Lorde of hoastes the GOD of the hoast and him whom the sayd Goliah hath railed on and despised Within a little while after Dauyd hauing the victorie did bring the head of Goliah into the citie of Hierusalem and he put his armoure in his tent Furthermore the holy scripture doth teach thée that Iosua which was the leader of the people of God at the sound of the trumpets made the walles of the Citie of Iericho to fal downe yea that the Angell of the LORD at the praier of king Ezekiah did kill a hundreth foure score fiue thousand men of the campe of the Assirians To be short we may not bée ignorant that Iesus Christ béeing pursued to death and béeinge asked of the Scribes and Pharises if hée were Iesus of Nazareth at that simple worde I am he did so stonish and amase a bande of soldiers and officers sent by the high priestes by the Pharises that they went backwards fell to the ground Finally we may better knowe that the Apostles of Iesus Christe and those simple and idiotes haue brought to good order a number of people to the obedience of our Lorde Iesus Christ In such sort that by the preaching of the crosse hath bene destroyed the wisdome of the wise and hath cast awaye the vnderstanding of the prudent Forasmuch as the foolishnesse of God is wiser then men and the weaknes of God is stronger theÌ„ men Also that the Lord hath chosen the foolish things of the world to confounde the wise Assure your selues then of the promises of the Lord though that the world doe conspire men doe imagine mischiefe Fortifie strengthen your selues with a liuely fayth after the example of that good patriarke Abraham and father of all them that beléeue who besides hope did beléeue in hope doubted not in the promises which the Lord made vnto him through vnbeliefe but was made strong in the faith gaue honour vnto God full certified that what he had promised he was able to make good And beléeue that the worke which the Lord hath builded in you shall continue for euer if such and lyke admonitions will not suffice beholde what punishments haue followed those who distrusting of Gods promises haue forsaken the knowen veritie and the true seruice which was due vnto him It is written in the booke of Exodus that when the people sawe that it was long or Moses came downe out of the mountaine they gathered themselues together came vnto Aaron and sayd vnto him vp make vs a god to go before vs For of this Moses the fellowe that brought vs out of the land of Aegypt we wote not what is become of him And Aaron sayd vnto them plucâ— of the golden rings which are in the eares of your wyues your sonnes and of your daughters and of them to make a Calfe of molten metall made an aulter and worshipped it Then the Lord sayd vnto Moses go get the downe for the people which thou broughtest out of the lande of Aegypt haue marred all they are tourned at once out of the way which I commaunded them And the Lord sayd vnto Moses suffer me that my wrath may waxe hot vpon them and that I may consume them Moreouer the children of Israel did committe idolatry and whoredome with the daughters of Moab for that cause the LORDE was angry againste Israel and sayde vnto Moses take all the heades of the people and hang them vp vnto the Lord against the sunne that the wrathe of the Lorde maye tourne away from Israel The said children of Israel did wickedly in the sight of the Lord and serued Baalim and forsoke the Lorde God of their fathers which broughte them out of the land of Aegypt followed straunge gods euen of the gods of the nations that were rounde about them and bowed themselues vnto them and angred the lord And so they forsooke the Lord and serued Baal and Astaroth Wherefore the Lord wared angry with Israel and deliuered them into the hands of raueners to spoyle them and solde them into the hands of their enemies rounde about them so that they had no power any longer to stande before their enemies But vnto whatsoeuer thinges they went the hande of the Lord was vpon them with euill lucke afterwarde the Lord raised vp Iudges which deliuered theÌ„ out of the hands of their opressours After the the Iudge was deade they tourned and did worse then theire fathers in followinge straunge gods in seruing them Wherfore the Lord waxed angry and sold them into the handes of Chusarim king of Mesopotamia Within a litle while after the chil
shal be saued as thou hast afterwardes confirmed it by thine Apostle that he that striueth for a mastrie shall not be crowned except he striue as he ought to do Giue vs grace that we all continuing in one spirit and striuing altogether in one minde through the faith of the gospell we may not be troubled by our aduersaries and that we be not as children wauering caried about with euery winde of doctrine But let vs folow the truth in loue in all things grow vp into him which is the head that is to say Christ Giue vs such constancie strength in the midst of those troubles of our enemies that we faint not in any thing so that with ioy we may end our course the charge which we haue receiued of thée for to testifie the gospel of thy grace Embrace so our harts our soules in thine heauenly loue through thy holy spirite especially that for al afflictions or threatnings we nothing varie frō thy lawe either to the right hād nor to the left that we hauing rightly accomplished the course of this presēt life And the time of our departing aprochīg euery one of vs may say with thine apostle I haue fought a good fight haue fulfilled my course haue kept the faith From heneforth is laid vp for me a crowne of righteousnesse which the Lord that is a righteous Iudge shall giue me at that day not to me onely but vnto all them also that loue his comming For all which thinges Lord we pray thée in the fauoure of him who for to accomplish and fulfill thy will humbled himselfe and became obedient vnto the death euen the death of the crosse our Lord and Sauiour Iesus Christ To whom be glorie for euer So be it ¶ A BRIEFE ADVERTISMENT for to shew that we must simplie obey the voyce of the Lord without further inquiring of the cōmaundement to beleeue that euē as he is iust in al his works he is as puissāt for to fulfil in vs his wil. Cap. 14. e 1. Samuel 15. ◠¶ To obeie is better then offering and to giue heede is better then the fatte of Rammes For rebelliousnesse is as the sinne of witchcraft and stoubournnesse is wickednesse and idolatrie IT is written in the booke of Iesus Siraach that many are excellent of great renowne but vnto the wise are the secretes reuealed For great power belongeth onely vnto God and he is honoured of the lowely Séeke not out the things that are aboue thy capacitie and search not the ground of such things as are too mightie for thée But looke what God hath commaunded thée thincke vpon that alwaie and be not curious in many of his works For thou hast not to doe to sée with thine eyes the things that are secrete where the sonne of Syrach doth exhort vs to execute willingly and with a frée will the commaundement of the Lorde without enquiring any further what is the cause of his commaundemen◠bicause that the seruaunt that knoweth his maisters will and prepareth not himselfe neither doth according to his will shal be beaten with many stripes And truely as a certeine christian authour hath verie well said the Lord hath left the effect of many things of which he hath hid from vs the causes Insomuch that we séeing with our eye the fulfilling of them yet for all that we know not to what end the Lorde hath ordeined them and in the meane time he would be obeyed The which is taught vs by an exāple in the booke of Samuel where the Lorde commaunded Saul to destroy wholy all the Amalechites both man woman infant suckling and oxen shepe camels and asses But Saul spared a liue of the shéepe and of the oxen and fat things and the lambes and al that was good for to haue sacrificed it vnto the Lorde Then the Lord saide it repenteth me that I haue made Saul king because he hath not perfourmed my commaundementes In which place is shewed that to obey is better then offering The like example is witten in the booke of the kings where the Prophet which did contrarie vnto that that the Lord said vnto him that is to say that he shoulde not eate breade nor drinke water nor to turne againe by the same way he went and he doing contrarie was torne in péeces and deuoured of a Lyon. In all this we ought not to take any excuse vpon the difficultnesse and hardnes of the commaundement or smalnesse or weakenesse of our strengthes For he which maketh the commaundement doth giue vnto vs also the meane to execute it Let vs remember that Moses being called of God for to deliuer the children of Israel excused him selfe saying Oh my Lord I am not eloquent no not in times past namely since thou hast spoken vnto thy seruaunt But let vs marke what the Lord vnto him Who hath made mannes mouth or who hath made the dum or the deafe the seing or the blinde haue not I the Lord Go therfore I wil be in thy mouth teach thée what thou shalt say Euen so Ieremie being chosen of the Lorde to bée a Prophete vnto the people of Hierusalem excused himself saying Oh lord God I am vnméet for I am yet but young and the Lord said vnto him say not so I am to young For thou shalt goe to all that I shal send thée vnto and whatsoeuer I commaund thée that shalt thou speake And although that the commaundement of the Lord doth séeme to be sometime according to mans sight either to hard or contrarie vnto that that they do ordinarily Yet hée ordeineth all to a good end and for iust occasions As we do sée that it séemed to mans iudgement that the children of Israel should haue bene vanquished or taken by Pharao king of Aegipt hauing the red sea against them as a fort ineuitable for to stop them of their way It séemed also that they going to the promised lande vnder the conducting and leading of Iosua should neuer haue entred the floud of Iordain letting them But the LORD which hath commaundement vpon all his creatures deuided the waters and the children of Israel went in through the middest of the sea vpon the drie ground And the water was a wall vnto them both on their right hand and on their left hand As much chaunced of the floud Iordain for the waters which came downe from aboue did stoppe and stoode vpon a heape a great way off And the waters that were on the side of the salt sea vanished and dried vp the people went rightouer against Iericho Furthermore the Lord séemeth sometime to commaund thinges altogether against the order of nature and good manners as when he cōmaunded Abraham to sacrifice his onely sonne Isaac for to proue his obedience Also he commaunded the Prophet Oseas to take an harlot to his wife Also he commaunded an
his lawe and preceptes vnto the people commaunded them to write theÌ„ vpon the postes of their houses and vppon their gates And to haue them as papers of remembraunce betwéene their eies and that which followeth To the ende that by that meanes the young people should be induced perswaded to obserue them In like maner it is written in Exodus how he exhorted theÌ„ to kepe the ordinaunces of the Lords passeouer for euer and of the vnleauened bread in remembraunce of the deliueraunce out of the land Aegypt To the ende saith Moses that when your children aske you what manner of seruice is this ye doe ye shall say it is the sacrifice of the Lordes passeouer which passed ouer the houses of the children of Israel in Aegypt as he smote the Aegyptians and saued our houses Besides these things he ordeined that they should take the bloude of the sayd Lambe strike it on the two side postes on the vpper dore post of the houses wherein they eate him In like manner the Lord commaunded Iosua saying as soone as the people shall goe ouer Iordan to take them twelue men out of the people of euery tribe a man and to take with them twelue stones and to erect and set vp a trope and a perpetuall monument for a signe betweene them and their posteritie that the waters of Iordin deuided at the presence of the Arke of the appointment of the LORD In so doing the children taking counsell by the examples of others shoulde acknowledge the grace of God towardes those which obey his lawe and his rigor iustice towards the transgressors of the same Now the chiefest marke and ende that the father ought to trauaile in is to make his sonnes honest men euen as the good labourer ought first to be carefull to till and dresse the young plantes and afterwardes to prouide vnto others All the whole consisteth specially in two thinges I meane to feare the Lord and to tourne them as much as we shall possible from all euill The which Iob verie well declareth when he demaunded howe that a man commeth by wisdome and where is the place that men finde vnderstanding verely no man can tell howe worthy a thing she is that good man aunswered neither is she found in the lande of the liuing The déepe saith she is not in mée She cannot be gotten for the most fine golde neither may the price of hir be bought with any money No wedges of gold of Ophir no precious Onix stones no Saphirs may be compared vnto hir In the ende he concludeth Beholde to feare the Lorde is wisdome and to forsake euill is vnderstanding Euen so the Lord sayd vnto the Iewes as it is written in the prophet Esay saying washe you â—ake you cleane put awaye your euill â—houghtes out of my sight cease froÌ„ dooing â—uill and violence learne to do right And â—â—rasmuch then as the whole scripture giâ—en by inspiration of God is profitable â—o teach to improue to amende and to inâ—truct in righteousnesse That the man of GOD may bée perfect and instructed â—nto all good woorkes also whatsoeuer things are written afore time are written for our learning that wee through patience and comfort of the Scriptures might haue hope yet truely the true office of a father is to cause his children to reade the holy Scriptures To the ende as sayth the Apostle they bée not carried about with diuers and straunge learning yea that they bée no more children wauering and carried about with euery kinde of doctrine as commonly chaunseth vnto men and with craftinesse whereby they lay in waite to deceiue For as Plato hath verie well declared in his booke of vowes that the possession of all sciences is but of little profite If that man doth not acquire and get the science and knowledge of all good things againe it is noysible and hurtfull vnto him which doth possesse it That is the cause wherfore Homer speaketh of one named Margites that he did know a great many of thinges but he doth very euill knowe all thinges For the same cause the Lacedemonians as saith Valerius caused the books of Archilaus to bee caried out of their Citie bicause that they esteemed the reading of them not to bee honest and therfore would not that the minds of their children should bée learned or taught of them Fearing also on the other side that it woulde bee more hurtefull vnto their manners then profitable to their wittes Wherefore Plato in his booke that he hath intituled Protogoras speaking to a young man aduertised him to take heed to put in daunger the thinges which are vnto him verie deare and precious acknowledging that there is a great deale more daunger to disciplines then to the buying of victail or drinke bicause that hée that buyeth victaile or drinke may beefore hée vse and occupie them put and chaunge them into other vessels and carrie them into his house and enquire diligentlye of those whiche haue the knowledge of the thinges what hee ought to eate or drinke Insomuche that hee maye reiect the meates and drinkes whiche are hurtefull vnto him To bee shorte to learne of others what quantitie hee oughte to take and in what time As touching the disciplines and learninges it is not lawfull for vs to transport them into an other vessell But it must bee that hee that buyeth them must take them in his minde and leauing the price of them to beare and carrie them within him And that by them hee is eyther made better or worse That is the cause wherefore the same Author requireth that the Nurses should not content and please their children with vaine vnprofitable and vnhonest fables fearing to defile their mindes with so manye folyes and euill manners Euen as Sainct Paull exhorted the Christians to despise and caste awaye prophane and olde wiues fables and to exercise themselues vnto godlinesse In suche sorte that the same Philosopher doeth declare that the Poets ought to sing in their Poeticall verses that man is a good man forasmuche as hée is gouerned and iuste and thereby blessed or â—â—ppa bee hee great or stronge bee hee little or féeble bee hee riche or poore and that the wicked and vniust man althoughe that hee bée more rycher then Cymras or Midas is miserable and pâ—sseth awaye his life in extreme miserie I speake this to the ende that those whiche disdaine to learne true pietie and religion of the true Christians at the leaste wise maye acknowledge their faultes and transgressions by the same saying of the panâ—ms and gentiles And therein truely consisteth the great duety of a father towards his children But the like is no lesse necessary that is to say in the conuersation Insomuch that euen as the father ought not to spill and marre his children through wicked and vaine doctrines euen so hee ought not to bee vnto them as an example to do euill
place of vnderstanding in the lande of those which do lyue easely and which haue great riches for the feare of the Lorde is the true wysdome and to retyre and drawe himselfe from euil is the vnderstanding We must not then be astonied or amazed if they do abuse the scripture after their owne sense forasmuch as they do not estéeme but their owne pleasure which is the enemie of reason It doth gréeue me verie much to speake of those which for to please the will and minde of their Auditors And least they should hurte or gréeue them do apply the Scripture I know not to what matters of iesting and laughter yea being set in Moses Chayre in which place especially and chiefly it ought to be intreated off withall reuerence and grauitie I do say furthermore that they are not ashamed to play by maskings and counterfaitlike that which ought to be taught with feare and al humilitie To conclude they do serue more willingly to the pleasures of other then to the honour of the Lord and to the edification of his congregation What shall I saye of those which will referre and attrybute vnto the holy scripture vnto the bookes writings of the heathen Phylosophers as if we had borowed the rule to lyue well of them and not they of vs I will not denie but that the Philosophers chiefly the Platonicians haue written many thinges verie néere vnto the christian rule and very much confirmable and agréeing vnto good manners But as Sainct Augustine saith bicause that they haue made it their owne the true Christiās ought to serue to a better vse in asking it again of thē as vniust vnlawful possessours euen so as the Israelites haue applied the treasures riches of the Aegyptians to the honour of the Lorde And as it was lawful for the people of Israel to take to wife an estraunger captiue so that she do shaue hir head pare hir nailes put the raiment that she was taken in from hir also it is not forbidden to apply the writings of the heathen men Panims to our religion so that we do cut off that which doth concern their idolatrie and supersticion and that we doe apply vnto the honour of the Lorde that which doth serue to the veritie of our doctrine That is the cause wherfore sainct Paul disputing in the citie of Athens against certeine Philosophers did not feare to recite the saiyng of a Poet for to proue the doing of our religion And the same Apostle in another place of his Epistles did not make it a doubt to alowe the saying of Epimenides against those of Crete for all that I will not taxe those which haue the charge in the Church But I desire that they may be so discrete and well aduised in their profession that they may trie proue all things but to kéepe that which is good after the example of the good chaungers which doe knowe verye well to separate the good money from that which is false and vnlawfull to the ende they do not bring any thing from other learninges which might defile the worde of God or marre the doing of the christian veritie in so much that the word of preaching be receiued of all men not as the worde of man but euen as it was in déede the word of God which worketh in you that beléeue to the aduauncement of the kingdome of his sonne our Lord Iesus Christ to whom be glorie foreuer Amen COLOSS. 4. Let your speach be alwayes well sauoured and poudered with salte that ye may knowe howe to aunswere euery man. A prayer O Lord which dost giue the tongue to teach well to the ende that one may comfort them which are troubled yea and that in due season which giuest wisedome vnto the ignorant teachest thy seruants that which they ought to say giue vs thy grace to knowe that thy worde is pure euen as the siluer which from the earth is tried and purified seuen times in the fier to the end that we may receiue it not as the worde of man but euen as it was in déede the word of God which worketh in you that beléeue and that we doe not applie it to any euill vse or dissolute woorke but to the aduauncement of thy glorie and to the edifying of our neighbour In somuch that we may be faultlesse and pure without rebuke in the midst of a croked and peruerse nation among which sée that we shine as lightes in the worlde holding fast the worde of life Finally that we do declare by our works in this latter time that we haue not runne in vaine neither haue laboured in vaine But for the veritie of him which from the beginning of all thinges was the worde of life our Lord Iesus Christ vnto whom be glorie for euer Amen THAT THE LORD IN THE middest of afflictiōs doth reserue alwayes certeine places of refuge for his and certeine true prophetes to his Church yea certeine valiant men for to withstande the tyrannie of the wicked ESAIE 49. ◠¶ The prisoners shall be taken from the Gyant the spoile deliuered from the violent for I will mainteine thy cause against thine aduersaries Saith the lord ESAIE 59. D. ¶ I will make this couenant with them saith the Lorde my spirite that is come vppon thee and the words which I haue put in thy mouth shall neuer goe out of thy mouth nor out of the mouth of thy childrens children from this time foorth for euer more IF the Panim or Heathen man saith that the exile banishment is terrible fearefull vnto those which of a priuate singuler affection do prouide for themselues an habitation for to dwell euer not vnto those which haue the whole worlde for a Citie And the Poet Ouide hath written that euerie countrie or land is an habitation vnto a vertuous couragious man As the sea is a floudde for all kinde of fishes If I say the auncient Patriarkes Abraham Isaac and Iacob by faith did dwell in the promised lande as strangers in tentes looking for a citie hauing a foundation whose builder and maker is God although that some of them had not but the light of nature for a rule and discipline the others had not so euident a witnesse as we haue of the reuelation to come of the children of God in the which our vile bodies shal be made like vnto the glorious bodie of the sonne of god Truely somuch the lesse our exile and banishment ought to be vnto vs gréeuous and feareful in asmuch as we are assured by the mouth of Iesus Christ of his Apostles that we haue not héere a continuing Citie but that our conuersation is in heauen Also as Sainct Paul writing vnto the Corinthians doth assure vs that if our earthlie mansion wherein wée nowe dwell were destroied that we haue a building ordeined of God
is assistaunt daily or alwaies vnto his and vnto his church in what aduersitie so euer it bée according as hée hath promised in Esaie where hée sayeth I will make this couenant with thē saith the Lord my spirite that is come vpon thée and the wordes which I haue put in thy mouth shall neuer go out of thy mouth nor out of the mouth of thy childrens childrē frō this time foorth for euer more According vnto that which Iesus Christ hath promised vnto his saying I am with you alway euen vntil the ende of the world and in an other place Iesus saith I will not leaue you comfortlesse Furthermore it is openly knowen though that the Lord do tarie yet neuerthelesse he doth put and fasten certeine markes and lymits vnto the wicked tyrantes that which they cannot passe The which this scripture doth teach vnto vs which did appeare vnto Balthazar béeing set in his bancket with the princes of his people and his concubines by the which Daniel did declare vnto Balthazar that GOD hath numbred his kingdome and brought it to an ende that he hath waied in the balance his dooings and those of Nabuchodonosor his father Where we shal note in the first palce that the lord doth permitte and suffer often times that the wicked shoulde fulfill the measure of their Fathers deferring their punishment vnto the thirde and fourth generation Secondly that the Lorde is not slacke to fulfill his promise as some men count slacknesse but is patient to vs warde and woulde haue no man lost but woulde receiue all men to repentance Thirdly that we must not limit and appoint the time of the mercy of the Lord nor to binde the counsailes of our God As the quéene Iudith doth very well declare vnto the inhabitauntes of Bethulia but to submit our selues vnder the mightie hande of GOD that he may exalte vs when the time is come and to cast all our care vppon him for he careth for vs Finally that wée must beléeue that God woulde be exalted in the patience of his and knowen to bée the onely soueraigne Lord aboue all in the destruction of the wicked according as the scripture saith that GOD standeth wayting that hée may haue mercy vppon vs and lifteth himselfe vp that hée may receiue vs to grace For the Lorde GOD is righteous happie are all they that waite for him And in the booke of Exodus the Lorde sayde vnto Pharao for this cause I haue constituted thee for to make thee knowe my power and strength and to declare my name throughout all the worlde I doe speake vnto those who by our exile banishment and losse of our goods haue thought euen hitherto to constraine vs vnto an extréeme indigence and pouertie and do not consider howe the Lorde hath led his people in the wildernesse fortie yeres their clothes did not wax old vpon them nor their shooes are waxed old vpon their féet Besids this they do imbraide and reproue vnto vs our exile and banishment as if the paine did note the persons of infamie and not the cause Vnto the which we may aunswere with that great Oratour of the latines that the townes and Cities are those which are ruled by all right equitie and iustice which are the true sinowes and cordes of all common wealthes and without which the kingdomes and cities can no more endure then the bodie without life consequently that we haue not bene driuen from towns and cities in asmuch as in them as saith Salust of the citie of Rome there was no difference of the good from the euill but ambition and couetuousnesse did possesse all the rewards of vertue the which doth approch nigh vnto the sentence of Sainct Augustine where hée doth declare that the kingdomes without iustice are the verie dennes and retraytes of theues robbers I do report me vnto the cruelties more then barbarous and Scythian which haue béene executed euen here in the best towns of this realme within thrée yeare past in the meane time they do aunswere vs that they wil not endure suffer two religions To the first place I woulde demaunde of them willingly if it doth apperteine vnto them to make the lawe vnto the king and if they may doe it without charge of conscience and faulte of rebellion Secondly if the religion that they do obserue and kéepe be not a double religion Finally if our doctrine and the foundation of the same be any other then the same of the prophets and Apostles if I say we doe acknowledge any other head in our Church then Iesus Christe and him crucified As touching the first it is most certeine that it belongeth vnto the higher powers to giue the lawe vnto their subiectes not the subiects to giue vnto them the law for they do beare the sworde as the seruants of God for to do iustice in the wrath of him which doth euill vnto such doth apperteine to discerne iustice for they are sent of God for the punishment of euill doers and vnto the laude and praise of them that do well Which if the lawes haue so surely prouided against those which haue marred and defaced the edict or statute of a magistrate or a gouernour which doth not regarde but a thing altogether ciuile and politicke what punishment doe they deserue to haue which by assembles bands and companie of people and by feate of armes haue broken in this time all deuine and humaine lawes if the ciuile law doo punish gréeuouslie him which doth not obey the magistrate what paine cruell ynough can one ordeine for the magistrate which not onely hath wincked and dissembled at the wickednesse and faults of the people But for to do that without authoritie of the prince hath constituted made vnlawfull ordinances and lawes deuised thinges which be to hard to kéepe thorowe the which the poore are oppressed on euerie side and the innocentes of my people are therwith robbed in iudgement I will not here alledge the arest giuen against the vniust iudge which was slain and his skinne was hanged vppe ouer the iudgment seate for to be an example vnto others and for to learne his sonne to exercise iustice in all equitie and right it shall suffise me to conclude with the wise man which saith that an hard iudgment shall they haue that bere rule Mercie is graunted vnto the simple but they that be in authoritie shal be sore puninished and the mightie shall haue the sorer punishment As to the seconde matter there is no man that is wise which doubteth but that their religion is double not onely forasmuch as it is painted and set out with the vaile and false apperaunce of true religion but also forasmuch as it is builded and grounded partely vppon the commaundemēts of God partly vpon the traditions of men Insomuch that the vice is greater among them to leaue the traditions of men
Apostles I doe meane Policarpus Ireneus and Denis Nereus For whosoeuer will haue regarde in that matter to the number of persons he must preferre the opinion of the Scribes and Pharisies vnto that of Marie Anna Simeon Elizabeth and Zacharie Bicause that the Scribes Pharisies were more in number then those which did holde of the part of Iesus Christ And our enimies do abuse themselues greatly to thinke to stay or kéepe backe the course or passage of the gospell or to winne vs to their Romish Church hindering the exercise of our religion For if our exile losse of our goods and so much shedding of bloud thorowe out all the Realme could not force or compell euen there the true Christians to make them cleaue or sticke to the Romish religion so much lesse shal it serue to depriue vs from the exercise of the religion which hath bene permitted vs with good deliberation aduise of counsell And when we shal be driuen or chased into straunge countries yet truely fréely we shal sing the songs of Syon and the Lords songs For euen as the course of a floud being stopped stayed doth shew it selfe to be more vehemēt and of greater force so the true faithfull people being letted constrained in the doing of the religion doe giue themselus more willingly and with a better will to the true seruice of God and to the meditation and studie of the holy scriptures And to the end not to dissemble and cloke that déede what is he that will binde that that the Lorde woulde shewe foorth euen to the vttermost endes of the earth Who shall stay or let that which hee hath shed abrode as a water floude and as a mightie flowing streame for the helth and saluation of his Who shall let that which he hath set vp and established for euer Or who shall binde that which he hath ordeined for euer The Lorde hath not bounde or tied his word shall man shut it fast in a certeine place Iesus Christ hath shewed and declared it openly shall man hide it in darkenesse He which hath receiued the talent of the Lord for to gaine or winne thereby shall he hide it in the earth he I say whiche is debter both to the Greekes and to them which are no Greekes vnto the learned and also vnto the vnlearned shall not hée preach the gospel I doo speake vnto those who following the Acts more then barbarous or Scithian of one Antiochus Epiphanus not being cōtēt to haue shed hether to the bloud of the faithfull without leaue aucthoritie of the magistrate haue procéeded to so great wickednesse that they haue burned holy bookes of the Lorde I doe meane those which doe make mention of the eternall alliance of his sonne our Lord Iesus Christ thinking by that meanes more easely to establish kéep in their temples and Churches their idolles and God Marsin And yet neuerthelesse they coulde not do so much by their trauailes iourneis that the Lord hath not raised for vs of the Machabeans euen as he did vnto the Iewes from sixe yeares to seuen after the persecution of Antiochus for to giue some libertie vnto his people to repaire the ruinous places of his Temple to assure more and more the true faithfull people in their religion Vnto you O Christian Princes these matters are directed to the end that to day if you do heare the voice of the Lorde you harden not your heartes For if the father bée compted cruell whiche hauing manie children doth giue of his goods yea of those whiche GOD hath giuen him to some and not to other some which I say doth administer the corporall foode and other necessaries to some and denieth it to other some Truely the Christian prince cannot excuse him selfe of ingratitude to giue some Christian libertie and exercise of the Religion vnto some of his subiects and to denie it vnto other some Forasmuch as the materiall breade is not the proper meate of the bodie as the worde of God is the nourishing of the soule also that the princes as saith Socrates in his booke of Xenophon be towards their subiects as the shepherds are towards their flocke the fathers towardes their children that is the cause why Homere did call a prince gratious and louing shéepherd of the people And Agasicles king of the Lacedemonians being asked howe a king can commaunde without a bodie of defence and companie of people aunswered that he would commaunde his subiects as the father his children Nowe I woulde demaunde willingly what dishonour that shoulde be vnto a Christian Prince vnto whom doth apperteine to establish and to kéepe the doing of the religion to shewe him selfe so negligent and vnthankefull towards his that the little ones or young children should demaunde or aske of him the heauenly breade and there was no man that giueth it them I do meane that the young children should suffer not the hunger of breade nor the thrist of water as saith the Prophet Amos but an hunger to heare the worde of god Let vs consider in this matter what reproch Iesus Christ did make vnto the Scribes and Pharises when he said Woe be vnto you Scribes and Pharises hypocrites for ye shut vp the kingdome of heauen before men ye your selues goe not in neither suffer ye them that come to enter in the which words are applied not to the Scribes and Pharises onely but vnto all ministers ordeined of the Lord for to declare and mainteine his worde Shall I speake of those who hauing taken or snatched away that heauenly bread from the hand of the children of God deuowring also the children themselues not being content to suppresse by force and violence the exercise of the religion but doe condempne to a most slaunderous and cruell death the professours of the same they are those of whom the Lord speaketh off by his prophet Dauid which eate vp my people as it were breade I cannot here forget that which Plato doth write off that is to say that it shoulde be a thing verie gréeuous and vile to nourish doggs for for to kéepe the flocke and in the meane time thorow glouttonie impatience of hunger or any other custome the dogs do lifte themselues vp for to deuoure the flocke or for to hurt it in what sorte soeuer it be in such maner and sorte that the doggs were made like vnto the Wolues We must also as the same Author doth write take héede that they do not the like against the Citizens which are gouernours of the townes and in stéede to liue with them in amitie as familier and domesticall they do not rule ouer them in duritie and rigorousnesse I will not here blame the honour of some Magistrates or gouernours For it is written thou shalt not curse the ruler of the people Their conscience may bere them witnesse in that
Chryst a seditious Barrabas of a true Byshoppe and dyspensatour of thy holy will an ambitious and couetous hipocrite To conclude for a Mathias a Symon Magus yea to driue from their Cities and common wealthes the true religion for to admitte and bryng in all idolatrie and superstition Giue them Lorde such repentaunce and contrition as thou diddest of late vnto the king Manasses béeing all bloodie with the blood of the prophets vnto one Saul afterwards called Paule altogether inflamed wyth threateninges and killing agaynst the Disciples of Iesus Christ vnto a poore Publican whom thou hast afterwardes chosen for to declare the Gospell of thy grace in the fauoure and merite of him which béeing on the Crosse for our demerities and transgressions hath taught vs to praye for our enymies our Lorde Iesus Chryst vnto whom be glorie for euer Amen ¶ A BRIEFE ADVERTISment vnto those which do blame the true Christian religion for the poorenesse and littlenesse of the same or doe slaunder it for the euill conuersation and abuse of those which doe professe it Cap. 5. Esaie 41. ◠Be not afraide thou little worme Iacob and thou despised Israel for I will helpe thee saith the Lord and the holy one of Israel thine auenger IN the lawe of nature man béeing created vnto a dignitie and singuler perfection sodeinely did forsake the ordinaunce and commaundement of God and within a little while after the chyldren of Adam did ryse vp for to builde a Tower called Babell In the lawe that is written the people did erre and goe astray from the way that GOD commaunded them they made a Calfe of molten mettall and bowed themselues before it and delited in the woorkes of their owne hands In the booke of Nombers they murmured so much against Moses that Moses cryed vnto the Lord saying I am not able to beare all this people alone for it is to heauy for me kil me I pray thée if I haue found fauour in thy sight and let me not sée my wretchednesse In the booke of the kings so many false prophets did cōspire against Elias that he desired to die bicause that the children of Israel haue forsaken the couenaunt of the Lorde and haue broken downe hys Alters and slaine his prophets with the sworde The which we doe reade of Ieremy when of a meruaylous zeale that hée did beare vnto the house of God more thē through impatience of sorowe he did exclaime and crie out saying Cursed be the day wherein I was borne vnhappie bée the day wherein my mother brought mée foorth Cursed be the man that brought my father the tidings to make him glad saying thou hast gotten a sonne In the lawe euangelicall so many of the scribes pharises did conspire against Iesus Christ and his word that he himselfe did reproch and checke them that he was come in the name of his father and they receiued him not if an other do come in his owne name they do receiue him and therefore the same Lord doth admonish and warne his that they should beware of false prophets which come vnto them in shéeps clothing but inwardly they are rauening wolues In the time of the Apostles so many of the Emperours enimies of the christian law As Nero Domitian Herode and others So many false prophets as Simon Magus Iudas Galileus Therdas after the Apostles so many people corrupt in the lawe and manners that S. Paule did exhort his for to beware of things to come saying Take héede therfore vnto your selues and to all the flocke whereof the holy Ghost hath made you ouerséers to rule the congregation of God which hée hath purchased with his bloode For I am sure of this that after my departing shal gréeuous wolues enter in among you which will not spare the flocke The same doth not learne or teach vs therefore to blame the religion of the LORD for the lawe of the Lorde is a perfect lawe it quickeneth the soule The Testimonie of the LORDE is true and giueth wisdome euē vnto babes but to acknowledge the mallice of men and the presumption of those which do rise vp against god And besides it teacheth vs not to beléeue to lightly euery spirite but to proue the spirites whether they are of God or not Furthermore not to way or measure the true Christian religion to the opinion of men but to the rule and word of the Lord according as it is sayde in Moses Thou shalt doe that which is right and good in the sight of the Lorde not all that which thou doest thincke to bée good And not to slaūder vs in the mallice of some Apostates for through the incredulitie vnbeléeuing of some which haue not beleued the promise of God is not abolyshed or without effect bicause that God is true all men are lyers Furthermore to acknowledge our imperfection and weakenesse after the example of those which haue despised the giftes graces and liberalities of the Lorde and to praye without ceasing and intermission that he doe increase in vs the fayth to the ende we doe not vary from his lawe either to the right hand nor to the left Finally to suffer patiently the wicked vntill the day of the later resurrection which is the time of the restoring of all things and to iudge nothing before the time vntill such time as the LORD doth come which will lighten things that are hyd in darkenesse and open the counsailes of the heartes and then shall euery man haue praise of God. Euen so Aaron suffered the people rising vp against him and did consent that they should make and worshippe an Idoll Euen so Moses suffered so many thousande persons which did murmure against him Euen so Dauyd did suffer patiently the manners of Saul his persecutor and deadly enimie and did acknowledge him for king and auenged his death Euen so Samuel did discemble and cloke the manners of the children of Ely. Euen so Esaie did beare the rebellion and contumacie of his people Euē so Ieremy those of whom he suffered so many wronges and iniuries and all that to the ende to kéepe the vnitie of the spirite in the bonde of peace As also Iesus Christ did suffer and abide in his company one Iudas a théefe and a betrayer of his bloode and did permitte and suffer him amongest good men to take our price Finally euen so did the Apostles suffer the false Apostles and those which did séeke the thinges which were their owne not those of Iesus Christ Not without cause saint Augustine saith that the church béeing established in the myddest of chaffe and darnell doth suffer many things yet notwithstanding the things which are against the faith or the good life she doth not allow them she doth not hide them she doth them not And truely those doe abuse themselues greatly which of the same do thinck to make a citie platonical I do meane which are an
asketh not counsaile at his God whether it be concerning the dead or the lyuing If any man want light let him looke vpon the lawe and the testimonie whether they speake not after this meaning Notwithstanding then that our enimies doe glorifie and boast themselues in the outwarde appearaunce of their ceremonies and sacrifices crying with the Iewes that there is no nation or people so great that hath ordinaunces and lawes so righteous as al this lawe which they set before the people Although saye I that they doe boast themselues of their Temples and sumptuous presentes and goodly endowmentes and that they do exclayme so many times dayly This is the Temple of the Lorde despisinge the Christian and reformed Church for the poorenesse basenesse and littlenesse of the same They are not ignoraunt that Iesus Christ hath not ben as a stone to stumble at and as a rocke to fall vpon a snare a net to both the houses of Israell and shal be the fall resurrection of many in Israel and for a signe whiche shal be spoken against Insomuch that Saint Paul doth witnesse that Iesus Christ crucified is an occasion of falling vnto the Iewes and vnto the Grekes of foolishnesse and his doctrine a swéete sauour of life vnto those which were saued and of death vnto those which do perishe What is the cause that their reasons doe serue to no purpose for to abolish or change the veritie of our religion grounded vppon the word of the Lorde but rather for to condempne the malice of those whiche do abuse it as the hoggs do of the good pearles and the doggs of the childrens breade which if they doe consider well what their Romish Church is they shall finde it in nothing differing from a policie or gouernement altogether prophane and worldly hauing it subiect not vnto the worde but to their opinion and priuate will a thing asmuch contrarie vnto the Christian doctrine as Iesus Christ doth teach vs that the Lordes of the Gentiles haue domination ouer them And they that are great exercise power ouer them but it shall not be so among them That is the cause why we do not sée any other thing to reigne in the Romish Church then an excessiue ambition and inordinate desire to encrease augment their greatnes as saint Hierome doth testifie of his time that the Churche beeing augmented increased in temporall ryches was also weakened diminished in christian vertues in suche sorte that hee durst well call the Church of his time a sinke and puddle in respect and regarde that it had and did beare vnto the Churche of of Iesus Christ and of his Apostles For the Christian Church is not bound vnto titles nor vnto dignities But to the word and to the true vsage of the Sacraments ordeined of the Lord nor limitted vnto a certeine place as of late the Iewes did referre the doings of their religion vnto the Temple of Salomon the benedictions blessings of the Lord to the mount Garizim but in all people he that feareth him worketh righteousnesse is accepted with him and his welbeloued sonne our Lorde Iesus Christe is in the middes of two or thrée gathered together in his name What shall I say more the greatnesse of the Christian church doth not consist in the number of persons for as Iesus Christ saith many are called but fewe are chosen And as Esdras doth witnesse the most highest made this world for many but the world to come for fewe As when thou askest the earth it shall say vnto thée that it giueth much moulde whereof earthen vessels are made but little of it that gold commeth off euen so is it with the worke of this worlde There be many created but few shal be preserued Insomuch that the Lord doth make sometime his Church like vnto a wilde and barraine vyne in the whiche one can finde but a fewe grapes yea vnto a budde in the which one can finde but one grape And he saith doe not destroye it for it is blessednesse And therefore the Lorde called his number the little flocke and doth tell vs that straite is the gate and narrowe is the way which leadeth vnto life and fewe there be that finde it I do say moreouer that we ought not to applie or referre the christian church vnto mans commoditie and felicitie For in the lawe of nature we do sée an Abel the figure of the true christians put to death and killed by his brother a Noe despised of his owne sonne Iacob the other prophets banished and constrained to flie that people of Israel so much praysed or estéemed of God compelled by Pharao vnto a great and miserable seruitude and bondage A little while after did wander stray abrode by the wildernesses The king and his people taken captiue in Babilon the Prophets constrained to hide themselues for the crueltie and tirannie of the kings In the Christian lawe the first Herolde and Ambassadour of Iesus Christe and of his gospell Iohn Baptist put to death by king Herod Iesus Christ from his birth or assoone as he was borne fledde into Aegypt The Apostles counted as shéepe to be slaine and after the Apostles I do meane from the time of the Romaine Emperours a verie bucherie and slaughter of Christians For all the same we haue none occasion to be offended or to be angrie with our selues seing the peace of the wicked and vngodly or to withdraw vs from the Christian Church for the aduersities of the same for euen as in the time of the vniuersal floude Noe and all his family were preserued from the waters and the Arke coulde not be forced with the windes and tempests or as the people of Israel erring and wandering in the wildernesse and vnknowen places were conducted and guided by the Lorde in the night by a piller of fire and by day in a piller of a cloude Finally as that ship wherin the Apostles were being tossed vppe and downe in the sea did séeme to manasse the Apostles of drowning if it had not béene that Iesus Christ at his comming caused the windes to cease and the sea to be calme Euen so this heauenly Arke I do meane the Christian Church or congregation being builded vpon the foundation of the Apostles and Prophets that corner stone which is Iesus Christ yea him which hath promised vnto his that he wil aide and helpe them euen vnto the end of the world forasmuch as he doth fortifie him in his afflictions that nowe of late the Arke of Noe did lifte vp it selfe aboue the waters stormes and tempests Wherefore it should be in vaine for to no purpose for vs here to alledge the magnificence and greatnesse of the Romishe Church for that is as if one shoulde leane vppon a stafe of a broken reade that is to say vpon mans force and strength Or for vs to
an hie minded person His voice shall not be heard in the streates A brused reade shal he not breake and the smoking flaxe shall he not quench he wil not be hatefull or odious vnto him selfe nor yet werie him selfe That is the cause wherfore Sainct Peter did exhort the pastours shepherds to féede Christes flock which is commited vnto them taking the ouer-sight of theÌ„ not as though they were compelled thereto but willingly not for the desire of filthy lucre but of a good minde not as though they were Lordes ouer the parishes but that they shoulde be an ensample to the flocke Euen so dothe Saint Paul say writing vnto the Thessalonians we haue béene saith he tender among you euen as a nursse cherisheth her children so was our affection towarde you our good will was not to haue delt vnto you not the gospel of God onely but also our owne soules bicause ye were deare vnto vs Euen so saide Iesus Christe vnto his Apostles behold I sende you foorth as shéepe among wolues Be ye therfore wise as Serpentes and innocent as Doues And in an other place of the same booke Ye know saith Christ that the Lordes of the Gentiles haue domination ouer them And they that are great exercise power ouer them It shall not be so among you But whosoeuer will be great among you let him be your minister and whosoeuer will be chiefe a mong you let him be your seruant As the Lorde also doth witnesse by his prophet speaking of the remnants I meane of the faithful congregation that the remnant of Israel shall doe no wickednesse nor speake lyes neither shall there any disceitful tongue bée founde in their mouthes for they shall be fedde and take their rest and no man shal make them a fraide And it is verie well saide of Plato that he which doth stablishe and make Lawes in cities ought to hold and kepe the office of a father and mother Insomuch that his writings shold conteine in them rather a kinde of loue and wisedome then of a tirant thretning and ruling by rigor and cruelnesse And therefore the Lorde did rebuke sometimes the shepeherds of Israel for that they did rule ouer their flock in duritie and rigorousnes And Iesus Christ did declare vnto the Scribes Pharises that they did binde heuie burthens and gréeuous to be borne and lay them on mens shoulders but they themselues will not heaue at them with one of their fingers and loue to sit vppermost at feastes and to haue the chiefe seates in the sinagogs gréetings in the markets and to be called of men Rabby As it did appeare that the chiefe priest asked the Apostles saying did not we straitely commaunde you that ye shoulde not teach in his name Such is and hath béene alwayes the manner and condition of those which haue little regarde to the christian religion so that they may get vnto themselues powre aucthoritie As we do reade that king Nabuchodonosor did coÌ„pell and constraine the people to do homage worship vnto his idoll one Antiochus which did cause the Iewes and Machabees to forsake the diuine seruice and preceptes of the elders one Cozba in the time of the Emperour Elyas Adrianus would the men should take or acknowledge him for the true Messias promised in the lawe or as we doe se in our time an Emperour of the Turkes by force of armes did go about to mingle the heauen earth for to obscure and darken the name of Christ and to deface his remembraunce Not without great cause Saint Hierome did coÌ„plaine sometimes that when the powre was vsurped by the prelats of the Church that the Church being increased in goods and riches hath ben also diminished and made weake in vertues things much more dampnable and contrarie to our religion as the worde of the Apostle doth admonishe and teach vs that the weapons of our warre are not carnall things but things mightie in God to cast downe stronge holdes wherewith wée ouerthrowe imaginations and euerie hie thing that exalteth it selfe against the knoweledge of god And verie well a certeine auncient authour saide that the Church doth not knowe the corporall weapons and that for her onely aide and helpe she doth patiently abide and tarie patiently the Lordes leasure when it will please him to haue pittie on her to the same ende a Bishoppe of the Church of Rome saide When I shal be coÌ„pelled I may not resist I may besorrie I may wéepe and lament against the armies weapons of the men of Gotia my teares weepinges are my weapons Behold saith that good authour the munitions and weapons of priestes otherwise I can neither speak against nor resist Now for asmuch as our enimies do goe about and endeuour themselues to mainteine their Religion by fire and sworde threatnings and bandes they do sufficiently declare that they cannot assure it by the scripture Euen as king Pharao desiring to raigne ouer the people of God fearing that he should not treade vnderfoote all other nations did lay vpon them importable burthens and at the last caused to be killed all the first borne of the people of Israel Euen so I say as Herode being troubled for the homage obedience that men did beare vnto Iesus Christe of his natiuitie considering the promises of the sauiour of the worlde accomplished and fulfilled in him dyd slaye all the children that were in Bethelem and in all the coastes thereof as many as were two yeare olde and vnder fearing least that the aduauncement of the kingdome of Christ should be the ruine of other people Beholde the ende of those which haue no regarde what become of the kingdome of Iesus Christ so that they may establish set vp their puissaunce and greatnesse to the ende they may reigne and beare rule in this world But the meaning of the true christians is altogether otherwise forasmuch then as they doe seeke first the kingdome of God and the righteousnesse therof Yet they care not what their aucthoritie power and greatnesse be so that the word of God haue his frée passage and the name of the Lord be glorified For that same reason they put not their hope and strength in carnall weapâ—ns but in spirituall Their sword is the word of God quicke and mightie in operation and sharper then any two edged swoord and entereth through euen vnto the deuiding asunder of the soule and of the spirite and of the ioyntes and the marie and iudgeth the thoughtes and intentes of the heart Their victorie is that that ouercoÌ„meth the world eueÌ„ our faith by the which as saith the Apostle vnto the Hebrewes The auncient fathers patriarks and Apostles haue subdued kingdomes wrought righteousnesse obteined the promises stopped the mouthes of the Lyons And as Iesus Christ said that he will fight against his enimies with the swoorde of his mouth Also
peace Cap. 7. Philip. I. d. Continue in one spirite and in one mynd fighting altogether through the fayth of the gospell in nothing feare your aduersaries FOrasmuch as the Scripture doth teach vs that God is not the God of confusion but of peace And that the Gospell of the Christians is called by the Prophet the message of peace And the christian church the congregatioÌ„ of saincts which doe liue in the peace of god Insomuch that the propht Esaie speaking of the church of God saith that God will let peace into her as a water floud and the might of the heathen as a flowing streame And in Baruch the god shal name his church with this name that is to say the peace of righteousnesse and the honoure of gods feare Finally forasmuch as the Church of GOD is the piller and staye of gods truth truely they maye knowe plainely howe wee ought to bee all diligent to keepe the vnitie of the spirite through the bande of peace to the ende that wée all agréeing together may after the ensample of Iesus Christ with one mouth as saith Sainct Paule praise Gâ—D which is the Father of our Lorde Iesus Christ And that we hence foorth be no more as chyldren wauering and caried about with euery winde of doctrine But let vs followe the truth with loue and in all things grow vp in to him which is the head that is to say Christ On the other side we are taught to auoide as much as we may possible the debates and contentions of the lawe and the parcialities touching the dooing of the religion According as Saint Paule did exhorte the Corinthians in the name of our Lorde Iesus Christ that they all speake one thing and that there be no discentions among them But that they be knit together in one minde and in one iudgement that they doe continue of all one minde al fighting of one courage by faith And also hee dyd warne and admonish the Philippians that they bée lyke minded hauing the selfe same loue béeing of one accorde and of one iudgement that nothing be done through strife or vaine glorie but that in méekenesse of minde euery man estéeme other better then himselfe On the other side he writeth vnto Titus that he do suppresse foolishe questions and genelogies and brawling and strife about the lawe as vaine and superfluous Also the same Saint Paul doth complaine to the Philippians that some there are which preach Christ of enuie and strife and not purely Also in his seconde Epistle to the Corinthians he saith that hée and Siluianus haue preached vnto you Gods sonne Iesus Christ not in double worde yea and nay but in this worde which is true that is to say yea The same Apostle doth giue vnto vs the reason of this doctrine when he saith that questions and strife of wordes do ingender enuie strife railings euil furmising vain disputations of men with corrupt mindes And saith also in an other place that if there be enuyâ—ng strife sects among vs we do declare that we are carnall and walke after the manner of men For verily he that is contentious in the church especially touching the doing of the religion he sinneth many wayes First in that hee breaketh the vnitie of the Christian Church which ought to be vnited and ioyned together not onely by naturall coniunction and amitie but also by vnitie of doctrine For as Iesus Christ saith that by this shall al men knowe that we are his disciples if we haue loue one to an other Also saint Paul doth warne vs to beware of them which cause diuision and offences contrarie to the doctrine which they haue learned and auoide them Consequently he which is contencious in the church concerning the doctrine or doing of the religion First of all he sinneth against Iesus Christ which is the head of the Christian church and prince of peace as saith the prophet inasmuch as he hath reconciled all things vnto himselfe to set at peace through the bloude of his crosse both things in earth and things in heauen Secondly he doth giue occasion vnto the simple and foolish people to erre and go astray from the christian Church in the which doth lie and rest the piller of our saluation And that the same is greatly odious and hatefull vnto God Iesus Christ doth teach and declare it when he saith Wo be vnto him through whome offences come it were better for him that a great milstone were hanged about his necke and that he were cast into the sea then that he shoulde offende one of these little ones The which his Apostle doth confirme shewing vnto the Galathians that he that troubleth them shall beare his condemnation whosoeuer he be and desireth that they that trouble them may be cut off from them Finally he doth giue occasion vnto straungers and enimies of our religion to blame the name of God. According as the prophet did rebuke the gouernours priestes of the house of Israel that they haue caused the multitude to be offended at the lawe And Sainct Paul writing vnto the Romanes saith that the name of God is euil spokeÌ„ off among the Gentiles through them And by good right a certeine auncient authour did complaine that we many wayes in the church do teare and rent Gods coate through our contentions the which the Souldiours durst not deuide in his passion the whiche did moue sometime the Iewes as Clement Alexandrinus doth witnes to swell and rise vp euen there against the Christians to say that the Christian religion was not of God but some pernicious sect and false religion Because that the Christians had debates and contentions in the church For the same occasion that great heriticke Celsus and chiefest enimy of the christians did rebuke daily the christians of their diuisions and parcialities saying that it were not expedient that they shoulde growe and increase to any more greater number Bicause that being but a fewe in number they would be of one accorde and agrée well together but assone as they did multiplie and waxe many they woulde fall into diuersities of opinions Also Samosetanus in the ecclesiastical history doth witnesse that the Emperour Constantine did suffer verie impatiently the controuersies and contentions of the christians saying that by that means they do turne many men from the christian religion Vnto whome Themistus a christian Philosopher aunswered that the differences controuersies of the christians were nothing in respect of the confusion of the sect of the Gentiles Also the same authour saith moreouer that for certeine small contentions which do chaunce and happen to the churches the church must not therefore leaue and forsake the principall foundation of the true religion nor to be the true churches but that by that means the Lorde doth trie and proue the hearts of many doth declare make plaine the
one smal fault fearing to lose their prebendes dignities and prerogatiues and in the meane time doe make it no conscience to bée founde dailie with conspiracies and threatnings for to put an whole realme in a pray for to shed as water the innocent blood O time O manners the prince doth vnderstande it the Senate doth sée it And yet neuerthelesse such good Lords do liue what sayde I liue yea doe sitte in counsell which if they are so curious to marke the dooinges of their fathers for to serue them in their owne dooinges They will remember verie well the saying of Sainct Ambrose béeing printed and set in their Canons that is to say that the true munitions of Gods ministers are wéepings teares Insomuch that thys good author doth crye so often that béeing forced and constrayned he may sigh and wéepe otherwise he cannot resist In such sort that he did not determine to take for his weapons against the iniuries of the men of Gotia but his wéepings and his teares I wyll not héere referre the dooing of Moses Hely and Iehu vnto our time and of an especiall and perticuler acte to make a generall rule among the christian princes for to arme and moue them vnto some kynde of cruelnesse against so many false priests I doe accorde with them that they doe kéepe the zeale of them and leaue the déede such as it is So that according to the example of Iesus Christ king of kinges and Lorde of Lordes they doe cast out of the christian Church so many marchaunts and hyred priestes and doe not suffer that of Gods house they doe make it a market or a denne of théeues For euen as Ely was grieuously punished for hiding and coueringe the sinnes of his children Also it is to bee feared that the lyke doe not chaunce and happen vnto those which are establyshed by the LORDE for to mainteine and keepe the estate of the religion and in the meane time doe suffer freely and vnpunished the sinnes of the pastors and teachers of the people and it is to be feared but that the Lord will send in the ende that which is spoken of in Ezechiell that is to say calamitie vpon calamitie crie vpon crie that the lawe of the priest doe not perish and the counsaile of the elders As the same Lorde did menace and threaten his people in an other place of the Prophet saying that hée wyll forbid the heauen to giue them any dew and the earth to giue them increase And will call for a drouth vppon the earth both vpon the land and vppon the mountaines vppon euery thing that the ground bringeth vpon men and vpon cattel yea and vpon al handie labour Bicause saith he that his house lyeth so wast that euery man runneth to his owne house The Lord shewing and declaring the fault and ingratitude of those which for to vnderstand the affaires and dooings of this worlde doe negligentlie passe their duetie in that which apperteineth vnto the affaires of the religion They cannot abide that any thing should bee attempted either in déede or worde against their personnes or goodes And they do not thinke it straunge to crucifie Iesus Christ for to saue a théefe and a seditious Barrabas or for to cut off the head of Iohn Baptist for to gratifie and please the desire of others Haue not haue not then O ye christian princes regarde to the brightnesse and magnificence of the Romish Church And beléeue not lightlie all lying spirites But proue the spirites whether they are of God or not for many false prophetes are gone out into the world and way not the dooing of the religion to the opinion of the common people But to the word of God according to the which the Lord would bée serued and honoured and not according to the mindes of men Forasmuch thē as such professors of the truth do goe in shéepes clothing and inwardlie are rauening wolues Also doe shew outwardly in their temples some appearaunce of religion as of late the Aegyptians did yet in the meane time vnder coloure of deuotion doe worshippe the creatures and workes of their handes And forasmuch as the Lord hy his prophet doth call you Noursses of his church chase driue away from his shéepefolde so many vnprofitable and hired shéepheardes And in their place send workemen approued workemen that néede not to be ashamed which doe deuide the word of truth iustly Cause that those which doe professe to teach doe put from them foolish and vnlearned questions that they doe nothing in declining to one side To conclude that they doe not giue heede to ieerish fables and genealogies nor to the commaundements of men for to turne them from the truth but that they doe handle the woorde purely as by God before God by Christ not through enuie contention or discorde But purely as those which are constituted for the defence of the gospell In that dooing as saith Sainct Paule of the true ministers of the church you shall saue your selues and those that doe here the word Amen 2. Paralip 29. a. Ezechias caused the Leuites and priestes to come and assembled thē together into the East streete And sayd vnto them here me ye Leuites purifie your selues halow the house of the Lord God of your fathers and bring out the filthinesse out of the holy place A Prayer O Lord in whom are the riches and honours and which reignest ouer all in whose hande are power and strength and greatnesse empire vnto all things which prouest the heartes and hast pleasure in plainnesse disposest the thoughts of the hearts of the people Giue thy iudgments and thy iustice vnto the king whom thou hast established ouer vs to the ende that he may iustly commaunde thy people to kéepe thy lawe Prepare so our heartes that wée liuing vnder his obedience in all sanctitie and righteousnesse may worship thée also with one will in spirite and trueth not dooing that that séemeth good in our owne eyes but that which is agreable vnto thee and that which thou commaundest vs To the ende that by that meanes all the world may know that the same that thou hast of late forespoken or prophesied of thy church be verified in vs that is to say the kings shal be the nursing fathers of thy people queenes shal be their noursing mothers for to norish and féede them of spirituall meat of which thy welbeloued sonne said that his meat was to doe the will of him the sent him our Lord Iesus Christ To whom be glory for euer ¶ THAT IT IS THE RENOWNE of a Christian prince to be beloued of his Subiectes Cap. 9. Siraac in his Ecclesiast 6. c. ¶ A faithfull friende is a strong defence FOrasmuch then as euerie kingdome deuided within it selfe shall bée desolate And euery house deuided within it selfe shall fall one vpon an other And experience doth teach
the estates doe destroy the Iudges and in the meane time it must néeds be that the Iudges doe liue by stelth and doe get againe through dishonest gaine that that they haue vnlawfully disboursed Furthermore I wil not muse or studie to marke and discouer the faultes of ours it is inough for me that euery one doe knowe that the puissance and greatnesse of the cities and common wealthes doe not lye and consist in an excessiue and madde number of magistrates â—endinge and seruing rather to the ruine and destructioÌ„ of the people then to the comforting of them No morâ— then the iustice and true rule to liue well to so many newe Edictes and statutes But to the wisdome of the magistrates and true vsage and exercise of the religion and iustice And I will not bee abashed if an Emperour of Rome called Licinius Cesar did call sometime a heape and companie of officers mothes and rattes As also one may daylie sée that they do despise so many waies the edictes and statutes of the Prince and of the superiors Bicause that the number of magistrates serueth nothing to the common wealth no more then so many edictes and statutes of the magistrates to the helping and comforting of the subiectes I will ende this matter by the prayer which king Salomon made aswell for his owne regarde as for the regard of all his people O Lord forasmuch as thou hast caused a younge Ladde to reigne ouer thy people giue vnto him a heart full of knowledge to iudge thy people and to knowe the good from the euill that he may walke in thy waies in truth and righteousnesse and kéepe thy statutes and commaundements Giue vnto him grace that he may duely and rightly rule his subiectes vnder the obedience of thy lawes and ordinaunces teaching them the way by the which they shall walke in the worke that they shall doe Finally O Lord cause that the same Prince doe prouide among the people vertuous men and fearing God men louing truth and hating couetousnesse and which doe iudge thy people at all seasons in all right equitie iustice In the fauour of him which iudgeth the poore with righteousnesse and with holynesse reformeth the simple of the worlde Our Lorde Iesus Christ vnto whom be glorie for euer Amen Prouerbes 29.14 The seate of the king that faithfully iudgeth the poore shall continue sure for euermore Prouerbes 28. Bicause of sinne the lande doth oft chaunge hir prince But through men of vnderstanding and wisedome a Realme endureth long A Prayer O Lord which by thy mightie and puissant hand hast made the world of nothing and which doest dispose all thinges with a meruailous order and counsell Which settest vp againe righteousnesse in the ballaunce and iudgement in the weights yea by whom the kings reigne and the Princes make iust lawes Direct so by thy grace the young age of our king vnder thy feare that he reigning ouer vs in all equitie and righteousnesse he doe mainteine his people in the kéeping of the lawes which do concerne the aduauncement of thy glorie and the libertie of thine O Lorde make him to vnderstand that as al puissance and power is from thée So the Prince is the minister of God for all mens wealth To the ende that the may employ bestowe the giftes which thou hast giuen vnto him to thy glorie to the aduauncement of the kingdome of thy sonne and to the comfort of his people Assist through thy fatherly goodnesse all those which are of his counsell That they may acknowledge that thy feare is the beginning of wisdome and that they doe not séeke onely their priuate commodities but also those of other mens or that they séeke not their owne but those of Iesus Christ vnto whom bée glorie for euer Amen A BRIEFE DEMONSTRATION vnto those which doe make it no conscience to shed the innocent bloode vnder preteÌ„ce I know not of what foolish zeale Wherein is shewed by examples of the scripture how odious before God such cruelties are Cap. 11. Genes 9. a. ¶ He which sheddeth mannes blould shal haue his bloude shed by man againe For God made man after his owne likenesse 1. Samuel 15. g. ¶ Samuel said vnto king Agag as thy swoord hath made women childlesse so shall thy mother be childlesse among other women SAlomon doth witnesse in his prouerbes that ther be sixe things which the Lord hateth and the seuenth he vtterly abhorreth A proud loke a dissembling tongue handes that shed innocent bloud an heart that goeth about with wicked immaginations féete that be swift in running to doe mischiefe a false witnes that bringeth vp lies and such one as soweth discord amonge bretheren That is the cause wherefore Dauyd prayed the Lord that he will not destroy his soule with the sinners nor his lyfe with the bloude thirstie Where that good Prophet speaking vnto GOD doth crie thou O God shalt cast them downe into the pitte of destruction For the bloud thirstie and deceiptfull man shal not liue out halfe their daies The Lord trieth the righteous but his heart hateth the wicked and him that loueth violence The which is sufficiently declared vnto vs by examples of the scripture yea who will begin from the creation of the world For froÌ„ the lawe of nature Cain killed his brother Abel for that cause the Lord said vnto Cain What hast thou done The voice of thy brothers bloud cried vnto me out of the earth And nowe cursed be thou as perteining to the earth for when thou tillest the ground she shall hence foorth not giue hir power vnto thée a vagabund and a runnagate shalt thou be vpon the earth In the lawe that is written Pharao king of Aegypt went about by all meanes to afflyct the people of GOD vntill that he caused to be killed al the men children of the Hebrewes But in a little while after all the first borne in the lande of Aegypt were killed Pharao and all the Aegiptians were drowned in the seas In the time of the Iudges Abimelech desiring to reigne ouer Israel caused to bée killed all the children of Gedeon except Ioatham insomuch that Abimelech was made king in Sichem But within a little while after this vengeaunce happened vnto him For Abimelech hauing besiged the Citie of Thebes and taken it and going to take a tower wherein the people were gotten together a woman did caste a peace of a milstone from the wall vppon his head and all to brake his brayne panne â–ª So as sayth the Scripture all the wickednesse of Abimelech which hée did vnto his father in sleying his thre score and ten bretheren God did bring vpon his head The Quéene Iezabel caused Naboth to bée killed for to haue his vineyard But the Scripture doth teach vs that the Lord spake against Iezabel saying that the dogges shal eate Iezabel vnder the walles of Iezrael the which came to passe For Iehu
caused Iezabel to be throwne downe out of a windowe and Iezabel was eaten vp with dogges according to the woord of Hely At the same time Athaliah the mother of Ochoziah séeing that hir son was dead rose vp and slew al the séede of the kingdome except Ioas the sonne of Ochoziah whom Iehosaba the daughter of king Iehoram did steale from amonge the middest of the kinges sonnes that were slaine and hid him from Athaliah that he was not slayne But within a little while after Athaliah is caried out of the Temple when she was come to the gate where the kings horses went out they killed her there Iehoram did rise against the kingdome of his father and when he was setled he slew all his other brethren with the swoord and diuers of the Lordes of Israell there too For which cause the Lord did smite him with an incurable disease in his bowelles And in processe of time euen aboute the ende of two yeares his guttes fell out by reason of his sickenesse and so he dyed of euill diseases Iehoas after the death Iehoida did forsake the Lord and caused Zachariah the Prophet to be killed in the court of the house of the Lord And when the yeare was out the hoast of the Syrians came against him and they came to Iuda and Hierusalem and destroyed all the Lordes of the people from among the people and sent all the spoyle of them vnto the king of Damasco And when they were departed from him though they left him in great diseases yet his owne seruauntes conspired against him for the bloude of the children of Iehoiada the priest and slewe him in his bedde and so he dyed Manasseh shed much innocent bloud so much that he filled Hierusalem from the one side vnto the other But afterwardes he was taken by the Assirians and ledde captiue to Bablilon I wil not here forget Herod who hauing vexed certeine of the congregation and killed Iames the brother of Iohn with the sword by and by after he was smitten of the Lord and béeing eaten of wormes gaue vp the Ghost Furthermore if we will know wherefore the childreÌ„ of Israel were led captiue to BabiloÌ„ in the time of Zedekiah Iehoachin The scripture doth aunswere that the Lord God sent to them by his messengers sending them betimes for he had compassion on his people and on his dwelling place But they mocked the messengers of God despised their wordes and misused his Prophets vntill the wrath of the Lord so rose against his people that it was past remedie And so he brought vpon them the kinge of Caldey and slewe their younge men with the swoorde in the holy Temple and neyther spared young man nor maide neither olde man neither so much as him that stowped for age but gaue all into his hande The Prophet Ieremy doth giue the same reason of the later destruction of Hierusalem which was in the time of Titus and Vespasian when hee sayth neither the kings of the earth nor all the inhabitors of the wolrd woulde haue beléeued that the enimie and aduersarie should haue come in at the gates of the Citie of Hierusalem Which neuerthelesse is come to passe for the sinnes of hir Prophets and for the wickednesse of hir priestes that haue shedde innocentes bloulde wythin hir To that same fault the sonne of Syrach did attribute the destruction not of a Citie and of a coÌ„mon wealth onely Teaching that the kingdome bicause of vnrighteous dealing wrong blasphemies and diuers deceipts shal be translated from one people to an other So our Lord Iesus Christ doth crie so often against the Scribes and Pharises for the bloode of the righteous saying Hierusalem Hierusalem which killest the Prophtes and stonest them which are sent to thée How often woulde I haue gathered thy children together as the henne gathereth hir chickens vnder hir wings but ye wold not Beholdy our habitatioÌ„ shal be left vnto you desolate These are the same matters which that first Deacon of the church did direct vnto them when he saith O ye people stifnecked of vncircumcised hearts eares Ye haue alwaies resisted the holy ghost As your fathers did so doe ye Which of the prophets haue not your fathers persecuted And they haue slaine them which shewed before of the comming of the iust whom ye haue nowe betrayed and murthered What shall I say more the time will not serue mée if I would speake of Nero Domitian Caligula and other Emperours of Rome Who hauing exercised in their life more cruelties theÌ„ Barbarous or Scithian Also in their death haue bene cruellie entreated of their owne subiectes For the like cause it was forbidden the children of Israel not to eate the bloude for the life of all flesh is in the bloud For that same cause I say Dauid was not suffred to build the Lordes house bicause saith the Scripture that he had shed much bloude and made great battailes although that he had no warres but against the enimies of God of his people These things doe sufficiently declare vnto the Kinges and Princes of the earth how odious before God all effusion of bloud and crueltie is According as Salomon doth teach vs that mercy and faythfulnesse preserue the king and with louing kindnesse his seate is holden vp And Iesus Christ doth witnesse that blessed are the meeke for they shall inherite the earth What néede is it to serch the places of the auncient fathers inasmuch as the examples of our time doe giue vnto vs certeine witnesse of the vengeaunce of God against those Who according to their ambition and priuate affection had shed euery where the bloud of the iust which although the Lorde doe suffer many at this time to reigne yet let vs praise his goodnesse and let vs acknowledge that his mercy and long taryinge shall bringe them to repentance Let vs also feare on the other side that through their stubburnnesse and heart that cannot repent they heape vnto themselues the wrath of GOD agaynst the daye of vengeance when shal be opened the righteous iudgement of God. Euen as Iesus Christ did menace somtime the Sâ—â—â—bes and â—harises saying Fulfill ye the measure of yâ—â— fathers that vpon you maye come all the righteous bloud that was shedde vppon the earth from the bloode of righteous Abel vnto the bloude of Zacharias the sonne of Barachias whom ye slew betwéene the temple and the Alter To no purpose some do couer and cloke themselues with the zeale of Phinees which did take a speare in his hand and did thrust through Zambry and Cosby bicause they committed fornication together Alledging the frée will of Hely which killed all the priestes of Baal Furthermore they doe propounde vnto vs the ardent affection of Iehu which caused the lxx sonnes of Achab to be slayne Also they doe shew foorth the zeale feruentnesse of Mathathiah which killed
a Iewe which did sacrifice vnto Idoles in the Citie of Modin For such men besides the expresse commaundement of the lawe which will that the Prophet which shal presume to speake ought in my name which I commaunded not to speake and he that speaketh in the name of straunge Gods the same Prophet shall dye do holde the place and office of a magistrate and they do it not without iust and great occasioÌ„ But at this day it shall not be permitted for certein perticuler exaÌ„ples chiefly in our lawe euangelicall for euery priuate person without leaue authoritie of the magistrate or knowledge of the cause to coÌ„mit such vnlawfull acts for to hide theÌ„ afterwardes w the cloke of religion The which Iesus Christ doth teach vs in rebuking Peter for drawing his sword smiting the high priests seruant for to shew vnto vs that the vsing of the same is forbiddeÌ„ vnto priuate persons reserued to the magistrate Of whoÌ„ S. Paul saith that he is the minister of God for thy wealth But if thou do euill theÌ„ feare For he beareth not a sword for naught but is the minister of God to take vengeaunce on theÌ„ that do euill The same sentence is repeated by Sainct Peter in these wordes Submit your selues vnto all manner ordinaunce of man for the Lordes sake whether it be vnto the king as vnto the chiefe heade either vnto rulers as vnto them that are sent of him for the punishment of euill dooers but for the laud of them that doe well Woe then vnto you which desire the possessions and haue spoiled them and the houses and haue taken them And haue done wronge to a man and to his house to a man and to his inheritaunce Which haue stolen the coate and cloke from those which went by safely retourning from the battayle which haue thrust out women from their houses of pleasure And you also marke this ye prophetes which doe seduce the people which doe byte with the téeth and crie peace and if any doe gyue you nothing in the mouth yee prepare against him battaile And vpon thée also thou bloudy Citie altogether full of lyes and of stealth and defiled with the bloude of the iust â–ª which hast not receiued discipline which hast not had confidence in the Lorde and art not aproched or come nigh vnto thy God. For thy princes were in the middest of thée as roring Lyons And the â—â—dges are as wolues in the euening which â—â—aue nothing behinde them till the moâ—owe The handes of your Prophets are â—efiled with bloude and their téeth with vnrighteousnesse Their lippes speake leasinges and their tongue setteth out wickednesse Their féete runne to euill they make hast to shedde innocent bloude their counselles are wicked counsels harme and destruction are in their waies I doe speake vnto those which haue the knowledge and in whose mouth men may séeke the lawe Where is it written in the lawe that one may put a man to death without knowing the cause and authoritie of the magistrate vnto what matter doth Sainct Paule defende himselfe in the presence of the capitaine which ordeyned that he should be examined by the whippe or wherefore did he aunswere the Centurian that it was not lawfull to scourge a Citizen of Rome and vncondemned except it were but for to shewe howe odious and hatefull before the Lord those are which doe shed the bloud of the righteous For what pretence did the Lord awaken and stirre vp the spirite of holie Daniel béeing a younge childe but for to make knoweÌ„ the innocencye of that chast Susanna condemned to death And for to speak better what mo ue the said prophet to returne in iudgement and to crye with a loude voyce O ye children of Israel are ye such fooles that ye haue here condeÌ„ned a daughter of Israel to death and knowe not the truth wherefore except it were but for to teach vs that it is better to let the wicked go vnpunished then to condemne the innocent And neuerthelesse not onely ye consent vnto murthers but doe perswade the people béeing set in Moses chaire to do such cruelties and murthers That heauenly father hath not done so as he doth teach vs wheÌ„ he saith the crie of Sodome and Gomorra is great and their sinne is excéeding gréeuous I will go downe to see whether they haue done altogether accordinge to the crie whiche is come vnto me or not and if it be not so that I may knowe Euen so I say hath not Iesus Christ his soÌ„ne done which is the true pastor sheaperd of our soules and chiefe pastor of the bishoppes who being called for to iudge that poore sinneful woman did not pronounce incontinently iudgement against her as the Scribes and Pharises desired being all bloudie with the bloude of the Prophetes but said vnto them Let him that is amonge you without sinne cast the first stone at hir Admonishing and warning all true christians that gentlenesse and clemeÌ„cie is more séemely or better becommeth pastors then crueltie and rigorousnesse Furthermore I would willingly aske wherein the people can excuse themselues of such wickednesse to put a man to death of whom he knoweth nothing and to condemne him as a schismaticke heretick and imposter when he himselfe knoweth not any thing what religion is and beléeueth onely vppon the credite and sight of other And yet neuerthelesse in that matter his ignoraunce shall not excuse him By what coloure of iustice can a iudge saue himselfe in the midst of such cruelties which hath neither let the murthers nor condemned the murtherers On the other side haue made vnrighteous lawes and deuised things which be to hard for to kepe Wherthrough the poore are orpressed on euery side the innocentes of my people are therewith robbed of iudgement To conclude what punishments do those deserue to haue who béeing ordeyned for to declare the Gospell of peace doe incite and stirre forwarde with all their power the people to troubles and seditions I that great lawe géeuer of the Athenians and one of the seauen sages of Greece named Solon hath not published any lawe agaynst the Paricides estéeming that such a shamefull crime could neuer be committed What punishment are they worthy off which doe put to death the fathers of our soules if with one onely respect as sayth Cicero that fatherly pitie is hurted What shall that bée of vs if wee put to death those which daylie doe trauayle to beare vs agayne vntill Christ be fashioned in vs Wherefore let vs not be lyke vnto brute beastes who following their sensualitie and béeing made to be taken and destroyed speake euill of that they know not for they shall perish through their owne destruction But let vs iudge the things in veritie and righteousnesse and before we condempne any man let vs proue by the word whether the spirites are of God or
of our soules our LORD Iesus Christ doth promise vs that whosoeuer shall doe the will of his father whiche is in heauen that he will be his brother sister and mother And that our heauenly father doth assure vs that he will gather vs vp yea when we shal be forsaken of all our parentes and friendes at the time of the restoring of all things when he shall bée all in all Amen Actes 9. a. ¶ It is to hard for thee to kicke against the pricke A Prayer to the same ende O Lord which art wonderfull in puissance and infinite in mercy which desirest not the death of a sinner but rather that hée repent Regard and beholde from thine heauenly throne the rage and furie of our enimies and of those which doe pursue thy name As thou hast of late enclined thy face vpon Balaam willing to force the people whom thou haddest chosen for thine heritage Shew mercy and bring to repentance those which of an indiscéerte zeale not according to knowledge do hinder daily the course and frée passage of thy woord To the ende that they béeing cast downe by the swoord of thy mouth after the example of that vessell of election may acknowledge thy Christ magnifie thy glorious name amonge the middest of the Nations yea that they doe confesse with heart mouth that it is eternall life then to acknowledge thée to be true God and not to varie or any thing decline from the commaūdement of him whō thou hast sent our Lord Iesus Christ vnto whom be glorie for euer Amen ¶ A BRIEFE DEMONSTRAtion vnto those which haue susteined euen hetherto the dooing of the reformed religion for to confirme them more and more in their first will. Cap. 13. Psalme 73 d. ¶ They that forsake thee shall perish thou destroiest all them that commit fornication against thee THE Scripture doth witnesse that at the comming of the sonne of God many false Prophetes shall arise shall deceiue many And bicause iniquitie shal haue the vpper hande the loue of many shall abate But hée that endureth to the ende the same shall bée safe As it is written that hée whiche striueth for a mastrie is not crowned excepte hée striue lawefully And the husbandman must first by laboring receiue the fruites And what he is among you sayth the Lord that is disposed to builde a towre sitteth not downe before and counteth the cost whether he haue sufficient to performe it Least after he hath laide the foundation and is not able to performe it all that beholde it begin to mocke him saying this man began to build and was not able to make an ende I speake this my bretheren least ther be at any time in any of you an euill heart vnfaithfull to depart away frō the liuing god But exhort one another dailie while it is called to day least any of you waxe harde harted through the disceitfulnesse of sinne For we are made pertakers of Christ if we kéepe sure vnto the ende the beginning wherewith we are holden vp And we doe exhort you of this fearing that in forsaking him whiche hath called you by grace you doe transport your selues vnto an other gospell and séeing nowe ye know God yea rather taught of God you doe turne your selues backewarde vnto impotent and beggerlie ceremonies obseruing with the Iewes daies and monethes and times and yeares not for that I doe distrust of your good will. But to the ende that I may so assure you in the faith of the Lord that the course of this present life finished euery one of you may say with the Apostle Sainct Paule I haue fought a good fight and haue fulfilled my course and haue kept the faith From hencefoorth is laide vp for me a crowne of righteousnesse which the Lorde that is a righteous Iudge shal giue me at that day not to me onely but vnto all them also that loue his comming In like manner to the end that ye bée not as children caried about with euery winde of doctrine as cōmonly chaunseth vnto men But let vs followe the trueth in loue and in all thinges growe vp into him which is the head that is to say Christ The prophet doth complaine in the olde lawe that his people doe halt betwéene two opinions neither following the liuinge GOD nor Baal The Lorde did rebuke the Angell of the Laodicians bicause that hée was neither hot nor colde insomuch that therfore he will spew him out of his mouth On the other side hée doth promise to him that ouercommeth to sit with him in his throne as it is written no man can serue two masters for either he shall hate the one and loue the other or els he shall leane to the one and despise the other Righteousnesse hath no felowship with vnrighteousnesse neither light hath companie with darkenesse neither Christ accordeth with Belial If then ye haue receiued the word of God be ye not like vnto him which hath sowed his séed vpon stonie ground I do meane him which heareth the worde and anone with ioye receiueth it Yet hath he no rootes in himselfe and therefore dureth but a season for as soone as tribulation or persecutiō ariseth bicause of the word by and by he is offended Also be ye not followers of that foolish man which builded his house vpon the sande and the raine fell and the floudes came and the windes blewe and beat vpon the house and it fell and great was the fall thereof He that is not with me is against me saith the Lord And he that gathereth not with me scattereth That is the cause wherefore Sainct Iohn did complaine of some in his time which did beare office in the church and neuerthelesse did drawe themselues away from the same when hée saith they went out from vs but they were not of vs for if they had bene of vs they would doubtlesse haue continued with vs But this cōmeth to passe that it might appeare that they are not all of vs The Apostle sainct Paule speaking of the Apostates saith that if we sinne willingly after that wée haue receiued the knowledge of the truth there remaineth no more sacrifice for sinnes For if we after we haue escaped from the filthinesse of the world through the knowledge of the Lord and of the sauiour Iesus Christ are yet tangled againe therein ouercome then is the latter ende worse with vs then the beginning for it had bene better for vs not to haue knowen the way of righteousnesse then after we haue knowen it to turne from the holy commaundement giuen vnto vs according to the true prouerbe The dog is returned to his vomite againe and the sowe that was washed to hir wallowing in the mire Know then my bretheren that God hath nourtered you euen as the father nourtereth his children And beware that thou forget not the Lorde thy GOD in
of Israel cried vnto the Lord. And the Lord stirred vp a sauer and saued them one Othoniel the sonne of Kenes Calebs younger brother and the lande had rest fortie years And Othoniel being dead the children of Israel did wickedly in the sight of the Lord the Lord deliuered them into the hands of Egloh king of Moab whom they serued by the space of xviij years And then they cried vnto the Lorde And the LORD stirred them vp a sauer Ahud the sonne of Gera. Incontinently after the children of Israel began again to do wickedly in the sight of the Lord wheÌ„ Ahud was dead And the Lord sold them into the hands of Iabin king of Canaan whose captaine of warre was Sisara At which time Debora a prophetesse the wife of Lapidoth iudged Israel who exhorted Barack the sonne of Abinoam to deliuer the people but the Lorde at the prayer of Debora trounsed Sisara and all his charyottes and all his heaste with the edge of the sword before Barack insomuch that Sisara lighted downe of his chariot and fled a foote And of all the hoast of Sisara there was not a man left And sodeinly the children of Israel did begin againe to do wickedly in the sight of the Lorde And the Lord deliuered them into the hands of the Madianites by the space of seauen years The Lord had pitie on them and ordeinâ—d Gedeon for a deliuerer of the people 〈◊〉 that tyme there the Madianites were discomfited of a meruailous fashion The same people began againe to committe wickednesse in the sight of the lord And the Lord deliuered them into the hands of the Philstians fortie years but the Lorde hauing compassion of them ordeyned Samson for their deliuerer Saul in the beginning of his kingdome did prosper greatly against his enemies forasmuch as he obeyed the Lord the voice of Samuel But Saul hauing transgressed the commaundement of the Lord who commaunded him to slay all the Amalekites both man and woman infant and suckling and Oxe shéepe Camell and Asse Bicause that he reserued the spoyle is forsaken of the Lorde and his kingdome geuen vnto an other in which place is declared that rebelliousnesse is as the sinne of witchcrafte and stubbernnesse is wickednesse and idolatrie yea to obey is better then offering Dauid bicause that he made alliaunce with the Lorde did profite in going and increasing and the Lord of hoastes was with him insomuch that he wonne many victories that is to say against the Philistians Idumeans Sirians Assone as he had defiled Bethsabe and caused hir husband to bée slaine contemned and despised the word of the lord The Lord said vnto him behold I will stirre vp euill against thée euen of thine owne house and will take thy wiues before thine eyes and giue them vnto thy neighboure which shall sléepe with them in the sight of the sonne And although that the Lord had put away his sinne after his repentaunce notwithstanding bicause in doing this déede he hath giuen the enemies of the Lord a cause to rayle it was sayd vnto him that the childe that was borne of Bethsabe shall dye surely After that time king Dauid being touched wyth greate pride did number his people and the Lord being angry with him did offer him by the prophet Gad to choose of thrée plagues one that is to say famine warre or pestilence And Dauyd choosinge rather to fall into the handes of the Lorde then into the handes of men The Lorde sente a pestilence in Israel And there dyed of the people betwéene Dan and Bersabe lxx thousand men Salomon as long as he serued the Lord prospered wonderfully In the time of his olde age his hearte was tourned after straunge gods the LORD stirred vp aduersaries that is to say Hadad Razon and also Ieroboam Roboam as soone as his kingdome was stablished and made strong forsoke the law of the LORD and all Israel with him wherefore the fith yeare of king Roboam Sesac the king of Aegypt came vp againste Hierusalem bicause he had transgressed against the Lorde And they toke the strong cytyes that were in Iuda and came to Hierusalem Then came Semeiah the prophet to Roboam and to the Lordes of Iuda that were gathered to Hierusalem for feare of Sesac and sayd vnto them Thus saith the LORDE ye haue left mée therefore will I leaue you also in the hands of Sesac Wherevpon the Lords of Israel and the king humbled themselues said the Lord is righteous And when the Lord saw that they submitted themselues the word of the Lorde came to Semiah saying Forasmuch as they humble themselus I wil not destroy them but I wil deliuer them somewhat Ieroboam and the children of Israel were discomfited by Abiah and the children of Iuda fortified bicause they leaned vnto the Lord GOD of their fathers And Ieroboam recouered no streÌ„gth again in the dayes of Abiah And at the last the Lorde plaged him that he dyed Asa the sonne of Abiah reigned in his stéede in whose days the land was in quiet tenne yeares And Asa did that was good and right in the eyes of the LORD his god And Zarah a blacke Morian made warre against him And Asa cryed vnto the Lorde and the LORDE smote the blacke Mores before Asa and Iuda that they fledde Then Azariah the sonne of Obed which had the spiryte of GOD in him went out againste Asa and sayde to him heare me Asa and all Iuda and Beniamin The Lord is with you while ye be with him and if ye seeke him he will be founde of you but and if ye shall forsake him he will forsake you Then Asa and his made a couenant to seeke the Lorde God of their fathers with all their heartes and all their soules so that all that sought not the Lord God of Israel should die for it whether he were small or great man or woman And they sware vnto the Lorde with a loude voice and shooting and with trumpets and hornes And the Lord gaue them rest round about them on euery side Iehosaphat his sonne reigned in his steede and was mightier then Israel And the LORDE was with Iehosaphat bicause hee walked in the olde waies of his father Dauid and sought not Baals But sought the Lord God of his father and walked in his commaundements and not after the dooing of Israel Therefore the Lord stablished the kingdome in his hand all Iuda brought him presents so that he became excéeding riche and glorious and prospered and grew vp on hie The Moabites and the children of Ammon came against Iehosaphat in battell and Iehosaphat bowed himselfe with his face to the Citie and all Iuda and the inhabiters â—f Hierusalem fell before the Lord to bowe â—hemselues vnto the Lorde And as Iehosaphat rose early in the morning to get him â—ut vnto the wildernesse of Thekna he said vnto them heare me Iuda and ye inhabiters of
Hierusalem Beleeue in the Lorde your God and so shall ye continue and beâ—eeue his Prophetes and so shall ye prosper Then the enimies of Iehosaphat killed themselues and the children of Israel had great victorie Iehoram reigned after Iehosaphat and biâ—ause he walked in the waies of the kings of Israel and committed fornication with those of Iuda and with the inhabiters of Hierusalem after the fornication of the house of Ahab and killed his bretheren It was said by the Prophet that the Lord will smite his people his children his wiues and all his goodes with a mightie plague and that he shall haue much disease through infirmitie in his bowels vntil his bowels fall out Iehoas after the death of Iehoiada became an Idolater and the hoast of the Sirians came against him and came to Iuda and Hierusalem and Iehoas was killed of his owne seruaunts Amaziah after that time that he did tourne away froÌ„ the Lord they conspired treason against him in Hierusalem he fledde to Lachis Whether they sent after him and slewe him there Oziah did that pleased the Lord in all pointes as did Amaziah his father And he sought God while Zachariah the teacher to sée god liued as long as he sought the Lord God made him prosper And helped him against the Philistians against the Arabians against the Ammonites Ioathan the sonne of Oziah became mightie bicause he directed all his waies before the Lord his god he warred against the king of the children of Ammon and vanquished them Ahaz did not that pleased the Lord as did his father Dauid But he offered burnt incense in hil alters on mouÌ„taines vnder euery gréene trée Wherefore the Lord his God deliuered him into the hand of the king of the Sirians which bâ—at him and caried away a great multitude of his captiue into Damasco And also he was deliuered into the hand of the king of Israel which slew of his a mightie slaughter For Phaketh sonnne of Romeliah slew in Iuda an-hundred twentie thousand in one day and all fighting men that bicause they had forsaken the Lord God â—f their fathers Hezekiah throughout al Iuda did that which was good right truth before the Lord his god And in al the works that he â—egan in the seruice of the house of God to séeke his God after the law coÌ„mmaundement that did he with all his heart prospered greatly Manasseh succéeded Hezekiah did wickedly in the sight of the Lord like vnto the abhomination of the heathen he made Iuda the inhabiters of Hierusalem to erre to do worse theÌ„ the heathen which the Lord destroied before the childreÌ„ of Israel And when the Lord spake to Manasseh to his people they attended not to him wherfore the lord brought vpon them the captaines of the host of the king of Assur which tooke Manasseh in an holde bound him with chaines and caried him to Babilon And when he was in tribulatioÌ„ he besought the Lord his God and humbled him selfe excedingly before the God of his fathers and made intercession to him he was entreated of him heard his praier brought him againe to Hierusalem into his kingdome And then Manasseh knewe howe that the Lorde was the very God. Amon did that displeased the Lord like vnto Manasseh his father for Amon sacrificed vnto all the kerued images which Manasseh his father made and serued them méekened not himselfe before the Lord as Manasseh his father had méekned himselfe but Amon trespassed greatly wherfore his owne seruants conspired against him slewe him in his owne house Iosiah his people tourned not aside from after the Lord God of their fathers as long as he liued but did put away al manner of abhominations out of all lands that perteined to the children of Israel brought al that were founde in Israel to serue the Lord their god Iehoahaz the sonne of Iosiah is made king for his father in Hierusalem For the king of Aegypt put him downe at Hierusalem and made Eliakim his brother kinge vpon Iuda Hierusalem and did that displeased the Lord his god Against him came Nabuchodonosor king of Babilon bound him in fetters to carye him to Babilon Iehoachim reigned iij. moneths x. dayes in Hierusalem did that displeased the Lord when the yeare was out king Nabuchodonosor made Zedekiah his fathers brother king ouer Iuda Hierusalem Zedekiah did that displease the Lord his god humbled not himselfe before Ieremiah the prophet at the mouth the of lord And the Lord God of their fathers sent to them by his messengers sending them betimes for hée had compassion on his people and on his dwelling place But they mocked the messengers of God and despised their woordes and misused his Prophets vntill the wrath of the Lord so arose against his people that it was past remedie And so he brought vppon theÌ„ the king of Chaldey and slew their young men with the swoorde in their holy temple neither spared he younge man nor maide neither olde man neither so much as him that stowped for age But gaue all into his handes And forasmuch as such like examples do teach vs that the eies of the Lord are vpon the righteous and his eares are open vnto their prayers But the face of the Lord beholdeth them that doe euill to destroy the remembraunce of them out of the earth That the Lord doth shed out his wrath ouer them which doe despise him and doth shew himselfe tractable and gentle vnto those which serue him with a contrite perfect heart I doe meane in all holinesse and righteousnesse Let vs keepe as much as in vs in possible the faith which we haue promised vnto the Lord and assure our our selues that he which worketh in vs both the will and the déede according to his good pleasure will finish the worke which he hath begon in vs to his honoure to the aduauncement of the christian Church and to the health of his Furthermore let vs retire and drawe our selues from the thinges which may seduce vs and make vs varie from the true seruice which is due vnto him Do we not know how that they that proue masteries absteine from all things and they doe it to obtaine a corruptible crowne But we to obtaine an vncorruptible Let vs ruÌ„ne then not as at an vncertain thing let vs fight not as one that beateth the ayre But with patience in dooing wel séeking immortalitie life euerlasting Amen Apocalips 2. a. ¶ I know thou hast suffered and hast pâ—tience for my names sake hast laboured and hast not fainted Neuerthelesse I haue somewhat against thee bicause thou hast left thy first charitie A praier O Lord God heauenly father and altogether puissant which hast said by the mouth of thy welbeloued sonne our Lord Iesus Christ that he that endureth to the ende
other Prophet to vse meates not vsed of men And neuerthelesse all that was not done without a greate secrete and misterie and neuerthelesse a man would neuer haue beléeued nor thought that a virgin shoulde beare a childe nor Elizabeth to conceaue in hir olde age To be short he commaunded king Hezekiah to make the sunne to goe backewarde contrarie from his ordinarie course And yet the thinges are happened after the will of the LORD Also after our outward sences we doe distrust our selues often times of strengthes in that that the Lord commaundeth vs although that the things which are vnpossible with men are possible with God which worketh in vs both the wil and also the déede as saith the Apostle euen of his frée beneuolence Furthermore we must not mesure the commaundement of the Lorde after the commaundement of men for often times men being moued with anger doe commaunde vnlawfull vnhonest things as did the Emperour Theodosius whiche caused to be slaine a great number of people in the citie of Thessalonia in the time of Ambrosius Bishop of of Millan And for that cause the Emperour Theodosius was excluded from the companie of the faithfull afterwarde the same Emperour acknowledging his offence caused a lawe to be proclaimed which was that the Iudges shoulde not execute so soone the commaundement of a prince conteining to great seueritie and cruelnesse That same reason moued the consultes not to admit a libell of Refus vnder the title of Refus giuen of anger that is to say except it do appeare that it was ordeined with a good deliberation aduisement The others being moued or stirred forwarde with some kinde of ambition or couetousnesse do commaunde often times thinges contrarie vnto the trueth and also vnto good maners as Pharao which commaunded all his people that they shoulde cast into the riuer all the men children of the Hebrewes saue the maide children aliue A Herod which caused to be slaine all the male children that were in Bethlehem in all the coastes thereof as many as were two yeare olde and vnder A king Ahab which caused Naboth to be slaine for to haue his vineyarde Finally some being puffed vp with a disordinate desire of vengeaunce or rather at the request of others haue no regarde to that that they doe commaunde as Ahab which caused Micheah the Prophet to be put in prison because be tolde him the trueth A king Ioas which caused Zachariah the prophet to be stoned to death A Herod who commaunded the heade of Sainct Iohn baptist to be cut off at the request of his wife of his daughter A Annanias the hie priest which commaunded them that stode by saint Paul to smite him on the mouth But with the Lord it is altogether otherwise for there is no vnrighteousnesse in the Lord our god nor regarding of persons nor taking of rewards I wil say yet moreouer men do coÌ„maund often times that which is not in their power yea that they which haue the tharge giuen them knowe not howe to execute it as those men which would build the Towre of Babel And therein they resembled the Diuell For as the Diuell tooke Iesus vnto an excéeding hie mountaine shewed him all the kingdomes of the worlde promising to giue them vnto him if he would fall downe and worship him although hée had nothing of all that in his power to giue so there are some which many times do promise thinges which are not in their power to giue Forasmuch then as all thinges are in the handes of the Lord also it is he that worketh in vs both the will and the déede euen of his frée beneuolence And neuerthelesse although the commaundementes of the LORD are easie and are none other thing then righteousnesse and truth On the other side that the commaundements of men are full of deceipt guile and hipocrisie forasmuch as man of himselfe is but vanitie yet truely often times through the traditions of men and mens commaundementes we doe leaue and forsake the holy precepts and admonitions of the Lorde euen as the children of Israel did despise the Manna of GOD. And in the meane time desired the flesh of Aegipt the which Iesus Christ rebuked the Scribes and Pharises when he saide wherefore do ye transgresse the commaundements of God through your traditions Euen so haue not the Apostles done vnto whom although that it was forbidden theÌ„ by menasces and threatenings that in no wise they should speake or teach in the name of Iesus yet truely they answered in the presence of all Iudge ye whether it be right in the sight of God to obey you rather then god For we cannot but speak those things which we haue séene and heard As much sayd the Philosopher Socrates a little before he died speaking vnto the Athenians O ye people of Athens saith that good Philosopher I loue you very much but I loue rather to obey God then you Those are the wordes of those children of the Hebrewes being compelled to worship the Idol which the king Nabuchodonosor had made protesting and declaring in the presence of the king that they will not serue the gods of the Gentiles will not worship the Image which the king hath made The which also in like manner one of those seauen Machebeans being neere vnto death doth witnesse and crying with a loude voice vnto those which persecuted him what séekest thou and what requirest thou of vs I wil not obey the kings commaundement but I will obey the commaundement of the lawe which was giuen vnto our fathers by Moses Héere some will saye vnto me that I am young weake of body and spirite and not able to suffer so many tormentes and afflictions which are ordeined for those which wil not obey the comaundementes of men I doe aunswere that euen so were those children of the Hebrewes And those seuen Machebeans and that notwithstanding they suffered death with a good courage bicause of the hope trust that they had in god The other will excuse hir selfe saying I am a woman and weake of nature Furthermore if I doe nowe dye I shoulde leaue so many small children which dailie will bewaile my decease So was the mother of those little Machebeans neuerthelesse it was she the most stirred them forward to kéepe the commaundement of the Lord and moreouer she exhorted them to be patient Others ther are which considering the greatnesse of their familie wil mourmure against God and as the Painims wil blame our reâ—igion To conclude will saue the earth for to lose the heauen To those kinde of people I would gladly demaund whether they are worthier theÌ„ Dauyd which was a king and a Prophet yea of the stocke from whoÌ„ Iesus Christ the sonne of God is come And notwithstanding that he was afflicted on euery side yea of his owne sonne yet truely
he was not dicomforted but blessed the name of GOD which gaue him grace to suffer for him Let vs leaue off then al such excuses when it is a question to obey the commaundement of the LORD for when the will is readie the powre is lacking Forasmuch as wée doe staye all in the strength of him which hath loued vs bicause that he which is in vs is greater then he that is in the worlde Let vs haue for example that liitle Dauyd who going to fight with that great Goliah measured not his strengthes but the power of him in whose name hée did fight Let vs remember that the Apostles hauing expresse cōmaundement of the Lord to go into a towne that lieth ouer against thē to the ende to vnlose an Asse and hir colte did not consider the difficultnes of the cōmaundement but staying themselues vpon the authoritie of him which commaunded them did execute incontinently their charge When Iesus Christ did send his Apostles thorow out the whole worlde for to preach declare his gospell they regarded not the daungers that might haue happened vnto them by the way the force and puissaunce of the enemies of the crosse of Christe Furthermore they excused not themselues of their ignoraunce but fortefying themselus in this word I wil giue vnto thée a mouth and wisedome to the which your enemies cannot resist did execute incontinently the commaundement of the Lorde Let vs then take example of those whom Iesus Christ hath sometime called for to followe him whereof the one excused himselfe saying suffer me first to burye my father the other sayde suffer me firste to bidde them farewell which are at home at my house Vnto whome the LORD aunswered no man that putteth his hande to the ploughe and loketh backe is apte to the kingdome of god Wherefore when the LORDE doth commaunde vs any thinge or when he doth call vs let vs doe as that good Samuel did who as often times as hée was called of the Lord as often times aunswered I am here for thou diddest call me Or as sainct Paule who sodeinly at the voice of the LORD aunswered What wilt thou haue me doe To conclude let vs kepe simplie that which is commaunded vs for to doe without putting too or taking from the word Dooing not that which seemeth good in our eies but that which God hath ordeined For the Lord doth protest by his Angell vnto euery man that heareth the wordes of the prophesie of this booke that if any man shall adde vnto these thinges GOD shall adde vnto him the plagues that are written in this booke And if any man shall minish of the words of the booke of this prophesie God shall take awaie his part out of the booke of life and out of the holy Citie and from those thinges which are written in this booke Deuteronomium 30. c. The commaundement which I commaund thee this day is not separated from thee neither farre off It is not in heauen that thou needest to say who shall go vp for vs to heauen and fet it vs that we may heare it and doe it Romaines 10. b. The word is nigh thee euen in thy mouth and in thine heart This is that worde of faith which we preach A Prayer O Lorde which hast made fast for euer and euer all thy commaundements in all truth and equitie and which puttest in man both the will and the desire to fulfill them Teach vs the way of thy statutes and shed and poure into our hearts thy loue through thy holy spirite by the which thou doest helpe our infirmities that we distrusting in our strengthes and despising the assaultes of the flesh the world and the diuel we may stay altogether vpon the loue of him which was once offered vp for vs for to accomplish thy will. And hast made vs more then vanquishers through the victorie which doth surmount the worlde that is to say our faith thy welbeloued sonne our LORD Iesus Christ vnto whom bée glorie for euer Amen ¶ A BRIEFE DEMONSTRATION vnto those which doe make profession of the true christian Religion and neuerthelesse doe refuse the ecclesiastical discipline wherein is described somewhat the vse fruite thereoff Cap. 15. Psalme 32. d. ¶ I will knowledge my sinne vnto thee and mine vnrighteousnesse haue I not hid And I saide I will confesse my sinnes vnto the Lord and so thou forgauest the wickednesse of my sinne 2. Timothe 4. a. ¶ Preach the worde be feruent in season and out of season improue rebuke exhort with all long suffering and doctrine 2. Corinth d. ¶ So write I nowe beeing absent to them which in times past haue sinned and to all others that if 〈◊〉 come againe I will not spare THe Prophet Ioel did complaine of his people calling them to repentaunce saying Tourne you vnto the Lord with al your hearts with fasting wéeping and mourning rent your heartes and not your clothes and tourne vnto the LORD your God for he is gracious and mercifull long suffering and of greate compassion and readie to pardon wickednesse Then no doubt he also shall tourne and forgiue and after his chastening he shall let your encrease remaine for meate and drincke offerings vnto the Lorde your God blowe out with the trumpet in Sion proclaime a fasting call the congregation and gather the people together warne the congregation gather the elders bring the children sucklings together Let the bridegrome goe foorth of his chamber and the bride out of hir closet Let the priestes serue the Lord betwixt the porch and the aulter wéeping and saying bée fauorable O Lord be fauorable vnto thy people let not thine heritage be brought to such confusion least the heathen be Lords thereof Wherefore should they say amonge the heathen Where is now their God Nowe goe to sayth the Lorde we will talke together It is not so though your sinnes be as redde as scarlet shall they not be whiter then snowe And though they were like purple shal they not be like white woll The Lorde standeth waiting that he may haue mercy vppon you and lifteth himselfe vp that he may receiue you to grace Be conuerted and tourne you cleane from all your wickednesse so shall there no sinne doe you harme Cast away from you al your vngodlinesse that ye haue done make you newe heartes and a newe spirite Wherefore will yee die O ye house of Israel séeing I haue no pleasure in the death of him that dyeth saith the Lorde God. Tourne you then and ye shall liue Forasmuch then as the voice of the Lorde is commune to all as that of his sonne Iesus Christ hath bene commune who hath sayd Come vnto me all yée that are wearie and laden and I will ease you Take my yoke on you and learne of me that I am méeke and lowly in heart and that God is not parciall But in all people he that feareth him
fearing the paine of sinne the vengeauÌ„ce of our heauenly father For the Lord doth giue vnto euery one accoring to his works that is to say vnto those which with patience to do well seâ—ke praise honoure and mortalitie eternall life But vnto them that are contentious and disobey the trueth and followe iniquitie shal be rendred indignation wrath tribulation and anguish vpon the soule of euery man that doth euill Forasmuch as the seruaunt that knewe his masters wil and prepared not himselfe neither did according to his will shal be beaten with many stripes Others obey the commaundementes of the Lorde bicause of the gaine profit And in that they resemble the hired seruaunts which serue their master but for the hire or reward Of those Dauid speaketh off when he said the iudgements of the Lord are true righteous altogether more to be desired are they then golde yea then much fine golde swéeter also then the honie and the honie combe Moreouer by them is thy seruaunt taught and in kéeping of them there is great rewarde For the eie hath not séene and the eare hath not heard neither haue entred into any mans minde the things that God hath prepared for them the loue him Finally some loue the Lord obey him through beneuolence and christian amitie béeing stirred forwarde of a vertuous loue the which moueth them to loue him who hath giuen vnto them the lawe which hath the wordes of eternall life let vs acknowledge him in whoÌ„ we liue moue and haue our béeing and doe loue him as the true children doe loue their fathers For as saith the same Lorde by his Prophet the sonne doth honour his father a seruaunt his master if I be then a father where is mine honour if I be the Lorde where am I feared where we conclude that in these two things chiefly one may know those which do loue God that is to say when they beare a singuler affection to the holy worde of the Lord and that they do kéepe the commaundementes conteined in that worde As to the first Dauyd saith my delight shall be in thy statutes and I will not forget thy wordes O what loue haue I to thy lawe all the day long is my studie in it O how swéete are thy wordes vnto my throt yea swéeter then honie vnto my mouth He that is of GOD sayth Iesus Christ heareth Gods wordes As touching the second saith the same Lorde if any man doth loue me he doth kéepe my word That is the cause wherefore it is written in the lawe Thou shalt loue thy Lord thy God And these words which I commaund thée this day shal be in thine heart and thou shalt recite them vnto thy children and shalt talke of them when thou art at home in thine house and as thou walkest by the way and when thou lyest downe and when thou risest vp and thou shalt bind them for a signe vpon thine hand And they shal be papers of remeÌ„braunce betwéen thine eies and shalt write them vppon the postes of thine house vpon thy Gates Euen so the LORD commaunded Iosua that he kéepe and doe according to all the lawe which Moses his seruaunt commaunded him that he do not turne there â—rom neither to the right hande nor to the lefte that he may haue vnderstanding in all he taketh in hande let not the booke of this lawe depart out of his mouth but that he studie therein day and night that he may be circumspect to doe according to all that is written therein Yea the law would expresly that when the king is set vppon the seate of his kingdome he shall write him out this second lawe in a booke taking a copie of the priestes the Leuites And it shal be with him and he shall reade therein all dayes of his life that he may learne to feare the Lorde his God for to kéepe all the words of this lawe and these ordinaunces for to doe them â–ª In that same Dauid delighted when he sung I haue as great delight in the way of thy testimonies as in all manner of riches I will exercise my selfe in thy commaundementes and haue respect vnto thy foote pathes my delight shal be in thy statutes I will not forget thy wordes I will speake of thy testimonies euen before kings and will not be ashamed my delight shal be in thy commaundementes whiche I loue And they must not here excuse themselues vpon the difficultnes hardnesse of the commaundements For as saith Saint Iohn his coÌ„maundements are not gréeuous That is the cause wherefore Sainct Paul saide as Moses Say not in thine heart who shall ascende into heauen either who shall descende into the déepe that is nothing els but to fetch vp Christ from death But what saith the scripture The word is nie thée euen in thy mouth and in thine heart This worde is the worde of faith which we preach For if thou shalt knowledge with thy mouth that Iesus is the Lord shalt beléeue with thine heart that GOD raised him vp from death thou shalt be safe Here some men wil say vnto me and howe can the commaundements of the Lord be easie forsomuch as the Lord commaundeth to enter in at the straite gate shewing to his people that wide is the gate and brode is the way that leadeth to destruction Where we wil briefly conclude that if they haue regarde onely to the calamities of those which suffer for the name of Iesus Christ truely the way is rude gréeuous For the lawe is certeine which saith that we must enter into the kingdome of heauen thorowe many oppressions griefes Euen as the Lord Iesus Christ himselfe saide to some of his disciples the Christ ought to haue suffered these things and to enter into his glorie But if they haue regarde to the frée wil of those which suffer persecution all things are easie and gentle vnto them and in all those thinges they are more then conquerours through him that loued them Euen so the Apostles departed from the counsell reioycing that they were counted worthy to suffer rebuke for the name of Iesus Christ And verie well hath Saincte Augustine declared that all thinges are easie and gentle to charitie to the which onely the charge of the Lord is light easie Some other will say here that if to loue God be to kéepe his commauÌ„demeÌ„ts The philosophers hauing not the law writteÌ„ doing neuertheles naturally the things which are of the law haue loued god for they haue obserued the law natural which wil that whatsoeuer ye would the men should do vnto you euen so do ye vnto theÌ„ for this is the law the prophets To this purpose we may recite the senteÌ„ce of Socrates when he said I do not knowe whether the Lorde will allowe our workes although it be that we haue taken paine to please him
The same Philosopher did crie out sometime on the people of Athens O ye people of Athens I do loue you greatly but I loue rather to obey God then you Wherevnto we will aunswere that we will not depriue the Philosophers from the grace which the Lorde hath promised vnto the blessed for the Lambe hath béene killed from the beginning of the worlde But forasmuch as there is none other name giue vnder heauen vnto men whereby we must be saued then the name of Iesus We do say in this matter that the philosophers do differ from the loue which the true christians do beare vnto the Lorde forasmuch as the true christians doe acknowledge one Iesus Christ and him crucified which is the brightnesse of the glorie and the image of the personne of the father of whom the same father hath saide This is my welbeloued sonne heare him Also for to knowe perfectly the father and his wil we must know the sonne for this is life eternall that they do knowe the onely very God he whom the Lord hath sent to witte our Lord Iesus Christ according to that that the same Iesus Christ doth protest that the world knew him not that he hath giuen the name of his father to be knowē of his that the loue which the father hath loued be in them and he in them Wherefore if the onely begotten sonne which is in the bosome of the father hath declared him Who doubteth but that the Christians haue a more perfecter knowledge of the will of the father séeing the sonne by whome the father hath spoken vnto them in these later dayes and hath left vnto them the sacramentes as seales markes of his promises are not I say more moued to loue him then the Philosophers Inasmuch as the sonne hath said vnto Philippe Philip he that hath séene me hath séene my father Beleuest thou not that I am in my father my father in me And yet although that some Philosophers by the law natural haue had knowledge of God consequently they haue béene moued to loue him yet as saith Saint Paul they glorified him not as god Finally some may here say inasmuch as the Lorde desireth his that they do loue him perfectly that he desireth of them a thing either impossible or els too harde Wherevnto we will aunswere that the great perfection that the Lord desireth to loue him is not for vs to commaunde a thing which is too rigorous for he hath said that his yoke is easie and his burthen light But he hath regard to our imperfection fearing that thorough our infirmitie we should forsake him for to declare vnto vs the care that he hath of vs to gather what is the greatnesse of the precept Furthermore in that that he saith with all thy heart with all thy soule with all thy strength he requireth of vs a perfect obediēce insomuch that he would that we should consecrate our selues to his obedience loue The which also Saint Paul requireth of vs when he saith let not sinne reigne therfore in your mortall body that ye should obey sinne in the lustes of the bodie Neither giue ye your members as weapons of vnrighteousnes vnto sinne but giue your selues vnto God as they that are aliue from death giue your members as weapons of righteousnesse vnto God. And in an other place I beséech you therefore brethren by the mercifulnesse of God that ye offer your bodies a quicke sacrifice holy acceptable vnto GOD which is your resonable seruing of god And fashion not your selues like vnto this world but be ye chaunged in your shape by the renewing of your minde that yée may proue what is the will of God which is good acceptable and perfect in such sorte that the Lord would not that we shoulde lende him the tongue onely as the hipocrites do who do make profession to know God but with their déedes denie him But he would that we shoulde giue him both the word and the worke Vnto this Saint Iohn exhorteth vs saying my litle children let vs not loue in worde neither in tongue onely but in déede and in trueth That is the cause wherefore the lorde rebuked the Iewes by his Prophet that his people did approch nigh vnto him with their mouth and praised him highly with their lippes where as their heart neuerthelesse is farre from him Furthermore in this he comprehendeth a singuler perfection for the regarde of his commaūdementes For whosoeuer shall kéepe the whole lawe and yet faileth in one point he is guiltie in al. Forasmuch as he which hath said Thou shalt not commit adulterie he hath also said Thou shalt not kill At the end he concludeth So speake ye so do as they that shal be iudged by the law of liberty He would also by this cōmaūdemēt that w◠should loue him aboue al things yea aboue our owne life For he protesteth that he that loueth his father or mother more then him is not méete for him And he that taketh not his crosse and foloweth after him is not méete for him To conclude by these wordes he requireth of vs that we may be so carefull to loue him and with such affection that we may referre all our thoughtes wordes workes to his glory Whether therefore we eate or drincke or whatsoeuer we do let vs doe all to the praise of god For none of vs liueth to himselfe neither doth any of vs die to himselfe For whether we liue we liue vnto the Lord or whether we die we die vnto the Lord whether we liue therefore or die we are the Lordes One may finde at this day such a man vnto whom if one demaunde if he loue God he will aunswere franckly and fréely that which Sainct Peter aunswered vnto Iesus Christ Yea Lord thou knowest that I loue thée yea will say with the same Apostle I loue thée so much Lord that I am readie to go with thée into prison and to death And neuerthelesse if it were a question to endure and suffer some daunger for the Lord he will protest with an othe yea at the worde of a simple maiden I meane for a small occasion that he knew him not It maketh mee to remember for this matter of the same Apostle who seeing Iesus Christe transfigured in the mountaine his face shining as the sunne and his clothes as white as the light said vnto Iesus Maister here is good beeing for vs if thou wilt let vs make here three tabernacles but when the Lord said vnto him that hee must goe to Hierusalem and suffer many things did finde the things so straunge that hee began to rebuke Iesus saying maister looke to thy selfe this shall not bee vnto thee Those are they who in prosperity willingly loue the LORDE and in aduersitie doe denie him For there is no feare in loue but perfect loue casteth out
feare for feare hath painefulnesse and hee that feareth is not perfect in loue Let vs propose the example of Sainct Paul who beeing aduertised by the holy Ghost that bands and troubles abide him at Hierusalem aunswered that none of these things moued him neither is his life deare vnto himselfe so that hee might fulfill his course with ioy and the ministration whiche hee receiued of the Lord Iesus to testifie the Gospell of the grace of God the whiche hée did not onely of mouth but also hee accomplished it by workes Let vs remember those good women I meane Marie Magdalen and Marie the mother of Iames and Salome who were not only assistent to Iesus Christ before his afflictions But also in his crosse and after his death bought sweete oyntementes of Aromatica for to embalme him yea they folowed him long time after his death I do speake vnto those who making profession of the true Christian religion and beeing drawen from the cares of the world thorow the knowledge of our Lord and sauior Iesus Christ for a smal occasion afterwards are fallen into them againe haue beene ouercome Insomuch that that is happened vnto them according to the true prouerbe The dogge is turned to his owne vomit againe and the sow that was washed to hir wallowing in the mire Truely such people are like vnto the young man which told our Lord Iesus Christ that hee hath obserued al these coÌ„maundements from his youth but when Iesus saide vnto him that he must sell all that he had and giue it to the poore for to get a treasure in heauen hée went away mourning We must alâ—o note that there is an other regarde or â—espect to the amitie which we doe beare vnto GOD and to the amitie whih we doe beare vnto men for GOD ought â—o be loued for his regarde onely I doe meane bicause that of himselfe hée is altogether good perfect puissaunt and mercifull Man ought to bée loued for the respect that we haue vnto GOD that is to saye forasmuch as he is created to the image of GOD as wée endued with the giftes and graces of GOD aswell as wée and called to the ecclesiastical heritage as wée For he that wil consider man in himselfe he is nothing els but altogether vnrighteous ful of impietie and imperfection The Prophet Esaie shall be my witnesse when he saith we are all as an vncleane thing al our righteousnesse are as a stained cloth The which the roiall Prophet Dauyd doth speake off more at large in his verses saying The Lord looked downe froÌ„ heauen vpon the children of men to sée if ther were any that would vnderstand and séeke after god But they are all gone out of the way they are altogether become vnprofitable there is none that doth good no not one The like matter we do read off in Iob wheÌ„ hée confessed most cléerely that man cannot iustifie himselfe towardes god And how saith hée can hee bée cleane which is borne of a woman Behold the moone shineth nothing in comparison to him the starres are vncleane in his sight How much more then man that is but corruption and the sonne of man which is but a worme wherefore man of himselfe is not amiable but inasmuch as he is regenerate of God who through the merite of his welbeloued sonne doth couer hide wholy all those imperfections and impieties And in that respect wee haue greatly to consider the ingratitude and miscognisaunce of those which loue not the Lord but for their proper respect I do meane when the Lord doth sende them the thinges euen as they demaund and desire as great abundance of worldly goods a blessed life great prosperitie of the thinges which appertaine vnto them and also to their friendes kinsfolke and other pleasures of mans life of whom saith Dauid happie are the people that bée in such a case but when any affliction happeneth vnto them then they murmure against God and do demaund if there bée any prouidence in Heauen The whiche Salomon forbiddeth expressely when hée saith vse not thy mouth to cause thy flesh for to sinne that thou say not before the Angell my foolishnesse is in the faulte Such manner of people are like vnto those which séeke Iesus Christ not bicause they sawe his miracles but because they eate of his loaues were filled For he which is a friend as Salomon reciteth vnto vs alway loueth and in aduersitie a man shall know who is his brother Which if it bée so that loue ought to bée loued againe truely wée haue most greatest occasion to loue God and which is more wee cannot without the vice of ingratitude but that wee should loue him inasmuch as hee loued vs first And herein is loue not that wee loued God but that hee loued vs and sent his sonne to make agréement for our sinnes For God so loued the world that hee hath géeuen his onely begotten sonne that none that beeléeue in him shoulde perish but haue euerlasting life If a man demaund what is the goodnesse that hée hath done vnto vs at this present Saint Paul doth aunswer vnto the same saying that he spared not his owne sonne but gaue him for vs all to death how shall hee not with him géeue vs all things also In this matter what can wee render vntâ— the LORD which may bee equiualenâ— to the amitie that he hath borne vnto vs for the iniuries that his sonne our LORD Iesus Christe hath suffred in his flesh for the stripes that hée hath receiued on his bodie for the crosse for his death for his buriall woe bee vnto mée if I doe not saye it I dare well saye it Peter hath not rendered or restored neither Paul hath rendred or restored although he hath restored death for death but yet neuerthelesse he hath not altogether restored for he oweth a great deale Marke when he him selfe confesseth who hath giuen vnto him first and hee shall bee recompensed againe For of him and through him and for him are all things to him bee glorie for euer And although wee restore vnto him the crosse for the crosse and the graue for the graue that is to say whether wee restore vnto him that whiche wee haue receiued of him and through him no truely Wherefore the same Author concludeth let vs restore vnto him loue for loue for debte loue for the goodnesse that he hath doone vnto vs a géeuing of thanks for the price of his bloud I say moreouer that from our birth nature hath put in vs a certaine mouing and pricking forward to the end to incitate and stirre vs to loue our God. Forasmuche then as by the same saying of Plato beautie hath gained that aduauntage aboue all other things that of her selfe shée is very much amiable and for that cause wee desire verie much the faire things Yet truely the heauenly beawtie excelleth and passeth
all thinges forasmuch as it is not subiect to any filthinesse or corruption as are the other creatures Insomuch that the soule of a true Christian regenerated through grace and wounded of that heauenly loue is sicke for that true spouse which is Iesus Christ And which is more it sigheth incessantly for the deliueraunce of this body which of it selfe is subiect to corruption Euen soe Dauyd did crye out saying wo is mée that I am constrained to dwell with Mesech and to haue mine habitation amonge the Tentes of Cedar My soule is a thirst for God yea for the liuing God saying Alas when shall I come to appeare béefore the presence of God These are also the words of Sainct Paul I am saith hée compassed in on both sides desiring to be loosed and to bée with Christ The which is a great deale better for mée that if for their vertue we doe loue them whom we neuer saw as saith Cicero and if such is the force and strength of vertue which if one may behold it with the eyes it will stirre vp and imbrace in vs a meruailous desire to loue it how much more ought wee to loue God of whom as of the Nurse of al things doth descend euerie good and perfect gift To conclude if wée loue them whiche may helpe vs with all things which are necessarie for vs How much more ought wee to loue God which is all in all and with whom all pleasure dwelleth as Dauid witnesseth that fulnesse of ioy is with his countenance and at his right hand there is pleasure and ioy for euer That men shal be satisfied with the plenteousnesse of his house and hee shall giue them drink of the riuer of his pleasures for by him is the well of life and in his light shall wee see light I do say this not onelie for the eternall goodnesse which are promised vnto the blessed in the resurrection to come but also for the goodnesse whiche the Lorde giueth vnto vs in this present life Euen so the same prophete saith so is this wide and great sea also wherein are thinges créeping innumerable both small and greate beastes There goe the ships ouer and there is the Leuiathan whome thou hast made to take his pastime therin They waite all vppon thée that thou maist giue them meate in due season When thou giuest it them they gather it and when thou openest thine hande they are filled with good But when thou hidest thy face they are sorowfull And if thou takest away their breath they die and are turned againe to their dust Againe when thou lettest thy breath goe foorth they are made and so thou renuest the face of the earth And in an other place hee saith O feare the Lorde ye that be his saincts for they that feare him lacke nothing Furthermore in the that the Lorde desireth that wee shoulde loue him so perfectly we are sufficiently aduertised that those which doe giue vnto other creatures the homage and obedience which is due vnto the Lorde be they deade creatures or liuing creatures they loue not GOD perfectly forasmuch then as God hath chosen vs as a chast virgin for to be presented to his Christe according as hée hath foreshewed by the Prophet Oseas that he will marie his owne selfe vnto her in righteousnesse in equitie in louing kindenesse and mercie and in faith yet when we doe seperate the loue which we owe vnto the Lorde for to giue of that whiche apperteineth vnto him vnto other creatures truely we are vnto him vngentle Bicause he is a gelous God visiting the sinne of the fathers vpon the children vnto the thirde and fourth generation That is the cause wherfore Moses saith in the same booke Thou shalt worshippe no straunge god For the Lorde is called gelcus because he is a gelous GOD. For that same cause Sainct Peter seing that Cornelius fell downe at his féete to worshippe him he tooke him vp saying stande vppe for euen I my selfe am a man Acknowledging verie wel that Cornelius for the affecttion that he did beare vnto him did forgette the homage and obedience that he owed vnto the Lorde In like manner Barnabas and Paul séeing that the inhabiters of Listria woulde doe sacrifice vnto them they rent their clothes and ranne in among the people crying and saying O men why do ye these things We are mortall men like vnto you In like manner it is written in the Reuelation of S. Iohn that the Angel séeing that Sainct Iohn was fallen downe at his féete to worshippe him he saide vnto Sainct Iohn sée thou doe it not I am thy fellowe seruant and one of the brethen whiche haue the testimonie of Iesus worshippe god Euen so hath not Herod done for vpon a day appointed Herod being aâ—aied in royall apparell and sitting in his â—eate made an Oration vnto the people And the people gaue a shoute saying it is the voyce of a God and not of a man And immediatly the Angell of the Lorde â—mote him because he gaue not God the honour so that he was eaten of wormes Asmuche also happened vnto Alexander the greate for hauing taken the Citie of Babilon raised him selfe against the commaundement of the liuing GOD and woulde that his people shoulde worshippe him and offer vnto him Sacrifices Wherefore within a little while after he died through Gods punishement for hee being ouer drie for lacke of drinke fell into a gréeuous sicknesse of whiche hee dyed And that great personne who as the worlde thought feared not to bee ouercome of men was ouercome and vanquished of wine The same doth learne vs and sufficiently declare vnto vs that the loue the whiche wée ought to beare vnto the creatures ought to be ruled and gouerned by the worde that wee ought not to compare it to the loue which we ought to beare vnto GOD our creator I do speake this for those whiche according to their priuate affections and indiscréete zeale do beare such honour as it pleaseth them vnto the creatures and in the meane time consider not that the Lord is gelous of the loue and obedience that they owe vnto him What shall I say of those who making profession of the Christian religion do beare vnto wicked spirites the loue that they owe to their lord And in what aduersitie or affliction that they finde themselues in haue recourse As Saul vnto the Magicians and Witches not trusting themselues of the promise of the LORD Who saith Call vppon me in the time of trouble so will I heare thée that thou shalt thancke me Things truely which are verie much forbidden in the lawe of God where Moses admonished the people of Israel saying Turne not your selues to them that work with spirites neither regarde them that obserue dismall dayes that ye be not defiled by them for I am the Lord your god And in the booke of Deuterenomium
goe about by all meanes to bring him to the way of saluation To this sainct Paul exhorteth vs when he said bretheren if any man be fallen by occasion into any fault ye which are spirtuall helpe to amend him in the spirite of méekenesse for we which are strong ought to beare the frailnesse of the weake and not to looke onely to our selues Not without cause the LORD greatly rebuked the shepheardes of Israel that they haue eaten vp the fat and clothed them with the woll the best fed haue they slaine but the flock haue they not nourished The weake haue they not holden vp the sicke haue they not healed the broken haue they not bounde together the outcastes haue they not brought againe the lost haue they not sought but churlishly and cruelly haue they ruled them In this respect we ought to repute and take him for our neighbour vnto whom we ought to bestowe the workes of charitie and mercie The which sainct Luke declareth at large by a parable of him which descended from Hierusalem to Iericho and fell into the handes of théeues which robbed him of his raiment and wounded him and departed and left him for halfe dead calling him the neighboure of him which fell into the handes of théeues that shewed mercy on him We must not then count him our neighboure onely which is ioyned vnto vs by affinitie or kindred or common societie but by societie of reason And in this respect as S. Augustine very wel saith all men are called neighboures For as witnesseth the same author if the vsing of commune monie doth make the people companions truely a great deale more the reason of commune nature by one selfe lawe of béeing not of traficke ought to ioyne and knitte vs together And we must not saye that apperteineth not to me nothing at al he is neither my parentes neither my kinsman nor my neighbour neither my countrie man For although hée bée the most straunger in the worlde yet he is thy neighbour Consider that the Apostle after the example of the auncient patriarkes doth commende vnto vs verie much hospitalitie in this sorte Lot brotherly loue continue Be not forgetfull to lodge straungers for therby some haue receiued Angels into their houses vnwares Remember theÌ„ that are in bands euen as though ye were bound with them and them which are in aduersitie as if ye were afflicted in the bodie Let vs also remember that poore woman of Sareptha which receiued the Prophet Eliah into hir house founde so much fauour of the Lord that she found a long time after wherwith to succour hir selfe in the time of â—â—e famine In like manner the holy scripâ—â—re doth teach vs that the prophet Elizeus â—btained a child for his hoastesse who wheÌ„â—he was dead raised it vp againe Insomuch that it doth verie well acquite or disâ—harge her which hath the vse of hospitaâ—â—tie rightly Beholde the occasion whereâ—ore it is written in the lawe of Moses â—hen thou shalt cut downe the haruest in â—he fielde and hast forgote a shefe in the féelde thou shalt not goe againe to fetch it but it shal be for the straunger the fatherlesse and the widdowe When thou beatest â—owne thine Oliue trées thou shalt not make leane riddaunce after thee but it shal be for â—he strauÌ„ger the fatherlesse and the widdow And when thou gatherest thy vineiarde thou shalt not gather cleane after thée but it shal be for the straunger the fatherâ—esse and the widdowe Euen so the lawe commaundeth to seperate the fruites for to giue them vnto the Leuite to the straunger to the fatherlesse and to the widdow For that same reason those are greatly to be blamed who in time of famine and dearth doe driue the poore straungers out of their townes and Cities in which time chiefly they ought to succour helpe them They doe seperate those from the commoâ— rightes of the heauenly father with whom they ought to haue all common societie The brute beastes doe estéeme the vse oâ— the meates which the earth bringeth foorth to be common to them all and with the same they assist them in necessitie man refuseth the duetie of nature vnto him with whom he ought to haue nothing which is strauÌ„ge of any humaine thing To a good purpose Plato said that the rightes of the strauÌ„gers are knowen of GOD aboue those of the Citizens for inasmuch as the straunger is without parents and friends he hath néede to be so much the more fauoured of GOD and men Wherefore the said author concludeth that euery one ought to take héede they doe no wrong vnto the straunger Such and like admonitions doe learne vs sufficiently that the worke of charitie regardeth not these outwarde thinges but the onely néede and necessitie For although that he which doth aske thée an almose be nothing at all kinde vnto thée but altogether vnknowen Yet he is of the same nature with thy parents of one selfe necessitie a man as the other are Furthermore vnder that worde of neighbour we comprehende those also which are not of the same reliâ—â—on as we are Insomuch that in time of â—â—cessitie we ought not to take him as a â—â—raunger which is of a contrarie religion 〈◊〉 he which we doe reade to haue ben obâ—erued in the auncient Churche not onely â—monge the Christians but also amonge â—â—e painims As we doe finde written in â—he ecclesiasticall historie of Eusebius in â—hich place it is said that Iulian the Apoâ—tate commaunded a certaine bishoppe to builde and erect in euery towne and Citie hospitalles out of hand for to receiue there â—ll straungers and those which haue néede And for to doe the same hée ordeined certaine quantitie of corne and wine euery yeare vsing these wordes It shoulde be to much dishonestie that those wicked Galilaeâ—ans for so they called the Christians should not chase and driue awaye the Iewes but that they shoulde nourish them yea that they should nourish their poore people and ours and that the other of vs are so cruell to forsake leaue our owne countrie men destitute of all aide and mans helpe Heere some will aunswere me if we ought to vse charitie to those which are contrarie to our religion Wherfore did the Lord forbid the children of Israel to contract societie or to haue any alliance with the Amorites Hethites Gebusites Gegersites and the Pheresites and other people contrarie to the Iewish religion Whervnto we will aunswere briefly that the Lord hath giuen the libertie vnto his people for a certaine time to the ende to tourne them from the abhominations and idolatries of the Gentiles as it is written in the booke of Exodus But at this day to witte in the lawe of grace which hath bene published throughout the vniuersall world such thinges shall not bée lawefull Neuerthelesse for all that wée haue sayde when wée can not by any meanes succour and helpe all those that be poore and
mouth of thy welbeloued disciple that hée which loueth not his brother whō he hath séene that he can not loue GOD whom hee hath not seene Imprinte so through thy grace and fatherly goodnesse such loue in our heartes that we considering that we are all members of one head That wée may haue also one selfe care the one for the other and may acknowledge that if thou hast so much loued the world as to giue thy onely sonne that none that beléeue in him should perish but haue euerlasting life that we also of our part bearing one an others burthen and that also we distributing vnto the necessities of the Saincts we may shewe by our example and good conuersation that we doe loue thée of déede truth yea that we are the true successours and disciples of him which hath taught vs not to gether vp treasure vp the earth but to make vs friends with the riches of iniquitie that when we shall depart they may receiue vs into euerlasting habitations Hee I say whiche though he were ritch yet for our sakes became poore that wée through his pouertie might be made ritch our Lorde Iesus Christ vnto whome be glorie for euer Amen ¶ A CHRISTIAN ADVERtisement vpon the commaūdement to honour our father mother Chap. 18. Exodus 20. c 12. Deut. 5. b. 16. ¶ Honour thy father and thy mother that thy dayes may be long in the lande which the Lord thy God giueth thee THE Apostle Sainct Paul writing vnto the Ephesians saith children obey your fathers and mothers in the Lorde For so is it righte And in an other place he sayth Honoure thy Father thy Mother which is the first cōmaundement that hath any promise thou maist bee in good estate liue lōg on earth The which Iesus the sonne of Siraac declareth more at large when hée said that the Lord would haue the Father honored of the children and looke what a mother commaundeth her children to do hée will haue it kept Who so honoreth his father his sinnes shalbée forgeuen him and he that honoreth his mother is like one that geathereth treasure together Whoso honoreth his Father shall haue ioye of his owne children and when hee maketh his praier he shal be heard he that honoreth his Father shal haue a long life And hee that is obedient for the Lordes sake his mother shall haue ioy of him Hee that feareth the Lorde honoreth his Father and Mother and doth them seruice as it were vnto the Lord him selfe Now when we do speake in this matter of honor wee take not simply the honor for an honor by the which we do go the one before the other be it by any outward signe or by friendely amiable wordes But wée doe take it as the holie Apostle Sainct Paul when hee saith The Elders that rule well are worthy of double honor most specially they whiche labour in the worde and teaching And in the same place he saith further honor widowes whiche are true widowes Insomuch that that honour doth comprehend a subiection and obedience also a naturall bond the which doth constraine vs to assist those with necessarie thinges in this present life vnto whom wee owe honor and obedience The which the Lorde himselfe rebuked sometimes the Iewes For although the lawe commaundeth that the children should nourishe their fathers and mothers to rēder vnto them pleasures in their olde age the which they haue first receiued of them in their youth The Scribes and Pharises learned the children to say vnto their fathers by euery gift that proceedeth from mee thou shalt be holpen though hee honor not his father or his mother And thus haue they made that the commaūdement of God is without effect through their traditiones And so by that meanes they defraude their fathers of the duetie the nature cōmaundeth them But marke what the sonne of Siraac saith honor thy father in déede in worde and in all patience that thou maist haue his blessing for the blessing of the father buildeth vp the houses of the children but the mothers curse rooteth out the foundations Reioyce not when thy father is reproued for it is no honour vnto thée but a shame For the worship of a mans father is his owne worshippe and where the father is without honour it is the dishonestie of the sonne My son make much of thy father in his age and gréeue him not as long as he liueth And if his vnderstanding faile haue patience with him dispise him not in thy strēgth For the good déede that thou shewest vnto thy father shall not be forgotten when thou thy selfe wantest it shal be rewarded thée And verie well for this purpose a certeine auncient authour saide that the sonne of GOD honoured his parentes As we reade that he came into Nazareth and was subiect vnto them and honoured Marie and Ioseph not by duetie of nature but by office of pietie hath honoured his father being obedient vnto him to the death euen the death of the crosse Nourishe then thy father and thy mother and when thou hast nourished them thou hast not done that which thou owest vnto thy mother thou hast not rendred vnto her all the paines and trauailes that she hath suffered for the loue of thee thou hast not also rendred vnto her the seruices that she hath done for thee bearing thee in her belly thou hast not rendered vnto her the aliments and nurrishments that she hath giuen vnto thee of a tender affection and motherly loue pressing her pappes vnder thy lippes thou hast not rendred vnto hir the hunger that she hath suffered for thee fearing least that she shoulde eate any thing which should hurte thee or that she shoulde eate any thing which shoulde bee noysome and hurtefull to her milke shee hath fasted for thy loue and for thy loue she hath eaten and for the loue of thee she hath not eaten the meate that she louid wilt thou suffer her to be in neede and to lacke that whiche thou hast thou owest vnto her vnto whome thou owest that whiche thou arte The like matters we do reade off in Xenophon when he declared that there was noe people that receiued more greater goodes then the children doe of their parentes the whiche are the cause that they liue Furthermore there are not that see so greate goods and are also partakers of that which God hath geuen vnto men The wife as that good author saith in conceauing her child suffereth that charge with most great werinesse and daungers of hir life and of hir proper substaunce nourishing hir fruite goeth about the day that she must trauaile and bring foorth hir childe with great and diuerse trauailes and afterwarde she nourisheth him and besides she is carful for him of whom shee neuer receiued any pleasure and who not onely forgetteth what he was which did him good but also can not onely expresse
him to the auncientes of the towne and from the gate of their place and shall saye vnto the auncients of their towne our sonne whom ye sée héere is wicked and rebellious and will not obey vnto our voice hée is a glutton and a drunckarde and all the men of the towne shall stone him with stanes to death and so thou shalt put away the euill from amonge the middest of thee And in an other place he saith Cursed be he that courseth his father or his mother an all the people shall say amen For hée that curseth his father and his mother his lampe shall be put out in the trouble of â—arknesse And he that hurteth his father or shutteth out his mother is a shamefull and an vnworthy sonne And in an other place the same Salomon doth declare that who so laugheth his father to scorne and setteth his mothers commaundemente at naught the Rauens picke out his eies in the valey and deuoured be he of the young Eagles That same reason hath induced the Romaine Emperours to inuent find out against the paricides a meruailous cruell and straunge punishment that is to saye to shut and keepe them fast with an Ape a Cocke and a Serpent and to cast them into the water or riuer to the ende sayth the lawe that they shoulde be depriued of all the elementes To be short that in their life they might be remoued from heauen and in their death from the earth And Plato in his lawes hath verie well sayd that the paricide doth merite all the paines of the wicked yea chiefly of sacriledge For by an homicide he hath taken the life from him who hath begotten him wherfore he concludeth that if it were possible that a man might die many times it should be most right and reasonable that the paricide should die of manie deathes For as that great Orator of the Latines writeth In violating the life of the father we doo sinne many waies we doe wrong vnto him who hath created nourished instructed aduaunced vs into the degrée of honour and hath placed vs in the common wealth Insomuch as witnesseth Iustin the historiographer that there is no coloure or pretence so that it be right which can excuse the paricide â–ª And for that cause Solon the lawe giuer of Athens béeing on a time asked wherefore he did not establish any lawe against the paricides aunswered that neuer no man had perswaded him that one could commit an offence so hainous The like aunswered Licurgus for the regarde of the vnthanckfull In this paine and malediction of the auncient lawe we doe not onely comprehend those which doe violence or wronge of a set purpose to their fathers but also those which blame them through disdaine of certaine checkes and rebukes â–ª for if he which hath said vnto his brother Racha is worthy to bée punished by the counsell by a more stronger reason he which shall doe iniurie to his father or which shall make him sorrowfull Woe be vnto him then that saith to his father why begatest thou me I speake vnto those who although that they do no kinde so wrong vnto their fathers yet if they durst they would willingly shorten their dayes And although that the ciuile lawe doe say that of the onely thought wée doe not merite the paine of the lawe yet it is much punishable towardes God as the Lord himselfe doth witnesse that whosoeuer loketh on a woman to lust after hir hath coÌ„mitted aduoulterie with hir all readie in his heart And verie well that great Orator of the Latines hath sayd that through one onely vaine sight or beholding that fatherly pietie is hurted If these thinges be not sufficient let vs declare the example of Ioseph who not onely when he was present but also being absent did beare all honour homage and obedience to his father and was verie careful to helpe and succour him Let vs remember the obedience of the Rechabites whom the Lorde himselfe put downe at the rebellion of the Iewes shewing vnto them that they haue bene obedient to their fathers in all thinges that hée commaunded them yea not to drincke wine neither to build any houses neither to sowe corne nor plant vineiardes but to dwell in tentes all their life longe On the other side let vs consider what hath ben the cursse of Cham the sonne of Noe bicause he discouered his fathers priuities and did not beare vnto him the honoure the which he deserued Insomuch that of that curse a certaine auncient author speaking sayd that we doe not finde in any place of the holy scripture this woorde seruaunt vntill such time as the iust man Noe had auenged the sinne of his sonne That name then merited vice and not nature Let vs haue feare and let vs be amased with feare when we doe see the vengeaunce of the sinne of Absalom procuring the death of his father and let vs beholde that the same which serued him to couer his head hath holden vp his bodie hanged to a tree Let vs meditate in our selues the sorowe and heuinesse that this good king and Prophet did beare Not so much deploring and bewailing the death of his sonne as his craftinesse crying with a loude voice my sonne Absalom my sonne my sonne my sonne Absalom woulde to god I had died for thée Absalom my sonne my sonne And verie well a certaine auncient authour said that that good man feared what should happen and into what paines a soule so cruel and inflamed with the bloud of his father might be in Finally let vs regarde and marke that the Lord doth foreshew the ruine destruction of his people chiefly for the faultes and transgressions committed by the children against their fathers and mothers Beholde the children of Israel saith the Prophet euery one hath béene according to his strength with thee for to shedde bloud they haue in thée defiled their father and mother Declaring by those wordes that they haue despised both their father and mother When I doe here speake of the honour due vnto our parentes I doe comprehend also those who are the parentes of our soules and instruct vs to saluation To bee short which trauaile as saith the Apostle in birth againe vntill Christ be imprinted in vs I will vse in this matter the argument of the Apostle writting to the Hebrewes saying Forasmuch as we haue had the fathers of our bodies which corrected vs and we gaue them reuerence should we not much rather be in subiection vnto the father of our spirites If the Phisition be honoured because of necessitie shal not we honoure him which hath administred vnto vs the worde Of the whiche the wise man Salomon speaking off saith It was neither herbe nor plaister that restored theÌ„ to health but thy worde O Lorde whiche healeth all thinges If I say the Father ought to be honoured of the
learn to fight to wrastle to leape to daunce to put at the stone not setting by the honor of their fathers Béehold briefly that which wée thinke to bée due aswell towardes the parents of our bodies as of our soules I will end by the same sentence whereof came this word Children obey you fathers and mothers in the lord For so is it right Honor thy father and mother that is the first commaundement that hath any promise that thou maist bee in good estate and liue long on earth Obey them that haue the ouersight of you submit your selues to them for they watch for your soules euen as they that must giue accomptes To the end that in all things God be glorified through our Lord Iesus Christ vnto whom bée glorie for euer So bée it Prouerbes 23. â— Giue care vnto thy Father that beegate thee and despise not thy Mother when she is olde A Prayer O Lord which hast said by the mouth of thy faithfull seruant Moses that the imagination of mans heart is euill euen from the verie youth of him Direct through thy holy mercy and fatherly goodnesse in such wise my way and guide my pathes to the right and godly commaundementes that they may loue thée euen as the true children ought to loue their fathers and mothers and may feare thée as my souereigne Lord I doe honour also those whoÌ„ thou hast chosen for to bring me forth into the worlde to the ende that by that meanes my dayes may be prolonged vpon the lande obeying and walking alwayes after thy holy precepts and commaundementes and that receiuing in good part the holy admonitions and corrections of my parentes I may shewe by workes that I am not a bastarde but that I am a sonne lawfully begotten To conclude that in humbling my selfe vnder the yoke of thy holy lawe I may be felowheire of him which in all thinges made himself subiect obedient to Ioseph and Marie and alwayes to doe the thinges which were pleasing and agréeable vnto thée our Lord Iesus Christ vnto whom be glorie for euer Amen ¶ A BRIEFE ADVERTISment vpon the duetie of the Fathers towardes their children Cap. 19. Collossians 3. d. ¶ Fathers prouoke not your children to anger least they cast downe their heart IT is written in the sixte Chapter to the Ephesians Ye fathers moue not your children to wrath but bring them vp in instruction information of the LORD Now we may plainely perceiue that the true office of a father towardes his children consisteth chiefly in two thinges that is to say to instruct them in the lawe of GOD and other honest disciplines and also to correct them in all modestie and christian gentlenesse As touching the first Salomon in his proâ—erbes sayth O my sonne forgette not â—y lawe but sée that thine heart kéepe â—y commaundementes For they shall â—olong the dayes and yeares of thy life â—nd bringe thée peace For as witnesseth â—e same Salomon Where no Prophet 〈◊〉 there the people perish but well is him â—hat kéepeth the lawe And as touching â—he seconde it is sayde in the same place that the rodde and correction ministreth wisdome but if a childe bée not looked vnto hée bringeth his mother to shame Nourture thy sonne with correction and he shall comfort thée yea hée shall doe thée good at thine heart The which is â—eclared more at large in Siraac as followeth An vntamed horse will bée harde so a wanton childe will bée wilfull If thou bringe vp thy sonne delicatelie he shall make thée afrayde and if thou playe with him hée shall bringe thée to heauinesse Laugh not with him least thou weepe with him also and least thy teeth be set on edge at the last Giue him no libertie in his youth and excuse not his follie Bow downe his necke while he is young hit him vppon the sides while hée is yet but a childe least hée waxe stubbourne and giue no more force of thée and so shalt thou haue heauinesse of soule Teach thy childe and bée diligent therein least it bée to thy shame And Salomon in his prouerbes saith withholde not correction from the childe for if thou beatest him with the rodde hée shall not dye theroff Thou smitest him with the rodde but thou deliuerest his soule from hel The same Siraac doth set foorth vnto vs the instruction which we ought to kéepe as well towardes the sonne as towardes the daughter when hée saith If thou haue sonnes bringe them vp in nourture and learning and holde them in awe from their youth vp If thou haue daughters kéepe their bodie and shewe not thy face chéerefull towardes them Marrie thy daughter and so shalt thou performe a weightie matter But giue hir to a man of vnderstanding If thy daughter be not shamefast holde hir straitely least shée abuse hir selfe through ouer much libertie Wherefore inasmuch as the children are willingly moued with certaine little giftes and honest presents It should also be verie good that their fathers should let theÌ„ vnderstand and knowe the great goodnesse which the Lorde hath ordeined to them which obserue and kéepe his lawe and the daunger and persecutions which doe followe and haue alwaies followed those which are transgressors of his lawe That is the cause wherefore in the lawe of Moses are so often repeated the blessings vnto the kéepers of the lawe and to the transgressors of the same the cursinges which are contained chiefly in the bookes of Leuiticus and Deuteronomium And also in the prophesie of Esaie the Lorde sayde If ye be louing and obedient ye shall enioye the best thing that groweth in the lande But if ye bée obstinate and rebellious yée shall be deuoured with the sword for thus the Lord hath promised with his owne mouth And by his prophet Baruch he saith O Israel heare the commaundementes of life ponder them well with thine eares that thou maiste learne wisdome But how happeneth it Israel that thou art in thine enimies lande thou art waxen olde in a straunge countrie and defiled with the dead Why art thou become like them that goe downe to their graues Euen bicause thou hast forsaken the well of wisdome For if thou haddest walked in the way of GOD truely thou shouldest haue remained still safe in thine owne lande That is the verie cause which hath induced oftentimes the Lorde to cause to be set vp for the people a certaine marke and perpetuall monument in the places in which he hath giuen witnesse of his puissance and greatnesse to the ende to declare and shewe vnto the people that he was fauourable vnto them Also that the little children regarding beholding and marking such tropes and monumentes they shoulde be admonished by their parentes of the goodnesse and benignitie of the Lorde I will recite for this matter three examples of the olde lawe the first is in the booke of Deuteronomium where the LORD hauing giuen
for to draw them away from the lawe of the lord The father then which is a true Christian shal do nothing in the presence of his children which may make them swarue stray away from the lawe of the lord To this same purpose hee exhorteth al men generally where he saith Let no corrupt communication proceede out of your mouthes But that which is good to the vse of edefiyng that it may minister grace vnto the hearers Also in the same Epistle hee doth aduertise them that fornicatyon and all vncleanenesse or couetousnesse bee not once named amonge them as it bee commeth Saincts neyther filthynesse neyther foolyshe talking neyther iesting which are thinges not comely but rather gyuing of thanks For as witnesseth a certaine auncient and Christian authour verie learned Among other thinges wee ought to keepe the word as a thinge consecrated vnto the Lorde yea as our owne bodies bicause that by the worde wée ought to fighte for the trueth The reason is great and verie proper of him whiche hath sayde that it is easye to followe vices In suche sort that when wée cannot immitate and follow easely the vertues wée doe followe the faultes or vices This authour doth giue the example of Alexander the great who forgetting the vertues of Laonides his maister coulde neuer refraine himselfe from the vices of him And the Philosoper Plato hath Christianly spoken when he did write that a father must not get for his children greate abundaunce of golde but a greate deale of shame and feare The which they can not doe but in correcting the impudencie and vnshamelesse boldenesse of the children For the wise lawegiuer I meane him which garnished the cities and other common wealths with good laws will commaund rather the auncientes that they bée shamefast and fearefull before the younge men and that they take good héede that not a younge man heare sée nor speake any wicked and dishonest thing For when the olde men haue but a little shame it is necessarie that the younge men bee muche vnshamefast That is then an excellent discipline of the younge and of the olde not only the correction the which they doe by woorde but if hée which doth rebuke and checke do in all his lyfe time that which hée teacheth When I doe speake héere of the couersation of the fathers or auncientes I meane not onely their domesticall seruauntes but also other people that liue wickedly which maye tourne the spirites of the children from the veritie as it is euidently séene that euill wordes corrupte good manners Who soe toucheth pytche shall â—ée filed withall sayth the sonne of Siraac and hée that is familiar with the proude shall clothe himselfe with pride That is the cause wherefore Dauid did confesse that hee hathe not sitten amonge vaine personnes and hathe no felowshippe with the deceitefull That hée hathe hated the congregation of the wicked and that hée will not sit amonge the vngodly In the same Psalme hee prayeth the Lorde that hee will not destroye his soule with the sinners nor his life with the bloudthirsty In whose hands is wickednesse and theyr righte hande is full of gytes Beholde the doctrine of Salomon crying with a loude voyce saying My sonne heare thy Fathers doctrine and forsake not the lawe of thy Mother For that shall bringe grace vnto thy head and shall bee as a chayne aboute thy necke My sonne consent not vnto sinners if they entise thee and saye come with vs lette vs laye wayte for bloude and lurke priuely for the innocent without a cause let vs swallow them vp like the hell let vs deuoure them quicke and whole as those that goe downe into the pitte So shall we finde all manner of costly riches and fill our houses with spoyles Cast in thy lot amonge vs we shall haue all one pursse My sonne walke not thou with them refraine thy féete from their wayes For their féete runne to euell and are hasty to shead bloude These places of the Scripture teacheth vs sufficientlye that the duetie of a father consisteth not only to instruct well his children among his domesticall those of his familie But also if it bée possible among strauÌ„gers I wil rehearse vnto thee for this matter the example of Dina the daughter of Iacob who being departed from her fathers house desiring earnestly to see the host of the children of Sichem was rauished and defloured by Sichem I wil rehearse for the same purpose the example of the children of Israel who beeing not content to dwell in Sittim But willing to communicato with the Moabites were seduced by them and committed fornication with the daughters of Moab In like maner the women which were rauished by the Beniamites which came out to daunce I speake this for some men that are carefull inough that their daughters be not hurt or stoung with the serpent or snake and feare not that they be wounded with the hammer of all the whole world neither regarde they I say that they doe not drincke of the wine of that great Babilon the mother of all fornication Insomuch that Plutarch complained not without a cause as of a straunge thing that we accustome our children to take their meate with the right hande which if it happen that they do take it with the left hand we doe chastise and correct them grieuously and haue no regarde what disciplines we learne them The sayd author doth recite one Crates a verie auncient man which was accustomed to saye O that it were permitted me to goe vp to the highest place of the Citie I would crye aloude O ye Citizens what doe you that you bestowe all your trauaile to heape together money and haue no regarde or care of the children for whom you hoorde it vp and to whom you will leaue it That is one of the vanities that which Salomon in his booke of Ecclesiastices did bewaile wheÌ„ he said I was wearie of all my labour which I had taken vnder the sunne bicause I should bée faine to leaue them vnto an other man that commeth after mée for who knoweth whether he shall bée a wise man or a foole And yet shall hée be Lorde of all my laboures which I with such wisdome haue taken vnder the sunne Is not this a vaine thing For all the same which wée haue spoken off before we will not incitate or moue the fathers to shewe too great seueritie towardes their children but to shewe vnto them howe difficile and harde the nurture and gouerning of the children in their youth is According to that which the Philosopher Plato doth witnesse vnto vs that the childe is a greate deale worse to bée entreated and gouerned then all other beastes Forasmuch as he hath not yet perfectly tasted the fountaine of wisdome and euen as saith hée it happeneth vnto plantes that is to say that it is verie easie to prepare and dresse the
grounde before that we doe plant but when we doe sée and perceiue the budde or sciences begin for to growe it is verie harde and diffcctle to perceiue and kéepe it vntill that it doth bring foorth fruite Euen so is it of man for the generation is verie easie but the bringing vp of him is full of great trauaile and wearinesse Also we wil not counsaile those which haue a certeine charge to instruct or teach the children to conduct and guide them with force feare or with too greate bondage For as the same author witnesseth euen as too much laboure and trauaile is noisome and hurtfull vnto the bodie chiefly when it is taken by feare and compulsion euen so no manner discipline of the soule forced and compelled is profitable Wherefore he concludeth that wée must nourish and bringe vp the children in learning not as compelled but as a playe and pastime to the ende that we may the easelier knowe the propertie of the spirites and mindes of the children And to a verie good purpose hath the Poet Terence spoken which saide that it is better to kéepe the children by shame and liberalitie then by feare That is the cause wherefore in the time of the Lacedemonians the childe béeinge taken in any faulte was compelled to make certaine Towers ouer against the temple and to pronounce and declare a prayer the which was composed and written to his shame and dishonoure which was none other thing but to blame himselfe of his owne mouth géeuing vs to vnderstand by the same edict statute that the children who of themselues are cleane are ledde to honest thinges through shame and gentlenesse and that it is the propertie of seruauntes to be conducted and ledde by feare Finally this shall serue to the fathers for to aduertise and warne them not to slacke so much the bridle to their children that they doe not committe a thing which maye tourne to their shame and dishonour as it chaunced vnto Hely as it appeareth in the first booke of Samuel who for that he had borne too much with his children in their faultes was rebuked by the Prophet afterwards hee and his children cruelly punished And the same which Sainct Paul speaketh off is greatly to be noted in the instruction and demonstracion of the LORD from the difference of some panimes who haue the power of life and of death towardes their children may sell them for certaine occasions The which the christian lawe doth not permit and suffer for the correction and discipline of the fathers ought to be ruled after the worde of GOD that is to say in all gentlenesse and loue for to proue whether God will giue them sometime repentaunce for to knowe the truth and that they may amende for to do the will of him béeing escaped from the snare of the Diuell wherein they were holden that their spirites may bée saued in the day of the LORD Iesus To conclude that they may bée sorie with a godly sorowe which causeth amendement vnto saluation not to bée repented off Briefly I desire that the father in all his life time yea vnto the last breath of his daies that hée woulde regarde asmuch as in him shal be possible to kéepe his children in the obedience and feare of the Lordes lawe the which the good patriarke Iacob doth teach vs who not onely in his life time but béeing nigh his death exhorted his children to kéepe the lawe of the Lorde And particulerly to declare and shewe vnto euery one of them their faults the which wee doe reade of Moses the conductour and leader of Gods people and spirituall father of our soules who before he died blessed the twelue tribes of Israel declaring vnto them wherein they haue varied and declined from the lawe of god To be short hée declared vnto them the great benefites of the same Lorde for to assure them more and more in his promises I will recite the aduertisement that Dauid made vnto his sonne as followeth My sonne I must walke by the way of all the world neuerthelesse be thou strong quite thy selfe manfully And sée that thou kepe the appointment of the Lord thy God that thou walke in his waies and kepe his commaundements ordinaunces lawes testimonies euen as it is written in the law of Moses that thou maist vnderstand all the thou oughtest to do al that thou shouldest meddell with Shal I sorget that good and holy man Tobiah who besides that hée instructed his sonne in all his life time in the feare of GOD counsailed him in his death to flée from Niniue and to flée and auoide the companie of the wicked also to kéepe the lawe and commaundements of the Lorde and to bee mercifull and righteous Shall I speake of that vertuous woman the mother of the seuen Machebeans béeinge enuironed and compelled on euerye side with tyrantes hangmen and neuerthelesse exhorted them with a manly and couragious heart to lay all things to the commaundements of the Lord I will ende this matter with Iesus Christ head of the church chiefe shepheard of our soules who before he yelded his soule vnto God his father when he loued his which were in the worlde vnto the ende hée loued them admonished them also to kepe obserue his commaundements and to kéepe like humilitie as they haue séene in him By these examples wée are taught that the Father ought to haue suche an eye vnto his children yea all his life time that they may haue none occasion if it bée possible to varie or decline neither to the right hande nor to the left hande from the LORDS lawe I doe speake vnto those which in their life and at their death doe make accounte of nothing els vnto their children but of their inheritaunces possessions and dominions and haue no regarde to declare and propounde vnto them the lawe of GOD his loue and his feare Cirus king of the Persians and verie riche hath not done so for he béeing nigh vnto his death spake of none other thing vnto his sonne then of the immortalitie of the soule and of the resurrection of the blessed Of his bodie he cared or set so little by that he desired his sonne not to regarde it any longer then he hath closed the eyes and not to shut or laye it in Marble Aliblaster or in any other precious sepulcher but to yelde it vp incontinently to the earth which doth bring foorth and nourish all goodly thinges good and profitable Wherfore let vs not estéeme that the principall and chiefest duetie of the fathers towards their children is to heape vp treasure for their children or to giue them the meanes not to be poore but rather to admonish them that they put not their hope trust in the vncertaintie of riches but to put it in the liuing God who doth giue vnto vs all thinges abundantly for to
vse them and enioye them and that they doe good and be rich in good workes readie to giue distribute Laying vp in store for themselues a good foundation against the time to come that they may obtaine eternal life through the merite of our Lord Iesus Christ vnto whom be glorie for euer and euer So be it A Praier which a christian father ought to make for his childe Ephes 6. a ¶ Ye fathers bring vp your children in the nourture and information of the Lord. A Prayer O Lord God and Father of our Lord Iesus Christ and Father of all them that beleue which hast sayd by the mouth of Salomon the sonne of Dauid that an vndiscreet sonne is a griefe vnto his Father and an heauinesse vnto his Mother that bare him and that the wise sonne maketh a glad father but an vndiscréet body shameth his mother That it would please thee so to conduct guide this childe in his way that he may acknowledge confesse that thou art the author of his life that he may serue honoure thee without feare in all true righteousnesse growing in age he maye bee mortefied in spirit that he may be filled with wisedome that thy grace bee with him To conclude that by that meanes keping thy precepts he may prolong his dayes here vpon earth obeying those whom thou hast chosen as instruments for to place them in this world Giue vnto him O Lord such ease for the commoditie of his life that vnder colour of pouerty he do not couet or steale other mens goods and take thy name in vaine or trusting vpon his prosperitie he denie thée say what fellow is the Lord On the other side graunt him that grace that hée may acknowledge that he that planteth is nothing neither he that watereth but thou Lord which giuest the encrease Finally when thou shalt depriue and take him from all the commodities of this present life giue vnto him the like constancie as thou didst giue vnto thy fathfull seruaunt Iob who séeing himselfe afflicted on euery side did neuer murmure against thée but falling downe vpon the grounde worshipped thy maiestie blessed thy name For all which things we pray thee in the fauoure of thy welbeloued sonne he I say who was obeâ—dent vnto thée euen to the death of the crosse our Lord Iesus Christ vnto whom be glory for euer and euer Amen FINIS Esa. 28. â— â–ª Psa 119. â— Exo. 5. a Iudg. 5. d Heb. 13. b. Exo. 2. Agge 2. a. â—am 1. c. Luc. 21. a â–ª Psal 12. b. Esaie 52. b Rom. 10. c Daniel 12. a Math. 15. c Sapi. 1. a 2. Tim. 3. d Rom. 15. a Gregorie Naza li. 11 of his Theologie Basil vpon the beginning of the prouerbes Esaie 66 a 2. Peter 1. d Iob. 32. b. Psal 119. e. Sapience 7. a Ephe. 6. d 2. Thessae 3. S. Hierome in his Epistle vnto Lutus Math. 11. Ieremy 8. c Rom. 11. b Rom. 1. c. Lactantius Fir. in his booke of InstitutioÌ„s Iohn 5 g 1. Timo. 4. d. Act. 7. c. Act. 22. a. 2. Tim. 3. d. Titus 1. c. Heb. 5. d. 2. Peter 3. d. Gregory Nazaren in his Apologie S. Herome in the beginning of Ezechiel S. Ambrose vpon the psalm 35. Clement in his boke of recogn S. Hillary vpon the Psal 134. S. Augustin in his boke of the spirite and of the letter Esay 20 a Ierem. 27. a Ose 1. a. 2. Ezech. 4. â— 12 â–ª Basil in the exposton vpon Esai Basil in the same booke Basil S. Hierome in his Epistle to Paulinus 1. Cor. 12. d. 1. Pet. 4 â— Ephe. 4 c Ephe. 5. â— S Ambrose in his boke of his offices cap. 23. Eusebius in his booke of the prepara of the gospel ca. 1 2. Cor. 6. â— August in his booke of the Christian doctrine Math. 15. a. Iob. 28. c Plato Sicero in his offices Tertuli in Apo. agaiÌ„st the GeÌ„tiles Cap. 45. Euseb in his x. boke of the preparation of the Gospel Cap. 2. S Ambrose in his secoÌ„d booke of the christiaÌ„ doctrine Cap. 3. .12 Deut. 21. c. S. Hierome in his epistle to the great Orator Act. 17. d. Titus 1. c 1. thess. 5. b. S. Herome in his Epistle to Munerius and Alexander 1. Thes 2 c. Esai 50. b. Psal 19. b. Psal 12. b 1. thess. 2. c Phillip 2. d Iohn 1. â— Cicero in his booke of 〈◊〉 paradoxes Ouide Heb. 11. c. Heb. 13. c 2. Cor. 5. a. Genes 19. d. Genes 12. a. 2. Cor. 4. Genes 28. b Genes 41. a. Exo. 13 d. Numb 11. b 3. Regum 17. b. Apo. 1. c. Deut. 19. a Iosua 2. a 3. Reg. 17. a 3. Reg. 18. a. Ierem. 38. c. Historie of Susanna g. Luc. 10. g. 2. Tim. 1. d. Psal 2. a. 1. Reg 17. c. 2. Cro. â—â—â— Iudg 7. a. 2. Cro â–ª 2 â— Iudith 10 â— Exo. 1.2 2. Cro. 22. d. Mat. 2. c. Daniel 12. a Iosua 15. d. Esay 59. d. Mat. 28. d. Iohn 14. b. Daniel 5. e. Mat. â—3 d. Iudith 3. c. 1. Pet. 5. c. Esay 30. d Exo 9. d Rom. 9. c Deut. 29. a. The lawe Ictus fusttuÌ„ vnder the title of those which are noted of infamie Cicero in his paradox Cicero in his oration for Cluent Salust in his warre of Catiline Sainct Au. lib. 4. of the citie of Cod Chap. 4 Rom. 13. a Prou. 8. b. 1. Pet. 2. c The lawe siquis id quod Esai 10. a Valerius lib. 6. ca. 3. Example of Cambises Sapience 6. â— 2 Tim. 3. c Math. 6. d. Deut. 25. d. Malachi 1. d S. Hierome in his epistle to Pannarchius Lactancius lib. 3. cap. 1. 2 Tim. 3. d Ephe. 1. d Collos 1. c. Hebr. 5. ae Zacha. 11. d. Iohn 10. Ciprian in his boke of the simplicitie of the Prelates Ciprian in his epistle to Pompilius Ierem. 2. c. Deut. 23. c Galat. 4. d. 1. Sam. 5. a. Daniel 2. c. Apoe â–ª â—8 â— Genes 19. d. Exo 2. a. 2. Cro. 22. d. 3. Reg. 19. d. Esay 59. a Iudith 9. d Esay 1. c Math. 8. â— Deut. 17. d. Esay 49. g Psal 89. c. Prouer. 11 Plato lib. 6 of the kingdome Plato li. 16 of the kingdome Plato in his booke câ—lled Alcibiades Plutarch li. of the doctrin of princes Aristotle writing vn to Alexander 1. Tim. 2. a. Titus 2. d. Titus 1. d. 2. Tim. 3. b. Ephe. 4. c Psalm 22. f. Psalm 149. a Psalm 68. f Mat. 18. c. Psalm 119 Math. 5. b Act. 10 f Iohn 5. g Lactancius in his boke of institucions Iudg. 21. d. 2. Cro. 15. a Rom. 1. c Psalm 69. d Oseas 4. Daniel 5. a. Esay 2. â— Ierem. 23. f. Hebr. 4. e Xenophon lib. 4. of the sayings and doinges of Socrates Xenophon lib. 1. of the expedition of Cirus Rom. 13. b Math. 22. b. Act. 15. a Psalm 2. a. Iohn 14. d Iohn 6. e 2. Peter 1. d. Psalm 137. a Similitude of S. Augustine in his
¶ A CHRISTIAN DISCOVRSE vpon certeine poynts of RELIGION Presented vnto the most high puissant Lorde the Prince of Conde Translated out of French into English by Iohn Brooke of Asâ—he next Sandwich 1578. 1. PETER 4. b. ¶ As euery man hath receaued the gift minister the same one to an other as good ministers of the manifold grace of God. ¶ Imprinted at London by Thomas East the 6. daye of Iune 1578. ¶ TO THE RIGHT HONOrable and his singuler good Ladie and Mistres the Countesse of Oxenforde Iohn Brooke wisheth longe and blessed life with increase of much honoure c. WHEN first true intent of bounden dutie and entire zeale had quickened and pricked me forward to present your Ladishippe with the dedication of this smal volume Right honorable and my verie good Ladie I grewe full of doubtes in my selfe whether to proceede and go forwarde or els to surcease and reuoke my presumed enterprise And abiding sometime in this vncerteine and vndetermined conclusion one while adaunted and suppressed with the vnworthinesse of the woorke in respect of mine owne labours beeing an vnlearned translation an other while animated and encouraged by the godlinesse of the matter comprehended and included therein then pulled backe and in manner put to silence by many doubtes of presumptioÌ„ rudenesse or rashnesse eftsoones againe imboldened and harted on partly by duetie to vnfolde and shewe my willing minde partly by certeine knowledge and dayly report of your Ladiships good inclination to vertue and godlinesse wherevnto adioyned the great fame of your singuler humilitie manifolde curtesie leaning at length onely to this staffe I wounde in time out of this doubtfull Laborinth of inconstant passions and became plainely resolued in the processe and going forwarde of this mine enterprise wherevnto I was yet the rather and more easely induced for that as within the hard and vntoothsome bone is included the sweete marrowe and as the vnsauorie shell comprehendeth the pleasant kirnell so vnder the rough and vnsmothed grace of mine vnlearned stile is shrowded much wisdome vertue godlinesse and in the simplicitie and plainnesse of my translation many profitable examples and holesome lessons conteined worthy to be embraced and followed of all men It came vnto my handes right honorable in the French and is entituled A ChristiaÌ„ Discourse vpon certein points of Religion Which title draue mee first to the ouerrunning of the matter and then finding the whole summe and contentes so well agreeing with the nomination I thought if I could put him on an English â—abite I might thereby pleasure and profite diuers of my natiue countrie men studious in the Scriptures to the contentation I trust of many to the offence of no vertuous and well disposed person May it therefore please you to admit the same into your fauourable acceptance and that vnder your ensigne it may haue safe conduct to enioye publication and free passage This request beeiâ—g graunted allowed of your good Ladiship Let captious Zoilus cauill or finde fault Let hatefull hereticke with all his forcible inuectiues subtil argumeÌ„ts straunge reasons diswade and seeke to oppugne impaire or discredite the matter Let proude Papist with all his authoritie abiure curse condemne both booke author to the fire Our immunitie protection defence resteth in almightie God the high Iudge of all And for the cleernesse of this matter we referre vs vnto his most holy and pure woorde and sacred Scriptures Wherefore trusting the sinceritie and trueth of the matter shal counteruaile the plainnesse of the interpretation and that the consideâ—ation of my zeale and bounden duetie aboue rehearsed shal abanndon all suspect of arrogancie and rashnesse I leaue for this time to trouble your Ladiship beseechinge the Almightie to blesse you with longe and manie happie yaeres in this life and the reward of Vertue in the life to come Your Ladiships seruaunt all to commaunde Iohn Brooke ¶ TO HIS SAIDE LORDE the Prince of Conde the author sendeth health IF feare doth make vs vnderstand the voice and as Dauid doeth witnesse that hee did erre and go wronge before that he was afflicted and troubled what can we lesse do after so many cyuil warres and persecutions of our owne countrey men yea rather houshould seruantes but to magnifie the Lord and dayly to meditate or studie vpon the maruels of his puissance and goodnes If say I Moses and Debora being sette at libertie and enfranchised srom the tyranny of the Egyptians and Chananeans did consecrate of late vnto God so many goodlye canticles and spirituall songes what can wee lesse do in this same meane time of religion but alwayes to offer vnto him sacrifices of thankes giuing That is to say the fruite of oure lippes confessinge his name And vnto whom ought wee to direct such writings but vnto those vnto whom the Lorde hath drawen from the middest of the waters and reserued from among them that are killed for to restore the ruins and decaied places of his second temple and to reestabish and set vp againe the true vsage of the Christian religion Beholde O Christian Prince wherfore I haue dedicated vnto thee this litle worke hauing first premeditated to the honour of him from whom doth proceede euerie good and perfect gift Assuring my selfe that thou wilt receiue it in as good part as the Lord did the two mites of that poore widow mencioned in the gospell Furthermore I doe not care what opinion men haue so that it be agreable to that true Iudge which doth not iudge men according to the sight of his eyes neither doth reproue a matter at the first hearing but doeth iudge all thinges in equitie and righteousnesse Our Lord Iesus Christ vnto whom be glory for euer Amen A BRIEF ADVERTISMENT wherein is shewed that we ought not to abuse the holy Scripture but to apply it to his proper vse 2. TIMOTH 2. Ch. â—5 ¶ Studie to shew thy selfe laudable vnto God a workeman that needeth not to be ashamed deuiding the word of trueth iustly FOrasmuche as the holy Scripture doth teach vs that the wordes of the Lord are pure words euen as the siluer whiche from the earth is tryed and puryfied seuen tymes in the fyre and the gospell is the puissaunce of God to the saluation and health of all that beleue therein insomuch that the Prophets speaking of the dignitie of the Herolds and Embassadours of the gospel doe crye out O howe beautifull are the féete of the Embassadour that bringeth the message from the mounteine and proclameth peace â–ª that bryngeth the good tidinges and preacheth health and sayth vnto Sion Thy God is the king The wyse suche as haue taught others shall glyster as the shining of Heauen and those that haue instructed the multitude vnto godlynes shal be as the starres world without ende Truely we may perceiue with our eyes what default it is to declare or shew forth the ordinaunces of the Lord
to take his alliaunce or promise in vaine In like manner what temeritie and rashnesse it is to take the childrens breade and to cast it to dogges to declare the holy thinges vnto brute beastes and to giue the pearles vnto swyne Forasmuch as wysdome shall not enter into a frowarde soule nor dwell in the body that is subdued vnto sinne For the holy Ghost abhorreth fayned nourture and withdraweth himselfe from the thoughts that are without vnderstanding and where wickednesse hath the vpper hand hée flyeth from thence I do say the same to the ende that euery one haue a regarde to apply the holy scripture to his proper vse for all Scripture giuen by inspiration of God is profitable to teach to improue and to instruct in ryghtuousnesse Also that we through patience and comfort of the scripture might haue hope may apply it to the in which it is dedicated without prophaning it or wresting it to any wicked purpose or vnlawefull thinges For as hée that hath dimme eyes can not well easely behold looke vpon the sunne so he which is wicked and corrupt in his soule can not rightly consider and knowe the meruailes conteined in the holy scripture And euen as we ought not to put into a vessell that is mustie or infected any precious licor so we ought not to giue vnto a malycious and frowarde heart one so riche and precious talent For the Lorde hath regarde of him which is afflicted and of a lowly spirite and which standeth in awe of his words the holy spirit is he which doth open the senses for to vnerstand the scripturs To conclude the scripture came neuer by the wil of man but by the holy men of God being moued by the holy Ghost did speake it To that end doth Iob write I say saith he that it becommeth olde men to speake and the aged to teach wisdome euery man no doubt hath a minde but it is the inspiration of the almightie that giueth vnderstanding wherefore we doe conclude here that thrée thynges are greatly necessarie vnto those which wyll cause that precious talent and inestymable treasure of the holy Scripture to profit First of all to watche dayly vnto praiers and supplycations to the end that the Lord do open their vnderstanding for to comprehend the secretes of hys Lawe As Dauid doth say Teach me O Lorde the way of thy statutes and I shall kéepe it vnto the ende O giue mée vnderstanding and I shall kéepe thy law yea I shall kéepe it with my whole harte Open myne eyes that I may consider the meruelles of thy Lawe Euen so I say doth Solomon his sonne witnesse that he hath desired and vnderstanding was giuen him hée called and the spirite of wisdome came into hym That is the cause wherefore saynct Paule doeth exhorte so often hys to pray for hym that vtteraunce might be giuen vnto him that hee might open his mouth boldly to vtter the secretes of the Gospell And also doth admonyshe and warne the Thessalonians to pray for him that the word of god may haue frée passage and to gloryfie the Lorde And saynct Hierome sayth that the reading ought to succéede and followe prayer and prayer vnto the reading Besides that I doe desire a pleasant hearte gratious and gentle I do vnderstande and meane him which doth humble himselfe vnder the law of the lord for to beléeue and obey willingly his commandements and ordinaunces For Iesus Christ doeth protest before God his Father that he hath hid these thinges from the wise prudent and hath opened them vnto Babes And the Lorde did by his Prophete checke the Scribes Doctors of the lawe that they may not vaunt themselues that they are wyse in the Lawe and that the lawe of the Lorde is with them that it is in vayne that there are Scribes and that the wyse shall be confounded and that they shall be afrayde and taken as it is written that God hath giuen vnto them a sléeping spirit and eyes that they should not sée and eares that they shoulde not heare euen vnto thys present day And sainct Paule speaking of the Philosophers sayth that they hauing knowen God did not gloryfie him as God neyther were thankefull but waxed full of vanities in their owne imaginations and their foolish hartes were blinded To cōclude as saith Lactantius Firmianus Although we estéeme the Philosophers to be wyse yet truely they haue erred in their owne knowledge here there as in a déepe sea For they haue regarded neyther the way nor the leader all their doctrine is without a head bicause that they doe not knowe God which is the heade of all veritie and doctrine Finally I do desire a long studie and meditation of the holy letters vnto the which Iesus Christ doth sende vs saying Search the Scriptures for in them ye thinke yee haue eternall lyfe And Sainct Paul doth admonishe Timothe to giue attendaunce to reading to exhortacion to doctryne So was Moses learned in al manner wisdome of the Egyptians was mightie in déedes in wordes And sainct Paul was brought vp at the féete of Gamaliel informed diligently in the Law of the fathers And Timothe did know the holy Scriptures of a childe And truely we do not make any difficulte that the studie and dayly laboure is not necessary to the knowledge of holy letters as it is required of other disciplines chiefly to the true ministers of god Forasmuch as Sainct Paul doth desire that they would embrace the true worde of doctrine that they maye be able to exhorte with holesome learninge and to improue them that say against it To conclude the holy Apostle doth witnesse that strong meats belongeth to them that are perfect which thorough custome haue their wits exercysed to iudge both good euil Furthermore Sainct Peter doth aduertise vs that there are many thinges harde to be vnderstanded in the Epistles of S. Paul. For that same cause the Ebrwes did not accustome to all age all kynde of doctrine fearing that the dull and folyshe people woulde be offended with the hardnesse of the same Insomuch that the things which do containe a simple plaine hystorie were proposed and set forth vnto the common people the secrets vnto those the which with their age do bring a iudgement more whole and sound Wherfore as sainct Ambrose doth witnes he which will aduaunce himselfe in the scriptures that he do take that which is necessarie for him he which doth desire things more easie common that he do refreshe his spirite in the valle as the litle ones he that doth feare the floud that he do drinke of the Riuer he which doth feare the déepe water that he doe swim by the shore side Wherin we are taught that the holy Scripture doth apply and giue it selfe vnto al